Even though autumn had its official start three weeks ago, I had my first foray into fall on Saturday's tree tour through my own neighborhood Arden Park, hosted by the Sacramento Tree Foundation. The tree tours were started over five years ago by longtime Sacramento Tree Foundation member Fran Clarke. It was Clarke's goal to make the community aware of the many spectacular trees found in Sacramento. Eighteen resident citizens, from 2 years age to retired, gathered at La Sierra Park for an informational walk-about with Sacramento Tree Foundation stewardship coordinator Luanne Leineke. "The trees are not only beautiful, they play important roles in our community," Leineke said. "They help

Emotions ran high on stage keeping the audience at the edge of their seats during the dramatic showing of Suddenly, Last Summer, a play by Tennessee Williams, which opened Oct. 2 at the Lambda Players new theater home on 21st Street. As the audience entered the newly designed, intimate theater space, which seats approximately 40 patrons, a social experiment ensued. The seats, which have yet to be properly numbered and ordered, left patrons roaming through the four aisles trying to figure out an order or pattern to the seating chart. Eventually the groups would simply situate themselves in an open section. However, those who had already figured out the disorder were entertained by the new

East Sacramento has a new hangout: The Corner Restaurant & Bar, which opened its doors for business last Friday.     "I want this to be a place people want to come and hang out at," said owner Joel Thompson. "As cliche as it sounds, I hope The Corner will be a place like the 'Cheers' bar 'where everyone knows your name.'"     The Corner is located down the street from Sacramento State University at the corner of 57th and J streets in the historic building that was home to the original Shakey's Pizza until the mid-1990s. The Thompson family opened the restaurant with the goal of creating a family-friendly place where students, parents and kids alike could enjoy reasonably priced food

Twelve Sacramentans who attended Wednesday's Charter Review Committee town hall meeting at San Brannan Middle School did not come to debate the "strong mayor" initiative. They said they wanted to have their questions answered so they could better understand the proposed changes to Sacramento's mayoral authority. Committee member JoAnn Fuller led the meeting and presented an overview of the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee. Each attendee was provided a handout describing the eight tentative recommendations with illustrations that depicted Sacramento's current system of mayoral authority and how the system would change under the strong mayor initiative and under the recommend

The Sacramento International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (SIGLFF), Sacramento's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) art event, is coming to the Crest Theatre Thursday through Saturday. "Embrace your sexuality, whatever it is," said Patti Barcena of SIGLFF. "SIGLFF is good entertainment. Where else will you get to see GLBT films with such an appreciative audience?" SIGLFF is a non-profit event that shows worldwide film and video works of both positive or critical portrayals of GLBT communities, people and aspects of their daily lives. "This international festival provides an outlet for GLBT filmmakers to express themselves and have their works shown on a big screen to

"The smokehouse is open — keep on smoking," boomed a low voice from a vendor at Smokehouse Specialties, one of the six rib teams participating in the seventh annual Rhythm and Ribs festival this weekend at Raley Field. "We do a lot more than just baseball," said Nick Lozito, coordinator for the Sacramento River Cats Baseball Club. "We try to use the stadium year-round, especially after the baseball season has ended, to host fun family events, like Rhythm and Ribs." The Rhythm and Ribs festival, sponsored by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, pits regional rib teams against each other for a chance to win the People's Choice Award of tastiest ribs. Festival-goers can s

There is no place like home, and that is exactly what 12 local filmmakers will prove at the 10th annual "A Place Called Sacramento" film festival hosted by Access Sacramento. PCS challenges local filmmakers to write a 10-minute script about the people, places and events that define our community. "The idea of telling a story and making a movie is, in some ways, the great American novel," said Ron Cooper, executive director of Access Sacramento. "For many, making a film is a lifelong ambition. They just need an outlet to succeed." And that outlet is being provided by Access Sacramento. Each year, Sacramentans have a unique opportunity to submit their original work to Access Sacramento, a

Reptile enthusiats unite. A cold spell is headed toward Sacramento in the form of 3,000 cold-blooded reptiles arriving at the Sacramento Convention Center for this weekend's 12th Annual Sacramento Reptile Show. A wide variety of reptiles will be featured at the event, including snakes, monitor lizards, geckos, chameleons and alligators, along with some non-reptilian species like frogs, salamanders and insects. The first reptile show came to Sacramento in 1998 as a 10-vendor event held at a local hotel. Since that time, the show has grown tremendously and now features 3,000 reptiles, 80 vendors — with 40 professional reptile breeders along with suppliers and educators — and boasts an atte

Audiences will laugh and cringe through a variety of disturbing and repulsive topics at Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation, coming to Sacramento State's University Union Ballroom Thursday. "Spike & Mike shows are different from other movies," said Zenia Diokno, program adviser for event-sponsor UNIQUE. "There is a ton of energy in the crowd. Everyone is yelling and having fun. I thought it would be great to host this on a college campus." The film will include 28 short animated clips ranging from one to five minutes. Highlights from this year's film include "Washington," the popular Internet cartoon by Brad Neely, and Jeff Chiba Stearns' Post-It production of "Yellow Sti

Many would agree with Reine Thibeault when she says, "I like to get a glimpse into other people's lives. It's fun." That's just what Sacramentans had a chance to do at Sunday's Sacramento Old City Association's (SOCA) 34th annual historic home tour in Midtown's Boulevard Park neighborhood. More than 300 history hunters visited 7 seven restored homes on a self-guided walking tour that featured architectural, interior design and landscaping highlights of the mostly Craftsman-style homes. Craftsman design was popular from the end of the 19th century to the early part of the 20th century. The movement emphasized handmade over mass-produced and was in large part a reaction to the Industrial

The 15th annual California Brewers Festival descended on Discovery Park on Saturday. The venue was perfect for brewers and beer lovers to share a variety of microbrews. Against a picturesque backdrop of the Sacramento and American rivers, more than 3,500 people enjoyed a day of plentiful beer, barbecued oysters, Mexican food, garlic fries, tri-tip sandwiches, and the thumping beat of popular cover songs by local bands Utz! & the Shuttlecocks and Velvet Tongue. "We 'heart' Brewfest!" proclaimed friends Kerry Alires, Cassandra Ramsey and Luke Poffenberger, two-year veterans of the festival that's put on by Point West Rotary Club. "The music, the beer, and getting to try a variety of brews i

What's old is new again at the Sacramento Antique Faire, an outdoor antique and collectible marketplace held the second Sunday of every month from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Three hundred antique dealers from the Northern California area and as far as Washington and Oregon arrived early Sunday morning to display a wide variety of antiquarian items and interior design inspirations. Many of these vendors attend the Sacramento Antique Faire on a monthly basis. With nearly 3,500 visitors to the fair each month, each vendor has ample opportunity to find a seasoned collector or amateur enthusiast eager to purchase a one-of-a-kind treasure. Quality items for sale included fine art and jewelry, pottery

The Six Women actresses proclaim, "You have to laugh and scream and blow off steam so you don't expire," and that is exactly what the audience did at Friday's showing of the revival of Sacramento's cult classic Six Women with Brain Death (or Expiring Minds Want to Know). As the show begins, six frazzled, women parade across the stage in a grocery check-out line, reading the outrageous headlines of The Expirerer, a spoof of today's tabloid magazines. The women quickly transition from their comedic sketch into a full-energy musical number introducing the audience to the "World of Expiring Minds." The first act consists of a series of life and pop culture scenarios from the viewpoint of ove

This Saturday, September 12, Rubicon Brewery and the Northern California Brewers Guild will present the 4th annual Midtown Community Festival to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento. "This will be a fun-filled day of food, music and games where attendees will get a great feeling of being part of our community," Rubicon owner Glynn Phillips said. "I'm hoping everyone comes out for a plate of ribs and a pint of beer to support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento." The festival will include live performances by four local bands, fun games and activities for kids including a climbing wall and a jump house, raffle prizes and a walk-a-thon. There will be a wide variet

This Friday, Sacramento will welcome back its longest running musical in Sacramento theater history, Six Women with Brain Death (or Expiring Minds Want to Know), as a special tribute to former Studio Theatre director, producer and actor Jackie Schultz. Schultz opened the Studio Theatre in 1994 with a mission to promote theater from the female perspective. She opened Six Women in 1996 and it immediately sold out three months in advance. The show continued to run until 2006, when Schultz's battle with Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) along with opportunities to explore other ventures required her to end the show. Six Women is a fast-paced, musical satire of life and