Professor Dianne Heimer from the Sacramento City College Journalism Department spoke about the simple steps that can be taken to make sure that you are getting the right information in stories at Tuesday's researching and fact-checking workshop held at The Sacramento Press. This important topic focused on helping writers learn how to recognize a reliable source and when to second-guess their facts. Heimer stressed the importance of the accuracy of facts and credibility, saying, "Factual inaccuracy in your writing can discredit your reputation and your publication's reputation." She was able to talk about this further by demonstrating the importance of getting primary sources, such as an

Thousands of students across the country are bringing poetry to life by competing in this year's Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. This is the contest's fifth year, and it is growing rapidly, influencing thousands of high school students to learn and perform poetry. Kristin Margolis, the California state contact from the California Arts Council, said that "there is an incredible demand for the program, with 300,000 participants nationwide this year." "California has the most competing in the nation," Margolis said. "We will have 40,000 students from 27 counties, which is a big jump from the 24 counties that competed last year and 20 counties the year before that." The progr

"Connect, Breathe, Let go" is the message behind Padme Yoga Center, which is scheduled to open in June in East Sacramento. The new yoga center will focus on the teaching and practice of Yoga Vinyasa, a form of yoga performed in a warmer heat, or "hot yoga." Sophie Levy, owner of the new yoga center, called the warmth a "Hawaiian Heat", saying the room temperature will be kept around 85 degrees. She explained that the higher temperature allows the muscles to relax while the movements physically challenge the body. The range of knowledge about this teaching will be demonstrated by instructors who will teach beginner classes through advanced classes. There will be a total of 10 instructors

The Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle, which thrives in Sacramento, is getting closer to being taken off the endangered species list. The beetle was named after the Elderberry plant, which is the main habitat of the insect. Al Donner, assistant field supervisor for external affairs from the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Service, said the beetle was placed on the Federal Threatened List on Aug. 8, 1980. Since then, work has been done to help the beetles grow and repopulate. Sacramento has proven to be a vital home for these creatures because Elderberry plants grow best in flood plain areas like the river beds of the Sacramento and American Rivers. The stability of these plants are essenti

The Sacramento Opera presented Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata to a full house Friday night at the Community Center Theater. From the opening number, the audience was captivated by lead Karen Slack (soprano), who played Violetta Valery, and Alexander Boyer (tenor), who played Alfredo Germont. Conducted by Timm Rolek, the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied the cast in the two-and-a-half-hour performance. Slack and Boyer's voices complemented each other, bringing the dramatic storyline to life. La Traviata follows Valery, a courtesan, and Germont, a respectable young man, as they fall in love and later feel the pain of being torn apart by Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont, played

Families beware, a Tyrannosaurus rex is running loose at the Discovery Museum Science and Space Center this weekend. As part of the museum's Gee Whiz Geology: An Exhibit About Rocks, Fossils and Dinosaurs that began Jan. 16, the museum is focusing this weekend's activity on the terrifying T-rex. This featured exhibit is geared toward families with kids about 12 and younger, but there is fun for everyone, as visitors will begin their learning adventure tracking down the Tyrannosaurus rex footprints throughout the museum's grounds. Families will learn about these huge creatures together as they move through the museum and interact with exhibits. Beth Callahan, director of marketing and d

The Sacramento Opera will present the famous, heart-wrenching opera La Traviata at the Sacramento Community Center Theater Friday. The popular opera was written in the mid-1800s by Giuseppe Verdi, who based his tale off the widely successful novel, La Dame Aux Camélias, by Alexandre Dumas. Though Dumas's book is written as a tragedy, adaptations of the novel, such as with La Traviata and recent films "Camille" and "Pretty Women," have been retold as a love story. La Traviata is a romantic play set in the 19th century following the relationship of well-born gentlemen Alfredo Germont, played by Tenor Alexander Boyer, who is in love with a beautiful courtesan named Violetta Valéry, played

To kick off Sacramento's Beer Week, the Old City Cemetery Committee conducted a tour of Sacramento brewers who are buried in Sacramento's Historic City Cemetery. The tour began at 10 a.m. Saturday, with about 40 people gathered to learn about these historical beer makers. The tour was guided by Dr. Bob LaPerriere, who shared his wealth of knowledge as we stopped at the brewers' graves throughout the beautiful cemetery. It was interesting to learn that all but two of the brewers buried there were German by ancestry and most of these men interacted with each other, whether it was through their business investments, ownership or employment. The first stop was at the grave site of Frank Ru

Sacramento's Community Center Theater came to life Thursday with the beautiful sound of The Hutchins Consort. Presented by Sacramento Community Concerts, the group performed a one-night concert that defied the range of a modern symphony orchestra string section. The Hutchins Consort is a unique Southern California-based group that plays eight scaled violins of the violin octet design. These acoustically balanced instruments range from a high treble violin to a low contrabass violin and together cover the musical scale that today's string instrument, the violin, viola, cello and bass, do not. These eight instruments, three similar to a violin and five upright, were created by Dr. Carleen

Imagine huge burgers, each smothered in a fried "skirt" of melted cheese with a side of hot, thick fries. If this sounds familiar, you probably know that I'm talking about the Squeeze Inn in Sacramento. The Squeeze Inn is a tiny restaurant known for its burgers that have so much cheese you have to experience it to believe it. The restaurant has been in its original location for about 30 years, taking orders from customers who literally waited in lines out the door. The popularity of the Squeeze Inn is not just known to Sacramento locals, but also caught the eye of Food Network star Guy Fieri and was featured on his show "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." Even with the restaurant's great pop

The Sacramento Sirens are gearing up for another strong football season this year, practicing hard and focusing on making it to the playoffs. The Sirens are an all-women’s tackle football team that formed in 2000. The team is a part of the Independent Women's Football League (IWFL), which is a nonprofit organization and the only recognized women's football league in the United States. It stretches across the United States and into Canada with 51 teams and 1,600 players. According to Michael Parker, owner of the Sirens, this is the IWFL's 11th year. The Sirens have won three National Championships in their 10 years together - in 2003, 2004 and 2005. There are 53 players on the team, and

The doors to discovery will be open and waiting Saturday with Sacramento's 12th annual Museum Day. Museum Day will open 26 of Sacramento's museums to the community at no charge from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The last guests will be admitted at 4 p.m. and all will close at 5 p.m. This event is presented by the Sacramento Association of Museums, which promotes a large range of art, history, science and wildlife museums and exhibits. Museum Day coordinator Delta Pick Mello said last year saw a record 80,000 participants at Museum Day. This year, depending on the weather, Mello recommended that guests plan to visit only two or three museums on Saturday so they have time for parking and possible c

It's the "Season of Love" at the California Musical Theatre as the Broadway Musical Rent: The Broadway Tour comes to Sacramento. The musical follows a group of young artists who live in New York's East Village during the 1990s. Rent is a passionate story of friendship and love that challenges many tough subjects like AIDS, poverty, homophobia and drug addiction. Rent is a modern take on the opera La bohème, which was written by Giacomo Puccini in 1896. The show is the eighth-longest running on Broadway. Its success has been recognized multiple times, having received Tony Awards for Best Music, Best Score and Best Book, as well as Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996.   The musical is maki

Trust and betrayal took the stage Friday with the opening of "Fiction" at the Capital Stage. The play by Steven Dietz, follows a dramatic love triangle that took the audience on a trip through the characters pasts. "Fiction" is about married writers Linda and Michael and how their lives were not what they seemed. Linda finds out she is dying and at her request, is allowed to read her husband's journals since he will read hers once she is gone. From there, the plot twists and turns, and as it moves between the past and the present their diaries reveal bits and pieces of their lives. The play keeps the audience guessing, unfolding the truth with each scene. I was expecting a more serious

Mason's New American Restaurant, the high dining that gave Downtown Sacramento a "big city" feel, will be closing its doors Feb. 15 to renovate and reopen as Cafeteria 15L. Co-owner of Mason's, Mason Wong, said that Cafeteria 15L will feature American comfort cuisine, what he sees as the next big trend in the food industry. Public relations manager Jennifer Bulotti said Wong has watched the development of the comfort food trend as it has grown in cities like San Francisco, New York, Portland and many others. "He’s seen this as a trend that appeals to a lot of people, and the draw toward comfort food dining is working in other similar cities," Bulotti said. The decision to transform Mas

Capital Stage is testing the boundaries of trust and suspicion in its new provocative drama "Fiction" by Steven Dietz. The theater's description of the play tells of two married writers, Michael and Linda, who decide to read each others' diaries and find that their relationship is not as open as it seems.As a woman emerges from the pages, the realization that trust and betrayal both exist begins to change the way they understand the past and the present. Production designer Jonathan Williams describes the twists and turns of "Fiction" best with a line from the play: "The lies begin when we lift the pen." Dietz has written over 20 original plays since the 80's, many of which revolve arou

Get ready to tap your toes and remember the past. The Cosmopolitan Cabaret is celebrating Ol' Blue Eyes with My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra. The show will follow Sinatra's music from his swinging beginning in the 1940's, through the 1990's, bringing jazz, big band and swing to life. It will feature such Sinatra songs as "New York, New York," "Fly Me to the Moon," "Strangers in the Night," "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "My Way." My Way was co-created by David Grapes and Todd Olson, who are responsible for four musical revues, including ones about Johnny Mercer’s American Songbook and Tony Bennett. Their musical tributes have played in over 200 theaters worldwide. Chris McS

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed to the world, "I have a dream...” His speech was given at the Lincoln Memorial after a quarter million people concluded the March on Washington, which became the largest demonstration for human rights of its time. Martin Luther King, a reverend, scholar and civil rights activist, practiced non-violence and civil disobedience to help change the existence of racial inequalities. During his life he was recognized by being the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, at age 35, but is predominantly known for his leadership in demonstrations and non-violent protests that challenge racial segregation and racial discriminatio

As the holidays come to a close, so does the Midtown Ice Skating Rink. Having opened on Nov. 20, Its last day will be Jan. 18. The placement of the ice skating rink was new this year, having moved from St. Rose of Lima Park at Seventh and K streets because of the park's recent renovations. This new location had some businesses worried about how it would affect them since the rink's placement closed down 20th Street between J and K and added strain on parking. Though the new location added a little more traffic congestion, the location has proven to be an overall success. Aja Uranga-Foster from the Midtown Business Association reports that the popularity of the rink has exceeded their ex