Maintenance work began Wednesday on Union Pacific railroad tracks in the Downtown Sacramento railyards, while ongoing upgrades continue at the historic Sacramento Valley Station. Union Pacific has started rail maintenance work on existing tracks. Rail cars that are part of a track replacement train known as the TRT 909 are pulling up the rail and replacing railroad ties underneath, said Aaron Hunt, public relations director for Union Pacific. "We have track improvement projects going on throughout the state currently," he said. The work is not part of the $60 million Downtown track relocation project, said Richard Rich, development director of Thomas Enterprises' Railyards project. The

Amarin Thai Cuisine, one of Sacramento's earliest Thai restaurants, has gone dark after the owners closed last week. On Jan. 19, the family-run restaurant shut its doors at the corner of I and 12th streets, just a few blocks from government buildings housing thousands of state, city, county and federal employees. Downtown workers made up the bulk of Amarin's customers during weekday lunches. "That was our favorite," said downtown resident Gloria Burt, an art show curator for Sacramento's Central Library. "The food was really, really good. We're unhappy it's gone." Like many other businesses in the central city, Amarin was hurt by the recession and state employee furloughs. But a loss of

The sun finally won over the clouds for a bit, creating a nice visual from Old Sacramento this evening.   Looking east from Richards Blvd shows sunlight hitting downtown's skyscrapers. SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

The ongoing drama over a new Sacramento arena was kicked up a notch Thursday when a consortium of investors and local developers, together with the NBA, proposed a complex real estate deal involving the Railyards, Cal Expo and Arco Arena. Whether or not that deal eclipses all the other proposals on the table remains to be seen. But regardless of which arena proposal ultimately becomes reality, it will be a game-changer for Sacramento. Just how much depends on which of seven proposals the city and the Sacramento Kings' owners agree on. The Maloof/NBA proposal involves real estate deals that would lead to Cal Expo being sold to private developers for a mixed-use neighborhood, Arco Arena an

The final demolition of a former Sacramento police building has been halted again while concerns over an adjacent power station are worked out. Advantage Demolition was preparing to demonstrate Monday how the last two exterior walls could be pulled down safely next to transformers at a historic power station, now known as SMUD Station A, at Sixth and H streets. The station, whose origins date to 1895, supplies power to up to 40 percent of downtown Sacramento, said Sacramento Municipal Utility District spokesperson Dace Udris. Demolition of the building at Seventh and H streets began several months ago to make way for a 160-unit affordable housing project being built by the Sacramento Hou

The holiday season has arrived – whether you’re ready or not. Brave the cold weather this weekend and get into the holiday spirit. As an added bonus the City of Sacramento is offering free parking at meters Downtown (I through L streets and Front to 29th streets) after 4:30 pm on weekdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. This weekend’s events kick off on Thursday with the State Capitol’s annual tree lighting at 5:30 pm. If it’s lights you love, check out the 700 block of K Street across from the Carnival at St. Rose painted with thousands of LED lights. As a grand finale, experience the Theatre of Lights show in Old Sacramento. The free show illuminates the district Thursday through

If these walls could talk, Old Ironsides would have a lot to say after seven decades and lots of intrigue.  Papa Bill Bordisso opened the building downtown in 1934, just after Prohibition ended.  "My father said you could at one time see all the way down to the river. It was just completely open space," said owner Billee Jean Bordisso Kanelos, Papa's daughter. A celebration marking 75 years for Old Ironsides happens all this month.  Each week, Ironsides will feature drink and lunch specials from a particular decade, Kanelos said. "Back in the '40s, there was a popular special called the half and half," Kanelos said. "That is basically half spaghetti and half ravioli.  We can't keep the

Monday evening transported me back to high school Spanish class. At La Raza Galeria Posada, I watched a non-subtitled, and non-dubbed Mexican film for the first time in years. The plot and dialogue were easy enough to follow so I didn't feel completely lost, and the 1970s outfits the women wore also kept me thoroughly entertained (leopard bell bottom pants while walking through the desert, really?) "Anónimo Mortal," features El Santo, or "the Saint," played by Rodolfo Huerta, who wears his emblematic silver mask in the wrestling ring and as he goes about life, or in this film, as he helps to solve a murder mystery.  El Santo is one of Mexico's iconic figures that many Mexican citizens i

Wine and eclectic beats never sounded so good. Design Within Reach, a trendy art furniture studio Downtown, came alive Wednesday evening, providing a popular hot spot for the first ever Wine and Beats event, created and hosted by Rai-Mon Nemar. Nemar, founder of LEGENDmag and budding sommelier, has a contagious passion for both wine and music. Nemar said he noticed subtle changes to the characteristics of wine while listening to albums. "I was writing an article one day reviewing an album, sipping on wine," he said. "By the time I completed the article I thought, 'All I need in life is wine and beats.' So I started comparing bottles of wine to certain albums and was amazed at some of the

As a Sacramento resident keenly interested in the history of K Street from the gold rush to the present, I have read many opinions regarding the best ways to fix the ongoing problems of K Street. Some have been proposed recently, ideas that I view with a mixture of amusement and horror. Most involve returning to the mistakes of the past while clearly avoiding its successes. In order to take the best from the past while avoiding some of its mistakes, I have selected some favorites. I can take credit for none of them, as they are all ideas that have been suggested at other times and places, but they seem like the best of the lot to me. This ten-point plan varies in scope from the very simple

The Naked Lounge is ready to turn it up a notch. On Oct. 15 at their Downtown location on the corner of H and 11th streets, the coffee shop will roll-up their garage doors for an all ages music venue.   "We opened this coffee house in February," said Jenn Fox, General Manager.  "We never wanted music inside the coffeehouse, we focus just on coffee. But then we got to thinking ... it's already next door, it's a great space, let's do a venue."  Over the next few months, the Naked Lounge music venue quickly started to form. The rented space, known as "Retrolodge," is aptly named after the Astro and Elroy motels. The style for both motels was modeled after the 1950s and 60s Palm Springs loo

 In front of a full-length mirror, a woman twirled around in her white satin ballgown with an excited grin on her face.  Delighted squeals and laughter reverberated throughout the building as women perused the colorful assortment of ballgowns organized on dress racks.  "I love that he is taking pictures of me,  — I feel like a model!" Kim Wesley said as she struck a pose for a photographer.  Tosh Olive, a volunteer and professional seamstress, offered dress adjustments, while volunteers advised on accessories and shoe choices. Wesley, alongside other former homeless women, will take part in the eighth annual Women's Empowerment Gala on Oct. 1st.  Of the 500 people who will attend the gal

Sacramento’s Central Library recently removed the benches along the library’s I Street sidewalk. Don Tucker, director of facilities for the Sacramento Public Library, has cited a 2007 survey that showed only 7 percent of the people using the benches were library customers. The benches had been used frequently by homeless people. The Sacramento Press requested and obtained the survey, which was administered by a Sacramento Police Department officer. The “Library Bench Project” survey created categories of “legitimate bench users” and “total bench users.” People who were reading or leaving the library were defined as “legitimate users.” Read the survey here. The police officer monitored t

If you go to Sacramento’s Central Library, you’ll see that the I Street sidewalk looks empty. That’s because all the benches are gone. A library official said the benches were removed in part because they were obstructing the area for disabled patrons. But an advocate for the city’s homeless population disagrees, and thinks the benches were removed because homeless people used them for resting. All the benches -- there were more than 15 -- were taken away from the library’s sidewalk, according to Don Tucker, director of facilities for the Sacramento Public Library. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department will refinish the old benches and place them in various locations in Sacramento,

Tony Pineea and his four sons got a big shock when a deer landed in their windshield. Tony Pineea was traveling North on Highway 160 out of downtown Sacramento Tuesday morning with his four sons when a deer emerged from the light rail area adjacent to the highway and jumped in front of their pickup truck at the Del Paso exit. The deer hit so hard in the windshield area that the windshield broke through and collapsed in. The driver only sustained very minor injuries and refused transport to the hospital. Per Pineea, his sons were seatbelted and uninjured. The deer did attempt to run off, however it was too severely injured. An on scene CHP officer had to euthanize the deer on site to end

Despite resident complaints from previous festivals, last-minute scrambling for permits, and tow-away zones on almost every residential street surrounding, Midfest 2009 turned out to be a success. The free two-day festival, held at Midtown’s Marshall Park, was a collision of art, food and entertainment and offered entertainment for all ages. “[Midfest] was held in a great location and wasn’t too crowded. I really like that it went on the whole weekend and there were so many different types of entertainment for everyone,” said Nikki Carlson, a stylist from Land Park’s Artisan Salon who attended Midfest. The festival was sponsored by the Midtown Business Association, who manned many of th

Just months after Mayor Kevin Johnson clears out "tent city", Sacramento's homeless are back in the area setting up camp. Just south of what was formerly known as "tent city", Sac Firefighters were called to a grass fire behind Downtown Ford, and off of 18th Street and Brier Rd. at approximately 9:20 p.m. Down an embankment between the bike path and Downtown Ford, some homeless had set up camp. Sources say that there was an altercation and the area was purposely set on fire. Sac City Firefighters contained the fire to the immediate area with approximately two to three acres involved. Per Capt. Jim Doucette, SacFire, Paramedics transported one victim of the altercation to the hospital wi

David Putnam of Auburn and Robbie MacDonald of Half Moon Bay get together frequently to play bluegrass, which they do as Tenbrooks. But in today's warming sunshine, they met up half way or so, in Sacramento's Cesar Chavez Plaza. As Putnam says, "We met up here because this is the place to be!"