Yelp Sacramento is hosting a celebration highlighting the large variety of small businesses that call East Sacramento their home. Lasting from May 12th through May 19th, ‘Passport to East Sacramento’ offers several discounts and giveaways sponsored by local businesses. The week-long event is free to attend, but guests must RSVP to the nighttime events through Yelp’s event site. Evening events are specially designed for the 21+ crowd and include free food and wine tasting. The following events are still available for RSVP. Wednesday, May 15th, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary will host a parking lot soiree, featuring endless complimentary beers, free wine tastings, music, a

The Fab '40s in East Sac, the streets from 40th through 49th, are spectacular to view, holidays or not. And are they ever great when dressed for Christmas! Here's part one of some shots taken Friday night. It was busy, busy, busy with people walking and driving the streets, visiting and taking pictures: Please stay tuned for Part 2 in the near future. In the meantime, get out and see the lights......guaranteed to get you in the holiday spirit!

A series of bangs echoed throughout the College Greens neighborhood at around 2:45 p.m. Saturday as a police SWAT team swarmed into the Jack in the Box on Folsom Boulevard where a man was holding a woman hostage. The suspect was shot by a police sniper and transported to a hospital. His one remaining female hostage escaped unharmed. Earlier, another woman had also escaped. Police said the incident began at 12:30 p.m. as a robbery of the restaurant at 8349 Folsom Blvd. in the College Greens Shopping Center. When officers arrived shortly after, a standoff ensued. The SWAT team, a hostage negotiation team and dozens of patrol cars surrounded the building. "We tried for several hours for thi

Design is key in expressing ones view and style, not only when constructing a building or landmark, but in floral design as well. Twigs Floral Design Gallery combines the two most important aspects of floral design; the skilled architect and quality materials. Located at 3250 J Street next to the Club Raven, Twigs Floral Design Gallery is one of the only flower shops in the Sacramento area offering these aspects of service. Equipped with knowledgeable and experienced staff, while using the best flora and arrangement greenery, Twigs Floral Design creates unique and quality pieces for both home and business settings. Weddings, funerals, parties and other social events are catered too along

Saturday the 27th of October saw 20 BBQ pit masters and several hundred people invade East Sacramento to enjoy BBQ ribs, libations, great company, and music. Proceeds from ticket sales, raffle tickets, and a silent auction benefitted the Albie aware Breast Cancer Foundation. The 4th annual Albie Ribbin’ BBQ cook-off was held at the Hilltop Tavern in East Sacramento. Music was provided by the Sacramento party band the Q-Balls, and a plate of ribs, cole slaw, beans, and French toast was cooked up by Pork it Up Gourmet BBQ.     Each team was instructed to cook St. Louis style ribs in the morning and present them to a team of judges for scoring.   After the formal judging some teams t

-- Press Release from the City of Sacramento Office of Media & Communications -- Councilmember Steve Cohn has already received an outpouring of support in response to a suspected arson fire at the McKinley Village playground. The fire destroyed about one-third of the play area early Saturday morning. The donations range from a total of $10,000 coming from State Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Councilmember Cohn’s Pops in the Park fund, to a 7-year-old girl who delivered lemon-aide stand money to the Councilmember in her piggy bank. “I have been touched by the outpouring of community support. My initial reaction to the fire was one of anger, giving way to sadness, giving way to a st

Rachel Sprinkle-Strong might just have the perfect name for her bicycle-based ice cream business, Popcycle Creamery. The 44-year-old Sacramentan recently bought a bicycle from a specialty shop in Portland, which has a freezer mounted on the front, which can hold enough of her artisinal ice cream to fit in more than 200 push-pop containers, and she’s already been hitting local events. “I’m really going for pushing the envelope with the flavors,” she said. Flavors include basil with honey and pine nuts, goat cheese and cherry, lavender honey, strawberry balsamic and lemon verbena. “I try to use seasonal ingredients locally sourced whenever possible,” she said, adding that she uses mint f

Two articles were recently published in the Sacramento Bee about East Sacramento and Oak Park.  They deserve continued attention not only because of what they said about East Sacramento and Oak Park, but also because of what they did not say.  Don't get me wrong, both articles were well written and contained important information about health, community, and change.  I encourage everyone to read them regardless of their location.   The first article, "The have and the have-nots of health on display in East Sacramento, Oak Park" was published in The Sacramento Bee on April 20th, 2012 by Grace Rubenstein.  This article pointed out the dramatic difference in the quality of life experienced b

My head was in the clouds as I took a Midtown/East Sac/Downtown road trip just to see what was going on. Lots of construction, road and otherwise. My brain finally noticed - clouds in the sky. I thought to myself "I'll bet I can find reflections of those white puffy things on buildings." I did. After spending time downtown I headed to Midtown and East Sac. No tall buildings but a few front yards' color displays were attractive. Here's some sights:      

Caverna Fifty-Seven, a new business offering climate-controlled wine storage, is set to open next month at 836 57th St. in East Sacramento. Originally a coal and wood supplier in the 1940s, the property was later a house, and last October, the upstairs was opened as executive offices. “The wine locker area is just finishing up,” said Faith Lane, manager of operations and client services for Caverna Fifty-Seven. “It’s been a project of about two years, and I think the attention to detail is really paying off.” Those details include an arched entryway dominated by stonework, a faux arched wooden doorway as an accent and a fountain designed to lend ambiance to the outdoor patio, which incl

Temple Coffee, popular in both downtown and Midtown, is opening a new location in East Sacramento near Loehmann’s Plaza Monday. “It’s in a great corner spot,” said owner Sean Kohmescher on Thursday. “It’s got a huge outdoor patio, and it’s a great neighborhood over here.” The approximately 1,000-square-foot space was previously Cafe La Boca, and Kohmescher said when the opportunity came up to move into the space early last month, it seemed like a good fit. “We’re just happy to be in the neighborhood and have great coffee,” he said. “We’re going to be doing similar things to what we’ve done at our other locations.” Temple Coffee opened in the old Levinson’s Books building on 10th Street

The popular Mad Cat Bicycles moved from Town & Country Village to a bigger location in East Sacramento Feb. 1, and owner Mike Upchurch said the extra space will allow for more inventory and a space for cyclists to gather and talk bikes. “This space popped up, and we hadn’t really thought about the area – there’s quite a few bike shops in Midtown and downtown – but looking at the corridor through here, I thought that it would be a good spot,” the 40-year-old Upchurch said. The 4,800-square-foot-shop, located at 3257 Folsom Blvd., is geared toward the racing community, but Upchurch said it is a full family bicycle shop, with a selection of bicycles that aren’t primarily for racing in addit

East Sacramento’s month-old Juno’s Kitchen & Delicatessen focuses on serving sustainable food out of a small space with a name inspired by a unique dog. “Juno is a very unusual dog,” owner Mark Helms said of the pit bull/bull terrier mix. “She likes to swim underwater; she likes to carry around sticks that are like twice her weight. She’s an extreme athlete.” Helms and his wife, Susan Vasques, opened Juno’s, located at 3617 J St., at the end of October, mere months after selling their restaurant in The Pocket, Ravenous Cafe. They sold the upscale American-style restaurant to be closer to home, Helms said. “I always wanted to have a place where bread was kind of the focus,” Helms said,

For the 37th year, homeowners in the “Fabulous Forties” neighborhood in East Sacramento have opened their homes for the Sacred Heart Holiday Home Tour. The annual event, which benefits the Sacred Heart Parish School, is a singular opportunity for the public to tour some of the most gorgeous homes in the city and view the efforts of a small army of professional decorators, florists, artists, and garden designers.  Each home has a principal designer who brings together a holiday masterpiece incorporating the history and architectural features of the property and the individual style and taste of the homeowners.  Said Margo Reid Brown, whose lovely home was opened for the tour: “This is such

After seven years on Folsom Boulevard in East Sacramento, The French Hen will be shutting its doors. In an e-mail message sent to patrons, Owner Nicole Turner said that her lease is up at the end of the year, and she is moving out her wares. She also wrote that all items – with the exception of consignment items – will be priced at 25- to 50-percent off. The store is located at 3200 Folsom Blvd. Turner’s statement in full: I wanted to let everyone know that I have decided to close The French Hen. It has been an amazing seven years. I have enjoyed being able to explore my creative side and I hope I have been an inspiration. I am going to miss seeing all of the friends I have made but I

If you think a cupcake is a special treat – and that a business selling them might be considered a luxury in tight times – you’d be wrong. Individual cupcake prices at Icing on the Cupcake, 1121 Alhambra Blvd., range from $2.75 to $3, and co-owner Christee Owens characterized them as being “small indulgences that make people smile.” According to Area Manager Kristina Johnson, the store – which has been open for two weeks – has already garnered a loyal following. “We have every-day customers,” she said. “It makes you feel good to see them coming in each day.” The new location is the third one for the chain, which was founded three years ago in Rocklin. Cupcakes are baked fresh each day

The unfinished side of a new sign showing that Incredible Pets is open gets installed at the chain's newest location in East Sac. The pet store offers products for dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, and small mammals, a wide selection of healthy tropical fish, birds reptiles and small mammals as well as live and frozen fish food, many varieties of live worms, and three sizes of crickets. They participate in fundraising efforts for local schools and animal welfare organizations such as animal adoption agencies and breed rescue groups. Anesthesia-free teeth vleaning is be done at the Carmichael and Auburn stores once a month. Low cost vaccination and microchipping clinics will be done at sev

            SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Sacramento's Italian community is known to produce gourmet food, but there's much more to the community than Biba, Sofia's and Hot Italian. With this weekend's Festa Italian opening Saturday and running through Sunday at The Croatian Culture Center, we take a look back at the role Italian immigrants and their descendants played in Sacramento's history. Italian Americans have a long history in the Sacramento area. Agriculture and food processing are just some of the many successes of Italian Americans who settled in the area in the early 1850s, but their successes are hardly limited to that. Early Italian Americans Many of the earliest Gold Rush settlers who migrated in the "Mother Lode

                                                                                                        This old Dodge truck is like the one used in 1922 when Rex Moore Electrical Contractors did business out of their basement at 616 San Antonio Way in East Sac. The business is now owned/operated by David Moore (grandson) and Brock Littlejohn.                                                                             Kadea Metara and Merlin Ghostwoof, an 11-1/2 year old Siberian Husky made a grand appearance (left) as did Diane Tempest and Hudson on wheels.                                                                   Twins Talullah and Matilda McKinzie waved their flags as the