Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) isn’t going anywhere, just moving to a new location. The Hart Senior Center, where NAG has been meeting regularly, began charging an hourly fee of $50 to rent rooms after 5 p.m. which caused some NAG members to wonder if this would be their last meeting altogether. “NAG is not a city group, they enjoy their independence. They do, however, like the city to work with them,” said Derrick Lim, manager of the city’s Neighborhood Services Department and special events. “The items and agenda is all decided by NAG, they take their own positions.” Monday’s meeting was held at the Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St., and the Aug. 15 meeting will be held there, too,

Loose-in-the-street green waste pickup may become more expensive for residents, according to comments made by City Council members Tuesday night. During a discussion of green waste at Tuesday’s council meeting, the council asked city staff to prepare detailed plans for raising the rates on loose-in-the-street pickup and reducing the level of pickup service from weekly to biweekly. Council members did not make any final decisions on the issue. Gerald Celestine, a founding member of Friends of Fremont Park, said Wednesday that he thinks loose-in-the-street pickup works better than container pickup for Central City residents. “We have more trees,” he said. “We have much more green waste.”

Sacramento starts 2011 with a new governor and many projects in the works. With the new year comes the opportunity for a fresh start, and many make New Year's resolutions to avoid past mistakes or better themselves in some way. We asked Sacramentans to share their resolutions with us. If you have one you'd like to share, add it to the comment thread below.  Janet Whalen Zeller, founder and co-director of Soil Born Farms: "To remember, moment by moment, that the life I want to live is the life I am creating now. To create positive change in our community by participating in the creation of a local food system that makes healthy food accessible to all."   Gerald Celestine, (pictured rig

The agenda for September's meeting of the Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) follows. Lt. Mike Bray hopes to have some updates from the police department on the Second Saturday shootings. Food banks have become a survival resource in todays economic climate. Many city park swiming pools have closed or are slated for closing.  Some Area 1 neighborhoods have managed to keep their pools open. We will hear what their stragities were to achieve this.  Measure B is a controversial ballot measure that could have longterm consequences on how the city utilities department operates and the delivery of services to city residents. Each month's NAG agenda is put together by residents of the

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn is predicting deep budget cuts to local parks this year in light of the city’s $35 million-$40 million budget gap for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. Cohn’s worries about new cuts come after the city cut the Parks and Recreation Department by $8.3 million last year. “I fear that the cutbacks in parks will actually be more severe this year,” Cohn told a handful of neighborhood leaders gathered at Hart Senior Center Monday night. Cohn, who presented information about his district at the Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting, said the city may look for ways to work with neighborhoods and the business community to maintain the parks. “As we all know, most of