New film releases – the good-bad and the ugly January can be an odd time at the movies, with some of the most varied releases showing up. On the one hand you have the serious award contenders slowly rolling out across the country, having had Christmas releases in Los Angeles and New York City in order to qualify for various competition deadlines. While on the other hand you tend to see the flotsam and jetsam of projects with low expectations and those that haven’t lived up to studio hopes for release at busier times of the year. Looking at two of this week’s new releases shows us more about the latter categories than the former. Broken City Directed by Allen Hughes On paper, a film abo

The River District continues to move forward. California Lottery moved in mid-2011, followed by a Light Rail Green Line station in June of last year. Popular food truck Krush Burger will open its first establishment on the ground floor of the California Lottery building in two weeks, and on Wednesday,Township Nine officially broke ground for its first housing unit, Cannery Place. Scott Syphax opened the groundbreaking ceremony by pointing out the the tilled earth of the mostly vacant lot which had previously been home to Bercut-Richards cannery, before it was demolished to make way for Township Nine. “Back in 1999, this place looked like the set of Robocop...at the end of the movie,” sa

Got a question for a local candidate? Now’s your chance to ask it. The Sacramento Press is participating in a candidates forum Saturday that covers several local races, and we want to know what you’d like us to ask. The event is hosted by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County and covers several local races: Citrus Heights City Council, Elk Grove mayor, Galt City Council, Rancho Cordova City Council, the Sacramento City Council candidates for districts two and four, and the Folsom City Council. The forum is co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Cable Television Commission and will air live on Metro Cable 14. The public is also welcome to attend the panel, which is going to be held a

On July 19, the United States Conference of Mayors released a report entitled “Metro Economies Report: Outlook-Gross Metropolitan Product, and Critical Role of Transportation Infrastructure.” From this snooze-worthy title, the Sacramento Bee produced an article titled “New report says Sacramento’s economy was among worst in U.S. last year.” (http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/19/4642197/new-report-says-sacramentos-economy.html ) The Bee article also includes a quote from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, second vice chair of the US Conference of Mayors: "The quality of this nation's workforce and its economic growth is directly tied to the quality of education. We must focus on ensuring our chil

The candidates in the race for mayor didn’t pull any punches at a candidate forum Saturday at the County Administration Building, despite Mayor Kevin Johnson’s notable absence. Leonard Padilla, Jonathan Rewers and write-in candidate Edgar Hilbert-Garcia took the stage Saturday to answer questions from a panel of political media experts, including Foon Rhee and Pia Lopez from The Sacramento Bee, and Cosmo Garvin from the Sacramento News & Review. Johnson’s campaign manager told media in numerous interviews leading up to the forum that Johnson would not attend because the mayor faces “no viable candidates” in the race. Padilla dismissed the comment as “ridiculous,” while Rewers suggested

The candidates from all of the City Council district races, the mayoral race and two Board of Supervisors races will face off Saturday at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters. One notable exception: Mayor Kevin Johnson is not scheduled to appear. According to Johnson’s campaign manager, Steve Maviglio, Johnson has “no need” to attend. “Given the large number of events the mayor has attended over the past year, and since none of his opponents are waging a real campaign against him, he chose not to participate in this event,” Maviglio said Friday. The news of Johnson’s planned absence came as no surprise to mayoral candidate Jonathan Rewers. “He’s not even campaigning,” Rewers s

If you could ask the candidates for City Council anything – what would you want to know? The race for City Council District 4 immediately caught fire when incumbent Rob Fong announced he wasn’t running for re-election, and now seven candidates are vying for the seat. Some of the questions the candidates will likely face include, who gets dibs on neighborhood parking – businesses or residents? Where should much-needed bridges go – at Broadway, or Richards Boulevard? And what about The Claw? Can our tree-lined streets survive only three months of city pickup service? In the mayoral race, three challengers stepped up to face incumbent Kevin Johnson, and all four will likely hear questions

Edgar Garcia has decided – again – to join the race for mayor, but this time he will campaign as a write-in candidate. Garcia, a tax preparer in Oak Park, returned to the city clerk’s office Wednesday morning to complete paperwork for a write-in candidacy for mayor in the June 5 primary election. He originally jumped into the race in November, but the momentum was short-lived: Just six weeks later, reports were surfacing in the media that he was dropping out of the race. When the March 9 filing deadline passed, the city clerk’s office reported that Garcia had in fact submitted all of the required paperwork to remain in the race, but his candidate petition fell short of the required 20 v

Self-described “world-famous” Sacramento bounty hunter Leonard Padilla is making his fifth bid for mayor – and this time he intends to win. Padilla, 72, said Wednesday that the decision to run for mayor has always been an easy one for him to make because running for political office brings a valuable opportunity to candidates. “You have things that you want to say publicly, and the mayor’s race gives you that ability,” Padilla said. “It gets you out there to where you keep up with what’s happening in the city, and you are forced to learn about sewer rates, water rates, garbage and the budget. It forces you into a situation where you have to just learn.” The key difference for Padilla in

Municipal finance manager Jonathan Rewers said he has what it takes to be an effective mayor for the city of Sacramento – and he’s running in the June race for the seat to prove it. “I believe I am the most qualified to be the mayor,” Rewers said Friday. “My 13 years in city government, experience working with all neighborhoods, education and background make me the best person for the job.” Rewers, 33, said his qualifications for the position include working with the city Parks and Recreation department, experience in resource management and delivering projects that stay within scope, schedule and budget. “It’s all about maximizing our resources in the best ways we can,” Rewers said. A

Part of gearing up for elections is knowing what to expect – and when. Here is a quick overview of important dates and details leading up to the Sacramento City Council elections in June. Who’s running? For 2012, the races are for council districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 and mayor. All people interested in running for office in districts 6 and 8 have until Thursday Friday to turn in their candidacy forms to the city clerk’s office. The city clerk's business hours are Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and closed Fridays. Candidates for districts 2 and 4 have until March 14 to turn in their forms because the incumbents for those districts – Sandy Sheedy for District 2 and Rob Fong for Distr

The March 6 City Council meeting was the place where the possible future of Sacramento's downtown was to be decided. The vote on the current proposal to move forward with plans for an Entertainment and Sports Complex could have historic implications.  After hours of discussion by the public and members of the City Council, and with the roll call vote standing at 6-2 in favor of proceeding with the plan, it was Mayor Kevin Johnson's turn to voice his vote. As he added a resounding "yess!", his emotions of the past year, the agony and the ecstacy of the lows and highs, were on display. While the tv cameras covered the crowd reaction, I was unable to turn away from the man who many believe i

It takes money to run a campaign, and every candidate will be on the hunt for contributions this season – but there are rules to follow for both candidates and donors, and limits to how much donors can give. For city elections, the city code specifies two types of campaign donors: “individual” and “large political committee.” There are two significant differences between the two categories, the first being that “individual” is more than what it sounds like – a single person. According to the city code, it can also be a labor union, company, committee, corporation, firm or partnership, among other things. A “large political committee” is defined by the city code as a political committee

Mayor Kevin Johnson and NBA Commissioner David Stern released a joint statement today outlining an updated timeline for finalizing terms of a new arena deal for Sacramento. According to the release, the city of Sacramento and the NBA are continuing “constructive discussions” on the details of a financing plan for a new entertainment and sports complex. Johnson said at his weekly press conference Tuesday that details of a completed financing term sheet were expected to be available to the public by Thursday, in advance of a Feb. 28 City Council discussion and vote on the plan. Wednesday’s press release, however, offers an adjusted timeline in an effort to “ensure adequate time for public

Marriage rights activists will deliver a petition asking Mayor Kevin Johnson to join other mayors in support of same-sex marriage Tuesday morning at City Hall in a move they said they hope will cause him to consider endorsing Mayors for the Freedom to Marry. “We’re not trying to force anybody’s hand or be aggressive in any way,” said Neil Pople, communications director for the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento and author of the petition. It has more than 300 signatures and is posted here. “We want to positively encourage the mayor and let him know that there are people who want this to happen.” Last week’s ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals against Proposition 8 –

The City Council selected a new vice mayor Thursday: City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby will be running the show this year when the mayor is unavailable. City Councilman Steve Cohn nominated Ashby for vice mayor, saying it has been the council’s tradition to have the most senior council member who has not already served as vice mayor hold the position. Ashby was elected to the District 1 council seat in 2010. She has just one week seniority over Councilman Jay Schenirer. “There are more good reasons to nominate her than just tradition,” Cohn added. “She always smiles, and she’ll do a good job of running the meetings.” Ashby said she’s honored to hold the vice mayor’s seat, regardless of

Mayor Kevin Johnson’s 2011 New Year’s resolutions included bringing labor and business together, keeping the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento and – as Johnson sees it – his final scorecard tallies seven successes, one fail and two goals “still in progress.” In a blog post from Dec. 31, Johnson listed 10 resolutions for 2011. At a press conference Tuesday, Johnson tallied up his successes and his not-quites: 1. Bring business and labor together to create jobs and grow the economy – Johnson said his commitment to “work with business and labor to improve the economy” was realized in 2011 in the way that representatives from both sides were “front and center” in teams working on developing a n

With four council districts and the mayor’s seat up for grabs in 2012, the upcoming elections may bring new faces to City Council and – potentially – significant changes to the way Sacramento’s government operates. Although there is still time for new candidates to emerge, here’s a look at the election landscape for Sacramento, so far. When Mayor Kevin Johnson announced in September that he is running for reelection, he had no opponents and enjoyed the endorsement of both Region Builders – a building industry coalition – and the Sac Metro Chamber political action committee. In November, local tax preparer and community activist Edgar Hilbert announced his candidacy for mayor and a desir

Additional efforts will be made by the Sacramento Police Department and Sacramento Sheriff's Department to prevent youth involvement in gangs by promoting interactions between police officers and the youth. The mayor is calling this approach a paradigm shift, and it will be part of Sacramento's first comprehensive plan for gang prevention, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Club on Lemon Hill Avenue. The emphasis of the program will be heavy on prevention and intervention instead of just enforcement and incarceration, according to the mayor. Johnson said the program will focus on school literacy enrichment, strengthening the relationship between the Sacramento com

Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Tuesday that with the NBA lockout over – and the Sacramento Kings resuming their season – more than 700 workers at the Power Balance Pavilion will be able to return to their jobs. “We are excited. With the lockout ended you will see people returning to work,” Johnson said. Since the lockout began, Power Balance Pavilion employees have lost a significant amount of work, and businesses that rely on the traffic that NBA games bring in have suffered financially. With the four-plus month lockout and all pre-season games cancelled and a shortened season ahead, employees have missed out on a substantial amount of work. On Del Paso Boulevard, businesses have repor