What would you ask if you had 10 minutes of face-to-face time with a local business icon? Members of Metro EDGE, a program of the Sacramento Metro Chamber for 40 and under young professionals, are pondering that question as they prepare for next week’s 2012 Executive Insight event. On Thursday, August 9, Metro EDGE members will gather along with 11 of the region’s most successful businesspeople for some quality time and intimate questions. “The idea is to give our members the chance to ask those who’ve succeeded just what advice they might have for someone starting out or in mid-career,” said Jennifer Tencati, 2012 Metro EDGE Professional Development Committee Chair. “It’s a great oppor

Tuesday, June 19, at the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting, six arts organizations and artists were award recipients in the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission’s District Awards Program – a program in which Sacramento City Council members and Sacramento County supervisors honor and recognize artists’ and organizations’ contributions to the arts. SMAC Executive Director Rhyena Halpern introduced the six award recipients, including the Sacramento Opera Company and poet JoAnn Anglin, both who had also been recognized by the Sacramento City Council on May 29. Highlights of the ceremony included a brief dance performance by Vince Horiuchi and a poetry reading by JoAnn Anglin,

Sacramento County elected officials approved a budget Thursday that could result in more than 200 employee layoffs, according to county budget officer Tom Burkart. These layoffs for the 2011/2012 fiscal year are in addition to the 1,299 layoffs the county has made since the 2008/2009 fiscal year, said county spokeswoman Chris Andis. She added that 1,299 people were actually laid off as opposed to job positions being cut. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors balanced its budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year on Thursday afternoon, closing out a $90 million shortfall. The county has a general fund of $1.9 billion and a total budget of roughly $3.5 billion. The approved budget is a f

The proposed budget Sacramento County released Friday calls for major cuts to close a $90 million gap. At least 320 employee positions are proposed for cuts. It’s unclear how many of these position cuts may translate to layoffs. Interim County Executive Officer Steven Szalay’s proposed budget serves as a series of suggestions to the Board of Supervisors, which will hold votes and make decisions on the budget. “Approval of this recommended budget, with unavoidable reductions, is an important step to continue recovery from our fiscal crisis and will improve the budget picture for next year and beyond,” Szalay wrote in a document dated for the Board of Supervisors’ June 6 budget hearing.

Gay leaders in Sacramento are organizing an effort for their community to be considered in the city’s redistricting process.  The gay community has formed a redistricting committee through the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce’s foundation.  Rosanna Herber, chair of the new committee, said the center of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is in Midtown and downtown. “We would like to see those areas in one district,” Herber said. The LGBT population wants to be considered a “community of interest,” which is one of the elements the City Council will use to redesign its districts, Herber said. Steve Hansen, a member of the city’s advisory redistrictin

Phil Serna, wife Roxanna, niece and nephews Clara Rivera, Emilio Mayorga, Andres Mayorga and Ricky Rivera, applaud after he was sworn in by Sacramento attorney Tina Thomas today in the room of the Board of County Supervisors. The room was filled. Serna presented flowers to Roxanna and thanking for her support. Serna and his extended family grouped together for photos at ceremony's end. Serna beat two contenders vying for Roger Dickinson's vacant seat: Grantland Johnson and Keith Weber. For more information about Serna, CLICK HERE>>>  and  HERE>>> SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Sacramento International Airport’s Terminal B will welcome Starbuck’s, Peet’s and yes, Old Soul Co. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors announced its final decision Tuesday and Old Soul Co. co-owner Jason Griest couldn’t be happier. “We feel great about it,” he said. “We’ve had some really, really productive talks in the last two or three weeks, and we feel like it’s an honor to be part of something that’s going to be so big for Sacramento and the region. We’re really excited about it.” The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors amended its previous vote in order to accept the agreement between Old Soul Co. and SSP, a company that owns and operates food concessions at airports, w

Tuesday afternoon, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve the panel-recommended food vendors for the Sacramento International Airport’s new Terminal B. Although Old Soul Co. coffeehouse was not in the panel’s recommendations, the chain might still have a chance. SSP is a company that owns and operates franchise food and concessions at airports. The board agreed to approve SSP’s recommended “Package 1” vendors (which include Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Starbucks) under the condition that SSP staff go into talks with Old Soul and see if they can come up with some agreement in the next three weeks on whether Old Soul will be in the lineup of restaurants. The dec

If you attend the weekly Sacramento City Council meetings, you’re likely to see an activist with colorful clothing address city leaders on homeless issues. Tracie Rice-Bailey, 57, has appeared at Tuesday night council meetings so frequently in the last year that she has become a familiar face at City Hall. For more than a year, Rice-Bailey and other advocates for the homeless have lobbied council members for a legal camping ground for the area’s homeless.  Rice-Bailey is a vocal member of the advocacy group that calls itself Safe Ground Sacramento. The group wants the city to reserve a space for homeless people where the city’s camping ban would not apply. Rice-Bailey, who said she was

The Old Soul Co. coffeehouse chain isn’t on the list of recommended vendors for the Sacramento International Airport’s new Terminal B, but company owners are hurriedly gathering signatures on a petition to put before the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors at their meeting Tuesday. At that meeting, the board will make its final decision on which companies will provide food and beverage concessions at the terminal, and Old Soul Co. co-owner Tim Jordan said he hopes to be included. “This is a decade-long contract,” Jordan said. “We feel like our bid was very strong, and we’re the locally owned choice at that.” In the terminal plans, three spaces are going to be used for coffeehouses, J

Sacramento County’s budget woes are prompting county and city staffers and local groups to consider establishing a new nonprofit organization to address homelessness. A new agency could lift some of the county’s burden to manage regional homelessness efforts, according to a recently released report from the county’s Department of Human Assistance. After February 2011, DHA will not have enough funding to continue its homelessness program, according to the department’s report. The county is running low on general fund dollars for the program, said Derrick Lim, a manager with the city’s Neighborhood Services division who is working on the issue at the city level. “That’s why the situation

Expressing outrage during Monday's county budget hearings, Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness told the Board of Supervisors he did not believe public safety is its top priority. “We're dealing with this challenge that we cannot take ... (and) the public can’t take it,” McGinness said. Board members plan to wrap up work this week on a budget with a $181 million deficit. County administrators say they have found ways to restore $59 million to the budget, but that would still leave a $122 million gap. McGinness told the board that county officials are asking him to cut $37.6 million. To make those cuts, he said he would need to lay off as many as 255 deputies, including all the deput

 With megaphone in hand, Jennifer Fearing of the Humane Society of the United States led a crowd of over 50 animal lovers in chanting “No more cuts, save our pets!” Fearing facilitated the rally Monday for the Sacramento County animal shelter, who positioned themselves on the steps of the Sacramento County Administration building to raise awareness about the cuts the shelter faces. Participants dressed in red with the message of “stop the bleeding.” Amy McMullan encouraged members of her group of pit bull owners, called Sacramento Responsible Pit Bull Lovers, to come to support the shelter. The group has about 400 members, with about 15 in attendance at the rally. “Pit bulls aren’t just

Sacramento County officials plan to lay off 725 employees in response to the county’s budget hole. The Board of Supervisors will discuss the county’s $181 million gap and planned layoffs at budget hearings next week. Board members may approve the budget for the 2010/2011 fiscal year next Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, according to the county’s schedule of budget hearings. The proposed budget figures released by officials Thursday include major cuts to programs as well as the planned layoffs. Interim County Executive Steve Szalay said at a Thursday morning press conference that the proposed budget was the third consecutive county budget containing deep cuts. “This is a sad day in the hi

Thirty-three votes divide the two local politicians fighting for a state Assembly seat in the Democratic primary. Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson currently has a tiny lead of 33 votes over City Councilman Kevin McCarty in the race for the District 9 Assembly seat. Dickinson has 35.05 percent of the vote, while McCarty has 34.93 percent. With all precincts reporting, McCarty had 9,634 votes to Dickinson’s 9,667. Jill LaVine, Sacramento County’s top election official, estimated that more than 86,000 remaining ballots still need to be counted. That total is comprised of unprocessed ballots that came to the elections office before Tuesday night, vote-by-mail ballots delivered t

A United Airlines passenger jet makes a landing yesterday just to the west of the new expansion project, The Big Build,  at Sacramento International Airport. According to a press release, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded an $8.6 million Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grant to Sacramento International Airport the first week of April. It is the second installment in the seven year $59 million FAA Letter of Intent (LOI) funding program for the Big Build at Sacramento. AIP funds support construction of terminal aprons, taxiways and overnight aircraft parking for the Big Build project. “On a project as large as the Big Build, funding is a critical piece of the overall

It’s the end of December — a time for holiday celebrations, not public hearings. But the democratic process begins anew in early January, with many issues to be debated at local government meetings. The Sacramento Press has created the following schedule for residents who want to exercise their right to weigh in on public issues. Sacramento City Council: The council is not meeting Dec. 29. Its first meeting in the new year will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at City Hall, 915 I St. Sacramento County Board of Supervisors: The board’s first meeting of 2010 will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 12. A second 2 p.m. meeting will be held Jan. 12. Sacramento City Planning Commi

A highly controversial plan from county executives to shorten the work schedules of about 7,000 union-represented employees failed Tuesday when the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted it down. Instead of adopting the contentious plan, which union officials had alleged was illegal, the supervisors decided to lay off 76 employees. However, the 76 layoffs are not set in stone — the county is allowing room to lower that number through more negotiations with unions. Sacramento County, which recently faced a $76-million shortfall, approved its budget earlier this month. More than 700 county employees have been laid off since July, according to county spokesman Zeke Holst. County offi

Emergency call response times will suffer as a result of the nearly $1 million in budget cuts facing the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, according to the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff’s Association. When the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved the county's budget on Friday, it resolved a shortfall of $76 million. The county made major budget cuts to its programs and departments — including the Sheriff’s Department — and has laid off more than 700 employees since July.  The Sheriff’s Department will not face layoffs. However, the cuts will result in more vacancies for deputy positions at the department, said Kevin Mickelson, president of the Sacramento County Deputy

Severe budget cuts to Sacramento County programs and controversial layoffs for 186 employees in the Child Protective Services unit are part of the 2009/2010 fiscal year budget that was approved by the Board of Supervisors Friday. The county, which had faced an immense budget gap of $76 million, laid off 300 workers last month. The total budget the supervisors approved is $4.2 billion. Around $1.9 billion of that total is the county’s general fund. More than 700 county employees have been laid off since July. CPS has faced criticism from the county’s grand jury and MGT of America, Inc., a management consulting firm, over child fatalities. Ann Edwards-Buckley, director of the county’s Depa