SacPress on Insight: Chickens, redistricting and fish bowls

2011-08-31T01:17:31Z

I filled in for David Watts Barton Tuesday morning for the weekly segment of The Sacramento Press on Capital Public Radio's “Insight,” and Jeffrey Callison and I talked about chicken keeping, a record-setting City Council meeting on redistricting and a few fun additions to the central city – including a restaurant that serves drinks in fish bowls.

The Sacramento City Council may pass an ordinance at its meeting Tuesday night that will allow residents to keep up to three egg-laying chickens in their backyards – as long as the chickens are enclosed and the enclosure is 20 feet away from the neighbors’ homes.

Residents would need to apply for a permit and pay to renew it each year. There is a $15 fee per household and $10 fee per chicken.

The Department of Animal Care Services will be responsible for enforcing the ordinance, however, the department won’t get involved unless neighbors make complaints.

The Maydestone Building renovation is set to be completed in mid-September after roughly a year of construction.

The D&S Development, Inc., project cost $7 million, and tenants are expected to start renting Oct. 1.

The four-story building houses 32 units, with spaces varying in size from 300 - 700 square feet and rents between $700 and $1500.

Some of the original features of the building were kept intact, including the original windows that use a rope-and-pulley system and restored pull-out beds and dressers. New features include solar-powered water heaters and energy-efficient heating and air conditioning units.

The two-year taxi moratorium in Sacramento – that was enacted Aug. 4 – has caused a lot of stir among commenters on The Sacramento Press.

We decided to look into it further and find out why the city staff proposed a moratorium – where no new taxi permits will be issued – in the first place.

The city was receiving complaints from both cab drivers and businesses that there were too many taxis in Sacramento so city staff decided to study the industry.

There are currently more than 500 taxis in the city of Sacramento – a number that has grown 66 percent since 2004, while the population has grown 8 percent during that time.

City staff will study similar-sized cities to see how Sacramento compares and see how problems like traffic congestion and passenger complaints can be resolved. The study is expected to take two years.

After five hours of public comment and a record 103 people who signed up to give public comment – the City Council approved a revised Neighborhoods 2.0 map Tuesday in a 6-3 vote.

The map draws the district boundaries right down Stockton Boulevard and places the UC Davis Med Center in District 6 instead of in District 5, which outraged many Oak Park residents.

City Hall was a packed house with nearly 500 people attending the council meeting.

The final vote on a new redistricting map will take place Sept. 6.

The unofficial “Mayor of Midtown,” Andy Ekstrom, passed away just over a year ago, and last Wednesday, friends and family gathered at the MARRS building to remember him and dedicate a sculpture in his honor.

Artist Marc Foster created the 10-foot-tall, 9,000-lb. sculpture, which is made of steel and layers of concrete. Funds are currently being raised to help cover the cost of constructing the sculpture. So far, $6,500 has been raised and friends and family are hoping to raise and additional $15,000 to cover the rest of the costs.

BarWest Burgers & Wings at 2724 J St. opened Thursday. It occupies the space where Aura used to be.

The restaurant’s menu emphasizes burgers and wings, and it also has a few interesting dessert items: deep-fried ding dongs and funnel cakes.

Some of the popular alcoholic drinks on the menu are the 64-ounce fish bowls, which come with four long straws and are served in fish bowls.

BarWest has been responsive to customer feedback, reading Yelp! reviews and making adjustments where necessary. Co-owner Trevor Shults said he is working to improve customer service after seeing complaints on Yelp! The menu has also been updated so that fries now come with burgers. Originally, fries had to be ordered separately, but after customers complained about this, Shults said they changed that and increased the price of burgers.

Last but not least, we talked about the Sacramento Man Hunt coming up on Saturday.

More than 200 people have signed up for this tag-like game that begins at 10 p.m. at the entrance to Old Sacramento and ends at midnight at the Safeway on Alhambra Boulevard.

There are two teams of people: runners and chasers. Runners get a seven-minute head start and must travel on foot to the destination, while chasers can get around in any vehicle of their choosing.

Chasers “catch” runners by tagging them with two hands, and once runners have been tagged, they become chasers.

The winner doesn’t receive a prize, just bragging rights.

Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "taxis"

SacPress on Insight: Chickens, redistricting and fish bowls