The needle on the compass of the local beer scene has been pointing East over the last couple of years. Breweries like Knee Deep (Lincoln), Loomis Basin and Auburn Alehouse, as well as craft beer joints like Samuel Horne’s (Folsom) and Boneshaker’s (Rocklin) have been hogging headlines when it comes to new spots. It’s about time to start looking West. “(West Sacramento) has a pretty good reputation of being proactive, it’s just the right size where they can get stuff done,” said A.J. Tendick, a home brewer for the last five years and co-owner of the soon-to-open Bike Dog Brewing Company in West Sacramento. Tendick indicated that the city had proactively zoned industrial real estate spec

The eighth-grade class at Elkhorn Village School in West Sacramento won first prize in a districtwide contest, beating nearly 200 other submissions. Marisela Romero’s eighth-grade class at Elkhorn Village School have been named the student winners of the “Think Green” energy campaign sponsored by Beutler Air Conditioning and Plumbing in partnership with the West Sacramento Educational Foundation. The class took home $500 for their winnings. Four special honorable mentions were given to individual students for their ideas and artwork. Beutler Air Conditioning and West Sacramento Education Foundation paired up and challenged students in the Washington Unified School District to come up wi

Yesterday, Sacramento Press contributor Tony Sheppard challenged fellow readers and contributors to share what they would do with a theoretical $250 million, in a way that might bring a greater return than a basketball arena. I started writing a comment but, as often happens, it ended up being an article in itself. So here it is. Step 1: Build the Downtown/Riverfront Streetcar: $130 Million. Streetcars are often called "development-oriented transit" because they promote growth of transit-oriented neighborhoods along their right-of-way. Portland is the canonical example of a new city streetcar line spurring growth in the "Pearl" District, a mostly vacant industrial district until installa

  The West Sacramento Education Foundation has teamed with Beutler Air Conditioning and Plumbing to get West Sac students thinking about what they can do better for their planet. Kids attending schools in Washington Unified School District were prompted to describe their energy-saving idea in an essay, drawing or model, and turn it into Beutler by Friday, Feb. 15 for the chance to win money for their class. Beutler plans to match the prize earnings with a donation of 1,000 dollars to the West Sacramento Education Foundation. The entries were picked up on Thursday, Feb. 14, according to Sara Drewry with Washington Unified. The winners of the contest will be announced in March.  

Twenty food trucks are scheduled to set up at West Sacramento's River Walk Park on Saturday for SactoMoFo's Trucktoberfest mobile food fair. The event is a gathering of food trucks accompanied by live music from local bands and beer, and it serves to celebrate West Sacramento's 25th anniversary. Food trucks scheduled to be at the event include Addy's Paella (paella and tapas), Chairman Bao (Asian fusion), Chando's Tacos, Coast to Coast Sandwiches, Crave (new debut by Krush Burger), Curry Up Now, DavePops, Dave's Dawgs, Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen, El Porteño, Krush Burger, Leila's Lumpia, Simply Southern, Smoothie Patrol, Swabbies on the River, Sweet and Mellow, Volks Waffle California, We

The next SactoMoFo mobile food fair will be held at West Sacramento’s Riverwalk Park Sept. 29 to celebrate the city’s 25th anniversary. Dubbed “Trucktoberfest,” it will feature 15 local trucks and five from the Bay Area, though event organizers said the final list of trucks isn’t yet determined. “We’ll have a wide variety of beer offerings, and it’s going to be right on the river,” said Paul Somerhausen of SactoMoFo. Having the event at Riverwalk Park, near the Ziggurat Building at 707 Third St., is something that wouldn’t have been possible when the city incorporated, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon said. “This is a celebration for how far we’ve come,” he said. “You couldn’

The owners behind a new restaurant and bar set to open in West Sacramento have plans that are both unpretentious and ambitious. They want to serve basic bar food at a reasonable price, and help spur development in a neighborhood that could use a boost. Broderick, set to open at 319 Sixth St. in October, will be a working-class bar with stiff drinks, big portions and a no-frills, no-nonsense approach, according to manager and co-owner Chris Jarosz, who is also the operator of the Wicked ‘wich food truck. "It will be real American bar food," Jarosz said. "No Nouveau California cuisine, no fusion this or that. It's just going to be pure, unadulterated, old-school Middle-American bar food: h

Rubicon Brewing Company could increase its production tenfold in a few years after the arrival of new brewing equipment Thursday, which will allow the Sacramento brewing company to produce a larger selection locally and become a bigger player in the West Coast beer scene. “We’d do a lot more seasonals here than we do now,” Rubicon owner Glynn Phillips said Thursday, “and the more popular beers would be more abundant.” He added that beers such as Rubicon’s pilsner might be produced year-round, which is currently not possible, as Monkey Knife Fight and Rubicon IPA take up 70 percent of the small production facility. The new 450-gallon brewing equipment will be set up in a production facil

Mayor Kevin Johnson and Think Big Sacramento want to explore bringing a Major League Baseball team to Sacramento along with a Major League Baseball stadium in the downtown railyards – and the future of the River Cats may hang in the balance. The plan is the next phase for Think Big Sacramento’s efforts to come up with a new future for the downtown railyards after plans for a new arena were scuttled in May, Johnson said. “There’s no harm in exploring all of our options,” Johnson told media at a press conference Monday. If the idea is viable, Johnson said, the city would most likely court the Oakland A’s for a move to Sacramento – but, if they move in, MLB rules require the River Cats to

Meeting people can be hard, but kickball offers an outlet for adults over 21 to rekindle their childhood, make lasting friendships, and, with proven success, find love. For the past eight weeks over 300 registered adults on 17 teams have been lacing up their cleats, putting on their tube socks, and sporting their team jerseys with the aim of reliving their childhood glory days by kicking a red rubber ball with the region’s World Adult Kickball Association (WAKA) franchise. Much akin to sister sport dodgeball, kickball is just the latest childhood pastime turned competitive adult sport to hit the scene. And like dodgeball, it's gaining in popularity as the game is adapted for competitive a