On a Sunday night in downtown Sacramento, in a small, shared office space and studio above an alley, an artist and an internet marketer worked late into the night, putting the final touches on a project they hoped would transform the city's art scene. It's far too early to tell whether MrSACTown.com, a site featuring local artists, will live up to the ambitions of its founders, Jessica Ann and veteran Sacramento artist Patrick Ardell, known as El Dreko, but it has maintained a steady momentum since launching on Sunday, Feb. 29. The Facebook “likes” have grown briskly, and over 20 local artists have joined by submitting their work to be featured on the site. "We're in the clouds right now

Old Sacramento is a tourist gem where history and entertainment collide. But resident Joe Gamble, 33, felt he and other residents had faded into the background. “I noticed after about six to eight months of living here everything around here is tailored to meet the needs of the visitors,” he said. “There’s no consideration for people living here for special occasions when it came to noise. After I started poking around, people said that’s the way things are. That was it.” Living in Old Sac for two and a half years, Gamble assembled a group of five residents in December to form a neighborhood association. They spoke when they saw each other on the boardwalk, but after the fatal New Year’s

While Mayor Kevin Johnson, the City Council and a good chunk of the media are focused on the fate of the Sacramento Kings, a group of renegade entrepreneurs in downtown has decided that, arena or no arena, basketball team or not, they are going to start pushing to improve the neighborhood where they work and live. You may already have heard of Turn Downtown Around, a community group made up of business owners and downtown residents, mostly in their 20s and 30s. The group is still informal at this point but it has a vibrant Facebook page and big ambitions. I recently had the chance to meet with about a dozen people who say they're committed to the group and its mission. We’ll be featuring

Update: Alice Alspektor, reported missing from her residence on Edison Avenue since yesterday evening, has been located. Unfortunately, she was hit by a light rail train at Watt Avenue and I-80 earlier tonight. She has been transported to a hospital, and her family has been notified. -- The Sheriff's Department is seeking the public's assistance in locating a woman who went missing from her place of residence yesterday evening. Alice Alspektor, 66, was last seen in the 3900 block of Edison Avenue at approximately 9:30 p.m. on February 19th, 2013. She is considered to be at-risk, due to being diagnosed as bipolar and having dementia. Alspektor (see attached photo) is described as a white

Swell Productions presented an evening of music with multi-instrumentalist David Lindley and local artists Cave Women. The concert was held at West Sacramento's Center for Spiritual Awareness (CSA) on Friday, Feb. 15. Lindley has been creating astounding music for several decades. He has collaborated with well known musicians such as Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Ben Harper and many others as well as being frontman for his band El Rayo-X. Lindley's prolific music along with collaborations with top artists has made him a much sought-after performer. His much anticipated appearance at the CSA brought a near capacity audien

The Sacramento International Film Festival presented the film premier of “Bless Me, Ultima” based on a book by Rudolfo Anaya. The film played to a full house at the Century Theatres in the Downtown Plaza. In association with Agave 52 and Arenas Entertainment the Sacramento International Film Festival presented the by invitation only screening of the film on Wednesday, Feb. 13. The Anaya adaptation tells the story of a family living in New Mexico in the early 1940s. Ultima, played by Miriam Colon, is a healer who comes to live in the Luna-Márez household. Antonio Márez (Luke Ganalon) is a 6-year-old whose heart is opened to nature, spirituality and the supernatural. Directed by Carl Fra

Dubbed the "Emerald City" by Mayor Kevin Johnson, Sacramento is known as one of the most diverse metropolitan cities in Northern California, fostering an estimated population of 472,178, according to the latest Census data recorded in April 2010. Much like the capitol's reputation to host diversity, in terms of culture, as does our Regional Transit Light Rail system, carrying diverse subcultures as its precious cargo.     Currently, RT Light Rail offers three service lines that travel across the greater Sacramento region. The Gold Line, which services travelers between downtown and historic Folsom, the Blue Line, which services between Watt/I-80 to Meadowview and the more recently i

On Nov. 18, 2012, I posted an article on an amazing event called Music-Come-1st Episode 1: Evolution of Hip Hop. The concept of this event was to promote saving music programs in schools. This live filming event featured the Grammy-Award winning hip-hop artist Yolanda Whittaker, known as YoYo, and Sacramento’s finest local hip-hop artists, such as Destructikonz, Century Got Bars, BenOfficialTheGreat, Sol Spoken, Nome Nomaad, Mic Jordan and DJ EPIK. The event was held Dec. 21, 2012, at the California Auto Museum, and was an amazing event full of live performances, a thought-provoking panel discussion on the evolution of hip-hop, and nominations for best and worst hip-hop albums and artists

Emilie Autumn's Fight Like a Girl tour comes to the Colonial Theatre this Friday, Feb. 1. The Sacramento Horror Film Festival presents Autumn and her band the Bloody Crumpets. The current tour brings a delectable theatrical presentation by the versatile artist, who is also an author, poet, actress, singer-songwriter and trained violinist. The North American tour that was scheduled to pass by Sacramento last year was rescheduled due to illness. The FLAG tour promotes their latest album “Fight Like a Girl.” Local Autumn fans patiently waited for the tour to be rescheduled, and grabbed tickets as soon as they were released, nearly selling out the performance. Autumn is no stranger to the

The Memorial aiditorium hosts the 11th annual, Sacramento Invitational Taekwondo Championships. Dubbed as the "Sacramento Invite," according to sacinvitational.com. This will be a unique opportunity to watch championship style taekwondo matches right next to the mat. Then there is the best part of the show. Students of the Shinsung University will bring their "specialty high-flying" board breaking performance. This is a special treat rarely seen in the USA. Like to watch tests of the mind and body. The "Sacramento Invite" is definitly an experience that you would not want to miss. Saturday February 2nd, 2013, Gates open at 9:00 am. Tickets are $15 in the dress circle and $20 for balco

The Thunder roared past the Kings Friday night as they rebounded from a slow start to beat Sacramento 105 – 95. A crowd of over 15,000 saw Oklahoma City take a half-time lead into the locker room. The Thunder then went on a 28-10 run at the start of the third quarter to take a 25 point lead and never looked back.   Editor’s note: Join The Sacramento Press on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at Chops Steakhouse to honor Journalism Open winners. Get tickets!

“We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. The words of Martin Luther King Jr. were quite evident as the 32nd annual March for the Dream took place on Monday, Jan. 21.  An estimated crowd of 30,000 marched to the Sacramento Capitol  Building and the Convention Center. Marchers of all ethnic persuasions came to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. as they marched from the Oak Park Community Center, Sacramento City College and Grant High School. Community representatives, local employers, healthcare professionals, small business vendors and others attended the event to supply guests with valuable information about educa

The Sacramento Kings hosted the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night at Sleep Train Arena. Sacramento held the lead up until the beginning of the fourth quarter when a Kings season-high 25 turnovers eventually took its toll. Mayor Kevin Johnson sat on the sidelines and watched the Suns quickly change the momentum of the game in the fourth quarter and ended up winning by the score of 106 – 96. 

This year's annual Sacramento Fashion Week will be held from Feb. 24 – Mar.2. In preparation for the event Sacramento Fashion Week held two casting calls for the 2013 showcase. One was held on Saturday, Jan. 12 at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Sacramento. A second casting took place on Sunday at the Capsity Offices located at 2572 21 st Street. Sacramento Fashion Week is well known for showcasing talented local and regional designers. Sacramento Fashion Week has provided a platform for upcoming and established designers the opportunity to showcase their talent. As the popularity and importance of Sacramento's Fashion Week continues to grow it attracts designers

The Sacramento Kings fought a hard and physical game against the Cleveland Cavaliers but ended up with a victory at the Sleep Train Arena. The game featured the return of Omri Casspi and a career high scoring night for the Cavaliers' Dion Waiters (33) and the Kings' Thomas Robinson who tied his career high (12).

Three Sacramento nonprofits recently received grants from Umpqua Bank through its Joy of Giving campaign on Facebook. Mutual Housing California was awarded $5,000. Women’s Empowerment was granted $2,000 and Roseville Home Start $1,000. On November 20, Umpqua Bank asked people to post comments about local nonprofits on its Facebook page. The campaign ran through December 16. Nominated nonprofits had to be located within Umpqua Bank’s four-state territory—Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. Mutual Housing staff posted the campaign to its Facebook page on November 27. Executive Director Rachel Iskow sent out an email asking people to respond. The bank selected 25 nonprofits to sha

A new year, a new venue and a new experience were all part of the winter SacAnime held at the Sacramento Convention Center and the Sheraton Grand Hotel Jan. 4-6. SacAnime has outgrown several venues and the larger venue attracted a bigger audience. A larger crowd than the 7,700 who attended the summer convention held at the Woodlake Hotel was expected. SacAnime fans from northern California and beyond gathered for the three-day weekend event dressed in their favorite cosplay outfit. Many planned their wardrobe months in advance and some came with three prepared costumes, one for each day of the event. Alex Martin drove from Alameda with some friends and could not hold his excitement,

Having an eating disorder can be a very traumatic experience for an individual. Fortunately, there are programs that are dedicated to helping people that suffer from eating disorders recover and live a normal and healthy life. I had the pleasure for touring Sacramento’s Summit Eating Disorders and Outreach Program (SEDOP), and gained exposure to the amazing program offered. Summit is an accredited center for eating disorder treatment and prevention. The program was founded in 2000, and there are treatment centers located in Roseville, Calif., and Fresno, Calif. The treatment center serves adolescents and adults, males and females, with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders. Summit

The Crocker Art Museum holds its doors open late during their Thursdays ‘til 9 program series. This past Thursday, Dec. 20, as part of American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell, local talented musician Ricky Berger held a concert at the Crocker. The Rockwell exhibit, located on the third floor of the Crocker, celebrates his work with several rarely circulated works from the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. Several original oil paintings and other work created for The Saturday Evening Post are also part of the exhibit. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, American Masterpieces Program, made the exhibition possible. On the Crocker theater stage, Rika Nelson

Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet brought its troupe to Folsom's Three Stages to perform The Nutcracker. Performances took place on Dec. 21 – 23. Friday's sold out performance of The Nutcracker 2012 brought a large audience to Three Stages to enjoy a beautiful performance. Children, along with their parents and other family members as well as friends enjoyed art in motion as the Pamela Hayes Ballet brought a colorful spectacle to the stage. The Nutcracker is based on the book by E.T.A. Hoffman "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was commissioned by choreographer Marius Petipa in 1891 to write the music for the Nutcracker Ballet. Throughout its history the story o