Investigative & Lifesaving Gear to Honor Fallen on 9/11 A volunteer neighborhood association in North Natomas collected over $6,600 using old-fashioned community fundraising to purchase equipment for their nearest fire and police stations in anticipation of the upcoming ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to honor the sacrifices of hundreds of public safety personnel who perished on that day. The gifts will be presented to captains of the police and fire departments in a ceremony at the association's fourth annual National Night Out celebration in Witter Ranch Park on Tuesday evening. Witter Ranch Community Alliance, which covers nearly 1,400 detached homes and over 4

Fiesta en la Calle’s summer concert series began on the first Thursday of June and ended this past week. The nine free concerts at Cesar Chavez Plaza came to an end with Gustavo Galindo, Cambio De Piel and Orixa closing out the successful first year concert series. Vince Vicari served as emcee for the event. As he came to the stage he thanked the event sponsors including Corona, D’Chaleco Magazine and radio station Latino 97.9. Ricardo “El Niño” Rayas once again served as DJ for the show. Vicari took the stage to introduce the evening’s performances saying, “We have three great bands out here tonight. We are very excited to close our summer concert series this way. We also have great f

More than 50 neighborhood parties will be held Tuesday as Sacramento participates in the 28th annual National Night Out. It’s about crime prevention, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. “The idea is you get out, get to know your neighbors and show you’re visible to prevent crime.” Leong said the block parties allow neighbors to get to know each other in a fun way, and that helps with building a stronger community. There is no specific criteria that needs to be followed for a National Night Out event, since it is about getting neighbors together and having a good time. “It can be as simple as an ice cream social or a bunch of neighbors hanging out together,” he

The redistricting process became more complicated at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting as new maps were introduced and ethics accusations levelled. Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy called the integrity of the Citizens Advisory Redistricting Committee into question after finding out one of the committee members anonymously submitted a map. In a move Mayor Kevin Johnson called disappointing, both Sheedy and Councilman Steve Cohn submitted their own maps, adding to the final four recommended by the citizens committee. One of the final four maps recommended by the committee was listed as having an anonymous author, but it was revealed in the past few days that it was drawn by Steve Hansen, one

California Redevelopment Association Executive Director John Shirey emerged as the front-runner Friday for Sacramento’s city manager position. “Right now, we’re going through the process (of hiring a city manager),” said City Councilman Darrell Fong. “He is definitely the strong candidate, and he is definitely the focus.” The council has not made a decision, though there was a closed-session meeting Monday in which the city manager search was the topic. The city has been without a city manager since Ray Kerridge resigned in March, 2010. In the meantime, both Gus Vina and a former city manager, Bill Edgar, served as interim city managers. Edgar is currently serving as interim city manage

In what Mayor Kevin Johnson called an unprecedented event, 14 chambers of commerce from the Sacramento region announced Thursday that they support an entertainment and sports complex in downtown Sacramento. Johnson said the backing of the regional business community, which came after a four-county bus trip for Think Big Sacramento, is a commitment to the promise he made to the National Basketball Association earlier this year in New York City that Sacramento is an NBA city and can build a new arena. “I did not sell Sacramento, I sold our region,” he said, adding that a common commitment to a downtown sports and entertainment complex will provide a more vibrant community. The major obsta

Mayor Kevin Johnson is currently in the process of visiting Sacramento’s six major counties to discuss the benefits of a future entertainment and sports complex along the stretch of what used to be the old Southern Pacific railyards downtown. At the mayor’s weekly press conference Tuesday, Johnson, who had just visited El Dorado County and the city of Folsom the day before, called his visits “authentic outreach.” Johnson is going on a bus tour Thursday to visit regions of El Dorado County, Davis, Roseville and Rancho Cordova to seek input from the communities there, he said. This city-to-city outreach is part of the the mayor’s Think Big Coalition. Johnson said the four guiding principl

SACRAMENTO (June 27, 2011) – Drexel University awarded 108 master’s level diplomas on Saturday, June 25, at its first commencement for the university’s Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento. Sacramento’s historic Crocker Art Museum played host for the this historic event – the first group of Drexel students in Sacramento to graduate and the first commencement ceremony outside of Philadelphia in the university’s 120-year history. The commencement included students who enrolled in Drexel master’s degree programs in 2009. To date, Drexel has enrolled 424 students in its doctoral, master’s, and post-baccalaureate programs in Sacramento since opening its Center for Graduate Studies in Jan

The nation’s top environmental official, Lisa Jackson, expressed her view in Sacramento on Monday that federal and state environmental regulations can help create demand for green businesses and technologies. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Jackson spoke about environmental regulation and green jobs to an audience of more than 250 people at the Cal/EPA building downtown. She was the latest in a string of high-profile speakers brought into town to speak on behalf of “Greenwise,” Mayor Kevin Johnson’s environmental initiative. Contrary to the views of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which argues that businesses are stymied by many environmental regulations, Jackson said that re

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision Tuesday night to make severe budget cuts to public safety is not final, but it made a big statement. Council members voted 6-3 to say they intend to make budget cuts later this month that include layoffs of 82 sworn cops and increases in brownouts or alternating closures for fire services. A big caveat to the tentative decision is the council’s statement that it is still open to further negotiations with the city’s public safety unions. Tuesday’s hearing drew intense public interest. Many people arrived more than an hour early to the 6 p.m. meeting. Shortly before 5 p.m., about 70 people waited in line for the doors at City Hall to open.

Despite reports of the city’s proposals to lay off more than 350 jobs, including 80 sworn police officers, during Tuesday’s press conference, Mayor Kevin Johnson said that avoiding such layoffs will be a priority. Throughout the conference, Johnson said he wanted Sacramento to remain a full-service city and that he hopes to alleviate any distrust between police officers and the city by playing a more active role in addressing the interests of both parties. “We’re trying to preserve as many jobs as we can and keep public safety at the top of our priorities,” he added. “We’re about to pass and adopt a budget in about three weeks or so, and we do not want to be in a position where our comm

The Sacramento City Council discussed Thursday how to make major changes to city operations in the next few years to resolve the city’s long-term imbalance where costs outpace revenues. The city’s $39 million gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year is part of an ongoing trend of budget shortfalls. Multi-million budget gaps will remain until fiscal year 2015/2016 as a result of the city’s imbalanced finances, according to predictions by city officials. “We need to set the expectation of what the City Council wants to provide for the residents and the businesses of this city,” Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka said. Seven council members were at the budget meeting – Mayor Kevin Johnson

The Guild Theater in Oak Park was host to a forum attended by some of the biggest and most controversial names in education reform Friday evening. The event was organized by Stand Up Sacramento, a non-profit group chaired by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, and featured speakers such as Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of public schools in Washington, DC, her boss in that position, former Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty, and Richard Whitmire, former editorial writer at USA Today and author of “The Bee Eater,” a book which chronicles Rhee’s time as chancellor. The speakers focused on the need to change teacher retention polices nationwide, and in particular the abolishment of the “LIFO,”

I attended the Kings victory rally at Cesar Chavez Plaza last night, but I did so reluctantly. I am on record as being somewhat immune to Kings fever, to say the least. I appreciate them for what they do for the town, and I am sensitive to what their departure would mean for us as a city. It wouldn’t be good. But I’m not a fan. So I went grudgingly, mostly because I live nearby and it was on my way somewhere else. It was a news event regarding a crucial current concern. Why not? I left, if not a believer, then certainly more engaged than I had been, and even a little moved. I don’t love the Sacramento Kings, but I have loved the Giants of old, the A’s in their heyday and the 49ers when

The city’s current budget gap of $39 million is grim. But the city’s financial situation is even more dismal when examined in the context of its budget cuts in recent years. The city has laid off about 215 employees since February 2008, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams. In addition, the city has taken 900 positions off its books since the 2008/2009 fiscal year and cannot hire employees for those spots, according to the city budget document. The city currently has 4,576 employee positions, Williams said. Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka are recommending the City Council approve an $812 million budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Of

Sacramento City Council members began discussions Tuesday on the city manager’s recommendation to cut as many as 366 jobs in the budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. One city union protested the proposed layoffs at City Hall before the City Council meeting, and representatives from two other unions expressed their opposition to the cuts during the meeting. City officials presented the budget recommendations from the city manager’s office at Tuesday’s meeting and summarized the budget document. As part of the meeting, Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka explained a chart on the job cuts recommended by the city manager’s office. The city would need to slice 250 full-time positions

Should a group of homeless people be allowed to camp together in Sacramento without outside monitoring? Safe Ground Sacramento, a group of mostly homeless people, says it should have the right to be “self-governing” and to operate an overnight camp independently. But a few Sacramento City Council members said they disagreed with that idea Tuesday. The City Council held a workshop on the safe ground issue as part of its weekly meeting. Over the past two years, Safe Ground Sacramento has asked the city to dedicate land for a site where the homeless could camp legally overnight. The city has an ordinance that bans overnight camping. One of the group’s key principles is that its members ar

The Green California Summit and Exposition returned to Sacramento for its fifth year at the Sacramento Convention Center on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The summit featured classes, keynote speakers, exhibits and product demonstrations. Exhibits and keynote sessions were open to the public. This year's theme was "Green Paths to Economic Recovery" and the keynote speakers focused on the economic aspects of green technology. Mayor Kevin Johnson said on Tuesday that Sacramento was the leader in California for green job growth over the last decade. "We really want to transform Sacramento into the Emerald Valley,” Johnson said. Tuesday's keynote speaker was Terry Tamminen, the founder and

California Attorney General Kamala Harris stressed the need to treat the gang problem with a community approach using prevention, intervention and enforcement. Harris was the guest speaker at Mayor Kevin Johnson’s gang forum Tuesday night in Meadowview. “We have to be smart on crime,” Harris said, eschewing the old notion of the only two choices being to be hard or soft on crime. She likened the gang violence problem to a public health problem like an epidemic: The best way to prevent it is through inoculations and early treatment, but by the time it is being dealt with in the emergency room, it’s too late, and too expensive. Harris said combating gang violence should be dealt with regi

The public will have to wait for information on this week’s meetings in Sacramento involving two NBA officials as the meetings will be closed to media, Mayor Kevin Johnson said at a Tuesday morning press conference. The two NBA executives who will visit Sacramento on Thursday and Friday are Clay Bennett, relocation committee chair for the NBA Board of Governors, and NBA Executive Counsel Harvey Benjamin, said Tim Frank, an NBA spokesman. The closed meetings relating to the Kings’ future were requested by the NBA, Johnson said. “They felt that they didn’t want a lot of fanfare,” Johnson said. However, Johnson said he would meet with the local media to communicate information about the m