The City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday night in its final redistricting vote, keeping a map that has been hotly protested over the past weeks, leaving hundreds of people sad and angry – and ready to cast ballots in June to prove it. With a vote identical to the one on Aug. 23, the City Council approved a final redistricting map – a revised version of a map called “NeighborhoodsTogether 2.0”– that puts the the downtown railyards in the same district as East Sacramento, divides South Land Park at Fruitridge Road and makes the Central City one district. And – against the vehement opposition of residents, business people, students and community leaders – it is a map that takes the UC Davis Medic

On Tuesday’s regular visit with Jeffrey Callison on Capital Public Radio’s “Insight,” we discussed this week’s unveiling of the arena financing deal, the long-awaited passage of the backyard chicken ordinance and the opening of a new gelato shop in Midtown. The highly anticipated report by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Think Big Sacramento committee should give Sacramentans a better idea of possibilities for financing the entertainment and sports complex the mayor has been pursuing for more than a year. It will be unveiled at a luncheon at the Sacramento Press Club on Thursday, and we will be there. Meanwhile, here’s our most recent story on the subject.  On a much less grand scale, after two ye

Terry Moore Presents brought Ladies Night Out V to the Historic Guild Theater in Oak Park this past Friday night.  This final show of the summer series at the Guild lived up to its billing as a red carpet event complete with celebrity VIP guests and a fantastic show. “We really wanted to show our appreciation to Sacramento for all of the support we’ve received this year by ending the summer with a special event,” stated Moore.  “The most satisfying part of the evening was looking out over the audience and seeing everyone enjoying themselves and having a good time,” said Moore.    The special guest host for the red carpet extravaganza was Courtney Dempsey of Channel 31’s “Good Day Sacram

About 150 people marched through Oak Park Thursday in a “unity march” to fight against the City Council’s proposed redistricting map that would move the UC Davis Med Center out of Oak Park’s council district. “The purpose for tonight is to try to find a hero in this whole controversy, and by that I mean someone who will find a real compromise,” said Michael Boyd, president of the Oak Park Neighborhood Association. The marchers Thursday night walked from the intersection of 34th Street and Second Avenue to the Med Center, chanting slogans and carrying signs along the way as police blocked the streets and kept a clear path. Residents of Oak Park have repeatedly made their voices heard at

Some people say a neighborhood is better defined by the residents who live, work and play there than by physical boundaries, lines on a map or the number of inhabitants. Just ask the people who live in Oak Park – or Elmhurst, or Med Center or Tahoe Park. Glenn Corngold, an Elmhurst resident who spoke at the Aug. 23 City Council meeting, told council members, “Med Center’s dirt is in our yard. It’s our neighborhood.” As the once-a-decade redistricting process for Sacramento comes to a close, there has been a lot of emotion, protest – and, yes, drama – focused on the redrawing of district lines that would shift the UC Davis Medical Center from District 5, where it has been since it was bu

Sacramento, CA | Tim Mason, CEO of California based Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, with Mayor Kevin Johnson, Councilman Jay Schenirer and other community memberrs broke ground Wednesday morning in a well attended ceremony in Oak Park.  The market will be built on the north west corner of Broadway and 34th Street. Mayor Kevin Johnson stated that when he came back from college he said "what can we do with this piece of property? As a year or two went by, you realize that properites this size get into the wrong hands."  Johnson bought the land in 2002 and just held it "till the right person came in or the right company said 'we want to do something that will be an assest to the community.

Breasts have been bared in the name of art for as long as man has been making art. So why not create art in the name of breast health as well? That’s the idea behind the gallery show at 40 Acres Gallery located in Oak Park. The fourth annual Art Bra Show will run from Sept. 8-17. More than 150 pieces of art from 100 area artists will be featured. “Every year we increase the amount of art and quality,” said Kelly Siefkin, spokeswoman for Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. “I think it’s really grown in terms of scope. A lot more people in the community are aware of it. A lot of people love attending it.” The Art Bra Show will feature sculptures, collages and paintings that are insp

“There was a lot of weed growing. It was really dirty.” That is the way 16-year-old Brianna described the playground area at The Salvation Army Oak Park campus. “Just didn’t look good,” she said. But that changed on Saturday when Brianna and nearly 20 other youngsters from The Salvation Army youth, church and education programs volunteered to help spruce things up. In a community event called “Together We Grow”, the kids, along with Salvation Army staff and other volunteers, worked collectively to take out the weeds, plant vegetable seeds and clean up all of the playground area. “We’re giving young people a good example of working together,” Luisa Lose, Salvation Army community center

Terry Moore Presents brought his latest show concept, Soul Night, to the historical Guild Theater in Oak Park Saturday night. The “Soul Night" show was ably hosted by popular certified life coach and Christian counselor Kerri Herndon. “We are evolving and growing as an organization while responding to the feedback we receive from our supporters,” said Moore when describing how the concept of Soul Night originated. “Soul Night is a show for everybody to come out and enjoy music, poetry, and dancing that will inspire the soul.” Poet Aaron G. read his poem. “I Had a Dream” and Othello H. Curry, 3rd read his poem, “Single and Free to Mingle” at the open mic before the curtains opened to begi

A few basics should be mentioned first. It does not matter where UCD Med is as far as balancing populations. Also, look on a map and you will see that UCD and the Medical buildings running down Stockton Blvd. have an impact on several neighborhoods not only Oak Park or Elmhurst. UCD has been in District 5 since the start of redistricting. Oak Park has also always been in District 5. So, for 40 years UCD and Oak Park enjoyed the same representative on the City Council. There are benefits that come with being a Council member representing such a large economic and community asset and with the relationships that are formed. Otherwise, it would not have been prized so highly by the players.

The former site of a gas station at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 12th Avenue has been transformed into the city’s ninth community garden. The garden’s grand opening on Saturday offered free seeds, magazines and workshop information to several dozen attendees. Bill Maynard, Sacramento’s director of community gardens, has been working on this project for four years. He said half of the garden plots have already been rented at a cost of $25 to $50 per year. WIC, a federally funded organization that focuses on nutrition and health for women, infants and children, rents space in the garden, which is near their office building. Andrea Kennedy, one of several people tending gardens at

In a King Solomon-like compromise, Oak Park lost one of its key components Tuesday when City Council members voted to divvy up the 100-year old neighborhood between two council districts. District 5 gets to keep most of the Med Center neighborhood and Sacramento HIgh, but District 6 gets the coveted Med Center. In a 6-3 vote, council members approved a variation of the “Neighborhoods 2.0” base map, drawing the boundary between Districts 5 and 6 – right down the middle of Stockton Boulevard. “We have let you down as a council,” Mayor Kevin Johnson told the audience just before the vote. “We can say anything we want and make it all fancy, but you guys see right through it.” Tuesday’s Cit

At the outset of the City Council meeting Tuesday, Mayor Kevin Johnson promised a robust discussion on the subject of redistricting, and robust is what he got. It was another full house Tuesday with nearly 500 people crowding into City Hall, filling every seat in the council chambers and overflowing to makeshift seating areas on the second floor – everyone with the same agenda item on their minds: redistricting. Neighbors, schoolchildren and spokespeople for Latino and African American communities of interest lined up – more than 100-deep – to give their two minutes’ input on where new district boundary lines should be drawn. At the council meeting on Aug. 16, more than 200 people atten

A looter enters a vault to grab a valuable gold crown studded with beautiful diamonds and topped with a magnificent ruby. While loading the loot, he is surrounded by an overwhelming show of police. The police negotiator, captain and even many of his neighbors talk sense to the thief and assure him that he cannot get away with the theft. Just give it up. They will even let him go back to his home without charges. “Compromise” says the looter. “We must reach a reasonable compromise. I promise that I will sacrifice and leave the crown behind. Yes, I will suffer and only take the diamonds and ruby. Don’t feel you must thank me but you’re welcome.” Council member McCarty offers a compromise:

Last night, the Sacramento City Council spent nearly two and a half hours taking public comments regarding the proposed council district map that it approved last week. More than 50 residents of at least four city districts rose to voice their concerns, yet not one of them spoke in favor of the proposed baseline map, ironically but officially referred to as "Neighborhoods Together 2.0". Most public comments came from two groups, referred to as "communities of interest" in the redistricting process. Oak Park advocates objected to the proposal to draw their neighborhood in a separate district from Sacramento Charter High School, the UC Davis Medical Center campus, and the northeast corner o

City Council chambers were overflowing Tuesday night with residents lined up to voice their concerns about which redistricting map will – finally – be the final map, but the meeting didn’t end until one council member asked for one more map to be brought to the table. With audience members behind them holding signs that read, “Just tell us why?” and “Keep Oak Park whole,” more than 70 speakers chastised, questioned and – at times – shouted at council members as they expressed outrage over the most recent development in the redistricting saga. The outpouring of emotion from meeting attendees stemmed from a City Council vote last week on a proposed map to redraw city district boundaries –

Ladies Night Out IV was celebrated at the historic Guild Theater in Oak Park Saturday evening. Nationally renowned local poet and community leader Terry Moore brought a fresh lineup of local talent to the stage as a part of his summer series of events at the Guild Theater.  “I respond by inviting the artists that are most requested,” said Moore when describing how he determines which artists he asks to feature.  “It is also my goal to give local artists who are just starting out an opportunity to become better known and develop a following,” stated Moore as he reflected upon the eclectic mix of artists that have appeared over the course of the summer series.  Comedy was the theme for th

Terry Moore Presents brought a matinee show to the historic Guild Theater in Oak Park Saturday afternoon. The “Jazzy R&B Concert” was co-hosted by poet and event founder Terry Moore and popular certified life coach and Christian counselor Kerri Herndon. Herndon’s grace and stage presence brought an added touch of sensitivity and empowerment to the audience members, many of whom had come to the show through their affiliation with the WEAVE crisis center. “We are always willing to try new things that will encourage members of the community to come out and have a good time while supporting our local talent that is too often better known outside of Sacramento than in their home town,” Moore

During the summer months when subsidized school lunches and exercise opportunities are less accessible to kids in low-income neighborhoods, the federal government – through the U.S. Department of Agriculture – provides free healthy lunches, snacks and activities at various locations throughout Sacramento County. The program is open to all children 18 and under. No paperwork or enrollment is required, and no income qualification must be met. Any child can simply come to one of the designated sites during food service times to get a free lunch or snack. In the last two years, however, more than 80 percent (2 million) of California students who ate subsidized (free or reduced-cost) lunches

A review of the proposed McDonald’s site on Second Avenue and Stockton Boulevard by the Community Development Department for the city of Sacramento has found no evidence that the restaurant would significantly impact the environment. However, some community members argue that the the environmental findings and the traffic study, reported in the Mitigated Negative Declarative released Aug. 1 does not tell the whole story about the health and traffic impact a McDonald’s would have on the Oak Park neighborhood. “I understand that McDonald’s does provide healthy choices if you choose to go down that route. I don’t think we ought to tell people what they can and cannot eat,” said Sam Allen, c