Let's come at this from another perspective. And just in case I sound like I'm anti-arena, I'm not – I'm just inclined to be wary of public spending on developments of this nature as they rarely pan out. Money often gets made, but it's not by the city or municipality involved. Deals are made that involve fabulously wealthy people who generally get wealthier (the Maloofs being bad examples) with public assistance. And if the overall business proposition involved was so appealing, there would be private investors lined up around City Hall, bidding on the opportunity to build an arena and operate it. The only time recently we've had that kind of rush to bid on something was when the city prop

As the Supreme Court of the USA listens to oral arguments March 26 and 27 on The Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, many people, gay and straight across the nation, are showing their desire for equality. Tuesday March 26 many in the Sacramento area rallied for Sacramento Light the Way to Justice in front of the Sacramento Federal Courthouse at 501 I Street for over two hours holding signs, flags and waving at people driving by. It will happen again today starting at 4pm. Just bring some signs to hold for this peaceful stand of love and solidarity.  I asked some ralliers why they were there. A common thread was "celebration". Here are some responses:"For equal rights. I believe

The City of Sacramento  held open house on the plans to build a downtown arena Thursday at 5:30 pm to 7:30pm in the New City Hall Foyer. Here's how the meeting went down on Twitter: Editor’s note: The “News Digest” goes out every Tuesday morning and highlights our best stories, photos and videos from the week prior. Sign me up.

The city of Sacramento gave Der BierGarten its stamp of approval Thursday afternoon, paving the way for another German pub in Midtown. But the OK came with a few conditions to modify the design.  Design Director Greg Taylor wants the following changes made to the design:  • More significant landscaping between Der Bier Garten and The Golden Bear. • The front patio to be heightened, similar to patio height at The Golden Bear.   Slated to open in July 2013, owner Sean Derfield of Old Sacramento's River City Saloon has been planning this project for the corner of K and 24th streets for the past two years. Currently the site is a vacant lot next to The Golden Bear.  "We have a couple chan

On Monday, March 18, Turn Downtown Around presents a Public Forum, a discussion of how downtown Sacramento reached its current state, what its situation is today, and what can be done by regular citizens to create positive change in our urban core. I was asked to talk about how we got here. If we want to turn downtown around, this implies that, at some point, downtown Sacramento was going in the right direction. How did that Sacramento differ from the one we know today, and how can we recapture some of that spirit? What lessons can we learn from the past--both the mistakes to avoid, and the useful elements that we can use today? [Note: Read the live blog of the forum as it happened here.]

It was Second Saturday, and Demetri Gregorakis, a 27-year-old graphic designer and marketing consultant, was looking the part of a creative professional about to hit the gallery scene. He wore a dark blazer, khaki shorts, a blue button-up dress shirt and brown, leather loafers. But Gregorakis had other plans: he spent much of the evening behind the counter of a Caribbean restaurant, taking customer orders and scooping rice and crab curry onto Styrofoam plates. He's worked in the restaurant business before, but hasn't taken up a new line of work or picked up a side job. Gregorakis was there because he is one of the primary organizers behind Turn Downtown Around, the new group seeking to p

Q: A couple of years ago, I heard about a law being proposed, I think by someone from San Francisco, that would require employers to provide paid sick leave. Since then, though, I haven’t heard anything more about it. How would I find out what happened with that bill? Thanks, Glenn A: It looks like this idea has been presented to the Assembly twice in recent years – as AB 1000 in 2009, and AB 400 in 2011. Both bills were presented by former Assembly Member Fiona Ma (D- San Francisco). These bills required employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, to be used for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of health conditions of the employee or an employee’s family

If you're like me, you enjoy books. You enjoy holding them, thumbing through the pages and, I hope, reading them. Possibly, you also enjoy searching through shelves of used books for those treasures you didn't even know you needed. Have you been wondering when a really great book sale would come along? Well, now's the time. Check out the listings below and mark your calendars. Head to South Natomas Sat., March 9 for the Friends of the Library book sale, the first of 2013. Hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friends may attend the preview sale from 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. This is a popular sale that offers books in all categories. Bring some bags or boxes for those books you find that you need to add to y

There are so many exciting books being released, especially if you look to the smaller presses, which is what we’re doing today. “Sacramento Chronicles” by Cheryl Anne Stapp The History Press ISBN 978-1-60949-579-4 2012, 144 pp., $19.99 History – Local Author This newest offering of Sacramento history by Cheryl Anne Stapp is certainly one that those interested in Sacramento’s history (even if you think you already know all there is) will want to add to their history shelf. Sure, you already know about gold discovery, and if you’ve been to Old Sacramento, you’ve likely seen the statue dedicated to the Pony Express, but it’s likely you’ve never read about it the way Stapp tells it. “Anyon

Snitch Co-Written and Directed by Ric Roman Waugh There are some aspects of “Snitch” that I admire and that aren’t immediately apparent in the lowest common denominator style of previews that tend to get made to promote films. On its face, it’s a story about a father who goes undercover to assist in the capture of drug dealers in return for a reduced sentence for his son. That’s the kind of action film one might expect from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and would probably be enough to draw a respectable action-oriented audience. But there’s more to “Snitch” than that and the action story is essentially a cover for an indictment of mandatory sentencing laws as they apply to drug offenses. In

Sacramento may join 60 other California jurisdictions in banning plastic bags, making it the first major inland city in the state to do away with them, if Davis and Chico don't beat it to the punch. "There is a leadership role for the city to play," said Councilman Steve Cohn, who asked staff to research the regulation of single-use plastic bags in the city. "It's time for Sacramento to do this." A movement to ban such bags is making its way through city hall, and was a topic of discussion at Tuesday's law and legislation committee meeting. Such a ban would eliminate most plastic bags used at retailers, with the exception of take-out food, produce and meat, and pharmaceuticals. Doing so

This Weekend Only: Oscar Documentary Shorts Nominees Two weeks ago, in my regular column, I described the process through which the Oscar-nominated short films are selected. At that time, I reviewed the five animated narrative shorts and the five live action narrative shorts. Those two programs continue in regular release at Sacramento’s historic Crest Theatre. Additionally, this weekend, for two days only, the Crest will screen the five documentary shorts nominees. Shorts, in Academy terms, are shorter than feature films but can still reach 40 minutes in length. This year’s nominees are collectively long enough that the Crest will screen them in two programs this weekend, on Saturday an

It's been like Groundhog Day for the past 12 years for gay couples who have wanted to get married on Valentine's Day as part of Freedom to Marry Week. Groundhog Day, the movie. You know, the one where the same thing keeps happening day after day. For straight couples it's been a piece of cake; get dressed up, head to the county's Recorder office, fill out some paperwork. Boom…….you're married. For gay couples, all they've heard is "no." Yolo and Sacramento County Chapters of Marriage Equality USA on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, rallied at noon at the Sacramento County Recorder’s Office. The staff at the Recorder's office have grown used to the scenario, so it's like 'old home week' when g

More than 400 uncounted ballots from the Sacramento County November election were found last week, but none of the races have been affected, according to the registrar of voters. The 407 ballots were from 92 precincts, and were found when the warehouse was being cleaned, said Sacramento County Elections Registrar of Voters Jill Lavine. They were placed in the wrong colored bag, she said, by an inspector the night of the election. "We checked all the contests that could have been affected, and there's not enough to change any of the results," Lavine said. "None of the results change, the results stand certified as is." This certainly isn't common, however. "I've been the registrar for 10

Mayor Kevin Johnson held his weekly press conference Tuesday at 11 a.m. Read our coverage as it happened below. 

S.I.  Hayakawa talk by author Gerald Haslam of the CSU Sonoma, English Department Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013 at 3 p.m.  CSU Sacramento Library Gallery Lecture Topic: Gerald and Janice Haslam, who have written "In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S.I. Hayakawa," will discuss the research and writing of this book, which is available in print.       By the time of  his death in 1992, S. I. Hayakawa had been both one of Californian's most controversial educators and one of its least consistent politicians. The Canadian native, who relocated in the Golden State in 1955 and served as professor of language arts at San Francisco State, was a nationally known figure and popular lecturer na

The Center for Strategic Economic Research (CSER) has released the Q4 2012 Quarterly Economic Report--supplied to you through SACTO's member benefits. The Quarterly Economic Report provides an overview of the health and performance of the Sacramento Region's economy along with an update to the Sacramento Region Business Confidence Index, a collaborative project with the Sacramento Business Journal to measure business sentiment. Previous editions of this report are available on the CSER website (strategiceconomicresearch.org).   FOURTH QUARTER REPORT - JANUARY 2013   Click to view   The Sacramento Region posted positive annual job growth for nine of the past twelve months The six

A disappointing week Maybe it’s just me but I’ve had a disappointing week at the movies – probably not helped by wishful thinking if not actually especially high expectations. And the near future isn’t looking any better, but more on that next week. This week’s major releases include a comedy starring people whose work I’ve generally liked, until now, and a thriller against a backdrop of prescription drug use from a director I normally appreciate far more than this.   Identity Thief Directed by Seth Gordon The idea of a comedy starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy appeals to me – before you could even tell me a subject matter or a premise, that idea would pique my interest. And t

Throngs of Kings supporters flooded the city council chambers Tuesday evening, supporting a downtown arena and to keep the Kings in the city.  Councilman Allen Warren reported there are 25 locals who have pleged $1 million each to keep the team. At one point, a member of Crown Downtown presented the group's white T-shirt to the newest councilmen – Allen Warren and Steve Hansen – and even included a onesie for Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby's expected baby.  Mike Barnbaum, of Think Big Sacramento and Crown Downtown, said entertainment options need to be kept in Sacramento, that are not only accessible to people in cars. He went on to say that Seattle wants this prize in their city, and "my th

Mayor Kevin Johnson's press conference and update on the King's situation is now over. Listen to the audio and read our live coverage as it happened below.