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1615 13th Avenue - $1,825,000 LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION – ON THE PARK. 3 bed, 2 full baths 2 half baths. Finished basement in 2008. New roof, HAVC, siding and electrical in 2008 Back building with fireplace and half bath. PATTY BAETA 916-806-7761 DRE-00714357
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2932 Highland Avenue - $849,000 PERFECT CURTIS PARK STREET. 3 bed, 1½ bath. A magnificent Colonial with family room on quiet tree lined street. Opportunity knocks. Don’t miss this one. JAMIE RICH 916-612-4000 DRE-01870143 E 01870143
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PENDING
2522 V Street - $475,000 CLASSIC 1925 BUNGALOW. 2 bed 1½ bath, new exterior paint, large living room with beautiful hardwood floors, picturesque windows, fireplace insert. Large main bedroom KELLIE SWAYNE 916-206-1458 DRE-01727664
PENDING
2910 Muir Way - $629,000 LAND PARK CHARMER. 3 bed 1 bath, open concept with fabulous new kitchen featuring soapstone countertops, stainless steel appliances. Wide plank hardwood floors JAMIE RICH 916-612-4000 DRE-01870143
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4901 Joaquin Way - $568,000 FABULOUS HOLLYWOOD PARK! 3 bed 2 bath. This spacious home sits on a corner lot and has an updated kitchen and inside laundry. Original fireplace and hardwood floors. Dual pane windows. JAMIE RICH 916-612-4000 DRE-01870143
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3100 Benton Street - $623,000 ENERGY EFFICIENT WEST SACRAMENTO! 4 beds 3½ baths, with owned solar system with roof panels, smart vent, sun screens and electric car charger. Professionally landscaped. JAY FEAGLES 916-204-7756 DRE-01316781
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EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY TO MAKE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD A BET TER PL ACE. JANUARY 2021
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE: INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM 3104 O ST. #120 • SACRAMENTO, CA 95816
VISIT OUR WEBSITE: NSIDE ACRAMENTO.COM 3104 O ST. #120 • SACRAMENTO, CA 95816
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THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE, PLACES, NEWS & OPINION IN AMERICA'S FARM-TO-FORK CAPITAL
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COVER ARTIST
3104 O St. #120, Sac. CA 95816 (Mail Only)
info@insidepublications.com PUBLISHER Cecily Hastings
DEAN MONIZ Dean Moniz, a former gallery owner and artist, lives and works in South Land Park. His award-winning art has been exhibited throughout California. Shown: “Follow Your Heart–A Long Journey,” acrylic on paper, 18 inches by 24 inches, cropped to fit cover. This piece is for sale at $500. “This piece is study and a tribute to the work of Mark Rothko, which I usually sneak into my paintings in smaller and less obvious ways.” Visit instagram.com/deanmoniz.
EDITOR Cathryn Rakich editor@insidepublications.com PRODUCTION M.J. McFarland DESIGN Cindy Fuller PHOTOGRAPHY Linda Smolek, Aniko Kiezel @anikophotos AD COORDINATION Michele Mazzera DISTRIBUTION Sue Pane Sue@insidepublications.com ACCOUNTING Daniel Nardinelli, Lauren Stenvick daniel@insidepublications.com
916.443.5087 accounts@insidepublications.com ACCOUNT Sally Giancanelli 916.335.6503 SG@insidepublications.com SERVICE TEAM Lauren Stenvick 916.524.0336 LS@insidepublications.com Victoria Viebrock 916.662.2631 V V@insidepublications.com EDITORIAL POLICY Commentary reflects the views of the writers and does not necessarily reflect those of Inside Publications. Inside Publications is delivered for free to more than 80,000 households in Sacramento. Printing and distribution costs are paid entirely by advertising revenue. Inside Publications welcomes readers’ comments. Letters to the Editor should be submitted via email to editor@insidepublications.com. Please include name, address and phone number. Letters may be published as space permits and edited for brevity. No portion may be reproduced mechanically or electronically without written permission of the publisher. All ad designs & editorial—© SUBMISSIONS
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JANUARY 2021 VOL. 23 • ISSUE 12 6 8 16 18 20 22 24 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 45 46 48 50
Publisher's Desk Out & About Police Reform Meet Your Neighbor The Art Of Public Speaking City Beat Open House Animals & Their Allies Giving Back Building Our Future Challenge Accepted Garden Jabber Farm To Fork Spirit Matters Getting There Sports Authority Open Studio Restaurant Insider All In The Family
Congratulations Jesse on your new home. We were humbled and excited to be able to work with you and your family again — three times and counting! Sincerely,
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SILVER LINING
Cecily Hastings and Daniel Nardinelli Photo by Aniko Kiezel
INSIDE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF LOCAL COVERAGE
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his year marks the 25th anniversary of Inside Sacramento. At a time when print publishing has been decimated, my husband Jim and I feel grateful to have survived and thrived. Today, a new publication like Inside would be called a “micro” business. In 1996, we divided the tasks based on the experiences and success of our previous careers. My career was in interior design and project management. My strengths were writing, graphic design, sales, marketing and community involvement. Jim handled accounting, payroll, printing, delivery, invoicing and business details. He had been an executive for IBM and a small business manager. What made Inside unique was our motivation. Neither of us had
CH By Cecily Hastings Publisher’s Desk
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publishing experience. Ours was a very different focus. When we moved from the Bay Area to East Sacramento in 1989, we became active in our community. We formed two local associations—one for the neighborhood and one for small businesses. With neighbors, we tackled the degradation of city parks, local traffic problems and inappropriate development. We worked with small business owners to strengthen our neighborhood business community and encourage people to patronize local shops close to home. I created a neighborhood newsletter, which was not easy for someone whose only college English class resulted in a “C” grade. I asked folks to review my work and help me improve. Just a few years earlier, our business startup would have been infinitely more costly and difficult. It probably would not have happened. The advent of the personal computer and desktop publishing software meant our initial investment was minimal. We used the design and business features to manage our company. This was when legacy publishers were investing millions of dollars in computer systems.
In 1996, we started with one monthly edition called Inside East Sacramento. Two years later we added Inside The City/Land Park (later renamed Inside Land Park/Grid). In 2001, we added Inside Arden, and in 2014, Inside Pocket arrived. In 25 years, we have produced more than 1,000 unique print editions focusing 100 percent on local news! Today we are by far the largest circulation print publication in Sacramento with more than 80,000 copies distributed each month. Our free “every door” direct-mail distribution to 20 diverse neighborhoods is unmatched. No paid subscriptions are needed, unless you want Inside mailed beyond our distribution communities. We have become the “go to” publication for civic leaders who want to reach Sacramento’s most aware and engaged residents, making Inside the most influential news source in town. We’ve always been a home-based business, long before COVID-19. Our staff has worked remote since 2000. We didn’t plan it that way. But when our ad coordinator had a baby, she researched the positives of working from home. As a result, seven children have been born and raised among three of our
employees. Our own son was 4 when we started Inside. We know the value of a family-friendly business. My original editorial plan was to provide readers the opportunity to learn more about their community and neighborhood. Back then, The Sacramento Union recently folded and The Sacramento Bee was the only game in town for journalism. The Bee largely ignored our neighborhood. By 1996, with six years of living in East Sacramento, I was able to formulate plans to cover the local beat. We wanted stories on neighborhood issues, civic history, homes and gardens, and interesting neighbors. Of equal importance was showcasing small businesses and local civic institutions, including schools and places of worship. We expanded and covered the food scene, volunteerism, plus the arts and design. (My interest in the arts goes back to when I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan.) Given our unprecedented editorial focus, it seemed appropriate to look beyond traditional journalists. Up to this point, journalists seemed trained to be somewhat detached from the
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HIGH SCHOOL PREVIEW WEBINAR WED., FEBRUARY 10, 2021 SACCDS.ORG/HS-PREVIEW communities they covered, as opposed to being part of them. I sought out people with expertise on local issues. Knowing we had inexperienced writers—myself included—I hired Marybeth Bizjak, who brought years of professional experience as our first editor. With her help, our writers improved. Gratefully, she stayed with us for more than 20 years. (The average service of all our team members is more than 10 years.) In recent years, the editorial team of Cathryn Rakich and Bob Graswich took us to another level. Cathryn retires this month, but will continue to help with writing and editing. Bob has been our MVP, writing a variety of columns each month, editing the work of others and tackling difficult civic issues such as homelessness, thanks to his many years of experience in media and city government. The most important part of our business is our advertisers. In 1996, every quality publication carried a subscription fee. I wanted Inside to be not only free, but democratically distributed to nearly every home in each neighborhood. Some folks thought I was nuts! Our local business community was small in numbers, but rich in success
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Publisher Cecily Hastings and COO Daniel Nardinelli celebrate Inside’s 25th anniversary. and history. Within a year, almost every East Sac business advertised with us. The reasons were simple—we provided a high-quality publication with a local focus, we delivered to all the homes near their businesses, and we did it at an affordable cost to advertisers. Small businesses tend to draw their customer base from within a 5-mile radius. As we added publications to neighborhoods, our advertising base expanded. Many new businesses and
restaurants popped up and needed to reach customers. I’ve happily watched the small business community grow and find success along with us. The real estate industry has been tremendously valuable to bringing our printed news to you each month. In real estate, location is everything. Inside has become the ideal way for Realtors to reach prospects buying and selling homes in Sacramento’s traditional neighborhoods.
After Jim retired a couple years ago, we considered the future of Inside. Jim selected and trained our COO, Daniel Nardinelli, to manage the business. In the last few years, Daniel, who’s only 30, has worked to guide our future. We’ve expanded our digital reach with a new website and made our operation more streamlined and efficient. Daniel has earned our confidence that he and his team can run the business long after we’re gone. From a personal standpoint, this anniversary has recharged my batteries. Since the pandemic decimated our small business community, I’ve pledged to do all in my power to help our friends recover. To do this, we need readers to support locally owned businesses with every dollar. May this silver anniversary lead to a much-needed silver lining for all our communities, our neighborhoods and our small businesses as we navigate our way through a bright New Year. Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublictions.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n
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Marc and Linda Laver, pictured with daughter Carolyn and son Jonnie, are raising funds to update Southside Park’s fully accessible playground, including the addition of a We-Go-Round.
Reach For The Stars LOCAL FAMILY RAISES FUNDS TO UPDATE FULLY ACCESSIBLE PLAYGROUND
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n 2005, Universal Universe—one of Northern California’s first fully accessible playgrounds—opened at Southside Park. Now, a North Natomas family is raising funds to update the play structures and add additional programming through the Jonnie and Friends Reach for the Stars campaign, named for their late son. After complications from meningitis confined Jonnie Laver to a wheelchair, his parents, Marc and Linda, made it their mission to give Jonnie the best life possible. Marc became Jonnie’s fulltime caregiver and the entire family, including younger sister Carolyn, became advocates for accessible play at area playgrounds. Jonnie’s love for Southside Park’s solar-system-themed Universal Universe playground began in October 2005, when the city of Sacramento
JL By Jessica Laskey Out & About
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invited him and his family to be part of the park’s dedication ceremony. The playground features accessible play structures, padded surfaces, access ramps and handrails for kids of all abilities, with colorful space-themed rides and solar system artwork. After Jonnie passed away in March 2019, the Lavers decided to honor his memory by launching a fundraising effort in partnership with the city and its supporting nonprofit Gifts to Share, Inc. to replace the park’s aging equipment and add new inclusive play structures— like the fully accessible We-Go-Round, which they hope to install this spring. Home Depot, Target, Dos Coyotes and local businesses like Sagent Marketing (which is offering its services pro-bono), as well as dozens of individuals, have already contributed funds that will go toward equipment and future music and educational programming. “We’re very fortunate that we have the support of people like Anne Staines at Sagent, Steve Hansen (former city councilmember) and Shannon Brown (city parks assistant director),” Marc Laver says. “This effort will give even more kids with special needs the opportunity to do things they wouldn’t otherwise get to do.”
To donate, visit giftstoshareinc. org and designate your donation by selecting “We Go Round at Southside Park.” All donations are tax deductible. For more information or to volunteer to keep Universal Universe safe and clean, visit jonniesdreamplayground. com.
DINE DOWNTOWN The Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s 16th annual Dine
Downtown program returns this month from Jan. 8–24. This year’s culinary celebration includes 26 restaurants offering three-course, prix-fixe menus for brunch, lunch and dinner for three price levels—$25, $35 and $45. Food is available for take-out. Dine-in is dependent on restaurant availability and current health guidelines. “Restaurants have been one of the most severely impacted industries by the pandemic,” says Michael Ault,
The Firehouse Restaurant offers a chocolate pavé gâteau on its Dine Downtown menu.
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executive director of Downtown Sacramento Partnership. “Dine Downtown provides an excellent opportunity to enjoy new culinary experiences and support our restaurants that need it now more than ever.” For a list of participating restaurants, as well as links to make reservations and purchase gift cards, visit godowntownsac.com/dinedowntown.
SACRAMENTO.SHOP A CARES Act grant from the city of Sacramento is helping local artists stay afloat during these difficult times. Through Sacramento.Shop, artists can sell their creations directly to customers at a lower cost than hosting their own website or using a commercial website. Sacramento.Shop features wall art, jewelry, gifts, masks and home goods, all created locally with sustainability in mind. Customers can shop safely and easily online, and enjoy no-plastic shipping and same-day delivery in the Sacramento area. Free pick up is also available at 1020 Front St. in Old Sacramento. “The beauty of Sacramento.Shop is that it’s local,” says Shira Lane, executive director of the nonprofit Atrium, a coworking space and community center for artists and creatives. “We manage the website, delivery and other customer services so local artists can focus on their
creativity, and customers have easy access to some great local artists and their work.”
COLLECTORS CORNER Archival Gallery on Folsom Boulevard in East Sacramento will present the group show “Collectors Corner” from Jan. 7–30 featuring memorable works by the gallery’s stable of represented artists, alongside works by the late Mel Ramos. Ramos’ highly sought-after images of pinups and superheroes were featured at Archival in 2018 for what became his final appearance at the gallery—he passed away in October of that year. The gallery continues to celebrate his legacy of American figurative painting. There will be no public Second Saturday reception, but visitors are welcome during normal business hours with no appointment needed. Masks are required. For more information, visit archivalgallery.com.
NEW BIKE MAP The city of Sacramento’s Department of Public Works recently released an updated Bike Map, making it easier than ever to grab your two wheels and go. The online map includes more than 2.3 miles of protected bikeways
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the Sacramento City Council recently approved an ordinance amendment that prohibits the use of all portable blowers in the city when the air quality index is above 101. The new code is applicable to businesses and residences that use portable blowers. Leaf blowers can contribute to dust emissions and gas exhaust, which can be harmful for breathing, especially when air quality is already at an unhealthy level. Due to the recent wildfires, the AQI is already often well above 100, registering from “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to “hazardous.” To find the AQI for Sacramento, visit sparetheair.com/aqi. cfm.
SACRAMENTO LEADERS
The 2020 Leadership Sacramento class receives a tour of the Downtown Railyards. Photo courtesy of Leadership Sacramento. in the central city; approximately 1 mile of protected bikeway on Franklin Boulevard from Mack Road south into Elk Grove; 4 miles of buffered bike lanes on Mack Road, Elvas Avenue, 24th Street near Curtis Park and other streets; and a new shared-use path along the American River at Sutter’s Landing Regional Park for bikers, walkers and joggers. “There are so many great routes for biking in Sacramento, but it can be intimidating for folks new to traveling by bike,” transportation planner Leslie Mancebo says. “This updated map is a tool to learn about our bikeways and explore our great city on two wheels.” To access the map, as well as additional information on rules, safety, monthly classes and more, visit sacramentobikes.org.
has been instrumental in creating and nurturing the unique identity and vibrancy of Midtown,” says Emily Baime Michaels, Midtown Association’s executive director. “North 16th Street has seen a resurgence with housing development recently. And, with the support of the organization, we can extend the services we provide to help move the area forward that much more with regard to development, visitation and an enhanced visitor experience to an underserved area that has great potential for the future.” The Midtown PBID expanded in 2018 to include the Alhambra corridor and Midtown quarter. The new 16th Street corridor expansion will extend just beyond C Street to the north. For more information, visit exploremidtown.org.
MIDTOWN FOOTPRINT
BEFORE YOU BURN
As of Jan. 1, the footprint of the Midtown Association’s Property and Business Improvement District has expanded to include the northern stretch of the 16th Street corridor. This brings the footprint and service area to 104 blocks in the urban core—from 16th Street to Alhambra Boulevard and from H to S streets. The Midtown Association has operated as a PBID since 2008 providing service to support properties and businesses in the area. “In addition to supporting and amplifying muchneeded city services, the Midtown PBID
There’s nothing like a crackling fire on a cold winter night. But remember, until Feb. 28 you must “check before you burn” to keep Sacramento’s air quality at a healthy level. “It’s important to remember that smoke from fireplace burning is unhealthy to breathe, just like smoke from wildfires is unhealthy to breathe,” says Jamie Arno, communications supervisor for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. “Both contain harmful, invisible particles that are small enough
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to enter the blood stream and pose serious health threats.” In fact, wood burning causes more than 50 percent of the winter air pollution in Sacramento County. Before you use solid fuels like wood, pellets or manufactured fire logs in your fireplace or stove, visit airquality. org to find out if burning is allowed that day. County residents can also call (877) NO-BURN-5 or download the free “Sacramento Region Air Quality” mobile phone app for daily burn status.
SPARE THE AIR Speaking of air quality, leaf blowers are also nasty offenders when it comes to pollution. To combat this issue,
Now’s your chance to join Leadership Sacramento, a Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation program that brings together diverse leaders from around the region to learn, connect and give back. The application process for the program’s 36th cohort is now open. Founded in 1985 and boasting more than 1,110 alumni, Leadership Sacramento is an interactive yearlong program designed to inform and educate community-minded business and civic leaders on issues that impact the region’s economy. 2021’s program will include both in-person and virtual activities. “For nearly four decades, Leadership Sacramento has provided an unparalleled experience for the region’s brightest and most dynamic leaders,” says William Hodges, co-chair (with Crystal Richardson) of the 2021 program. “Graduates of the program gain a sense of pride, knowledge and a drive to further serve the region, their communities and others.”
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The program culminates in the completion of a community-betterment project benefiting a local nonprofit. Over the past five years, the classes have invested more than $1.3 million in the local community. To apply, go to metrochamber. org/foundation/programs/leadershipsacramento. There is a $150 application fee.
PRETRIAL SUPPORT The Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office has received the California State Association of Counties 2020 Health and Human Services Merit Award for its Pretrial Support Project, which provides needs assessments for individuals in custody and information for their families. The comprehensive needs assessment gathers information on an individual’s community ties, employment, military history, finances, education,
transportation, physical health, mental health, substance abuse and housing. After the assessment is complete, a recommendation is made to the individual’s attorney for appropriate follow-up. Nearly 50 percent of assessments require follow-up with a social worker. The program also addresses questions regarding how to get property back, appear by Zoom in court and find new court dates after COVID closures. Through “this client-centered holistic program, we can help identify underlying needs of an individual that may have led to their engagement of criminal conduct,” supervising public defender Tiffanie Synnott says. “The structure of PTSP is innovative because law students and social work students earn credits for externships to conduct the needs assessment of individuals in custody.”
La Familia Counseling Center is partnering with Sacramento County to provide temporary hotel housing for agricultural workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone recently diagnosed. This local partnership is part of the statewide program Housing for the Harvest, which provides workers with a free hotel room to self-isolate for up to 14 days to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Quarantine support also includes free meals, laundry assistance, transportation, wellness checks, financial assistance and support for family at home. For more than 40 years, La Familia has provided free multicultural counseling, outreach and support services to low-income, at-risk youth and families in Sacramento County. For more information, visit lafcc.org.
HEALTH & WELLNESS This month, certified health and wellness coach Carolyn Fisher is offering the next installment of her 12-week coaching program to help clients get a jump-start on their New
Year’s resolutions to get healthy and feel better. In weekly one-hour sessions by phone or video call, Fisher helps clients identify personalized wellness goals to develop healthy habits. Program participants also have access to an online wellness portal with messaging, goal tracking and journaling, plus supplemental resources and a health and nutrition e-course. Sign up for a free consultation at carolynfisherwellness.com.
ALL FOR SMALL Get your hands on limited-edition specialty merchandise designed by local artists, while supporting Sacramento small businesses, with the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s new #All4Small fundraising initiative. Local artists Chelsea-Mari Kennedy and Brandon Gastinell have designed original artwork for all kinds of swag— decals, T-shirts, posters and market bags. Funds from merchandise sales will provide free one-on-one technical assistance and consulting services to the region’s small business owners who have been especially impacted by the pandemic.
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Leaving California? Sacramento
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“With more than 100,000 local jobs already lost due to the pandemic and our small business community facing a challenging winter ahead, the Metro Chamber knows we must do all we can to support our local businesses as they weather this storm,” Metro Chamber President and CEO Amanda Blackwood says. For more information or to start shopping, visit all4smallbiz.com.
ESCAPE TIME Gabriel Berzamina and Acme Lee, co-owners of NEO Escape Rooms, are finally living their dream. The winners of the Downtown Sacramento Foundation’s 2018 Calling All Dreamers competition have opened their storefront at 1124 Second St. at the Old Sacramento Waterfront. With allowance by Sacramento County public health officials, NEO Escape Rooms will be open at or below 15-percent capacity by reservation only with enhanced safety measures for its 60-minute immersive Sacramentothemed problem-solving programming. Bookings are exclusively for family/ stay-at-home groupings. No walk-ins. Face masks must be worn at all times.
The NEO Escape Rooms experience is $39 per person (adults and children 10 and older) and households of two to seven can be accommodated. For more information and reservations, visit neoescaperooms.com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Submissions are due six weeks prior to the publication month. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n
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Police Reform SPD STRIVES TO CHANGE HOW IT OPERATES
S
acramento Police have begun a monumental overhaul in culture, recruitment, training and response to establish the department as a national leader for progressive law enforcement. From the trust its officers derive among community members to its reaction to gun violence, protest marches, mental health emergencies and homelessness, the police department is using data-driven research and street experience to reshape its practices and reform the way it does business. The process has been difficult, even painful. Months of protest marches exposed disconnects between police and residents who pay the department’s salaries and benefits. Officers have accused SPD leadership of weakness and lack of support. Community leaders have blamed police for excessive force. Business leaders have claimed officers don’t use enough force to protect property. While residents expect SPD to professionally deliver around-the-clock safety and security, many community members believe the agency falls short. Likewise, many SPD officers admit they
RG By R.E. Graswich
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don’t trust the people for whom they risk their lives. Two academic surveys completed last year showed 44 percent of Sacramento residents have “complete or quite a bit of trust” in SPD. Twenty-five percent of residents said they had “little or no trust” in the city’s police. Among officers, survey results revealed a gulf in trust perceptions between cops and residents. Only 17 percent of SPD officers said they had “quite a bit of trust” in the residents where they patrol and work. None said they had “complete trust.” The surveys underscored the difficulties faced by the city’s top law enforcement management team of Chief Daniel Hahn and City Manager Howard Chan. The surveys exposed cultural fault lines. And the research presented an opportunity to reposition the way Sacramento Police train, approach their duties and regard constituents. “My biggest fear was that they would try to censor or take out questions they didn’t want to see,” says Cid Martinez, University of San Diego sociology professor who led the community and police surveys. “That did not happen.” He adds, “I was really surprised at how supportive the police department was, because I did ask some tough questions. I wanted to know what community relations were like. They did not interfere with the kind of questions I was asking.” As they reviewed the data, Hahn and Chan knew they could ignore or bury uncomfortable facts and continue
business as usual. Or they could plow ahead and try to reset SPD’s culture and practices. They chose the second option. Today, the department is on path to make SPD far more responsive to community expectations and reflective of the people it serves. “Daniel and I are completely aligned. We won’t ever be afraid to look at the things we need to change,” Chan says. “We need to put ourselves out there warts and all. We need to have the courage to stand up and say there are people on our force who are not good police. There are people who should be fired. There are also many officers who go out there and take all forms of abuse and do a phenomenal job.” The makeover is comprehensive. Some police work—investigating violent crimes, taking statements— will never change. But many other calls—mental health emergencies, homelessness—are being reconsidered. “Sac PD has been relatively progressive in the grand scheme of things,” Hahn says. “But we have some things to work on. We need to dig deeper and look at structural changes and biases. Some of these problems
have been around forever. They won’t change overnight.” He adds, “Look, we know this community can not survive without those officers. When all hell breaks loose, we need people in Sac PD uniforms who run toward danger.” Not surprisingly, relationships between SPD and residents sink to their lowest levels in three historically underserved communities—Del Paso Heights, Oak Park and Meadowview. Hahn grew up in Oak Park and spent much of his career in Del Paso Heights. He has aggressively moved to involve local groups in recruiting and training to build trust. The department introduced dozens of programs to increase diversity in the ranks. Teenagers participate in unique training sessions and criminal justice programs. Community members— former felons included—meet with police cadets and review SPD tactics. Mervin Brookings runs a North Sacramento mentoring program called Brother 2 Brother. The group interacts with SPD academy cadets and has helped defuse potentially deadly encounters between police and residents.
Today, the department is on path to make SPD far more responsive to community expectations and reflective of the people it serves.
Timothy Scott wishes Sacramento a
Happy New Year! Sacramento’s newest hair stylist, Timothy Scott (Tim) has created a concept that’s new and quite appealing. The typical minimalist salon look is gone! His daring textiles, colors, and furnishings, combined with the perfect genre of music create a luxurious, warm, modern interior that is a direct extension of his creativity and attention to detail. There are no other stylists or clients. It’s just you and Tim. This is a private place for men as well as for women. In his comfortable, spacious environment you
can ask questions and talk freely about whatever you want without anyone else listening to your conversation and judging or having to listen to theirs. Tim takes pride in his work and loves what he does. From the first shampoo to the blowout you won’t get tossed off to an assistant or to another stylist training to get experience. His consultations are a fun, in depth discussion of what you want to achieve addressing all concerns and possibilities he sees. With more than 30 years of experience his precise haircuts, his formulations of his hair color line, ingenious use of genuine
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products and conditioning treatments are custom and will make your hair sublime “We regularly meet with the police and exchange information and work on issues that come up,” Brookings says. “When some young Black men thought they were being harassed by officers, we were able to immediately make a meeting between the community and the officers. I’m not talking about your average members of the community. I’m talking about gang members. This is working.” Even when officers suspect a crime, they often alert Brother 2 Brother and ask for help. “They won’t just lock them up, they will call us to work with them,” Brookings says. “We’ve saved hundreds of lives, people who would have been incarcerated.” Can SPD reforms succeed long-term? Inside examines that question next month. R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. To view the SPD community and police surveys, go to cityofsacramento.org/-/media/ corporate/files/police/transparency/ surveys/sacramento-communitysurvey-2019-final.pdf?la=en and cityofsacramento.org/-/media/corporate/ files/police/transparency/surveys/spd-
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Dancing
Through Life SACRAMENTO BALLET FOUNDER TURNS 100
JL Barbara Crockett By Jessica Laskey Meet Your Neighbor
O
n Sept. 19, 2020, Barbara Crockett celebrated her 100th birthday—a tremendous milestone by any calculation. She also celebrated nearly a century in the dance world as a performer, teacher and founder of arts organizations that continue to offer top-level dance education and performance—in Sacramento and beyond. “My mother has been one of the important strongholds of classical ballet in the country for over 70 years,” says Allyson Deane, Crockett’s daughter. Crockett, along with her husband Deane Crockett, Allyson Deane and Deane’s husband Don Schwennesen, co-founded the Sacramento Civic Ballet Company and Deane Dance Center—one of Sacramento’s premiere dance schools.
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“She and my dad gave Sacramento a professional level of training and performing that (the city) had never had before,” Deane adds. “They taught me not only good classical ballet technique, but also their work ethic. My mother so believed that everyone should get the best and do their best no matter their desired future.” Born in 1920 in the Bay Area, Crockett joined the San Francisco Ballet—the country’s oldest professional ballet company—in 1936. She married fellow dancer Deane Crockett, with whom she moved to Sacramento in 1945 to start the Crockett Dance Studio and, not long thereafter, the Sacramento Civic Ballet Company. That company laid the groundwork for the capital’s
first professional ballet company, the Sacramento Ballet, founded in 1954. Crockett served as the Sacramento Ballet’s company director until 1986, when another well-known dance figure, Ron Cunningham, took the helm. “I first met Barbara 35 years ago when I had left Boston Ballet after 13 years and was freelancing along with directing other projects,” says Cunningham, who, with his wife Carinne Binda, were co-artistic directors for the Sacramento Ballet for 30 years before the board ended their tenure in 2018. “Barbara was looking for her first director to take the Sacramento Ballet into being a fully professional ballet company,” Cunningham says. “Barbara met me in a lovely serene park and we
talked for several hours. I absolutely fell in love with her on so many levels and, of course, the job interested me. Carinne and I journeyed to Sacramento to meet her company and were enormously impressed with the training she had delivered to her students and the high level of performance they had achieved.” That high level of training and performance has been Crockett’s hallmark, both as a dancer and dance educator. Deane reports that one of her mother’s favorite memories is from a tour of the Western U.S. around 1958 in which she and fellow dancers Alan Howard and Grace Doty got stuck in the snow, lived off candy bars and even went to the hospital with the flu— getting out just in time to get on stage and perform.
As an educator, Crockett has always been focused on hard work and attention to detail. Deane says her mother “would be willing to work 20 years on one correction for a dancer to be sure that the dancer—who may or may not want to become a dancer— would benefit from that correction.” Crockett is credited with producing some of the strongest pointe dancers in the world, as well as well-rounded performers who are versed in multiple dance genres and techniques (which Deane and Schwennesen continue through the diverse curriculum at Deane Dance Center). Crockett was also instrumental in forming the Pacific Western Regional Ballet Association, part of the national nonprofit Regional Dance America, which provides training and scholarship opportunities to pre-professional dancers and choreographers. Crockett’s students have gone on to dance all over the world, including at the Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theater and San Francisco Ballet (where her daughter also danced as a principal). Recognition for Crockett’s immense contributions to the dance world
has taken many forms, including a California Senate resolution bestowed by Darrell Steinberg when he was president pro tem, and awards from the Sacramento Regional Arts Council, Sacramento History Center, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and many more. Just as it was her goal in the 1950s, Crockett hopes to see the Sacramento ballet world flourish and continue to give the region “a high level and high quality of professional ballet.” “It has been nothing but a blessing to have the understanding, support and leadership of my mother as I maneuvered my way through the wonderful ballet world,” Deane says. A sentiment, no doubt, shared by many. For more information, visit sacballet. org. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
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The Art of Public Speaking YOUTH PROGRAM HELPS BUILD SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE
Derek Yuan Photo by Aniko Kiezel
JL By Jessica Laskey Meet Your Neighbor
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T
hough Derek Yuan is only 17 years old, you wouldn’t know it talking to him on the phone. The Mira Loma High School senior credits his impressive verbal poise to six years of speech and debate training. And he’s determined to give other kids the chance to develop their own public speaking skills through Leaders Speak, a free online training program he cofounded with fellow Mira Loma senior Hemang Dhaulakhandi. “I was very shy growing up,” Yuan admits. “I was really lucky I made the speech and debate team in middle school or I wouldn’t have gotten started on this path. Once I got to high school, I realized that I’d gained all these skills by participating in speech and
debate competitions—but not everyone has the same access to those opportunities. We decided to spread our experience and knowledge to as many people as possible.” Leaders Speak’s mission is to enhance students’ abilities and confidence in public speaking and persuasion. In 2019, Yuan and Dhaulakhandi started pitching Leaders Speak to local schools with the promise of a low time commitment (only an hour a week) and easy-to-follow curriculum covering argumentative structure, informative speech structure, persuasion theory, nonverbal communication and more—at no cost. Yuan even cold-called every elementary school in the Sacramento area, which showed him just how far his confidence had come. “If you’d asked me to cold call when I was just starting out in middle school, I would have run away,” the Carmichael resident says with a laugh. Their persistence paid off when Karyn Roth, a fifthgrade teacher at Catheryn Gates Elementary School in Roseville (where Dhaulakhandi’s younger sibling attends) decided to allow the enterprising teens to try the program out on her students. Leaders Speak was a hit, so Roth vouched for the founders and helped the program expand to other schools in the region. When COVID-19 hit and in-person classes were no longer possible, the program moved online to Zoom and has now reached 150 students in the United States, Canada, United Arab Emirates, India, Australia and China. “The growth was kind of a happy accident,” Yuan says. “Word of mouth has been really important, as has social media. I’m Chinese and my co-founder is Indian, so we have really vibrant social media networks we can use to communicate with our communities.” Yuan says that age has also helped him and his fellow trainers connect with their students. All 10 Leaders Speak volunteer trainers—top competitors in local, regional and state speech and debate tournaments—are under 18. “Being younger is much more helpful connecting with kids and getting them to learn,” Yuan says. “When an adult is lecturing you, it’s harder to relate to them, whereas our trainers share a similar culture— slang, things we’re interested in, music we listen to— and that allows us to create a fun environment. That’s one of the most important aspects of getting younger kids to learn. You have to have fun doing it or they won’t want to come back.” While Yuan doesn’t entirely know what his future holds—he’s considering public policy, political science and international relations as possible majors in college next year—he’s clear that Leaders Speak will continue to be offered for free to reach as many kids as possible. “Seeing our students improving keeps us going,” Yuan says. “It’s heartwarming. Some kids come in really shy, but by the end of the session, they’ve opened up, they know how to formulate their thoughts and they’re more confident and better poised to take on the world.” For more information, visit theleaderspeak.org. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail. com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n
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S Simon Chan Photo by R.E. Graswich
RG By R.E. Graswich City Beat
SIMON’S LAST CALL? COVID CLOSES BAR THAT KNOWS CITY’S SOUL
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imon’s Bar & Café is not the oldest saloon in Sacramento. It’s not the biggest or most fancy. Simon’s is something else—a place that for the past four decades embodied and embraced Sacramento’s identity as a political town. Despite efforts to diversify and pretend otherwise, Sacramento lives on politics. Without the legislators, staff, lobbyists and consultants who fill the Capitol and shape the work done there, Sacramento would be something like Fresno. Simon’s would never succeed in Fresno. To enter Simon’s is to go backstage at a theater that houses a long-running play about power and money and mystique. A table by the window is filled with laughter from five Assembly staffers. At the horseshoe bar, two retired senators correct each other about the details of a bill vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. A lobbyist and reporter slam brown rubber dice boxes on the table along the back wall, playing boss poker for drinks. Two pair never beats a full house at Simon’s. Now the dice are silent. Conviviality has vanished. The coronavirus closed the bar and restaurant last March. A cautious reopening, with indoor seating limited to 25 percent of capacity, brought a few regulars back in November. But the lights burned just one week. Virus numbers spiked and indoor dining was banned again in Sacramento. Simon’s forms a tight layout at the alley on 16th Street between N and O that precludes expansive outdoor service. Simon’s needs indoor service to survive. “It’s awful,” says Simon Chan, who built the place from nothing after winning a state liquor license lottery in 1984. “I spent over $10,000 in supplies and everything so we could reopen in November. I can’t make it without the 25 percent indoor. I feel pretty bad.” The demise of Simon’s has been predicted before. Customers launched a petition to save the joint in 2015, when it appeared the landlord, a public agency known as CADA, might knock down Simon’s to build apartments. Chan dismissed the threat. He figured a long-gone adjacent dry cleaner left the land so polluted nothing could be built there for years. Younger critics claimed the bar and accompanying Chinese restaurant were irrelevant in an era of bespoke cocktails and small plates. Chan scoffed. Business was fine until COVID-19. More problems came last summer. During protests over police brutality, looters ransacked the bar. “They even broke my sign,” Chan says. Simon’s has been defying the odds since it opened in 1984. Chan, a Hong Kong fashion model before emigrating to the U.S., was a bartender at Frank Fat’s. Mixing drinks for a dwindling crowd of legislators and lobbyists, he realized Fat’s was losing its punch. Political reform laws made it illegal for lobbyists to pay booze and food tabs for elected officials—the grease that made Fat’s famous. Chan wanted his own place, but lacked financial resources. He entered a lottery for new liquor licenses and won. The lottery let Chan secure a license for a fraction of market value. But there were conditions. He had to open quickly. And he had to serve food.
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law office of brian d.wyatt ,PC He found a sketchy location on 16th Street. In the early 1980s, the neighborhood was populated with cheap motels, hookers and drug dealers. Chan remodeled a shuttered dive called the Donner and opened his doors. Friends wandered over from Fat’s, but trade was slow. State alcohol officials made it clear they didn’t think pickled eggs and microwaved burritos qualified as restaurant food. Chan built a small kitchen, run by his brother Johnny. They were lucky to survive the first year. Then business blossomed. The Capitol crowd found Simon’s charming, unpretentious and discreet—a perfect place to commune. Chan expanded his restaurant, taking over a former sweatshop next door. His special wild game dinners drew celebrities from governors to Huey Lewis. Nearby bars tried to position themselves as Capitol hangouts. Simon’s succeeded by not trying too hard. Now Sacramento’s premier political cafe is shuttered, its future uncertain. “I’ve been very miserable,� Chan
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says. “I just turned 69, but this takes a lot out of me. If I don’t work, I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s horrible.� In its small way, Simon’s explains everything there is to know about Sacramento. Without Simon’s, it’s hard to know where to start. R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
SIMON’S HAS BEEN DEFYING THE ODDS SINCE IT OPENED IN 1984.
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Personal Touch
OLD WORLD CUSTOM HOME STAYS TRUE TO HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD
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CH By Cecily Hastings OPEN HOUSE
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n 2006, my husband Jim and I embarked on a dream-of-a-lifetime project. My career prior to publishing was interior design, and I always wanted to design and build a home from scratch. Before the age of 30, I had already bought, rehabbed and sold four houses. When we moved to McKinley Park in 1989, we remodeled a lovely circa 1925 Tudor home over the course of 16 years. While my wish to design and build was brewing, Jim made it clear he loved our home, our street and our neighborhood. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d worked for IBM and was transferred every few years. Now he wanted to put down roots. And as luck would have it, we both were able to find satisfaction.
Jim made friends with an elderly couple living six houses down the street. The couple owned the empty lot next to their house where they grew fruit trees and gardened. When the gentleman passed away, his children inherited the properties and were anxious to sell. We purchased the lot. Another family bought the home. Our street is in a historic district around McKinley Park, so our plans had to go through an extensive design review. Our goal was to design a house that blended seamlessly with the other architecture surrounding the park. We hired architect Jim Plumb, who had designed many beautiful homes and additions. Our house was his last projectâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; he passed away in 2006. When we hired
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Jim and Cecily Hastings him, his lung cancer was progressing, but he couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t turn down the opportunity to build the last new home facing McKinley Park. The house is approximately 2,900 square feet with a finished full basement. Basements of this type are rare in Sacramento and, frankly, the idea of building a modern basement really got my husband excited. We used a German building system that utilized foam blocks, rebar and poured concrete walls. The expansive basement is divided into two private areas, plus a workshop and lots of storage. Light comes from window wells and a French door. It can be accessed from a staircase inside the house and an exterior concrete stairway in the backyard. When we designed the home, my elderly mother lived in an assistedliving facility. We wanted a first-floor bedroom and bath so she could move in with us. When she passed away during construction, we converted the downstairs bedroom into an open music room for our piano and my home office. We have three bedrooms upstairs and three baths in the house, plus bathrooms in the basement and garageoffice space. Work from home spaces abound. The garage, with its vaulted ceiling, was designed as office space for our business. With a bedroom and bath, it can also be used as a studio apartment. The first-floor ceilings are 10 feet high and the open entryway is two stories tall. The home is designed around a central hallway axis on both floors with window light provided from both directions. The hall ceilings are barrel-vaulted.
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The kitchen-dining-family room faces the swimming pool in the backyard. This great room features French doors clad in copper and three sets of crossshaped beams. I opted for two shades of dark taupe so they were distinctive and dramatic against the contemporary cherry kitchen cabinets and French limestone flooring. The homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many custom design touches include an 8-feet-tall front door
built locally by Burnett & Sons with an oval window that reflects a larger oval window above it. Cut limestone accents around the windows and doors bring an Old World touch. Many of the walls are Venetian plaster, which I learned to apply myself. Stone and glass floor mosaics add striking detail. The lush landscaping and trees (except for the historic street Sycamore tree) were all planted in 2008. When
we bought the empty lot, it was covered with abandoned fruit trees and overgrown shrubs. Using a chain saw from East Sac Hardware, Jim cut them down himself. He worked on it for a couple months, and left the branches and clippings out each week for the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s green waste service. Jim and I served as our own contractor. It was a great project to work on together. Just as with
our business, we divided up tasks. I managed the architecture, material and fixture selections, and interior design. He focused on the basement, and heating and cooling systems, including an underfloor heating system that is fabulous. While a significant percentage of marriages are tested by the stress of building a house, this project strengthened our relationship! But the process is certainly not for most folks.
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BUILDING OUR HOME WAS A LABOR OF LOVE FOR OUR TRADITIONAL MCKINLEY PARK NEIGHBORHOOD. BUT WE DECIDED A COUPLE YEARS AGO TO BUILD A CONTEMPORARY SINGLESTORY HOME SO WE CAN AGE IN PLACE. WE PURCHASED A CUSTOM LOT IN THE NEW SUTTER PARK NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOPE TO MOVE IN THIS SPRING.
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And living just down the street was extremely helpful as we could be there every day while the house was being built. Building our home was a labor of love for our traditional McKinley Park neighborhood. But we decided a couple years ago to build a contemporary single-story home so we can age in place. We purchased a custom lot in the new Sutter Park neighborhood and hope to move in this spring. Our current home faces McKinley Park which is undergoing a renovation that will soon be completed. We look forward to another family enjoying our truly
custom-designed home someday soonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but without the two years of planning and building it took Jim and me to create it. Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@ insidepublications.com. To recommend a home or garden for Open House, contact Katie Kishi at kkishi22@gmail.com. More photography and previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n
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Advice Well Taken CITY SEEKS MEMBERS FOR ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
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acramento has numerous boards, commissions and committees to help the mayor and City Council run the city smoothly. One of those entities is an advisory committee for the Front Street Animal Shelter. Unfortunately, the Animal Care Services Citizens Advisory Committee, formed in 2002, has not met since 2018, mostly for lack of a quorum. The committee currently has one member and six vacancies—which is why the city is looking for a few good animal lovers to bring this board back to life.
CR By Cathryn Rakich Animals & Their Allies
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Working with shelter staff, the committee provides advice and recommendations to the mayor and City Council on strategies, policies and programs related to the quality of care provided to the animals housed at Front Street. “Front Street is and continues to be a leader and model in animal welfare and sheltering,” says Phillip Zimmerman, animal care services manager for Front Street. “If the committee is filled, they will have to decide what role they want to play in helping the council, mayor and city staff improve the services we provide to our community.” The committee meets once a month at the Front Street shelter, with special meetings if necessary. Committee members serve two threeyear terms and are appointed by the mayor with approval by a majority of the City Council. The meetings are open to the public. “The best qualities and experiences are to have an understanding of current best practices in animal welfare and sheltering, and a basic understanding of how local municipal
governments govern,” Zimmerman says. Two committee members must be animal care professionals, including at least one veterinarian, and two members must be actively involved in the operation of an animal welfare organization. These members will reside in the greater Sacramento metropolitan area. Three members represent the community at large, and are not animal care professionals or affiliated with an animal welfare organization. They must be city of Sacramento residents. “Front Street actively listens to our volunteers and community members and regularly engages in conversations on how we can do things better, while understanding that animal welfare and sheltering has a lot more facets than just intaking animals,” Zimmerman says.
“COVID-19 has taught Front Street and shelters across this country that there is a better way to help animals and people, but we have to be willing to listen to each other and rely on science and data to help ensure that Front Street continues to be a model in animal welfare and sheltering.” The deadline to apply for the advisory committee is Jan. 31. For more information or to apply, visit boards.cityofsacramento.org/ board/2926. Cathryn Rakich can be reached at crakich@surewest.net. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
SPONSORED BY:
Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Closed November 1 - 30* 95608
7121 STELLA LANE #27 7121 STELLA LANE #20 6036 CASA ALEGRE 3925 OAK VILLA CIR 3928 PARK CIRCLE LANE #B 4038 OAK VILLA CIR 5017 DONOVAN DR 8249 FAIR OAKS BLVD 5233 COLUMBINE WAY 3621 CALIFORNIA AVE 3013 GARFIELD AVE 6328 ASLIN WAY 3208 SMATHERS WAY 6220 TEMPLETON DR 2110 MADDOX CT 6253 TEMPLETON DR 6536 SAINT JAMES DR 5917 MARLIN CIR 5946 HELVA LN 4105 WALNUT AVE 6431 MARKLEY WAY 6333 ASLIN WAY 5034 OLEANDER DR 3600 CASA ROSA WAY 5214 VALE DR 5100 OLEANDER DR 2118 ERIC RD 6401 TEMPLETON DR 5321 SONORA WAY 2700 COMPTON PARC LN 3116 GARFIELD AVE 6519 REXFORD WAY 6477 PERRIN WAY 5243 ARDEN WAY 5501 COLONEL RD 5928 RANGER WAY 4723 BELLUE ST 3845 HENDERSON WAY 3924 LINUS WAY 6131 VERNAL WAY 4883 THOUSAND OAKS CT 2520 LANDWOOD WAY 4806 TONO WAY 5135 ALMOND WAY 7216 LYNNBROOK CT 3035 HANNA CT 5913 OAK AVE 4566 CHARLESTON DR 4908 CAMERON RANCH DR 8417 GAYLOR WAY 4316 TYRONE WAY 4340 MARSHALL AVE 5408 SAINT ANTON CT 4220 MELISA CT 4913 OLIVE OAK WAY 2932 MARCO WAY 1758 CARMELO DR 4240 HUSSEY DR 6306 DATE PALM WAY 2637 RIVERPINE CT 4903 PALOMA AVE 6550 SUTTER AVE 6105 OAK AVE
95815
489 LAMPASAS AVE 1058 ACACIA AVE 2628 LEXINGTON ST 2496 FAIRFIELD ST 1121 LAS PALMAS AVE 2218 EDGEWATER RD 1925 MIDDLEBERRY RD 618 BELASCO AVE 1028 OLIVERA WAY
$222,000 $230,000 $235,000 $265,000 $279,900 $291,500 $300,000 $314,907 $335,000 $335,000 $340,000 $341,000 $350,000 $351,000 $365,000 $375,000 $375,000 $382,000 $390,000 $392,000 $399,000 $400,000 $400,000 $405,000 $405,000 $406,000 $415,000 $420,000 $425,000 $429,000 $435,000 $435,000 $436,000 $437,000 $441,000 $445,000 $450,000 $451,000 $460,000 $465,000 $466,000 $472,500 $500,000 $516,000 $524,900 $525,000 $535,000 $540,000 $549,000 $560,000 $560,000 $565,000 $595,000 $601,000 $617,500 $625,000 $635,000 $635,000 $660,000 $690,000 $725,000 $900,000 $940,000
$235,000 $255,000 $271,500 $275,000 $291,000 $295,000 $295,000 $300,000 $300,000
1237 HELENA AVE 2456 BOXWOOD ST 2591 ERICKSON ST 2105 YORKSHIRE RD 1927 KENWOOD ST 537 BLACKWOOD ST
95816
2117 S ST #202 3117 B ST 3528 C ST 1541 - 32ND ST 3570 C ST 32 METRO LN 3823 S ST 3309 FORNEY WAY 2301 CAPITOL AVE 924 - 33RD ST 2217 MATSUI ALY 2219 MATSUI ALY 537 - 38TH ST
95817
3101 SAN RAFAEL CT 3533 - 36TH ST 3521 - 37TH ST 2630 - 41ST ST 4709 U ST 3940 - 8TH AVE 2504 - 58TH ST 3725 - 9TH AVE 3525 - 6TH AVE 2175 - 36TH ST 3943 - 12TH AVE 3989 - 2ND AVE 5009 U ST 3219 - 4TH AVE 5133 U ST 2825 - 38TH ST 5257 V ST 2141 - 36TH ST 2482 SAN JOSE WAY
95818
431 TAILOFF LN 446 CRATE AVE 2104 - 9TH ST 353 CRATE AVE 2132 PERKINS WAY 2800 - 22ND ST 2125 - 3RD ST 2130 - 15TH ST 732 - 7TH AVE 3085 - 17TH ST 1067 PERKINS WAY 662 - 6TH AVE 2582 - 17TH ST 2782 SAN LUIS CT 962 ROBERTSON WAY 2143 - 7TH AVE 2778 MARTY WAY 2352 MARSHALL WAY 3014 BALDWIN ST 1357 WELLER WAY 1238 WELLER WAY
95819
930 - 54TH ST 1316 - 63RD ST 5018 JERRY WAY 5715 CARLSON DR 1529 - 55TH ST 5644 CAMELLIA AVE 96 COLOMA WAY
$324,000 $335,000 $349,000 $380,000 $405,000 $589,950
$250,000 $374,000 $450,000 $450,000 $492,000 $549,900 $550,000 $650,000 $700,000 $739,000 $795,000 $800,000 $1,005,000
$185,500 $265,000 $370,000 $385,000 $405,000 $409,000 $425,000 $432,822 $435,000 $440,000 $465,000 $472,000 $490,000 $490,000 $499,999 $525,000 $535,000 $555,000 $625,000
$375,000 $386,000 $410,000 $462,000 $465,000 $480,000 $495,000 $515,000 $527,000 $565,000 $567,500 $575,000 $579,000 $599,000 $671,500 $700,000 $740,000 $760,000 $834,108 $988,000 $1,035,000
$465,000 $478,000 $535,000 $545,000 $551,000 $565,000 $580,000
224 SAN ANTONIO WAY 55 - 49TH ST 5832 O ST 50 - 36TH WAY 5170 SANDBURG DR 1849 - 43RD ST 924 - 51ST ST 4116 C ST 4400 B ST 3960 D ST 5882 SHEPARD AVE 700 - 52ND ST 561 PALA WAY 5251 F ST 1422 - 44TH ST 5116 E ST 1431 - 46TH ST 5233 SUTTER PARK WY
$585,000 $600,000 $640,000 $665,000 $685,000 $700,000 $721,000 $729,000 $760,000 $810,000 $830,000 $836,000 $855,000 $925,000 $1,250,000 $1,316,605 $1,550,000 $1,775,000
95821
2581 FULTON SQUARE LN #76 2591 FULTON SQUARE LN #82 2264 MARCONI AVE 2611 GRANITE WAY 3331 POTTER LN 2275 MARCONI AVE 3617 EASTERN AVE 2254 RAINBOW AVE 3617 WOODCREST RD 2342 GRANITE WAY 4402 BARON AVE 3520 SAINT GEORGE DR 3234 BROOKWOOD RD 2307 TYROLEAN WAY 2505 ANDRADE WAY 4261 ANNETTE ST 2530 CASTLEWOOD DR 3800 THORNWOOD DR 3310 KENTFIELD DR 2501 ROSLYN WAY 3224 BROPHY DR 4011 PASADENA AVE 4131 ZEPHYR WAY 3618 MULHOLLAND WAY 3029 SAND DOLLAR WAY 3918 SPENCER WAY 3104 CRESTHAVEN DR 4114 ROBERTSON AVE 4537 NORTH AVE 2820 CARSON WAY 4181 DE COSTA AVE 4149 ZEPHYR WAY 3509 ROBERTSON AVE 2808 CALLE VISTA WAY 4328 EDISON AVE 3000 GREENWOOD AVE 2924 LETA LN 4224 MASON LN
95822
2800 SWIFT WAY 7270 LOMA VERDE WAY 1930 - 60TH AVE 2627 WAH AVE 55 QUASAR CIR 2757 WOOD VIOLET WAY 7216 - 21ST ST 7465 - 19TH ST 5848 BELLEAU WOOD LN 2513 CASA LINDA DR 2211 - 51ST AVE 8 CANYON TREE CT 1442 - 66TH AVE 2061 - 48TH AVE 1871 - 68TH AVE
$199,000 $220,000 $235,000 $320,000 $320,000 $325,000 $331,565 $332,000 $332,000 $333,000 $345,000 $347,000 $357,000 $365,000 $369,000 $389,000 $395,000 $400,000 $410,000 $419,000 $425,000 $425,000 $427,000 $440,000 $450,500 $460,000 $460,000 $470,000 $470,000 $495,000 $495,000 $500,000 $525,000 $569,000 $575,000 $607,500 $608,000 $670,000
$235,000 $260,000 $265,000 $265,000 $271,000 $300,000 $305,000 $310,000 $310,000 $315,000 $317,000 $320,000 $330,000 $330,000 $335,000
2980 - 66TH AVE 2301 - 51ST AVE 7447 GEORGICA WAY 7505 BALFOUR WAY 7526 GEORGICA WAY 7025 WILSHIRE CIR 2490 - 27TH AVE 2609 FERNANDEZ DR 2348 HALDIS WAY 4520 ATTAWA AVE 4504 - 23RD ST 1026 DARNEL WAY 5400 ROSITA WAY 1610 OREGON DR 5220 HARTE WAY 2225 HOOKE WAY 2309 MURIETA WAY 1718 WENTWORTH AVE 4441 HILLVIEW WAY 4950 ALTA DR 1245 NOONAN DR 4629 SUNSET DR 970 SAGAMORE WAY 4230 SOUTH LAND PARK DR
$340,000 $345,000 $360,000 $363,500 $375,000 $385,000 $390,000 $408,000 $410,000 $412,400 $415,000 $435,000 $435,000 $455,000 $460,000 $466,000 $555,000 $567,500 $646,500 $649,500 $658,000 $742,850 $895,000 $1,010,000
95825
925 EAST FULTON AVE #428 959 FULTON AVE #543 935 FULTON AVE #498 1045 FULTON AVE #388 921 FULTON AVE #462 639 WOODSIDE SIERRA #5 877 WOODSIDE LANE EAST #11 700 WOODSIDE LANE EAST #3 733 WOODSIDE LN #10 1403 HOOD RD 1326 OAK TERRACE CT #1 1326 OAK TERRACE CT #15 1537 HOOD RD #A 1117 BELL ST #9 2280 HURLEY WAY #69 545 WOODSIDE OAKS #4 3228 CASITAS BONITO 2132 WINAFRED ST 2140 CORTEZ LN 648 WOODSIDE SIERRA #1 1521 WAYLAND AVE 2304 LAREDO RD 2413 PARKWOOD DR 2514 EXETER SQUARE LN 267 MUNROE ST 809 COMMONS DR 606 COMMONS DR 1914 UNIVERSITY PARK DR 823 COMMONS DR 732 HARTNELL PL 609 COMMONS DR 1107 DUNBARTON CIR 149 HARTNELL PL 1524 HESKET WAY 509 EAST RANCH RD 282 MUNROE ST 390 HARTNELL PL 2430 PAVILIONS PLACE LN #311 1912 UNIVERSITY PARK DR 305 FAIRGATE RD
95831
577 LEEWARD WAY 83 CACHE RIVER CIR 824 HARVEY WAY 7307 PERERA CIR 307 BREWSTER AVE 258 RIVERTREE WAY 6837 SOUTH LAND PARK DR
$113,000 $120,000 $121,000 $145,000 $151,000 $174,000 $175,000 $180,000 $184,500 $197,000 $200,000 $202,500 $205,000 $220,000 $236,000 $249,900 $260,000 $275,000 $295,000 $307,000 $315,000 $320,000 $365,000 $370,000 $385,000 $398,600 $399,900 $399,950 $400,000 $440,000 $445,000 $462,000 $462,000 $469,000 $550,000 $562,500 $640,000 $650,000 $667,500 $765,000
$230,000 $370,000 $385,000 $393,000 $400,000 $410,000 $417,000
420 SPINNAKER WAY 1178 CEDAR TREE WAY 6895 TRUDY WAY 14 GREGG CT 7049 CATLEN WAY 7325 IDLE WILD WAY 5 CORIANDER CT 1014 JOHNFER WAY 890 LAKE FRONT DR 409 PIMENTEL WAY 7349 L ARBRE WAY 7633 AMBROSE WAY 6735 POCKET RD 700 LAKE FRONT DR 6196 FENNWOOD CT 651 RIVERLAKE WAY 14 MOONLIT CIR 6411 LAKE PARK DR 453 CEDAR RIVER WAY 877 ROYAL GREEN AVE 35 PEBBLE RIVER CIR 819 PARKLIN AVE 654 CLIPPER WAY 7472 RIO MONDEGO DR 40 SHORELINE CIR 6780 ORLEANS WAY 43 SOUTHLITE CIR 19 PARK VISTA CIR 325 RIVERGATE WAY 1200 - 58TH AVE 1065 SILVER LAKE DR 7327 RIVER PLACE WAY 747 STILL BREEZE WAY BRICKYARD DR
95864
1200 SHADOWGLEN RD 3136 HURLEY WAY 3104 CHURCHILL RD 3017 BERKSHIRE WAY 912 PATRICIA WAY 1012 AMBERWOOD RD 1133 HAMPTON RD 1830 NEPTUNE WAY 3820 DUBAC WAY 4328 FIGWOOD WAY 4325 BAYWOOD WAY 3956 LA VERNE WAY 1828 MARYAL DR 2300 CATALINA DR 4208 LAS CRUCES WAY 3825 LYNWOOD WAY 2330 CATALINA DR 4061 ESPERANZA DR 8 PARK SIERRA LN 3551 BODEGA CT 1331 ARROYO GRANDE DR 4213 AMERICAN RIVER DR 441 WYNDGATE RD 3908 CRESTA WAY 1600 CASTEC DR 380 WYNDGATE RD 311 ROSS WAY 3813 EL RICON WAY 2599 AMERICAN RIVER DR 900 SAVERIEN DR 2913 SIENNA LN 760 SAN RAMON WAY 817 WIMBLEDON CT 500 MORSE AVE 370 WILHAGGIN DR 113 TRYON CT 835 EL CHORRO WAY 428 HOPKINS RD 2719 LAUREL DR
$432,000 $433,000 $445,000 $450,000 $460,000 $462,000 $467,500 $479,000 $485,000 $488,000 $500,000 $503,000 $520,000 $532,000 $540,000 $540,000 $542,000 $545,000 $545,000 $550,000 $550,000 $560,000 $565,000 $585,000 $600,000 $600,000 $605,000 $609,000 $618,000 $630,000 $660,000 $735,000 $740,000 $880,600
$313,000 $318,000 $330,000 $337,500 $339,500 $340,000 $362,000 $385,000 $415,000 $448,000 $450,000 $450,000 $475,000 $475,000 $540,000 $562,000 $605,000 $615,000 $629,000 $645,000 $680,000 $715,000 $735,000 $755,000 $790,000 $849,000 $850,000 $900,000 $930,000 $992,000 $1,030,000 $1,100,000 $1,200,000 $1,250,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,527,500 $1,592,500 $2,375,000
VISIT INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM FOR COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD REAL ESTATE GUIDES WITH 6 MONTH HISTORICAL SALES DATA
* BASED UPON INFORMATION FROM METROLIST SERVICES, INC, FOR THE PERIOD NOVEMBER 1, 2020 THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2020. DUNNIGAN, REALTORS DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN ALL OF THESE SALES
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Fostering Relationships VOLUNTEER
ADVOCATES GIVE FOSTER YOUTH A VOICE
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ulonda Lea never thought she’d play tag again at the age of 56, but here she is—and she’s loving it. Lea volunteers as a court-appointed special advocate—or CASA—for the Sacramento County branch of the National CASA Association, which provides consistency and support for children in the foster care system through volunteer advocates. These advocates are community members—no law background required— trained by CASA and then appointed by a judge to advocate for a foster youth on a one-to-one basis. “Once you’re matched with a child, you spend time with them to develop as much background about their life as you can to identify their needs and wants,” Lea explains. Lea moved to Sacramento in 2018 after a 20-year career in federal law enforcement in Washington, D.C., when her secret-service-agent husband got a job as vice president of security for the Sacramento Kings. “You’re the eyes and ears of the court on behalf of the child,” Lea adds. “You talk to anyone who has an impact on their life—family members, teachers, social workers, attorneys, foster parents. You make sure they’re being cared for appropriately, and if you see something that needs to be addressed, you can bring it up at the hearings that take place every six months. But it’s not an administrative role—you’re really the most consistent person in that child’s life.” Lea had been interested in volunteering with children for years, but it wasn’t until she got an email inviting her to apply to be a CASA that she finally took the plunge. In November 2019, she met the little girl who would change her life. “When we first met, she would kind of just look at me,” Lea says of her
Eulonda Lea Photo by Linda Smolek
JL By Jessica Laskey Giving Back: Volunteer Profile
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10-year-old charge. “It takes time to build confidence and rapport, and she didn’t know me yet. Now that a year has passed, we’re very close. We see each other once a week—it would be more but she’s in school—and we go out and do all kinds of activities. In the summer, we go to the river and swim, we go to the mall, to the gym. “She’s a 10-year-old with a lot of energy. It’s so sweet now when I go pick her up—she comes flying out the door. That’s how I know it’s really helped her. It’s given her something special to look forward to.” It’s also given her someone she can trust. Lea explains that children in foster care often don’t get the one-onone attention they need, especially if they’re living in a group or foster home with multiple children. CASAs give kids someone they can talk to about anything— Lea describes it as a “mentor-auntie” kind of role. Lea encourages anyone interested in becoming a CASA not to be intimidated. You need to be sure you have the time to get to know a child. The minimum time commitment is one year, but many CASAs stay on much longer. All of the training and ongoing support is provided by the CASA organization. Lea also encourages BIPOC to apply. Children in the foster system are quite diverse and it’s incredibly helpful for them to have mentors who look like them. “I was intimidated by the expectation at first, but I’m so glad I did it because it’s the one area of my life I’m forced to be consistent in,” Lea says. “This child depends on me. The best way to be held accountable is when you know it’s for someone else’s benefit. “This has given me so much more back than I feel I’ve given. If you love children and want to have a personal influence on a child’s life, this is the perfect opportunity.” For more information, visit sacramentocasa.org. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
Lyon Real Estate LOCAL LEADERS WITH GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
Lovely Curtis Park Tudor on a great street. 3 Bed, 2 Ļ bths, 1947 sf. New exterior paint, wood Ļoors, ĺreplace, breakfast nook. $716,000 JIM ANDERSON 916.806.4061 #01268030
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Folsom's sought after neighborhood, Hillcrest. 4-5BD/3.5BA, 3933 sf. Custom & impeccably maintained. Solar pool! No detail left out! $1,188,000 JIM ANDERSON 916.806.4061 #01268030
Land Park Gem with original charm! 3BD/1.5BA, 1747SF. Built-ins, brick ĺreplace, hardwood Ļoors, family room with wall of windows. $679,900 BRUCE REDDICK 916.919.7338 #01814253
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PE Desirable Woodbridge home. Spacious 2929SF, 4BD, 3BA, Gourmet kitchen, 3 car gar, large corner lot near nature trail and river access. $624,900 SUZIE SMITS 916.837.5302 #01848670
Land Park Sweetheart on great street. Updated, hrdwd Ļoors, 2BD/1BA,1069SF. Lovely trellis covered patio, 2 car gar. Move in ready! $575,000 IDELLE CLAYPOOL 916.730.8895 #01097766
Arden Duplex a block from St. Michael’s school & church. 2BD/1BA, 1105 sq ft per unit. Vaulted ceilings, private backyards, garage. $525,000 DEBBIE DAVIS 916.213.2323 #01237920
Cottage style house in Curtis Park with 2 bdrm/1 bath, ĺreplace, dining room, hardwood Ļoors, fresh paint, garage, 1146 sq ft. $480,000 JANET CARLSON 916.316.1912 #01888296
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Desirable Midtown Highwater Craftsman! XL lot w/ alley access. 2 BD/ BA 1089 SF, original wood paneling and box beams, large kitchen. $558,000 SARAH ILLINIK 916.541.3230 #01368453
Rustic Land Park Charmer! Huge .28 ac lot on court across from the park! 2-3BD/1BA,1183SF. Original built-ins, wood Ļoors, sunroom. $525,000 RACHEL SIEMERING 916.838.7594 #01049891
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Charming Tahoe Park home on lovely tree-lined street! 3BD/1BA, Hardwood Ļoors, dual pane windows, landscaped backyard w/ patio. $390,000 ROSE CABRAL 530.217.9537 #01904268
Iconic Campus Commons Community! 3BD/2.5BA, 1777SF condo, swimming pools, tennis courts, park like setting, access to American River. $370,000 BRUCE REDDICK 916.919.7338 #01814253
Land Park Ofĺce | 2620 21st Street, Sacramento | 916.453.3333 | GoLyon.com ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM
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Aggie Power TECH PROJECT TO TRANSFORM MED CENTER AREA
Rendering by ZGF Architects
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espite legitimate concerns about gentrification, traffic and other potential downsides of big development projects, the plan to create Aggie Square at the UC Davis Medical Center campus is fantastic news. Full disclosure: I worked for former UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi when she first advanced a new innovation and research campus in Sacramento about five years ago. At that point the project seemed headed for the Downtown railyards. Mayor Kevin Johnson offered the university free land behind the city’s historic train station. Johnson saw the campus as a compelling development
GD By Gary Delsohn Building Our Future
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anchor. But the idea never went anywhere. Now, under Chancellor Gary May and Mayor Darrell Steinberg, the project has shifted to Stockton Boulevard around Second Avenue. Traffic at the medical center is already an issue, but it makes sense to build on existing investment and infrastructure. It’s wise to strengthen one of the region’s great assets. Despite being approved in November by the UC Regents, the $1.1 billion project on 12 acres is kicking up controversy and opposition, even as the coronavirus makes new investments and jobs scarce. Some opposition can be attributed to the mindset one urban planner associated with the project explains with a classic quote: “I’m against anything I’m not in on.” Neighborhoods such as Oak Park on the edge of the med center are wary of being shortchanged. There is history about disadvantaged neighborhoods getting stuck with traffic, pollution, higher rents and gentrification.
But in this case, there are many benefits to go around—if planning and buildout go as expected. The university’s development partners at Aggie Square have impressive records. Baltimore-based Wexford Science & Technology has worked with universities around the country to advance a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to research and tech start-ups. GMH Capital Partners of Pennsylvania specializes in student housing. That’s a key component of Aggie Square, with 285-student apartments and a finance plan projected to generate about $37 million for affordable housing raised from tax revenues after development. That’s not a huge windfall. But Aggie Square is also projected to create about 3,600 new jobs (plus 5,000 construction jobs), as three new labs, classrooms and research spaces open under phase one. The city of Sacramento has pledged $30 million in tax breaks to help fund roads and other improvements. City officials envision a vibrant new urban destination that will include a market building, space for a farmers market
and the Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education. UC Davis has strong academic programs that cover a wide range of disciplines—food, wine, engineering and education. Aggie Square will create exciting new opportunities for students to study such topical issues as transformative justice, health equity, biomedical engineering and more. Aggie Square fits with current trends. Research universities are rushing to develop collaborative innovation centers to encourage partnerships between academic researchers and industry start-ups that can lead to new jobs and technological breakthroughs. With state funding for public universities drying up, schools are looking to grow and generate revenue that allows them to remain competitive without being dependent on taxpayerfunded budgets. In Chancellor May, UC Davis has the right advocate to make Aggie Square a success, even with concerns raised by adjacent neighborhoods. Before coming to Davis, May was engineering dean at Georgia Tech, where its Technology Square is seen as a model for other
communities and universities. Tech Square generates innovation and economic development throughout the Atlanta area. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aggie Square will serve as a collaborative technology and innovation campus that leverages the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strengths to become a catalyst for economic change, creates jobs for our graduates, and helps spur the economic vitality of the broader Sacramento region,â&#x20AC;? May has written. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It will serve as a model public-private partnership, increasing technology transfer and creating equitable opportunities for residents in the community and region.â&#x20AC;?
That sounds lofty, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what the best innovation hubs accomplish. With city and neighborhood activists watching, and despite inevitable bumps in the road, Aggie Square is welcome news. It offers an opportunity for Sacramento, UC Davis, students, faculty and even local community skeptics to come out ahead. Gary Delsohn can be reached at gdelsohn@gmail.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
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Challenge Accepted
LEGALLY BLIND MIDTOWN RESIDENT LIVES LIFE TO FULLEST
Carol Rae Anapolsky with Zoe Photo by Aniko Kiezel
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arol Rae Anapolsky loves a good challenge. During her 91 years, the Midtown resident has been the only woman in a male-dominated job (more than once), owned one of the region’s largest gourmet chocolate shops, become a sought-after jewelry designer in Oregon and, more recently, learned to live independently despite being legally blind. After graduating from McClatchy High School, Anapolsky didn’t want to go to a four-year college. Her father, a successful businessman who owned one of the area’s first home-improvement
JL By Jessica Laskey Meet Your Neighbor
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stores, had inspired her to enter the business world—but he also insisted that his only daughter take two years of classes at Sacramento City College before striking out on her own. While attending college, Anapolsky discovered a knack for acting that stayed with her through her adulthood—she performed regularly at the Eaglet Theatre (now the Sacramento Theatre Company) and Chautauqua Playhouse. After moving to San Francisco to try her luck auditioning, Anapolsky landed a job as a secretary, first at an ad agency and later at the San Francisco Examiner. (At the Examiner interview, she was told they wouldn’t hire a woman because the language in the all-male secretarial pool was not very “becoming.” Anapolsky stood her ground, got the position and did “one hell of a job.”) Anapolsky eventually moved back to Sacramento to be closer to her parents and adopted a baby boy. She also started working at Wells Fargo—again the only
woman in her department—where she worked for 21 years until the itch to go into business for herself came back. “I always wanted the challenge of owning a business,” Anapolsky says. “I wanted to prove I didn’t need a college education and could learn by doing.” Coupling her love of a challenge with her lifelong love of chocolate, Anapolsky opened gourmet chocolate shop Kaylah le Chocolatier (Kaylah is her Jewish name) at Downtown Plaza in 1984 and eventually moved to a historic building on K Street. “If I ever bragged about anything in my life, it was that store,” says Anapolsky, who ran the shop for 10 years. “It was a place where people could hang out and feel comfortable, which made me feel like I was giving back to my community.” After selling the store and retiring to Oregon at her husband Sylvan’s behest, Anapolsky didn’t slow down. She got involved with Soroptimist International, threw chocolate and champagne soirées, and started a new venture as a jewelry designer and gallery owner. When she lost her husband in 2015, her son insisted she return to Sacramento. Anapolsky spent an unhappy year at Selby Ranch before taking up residence at Governor’s Terrace in Midtown, where she lives with her best friend Zoe, a 5 1/2-pound Maltese. Around that time, Anapolsky noticed that making necklaces was getting more and more challenging—and not in a good way. “The colors weren’t right and I had trouble stringing,” she recalls. “I kept thinking I just needed to rest my eyes,
but really I was in denial. I wouldn’t accept that I couldn’t see.” Finally, Anapolsky was referred to the Low Vision Clinic at the Society for the Blind—where she was declared legally blind. In shock, Anapolsky agreed to meet with one of the center’s occupational therapists, who helped set up a Kindle for the avid reader and enrolled Anapolsky in the Senior IMPACT program, a series of classes that teach non-visual techniques to people 55 and older experiencing vision loss. During an intensive fiveday retreat, Anapolsky learned the skills she now uses to maintain an active, independent life as a thriving nonagenarian. The Society for the Blind “gave me life again—and gave me a challenge, which is the most wonderful thing I can have,” says Anapolsky, who regularly cruises Midtown with Zoe, her white cane and a walker to visit shop owners and friends. “If you’re blind late in life, it’s just a matter of how you decide what you’re going to do. Are you going to accept it, or sit on your booty and feel sorry for yourself? I’m not that type of person. There’s still so much life out there for us if we want to have it. Don’t look back, look forward.” On to the next challenge. For more information, visit societyfortheblind.org. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
Dad’s Kitchen general manager Cheryl Rossell (right) and server Maria Stowers (left)
Joan Borucki of the the Greater Broadway Partnership
LOCAL PLEDGE CAMPAIGN KEEPS GROWING
Michael Ault of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership Sisu Boutique owner Sylamphay Keomeuangsong
Emily Baime Michaels of the Midtown Association
Der Biergarten’s manager Jarrett Derfield
Photos Courtesy of Cecily Hastings, Lauren Stenvick, Sally Giancanelli and Tori Viebrock
We are happy to report that the TAKE THE 100% LOCAL PLEDGE campaign continues to grow and pick up new supporters. We invite other businesses and groups to join the effort as well. You can participate as simply as posting our signs at your business or by donating to fund signs and other resources. Visit insidesacramento.com/100local/. For more information, contact cecily@insidepublications.com.
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FIBER OPTIMUM HOW A GARDEN MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE
I
f 2020 seemed like a daily flat tire, begin the New Year with a nutritious edible garden and exercise. Gardening is Mother Nature’s Peloton. Who needs Jenny Craig when homegrown fresh produce is stuffed with healthy low-calorie options? Growing the right foods may even save or extend your life. Fred Hoffman, Sacramento’s highest-profile gardener, confronted a life-threatening health crisis in 2012. He discovered he had Type 2 diabetes while preparing for quadruple-bypass heart surgery. It was an abrupt life-or-death wakeup call for the producer/host of the “Garden Basics with Farmer Fred” podcast and radio programs, “The KFBK Garden Show” and “Get Growing with Farmer Fred” on Talk 650 KSTE.
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Hoffman studied medical research and chose a personal road to recovery. He waved bye-bye to candy, cookies and ice cream, and added more fruits, vegetables and foods such as sprouted bread to his diet. Fiber, both soluble and insoluble, became his daily companion. “My goals were to eat at least 35 grams of fiber a day and fewer than 45 grams of added sugar per day,” he says. An experienced gardener, he tweaked his planting choices to grow fruits and vegetables at the top of the nutrient and fiber-rich charts. All his produce is organically grown. “At first, I stayed on my medications, but began eating correctly and doing regular exercise,” says Hoffman, who also became a cycling and weighttraining advocate. “Much of the research I read discussed the good things that adding soluble fiber to your diet can do for the heart and diabetes control. And I read horror stories about how a diet filled with added sugars, combined with a sedentary lifestyle, can send you back to the hospital.” Eight months after surgery, Hoffman had shed 60 pounds, narrowed to a 32-inch waist, and weaned himself off seven prescription medications.
Fred Hoffman
He says his endocrinologist and cardiologist were astounded by the rapid turnaround. “I’ve been prescription free since,” he says. A high-fiber diet, according to the Mayo Clinic, helps control blood-sugar levels and cholesterol and fats from being absorbed into the blood stream.
It aids waste elimination and weight management. Artichokes, blueberries, peas, apricots, beans (pinto, white and kidney), carrots, oranges and eggplant are excellent sources of soluble fiber, the type of fiber that dissolves in water. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and mostly is skins and seeds of plants. All fiber is good for you.
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L St Lofts #507 listed for $515,000 Blueberries, high in antioxidants, potassium and vitamin C, are considered a “superfood.” Fortunately, they are easy to grow, even in large containers. Tasty and productive varieties to consider include Reveille, O’Neal, Jewel, Bluecrop and Emerald. So-called superfoods are not determined by specific criteria, according to the American Heart Association, but are packed with nutrients that combat deadly diseases. Kale, beans and sweet potatoes often are considered superfoods. Other highly nutritious edibles commonly grown in the Sacramento area include tomatoes, garlic, ginger, spinach, beets and peppers. Adding healthier garden-grown fruits and vegetables to your diet does not have to be intimidating. “For new gardeners, start small,” Hoffman says. “Pick fruits and vegetables you know your family will eat and then only plant a few of each.” He recommends two blueberry plants, two or three tomato plants (including one cherry tomato), a couple of pepper plants and three or four fruit trees. Add one zucchini, which will provide enough squash for an entire neighborhood.
Two excellent informational sources for those wishing to improve their diet and overall health with an edible garden in 2021 are the Master Gardeners of Sacramento County website at sacmg. ucanr.edu and Hoffman’s site at farmerfred.com. These two websites are rich with scientifically researched, howto gardening information. Start the New Year with an edible garden and become your own nutritionist and personal trainer. Growing your own is a wholesome and healthful New Year’s resolution, one you may decide to renew for the rest of your life. Dan Vierria is a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener for Sacramento County and former Home & Garden writer for The Sacramento Bee. He can be reached at masterg29@gmail.com. For answers to gardening questions, contact the UCCE Master Gardeners at (916) 8765338, email mgsacramento@ucanr. edu or visit sacmg.ucanr.edu. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
This healthful cruciferous vegetable is available much of the year, from September through June. It’s a member of the cabbage family. To eat: Steam or roast at high heat in the oven with olive oil and salt.
SWEET POTATO This large, starchy, sweettasting root vegetable is a great source of betacarotene.
To eat: Roast the flesh and use instead of pumpkin for a delicious Southern pie.
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Feeding Families
LOCAL AND STATE PROGRAMS HELP CURB FOOD INSECURITY
Amber Stott Photo by Aniko Kiezel
F
ood and nutrition insecurity are ongoing struggles for millions in California, including those living in Sacramento. In the highest agriculture-producing state, some local groups and government agencies have created ways to distribute freshly farmed food to families in need. The Food Literacy Center is a Sacramento nonprofit whose mission is
TMO By Tessa Marguerite Outland Farm-to-Fork
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to inspire kids to eat their vegetables. Through its distribution of Veggie STEM Boxes, the center provides families facing food insecurity with meals that are accessible and healthy, while teaching kids about science and math through cooking. Last April, just a few days after Sacramento City Unified School District schools closed due to COVID-19, the Food Literacy Center began distributing Veggie STEM Boxes. Similar to subscription meals, STEM Boxes include all the ingredients for a healthy recipe. To make broccoli and potato tacos, for example, olive oil, garlic, potatoes, broccoli and tortillas are all packed with a kid-friendly recipe, box of crayons and coloring activity sheet.
An average of about 150 boxes are distributed each week free of charge to elementary school students in Title 1 schools (schools that receive federal funding to help meet educational goals) throughout South Sacramento. Prior to the pandemic, the Food Literacy Center created a cooking class that used a STEM-based curriculum to teach students food preparation and nutrition. The class incorporated math and science through activities such as measuring ingredients, following a recipe, and learning how fiber and sugar work in the body. After the pandemic hit, the center adapted its weekly curriculum to be available free and online through virtual classes, downloadable lesson plans and recipes. For families without internet at home,
Food Literacy Center staff provide printed curriculum. “We do know this (food insecurity) is going to continue for quite some time,” says Amber Stott, CEO and chief food genius at the Food Literacy Center. “We’re seeing all sorts of statistics from statewide food banks telling us to prepare for the next decade. We’re not going to quickly come out of this.” Lauren Lathan Reid, director of communications for the California Association of Food Banks, agrees that food insecurity has become even more of a crisis than it was before the pandemic. According to Reid, the number of Californians facing food insecurity has doubled since March 2020. “We now have 10 million hungry Californians and we are not going to return to pre-pandemic levels for potentially 10 years,” Reid says. “I don’t even have a word for it—it’s really bad.” In Sacramento alone, more than 200,000 people are struggling to keep food on the table for their families, reports California Food Policy Advocates. CAFB’s program Farm to Family is quenching hunger while reducing agricultural excess. The program partners with farmers, ranchers, packers and shippers to get farm products from the field to food banks. Started by Bay Area food banks in the late 1990s, the program has been operated by CAFB since 2005. Farmers can donate products to the association and receive a small reimbursement that helps cover distribution costs. In 2020, Farm to Family distributed more than 153 million pounds of produce and 12 million pounds of items such as eggs, milk and cheese to its 42 partners across the state, including Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Reid says the California Department of Food and Agriculture contacted the association in early 2020 to assist with the imminent instability of the food supply chain. Since many farms distribute directly to restaurants or hospitality services, they were suddenly faced with an overabundance of produce when the pandemic forced widespread closures. As more farmers became aware of the Farm to Family program, many chose to donate their excess harvest to nourish California’s hungry community members. “This way highquality produce goes to hungry people instead of being wasted,” Reid says. In April 2020, Farm to Family distributed 18 million pounds of produce—probably the largest bounty in one month since the program’s
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beginning, according to Reid. The association received financial support from the government that helped reduce fees for labor and transportation. Normally, in order to receive produce through the Farm to Family program, each food bank would be responsible to pay the fees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So food banks were able to get the produce free of charge to get what they need, not just what they could afford,â&#x20AC;? Reid adds. Farm to Family currently partners with more than 200 farms across California. Without produce donations from all these farmers, the program would not exist. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a real partnership
between our food banks and the agriculture community,â&#x20AC;? Reid says. Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feeding families around the corner or across the state, programs like Veggie STEM Boxes and Farm to Family are vital to our communities in the effort to curb food insecurity. For more information, visit foodliteracycenter.org and cafoodbanks. org/farm-family.
Selling or Buying? Put Neighborhood Experience and Knowledge to work for you
Tessa Marguerite Outland can be reached at tessa.m.outland@gmail.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n
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Is It Time? YOU DESERVE A SAFE AND THRIVING MARRIAGE ’m lucky that my wife, Becky, still laughs at the preposterous proposal I made to another woman 42 years ago. I begin by explaining how, early in our marriage, we routinely substituted Brand X for the real name of any previous relationship. The nickname came from commercials that promised a certain laundry soap was new and improved and would produce sparkly clean results—far superior to Brand X. This story is about my Brand X. On a beautiful fall day, I proposed to X as my Baylor roommate, Roger Williams,
I
NB By Norris Burkes Spirit Matters
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chauffeured X and me to the university on my way back from dental surgery. Yes, you’ve all seen the hilarious videos portraying someone struggling through the fading effects of anesthesia. Mine was one of those moments. I’d just had my wisdom teeth removed and believed myself still wise enough for love. According to Roger, I began regaling Brand X with my exciting future. Apparently, I promised X that I would graduate with honors, go to seminary and become “America’s favorite chaplain.” But first, I’d need a wife. Somewhere on the route between First Baptist Church and Whataburger, I blurted my what-the-heck question. “X, will you marry me?” Apparently, according to Roger, I gushed while she blushed. Then, Brand X said, “Yes!” I do remember Roger interrupting us several times to say, “We need to get him back to the dorm room.” The next morning, X awakened me with a phone call. Still groggy, I understood her to say she was shopping for a wedding dress. Worse yet, her
mother was plotting how to transfer us both out of “liberal Baylor” and into a local bible college. The call came to a standstill when my “fiancé” told me her mom had found a dermatologist who could provide me a blemish-free wedding day. “Let me get back to you,” I told her. As I hung up, I noticed Roger tapping an impatient foot to the floor. He’d understood the gist of the conversation. “You’ve got to stop this thing Norris,” he said. “If you marry this girl, her mother will be running your life.” He encouraged me to reverse the train and tell X that contracts made under the influence are null and void. No, he wasn’t a prelaw major, but it seemed right. So that’s what I told X. Remarkedly, she mostly understood. Within the month, our yearlong relationship came to an end. Gratefully, I can fondly retell this story as a fairly typical college romance. Sadly, this quarantine makes me especially aware that not everyone is as fortunate with their past or current relationships.
Perhaps you (or someone you know) is living in an atypical relationship where your spouse barrages you with daily insults or mind games. Worse yet, you’re being physically, as well as emotionally, abused. If that’s true, I hope you’ll seek counsel from friends, like Roger, who God placed in your life. If they advise you to get out, it may be time to listen. Remember, you are child of God and you deserve a marriage that is safe and thriving. If that doesn’t describe your marriage, then it’s not a marriage. It just might be abuse. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is a great resource for victims and survivors of domestic violence. Call (800) 799-7233 or visit thehotline.org. Norris Burkes can be reached at comment@thechaplain.net. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. Burkes is available for public speaking at civic organizations, places of worship, veterans groups and more. For details and fees, visit thechaplain.net. n
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ACROSS 1 Like a photo of a photo 5 Diluted 9 Cuyahoga River’s state 13 Streaker in space 14 Car bar 15 Grasped 16 Calibri alternative 17 Music break 18 Lock brand 19 Type of joint in the shoulder (first 4 letters + last 2) 22 Boxing legend Laila 23 Turndowns 24 Corned beef dishes 27 Arrive hurriedly at 29 Pond film 31 “I meant to tell u ...” 32 “No worries,” per “The Lion King” (first 3 + last 1) 35 Tea with a masala variety 38 Knight’s title 39 Certain hijabi 40 Responded in kind on Twitter (first 3 + last 1) 45 Alley-___ 46 Paltry 47 Breaks from a diet 51 White shirt woes 53 Towing org. 54 (Hey, ewe!) 10/2
55 Batting like a versatile slugger (first 3 + last 2) 59 Abominable Snowman 61 Name hidden in “stateliest” 62 ___ of honor 63 Object of worship 64 Diddly-squat 65 Cookiesand-cream cookies 66 2018 Pixar short whose title is a knitting term 67 Recolored 68 Throw out DOWN 1 Team spirit 2 Actress Clarke 3 Blue-green 4 Zazie Beetz show about the rap scene in Georgia’s capital 5 Voting districts 6 “I like texts from my ___ when they want a second chance” (Cardi B) 7 “And ...” 8 Pokemon protagonist Ash 9 “Definitely!” 10 Treat with chocolate and toffee 11 Rhyming lead-in to “will”
12 Praiseful poem 13 Conspiring group 20 Breakfast space 21 ___ Sutra 25 “The Wallflower” singer James 26 Cottontipped item 28 Actor LaMarr 29 Slyly nasty 30 Macaroni nutrient, briefly 33 TikToker or Instagrammer 34 One may be hot on the internet 35 Moneyminded execs 36 Owlet sound 37 Pork taco style 41 Prefix with -vore
42 London’s theater district 43 Vowel-heavy berry 44 Online tech support option 48 Puts up with 49 Argentinian dances 50 Wise ones 52 Volunteer’s offer 53 “Full steam ___!” 56 Stuff on a potter’s wheel 57 “They’re coming for us!” 58 Poi root 59 Puppy’s bark 60 End to a Gettysburg address?
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Bike Lift
2 WHEELS CAN HAUL THE GOODS ikes are stars for recreation and travel to places not too far away. They can do more—such as help you take stuff with you or bring purchases home. With a little planning and minor investment, you can transform a butter knife bike into a Swiss Army knife multitasker. You can make it easy to tote essentials for work or the gym, and pick up groceries and other goods from nearby stores and markets. These errands can be as fast as driving and more convenient. Opting for your bike will improve your health and let you joyfully experience your neighborhood with all senses engaged. The simplest way to carry things is on your body. Bike jerseys have multiple back pockets to stow items
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S W By Walt SeLfert Getting There
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such as bananas, tubes, keys and money. But you probably don’t want to wear specialty recreational clothing to the drug store—and even those large pockets don’t hold much. For bulkier items, you can use a backpack or messenger bag. Plus, putting that extra weight on your body has its downsides. It can make you sweat and strain your muscles. It raises your center of gravity, which affects stability. For heavier loads and longer trips, you’ll probably want to put the weight on your bike instead of your body. At the very least, having a small bag attached beneath your saddle to carry a spare tube, patch kit and tools is a good idea. For small, light loads, a wire or wicker basket attached to the handlebars is an accessible, practical and photogenic choice. Wicker is especially charming loaded with baguettes and flowers. Adding a rear rack, which can support 60 pounds or more, can make your bike a real workhorse. You can mount a bike “trunk” on top and strap it down. Panniers can hang from the sides of the rack thus putting the weight low to the ground. I have a single pannier on my bike that is not quite big enough (a mistake)
to hold a grocery bag. When I’m not hauling groceries, hardware items or tennis gear, it holds my lock. My wife has two panniers and I’m continually astonished by the mega loads she manages, including gallons of milk or produce from the farmers market, often cushioned by bubble wrap. Her panniers are easily removed and can be carried and filled while she shops. Loading the panniers can take some getting used to. You want the loads equally balanced. Bungie cords or a cargo net can prevent items from bouncing out. My wife has found that a rear-mounted kickstand helps prevent the bike from falling during loading. The ultimate in bike hauling comes from special cargo bikes and bike trailers, some of which can be pricey and may present parking issues. They can carry hundreds of pounds and items ranging from appliances to mattresses. Kids and pets are common loads. (The American Academy of Pediatrics says kids are safer in a trailer rather than on the bike itself, though trailers can be hard for motorists to see.) There are a wide variety of styles for both cargo bikes and trailers. There are Dutch-style bikes with boxes in the front for the kids and cargo. There are other bikes with a cargo bay between
the wheels and tricycles. Research and try these before you buy. With an electric bike and trailer, or cargo e-bike, almost anything can be hauled. When I worked for a local bicycle advocacy group, before the popularization of e-bikes, we bought a custom trailer to haul the materials for our bike parking compounds. Relying on muscle power alone to move those hundreds of pounds was a stretch, and probably a mistake. Most people aren’t strong enough to start up a heavy load like that or tackle even a small rise. An electrical assist makes it much more practical. But you don’t have to move a ton. If you’d like to try carrying things by bike, your friendly local bike store can help make the most of your existing bike or advise on a new bike. They offer essential services during the pandemic and any time. Walt Seifert is executive director of Sacramento Trailnet, an organization devoted to promoting greenways with paved trails. He can be reached at bikeguy@surewest.net. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
Shut Up and Play? BETTER GET USED TO HEARING FROM ATHLETES
F
or sports fans who pray 2021 is the year athletes shut up, a reality check: It won’t happen. Athletes have always talked, even before anyone cared what they had to say. They aren’t going to stop speaking their minds anytime soon. Jack Johnson, who in 1908 became the first Black fighter to win the world heavyweight championship, was never at a loss for words. But his most enduring quote from his “Fight of the Century” in Reno against ardent white supremacist and former champ Jim Jeffries was eloquently simple: “May the best man win.” Johnson beat the bigot in 15 rounds. Race riots erupted across the United States. At least 20 people were killed. Since then, athletes have stood in locker rooms, street corners and court houses to propound on politics, civil rights and equality. Even the Kings got involved. The dream of shutting up athletes gained urgency last year when the World Series and NBA Finals bombed
RG By R.E. Graswich Sports Authority
Joe Louis (left) punches Buddy Baer in 1941 bout. on TV. Both recorded lowest-ever ratings. Many commentators suspect audiences vanished in response to remarks by players in support of Black Lives Matter and police reform—a protest of a protest. But the shrunken TV numbers were more likely a coronavirus coincidence. The pandemic disrupted sports seasons and forced games to be played without fans. The thrill was gone. And besides, there’s nothing unusual about loudmouth sports stars. The outspoken roster reaches back decades before LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick were born. Then as now, blurting out hard truths takes courage. It’s not a road to popularity. Muhammad Ali presented his thoughts on the Vietnam War and military draft. Curt Flood attacked baseball rules that treated him as an indentured servant. Bill Russell belittled racist fans of the Boston Celtics. Billie Jean King promoted gender equity and opposed pay discrimination in tennis. Some athletes lost endorsement deals and bonuses for speaking their minds. Some sacrificed careers. The athlete who
strays into the political arena takes a dangerous path. Many sports fans don’t want to hear about it. The Kings have been largely apolitical since nesting in Sacramento in 1985. They promoted Black Lives Matter—but so did countless others. I imagine the absence of activist Kings has more to do with the team’s incompetence than anything else. One hallmark of the truly impactful outspoken athlete is they must be winners—when you play for a habitual loser, nobody cares what you think. Like most pro teams, Kings management has long encouraged players to avoid making politically controversial statements for fear of upsetting sponsors or fans. Silence is golden to management. But the Kings didn’t always duck controversy. It’s important to remember the franchise broke the pro basketball color barrier in 1946 when the team signed an African American, William “Dolly” King, in the National Basketball League, predecessor to the NBA.
King played one season for the Kings—known as the Rochester Royals—and was paid top dollar. He roomed with a White player, Bob Davies, on the road and shared an apartment with Jewish and Italian teammates, Red Holzman and Fuzzy Levane. When a restaurant refused to serve King, the whole team walked out. Six months after King joined the Royals, Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color barrier with the Dodgers. But unlike the Royals, racist Dodgers refused to socialize with their Black teammate. Sadly, Jackie ate alone. By all accounts, King and Robinson weren’t eager to press their views on others. They wanted to do their jobs and go home—which no doubt made them more valuable in the eyes of their employers. Boxing champ Joe Louis was another legendary athlete who did his job and shut up. When Louis visited Sacramento for two informal exhibition bouts against Bobby Lee and Big Boy Brown at Memorial Auditorium in December 1945, he disappeared into a cheap West End hotel on J Street and issued no public comments. His friend and former opponent Buddy Baer, who served as sergeant at arms for the state Legislature, often tried to get Louis back to Sacramento, without luck. “He tended to avoid the public,” Baer once said. “He never came back here. Always had an excuse.” R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
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Strings Attached
Krystyna Taylor Photo by Aniko Kiezel
CURTIS PARK CELLIST AND EDUCATOR SHARES HER LOVE OF MUSIC
K
rystyna Taylor fell in love with the cello the way many people do—she saw world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform. The fact that she saw him on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” as a child should tell you that Taylor has loved the cello for a long time (she recently turned 40). Taylor has gone on to quite an extensive cello career of her own thanks to that early exposure. The Santa Barbara native started afterschool cello lessons in fifth grade and then joined a swing band started by her grandfather.
JL By Jessica Laskey Open Studio
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She reports the group was composed of “me, my little sister and these 70- and 80-year-old guys.” By middle school, she was gigging on the street and at farmers markets, hiring herself out for weddings and, by her early teens, performing with the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. She won classical string competitions that paid for her lessons, various music camps and, eventually, a full scholarship to study cello performance at Sacramento State in 1998. While earning her Bachelor of Music degree, Taylor joined the school’s Strings Project, which teaches undergrads how to run an educational music program with the help of a master teacher. The experience showed Taylor how much she loved teaching— and inspired her to offer her services to underserved elementary schools in Rancho Cordova. “I walked into each school and said, ‘Do you want a music program for super
cheap?’” Taylor recalls with a laugh. “Of course they said yes.” Taylor taught violin, viola and cello at four schools over the course of six years and also started Sacramento Stringworks, a studio for private instruction in cello, violin and viola, music theory, sight reading, improvisation, the Suzuki Method, practice and audition techniques, and coaching for ensemble and chamber groups. In 2006, some of Taylor’s adult students expressed an interest in playing together—an incentive to continue their studies. So Taylor created the K Street Orchestra, an adult “late-starters” orchestra that has since grown to nearly 40 participants, outgrowing rehearsal space that was first in a member’s living room, then a law office basement on K Street, then a band room at a local school, then the CLARA in Midtown, then South Land Park café Barrio, and now at Parkside
Community Church on Land Park Drive. “The group just keeps increasing in size, quality and dedication,” says the Curtis Park resident, who conducts but also instructs the group by sharing orchestra lessons she wished she’d learned as a young musician. “I work really hard to make sure everyone feels comfortable—no attitudes or egos—and encourage people to help out new members. It’s a very close-knit group made up of all walks of life. I love being able to give adults coming to music for the first time, or coming back to music after a 50-year break, a place to play together.” The orchestra’s unique blend of skill and inclusiveness has attracted lots of local attention. Pre-pandemic, concert attendance often numbered in the hundreds, which thrills Taylor considering she’s never advertised and doesn’t participate in social media. Orchestra members have even formed
Healthy & Happy
Thanks for your support! waterboyrestaurant.com side groups of their own to practice and perform. Three years ago, Taylor started an additional group just for cellos called Cocello (a play on the Southern California music festival Coachella) after mulling the idea over for more than 15 years. She had long been interested in writing arrangements of popular rock and pop tunes for cello players of all ages and abilities. A 2019 Cocello performance—which included music from Led Zeppelin and Metallica—drew more than 350 attendees and included nearly 40 performers, which Taylor believes made it the largest cello concert in Sacramento County. “These groups are like my musical family,” Taylor says. “They’re very supportive—like a cheer squad. They’re my favorite things in my life other than my husband and dogs.” Sounds like the feeling is mutual. For more information, visit sacramentostringworks.com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
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More Than Java LOCAL COFFEE SHOPS SERVE UP SURPRISINGLY GOOD FOOD
Empanadas at Barrio Cafe
Photos by Aniko Kiezel
W
ith more shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, and fewer options to interact with local food-service small businesses, it’s harder and harder to enjoy a simple trip to get a sandwich or grab a cup of coffee. Dining rooms are off limits and the weather is just a bit too cold most days to dine outside. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to find those quick grab-and-go outposts that offer safe and convenient locations with delicious food and customer care. Tucked away on the corner of one of the city’s oldest shopping centers in South Land Park, Barrio Cafe Sacramento is a hidden treasure. What
GS By Greg Sabin Restaurant Insider
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looks on the outside to be a simple coffee shop is actually a coffee/wine/ beer emporium with a full kitchen and bakery putting out scrumptious bites well beyond the morning hours. First the coffee. It’s splendid. With beans procured from Vallejo-based coffee roaster Moschetti, the brews are dark and earthy. The coffee concoctions are pulled with finesse by the skilled baristas working the counter, adding just the right amount of foam for a cappuccino, the proper milk for a latte and everything but the kitchen sink further down the creative java menu. A solid selection of international and local wines is available alongside a healthy offering of local beers (with special emphasis on Broadway brewer New Helvetia Brewing Company). Truly, Barrio has the beverage end of things covered. The kitchen is where things really get exciting. Owner Sergio Barrio learned his baking skills at his father’s knee, and the family business shines through in every house-made bagel, croissant, brioche and pastry.
The breakfast sandwiches, on brioche or croissant, are spectacular. Layered with a wide variety of meats, spinach, tomato and cheese, and lathered generously with a spicy garlic mayonnaise, they stick to your ribs without a doubt. Bagel sandwiches with smoked salmon and other delights also make the grade for morning fare. In the afternoon and evening, Barrio offers his signature dish: empanadas. Stuffed with whatever the kitchen fancies, like stewed chicken, mushrooms and gruyere cheese, chile verde or even Indian samosa filling, these luscious doughy pockets of love are what can turn a cold day warm. You can find the empanadas occasionally on Sundays at New Helvetia’s Broadway taproom as well. Barrio’s other location, at N and 13th streets, is closed temporarily during
the pandemic. If you used to work in or around the Capitol and have been missing the coffee and empanadas, or if you live in the South Land Park neighborhood, or if you’re like my friend Paul and just love a great empanada, get yourself over to Barrio and grab a bite and a sip. Barrio is at 1188 35th Ave. (at South Land Park Drive); (916) 469-9433; facebook.com/barriosacramento. On the other end of town, tucked away in a Carmichael shopping strip, another coffee shop is bringing out some lovely food to go with its impressive coffee. Fast Cat Coffee celebrates fast cars, strong drinks and gooey grilled cheese. This seems to be a pretty desirable trifecta. The theme of the joint is motor sports, both vintage and modern, with a flair for the classier side of the sport
IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER TO FIND THOSE QUICK GRAB-AND-GO OUTPOSTS THAT OFFER SAFE AND CONVENIENT LOCATIONS WITH DELICIOUS FOOD AND CUSTOMER CARE.
Pastry selection from Barrio Cafe
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(think Monte Carlo rather than Nascar). When we could sit inside, it was lovely to enjoy the wood, leather and steel ambience while sipping a strong single espresso. It made you feel like you were somewhere. These days, you’ll have to grab and go, but the upmarket grilled cheese offerings are worth the trip. Try the “Wake Up Guanajuato,” a breakfast sandwich made with carnitas, eggs, avocado, salsa, garlic jack and smokey cheddar on sliced French bread. Or the decidedly sweet offering of “Sweet Baby Cheesus,” made with havarti, fontina and Loleta Traffic Jam (a mixture of wild local berries) on sliced French. My favorite has to be the “Smokin’ Pig,” made with havarti, smokey cheddar, sliced apples and pulled pork on sliced sourdough wheat bread. It’s a delight. Speed on over and try one now. Fast Cat Coffee is at 7901 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Carmichael (one block east of Manzanita); (916) 999-0323; fastcatcoffee.com. One last coffee joint to mention is the newest of the batch. Just opened in 2020, Donuts & Coffey brings a trove
of sweet treats to all those looking for a morning sugar rush. Owners Thana Ny and Aaron Coffey offer a slew of creatively constructed doughnuts and old classics. Their version of the simple blueberry cake doughnut hits the spot. Their creative addition of sugars, glazes and cereals make for entertaining eats. And their “kronuts,” doughnuts made from croissant dough, are great by themselves but still pretty good when topped with chocolate and marshmallow. My wife’s favorite sweet delight is the tiramisu doughnut, a chocolateglazed doughnut filled with a coffee and chocolate cream. Your dentist will hate you, but your stomach will love it. Donuts & Coffey is at 5611 Folsom Blvd. in East Sacramento; (916) 9990232; donutscoffey.com. Greg Sabin can be reached at gregsabin@hotmail.com. Our Inside Sacramento Restaurant Guide and previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n
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All in The Family Nancy Econome Photo by Aniko Kiezel
WRITER CAPTURES GREEK IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE IN DEBUT NOVEL
“T
here’s a restaurant in every family tree,” writer Nancy Econome says. “I wanted to bring out those stories.” Econome has done just that with her debut novel, “The Classic Grill: A Tale of Greek Gods and Immigrant Heroes,” which chronicles the family struggles of a successful Greek-owned restaurant in Vallejo in 1942. The book is loosely based on Econome’s grandparents’ restaurant of the same name. Econome says, “As a kid, my older sister Janet and I would hang out with our Greek-speaking grandparents and they would tell us stories of The Classic Grill,” a restaurant they opened after immigrating from Greece in the
JL By Jessica Laskey Meet Your Neighbor
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1920s with locations in Vallejo, Napa and Santa Rosa, where Econome now lives. “I was struck by the stories of their hard work—they made everything by hand, even the condiments, peeled every potato, shelled every pea—and the importance the restaurant has always had in Greek-American culture.” The story is based on Greek immigrant Achilles Pappayannis who owns a successful diner during World War II and is determined to bring his older son Demo (who he suspects might be gay) into the family business, overlooking his younger son George, leading to family turmoil amidst fierce anti-immigrant discrimination. Though the novel is fictionalized, Econome has drawn on stories from her own family, as well as extensive research into the time period. She even enlisted the help of Jim Kern at the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, historian Brendan Riley, and Henry Kaku, an expert in Japan internment camp history, to make sure she nailed the details. “You can really get lost in the research,” says Econome, who grew up in South Land Park working at her
parents’ store, Land Park Pharmacy (now Parkside Pharmacy). After attending CK McClatchy High School and UC Davis—where she was a reporter on the Cal Aggie and Davis Enterprise newspapers—Econome worked for Sacramento Magazine and as a technical writer at Aerojet prior to attending film school in San Francisco. She ran a video business for a couple years before becoming the head of creative services for Jackson Family Wines in Santa Rosa, where she worked until retiring in 2016. To keep her creative juices flowing, Econome would often work on screenplays on the side—one of which she started in 2008 about The Classic Grill. When she found herself with more time to devote to personal projects in retirement, Econome decided to turn the story into a longform novel at the behest of her mother, Georgia. After three years of writing, editing and reshaping, Econome self-published the book—and almost immediately received an Honorable Mention from the Maurice Prize in Fiction 2020, sponsored by the College
of Letters and Sciences at UC Davis (spearheaded by New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart). Members of the Greek community have also weighed in, praising Econome’s ability to capture the nuances of working in a family business and life as an immigrant. “It’s so rewarding when what you’ve written resonates with someone’s background and they rush to tell you their own story,” says Econome, who’s considering writing a sequel. “Any Greek business is a family effort—just like this book. My mom read it first as my ‘heart meter’ and my sister Janet, an excellent editor, critiqued it. They hung with me the whole time.” For more information on “The Classic Grill,” visit nancyeconome.com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n
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