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WONDERFUL GREENHAVEN HOME Grasp the opportunity to do it your way! 3 bedrooms 2 baths, kitchen recently updated and master bedroom was expanded to include a sitting area. Sliding French doors in the family room that take you out to a covered patio and nice backyard. Convenient location, close to schools and shopping $350,000 SHEILA VAN NOY 505-5395

BRIDGEVIEW AT RIVERLAKE Beautiful property located in gated Riverlake community. Well maintained 4 bedroom 3 bath home with new roof, hardwood Àoors, downstairs bedroom and full bath. Crown Molding, designer paints and beautiful mural in one bedroom. Relaxing back yard with waterfall and heated pool. $640,000 SUE LEE 833-5122

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DELTA KING MODEL Nicely updated home in the highly desirable Greenhaven/Pocket neighborhood. 3 bedrooms 2½ bath, family room opens to kitchen.

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FANTASTIC SINGLE-STORY ELK GROVE 3 bedrooms 2 baths. Step inside to the inviting, open Àoor plan. You’ll love the large kitchen with island, gas range and plenty of storage.

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CLOSE TO GARCIA BEND PARK This 2 bedroom home features newer roof, appliances, lighting, carpet, paint, updated kitchen and bathroom. Brand new Àooring in the kitchen and bathroom. So warm and inviting with a cute yard and wonderful layout. Attached garage, convenient location and so much more. $232,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

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SHOWS LIKE A MODEL – ELK GROVE Great schools! Sellers paid a premium for this giant lot. 5 bedrooms 3 baths, huge 3-car tandem garage. Spectacular upgrades: Custom maple cocoa glaze cabinets, gorgeous wood laminate Àoors, rod iron staircase, exquisite lights, beautiful 2 tone paint, granite counters, custom window coverings! $499,900 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

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CUSTOM QUALITY GREENHAVEN Excellent Àoor plan with a large family room open to a nice kitchen with a breakfast nook. 3 bedrooms 2 baths, separate living room with formal dining area. New carpet/pad, linoleum Àoors, interior paint, and partial exterior paint. Clear pest! Shake roof, nice yard with covered patio. $399,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

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LAGUNA - ELK GROVE Beautiful home in the heart of Laguna! Bright and open Àoor plan with vaulted ceilings. Living room with ¿replace, spacious kitchen with center island, bay window and dining area. 3 bedrooms, 2½ baths, large master bedroom with walk in closet, dual sinks. Back yard with sunroom and patio area. $293,000 PAULA LOPEZ 719-9210

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FABULOUS REMODELED SLP Amazing quality 4 bedroom 2½ home featuring new electrical, plumbing, heat and air. Remodeled kitchen with quartz, fabulous white cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and glass back splash. New dual pane windows, Àoors, landscaping, doors. Huge enclosed sunroom, big yard and RV access. $485,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555

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JANUARY 17

S A C R A M E N T O ' S P R E M I E R F R E E C I T Y M O N T H LY

THE GRID

By Jose DiGregorio

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info@insidepublications.com EDITOR Marybeth Bizjak mbbizjak@aol.com PRODUCTION M.J. McFarland DESIGN Cindy Fuller PHOTOGRAPHY Linda Smolek, Aniko Kiezel AD COORDINATOR Michele Mazzera, Julie Foster DISTRIBUTION Lauren Hastings lauren@insidepublications.com ACCOUNTING Jim Hastings, Daniel Nardinelli, Adrienne Kerins

916-443-5087 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 75,000 households in Sacramento. Printing and distribution costs are paid entirely by advertising revenue. We spotlight selected advertisers, but all other stories are determined solely by our editorial staff and are not influenced by advertising. No portion may be reproduced mechanically or electronically without written permission of the publisher. All ad designs & editorial—©

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JANUARY 17 VOL. 3 • ISSUE 12 7 8 10 12 16 18 20 22 24 26 30 34 36 40 42

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Trusting the Media SINKING AMERICAN CONFIDENCE IN NEWSPAPERS

T

he surprising election results last November proved that our country’s media seriously misjudged the political mood of the country. While this is hardly the first time that Americans were subject to inaccurate or misleading reporting and polling, it certainly seemed to be the most stunning example. Almost all the major newspapers, regardless of their political slant, endorsed the losing presidential candidate and confidentially predicted her win.

The media is a huge basket that holds television, radio, print and social media, but my business interests tend to focus specifically on print and newspapers.

Actor Denzel Washington recently slammed the media and repeated this quote from Mark Twain: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.”

A June 2016 study showed that only 20 percent of Americans are confident in newspapers as a U.S. institution. This is an all-time low, marking the 10th consecutive year that more Americans express little or no, rather than high, confidence in the institution.

The percentage of Americans expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers has

CH

By Cecily Hastings Publisher

been dwindling since 2000, and the percentage expressing “very little” or “none” finally eclipsed it in 2007.

One in five adults now says they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers—the all-time low for newspapers in Gallup’s polling dating back to 1973.

An additional 42 percent of adults say they have “some” confidence, meaning that the institution still sparks at least a measure of confidence in a majority of Americans.

Confidence in newspapers among both left- and right-leaning groups has also fallen over the past 16

years. Historically, Gallup found that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have a significantly better view of newspapers. I would conclude that this is most likely because the majority of major newspapers slant left editorially.

This is the first year, however, that Democrats’ confidence is no longer net positive: 27 percent have little or no confidence in newspapers, slightly exceeding the 25 percent saying they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence. By contrast, Republicans’ views toward the institution have been tilting negative since 2004.

Surprisingly, young adults aged 18 to 34 have consistently been the most positive of all age groups about newspapers as an institution. My guess is that the younger folks who have grown up with the internet as a news source may see the benefit from a serious, even if traditional, news filter to the exploding amount of information available on the internet.

But to be fair, the decline in public confidence in newspapers since 2000 is also part of a larger pattern of decline in Americans’ confidence in all U.S. institutions. The public tends to place the most confidence in the military, small business, the police and organized religion, which rank in the top 4. Of the 15 institutions Gallup tracks, television news ranks 13th, while newspapers are 14th. The only ones that rank worse are big business and Congress.

However, since 2000, confidence in newspapers has fallen more steeply than the average of 15 institutions Gallup has tracked annually since PUBLISHER page 9

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Your Online Neighbor EVERYBODY’S WATCHING ON NEXTDOOR POCKET

T

here is only one way to unlock the mystery of the woman, the black dog and the disappearing pomegranates at Garcia Bend. Visit the Nextdoor Pocket website.

Founded in 2011 with San Francisco venture capital money and still struggling to turn a profit, Nextdoor is a social network with global ambitions about hyperlocal sentimentality. Since arriving in Pocket and Land Park, Nextdoor has evolved into several things, depending on your perspective.

Some days, it’s a harmless, gossipy forum to stimulate discussions about lost pets, garage sales and the neighborhood’s most reliable plumber and best Chinese restaurant. Other times, it’s an outlet for impulsive reflections, some of which reveal more than they should.

In Pocket, the impulsive category can range from alarmist alerts about strangers walking along the sidewalk to mysterious bumps in the night.

Nextdoor readers become immune to posts that read, “Did anyone else hear that?”

There can be an authoritarian flavor to Nextdoor Pocket. Crime reports are a dietary staple. City council updates are presented as sacrosanct. Police helicopter activities are must-reads.

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By R.E. Graswich

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Pocket resident Devin Lavelle uses Nextdoor Pocket

One popular subject is levee access along the Sacramento River Parkway, though this topic has cooled from boiling since state and city officials indicated the offensive private fences are coming down. James Houpt, a Pocket attorney and levee-access supporter, uses Nextdoor to refute fictions broadcast by residents along the river.

“For too long, too many riveradjacent residents have made insupportable claims about their ownership rights or the risks to them if the levee is accessible to the public,” Houpt says. “Ignoring any name calling, I and others who share

my passion have calmly provided law and evidence that contradicts claims.

I have offered to share my evidence with anyone who wants to see it.”

Pocket resident Devin Lavelle enjoys Nextdoor Pocket for its certified local flavor. The network is padlocked and open only to people who provide true names and local addresses. Trolls must scrounge elsewhere.

“The nice thing about it is it’s all people who care about the neighborhood,” Lavelle says. “It’s not just anybody weighing in anonymously from some other part of the world.”

The cozy relationship between civic authorities and Nextdoor has caused controversy for the network.

In Seattle, a blogger named Erica Barnett criticized city officials for paying too much attention to Nextdoor. She noted how Seattle’s most affluent neighborhoods seemed to speak loudest on Nextdoor.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray agreed.

He says, “It seems we’re creating a sense of mistrust and people are becoming frightened of living in their own neighborhoods, when the empirical data shows, yes, crime POCKET BEAT page 11

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PUBLISHER FROM page 7 1993. While average confidence across all 15 institutions fell from 40 percent in 2000 to 32 percent the past two years, confidence in newspapers fell from 37 percent to 20 percent over the same period.

The public’s mood over the past 16 years has been something of a whirlpool, pulling newspapers down across the country at alarming rates.

The rise of digital media could be a factor in the declining trust we place in a traditional print medium such as newspapers. But perhaps more importantly, newspapers are suffering from the broader decline Gallup sees in Americans’ trust in the mass media in general.

With the ever increasingly rapid news cycle, there seems to be the need to be first over the need for accuracy or truth. When a terrible situation occurs, I make myself say a prayer for those involved, then wait some time before reading what is usually more accurate reporting about it.

I gave up a long time ago on television as a serious news source.

Given my love of the printed word, I get most of my news from reading newspapers, either online with The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, or in print with The Sacramento Bee. (My husband’s daily crossword ensures we never stop our print subscription.)

I am constantly reminded, reading about the same issue in these three different newspapers, how differently the reporting of stories is slanted politically. So with trust in the media at an all-time low, is it any wonder we

retreat to news sources that reflect our values?

With our own focus on community news, featuring the most interesting people, places and events in our neighborhood, we strive to offer a local news source that is positive and fair. Only a few of our columnists are tasked to analyze controversial topics each month. And we are always open to alternative views voicing other opinions. I do hear occasional grumbling, mostly from elected officials, and we always ask them to respond in writing. But they rarely follow through.

Will the media in our country ever recover its status? I’m sad to say I don’t hold out a great deal of hope.

All we can do is something my mother used to tell me about gossip: Consider the source.

PET RESCUE ANGEL Congratulations to Kim PaciniHauch, who stepped up big time late last year to generously underwrite the cost of all pet adoptions from the city’s Front Street Animal Shelter during December. The response was overwhelming and the donation was thoughtful and inspiring. Kim can start the new year knowing she has brought joy to hundreds and hundreds of appreciative families with her kind gesture. Bless you, Kim! Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com n

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Police Shootings REACTIVE WINDOW DRESSING OR EFFECTIVE REFORMS?

I

n July, Sacramento police killed a mentally ill, knife-wielding man on the streets of North Sacramento in a hail of gunfire, striking him 14 times, in an episode recorded by police dash cams and other video. Calls to police dispatchers had reported that a mentally ill man (he had soiled himself and was seen typing on an imaginary keyboard) armed with both a gun and a knife was observed loose on the streets, which, of course, triggered the highest degree of police vigilance. The shooting was preceded by an unsuccessful effort by police officers to run the man down with their squad car.

The Sacramento police department’s response to the shooting was ham-handed, at best.

It refused media requests to obtain multiple dash cam and other video of the episode, despite growing public pressure to release it. But once The Bee released a video of the incident weeks later that had been recorded by a private party, the SPD ended its stonewalling and released all of its videos of the episode within a matter of hours. What ensued was a growing chorus of calls, particularly, but not exclusively, from groups and individuals in the black community, for the city to adopt major reforms

CC P

By Craig Powell By Craig Powell Inside City Hall Inside City Hall

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in how it handles police misconduct complaints.

CITY’S RAPID RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM On Sept. 20, Mayor Kevin Johnson appointed a council committee to research ways the city could upgrade police accountability and transparency. Three days later, the committee, headed by Councilmember Larry Carr, visited Berkeley to discuss its police review commission.

(Berkeley, home of my alma mater, wouldn’t have been my first choice as a place to look for sound local government policy.)

Our new interim city manager, Howard Chan, in office for just a few days and facing his first major crisis, hired a new assistant city manager, Arturo Sanchez, from the city of Long Beach to oversee the police and fire departments and to implement new police oversight procedures. One of the reasons Sanchez was hired was for his experience in overseeing police review commissions in Long Beach and, previously, in Oakland.

Indicative of the rush the city was in to respond to growing community outrage, the city conducted four public forums on police accountability, transparency and use-of-force policy over just three days in mid-November, a new land speed record.

At a crowded council meeting on Nov. 29, the city council adopted a broad set of reforms designed to address community concerns with police behavior.

First, the council did a major upgrade of the city’s Office of Public Safety Accountability, which until now has been a quiet backwater of city government. The council assigned three new staffers to OPSA and increased its annual budget to $600,000. It expanded OPSA’s authority to monitor the police. It also removed OPSA from the control of the city manager and placed it under the city council’s direct control.

CITY page 13

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New location: 7450 Pocket Road (916) 427-5022 camelliawaldorf.org POCKET BEAT FROM page 8 happens, but it’s still a pretty safe place to live.”

Sometimes, Nextdoor Pocket makes the neighborhood sound like something other than Sacramento’s safest community—a status the Pocket has enjoyed for years.

While Nextdoor maintains a firewall, it’s a free network.

The business model is envied for its membership loyalty.

It can start when neighbors go to the network and speculate about the motives of strangers—people simply walking along Rush River or Flowerwood. Observations can morph into racial profiling.

Last summer, Nextdoor’s SF headquarters decided to banish posts with words considered racially insensitive. The goal was to eliminate posts such as the classic “darkskinned man breaking into a car.”

Here’s what Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia says: “Because that message goes out to the entire neighborhood, where many of the neighbors reading the post are dark-skinned, that would be considered racial profiling.”

Lavelle has seen improvements on Nextdoor Pocket since the

network began to emphasize cultural awareness. “People have become more sensitive about what they are saying, and that’s been a good thing,” he says.

While Nextdoor maintains a firewall, it’s a free network. The business model is envied for its membership loyalty. Nextdoor sites have launched across the United States and in Western Europe. But five years into its life, Nextdoor has not turned a profit.

Like early Facebook and Google, Nextdoor claims profit isn’t the point. But also like Facebook and Google, Nextdoor is evolving into an advertising company. The site is taking on paid content and hopes to drive members to plumbers and restaurants that buy ads.

“That’s the way of the world,” Lavelle says. “We all expected it would happen.”

As for the Garcia Bend mystery of the woman, the black dog and the pomegranates, Nextdoor solved the tangle with Hollywood perfection.

One member wrote to say she saw a woman picking the fruit, apparently without permission. Other members cautioned about a rush to judgment.

Soon, the pomegranate picker identified herself. She said she had permission to take the fruit, adding she was legally blind, hence the dog.

Other Nextdoor members wrote to thank one and all for the sweet and happy ending.

R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n

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Big Moves THIS AGENT SPECIALIZES IN HELPING SENIORS SELL THEIR HOMES

R

enee Catricala ventured into residential real estate 26 years ago after working in retail for a local family-owned business. She was drawn to the field as a child.

“Going to open houses was a weekend ritual in my family as my parents were avid movers,” she says. She now specializes in working with people over the age of 50.

Catricala says that helping older people sell their home has given her empathy. “It’s daunting,” she says.

“It’s overwhelming. It’s scary. It begs the question of where do I begin?”

To assist her senior clients more effectively, Catricala took courses and passed an exam to become a Senior Real Estate Specialist. To her knowledge, she is the only Realtor in the Pocket-Greenhaven area with the SRES designation.

SRES agents are trained in issues of particular concern to elderly clients. They help seniors with financial issues and current and future care needs. They also help clients find an appropriate new home.

Catricala works with fiduciaries, attorneys, professional moving companies, estate liquidators, haulers and cleaners to ease the home-selling process for elderly clients.

For more information, call 2039690 or go to reneecatricala.com.

SS

By Shane Singh Pocket Life

Realtor Renee Catricala specializes in clients over the age of 50

LOOKING FOR A JOB? On Wednesday, Jan. 11, a job coach will be available at Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library to provide assistance to job seekers. The coach will offer help on how to use library databases, write a resume and interview for a job.

The library is at 7335 Gloria Drive.

For more information, call 264-2920.

ELKS HOST FREE-THROW COMPETITION Elks Lodge No. 6 will hold its annual Hoop Shoot free-throw

competition on Friday, Jan. 6, at 10 a.m. The free event is open to children between the ages of 8 to 13.

The top boy and girl from each age group will advance to the district finals.

Hoop Shoot will be held in the gym at Genevieve F. Didion School, located at 6490 Harmon Drive.

Preregistration is required. Forms can be picked up at 6446 Riverside Blvd.

For more information, call Mike Hardin at (530) 306 5703 or go to elks.org/hoopshoot.

BACK TO SCHOOL Schools in Sacramento City Unified School District will reopen following winter recess on Monday, Jan. 9.

Schools will be closed on Monday, Jan. 16, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

LEARN TAI CHI Faith Presbyterian Church offers tai chi courses every Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m.

The church is at 625 Florin Road.

For more information, call 428-3439.

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CITY FROM page 10 OPSA’s job is to monitor how well the police department’s internal affairs division handles investigations of officer misconduct complaints.

It has full access to police files and investigative records, but it has no independent power to initiate or investigate such complaints. With the reforms, OPSA can now ask the city council to issue subpoenas should OPSA feel that internal affairs is going off the rails in an investigation.

The council also slightly recast the 1-year-old Sacramento Community Police Commission. It added the word “Review” to its name, but it did little to augment its previous powers, which were (and continue to be) to review police policies and recommend policy changes to the council. The commission will now be able to review quarterly reports from OPSA on pending internal affairs investigations, but the reports will be sanitized to conceal the identities of the parties involved.

The city council also changed the composition of the police commission.

Currently, there is at least one police representative on the commission.

Under the new rules, all current and former police officers will be banished.

It will now be an 11-member “all civilian” body, which strikes me as unwise. Why wouldn’t we want our police commission to have the benefit of a retired officer’s perspectives on policing matters? Barring retired officers from serving as members also seems to increase the likelihood that the commission will adopt a more confrontational posture toward the police than if they had the input of a retired cop in their ranks.

PUBLIC REACTION TO THE REFORMS: TOO WEAK Every witness testifying at the Nov. 29 council meeting, save two, thought the reforms were weak and didn’t go far enough, including representatives from Area Congregations Together, the ACLU, the Law Enforcement Accountability Directive, and Black Lives Matter. Their objections were that the revised police commission

won’t be independent (the mayor and council will appoint its members), it will lack subpoena power to conduct its own investigations into misconduct cases and it will have no power to impose discipline on officers it finds acted improperly. Those testifying thought the reforms offered by the council were, at best, a weak first step toward real reform.

Most councilmembers were sympathetic with such concerns but felt that their hands were tied by legal constraints. City attorney James Sanchez explained that under the city charter, only the city council and its committees have subpoena power and that a charter amendment would have to be approved by the voters to grant the police commission the power to issue investigative subpoenas.

To place a charter measure on the ballot would require citizens to gather signatures from well over 40,000 registered city voters, an expensive and time-consuming proposition. Or the city council could simply direct that a charter change measure be placed on a future ballot, much as it did with Measure L, the charter measure to create an independent redistricting commission, which was approved by city voters in the November election. But it was clear that the council has no appetite to take such action, at least for now.

Otherwise, it would have approved placing such a measure on the 2018 ballot at its Nov. 29 meeting.

Sanchez also explained that state law would likely prevent the council from granting the police commission the power to discipline cops. State law strictly limits who can have access to police personnel and disciplinary records, a restriction broadened by the California Supreme Court’s Copley Press decision in 2006.

A 2007 bill by then-Sen. Gloria Romero was designed to allow any charter city (like Sacramento) to release such records as they did before Copley. But when it came up for a hearing before the Senate’s Public Safety Committee, its chair—Sen. Mark Leno, who supported increased police oversight—was abruptly

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POCKET LIFE FROM page 12

THE CLAW CONTINUES The city’s residential leaf pickup program will continue through Jan. 29. During this time, street leaf piles will be picked up by “The Claw” approximately every two weeks.

Leaf piles should not be more than 5 cubic yards in size.

Leaf piles should not be more than 5 cubic yards in size. You should place your pile at least 6 feet from obstructions such as cars, boats and basketball hoops.

For more information, call Sacramento City Services at 311.

Shane Singh can be reached at shane@shanesingh.com n

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Residential leaf pickup program will continue through Jan. 29

CITY FROM page 13 removed from the committee and the committee room was flooded with police officers who opposed any efforts to water down their privacy rights.

The bill died on the spot. Such is the political juice that police groups have in the State Capitol.

It was clear to this observer that, while it wouldn’t say so, the council wants to keep to itself the power to conduct investigations into the handling of misconduct cases by the police’s internal affairs division and had no intention of sharing it with a citizens’ police commission anytime soon. I could also sense that the council has some trepidation about handing disciplinary authority over city police to a citizen commission.

Historically, the Sacramento city council has, as a general rule, been quite resistant to sharing city power with others.

What was quite surprising about the council meeting was the complete absence of police officers, its union, the Sacramento Police Officers Association, or any command personnel from SPD. I imagine police shied away from dealing with the police-unfriendly crowd.

Councilmember Angelique Ashby did note that the SPOA opposed the reforms.

(Note: Sacramento police department veteran Brian Louie takes over from police chief Sam Somers this month. Louie will serve as interim chief while the city searches for a new permanent chief, whom the city manager says should be appointed by April or May.)

RELEASING VIDEO OF POLICE SHOOTINGS The reforms would also mandate that any video of an officer-involved shooting be publicly released within 30 days of the shooting unless the city council decides to withhold it under certain narrowly defined circumstances. The police chief, for example, could ask the council to withhold release of video if he believes it would compromise a pending investigation. Frankly, I’m

not sure such a provision is legal, as it arguably impinges on the exclusive executive powers and authority of the city manager under the city charter. And it certainly doesn’t seem politically smart for the city council to put itself in the unpopular position of telling the community that they can’t see a video of a police officer shooting somebody whenever the council must, for legitimate legal reasons, decide to withhold such videos from the public.

THE NATIONAL NARRATIVE AND SOME RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS There is no issue in municipal government today more highly charged or more divisive than the matter of citizen deaths at the hands of police. Police feel under siege, both nationally and locally, by a powerful national narrative that the police are too quick to resort to deadly force in dealing with black citizens in high-risk, high-conflict settings. Meanwhile, a large number of African-Americans have lost trust in the police. They’re angry by what they view as increasing numbers of racially biased, unjustified shootings of black citizens by police who are too often trigger happy.

A study by a Harvard professor released in July found no evidence of racial bias in police shootings even though officers were more likely to interact physically with nonwhites than whites, The Washington Times reported last summer.

The study, by the National Bureau of Economic Research, examined thousands of incidents at 10 large police departments in California, Florida and Texas and concluded that police were no more likely to shoot nonwhites than whites after factoring in extenuating circumstances.

“On the most extreme use of force—officer-involved shootings—we find no racial differences in either the raw data or when contextual factors are taken into account,” said Harvard economics professor Roland G. Fryer Jr. in the abstract of the paper. Fryer,

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who is black, told The New York Times that the finding of no racial discrimination in police shootings was “the most surprising result of my career.”

FUTURE FLASH POINTS So what are the potential future flash points over the city’s handling of police misconduct complaints?

Well, without subpoena power or disciplinary authority of their own, OPSA and the police commission will have a hard time challenging the findings of internal affairs or the disciplinary decisions of police brass. Unless OPSA can persuade the council to issue subpoenas, the most it can really do is try to embarrass the police department by issuing reports to the police commission and the council condemning an internal affairs investigation or a disciplinary action by police department brass.

The police department will remain firmly under the control of the city manager.

A police department decision exonerating an accused officer could trigger so much community furor that it leads to political brinksmanship in city government: Would a city manager stand up and defend a decision by his police department and its internal affairs division not to fire an accused officer in the face of pressures from OPSA, the police commission and a politically sensitive city council to oust the officer? Or would a cautious city manager cave under such pressures to protect his own job, overrule the decision of his police department and fire the officer, even though it would likely damage the morale of police brass and line officers alike? It’s not clear. One day we may just find out.

Craig Powell is a local attorney, businessman, community activist and president of Eye on Sacramento, a civic watchdog and policy group.

He can be reached at craig@ eyeonsacramento.org or 718-3030. n

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15

Ed Goldman and William Ishmael BRINGING THE ARTS COMMUNITY TOGETHER

Y

ou’ve heard that it takes a who served on the board of Blue Line village—to raise a child, to for four years and just stepped down make a community great—and after two back-to-back terms as its that’s never more true than at Blue board president. he nonprofit Line Arts, the arts group that was founded more than 50 years ago in Roseville and has grown over the past few years into one of the most respected ns organizations n in Northern or California for showcasing the work of regional al and national artists. ed “I accepted ncy the presidency d of the board of Blue Linee in 2015 on Ed Goldman provision that the group start to (You may know him as a market itself as the regional gallery columnist for Sacramento it really is,” explains Ed Goldman, Business Journal. He’s also—full disclosure—this writer’s dad.) “The gallery is not just Roseville-centric—we exhibit artists from all over the world.” This will be the third year in a row that Blue Line has hosted the Crocker-Kingsley Art Competition, a biennial national

By Jessica Laskey juried art show started in 1940.

Giving Back

JL

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The organization further cemented its role in the arts community when it acquired Arts & Business Council of the Sacramento Region in 2015, a move that allowed certain programs t continue as a division of Blue to Line. One such program is Prelude t the Season, which bestows awards to recognizing local leadership in categories like arts journalism, arts philanthropy, arts management and arts/business partnerships. Though t event took a two-year hiatus after the Blue Line acquired the council, it will return this year on Jan. 25 as

William Ishm a

el

Interlude ART. “Because the event won’t take place in September (like it used to), we decided to call it an interlude instead of a prelude,” Goldman explains.

Held in the ballroom at Sacramento State University, Interlude ART will bring together members of the business community, arts organizations and artists from the counties of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba in an intimate cocktail setting.

“The nice thing about Interlude this year is that we’ve actively invited nominations from the six-county region,” says Goldman, who has served as the president of the board of Arts & Business Council and Sacramento Theatre Company and as a member of the board of Capital Stage, Discovery Museum, the Sacramento Philharmonic a and WEAVE, a among o others. “ “That’s al always been th the goal of the ev event, but it’s ne never been as clea clear as it is this yea year—and that’s than thanks to the wor of William work Ishm Ishmael. William b has been the most instru instrumental in expan expanding the base o of nominees ad and adding new, more relevant categories for awards and organizing and meeting with the selection panel. He’s been pretty tireless.”

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sleepdesign.com Ishmael, a longtime member of the Blue Line board, is an artist best known for his watercolor landscapes and large abstracts using natural elements.

“We (at Blue Line) are becoming a truly regional organization, but we’re very sensitive to and aware of our deep and wide support in Placer County,” says Ishmael. “It truly does take a village. Ed Goldman and Tony Natsoulas have been huge in making all the new initiatives happen. Ed initiated and facilitated the acquisition of the Arts & Business Council and served as president for the last two transitional and newly formative years. Tony used his wide network to bring in artists from not only the region but throughout the nation to exhibit. And Dani Whitmore, our new executive director, is the person for our time. Blue Line’s time is now!”

Interlude ART takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at Sacramento State University. For tickets and more information, visit bluelinearts.org n

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17

Motley Crew KIDS IN RUGBY PROGRAM HAVE A BLAST BONDING OVER A OBLONG BALL

D

id you know that Land Park youngsters can play rugby all year ’round at their very own local park?

Land Park Motley, one of Northern California’s most established youth rugby programs, fields U-8, U-10, U-12 and middle school teams that practice on the baseball fields just north of the Sacramento Zoo and, beginning mid-January (and for the rest of the season), next to the golf pro shop in William Land Park.

As a founding member of the Northern California Youth Rugby Association, Land Park Motley is committed to preserving the history and tradition of a sport that creates friendships for life. Those friendships continue to grow as Motley players proudly go on to C.K. McClatchy, Jesuit, Christian Brothers, Rio Americano, El Camino, Kennedy and other area high schools.

“Matt Eason, Whit Poindexter and I started Land Park Motley rugby club in 2007 with just 15 kids,” says team co-founder Rich Boyer. “We’ve grown to over 130 kids now and we really preach giving back. Many of our players go on to hugely successful rugby careers in high school, college and beyond.

“In fact, seven Motley alumni have represented their country as All Americans and beyond. Once a Motley, always a Motley!”

jL

By Jessica Laskey

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POC JAN n 17

Land Park Motley is open to youngsters from ages 7 to 13. The team practices on Tuesday afternoons.

Land Park Motley primarily plays teams from within the Sacramento Valley and occasionally from the San Francisco Bay Area. All are welcome from ages 7-13 (grades 2-8) in four divisions according to age and weight.

Beginning the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, practices are from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. Beginning this month (and as daylight permits), the group will start practices later in the afternoon.

If you missed registration last month, interested kids are still welcome to come out—there’s usually still room to participate. The more the merrier!

Bring your cleats, a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and a (mandatory) mouthpiece to the next practice and prepare to huddle up.

For more information, call Matt Eason at 612-1819, email him at coachmatt@landparkrugby.com or go to landparkrugby.com.

WARM AND FUZZY This festive time of year is often comfy-cozy, but for many area residents who don’t have access to creature comforts, the winter months can be cold and miserable. Enter the Lyon Cares Foundation, a charitable arm of Lyon Real Estate, which provides time, talent and donated goods to local nonprofits that make their communities a better place.

This October, Lyon turned its Land Park office into a collection center for new and slightly used coats to donate to the Sacramento Food Bank for the sixth consecutive year. A total of 1,987 coats were collected from agents, staffers and the community,

making the Land Park office the top collector for the month.

A total of 1,987 coats were collected from agents, staffers and the community.

“We are incredibly proud of the Lyon Land Park team’s determination in giving back to their community,” says office manager Pamela Petterle.

“Through their efforts, many locals will be able to experience the gift of warm coats this winter.”

All 14 Lyon Real Estate offices participated in the coat drive this year and collected a record 10,065

coats for local charities in the greater Sacramento area. For more information on Lyon’s Annual Coat Drive, contact Petterle at 453-3349 or go to golyon.com. The Land Park office is at 2620 21st St.

MEETING OF THE MINDS If you’ve been curious about the Land Park Community Association and all it does for locals like you, join in! The LPCA’s next monthly meeting will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Eskaton Munroe Lodge at 3225 Freeport Blvd.

As long as you’re jumping into the fray, why not get further involved and join the Land Use Committee, which is involved in issues of land use, commercial revitalization and transportation? The LUC meets from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4 (the location will be revealed once you email the committee chair) and welcomes current LPCA members who’d like to get more involved.

Committee tasks include performing timely and consistent review of all applications for major land use applications (including, but not limited to, use permits and zoning changes within the LPCA boundaries) and making recommendations to the LPCA board on initiatives to improve the health and vitality of commercial corridors.

The LUC is also responsible for addressing all traffic and transportation issues, including recommending traffic control measures to the board, monitoring traffic, bike and pedestrian safety, responding to the traffic aspects of major land use applications and coordinating with the city’s Department of Transportation, Regional Transit and related public entities and private advocates.

The LUC also serves as the primary forum for the membership to be informed of, and to express their views on, proposed and/or pending land use proposals, projects or regulations.

Is your interest piqued? The LUC usually meets on the first Wednesday of the month and is open to current LPCA members. Members may join

Nature Explorers take place the last Saturday of the month. Participants will read stories, play games and explore the wonders of the natural world.

by contacting the chair at landuse@ landpark.org.

For more information on the LPCA, go to landpark.org.

THAT’S THE SPIRIT! Get your bibs ready: Holy Spirit Parish School’s annual crab feed fundraiser returns on Saturday, Jan. 21, and you won’t want to miss this exciting yearly shindig to celebrate the start of crab season and support the school’s myriad programs.

No-host cocktails start the evening, followed by a fabulous dinner of crab (of course), shrimp, pasta and salad prepared by dedicated HSPS parents.

Next comes dancing to live music and

the ever-popular basket raffle. Enter to win a basket stuffed with goodies donated by the school’s K-8 classes.

What are you waiting for? Get your tickets now at hs-ps.com/development/ fundraising/crab-feed. Holy Spirit Parish School is at 3920 W. Land Park Drive.

BELLE OF THE BALL Belle Cooledge Library is hosting all kinds of fun events this month, so stop by and see what’s in store.

First up is the Pop-Up Book Sale from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Every first Tuesday of the month, the library will offer gently books for

all ages for sale. Pick up some great reads and support your local library at the same time. (All proceeds from the sale benefit library programs.)

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 10, Belle Cooledge will have the honor of hosting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a special oath ceremony as they bestow the gift of citizenship upon individuals.

The oath ceremony is the final step in the naturalization process, where immigrants take the Oath of Allegiance before becoming American citizens. The ceremony promises to be an unforgettable moment for all in attendance.

Ever wondered where, and who, exactly you come from?

The Genealogical Association of Sacramento can offer some important tips and tricks for those hoping to explore their family tree. Join the GAS from 12:30 to 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18, for its monthly meeting (the third Wednesday of every month except July, August and December) and find out what family secrets await.

The GAS was founded in 1976 with a nucleus of 13 dedicated members to encourage the research, publication and preservation of genealogical and historical material, as well as to instruct and lend assistance to the membership and the public in modern methods of research. For more information on the GAS, go to gensac. org.

For more information on all Belle Cooledge events, go to saclibrary.org.

Belle Cooledge Library is at 5600 S. Land Park Drive.

RING(TAIL) IN THE NEW YEAR So, you partied hearty last night, but now you’re wondering what to do for the whole of New Year’s Day. Why not visit the exotic denizens of the Sacramento Zoo? That’s right: The zoo is open on Jan. 1 for its normal winter hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Or, if you didn’t party hearty because you started to panic about how to fix the mare’s nest that is your LIFE IN THE CITY page 21

POC n INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

19

End of an Era MEGAMI’S CLOSURE A SIGN OF A CHANGING DOWNTOWN

W

ith exciting restaurants popping up all over Sacramento’s grid, it’s easy to miss when a small restaurant closes its doors. So you may not have heard the news that Megami Bento-Ya on 10th Street is set to close sometime soon.

By some estimates, more than 30 new restaurants will open in the downtown area over the next year.

That’s on top of recently opened restaurants in Midtown, East Sac, along R Street and throughout the city.

These restaurants have unique concepts, cuisines and styles. They often bank on Sacramento’s farm-tofork movement but definitely strive for the sort of sophistication seen in major cities. They want to serve a growing residential crowd and lure suburbanites back to the city core.

Until the last decade or so, Sacramento was pretty much a government town. Some downtown restaurants served the political elite who dined and drank while making deals in smoky backrooms. Other restaurants, like Megami, served mostly government workers who had only an hour for lunch and wanted good food, good prices and fast service.

Alan Honda opened Megami BentoMa in 1983. (His parents opened the original Megami on Florin Road in

SC

By Scot Crocker

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POC JAN n 17

Alan Honda opened Megami Bento-Ma in 1983

1976.) Honda’s mom and his wife, Judy, are integral to the restaurant’s operations and success. Megami is a family affair. Its customers have always been treated as family, too.

The small restaurant serves Japanese food buffet style. Honda learned his craft from his parents and from working at House of Genji in San Jose and later at a hofbrau.

Judy comes in to help, although she has a full-time job with the post office.

Honda’s 87-year-old mother also helps out. “Mom is a tough woman and comes in to whip us into shape,” Honda says. “And Judy is a hard worker, often working a full shift at the restaurant and another eight hours at the post office.”

“We’ve had a lot of good customers who became good friends over the years,” says the 61-year-old Honda.

“But I think it’s time for something new. I work almost 70 hours a week.”

Honday is a modest man who jokingly says he is a lousy businessperson. But he’s been on the cutting edge, whether he knows it or not. He developed his own sauces for comfort foods like sesame chicken and teriyaki. He offers ramen bowls at extremely affordable prices. Tucked on the corner of a serving area are bottles of booze for those who want a cocktail.

His loyal customers come in droves for lunch and dinner. Honda works behind the counter every day, serving sushi and other Japanese food.

While most restaurants thrive on the weekends, Megami is closed, an acknowledgement that its customer base is made up of government workers from City Hall and the State Capitol.

Honda has endured some difficult times. He kept the restaurant going in a construction zone when The Citizen Hotel was being built next door. Then came the Great Recession, which resulted in furloughed employees and a significant drop in business.

“It’s been tough at times,” he says.

“We manage to make it, but times are changing. I’d need to make a big investment to remodel the place and keep it going. I’d need to hire more people and be open seven days a week, too.”

Honda says customers keep coming in to ask when he’ll close. No date has been set as he works through some issues with his landlord, but he

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expects to be closed before the end of 2016. His location will likely be taken over by Melissa and Tyler Williams, who own and operate Tank House restaurant and The Jungle Bird tiki bar, both on J Street.

The easygoing Honda seems a bit sad at having to close Megami.

He recognizes the opportunities for downtown businesses with the arrival of Golden 1 Arena and other developments. But he’s excited about his future.

Laughingly, Honda says he’s tired and needs to slow down. For him, that means a manageable eight-hour day.

While he says he might retire, that seems doubtful.

“Maybe I’ll drive for Uber,” he says. “I could do that.”

Honda has other, more serious ideas. “I’ve been thinking about a food truck and taking my food on the road,” he says. “I’ve also had some people approach me about bottling and marketing my sauces. That sounds interesting.”

Scot Crocker can be reached at scot@crockercrocker.com n

LIFE IN THE CITY FROM page 19 financial situation, let local attorney and estate planning specialist Mark S. Drobny ease your mind during his Estate Planning Safari from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 27. Drobny will help you navigate a “jungle” of topics in this free, informative seminar, and hopefully help you enjoy the start of 2017 with a fresh perspective.

Do you have little ones who are climbing the walls waiting for school to start again? Give them something exciting to do from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30, at Nature Explorers, the zoo and the Sacramento Public Library’s open play day that takes place the last Saturday of the month. Participants will read stories, play games and explore the wonders of the natural world with a new topic each month.

(Activities are included with zoo admission.)

For more information, call 808-5888 or go to saczoo.org. The

Fairytale Town will be open on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Sacramento Zoo is at 3930 W. Land Park Drive.

PLAY DAY Worried that your favorite play park will be closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Not to worry! Fairytale Town will be open on Monday, Jan. 16, for its normal winter hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting.

Holiday admission is $5.75 per person and children ages 1 and under are free, so come play!

For more information, call 8087462 or go to fairytaletown.org.

Fairytale Town is at 3901 Land Park Drive.

Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com n

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Beyond Air Bags THINKING ABOUT BUYING A NEW CAR? CONSIDER SAFETY

N

ew car sales have recovered since the Great Recession.

Dealers are selling at a brisk pace, nearly 18 million vehicles a year. Yet the average age of the U.S. automotive fleet, according to analytics company IHS Markit, reached a record high of 11.6 years last year. That means many people are going to be considering replacing their old wheels with something brighter, shinier and, if they are careful, considerably safer.

Cars are safer than they were years ago. The focus in car safety in the past generally was on protecting car occupants when crashes occurred. Seat belts, air bags, collapsible steering columns and other innovations made crashes more survivable. Now, new technology enables cars and drivers to prevent crashes from happening in the first place. That’s the best possible protection.

Car buyers are faced with a choice of safety features that vary quite a bit by manufacturer and from model to model by the same maker. Some features are standard on high-end models only. Individual features may be optional or come in a technology package at additional cost.

Here’s a rundown on some safety features to consider if you’re thinking about buying a new or used car. The features you select may depend on when and where you drive, driver

S W

By Walt SeLfert Getting There

22

POC JAN n 17

skills and age, and whether your insurer offers a discount for them.

Forward collision warning and braking. Collision systems can come with a driver warning only or with added automated emergency braking.

The braking may operate only at city speeds or at city and highway speeds.

Twenty car manufacturers have agreed to make front collision safety systems standard by September 2022.

In the meantime, this is an option that can save your life and the lives of your loved ones. Experts highly recommend it.

Backup cameras. Backup cameras will be required on all light-duty vehicles starting in 2018. A camera can prevent property damage from backing collisions. Related systems alert drivers of rear cross traffic when

backing. More importantly, some years ago the federal government estimated there were 292 fatalities and 18,000 injuries annually from “backovers.”

Many victims were small children or the elderly.

Adaptive cruise control. This maintains consistent spacing from the car in front of you when you are using cruise control on freeways or highways.

Blind-spot monitoring. Warns a driver with a visual or audible (or both) signal when another vehicle enters a car’s blind spot. This might be especially useful for new or older drivers.

Lane monitoring. As with forward collision systems, this feature can either simply provide a warning when

the car drifts to the edge of a lane or can actively keep the car in the lane.

Adaptive headlights. They can help illuminate dark curves, turns and hills by adjusting headlight direction and intensity. If you do a lot of night driving, especially on rural roads, this might be your ticket.

If you are in the market for a used car instead of a new one, you should look for some other important safety options that aren’t on all older cars.

Electronic stability control became standard on 2012 models and was available on some cars before then.

It prevents loss of steering control.

AAA and other safety experts rate the benefits of ESC very highly and recommend choosing a car with it.

While all cars after 1998 came with front driver and passenger air bags, side and side curtain air bags came later. They are an optional way of providing side impact protection. Some cars have side bags for both front and back seats. The side air bags cushion the torso, and the side curtain bags cushion the head. According to Cars. com editor Joe Wiesenfelder, side air bags are “undeniably one of the most important passive-safety technologies of all time, second only to the seat belt.”

On its website, Consumer Reports lists all auto manufacturers’ models along with what advanced safety features are standard and optional.

You’ll probably need to do your own research on whether a used car has ESC or side air bags. Your insurer can advise on discounts for safety features.

Choose wisely.

Walt Seifert is a bicyclist, driver and transportation writer. He can be reached at bikeguy@surewest.net n

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23

Cutting Back NOW IS THE TIME TO PRUNE

W

hen the new year begins, Sacramento gardeners sharpen their shears, bundle up in layers and head out into the garden to prune. Some advocate getting this task done before Christmas. To me, that’s the talk of an overachiever. December is for parties and sitting by the fire with a lap cat and good book. January is time to get to work on many fruiting and flowering shrubs, trees and vines.

Why prune? Most plants require little or no pruning, but others need to feel the steel to look and perform their best. You prune to control plant size and shape, to encourage new growth and to improve flowering and fruit set. Much of gardening is about trying to impose your will on your plants. Pruning is the ultimate expression of person over perennial.

Actually, January is a little early to cut back most perennials. Even if they are frost damaged, it’s better to leave last year’s stems in place until the risk of freezing is past in March.

Wait to prune ornamental grasses until February, and delay pruning spring-flowering plants such as camellias, azaleas and forsythia until after they bloom. Apricot trees are better pruned mid- to late summer to discourage the transmission of diseases into fresh wounds.

Prune roses and other woody ornamentals, fruit and nut trees, berries and grapes now during winter

AC

By Anita Clevenger

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POC JAN n 17

dormancy, when they slow down growth and lose many or all of their leaves. When a plant goes dormant, it is resting until it is time to push new buds and leaves.

Before you start, gather your tools and make sure that they are clean and sharp. A sharpening steel or stone will help restore a tool’s edge.

Sharpen the beveled side of your tool, maintaining the correct angle (often 23 degrees). Lubricate the mechanism and blade with penetrating oil when you are done. There are good videos on YouTube that demonstrate the technique.

What tools do you need? Hand shears and a pruning saw and lopper for bigger branches are in order. Don protective gear, including gloves, longsleeved shirts and safety glasses when pruning.

Flowering and fruiting habits of plants vary. You need to adjust your pruning treatment accordingly. Some fruits and nuts bear only on spurs that grow off the main branch, while others bear on long shoots. Repeatblooming roses bloom on new growth produced on new and old canes alike.

Once-blooming varieties bloom only on growth at least 1 year old.

There are some basic pruning techniques. Thinning cuts remove

an entire branch to a main branch, the trunk or the ground, and are used to guide growth and open up a plant to air and sunlight. Heading cuts shorten branches and stimulate new growth. When heading back, it’s important to cut to just above a growing point, such as a promising bud or side branch. Try not to leave a stub longer than a quarter of an inch because it will just die back.

Before you make any cuts, examine the plant. Determine the size and shape that you want. Start by taking out the obvious: dead, diseased, weak, damaged or crossing and crowded growth. Make sure that you retain strong, newer growth to establish the future framework of the plant. Wild whacking is not wise.

When I first began to prune, I lugged books and diagrams to the garden and struggled to match what they said to the plants in front of me. Pruning workshops helped me understand what to do, as did years of experience. I’m still tentative with fruit trees, but roses and perennials are now less intimidating. Still, I proceed with caution and stop to evaluate as I work. The words of my gardening mentors echo in my head.

“Clear out the clutter.” “Stubs don’t grow.” “If it’s not beautiful, cut it off.”

Sacramento rose growers aim to complete pruning before Valentine’s Day, but often that’s too late. Stop as soon as leaves start to emerge. Don’t despair if you run out of time. Enjoy your first flush of bloom and shape roses as you deadhead spent flowers.

There are many places where you can learn about pruning this month.

You can join master rosarians at the McKinley Park “prune-a-thon” from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Jan 7.

Master Gardeners will demonstrate winter pruning of deciduous fruit trees, blueberries, cane berries, grave vines and landscape tree at Fair Oaks Horticulture Center from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Jan. 14.

On this same date, world-renowned rose expert, author and raconteur Stephen Scanniello will return to the Sacramento Historic Rose Garden and teach pruning techniques for climbing roses at 9 a.m. and mature shrub roses at 1 p.m.

Even if you’ve pruned perfectly, your plants may not grow as you’ve expected. You can attempt to impose your will on your plants, but Mother Nature still has the last say.

Anita Clevenger is a Sacramento County Master Gardener. For answers to gardening questions, call the Master Gardeners at 876-5338 or go to sacmg.ucanr.edu n

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25

Nod to the Past

AN EAST SAC HOME GETS A HISTORICALLY SENSITIVE MAKEOVER

C

hris and Amy Cookson spent five years looking for a new house. With a growing family, they knew they would need more space than their home on 47th Street provided. While looking at a house on 44th Street, Chris noticed a For Sale sign on another home down the street, a stately blue Colonial Revival.

Cookson knew right away it was the perfect home for his family. Chris

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POC JAN n 17

and Amy both harbor an affection for older homes and loved their East Sacramento neighborhood.

“I really wanted that house,” he says.

The couple purchased the house in April 2014, the day Amy found out she was pregnant.

“We loved the house right away,” Amy says. “We even kept the blue color. Everyone in the neighborhood knew it as the Blue House.”

The 3,700-square-foot house originally had four bedrooms and one bath. The building permit, issued in 1922, estimated the house’s cost at $8,750. According to California Resources Agency records, it was built

by William J. Rooney, office manager

for Wright & Kimbrough Company, a notable real estate firm.

Because Chris had grown up doing construction, he understood what would be necessary to modernize the house. Though structurally sound, it had never had a complete makeover.

Following 14 months of construction, the family moved in in July 2015.

During the process, the entire house was taken down to the studs. Major changes included adding a first-floor bathroom and mudroom next to the kitchen. The couple retained the original wood flooring upstairs but replaced worn flooring downstairs.

They reconfigured the bedrooms and added three full bathrooms and a laundry room. They replaced the broken panes in the fan-shaped

window over the front door and repainted the exterior shutters. They finished off the basement into a play room for their children and are now working on creating a wine cellar. By taking down the sunroom on the first floor and building up the foundation, they were able to add a bedroom on the second floor.

Their backyard was given new life with a design by local landscape architect David Gibson. The kidfriendly yard now sports a saltwater pool with a wall fountain, blue-slate patio and lots of grass for the kids to run on barefoot.

When the couple submitted their plans to the city during the permitting process, they got a surprise. The city suggested they submit their home for

“

WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME PLANNING OUT WHAT WE WANTED AND MADE SURE IT FIT THE HISTORIC STYLE OF THE HOUSE.

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inclusion on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources.

Working with the city was positive experience. The resources provided by the city staff ensured the couple was not overwhelmed during the process.

“The city was really good,” Chris says. “They wanted to keep it as a historic structure, but they also realized that a family would be living here.”

One reason the couple loved the house so much was the amount of light provided by floor-to-ceiling windows in most of the rooms. The couple kept all the old windows and had them refurbished so they functioned properly. When they approached craftsmen in town, all declined, saying the job required too much work and time. They ended up getting much-needed help from a family member: Chris’ father, Larry Riggs, who is retired from the construction business.

“My dad, I can’t leave him out of this,” Chris explains. “He drove down every couple of weeks, took out the windows and redid all the weights and roping. He found old, wavy glass to replace broken panes. It was very time consuming. We couldn’t have done it without him.”

The Cooksons expressed nothing but praise for their construction and design team: Martha Lewis of Lewis Custom Classics and designer Chris Merenda-Axtell.

Amy stressed the importance of research and planning when considering the remodel of an older home.

“We spent a lot of time planning out what we wanted and made sure it fit the historic style of the house,” she explains. “ It’s best to go into a project loving the house before the construction begins. By picking a style of home you like, there will be fewer changes required.”

If you know of a home that you think should be featured in Inside Publications, contact Julie Foster at foster.julie91@yahoo.com n

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Rendering of the new Market 5-ONE-5

Healthy Decision RALEY’S CEO PLANS TO OPEN A NEW MARKET CONCEPT

M

ike Teel has a vision—and it’s not about Raley’s, the grocery chain that his family name has been tied to since 1935. Teel plans to open a new grocery-store concept called Market 5-ONE-5 in Sacramento’s R Street District by spring 2017.

Market 5-ONE-5 grew out of Teel’s frustration at his inability to find nutritious products in one grocery setting.

“My inspiration was my frustration,” explains Teel, the president and CEO of Raley’s.

The new market falls in line with health-focused decisions that Raley’s

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By Amber Stott Food for All

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POC JAN n 17

has made in the past year. In 2015, Raley’s stopped selling tobacco products, and in June, the company announced plans to remove all privatelabel artificially flavored sodas from its shelves.

This new grocery concept has been in the planning stage for several years. At last year’s State of Food and Agriculture conference hosted

by Sacramento Metro Chamber, Teel called the local food system “broken.”

He spoke of a grocery business reliant on “slotting fees,” the practice of brand-name products paying a fee for placement on grocery store shelves.

These fees are significant in overall grocery revenues yet don’t always align with Raley’s values of prioritizing customers’ health and well-being.

Little by little, Raley’s intends to make healthier changes to its stores.

But changing such a large, established business will take time. With the launch of Market 5-ONE-5, Teel can

jump straight ahead to the store model he idealizes.

“The idea was to create a company that would not be held back by its current brand image, current customer base or internal paradigm of how we do business,” Teel says. The new model “sets the company free to move fully forward as fast as it can toward finding solutions to balance health and wellness for those who are really interested in the food that they eat and the impact on their bodies.”

According to company spokesperson Chelsea Minor, Market 5-ONE-5 will embrace the notion that food affects health. The 11,000-square-foot store will carry products that embrace the store’s core values: organic, nutrition and education.

Minor is enthusiastic about a model that combines these core values under one roof. “These concepts individually exist in other formats,” she says.

“It’s the holistic view that is the differentiator.”

The new store will develop standards for its products as a way to keep customers informed. For example, the market may decide that all its meat will be humanely and organically raised without hormones.

This standard will be published, allowing the customer peace of mind that this minimum standard will be applied to all Market 5-ONE-5 products.

A “wellness evangelist” with a nutrition background will be on staff at the new market to help the store manager set wellness standards for the products available.

Teel also hopes the store will positively affect local food production.

By purchasing locally curated products, the market can help create a

FOOD FOR ALL page 33

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OUT

Guess who loves our book?

CONTRIBUTED BY ANIKO KIEZEL INSIDESACBOOK.COM

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Art Preview

GALLERY ART SHOWS IN JANUARY

Patris Studio and Art Gallery will feature a group show through end of January. Shown below: “Donuts.” an oil by Patris.

3460 2nd Ave. patris-studio.com

ARTHOUSE on R presents “Sacrifice Zones”, featuring the work of Leisel Whitlock.. Shown above is a painting by Whitlock. 1021 R Street; arthouseonr.com

Artistic Edge will feature works by Don Tackett, Phyllis Eymann and William Miller.

Shown above: “Magic in the Air,” a watercolor by Phyllis Eymann.

1880 Fulton Ave. artisticedgeframing.com

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POC JAN n 17

The KVIE Gallery features the work of Gary Dinnen with ”Wall Dogs and Rabbits” through Jan. 18. KVIE Gallery is at 2030 West El Camino Ave.

Sparrow Gallery presents the work of Mary Kercher and Sara Post through end of January. Shown above: “Small Gem 2,” a mixed media by Sara Post.

2418 K St., sparrowgallerysacramento.com

THEATRE GUIDE FUNNY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE

THE DOCTOR IS IN

B Street Theater Jan 14 – Feb 26 2711 B St, Sac 443-5300 Bstreettheatre.org Everyone knows Dr. Ruth Westheimer as a pioneering radio and television sex therapist. Few, however, know the incredible journey that proceeded it. From fleeing the Nazis in the Kindertransport and joining the Haganah in Jerusalem as a sniper to her struggle to succeed as a single mother newly arrived in America, playwright St. Germain deftly illuminates this remarkable woman’s untold story.

SHREK THE MUSICAL

Sacramento Theatre Company Jan 13-15 1419 H St, Sac 443-6722 SacTheatre.org

Mike Teel is the president and CEO of Raley’s

FOOD FOR ALL FROM page 30 larger platform for small businesses to become more sustainable.

Creating big rifts with a small idea is core to Teel’s approach.

“We often don’t tackle big projects because we feel like we can’t really change the world with it. I don’t believe that’s correct,” says Teel. “I believe that even smaller companies can have a broad impact in changing the world around them, because when we make one change in our stores—an example I like to use is candy or soda at the registers—our competitors have to react to that. They can choose to do the same because we’re taking business away if they don’t follow suit.”

Teel isn’t alone in hoping that fresher, healthier options will prevail in the grocery store industry.

According to Nielsen, an agency that

studies consumer buying habits, sales of fresh deli, meats and produce are on the rise nationally. Shoppers are decreasing their purchases of “centeraisle” products, where the majority of packaged, processed foods are sold. According to Harvard Business Review, private-label goods are also financially outpacing brand-name products. A store that focuses on locally produced, fresh products places its bets on consumers who want to know where their food comes from.

Based on consumer trends, Teel says, “I fully expect Market 5-ONE5 will grow at a much faster rate than Raley’s.” That’s a smart bet in America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital.

Amber K. Stott is founder of the nonprofit Food Literacy Center. She can be reached at amber.stott@gmail. com n

Based on the Oscar-winning film, Shrek The Musical is a Tony Award-winning fairy tale adventure that brings all the beloved characters you know from the film to life on stage and proves there’s more to the story than meets the ears. Shrek The Musical is performed by Sacramento Theatre Company’s School of the Arts Young Professionals Conservatory students.

The Young Professionals Conservatory is a ten-month program for students (Ages 12 to 18) that prepares students for careers in theatre through master classes and performance opportunities with professional actors, directors, and designers.

SHOWBIZ DIVAS & DAMES

Sacramento Theatre Company Jan 19 – 22 1419 H St, Sac 443-6722 SacTheatre.org From Ethel Merman to Carol Channing, from Bernadette Peters to Kristin Chenoweth, show business has long-produced leading ladies known for their artistry, big personalities, and that certain “it” factor.

Enjoy great music, from toe-tappers to powerhouse ballads, in this evening that reminds us “there is nothing like a dame.”

Sacramento Theatre Company’s Cabaret Series consists of three professionallyproduced Cabarets each year, in which the Main Stage Lobby is transformed into a wonderful performance venue, with seating for up to 100 guests at cocktail tables. The atmosphere is intimate and relaxing. Beer and wine is available, as are light appetizers of fruit, cheese, and desserts.

Chautauqua Playhouse Thru Jan 15 5325 Engle Rd, Carmichael 489-7529 Cplayhouse.org Under a full moon on this unpredictable night of romance, these four rollicking tales take you on an around-the-globe journey of unexpected and hilarious twists and turns. A slick, successful used-car-selling Romeo in Texas is set up by three fed up “Juliets”; a group of fun-loving gals from Georgia, accidentally crash a Hawaiian honeymoon in progress; two strangers start to connect in a rooftop London Bistro only to be thwarted by an oddball tourist and an ancient; and sousaphone playing waitress and finally a man tries to battle his way out of a mid-life crisis with every possible comic distraction. Love conquers all and your sides will ache from laughter.

KINKY BOOTS

Sacramento Community Center Theater Jan 31 1301 L St, Sac 808-5181 CaliforniaMusicalTheatre.com “A big-hearted, high-kicking hit!” – Chicago Tribune Kinky Boots is Broadway’s huge-hearted, high-heeled hit! With songs by Grammy® and Tony® winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper, this joyous musical celebration is about the friendships we discover and the belief that you can change the world when you change your mind. Inspired by true events, Kinky Boots takes you from a gentlemen’s shoe factory in Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan.

Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father’s expectations and continue the family business of Price and Son. With the factory’s future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely but spectacular form of Lola, a fabulous performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos.

Note: Children under Age 4 are not permitted.

SUBMIT EVENTS TO ANIKO@INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM POC n INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

33

Honor and Regrets AN OLD SOLDIER FACES LIFE’S END

I

first met Ernie Head in hospice care last summer. The 96-year-old was a proud World War II veteran who lived life by a personal motto: No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up, never give up.

We began each of my home visits with a salute that often prompted war stories about his service in the 43rd Infantry Division. Unfortunately, the war had left Ernie nearly deaf, so I often needed to yell into his right ear.

Eventually, we worked out a system using a dry-erase board for short questions or comments.

One day, he took me back when he said, “Teach me to pray.”

“Just talk to God like you’re talking to me,” I wrote.

He then recounted the prayers he made to God during the war in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

The stubbornness of the Japanese Imperial Force during the liberation of the Philippines required Allied soldiers to be ruthless in ways no one thought possible.

“I made some promises to God back then,” he said. “I told God that if he’d get me out of this situation, I’d do anything. He got me out, but I’m not sure I lived up to my end of the bargain.”

At this point, I could’ve reminded him that bargaining with God is a

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By Norris Burkes Spirit Matters

34

POC JAN n 17

normal reaction to a mortal situation.

But suffice it to say, I don’t think God keeps contractual lawyers on his staff.

God doesn’t run a gotcha game, suing the “prayee” for breach of contract.

My personal experience with God is that he stays with me, even when I stray.

“Maybe you didn’t come home to serve on the deacon board,” I said, “but you served in other ways.” The plaques on his wall told me that.

He’d served in the VFW, Rotary and Chamber of Commerce and was named Veteran of the Year for Yolo County. He’d been blessed with a loving wife who gave him four children and then blessed, again, with a second loving wife after his first one died.

He’d done a lot of good, and I have no doubt that he’d done some bad.

Maybe it was the bad that filled his eyes with moisture.

“I want you to baptize me,” he said.

“Do you believe in God?” I wrote.

He nodded.

“Do you want to follow God with all the breath you have left?”

He did.

“The Bible promises us that if we call on God, he will save us.”

“Save me from what?” is the question folks often ask. I tell them that it largely depends on what’s troubling them.

In this case, Ernie sought salvation from his haunting memories.

“Can you do it now?” he asked.

“You don’t want to wait for friends and family?” I replied.

“Now. I need it now.”

With his confirmation, I dipped my fingers into a small water bowl and moved them, dripping, over his forehead.

In the language that rang from the centuries, I said, “Upon your profession of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.”

“Thank you,” he said, his words cascading into multiple thank-yous.

Ernie died a few weeks ago much like a lot of old soldiers die these days.

They die with honor, they die with pride and, like most people, they die with a few regrets.

It was my honor to help Ernie lessen those regrets. To him and to all our WWII vets approaching their final battle, I offer you my most heartfelt salute and my profound thank-you.

Norris Burkes is a chaplain, syndicated columnist, national speaker and author. He can be reached at norris@thechaplain.net n

INSIDE’S

THE HANDLE

Sacramento’s Oldest Restaurant

The Rind 1801 L Street #40 441-7463 L D $-$$ Wine/Beer Cheese-centric menu paired with select wine and beer • therindsacramento.com

Zocolo 1801 Capitol Ave. 441-0303

DOWNTOWN Cafeteria 15L 116 15th Street 551-1559 L D $$ Classic American lunch counter with a millennial vibe • cafeteria15l.com

DeVere’s Pub 1521 L Street L D Full Bar $$ Family-run authentic Irish pub with a classic menu to match • deverespub.com

Downtown & Vine 1200 K Street #8 228-4518 Educational tasting experience of wines by the taste, flight or glass • downtownandvine.com

Ella Dining Room & Bar

Rio City Cafe 1110 Front Street 442-8226 L D Wine/Beer $$ Bistro favorites with a distinctively Sacramento feeling in a riverfront setting • riocitycafe.com

1112 Second St. 442-4772

2801 Capitol Ave. 455-2422 L D $$$ Full Bar Upscale Northern Italian cuisine

L D $$$ Full Bar Global and California cuisine in an upscale historic Old Sac setting • Firehouseoldsac.com

Café Bernardo

The Firehouse Restaurant

Ten 22 1022 Second St. 441-2211 L D Wine/Beer $$ American bistro favorites with a modern twist in a casual, Old Sac setting • ten22oldsac.com

L D $$$ Full Bar Modern American cuisine served family-style in a chic, upscale space Elladiningroomandbar.com

L D $ Great burgers and more. • williesburgers.com

R STREET Café Bernardo

L D $$-$$$ Full Bar Upscale American fare served in an elegant setting • Paragarys.com

1431 R St. 930-9191 B L D $-$$ Wine/Beer Casual California cuisine with counter service

Firestone Public House

Frank Fat’s 806 L St. 442-7092 L D Full Bar $$-$$$ Chinese favorites in an elegant setting • Fatsrestaurants.com

Ma Jong’s

1104 R Street Suite 100 L D $$ Humble Hawaiian poke breaks free • fishfacepokebar.com

1116 15th Street L D $-$$ Full Bar Gastro-pub cuisine in a stylish industrial setting • ironhorsetavern.net

Grange

Old Soul & Pullman Bar 12th & R Streets B L D $ Full-service cafe with artisan coffee roasts, bakery goods and sandwiches • oldsoulco.com

926 J Street • 492-4450 B L D Full Bar $$$ Simple, seasonal, soulful • grangerestaurant.com

Hock Farm Craft & Provision

Magpie Cafe

Federalist Public House

Dine In & Take Out • Cocktail Lounge • Banquet Room Seats 35

2009 N Street L D $-$$ Wine/Beer Wood-fired pizzas in an inventive urban alley setting • federalistpublichouse.com

Lunch 11-4 pm • Dinner 4-9 pm Sundays • 11:30-9 pm • Closed Mondays

www.Espanol-Italian.com

Hot Italian L D Full Bar $$ Authentic hand-crafted pizzas with inventive ingredients, Gelato• hotitalian.net

Mulvaney’s Building & Loan L D Full Bar $$$ Modern American cuisine in an upscale historic setting

Tapa The World 2115 J St. 442-4353 L D $-$$ Wine/Beer/Sangria Spanish/world cuisine in a casual authentic atmosphere, live flamenco music - tapathewworld.com

Thai Basil Café 2431 J St. 442-7690 L D $-$$ Wine/Beer Patio Housemade curries among their authentic Thai specialties Thaibasilrestaurant.com

Red Rabbit L D $$ Full Bar All things local contribute to a sophisticated urban menu • theredrabbit.net

1409 R Street Suite 102

2005 11th Street 382-9722

Shoki Ramen House 1201 R Street L D $$ Japanese fine dining using the best local ingredients • sshokiramenhouse.com

The Waterboy 2000 Capitol Ave. 498-9891 L D $$-$$$ Full Bar Patio Fine South of France and northern Italian cuisine in a chic neighborhood setting • waterboyrestaurant.com

Paragary’s Bar & Oven 1401 28th St. 457-5737

OAK PARK La Venadita

2831 S Street

L D $ Bakery treats and seasonal specialities • hellonido.com

D $$-$$$ Full Bar American cuisine served in a casual historic Old Sac location • Fatsrestaurants.com

$5 OFF

5723 Folsom Boulevard 457-1936

Revolution Wines

South

1001 Front St. 446-6768

With coupon. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Expires 1/31/17.

L D $$ Full Bar Patio Regional Mexican cooking served in a casual atmosphere • Paragarys.com

L D $$-$$$ Wine/Beer Seasonal menu using the best local ingredients • magpiecafe.com

Nido Bakery

Fat City Bar & Cafe

2730 J St. 442-2552

1601 16th Street

L D $$-$$ Full Bar Celebration of the region’s rich history and bountiful terrain • Paragarys.com

OLD SAC

Total DINNER food order of $50 or more

With coupon. Cannot be combined with other discounts.

Expires 1/31/17.

L D $$ Full Bar Fabulous Outdoor Patio, California cuisine with a French touch • Paragarys.com

1415 L St. 440-8888

L D $-$$ Beer/Wine Timeless traditional Southern cuisine, counter service • weheartfriedchicken.com

$10 OFF

2718 J Street

1431 L Street L D $-$$ Beer/Wine Cuisine from Japan, Thailand, China ad Vietnam. • majongs.com

RESTAURANT

Centro Cocina Mexicana

1215 19th St. 441-6022

Iron Horse Tavern

ITALIAN

Total LUNCH or DINNER food order of $25 or more

1627 16th Street 444-3000

Fish Face Poke Bar

Since 1923

B L D $-$$ Wine/Beer Casual California cuisine with counter service

110 K Street

1213 K St. 448-8900

L D $$ Full Bar Sports bar with a classical american menu• firestonepublichouse.com

served a la carte • Biba-restaurant.com

2726 Capitol Ave. 443-1180

Willie’s Burgers

1132 16th Street

MIDTOWN Biba Ristorante

1131 K St. 443-3772

Esquire Grill

L D $$-$$$ Full Bar Patio Regional Mexican cuisine served in an authentic artistic setting • zocolosacramento.com

ESPAÑOL

L D $-$$ Beer/Wine Urban winery and tasting room with a creative menu using local sources • rwwinery. com

Skool

3501 Thurd Ave. 4000-4676 L D $$ Full Bar Authentic Mexican cuisine with simple tasty menu in a colorful historic setting • lavenaditasac.com

Oak Park Brewing Company

2315 K Street D $$ Inventive Japansese-inspired seafood dishes • skoolonkstreet.com

3514 Broadway

Suzie Burger

Vibe Health Bar

29th and P. Sts. 455-3300 L D $ Classic burgers, cheesesteaks, shakes, chili dogs, and other tasty treats • suzieburger.com

L D $$ Full Bar Award-winning beers and a creative pub-style menu in an historic setting • opbrewco.com

3515 Broadway B L D $-$$ Clean, lean & healthy snacks. Acai bowls are speciality. Kombucha on tap • vibehealthbar.com n

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TO DO THIS MONTH'S CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT HIGHLIGHTS

40 Years of Singable Songs Raffi in Concert Saturday, Jan. 28, at 1 p.m.

Crest Theatre, 1013 K St. 877-987-6487, ticketfly.com If you sang along to “Baby Beluga” (or sang it to your own little one), you probably have a special spot in your heart for beloved singer/songwriter Raffi. This exciting tour marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Raffi’s first (and still best-selling) album, “Singable Songs for the Very Young.”

“It’s great fun singing for children and families,” Raffi says. “As well as singing many of my fans’ favorites, I look forward to sharing a song or two from my ‘Love Bug’ album and my new one, ‘Owl Singalong’—and to the sounds of all of us singing old favorites from my very first album!”

In 2010, Raffi founded The Centre for Child Honouring on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. With the motto “Respecting Earth & Child,” the center is at the heart of a global movement that views honoring children as the best way to create sustainable, peacemaking societies. Proceeds from the Jan. 28 concert will benefit the center. For more information, go to childhonouring.org.

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By Jessica Laskey Raffi will perform at Crest Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 28

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All Hail Horvitz “Into the Fold: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Horvitz Collection” Jan. 22 through May 7 Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St. 808-1182, crockerart.org Early this year, the Crocker Art Museum will unveil three beautiful exhibitions focusing on Japanese and Japanese American art and culture.

The first of these, “Into the Fold: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Horvitz Collection,” highlights the diversity, creativity and technical virtuosity of 20th- and 21st-century ceramic artists working in Japan. Forty artists, including many of Japan’s greatest living ceramicists, will be represented by 75 works that range from tea vessels, biomorphic shapes, geometric design and sculptural forms that explore juxtaposed themes such as form and functionality, traditional and modern, national and international.

Double the Fun

This piece by Ogata Kamio is part of the exhibition of Japanese ceramics at Crocker.

Photo courtesy of Randy Batista.

“Silk & Steel,” new works by Shirley Hazlett and William Ishmael Jan. 6 through Feb. 16 Opening reception on Friday, Jan. 6, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Beatnik Studios, 723 S St. 400-4281, beatnik-studios.com Sacramento artists Shirley Hazlett and William Ishmael have cooked up something special for Beatnik Studios this month. Inspired by a recent collaboration this past fall for “William Ishmael and Friends” at Archival Gallery, Hazlett and Ishmael are building a new installation entitled “Silk & Steel,” which will feature Hazlett’s luxurious acrylic-on-silk paintings and Ishmael’s luminous steel panels.

If It Ain’t Baroque …

Classical concert featuring Christina Mok and Miles Graber Sunday, Jan. 8 at 3 p.m.

Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St. 808-1182, crockerart.org Listen as the history of the European Baroque period comes to life through virtuoso violinist Christina Mok and pianist Miles Graber. The dynamic duo will present a program of complex and beautiful works by French, Italian and German composers who worked from 1600-1750. Known for her elegant phrasing and careful study of historic periods, Mok joins sought-after accompanist Graber for an afternoon of musical delights with works by JeanMarie Leclair, Arcangelo Corelli, and Johann Sebastian Bach. Space is limited and advance registration is recommended.

Bowie and Vivaldi Pop and classical concerts presented by the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera “The Music of David Bowie: A Rock Symphony” Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 p.m.

Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” Saturday, Jan. 21, at 8 p.m.

Community Center Theater, 1301 L St. 808-2000, sacphilopera.org Though David Bowie and Antonio Vivaldi might not exactly seem like two peas in a pod, the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera is bringing these two music masters from different centuries to local audiences for two very fun, and very different, concerts. “The Music of David Bowie: A Rock Symphony” on Jan. 14 will be conducted by Brent Havens and will feature some of the late legend’s masterpieces. On Jan. 21, Andrés Cárdenes will both conduct and play violin for a program that includes Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” as well as Gioachino Rossini’s “Italiana in Algeri Overture” and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 101, “The Clock.”

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Enjoy the sounds of Sacramento Youth Symphony in concert this month

Baby, It’s Cold Outside “Artist Time Machine,” a Winter Camp for kids ages 6-9 Jan. 3-6, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St. crockerart.org It might be wintertime, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop until the warm weather returns. The Crocker’s Winter Camp will have kids time traveling through the galleries on a mission to investigate how artists have used shapes, colors and styles throughout history. Campers will learn new skills, create experimental works and imagine new art for the future with tons of tactile experience and games galore. The camp is $200 for members and $240 for nonmembers. Space is limited, so register now!

Young art lovers are sure to enjoy an art camp at Crocker

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Young and Talented Winter concerto concert presented by the Premier Orchestra of the Sacramento Youth Symphony Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Sacramento City College Performing Arts Center, 3835 Freeport Blvd. sacramentoyouthsymphony.org Curious what the future of music sounds like? Lend an ear when the winners of the Sacramento Youth Symphony’s annual concerto competition perform with the SYS Premier Orchestra under the direction of Michael Neumann. Winning violinist Rena Wang and winning clarinetist Omar Wahby will present works including Carl Maria von Weber’s “Concertino for Clarinet” and “Jubilee Overture,” Pablo de Sarasate’s “Zigeunerweisen,” Franz von Suppe’s “Light Cavalry Overture” and the finale from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Fourth Symphony.” The Sacramento Youth Symphony is proud to be celebrating 61 years of musical excellence by young musicians from the Sacramento region.

The Doctor Is In “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” a play by Mark St. Germain presented by the B Street Theatre Jan. 14 through Feb. 26 B Street Theatre, 2711 B St. 443-5300, bstreettheatre.org Everyone knows Dr. Ruth Westheimer from her career as a pioneering radio and television sex therapist. Few, however, know the incredible journey that preceded it. From fleeing the Nazis in the Kindertransport and joining the Haganah in Jerusalem as a sniper to her struggle to succeed as a single mother newly arrived in America, playwright St. Germain deftly illuminates this remarkable woman’s untold story. “Becoming Dr. Ruth” is filled with the humor, honesty and life-affirming spirit of Karola Ruth Siegel, the girl who became “Dr. Ruth,” America’s most famous sex therapist.

Shirley Hazlett is one of the artists featured at Beatnik Studios

An Affair to Remember “Betrayal,” a play by Harold Pinter presented by Capital Stage Jan. 25 through Feb. 26 Capital Stage Company, 2215 J St. 995-5464, capstage.org Emma and Jerry, former lovers, meet at a cafe in the present. Emma’s marriage to Jerry’s best friend, Robert, is falling apart and she seeks out Jerry’s consolation. From there, the play (which won playwright Pinter a Laurence Olivier Award) travels backward through time—from the end of Emma and Jerry’s affair to its beginning—and unearths the little lies and oblique remarks that reveal more than direct statements or overt actions ever could.

Sacramento favorite Janis Stevens directs this fraught and intriguing drama.

Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com n Christina Mok will play at Crocker classical concert

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Driven to Succeed REAL ESTATE AGENT BY DAY, PAINTER BY NIGHT

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or Tim Collom, it’s all or nothing—whether in his job as one of the top real estate agents in town or as an in-demand painter.

“If I love something, it becomes an obsession,” the 39 year-old says. “Real estate is my job—and I love it—but painting is my passion. It’s not a hobby, but it’s also not just a talent.

It takes practicing over and over again. I don’t need to be the best, but I am driven to get better.”

“Driven” doesn’t even begin to describe Collom, who was something of a wunderkind in real estate when he passed the licensing exam when he was only 21 at the behest of one of his strength and conditioning clients.

At the time, Collom was training the Sacramento State tennis team after growing up around trainers who worked with greats like Jerry Rice.

(Collom is a Bay Area native.) His interest in art was sparked early on by his computer programmer father, who would sketch and paint in the evenings to relax after a long day at companies like Oracle and Apple.

But Collom didn’t give his artistic tendencies free rein until about 10 years ago.

“I showed interest in art in high school, but I was more interested in being a teenager,” Collom says. “It was also seen as somewhat unnatural to be interested in art as a male, so I pursued sports training instead.”

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By Jessica Laskey

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After following a roommate from Long Beach State to Sac State to finish his

“I couldn’t help but be influenced by them because I was around them a

lom

Realtor and painter Tim Col

degree, Collom found himself face-to-face with local art luminaries like Wayne Thiebaud (whose late son Paul was a close friend) and Gregory Kondos.

lot,” Collom recalls. “I would watch and see what they did. I even played tennis with Wayne a few times.”

But Collom’s rekindled creative instincts took a back seat to a real

estate career that started to skyrocket fairly soon after he received his license. The clever businessman knocked on doors and introduced himself to neighbors to get his name out there at the start of his career—a move he credits for his success as a real estate agent and as an artist.

“I knocked on 8,000 doors a year as an agent, so I did the same thing with galleries as an artist,” Collom says.

“I’m not afraid of rejection. In fact, it drives me more.”

His perseverance clearly paid off, considering he routinely sells his colorful paintings depicting vibrant California landscapes and other relatable scenes for $2,000 and beyond here in Sacramento and in Carmel.

Tim Collom Gallery, the industrial gallery space he runs on 20th Street, was originally intended as a place to exhibit his own art when he bought it four years ago. But when his pieces flew off the walls (he sold 28 of 30 paintings at his most recent show), he decided to offer the space to fellow

GET PAID DOING WHAT YOU LOVE Account Rep & Marketing Openings Daniel@insidepublications.com

artists to help them find success as well.

“I always wanted a gallery of my own, but I’m certainly not following traditional gallery rules,” says Collom, who paints after work until 2 a.m. and gets back up at 9 a.m. to sell houses. “My job as a gallery director is to market [other artists] and market myself. I fully believe that success is not just about earning money from your art. Money is the easy part. Creating is the difficult, more important part.”

Collom uses social media to market his real estate and his art.

“The internet is both your best and worst friend,” he says. “You can post a picture of a piece and sell it immediately, which is great until you run out of pieces, since there’s more demand than supply right now. But you’re also letting people in on the process. They can see your evolution.”

Collom has evolved a great deal over his past 17 years in real estate, decade of painting and four years as a gallery director. But you can chalk it all up to his enviable drive and,

ultimately, his desire to make the world a little bit brighter.

“Why do I paint?” he says. “I want people to smile.”

Tim Collom Gallery is at 915 20th St. For more information, go to timcollomgallery.com n

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Chowder in All Its Glory I A WELL-MADE CUP OF SOUP SHINES AT RIO CITY AND ELSEWHERE

n my nearly 40 years of living in Sacramento, the term “riverside dining” has rarely been a signifier of great cuisine. Restaurants have come and gone on the banks of the Sacramento and the American, and few have left a mark on the sandy shores of our city’s aquatic arteries.

Sure, there’s the riverside party patio that is Swabbies on the River.

It’s known for good bands and decent fish tacos. There’s the seasonal, floating berth-of-fun, Crawdads.

They’ve good bloody marys and tasty fried dishes. There were old riverside haunts like The Rusty Duck and Hungry Hunter, beloved more for their hulking presence than the quality of cuisine.

A quiet player in the riverside dining arena, though, is Rio City Cafe.

A bit dwarfed by its brash next-door neighbor, Joe’s Crab Shack, Rio City has been a fixture on the Old Sacramento riverbank for more than 20 years.

A recent lunch there was cozy and memorable. Tucked away next to a flickering fireplace, with a view of the slowly running winter river, I was enchanted. The food was solid and enjoyable, a better-than-average offering being the brisket tacos, which had southwest flair and smoky punch.

The revelation, however, was the clam chowder. I’d forgotten how much I liked clam chowder. It took Rio City’s near-perfect rendition of this commonplace consumable to make me into a bowl-scraping, breadswiping, spoon-licking fool. Truly it was something special.

There are no hip ingredients, no exotic additions. My grandfather, who spent many good years of his life working in the restaurant industry in New England, would have recognized every flavor, every texture (save for the sourdough bread bowl, which is particularly San Franciscan).

What makes this chowder so good, then? For me, it’s the balance: neither too thick nor too thin, neither too

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By Greg Sabin

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creamy nor too briny, neither laden with potatoes and other vegetables nor smooth and uniform. It is a benchmark bowl of chowder.

This got me thinking: Who else in town serves a fine bowl of chowder that warms up the soul on a cold winter’s day? Here are a few spots you might want to check out.

Rio City Cafe is at 1110 Front St.; 442-8226, riocitycafe.com

ON THE GRID Jamie’s Broadway Grille: Jamie’s chowder almost crosses the line of being too creamy—almost.

It’s dairy forward and stuffed with more bacon than clams, which purists might object to, but not strenuously.

Served with a half sandwich, it’s a great lunch or dinner. Bonus points for being served in a coffee mug.

Jamie’s Broadway Grill is at 427 Broadway; 442-4044; jamiesbroadwaygrille.com Blackbird Kitchen + Beer Gallery: Blackbird’s “Captain’s Chowder” wanders a bit off the welltrodden chowder path, but it’s still a thing of beauty. Start with smoked cream, salmon and a host of shellfish and you’ve got an interesting, addictively flavorful bowl. The $15 price tag is a bit high, but the $7 happy hour special is right on the money.

Blackbird Kitchen + Beer Gallery is at 1015 9th St.; 498-9224; blackbirdkitchen.com

either. Plump whole clams ride along in the chowder with a well-cooked trio of onions, celery and carrots. The seasoning is spot-on, and the flavors are just on the creamy side of briny.

All in all, a total and utter treat.

Evan’s Kitchen is at 855 57th St.; 452-3896; chefevan.com

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ARDEN ARCADE Fins Market & Grill: Befitting a fish market, Fins’ chowder is straightforward and classic. Full of fresh, chewy clams and potatoes, this bowl of chowder is as standard as it gets. Fins is also one of the few restaurants in the area to offer Manhattan-style clam chowder, which is neither a chowder nor from Manhattan. But that’s an argument to be had another day.

Fins Market & Grill is at 2610 Fair Oaks Blvd.; 488-5200; finsmarket.com (other locations in Roseville and Fair Oaks) Greg Sabin can be reached at gregsabin@hotmail.com n

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JANUARY)

LUNCH,DINNER,

HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS AND TRADITIONAL CAVIAR SERVICE F E AT U R I N G L O C A L C AV I A R

1131 K STREET DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO 916.443.3772 WWW.ELLA DINING ROOM AND BAR.COM

Distinctively

Farm-To-Chopsticks F SINCE 1939

Sacramento

Coconut’s Fish Cafe: This new Hawaiian export does things in a distinctly island fashion. The chowder starts with a New England base, then gets brought to the Pacific with the addition of ono, mahi-mahi, clams, garlic and mushrooms. It’s got an intense fish flavor delivered by a boatload of seafood. No skimping on the ocean’s bounty here.

Coconut’s Fish Cafe is at 1420 16th St.; 440-0449; coconutsfishcafe.com

EAST SACRAMENTO Evan’s Kitchen: Served only on Fridays, in the old-school Catholic fashion, Evan’s chowder is thick and satisfying. No chopped clams here,

1110 Front Street

442.8226 | riocitycafe.com

806 L Street Sacramento • Convenient to the Golden 1 Center frankfats.com

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