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PRSRT STD US Postage PA I D Permit # 1826 Sacramento CA
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POSTAL CUSTOMER
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POCKET GREENHAVEN SOUTH POCKET LITTLE POCKET
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BEAUTIFUL RIVERLAKE Nice quiet Bridgeview neighborhood in gated Riverlake community. Well maintained 4 bedroom 3 bath home with new roof, hardwood Àoors, granite kitchen counters and sparkling backyard pool. One bedroom and bath are downstairs; master suite includes sitting room! Instant hot water and 3-car garage. $599,000 SUE LEE 833-5122
VALLEY HI COUNTRY CLUB Special setting with view of the 16th hole. 4 bedrooms 3½ with dream kitchen - recently upgraded with granite counters and stainless appliances. Huge master suite includes dual sinks, separate tub/shower, walk-in closet. Lush courtyard entry. Lap pool, spa, built-in Viking grill. New solar electrical system. $667,000 JAY FEAGLES 204-7756
BRIDGEVIEW AT RIVERLAKE Spacious home features 3 large bedrooms, 3 full baths, a downstairs of¿ce and a large upstairs media room. Downstairs of¿ce could be 4th bedroom. Ready for summer pool, outdoor ¿replace and pleasant outdoor patio space. Also includes an enormous 3-car garage suitable for an RV or boat. $639,000 JUSTIN DAVIS 798-3126
pending
LIKE NEW LINDA ISLE Prestigious Riverlake community with lake access. Wonderful Àoor plan, 3 bedroom 2 bath with beautiful shutters, ¿replace, and more. Home and yard easy to maintain. Close to boat ramp and walking and biking trails, easy car ride to downtown. Immaculate home with private yard! $359,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555
CHARMING WHITE PICKET FENCES Charming Pocket home nestled on a tree-lined street. Located on an oversized pie shaped lot, this home has been tenderly maintained and upgraded. 3 bedroom 2½bath with its spacious Àoor plan, cherry wood Àoors, formal dining room, 2 balconies, and an upgraded kitchen! $417,900 PAMELA ANDERSON 502-2729
pending
BENSON & CEDAR BUILT HOME 2 or 3 bedroom 2 bath home with great open Àoor plan. Updated kitchen overlooking large great room. Updates include: kitchen, baths, granite, retractable awning, stainless steel appliances and more. Pretty yard with nice patio for entertaining. Very nice Greenhaven street. $339,000 MONA GERGEN 247-9555
pending
RIVER OAKS Great family home; 4 bedroom 3 bath with one bedroom bath downstairs. 2 doors down from the wonderful Marriott Park - easy access to downtown - 2 eating areas and both a living room & a family room! Newer roof, beautiful wood Àoors and new interior paint. $409,500 MONA GERGEN 247-9555, SHEILA VAN NOY 505-5395
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SPACIOUS ELK GROVE Spacious 4 bedroom plus a den, 2½ bath home. Separate living and family rooms. Granite kitchen with breakfast bar, updated appliances. 10-year new roof, central HVAC, Low E windows. Master suite has walk-in closet, updated bath with jetted tub. Splash in the sparkling pool. $389,000 CONNIE LANDSBERG 761-0411
pending
COMFORTABLE CONVENIENT Hello Sunshine!! – Pocket area home you’ve been waiting for! So cute and move in ready - updated throughout. 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, breakfast nook and formal dining area, new carpet, fresh paint and a newer roof. Clear pest report too! Close to shopping bike paths and local parks. Enjoy! $289,500 SHEILA VAN NOY 505-5395
It’s your turn for some TLC. Join us for Care Begins with Me, Sacramento’s premier annual health and lifestyle event focusing on inspiration and connection. Thursday, October 1, 2015, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel. Attend care talks with Dignity Health doctors, and hear from our featured keynote speaker Melanie Shankle. We’ll also have a lifestyle, fashion, and beauty galleria, along with gourmet food and drinks. Register today at CareBeginsWithMe.org. And don’t forget to bring friends—because of course you care about them, too.
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COVER ARTIST Leslie Toms Leslie Toms is a contemporary painter focused on landscapes, cityscapes and still life. Her paintings are filled with rich colors and dramatic brushstrokes. Her East Sacramento studio will be on the Open Studio Tour on Sept. 19 and 20. Visit vergeart.com for details. An original painting by the artist will be on display at the 33rd Street Bistro special events room during the months of September and October.
Visit leslietoms.com
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PUBLISHER Cecily Hastings publisher@insidepublications.com 3104 O St. #120, Sac. CA 95816 (Mail Only) EDITOR PRODUCTION DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY AD COORDINATOR ACCOUNTING EDITORIAL POLICY
SEPTEMBER 2015 VOL. 2 • ISSUE 8
Marybeth Bizjak mbbizjak@aol.com M.J. McFarland Cindy Fuller, Daniel Nardinelli Linda Smolek, Aniko Kiezel Michele Mazzera, Julie Foster Jim Hastings, Daniel Nardinelli, Adrienne Kerins 916-443-5087
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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 65,000 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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Submit editorial contributions to mbbizjak@aol.com. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions at $25 per year guarantees 3rd class mailing.
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GRASS VALLEY: 150 Glasson Way Suite, 150B (530) 272-7593
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www.mysummitortho.com
The Ultimate Gallery PUBLICATION ON OUR COVER EXPOSES ART TO THOUSANDS
BY CECILY HASTINGS
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PUBLISHER’S DESK
ocal original art is the first thing you see when setting eyes on our publications. We consider it our distinctive signature. As we celebrate 20 years of publishing this year, it is fitting that we also celebrate 20 years of art on our covers. Brothers Matt and Fred Haines opened 33rd Street Bistro in East Sac in 1996, the same year we started publishing Inside East Sacramento, our first monthly. We’ve been good friends ever since. So the decision was easy to partner with them to present a collection of original art that has been on our covers in their special events room for the months of September and October. With four publications over 20 years, we have featured more than 660 art images on our covers. At best guess, we have represented the work of more than 200 artists. Since adding the Pocket edition in 2014, we now feature 48 art images each year. Original art was not on our first cover in February 1996. We started with a more traditional newspaper look with a story and a photo. But when my mother, who lived in Ann Arbor, Mich. (where I had gone to
Some of my favorite covers include art by Kathy Waste, David Lobenberg, Jill Estroff, William Tuthill, Earl Boley, Wayne Thiebaud, Sam Francis, Samantha Buller and Judy Lew Loose (left to right, top to bottom)
college), found out I was publishing a newspaper, she sent me a copy of her local newsmagazine, called Ann Arbor Observer. The minute I saw it, I knew this was the direction I wanted to go with our fledgling publication. In my college years, I had enjoyed the art on the Observer covers. Many people are surprised to find out that my college degree is in fine art, not journalism.
My husband loved the idea when I showed him, but he cautioned me that it probably wouldn’t take long for other Sacramento publications to copy such a great idea. I figured more art in our community was a good idea, and if it happened, all the better. But it never did. The first artist we featured painted watercolor home portraits. I photographed about a dozen of her
paintings, figuring I’d run them for several months until I discovered more artists. But once they were published and mailed to more than 10,000 homes, artist David Lobenberg contacted me and became a regular. He began doing watercolors of local events and arts organizations, setting the visual standard for what I wanted in terms of cover art. In turn, I recommended him for commissions for events, including the Pops in the Park summer concert series in East Sacramento. He painted the poster image for that event for several years. Lobenberg shared his feelings with me early on about the power of bringing art to so many each month. He earned a living on commissions and at the time did watercolor portraits of high-profile people. But he said those portraits are hung in private homes and are seen by few people other than friends and family. Our covers, he said, guaranteed that tens of thousands of people would see his work. He thought that exposure was priceless. Another milestone was our first edition of Inside The City (now Inside Land Park) in 1998. I met Barry Smith, owner of Smith Gallery, who introduced me to the work of artist William Tuthill, who is now deceased. Tuthill was a retired engineer; his meticulously detailed and brightly colored watercolors of the downtown Sacramento skyline stunned me with their beauty. It might be hard to imagine now, but in 1998 the city of Sacramento didn’t exactly have a great reputation as a dynamic central core for our region. When we first started pitching PUBLISHER page 9
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PUBLISHER FROM page 7 our new city-focused edition, folks weren’t exactly sure how we could make it work. But as soon as they saw the first cover with Tuthill’s gorgeous view of the city, people quickly got on board. I am convinced the first cover did a great deal to lift the self-esteem of our city residents in showing the beauty of their city. That is just one example of the power of art to transform. Our first decade of publishing occurred before widespread Internet access, and during those early years, I spent time visiting galleries and going to shows and fairs. At that time, our local art scene was just a fraction of what it is now. For many years, I visited artists’ studios with a film camera to shoot their work for use on our covers. I professionally printed the photos and then scanned them to create digital images. About 12 years ago, I started using a digital camera, which was a huge improvement. Without websites to show their work, artists rarely used to photograph their art. Nowadays, just about every serious artist has a website and takes his or her own photographs. That makes my job much easier. Mastering the printing process was something I had to learn by trial and error since no one printed art images. Newsprint is an absorbent medium, and images “dot gain”—a process in which halftone dots grow in area between the original printed film and the final printed result. As a result, they have to be adjusted in Photoshop so that they don’t look too dark. I still
prepare every image for print every month. Selecting the art for the covers is easily the most enjoyable job I have every month. I choose from hundreds of images on file from regularly featured artists. But I spend time and energy to bring in new artists each year. In early 2014, I started an art gallery preview page for our publications, highlighting gallery shows in the coming month. It has been a great way to discover new artists. Some months, I have even been able to feature cover art to coincide with current gallery shows. In 2009, I was asked to judge a part of the California State Fair Fine Art Competition. I recognized a number of artists whose work had appeared on our covers and decided I’d feature their winning works on our cover the month of the fair. This evolved into my annual publisher’s awards at the fair, where framed covers are hung next to the original art. Judging at the fair has been a great way for me to discover new artists. I find out where the winners live and try to feature them in their neighborhood edition if possible. The Sac Open Studios tour being held this month has also been a godsend for me. I visit art studios, meet artists and discover many new artists every year. Someone once asked me to name the most famous artist we’ve ever featured on our cover. That is no doubt Wayne Thiebaud, whose art we put on our cover to celebrate a major retrospective of his work at Crocker Art Museum in 2010. We've also partnered with the Crocker to
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help promote other special exhibits., including a Sam Francis retrospective. Our most featured artist is Judy Lew Loose. As of this month, her art has appeared on more than 20 of our covers. Just this past spring, my husband and I attended a fundraising event at a winery. As we sat and enjoyed the concert with friends, a woman approached me and introduced herself as Jill Estroff. I immediately recognized her name. She’s an artist whose work appeared on the cover of the Land Park edition last October. Called “Curtis Park Blues,” it was a colorful, somewhat gestural depiction of homes in fall colors. She told me a heartwarming story about her experience as a first-time cover artist. Two summers ago, she was recovering from cancer treatment and was unable to do all the sports she enjoyed. She’d once worked at the Crocker and thought that maybe painting would help occupy her mind without physically taxing her. “Curtis Park Blues” was her first attempt. She’d sent it to me but said she’d had no illusions it would be selected. I took one look at the piece and let her know I’d feature it on our October cover. I was touched by what she said next. “I was encouraged beyond belief,” she said, “and went on to paint more than a hundred paintings since then, almost all of which have been sold.” She said it was a lifechanging experience for her. I mentioned our upcoming art show and asked if the painting was still available. She said it’s still hanging proudly in her home, despite many
offers to purchase it. “I told my husband I could never sell the art that was featured on your cover!” she said. While I know many of the artists we have featured over the years, I’ve never met some of the newer ones. But I get lovely notes and emails from artists expressing the pure joy they feel. I can only imagine what widespread publication of their art has meant to them. Our art show is designed to bring together these artists and our readers. We have assembled more than 45 original works of varying sizes and mediums for the show. Many are recent pieces. (Artworks featured on our covers tend to sell well, so they’re not available for exhibition.) But a few are more than a decade old. We also will have a huge wall of framed covers on display. In 2013, Crocker Art Museum held a fabulous retrospective of the work of legendary artist Norman Rockwell, featuring 50 original paintings and more than 300 original covers of The Saturday Evening Post. It gave me the idea for our show. Please join us at our Second Saturday reception on Sept. 12 from 5 to 9 p.m., where you may get a chance to meet the artists. Or stop by the bistro for a meal and visit their special events room to see the show all month long. Many of the pieces are available for purchase from the artists. The fact that we can keep bringing local art to you month after month on our covers is testament to the breadth and depth of artists who gratefully call Sacramento home. Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com n
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The Worst? WHAT MAY BE THE MOST OFFENSIVE FENCE ON THE LEVEE
BY R.E. GRASWICH POCKET BEAT
T
o find the most offensive illegal gate blocking public access to the Sacramento River levee parkway, let’s begin at a driveway off Riverside Boulevard at 35th Avenue in the Little Pocket. The driveway is public, controlled by the city of Sacramento. It leads to the Chicory Bend section of the parkway. It’s public space. You own it. But there’s an official-looking sign next to the driveway that reads “PRIVATE PROPERTY NO TRESPASSING AT ANY TIME CPC 602 $1,000 REWARD.” Ignore the sign. It’s someone’s idea of a bad joke. Or maybe it refers to a private residence south of the driveway. Either way, it’s meaningless: parkway graffiti. Walk up the driveway (it’s yours; it belongs to the state of California and is leased to the city of Sacramento), turn right and hike north along the levee crown. Or scramble down the levee and follow the trail north for a meandering stroll among the oaks. The walk is bucolic and relaxing— precisely what a river parkway should be. After about three-quarters of one mile, the offensive fence comes into
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outward—designed to seriously hurt anyone who dares to climb over. The spikes aren’t the only extraordinary security methods at the Yacht Court fence. Concertina razor wire is wrapped around the fence as it runs to the river. The landward portion is topped with barbed wire. Concertina and barbed wires are illegal in Sacramento residential neighborhoods. The illegal levee fence that city authorities have ignored for years
view. It looms across the levee—your levee—and ends your walk with nasty, arbitrary abruptness. And here’s where things get interesting. Let me explain why this fence should be torn down today. The fence’s official address is 820 Yacht Court. There’s a permit for a levee fence at that location, but the permit and existing fence don’t match. This is where history gets murky. In 1996, the State Reclamation Board approved a “chain-link fence and gate” upriver at 901 Piedmont. In 2001, an application was made to
“relocate” the Piedmont levee fence to 820 Yacht Court. In 2002, the relocation was approved. But new names appeared on the documents. And the fence didn’t simply move; at some point it morphed into the beast we see today. It was transformed from a “chainlink fence and gate” into something medieval. This happened in plain sight, near a public park, Chicory Bend. And authorities did nothing. The fence at 820 Yacht is not chain link. It’s wrought iron. And it’s topped with spikes that point
But as the Friends group learned, no public official will take responsibility for tearing out the barricades. So here we have an obviously illegal fence blocking the river parkway, topped with accessories found at prisons. Fortunately, state documents POCKET BEAT page 12
Celebrating 20 Years of Art
INSIDE
LAND PARK CURTIS PARK SOUTH LAND PARK HOLLYWOOD PARK MIDTOWN DOWNTOWN
MAY 2012
Matt Bult I N S I D E
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Robin Giustina
Please Join Us!
20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW OF COVER ART 33RD STREET BISTRO Special Events Room
Second Saturday Reception Sept. 12 from 6-9 p.m. Show runs September/October
More than 45 original works of art on display from local artists
Elaine Bowers
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POCKET BEAT FROM page 10 list a name for the person who sought to “relocate” the Piedmont fence. The gentleman is Wayne Brown.
Why doesn’t the city or state (or both) void the permit and remove the Yacht Court fence? After walking to the Yacht Court fence, taking pictures and sending them to state authorities, I called Brown. We had a nice chat. He insists the Yacht Court fence is legal, despite the switch from “chain-link” to iron spikes and razor wire. When I ask about concertina wire, barbed wire and iron spikes, he claims ignorance and says, “All I know is, the contractor built it.” He says, “We went through all the steps with the state to get the permit for the fence, a lot of steps, and we
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paid with our own money. We did everything we were supposed to. I don’t know anything about wire or anything like that.” At this point, a simple remedy would seem to exist: Why doesn’t the city or state (or both) void the permit and remove the Yacht Court fence? A group called Friends of the Sacramento River Parkway wondered the same thing. In 2013, the group produced a 42-page report documenting legal problems with 11 private levee fences in the Pocket and Little Pocket. The report established how each fence violates its permit: They all break the law. As for the Yacht Court fence, the Friends group says it creates “the greatest risk of injury to state workers and the public.” The report is a devastating indictment of the state’s legacy of dishing out Sacramento River levee fence permits like Halloween candy. For years, all a riverfront homeowner needed to do was ask and he or she would receive a permit to block the
levee. Thankfully, that era has ended. No more fence permits are being issued. But as the Friends group learned, no public official will take responsibility for tearing out the barricades. The city says enforcing levee permits is the state’s job. And the state isn’t sure what do to. I mentioned earlier I sent pictures of the Yacht Court fence to state authorities. The state people were sincere and nice. They told me they are looking into the matter. R.E.. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com
READER RESPONSE Good job, man, on bringing the levee fence issue to the forefront of public discussion between residents of the Pocket and Little Pocket areas. It is human nature for certain people to be afflicted with a case of elitism, that what they want takes precedence over what anyone else wants, and the law be damned. What has always
knocked me out is how many times they get away with it, through threats, lies, fear, false indignation and plain old bluster. Of course, if they have a significant income, that helps their false cause mightily, since most politicians can’t help but bow to the shrine of the dollar sign. My one caution to you is this: Don’t let up on the pressure, especially on Councilman Rick Jennings. I have a feeling that if Jennings was in a room with three other people, and each of those people argued a different case for a specific issue, Jennings would somehow find a way to agree completely with each of their positions. A person like that never gets anything accomplished. Keep holding his feet to the fire. I live in the Pocket, and I’m behind you, and Ron Beals, and anyone else, who champions the rights of the many over the perceived rights of an elite few. I’m behind you 100 percent! Perry Dominey n
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New Guy in Charge at JFK FORMER ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL TAKES OVER FROM CHAD SWEITZER
BY SHANE SINGH POCKET LIFE
A
fter serving the past four years as Chad Sweitzer’s assistant principal at John F. Kennedy High School, David Van Natten has been named as Sweitzer’s replacement. A veteran of 12 years with Sacramento City Unified School District, Van Natten taught ninthand 10th-grade English at Luther Burbank High School for seven years. He was a Small Learning Community lead teacher for four of those seven years, then promoted to an administrative role at Burbank before transferring to Kennedy. He taught first-year writing for two years at Chico State University before his first assignment at Burbank. Van Natten covered much ground as an assistant principal at Kennedy. He says, “I developed a strong understanding of the school, its needs, challenges and nuances. I wanted to see the work that Chad started continue and move forward a number of climate and instructional initiatives that were mine. I live in the Kennedy attendance area and have school-aged children of my own, so I have a professional and a personal interest in seeing that
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Award-winning artist Skyler Brown grew up in the Pocket area and was featured on last month's cover
Kennedy is everything that it can be. I’m a believer in working where you live and understand that the stronger Kennedy is, the better the surrounding community will be.” Van Natten plans to work closely with the school’s leadership team. The new principal intends to use his secondary and postsecondary teaching background to ensure that all Kennedy students receive appropriate access to the school’s rich curriculum, athletics and extracurricular activities. Finally, he’s determined to foster and support greater engagement from local families and members of the Kennedy community.
This upcoming year is also a midterm Western Association of Schools and Colleges review year for Kennedy. During the last full selfstudy, conducted in 2013, the school received positive feedback from the visiting accreditation committee. Van Natten looks forward to showcasing the progress since 2013. Kennedy’s enrollment has increased steadily over the past several years, which he attributes to the many quality programs and services that the school offers. As the new school year begins, Van Natten says, “I am super excited and honored to be in this role. I strive
to be as accessible as possible and want to hear from students, staff, families and the community. This school is filled with great students, a talented and committed staff and engaged families. I am happy to be here and thankful for the support I have received from the school’s many stakeholders.” The new principal encourages any community member to contact him with questions or concerns via email at David-VanNatten@scusd.edu
The money raised at the festival helps support the youth basketball league, dances and games for middle school youth, senior fitness, the Sacramento Youth Symphony Chamber Music Workshop and various social justice programs. For more information, call 428-5678.
BE A SCOUT
Eskaton Care Center Greenhaven residents Rita O'Conner and Gertrude Lasley enjoy the new Therapeutic and Healing Garden
TOP ART The cover artist for last month’s issue of Inside Pocket was our neighbor, Skyler Brown. Brown recently graduated from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia with a bachelor degree in experimental animation. While growing up in the Pocket area, he attended Leonardo da Vinci Elementary School, Sutter Middle School and McClatchy High School. “In one form or another, I plan to be a professional artist,” he says. “My primary goal is to work in film and animation, but I’ll certainly continue doing fine art for as long as possible.” Brown has always been interested in art. “I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember,” he says. “I first started regularly drawing every day when I was about 12.” This year, he won the Publisher’s Award at the State Fair. Over the past eight years, he has won more than 60 other awards from the California State Fair alone, including Best of Show and the Award of Excellence. While in high school, he won first place in Sacramento’s High School Self Portrait Show at Crocker Art Museum. In 2014, Tumblr listed him as one of the top 25 “artists to watch.” In addition to traditional fine art, he expresses himself through numerous other art forms:
photography, filmmaking, animation, graphic/digital art and music composition. “Working on music videos is a particular hobby of mine, since it integrates all of those elements,” he says. “I also have a fascination with exploring and researching abandoned or forgotten places around the country, many of which appear regularly in my photographic works.” He is primarily inspired by three personal elements: the people he knows, the places he’s been and the experiences he’s had. “Essentially, all of the imagery in my work comes from elements of my own life,” he says. “Sometimes it’s more overt, like my portraits or photos, while other times it’s more impressionistic or metaphorical, as in my illustrations and short films.” You can see his work at skylerbrown.com
HEALING GARDEN In August, the new Therapeutic and Healing Garden opened at Eskaton Care Center Greenhaven in the Pocket Area. The garden serves as a sensory oasis for patients and residents—and it saves water. The garden features the first wheelchair-accessible labyrinth in the Sacramento area, a rehabilitation ambulation path, garden tables and
other features. All of the new plants are low-water consumers, and the landscape architect estimates that water use will be cut by 50 percent. Resident Ron Walker, president of the center’s Resident Council, is a retired firefighter who suffered a serious injury that resulted in a leg amputation. He looks forward to getting around in the new garden, which includes a rehabilitation ambulation path to help patients learn to balance and walk again. “This garden will serve seniors and their families for years to come,” says Eskaton Foundation president Kim Rhinehelder.
FALL FESTIVAL The 22nd annual St. Anthony Parish fall festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 12, from noon to 9 p.m. This festival has something for everyone: games for all ages, free entertainment, raffles with prizes and international food for purchase. This year’s entertainers include a mariachi band, a Beatles cover band, Christian Brothers Choir, the Chinese Community Church Ukulele and Hula Fellowships, the College Fund Band, and iYa Taekwondo performance teams. The evening will be topped off with Todd Morgan and the Emblems (a rock-and-roll band) from 7 to 9 p.m.
Local Boy Scout Troop 259 will hold an open house on Monday, Sept. 21, at Elks Lodge No. 6 at 6446 Riverside Blvd. Visiting boys will interact with Scouts while their parents learn about the Scouting program. Refreshments will be served. Since 1966, more than 2,500 boys have belonged to Troop 259, and 172 have attained the Eagle badge—Scouting’s highest rank. This year, the troop went to Oregon for high-adventure camping, camped and clammed at Bodega Bay, hiked Mount St. Helena and Mount Tallac, biked the American River, visited retirement centers and assisted with the town of Locke’s 100-year anniversary. For more information, contact Scoutmaster John Pitcher at SM4Troop259@gmail.com or go to troop259.org
UNITED WAY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED United Way will hold its third annual Day of Caring on Friday, Sept. 11. Volunteers in the Sacramento region will spend the day working on 37 nonprofit projects. In the Pocket area, the Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center is seeking 50 volunteers for a project at Caroline Wenzel Elementary School from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Activities will include renovating the school garden, planting perennial shrubs, building compost bins and picnic tables, and painting. To sign up as a volunteer, go to yourlocalunitedway.org/dayofcaring United Way’s Day of Caring will begin at 8 a.m. with a breakfast and rally at Cal Expo. Volunteer projects will begin at 9:30 a.m. Last year, 662 volunteers completed 32 volunteer activities in the Sacramento region. Shane Singh can be reached at shane@shanesingh.com n
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Accountability Deficit HOW AN ETHICS COMMISSION COULD RESTORE TRUST
BY CRAIG POWELL INSIDE CITY HALL
I
’ve been around long enough to remember when Sacramento city government enjoyed a reputation as a “clean” government, free of the kind of scandals that regularly bedeviled other California cities. With exceedingly rare exceptions, the eras of Mayors Isenberg, Rudin, Serna, Yee and Fargo were scandalfree. It has been a source of genuine civic pride among city residents, if not a little hubris. The events of the past few months show that, during the Kevin Johnson era, the days of scandal-free city government are long gone, at least for now. The tally of alleged recent misconduct is long and getting longer by the week, raising serious questions about whether our city government, as it’s currently constituted, lacks the capacity to hold elected officials accountable for their conduct: • In May, Mayor Johnson was accused of sexually harassing Estrellita Ilee Muller, a city staffer who was working at the time in city manager John Shirey’s office. The details are lurid. According to a claim form filed with the city clerk’s office
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and obtained by The Sacramento Bee, Johnson was accused of sending one of his bodyguards to fetch Muller and bring her to the mayor’s library. He was accused of grabbing Muller, who is married, and asking her if she “felt it.” Johnson, who is also married, was accused of repeatedly pressuring Muller to enter into an unwanted sexual relationship. According to the claim form, Muller alleged that city officials bungled their legal responsibility to deal with her claim in a fair and appropriate manner. • In July, R.E. Graswich, a local journalist and writer (and fellow columnist for Inside Publications) who worked as an aide for Johnson during his first term handling media and related matters, told a reporter for Sacramento News & Review that he and other Johnson staffers had used city offices and city equipment to perform campaign work for Johnson, knowing it is against the law to do so. • In early August came the news that Councilmember Allen Warren, who chairs the city council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Good Governance considering city ethics, transparency and redistricting reforms, was the subject of a claim of “quid pro quo” sexual harassment by Delia Chacon, a former staffer who worked in his council office. Chacon alleged that Warren threatened her job if she stopped providing him with sexual favors. He subsequently fired her. Her claim included an account of a bizarre incident at a cabin owned by Warren near Oroville, where she asserted that Warren shot targets with a shotgun, an action that made her fearful. He later allegedly told her “he could have done anything to her without anyone knowing.” Chacon said that city
officials mishandled her claim against Warren. Chacon also claimed that Warren asked her to perform work on behalf of Warren’s development company, New Faze, during regular business hours at city hall.
The one tool that appears best suited to hold elected officials accountable for their misconduct, and to clear them when they are innocent of claims, is an independent ethics commission. • Councilmember Angelique Ashby and the city are defendants in a lawsuit currently pending in federal court that alleges Ashby wrongfully fired a staffer, who claims to have worked 67 hours per week in her office, for seeking to take time off to receive medical care. The city attorney has said that she believes that Ashby acted “reasonably” in the matter. Ashby is also a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Good Governance. (Councilmember Steven Hansen has asked that both Ashby and Warren step down from the committee while claims against them are pending.) Ashby has been strong opponent of a city ethics commission.
• In addition to claims of personal misconduct, the public has seen skirmishes over city emails. Early on in his administration, Johnson created a private email system for his own city emails and those of many of his staffers, putting such emails beyond the reach of city officials who are obligated to turn over nonprivileged city emails when they are requested by the public. Johnson is currently in a position to be able to pick and choose which of his emails he releases to the public, taking advantage of a legal ambiguity under California law over whether emails kept on private email accounts, but involving city business, are considered public records and subject to disclosure. • Johnson recently took the highly unusual step of filing a lawsuit against the city and Sacramento News & Review seeking to stop the city from releasing emails between him and a private law firm that was advising him on a hostile takeover of a national black mayors organization. Upon assuming control, Johnson placed the organization in a bankruptcy proceeding and launched a replacement organization. Some are questioning the appropriateness of the mayor using taxpayer-funded city staff on such a venture. The mayor’s spokesman, Ben Sosenko, has been quoted as saying that there is nothing in the emails that the mayor is trying to hide; he just wants to protect his privileged communications. The emails in question ended up on the city’s email server in the first place because city staffers received copies of the emails.
• While testifying in the arena fraud trial in July, Johnson admitted that he deleted text messages from his smartphone despite having received legal warnings not to do so. He testified that he did so inadvertently and because his habit is to delete his text messages. • City clerk Shirley Concolino was planning to delete 85 million city emails on July 1. That plan was interrupted when a Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction in late July ordering Concolino not to delete 15 million of the emails that included records requested by Rick Stevenson, a representative of Eye on Sacramento, and Katy Grimes, a local journalist. City councilmembers were reportedly advised by the city attorney to not discuss the planned deletion with either Eye on Sacramento or the media. The concern of the groups that have been working on meaningful ethics, transparency and redistricting reform in Sacramento (a group that includes Eye on Sacramento) is that our city government, as currently constituted, lacks an effective means of holding elected officials accountable for their misconduct, as well as an effective means of exonerating them when unsubstantiated or false claims are brought against them. The city’s go-to response to a claim of misconduct against an elected official has been to ask the city attorney to conduct an investigation of the matter and, in the case of the claims against both Johnson and Warren, to hire an outside law firm to conduct an investigation. In Johnson’s case, the investigations of the city attorney and the city’s outside private law firm concluded that the claim against him was “unsubstantiated.” Investigations into Allen’s case have just begun. But the city attorney has a direct and irreconcilable conflict of interest in issuing findings of guilt or innocence with respect to a sitting councilmember. After all, a councilmember has the power, when acting in concert with four other councilmembers, to fire him from his post. He is ethically compromised from conducting a credible, independent investigation.
The same is effectively true of a private law firm brought in by the city attorney to conduct an “independent” investigation. Any private law firm that hopes to secure future business from the city or the city attorney can’t help but be hesitant to issue an investigative report that finds a powerful councilmember guilty of misconduct. Further, both the city attorney and an outside firm lack the power to subpoena witnesses and compel the giving of testimony under oath, essential tools in uncovering the truth in such cases. What about a grand jury investigation? Can grand juries hold councilmembers accountable for misconduct? While civil grand juries in California do have subpoena power and can place witnesses under oath, they lack the means to effectively enforce their findings. They can and do issue sometimes-scathing reports on wrongdoing by public officials (including Sacramento city officials), but they lack the teeth to enforce their judgments or to compel change. For wrongdoing that rises to the level of criminal misconduct (i.e., sexual battery, as distinguished from sexual harassment), the Sacramento County District Attorney can investigate and bring formal criminal charges against elected officials. While former DA Jan Scully made a campaign promise when she first ran for office that she would make the prosecution of public corruption and wrongdoing cases a priority if elected, her 12 years in office featured almost no prosecutions of elected officials for wrongdoing, which is rather remarkable when you consider that Scully had jurisdiction to prosecute crimes occurring in the State Legislature during that time. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office have had no trouble finding criminal wrongdoing under the dome to prosecute. We will see if our new DA, Anne Marie Schubert, who also made a campaign pledge to make the prosecution of public corruption and misconduct a priority, takes a different approach from Scully. The one tool that appears best suited to hold elected officials CITY HALL page 18
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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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accountable for their misconduct, and to clear them when they are innocent of claims, is an independent ethics commission, armed with subpoena power and the power to place witnesses under oath, as well as the authority to levy fines, make findings and, in particularly egregious cases, remove officials from office. With appropriate safeguards in place to ensure that the full protection of due process of law is afforded to those subject to a commission’s jurisdiction, an ethics commission should help deter misconduct and help restore public trust in city government while ensuring that parties who come before it are treated fairly. A city ethics commission would cost between $400,000 and $500,000 annually to operate, amounting to about 0.005 percent of the city’s annual budget. The city has yet to publicly disclose the total cost in legal fees, lawyers’ salaries, investigation costs and other expenses that city taxpayers have incurred, or can expect to incur in the future, in connection
with the investigations of Johnson and Warren and the lawsuit involving Ashby. But given the very high hourly billing rates charged by attorneys these days, it’s very likely that the taxpayers’ tab will greatly exceed the costs of maintaining a city ethics commission. Would an independent and empowered ethics commission avoid all other future costs associated with claims against councilmembers and other senior city officials? No. But the prospect that city officials will be accountable to an ethics commission should deter some officials from engaging in misconduct. And if deterrence fails, such a commission would have the tools to ferret out the truth behind the allegations, impose consequences on the guilty and exonerate the innocent.
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Bringing Back Broadway THE KITCHEN’S MOVE WILL KICK-START A TRANSFORMATION
BY R.E. GRASWICH CITY BEAT
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mpty lots blanketed with brown weeds surrounded by chain-link fences, those signatures of failed dreams and shattered economic policies—tha t’s the landscape of Lower Broadway, gateway to Land Park. But not for much longer. A generational shift is underway along Lower Broadway. Once the city’s southern boundary, the place where we buried our pioneers in the old city cemetery, the Lower Broadway of generations past became a landscape of auto repair garages and small manufacturing plants and warehouses, cozy alongside two of our largest housing projects. Today, Lower Broadway can be called Sacramento’s premier comeback trail. The old Setzer fruit packing box factory is being transformed into a sparkling new community of 1,000 market-rate homes called The Mill at Broadway. And the city is painstakingly formulating plans to demolish and replace the public housing projects, with the mandate to provide 21st-century opportunities and respect to our neediest residents. Good and smart people have responded. They bring creative
powers, inspirational leadership and investment dollars to Lower Broadway. “You have to start doing things, and that nudges more people to action,” says Teresa Rocha, executive director of Greater Broadway Partnership, a group of business and property owners along the Broadway corridor organized to advocate for the community. “When things start to happen and people see actual change taking place, that’s when the imagination kicks in. The momentum is amazing.”
One of Sacramento’s best and most ambitious restaurants, The Kitchen, is moving to Lower Broadway. Today, when Rocha walks from her office near Broadway at 15th Street and heads west along Lower Broadway, she sees only progress and possibilities. Empty lots and chainlink fences become restaurants and coffee shops and public gathering spaces. Broadway is inviting. It unifies. This is more than wishful thinking. One of Sacramento’s best and most ambitious restaurants, The Kitchen, is moving to Lower Broadway from its suburban home on Hurley Way. Ronald Selland and family, who created The Kitchen’s unique fixed-price, demonstration-kitchen approach and carved a niche as the first interactive gourmet restaurant
Randall Selland is moving The Kitchen to Lower Broadway
in town, are investing heavily in the Lower Broadway revitalization. The Kitchen has been a suburban institution since 1991. By late 2016, it will belong to Lower Broadway, occupying a building once know as a grocery store but for decades reduced to an anonymous existence and neglect. The Kitchen, newly reimagined across from the old City Cemetery, will link Middle and Lower Broadway. It will become a bridge and meeting point along a boulevard that rivals any in the region for diversity, history, access and walkability.
“I can’t say enough about what the Selland family is doing for Lower Broadway,” Rocha says. “The Kitchen will be far more than just a restaurant. It’s extremely ambitious. There will be a courtyard with an outdoor kitchen, deliberate walkways and trees to give the site a Mediterranean feeling that takes advantage of Sacramento’s wonderful weather. It will be a gathering place.” Urban planners talk about accessibility and connectivity as CITY BEAT page 21
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Children at Play FAIRYTALE TOWN HOSTS EXPERTS IN THE SCIENCE OF PLAYTIME
Fairytale Town is located at 3901 Land Park Drive.
WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK
BY JESSICA LASKEY LIFE IN THE CITY
S
chool might be in full swing by now, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop on weekends. Don’t miss the exciting events at Fairytale Town this month, starting with the informative Sacramento Play Summit presented by Fairytale Town, Sacramento Public Library and ScholarShare Speaks on Saturday, Sept. 12. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, parents and kid caretakers will get a slew of useful information about the importance of play, the many types of play, ways to incorporate play into daily and school life and more to make a happy, healthy child. Keynote speakers will include author and psychology professor Dr. Peter Gray, musician Tom Chapin and pediatrician Louise Glaser. Tickets are $40 to $50 per person and are available starting Sept. 1. Later that same evening, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., spend some more quality time with keynote speaker Dr. Gray, a play expert and author, who will explain how play is essential to children’s healthy emotional and social development and suggest
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Let your bookworm go buck wild at the ScholarShare Children’s Book Festival on Saturday Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27 at Fairytale Town
possible ways in which families, neighborhoods and communities can restore opportunities for outdoor play. Advance tickets are $5.50 to $10 per person. Day-of tickets are $5.50 to $20 per person. Fairytale Town members get in free. For tickets and more information for either event, call 808-7462 or visit fairytaletown.org Tsakopoulos Library Galleria is at 828 I St. Bring those special someones— grandma and grandpa, that is—to Fairytale Town for a celebration of Grandparents Day on Sunday, Sept. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Grandparents receive free admission when accompanied by a child ages 0 to 12. Weekend admission is $5.50 per person. And the memories? Priceless.
Let your bookworm go buck wild at the ScholarShare Children’s Book Festival on Saturday Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Enjoy readings and presentations by children’s book authors and illustrators, storytelling performances, hands-on literacy activities and family playtime at the largest early-childhood literacy festival in the region. Laura Numeroff, bestselling author of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” will headline the two-day festival. Admission to the event is free thanks to event sponsor ScholarShare College Savings Plan. For tickets and more information for all Fairytale Town events, call 808-7462 or visit fairytaletown.org
If you’re planning on coming to Fairytale Town anyway, arrive early with a pair of work gloves and a desire to get down and dirty and help out the Land Park Volunteer Corps on its monthly workday on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 a.m. at the picnic grounds directly behind Fairytale Town. Corps projects include painting park benches and tables, trimming ivy along Sutterville Road, cleaning the southern perimeter of Sacramento Zoo, mulching trees, trimming bushes and tree suckers, cleaning the ponds, preparing beds for new plantings, weeding, grooming bushes and more. Every pair of hands helps! If you’re getting hungry just thinking about all that exertion, don’t worry: Breakfast sponsor Espresso Metro will provide plenty of earlymorning grub, and lunch sponsor Jimmie Yee will make sure you don’t leave with an empty stomach. For more information, contact lead coordinator Craig Powell by phone at 718-3030 or email at ckpinsacto@ aol.com. Donations are always appreciated and can be sent to: Land Park Volunteer Corps, 3053 Freeport Blvd. #231, Sacramento 95818. Fairytale Town is at 3901 Land Park Drive.
SEEING RED Make time this fall to visit your favorite fluffy, furry and ferocious friends at Sacramento Zoo, which will
host a series of events that are sure to have you roaring with delight. If you’re 55 or older, don’t miss the Senior Tea & Tours on Mondays, Sept. 14 and 21, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Enjoy a special tour of the zoo followed by snacks and tea. As this program is very popular, register by calling 808-5888. For those in the deaf and hardof-hearing community (and those who love and support them), Deaf Awareness Day at the zoo on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. is the place to be. The event is sponsored by NorCal Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which means that the zoo will have ASL interpreters on-site for the day. Do you love those fuzzy red raccoon look-alikes who snooze all day and make your heart go pitter-patter? Then be sure to celebrate Red Panda Day on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This interactive and educational event was developed to raise awareness about red panda conservation. Kids can become “Red Panda Rangers” after completing the panda activities—or, if you became a ranger last year, complete this year’s activities to become a Junior Forest Guardian. Visitors can also bid on red panda-themed artwork, decor and other keepsakes. Proceeds benefit the Red Panda Network, a conservation group working directly with community-based organizations in the red panda’s homeland of Nepal. For more information on all zoo events, call 808-5888 or visit saczoo. org Sacramento Zoo is located at 3930 W. Land Park Drive.
TO A TEE If you’ve lived in Sacramento for any length of time, you know that it has a rich history dating back to its founder, John Sutter, of gold discovery fame. But did you also know that William Land Park and the beautiful golf course on its grounds also boast an interesting background? You will now, when William Land Golf Course celebrates its 90th anniversary with special events throughout the fall.
CITY BEAT FROM page 19
The cult classic musical “Little Shop of Horrors,” is getting a loving revival with a live orchestra by Runaway Stage Productions through Sept. 13 at 24th Street Theatre
Sacramento’s oldest public golf course opened in 1924 and was named in honor of William Land, an early Sacramentan who made his fortune as a hotelier and the founder of Western Hotel on 2nd and K Streets, as well as Land Hotel downtown. Upon his death in 1911, Land left a legacy of $250,000 to “purchase a public park within a suitable distance of Sacramento to be used as a recreation spot for the children and a pleasure ground for the poor.” The 160-acre William Land Park was established on its present site in the 1920s, and the golf course was built shortly thereafter. Over the years, the nine-hole William Land Golf Course has hosted some of the area’s golfing elite, including Al “Mr. 59” Geiberger, Bob Lunn, Dick Lotz, Barbara Romack, Kevin Sutherland and more. It’s also home to The First Tee of Greater Sacramento, a youth development agency that teaches life-enhancing lessons and core values through the game of golf to 17,000 children a year. For more information about the golf course and its upcoming events, call 277-1207 or visit williamlandgc. com William Land Golf Course is at 1701 Sutterville Road.
WILY COYOTES Did you ever think eating nachos could contribute to a good cause? Dos Coyotes Border Cafe did when it teamed up with Land Park Schools Foundation to support public education in Land Park. On July 28, the team behind the restaurant at 1800 15th St. presented LPSF with a $2,100 check from the gross dinner receipts collected during the eatery’s Land Park Schools Night event on July 16. These funds will allow the nonprofit LPSF—a collection of parents, business owners and neighborhood citizens—to continue its work to sustain educational excellence at area schools through collaborations with school administrators, teachers, city officials and business leaders. And this isn’t the first time Dos Coyotes has chipped in with chips. Since the local chain opened its first restaurant in 1991, Dos Coyotes has contributed substantially to local arts, schools, sports and quality of life. Who’d have thought dinner could do so much good?
if landscape links were a city’s holy grail—and they are. Previous generations bowed to the automobile. Access to convenient parking became the mantra, forcing designers to start not with a blank sheet of paper but a qualified set of guidelines, surrounded by asphalt and white stripes. The Kitchen will have parking (the Sellands and their partners make no apologies for the site’s bountiful accommodations for cars), but parking isn’t the point. What makes the project at 915 Broadway unique and appealing will be its ability to draw people away from cars. Guests will enter a group environment of festivity and celebration. Best from Rocha’s perspective is the concept of private investment, something easily overlooked in a town like Sacramento, where reliance on government, from state employment to redevelopment financing, became symbiotic and institutionalized. “The private investment we’re seeing in a project like The Kitchen is the most exciting thing of all,” she says. “When people start investing their own money, when they have a ‘Why don’t we do it here?’ attitude, that’s when you make real progress.” Now the trick will be to connect Lower Broadway with the reinvigorated amenities to the north—downtown and Midtown. The pathways to convenient linkage exist, but Lower Broadway remains spiritually separated by bureaucratically inspired obstacles, from a fence around the lake at Southside Park to the elevated highway that represents the W-X Freeway. “We’ve tended to turn inward in Sacramento,” Rocha says. “People build these amazing backyards for themselves, for example, and spend their time there. We lack the spectacular, inviting public gathering places you see in great cities around the world. We need to get there.” Broadway, the city’s historic demarcation line from urban to suburban, is the next bridge to human-scale connectivity. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n
LIFE IN THE CITY page 22
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LIFE IN THE CITY FROM page 21
Plate dish using the region’s most sustainable ingredients. Participants can browse the farmers market, tuck into food truck fare, check out cooking demonstrations, groove to live music, take part in interactive activities and learn about the art of composting and the “zero waste” movement courtesy of David Thompson of Oak Park Soil. For more information, call 4764766 or visit foodliteracycenter.org McClatchy Park is at 3500 5th Ave.
For more information on Land Park Schools Foundation, visit landparkschools.org
GROWING PAINS If you’ve driven down Sutterville Road lately, you may have noticed quite a bit of construction going on. Sacramento Children’s Home is undergoing a major renovation, and the grocery store at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and Sutterville Road has been demolished to make room for a CVS Pharmacy that’s hoping to open a new location on that site before the holidays.
LEARNING AT THE LIBRARY
FEED ME, SEYMOUR! A man-eating plant? Doo-wop tunes? A ditzy blonde falling for a nerdy botanist? Sounds like none other than the cult classic musical “Little Shop of Horrors,” getting a loving revival with a live orchestra by Runaway Stage Productions through Sept. 13 at 24th Street Theatre. The deviously delicious Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash hit musical has devoured the hearts of theatergoers for more than 30 years. When meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant he names “Audrey II” after his coworker crush Audrey, the foulmouthed, R&B-singing carnivorous plant promises Krelborn unending fame and fortune as long as he keeps feeding it. But getting his hands on the plant’s favorite meal presents a problem for Krelborn: Audrey II will eat only blood! (Due to minor gore and some mature themes and language, the show is suitable for audience members 16 and older.) Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Sept. 13. For tickets, call 207-1226 or visit runawaystage.com 24th Street Theatre is at 2791 24th St.
BEASTS AND BOOKS Fall festivities are in full swing at Belle Cooledge Library, so make sure you check out its awesome offerings all month long.
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Don't miss the Fruit-to-Root Food Literacy Fair at McClatchy Park on Sept. 12
If you’ve got a budding artist in the family, don’t miss Art for All on Friday, Sept. 4, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Hosted by Belle Cooledge and ArtBeast, this monthly program will allow artists of all ages and abilities to explore various media through three projects each session. Need to find a way to help your tyke practice reading? What’s better than reading a story aloud to a patient puppy friend? Read-To-A-Dog on Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 4 to 5 p.m. is a fun and proven method for boosting a child’s reading skills by reading to a trained therapy dog and adult volunteer. Children may bring their own books to read to these furry friends, or they may borrow a book from the library’s collection. For more event information, call 264-2700 or visit saclibrary.org Belle Cooledge Library is at 5600 South Land Park Drive.
EAT THE GLOBE Travel around the world without leaving your neighborhood at the St. Anthony Parish Annual Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12, from noon to 9 p.m. at St. Anthony Parish on Florin Road.
This edible event will feature booths full of international cuisine from all over the globe, including Filipino, Italian, Mexican, Nigerian, Polish, Greek and American food. Activities will include carnival-style games, 50/50, bingo, a cake spin, a country store, pull tabs, a wine spin and books for sale, as well as live entertainment and a lively raffle. For more information, call 4285678. St. Anthony Parish is at 660 Florin Road.
FRUIT TO ROOT Do words like “organic” and “sustainable” boggle your mind? Get some clarity and some tasty food tips at the Fruit-to-Root Food Literacy Fair, a free community event presented by Food Literacy Center in partnership with America’s Farmto-Fork Capital, the Sacramento Public Library and NeighborWorks on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 9 a.m. to noon at McClatchy Park. This marks the fifth annual food literacy fair initially inspired by chef Dan Barber’s best-selling book “The Third Plate.” Local chefs and food trucks will transform their menus and create their interpretation of a Third
Looking for a new skill or a fun way to spend an evening with the family? Don’t miss the classes and screenings this month at Robbie Waters PocketGreenhaven Library. If you’ve ever marveled at the beautiful strokes of calligraphy and wondered how you, too, could sweep and swipe like a pro, check out the Modern Calligraphy class on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. But this isn’t your ancestors’ calligraphy! Modern calligraphy is a blending of styles that is perfect for journaling and scrapbooking along with more traditional invitations and letters. Students will learn the history of the art, how to design notes and envelopes and practice with new alphabets. All materials will be provided. Space is limited, so registration is required. Call 264-2920 or visit saclibrary.org Still haven’t caught the newest live-action remake of “Cinderella”? (Or maybe you’ve seen it so many times you’re turning into a pumpkin?) Settle in for a family movie matinee on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 3:30 p.m. featuring the 2015 film “Cinderella” starring Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden and Helena Bonham Carter. The film is rated PG and will include English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. For more information on all library events, call 264-2700 or visit saclibrary.org Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library is at 7335 Gloria Drive. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com n
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Reading Together VOLUNTEERS TEAM UP WITH SCHOOLKIDS TO TEACH THEM TO READ
BY TERRY KAUFMAN LOCAL HEROES
F
ifteen years ago, three teachers on the San Francisco Peninsula launched a movement to bring the reading skills of struggling elementary schoolchildren up to grade level. The nonprofit they started, Reading Partners, now has a presence in 12 cities across the country, helping more than 11,000 students at 150 schools in 2014.
Ellis notes that the kids aren’t the only ones who benefit. The Sacramento Reading Partners program, begun in 2009, could be the organization’s poster child. With a bright and energetic director, a team of hardworking program managers, site coordinators at each participating school and a community of dedicated volunteers from all walks of life, Reading Partners is changing lives in a fundamental way.
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Reading Partners provide one-on-one reading instruction to elementary school students reading below grade level to help them succeed in school and in life
“This is about building a movement for literacy,” says executive director Rachel Minnick. “It’s a strategy for the prevention of other social problems. If children can’t read, they can’t function in society. You can’t even get into the military now without a high school diploma. When we intervene early, we prevent other negative consequences, like gangs and crime. I want kids to have every option available to them.” The emphasis is, of course, on reading. The curriculum is developed by a national team of educators, and
it focuses on grades 1 through 4, the period at which it will have the biggest impact. The objective is to bring children who are reading a half year to two years below grade level up to the skill level appropriate for their age. Although the curriculum is the same for every school in the system, it takes on its own character to reflect the geography and demographics of the local community. Each student is assigned to one of three categories. Emerging readers are still learning letters and their
sounds; beginning readers are starting to understand what they’re reading; comprehension readers are learning to read for meaning. Each child has an individual learning plan, and the tutors communicate regularly with teachers and principal. The results speak for themselves. Over the past academic year, more than 788 volunteer tutors served 488 students in one-on-one sessions at nine sites throughout Sacramento. Eighty-eight percent of participating students showed an increase in their HEROES page 26
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'HVLJQ HEROES FROM page 20 monthly rate of learning, and 63 percent narrowed the literacy gaps with peers reading at grade level. Beyond the lessons and sessions, something magical happens in the Reading Partners classroom. A fourth “R� is introduced: relationships. Tutor and student are carefully paired because they will become part of each other’s life. Each tutor spends an hour a week working with and on behalf of their student, and each new achievement is a milestone in both lives. “It’s so personal,� says Minnick. “You’re interacting directly with the person you’re helping.� Maria Barrs still gets goose bumps when she remembers one of her students reading. “It was a story using a pattern, and she commented on how it kept repeating the same words. I suggested she come up with another way to say it, so she gave an alternative sentence. We turned the page, and there was the exact sentence she had just said. It was just perfect.� Barrs has tutored with Reading Partners for several years, most recently at Ethel Phillips Elementary in Oak Park. When she’s not helping kids read, she is the president and general manager of KXTV News10. She came to the program after hearing about Mayor Johnson’s literacy initiative and made it a station project. “There’s a connection between illiteracy and crime,� she says. “I’m very passionate about the power of reading.� Equally passionate are members of the Sacramento Police Department, who see firsthand the consequences
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of illiteracy in the community. As part of their regular duties, officers adopt local schools and become part of their fabric, interacting with kids and keeping the schools safe. Reading Partners has given many of them the opportunity to connect on a much more intimate level with students. “These are kids who have the highest opportunity to be delinquent,� says Lt. Brian Ellis, who brought Reading Partners to the department. “Right off the bat, I saw that this was an awesome thing. The one-onone interaction tells such a great story. We’re helping a particular kid, empowering them to succeed.� Ellis notes that the kids aren’t the only ones who benefit. “We can all use interpersonal development skills. Our officers develop empathy as they connect with the kids, making behavioral changes for the community and for our workforce.� Reading Partners’ mission also resonated with Metro EDGE, the young-professionals arm of Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce. Metro EDGE selected the nonprofit as its 2015 sponsorship recipient, thanks to the advocacy of its president, Michael Marion, associate vice provost at Drexel University. “It was important to look at an area where we could make an immediate impact,� he says. “As an educator, this aligned perfectly with my vision. We can roll up our sleeves instead of just writing a check.� Learn more about Reading Partners at readingpartners.org Terry Kaufman can be reached at terry@1greatstory.com n
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Flowers Every Day BRING THE OUTSIDE IN WITH BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS FROM THE GARDEN
BY ANITA CLEVENGER GARDEN JABBER
F
or many years, I worked in windowless offices. Flowers from my garden helped keep me sane. Sometimes I’d bring in a big bouquet, but usually I’d pick just a little nosegay with a few fragrant flowers to put on my desk. My goal was to have something blooming in my garden that I could pick throughout the year. Nearly all of my time was spent inside, but the flowers were a blessed reminder of the world outside. I often didn’t get home from work or meetings until after dark, but there were flowers waiting for me in the house. I installed a shelf over the kitchen sink and kept little bouquets there and bigger ones on our dining tables. This followed the example set by my incredibly busy mother, who taught school and worked on the family farm but found time to put fresh posies in a milk glass bud vase on the kitchen table. Now that I am retired and outside every day, it’s less important to have flowers inside the house. Still, it makes me happy to look up from washing dishes and contemplate blossoms. It seems strange to sit down to eat without a floral centerpiece. It
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adds a sense of peace and civility to have flowers nearby. What kinds of flowers are good for cutting? Roses are my favorites, for fragrance and long-lasting flowers. Anything that flowers is a possibility, however. Many shrubs have flowers that look nice in a vase. Annuals such as cosmos, zinnias, poppies and sunflowers, as well as many perennials (including droughttolerant varieties), will keep on blooming longer if you cut off the flowers before they set seed. Iris, dahlias, gladiolus, narcissus: The list goes on and on. Even flowering vines like clematis have blossoms that can last a long time as cut flowers.
This fall, plant for winter and spring bloom. Stock, snapdragons, pansies and calendula will bloom for months. This is the best time to sow seeds of sweet peas, California poppies and other spring-flowering annuals and to plant perennials. To extend the flowering period of spring bulbs, put some into pots and bring them inside to force earlier bloom. You can also force bloom on branches cut from flowering shrubs and trees such as quince, cherry, forsythia and plum. Some people make elaborate arrangements, but mine are simple. Occasionally I start with a foundation of beautiful foliage and fill in with flowers. I grow a few plants, including ferns, just for their
greenery. More often, my bouquets are casual handfuls of whatever looks pretty. You can use vases, pitchers or jam jars. You can also float roses, camellias or other flowers in a glass bowl. To make flowers last, it’s best to harvest in the morning or evening. Choose blossoms that aren’t fully open. Cut with a sharp knife or pruning shears and plunge the stems immediately into water. Before arranging, cut the stems again under water so that cells don’t fill with air. Sunflowers and other flowers with milky sap in their stems don’t absorb water well unless you first plunge their cut ends into boiling water for 15 seconds, followed immediately by cold water. Scrub out the vase with soapy water and rinse it thoroughly to eliminate any bacteria that might shorten the blossoms’ life. Remove any leaves that will be below the water level to keep the water as clean as possible. Should you put an additive into the water? I don’t usually bother, but I do change the water every day or two. According to the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County, you can prepare a simple solution by mixing regular lemon-lime soda with three parts of water, or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of sugar, in a quart of warm water. In either case, add 1/4 teaspoon of household bleach per quart to keep the solution clear. Their tests have shown that commercial flower preservatives are not equally effective. For roses, if you condition them in the refrigerator or a cool space overnight, the flowers will last longer. Remove any fruit from the
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Anita Clevenger is a UC Master Gardener. If you are interested in becoming a Sacramento County Master Gardener, applications will be available in September for training in 2016. Call 875-5338 or go to ucanr.edu/sites/sacmg for more information about training or answers to gardening questions. Fair Oaks Horticulture Center (11549 Fair Oaks Blvd.) will host its next Open Garden on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to noon. n
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Our Store SACRAMENTO CO-OP GROWS WITH THE COMMUNITY
BY JORDAN VENEMA BUILDING OUR FUTURE
S
pring is a season of new beginnings and growth, for planting and harvesting the hardier greens like broccoli and collards. It’s only fitting then that the city’s premier grocer of those greens, Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, should also open the doors of its new location in spring of 2016. It will be a big move for the co-op, signifying tremendous growth in a relatively short time and even shorter distance: The store is moving just two blocks from its current location to a parcel bordered by 28th, 29th, R and S streets. Since its founding in 1973, the co-op has evolved with the organic revolution and been party to Sacramento’s emergence as the farmto-fork capital of the world. It’s due for new digs. The co-op began as a buying group that mostly purchased food in bulk, according to Jennifer Cliff, the co-op’s communication and design manager. “We’ve been a full-service grocery store essentially since the ’90s,” she says, “and we probably outgrew this space a long time ago.” Owned by the community (through membership), the co-op should also grow with the community. Serving approximately 12,000 members but open to any shopper, the co-op is ready for more space. The new 26,000-square-foot location will dwarf the current 16,000-squarefoot building and will also include a 16,000-square-foot mezzanine for offices.
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Rendering of Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op new store in Midtown
According to Cliff, the expansion will improve every department of the co-op, but will especially increase the prepared-foods department while introducing more self-serve options. The co-op also plans to significantly expand its deli, produce and meat departments. If the new co-op opens by its target of April 2016, it will get a jump on the new Midtown Whole Foods Market, which plans to begin construction around the same time. But the co-op isn’t exactly focused on competition. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Raley’s “all do phenomenal jobs,” says Cliff, “and there’s definitely room for everybody.” She believes that the co-op, as a smaller business, already has an advantage. “We truly engage in this
Construction is in full swing on the parking garage.
community, and that’s something that’s harder to do for a really large company,” explains Cliff, who suggests large corporations tend to lose connections with farms. “But that’s something we’ll continue
focusing on. It’s really important to keep farmers in business [as well as] small food producers.” Plus, by maintaining close relationships with farms, the co-op
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108 new parking spaces, including five with charging stations for electric vehicles. For bikers, there will be 36 spaces, as well as a bicycle repair station.
While growth is a sign of any healthy business, for the co-op there’s an underlying thread connecting food, health and environment, which gives a deeper meaning to growth. Plus, says Cliff, “we’ll be right on the transit line, so you can literally get on and off. Being more accessible is something that we’re really excited about.”
Accessibility isn’t just about convenience but also about outreach. “From our membership, we’re always directly connected to what’s happening,” says Cliff. “We have new programs working with the community, [like] our Co-op Community Kitchen. We are partnering with nonprofit organizations to serve low-income individuals and families throughout the Sacramento region.” Through Co-op Community Kitchen, the co-op offers free fourweek, two-hour classes to low-income individuals. The cooking classes focus on preparation of high-nutrition, low-cost meals (less than 2 bucks a serving) while educating about nutrition and labels. Beside the Community Kitchen, the co-op also offers a 10 percent discount on store purchases to income-qualifying individuals through its Community Discount Program. Cliff believes as the co-op grows, these programs will expand. While growth is a sign of any healthy business, for the co-op there’s an underlying thread connecting food,
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health and environment, which gives a deeper meaning to growth. In an owner survey conducted in 2008, of the seven co-op goals, 82.5 percent of owners said this was the most important: “to honor the earth and cultivate the co-op’s relationships with the communities we serve and with the broader network of farmers, suppliers, manufacturers and cooperatives.” The words corporate and cooperative have a similar ring to them, and as grocers they function similarly, too—on the surface, at least. But the co-op really can be called our grocery store, since its ownership is open the community. “We’re an important part of the community,” says Cliff. “People who are members here, this is their business.” And come next April, not just its members but any Sacramentan who chooses to can appreciate the fruit of the co-op’s labor. Jordan Venema can be reached at jordan.venema@gmail.com n
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Modern Showpiece AN EAST SAC HOME ON TOUR IS REMODELED TO BE BETTER THAN EVER BY JULIE FOSTER HOME INSIGHT
B
ringing his home back to its original style was a two-step process for John de la Vega. When de la Vega purchased his 2,800-square-foot East Sacramento house 12 years ago, it had already undergone a drastic remodel in the 1980s or ’90s. Built in 1926 in the Italianate style, the house was later redone with art deco flourishes.
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“It is better than we imagined. Now we live in every room in the house.”
In 2009, de la Vega remodeled the garage and backyard, altering the feel of the property. The original backyard offered no shade, just a kidney-shaped pool plopped in the middle of the yard that provided no inducement to linger. So local landscape architect David Gibson drafted a plan for a backyard haven, reconfiguring the pool into
“We wanted people to wonder what was original and what wasn’t,” de la Vega says. By adding wing walls in the front of the house, they created more defined rooms. They stained the floors a darker color and replaced the shiny brass fixtures with ones of softer brass or oil-rubbed bronze. They upgraded the living room fireplace to gas for a cozier feeling. They painted the interior and updated the HVAC and electrical systems.
The Gilmore-de la Vega house will be featured on the Urban Renaissance Home Tour of five new and remodeled homes in East Sacramento.
a rectangle surrounded by lush landscaping. With the addition of a second story, the detached garage became a comfortable studio with a bathroom. A loggia facing the pool provides shade as well as a snug seating area, complete with gas fireplace that provides a cozy spot during cool evenings. The transformation took a year.
A few years later, de la Vega married Jenny Gilmore. One evening, as they sat down to a Valentine’s Day dinner in the kitchen, the refrigerator’s water dispenser began gushing water onto the floor. The couple had talked briefly about redoing the kitchen, but now they had no choice. Soon, their remodeling plans expanded, and they embarked on a
complete house remodel that took six months. During construction, they lived in the garage studio, making it easy for them to keep tabs on the project’s progress. “We were lucky to be able to stay on-site during the construction,” says de la Vega. Converting the house from art deco back to its original Italianate look was key for the couple.
“We didn’t focus on changing the floor plan,” he says. “We did small things that had a big impact.” The kitchen, which felt very dark due to floor-to-ceiling cabinets, received a total revamp. Mahogany cabinets and marble counter tops showcase the show-stopping fiveburner Lacanche stove, which set the tone for the rest of the room. “We loved the old-world feel,” says Gilmore. “And it has a middle burner that will boil a pot of water in no time,” she explains. Since there wasn’t a kitchen nook, the couple opted for a long, movable table rather than a fixed island. The upstairs bath had what Gilmore describes as a glass tube shower in the middle of the room, with a wall full of mirrors and a skylight above. Showering was not a pleasant experience. So the couple added a new shower and a clawfoot tub from local vendor Mac The Antique Plumber. For decorating, the couple loves shopping at local mom-and-pop stores rather than big-box operations. HOME page 33
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HOME FROM page 31 “We wanted to make the point of supporting people who really knew and loved their product and enjoyed helping us create our home,” Gilmore says. River City Builders did the construction on both projects, and Kristy Lingner and Kirk Todd were involved throughout. Lingner advises flexibility when remodeling an older home. “Expect things to not go 100 percent as planned,” she says. “Always stand back and look at the big picture when considering the minutiae. Lastly, respect the house for what it was but still make it your own.” Gilmore and de la Vega are completely satisfied with their new home, noting there isn’t a thing they would change. “It is better than we imagined,” de la Vega says. “Now we live in every room in the house.” The Gilmore-de la Vega house will be featured on the Urban Renaissance Home Tour of five new and remodeled homes in East Sacramento. Sponsored by Friends of East Sacramento, the tour takes place Sunday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Proceeds benefit the McKinley Park Renewal Fund. Tickets are available at sacurbanhometour.com If you know of a home you think should be featured in Inside Publications, contact Julie Foster at foster julie91@yahoo.com n
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The Original BEFORE VIVEK RANADIVE, THERE WAS GREGG LUKENBILL
with the city’s hopes for economic revitalization and cultural inspiration, the accomplishments of Gregg Lukenbill are more relevant than ever. Bottom line: None of this would be possible without him. The story of Lukenbill’s creation of the Sacramento Kings may be vaguely familiar (he bought the Kings in 1983 from a group of Kansas
BY R.E. GRASWICH
City businessmen for $4.5 million in cash and $4.5 million in deferred
SPORTS AUTHORITY
T
payments, plus a $1.5 million moving wenty-three years have
bonus), but the motives behind the
come and gone since
purchase are what matter today. Those motives shape the landscape
those improbable days
when decisions made by Gregg
of Sacramento circa 2015. Lukenbill
Lukenbill drew headlines and
was the first builder in the city’s
started arguments in Sacramento.
history to deploy a new type of
Lukenbill was the city’s boy wonder
political leverage: the pressure of
then, in his 30s and living a dream
sports fanaticism. He connected
life as managing partner of the
planning decisions to the community’s
basketball team he hammered into
pride in a big-league team. Lukenbill
existence, the Sacramento Kings.
figured it out, twisted the right arms and made it happen. He won big—and
And there he was one recent sunny
lost.
Tuesday afternoon, looming over my
The blueprint created by Lukenbill
table at Esquire Grill, wondering if he should sit down. Why, of course he
is basically the same show now
should.
playing out downtown with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and friends.
We hadn’t seen each other in a decade, but we had plenty of history,
The site and dollars are different, but
the former NBA franchise owner
the strategy is pure Lukenbill: Amass
and the old sportswriter who covered
land parcels and use the basketball team to leverage the city to dream.
the Kings when Sleep Train Arena,
Gregg Lukenbill at his East Sacramento home
originally named for a gas station in a
the Kings to maneuver the city into
marketing deal Lukenbill drew up on a cocktail napkin, opened its doors in North Natomas. He looks remarkably well preserved, down to the trademark mustache and running shoes. The flannel shirt and relentless chain of cigarettes are gone, replaced by a
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Lukenbill brilliantly deployed hastening its zoning process in North
dressy baby-blue cotton number and
on Tuesday. You never know who may
Natomas. That’s where Gregg and
reformed lifestyle.
show up.
partners, led by lead funder Joe
“I didn’t expect to see you here,”
Lukenbill is one of those
Benvenuti, were eager to develop
Lukenbill tells me, noting he was
remarkable Sacramento characters
1,620 acres of fallow farmland
supposed to dine with one of my
who doesn’t receive the credit and
adjacent to the arena site.
regular Tuesday lunch mates, Rusty
love he deserves. Today, as a new
Areias. Apparently, Rusty didn’t
arena rises at the old Downtown
explain how we all share one big table
Plaza, aligning its structural steel
The city council, afraid to defy the men who owned the Kings and their
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OPEN HOUSE Come and learn more about why Jesuit High School should be your choice for secondary education.
Sunday, October 18, 2015 12 pm - 3 pm
it High School Jesu est. 1963
Pre-Registration Opens September 1, 2015 JesuitHighSchool.org admissions@jesuithighschool.org or call 916.480.2127
legion of fans, voted unanimously to
stay, like we did. Too often these days,
open the property for development
they leave for greener pastures.”
despite concerns about unabated
because he wasn’t able to market his
familiar?
insight and creativity and love for
In one critical sense, the deal city taxpayers than the production
Sacramento. He was the idea man. Benvenuti was the cash box. Lukenbill developed hundreds
presently underway downtown.
of acres around town. He created
Lukenbill and Benvenuti built their
a beachhead downtown when he
own arenas (one temporary, one
developed the Hyatt Regency, the
permanent) with their own money.
city’s first big hotel in decades. But
In the 2015 model, the city must
when he sold his Kings stock in 1994
contribute $255 million to one new
and moved to other interests, like
building and will own it. Ranadive
charter airlines, his financial rewards
will run the show and collect the
were modest compared to Benvenuti,
proceeds.
who was worth $600 million when he
The modern partnership between the city and Ranadive is far more
died in 2012. But Lukenbill is more interested in
affair sought by Lukenbill. He didn’t
whimsical topics worthy of a heroic
want the city’s money—just a green
visionary. What would it be like, he
light to build.
asks, to have lunch with Napoleon
“All I ever wanted to do was make
and Andrew Jackson? And of course he proceeds to answer.
says. “I’d love for it to be a place where your kids and my kids want to
Stress Free Property Management Single Family Homes • Duplexes • Condos • Apartments • Commercial Ū
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Free Rent Survey
We touch on these things at lunch.
intimate than any municipal love
Sacramento a better place,” Lukenbill
We’re your neighbors and we handle it all...
Things turned sour for Lukenbill
sprawl and flood protection. Sound
struck by Lukenbill was cheaper for
Relax. We’ve got you covered.
R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n
5896 South Land Park Drive, Sacramento, CA 95822 | 807 Douglas Blvd., Roseville, CA 95678 | 8856 Greenback Lane, Orangevale, CA 95662
429-1205 | HomePointe.com “The place to be” since 1983 Cal BRE Lic No. 01227502
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Superior Interiors FOUNDER BRINGS AN ITALIAN AESTHETIC TO PROJECTS LARGE AND SMALL
BY JESSICA LASKEY SHOPTALK
A
dele Barsotti, the owner of Pacific Design Group Interiors on Fulton Avenue, has always had an eye for design. She could hardly help it, considering she grew up in the picturesque town of Brindisi in southern Italy. “When you are born overseas, you’re surrounded by so much culture, it’s almost impossible not to love design and architecture,” Barsotti says. “You see all of these beautiful buildings and churches everywhere, and because Brindisi is at end of the Appian Way, it has every style you can imagine, since we were invaded by all kinds of cultures.” Barsotti has been in California since 1974, but she brings her European aesthetic to bear on everything she works on at PDG Interiors, from commercial spaces to sustainable residential interiors. After graduating from the University of Italy, she followed her then-husband to the United States to further his computer engineering career, but it wasn’t long before Barsotti struck out on her own in the floor covering industry. She now specializes in commercial floor covering design, but the business she founded in 1998 also tackles window coverings, custom cabinetry, interior and exterior lighting, home and contract furnishings and fine art and accessories. “It’s been part of an evolution,” the Carmichael resident and mother of three explains. “You start in one thing, then a client asks, ‘Can you give me a price on window coverings?’
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Adele Barsotti, owner of Pacific Design Group Interiors, in her design studio
‘I need a price on a sofa.’ So you evolve into other fields to meet the clients’ needs.” Barsotti’s stunning showroom, which moved to its current large, light-filled location last November after spending six years on Fair Oaks
Boulevard, also plays host to three other highly qualified designers and the landscape architecture firm William Chambers & Associates, owned by Barsotti’s companion, Will Chambers. The full-service designer showroom is open to the public but
also serves as a valuable resource for the interior design trade with its vast libraries of textiles, catalogs and showroom merchandise. “We’re a one-stop shop,” Barsotti says proudly. “Visitors can browse without a designer or work directly with one of our designers by appointment in the studio or in their own home or office. Our staff is incredibly knowledgeable. “And because our showroom is so beautiful, people are often surprised by how affordable we are. We consistently underbid big box stores because we get everything wholesale.” It’s not surprising, then, that Barsotti and her talented team see a lot of repeat business. “We get a lot of referrals,” Barsotti says. “People hear about us by word of mouth, which is the best way to achieve new business. When people are buying thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise, they need to trust you.” If her 30-plus years of success are any indication, Barsotti has clearly won over many a loyal customer. Thanks to her upbringing on the Italian coast, her decades of diverse experience—including commercial projects on both coasts of the United States and abroad in Greece—and probably more than a little bit to her Italian charm, Barsotti is pleased to serve Sacramento with the best interior design this side of the Adriatic Sea. Looking to refresh your interiors or tackle a commercial project? Contact Barsotti and her PDG team at 7791115 or visit pdginteriors.com Pacific Design Group Interiors is at 950 Fulton Ave. n
The PLACE TO BE…
Join us for
Open House Sunday, October 4, 2015 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Informational Presentations 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Tickets
On Sale Now! Christian Brothers High School 4315 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Sacramento, CA 95820
Register online at www.cbhs-sacramento.org
Photo of Wynton Marsalis by Frank Stewart
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis MON, SEP 21 • 8PM Led by consummate trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and comprised of 15 of the finest soloists, ensemble players and arrangers, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has been hailed as “the greatest large jazz ensemble working today” by the Chicago Tribune.
Steven Wright THU, SEP 17 • 8PM Best known for his deadpan delivery and wry observational humor, comedian Steven Wright is a pivotal figure in contemporary comedy.
Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne WED, SEP 30 • 8PM Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne are both exceptional singers with a deep respect for soul, blues and R&B, and a determination to stay true to their respective artistic muses.
Buy early for the best seats! mondaviarts.org POC n INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM
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Cover Story SHOW SPOTLIGHTS 20 YEARS OF INSIDE PUBLICATIONS’ SIGNATURE FRONT-PAGE ART
By Jessica Laskey RIVER CITY PREVIEWS
I
f you’re a reader of Inside Publications (considering you’re reading this paragraph, I’m assuming you are), you’ll know that each edition of the paper is graced with stunning cover art every month. To celebrate Inside’s 20th anniversary, and to showcase the beautiful work that’s made our covers so eye-catching through the years, don’t miss a special art show at 33rd Street Bistro featuring the original pieces that have been featured on our covers. “Matt and Fred Haines opened their first bistro the same year we started publishing,” says Inside publisher Cecily Hastings. “We’ve been friends ever since, so it was natural that we’d partner with them for this special show.” More than 40 original paintings and drawings will be on display by more than 35 local artists, along with a framed print of the cover from the month the piece first appeared. Some are on loan from the artists or collectors, but many paintings are still available for purchase, so if you have a favorite piece of cover art, don’t wait too long to snap it up.
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Has your tyke been bitten by the ballet bug? Don’t miss the chance for her or him to dance in Sacramento’s favorite Christmastime classic, Sacramento Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”
Hoping to meet some of the artists in person? Swing by the Second Saturday artists reception from 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, or stop by the bistro’s special events room anytime to view the show. 33rd Street Bistro is at 3301 Folsom Blvd.
TINY DANCERS Has your tyke been bitten by the ballet bug? Don’t miss the chance for her or him to dance in Sacramento’s favorite Christmastime
classic, Sacramento Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.” Auditions for the children’s cast will be held on Sept. 9, 12 and 13 at the ballet’s studios on K Street. “We normally have approximately 800 local children throughout the community auditioning over a single weekend for 500 roles,” says the ballet’s co-artistic director, Ron Cunningham. “Some come from as far as Yuba City, Lake Tahoe, Stockton and Fairfield. With kids lined up
around the block from morning to night, it is quite a major operation.” Some things to keep in mind if your kid wants in on the act: Children must be at least 6 years old by Dec. 1, 2015, to participate. They may audition for more than one role if they meet the height and skill requirements. However, once they are cast in a part, they may not audition for a second role. Rehearsals for some roles may begin as early as Sept. 13. Dancers selected to dance in
The Lasher Polo Classic takes place from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12 and benefits the Sacramento SPCA
“The Nutcracker” will be required to attend all pertinent rehearsals. For specific audition requirements and appointments, go to sacballet.org The Sacramento Ballet studios are at 1631 K St.
OPEN SESAME For a chance to see the studios of Sacramento’s coolest creatives, don’t miss the Sacramento Open Studios Tour on Sept. 12, 13, 19 and 20. The free, self-guided tour, now celebrating its 10th year, presents a unique opportunity for the public to meet and greet 125 emerging and established artists in their personal workspaces all across Sacramento County. What was originally founded by the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento (CCAS) in 2006 as the Capital Artists Studio Tour—a twoday event with a focus on women artists and a strict scope of studios within 3 miles of CCAS’s former location on 19th Street—has since grown to be the largest non-juried art event in the region. The event is now run by Verge Center for the Arts, which merged with CCAS and took over the tour last year. The first weekend will feature studios west of Business 80 and Highway 99, while on Sept. 19 and 20 studios to the east will be spotlighted. For more information on the Sacramento Open Studios Tour and to access the free, 21-page guide complete with interactive maps, go to vergeart.com
PONY UP Where else could you get the excitement of a polo exhibition while also contributing to a worthy cause? Nowhere but at the Lasher Polo Classic from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, benefitting the Sacramento SPCA. This elegant event, set at the beautiful Chamberlain Ranch in Wilton, features an exhibition polo match—with all the regalia reminiscent of royal polo events—as well as food by chef Matt Wolston, fine wines, a champagne divot stomp, a parade of hats, and more. Proceeds will go to the programs and services offered by the Sacramento SPCA. For ticket and more information, call 504-2802, email events@sspca.org or go to sspca.org
activism. Though it is Richmond Grove’s first time on the tour, the bustling area boasts Arts & Crafts and Art Deco architecture, a Buddhist temple, a Portuguese Catholic church and the vibrant R Street corridor, a hip hangout chock-ablock with restaurants, art galleries, entertainment venues and artists’ lofts. The tour costs $30 on the day of the event or $25 in advance via Brown Paper Tickets. Buy your tickets now at http://2015hometour. brownpapertickets.com For an even better deal, why not become a docent? Docents will work a two-hour shift in one of the tour homes and pay only $10 for a ticket. Contact volunteer coordinator Vickie Valine to sign up at 442-1160 or vhvaline@cwo.com The tour starts on the lot at the southeastern corner of 14th and R streets, which will also host a free street fair in conjunction with the tour. The fair will include appearances by local contractors and artisans specializing in historic home rehabilitation and remodeling; businesses, artists and craftspeople displaying their wares; and nonprofit, advocacy and history organizations. For more information, go to preservationsacramento.org
MUSIC AND MAYHEM There’s a lot going on at the Crocker Art Museum this month, from musical guests to the Crocker’s own comic book convention. Don’t miss out! First up is Art Mix Crocker-Con from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10. Bust out your cape and tights to meet local comic book artists and writers, try out new comics and board games, shake hands with a Storm Trooper from the 501st Legion, compete in the costume contest, get your groove on to beats from the Sleeprockers, or test your skills in a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament. Hook & Stone will be onsite recording live podcasts and Big Brother, Empire Comics and Comics & Collectibles will host a reading lounge where you can kick back and peruse your favorite reading material. The event is free for museum members, free with general admission for nonmembers and free for cosplayers, so don’t forget your costume! Enjoy food and drink discounts during happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. and $5 drink specials all evening. If classical music helps you keep your cool, be sure to lend an ear to the Classical Concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13, featuring Konstantin Soukhovetski on piano. PREVIEWS page 42
HISTORY AT HOME You may not know that when you drive through the area bounded by W, R, 10th and 19th streets, you are driving through an area with a rich, untapped history called Richmond Grove. Discover everything that this unique neighborhood has to offer at the 40th Annual Historic Home Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20. The tour is sponsored by Preservation Sacramento (formerly the Sacramento Old City Association), a citywide nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Sacramento’s irreplaceable historic places and encouraging quality urban design through advocacy, outreach and
If you're interested in older homes, dont miss the 40th Annual Historic Home Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20
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PREVIEWS FROM page 41 The Julliard graduate and multiaward-winning pianist will explore the themes of classicism in the ongoing David Ligare exhibition as well as offer his own transcriptions of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohème.” Tickets are $6 for museum members; $10 for students, youths and Capital Public Radio members; and $12 for nonmembers. For tickets, call 8081182. Turn up the heat on Thursday, Sept. 17 with the Crocker’s final Jazz Night of the season featuring Carlos McCoy’s High Octane Latin Band. Combining the power and excitement of dance rhythms with the soul and complexity of jazz, the band will present a mesmerizing Main Stage show at 6:30 p.m., preceded by a performance of the Grant Union High School Sextet on the Cafe Stage at 5:15 p.m. Tickets are $7 for museum members; $12 for Capital Public Radio members, students and youths; and $14 for nonmembers. While you’re on the premises, don’t forget to check out the Crocker’s newest exhibition, “Rain Forest Visions: Amazonian Ceramics from Ecuador, The Melza and Ted Barr Collection,” on display from Sept. 19 through Feb. 14, 2016. This exhibition features 100 works by the Canelos Quichua-speaking people of eastern Ecuador, and represents one of the first of its kind in an art museum. The beautiful bowls, vessels and sculptures that make up this collection hail from a geographic area ranging from the Andean foothills through the Upper Amazonian regions. For more information on all Crocker events, call 808-1182 or go to crockerartmuseum.org The Crocker Art Museum is at 216 O St.
Sunday, Sept. 20, at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
All proceeds from the event will go to benefit Heifer International’s Nepal relief fund. Heifer International is a worldwide organization whose mission is to end hunger and poverty by strategically placing farm animals in specific communities. Storytellers will include Mary McGrath telling “The Palace Monkey,” a story from India; Ray Tatar telling “Anansi Brings Stories to the World,” a story from Africa; Diana Zuniga telling “The Aztec Legend of the Birds,” a story from Mexico; and Nancy Griffith telling “The Camel,” a story from Lebanon. The afternoon will also include live musical interludes between each story
that are sure to delight listeners of all ages. All proceeds from the event will go to benefit Heifer International’s Nepal relief fund. Heifer International is a worldwide organization whose mission is to end hunger and poverty by strategically placing farm animals in specific communities. Each family who receives an animal passes on the first female offspring to another needy family, along with the training in its care. As the gift is passed along, entire communities are lifted out of poverty and are able to use their own resources to build community facilities such as hospitals and schools. This storytelling session will focus on helping Heifer International communities in Nepal that were drastically affected by the 7.0-plus magnitude earthquakes on April 25 and May 12 of this year. All proceeds from this event will benefit those communities, both for immediate relief and long-term recovery. Tickets are $10 general, $5 for children and $20 for families. For tickets and more information, go to heifertails.eventbrite.com or contact Linda Eisenman at 838-4338. Westminster Presbyterian Church is at 1300 N St.
IMPRESSIVE FEET Congratulations are in order for Fleet Feet Sports Sacramento, which
FASCINATING FINDS
TALES FOR TAILS Take in a stunning storytelling session while raising life-changing funds for the local chapter of Heifer International at “Heifer Tails: Uplifting Stories from Around the World” from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on
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recently was awarded a $1,000 grant by its parent franchisor, Fleet Feet Inc., for its continued commitment to the ongoing Project Fit program. Project Fit is a free, after-school running program for elementary school-age children that provides additional financial support to underserved schools through coaching stipends and race fees. Since its inception in 2002, Project Fit has served more than 10,000 students in four states. The “FITlanthropy” Grant that Fleet Feet Sacramento recently received (for the third time and counting!) was established to help fund the important work Fleet Feet Sports stores do to support the needs of their local communities. Hoping to get in on some of the dogooding action? Simply by shopping, you can help the Sacramento store raise funds for the Front Street Animal Shelter through the Power of Running campaign. On weekends for the next several weeks, Fleet Feet Sacramento will collect a portion of the proceeds from select products and donate the funds to help keep stray animals off the streets through the tireless efforts of the Front Street Animal Shelter. Eligible products are as follows: on Sept. 5 and 6, Asics Gel Kayano 21 and 22 shoes; on Sept. 12 and 13, all Addaday Rollers; on Sept. 19 and 20, all CEP compression products; and on Sept. 26 and 27, all Nathan Visibility products will send funds to the shelter. For more information, go to fleetfeetsacramento.com Fleet Feet Sports is at 2311 J St.
Don't miss the auction at Withrell's auction house gallery on Sept. 26. This early painting by Wayne Thiebaud is one of the items featured.
If you’re a collector, you’re not going to want to miss one of the top three auctions in the area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Witherell’s auction house gallery in midtown. Its catalog boasts some fascinating finds, including a cream-colored 1964 230 SL Mercedes, a framed early watercolor by legendary Sacramentoborn artist Wayne Thiebaud, a Hermann Herzog landscape painting discovered in a Woodland thrift store, a Three Graces chandelier,
ARNHA and Sacramento Water Forum present
2015 NatureFest logo by Olivia T., age 10
Sunday, October 4 10am to 3pm at Effie Yeaw Nature Center Carmichael, CA
Live Animal Shows Kids AcƟviƟes Guided Nature Hikes DemonstraƟons & Exhibits and Much More!
Admission $5 per adult Kids 12 & under FREE FREE parking! Family-friendly food!
More info at (916) 489-4918 or www.SacNatureCenter.net Sponsored by:
ENROLLING NOW! Classes in: Ballet, Pointe, Tap & Lyrical From 18 months to Pre-Professional Level WWW.SACBALLET.ORG/SCHOOL 916-552-5800 EXT 100 and a pair of 19th century gold scales accompanied by a note that reads, “Yankee Jim, the namesake of the famous town of Yankee Jim near Foresthill, used these scales in his business with the early miners.” For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 4466490 or go to witherells.com Witherell’s gallery is at 300 20th St.
SENSES OF SELF
From Sept. 12 through Oct. 10, see what the talented trio of Taylor Gutermute, Vinay Sharma and Zbigniew Kozikowski have cooked up at their group show, “Paper Ink Metal,” at ARTHOUSE on R
See the beautiful images that abound when artist Laurelin Gilmore explores her emotions surrounding identity in her solo show on display at Gallery 2110 this month. Gilmore, a life-long artist, began to realize that painting people with hooves, wings, scales and horns were so attractive to her artist’s eye because they were expressions of her own experience. As a woman of blended ethnicities living with Vitiligo, a skin condition that shows up as patches of colorless skin, the duality of fence sitters, go-betweens and people with a foot in two different worlds captivates her imagination. Through her art, Gilmore has been able to move the conversation about Vitiligo to the forefront and look at the reality of living with the condition without the mask of metaphor. As part of Gallery 2110’s mission to support nonprofit organizations, the gallery and Gilmore will be donating a percentage of all sales to “916ink,” a local nonprofit dedicated to promoting youth literacy in Sacramento through creative writing workshops. They have published more than 30 books,
serving over 1,000 young authors in the Sacramento region. For more information, visit 916ink.org Meet Gilmore in person at the artist’s reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, or at the Second Saturday Art Walk from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 12. For more information, call 333-3493 or go to gallery2110.com
HEAVY METAL From Sept. 12 through Oct. 10, see what the talented trio of Taylor Gutermute, Vinay Sharma and Zbigniew Kozikowski have cooked up at their group show, “Paper Ink Metal,” at ARTHOUSE on R. All of the works on display are based in the monotype printmaking and drypoint etching processes, but the results are anything but industrial. Gutermute and Sharma worked as a team to create large, wallmounted installation pieces that meld together hard metal surfaces with both monochromatic and brightly colored monotypes. Kozikowski’s monotypes reflect his use of abstract forms and the vivacious beauty of nature, light and color that he usually captures on canvas. Hobnob with all three artists at the Second Saturday opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 12. For more information, call 455-4988 or go to arthouseonr.com ARTHOUSE on R is at 1021 R St. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Please email items for consideration by the first of the month, at least one month in advance of the event n
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Change of Address MOVE BRINGS PEACEFUL CHANGE
BY NORRIS BURKES SPIRIT MATTERS
M
y wife and I recently sold our McMansion and donated or sold much of its contents. We banked the equity and rented a 40-year-old doublewide from a friend at a third of our former house payment. This shocked our financial planner, who almost choked at the news, asking why we’d made “such a whopping change.” It’s a question I couldn’t completely answer, but I tried to explain how we were preparing for
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an itinerant life of retirees. But spiritually, I knew it was more than that. Homeownership in the ’burbs seemed more and more about the obesity and audacity of materialism. We had filled every room and decorated every wall. It was time for a change. We drew a line in the fiscal sand to declare that we had more than enough things. We said goodbye to all the stuff that weighed us down. We saw wisdom in the biblical admonition from Hebrews 12:1 to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” So, during Sacramento’s recordsetting 109-degree heat, we hired three men, two boys and a truck to squeeze the remains of our 2,800-square-feet of home furnishings into a U-Haul. We drove north out of our manicured subdivision and then literally across the proverbial tracks toward our new neighborhood. We followed the moving van in our cars and were soon caught up
in a jam of older-model cars. Their drivers reflected the racially diverse community, which the 2010 U.S. census identified in 2010 as 70 percent nonwhite.
We drew a line in the fiscal sand to declare that we had more than enough things. We said goodbye to all the stuff that weighed us down. During our 15-minute convoy, the street noise intensified with delivery trucks and two passing freight trains. The social scenery changed drastically, too. Youths loitered outside a convenience store and shirtless men gathered in a liquor store parking lot. Crime here is 167 percent above the national average. I now have a 1 in 13 chance of becoming a crime victim. Soon we arrived at the park, and I punched the gate code. Three other cars entered on my coattails. My sense of security faltered until I entered the park, where I found an island of wellkept homes. The new neighborhood was quiet enough to be a golf course. The only noises I heard were Shar-Peis and poodles yapping through open porch doors as retired residents told them to stop. Flags, wind chimes and bird
feeders swayed from cleanly swept porches. A gaggle of geese crossed the road, a covey of quail scurried beneath the shrubs and a nest of rabbits scampered for their holes. We passed over 10 speed bumps before finally parking our truck in front of our new, yet old and very dated, mobile home. As we unloaded the contents, our movers expressed what we already knew: “This is very different,” they said, comparing our new home to our old one. “Different” was putting it mildly. We’ve transitioned from a privileged community to a modest, working-class community. There are no libraries, no golf courses or health food stores. The nearest Starbucks is five miles away, and the booms in the distant night aren’t fireworks. After the movers finished, my wife and I took a breather on our living room couch to look out our window into the shaded playground. We watched as a dad played catch with his son, a retired couple strolled by and our neighbor unloaded his work truck. My wife turned to me and said, “I feel at peace here.” “Me, too, sweetie.” I said. “I just hope our financial planner finds some of that peace.” Norris Burkes is a chaplain, syndicated columnist, national speaker and author of the book “Hero’s Highway,” about his experiences as a hospital chaplain in Iraq. He can be reached at ask@ TheChaplain.net. To download a free chapter from “Hero’s Highway,” go to thechaplain.net n
National
rate”
pi “Talk like a
day!
FRIENDS OF SMAC PRESENT
ART JAM 2015 A modern pARTy
CREATE interactive art, INDULGE in artisanal food and libations, REVEL in extraordinary pop-up art installations, ENGAGE with distinctive art experiences, and PARTY into the night. All for the love of arts education Proceeds will help fund artists in the schools through Arts for Any Given Child. DATE: SATURDAY OCTOBER 3, 2015 TIME: 6:00 PM TO 10:00 PM TICKET: $100 PER PERSON | $175 FOR TWO LOCATION: 1401 C STREET | SACRAMENTO, CA COUNCILMEMBER ERIC GUERRA, DISTRICT 6
Purchase tickets at www.friendsofsmac.org
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Beyond Childhood THIS ARTIST LOOKS AT THE DARK SIDE OF GROWING UP
BY DEBRA BELT ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
S
usan Silvester opens the door to her second-floor studio at Verge Center for the Arts and reveals a space full of multimedia works depicting forests, mysterious flowers and innocent figures. It’s a world where sci-fi, natural history, fairy tales and the decorative arts meet and emotional themes play out in subtle colors and complex compositions. “I try to create a psychological rather than a literal interpretation in my work,” she says. Memory, loss and nostalgia merge in her imagery and cast reflections of joy, but there is a darker reality, too. These themes figure in Silvester’s paintings, drawings, prints, computer renderings and sculptures. In a recent leap to public art, she translated her signature style onto large-scale surfaces such as a 22-foot-long dumpster and a downtown utility box. But she’s not stopping there. “I don’t want to be known only as the dumpster lady,” she jokes while showing her work. While her surfaces range from paint-primed steel to waxcoated canvas, Silvester’s style remains consistent and her images recognizable. Animal references convey a dreamlike quality, and symbolic rabbits are ever present. “I am drawn to using rabbits in particular as they are a symbol of rebirth, new beginnings and innocence. Plus they have an interesting form,” she points out. “I am just looking to touch upon some emotion and get a reaction from
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Susan Silvester in her studio
the viewer,” says Silvester. Her work is about that precarious time between adolescence and adulthood, a time of uncertainty. It’s about reliving that time and trying to make it right, realizing a sense of play, a balance, a sense of calm. “I would like the
worlds I create to be safe, but they can be scary.” Regarding the darker elements in her work, there is a sense that something sinister, some danger, lurks or something is about to happen. The figures are usually
solemn and serious. “I feel like there is a sense of loss and longing in their expressions, a tension between innocence and anxiety,” she says. The works tap into the difficult nature of a child making his or her way in an uncertain world. But they also reach back to a time when Silvester says she clearly visualized beauty as a 5-year-old sitting under the Brooklyn Bridge. “It was summer and the sun was going down,” she recalls. “My parents were there. There was a sense of the earth and the bridge. It was perfect. I knew then I would be an artist.” The daughter of an elementary schoolteacher and a homemaker, Silvester says her mom encouraged her and her sister to try creative endeavors such as decoupage, knitting and sewing. “We were always making things,” she says. “One of my playmates even asked me: ‘Can’t we stop making things and just play?’” Silvester’s creative ambitions set her on a course leading from art history studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo to a BFA from Long Island University and a master’s in painting and digital art from Sacramento State. In between, she spent 15 years as a freelancer tackling a broad swath of work including fabricating art pieces for artists Robert Rauschenberg and Tom Wesselman. During her gig with Rauschenberg, Silvester worked with a partner and created four fiberglass resin bicycles with fabricated geese attached to each set of handlebars. For Wesselman, they constructed a large lightbox, kind of like the signs seen at gas stations.
Commercial work led her to diverse jobs such sculpting and painting Pillsbury Doughboy heads, creating sculpted animals for “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” and supervising the set creation of the “Back to the Future” ride for Universal Studios. She worked as a digital designer on one of first PC computer games, called “Rise of the Triad.” Her work took her from New York to Dallas and, ultimately, Sacramento where she had the chance to leave commercial work behind and focus on being a painter. Here she tapped into the fertile creative culture and studied with Mick Sheldon and Jim Albertson at American River College and Rachel Clarke at Sacramento State. Silvester began showing in local galleries and caught the attention of owners such as Natalie Nelson at Pence Art
Gallery, who especially responded to her felted wool sculptures. “Susan is wonderful at using her background in model and toy fabrication and her fascination with childhood to create these almost magical sculptures,” Nelson says. “They are felted, which gives them an inviting, tactile appearance that you just want to hug. Yet Susan also shows that growth and childhood is not all peachy. She’s got a lot of dark in her paintings, prints and sculptures, which gives them a slightly surreal touch.” Silvester says she feels like her work is never absolutely done. She borrows a quote from writer Paul Gardner: “A painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places.” For more information, go to susansilvester.com n
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Paragary’s Reimagined MIDTOWN STAPLE IS BACK AFTER EXTENSIVE REMODEL
BY GREG SABIN RESTAURANT INSIDER
P
aragary Restaurant Group is one of the foundational food presences in the Capital region. Randy Paragary and his myriad associates have carved out a rather large place for themselves throughout the area, with upscale restaurants, quick-casual cafes and bars of all stripes. Among the stable of eateries and drinkeries under the Paragary umbrella are Cafe Bernardo, Centro Cocina Mexicana, Esquire Grill, Monkey Bar, R15 and Hock Farm Craft & Provisions. But the flagship restaurant of the group has always been the Midtown restaurant Paragary’s Bar & Oven, known to most locals as simply Paragary’s. Open since 1983, Paragary’s has been known for California-style cuisine and one of the best outdoor dining spaces in Sacramento. When it closed for an extensive remodel in February of last year, loyal patrons and casual observers weren’t sure what to expect. Would the menu be completely different? Would the atmosphere be something progressive and minimal? Would the outdoor patio lose its luster? Turns out that the answer to each is “no.” Instead of going for a more modern menu and forward-looking design concept, the newly named Paragary’s Midtown Bistro went in the other direction: traditional. Traditional French, to be precise. The remodeled Paragary’s looks, feels and tastes like a French brasserie. Black and white dominate the space: stark white walls, black cane-back chairs, white bulbs in black
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The remodeled Paragary’s looks, feels and tastes like a French brasserie with crisp black and white design elements
sconces, black chalkboard elegantly scripted with white chalk. It’s a loud, bright space, not exactly cozy, but not uncomfortable. The patio, always a favorite of local diners, hasn’t changed as radically as the indoor space. The effort to capture that Parisian feel throughout the restaurant falls away as you go outdoors. The patio still has its man-sized fireplace and waterfalls. The tree canopy shades the tables and makes the patio a destination on all but summer’s hottest days. Put the two spaces, indoor and outdoor, together and you have a busy, urban French eatery with a lush California backyard. The menu, too, has one foot in the traditional French world and one in California. New to the menu are a passel of French favorites. Basic dishes on the lunch menu include that
iconic sandwich, the croque monsieur, as well as wood-fired mussels, chicken liver mousse, trout almondine and steak frites. All these dishes are handled with flair and with an emphasis on plating. The actual preparations are classic and without any newfangled additions. Other classics get a little bit of an update, such as the salad nicoise, which features seared ahi tuna and a garlic dressing that would make a vampire stay away for weeks. Then there are the crab beignets, a decadent take on the traditional French doughnut, speckled with crabmeat and served with a piquillo pepper aioli. Despite this new image as an outpost for French cuisine, Paragary’s still maintains some of its old favorites. Remaining on the
menu is the shaved mushroom salad. It remains basically unchanged with shaved mushrooms topped with Jarlsberg, parsley and lemon vinaigrette. Also remaining on the menu are Paragary’s signature wood-fired pizzas. It doesn’t quite jive with the French theme, but it feels like a necessary holdover from the restaurant’s previous iteration. On the dinner menu there are some standout dishes. Chief among them is the chicken ballotine, a rolled and prosciutto-stuffed chicken breast, served alongside summer corn and a luscious jus. It’s a beautifully presented and wonderfully flavorful dish. The summer flavors meld perfectly with the chicken and salty prosciutto. I would hope that the kitchen keeps the dish on the menu and adapts it to the seasons. RESTAURANT page 50
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ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 950 FULTON AVENUE, SUITE #125 SACRAMENTO, CA 95825 916Ͳ779Ͳ1115 | pdginteriors.com POC n INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM
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( )L[[LY 4H[[YLZZ Naturally Your burger is served!
FROM page 48 The diver scallops make a nice plate as well. Also using seasonal corn, and served with a slightly sweet vanilla sauce, it’s a picture on the plate and a total treat for the senses. There are a couple misses on the menu as well, but no doubt they'll quickly work out any miscues. An example is the poached lobster salad, which pairs a rather diminutive serving of lobster and indulgently rich burrata cheese. The richness of the burrata tended to overpower the lobster. In the first few months after Paragary’s reopened, local diners are filling up the dining room day and night. It can be tough to find a seat at the bar on a weekday evening, and
reservations are suggested almost any day or night. So the Paragary’s reboot sure seems to be a winner with diners flocking to see the dramatic changes to the interior and patio and try the new menu. The choice to rebrand as a (mostly) French eatery is a very interesting choice, but those who loved the old Paragary’s will still find familiar favorites and the high quality they’ve come to expect from Paragary Restaurant Group. Paragary’s Midtown Bistro is at 1401 28th St.; 457-5737; paragarys.com
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BREAKTHROUGH SACRAMENTO
52nd Annual Greek Festival September 4-6, 2015 Sacramento Convention Center Breakthrough Sacramento launches high-potential, low-income middle school students on the path to college and inspires high school and college students to pursue careers in education.
Learn more at bsac.saccds.org
Friday 11am-11pm (11-3 free admission); Saturday Noon-11pm; Sunday Noon-9pm General Admission $5; Seniors $4; Children under 12 free
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WE’RE YOUR NEIGHBOR!
CITRUS HEIGHTS
Great opportunity to own one of the larger homes in Antelope Downs. This 4 bed, 2 bth is ready for some ¿nishing touches to make it gorgeous! Family room opens to the kitchen for a great room setting ideal for social gatherings! $259,999 BRANDON SHEPARD 916-479-1936
SIERRA OAKS
4 bd, 3 bth ranch style home located in a private cul-de-sac. Home features both living & family rooms (both w/¿replaces) formal dining & nook, large mstr ste with backyard access, remote bed & bath, Certain Teed Pres. Comp roof and so much more! $699,000 JOLEEN DUNNIGAN 916-717-3559
SACRAMENTO
One of the largest lots in Whitney Meadows! This charming home offer many upgrades & update throughout-including roof & HVAC! The sky’s the limit with this park-like setting on over 1/3 of an acre. $295,000 MANDY SHEPARD 916-213-3013
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GREENHAVEN/POCKET
Well maintained 2 –story home located on a corner lot with courtyard entry. 4 bed up with a bonus room down that could be a 5th bedroom and large family room. Newer comp roof, gutters, int/ext paint, carpet, granite counter in kitchen and so much more! $359,900 LYNN LUK LEE 916-628-2843
PLUMAS LAKE
This 3-4bd, 2bth has been professionally decorated with more than 90k in upgrades over the last 5 years, this home has it all, high end ¿nishes, stay-cation backyard, outdoor entertaining & gracious open Àoorplan..$305,000 DAWN ROWE 916-799-4835
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SACRAMENTO-VINTAGE PARK
Turn key home built by Richmond American. Home features beautiful wook like laminate Àooring accented by tile, formal dining room & nook, granite counters & island in a spacious kitchen with huge window over looking the manicured backyard. $350,000 FARES ALIE 916-247-7198
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ROSEVILLE
Welcome to highly touted Woodlake Village! This 3 bd, 2 bth single story home is situated in a lovely gated community & ready for the pickiest buyer. Great room concept complimented by a huge kitchen with many upgrades! $389,000 BRANDON SHEPARD 916-479-1936
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GREENHAVEN/POCKET
Spacious & cozy single story ½ plex. Freshly paint int. & new water heater. Updtd kitchen w/granite like countertops & white cabinets. Roof replaced approx.. 7 years ago. Great room concept with vaulted ceiling & ¿replace. Just minutes from downtown. $279,500 LYNN LUK LEE 916-628-2843
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ELK GROVE
This 4 bd, 2 bth single story is clean, clean, clean! From stainless steel appliances to upgraded light ¿xtures, this one is sure to impress. Located close to both freeways, schools & parks. $379,000 BRANDON SHEPARD 916-479-1936
916-422-3756
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