Latest news with #Sacramentans
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Sacramento police must apologize for harming a California state senator
The Sacramento Police Department wrongfully detained a California Senator after she was the victim of a traffic accident, claiming she was showing 'objective signs of intoxication.' Yet Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, maintained her innocence. And with the release of a toxicology report on Friday by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, her name and record have officially been cleared. Now, the Sacramento Police Department and its chief, Kathy Lester, owe the legislator a public apology. Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang released a strong statement on Friday in support of Cervantes and also urged the city's police department to publicly apologize. 'As a public institution, we must take responsibility when harm is caused, especially to someone who has dedicated their life to public service,' Vang wrote in a statement. 'A sincere apology is the first step toward accountability and rebuilding trust with our community.' Unfortunately, Cervantes is unlikely to receive an apology. I know this because I also deserved an apology after the Sacramento Police Department handcuffed and attempted to detain me while I was reporting on a protest inside City Council chambers last March, despite my First Amendment and state-given rights to be present inside the room. Not only did an apology never come from the police, but it took more than six months before any representative from the department would even sit down with someone from The Bee to discuss it privately. Even then, police officials only wanted to meet with my editor, not with me. So this incident is deeply unsurprising. The Sacramento Police Department has a history of abusing its power. From the 2018 killing of an unarmed Stephon Clark, to their behavior at the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 for which they are being sued, to Cervantes' detention on May 19 of this year, how are Sacramentans expected to hold any trust in their police? 'If this can happen to a State Senator, imagine how many everyday residents have been harmed similarly, many of whom we may never hear about,' Vang said. 'We must hold our public servants, especially law enforcement officers, to a higher standard. They are entrusted with the safety and well-being of our communities.' Perhaps the worst and most degrading aspect of this is that it's not inconceivable that Cervantes' ethnicity and gender had something to do with the police's suspicions that day, even though she was the victim of a sideswipe and in the hospital being checked for injury when the detention occurred. She was a victim and yet she was treated as a suspect. Still, Chief Lester will be holding out her hand for millions more in her department's budget next year at the next council meeting on June 10, just as the city tries to climb out of its $44 million deficit — and every other department has willingly offered cuts. Every child knows that when you are in the wrong, you apologize. There can be no reasonable excuse or delay from the SPD now.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bernie Sanders, AOC rally in Folsom leaves attendees feeling ‘emboldened and empowered'
'See highlights from Bernie Sanders, AOC's speech to thousands in Sacramento area,' ( April 15) Enthused, emboldened and empowered is what I felt listening to the speeches given in Folsom on Tuesday night by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. One of the greatest takeaways of the evening was not just the urgent and vitally important messages that they both conveyed, but that I was surrounded by approximately 26,000 of my neighbors from every gender, age, race, religion, physical ability and economic status. We yelled, clapped and booed together because of our shared beliefs in a country that upholds the Constitution, our existing laws and the betterment of every single person, not just the 1%. We came for an 'in-person' experience that our representative, Congressman Kevin Kiley, is unwilling to provide to his constituents. Wendi Ross Roseville Opinion ''Sacramento' movie celebrates city's charm. How director, star says it came to be,' ( April 11) This article states that the new movie 'Sacramento' has 'elements … a local would have to look past,' such as 'driving over the Tower Bridge … into town.' As Sacramentans of, ahem, a certain age will remember, that was, indeed, the entry to Sacramento. And the only way for people from the west to get to Tahoe. Highway 40 took that route, winding to 16th Street then to Highway 40 for points east. On hot summer days, the unwelcome slow-down did not endear Bay Area folks to our fine town. In 1955, my introduction to my new hometown was being driven by my mom across that bridge as we were moving here from the Bay Area. I remember it being quite a glorious entry! Roger Niello Fair Oaks 'El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to visit White House Monday,' ( April 8) Our congressional representative, Doris Matsui, refuses to hold in-person town halls to answer questions from her constituents about our Constitutional crisis. President Donald Trump and his cabinet are lawless, unaccountable to our justice system.. They admit that they deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran mega-prison known for human rights abuses on accident, and refuse to bring him home. In a conversation with Matsui's office this week, I was told she will not hold town halls because they 'aren't going well' elsewhere. Representative Matsui, this country is not going well. Sacramentans deserve active representation and answers about what Matsui is doing to uphold her oath to the Constitution. Dustin Heron Sacramento 'If you changed your last name after getting married, your right to vote is at risk | Opinion,' ( March 13) Congressman Kevin Kiley supports House Resolution 22, which may come up for a vote in the House soon. H.R. 22 is an onerous solution to a problem that doesn't exist. It's already illegal for noncitizens to vote, and there's no evidence that noncitizen voting is affecting election outcomes anywhere in the U.S. Any form of voter fraud is extremely rare. Even statistics from the conservative Heritage Foundation prove this is the case. Therefore, it makes no sense to force citizens to take the extra step of providing evidence of citizenship in order to vote. The intent of H.R. 22 is voter suppression, which is un-American and should be opposed. Shelley Corrington Roseville 'CA must hold Chevron financially accountable for oil spills,' ( April 17, 2024) My parents expected a rate increase with home insurance renewal, but a staggering 67% hike, pushing the premium over $4,000, was beyond anything they imagined. And we still count ourselves lucky, as many Californians are losing coverage entirely as insurers retreat from areas devastated by climate change-driven disasters. Wildfires, now more frequent and intense, are driving up insurance costs, endangering public health and undoing years of progress in reducing emissions. Yet, while taxpayers and vulnerable communities bear the brunt of these crises, fossil fuel companies — the primary contributors to climate change — continue to post record profits. It's time to hold Big Oil accountable. The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act would require the largest fossil fuel companies to contribute their fair share to repairing the damage they've caused. Iris Wang Saratoga
CBS News
18-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Major federal, state funding cuts leave uncertain future for Sacramento food banks
SACRAMENTO — Big funding cuts are coming to food banks at both the state and federal levels. The Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services distributed about 40 million pounds of food in 2024. Susana Liston, who gets her groceries at the food bank, calls it a lifeline for so many. It is the place where she can stock up on free fuel to feel her best. "It means surviving, being healthy and being able to eat," Liston said. Now, a full cart and full belly for thousands of Sacramentans could be at risk because of major funding cuts. "We had 400,000 pounds of food that we had already ordered and expected to receive from that program, 11 truckloads that are no longer going to be showing up," said Kevin Buffalino, the director of communications of the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. Buffalino said the federal government pulled the plug on the U.S. Department of Agriculture program that sent 1.4 million pounds of food to Sacramento last year. "This year, we were almost at that already. One million pounds," he said. Other Biden administration-era dollars are also dwindling under the Trump White House; $2.3 million that the Sacramento Food Bank received is set to run out in July 2026. The CalFood program is also taking a significant hit in the state's budget, dropping from $60 million to $8 million. The Sacramento food bank was getting about $2 million a year, but Buffalino said they will be back to $200,000-$250,000. The food bank is feeding 310,000 people per month, which is double what it was feeding pre-pandemic. Buffalino said he is grateful for the community support they receive and will need to rely even more on local donors and volunteers. "To me, there is nothing more important to feeding our local community, so I have been a donor for years," said Sharon Hamer, who was volunteering at the food bank for the first time with her sister-in-law. Buffalino said the cuts will not cause them to close their doors, but they could mean less food and less variety come next year. "I don't even want to think about it," Liston said. "It is stressful and it is sad." Local Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen is leading the charge to secure more state funding through CalFood . She is advocating to add $52 million in funding to bring the total back up to $60 million. Her office sent CBS13 this statement:
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Spring music festivals, Torch Club anniversary on tap for April
The slow but sure arrival of spring means more outdoor music, and we're more than ready for a few such shows on deck for April. But that's not to scoff at the walled-in gigs, including a special anniversary for a bedrock local venue, and the official unveiling of Channel 24. Sacramento's newest venue hosts sellout gigs later this month from Tucker Wetmore and Sierra Ferrell, and a gobsmackingly not sold-out hometown show from Sacramento electronic royalty Tycho on April 25. Local artists, message Aaron Davis on Instagram if you have upcoming shows, @adavis_threetosee. Full disclosure: I moved to Sacramento in 2003, so I only know the hallowed ground of the Torch Club at its current digs on 15th and I streets, where it has burned luminously for 25 years. Longer tenured Sacramentans will remember its prior locations at 16th and L — or 6th and J or 8th and L — spread across a whopping 91 total years in business. The seminal haunt celebrates its silver anniversary throughout the weekend of April 11-13 with a Cooperstown-like lineup of Loose Engines, Island of Black and White, Hayez, Mercy Me, Mind X, Elvis Cantu, Peter Petty, Stacie Eakes, Red's Blues, Element Brass Band, Jimmy Pailer & Lew Fratis and more. A 'pre-party' gig is also on deck Thursday featuring one of the two final shows for the retiring Max Riley Group, and newly formed rock outfit PIVOT (fronted by MAU drummer and Owlfest host Scott Alan Carpenter), which earlier this year dished up their thumping debut, 'Bullmask.' ( A crushing catastrophe befell our old friend Scott Holbrook of Keep Smilin' Promotions earlier this year, when a fire tragically ravaged his family's home. Holbrook for years has been the man behind countless gigs at Auburn's 'Foothill Fillmore' (formerly the whimsical Auburn Event Center, and a nickname willed to the Auburn Odd Fellows Lodge) and other events in the region. The aptly titled Holbrook Fest is set to raise funds for Holbrook and his family to rebuild; it's technically free, but cash donations will be accepted, and there's a raffle. A full day of music comes courtesy of rapidly ascending jamgrass outfit Broken Compass Bluegrass — their popularity seems to have markedly transcended gigs at the cozy beer garden where they cut their teeth, so we love seeing them come back. Country rockers Eli Howard and the Greater Good, Primus tribute act Seawater, fellow bluegrass act Caltucky and Bobby Dickson's Unchained Ghost Train join the action. We'll echo the event organizer's advice to make reservations for this one (11 a.m. Sunday, April 6, at Sac Yard; On Keep Smilin's calendar this spring are Moonalice April 19 and David Nelson Band on May 9, with the annual Grateful Dead smorgasbord Ain't Necessarily Dead Fest at Auburn Regional Park this fall Sept. 13 ( Sacramento punk rock standouts Another Damn Disappointment (A.D.D.) are roaring back this month with their first official album release in more than 15 years. 'Bedlam,' which releases April 21, serves as a unique and assuredly cherished time capsule for the resilient act — it will be their final album to feature founding member, bassist and 'captain of the ship' Casey Marsullo, who was killed in a car crash in 2016. A lengthy labor of love and memorial to Marsullo, the remaining members of the band were able to use tracks recorded before his passing to finish out the record — a 14-track gauntlet of melodically-framed, biting punk rock reminiscent of golden era Epitaph Records acts like NOFX and Pennywise, with shortcuts of stripped-down acoustic introspection darting throughout the barreling autobahn. A.D.D. celebrates the album's release alongside Deviates, Lesdystics and Knocked Down. (7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at Goldfield Roseville. $20. Sunday nights at the Golden Bear seldom fail to make for a roughshod Monday morning — we expect nothing less from this fiery trio of indie rock and synthpop acts, led by local staple Death Party at the Beach — which we haven't seen locally since the blistering show they put on the Porchfest stage in October. They're joined by ethereal singer Ari$ and the debut of the cinematically haunting, Helio Sequence-influenced trio Goodnight Mouse, helmed by Sohail Al-Jamea of Poly Holiday and Ember Valley. (8 p.m. Sunday, April 13. One does not simply walk into Sacramento and get to play with both veteran garage rockers Th' Losin' Streaks and pop punk mainstay Dog Party, let alone have both of those local heavyweights open for you. Naturally, we had questions about this Johnny Pandora fella rounding out this wild-eyed bill. Capturing the 'essence of his warrior ancestors by mixing Japanese culture with western rock 'n' roll,' he is leather-clad and coiffed hellcat 'Johnny' Daigo Yamashita. He hails from Tokyo, but sounds more like he hails from Memphis around the time that Sun Records was just figuring out that maybe they had a little something brewing. (Saturday, April 19 at Torch Club. $15. A question country music fans may have seen posed: 'who the f**k is Johnny Blue Skies?' The answer is, the newly forged alter ego (and cheeky tour moniker) of throwback country kingpin Sturgill Simpson, under which he released the stirring 2024 'Passage Du Desir' - a decade after his indelible breakout masterpiece, 'Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.' (8 p.m. Wed. April 23 at Memorial Auditorium. $99.70. Claimstake Brewing keeps the Kith & Kin Music Fest tradition going, with a platoon of slightly gritty, trashcan-rattling caterwaulers do-si-doing around the Americana-rock realm, spearheaded by venerable local staple Forever Goldrush. Grover Anderson & the Lampoliers, Turkey Buzzards, Oh Lonesome Ana and Dave, Brian & the 40 Hour Work Week all join the party (noon Saturday, April 26, 11366 Monier Park Place, Rancho Cordova. $33.85/$44.52. If you're in the area, one of Sacramento's newest beer slingers, the lager-forward Geisthaus Brewing is throwing their inaugural Frühlingsfest (or 'spring fest'); no word on if they're hosting live music, so it might be cheating to mention this here, but we're here for the beer as well ( Community group Friends of Folsom is back with the sophomore iteration of their local reggae-focused, single-day music festival, last year dubbed the 'Flower Festival,' this year going by the Second Annual Framily Festival. Last year's headliner Pato Banton — who has guested on recordings and toured with the likes of the English Beat, Steel Pulse, UB40 and Sting — endeared himself enough to the 'Framily' that he's back atop the lineup for year two, flanked by the also-returning workmanlike local reggae-rock kings Arden Park Roots. Joining this year's party are Lot 49, Eazy Dub, Skinny Hendrix, the Bennys, Cash Prophets and J.B. Barton. (noon, Saturday, April 26, Digger and Sharon Williams Rodeo Park, 200 Stafford St., Folsom. $46. The summer concert season out at Rocklin's grass-laden Quarry Park Amphitheater — which has now been hosting shows for nearly a decade — is taking shape with reggae fusion standout Collie Budz getting things going April 12, and Oakland's classic hard rock act Y&T returning April 19. This cozy venue continues to ramp up the relative star power of its bookings year over year, with a 2025 calendar including Southern rock ax-slinger and jam circuit hero Warren Haynes Band (May 2), rootsy singer-songwriter Trevor Hall with a solo set from Fruit Bats (June 8), alternative indie fuzz rockers Silversun Pickups (June 14), country legend Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives (July 25) and blues smolderer Tab Benoit (July 27). There's also a flurry of '90's acts on deck including the venerable Wallflowers (May 25), Toad the Wet Sprocket with Sixpence None the Richer (July 20), Gin Blossoms (Aug. 19) and Everclear with Local H on Sept. 7. ( Last month, Delfino Farms dropped its lineup of summertime bangers for the Folk on the Farm series. It's getting a bit light on the 'folk' and leaning into more scooting country rock, with the the cozy Camino stage set to host acts including Silverada, Ben Chapman and Mamas Gun, bluegrass darlings AJ Lee & Blue Summit, desert-psych gem Cut Worms, with Latin blues rock legends Los Lobos and tons more. (
New York Times
31-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Sacramento Is Ready for Its Major League Moment. (Just Don't Say ‘Sacramento.')
As early as the 19th-century Gold Rush, when miners arrived on riverboats to stock up with supplies before heading into the mountains, Sacramento's reputation has been more way station than destination. It's the place for a bathroom break on the way to Lake Tahoe. It's a career stop, for ambitious politicians, on the way to Washington. And for millions of Californians, it's a civics-lesson pit-stop on the way to the rest of their lives: the last time they came to Sacramento was for that fourth-grade field trip to the State Capitol. So it's fitting that as the Sacramento area finally gets a Major League Baseball team, it's only as a temporary home for a club that is on the way to somewhere else. When the Athletics had a messy break up with Oakland after 57 years and set their sights on Las Vegas, the team needed a landing spot until their permanent stadium gets built on the Strip. In stepped the Sacramento region, which eagerly agreed to host Major League Baseball for three years at its minor-league stadium. The catch: The A's refused to adopt the city's name. As the team plays its home opener here on Monday, they're not the Sacramento Athletics. They're just the Athletics. And many Sacramentans, it turns out, are just fine with that. 'Always the underdog,' Rachel Birnschein, 35, said of her hometown as she ate with friends at a lively downtown plaza before a recent National Basketball Association game. 'That's the Sacramento mentality.' Located in the expansive valley that runs through inland California, Sacramento is used to being overshadowed by Los Angeles and San Francisco. If it were in the Midwest, the Sacramento region, with some 2.5 million residents, would be considered a major hub — it actually has more residents than the metro areas of Kansas City, Cincinnati or Milwaukee, each of which have multiple big league teams. Sacramento was founded in 1850 at the intersection of two rivers that now supply much of the state's water. It long called itself the 'City of Trees,' an ode to its lush canopy that spares residents from the searing summer heat, until several years ago when it declared itself the 'Farm-to-Fork Capital.' One of the city's best qualities might be considered a backhanded compliment. It is, as they say, a great place to raise a family. Soccer games in the suburbs and bike rides along the American River Parkway define good living on weekends. Napa Valley wineries and Sierra ski resorts are a day trip away. Sacramento lacks the oppressive traffic that has come to define Southern California, though yearslong freeway projects have become a regular irritant. In recent years, the city has invigorated its downtown. A modern basketball arena opened nearly a decade ago, and with it came a luxury condo tower, new bars and higher-end hotels. Before that, Sacramento was developing a serious culinary scene, built on that 'farm-to-fork' locally grown mantra and driven by purveyors of bountiful produce at farmers markets. The Sacramento Kings, the basketball team that has long been the lone big league franchise in town, had until recently been on its own upswing. A return to the N.B.A. playoffs two years ago was accompanied by a purple laser beam, which remains in use, that shot from the roof of the arena whenever the team won. (One popular T-shirt around town that season: 'Sacramento vs. Everybody.') Sacramento's image, to the outside world, has been shaped in part by famous storytellers who left it behind. Joan Didion wrote in 1967 of arriving in New York at age 20 'in a new dress which had seemed very smart in Sacramento but seemed less smart already' as she stepped off the plane. Greta Gerwig, a filmmaker who grew up in Sacramento, portrayed her hometown as sweet but unbearably stifling in 2017's 'Lady Bird.' 'It's soul killing,' the eponymous character says in the film. 'It's the Midwest of California.' Hollywood will weigh in again next month when a feature film called 'Sacramento' opens. The trailer depicts two guys from Los Angeles who take a road trip to, as one of the characters puts it, 'a city I have no desire to be in.' Still, those who live here appreciate Sacramento's charms. Autumn leaves that paint bungalow-lined streets in streaks of crimson and gold. The cool Delta breeze on a hot summer night, carrying wafts of jasmine. Sacramento has long yearned for a major league franchise. The concrete foundation of a baseball stadium has stood for decades near where the old basketball arena sat, the remnants of long-unfulfilled hopes. The M.L.B. stadium never materialized, but a minor-league park sprouted in 2000 — in West Sacramento, Calif., across the river from Sacramento proper. It's that stadium, now known as Sutter Health Park, with a capacity of about 14,000, that will host the A's. Local fans generally seem thrilled at the idea of having the team in their backyard, just a bike ride or short drive away. For once, they don't have to schlep two hours to an M.L.B. game. 'Everyone is buzzing about it,' Erin Nickerman, 46, said as she sat down with her son for a scoop of Bing cherry at Gunther's Ice Cream, a beloved local parlor, on a warm afternoon. The franchise's official guidelines say the team should simply be called the 'Athletics' or the 'A's' during the stay in Sacramento. That goes for standings and for public relations references, and the city's name won't be on the front of team jerseys. 'Knowing that this was an interim circumstance, we thought that the most respectful thing was to call ourselves the Athletics,' Sandy Dean, the A's vice chairman, explained. The A's breakup with Oakland was agonizing for many fans in that area, leaving them seething at the team's owner, John Fisher. A's fans accused Mr. Fisher, an heir to the Gap clothing fortune, of dealing with the city in bad faith over the construction of a new stadium and purposely driving down attendance to make his case for moving the team, all while flirting with Las Vegas. Not everyone in Sacramento is happy, either. Dave Weiglein, a local radio host, said the decision not to use 'Sacramento' in the team name amounts to a slap in the face. Mr. Weiglein takes hometown pride seriously. On air, he goes only by 'Carmichael Dave,' a reference to the Sacramento suburb where he grew up. 'Instead of getting off on the right foot and welcoming the Sacramento A's at the end of this month, it will be basically him saying to the region, 'You're an Airbnb for us until we can relocate to Las Vegas,'' he said of Mr. Fisher. The A's do not anticipate adopting a city name until it incorporates 'Las Vegas' after it starts playing there, Mr. Dean said, likely in 2028. In the meantime, the team's green and gold logo is already popping up across its temporary home. On a Little League field on a recent afternoon, Thomas Hines, 47, wore a green A's cap as he warmed up his son TJ and the 5- and 6-year-old players on their team. Birdsong rang from trees near the bleachers as the thrum of the freeway emanated from beyond the outfield. He said Sacramento remains misunderstood. 'Everyone from the big cities, they think of it still as a little farm town,' Mr. Hines said. 'But it's growing.' The Athletics did make one concession to better embrace a Sacramento identity, agreeing to a sleeve patch that features a local icon, the Tower Bridge, with the word 'Sacramento' beneath it. But then the team announced that players will also wear a 'Las Vegas' patch that more clearly shows that city's name — on whichever arm tends to be more visible to television cameras. 'Little-brother energy,' observed Robert Soltero, 35, a state worker who was celebrating a friend's birthday at a riverfront beer garden near the ballpark. 'But I think we're all comfortable with it.'
