Feb 28, 2024
A decade ago, Ryan Heater set his sights on a historic circa 1900 home in Boulevard Park that he now calls home. The magnificent mansion was lovingly preserved by earlier owners.
Heater’s goal is to take the house to another level. Using top local craftspeople, he studies every detail and explores every resource.
“Years back, I had the pleasure of hosting a 90th birthday party for Jim Betson, one of the previous long-term owners,” Heater says. “It meant the world to him and his family. That’s a part of the intergenerational beauty of this home.
Feb 28, 2024
Nothing good can be said about the decision that allowed several temporary chain-link fences and gates to sprawl across the Sacramento River levee in Pocket.
The fences block access to the river. They were approved in secret. They violate the California Code of Regulations, state law that requires public hearings and regulatory board approval for levee fences and controversial encroachments.
But Chris Lief, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board executive officer who authorized the fences, made one smart move when he green-lighted the blockades.
Feb 28, 2024
Some of my most rewarding years in chaplain work were spent as chaplain for women and children at Sutter Medical Center from 2002 to 2008.
My rounds often took me onto the high-risk maternity unit. Rooms were filled with scared, pregnant women whose doctors confined them to bed in hopes of avoiding a miscarriage.
One afternoon, our unit secretary, Jeannette, told me about a patient expecting twins. Her 23-week pregnancy was threatened by severe complications.
“Her husband is a youth minister, so she has a lot of church friends in her room now,” Jeannette told me.
Feb 28, 2024
Early last year, I needed hospice care for the end of my husband’s long life. I asked Jim’s doctor for YoloCares hospice. He said it was a good choice. He heard good reviews about YoloCares, especially in grief support services.
My decision was personal. It was a tribute to how Jim and I built our business for 27 years. Yolo was our largest advertiser. I learned about their services from ads. Jim always wanted to support businesses that supported us.
Jim’s hospice care was less than five days. He was 93 and suffered four years of worsening dementia after a car accident that caused a brain injury. His wishes were clear. He was ready to go.
Feb 28, 2024
There must be something we can do for Hazel Jackson. Her bravery brought a reckoning that inspires today.
She forced Land Park gentry to confront their indifference to racism. She shamed local business leaders for their ownership of a sports facility that refused to serve Black people.
Hazel Jackson made a difference. Thanks to her, part of the city’s recreational and sporting life untethered itself from an anchor of institutional bigotry.
