Freedom Flight
The twilight sky is amber with hints of rust from the late summer sun. Towering 300-year-old oak trees canopy the expansive lawn. We gather at the edge of a grass knoll overlooking acres of lush grape vines laden with fruit almost ripe for fall harvest. Everyone is still.
Debby Duvall, a volunteer with the Wildlife Care Association, stands before us with two plastic pet carriers, each holding an orphaned barn owl. A young guest is her assistant for the evening. They both don heavy leather falconry gloves. Unlatching the first carrier’s metal door, Duvall gently pulls out the imprisoned bird, and instructs her guest assistant to grip the owl’s legs while she holds the bird in position for release, the owl’s fierce talons gripping the sturdy gloves for balance.
Step Up For Justice
When Patricia Sturdevant sees a problem in her community, she doesn’t just notice—she acts. When the Land Park resident saw excess citrus on the trees that line Sacramento streets—fruit that could go to hungry mouths—she did something about it.
Sturdevant has been on the pages of Inside Sacramento before for her work with the Land Park Community Association’s partnership with Harvest Sacramento, a collaborative project that gathers surplus citrus—fruit that would otherwise go to waste—to feed the underserved.
Soil For The Soul
“Watching the garden grow with you is a beautiful, physical representation of the journey to healing,” says Kaitlyn Devereaux, novice gardener and apprentice at Shakti Rising, one of four recipients of a 2019 micro-grant awarded by the Sacramento Cooperative Community Fund.
The micro-grants, typically $300 to $700, provide critical one-time funds to promote nutrition, health, a healthy environment and the cooperative movement.
Shakti Rising, a nonprofit helping women with histories of addiction, abuse, depression and self-destructive behaviors, launched its Sacramento location in 2018 at a charming Victorian house called Casa Luna Y Lobos. The holistic organization aims to empower women by cultivating foundational skills for emotional well-being, personal health, leadership, meditation, nutrition and gardening.
It’s A Star
Broadway. Some call it a diamond in the rough. Others say it’s eclectic and on the rebound.
Once known as Y Street, Broadway leverages its proximity as the southern border of Downtown. It was once home to Sacramento’s midcentury baseball team. The old city cemetery still operates as a tourist destination. The weekend farmers market sells its produce under the freeway. And there’s the iconic Tower Theatre and Tower Cafe.
Your Cheating Heart
People cheat using carpool lanes. Drivers without passengers use the lanes to save time even though “high occupancy” lanes require at least two and, in some places, three or more occupants.
While dumb saps like me and countless other drivers conscientiously stay out of carpool lanes, lots of scofflaws brazenly cruise in them. On a recent rush-hour trip from Sacramento to Elk Grove on Highway 99, it seemed to me that about half the cars in the HOV lane had just one occupant.
