Sep 28, 2022
Few painters can make you feel like you’re really there. But stare at one of Tom Sorensen’s landscapes and you can almost feel the Santa Cruz wind ruffling your hair, smell the damp earth after a rain in Montgomery Woods, hear the surf crash against the shore below Pigeon Point.
Sorensen, hiker and outdoorsman, enjoys capturing beautiful places he visits. Oil paint and canvas are how he documents “grand views” from his travels.
“I’ve always been into hiking and enjoy being out in nature—it’s very restorative,” says the retired respiratory therapist. “Any time my mood is not good, if I get out and go for a hike, it makes me feel better.”
Sep 28, 2022
A farmer in overalls and rugged brown boots kneels next to a large, orange pumpkin, its stem neatly crosshatched in vivid green. This is the work of Matthew Patrick Callaghan, son of celebrated oral storyteller Mary Lynne McGrath and illustrator of McGrath’s book, “The Farmer, the Thief and the Pumpkin Patch.”
“People often ask Patrick how he got the ideas for the images to match and support the words,” McGrath says. “He’s very good at figuring out the heart of each page.”
This collaborative project is the result of years of work by both writer and illustrator. McGrath, a local legend who has taught and performed storytelling for children and adults, got the idea for the book while studying for her master’s degree in early childhood education at Sacramento State.
Sep 28, 2022
Raymond L. Ledesma has been an athlete, army medic, engineer, bar owner, writer, husband and father. At age 88, he recently learned to play guitar. But in some ways, he’s just getting started.
“My ambitions for the rest of my life are to get a boulevard in Sacramento named after my grandpa, who was a famous saddle maker, and get a book published,” Ledesma says.
Endless ambitions have taken Ledesma around the world. As a kid growing up in Fruitridge and Curtis Park, he attended C.K. McClatchy High School where he played baseball and football. When he got drafted, he attended medic training in San Antonio before spending six months in Korea.
Sep 28, 2022
What happens when camping is banned on the American River Parkway? Sacramento County will soon find out.
Homeless advocates predict people will die. Parkway environmentalists say the natural waterways will continue to be harmed if campers remain. Average citizens express fear for their safety unless campers are removed.
Now that the Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved the parkway camping ban, don’t expect anything drastic to occur right away.
Sep 28, 2022
Challenging weather patterns amplified the wailing and woes heard during my UC Master Gardener stints at the California State Fair and Harvest Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.
Ailing perennials, struggling annuals, disappointing veggie yields and low morale affected many Sacramento gardeners this summer.
Among the most common lament was, “What’s wrong with my tomatoes?”
I can relate. This was the first year my annual planting of the heirloom tomato Cherokee Purple didn’t produce a single tomato. Each morning, I inspected the plant with hopes of discovering a tiny green orb.
Sep 28, 2022
In a sure sign the homeless disaster has moved from tragedy to farce, Mayor Darrell Steinberg and the City Council want to fix the mess with political games.
This is the story of Measure O on the November ballot. Known as the “Emergency Shelter and Enforcement Act,” it has no connection with emergencies or enforcement. Even the word “act” is a lie.
If, for some reason, voters approve Measure O, nothing will happen. Or maybe something might, one day. But that’s up to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
The act is a mirage, suspended unless the county rescues the city from the homeless abyss. Which is no way to run a city.
