Here’s my entry for the most ridiculous local political takeover of 2022.
Several months ago, a group of homeowners along the Sacramento River levee seized control of the Pocket Greenhaven Community Association. They figured by co-opting the association, they could influence, delay or even prevent the city from finishing the river parkway and bike trail.
They were wrong. The takeover merely squandered the association’s good work and reputation.
Sacramento will never have an NFL team. It won’t have a stake in a major college bowl game. January playoffs and bowl games present a cruel reminder of these facts.
A city without an NFL or major college team isn’t necessarily deprived. Local football fans can find joy watching Sacramento State score touchdowns against Northern Colorado and Montana. Several high schools have excellent programs.
And there’s always the 49ers. Santa Clara is a miserable drive. The worst Levi’s Stadium seat is ridiculously expensive. But there’s no threat of the 49ers moving too far.
In the late 1980s, the Raiders discussed moving from Los Angeles to Sacramento. It was a leverage strategy by Al Davis. He ignored a $50 million down payment from the City Council and returned to Oakland. He played us.
I don’t want to shock anyone, but the new year brings the chance that City Hall will stumble into a way to control and even reduce homelessness. This revelation follows the embrace of a tool other cities have deployed for years.
It’s called a Homeless Management Information System, or HMIS. The idea is obvious: coordinate services, outcomes and data involving homeless people. That’s about it.
There’s nothing new about coordinating housing and mental health services for people who live on the streets or in shelters. Integrated management systems have been around for years. Semi-annual homeless counts are one example of coordination.
After 37 years, I’ve finally figured out the curse of the Kings. It’s all about real estate.
I’m not talking about a real estate curse that involves ancient Native American burial grounds.
For some Kings fans, the fictional image of bones beneath old Arco Arena explained why the team was so lousy.
The burial grounds theory collapsed when the team moved Downtown. If anything, the Kings got worse on K Street.
Holiday season makes me think about my friend Randy Paragary. Randy, who died from pancreatic cancer in August 2021, loved the holidays. He decked out his restaurants in classy Christmas motifs and smiled as reservations filled up with parties.
Sometimes holiday celebrations took over every seat, with one exception. Randy always saved a table for our weekly lunch. That lunch is what I miss most.
Our lunch was more than two friends getting together for drinks and food. It was an event that grew into something like a local institution.
Dennis Newhall knows about sound. He’s worked for decades as a radio and internet broadcaster, disc jockey, producer and voice talent. He understands the power of sound, how it motivates and transforms people.
This past year, he learned something else. How sound, reduced to sheer noise, can drive a neighborhood nuts.
That’s an exaggeration. Newhall doesn’t believe weeks of pounding by equipment to strengthen the Sacramento River levee literally drove his Pocket neighbors crazy.
