May 28, 2021
Every few years, Sacramento’s insecurities sneak up and deliver a punch to civic pride. A recent example is the storyline that Bay Area residents can’t wait to move to Sacramento.
Here’s the thing about Bay Area residents, gleaned from personal experience: Unless they come from Sacramento, Bay Area people are clueless about the capital city. They believe it’s the boondocks, a place to bypass on the way to Tahoe. Their ignorance is deep, their indifference generational. They don’t care about Sacramento. They never will.
Apr 29, 2021
One guaranteed way to get my attention is to say somebody needs to build a gate near the Sacramento River Parkway levee.
After all, thanks to Inside Sacramento, I’ve spent the last seven years helping Pocket community members erase nine cross-levee gates that blocked public access to the city’s original treasure.
It’s been a tough fight against a small group of property owners who live along the levee and think they own the river. Some of their fences have stood for five decades.
Apr 29, 2021
Denis Zilaff knows what it takes to run 92,000 miles because he’s done it. Among the requirements are two good hips and a functional mitral valve. The hips keep the legs moving. The valve prevents blood from flowing backward into the heart.
When his hips began to fail and his mitral valve became floppy, Zilaff was in trouble, mostly because he wanted to keep running. The repairs were piecemeal and took about two years. Delays were caused by the pandemic and the fact that doctors won’t fix two hips and one heart in a single marathon surgery.
Mar 28, 2021
Earlier this year, a sports business site called Sportico estimated the Kings’ total value at $1.84 billion. That amount covers everything, from the team and its sponsorship deals to real estate.
As someone who has followed the Kings and laughed along with their failure since the early 1980s, I thought of two questions: If I owned the team, would now be the right time to sell? And might some Kings owners wonder the same thing?
Mar 28, 2021
Raising kids in Pocket means riding bicycles. When my two boys were little, we rode all the time. We rode to Martin Luther King Jr. School each morning, Mountain Mike’s Pizza on Friday nights, Garcia Bend Park on Sundays.
We were lucky. Our house was one block from the Pocket Canal bike trail, which made our trips safe and easy.
But even with the bike trail, there were concerns. To get to school, the kids had to cross Rush River Drive. To get to soccer, they had to bisect Pocket Road. Both crossings were dangerous, especially Pocket Road, which some motorists treat as an autobahn without speed limits.
Feb 26, 2021
Like a truck speeding downhill with imbalanced brakes, the plan by Mayor Darrell Steinberg to cure homelessness by giving a roof to every unsheltered person is poised to jackknife and skid out of control. The rubber is already starting to burn.
The Steinberg plan, revealed in January, rests on three cornerstones. First, the proposal requires all eight City Council districts to identify and prepare shelter sites for homeless people. This expectation spreads the pain and creates a veneer of egalitarian sacrifice.
Second, the proposal is designed to limit neighborhood objection. Sure, City Hall is conducting outreach. But Steinberg envisions one decisive City Council vote in June to launch his $100 million housing balloon. It’s all or nothing.
