There is no easy way to train for a race that requires two or three days in a kayak paddling 444 miles though the pristine wilds of the Canadian Yukon. For practice, there’s a 100-mile paddle event on the Sacramento River from Redding to Chico. But that’s hardly the same.
So how does Marsha Arnold, a 63-year-old case management nurse at Sutter Medical Center, get ready for the most difficult physical challenge of her life?
Rock Bottom Clay Arts—the ceramic business owned by longtime friends Suzy Price and Linda Fall—is not named for low prices, nor for a low point in life.
“We named it Rock Bottom because the totems literally have a giant rock at the bottom that keeps them steady,” Fall explains with a chuckle.
Since last August, Fall and Price have created 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-foot ceramic structures they call totems—colorful displays of manmade rocks in all shapes, sizes and textures stacked together on a steel pole and rooted to a strong rock or welded metal base for display in the home or garden.
To say that Leland “Lee” Ruth has a green thumb would be an immense understatement.
The River Park resident not only boasts an impressive agricultural background, he’s also one of the key players involved in the maintenance of Sacramento’s iconic tree canopy.
“Trees are being taken out faster than they’re being put in, especially in River Park,” says Ruth, who’s lived in the neighborhood for 40 years (his wife grew up four blocks from their current home). “If we want to continue to have a tree canopy—which beautifies the neighborhood and improves air quality—we have to get involved in planting new ones.”
Last year, when the Sacramento City Council voted to put Measure U on the November ballot, I dissented. The reason was simple.
I knew the city needed additional funds to deliver the parks, roads, public safety and other services residents expect. I appreciated how the permanent 1-cent sales tax would generate about $95 million each year.
But I knew some of the money produced by Measure U would have to pay the city’s current bills and future obligations. To say otherwise—to keep voters in the dark about our commitments to CalPERS pensions—was disingenuous.
When I heard about the hourlong documentary film “Seattle Is Dying,” I felt a certain dread. Listening to a radio interview about the film, I was struck by the bleakness of Seattle’s homeless situation. It took me a week to make time to watch the film. After viewing it, “bleak” wasn’t strong enough to describe the problem.
The film was produced by television station KOMO in Seattle. It was the third part of an informal series developed a few years earlier as the homeless situation grew worse in that city. The film opens with a bold statement: This is about an idea. For a city that has run out of them. What if Seattle is dying? Can it ever recover?
As soon as they walked in, David and Heather Hadley knew immediately. The Streng Brothers home near Fair Oaks Boulevard in Carmichael was exactly what they were looking for.
“Growing up in Sacramento, I admired Streng homes,” Heather says. “I always hoped that I would own one.”