Aug 28, 2024
What does “accessible” really mean? A diverse group of theater artists have the answer.
“It’s not just ramps and handrails,” says Jim Brown, a longtime volunteer with Short Center Repertory, a public outreach program of the Developmental Disabilities Service Organization.
“In this instance, accessible refers to the audience experience, as well as the performers’ experience,” he says. “Getting involved with this has really made me so aware of the ways in which we seldom accommodate people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and low vision.”
Aug 28, 2024
Empowerment Park beckons like no other local park. Located on Bell Street between Northrup Avenue and Hurley Way, Empowerment Park is designed for all children, including those with disabilities.
“There’s nothing sadder than a kid on the outside of a playground looking in because he’s not able to play. This will change that. This is a barrier-free, all-abilities park, where everyone can play together, side by side,” says Mike Grace, executive director of Sacramento Parks Foundation, the organization behind Empowerment Park (also known as emPOWERment Park).
Construction is set to start in September, with completion in May 2026.
Jul 28, 2024
If you want to be overwhelmed—in a good way—visit the Book Den warehouse.
The unassuming building on Belvedere Avenue is a booklover’s paradise, where thousands of donated books organized into genres await readers.
“It just hooks you,” says Diane Sabo, Book Den’s volunteer coordinator. “And if you like books, it’ll hook you even more.”
Book Den is volunteer-run and operated by Friends of the Sacramento Public Library. Sales of used books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks and computer games support the library and many community groups.
Jul 28, 2024
Mitch Weathers saw his multi-language students struggle in school and asked himself one question: What helps students be successful?
Thus began a quest to identify the most significant impacts on academic achievement and success.
The result is Organized Binder, a program that helps teachers create predictability as they help students develop executive function skills.
“If you go class to class and each has wildly different procedures and you’re a multi-language student, that’s a huge cognitive load and mental calories you’re expending just getting through the school day,” Weathers says.
Jul 28, 2024
The slightest noise—heavy footstep, rustling branch, loud whisper—will send the northwestern pond turtle off a sunlit log and into his safe place, the cool waters of the American River.
He’s a shy creature. The booming sounds of heavy machinery tearing up his riparian habitat will not bode well for him.
Next summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin another phase of its erosion-control project along the lower American River from the Howe Avenue bridge to east of Watt Avenue.
Trucks, tractors and excavators will bulldoze through the wild and scenic parkway landscape.
Just in time for northwestern pond turtle nesting season.
Jun 28, 2024
Roger Jones has a thicket of trees named for him. It’s called Rawge’s Grove, situated in the Bufferlands natural habitat refuge on the outskirts of the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in Elk Grove.
Rawge’s Grove—a nod to Jones’ nickname—is part of the 2,150-acre Bufferlands. The grove honors the man who helped create the barrier between the treatment facility and surrounding neighborhoods.
In 1990, when Jones was a young wildlife biologist from UC Davis, he was hired to oversee the area’s habitat restoration.
