Interesting People
Crowded House
While attention is focused on mayoral and City Council races, there’s another bruising election battle underway in town, this one is for state Assembly.
The 6th District includes the city of Sacramento, Rio Linda, Antelope, Elverta, parts of North Highlands and Carmichael. It’s solid blue. Democrats enjoy a 51% to 21% registration advantage.
Yet because of the top two primary system, where the first two finishers advance to the November election regardless of party, a Republican could reach the general election if the flock of Democratic candidates split the vote March 5.
High Style
Beautiful, colorful rolling works of art are attracting long lines of ticket buyers to the California Automobile Museum’s “Rucas y Carruchas: Ladies in Lowriders” exhibit.
Many cars on display are heirlooms, worked on by generations of families and cherished by women in a culture historically regarded as male dominated.
Museum exhibits manager ShaVolla Rodriguez exemplifies the involvement of women in the lowrider community. She named her lowrider Adeline.
Allons au cinéma!
A crime drama. A comedy featuring an animated inner voice. A romantic comedy about an undocumented nanny in Paris. A drama that explores the Bataclan concert hall terrorist massacre of 2015.
These are just a few plotlines from movies that will be featured at this year’s French Film Festival in June at the Tower Theatre. Now in its 22nd year, the event is the perfect way for Francophiles, cinephiles and anyone looking for a good time to enjoy new films from France.
Book Smart
As a kid, I spent hours at Beers Books. I made a beeline for animal books. Mom perused the art section. Dad skimmed remainders on a sidewalk sale cart.
I recently found a Beers Books bookmark while going through some boxes. Instantly, I floated back to those book-filled days.
My experience is not unique. Beers Books has been a beacon for book lovers for nearly 90 years.
Early days are murky, but the shop began around 1936 when Nellie Beer worked as a clerk for L.H. Mytinger Books at 1125 Eighth St. At some point the shop became Beers Books. A legacy was born.
Party Onward
Cory Whetstone, 69, had a hard time finding affordable housing. At some apartment buildings, he recalls, there were “a lot of young people, people into drugs and other issues going on. When you mix seniors in that bunch, you have ready-made victims and predators.”
Whetstone is particularly vulnerable because he is a transgender male. LGBTQ people often suffer housing discrimination.
Last year, Whetstone moved into Lavender Courtyard, a low-income apartment building for LGBTQ seniors. His housing problems were over.
Romantic Intentions
Julie Soto didn’t intend to become a published author. But, like the plots of the romance novels she writes, it seemed destined to work out.
“In romance, you’re kind of guaranteed a happy ending,” Soto says. “If you already know how a book will end, you have to make it fun along the way.”
Soto approaches her creative endeavors with a sense of fun. The Sacramento native began in musical theater. She performed in youth and community productions before moving to New York after graduation from Sacramento State.
