R.E. Graswich

Writer and Editorial Team

About This Author

R.E. Graswich is a journalist, author and media expert. His book “Vagrant Kings” is the definitive history of the Sacramento Kings basketball team. He was Special Assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson, managed the Sacramento Voices program for the Maynard Institute of Journalism Education and worked for the Sacramento Bee, CBS 13 and KFBK.

Articles by this author

Safety First

Only nice words must be said about the city’s eminent domain actions against NIMBY residents in Pocket and Little Pocket.

The NIMBY are people who tried every trick to delay the Sacramento River Parkway Bike Trail, a regional gift promised 51 years ago.

By using eminent domain to secure riverfront easements north of Garcia Bend Park, the city shows it’s ready to pave bike trail gaps from Freeport to Old Sac and onto Folsom.

Cal Exposed

Another Sacramento State football season fumbles to a close without a national championship. I wonder how different things would be if the Hornets played at Cal Expo.

You remember Cal Expo. Home of the State Fair, sanctuary of corn dogs, Tilt-A-Whirls, 4-H lambs and horse racing. Until it wasn’t.

Cal Expo is adrift, a fairground with dwindling crowds and no future. Horse racing shut down two years ago without serious explanation.

Missed Signs

I was right when I said the city needs to post signs on major streets telling cyclists to stop riding on sidewalks. I was wrong when I said the city has no such signs posted anywhere.

Turns out there are two signs ordering cyclists and skateboarders to stay off the sidewalk. Problem is both are posted where most people who live in Sacramento will never see them.

The signs are bolted to yellow wooden walls at the Central Pacific Railroad Depot on Front Street in Old Sac.

Take This!

At last, the wheels of justice turn for public access to the Sacramento River.

After stalling for 51 years, the city is grabbing easements via eminent domain along the Pocket levee. The process shuts down outrageous claims by property owners who think they own the river.

The eminent domain process ends a half-century fight by homesteaders near the levee to stop the city from completing the river parkway bike trail.