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Headline News
Photo courtesy of Sacramento Music Festival
 Musical Event Scheduled for May 24-27
Posted: 5/22/2013
SACRAMENTO, CA – (MPG) Mark your calendar to spend Memorial Day Weekend celebrating four decades of amazing world-class musical entertainment during the 40th Anniversary of the Sacramento Music Festival happening May 24-27, 2013. Plus, a special advance pricing offer for the four-day event badge is being offered at a reduced $99 price and extended through April 30.
Complete with a high-energy Friday night kick-off and a vibrant Saturday morning parade, the musical celebration will take place on 24 venues throughout Sacramento with headliners that include Los Lobos, The Blasters, John Lee Hooker Jr., The James Hunter Six, Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks, and Wanda Jackson, Ben Taylor, the Beer Dawgs and Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers. In addition to lively street entertainment, the annual event offers a variety of musical venues that range from cozy club settings and inside luxury hotels to large-scale outdoor stages and even aboard the picturesque Delta King river boat. In fact, four of Sacramento’s luxury hotels will offer musical entertainment including the Holiday Inn, Embassy Suites, Sheraton Grand and Hyatt Regency. And, new this year, the main stage will be positioned on the iconic and sprawling grassy area officially known as the “1849 Scene” in front of the California State Railroad Museum located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park.
Originally known as the Old Sacramento Dixieland Jazz Jubilee, the event has evolved over the years to embrace and offer a wide variety of musical styles in addition to classic jazz and swing. In fact, this 40th anniversary community celebration will showcase Rockabilly, soulful blues, rockin’ blues, country, zydeco, rock, bluegrass, ragtime, jazz, swing, street beat, cajun, Latin music, big band, orchestras, dance bands and more. Plus, a high-energy “Next Generation Band” performance site will feature talented youth jazz bands from near and far that always draw a young and spirited crowd.
On Friday through Sunday, Sacramento Music Festival activities are scheduled from 11 a.m. until midnight and on Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. With lower ticket prices this year, regular event prices vary from $10 to $110 for a four-day event badge. And, along with a variety of public transit options, ample parking is available and free shuttle buses run between venues all weekend long on a first-come, first-served basis.
The 40th Anniversary Sacramento Music Festival is proudly presented by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society with support from the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau. Proceeds from the event support the preservation of traditional jazz through STJS Jazz Education Programs.
To purchase tickets or for more information about the 40th Anniversary Sacramento Music Festival, call 916-444-2004 or visit www.sacmusicfest.com. |
Many conservative political groups are still waiting for the IRS to approve their non-profit status. Commentary by Dr. Daniel S. Brown
Posted: 5/22/2013
Let’s begin with a premise. Challenging, delaying, questioning, or bullying organizations about their non-profit, educational purposes chills both free speech and a free press. The current ruckus involving Internal Revenue Service policies aimed at conservative political groups supports that notion to be sure.
What we are learning now is that non-profit political organizations connected to the network of tea party groups were not the only organizations targeted by IRS administrators. In the past few days, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association sent an open letter to President Obama outlining its contention that it was subjected to discrimination because IRS agents investigated, audited and threatened them with the loss of their tax-exempt status. To the current administration the man who has appeared in Gallup’s Top-10 Most Admired Men in the World for 56 years needed to be investigated. So, too, did his son Franklin Graham’s non-profit charity, Samaritan’s Purse. The BGEA letter to the President states, “This is morally wrong and unethical – indeed some would call it ‘un-American.’”
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Effie Yeaw’s June 8 gala and art auction will include canvases by celebrity artists and scores of paintings with wildlife or river themes.
Photo by Susan Maxwell Skinner By Susan Maxwell Skinner
Posted: 5/22/2013
SACRAMENTO, CA – (MPG) If art imitates life, art is also helping sustain the life of one of Sacramento County’s most cherished institutions -- the Effie Yeaw Nature Center.
Following the success of three previous “Painting Where the Wild Things Are” fundraisers, the center will host its fourth annual art gala on June 8. An evening gala will provide wining, dining and animal encounters of the closest kind.
Celebrities will include a red shouldered hawk called Skye and a magnificent great tufted owl called Echo. Both rescue birds, they are among the Nature Center’s resident ambassadors.
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Posted: 5/22/2013
SACRAMENTO, CA –( MPG) The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Board of Directors is holding two public workshops and a public hearing to discuss proposed rate changes to begin in January 2014.
In the General Manager’s Report & Recommendation (Report), released by SMUD General Manager & CEO John Di Stasio, staff outlines a proposed two-step rate increase of 2.5 percent in both 2014 and 2015 for all customers to meet projected shortfalls resulting from the higher costs of renewable power required by the state, the increase in the number of participants in the low-income energy assistance program, and debt service obligations. SMUD’s rates remain lower than most other utilities in California. Of the 19 largest electric utilities in the state, SMUD has the third lowest average cost per kWh. The Report also recommends a restructuring of the residential rates that will be phased in gradually over four years to better align rates with SMUD’s cost to serve customers. This restructure will help residential customers make better informed choices about their energy consumption and utilizes new smart technology. SMUD seeks to transition to flat rate pricing with the goal of recommending time-based pricing by 2018.
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Carmichael Park District chief Jack Harrison surveys the future Sutter Jenson Community Park. Supporters of the project include Anne Berner (left), Sandy Helland, Kathy Hellersen, Sharon Doughty and Priscilla Lots.
Photo by Susan Maxwell Skinner By Susan Maxwell Skinner
Posted: 5/8/2013
CARMICHAEL, CA – (MPG) Four recently approved projects are checks on the bucket list for Carmichael Recreation and Park District Administrator Jack Harrison. After seven years, Harrison (70) retires this month.
In his tenure, Harrison oversaw development of Patriots, O’Donnell and Jan Parks. His parting victory is achieving the okay for other pressing community needs:
- Trails linking Sutter and Jensen Parks.
- Improvements to dog facilities in Carmichael Park.
- New park landscaping at the Grant Ave and Fair Oaks Blvd corner.
- A junior soccer area in place of Carmichael’s demolished swimming pool.
Included in the new district budget is a meandering path linking Jensen Gardens (Fair Oaks Blvd) to park land at Sutter Ave. The walkway, a footbridge, improved street access and parking has a $100,000 price tag. In the tradition of recent park developments, half of the cost – in cash or services – will be contributed by neighbors and project supporters. Their fundraising has so far realized $43,000.
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Greg Scott; “What really set me on the journey was listening to Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer.”
Photo by Julie Parker By Julie Parker
Posted: 5/8/2013
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA- (MPG) Twenty-one years clean and sober, Greg Scott, Founder/CEO of Juveniles at Risk (JAR), tells kids, “If I can do it, so can you.”
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Scott spent a few of his early years in Washington, D.C., where his father was involved in riots after Martin Luther King’s assassination. “He came home with three pin-striped suits. It was my first experience of feeling ashamed of my father. It was looting because he was angry, but he still stole. As a child, I never felt right about that.”
The family relocated to Oakland when he was ten. “I had my first experience with white people, not knowing how to integrate and process it. When I had my first joint at age 13, I thought, ‘This is the solution to life.’”
In high school, he snorted cocaine, smoked weed, and took acid. “But, my grades were good, and I played sports.”
He spent two years at Alameda Junior College in the era of social civil unrest. “How’s an African-American make it in our society? A lot hasn’t changed – it’s about money.
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Harald Hoven, Director of Rudolph Steiner College's Biodynamic Gardening Program.
Photos by Bruce Duncan Rudolph Steiner’s Raphael Garden
By Wendla McGovern-Duncan
Posted: 5/8/2013
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA- (MPG) Vehicles rush by Rudolf Steiner College on Fair Oaks Boulevard everyday, bypassing one of the most vibrant and serene gardens in our area, the Raphael Biodynamic Garden. “We want to be part of the community, so the public is welcomed here – just for the joy of being here,” says Harald Hoven, the garden's director. “We are an valuable community resource, but so few people know about us.”
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Natasha Ebert trains with her solid bred paint horse Toby, as she prepares for the Pinto World Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She will compete in nine classes while there.
Photo by Julie Parker By Julie Parker
Posted: 5/8/2013
Citrus Heights, CA – (MPG) The 2013 Pinto World Championships are set for June 10-22, 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “I’ve never been to any show that large - ever,” says petite, 19-year-old Natasha Ebert.
Ebert and Toby, a solid bred paint horse (father is a pinto paint) will be there all twelve days, showing in nine classes, from English to Western. “Normally, people look at the solid bred horses as the underdogs, because realistically we aren’t eligible to make as much money as the two-color paint horses. If he was to have a mark underneath his belly that was 3” white, he’d be a paint horse.”
Ebert has worked hard to get to this point. She joined 4-H when she was six, participated at age nine with a pony, and worked up to 14 with Toby.
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Hello Dolly. Dealer Brian Smith previews vintage merchandize for Carmichael’s annual antique market, scheduled for May 18 in Carmichael Oaks shopping center.
Photo by Susan Maxwell Skinner By Susan Maxwell Skinner
Posted: 5/1/2013
CARMICHAEL, CA – (MPG) Carmichael’s reputation for antique bargains will be boosted on May 18 by a fair with nearly 70 vendors. The parking-lot market at Carmichael Oaks Shopping Center is a seven-year tradition that lures out of town and out of state buyers.
Carmichael and Fair Oaks may be off the beaten track as shopping destinations. But the quirky business of trading old stuff is enhancing local economies. Over a dozen antique stores operate within these neighboring towns. Minutes apart, their proximity enables “antique crawls” – taking treasure hunters from store to store in the space of a day.
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Laura Noble, Cameron Purcell, Helena Bond, helping others together.
Photo by Julie Parker By Julie Parker
Posted: 5/1/2013
CARMICHAEL, CA – (MPG) “My aunt, Linda Hunt, was my true inspiration,” says Laura Noble, CEO of Kids Helping Kids. “She had cancer, and even towards the end of her time, she was changing people’s lives. She built community gardens in Seaside, Oregon, to help people live healthier, longer lives. I can’t believe how much I take for granted. I don’t want to do that anymore.”
The discovery of a homeless student in her own school reinforced her aspiration, and stimulated altruism in her fellow classmates.
Helena Bond, Director of Communications and Advancement, recalls, “She was in my first period mock trial class. I had no idea whatsoever that she was homeless. You could not tell at all. This poor girl doesn’t have parents, and has to wake herself up every morning on a park bench to go to school.”
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By Julie Parker
Posted: 4/17/2013
By Susan Maxwell Skinner
Posted: 4/24/2013
“Victory is very, very satisfying.”
Posted: 4/24/2013
By Julie Parker
Posted: 4/10/2013
By Julie Parker
Posted: 4/10/2013
By Elise Spleiss
Posted: 4/9/2013
By Elise Spleiss
Posted: 4/9/2013
By Elise Spleiss
Posted: 4/9/2013
By Elise Spleiss
Posted: 4/9/2013
By Julie Parker
Posted: 3/20/2013
El Camino High Student Wins Youth Soloist Award
By Billie Jean Seekins
Posted: 3/20/2013
By Mark Ahling
Posted: 3/20/2013
By Julie Parker
Posted: 3/14/2013
By Wendla McGovern-Duncan
Posted: 3/13/13
Posted: 3/13/2013
By Mark Ahling
Posted: 3/6/2013
The Marauders receive Army National Guard national ranking trophy for rank, state championship
Posted: 3/6/2013
Significant Energy Savings and Customer Benefit
Posted: 3/6/2013
By Susan Maxwell Skinner
Posted: 2/28/2013
By Elise Spliess
Posted: 2/21/2013
Posted: 2/21/2013
Posted: 2/8/2013
Posted: 2/1/2013
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