Inside Land Park Mar 2020 by Inside Publications

MARCH 2020

LAND PARK/GRID

BRYAN VALENZUELA

LAND PARK • CURTIS PARK • HOLLYWOOD PARK • SOUTH LAND PARK • THE GRID • OAK PARK EAST SACRAMENTO • McKINLEY PARK • RIVER PARK • ELMHURST • TAHOE PARK • CAMPUS COMMONS ARDEN

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ARCADE

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SIERRA OAKS

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WILHAGGIN

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DEL PASO MANOR

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CARMICHAEL

POCKET • GREENHAVEN • SOUTH POCKET • LITTLE POCKET • RIVERLAKE • DELTA SHORES VISIT OUR NEW WEBSITE:

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PENDING

1230 Noonan Drive - $799,500 SOUTH LAND PARK TERRACE. 4 bed / 2 bath 2268 sf. One-of-a-kind contemporary with Fab kitchen, cherry cabinets, big island, stainless steel appliances, great master. DAVID KIRRENE 916-531-7495 DRE-01115041

SOLD

2172 Perkins Way - $475,000 SUPER CUTE LAND PARK NEIGHBORHOOD 2 bed / 1 bath. Unique home with updated kitchen and bath, hardwood ﬂoors and large dining room. JAMIE RICH 916-612-4000 DRE-01870143

SOLD

2175 Portola Way - $639,000 CHARMING UPDATED HOME CURTIS PARK. 3 bed / 1½ bath with hardwoodﬂoors throughout, living room ﬁreplace, formal dining room with built-in. TIM COLLOM 916-247-8048 DRE-01304855

PENDING

2169 – 65th Avenue - $265,000 GOLF COURSE VILLAGE 3 bed / 2 bath 1239 sf home in established neighborhood. Easy ﬂow plan with living room ﬁreplace. Easy freeway access. LISA McCAULEY 916-601-5474 DRE-00933026

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ILP/GRID MAR n 20

7316 Willow Lake Way - $429,000 ORIGINAL OWNER SOUTH LAND PARK HILLS. Wonderfully cared for 3 bed / 2 bath single story. Separate living room and family room, kitchen corian counters. CONNIE LANDSBERG 916-761-0411 DRE-00850625

SOLD

2431 Brentley Drive - $323,000 DARLING BRENTWOOD VILLAGE 3 bed / 1 bath. Lovingly care for with new interior paint, new carpet, refinished hardwood floors, new bath vanity, fireplace. KELLIE SWAYNE 916-206-1458 DRE-01727644

SOLD

1617 Claudia Drive - $420,000 WONDERFUL REMODELED CORUM VILLAGE home in S Land Park 4 bed / 2 bath. Open ﬂoorplan with walls of glass leading to pretty backyard. MONA GERGEN 916-247-9555 dre-01270375

SOLD

5604 Bradd Way - $306,000 CHARMING FREEPORT VILLAGE near James Mangan Park 2 bed / 1 bath with updated kitchen and bath, new appliances, new windows, reﬁnished ﬂoors. AMANDA ZIMMERMAN 916-834-6711 DRE-02072145

Land Park (916) 454-5753 DRE#00707598 Sierra Oaks (916) 484-2030 DRE #01103090

916.612.4000 | JamieRich.net LAND PARK • CURTIS PARK • MIDTOWN EAST SACRAMENTO • HOLLYWOOD PARK BRE No. 01870143

“Growing up in Land Park, my bus stop to Crocker/Riverside Elementary was in front of a beautiful Cape Cod style house that greeted me every day on my way to school. Never, all those years ago did I imagine that one day I could call that house my home. Thanks to Jamie Rich and her attentive, enthusiastic and detailed work, she was able to help me make this my forever home. As my family grows, we are grateful to Jamie for helping to make this incredible dream come true.”

— Terry Schanz

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EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY TO MAKE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD A BET TER PL ACE. MARCH 2020

MARCH 2020

EAST SAC

SUZANNE MURRAY

ARDEN

MARCH 2020

LAND PARK/GRID

POCKET

PATRICIA PRENDERGAST

BRYAN VALENZUELA

MARCY FRIEDMAN

CASSIE BERUBE

EAST SACRAMENTO • McKINLEY PARK • RIVER PARK • ELMHURST • TAHOE PARK • CAMPUS COMMONS

ARDEN • ARCADE • SIERRA OAKS • WILHAGGIN • DEL PASO MANOR • CARMICHAEL

LAND PARK • CURTIS PARK • HOLLYWOOD PARK • SOUTH LAND PARK • THE GRID • OAK PARK

POCKET • GREENHAVEN • SOUTH POCKET • LITTLE POCKET • RIVERLAKE • DELTA SHORES

ARDEN

EAST SACRAMENTO • McKINLEY PARK • RIVER PARK • ELMHURST • TAHOE PARK • CAMPUS COMMONS

•

ARCADE

•

SIERRA OAKS

•

WILHAGGIN

•

DEL PASO MANOR

•

CARMICHAEL

LAND PARK • CURTIS PARK • HOLLYWOOD PARK • SOUTH LAND PARK • THE GRID • OAK PARK

ARDEN

POCKET • GREENHAVEN •

POCKET • GREENHAVEN • SOUTH POCKET • LITTLE POCKET • RIVERLAKE • DELTA SHORES

SOUTH POCKET • LITTLE POCKET • RIVERLAKE • DELTA SHORES

•

ARCADE

•

SIERRA OAKS

•

WILHAGGIN

•

DEL PASO MANOR

•

CARMICHAEL

ARDEN

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ARCADE

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SIERRA OAKS

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WILHAGGIN

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DEL PASO MANOR

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CARMICHAEL

LAND PARK • CURTIS PARK • HOLLYWOOD PARK • SOUTH LAND PARK • THE GRID • OAK PARK

VISIT OUR NEW WEBSITE: INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

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BRYAN VALENZUELA Bryan Valenzuela’s creations—whether mixed-media visual art or songs for his rock ’n’ roll band, Exquisite Corps—reﬂect his love of the written word. Shown in detail: “On the Cusp of the Wild Fevered Thrust of Spring,” acrylic marker and acrylic on canvas panel, 144 inches by 72 inches, privately commissioned. Visit bryanvalenzuela.com. Be sure to read our Open Studio feature this month on Bryan Valenzuela.

PUBLISHER Cecily Hastings EDITOR Cathryn Rakich editor@insidepublications.com PRODUCTION M.J. McFarland DESIGN Cindy Fuller PHOTOGRAPHY Linda Smolek, Aniko Kiezel @anikophotos AD COORDINATION Michele Mazzera, Julie Foster DISTRIBUTION Sue Pane Sue@insidepublications.com ACCOUNTING Daniel Nardinelli, Lauren Stenvick daniel@insidepublications.com

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MARCH 2020 VOL. 23 • ISSUE 2 6 10 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 30 32 36 38 40 44 46 50 52 54 56 60

Publisher's Desk Out & About Land Park City Politics Meet Your Neighbor Building Our Future City Beat Giving Back Dancing The Dream Open House Sports Authority Lost But Not Forgotten Pocket Beat Inside Downtown Pets & Their People Garden Jabber Farm To Fork Spirit Matters Getting There Open Studio To Do Restaurant Insider

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Mental Awareness

LET’S FOCUS ON REAL CAUSES OF HOMELESSNESS

lmost a year ago, Inside Sacramento began monthly coverage of the homeless problem in our area. A key focus has been the root causes of homelessness, including mental health and drug and alcohol addiction. In my May 2019 column, “Is Sacramento Dying?” Sacramento City Councilmember Jeff Harris said he favored an individual triage process to help understand the paths that bring

CH By Cecily Hastings Publisher’s Desk

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

people to the streets. His goal is to avoid placing folks who are simply unable to afford or find shelter in the same category as addicts, criminals and the mentally ill. Of all the people who live on our streets, the mentally ill may be the most misunderstood. They create fear with erratic behavior. And while effective treatments are available, receiving and maintaining a therapy regimen is often problematic. Last September, we invited state Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) to our pages with an article titled, “Not Humane: Why Can’t State Help Mentally Ill Homeless?” He opined that housing is just one part of the solution. Another major problem is mental illness, which drives many homeless people to the street. He questions—like many of us—why political leaders allow mentally ill homeless to remain unsheltered.

Moorlach authored Senate Bill 640, which sought to clarify the definition of “gravely disabled.” The bill examined an individual’s ability to make informed decisions about his or her health. Sadly, SB 640 was shelved last year. Moorlach says his proposed changes would have expanded treatment opportunities for our most vulnerable, put them under conservatorships and involuntary housing when needed, and diminished inhumane neglect. He is gathering research for reconsideration of SB 640. In January, I attended the 2020 State of Downtown breakfast hosted by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. The guest speaker was Dr. Drew Pinsky, a celebrated Pasadena internist and addiction specialist. I was familiar with Dr. Pinsky—Moorlach cited him in the article we published. Dr. Pinsky contends our situation in California is not a crisis of housing or homelessness. Rather, it’s a mental

health crisis. The media and political leaders have largely glossed over the mental health aspect in their rush to “solve” the homeless problem by building expensive housing. “Housing does not cause our communities to need to rake parks of hundreds of needles before children are able to play,” Pinsky told the Sacramento audience. “Housing is not going to help the paranoid, poorly clothed manic or paranoid schizophrenic. “In fact, the symptoms of these illnesses will cause the homeless to refuse to remain indoors and to accept help or treatment. To hear politicians use the rhetoric of a housing crisis is just recklessly negligent and just contributes to the misery and death of untold numbers.” Pinsky believes the current problem stems from civil commitment reforms created in the late 1960s that made it too difficult to care for individuals

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www.cce.csus.edu/acads with serious mental illnesses if they refused treatment. As a result, many institutions that involuntarily housed mentally ill people were closed. Reforms began with the 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, written as a reaction to abuses. The law changed our civil commitment process in California. As a result, mentally ill individuals migrated to the streets, then often to county jails. Then and now, the outcome is not humane. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Never did I imagine I would live in a state which would systematically allow those with massive mental health needs to languish and deteriorate in the most unconscionable, abject circumstances,â&#x20AC;? Pinsky said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The very symptoms causing desperately ill patients to spill into our streets are being protected in the name of compassion. This is dialing back to a Medieval understanding of psychiatric illness and is outrageous, particularly in the era of effective treatments which can restore patients to stability. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The public has to understand that stranding people with serious mental illnesses on our streets is crueler than housing and treating them against their will. As homelessness keeps getting worse, the need for this solution will become more obvious. It is anathema to

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

the basic needs of civilization to allow the current situation to continue.â&#x20AC;? Pinsky continued, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Psychiatric symptoms are given privileged positions in the law. Not just the pathology, but the actual symptoms themselves are being privileged over the well-being of the individual displaying those symptoms, the safety of that individual, our ability to render care to them and the safety and sanitation of the surrounding community.â&#x20AC;? Pinsky believes homelessness demands a two-pronged solution: First, more involuntary housing. Second, reform the 1967 LPS Act. Pinsky says the passage of SB 640â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Moorlachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mental health reform billâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;should receive top priority. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To show true compassion for these individuals, we must have the tools to combat their symptoms,â&#x20AC;? Pinsky said. The mental health issue might be easier to understand if we look at our own families. Even when folks are eager for help and lovingly supported, treatment can be difficult. Last summer, my husband Jim suffered a concussion when his car was rear-ended. At his age the brain is more vulnerable to injury from trauma. In the following months we both struggled with his symptoms, which included

memory loss and difficulty with decision-making and cognitive abilities. At one frustrating point he asked me whether this was what the minds of homeless people were like. His comment made me think! A few days later, I heard an interview with Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist, founder of Amen Clinics and an expert on brain health and mental illness. He referred to a study where a homeless population received SPECT brain imaging. More than 70 percent had brain trauma. After a tour of Sacramento with Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Pinsky reported he has hope for us to solve our crisis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Especially,â&#x20AC;? he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;since I have lost all hope for Los Angeles.â&#x20AC;? Steinberg addressed the breakfast audience and announced his embrace of the Haven for Hope model that has found success in San Antonio. Pinsky was enthusiastic and wished us well. Be sure to read Craig Powellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s piece this month for more information

on the Haven for Hope movement in Sacramento. Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento. com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

Dr. Drew Pinsky

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Working Wonders

poems without the restrictions that come from following academic rules of poetry that often restrain writers, Tsuda says. For more information, visit tsudapoetry.wordpress.com. “Saving My Sanity” is available on amazon.com.

TWO PAID POSITIONS NOW OPEN AT MCKINLEY ROSE GARDEN HONORING WOMEN’S HISTORY

LLyn Ly yn Pitts Pitt Pi ttss is is retiring ret eti tir irin iri ing after ing affte ter many ter ma any years yea ears r of rs of dediica de dedicated catte ted work ted work k at at McKinley McKi Mc K nl nley leyy Rose Ros o e Garden. Ga ard rden en. en

riends of East Sacramento has two immediate paid part-time job openings—garden manager and volunteer coordinator—at the McKinley Rose Garden. After many years of dedicated volunteer and paid service, Lyn Pitts, who worked both jobs, is retiring this month. “Lyn has been absolutely vital in contributing to the success of the garden in recent years,” says Lisa Schmidt, co-founder of FES, a nonprofit organization that leases the public garden from the city and oversees its care and event rentals. “Lyn started as a volunteer, and then we hired her to work part-time when she retired from the state. She helped us establish protocols and best practices

JL By Jessica Laskey Out & About Land Park/Grid

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

that have brought the garden to its most beautiful current condition, and that will help us well into the future,” Schmidt says. The garden was honored in 2017 with a “Special Place” award by the East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. Garden manager is a flexible, parttime position that oversees rose and garden care, volunteer training and workday events. Gardening, leadership and training experience are required. Volunteer coordinator manages the communications and scheduling of volunteers and events. Computer skills are required and previous experience is helpful. To apply, send a letter of interest with background information to mckinleyrosegarden@aol.com.

SAVING HIS SANITY South Land Park resident Paul Tsuda recently released a book of poetry, “Saving My Sanity: A Book of Non-Academic Poetry,” that features

poems about his life alongside love letters to his native Sacramento. “I’ve been writing poems since I entered Stanford in 1971,” says Tsuda, who grew up in East Sacramento, enrolled pre-med at Stanford, dropped out for 13 years and eventually returned to earn his bachelor’s degree in English literature with an emphasis in poetry. “I have used my writing as a way to help me survive the difficulties of living with bi-polar disorder. Readers can also expect poems about (my family), Paul Tsuda life at Stanford, has released working as a a compilation technician at of poems AT&T—to sum based on life up, they can experiences. expect to know me and how I’ve lived, felt and thought about my life.” Readers will enjoy this collection of “non-academic”

On Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15, the tenants of the Fuller Building at 1021 R St. are honoring Women’s History Month with a weekend of art exhibitions, performances and more. “Not only is March Woman’s History Month, but 2020 is the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote,” says Cynthia Lou, owner of Sparrow Gallery. To celebrate, Lou and fellow Fuller tenants—ARTHOUSE, Fox & Goose, Arareity Jewelers and more—are presenting women-centric activities to “reflect on our feelings about women’s progress in the last 100 years.” Events include a Womxn’s Marketplace sponsored by River City Marketplace, artist talks, live painting, opera singing by Olivia Smith, a tea party sponsored by Tea Cozy and receptions for artists Margarita Chaplinska, Stephanie Taylor and Brenda Louie. For more information, visit sparrowgallery.com or arthouseonr.com.

UNITED WAY MEMBERS OF THE YEAR Tracy Sambrano of Land Park and Rocio Cepeda-Espinoza of Arden were named United Way California Capital Region’s Women United Members of the Year at a recent ceremony at Midtown’s Antiquité Maison Privée.

The center was the only Sacramento organization to receive NEA support in this round of fiscal year 2020 funding. The grant will support the production of “Border People,” a theater piece written and performed by awardwinning actor/writer Dan Hoyle, as well as workshops with Hoyle culminating in a theater production by local artists. Workshops will begin later this month. Performances of “Border People” will take place in July. The Latino Center of Art and Culture is located at 2700 Front St. For more information, visit thelatinocenter.com.

"Exhale," a painting by Shana Levenson, is part of Sparrow Gallery's group show honoring Women's History Month.

YOGA FOR MATURE BODIES

The women were honored for their commitment to United Way’s Square One Project, which ensures local students graduate from high school prepared for success in college and beyond. Sambrano is area manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and has been a member of United Way’s Women United action group since 2009, working to help local foster youth succeed in school and career. Cepeda-Espinoza is virtual sales operations director for Nationwide and has been involved with United Way since joining Nationwide in 2004. She became a Women United member in 2015. United Way’s Square One Project helps high school students in the greater Sacramento area stay on track to graduate by providing everything from meals and tutors to supportive relationships and guidance on saving for college tuition. For more information, visit yourlocalunitedway.org.

SUMMER @ CITY HALL Applications open March 7 for Summer @ City Hall, a six-week summer learning experience that provides students the opportunity to learn local government processes and

how to become an active member of their community. Credentialed teachers deliver a curriculum focusing on civic engagement, governmental structure and youth development. Summer @ City Hall teaches high school students how to find their inner voices and bring a youth perspective to city issues and concerns. Classroom sessions take place Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon at City Hall. Free breakfast and lunch will be provided. Students are also required to complete a 42-hour internship. Summer @ City Hall is open to current high school sophomores and juniors. Applicants must attend a high school in the Natomas Unified School District, Sacramento Unified School District or Twin Rivers Unified School District, or live within the Sacramento city limits. For more information, visit cityofsacramento.org/summer-at-cityhall.

LATINO CENTER GRANT The Latino Center of Art and Culture was recently awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Sacramento Yoga Center (inside Sierra 2 Center at 2791 24th St.) is now offering Yoga for Mature Bodies, on either a mat or chair, taught by registered yoga teacher Deanna Bloom. “I came to yoga to find that still quiet place within,” says Bloom, who has practiced since 2013 and brings a career of massage therapy to her teaching. “In these classes, we move through yoga postures using our breath to lengthen and strengthen.” Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mat classes are noon to 1:15 p.m. and chair classes are 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Classes are ongoing, no sign-up necessary. For more information, visit sacramentoyogacenter.com or e-mail deanna@sacramentoyogacenter.com.

museum for free and be encouraged to bring friends and family. “Chronic pain is a complex condition,” said Ian Koebner, an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and the director of integrative pain management at UC Davis Medical Center. “It affects the body, the mind, and can significantly impact social interactions. We are trying to identify ways to more effectively address the problems associated with ongoing pain.” To be eligible to participate in the study, volunteers must be 18 or older, English speaking, living with moderate chronic pain for six months or longer, and feel moderately lonely. For more information, contact Ruchi Rawal at ucdhartrx@gmailcom or (916) 619-3383.

FREE TAX PREP Arden, Land Park, Midtown and Oak Park residents are eligible for tax prep help through United Way California Capital Region’s Free Tax Prep program. The program provides free appointments with IRS-certified volunteers to help residents prepare their electronic tax returns and claim the maximum tax credits for which they are eligible. Appointments are available at several locations. Check your eligibility, look up locations and make an appointment at yourfreetaxprep.org, or call 211 or (800) 500-4931.

PAIN STUDY VOLUNTEERS Volunteers are needed for a study recently launched by UC Davis to explore whether participating in an arts program at a museum can help someone with chronic pain feel more socially connected and, therefore, decrease the unpleasantness of their pain. Those who meet the study’s criteria may get assigned to at least one arts-related program at the Crocker Art Museum. Participants need to attend the program on one or two Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon. Those chosen for the Tracy Sambrano and Rocio Cepeda-Espinoza (pictured) study will visit the are United Way California Capital Region’s Women United

Members of the Year.

ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

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LOVE ON LOAN Do you have a friendly dog or other pet? The Sacramento SPCA needs human and animal volunteers for Love on Loan, a pet-assisted therapy program that provides visits from furry friends to local schools, businesses, nursing homes and childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organizations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The benefits of animal-assisted therapy are well documented,â&#x20AC;? according to the SSPCA. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In hospitals, nursing homes and hospices, dogs, cats, rabbits and other friendly animals are brightening the lives of folks who are physically or mentally ill, seriously depressed, or lonely.â&#x20AC;? Those interested must attend the SSPCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Volunteer Orientation (upcoming times are listed at sspca.org/ volunteerorientation) and all pets are required to pass a behavior evaluation. The SSPCA is dedicated to reducing pet overpopulation, finding abandoned animals loving homes and helping people keep their pets healthy by providing low-cost spaying/neutering, medical care and vaccinations. For more information on Love on Loan, visit sspca.org/loveonloan.

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

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BIRD PHOTO CONTEST WINNER Sacramentoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wildlife Care Association has announced the winner of its 5th Annual Fall Photo Contestâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Chamong Xiong of Fresno, who captured a rare photo of a Leucistic Black Phoebe at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. The winning photo shows a genetic anomaly rarely found in nature. This normally jet-black native bird exhibits a trait similar to albinism, changing the bird's color to a light yellow-white. The Fall Photo Contest takes place annually from October through December to help raise funds for the nonprofit WCA, which provides rehabilitation, recovery and release to more than 10,000 injured, orphaned and displaced birds and small animals each year. For more information, visit wildlifecareassociation.com.

Volunteer Nereo Rebellato visits assisted-living facilities, hospitals, schools and childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homes through the Sacramento SPCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Love on Loan program.

The scholarship is designed to support and encourage choral singers ages 14 to 22 from the greater Sacramento area. Participants should be a current member of their school, church or community choir, and show commitment to and leadership in the choral arts. Applicants must upload a video audition to YouTube, submit an online application and, if selected, complete a live audition and interview on Saturday, March 28, at American River College. Winners will be announced during the Master Singers youth outreach concert

YouthSing! on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova. To apply and for more information, visit mastersingers.org/get-involved/ scholarship. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Submissions are due six weeks prior to the publication month. Previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n

YOUTH CHORAL SCHOLARSHIPS Applications are due Monday, March 16, for the Sacramento Master Singers Scholarship for Young Choral Singers (formerly known as the Asya Pleskach Scholarship).

A rare shot of a Leucistic Black Phoebe by Chamong Xiong wins the Wildlife Care Association Fall Photo Contest.

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Haven in Progress

PROVEN HOMELESS STRATEGY GAINS MOMENTUM

t the Downtown Sacramento Partnership annual State of Downtown breakfast, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he wants to build a Haven for Hope-style homeless treatment facility. He issued a challenge to the community to identify a site within 90 days. I’m a strong advocate for local governments to move beyond ineffective low-barrier “Housing First” homeless policies. Rather, we must aggressively

CP By Craig Powell City Politics • OPINION •

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

treat the root causes of homelessness in a long-term, clinical environment. Studies show the predominant causes of homelessness are drug addiction (primarily meth) and mental illness. Many people struggle with both. At low-barrier shelters, intoxicated people can be admitted. Criminal backgrounds are never checked. Residents aren’t required to remain sober. They’re just prohibited from using or possessing drugs in the shelter. Low-barrier policies do little to change the trajectory of drug addicts and mentally ill homeless people, beyond bringing them indoors and feeding them. Promoting a long-term clinical solution to homelessness has been the top priority of Eye On Sacramento for the past two years. Last year, a grassroots group was organized to persuade the community that a shift in policy is essential: 1) to deal with our

growing homeless crisis; 2) help people relaunch their lives and reclaim dignity, independence and self-sufficiency; and 3) reduce the threat homelessness poses to safety and health. The new group, incorporated as a nonprofit with the name Hope for Sacramento, has been meeting with policymakers, elected officials and service providers, and speaking before the City Council, County Board of Supervisors and community groups to identify solutions. I serve as vice president of Hope for Sacramento. Our president is Sacramento health care executive Chris Jones. I want to thank the more than two dozen readers who offered to help. They were invited to a February orientation where they learned how to plug into the growing campaign for a robust clinical solution to Sacramento’s homelessness. One facility is a national model for clinical treatment of the homeless:

Haven for Hope in San Antonio, a 22acre campus divided into a low-barrier shelter that houses about 800 people most nights, and an adjoining intensive residential clinical treatment facility called the Transformational Campus (also housing about 800) that offers every conceivable service, from drug rehab and mental and physical health care to job training, LGBT youth care, veteran support and job placement. The facility is managed by a nonprofit, community-based organization. Its $21 million annual budget is funded by private dollars (50 percent) and grants from state, county and city. Street homelessness in San Antonio dropped 91 percent after Haven for Hope opened in 2010. It has a track record of helping people change their lives. The typical stay is about eight months.

Sacramento County Supervisors Patrick Kennedy and Susan Peters, and County Executive Nav Gill have toured Haven for Hope. Now Hope for Sacramento is organizing a group tour. While Steinberg’s support is vital, he joins other local leaders who see the need for a residential clinical care facility. Writing in the Bee, City Councilmember Steve Hansen said support is growing: “For the last few months, Sacramento leaders of government and health care have quietly been laying the groundwork for a campus that would bring comprehensive services and housing to people experiencing homelessness.” UC Davis Health CEO Dr. David Lubarsky supports the Haven for Hope idea. Help from regional health care systems is a key to building the extensive service network needed to support and staff a residential care facility. Under Lubarsky’s leadership, UCD commissioned a feasibility study. Regional health care systems have already given generously to the city’s shelter program—nearly $10 million, with Sutter Health contributing $5 million.

Haven for Hope San Antonio was built for $101 million with corporate and foundation grants and individual donations (55 percent), and city, county and state funding. The cost in California in 2020 will be higher. But state and local spending on homelessness has exploded—with little to show for it. The state budget includes $650 million in new homeless spending. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year calls for an increase of $750 million. Sacramento may not match the corporate base San Antonio enjoys, but we do have generous, communityminded corporations, foundations and philanthropic individuals and families. The San Antonio experience demonstrates that private-sector leadership is essential. A nonprofit management structure, led by an experienced, respected and independent board of directors, can deliver performance and evidence-based results, free of political influences. Our elected officials must solve this problem. Housing First policies— which are the law in California—often fail to deal with the root causes of homelessness. They are a bottomless financial pit, operating shelters and building new housing to satisfy an

inexhaustible demand for permanent, dependent housing for a growing homeless population that never gets better. New public housing projects in California cost an average of $500,000 per apartment, although Sacramento’s newest project, Twin Rivers on Richards Boulevard, is being built for $732,000 per unit, the highest cost in the state. A Haven for Hope Sacramento, with the capacity to handle 1,600 to 2,000 homeless people each night, would put local government in a legal position to enforce its anti-camping ordinances in parks, parkways and city streets. Under the Ninth Circuit Court’s Martin v. City of Boise decision, such ordinances cannot be enforced unless a community has enough shelter beds for people living outside. With Haven for Hope, the homeless would have a choice to accept shelter at the facility or at another shelter, go elsewhere or face prosecution. Homeless encampments could be removed and the public’s safety and health protected. The only humane, fiscally sane and politically survivable escape for politicians is to help homeless people regain their dignity, independence and self-sufficiency. These goals require an intensive residential clinical setting.

Hope for Sacramento is developing criteria to evaluate sites for Haven for Hope. If you have suggestions, please let me know. And please contact me if you’d like to be a part of the Hope for Sacramento effort. Craig Powell is a retired attorney, businessman, community activist and president of Eye On Sacramento, a watchdog and policy group. He can be reached at craig@eyeonsacramento. org or (916) 718-3030. Previous columns can be found at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n

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Power rof Art The

WOMEN’S WISDOM LEADER HELPS NURTURE THE COMMUNITY

e all have different needs,” Ali Tucker Lichtenstein says. “One of mine is to be of service and give back. Everyone at Women’s Wisdom is here because it fulfills something.” Lichtenstein is the executive director and board chair of Women’s Wisdom Art, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable art classes in a safe, nurturing environment for women overcoming poverty, homelessness, violence and abuse in the community. Founded in 1991 by Laura Ann Walton as part of Maryhouse (a daytime hospitality shelter for homeless women and children), the program was operated under the wing of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services from 2000 until 2012, then as a nonprofit corporation under the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, and then, as of June 2016, as an independent 501(c)3. Lichtenstein first got involved with Women’s Wisdom Art in 2015 as a donor, then as a teacher of fiber arts and writing. (She is a prolific fiber artist, and taught women’s and gender studies, literature and writing at Keene State College in New Hampshire for nearly 20 years before moving to Sacramento.) When Walton decided to leave the organization in 2017, Lichtenstein was asked to assume the helm. She jumped at the chance to continue connecting with her new community through art. “We try to find art that’s meaningful,” says Lichtenstein, who makes everything from birds to quilts to dolls to art for social justice out of ask women what they need. If someone colorful fabrics and fibers. “Women’s hasn’t been able to get out of the house Wisdom is a bridge organization. We for two years, we help them break that isolation and build confidence to go out and do things. If a woman has retired from a profession and loses her social network, we give her a place to be connected again. Some women just need a place to have a healthy snack and brush their teeth. Women’s Wisdom provides that too.” By Jessica Laskey While the Denver native has a lot Meet Your Neighbor to be proud of from her long tenure of

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

Ali Tucker Lichtenstein

artistic advocacy, Lichtenstein is most proud of her social activism through artwork. Check out her Instagram and you’ll see everything from a patchwork image of Ruth Bader Ginsberg to an embroidery circle that proclaims “God is an Immigrant.” She also created and implemented the Sacramento Commission for Women and Girls, which travels around the city hosting “Listening Circles” during which diverse women’s groups discuss what they think women and girls need in

Sacramento. Each event also includes an art project where participants create quilt panels (more than 200 have been collected thus far) that Lichtenstein transforms into quilted banners and wall hangings to be used for rallies and marches. “I’ve fallen in love with Sacramento, but it’s not perfect,” the Land Park resident says. “We’ve got a lot of problems here that I’m trying to be a solution for. Women’s Wisdom helps women keep their heads in the game, take steps forward and support each other.” Lichtenstein also finds that art is an essential emotional outlet for the women the nonprofit serves. Whether that takes the form of painting a painful personal narrative onto a quilting square (Lichtenstein combined a series of these into an art story quilt for the group’s 25th anniversary show at the Crocker Art Museum) or creating spirit dolls, every art project has a purpose. “No matter where I am, I always end up teaching dolls,” says Lichtenstein, who’s sewing the hair on a “cozy, allnatural” doll as we speak. “I’ve taught academics all over the world, but the most learning would always happen after hours when students and their families would gather and make dolls. There’s something about the human image that speaks to people.” That, and tireless teachers like Lichtenstein. “No matter how tired I am at the end of the day, the connection to people in my community keeps me going.” For more information, visit womenswisdomart.org. To see Lichtenstein’s art, visit alilichtenstein. com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

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Fountain Valley

IS CAPITOL WATER FEATURE DOWN TO ITS LAST DROP?

t’s been awhile since Sacramento’s design and architecture mavens had a big conflict with the state over a building project. But there is a passionate little battle taking place right now over the fate of the historic but dry fountain west of the Capitol. This fight is nowhere near as pitched as the disagreement that festered between the city and state over the

GD By Gary Delsohn Building Our Future

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

giant East End office complex near the Capitol in the early 2000s. That project achieved some important urban renewal objectives, clearing blight and consolidating scattered state offices and workers. But critics said the potential for a more eclectic and pedestrianoriented streetscape was squandered. The fountain fight is quaint by comparison. While the Capitol fountain has an interesting history dating to the 1920s, when it was built apparently in part to reinforce the idea that Sacramento was the state’s permanent capital, it’s been dormant since 2010. More recently, it was shut down for good by Gov. Jerry Brown in deference to California’s drought. Although I’m not sure the fountain was ever the “beacon of civility and grandeur” one local design critic has

called it, when the water was bubbling and the fountain was illuminated at night, it was a nice welcoming spot in the open space between the two BeauxArts-style state buildings on either side, next to the state Capitol. The fountain and two buildings— the Jesse M. Unruh Building and the recently renovated Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building—are part of a federally registered historic district known as the Capitol Extension Group. The name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, although the fountain does have passionate devotees. Last July, after years of on-again, off-again conversations about repairing the fountain, the California Department of General Services issued a draft environmental impact report that seemed to seal the amenity’s fate.

The EIR was issued in connection with state plans to renovate and upgrade the 91-year-old Unruh Building as part of a 10-year building repair and construction initiative. The Unruh has a variety of fire, life safety, building code and other deficiencies that need repair. The renovation is projected to extend the life of the building by at least another 50 years, with construction expected to begin next winter and be completed by the end of 2023. “The Capitol fountain was constructed in the 1920s, has been non-operational since 2010, and is deteriorating,” the draft EIR concluded. “There are issues with electrical shortages in the fountain lighting, failure of mechanical equipment, leaks in the fountain bowl and associated

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A vintage postcard shows the brilliantly lit Capitol fountain at night. valves, and a possible drain line collapse.â&#x20AC;? In other words, the fountain, which is not exactly an architectural masterpiece, was not worth saving, General Services concluded. During the comment period after the EIR was issued, however, more than 100 people weighed in opposing its removal. Their feelings were well represented in an October â&#x20AC;&#x153;Viewpointsâ&#x20AC;? column in the Bee by Eleanor and Gregory VanAcker, members of Preservation Sacramento. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Capitol fountain,â&#x20AC;? they wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;is repairable and can be fully functioning with recirculated water, using less than one toilet flush of water per day. When functioning with active water sprays, it is a focal point for

downtown workers, tourists and visitors to enjoy. The fountain ensures an appealing view of the state Capitol: its active water would draw tourists, and it frames the Capitol when taking photos.â&#x20AC;? At least one state legislator, Democrat Assemblymember Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, seems to agree. McCarty has asked General Services to hold off on its plan to remove it. But as was the case with the far more impactful East End office project, the assemblymember and local preservationists may be fighting a losing battle. Gary Delsohn can be reached at gdelsohn@gmail.com. Previous columns can be read and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento.com. n

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Scandal Haunts Measure G STATE SHOWS WHY ‘CHILDREN’S FUND’ SHOULD FAIL

f Sacramento voters need a reason to reject Measure G, the Children’s Fund Act, on March 3, Derrell and Tina Roberts have provided it. Years ago, the husband and wife cofounded a North Sacramento nonprofit called the Roberts Family Development Center. On the surface, the center exists to help vulnerable young people. Unfortunately, State Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the center has been even more helpful to the Robertses. Derrell Roberts is one of the architects and primary supporters behind Measure G, which will skim about $12 million each year from police, fire, parks and other city services. The cash will go into the pockets of nonprofits—such as the Roberts Center.

RG By R.E. Graswich City Beat

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

Derrell Roberts has never been shy about promoting a voter initiative that will enrich him. But he has been shy about something else—how Becerra described the Roberts Center as nothing more than a “mere shell” and personal piggy bank for the Robertses. I’ve known Roberts for many years, but when I asked him about this, he declined. The attorney general alleged the Robertses diverted thousands of state dollars for personal use and gouged farmworkers on rent deposits. When caught, the Robertses stalled for more than a year, forcing Becerra to sue in 2017. In total, about $650,000 in state money disappeared after the Robertses became property managers for three farmworker housing centers in San Joaquin County, the attorney general said. The Robertses settled the complaint last summer. They agreed to pay back $400,000. The Robertses didn’t admit guilt, but the lawsuit and 239 pages of evidence are devastating—a roadmap of what can happen when a nonprofit has minimal accountability. The lawsuit is a sober antidote to Measure G. The suit and settlement were kept quiet until December, when city officials received a copy. Sacramento has spent

about $1.6 million in contracts with the Robertses over the past 10 years. The city quickly froze current contracts and ordered an audit. Other clients of the Robertses—especially local school districts—should respond with similar alarm. Measure G would make skimming easy for nonprofits that comingle business with pleasure. The law puts an amateurish, non-elected committee in charge. It prevents the City Council from challenging the committee’s decisions to give money to specific operators such as the Robertses. And Measure G is poorly written. There’s no language to cover what happens if the City Council rejects the committee’s three-year spending proposals and annual evaluations. The measure expires in 15 years, so the City Council could reject five spending plans and forget about the Children’s Fund. The Roberts fiasco shows what can happen to respected nonprofits. Darrell and Tina Roberts have been local fixtures for decades. Their board of directors included representatives from Kaiser Permanente, Wells Fargo, the Kings, Sacramento State, VSP, the Bee and law firms. Rep. Doris Matsui, Mayor Darrell Steinberg and County Supervisor Phil Serna were honorary members.

Despite the gold-plated board, the Robertses allegedly had no trouble mixing state money earmarked for farmworkers into their personal bank accounts. The evidence includes credit card payments the Robertses rang up at restaurants and hotels. They have eclectic taste, blowing $5,116 in one sitting at Ella on K Street and $25 at Country Waffles on Sunrise Boulevard. And remember, the Robertses were admired. Imagine what bad nonprofits do. If Measure G passes, the Robertses will be first in line for the city’s millions. The Roberts Family Development Center is still open. When the Robertses settled, they paid the state $100,000 and now must pay $7,500 a month through December 2022. The settlement doesn’t explain where the money comes from, but the city and school districts should ask. So should voters when they think about Measure G. R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Previous columns can be found at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n

MAYOR UNDERCUTS MEASURE G Measure G, the taxpayer giveaway to nonprofits such as the Roberts Family Development Center, has been out-maneuvered. Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who opposes Measure G, the Children’s Fund Act, on the March 3 Sacramento ballot, plans to run his own version of a youth initiative in November. Under Steinberg’s proposal, the city would allocate at least $2.5 million annually for the next four years to youth nonprofits. The dollars would rise when the city has surpluses. The city currently spends about $36 million a year on youth services. Measure G would take about $12 million annually from the general fund and give the money to nonprofits. Services such as police, fire and parks would be cut. Steinberg asked the City Council to place his measure on the November ballot whether or not Measure G passes. If voters approve Measure G, Steinberg’s measure would override it. —R.E. Graswich

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g H n i o d p n e i F Margaux Helm

COUNSELING CENTER PROVIDES AFFORDABLE THERAPY s a board member for the last four years of the HOPE Counseling Center, Margaux Helm has helped the nonprofit offer a variety of professional counseling services for

JL By Jessica Laskey Giving Back: Volunteer Proﬁle

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

families, couples and individuals using a flexible-fee structure. HOPE quite literally makes “hope” accessible. “There are so many people in our community who don’t have the resources to afford counseling,” says Helm, a licensed marriage and family therapist and fourth-generation Sacramentan who runs her private MFT practice out of her childhood home in Arden-Arcade. “HOPE allows people to access quality services based on need and income. We have a lot of clients in need, and HOPE is able to offer them support.” Helm first became interested in working with HOPE because of the

center’s use of the EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) method, an evidence-based therapy that addresses traumas and relational deficits. Helm—a certified EMDR practitioner and consultant—calls it “a gift” that the center can offer this therapy at an affordable price. Most EMDR therapists are expensive due to the extensive training required to become certified. HOPE combines contemporary psychotherapy, like EMDR, with transpersonal values that promote social, spiritual, emotional and physical well-being through its network of qualified therapists at three locations in Midtown, Roseville and Folsom. The center also serves as a training institute

to support associate clinical social workers, marriage and family therapist associates, professional counseling associates and MFT trainees as they go through the process of becoming licensed. “I’m particularly drawn to HOPE’s high standards and professionalism,” Helm says of the 11-year-old organization, which raises much-needed funds every October at its HOPS for HOPE fundraiser at the Milagro Centre in Carmichael. “Helping them helps the community.” Helm further helps her community by providing pro-bono counseling through the Soldiers Project, which provides free, confidential and unlimited mental health services to any activeduty service member or veteran who has served since Sept. 11, 2001. Helm works with the project in honor of her late parents, who were both veterans. The former WEAVE executive (Helm served as director of programs for 12 years before leaving to focus on counseling) also helps her husband raise puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, which provides trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities at no cost. When she’s not busy serving her Sacramento community, you might find Helm at the bookstore she co-owns in Portland that provides resources for personal and spiritual growth. “I’m trying not to call it a New Age bookstore, but that’s what it is,” Helm says with a laugh. After earning her BA in business at Sac State, Helm moved to the Pacific Northwest and opened the bookstore as a way to provide positive resources to her community. She was so inspired by the process that she decided to seek more “direct service,” eventually earning her master’s in counseling at the University of Puget Sound. “So much of the distress right now in the world is around interpersonal relationships,” Helm says. “People think that mental health is about a diagnosis, but it’s really about being a human being and needing support.” Support that can be found at HOPE. For more information, visit hope-counselingcenter.org or margauxhelmmft.com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

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Becca Isler

Dancing The Dream

ACROBATIC PERFORMER TAKES HER TALENT TO LAS VEGAS

nyone who ever called James Brown the hardest working person in show business never met Sacramento native Becca

Isler. Ten times a week, the C.K. McClatchy High School graduate performs at Wynn Las Vegas as an acrobatic dancer in Le Rêve – The Dream. Staged in an “aqua theater-inthe-round,” the show is so physically demanding that every cast member must become SCUBA-certified. Isler also owns Dogwood Party Rentals, a wedding décor company that she relocated from Sacramento to Las Vegas. Meanwhile, her daughter Romy is just a year old. It’s unclear when or if Isler gets to sleep.

DB By Daniel Barnes Meet Your Neighbor

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

Raised in Land Park, Isler started studying gymnastics as a child and performed competitive cheerleading as a teenager. Not wanting to waste all that training, but not interested in pursuing collegiate-level cheerleading, Isler decided to study dance at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. “I was shocked that my parents were OK with that,” she says. “I guess it worked out in the end.” Majoring in dance at college proved a unique experience for Isler. “You still have to do all the other classes, but you also have your dance classes all day long in between,” she says. “You’re always walking around campus in your sweats or dance clothes.” A couple of months before graduation, Isler auditioned for a Los Angeles-based dance theater called Diavolo. “They were a really acrobatic dance company, which I felt like I could do because I had my gymnastics background,” she says. “I made it through the whole thing and got a call within the next couple days.” Straight out of college, Isler started touring with Diavolo, traveling the world

nearly nine months out of the year. She performed in cities across the U.S., as well as in South Korea, Italy, Brazil and Canada. Diavolo dancers not only performed, they also unloaded the trucks, built the scenery and struck the set. With only 10 people in the company, dancers frequently played through injuries. “I was really young, so I felt like I would do anything for this company,” Isler says. “It was my whole life.” On top of it all, two dancers would go out during the day to teach classes in the communities they visited. Venues included elementary schools, universities, corporate trust classes, hospitals and a juvenile detention center. After four exhausting years with Diavolo, Isler started looking for other opportunities. She and a friend who was also in the company, “secretly auditioned for Le Rêve when we were back in town,” she says. Isler aced the audition and was invited back to Las Vegas for a Le Rêve workshop designed

to test not just the dancers’ talents, but also their fears. “They ask you to do something you’ve never done before, and you just try to make it happen,” Isler says. “In the moment, you almost become superhuman.” Her competition included an Olympian from Venezuela and an NCAA gymnast from Florida. Isler got the job, joining the international team of dancers and acrobats at Le Rêve in 2009. Eleven years later, she still performs 10 nights a week. The 90-person cast includes musicians, synchronized swimmers and ballroom dancers, but Isler and her team do a little bit of everything. “We do all the acrobatics, all the harness stuff, all the high diving, all the acrobatic dance stuff,” she says. Isler also performs an acrobatic dance solo twice a week, rotating with five other dancers in the show. Le Rêve is so demanding that performers get swim- and strengthtested every six months. After giving birth to Romy, Isler had only two months to get back into performing

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www.djkitchen.com 916.925.2577 shape. “I had to retrain my body,” she says. “You don’t realize how hard it is until your body can’t do it.” Meanwhile, Isler’s involvement with Dogwood Party Rentals began by accident. In operation since 2012, Dogwood rents out new and vintage items such as furniture, flatware, chairs and signage for weddings and other parties. Isler rented out some specialty items from the then Sacramento-based business for her wedding (her husband works in the Le Rêve carpentry department). When Isler’s mother returned the rentals, the owner mentioned she was selling the store, and the daydreaming began. “We thought it could work in Vegas. We thought about how fun it would be, and I just ran with it,” Isler says. “I bought the company and moved it here, and I’m hoping it will be my exit plan from Le Rêve.” For information on Le Rêve – The Dream, visit wynnlasvegas.com/ entertainment/le-reve-the-dream. Daniel Barnes can be reached at danielebarnes@hotmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

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Wow Factor

DUAL ARDEN OAKS HOMES RETAIN THEIR BEVERLY HILLS GLAM

imilar to a scene in a Nancy Drew mystery novel, homeowner Cathy Skeen pushes open a secret door concealed within a library bookcase and walks through the hidden passageway. What’s on the other side? Another complete house. Cathy and husband Dave Skeen purchased the dual floor plan residence in 2015. Together, the two homes total approximately 7,000 square feet with 22 different rooms—not to mention five separate heating systems. The secret door is just one of the many “wow” features of these two secluded homes tucked away behind a gated cul-de-sac in Arden Oaks, a wellmanicured, fashionable neighborhood shielded by Watt and Eastern avenues, north of Arden Way.

CR By Cathryn Rakich Open House

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According to the Skeens, a developer from Beverly Hills built the unique abodes in 1982 for his wife. “He showed it to her and she said, ‘Go ahead and sell it, I’ll never live here,’” Cathy says. The next owners occupied the estate until they died, and it sat vacant for three years before the homes went on the market and the Skeens scooped them up. “We wanted to keep some of the eclectic things because they are so unique,” says Cathy, who was adamant about maintaining the embellished elements of the Beverly Hills-inspired homes. Gilded moldings decorate the ceilings, mirrors and interior doors. More than 20 crystal chandeliers from France hang in almost every room, including walk-in closets. However, the outdated oak-centric kitchen in the main house (where the Skeens live) had to go. The couple started by employing Nar Bustamante and Ashlee Richardson of Nar Design Group to create an open, inviting and modern place for cooking and gathering. The first thing to catch your eye is the ultra-contemporary, emerald-cut crystal light fixture, hanging above the

Dave and Cathy Skeen with Roscoe.

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lights. When lit from within, the mirrors turn clear. “If you turn it on, it’s an art piece,” Dave says. The two center mirrors open to reveal a flatscreen TV. After the kitchen and family room were modernized, “we better have a powder room that looks like it belongs,” Cathy says. To add glam to the guest half bath, an original swan-head faucet was repurposed from one of several Roman tubs in the home, along with Swarovski crystal faucet handles. Changes to both homes involved replacing floors with carpeting and woodpatterned tile, stripping lots of wallpaper and painting. “Every wall in this house had wallpaper,” Cathy says. “And the ceilings too,” Dave adds. The homeowners were careful to preserve the original deep-vein blue Carrera marble that surrounds the master bedroom fireplace (and living room fireplace) and covers the walls, floor and Roman hot tub in the master bath. “Three contractors came out,” to consult on remodeling the bathroom, Dave says. “They couldn’t guarantee they could take off the marble without destroying it. And you cannot replace it.” In the second home—on the other side of the secret passageway—the Skeens maintained the retro-red kitchen with a cherry-colored sink, tile countertops and backsplash, as well as the rich oak bar and bright red leather booth that seats up to 10. “It’s kind of like Cheers,” Cathy says. More Roman tubs, gilded moldings, crystal chandeliers and even a “beauty salon” with a marble basin and ornate ceiling add to the wow factors. Speaking of the numerous chandeliers—Dave disassembled, rewired and rebuilt every one with LED lights. “I put in all LED lights throughout entire house and outside,” he says. While the original goal of owning two separate-but-attached homes was so a family member could live nearby, the Skeens now use the second house for “industrial gatherings,” Cathy says, such as a recent cookie-decorating party, and as a place to stay when guests are in town. The main house is for “more formal” affairs. To recommend a home or garden for Open House, contact Cathryn Rakich at crakich@surewest.net. More photography and previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. Select photos by Fred Donham of PhotographerLink. n

polished Carrera marble island, that plays off the oversized range hood adorned with extra-large faceted gold tiles. “Nar has such an imagination,” Cathy says. “I was thinking French provincial— and he came in with this.” The kitchen cabinets are “waterfall blue” and “designer white,” and provide a façade to disguise the industrial Sub-Zero refrigerator. Rolling countertop doors conceal deep storage for hiding away small appliances. The backsplash is marble to complement the countertops, but for a twist the tiles are triangle in shape. Not to be outdone is the 7-foot-long stainless-steel sink with two bronze faucets. “The sink is super amazing. It’s my coffin,” Cathy says with a laugh. Removeable boards fit across the top for various tasks, such as chopping, straining and washing—or turning the sink into a serving buffet or hiding dirty dishes. “We like to entertain and this sink has been a godsend.” As an added bonus, the window over the sink offers a stunning view of the lush backyard featuring an aqua-blue swimming pool with a mermaid mosaic surrounded by sea life. Along the pool’s outer edge are three alcoves, each with its own waterfall encased by boulders, river rocks and greenery. Nearly 150 trees, including 25 mature redwoods, provide privacy on the 1.3-acre lot. From the kitchen, make your way into the family room elevated 18 inches to bring the floor level with the rest of the home. “When we raised the floor, we were going to raise the rock fireplace,” Dave says. But the county nixed that plan due to integrity issues with the flue. “We were stuck,” he says. “We didn’t want to box it in—but didn’t want this big ugly rock thing.” With inspiration from designer Bustamante, the wall of rock was turned into a work of art. First, the stones got three coats of Cadillac gold paint. Next, the wall was framed with a black steel grid and one-way mirrors, then flooded with LED

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

“WE WANTED TO KEEP SOME OF THE ECLECTIC THINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE SO UNIQUE,” SAYS CATHY, WHO WAS ADAMANT ABOUT MAINTAINING THE EMBELLISHED ELEMENTS OF THE BEVERLY HILLS-INSPIRED HOMES.

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Profitable Handout CITY COULD CASH IN

ON SOCCER INVESTMENT

Jeff Harris

love it when Sacramento City Council members criticize my work. It means they care. One of my favorite councilmen, Jeff Harris, took exception to a column about the city’s partnership with the Sacramento Republic, the local sports club ready to leap into Major League Soccer. Harris wrote to say he disagreed with the headline over my story, which led with the words, “Soccer Handouts.” If I wanted to be cagey, I would have told him I didn’t have control over the headline, that a belligerent editor slapped the offending words above the story and it wasn’t my fault. But that would be a lie. In fact, I suggested the headline to the editor. I hoped it would attract readers such as Jeff Harris.

RG By R.E. Graswich Sports Authority

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

The story mentioned how the City Council agreed to provide at least $33 million for incentives to the Republic when it builds a new soccer stadium in the Downtown railyards. The biggest chunk of the incentive—$27.2 million—is a loan to the Republic. I thought the loan was ironic. After all, the city is always short of cash and asking taxpayers for more money. Meantime, Ron Burkle, who owns the local soccer team, measures his wealth with a billion-dollar scale. He doesn’t need a loan. Also, I was concerned by how Mayor Darrell Steinberg negotiated the general terms with Burkle and MLS executives before any agreement could be discussed by the City Council. By the time the soccer incentive reached the council for public review, it was a done deal. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad deal, Harris insists. If the partnership works out the way Harris, Steinberg and other councilmembers hope, Sacramento will benefit in several ways—financially, culturally and economically in a bleak corner of the city. “I’m not interested in being sold a bill of goods,” Harris says. “I’m pretty sure

I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid when it comes to Major League Soccer. But I do see potential here. We can end up with a new stadium. Plus we get a jumpstarted railyards and infrastructure. And we can make money on the deal.” The pot of gold Harris seeks will be found in something called an Enhanced Infrastructure Finance District. By forming the district, the city can generate money to pay for infrastructure at a distressed site, such as the old Southern Pacific yards. The finance district will benefit from taxes paid by the Republic and the entertainment attractions Burkle plans to build around his stadium. Without infrastructure, those businesses and their taxes would not exist. That’s why the city is making the loan. Harris volunteered to lead the new finance district. This is good for two reasons: One, Harris is not a sports guy. He’s not star-struck by the MLS. Two, Harris is a business guy who knows how to meet a payroll. Few councilmembers pay closer attention to the people’s money than Harris.

Harris represents the railyards, so he has professional interest in soccer’s success. He thinks the city will make a return of better than 7.5 percent on its loan to the Republic, though we won’t know that for decades. “We don’t have a final document that lays out all the terms,” he says. “That still has to be hammered out. So I can’t tell you exactly how I think it will play out. But from the numbers I’ve seen, I think we have a very good chance of getting an excellent rate of return.” Here’s another reason why Harris is optimistic. He sees the Republic and MLS as a positive addition to Downtown, with tickets priced low enough for families. “The thing I like about Republic soccer games is I can afford it,” he says. That’s something Burkle better remember when he starts selling tickets for the 2022 MLS season. R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Previous columns can be read and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento.com. n

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Lost But Not Forgotten M

The Forgotten Railroad Workers Memorial Monument, by artist Xuejun Yang, is on display at the California State Railroad Museum. Photo courtesy of the U.S.-China Railroad Friendship Association.

any of us know of the Transcontinental Railroad—a significant venture in United States history when an expansive railway system was built to connect our country in ways people could only imagine. However, not all are aware of what went into constructing such a large undertaking and what it cost a specific group of people—Chinese workers. The California State Railroad Museum has set out to expand our knowledge with an exhibit called the Chinese Railroad Workers’ Experience. Between 1865 and 1869, approximately 15,000 Chinese migrants, comprising 90 percent of the railroad workforce, labored at a grueling pace and in treacherous conditions to help construct America’s first Transcontinental Railroad. “The story of the Chinese railroad workers is one of hard work and perseverance,” says museum guide Debbie Hollingsworth. The exhibit provides a view of the Chinese workers, marginalized by history and facing extreme prejudice, who built the western portion of the railroad connecting Utah to California. “One of the most challenging tasks facing the Central Pacific Railroad was the need to drill train tunnels through the rock-solid granite of the Sierra Nevada.” Modern-day tools were not an option. Instead, Chinese workers drilled tunnels using black powder and hand tools. “By far, the most difficult was the Summit Tunnel,” Hollingsworth shares. “Working in teams of two or three, one person would hold the drill (an iron rod with a star tip), while another hit the drill with a sledgehammer. They did

CM By Caitlin McCulloch

EXHIBIT SHEDS LIGHT ON CHINESE WORKERS’ CONTRIBUTION TO TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

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this until they made a hole big enough for explosives and a fuse. Teams of workers started on each end of the 1,695-foot tunnel and worked inward. It was a slow process. They averaged only a foot per day.” Extreme weather conditions forced the workers to soldier on through snowstorms, avalanches and blizzards. This only added to the Chinese workers’ hardships, which included discrimination, such as significantly lower wages than white workers. In addition to the museum exhibit, the Forgotten Railroad Workers Memorial Monument from the U.S.China Railroad Friendship Association is on display. Last September, 150 years after the railroad was completed, the California State Railroad Museum held a Buddhist blessing ceremony for this bronze work of art. “Venerable Ju-Hsian Shih from Fo Guang Shan Bodhi Temple blessed the monument honoring the workers

on the Central Pacific Railroad,” says Elizabeth Lew-Wong, whose greatgrandfather was a “coolie,” otherwise known as a laborer, on the railroad. “She also prayed for the deceased 1,200 workers, of which many of their bodies never were returned to China … It was very moving,” Lew-Wong adds. The Chinese Railroad Workers’ Experience is a must-see. The California State Railroad Museum is open Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children 6–17 and free for children 5 and younger. Afterward, further your experience of the Transcontinental Railroad’s Chinese labor force by swinging by 11th and J streets to view a mural by local artist Maren Conrad. This seven-story masterpiece is not to be missed. Caitlin McCulloch can be reached at mcculloch.caitlin@gmail.com. n

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READERS NEAR & FAR 1. Suzanne and Jaff Auchterloine visit the archeologic site, Monte Albán, in Oaxaca, Mexico. 2. Ken Fry at the SwissTech Conference Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. 3. Heidi Goodman and David Bull at Huka Falls, New Zealand. 4. Bob and Sharon Zettlemoyer at the World War I Memorial in Nice, France. 5. Jason Bove in Wailea, Maui. 6. Stephen and Ede Brandenburger visit the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.

Visit our new website at InsideSacramento.com, under “Near & Far,” for a map with past readers' photos! You can also submit photos directly from our website. It's never been so easy!

Take a picture with Inside and email a high-resolution copy to travel@insidepublications.com or submit directly from our website at InsideSacramento. com. Due to volume of submissions, we cannot guarantee all photos will be printed or posted. Find us on Facebook and Instagram: InsidePublications.

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Completion of the Sacramento River Parkway through Little Pocket was one of several topics at last month’s debate between City Councilmember Steve Hansen (left) and Katie Valenzuela, Hansen’s opponent for the District 4 seat. CBS13 News Anchor Steve Large (center) moderated the debate.

Local Anesthetic HOW COUNCILMEMBERS RULE THEIR ROOSTS

acramento City Council members can make things happen. But they are even better at stopping a project cold. The council, which includes eight district representatives and the mayor,

RG By R.E. Graswich Pocket Beat

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

is supposed to be collaborative and democratic. But City Hall tradition allows councilmembers to act as rulers of their own little kingdoms—especially if they want to kill something. If a councilmember doesn’t support a plan in his or her district, it has a nearzero chance of happening. The opposite is also true. In Pocket and Greenhaven, Councilmember Rick Jennings decided to finish the Sacramento River Parkway atop the river levee. “We have to keep the promise that the city made to the community in 1975 and finish this trail,” he says. It took five years to pull together the funds, but once Jennings let his City

Council colleagues know he wanted to complete the levee project, he had their support. Why did it take the council 40 years to act on the river parkway? Simple: Two earlier Pocket councilmembers— Lynn Robie and Robbie Waters—didn’t want to upset property owners along the levee. They buried the parkway plan. Armed with political influence, riverfront homeowners blocked public access to the city’s greatest natural resource for four decades. Local councilmembers supported the property owners by ignoring the city’s promise to finish the parkway. It took a one-term councilmember, Darrell Fong, to finally say enough’s

enough, let’s get the parkway built. When Jenkins replaced Fong in 2014, he followed Fong’s lead and pushed for the long-overdue project. From there, Jennings’ enthusiasm pushed the City Council forward. Now residents are watching the bad old process repeat itself in Little Pocket. That’s where Councilmember Steve Hansen, collaborating with about 40 riverfront homeowners, has blocked completion of a one-mile stretch of the river parkway. Hansen won’t reveal his true motives. But he acts like a lawyer for the 40 or so homeowners. He prevents the greater community from enjoying river access.

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Wills•Trusts•Probate & Special Needs Trusts Meantime, the rest of the City Council does nothing—thanks to the tradition of local lordship. Even though the council (Hansen included) unanimously supported Jennings’ river access plans in Pocket and Greenhaven, councilmembers won’t challenge Hansen in Little Pocket. They won’t help his district unless Hansen wants help. He doesn’t. That’s why public access to the river in Little Pocket is stalled until Hansen exits the City Council. There are rare exceptions to the local lordship rule. Last summer, Meadowview Councilmember Larry Carr furiously argued against the presence of a homeless shelter in his district across from the Pannell Community Center. Pressured by Mayor Darrell Steinberg, the council majority ignored Carr and approved the shelter. The council knew Carr was a lame duck—he already said he would not run for reelection. His opinions ceased to count. In 2014, Councilmember Steve Cohn lost an important vote in his East Sacramento district. He opposed plans for McKinley Village, a new subdivision, but the council approved the development anyway. Cohn left the council months later to run for the state

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Lambtrust.com Assembly. He lost to fellow Councilman Kevin McCarty. Cohn almost lost another big East Sac development vote in 2007, when he expressed concerns over the expansion of Mercy General Hospital. He ultimately joined the majority and approved the project after the hospital promised to make its new cardiac wing more pedestrian friendly. McKinley Village and Mercy Hospital were big deals. The shelter in Meadowview was consumed by Steinberg’s promises to resolve the homeless crisis. With smaller, less controversial projects, such as the river levee parkway, the council falls back on tradition. That’s how two councilmembers— Robie and Waters—whose tenures spanned 29 years, managed to keep the City Council from completing the river parkway promised in 1975. And how Hansen manages to block public access to the river in Little Pocket today. R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Previous columns can be read and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento.com. n

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Andrea Weathington

Habitat Helpers REJECTS ARE GOLDEN AT RESTORE WAREHOUSE

ost people know about Habitat for Humanity and its mission to provide affordable housing. But fewer are aware of ReStore, Habitat’s 45,000-square-foot warehouse selling donated construction materials, home furnishings, fixtures and other items.

SC By Scot Crocker Inside Downtown

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

The ReStore warehouse at 819 North 10th St. generates significant revenue to support Habitat’s primary mission of bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Basically, Habitat rallies volunteers to build homes for people in need. To support the mission, Habitat raises money through financial donations and events. ReStore dollars provide a catalyst for more homebuilding projects. In the past year, ReStore generated about $1.3 million while diverting 950,000 pounds of materials from landfills. “It’s been a good year for us,” says Andrea Weathington, ReStore’s resource development officer. “Our goal for the

upcoming year is to reach $1.5 million in revenue.” With five full-time and five parttime employees under the direction of Phil Miller, ReStore is on a mission. Weathington handles promotion and community outreach to seek collections from businesses, construction firms and other sources. Donations to ReStore run from common to unique. And the constant flow of new products keeps new and loyal customers coming back for more. “We have the support of construction companies who provide us with leftover building materials that we can sell for 30 to 70 percent off,” Weathington says.

“We get cabinets, lots of light fixtures, doors, windows, materials and more. Other contractors looking for a good deal can find what they need here.” Other donated items include useable furniture and home furnishings from individuals and families who would rather donate these goods than send them to a landfill. Some of the donations are used but still in good shape. Some are new. ReStore received a donation of many new Keurig coffeemakers, which were a hit with ReStore shoppers. Other highend donations include Lumen’s light fixtures and returned products from Costco and other retailers.

One popular category at ReStore includes furniture sent back to manufacturers by customers. Instead of taking the product back, manufacturers and retailers donate to ReStore. A big hit at ReStore was the sale of brand-new furniture from Los Angeles home furnishings company Joybird. When the products hit the warehouse, there was a line out the door. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was so popular that it looked like Black Friday after customers heard about the inventory from social media posts,â&#x20AC;? Weathington says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We still get more inquiries asking when will get more Joybird furnishings.â&#x20AC;? The folks at Joybird take a lot of pride in supporting Habitat and ReStore. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At Joybird we believe design is personal and no one is making design more personal than Habitat for Humanity. We are honored to be a small part of the work they do,â&#x20AC;? says Aubree Salmon, Joybird project manager. She explains Joybird furniture is custom built with a liberal return policy. If a buyer doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the color or look, or it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fit properly, the buyer has a year to return it. Rather than take the product back, Joybird donates it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really important that our products are used again,â&#x20AC;? says Laurie Badger, Joybirdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s customer happiness

efficiencies manager. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We really like Habitatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission and it aligns with our mission.â&#x20AC;? The Joybird team of Badger, Salmon and Jennifer Nguyen was honored at Habitatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent 26th annual Hammy Awards celebrating donors, sponsors and trade partners. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was really, really exciting,â&#x20AC;? Salmon says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of mind blowing to see the impact weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had in Sacramento and the good work Habitat does in the community.â&#x20AC;? To reach its goal of $1.5 million in revenue, Weathington plans more outreach for donations from individuals and businesses while promoting the store aggressively through social and traditional media. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a lot planned,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are putting together do-it-yourself events every quarter at the ReStore to help our customers with various homeimprovement products.â&#x20AC;? Scot Crocker can be reached at scot@ crockerbranding.com. Previous columns can be read and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n

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ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

Best Feline Friend

Carol Stirnaman

CARMICHAEL OCTOGENARIAN MARKS HER SECOND DECADE OF HELPING

fter the death of her husband in 1998, Carol Stirnaman needed something to occupy her time. Always a pet lover, the Sacramento-born resident considered volunteering at a local animal shelter.

CR By Cathryn Rakich Pets and Their People

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

“I was looking for some type of volunteer work and I wanted it to be with animals,” she says. “I had cats and dogs all my life. I’m one of those people who just falls in love with animals.” Stirnaman heard about Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary, a nonprofit animal-rescue group with an adoption center in East Sacramento, via a story on the local news. Her attention was piqued when she learned Happy Tails is “no kill”—pets taken into Happy Tails are not euthanized for space or behavior issues, only for medical reasons that affect quality of life.

“So, I went down to check it out. That’s how I got started.” This year marks Stirnaman’s 20th anniversary as a Happy Tails volunteer, first as an adoption counselor matching people with cats in need of a loving home. Then, a year later, she added foster parent to her volunteer title. Now, at 86, Stirnaman reports she has fostered 438 kittens and cats for Happy Tails. “I counted up how many fosters I’ve had—I keep all the paperwork,” she says, remembering the first feline was a tiny grey one. “Then two beautiful little calicos.”

Stirnaman retired in 1993 as a mechanical technician at the Sacramento Army Depot on FlorinPerkins Road. “I repaired radios for the Army. I started with the government when I first got out of school.” She and her husband Edward wed in 1955 and were married for 43 years. She has lived in the same home in Carmichael for 65 years, where she and Ed raised their two daughters. That same house is now foster cat central. Living alone has allowed Stirnaman to convert an extra bedroom into a “foster kitten room” with scratching posts, cat trees, pet

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THEATRE GUIDE WHEN WE WERE COLORED: A MOTHER’S STORY Guild Theatre Thru March 14 2828 35th St (35th St & Broadway) Sac 800-595-4849

If you enjoy our print magazine, you’ll love what else Inside Sacramento has in store... Social Media

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Based on the memoir by Eva Rutland, When We Were Colored: A Mother’s Story tells the story of a black family that moves to Sacramento in 1952. What is it like to be the first black family in an all-white neighborhood? Or the only little “colored” girl in your third grade class? And what do you say when your daughter calls you an “Uncle Tom?” It’s a poignant story of and ordinary black family living through extraordinary times in Sacramento and America.

HAMLET

Sacramento Theatre Company Thru March 22 1419 H Street, Sac 916-443-6722 SacTheatre.org

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Limited Time Offer: FREE Book with Membership!

THE ExperiMENTALISTS Geery Theatre March 7 2130 L Street, Sac 916-448-9019

The ExperiMentalists present a fun and entertaining night of exploration into the unexplained mysteries of the mind. Using their highly developed mental and intuitive abilities, three mentalists will demonstrate incredible feats of extrasensory perception (ESP), mind reading, and impossible predictions. They will have you asking the question, ‘is this real?’

I NEVER SAW ANOTHER BUTTERFLY

Sacramento Theatre Company March 4 – March 8 1419 H Street, Sac 916-443-6722 SacTheatre.org

As Shakespeare’s most popular play, both during his own Elizabethan era and today, this tragedy concerns Prince Hamlet and his struggle to exact revenge. Hamlet’s father, the King of Denmark, has been murdered by his uncle, Claudius. Claudius has now married the leading lady of Denmark Hamlet’s mother, the Queen, and seized the throne. In his process of vengeance, Hamlet grapples with themes of death, honor, corruption, and a host of other existential questions in this, one of the crown jewels of world literature. Join Sacramento Theatre Company for a free Prologue Series in the Lobby 45 minutes before each regularly scheduled performance, where everyone will learn more about the play, the author(s), and the production they are about to see.

Performed by students from STC School of the Arts, Young Professionals Conservatory, this beautiful and moving play, written by Celeste Raspanti, is based on the poetry created in a concentration camp by the Jewish children of Prague. Over 15,000 Jewish children passed through Terezin, and only about a hundred were still alive when Terezin was liberated at the end of the war. One of the survivors, Raja, having lived through it all, teaching the children when there was nothing to teach with, helping to give them hope when there was little enough reason for hope, creating a little world of laughter, of flowers and butterflies behind the barbed wire, tells the true story of the children. It is her play and it is theirs. There were no butterflies at Terezin, of course, but for the children, butterflies became a symbol of defiance, making it possible for them to live on and play happily while waiting to be transported.

THE BLUEST EYE

SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS

Adapted by Lydia Diamond from the novel by Toni Morison. The play looks at the tragic life of a young black girl in 1940’s Ohio. Eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove wants nothing more than to be loved by her family and schoolmates. Instead she faces constant ridicule and abuse. She blames her dark skin and prays for blue eyes, sure that love will follow.

In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect. Filled with awkward humor, this strange and compassionate new play asks how we address life’s biggest questions when words fail us.

The Big Idea Theatre March 6 – April 4 1616 Del Paso Blvd, Sac 916-960-3036 Bigideatheatre.org

Celebration Arts Thru March 22nd 2727 B Street, Sac 916-455-2787 Celebrationarts.net

InsideSacramento.com

SUBMIT EVENTS TO ANIKO@INSIDEPUBLICATIONS.COM

ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

15+ years of thoughtful home remodeling

CREATIVE DESIGN AND BUILD

TURNING YOUR HOUSE TO HOME beds, a couple of litter boxes, an abundance of toys and a bay window with two shelves on which felines can lounge in the sunshine. Also in the corner of the room is a two-story wire cage. “If I bring a new one in, I’ll put her in the big cage and let her observe the others for a couple of days. Then pretty soon, they are all mingling. Once I know they are all friendly, then they get to roam the rest of the house.” But Stirnaman has a hard and fast rule—at bedtime, the young felines go back into the kitty room, “because I already have three on my bed at night.” Those three are what people in the animal-rescue world call “foster failures.” Amber is a 10-year-old calico/tortie mix and one of the few adult cats Stirnaman has fostered. “I don’t know why I adopted her,” she says. “I guess I didn’t think she would get adopted because of her personality. She was very aloof. But she’s really turned out to be a sweet cat.” Gidget is 9 years old—a gorgeous Persian mix with long black hair who

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

was adopted twice through Happy Tails, but returned both times for urinating in inappropriate places. “I thought, ‘No one is going to adopt her,’” Stirnaman says. “Now she’s OK—she doesn’t do that anymore. She’s the perfect senior cat.” In fact, Gidget is the ambassador to the foster kittens. “They love her. She takes care of them, grooms them. So she’s worth it.” Cece, a black and white cat who is now 6 years old, is the only feline over the years that Stirnaman adopted as a kitten. “I’ve never had a cat so devoted to me. She lets the others know she belongs to me.” The Happy Tails adoption center on Folsom Boulevard houses adult cats. Kittens and dogs go into foster homes, which is why Stirnaman fosters mostly felines under the age of 1. Kitten adoptions are held every weekend at the PetSmart at Watt Avenue and Arden Way. During the week, PetSmart cages are filled with adult cats from the adoption center. In addition to fostering felines and volunteering as an adoption counselor, Stirnaman runs the Happy

ONE ROOM AT A TIME

Tails adoption area at PetSmart, making sure supplies are stocked and volunteer cleaners show up for their shifts, among many other duties. You will find Stirnaman at PetSmart every Saturday helping people and kitties make connections. She returns on Sunday, when weekend adoptions wrap up, to help clean the cages and pick up adoption paperwork. She also stops in during the week to collect food and other donations left by PetSmart shoppers, check on supplies, ensure clean cages and perform an occasional midweek adoption. Stirnaman never goes long without a foster kitten or three running around her home. Today, she has an orange tabby named Daisy Cakes who Happy Tails took in when she was found running loose in PetSmart. “They were not sure if she was dumped or came in through the backdoor when it was open.” Wavy Gravy is a grey tabby with a crooked tail, and Tina is a shy tortie. “Whoever adopts Tina will have to be patient with her,”

Stirnaman says. They all go in the next day for spaying, vaccinating and microchipping (mandatory for all Happy Tails pets prior to adoption). Is it hard to let fosters go? “I’ve been able to handle that. It can be scary because you want so much to make sure the cat gets into the right home. Especially if you’ve fostered it—and given it all this love.” For Stirnaman, the past two decades of volunteering have been like a full-time job. “When I lost my husband, I knew I had to do something besides sitting around the house. I look back and think, ‘If I didn’t have this, what would I do?’ “I advise any widow—after the grieving part—to get involved in something they are really interested in. Happy Tails has been a good fit for me.” Cathryn Rakich can be reached at crakich@surewest.net. Previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

NEIGHBORHOOD REAL ESTATE SALES Sales Closed January 1 - February 11

95608

6109 COYLE 2721 PANAY CT 6620 LANDIS AVE 3720 HOLLISTER AVE 6000 VAN ALSTINE AVE 5417 EDGERLY WAY 5000 ENGLE RD 6121 COYLE AVENUE 6158 LONGMONT WAY 5143 ALMOND WAY 5123 SCHUYLER DR 3450 CALIFORNIA AVE 5989 ADANA CIR 5542 WOODLEIGH DR 3900 PARK CIRCLE LN #C 5231 RITA AVE 5103 RICHON VISTA CT 3244 MANCEL CT 5226 LINDA LOU DR 5545 LINDA LN 2713 PANAY CT 5324 NYODA WAY 4743 MELVIN DR 6416 TEAL WAY 5212 SCHUYLER DR 4917 FOSTER WAY 5020 COTTAGE WAY 2302 VIA CAMINO AVE 1809 SAINT ANN CT 1808 LAMBETH WAY 3930 HILLGROVE WAY 6219 TENNY CT 2522 EL TONAS WAY 2601 TRENTWICK CT 3647 HOLLISTER AVE 4312 HUSSEY DR 5801 KIMBERLY HILL CT 5224 NORTH AVE 2318 FALLWATER LN 4432 ROLLINGROCK WAY 4648 LUE LN 5968 VIA CASITAS 80 RIVERKNOLL PL 3611 NICOLETTE WAY 2501 WINSFORD LN 5140 NORTH AVE 5351 GREELEY WAY 3947 HILLGROVE WAY 5549 CLARK AVE 3512 LYNNMAR WAY 3057 STANTON CIR 5453 EDGERLY WAY 3238 MURCHISON WAY 3111 OZZIE CT 6136 ORSI CIR 5026 ROBANDER ST

$330,000 $330,000 $840,000 $382,500 $456,000 $342,000 $450,000 $349,900 $345,000 $405,000 $379,900 $700,000 $426,000 $389,000 $260,000 $519,888 $280,000 $395,900 $339,000 $845,000 $395,000 $450,000 $417,000 $423,000 $379,900 $385,000 $445,000 $247,000 $442,000 $670,000 $450,000 $505,000 $353,500 $572,900 $605,000 $680,000 $415,000 $360,000 $380,000 $410,000 $430,000 $200,000 $450,000 $480,000 $396,000 $475,000 $390,500 $401,000 $539,000 $688,000 $420,000 $276,100 $530,000 $537,000 $319,990 $440,000

95815

2146 OXFORD ST

197 SOUTHGATE RD

95816

2310 Q ST 2127 N ST 1715 SAN TIMOTEO WALK 219 24TH ST 1500 37TH ST 1615 34TH ST 2130 H ST 1707 SAN TIMOTEO WALK 1621 28TH ST 3133 MCKINLEY BLVD 7 METRO LN 3022 D ST 2117 S ST #206 3749 MCKINLEY 3350 SERRA WAY 3153 T ST 306 24TH ST 2320 D ST 1216 34TH STREET

95817

5412 V ST 3160 1ST AVE 3324 43RD 4112 4TH AVE 3209-3211 33RD ST 4000 1ST AVE 3419 36TH ST 5422 2ND AVE 3140 MLK JR BLVD 6130 2ND AVE 2806 64TH ST 3338 44TH 2501 52ND ST 3201 SAN JOSE WAY 3709 BROADWAY

95818

1415 W ST 2616 CASTRO WAY 641 FREMONT WAY 2504 U ST 2442 2ND AVE 2644 17TH STREET 893 6TH AVE 520 MERKLEY WAY 3137 CROCKER DR 424 TAILOFF LN 3121 CROCKER DR 3653 CROCKER DR 2532 11TH AVE 2733 FREEPORT BLVD 3209 CROCKER DR

$429,000 $475,000

$520,000 $533,000 $520,000 $470,000 $679,950 $444,400 $700,000 $520,000 $499,900 $985,000 $520,500 $714,532 $520,000 $875,000 $430,000 $510,000 $565,000 $820,000 $655,000 $509,000 $535,000 $326,000 $479,000 $437,500 $431,200 $380,000 $565,000 $290,000 $250,000 $400,000 $235,000 $395,000 $165,000 $300,000 $455,000 $555,000 $570,000 $470,000 $535,000 $675,000 $420,000 $470,000 $711,000 $468,000 $699,999 $644,000 $560,000 $462,000 $730,000

2401 7TH AVE 2172 PERKINS WAY 924 VALLEJO WAY

95819

4831 JERRY WAY 5323 CALLISTER AVE 1446 47TH ST 137 40TH ST 1537 49TH ST 4221 T ST 1737 40TH ST 5224 CARRINGTON ST 104 AIKEN WAY 1121 40TH ST

95821

4632 BELCREST WAY 2800 HOWE AVE 3711 EDISON AVE 2911 YELLOWSTONE LN 3930 ABERDEEN WAY 2609 WATT AVE 3429 LERWICK RD 3510 LARCHMONT SQ LN 2244 RALSTON RD 2240 PYRAMID WAY 3204 BROOKWOOD RD 4031 NORRIS AVE 3341 POTTER LN 4364 MARLEY DR 3311 ARBOR WAY 3704 GRATIA AVE 3604 FRENCH AVE 4421 ROBERTSON AVE 2704 IONE ST 4320 LANDOLT AVE 3628 POPE AVE 2849 DARWIN ST 4496 EDISON AVE 3310 ELLENMERE DR 2511 MORETTI WAY 3309 HUNNICUTT LN 3214 EASTERN AVE 2921 GLACIER ST 2028 JULIESSE AVE 3104 EL CAMINO AVE

95822

2151 VOLLAN 4920 MONTEREY WAY 4540 HILLVIEW WAY 2624 57TH AVE 2200 HOLLYWOOD WAY 6600 24TH ST 51 PULSAR CIR 6008 13TH ST 4606 STAGGS WAY

$668,425 $485,000 $560,000 $600,000 $640,000 $1,250,000 $990,000 $440,000 $860,000 $485,000 $540,000 $620,000 $877,000 $359,000 $370,000 $355,000 $335,000 $391,000 $280,000 $240,000 $192,650 $360,000 $345,900 $390,000 $485,000 $340,000 $475,000 $240,000 $295,814 $334,000 $401,000 $400,000 $370,000 $379,000 $275,000 $466,000 $580,000 $330,000 $445,000 $315,000 $330,000 $292,000 $279,000 $268,000 $446,000 $775,000 $206,000 $432,000 $286,000 $230,000 $480,000 $552,100

7476 TISDALE WAY 2150 20TH AVE 2349 WORSHAM AVE 2130 AARON WAY 5601 LA CAMPANA WAY 7067 REMO WAY 7630 ADDISON WAY 2320 MATSON DR 2162 57TH AVE 2304 24TH AVE 5510 MICHAEL WAY 1917 63RD AVE 7569 MUIRFIELD WAY 3100 BEESTON AVE 7464 WINKLEY WAY 7252 LOMA VERDE WAY 2766 MEADOWVALE AVE 1555 STERLING ST 1551 BELINDA WAY 7436 TROON WAY 6821 27TH ST 1510 LINDA VISTA LN 2134 63RD AVE 4731 MONTEREY WAY 7323 STRATFORD ST 5948 PARK VILLAGE ST 5870 GLORIA DR 6060 GLORIA DR 2183 FLORIN RD 7514 BOWEN CIR 5657 JAMES WAY 1630 BELINDA WAY 4271 EUCLID AVE 7552 29TH ST 2351 23RD AVE 1213 NEVIS CT 7251 LOMA VERDE WAY 6060 GLORIA DR #20 5001 23RD ST 6016 13TH ST

95825

2104 WELDON WAY 195 HARTNELL PL 3333 ALTA ARDEN EXPY 1019 DORNAJO WAY #209 1326 OAK TERRACE CT #3 1117 BELL ST #9 3232 CASITAS BONITO 2274 SIERRA BLVD #H 2332 DARWIN ST 782 WOODSIDE LANE E #10 1019 DORNAJO WAY #157 2206 LANDON LN 1527 HOOD RD #E 1932 BELL ST 2432 LARKSPUR LN #283 985 FULTON AVE #472

$350,000 $335,000 $273,000 $358,000 $317,000 $320,000 $393,000 $265,000 $335,000 $390,000 $425,000 $309,000 $300,000 $275,000 $320,000 $220,000 $245,000 $230,000 $234,900 $275,000 $310,000 $425,000 $261,500 $610,000 $279,900 $525,000 $382,500 $215,000 $315,000 $215,000 $261,500 $212,000 $600,000 $260,000 $392,000 $525,000 $210,000 $203,000 $475,000 $600,000 $362,000 $469,000 $300,000 $155,000 $165,000 $180,000 $214,000 $299,999 $265,000 $181,000 $133,000 $345,000 $208,000 $339,000 $180,000 $165,000

2205 TEVIS RD 2430 PAVILIONS PL LN #601 1355 HOOD RD 2430 PAVILION PL LN #306 2041 JOAN WAY 894 E WOODSIDE #2 2430 PAVILIONS PL LN #310 2029 JOAN WAY 2201 LANDON LN 2326 SWARTHMORE DR 200 DUNBARTON CIR 502 ELMHURST CIR

95831

1 MORNINGSUN 653 CLIPPER WAY 66 RAMBLEOAK CIR 6192 N POINT WAY 6241 RIVERSIDE BLVD #217 7200 SANTA TERESA WAY 14 CHART CT 6572 HEATHERWOOD WAY 5 STARLIT CIR 15 WALNUT BAY CT 7512 POCKET RD 6874 SAILBOAT WAY 7312 WILLOW LAKE WAY 6431 14TH ST 82 ANGEL ISLAND CIR 719 SKYLAKE WAY 7628 W VISTA WAY 614 RIVERCREST DR 6742 PARK RIVIERA WAY

$311,000 $625,000 $197,000 $590,000 $288,000 $160,000 $625,000 $299,000 $420,000 $385,000 $450,000 $475,000 $429,950 $535,000 $525,000 $700,000 $224,000 $347,000 $380,000 $362,000 $425,000 $610,000 $615,000 $549,000 $445,000 $485,000 $418,000 $335,000 $920,000 $480,000 $401,500

95864

1225 GREENHILLS RD $270,000 1009 AMBERWOOD RD $300,000 2750 NORTHROP AVE $1,070,000 2415 ROSLYN WAY $399,000 1104 AMBERWOOD RD $315,000 1845 VENUS DR $384,000 4048 LAS PASAS WAY $665,000 3200 KADEMA DR $661,000 2116 IONE ST $357,000 933 SIERRA PARK LN $616,000 2620 HUNTINGTON RD $1,745,000 2021 ADONIS WAY $405,000 2656 AMERICAN RIVER DR $750,000 850 WIXFORD WAY $775,000 139 MERRITT WAY $850,000 4500 COTTAGE WAY $335,000 2835 MAISON WAY $315,000 95 BRECKENWOOD WAY $750,000 4021 LINNET CT $2,000,000 900 ENTRADA RD $685,000 2332 GILA WAY $327,000 4348 VULCAN DR $475,000 4236 STOWE WAY $746,723

ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

Give Them an Inch TACKLING VIGOROUS AND INVASIVE PLANTS

t’s bad enough that we have to fight weeds or deal with unsuitable plants that we inherited when we bought our properties. It’s worse if you are the one who innocently planted something that has turned into a monster. Plants that are described as “vigorous” may be ready to take over your yard. Some grow too big, too fast. Others have roots that spread aggressively. Still others spread by seed. I don’t really consider plants “invasive” that are easy to remove. California poppies, sweet peas and other plants that self-seed can be readily pulled out if they pop up in

AC By Anita Clevenger Garden Jabber

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

unwanted places. Forget-me-nots are easy enough to pull out, but their seeds stick tenaciously to pants, socks and shoelaces. I try to cut them back or remove them before their seeds mature, but every year I end up tediously picking off seeds one by one. Truly invasive plants are the ones with persistent roots that are virtually impossible to eradicate. You can pull them out, dig them out, even use herbicide, to little or no avail. The first invasive plant that I added to my garden was my neighbor’s horseradish. Even though I didn’t care for its taste, it was in my garden to stay. The only way to remove horseradish is to dig it out, removing every bit of root. Usually, some root is left behind and you have to keep digging, year after year. The advice to control horseradish is to keep it in a container. That’s the way to grow mint too. For years, I kept mint under control in a pot sunk part-way into the ground. That worked fine until it finally escaped. It was amazing how quickly it spread, and how hard it was to remove.

A landscaper planted a cat’s claw vine (Macfadyena unguis-cati) to cover a concrete block wall to the rear of our yard. When we wanted to take out the vine 10 years later, it had other ideas. The vine had developed large tuberous roots that have been impossible to fully remove. We will be digging this plant out for the rest of our lives. I always shudder when I see people landscape with horsetail (Equisetum hyemale). My friend, Barbara Oliva, fought a losing battle to this plant at her home. It’s beautiful, but must be contained. Running bamboos and showy milkweeds are other invasive plants that I’ve managed to avoid. Some plants are officially considered “invasive” by the California Invasive Plant Council because they spread into natural areas and harm the environment. CAL-IPC’s “Don’t Plant a Pest” brochure recommends alternatives to some of the plants that cause the greatest problems. For a list of recommended alternatives and information on ordering the brochure, visit cal-ipc.org/solutions/prevention/ landscaping/dpp.

You also can search an inventory of plants that threaten California's natural areas, including invasive plants and "watch" plants that are a high risk of becoming invasive, at cal-ipc.org/plants/ inventory. A vigorous plant can be a blessing or a curse. Be wary when fellow gardeners offer to pass along a plant to you. It’s very possible that it has taken over their gardens, which is why they have plenty to spare. The next Open Garden will be Saturday, March 14, from 9 a.m.–noon at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Fair Oaks. Anita Clevenger is a platinum Sacramento County Master Gardener. For answers to gardening questions, contact the UC Master Gardeners at (916) 876-5338 or mgsacramento@ ucanr.edu, or visit sacmg.ucanr.edu. Previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento. com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

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Changes in Latitudes UC DAVIS DISHES OUT DIVERSE DINING EXPERIENCE

C Davis’ newest restaurant provides the community with one of the most unique university dining experiences. The minds and mouths making the decisions in dining services are nurturing an environment of hand-picked, hyper-local

TMO By Tessa Marguerite Outland Farm-to-Fork

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

ingredients and flavorful, international dishes in all campus dining—especially in its newest addition, Latitude Restaurant and Market. Latitude focuses on the diversity of its community by serving scratch-made cuisine from regions around the world. “Our goal is making dining the least stressful and most enjoyable part of the day,” says Kraig Brady, director of dining services. Approximately 20,000 meals are consumed each day on campus at UC Davis by students, staff and visitors, according to Brady. While there are multiple options to choose from—residential dining commons, restaurants, markets with grab-n-go

options, coffeeshops, food trucks and concessions at sports games—Latitude is unlike any other dining experience on campus. The restaurant opened in January and serves regional-based foods with four main platforms focusing on LatinAmerican, Asian, European, and Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine. Within the modern building located on Bioletti Way south of Hutchison Drive, patrons will find savory, sweet and spicy dishes from around the world. The two-story building seats 500 people with spacious indoor and outdoor dining areas and to-go options. Latitude is open to the public for lunch and dinner Monday

through Friday during the academic year. To make dishes as authentic as possible, chefs seek out new spices and produce items. However, many of the ingredients for these meals (and other meals on campus) are supplied directly by UC Davis-grown foods within walking distance or even on campus. Chefs in Latitude’s kitchen use many ingredients grown on UC Davis soil to make tasty meals such as entraña con chimichurri Argentino (grilled skirt steak with chimichurri), tonkotsu ramen (pork ramen with soft poached egg), moules-frites (mussels and fries) and tomato bisque with cashew cream. Utilizing hyper-local ingredients is part of the university’s Aggie Grown campaign. The Aggie Grown campaign began when UC Davis dining services decided to take advantage of the many agricultural endeavors on campus. Now, dining services collaborates with the UC Davis Pastured Poultry Program, Meat Lab, Goat Dairy, Olive Oil Center, Honey and Pollination Center, Student Farm and research facility Russell Ranch.

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Chamayo Yniguez, associate director of dining services, and Kue Her, senior executive chef, are passionate about supporting local farms and farmers. Her oversees the culinary program, connects local ingredients to chefs and helps develop new recipes depending on what is available or in season. Yniguez and Her partner with the Student Farm on campus to use some of its produce for dining services. The 23-acre teaching farm is for any student at UC Davis who wants to learn about gardening—and reap some of the rewards. The innovative Aggie Grown campaign familiarizes students with fresh, healthy, hyper-local alternatives to most dining experiences. Students “get to experience local agriculture like they’ve never experienced before,” Brady says. Dining services on campus is continuously imagining new ways to create more sustainable ways of eating. Recently, dining services introduced the blended burger, which has increased nutritional value and reduced fat content with 30 percent mushroom and 70 percent beef. The blended burger was presented to students by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science in a living lab (blind tasting) and was favored over burgers made entirely with beef and other blended burgers.

At Latitude Restaurant, some dishes will be served on a daily basis with the additional “chef’s choice” specials rotating weekly. Chef favorites include picanha (Brazilian salted skewered sirloin cap), pollo en salsa de coco (braised chicken in coconut sauce) with arroz con coco (rice with coconut), paella mixta (paella with meat and seafood), coq au vin (red wine braised chicken) and urid dal (black lentil stew). Latitude Market offers artisan sandwiches, a sushi bar, made-to-order drinks and shakes, gelato, and premade to-go meals and sides. Brady stresses that this broader range of meal options will not only add new varieties in flavor, but also elements of inclusivity, education and, hopefully, comfort. Offering this food on campus “brings a sense of home and familiarity,” Brady says. “It allows someone who may not be familiar with someone else’s cuisine to learn about someone else and how their food tastes.”

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Tessa Marguerite Outland can be reached at tessa.m.outland@gmail.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento. com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

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LEEKS

This sweet, delicately flavored vegetable is from the onion family and is related to garlic, chives and scallions. Clean them well using to remove grit between the leaves. before usin Braise them whole or slice and sauté for a soup or stew. To eat: Bra

FAVA GREENS The leaves of the fava bean plant are mildly sweet and buttery. Early in the season, they are tender and can be eaten raw. Later in the season, it’s best to sauté or wilt them. To eat: Mix them into a salad or add to pasta or risotto.

CARNIVAL CAULIFLOWER

These multicolored cauliflowers come in vivid orange, green or purple. They are caulifl a great source of vitamins C and B6 and are high in folate and potassium. To eat: Boil the whole hea head briefly in salted water, then drizzle with olive oil and roast at high temp.

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BROCCOLI

California grows 80 percent of the nation’s crop. Broccoli is packed with vitamin C and dietary fiber. To eat: Boil, sauté, steam or stir-fry.

ASPARAGUS

Asparagus plants are perennial; the edible spears are the new shoots that appear in spring. To eat: Steam, grill or roast them and serve with hollandaise or lemon vinaigrette.

NANTES CARROTS 48

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This French heirloom variety has an almost perfectly cylindrical shape, smooth skin, crisp texture and sweet taste. To eat: Use in stocks, soups, braises and salads.

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Say Little; Do Much

ADVICE FOR WHEN YOU ARE AT A LOSS FOR WORDS

am a professionally employed chaplain. I’m schooled, ordained and certified. I’ve even been to war. But I recently attended three funerals that reminded me how I can feel as helpless as anyone when trying to comfort a heartbroken friend. The first funeral was in Grass Valley for Joe Feld, a Pearl Harbor survivor. The hardest part was squeezing into my old uniform. The easiest part was honoring his military service and sharing his humor. At 96, Joe saw death as more relief than grief. Things got harder the next day when my wife and I drove to Loomis for the funeral of 29-year-old Kirsten Nichols. Kirsten’s dad is a long-time chaplain friend, Dennis Nichols. What do you say when death comes out of order? An old proverb suggests that happiness comes when “grandfather dies, father dies, son dies.”

NB By Norris Burkes Spirit Matters

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What could we say to Dennis and his wife, Sue? What would we write in a card? What would I whisper during the condolence hug? I can only hope I gave Dennis the sacred space he needed to tell me how lost he found himself. But I felt the most consternation about Rebecca Yule’s funeral in Stockton. She was the sister of my best friend of 44 years, Roger Williams. Just before Christmas, Becky developed a sudden terminal infection. Becky lived with Roger and his wife, Belinda, for the past two years. Our lives often intersected over the delicious meals she cooked, all the while exchanging funny stories and political views. Still, I struggled with inadequacy. After all, Roger manages a department of hospital chaplains. He sits with families as their tragedies unfold in the ER. He prays with patients as cancer ravages their bodies. He holds babies after they die. How do you bring comfort to someone who has heard and seen all this? While every situation is different, I can list the things I did not say at these funerals. I did not preach, “Everything happens for a purpose.” That’s because if there’s a purpose for drunk drivers, cancer or tornadoes, I haven’t found it. Instead, I tried to show my friends,

“God is here. I am here. We will walk through this together.” While I believe in heaven, I certainly did not tell anyone that their loved one went to a better place. As a novice minister, I have said that only a few times, before being asked, “How is that ‘place’ better than being with me?” Or the grieving relative would say, “Then God can take me there, too!” Instead, I asked my friends what they think happens after this life. Roger answered by telling me of a dream Becky had about heaven and her certainty that she would see her loved ones. I surely didn’t tell the grievers, “I know how you feel.” Instead, I may have said something like, “I have a sister whom I couldn’t imagine losing. I’d love to hear what your sister meant to you.” I can assure you that I never promised, “God won’t give you more burdens than you can handle.” This is a misquote of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, “God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to escape.” Its most logical interpretation is that God will help us resist temptations, not death. It seems people use that verse to speak for God, but I’ve found it more helpful to say something like, “God must have loved you very much to have given you a sister like that.”

Finally, I absolutely avoided using the word “if.” As in, “If there is anything I can do, just ask.” I learned from my sister not to say that to anyone unless you’re ready to back it up. At my father’s funeral, my sister Julie stood ready to accept all offers. When people asked if there was something they could do, she had a sign-up sheet for them to answer phones, drive relatives to the airport or bring meals during the following month when people tend to forget the survivors. It will forever warm my heart to remember the man who signed up to mow my mother’s lawn for a year. Not everyone will know what to say to the anguished, but deep down most of us don’t need my sister’s list to help the grief-stricken. So, my best advice when you find yourself at a loss for words is this: “Say little. Do much.” The doing will say more than you can ever imagine. Norris Burkes can be reached at comment@thechaplain.net. Previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. Burkes is available for public speaking at civic organizations, places of worship, veterans groups and more. For details and fees, visit thechaplain.net. n

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Great Idea, But… VISION ZERO SAFETY MISSION STRUGGLES IN YEAR 3

ision Zero is the idea that no one should die or be seriously injured in a traffic crash. It reflects a moral imperative that our streets should never be deadly. The concept has been adopted by 42 cities in the U.S. and around the world, after originating in Sweden in 1997. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has made a national Vision Zero program part of his campaign. The Sacramento City Council unanimously adopted a Vision Zero resolution in January 2017. It set an ambitious goal of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2027. The resolution noted that during the period from 2010–2014, 130 people died in traffic crashes in the city, an average of 26 deaths a year—one of the worst rates in the state. What’s happened in the three years since the goal was adopted? According to the Sacramento Police Department,

WS By Walt SeLfert Getting There

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traffic fatalities in the city were 46 in 2017, 37 in 2018 and 31 in 2019. That’s a downward trend, but significantly worse than the years prior to the resolution. The lack of progress in reducing traffic fatalities doesn’t represent a failure of Vision Zero. In truth, Vision Zero requires a massive cultural change, plus new city policies and reworking of expensive infrastructure. That can’t be done overnight. The city adopted a Vision Zero Action Plan in August 2018. The plan identified factors leading to traffic deaths and injuries and countermeasures. A High Injury Network was established: the 14 percent of Sacramento roadways on which 77 percent of the fatal and serious injury crashes occurred. Though only a quarter of Sacramento’s roadways are in disadvantaged neighborhoods, they account for nearly half of fatal crashes. The city is currently working on a Top Five Corridor Study to identify improvements on the most dangerous streets in the High Injury Network: Marysville Boulevard, El Camino Avenue, Broadway/Stockton Boulevard, South Stockton Boulevard and Florin Road. It’s cynical and unfair to say the biggest accomplishments after three years have been a plan followed by an incomplete study, but changes on the ground have been sparse. The city has reduced the speed limit to 15 mph

on 225 streets around 115 schools. It conducted an awareness campaign called Our Safety is Homegrown in 2018. Many pedestrian-oriented changes are programmed for this year, including crossing beacons, countdown crossing signals and new traffic lights. Older Vision Zero programs in other cities have met with mixed results. Two of the most successful have been in New York City and San Francisco. Both started Vision Zero in 2014 and set goals to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2024. New York cut fatalities by a third, but there have been upticks in pedestrian and bicyclist deaths since 2017. San Francisco reduced fatalities to their lowest level in 2017, but deaths rose the last two years. But there has been progress. Who would have thought San Francisco’s Market Street would become car-free? Other Vision Zero cities have mostly fared worse, reflecting a disturbing national trend of increased traffic fatalities, especially among pedestrians and bicyclists. In Sacramento, the city manager, public works and community development departments are involved in Vision Zero. It’s essential, according to the nonprofit Vision Zero Network, that police and public health agencies be involved.

Serious, nonfatal injuries don’t appear to be tracked in Sacramento. Here, public health is under a county agency. Traffic injuries are a major public health problem that has largely been ignored. Sacramento police have six officers devoted to traffic enforcement—six officers to cover 24 hours each day, seven days a week. The Vision Zero Action Plan advises, “Increase number of traffic enforcement officers to number recommended by best practices.” Without a strong enforcement, drivers continue to speed, drive drunk and be distracted by phones. To reach Sacramento’s Vision Zero goal, the city must make more resources available (saving money and lives) and foster greater interdisciplinary involvement. The city’s Vision Zero Task Force no longer exists, but its goals remain essential to public safety. Moving forward, we need a wide range of support from groups that can guide and implement the Vision Zero strategy to make Sacramento streets the safest in California. Walt Seifert can be reached at bikeguy@surewest.net. He was a member of the Vision Zero Task Force. Previous columns can be read and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento. com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

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Bryan Valenzuela

Pushing Boundaries CELEBRATED MURAL PAINTER STILL CALLS SACRAMENTO HOME

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

hen I catch up with artist Bryan Valenzuela on the phone, he asks if it’s OK that he’s talking to me on a headset while he paints. In San Francisco. On the side of a building. Three stories up. Valenzuela is hard at work on a 48-foot mural in the courtyard of a renovated hotel. What should have taken only a couple of weeks is taking far longer due to unseasonal rains that halt his progress for days at a time. Valenzuela says he doesn’t mind the pauses, but he does worry that he has other projects to attend to and, more importantly, “the faster I get it done, the sooner I can see my dog.” The Orange County native isn’t complaining about the work—in fact, he’s immensely grateful that he’s gotten to a point in his career where all he does is make art. Although, painting wasn’t his first love—he started as a writer, which isn’t surprising when you consider how much text is featured in his artwork. Valenzuela has become known for his unique and utterly arresting style that involves, as he puts it, “the atomization of the figure by carving out shape and light with handwritten text. Though virtually unnoticeable from afar, once the viewer steps closer to each work, they are engulfed in a barrage of words intermingled with other mixed media elements, such as needle and thread, acrylic paint and collage.” After going to high school in the foothills, Valenzuela attended Sacramento State, where he was “lured” into the art department. He graduated in 2003 with his bachelor’s degree in art studio, and has worked and exhibited steadily since then. But the Boulevard Park resident says the moment his career really took off was when he was commissioned by the city of Sacramento and Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission to

JL By Jessica Laskey Open Studio

create the public art installation “Multitudes Converge” at the newly completed Golden 1 Center in 2016. Valenzuela’s hanging sculpture is made up of approximately 400 blownglass spheres in shades of blue and turquoise with hints of gold. “After that commission, I was swept out to sea on a current I didn’t expect,” Valenzuela says. “Golden 1 made it so I could be an artist fulltime. I feel really lucky that I’ve been able to bounce from one project to

a good home base. It’s like a small town that’s also a city—a real hidden gem. It has an amazing, supportive, talented art community and a great pace of life. When you go to other cities like New York, you get off the subway and there’s this ‘whoosh’ of activity. I like the burst of energy, but it’s nice to have a break when I come back.” another, but it’s definitely been a That break will probably be whirlwind.” short-lived if the current demand Since Golden 1, Valenzuela for his talents is any indication. has completed projects all over After completing the mural in San California—including “Kumbaya Francisco, Valenzuela is off to Malibu Moment” for Sacramento’s Wide for another project, then back to Open Walls mural festival in 2017—as Sacramento for a commission with well as in Chicago, New York, New the 1810 Gallery, followed by a solo Orleans and Brooklyn. But no matter show at Beatnik Studios in April and where he travels, he’s always happy to potentially another mural for Wide come home. Open Walls. “Sacramento has been really When he has time in between, he’s good to me,” Valenzuela says. “It’s composing, performing, recording

and touring with the band Exquisite Corps—music is another one of his creative outlets—or walking his dog to his favorite Midtown haunts. Life is a whirlwind right now to be sure, but Valenzuela wouldn’t have it any other way. “I keep challenging myself to do more and more ambitious work and keep pushing the boundaries,” Valenzuela says. “I keep challenging myself to do better.” For more information, visit bryanvalenzuela.com. Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Previous profiles can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

TO DO THIS MONTH'S CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT HIGHLIGHTS

“ Michael Himovitz Redux at Archival Gallery. Photo by Kurt Fishback.

Michael Himovitz Redux

African Storytelling Festival

Archival Gallery March 5–28 Second Saturday Reception: March 14, 6–9 p.m. 3223 Folsom Blvd. • archivalgallery.com This group exhibition features artists who were represented by Second Saturday co-founder Michael Himovitz at his eponymous gallery in the 1980s. The retrospective raises money for the Artists in Crisis Fund.

Fairytale Town Saturday, March 21, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. 3901 Land Park Drive • fairytaletown.org Local storytellers share stories tracing the history of African-Americans from Africa to the New World. Free with paid park admission. Members and children 1 and younger are free.

Homegrown: A Festival of New Works

JL By Jessica Laskey

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

Sacramento Ballet March 26–29 The Soﬁa, 2700 Capitol Ave. • sacballet.org This evening of world premieres features work by Jennifer Archibald, Nicole Haskins and Isaac Bates-Vinueza. Pre-performance chat with artistic director Amy Seiwert begins one hour before performance. Tickets are $60.

PREVENTION: The Cure for Gun Violence National Council of Jewish Women Sacramento Sunday, March 1, 3–5 p.m. Congregation Beth Shalom, 4746 El Camino Ave. • ncjwsac.org/events This panel discussion features Dr. Bill Durston (Americans Against Gun Violence), Amanda Wilcox (Brady Campaign), Pastor Joy Johnson (Sacramento ACT), Jessica Riestra and Luis Orozco (March For Our Lives California). $10 suggested donation.

Saint-Saëns Thundering Organ Symphony Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera March 13 & 14, 8 p.m. Fremont Presbyterian Church, 5770 Carlson Drive • sacphilopera.org This organ recital, featuring performer James Jones, includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3. Tickets are $52, $42 and $32.

Jacqueline B. Hairston Sacramento Community Concerts Association Sunday, March 22, 3 p.m. Riverside United Methodist Church, 803 Vallejo Way • sccaconcerts.org Pianist Jacqueline Hairston is a 2019 Lincoln Center “Master of the Spiritual” honoree, guest conductor at Carnegie Hall and an award-winning composer-arranger. Tickets are $25; $5 students. African Storytelling Festival at Fairytale Town.

Fragility of Goodness: Music from the Balkans Vox Musica Sunday, March 1, 5–6:30 p.m. Beatnik Studios, 723 S St. • voxmusica.net This unique concert of Balkan and Georgian music features local Zado European Music Ensemble and Balkan music specialists Ivan and Tzvetanka Varimezova. Tickets are $20 presale; $25 at the door.

Women United Action Group Luncheon United Way Thursday, March 26, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J St. • yourlocalunitedway.org/women-united-luncheon Women from across the region gather to celebrate and raise funds for local foster youth with a lunch and fashion show. Three local leaders share inspirational stories about their experiences in foster care. Tickets are $155 VIP; $95 individual.

Rookery Tour Bufferlands Saturday, March 14, 9 a.m.–noon Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, Elk Grove • regionalsan.com/event/rookery-tour View of nesting herons, egrets and double-crested cormorants— more than 150 nests—high in the riparian forest. To make reservations and confirm meeting location, contact Roger Jones at (916) 875-9174 or jonesro@sacsewer. com.

Book Launch Party Sierra 2 Center Saturday, March 7, 2–4 p.m. 2791 24th St., Room 10 • sierra2.org Sacramento authors Anne Da Vigo and Bill Pieper present two new works of fiction. Da Vigo reads an excerpt from her thriller, “Bakersfield Boys Club.” Pieper reads from his linked short-story collection, “Borders and Boundaries.”

Second Saturday Art Walk First United Methodist Church Saturday, March 14, 4:30–9 p.m. 2100 J St. • ﬁrstumcsac.org More than 15 local artists will show their work, including oils, pastels, pencil, acrylic, ceramics, plants, jewelry and photography. Enjoy complimentary refreshments at this free event.

The Great STEM Summit Square Root Academy Saturday, March 14, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Sam & Bonnie Pannell Community Center, 2450 Meadowview Road • squarerootacademy.com Scholars of all ages can invent, hack and experiment with cutting-edge tech in the MakerZone and listen to inspiring speakers at this free event.

Gun-violence prevention panel at Congregation Beth Shalom.

ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

Women United Action Group Luncheon with fashion show at Memorial Auditorium.

Shulem Lemmer in Concert Mosaic Law Congregation Sunday, March 8, 5 p.m. The Center at 2300, 2300 Sierra Blvd. • mosaiclaw.org Shulem Lemmer made history as the first born-and-raised Orthodox singer to ever sign a major record deal in the U.S. Music in honor of Rabbi Reuven Taff. Tickets are $18 students; $72 general seating; $100 reserved seating.

Global Rhythms: Jessica Fichot Crocker Art Museum Thursday, March 26, 6:30 p.m. 216 O St. • crockerart.org Drawing from her multi-ethnic French/Chinese/American upbringing, Fichot’s music takes listeners on a journey into the land of 1940s Shanghai jazz, gypsy swing and international folk. Tickets are $15 members; $25 nonmembers.

Dancer Isaac Bates-Vinueza in Sacramento Ballet's Homegrown: A Festival of New Works. Photo by Keith Sutter.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade Old Sacramento Waterfront Saturday, March 14, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. (parade at 1 p.m.) Old Sacramento Waterfront District • oldsacramento.com Join hundreds of colorful marchers dressed in green along with Irish and Highland dancers, pipe and drum bands, historic re-enactors and a variety of cultural organizations.

Robin Hill: Critical Matters 2.0 JAYJAY Gallery Through March 28 5524 B Elvas Ave. • jayjayart.com Robin Hill’s award-winning multimedia work focuses on the intersection between drawing, photography and sculpture.

Open Garden UCCE Master Gardeners Saturday, March 14, 9 a.m.–noon Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd. • sacmg.ucanr.edu Enjoy mini-demonstrations on various topics like container gardening, debugging, composting, propagating herbs, tools for orchard care and more. Located outside rain or shine.

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Shulem Lemmer at The Center at 2300.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Old Sacramento. Photo courtesy of Downtown Sac.

“French Confetti,” paper, plaster and pigment on panel, by Robin Hill at JAYJAY gallery.

Songs in the Key of Life Sacramento Master Singers Saturday, March 14, 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15, 3 p.m. The Soﬁa, 2700 Capitol Ave. • mastersingers.org Experience all the stages of life with music from Joni Mitchell, Cole Porter and Eriks Esenvald, solos by guest artists Buffy Baggott and Omari Tau, and the world premiere of Ron Kean’s “Dancing with Creation.” Tickets are $39 adults; $35 seniors; $19 students. $1 of each ticket will benefit Music Partners in Healthcare.

A Universe of Sounds Sunday, March 15, 2:30 p.m. Sacramento Symphonic Winds El Camino High School Center for the Arts, 2340 Eastern Ave. • sacwinds.org This concert features music by David Maslanka, Eric Whitacre, James Curnow, John Mackey, John Williams and more. Tickets are $15 general; $10 students and seniors; children through 8th grade free.

Camellia Chapter Monthly Meeting Embroiderers’ Guild of America Tuesday, March 17, 7 p.m. Arden-Dimick Library, 891 Watt Ave. • (916) 223-2751 Guests of all ages welcome. Meeting will include show-and-tell and monthly guild business.

Bufferlands Rookery Tour at Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in Elk Grove.

Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Submissions are due six weeks prior to the publication month. Previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

Glad to be Back SACRAMENTO INSTITUTION RETURNS, THIS TIME IN EAST SACRAMENTO

’ve lived in Sacramento for almost 40 years, so I’ve been to Celestin’s Restaurant. It seems like a fact of life for any long-term diner in this town—if you’ve been around for more than two decades, you’ve eaten at Celestin’s. You might have dined at the J Street location, where Patrick Celestin and his wife Phoebe held court starting in 1983. That same

space became the first home of Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, by the way. If my spatial geography is on point, I believe that same space is now the tiki bar extraordinaire, The Jungle Bird. If you weren’t around for Celestin’s 1.0, then you most likely stopped in at Celestin’s 2.0, aka Celestin’s Restaurant & Voodoo Lounge at 1815 K St. The space was much larger than the petite J Street location in which the

windows would often steam up from the hot bowls of gumbo coming out of the postage stamp of a kitchen. The K Street spot sported a hip bar and plenty of dining space. But, in 2011, the Celestins felt the place had run its course. Fast forward to 2018. A small kitchen and dining room come available on a cozy East Sacramento street. It’s a perfect opportunity for the local pair to

reinvigorate their restaurant, this time stripping it down to basics and letting the simple things shine. Two years in and Sacramento seems appreciative that Celestin’s Restaurant is back in the local food scene, dishing out bowls of gumbo, Caribbean cuisine and creole favorites. The 3.0 edition of the restaurant is small by any standards. Just

GS By Greg Sabin Restaurant Insider

Marquise au Chocolat a l' haïtienne

ILP/GRID MAR n 20

Scallops in Coconut Lime Sauce

10 tables and a handful of counter seats make up the dining room. The kitchen is in full view of every seat. It’s intimate, casual and totally inviting. The menu has changed, but only by narrowing its focus. Whereas the previous iteration had a fairly extensive list of dishes, this new Celestin’s offers a pared down list of favorites with a few select choices for vegans and vegetarians to boot. My favorite dish, grio, is unchanged from the first time I had it in 1992. It’s a simple Haitian dish featuring chunks of pork marinated in sour orange, lime and spices, then fried to crispy perfection. Served alongside are tostones (twice fried plantains) and timalice sauce (fresh lime, shallots, thyme and habaneros). That’s it—fried pork, fried banana cousins and a spicy/sweet/ citrus sauce. Do you need anything else? I never have. However, it’s important to go outside your comfort zone, and I actually sampled a host of dishes other than grio so that you, dear reader, get a broader view of the delicacies coming out of Patrick Celestin’s kitchen. The simple, some might say predictable, shrimp po’ boy is actually unpredictably excellent. The local Acme roll stands in well for New Orleansstyle French bread while still being undoubtedly Californian. The shrimp, fried off beautifully, sport a coating of cornmeal that gives a lovely bite to the whole sandwich. Dressed with the standard lettuce, tomato and creole mayo, it’s a treat. But really what you remember, if you’ve been to Celestin’s in the last

four decades, is the gumbo. Celestin is a master of the roux, and coaxes the maximum depth of flavor from a chocolate/brick concoction that rivals any west of the Mississippi. The house special gumbo offers generous portions of chicken, sausage, rock cod, scallops and shrimp. A vegetarian option is available too. It’s an impressive task to finish a bowl at a single sitting. But really, why would you need to? The next day’s leftovers make for fine dining at home. Besides, you’ll want to save room for dessert. My favorite on the dessert menu is, maybe predictably, the key lime

pie. We’re not reinventing the wheel here. We’re not deconstructing an old familiar. We’re just enjoying a traditional dish done traditionally. Its only rival might be the insanely excellent slice served by Kira O’Donnell Babich at the Real Pie Company at Broadway and 24th. Great crust, tart and sweet filling, mounds of whipped cream. It’s a treasure. I could sum up Celestin’s with some heart-stringy wrap-up of how we should always appreciate what we have since you never know when it’ll be gone. But I’ll just be personal for a moment and say Celestin’s Restaurant brings me joy,

and I’m sure glad it’s back in my life. And, to be honest, I’m glad it’s back in your life too. Celestin’s Restaurant is at 3610 McKinley Blvd.; (916) 258-4060; celestinsgumbo.com. Greg Sabin can be reached at gregsabin@hotmail.com. Our Inside Sacramento Restaurant Guide and previous columns can be found and shared at the all-new InsideSacramento. com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n

ILP/GRID n INSIDESACRAMENTO.COM

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THE HANDLE E

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ILP/GRID MAR n 20

2940 Freeport Blvd. chocolateﬁshcoffee.com

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F A T 'S

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