Local Issues
A Last Word
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ All good things must come to an end. And, sadly, this is the Sacramento News & Review’s final California Endowment column—one that has delivered essential news about 200 times since 2012. Before […]
Articles supported by California Endowment
Local Issues
A Sacramento Community and the Police
Why are LGBTQ+ people so afraid of the Sacramento Police Department? To find out, SPD is holding virtual “town hall listening sessions,” so LGBTQ+ residents can answer that disturbing question themselves. At the first forum, […]
Local Issues
916 Ink Perseveres
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The joyful parties at The Imaginarium are over for now—and Ian Hadley, the gracious host, misses them. The Imaginarium is not a dance hall but a young people’s writing center in South […]
Local Issues
Improving Aggie Square
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The news spread like wildfire in April 2018: A site near Sacramento’s Oak Park district had been chosen for Aggie Square, a megaproject that promised thousands of new jobs for the region. […]
Local Issues
First Vote
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Angelica Vera-Franco will be in South Sacramento Jan. 20th, watching live history on TV: the inauguration of Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States. The first-time voter will celebrate, knowing […]
Local Issues
Pursuing Justice
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Thongxy Phansopha feels lucky to be alive this Christmas. “I am so grateful” not to be dead, the 32-year-old queer nonbinary Laotian American said in a recent interview. Then, in a pained […]
Local Issues
A Dialogue Begins
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Delphine Brody, a queer transgender woman who lives in Sacramento, is terrified of the city’s police force. “During emergencies, I avoid calling 911,” Brody told this column on Nov. 21. “I fear […]
Local Issues
Taking Root
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ In March 2016, Alfred Melbourne walked out of Wasco State Prison in Kern County—free at last. He had served 18 years for assault with a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon. […]
Environment
Seeds of Change
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Rubie Simonsen has worn many hats. The 30-year-old Sacramentan has been a yoga instructor, a community volunteer, a poet, a website designer and a youth program manager. But the role Simonsen values […]
Environment
Environmental Justice
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ As wildfires and a merciless pandemic convulsed California, a Sacramento conference explored 2020’s perils and how minorities are bearing the brunt of COVID-19. The Oct. 15 virtual event—entitled “The World on Fire: […]
Local Issues
AGGIE SQUARE
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ In mid-2018, Bill Motmans received an invitation he couldn’t refuse. The Tahoe Park resident was asked to serve on a committee that would help guide development of Aggie Square, the cutting edge […]
Local Issues
Get Out the Vote
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The long, hot summer of 2020 was unlike any Josh Harris had ever experienced. Once it began, he repeatedly took to the streets to demand that police treat Black people like him […]
Local Issues
Be Counted
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Abelardo “Abe” Ruiz believes in the power of the census. The proud Sacramentan has participated in every decennial population count since 1980, when he was a new immigrant from Mexico. This year […]
Local Issues
Latinx Support BLM
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Three months ago, a Sacramento teen faced a decision: To be or not to be at a local march against police brutality? A young Chicano, Roger D. Zapata, concluded he had to […]
Local Issues
Diverse Voices Ask for Change
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ As a newcomer to Sacramento, Katherine Moua admits to not knowing much about Mayor Darrell Steinberg – except that he wields power and influence at City Hall. But when she learned that […]
Local Issues
A crisis-resolution option
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ People of color increasingly think twice before dialing 911 to report an emergency, be it on the road or at home. This reticence reflects a profound fear of police among growing numbers […]
Local Issues
Defunding School Resource Officers
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ For 20 years, some members of the Sacramento Police Department had one mission: to help provide security for the Sacramento City Unified School District in their role as school resource officers, or […]
Local Issues
Black Lives Matter
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The 2018 killing of Stephon Clark by Sacramento police deeply impacted Josh Harris, an American River College student. Shocked and angry, he became an activist against police brutality and has joined protests […]
Local Issues
Tale of Two Cities
by Edgar Sanchez Sacramento, one of America’s most diverse urban areas, is fraught with racial and economic fault lines that make it a city of the haves and the have-nots, where race and income can […]
Local Issues
Racial Discrimination in the Time of COVID
by Anne Stokes While COVID-19 is a global pandemic, its origin in China has caused an increase in hate crimes committed against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). In response, the Asian Pacific Policy and […]
Local Issues
Correcting Inequities
by Edgar Sanchez Aaron Howard obeys the rules. And now that he’s trying to get back into Sacramento’s legal cannabis sector, he has a partner in his brother Julian, a truck driver who will deliver […]
Local Issues
Emergency Response
by Edgar Sanchez When COVID-19 hit greater Sacramento, causing unemployment, hunger and dozens of deaths, one local nonprofit did something about it. Sacramento Area Congregations Together, or Sac ACT, created a COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund […]
Local Issues
Staying in Place
By Anne Stokes COVID-19 has changed the way people live their lives across the globe and California has not escaped the pandemic’s health or economic effects. Unemployment rates are at record levels and millions are […]
Education
Facts Matter
By Edgar Sanchez Ivan Caballero has thick skin. That would explain why the Sacramento City College freshman recently revealed he doesn’t care what President Donald Trump says about news reporters. Trump has labeled journalists everything […]
Local Issues
Not your ordinary nonprofit
By Edgar Sanchez Christmas 2019 came early for Julius Thibodeaux. Fifteen days before the holiday, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced during a City Council meeting that City Manager Howard Chan had reached a decision on […]
Local Issues
2020 Census Op-Ed
BY ELEANOR LOVE As a 15-year-old high school sophomore in Sacramento, I like to think I’m well-informed. I follow the news. I’m active on social media. I have still-developing but strong political opinions that I […]
Local Issues
Fighting for Family
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Three years ago, Lan Nguyen, then a UCLA grad student, needed a subject for her Master’s Thesis in Asian American Studies. Rather than pen a traditional research paper, Nguyen undertook something more […]
Local Issues
Activists Seek Justice Reform for Youth Sentenced as Adults
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ As a youth, Kirn Kim made one good decision after another — eventually becoming an honors student at Sunny Hills High in Fullerton, Orange County. “I was in the National Honors Society. […]
Local Issues
Youth Campaign for More Funding
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Four years ago, Dexter Niskala, then a junior at Luther Burbank High, campaigned for Measure Y, which would have created a new tax to fund children’s programs in Sacramento. “I asked hundreds […]
Local Issues
Keeping People Out of Jail
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ An activist group that stopped an $89 million expansion of Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove says its fight for criminal justice reform is not over. Construction bids for the RCCC […]
Local Issues
One Woman of Color is Making History in Sacramento’s Growing Cannabis Industry
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Betty Mitchell’s uncle was a pioneer in developing medical cannabis in Arkansas. Now, Mitchell herself is being called a pioneer in Sacramento’s emerging $4-billion-a-year legal marijuana industry. Her uncle, Dr. Ulysses Hunter, […]
Local Issues
Greater Sacramento Urban League Program Welcomes People of Color into Booming Cannabis Industry
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Thirteen people of color made history recently by mastering the skills to enter Sacramento’s legal cannabis industry—with the city’s blessing. The eight men and five women became the first to graduate from […]
Education
WALKSacramento Strives to Ensure the Safety of Sacramento Students
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Five days a week, thousands of boys and girls throughout Sacramento walk to school and back—putting themselves in peril. At many corners, the children face motorists who might run red lights and […]
Local Issues
Boys & Men of Color Summit Fosters Brotherhood
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Thirty diverse young men—most of whom had never met—sat in a circle recently in a room at Sacramento State University, during the 8th annual Boys & Men of Color Summit. The circle […]
Local Issues
Decarcerate Sacramento Celebrates Victory Over Stalled Jail Expansion
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Criminal justice reform activists won a huge victory this month, when Sacramento County Supervisors walked away from an $89 million plan to expand Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC) in Elk Grove. Opposition […]
Local Issues
Decarcerate Sacramento Opposes Costly Prison Expansion Proposal
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is getting cold feet about proceeding with an $89 million expansion of Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC) in Elk Grove. Most of the five-member board came […]
Education
916 Ink Provides Young Writers Publishing Opportunities
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Three months ago, Molly Seely began a new chapter in her life by attending Amplify — a week-long summer camp for girls and boys in South Sacramento. Like traditional camps that involve […]
Local Issues
The Issue of Rent Control
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ As recently as 2017, some Sacramento City Council members ducked the volatile issue of rent control, according to pro-tenant community activists. Amid skyrocketing rents, some of these elected officials privately requested that […]
Local Issues
Hmong Activists Set Their Sights on 2020 Census and Elections
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ With 2020 fast approaching, community organizer Cha Vang is preoccupied with the golden opportunities the new year will bring for Sacramento communities to advance politically and economically. But, according to Vang, those […]
Local Issues
The Fight for Rent Control in Sacramento Rages On
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Jovana Fajardo, a pro-tenant community organizer, agree: Crafting citywide rent control is not easy. “If it were easy, it would have happened a long time ago,” Steinberg […]
Local Issues
Sacramento County Activists Protest Funding Increases for Jail Expansions
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Just this month, in a stunning move, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to scrap a $1.7 billion jail project. Officially, the project was meant to replace the Men’s […]
Local Issues
Sacramento Coalition Spearheads Effort to Reclassify or Reduce Cannabis Convictions
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Sherie Drawn’s life derailed after she got pulled over by Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies in 2006. According to Drawn, officers searched her car and found “maybe ½ an ounce” of medically prescribed […]
Local Issues
Sacramento DHA Works to Dismiss or Reduce Cannabis-related Felonies
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance (DHA) strives to help people transition from public assistance to financial independence. More than 420,000 county residents receive services from DHA, ranging from Medi-Cal to […]
Local Issues
Sacramento Residents Call for Stronger Tenants’ Rights
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Gina Massey’s South Sacramento apartment has rats and electrical issues —problems, through no fault of her own recently landed her in the ER. So, like any responsible tenant, she reported the issues […]
Environment
Community Leaders Join Together to Restore Morrison Creek
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ In 2017, the Avondale Glen Elder Neighborhood Association (AGENA) wanted to apply for a hefty state grant to help restore Morrison Creek, a storm water drainage canal that stretches from Rancho Cordova […]
Youth
The Girl Inspired Conference Gives Young Women in Sacramento Advice on Success
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Days before she graduated from Pacific Elementary School in South Sacramento, 11-year-old Amyah Davis had a chance to hear successful women speak on important topics such as how to excel in life. […]
Youth
LaFCC Empowers Sacramento Youth to Thrive
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Paola Benitez was struggling in school – her grades were low and she was suffering from anger-management issues due to trauma experienced at home. Paola’s mother wanted to see her daughter succeed, […]
Local Issues
Repairing Sacramento’s RT System
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Sarah Kerber attends almost every Sacramento Regional Transit Board meeting. When the Board discusses proposals that might negatively impact public transportation in Sacramento, she protests them during the public comment period. “Our […]
Local Issues
Advance Peace Sacramento Fights to End Gun Violence
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ After doing prison time for non-violent crimes, Clemmie Fields vowed never to be behind bars again. The 54-year-old Sacramentan has upheld that promise since 2003 and urges others do the same through […]
Local Issues
Sol Collective Creates Space for Arts and Activism
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ As a troubled high school senior, Deveon Smith wasn’t sure what to expect when he first visited Sol Collective — a Sacramento nonprofit that uses art and activism to provide programs, promote […]
Education
Women’s Leadership Academy Helps Students Soar
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ A senior at Sacramento Charter High School, Kiarah Young, 17, is excited about her future — she’s been accepted to more than 25 colleges. A major factor in her development as a […]
Environment
City of Sacramento Takes Environmental Focus
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ With temperatures rising everywhere, scientists have sounded an alarm and the community is responding: Global warming endangers the entire planet. When Sacramento residents attended a recent “open house” meeting for the city […]
Local Issues
Form Allows SCUSD Students to Express Gender Identity
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ For students whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex, the name on the attendance sheet may not reflect who that student really is. Youth in the Sacramento City Unified School District […]
Local Issues
Land Trust Aims to be ‘Developer for the People’
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Nine new “luxury homes” located on 34th Street in Oak Park recently went on the market. The listing price? More than $500,000 each. A wiser use for land in Oak Park would […]
Local Issues
CalFresh Recipients Welcome at Farmers Markets
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The call for artists went out last May: A striking design was needed for two Sacramento billboards announcing that CalFresh — also known as food stamps — are welcome at farmers markets. […]
Local Issues
Sacramento Nonprofits Help Ex-inmates Thrive on the Outside
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ After serving 18 years in prison for manslaughter with a gang enhancement, Henry Ortiz was determined to prove he was a new man. But in November 2017, after only five days of […]
Youth
City Department Expands to Focus on Youth
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ On January 1, 2018, the City of Sacramento reorganized its parks department with a new focus on youth and a new name: the Department of Youth, Parks, & Community Enrichment. The change […]
Local Issues
A Voice in Community Planning
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Choices made by city planners affect the health of people in those cities. Consider, for example, that people’s life spans have been linked to their ZIP code. “If you live in Oak […]
Local Issues
Shoppers Double Their CalFresh Benefits at Farmers Market
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Every Saturday, from May through October, smart shoppers look for great deals at Oak Park Farmers Market. They always find them. But besides low prices on fresh fruits, vegetables and other edibles, […]
Education
Campaign Aims to Get More Students to Class
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Now that the November 6 election is history, the barrage of political mailers that overwhelmed voters also is over. But the U.S. Postal Service is still delivering a new type of message […]
Local Issues
‘More Days, More Ways’ to Vote in the General Election
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Tamie Dramer treasures her right to vote. The Sacramento resident has voted in every presidential election — and in every mid-term and primary contest — since 1988. “Voting is important for me, […]
Local Issues
Community Creates a Safe Place to Heal After Clark Shooting
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Maybe it was a coincidence, a numerical happenstance. But 20 days after police fired 20 shots at Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard in Meadowview, special healing circles began in Sacramento. The […]
Local Issues
Organizers Urge Community-led Cultural Awareness Training for Police
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ It happened six months ago. But for some Sacramentans, the grief over the slaying of Stephon Clark continues unabated, as if he died yesterday, community activists say. Clark, 22, an African American, […]
Education
District and Advocates Work to Reduce Suspensions of Black Students
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ The number is stunning: One of every five African American males in the Sacramento City Unified School District was suspended in 2016-17, according to a report released this summer. In their report […]
Local Issues
From the Ground Up
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ Rubie Simonsen found her calling as a child, in her grandmother’s lush gardens. The little girl spent countless hours playing among miniature roses in front of her grandma’s home, and by herbs […]
Education
The Next Changemakers
BY EDGAR SANCHEZ A new generation of leaders is being trained to mobilize Sacramentans to fight for equal rights, better public schools and other noble causes in the 21st century. Training occurs on Wednesdays at […]