<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><channel><title>CapRadio: Sacramento Region RSS</title><image><url>https://capradio.org/images/logo/CapRadio_logo_STACKED_RGB_1400SQ.jpg</url><title>CapRadio: Sacramento Region RSS</title><link>https://www.capradio.org</link></image><link>https://www.capradio.org/</link><description></description><itunes:summary></itunes:summary><itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/images/logo/CapRadio_logo_STACKED_RGB_1400SQ.jpg"></itunes:image><itunes:category/><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 20:30:00 GMT</pubDate><language>en-US</language><copyright>Copyright 2026, CapRadio</copyright><generator>CPR RSS Generator 2.0</generator><ttl>120</ttl><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:author>CapRadio</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle></itunes:subtitle><itunes:owner><itunes:email>webmaster@capradio.org</itunes:email><itunes:name>CapRadio</itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:block>Yes</itunes:block><item><title>Mistrial declared in K Street shooting case</title><description>A Sacramento County jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on second-degree murder charges filed against two men accused of carrying out the deadliest mass shooting in modern Sacramento history.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Sarit Laschinsky</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A mistrial has been declared in the case of two men charged with carrying out Sacramento’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sacramento County jurors were unable to reach a verdict Tuesday on murder charges filed against Dandrae Martin and Mtula Payton in connection to the 2022 K Street mass shooting in downtown Sacramento.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They are two of the three men accused by prosecutors of </span><a href="/articles/2022/04/03/at-least-6-dead-9-injured-in-downtown-sacramento-shooting/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">killing six people and injuring 12 others</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the early morning of April 3, 2022. Martin’s brother, Smiley Martin, was also charged in connection to the shooting, but </span><a href="/articles/2024/06/10/sacramento-mass-shooting-suspect-dies-in-jail-cell-police-and-attorney-say/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">died in his cell</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> at the Sacramento County Main Jail in June 2024.</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282697/ap22095823280186.jpg?width=1200&height=799.923620393355" alt="Dandrae Martin talks with attorney Linda Parisi at his first court appearance in Sacramento County Superior Court, in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 5, 2022." width="1200" height="799.923620393355" data-udi="umb://media/5ebe7f6d8a4f4bd0908934ab9529b965" /></div><span class="caption">Dandrae Martin talks with attorney Linda Parisi at his first court appearance in Sacramento County Superior Court, in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 5, 2022.</span><span class="credit">AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dandrae Martin and Payton's trial began in April 2026, with jury deliberations starting earlier this month.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Both men faced charges including three counts of murder. However, media outlets reported the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office </span><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article316544496.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">dismissed the first-degree murder charges last week</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. Prosecutors elected to move forward with second-degree murder charges instead.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-k-street-shooting-trial-mistrial-declared/73222235">KCRA reports</a> the two men were convicted on weapons charges for being felons in possession of firearms.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following the mistrial declaration, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office told CapRadio it will “make a decision in the near future as to our next steps, which will include a decision to retry the case.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Members of the victims’ families spoke after the trial at a press conference held by advocacy organization EMPACT outside the Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Courthouse in downtown Sacramento.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Whether you’re Black or white or Hispanic, it doesn’t matter; you have the right to go [to] downtown Sacramento, the capital, and enjoy yourself without the fear of violence,” said John Alexander, father of 21-year-old victim Johntaya Alexander.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Johntezha Alexander, Johntaya’s sister, was also on K Street the night of the shooting. Alexander said she put herself through the long and hard process of a trial with the hope of accountability.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Those defendants get to walk away today with something I don’t get to walk away with and that is hope,” she said. “Hope that they will see the sun again, hope that they will breathe air again, hope that they will be free. Their families get that hope.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t have that hope; my hope is six feet in the ground,” Alexander added.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">EMPACT founder Leia Schenk said the court is expected to pick up the case again in October.</span></p>
<h3><strong>Background</strong></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The six people killed in the K Street shooting were:</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Johntaya Alexander, 21</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Melinda Davis, 57</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sergio Harris, 38 </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32 </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Devazia Turner, 29</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police said Alexander, Davis and Martinez-Andrade were innocent bystanders. Officials did not identify Harris, Hoye-Lucchesi and Turner as victims, saying they were involved in the shootout between rival groups.</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12263193/040422sacramentoshootingvigilbq3a7331-2.jpg?width=1200&height=900" alt="Mourners light candles on 10th and K Street in Downtown Sacramento, on Monday, April 4, 2022." width="1200" height="900" data-udi="umb://media/9de586e50d39479f82d1d3dd341e266c" /></div><span class="caption">Mourners light candles on 10th and K Street in Downtown Sacramento, on Monday, April 4, 2022.</span><span class="credit">Andrew Nixon / CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dandrae Martin was arrested April 4, 2022 on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a loaded firearm. Smiley Martin was injured in the shooting and booked on April 20. Payton was identified as a suspect nine days after the shooting, and </span><a href="/articles/2022/05/29/sacramento-police-arrest-third-suspect-in-k-street-mass-shooting/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">arrested in Las Vegas</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on May 28.</span></p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218291</link><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:25:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218291</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>A Sacramento County jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on second-degree murder charges filed against two men accused of carrying out the deadliest mass shooting in modern Sacramento history.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>A Sacramento County jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on second-degree murder charges filed against two men accused of carrying out the deadliest mass shooting in modern Sacramento history.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282695/072126_kstreetmistrial-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Former UC Davis student found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for 2023 stabbing spree</title><description>Jurors did not find Carlos Reales Dominguez guilty of second-degree murder or attempted murder in the attacks, which killed two men and injured a woman.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Sarit Laschinsky</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Yolo County jury has found former UC Davis student Carlos Reales Dominguez guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a deadly 2023 stabbing spree in Davis that killed two men and injured one woman. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jurors handed down the sentence on Tuesday. They also found Dominguez not guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the April 2023 killings of 50-year-old David Breaux and 20-year-old Karim Abou Najm. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He was also found not guilty of attempted murder in the May 2023 stabbing of 64-year-old Kimberlee Guillory. Dominguez had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office told CapRadio the jury is scheduled to return at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and proceedings regarding Dominguez’s sanity are scheduled to resume on Monday. The DA’s office declined further comment.</span></p>
<h3><strong>Case history</strong></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dominguez’s case had a </span><a href="/articles/2023/05/05/davis-stabbing-suspect-pleads-not-guilty-to-charges/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">long journey</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> moving through the court system.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He </span><a href="/articles/2023/05/04/city-of-davis-sees-3-stabbings-2-fatal-1-attempt-in-less-than-a-week/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">was arrested in May 2023</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, days after police said 15 people called in reports of a person matching Dominguez’s description in a local park. Davis police said he had a large knife in his backpack, and was wearing the same clothes described by witnesses who saw the stabbing of Guillory.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dominguez was initially found incompetent to stand trial after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. The case was </span><a href="/articles/2023/08/04/yolo-county-da-agrees-davis-stabbing-suspect-is-not-competent-for-trial-case-put-on-indefinite-hold/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">put on hold in August 2023</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as he was </span><a href="/articles/2023/08/07/former-uc-davis-student-charged-with-fatal-stabbings-will-need-a-spot-at-a-state-hospital-but-the-system-is-in-crisis/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">sent to a state hospital</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to receive treatment.</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12272193/010524carlosdominguez-p.jpg?width=1200&height=900.1365498406918" alt="Carlos Reales Dominguez appears at a restoration of competency hearing at Yolo Superior Court next to Dan Hutchinson, deputy public defender on Friday, January 5, 2024." width="1200" height="900.1365498406918" data-udi="umb://media/95e0621fd744435199cfc1196729a69f" /></div><span class="caption">Carlos Reales Dominguez appears at a restoration of competency hearing at Yolo Superior Court next to Dan Hutchinson, deputy public defender on Friday, January 5, 2024.</span><span class="credit">Fred Gladdis/The Davis Enterprise/Pool</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The trial was </span><a href="/articles/2023/12/29/ex-student-found-competent-to-stand-trial-for-stabbing-deaths-near-uc-davis/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reinstated in 2024</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after doctors declared that Dominguez’s competency was restored. However,</span><a href="/articles/2025/07/01/a-very-difficult-case-why-the-davis-stabbing-case-resulted-in-a-mistrial/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> a mistrial was declared in June 2025</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after jurors found Dominguez not guilty of first-degree murder, and deadlocked on the remaining charges of second-degree murder and attempted murder. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most of the jurors voted to acquit Dominguez of the latter charges. Prosecutors decided to retry the case, focusing on Dominguez’s use of cannabis and its alleged impact on his mental state.. Dominiguez’s </span><a href="/articles/2026/05/27/carlos-reales-dominguez-faces-a-retrial-for-2023-davis-stabbing-spree-what-could-that-look-like/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">new trial began in May</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218288</link><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 01:12:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218288</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>Jurors did not find Carlos Reales Dominguez guilty of second-degree murder or attempted murder in the attacks, which killed two men and injured a woman.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Jurors did not find Carlos Reales Dominguez guilty of second-degree murder or attempted murder in the attacks, which killed two men and injured a woman.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/11975586/062618%20yolo%20county%20courthouse%20P.jpg" /></item><item><title>New improvements and an Aviator’s update: What’s going on at Sacramento’s airports?</title><description>Sacramento International Airport is adding new infrastructure projects as part of a modernization program. Local officials are also working to address structural issues at an iconic aviation-themed restaurant in Land Park.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Vicki Gonzalez</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sacramento County’s Department of Airports is overseeing several major changes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the past several months Sacramento International Airport has been </span><a href="https://flysmf.gov/new-concessions"><span style="font-weight: 400;">opening new concessions in both terminals</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, many of which are local establishments. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Construction is also nearing completion on a </span><a href="/news/insight/2024/09/30/smforward-garage-breaks-ground-chhs-secretary-dr-mark-ghaly-steps-down-california-humanities-voter-turnout-discussion/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">new parking garage</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> near Terminal B, which is part of the airport’s $1.4 billion SMForward modernization program — with more projects coming down the jetway. The airport has also put out a </span><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K78P5PJ"><span style="font-weight: 400;">survey</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to solicit public feedback on its 20-year Master Plan. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the tarmac SMF is looking to expand its flight roster, with goals of eventually adding </span><a href="/news/insight/2024/01/29/smfs-push-for-nonstop-international-travel-placer-sacramento-county-das-on-retail-theft-youth-participate-in-sac-mayoral-candidate-forum/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">nonstop international routes</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, while navigating the impacts from the war in Iran on travel and jet fuel prices.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the same time, airport officials are also handling a situation at Aviator’s Restaurant, an iconic local establishment located at Sacramento Executive Airport in Land Park which has been </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SacIntlAirport/posts/%EF%B8%8F-sacramento-executive-airport-aviators-restaurant-update%EF%B8%8Fsacramento-executive-i/939359131779658/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">forced to stay closed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after inspections revealed significant structural issues.</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282691/072126_sacexecutive.jpg?width=1200&height=900" alt="The terminal building at Sacramento Executive Airport Monday, July 20, 2026, in Sacramento's Land Park Neighborhood." width="1200" height="900" data-udi="umb://media/025b92581b3942a4856b0e586d9db891" /></div><span class="caption">The terminal building at Sacramento Executive Airport Monday, July 20, 2026, in Sacramento's Land Park neighborhood.</span><span class="credit">Sarit Laschinsky/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Department of Airports Director Cindy Nichol </span><a href="/news/insight/2026/07/20/smf-updates-ca-children-caught-up-by-ice-2026-california-state-fair/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">spoke with Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about the latest developments.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">This interview has been edited for length and clarity.</span></em></p>
<h3><strong>Interview highlights</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Summer is the peak travel time. What do passenger numbers currently look like? </strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We’re doing well; we're roughly flat. This is a period where we're seeing the airlines reduce some of their flights, and some of the seats that are available. For the full 12 months that ended in June, we're down 0.1%. But, we’ve had four years of considerable growth since COVID. I don't celebrate this, but we're outperforming the airports in the Bay Area. We're just excited about continuing to get more air service and find new ways to connect our region to the world. </span></p>
<p><strong>Do the changes hinge on the impacts of the Iran War on jet fuel prices and travel?</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think it's a couple things. First of all, just the price of daily activity — your gas, groceries, all that is higher now. As well as the fact that the airlines have been increasing the fares. I think that's what’s affecting people, but we're honestly still pretty darn strong in terms of our demand.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[Airlines] are always looking for ways to maximize their earnings, what they call yield. What we're seeing is, for example, we saw American [Airlines] reduce some of their flights out of here to increase flights to Europe from other airports.</span></p>
<p><strong>How much sway does the airport have when working with airlines about costs and routes? </strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We do a couple things. One is we have access to USDOT [and] FAA data that the airlines don't have. We know how many people are trying to get from Sacramento to London, or Frankfurt, or something. We share that information with the airlines [and] work with them. It takes several years for them to understand that we have a significant demand, and they could fill their planes every day if they served us directly.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We can also give them discounts on our landing fees and our terminal rents, but other than that there's not that much we can do. I will mention one of the things we have been doing is working with our business community, trying to get some support from our local businesses. If we can get our community to help support for the first couple years, and prove that there’s that level of demand, then airlines will keep serving it. </span></p>
<p><strong>Turning now to local upgrades, the airport is wrapping up a parking garage expansion. When will that be done? </strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The garage is going to be done before Thanksgiving of this year. It’s more than doubling our garage space. It's being built by a local woman-owned business. They are ahead of schedule. Plus when we started this project I said to my staff, "I don't want an ugly garage. I want a beautiful garage." And it's going to be beautiful. The outside is going to be perforated metal that from a distance looks like orchards with big pictures of the fruit. When you look more closely it’s going to be place names, and the names of every single person involved in these projects.</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/media/12282694/072126_smfnewgaragerender.png?width=960&height=685" alt="A 2024 rendering of the future Terminal B parking garage at Sacramento International Airport." width="960" height="685" data-udi="umb://media/0582fdca904f4e42af40707cb7dbd73f" /></div><span class="caption">A 2024 rendering of the future Terminal B parking garage at Sacramento International Airport.</span><span class="credit">Sacramento County Department of Airports/Otto Construction</span></p>
<p><strong>How has the parking situation been amid all this construction?</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I want to thank our traveling community because it has been challenging, and people have been pretty patient with us. The garage fills up not the entire day, but pretty much by 11:00 or so it frees up. We try to communicate well out to people what's available.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We have new signage on the roadway that says whether the garage or lots are open. Once you get into the garage you can see how many spaces are available by level, and how many by row. There are red and green lights showing you where the spaces are available. We have that in place in the existing garage and we're putting it in the new garage. </span></p>
<p><strong>We also learned about a new camera system, Automodus, to help manage curbside drop-off. How does this work?</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our folks, who used to have to just wait at the curb and see if people showed up and needed help, now they can see on cameras if there are people who are parked there for quite a while. We don’t like people to sit there for more than four minutes because it gets crowded, and if you’ve been to Terminal A we get backups on the roadway.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The camera allows them to see when someone’s parked there. They can then go person-to-person [and] talk to them, offer that they can circulate again or go to our free waiting area and then pick up their person.</span></p>
<p><strong>What other major projects are coming down the pipeline? </strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are just now starting work on adding up to six gates, we’re still refining that at Terminal B. That’ll make us able to bring in more flights. All the airlines are scrambling for those gates, they’re fighting over them. We’re also starting a project to reroute the exit from Terminal A just to make traffic flow a bit more easily. After the garage opens, probably [at the] end of this year or early next year, the pedestrian walkway will open. It's going to be so beautiful with incredible art… a delightful way for people to come into Sacramento and to leave Sacramento. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The last big project we have — probably over $480 million — will be a new rental car center. Residents don’t really see that as most are parking or using other forms of transportation, but our visitors do rent cars. Right now that rental car [facility] was the first in the country. It's very 1960s-1970s and you have to take a shuttle bus. So now the consolidated rental car facility will be right south of the [existing] garage. We expect that that [to] open in 2030. </span></p>
<p><strong>There’s a survey out for the public to weigh in on the next 20 years at SMF for its master plan update. What kind of feedback are you looking for?</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What's really helpful is to hear what their vision is. A lot of our passengers are going in-and-out of other airports; what are they seeing there that they would like us to have? We would really like to make improvements to our international facilities, when people are coming into the country through customs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We're going to get a new air traffic control tower; [the] FAA is building it on the north side of the airport. That will get the old tower out of the way for us to add new facilities. What do people envision us putting there? For example, another thing we’re working on is a childcare center for people who work at the airport. I think that would certainly help women and people in underserved communities who have trouble paying for childcare come and work at the airport, and know that their child is right there. </span></p>
<p><strong>Your department also oversees Sacramento Executive Airport in Land Park, which is home to Aviator’s Restaurant. It’s been open for nearly three decades and is known for overlooking the airfield, but is currently closed. What’s going on there?</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The airport was built in the early 1950s, and construction was a little different in those days. When Aviator’s closed, as they normally do, during the December-January timeframe, we did some inspections. We looked under the linoleum and saw there was some degradation to the rebar, some rusting. We needed to close the restaurant. </span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282693/072126_aviatorsdoor.jpg?width=1200&height=900" alt="The locked door of Aviator's Restaurant is surrounded by holiday decorations Monday, July 20, 2026 at Sacramento Executive Airport in Land Park." width="1200" height="900" data-udi="umb://media/3c3fe0c28c41402ebd53c71e0474f75d" /></div><span class="caption">The locked door of Aviator's Restaurant is surrounded by holiday decorations Monday, July 20, 2026 at Sacramento Executive Airport in Land Park.</span><span class="credit">Sarit Laschinsky/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Right now we’re shoring up the floor. We’re completing inspections to really learn the extent of the damage, and then we’re going to have a contractor come and fix it. Honestly, we think that process could take a couple years.</span></p>
<p><strong>The restaurant has been a haven for aviation enthusiasts. What kind of response have you received regarding the closure? </strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It certainly is beloved; I’ve been there myself. I think people understand that we’ve got to make sure that the structural integrity is assured. And, we’re talking to Chik [the operator] about what the future looks like.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Editor’s note: The Department of Airports </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SacIntlAirport/posts/sacramento-executive-airport-aviators-restaurant-updatesince-our-last-update-in-/1057853649930205/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said on social media</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> it has waived Aviator’s rent during the closure.</span></em></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218283</link><pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 22:06:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218283</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>Sacramento International Airport is adding new infrastructure projects as part of a modernization program. Local officials are also working to address structural issues at an iconic aviation-themed restaurant in Land Park.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Sacramento International Airport is adding new infrastructure projects as part of a modernization program. Local officials are also working to address structural issues at an iconic aviation-themed restaurant in Land Park.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282670/insight-mon-260720-sega.mp3" length="41516377" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282689/072126_smfrabbit-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Local Artist feature July 17, 2026: Dr. Brittany Trotter uses the flute to... beatbox!</title><description>The flute is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Dr. Brittany Trotter is exploring NEW ways to use it!</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Jennifer Reason</p><div>The flute is one of the oldest instruments in the world. There are relics made of bird bone and mammoth ivory dating as far back as 40,000 years ago. Dr. Brittany Trotter is propelling the instrument forward in time with all sorts of creative "new" uses and soundscapes. For example, did you know you can use the flute to beatbox? It also make a lovely contributor to sonic worlds involving electronics!</div>
<div>In this feature we enjoy recordings of several creative uses of the flute. We also enjoy recordings of Dr. Trotter's classical background and get to know her passion for education as well. </div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218271</link><pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:11:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218271</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>The flute is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Dr. Brittany Trotter is exploring NEW ways to use it!</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>The flute is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Dr. Brittany Trotter is exploring NEW ways to use it!</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282680/16089_local-artist-feature_brittany-trotter-flute.wav" length="106183646" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282679/brittany-trotter-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Gavin Newsom’s return-to-office rules are stricter than many states, including Texas</title><description>California state workers must report to the office four days a week under an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom. Other states allow more remote work.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By <a href="https://calmatters.org/author/lynn-la/">Lynn La</a>, CalMatters</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://calmatters.org/">CalMatters</a>. <a href="https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/">Sign up</a> for their newsletters.</em></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In one big way, Gov.<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.org/tag/gavin-newsom/" target="_blank">Gavin Newsom</a><span> </span>is tougher on public employee unions than his Republican counterpart in Texas: Making state workers show up in the office.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">After facing strong opposition from workers, it took Texas Gov. Greg Abbott three months to<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-06-26/abbott-signs-bill-allowing-telework-for-all-state-agencies-months-after-his-executive-order-banning-it" target="_blank">reverse his 2025 ban on remote work</a><span> </span>for state employees. But Newsom, whose return-to-office mandate has been in effect since July 1, shows no signs of backing down. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s a stance that has upset — and at times befuddled — some state workers who are calling for the governor to scrap the four-day-a-week in-office policy as they hammer out new labor agreements.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Typically, they’re allies to the Democratic governor. They helped<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-f77c7772d349bed42b8140313a6999ca" target="_blank">him fight off a recall</a><span> </span>in 2021, and they<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article251083584.html" target="_blank">encouraged their members</a><span> </span>to vote for him against his Republican opponents.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">More importantly to them, they maintain they’re just as effective at home, which they say they proved when Newsom ordered them to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It’s confusing to people when they think that they’ve done a great job to be told, ‘Well we don’t think it’s good enough and you should incur going back into the office,’” said D’Arcy McLeod, chairperson of the Professional Engineers in California Government’s bargaining team.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Roughly 108,000 of California’s more than 245,900 state employees are affected by the mandate, according to the state human resources department. The others generally already are required to work at a specific location five days a week, including prison, firefighting, law enforcement, and custodial employees.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Service Employees International Union Local 1000, California’s largest state worker union, represents 96,000 employees and is in contract negotiations. It argues that remote work saves taxpayers and employees money, reduces traffic and lowers emissions — all without affecting productivity.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Newsom’s mandate<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.calhr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/361/2025/05/2025-Statewide-Telework-Guidance.pdf" target="_blank">allows exemptions</a><span> </span>on a case-by-case basis, including for those who live 50 miles or farther from their worksite, or who conduct work outside the office, such as telehealth providers and inspectors. Public transportation costs for commuting are also reimbursable.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But that isn’t enough for SEIU, which in May filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the California Public Employment Relations Board. It also<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.org/newsletter/newsom-return-to-office-telework/" target="_blank">threw its support behind a bill</a><span> </span>that would give state agencies more authority to shape their hybrid work policies.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“A blanket mandate does not work for all the jobs that our workers do,” said Anica Walls, the union’s president. “Let the departments decide.”</p>
<h2 id="h-california-exceptionalism" class="wp-block-heading">California exceptionalism?</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">States have taken different approaches to calling workers back to the office since the pandemic.<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/lombardo-cracking-down-on-remote-work-in-state-jobs-nearly-1-year-after-his-initial-order" target="_blank">Republican-led Nevada</a><span> </span>and<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pshra.org/report-links-new-mexico-in-office-mandate-to-increased-sick-leave/" target="_blank">Democratic-led New Mexico</a><span> </span>require state employees to be in the office five days a week, for example. Utah with a Republican governor wants them at the office<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.deseret.com/utah/2025/01/16/utah-governor-work-from-home-state-employees-return-to-work/" target="_blank"><span> </span>twice a week</a>. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But Newsom’s blanket policy appears to be an outlier among other blue states with robust public employee unions: Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Washington state still embrace remote work in some capacity. It also differs from Texas, a Republican-led state that<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@gavinnewsom/video/7527002530048527629" target="_blank">Newsom has contrasted with California</a>. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A few months after President Donald Trump began his second term and called for federal employees to return to the office, Abbott<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kut.org/texas/2025-03-05/texas-governor-greg-abbott-state-employees-return-to-office-remote-work-policy" target="_blank">banned remote work</a><span> </span>for Texas state employees. But following a multi-agency survey that found that telework did not curb productivity and helped reduce turnover,<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-06-26/abbott-signs-bill-allowing-telework-for-all-state-agencies-months-after-his-executive-order-banning-it" target="_blank">Abbott walked back the move</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Newsom “is a man who has talked about the importance of innovation,<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/310887/citizenville-by-gavin-newsom-with-lisa-dickey/9780143124474" target="_blank">wrote an entire book</a><span> </span>about government adapting to technology and providing services in a more cost-effective way,” said Ted Toppin, the executive director of the engineers union.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It strikes me as interesting and ironic that Texas would have a more modern, flexible and efficient take on state employee telework.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Despite a<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/08/state-workers-remote-work/" target="_blank">state audit</a><span> </span>that concluded that telework could save California as much as $225 million a year, Newsom moved forward with his<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/03/california-employees-remote-work/" target="_blank">March 2025 executive order</a><span> </span>directing workers back into the office at least four days a week.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In May during a state budget presentation, Newsom told reporters that he is “<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/live/tOwZc4XsQT8?si=5DMDGRh73em0GJzl&t=5050" target="_blank">empathetic to change</a>,” but that returning to the office helps build a sense of community. The governor has also contended that in-person work fosters<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002210311630292X" target="_blank">collaboration,<span> </span></a><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/working-paper/evolution-working-home" target="_blank">accountability</a><span> </span>and helps<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.abridged.org/news/return-to-office-downtown-sacramento/" target="_blank">boost small businesses</a>. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">McLeod said he’s surprised Newsom remains resolute to the mandate even after the audit found that remote work proved successful during and after the pandemic.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Every single Newsom appointed official that testified for the state auditor indicated that … the work that was being delivered during telework was substantially of higher quality and more efficient,” said McLeod of the engineers union. </p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282675/072026-rto-state-workers-mg-26-cm.jpg?width=1024&height=682" alt="The CalPERS Sacramento Regional Office in downtown Sacramento on July 15, 2026." width="1024" height="682" data-udi="umb://media/542a3582ff0943e6a4469a1b0a8abea3" /></div><span class="caption">The CalPERS Sacramento Regional Office in downtown Sacramento on July 15, 2026.</span><span class="credit">Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters</span></p>
</figure>
<h2 id="h-what-unions-wanted-from-newsom" class="wp-block-heading">What unions wanted from Newsom</h2>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In some ways the rift echoes labor disputes from California’s last two governors. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came out swinging against public employees with<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.npr.org/2005/11/09/5006225/voters-roundly-reject-schwarzenegger-initiatives" target="_blank">unsuccessful ballot measures</a><span> </span>that were designed to cut their influence. He later<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna38454076" target="_blank">imposed unpaid furloughs</a><span> </span>on public employees during the Great Recession.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Then Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2025/06/jerry-brown-california-pensions/" target="_blank">battled with unions over pensions</a>, passing a law that curbed retirement benefits and required workers to chip in more for their benefits. He had a reputation for being stingy with raises, too.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Public employee unions were optimistic about Newsom. He<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article243963677.html" target="_blank">offered concessions</a><span> </span>when he asked workers for temporary pay reductions during the pandemic, gave<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/08/ccpoa-contract-2023-california-prisons/" target="_blank">one-time bonuses<span> </span></a>to many employees and negotiated contracts that often<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4799" target="_blank">included goodies for workers</a><span> </span>in hard-to-fill positions even if the deals didn’t please everyone.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Then came the fight over returning to the office. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Besides union leaders, Newsom’s steadfast commitment to in-person work has baffled Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant who has worked with public employee unions on pension issues. For Newsom, a Democratic politician who is likely eyeing a bid for the presidency, “it’s political malpractice to come across as anti-labor,” said Maviglio.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“The only thing you’ll be able to say is that ‘I stood up to state workers,’ which isn’t particularly helpful in a Democratic primary where labor is the key constituency nationwide for Democrats.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But for Will Swaim, chief executive of the libertarian think tank California Policy Center, Newsom’s fight with the unions signals something larger than remote work. Rather, it is a “policy disagreement that has turned into a foundational challenge to democracy,” said Swaim.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SEIU 1000 has donated at least $2 million to current members of the Legislature, according to the CalMatters<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/" target="_blank">Digital Democracy database</a>. In addition to its contract, the union is pushing for more flexible telework policies through a<span> </span><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1729" target="_blank">legislative proposal</a><span> </span>currently in the state Senate.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Through its campaign donations and labor talks, SEIU is attempting to wrest control from Newsom, a publicly elected official, over who gets to shape policies over government work, according to Swaim.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“That’s simply undemocratic,” said Swaim. “I don’t know anybody out there who believes that in their jobs they could tell their boss, ‘I’m not coming to the office, no matter what you want.’ It just doesn’t fly.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But bosses should work to accommodate current employees, according to SEIU president Walls — especially if they have presumably bigger ambitions to oversee even more workers.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“As a state employee I would have trouble voting for someone who would be the boss of federal employees when I know he hasn’t shown to be a stellar employer to state employees,” said Walls.</p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218250</link><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 23:09:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218250</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>California state workers must report to the office four days a week under an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom. Other states allow more remote work.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>California state workers must report to the office four days a week under an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom. Other states allow more remote work.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282673/072026-rto-state-workers-mg-02-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Bike nonprofit puts a Shine on Sacramento’s bike lanes</title><description>The Sacramento Area Bike Advocates have recently purchased two new bike lane sweepers using funding from SMUD’s Shine grant program.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Ruth Finch</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>This story is featured in our SacramenKnow newsletter.<span> </span><a href="/know" data-eventlabel="Sign_up - Newsletter - SacramenKnow">Sign up to get updates about what’s happening in the region</a><span> </span>in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two new cleaners are taking to the streets — and bike lanes — of Sacramento, and their names are Crunch and Munch. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These bike lane cleaners are towed by e-bikes and manned by riders of the </span><a href="https://sacbike.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sacramento Area Bike Advocates.</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> The organization’s Director of Policy and Advocacy Deb Banks said that they got the cleaners to address a debris problem they’ve seen in Sacramento’s bike lanes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We can’t wait to take them out in leaf season in the fall, when all of our beautiful canopy falls to the ground,” Banks said. “This is when we need them the most. It’s really to some extent a safety issue for cyclists.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The SABA has taken on the training of people to operate the bike lane sweepers, which consist of an e-bike towing a roller-brush trailer that sweeps debris up into bins.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“No one is going to be able to take these out  and use them before they’ve had training from us,” Banks said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SABA has been using these cleaners for about a month, and they’re currently ramping up their entirely volunteer staff to clean up the bike lanes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The cleaners were purchased with one of SMUD’s </span><a href="https://www.smud.org/Corporate/Landing/Sustainable-Communities/Shine-awards"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shine</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> grants for $13,000. The program, offered to Sacramento County’s nonprofit organizations, helps to bolster organizations that have a positive impact on Sacramento’s carbon footprint.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kevin Burdick, who works at SMUD’s Sustainable Communities program, said that SABA’s bike lane cleaners seemed unique and effective.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They really identified an issue, they did all that they could to bring it to the city and the county, and found this very unique solution,” Burdick said. “They’re bringing volunteers together to be able to clean up and adopt these areas that they’re cleaning up.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said that SMUD tries to encourage clean transportation as much as possible.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The more bikes that are on the road, that means that there’s fewer cars on the road,” Burdick said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SMUD’s Shine program has been in operation for over 10 years, and they’ve awarded grants to over 200 nonprofit organizations in that time. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Burdick said SMUD wants to help nonprofits help Sacramento.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Anytime we get an application we will work with organizations [and say] ‘Hey, if you didn’t get it, let's figure out how we can make this better for next year,” Burdick said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shine awards applications for nonprofits are now being accepted through July 31, 2026. </span></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218231</link><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:28:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218231</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>The Sacramento Area Bike Advocates have recently purchased two new bike lane sweepers using funding from SMUD’s Shine grant program.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>The Sacramento Area Bike Advocates have recently purchased two new bike lane sweepers using funding from SMUD’s Shine grant program.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282655/bikecleanerp.jpg" /></item><item><title>A body is recovered after San Francisco boat tragedy but 2 remain missing</title><description>Police have recovered the body of a woman who was one of three people missing after a boat sank this week in San Francisco Bay.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police have recovered the body of a woman who was one of three people missing after<span> </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-alcatraz-boat-rescue-sinking-7566c93acb87894bbd85f9a460ce628d">a boat sank this week in San Francisco Bay</a>.</p>
<p>The body was identified as Tondra Madruga, 58, also known as Tondra Miller, the San Francisco medical examiner said Friday.</p>
<p>Madruga's body was recovered Thursday by a police marine unit, two days after the Volare, a 49-foot (15-meter) cabin cruiser, sank with 20 people aboard after being hit by a wave and capsizing. The group was on the boat to scatter the ashes of a loved one.</p>
<p>“Our family is heartbroken by the loss of our beloved mother, daughter, sister, and aunt, Tondra Madruga,” family member Quin Madruga said on Facebook. “Our hearts remain with every family impacted, and we sincerely appreciate your kindness and understanding.”</p>
<p>One man, Clifford Boisa, died immediately after being retrieved from the chilly water. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended rescue efforts Wednesday evening but police are still looking for the missing.</p>
<p>Ralph Boisa said his extended family and some close friends were on the boat Tuesday to celebrate the life of his daughter, who died over a decade ago. Madruga was a friend.</p>
<p>The two people who remain missing are Ralph Boisa's sister, Carol, and Clifford Boisa's wife, Jackie, he said.</p>
<p>Madruga's body was discovered in San Francisco Bay near Treasure Island, a former naval station, when a boater first reported it, police said.</p>
<p>The bay is notorious for its strong currents, and within hours of the boat’s sinking, rescuers were also searching the open ocean beyond the Golden Gate Bridge.</p>
<p>Crews searched more than 800 square miles (over 2,000 square kilometers), according to the Coast Guard. That’s an area roughly half the size of Rhode Island.</p>
<p>The boat is believed to be submerged on the rocky seabed in water 120 feet (36 meters) deep. When the wreck is located, authorities will determine whether a safe recovery can be conducted, police said.</p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218200</link><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:53:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218200</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>Police have recovered the body of a woman who was one of three people missing after a boat sank this week in San Francisco Bay.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Police have recovered the body of a woman who was one of three people missing after a boat sank this week in San Francisco Bay.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282653/071726_sf-boat-accident_p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Roseville has no data center proposal but it has a data center fight</title><description>A 240-acre field at the end of Blue Oaks Boulevard has become Placer County's front in a national fight over data centers.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Greg Micek</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last month, Diane-Louise Alessi told the Placer County Board of Supervisors that the era of backroom deals was over.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tech companies, she said, were arriving in California under false pretenses. "They are using covert names like ‘innovation centers’ and ‘advanced manufacturing parks’ as their masks to hide massive AI data centers."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Look at the Phillip Road project in West Roseville," Alessi said. "Developers call it an innovation center, yet the zoning explicitly allows for data center infrastructure." Alessi, who </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz9RcPEVXOs"><span style="font-weight: 400;">addressed the board</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> via Zoom from Christian Valley Park, asked the county for a moratorium on data center approvals. She said its water and power grid were at stake.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The field she was talking about sits at the western end of Blue Oaks Boulevard, 30 miles from her home, in a city the county does not govern.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://www.roseville.ca.gov/development_services/planning/projects_of_interest/proposed_phillip_road_site/index.php"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Phillip Road project site</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is about 240 acres of tilled dirt and dry grass, split east to west by Pleasant Grove Creek, where the last subdivision gives way to open country. Trees and weeds crowd the edges. Barbed wire runs the perimeter. A four-foot metal gate is chained and padlocked, and the sign on it reads: ‘no trespassing, violators will be prosecuted.’ Below it, another sign: City of Roseville Open Space.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's quiet at the site. A car every few minutes. Otherwise just birds, insects and wind.</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282646/07-17-26-phillip-02.jpeg?width=1200&height=675" alt="Phillip Road site" width="1200" height="675" data-udi="umb://media/f34df67553e04ecbbee791d8ac86b4c6" /></div><span class="caption">A padlocked gate blocks the entrance to the Phillip Road site in west Roseville on July 9, 2026. The city owns the roughly 240-acre parcel, which developer Panattoni has proposed for housing, retail and a million square feet of an innovation center.</span><span class="credit">Greg Micek/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The City of Roseville owns the land. In 2021, the city council declared sale of the property in the city's interest and signed an option and purchase agreement with </span><a href="https://www.panattoni.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Panattoni Development</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which wants to build about 660 homes, a park, shops, medical offices, and just over a million square feet of buildings the plans call ‘an innovation center.’ The sale hasn't closed. The city is both the seller and the agency reviewing the application.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But nothing has been built. Nothing has been approved. No data center has been proposed. No tenant has been identified, and no hearing has been scheduled.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Josh Hickson has been watching anyway. He moved into the neighborhood in 2022, and early the next year a neighbor knocked on his door with flyers about an industrial park planned for the field.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I started going to neighborhood association meetings," Hickson said. "It was kind of just interesting how local representatives voiced support for this project, despite it being halfway through the CEQA process, environmental review."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That proposal drew enough opposition, most of it over truck traffic, that Panattoni withdrew it and started over.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When the city issued a notice of preparation for the new plan in 2025, Hickson read the documents and looked up the developer. He found one of the country's largest industrial builders, which had launched a </span><a href="https://panattonidc.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">data center division</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the year before.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He wrote the city a letter. It asked officials to say plainly whether a data center was coming to Phillip Road.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The draft environmental report that followed lists its own areas of controversy. The first one is concern about what the new zoning would allow.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Roseville isn't the only place having a data center argument. More than 70 cities and counties now restrict new data centers in some form, among them Denver, Minneapolis and New Orleans. On June 2, Monterey Park became the first city in the country to </span><a href="https://calmatters.org/newsletter/data-center-monterey-park-ban/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ban them by popular vote</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> — 86% of voters approved a measure killing a 250,000-square-foot proposal. Last month Seattle's council </span><a href="https://council.seattle.gov/2026/06/09/city-council-passes-emergency-data-center-moratorium-and-policy-framework/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">voted unanimously</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to freeze new facilities above 20 megavolt-amperes — roughly 20 megawatts — for a year. Fifty-two people testified. Not one spoke in favor.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The data center backlash has grown consequential enough to move elections in other states, according to a </span><a href="https://lhc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/LHC-Report-292-Data-Centers-California-Electricity-Policy-FINAL-PUBLIC-3.3.26.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">March report</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> from the Little Hoover Commission, an independent state oversight agency that spent last fall studying what data centers mean for California's electricity system. Policymakers, the commission warned, "may face pressure to defer to powerful technology companies and utilities."</span></p>
<h3>“How close is this to my community?”</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before Rachel Davis and her family moved to West Roseville, she knocked on neighbors' doors, called school districts, read environmental reports. But she never heard of the Phillip Road site.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In June a friend forwarded a Reddit post to her.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The post ran on Roseville's subreddit under the headline "</span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Roseville/comments/1ttizls/i_found_plans_for_an_ai_data_center_in_west/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I found plans for an AI Data Center in West Roseville</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">." It drew hundreds of replies. Some were careful, others less so. One commenter called data centers instruments of mass surveillance. Another suggested blowing it up. Several pushed back, pointing out that data centers have operated quietly in Roseville for years, and that the same infrastructure carries everyone's email and streaming video.</span></p>
<p><span class="imgright imgright50" style="padding-left: 30px;"><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282649/07-17-26-phillip-05.jpeg?width=676&height=802" alt="Phillip road site" width="676" height="802" data-udi="umb://media/2258f406bc004656847f1b8025a52cde" /></div><span class="caption">A site plan showing proposed bicycle and pedestrian routes for the Phillip Road project, with housing along the eastern edge and commercial and innovation center buildings to the west. The plan is from the draft environmental impact report.</span><span class="credit">Ascent / City of Roseville</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By the time Davis read it, the public comment period on the Phillip Road site environmental report had been closed for weeks.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"My initial reaction was, ‘How close is this to my community?’" she said. She typed the address into Google Maps. A few miles.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Davis went looking for paperwork and context.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"On social media, it's easy to become a little bit alarmist, and people are happy to give their opinion," she said. "But I think it's also important to do something about it and to do your own research and diligence."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What she did was start converting the alarm into arithmetic. She found Seattle’s data center freeze. "The potential data center in the Phillip location would actually not be permitted under that new legislation in Seattle," she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Underneath the noise, the specific data center fears are consistent. Electricity bills. Water.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> Diesel generators near schools. Noise. Property values. And running through all of it, a suspicion that the decision has already been made somewhere nobody was invited.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I want to make sure that construction doesn't start and 90% of families in West Roseville are like, 'What is going there?'" Davis said. "And it's too late before people can really have their voices heard."</span></p>
<h3>A hyperscale concern</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Roseville's answer arrived days after the Reddit post, in an updated FAQ on the </span><a href="https://www.roseville.ca.gov/development_services/planning/projects_of_interest/proposed_phillip_road_site/index.php"><span style="font-weight: 400;">city's website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. A hyperscale data center at the Phillip Road Site, it said, is not planned, and not possible.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Those facilities can draw upward of 200 or 300 megawatts, the city said. Roseville's peak demand across the entire city is about 370 megawatts. Roseville runs its own electric utility, and it says the local grid was never built for hyperscale-level load.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But running its own utility is part of what makes a city attractive to data centers in the first place. Municipal utilities tend to charge less for power than PG&E does — one reason California's data centers have clustered in Santa Clara and Los Angeles, according to the Little Hoover Commission. Both cities, like Roseville, run their own.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But "hyperscale" describes scale. It’s not a building type and not a zoning category, and neither is "AI data center," a phrase that describes what the machines inside are computing.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Khara Boender spends her days explaining that distinction. She’s director of western state government affairs for the </span><a href="https://www.datacentercoalition.org/cpages/home"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Data Center Coalition</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the industry's national trade association.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The conversation today really is almost putting data centers and AI as being synonymous," Boender said. "But I would say that that is not a true reflection of everything that data centers support."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The term cloud almost feels like a misnomer, because it almost implies that all that data is just going out into thin air," Boender added. "But it turns out that that data is going into a physical structure. And that physical structure is a data center."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boender said artificial intelligence drives roughly 20% to 25% of data center demand today, and that industry projections don't show an even split with conventional cloud computing until about 2030. The rest is streaming, online banking, telehealth, the average American household's 21 connected devices.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Data centers also vary enormously. Roseville's own FAQ makes the point: data centers "range in size and type, and many of them are small-scale facilities and may even exist within a building or business where you work." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Roseville has several along Foothills Boulevard. The largest in the Sacramento region is a 52.7-megawatt campus near Natomas run by NTT. Most of the rest fall between 3 and 26 megawatts.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At 30 megawatts, a data center at Phillip Road would be smaller than a hyperscale campus by an order of magnitude, but still larger than nearly everything already operating in the region.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Davis, who has spent much of her career in accounting for technology companies, said the vocabulary is a problem.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"There's a lot of buzzwords going around, right? Like AI, hyperscale," she said. Rather than the buzzwords, "just look at the numbers behind everything." Size is relative, she said. "If you're okay with a 30 or 40 megawatt data center next to your home, that's great. But I do think you have the right to know and make that decision for yourself."</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282647/07-17-26-phillip-03.jpeg?width=1200&height=724.0677966101696" alt="Phillip Road site" width="1200" height="724.0677966101696" data-udi="umb://media/72ee8e8d9d6f417ebe4d2b5f1fc7728c" /></div><span class="caption">Illustrative site plan for the Phillip Road project in west Roseville shows existing homes in gray at top, with proposed housing and innovation center buildings in color. The plan was included in the February 2026 draft environmental impact report.</span></p>
<div>
<h3>What's on paper</h3>
</div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Phillip Road project's </span><a href="https://www.roseville.ca.gov/development_services/planning/environmental_documents_public_notices.php#doc_center_2_panel_0"><span style="font-weight: 400;">draft environmental report</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, published in February, is where residents went looking. It describes no hyperscale facility, but does consider a smaller one.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The report's zoning table contains no line for a data center. It contains a line for "specialized industrial," and a footnote defining that term to include one.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the report is vague about what would go in the innovation center, it is specific about what a data center there would need. Its air quality and energy chapters assume 15 diesel generators of three megawatts each, "to provide power to the future potential data center." They would be backup, for outages. The report requires the cleanest tier of engine, because without it, it calculates, cancer risk at the most exposed nearby home would exceed Placer County's threshold.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Backup generators are the most significant community risk the Little Hoover Commission identified. Its report cites a proposed hyperscale facility in San Jose that would run 39 of them — enough, by the California Energy Commission's estimate, to emit as much air pollution in 20 hours a year as 428 cars driven for a year. It also notes that the EPA recently clarified data center generators may run a set number of hours outside emergencies, and without limit during them. The commission recommends the state limit what those generators do to surrounding neighborhoods.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The report's utilities chapter budgets 538 acre-feet of recycled water a year for "the data center cooling system," if one is built — roughly 175 million gallons, more than the rest of the site's development would use. It would come from the city's recycled water system through pipes Panattoni would build along Blue Oaks Boulevard. The report finds the supply sufficient.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How much water that is depends on who's measuring. The Little Hoover Commission puts a typical data center's use at roughly what 1,000 homes consume in a year, and a hyperscale facility's at about a town of 50,000. By that yardstick, Phillip Road would land somewhere near 1,500 homes — more than typical, but nowhere near hyperscale.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boender, with the datacenter trade association, offers a different yardstick. She points to a </span><a href="https://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt598-2.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2024 Virginia legislative study</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of the nation's largest data center market, which found 83% of the data centers there use no more water than a large commercial office building — about 6.7 million gallons a year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By that measure, the facility considered for Phillip Road would use roughly 26 times what a large office building uses.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">None of that means a data center is coming to Phillip Road. Environmental reports study the most intensive version of what the zoning would permit, whether or not it happens. The city makes the point directly: the studies "examine a scenario with the maximum potential impact that could occur," its FAQ says, and that "doesn't necessarily mean that the scenario will definitely occur."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The city says any data center would be capped at 30 megawatts and restricted to recycled water. The new zoning would bar warehouses outright, a concession Panattoni made when it redesigned its plans for the site.</span></p>
<h3>Skepticism over reassurance</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hickson read the Roseville’s FAQ and noticed its phrasing. The question "Is a hyperscale data center planned?" is answered no. The question directly beneath it says a 30-megawatt data center could be.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The structure of the city's FAQs really strongly implies that there isn't going to be a data center," he said, "until you actually do the reading."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He tested that on his neighbors. "I've talked to a handful of neighbors, and I've showed them the FAQs," Hickson said. The ones who read it, he said, stopped at the first question. "If you go on Facebook, if you go on Nextdoor, you'll find a lot of people saying, 'Oh, there's not going to be a data center put here.'"</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His skepticism predates the FAQ. In the summer of 2023, with the industrial park in trouble, Panattoni started asking neighbors what they wanted on the land. The developer held 12 public workshops that summer, according to February’s draft environmental report, followed by an open house that fall and two more the next spring.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hickson said he remembers poster boards and sticky notes in neighbors' living rooms and in community rooms at local stores.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It kind of felt disingenuous, because it wasn't an official survey or anything," he said. "It was just post-its and markers, and it was divisive because people wanted different things."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He also doesn't pretend to be confused about the developer's motives.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Panattoni's an industrial developer, so they have industrial goals," Hickson said. "At the end of the day, they want to make a profit with the land that they've entered into a sale contract with."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Panattoni is one of the country's largest industrial builders, and in 2024 it launched a data center division. Its website advertises a global pipeline of more than five gigawatts across 20 countries, and says its data center projects "range from 100 MW to 1+ GW." One of them, in Van Buren Township, Michigan, is a full gigawatt.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thirty megawatts would be below the floor of what Panattoni's data center group says it builds.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A representative from the city of Roseville declined an interview, citing the ongoing review. "As part of this review, the City is required to evaluate a variety of potential uses, whether or not they move forward," wrote Erin Dunlay, the city's public affairs and communications manager.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Panattoni declined an interview as well. In a written statement, a company spokesperson pointed to the </span><a href="https://www.philliproadsite.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">project's website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. "We are committed to transparency and encourage community members to explore the information available, share their feedback, and stay engaged throughout the planning process. We value the perspectives of our neighbors and are committed to an open dialogue as we continue planning for Roseville's long-term economic growth and quality of life."</span></p>
<p><span class="imgright imgright50" style="padding-left: 30px;"><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282648/07-17-26-phillip-04.jpeg?width=682&height=852" alt="Phillip Road site" width="682" height="852" data-udi="umb://media/f8a788bc0d2b43cfa5d09432a4313ac5" /></div><span class="caption">The Phillip Road site, outlined in red, sits between existing west Roseville housing to the east and farmland to the west. The map is from a draft environmental impact report prepared for the City of Roseville by the consulting firm Ascent.</span></span></p>
</div>
<div></div>
<h3>Who the land is for</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Beneath the argument about data centers is an older one about what a city owes the people who live in it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The most common complaint about data centers is that they employ almost no one once they're built. Boender positions that concern as a positive. A facility with few workers, she said, can help a town.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"You're not seeing the same strains on these localities and needing to hire additional teachers, hiring additional social people to handle different social services," she said, "because you're not seeing this type of influx into those communities." What communities get instead, she said, is tax revenue — money that in places like </span><a href="https://www.loudoun.gov/m/faq?cat=241#question-1793"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Loudoun County, Virginia</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, has gone toward schools and lower property taxes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Davis wants something more tangible. She'd like a library on the Phillip Road site, or a post office, or a school. Children in her part of Roseville already have to be bused across the city because school construction has failed to keep pace with housing construction.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We are building more homes every single day," Davis said. "If we're just bringing in more homes and families, that's great, but we need to be sure that we can support them staying in their neighborhood."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She also doesn't think the Phillip Road field looks like a place a data center belongs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"There's really nothing industrial about this location," Davis said. "You look around, they have a massive soccer complex that they just put in where, I don't know the number, but easily hundreds of kids and parents play soccer."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I'm definitely not anti-data center in the city," she said. "I just think it's much more advantageous to have designated industrial parks away from master-planned communities."</span></p>
<h3>What's next</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The city is writing responses to comments it received and has not said when the final environmental report will be released. Panattoni's application to rezone the property then goes to the planning commission, and after that to the city council.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Sacramento, </span><a href="https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/bills-protecting-ratepayers-data-center-costs-and-incentivizing-sustainable-tech-1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">two bills</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by State Senator Steve Padilla passed the Senate in May and are before Assembly committees. One would make data center developers cover the transmission costs they trigger — though it directs the state Public Utilities Commission, which regulates PG&E and other investor-owned utilities but not municipal ones like Roseville's. The other would bar data centers from categorical environmental exemptions, which would apply to a possible Phillip Road data center.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Little Hoover Commission's report describes two futures. In one, data centers modernize California's grid and spread its fixed costs across more customers, easing bills. In the other, they raise rates, strain reliability, and leave Californians paying for infrastructure built to serve computing that never arrives. Which one materializes, the commission concluded, depends on rules the state hasn't written yet.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The report made 15 recommendations. One applies directly to cities like Roseville.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Municipal utilities answer to their own governing boards, not to the state Public Utilities Commission. The Little Hoover Commission found that leaves their customers without the same protections — on cost, on reliability, on impacts to the neighborhood — and urged the state to close the gap. It pointed to Imperial County, where residents and city officials said they weren't adequately consulted about a proposed 330-megawatt data center in territory served by a publicly owned irrigation district, and that its environmental review was insufficient.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">California's approach, the report said, "should not depend on where a data center is located or which utility happens to serve it."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which leaves the decision about Phillip Road where it started — with five Roseville  city councilmembers, on a date nobody has set.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For now, the site is a field, a set of plans and a lot of mistrust. The people who live near it would rather not find out too late that they were right.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I'm not saying that it's the end of the world here," Hickson said. "I'm just saying that it's time to wake up and pay attention to what the city's doing and what the developer wants for this land."</span></p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218188</link><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:43:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218188</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>A 240-acre field at the end of Blue Oaks Boulevard has become Placer County's front in a national fight over data centers.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>A 240-acre field at the end of Blue Oaks Boulevard has become Placer County's front in a national fight over data centers.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282692/datacenter-feature-aired.mp3" length="5501723" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282644/07-17-26-phillip-01-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Where does the party go next? Matsui, Vang race for Congress reflects broader Democratic Party debate</title><description>Mai Vang finished ahead of Doris Matsui in the primary race for California's 7th Congressional District. The November election could reveal where Democratic voters want the party to go next.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Tony Rodriguez</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the first time in more than two decades, Sacramento Congresswoman Doris Matsui heads into a general election after finishing behind her opponent in the primary. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now she'll face fellow Democrat Mai Vang in November’s runoff for California’s 7th Congressional District. Matsui, who will be 82 in September, faces a challenger who’s running for Congress for the first time, is far to her left politically and about half her age.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Matsui name in Sacramento is synonymous with Democratic politics: Doris Matsui has served in Congress since March 2005. That’s when she won a special election to take over the seat that had been held by her husband, Robert Matsui, who had died two months earlier. Robert Matsui had represented California’s Capital region in Congress since 1979. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But despite, or perhaps because of her longevity in office, political observers say Matsui could be pushed aside this fall if the wave of anti-establishment sentiment within the Democratic party continues to crash down on longtime incumbents.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At Vang's election night party in June, the celebration reflected something few political observers expected just months earlier. After trailing in early vote counts, the Sacramento City Councilmember finished first in the primary. Vang finished first with 30.8% of the vote, ahead of Matsui's 29.1% — a difference of 3,510 votes. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Across town the mood sounded different. Matsui was measured but confident. The incumbent went into election night with endorsements from local leaders, like Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and Governor Gavin Newsom. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I feel good about where we are. I felt the energy on the ground and it was really wonderful,” Matsui said on election night. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At that point, thousands of ballots still remained uncounted. The final tally would eventually show Vang finishing ahead. The contest has become about much more than two Democrats. It's also become a test of experience versus change.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nathan Gonzales is the editor of Inside Elections, which analyzes congressional races across the country. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Right now, based on what we're seeing in the district and nationwide, I think Congresswoman Matsui is at significant risk of losing re-election,” Gonzales said in a July interview.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gonzales said Sacramento’s race reflects a broader national trend. In recent weeks, younger progressive candidates backed by Democratic Socialists of America chapters have defeated longtime Democratic incumbents in </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/24/nx-s1-5869118/new-york-primary-takeaways"><span style="font-weight: 400;">New York</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/07/01/nx-s1-5872791/kiros-colorado-democratic-socialist-weiser-bennet-primaries"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Colorado.</span><br /><br /></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vang has campaigned as a progressive Democrat advocating for policies like Medicare for All. She’s also taken a more critical stance on U.S. support for Israel. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Matsui, by contrast, has emphasized her experience and influence in Congress, including the relationships she's built in Washington.<br /><br /></span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282641/matsuiwp-p.jpg?width=1200&height=799.8046875" alt="MATSUI" width="1200" height="799.8046875" data-udi="umb://media/ad78ff543bae4b58be73da298d41ea0e" /></div><span class="caption">Congresswoman Doris Matsui at an election watch party on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.</span><span class="credit">Keyshawn Davis/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But Gonzales said those qualities could be a liability this fall.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Democratic incumbents, particularly aging Democratic incumbents, are facing pressure from a Democratic base who wants younger, fresher voices and more of a fighting message and maybe even a more liberal or progressive ideology,” Gonzales said. </span></p>
<p>At their lone debate during the primary, Vang criticized Matsui for the way she raises money.</p>
<p>"There are clear contrasts in terms of who we are, our values, and also where we get money from. I don't take any corporate PAC money. Doris Matsui does,” Vang said. </p>
<p>Matsui on election night focused on her own accomplishments such as securing funding for the Folsom dam and other regional projects.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I really don't know what quite her policy issues are, but I will tell you this: I have fought against Donald Trump. I fought against ICE. I really believe that healthcare is fundamental, and we need universal healthcare. We need to make sure that we move everything forward,” Matsui said. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">With Republicans off the ballot in November, the two Democrats now compete for the roughly 44,000 voters who backed GOP-candidate Zachariah Wooden.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sacramento State political scientist Kim Nalder said Republican voters may have a tough time deciding what they do for this race. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"This presents kind of a dilemma for them,” Nalder said. “Do they go for the more moderate candidate, which would be Matsui, or do they just sit it out?"</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The district, </span><a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_50,_Use_of_Legislative_Congressional_Redistricting_Map_Amendment_(2025)"><span style="font-weight: 400;">which was redrawn</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after the last round of redistricting, stretches from central Sacramento through Elk Grove and Galt.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wooden, a Sacramento State student who finished third in the primary, said many Republicans will feel they have nobody who represents them.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I am not going to be voting for either candidate in this race. It's possible that many Republicans also end up doing so,” said Wooden. “When the general comes around you're going to want as many votes as possible. Whether that's Matsui or Vang attempting to appeal to Republican voters, I wouldn't be surprised."</span></p>
<p>Mindy Romero directs the Center for Inclusive Democracy. She said longtime incumbents rarely trail challengers.</p>
<p>"There's something happening with voters wanting something different,” Romero said. “But still, it's an uphill battle for anybody to challenge a long-time incumbent."</p>
<p>Matsui said her second place finish in the primary shows voters wanted more from her.</p>
<p>“I think that, I looked at the primary vote and, I think all my colleagues say the same thing,” Matsui said. “Voters are just upset and frustrated about what's going on, particularly in Washington, and I don't blame them because I feel the same way, too.”</p>
<p>Both Matsui and Vang will compete for voters who backed someone else just weeks ago.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vang said she will try to prove the coalition that carried her through the primary can grow large enough to win in November. </span></p>
<p>“What you're seeing is voters across this country showing they're ready for a new generation of leadership. Progressive candidates are viable,” Vang added.</p>
<p>Gonzales said Vang’s surprising win in June follows a wave of upset victories by candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America — a group that supported Vang.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vang acknowledged receiving the endorsement of Sacramento's Democratic Socialists of America Sacramento chapter but describes herself as a progressive Democrat focused on working families.</span></p>
<p>Gonzales said those upset victories came at the expense of establishment Democrats like Matsui.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Her share of the primary vote has steadily declined over the years but bigger picture, looking nationally, she is the type of incumbent we have seen lose,” Gonzales said. </span></p>
<p>Whether Sacramento voters ultimately choose continuity or change won't be decided until November.</p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218172</link><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 22:41:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218172</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>Mai Vang finished ahead of Doris Matsui in the primary race for California's 7th Congressional District. The November election could reveal where Democratic voters want the party to go next.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Mai Vang finished ahead of Doris Matsui in the primary race for California's 7th Congressional District. The November election could reveal where Democratic voters want the party to go next.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282643/d7-digital-1.mp3" length="5855213" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282639/vangwp-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Sacramento city employees will inspect your trash this summer</title><description>The city will examine the trash bins of 4,800 randomly selected households to make sure people are complying with a state law.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Riley Palmer</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>This story is featured in our SacramenKnow newsletter.<span> </span><a href="/know" data-eventlabel="Sign_up - Newsletter - SacramenKnow">Sign up to get updates about what’s happening in the region</a><span> </span>in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sacramento residents will start to see workers in neon yellow vests going through their garbage bins this week. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The city’s code enforcement officers will lift the lid on bins from 4,800 randomly selected households through September to make sure that they’re complying with </span><a href="https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Senate Bill 1383</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It’s a state law that requires businesses and property owners to separate their organic waste from the landfill. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Residents in the city a allotted one grey trash bin, one brown organic waste bin and one blue recycling can. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jesa David, a city spokesperson, said staff will briefly lift the lid, snap a picture of its contents and either leave a “Great job” or a “Let’s sort this out” tag. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There are no penalties of any kind as a result of this,” David said. “It's simply providing information and making sure everyone has the resources and are aware of how to sort their waste correctly.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If enforcement officers notice a high level of waste contamination, they may act further.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If someone has problems with a lot of contamination, then we would want to address that issue,” David said. “If there’s a lot of recycling in their garbage, then maybe they need another recycling can, which is very inexpensive.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ultimately, David said the city sees this as an opportunity to further educate households on proper waste management. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That said, some residents aren’t thrilled with the idea of the city going through their trash, such as J.D. Fontaine.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think it could be invasive. It could lead to other things,” he said. “What if you see something that shouldn’t be there? What do you do with that information? Who do you give it to? It’s kind of a Big Brother deal. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fontaine said he supports sorting waste properly, but finds the surveillance to be a slippery slope. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I understand the concept, sure, but penalizing me or anybody else because I make a mistake or don’t do it is not what I’m looking for in my government,” he added.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">David said some residents have expressed privacy concerns, but stressed they don’t have much to worry about. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We just reassure people that we're not keeping any records tied to that home or looking at any further than just the, just a visual check of the container,” David said. “We're not touching any contents, and just leaving a tag.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is the second time the city has gone through residents’ trash. Last year, the city found one of the main sources of contamination was plastic film in the recycling can. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That can lead to a lot of problems at the recycling sorting facility, which can lead to higher costs for disposal,” David explained. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Residents should expect to see city employees wearing their high visibility vests out and about between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. on trash days through September. More information on the inspections is available </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SacRecycle/posts/pfbid024iQ4ztq36twB9FFvKbx1PjvJiVyCM1rQiKAb5kiANDzwYWs1YvGNSv9QheTWpBG4l?mibextid=wwXIfr"><span style="font-weight: 400;">here.</span></a></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218143</link><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:42:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218143</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>The city will examine the trash bins of 4,800 randomly selected households to make sure people are complying with a state law.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>The city will examine the trash bins of 4,800 randomly selected households to make sure people are complying with a state law.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282622/071526-garbage_p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Bosch factory in Roseville awarded $225 million in CHIPS funding</title><description>The engineering and technology company based in Germany took over the Roseville plant in 2023 and plans to invest up to $2 billion to produce silicon carbide semiconductors.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Keyshawn Davis</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>This story is featured in our SacramenKnow newsletter.<span> </span><a href="/know" data-eventlabel="Sign_up - Newsletter - SacramenKnow">Sign up to get updates about what’s happening in the region</a><span> </span>in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The semiconductor manufacturing facility in Roseville announced Monday a significant expansion, fueled by a $225 million direct funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bosch, the German-based manufacturing company, will receive this funding as part of their $2 billion investment to transform the former TSI facility, acquired in 2023, into a major U.S. production hub for silicon carbide chips. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The silicon carbide chip, according to the Greater Sacramento Economic Council President and CEO Barry Broome, is a technology that optimizes power for batteries, grids and supports decarbonization. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The beauty of Bosch being in Roseville, first off, it opens up the German market to us because international markets follow their leaders in the other markets,” Broome said. “This product will go right down Main Street and help CARB [California Air Resources Board] and the California Energy Commission with their vision, they'll help PG&E with their vision, and obviously they're going to help SMUD with their vision.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Broome said Bosch is part of a growing clean energy ecosystem that includes </span><a href="/articles/2026/07/08/peak-energy-brings-major-battery-production-facility-to-sacramento/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Peak Energy</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which is the sodium-ion battery company that announced their first major factory in Sacramento. The batteries are said to be more environmentally friendly than lithium ion batteries. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said Bosch chips can go into Peak Energy batteries. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Between Bosch chips and Peak Energy batteries, Peak Energy batteries could be more dynamic, more sustainable, have longer life, improve optimization by 50%,” Broome said. “So imagine taking battery and storage products and improving their ability to optimize by 50%. The way we're going to solve climate change isn't through regulations.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">He added regulations have too many unintended consequences. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It's going to be companies like Peak Energy and Bosch that are going to solve climate change because they're going to make a better product than carbon,” he said.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Congresswoman Doris Matsui, who helped co-write the original CHIPS and Science Act, played a key role in securing the federal funds for Bosch, which she said is paving the way for more manufacturing in the Sacramento region. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is developing an ecosystem so that we have advanced manufacturing at home, creates wonderful new jobs, and be able to have young people be trained in these jobs so that they really do have a job for the future,” Matsui said in an interview with CapRadio. “The fact of the matter is, it really advances more innovation and creativity. And we have a lot more workforce programs now that are tied into these new jobs, too.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Roseville Mayor Krista Bernasconi called the federal agreement a “turning point" for the city, promising hundreds of jobs and major tech investment. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bernasconi said the facility has more than 300 employees and she anticipates there could be more in the future. She said this is the largest semiconductor fabrication investment in California in 30 years.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our region needs these skilled jobs, and Bosch has been wonderful partners with us, with our higher education folks,” Bernasconi said. “They're working with Sierra College to make sure that we have engineers that are coming out of not only Sierra College but Sacramento State who can support their workforce.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bernasconi mentioned the city of Roseville has an advantage of operating their own utilities. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A few months ago, the Roseville City Council put Bosch into its own tier,” she said. “They will be one of the largest customers for our utility, and that was also key to them locating to our city is our rates.”</span></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218137</link><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 19:24:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218137</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>The engineering and technology company based in Germany took over the Roseville plant in 2023 and plans to invest up to $2 billion to produce silicon carbide semiconductors.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>The engineering and technology company based in Germany took over the Roseville plant in 2023 and plans to invest up to $2 billion to produce silicon carbide semiconductors.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282621/071526bosch-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Search suspended for 3 missing after boat with family spreading ashes capsizes on San Francisco Bay</title><description>U.S. Coast Guard crews have suspended their search for three people missing after a boat sank in San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island. The search was suspended late Wednesday.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span>By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press</span></p>
<p><em>This story was updated Thursday, July 16 11:40 a.m. with names of boat owners and comment from an expert about possible cause.</em></p>
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. Coast Guard crews suspended their search late Wednesday for three people missing a day after a boat capsized in the cold, choppy waters of<span> </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/boat-fire-san-francisco-alcatraz-island-9ead0155e619cfb9e190147fc4e22727">San Francisco Bay</a><span> </span>while carrying 20 family members and friends who went out to scatter the ashes of a loved one.</p>
<p>“Suspending a search is one of the hardest parts of our job and our condolences are with the families of all involved,” U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jared S. Toczko said in a statement.</p>
<p>Ralph Boisa said his extended family and a few close friends were on his younger brother's boat Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the life of his daughter who died over a decade ago and was in her 30s.</p>
<p>His older brother, Clifford, died shortly after being pulled out of the water. Sixteen others were rescued as the cabin cruiser was hit by a wave, took on water, listed heavily to one side and rolled over before sinking. Clifford's dog also died.</p>
<p>The three people missing are his sister Carol, Clifford's wife Jackie, and his daughter's friend, he said.</p>
<p>“We’ve gone through a lot of tragedy over the years,” said Boisa, who lost his other daughter in 1995. He lives in Washington and couldn't make it for the excursion.</p>
<h3 class="mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold">Search ends at sundown Wednesday</h3>
<p>Crews searched more than 814 square miles (2,108.3 square kilometers), according to the Coast Guard, and suspended their search “pending further developments.”</p>
<p>Toczko previously said he would not dismiss the possibility that those missing could still be alive, though he also said some could have been trapped inside the three-deck, 49-foot (15-meter) cabin cruiser.</p>
<p>“We do know individuals were in the main deck and potentially below deck," he said. Witnesses described seeing people pounding on glass windows, trapped as the boat sank.</p>
<p>Crews have identified the location the boat sank but have yet to determine how deep it sank, Toczko said.</p>
<p>Once the boat is located, officials will send either divers or an underwater drone to determine if it's feasible to salvage it, said San Francisco Police Commander Brien Hoo. If the boat is under 120 feet (37 meters) of water, it would be difficult for divers to get to it, he said.</p>
<p>Witnesses reported “rough seas,” San Francisco Fire Department Chief Dean Crispen said, and rescuers said swells reached up to 5 feet (1.5 meters). Marine weather conditions, however, didn't warrant a small craft advisory from the National Weather Service.</p>
<p>Fire department spokesperson Lt. Mariano Elias said the vessel, named Volare, was registered out of Stockton, California, which sits at the eastern edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.</p>
<p>According to the ship-tracking website VesselFinder, the boat departed a San Francisco marina, passed under the Golden Gate Bridge twice and visited Angel Island State Park, the largest natural island in the bay. It was on its way back to San Francisco when it sank near<span> </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/alcatraz-prison-trump-calfornia-be993d18317b67a939e0331ec10cc7e3">Alcatraz</a>, the famous maximum-security federal prison which closed more than 60 years ago.</p>
<p>Kirk Miller, an experienced local sailor with a master mariner license, said an uneven distribution of passengers could have caused the Volare to tip.</p>
<p>“As it rocks in the waves, it leans over a little bit,” Miller said. “And as it leans over, the stability would decrease. If you had weight down below it acts as ballast. There was nothing in the conditions that were extreme in any regard. There was no massive gust of wind, no huge wave.”</p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282619/071526_sf-boat-accident_4.jpg?width=1200&height=800.1486712506969" alt="A helicopter flies past the Golden Gate Bridge while searching for missing victims after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026." width="1200" height="800.1486712506969" data-udi="umb://media/53522072761c445eb946ed3c6011aa36" /></div><span class="caption">A helicopter flies past the Golden Gate Bridge while searching for missing victims after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.</span><span class="credit">Noah Berger/AP</span></p>
<h3 class="mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold">Like a ‘Titanic’ scene, rescuer says</h3>
<p>Two men who jumped into action while fishing for halibut said the boat that sank was more than capable of being out in the bay. Justin Marceline and Michael Montoya said they saw what they thought was smoke and arrived to find the vessel halfway submerged.</p>
<p>“We just started yanking people out,” Marceline told The Associated Press. At least two people bobbed in the water without life jackets, while others clung to a windsurfer’s board.</p>
<p>Marceline could see people trapped inside the rapidly sinking boat through its windows. He threw lead fishing weights to survivors in the water, hoping they could smash the glass, but they were too weak.</p>
<p>“It was like Titanic in real life,” he said. “There was stuff everywhere. People were banging on the glass.”</p>
<p>Montoya estimated they pulled eight or nine people aboard, including the captain, before first responders arrived.</p>
<p>Initial callers reported what appeared to be smoke coming from the boat, but San Francisco police officers who first reached the vessel said it was steam.</p>
<p>Toczko said there were life jackets onboard the boat and that some people were rescued wearing them.</p>
<p>Sudden immersion in water under 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) can lead to cold water shock, a condition where people lose dexterity in minutes. That can be dangerous or deadly when trying to escape a sinking watercraft.</p>
<p>The owners of the boat are John Boisa and Miriam Boisa of Stockton, Coast Guard records show. They did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.</p>
<p>“All of us are grieving during this time,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.</p>
<p>Ralph Boisa said his brother John is a “very capable and experienced boatsman” who served in the U.S. Navy. He frequently took family members out on the boat to the San Francisco Bay, Boisa said.</p>
<p>His older brother who died, Clifford Boisa, lived on a small prune orchard in Sutter County in the Sacramento Valley and was a volunteer sheriff's deputy for more than a decade. Ralph Boisa had planned to visit him for his 80th birthday party next month.</p>
<p>“He was a happy guy, jovial,” Boisa said. “We're pretty broken up here.”</p>
<p>__</p>
<p><em>Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Ed White in Detroit; Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles; and photographer Noah Berger in San Francisco contributed to this story.</em></p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218132</link><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:32:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218132</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>U.S. Coast Guard crews have suspended their search for three people missing after a boat sank in San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island. The search was suspended late Wednesday.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>U.S. Coast Guard crews have suspended their search for three people missing after a boat sank in San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island. The search was suspended late Wednesday.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282616/071526_sf-boat-accident_p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Services, trust and patience play major role in man’s journey from streets to housing</title><description>Sacramento resident Alex Enright credits local churches and nonprofits for their care and persistence in offering him help during his time on the street.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Riley Palmer</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>This story is featured in our SacramenKnow newsletter.<span> </span><a href="/know" data-eventlabel="Sign_up - Newsletter - SacramenKnow">Sign up to get updates about what’s happening in the region</a><span> </span>in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sacramento resident Alex Enright never imagined he would find himself homeless on the corner of J and 16th streets five years ago.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Stockton native, 24 at the time, was trying to navigate his post-graduate life after studying communications at Arizona State University. His ambitions led him to create an app he called UREPP to notify parents when their child is going to step up to the plate during Little League games.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His endeavor showed promise. But a fraught business partnership with family friends left Enright with little money to his name and couch surfing. Then Enright’s life hit a breaking point at the end of 2019 after a physical fight with his brother. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My brother put me in an Uber and put me up in a hotel room in downtown Sacramento. I didn’t think it was real,” he said. “?I was standing on the street corner. It was 2 o'clock at night from on J and 16th Street, and I didn't believe any of it was real.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All Enright had was a backpack full of essentials, and he believed that his time on the street would be short lived.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“?I always thought my life is gonna change tomorrow. There's no way that I'm homeless,” he said. “I spent that first night, I didn't even sleep at all. I basically just stood there on the street corner for 10 hours.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That night turned into half a decade. Getting a stable job became second to Enright’s daily struggle to remain safe and survive the outdoors, an ordeal </span><a href="/articles/2026/05/13/sacramento-countys-homeless-population-increased-13-in-2026-heres-what-to-know-about-this-years-pit-count/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">thousands of people face each day and night on Sacramento’s streets</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most recently, the city of Sacramento has invested more into trying to get people off the streets and into some form of housing. It opened a </span><a href="/articles/2026/06/24/sacramento-opens-safe-camping-site-amid-questions-about-homeless-services/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">safe campsite </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">in the River District last month and plans to build </span><a href="/articles/2026/04/08/sacramentos-mayor-issued-a-six-point-plan-on-homelessness-where-does-it-stand/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">several tiny home villages</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after identifying sites last November. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But progress for those on Sacramento’s streets is often slow and halting, even when shelter and services are available. So was the case for Enright. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His time outside was a mixed bag. He made allies, came face to face with mental illness including his own, and leaned heavily on churches for food and shelter.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Within like the first two weeks, someone handed me a street sheet with all the resources in Sacramento,” he said. “That was kind of a lifeline because I was just going to the churches to eat, the churches played such a big role in my time outside.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enright used services like <a href="https://www.hartstogether.org/midtown">Midtown HART</a>, a faith-based organization that sets up respite centers throughout the Sacramento region including four in Midtown. The centers offer food, charging stations, help securing bus passes and a break from the outside. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Corey Cooper is the head of Midtown HART and remembers meeting Enright four years ago.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He would keep to himself. I would say hello to him and, and try to talk to him when I could,” Cooper said. “He seemed kinda quiet and reserved and a little bit guarded most of the time.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cooper said he made attempts over the years to chat with Enright but he didn’t seem receptive to it until he was.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You can’t force it. He had to be ready,” Cooper said. “It makes you realize what he was experiencing and see that we cared and that we were there for him. And then once he was ready, he really started to break through.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was that same care and patience that ultimately got Enright, now 34, into permanent supportive housing. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Towards the end of Enright’s time unhoused, he had gotten his routine down. He’d wake up on his usual bench in Capitol Park and wait for a Mercy Housing bike peddler to drop off a cup of black coffee.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After that, two outreach workers from Telecare ARISE would come to the park everyday and offer to help Enright get into housing, but he was so entrenched in his daily routine he was reluctant to accept. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They would show up every week, every week, every week. I would say, I'm just fine. I'm just fine,” Enright said. “It took about a year for me to finally accept help.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The outreach workers helped Enright get documents he had lost on the street long ago, such as an ID and a bank card. In June of 2025, he moved into the former Capitol Park Hotel on 9th Street in downtown Sacramento. The building now serves as </span><a href="/articles/2024/01/18/downtown-sacramentos-capitol-park-hotel-reopens-as-homeless-housing-but-at-a-high-cost/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">permanent supportive housing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for those exiting homelessness. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s a studio. I started painting, I started drawing, I started doing all these creative projects in my room,” he said. “My room is just filled with art, and that was just all therapy in the beginning.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enright’s room also includes a whiteboard where he’s written down his goals. Over the course of the year, he said he’s slowly knocked items off that list  – one of those being to get a stable job. Enright works as a custodian at a local gym and also does database entry work. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Enright credits where he’s at today, sitting outside Sacramento City Hall as opposed to camping there overnight, to the outreach workers and volunteers who consistently showed up for him and made him feel seen. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“?I think one of the hardest things for me was being completely invisible and sitting on the bench knowing that I feel like I have a lot of value to add to the world,” Enright said.</span></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218117</link><pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:29:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218117</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>Sacramento resident Alex Enright credits local churches and nonprofits for their care and persistence in offering him help during his time on the street.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Sacramento resident Alex Enright credits local churches and nonprofits for their care and persistence in offering him help during his time on the street.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282615/071426_alexenright_p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Local health nonprofit CEO details why HIV testing is still important to fight the spread of the disease</title><description>Sunburst Projects provides low barrier HIV testing to the Sacramento area. They say 1 in 7 of those who are infected with the virus do not know they have it, which contributes to the continued spread of the disease.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Vicki Gonzalez</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The AIDS epidemic thrust HIV awareness into the spotlight, but years after its peak, a local nonprofit is urging people to know their status. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sunburst Projects</span> <a href="https://sunburstprojects.org/about-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">estimates, as of 2018</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">over 131,000 individuals were living with HIV/AIDS in California, with 4,285 in Sacramento County. And that 1 in 7 of those who are infected with the virus do not know they have it, which contributes to the continued spread of the disease.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://sunburstprojects.org/our-team/">Jake Bradley-Rowe</a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">the CEO of</span> <a href="https://sunburstprojects.org/about-us/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sunburst Projects</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> joined Vicki Gonzalez on Insight to share why there is a greater need for women and heterosexual men to get tested.</span></p>
<p><br /><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">This interview has been edited for length and clarity.</span></em></p>
<div><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></div>
<div>
<h2><strong>Interview highlights</strong></h2>
<br />
<h3><strong>In March of 2022, Sacramento County was one of the hotspots for new HIV infections in the United States. What does that look like today? Has there been improvement or progress? </strong></h3>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prior to COVID, we had seen a really good reduction in the spread of HIV and new cases. Then when COVID hit and we saw that spike [in HIV cases]. Obviously, testing facilities slowed down and closed their doors. We lost a few [testing facilities] because of funding cuts.</span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There was a lot of work to be done afterwards. We saw an increase that brought us back up to around the 2015 numbers. And we're slowly seeing that come back [down]. So, we're right about where we were prior to COVID again. The work really is about education though.</span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[Previously], we had been focused mostly on working with folks that were already diagnosed and we felt it was really important to have an overall comprehensive look at how we could serve the community and really that was about educating and getting out there. We launched a public awareness campaign and we've now seen thousands of people walk through our doors. The key to what that did for us was allow us to open a clinic that is low barrier that we can provide confidential testing.</span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We're the only clinic in Sacramento that has a walk-in policy. We do not require appointments. For folks where getting an HIV test has a stigma associated with it, it's really important to have those low-barrier opportunities where we're not asking lots of questions. We don't bill your insurance. Your visit to Sunburst is not trackable on your phone because you don't have an appointment in your calendar. </span></p>
<br />
<h3><strong>Are you still diagnosing people regularly? </strong></h3>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yeah, all the time. Like I said in Sacramento County, all of the community partners as a whole are roughly diagnosing about 180 individuals [per year]. And we know there's a lot more out there. So, the more opportunity we have to get people in and understand that getting an HIV test is an important part of your sexual health. </span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you're sexually active, you should be thinking about getting a test every year. If you're in some of these what they call high risk groups, men who have sex with men, men who have or individuals who have multiple sexual partners, you should be getting regular tests. Maybe it's every other month or every month depending on what is appropriate for you, but establishing that routine testing is key. </span></p>
<br />
<h3>I mean you also say there's this greater need of you know, urging women, heterosexual men to also get tested. What's driving that messaging?</h3>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Sacramento, 20% of the individuals living with HIV are women. And of those 20%, eighty of them contracted HIV through heterosexual sexual activities. And so it's really important that women recognize that HIV is not a gay man's virus. In the beginning we referred to HIV as GRID, gay-related immune disease, before it was given the name HIV. Even back in the 80s and 90s when we saw so many visual pictures of gay men and the attacks that were happening on that community because they thought it was a gay-related issue. That's just not the truth today. </span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At Sunburst Projects, you know, we started as an organization focused on women and children. And we've continued to try to spread the word that it's important that women take care of themselves as much as men.</span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And oftentimes we see the spread through heterosexual activity because men who they're interacting with, don't know their status. So we want people to know that if you're sexually active, take that power into your hands, get an HIV test. [It takes] twenty minutes. It's a pretty simple finger prick where we take a drop of blood and we get you your results. Right now, ‘everyday folks’ are coming in and they leave our office educated knowing more and we hope that they're spreading the word how easy it is, how empowering it can be. </span></p>
<br />
<h3><strong>A big piece of prevention is treatment. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylactus) has become a very highly effective medication that people take to prevent contracting HIV. How accessible is this medication today? </strong></h3>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In California we're very lucky to have the ability to get PrEP even easier than a lot of other places. PrEP, if you don't know about it, is either a once-a-day pill or an injection that you can get every couple months, which protects you at 99.99% from contracting HIV. It's a preventative, essentially, and in Sacramento County, we have a couple thousand people on it. We should have a lot more. We have a current campaign that says PrEP is for everyone. And that's reality.</span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you're sexually active and you want to protect yourself from the chance of contracting HIV, get PrEP. You can get it at your local primary care provider. You can come to Sunburst Projects. We work with many local partners including </span><a href="https://dhs.saccounty.gov/PRI/Documents/Healthy%20Partners/FQHC%20Resource%20List.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Federally Qualified Health Centers</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the county of Sacramento. And we can get you in with a prescribing doctor, do some lab work, and get you onto one of the options for PrEP.</span></p>
<br />
<h3>If someone is uncomfortable with this topic. Maybe it feels a little bit taboo. How do you suggest they start talking about it and broach the subject? </h3>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's a lot of information out there on the internet and even places like our website at </span><a href="http://sunburstprojects.org"><span style="font-weight: 400;">sunburstprojects.org</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. We offer information about what it means to be sexually active and protect yourself. I think that when we arm ourselves with the right language and we feel comfortable when we're talking about it, when we approach others. We're able to communicate and feel a little more comfortable about it. You know, sexual activity is this taboo thing, but the reality is almost all adults engage in it.</span></p>
<br />
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And I can tell you when I took over Sunburst some years ago as the Executive Director, I always felt a little odd having conversations about it and over the years it's gotten much easier. Even with my own family, my parents and friends. The fact is that it is something that everyone does. And I feel like when we take that power into our hands of just knowing our own status or talking about the fact that maybe we're on PrEP, we're helping to educate other people.</span></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218084</link><pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 22:21:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218084</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>Sunburst Projects provides low barrier HIV testing to the Sacramento area. They say 1 in 7 of those who are infected with the virus do not know they have it, which contributes to the continued spread of the disease.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Sunburst Projects provides low barrier HIV testing to the Sacramento area. They say 1 in 7 of those who are infected with the virus do not know they have it, which contributes to the continued spread of the disease.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282339/insight-mon-260615-sega.mp3" length="40863525" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282594/jake-bradley-rowe-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Local Artist Feature July 10th, 2026: Violinist Finds A Knack For Conducting...By Accident</title><description>He's a violinist...and a conductor...AND an educator! Find out in this feature how he manages all three sides of his career.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Jennifer Reason</p><div>Paolo Reyes has been playing violin since childhood. But it wasn't until adulthood that he realized he's got a knack for two other sides of the music business: conducting and education. And he's managed to make a trifecta of a career out of all three of these talents! </div>
<div>In this feature we explore his thoughts on the values of music education as well as get some backstories on his discovery of the violin! We also enjoy his performances in various different instrumental lineups. </div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218073</link><pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:33:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218073</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>He's a violinist...and a conductor...AND an educator! Find out in this feature how he manages all three sides of his career.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>He's a violinist...and a conductor...AND an educator! Find out in this feature how he manages all three sides of his career.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282588/16089_local-artist-feature_paolo-reyes-violin.wav" length="144361374" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282587/paolo-reyes-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Reflexology, splash pads and pickleball: Westacre Park reopens</title><description>West Sacramento’s Westacre Park has reopened with updated facilities and a laundry list of new features just in time to help residents of all ages enjoy summer to the fullest.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Ruth Finch</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Thursday morning, West Sacramento mayor Martha Guerrero cut the ribbon on the new and improved Westacre Park. The park revitalization was funded by $7.8 million of federal Prop 68 funding for parks across the country.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The park has renewed features, like an upgraded playground, skate park and basketball court, as well as new features like a “splash pad” complete with water features to help fight the summer heat and pickleball courts</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Guerrero said that the park will help facilitate the next generation of children in West Sacramento.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is where they discover the world through play, where they build confidence by climbing a little higher, running a little faster and making new friends,” Guerrero said. “Where imagination takes over and curiosity grows and learning happens naturally.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quirina Orozco, West Sacramento’s District 2 supervisor, said that the park had experienced hardship before the renovation, and that she witnessed it firsthand with her children.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My kids both played basketball, soccer and baseball, but in fields we could barely call fields because they were pretty pockmarked,” Orozco said. “It is the heart of District 2… This area of town, so many of you are probably aware, it’s known for a lot of hardship.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The park project also secured additional funding from Sutter Health to create another feature of the park — a “wellness labyrinth” and reflexology path. Michael Cureton, the CEO of Sutter’s Davis hospital, said that the area was meant to help meditate and reflect.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Health occurs not just within our clinics and hospitals, but outside within the community, where people live, people learn, people play,” Cureton said.</span></p>
<div><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282555/dscf0757.jpg?width=1200&height=799.8046875" alt="westacrepark" width="1200" height="799.8046875" data-udi="umb://media/9a76184cbcff469bb42510363c6cdfad" /><span class="caption">West Sacramento city councilmember Dawnté Early stands with her daughter Quinn West for a portrait on the reflexology path at Westacre Park on July 10, 2026.</span><span class="credit">Ruth Finch/CapRadio<br /></div></span></div>
<div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A reflexology path is a path embedded with small stones raised above the surface that is meant to be walked on in bare feet to relieve pain and trigger relaxation. Dawnté Early, the city councilmember for West Sacramento’s District 3, and her daughter helped lay the stones of the path, and community members who laid stones were allowed to be as creative as they wanted with the stones.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We came over and we wrote, and we put them in and we made dragonflies and turtles.” Early said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">People who helped lay the stones of the path also left messages for their community and loved ones who would use the path, but laid the messages face down.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“[The messages] are buried underneath these rocks as a kind of a memorial and symbolizing that this is a part of the community, that is permanent and here at this park,” Cureton said. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Early said that her and her daughter wrote messages to anyone who may use the path in the future.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We wrote messages just to those who would use it in the spirit of what we hoped you would get out of this,” Early said. “Being able to relax, calm, center yourself, a space for West Sacramento children, adults, our elders to be able to come here and be healthy.”</span></p>
</div>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218011</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 22:31:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218011</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>West Sacramento’s Westacre Park has reopened with updated facilities and a laundry list of new features just in time to help residents of all ages enjoy summer to the fullest.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>West Sacramento’s Westacre Park has reopened with updated facilities and a laundry list of new features just in time to help residents of all ages enjoy summer to the fullest.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282553/westacreparkp.jpg" /></item><item><title>Sacramento’s only Black museum fights to stay open</title><description>The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum has been in South Sacramento for 30 years. The founder says an expansion during the pandemic, coupled with a lack of funding in the years since, is putting the museum at risk of closure.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Vicki Gonzalez</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://www.sojoartsmuseum.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has called Sacramento home for 30 years, and is considered the only museum in the region dedicated to preserving Black history. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shonna McDaniels founded the museum in 1996. Named after the legendary abolitionist and civil rights activist, its mission includes providing art education to students across the area and organizing community beautification projects throughout South Sacramento. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What better way to connect human beings together than in the form of creation and doing art,” said McDaniels. “And not only art, but of course history. I tell everyone that African-American history is world history. We've made so many contributions to this world and it's important for everyone to learn this history so we can feel better connected.”</span></p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282558/body-photo1.jpg?width=1200&height=800" alt="1" width="1200" height="800" data-udi="umb://media/a071ab5822d4443589ba1e24c3561c45" /></div><span class="caption">The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum taken on <span style="font-weight: 400;">Thursday June 25, 2026</span>.</span><span class="credit">Vicki Gonzalez/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">McDaniels explains a lack of funding in recent years is putting the museum at risk of closure.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We didn't think that having the only African American museum in Sacramento that we wouldn't get the help that we need,” she said. “It's heartbreaking. There's absolutely no help for us in Sacramento.”</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282559/body-photo2.jpg?width=1200&height=800" alt="2" width="1200" height="800" data-udi="umb://media/48f03fc8dc8a4e269c0568c78b7326bd" /></div><span class="caption">Inside the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum taken on <span style="font-weight: 400;">Thursday June 25, 2026</span>.</span><span class="credit">Vicki Gonzalez, CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The longtime museum is located inside Florin Square, home to a large collaboration of Black-owned businesses known as Black Wall Street. From floor to ceiling, the space is an eclectic exploration of African Americans and their legacy. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You're not going to see a lot of museums that are eclectic, like where art's everywhere and where there's information everywhere,” said docent Judah X Pimentel. “Museums have been normalizing minimalism a lot lately, and that they have been for years. But I like that it's more maximalist here, and that's a unique experience in itself.” </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282560/body-photo3.jpg?width=1111&height=1667" alt="3" width="1111" height="1667" data-udi="umb://media/44a94615a24f4a81bd1fc7f157f763c7" /></div><span class="caption">Artwork by David Washington and Izzy Lowe honoring Sarah Baartman (left) and Henrietta Lacks at the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum taken on <span style="font-weight: 400;">Thursday June 25, 2026</span>.</span><span class="credit">Vicki Gonzalez/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pimental explained the range of pieces include, but go beyond the Civil Rights Movement and slavery, to also celebrate the accomplishments of Black Americans as well as neglected parts of history at risk of being forgotten. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The history is deep and it's unfiltered. I think that's really important, to see it through the side of truth rather than sugarcoating.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A longtime professional muralist and visual artist, McDaniels had been teaching art classes and organizing exhibits in Oak Park and Del Paso communities when she came across the space to open a museum in 1996.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Art has always been part of my life. I tell everyone that I came into this world with a paintbrush in my hand,” said McDaniels. “I've seen so many generations grow up under my tutelage.”</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282561/body-photo4.jpg?width=1092&height=1638" alt="4" width="1092" height="1638" data-udi="umb://media/f9d623301c434697861e347d3c49bc4e" /></div><span class="caption">Shonna McDaniels is the founder of the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum in Sacramento. A visual artist, this is McDaniels’ piece titled “The Black Madonna” © 2007 taken on <span style="font-weight: 400;">Thursday June 25, 2026</span>.</span><span class="credit">Vicki Gonzalez/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What began as the Sojourner Truth Cultural Center, McDaniels explained her mission has always gone beyond museum walls. She along with a collective of artists regularly go into schools to uplift the next generation of creatives. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our current exhibit are students from Sheldon High School,” said McDaniels. “The schools don't really have art like the way we present art. We do so much art engagement in our community. That would just disappear.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The museum's creative footprint can also be seen throughout South Sacramento. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Beautification projects which include street banners, street murals on buildings and utility boxes,” explained McDaniels. “Every type of activation we do, we invite the community so they can feel a part of creating public art in their community.”</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282562/body-photo5.jpg?width=1200&height=800" alt="5" width="1200" height="800" data-udi="umb://media/d1268a18688d4a35aca8e02a8e2f0de2" /></div><span class="caption">The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum is located inside Florin Square, home to a large collaboration of Black-owned businesses known as Black Wall Street. The museum's creative footprint can be seen entering the building. Taken on <span style="font-weight: 400;">Thursday June 25, 2026.</span></span><span class="credit">Vicki Gonzalez/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sojourner Truth Museum’s finances grew dire following an expansion during the pandemic. McDaniels explains she took a leap of faith in 2021 when a neighboring space closed, but the initial starter funding is now long gone.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our rent just went up tremendously,” she explained, adding that it’s been a challenge to receive enough grant funding. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Some of them have said that, ‘you all are a museum. We can't believe that you do all of the work that you do. We can't believe that you have a youth docent program, that you have an entrepreneur program, that you have a workforce development program, you're a museum,’” said McDaniels. “But they're not sending no one to come here and see what we're doing. Because the community knows what we do, what we've been doing for years. We just did a mobile tour at a local school. We served about close to 700 students.” </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><div class='imagewrap'><img src="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282563/body-photo6.jpg?width=1200&height=800" alt="6" width="1200" height="800" data-udi="umb://media/7e17ace5d6d94b61a50842142d3cd2bf" /></div><span class="caption">Shonna McDaniels, the founder and executive director of the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum (left), docent and artist Judah X Pimentel (center), and Shonna’s mother Ollie McDaniels taken on <span style="font-weight: 400;">Thursday June 25, 2026</span>.</span><span class="credit">Vicki Gonzalez/CapRadio</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">McDaniels’ hopes are squared-in on the museum’s fundraising event, the </span><a href="https://www.bananafestivalsac.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">15th Annual Sacramento Banana Festival</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> happening Aug. 15-16 at William Land Park. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The banana brings together other diverse groups of people around the world,” explaining the inspiration behind the festival.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Initially people were like, ‘bananas don't grow in California.’ But yeah, there are banana farmers in California. The gentleman in West Sacramento, he actually comes out and sets up at every banana festival.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">McDaniels added it was the first banana festival in California, and inspired others. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“People don't know that we actually helped cultivate the banana festival in Ventura, California,” she explained. “They loved what we did because we are a collective of artists. We made banana hats, banana jewelry, banana eating contest, banana bake-off, you name it. And they were like, well, can you all come and help us?”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As funding gaps loom, for McDaniels, the festival’s success is intertwined with the fight to keep the museum alive.  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It's kind of been shocking to us. It's a tough one. But we're trying to keep that ball rolling.”</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Insight Senior Producer Andrew Garcia contributed to this reporting. </span></em></p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218005</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 22:01:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218005</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum has been in South Sacramento for 30 years. The founder says an expansion during the pandemic, coupled with a lack of funding in the years since, is putting the museum at risk of closure.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum has been in South Sacramento for 30 years. The founder says an expansion during the pandemic, coupled with a lack of funding in the years since, is putting the museum at risk of closure.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282565/sojourner-truth-museum-insight-mixdown-web.mp3" length="32735651" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282556/071026main-photo-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>A ‘Beer Dash’ for cancer support in Davis</title><description>Cancer Champions held a 26.2 meter dash in a brewery parking lot to promote their Moonlight Run for cancer patient support.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Ruth Finch</p><div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Wednesday night, a crowd of blue t-shirt clad athletes of all ages waited for their signal at the start line of a foot race. The race started in the parking lot of Super Owl Brewing in Davis — and ended on the other side.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All 26.2 meters of the race, a play on the 26.2 miles of a full marathon, could be contained in the lot right in front of the brewery. The prize for adults of drinking age was an ice-cold beer. The kids got to keep the t-shirts.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The event was held by </span><a href="https://cancerchampions.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cancer Champions</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a nonprofit in Yolo County that supports cancer patients with fitness, nutrition, mindset and community. The nonprofit was founded by Jennifer Miramontes, whose journey with cancer support started with losing her father to cancer, and in 2001, her mother was diagnosed with cancer as well.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Miramontes said she did everything she could to support her mother, but at a certain point, her doctors told her there wasn’t much she could do.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There was a point where her doctors said she was not going to make it. She had about three months to live,” Miramontes said. “So I said, ‘Do you have a bucket list item?’ and she said she did. She wanted to hike in and out of the Grand Canyon.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Miramontes has been a fitness trainer her whole life, and helped train her mother to cross off that last bucket list item.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“She did it, she hiked in and out of the Grand Canyon and actually lived three years past her diagnosis,” Miramontes said. “That was the lightbulb moment of, I need to do more with this. I need to be able to support other people that are going through this journey.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The event was held to promote and register runners for the organization's Moonlight Run, which takes place on July 18. The run will help fund the nonprofit’s specialized care programs for each patient, where they help form nutrition and exercise regimens for each patient’s need.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If it’s somebody that’s deconditioned and dizzy, we might say we have some chair exercises that you can do seated,” Miramontes said. “We meet people where they are, we don’t tell them, ‘This is what you have to do.’”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wendy Miller, one of the board members for Cancer Champions, said that she’s been involved with the organization since the beginning. Initially, Miramontes was just her trainer and friend. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s a labor of love. We have people all across this nation that are on the board, and we meet and strategize, do everything we can to continue bringing awareness,” Miller said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In fact, according to Miramontes, while they’re based in Yolo county, they‘ve helped people all around the world. Cancer Champions has worked with patients from Uganda, France, Argentina and Mexico. Miller said that the pursuit of better cancer treatment is a unifying force.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We all know somebody or have been touched by cancer,” Miller said. “It’s just something that every single person regardless of political party, gender, race, it affects each and every one of us. To have a commonality that we can all come together, especially at a time where our country can be divided, is a pretty cool thing.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://changeofpace.com/event/moonlight-run/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Moonlight Run</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> will take place at 1260 Lake Blvd in Davis from the Super Owl Brewing parking lot, and interested runners can sign up anytime until the run starts, and can sign up for a Beer Dash as well as 10 mile, 10K, 5K and 2K runs.</span></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/218000</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 17:02:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/218000</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>Cancer Champions held a 26.2 meter dash in a brewery parking lot to promote their Moonlight Run for cancer patient support.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>Cancer Champions held a 26.2 meter dash in a brewery parking lot to promote their Moonlight Run for cancer patient support.</itunes:summary><enclosure url="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282567/beerdash-digital.mp3" length="3699768" type="audio/mpeg" /><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282550/beerdashp.jpg" /></item><item><title>Contractor files civil lawsuit over investigation into Yuba County powerhouse disaster</title><description>A company hired to make upgrades and other work on the penstock at New Colgate Powerhouse argues its being painted as a scapegoat after the pipe catastrophically failed in February.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Sarit Laschinsky</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A civil lawsuit has been filed over the investigation of a major pipe breach at a Yuba County powerhouse earlier this year that caused significant environmental damage. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Drill Tech-Obayashi Joint Venture (DTOJV) filed suit on June 24 in Yuba County Superior Court, seeking clarification from the court on the responsibility of parties involved and the impartiality of an ongoing third-party investigation. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The company </span><a href="https://engage.yubawater.org/colgate-tunnel"><span style="font-weight: 400;">was awarded a $76.8 million contract</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by the Yuba Water Agency in January 2025 for upgrades to the penstock and Colgate Tunnel at New Colgate Powerhouse.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The penstock, a 14-foot-diameter pipe carrying water to the facility from New Bullards Bar Reservoir, had been drained and taken out of service from September 2025 to February 2026 for the work. It </span><a href="/articles/2026/03/05/new-colgate-powerhouse-breach-what-do-the-longer-term-impacts-look-like/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">suffered a catastrophic failure</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on Feb. 13, flooding the powerhouse and forcing workers to evacuate.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The disaster also triggered a major mudslide that swept sediment and debris into the North Yuba River. It also led to the death of hundreds or thousands of juvenile salmon after water levels temporarily dropped.</span></p>
<h3>The lawsuit’s claims</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">DTOJV’s suit notes the company agreed to perform certain repair work on the penstock. This included construction of certain improvements, removal of a section of the pipe to install new foundations, and installing new vents, among other items.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But DTOJV says it was not directed to reconstruct a shutoff valve which was part of the penstock’s emergency closure system. The complaint says a notice filed by the California Department of Water Resources said the valve was “currently non-operational” and that reconstruction was necessary “so it may be used to reduce discharge in case of a penstock rupture.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Drill Tech-Obayashi contends that if the valve had been operational and closed in time, significantly less water might have been released during the incident.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lawsuit says Yuba Water was explicitly responsible for filling, or “rewatering,” the penstock in February 2026, which began days before the catastrophic rupture. DTOJV says it was excluded from “all meetings related to planning and implementation of the rewatering procedure.” The company says its work was suspended immediately after the breach, and its access to the penstock was suspended until May.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">DTOJV argues Yuba Water made “operational errors” during the rewatering process including pushing a “high volume” of water through the penstock too quickly, not filling in a segmented process, and using inadequate personnel and resources.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The company alleges the failure happened in a segment Yuba Water chose not to replace. DTOJV says while it welded new air vents and other items on the ruptured segment, “none of these welds exhibited any signs of failure” when inspected in May 2026.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Drill Tech-Obayashi also pointed to a June 4 letter from a Yuba Water attorney as alleged evidence of “Yuba Water’s foregone conclusion to blame the Incident on DTO.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A portion of the letter cited in the complaint states that while the investigation is ongoing, “it is evident the failure was caused by DTOJV and their subcontractors’ performance, operations or activities,” claiming the company’s welds and installations weakened the penstock.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Yuba Water spokesperson told CapRadio the agency denies the lawsuit’s claims. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has also launched its own investigation into the Yuba County Water District over the breach.</span></p>
<h3><strong>Independent investigation concerns</strong></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other concerns raised in the lawsuit revolve around an investigation launched in the wake of the disaster.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the lawsuit, days after the penstock burst federal officials told Yuba Water to launch an “independent, comprehensive investigation” into the cause of the incident. Yuba Water then hired the third-party consultant SOCOTEC to conduct the investigation.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But Drill Tech-Obayashi alleges Yuba Water is intruding on that impartiality. The company claims a May testing plan from SOCOTEC did not consider several potential failure points, including those DOTJV “alleges were likely caused by Yuba Water.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The suit also alleges Yuba Water did not disclose any documents in response to a public records act filing from Drill Tech-Obayashi related to the rewatering process, but did provide those documents to SOCOTEC.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Yuba Water is improperly diverting SOCOTEC’s focus away from the investigation of causes for which Yuba Water is responsible, without providing DTO with access to the records that Yuba Water furnished to SOCOTEC,” the company writes. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It adds that Yuba Water is doing so  “in an effort to influence SOCOTEC to render findings adverse to DTO, without considering Yuba Water’s responsibility, while keeping DTO in the dark with respect to many of the facts surrounding the Incident.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The complaint seeks court action to declare the rights and responsibilities of Drill Tech-Obayashi and Yuba Water regarding the cause of the incident. It also asks for Yuba Water to expand or modify the scope of its testing plan “to address the potential causes for which Yuba Water is responsible.” It does not ask for monetary damages.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Yuba Water spokesperson said in a written statement the agency will “respect the process of the Independent Forensics Team investigating the incident and will defend it against interference, especially from private parties with an interest in the outcome.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We remain committed to an independent, thorough and comprehensive investigation into the root cause of the penstock incident,” the statement adds.</span></p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/217983</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:27:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/217983</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>A company hired to make upgrades and other work on the penstock at New Colgate Powerhouse argues its being painted as a scapegoat after the pipe catastrophically failed in February.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>A company hired to make upgrades and other work on the penstock at New Colgate Powerhouse argues its being painted as a scapegoat after the pipe catastrophically failed in February.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12280972/030426_powerhouseaerial-p.jpg" /></item><item><title>Peak Energy brings major battery production facility to Sacramento</title><description>The energy company says their sodium-ion batteries are cheaper, safer, and more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion batteries. Their new facility in Sacramento will create up to 230 jobs.</description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By Keyshawn Davis</p><p>Peak Energy, a fast-growing battery startup company led by former Tesla, Enovix and Fluence  engineers, announced Tuesday it will open its first major factory right here in Sacramento, next to the airport.<br /><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The company, founded in 2023, builds grid-scale storage systems using sodium-ion batteries — a technology that CEO of Peak Energy Landon Mossburg, said is cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion batteries.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The battery can store any type of energy that flows on the grid including solar, wind. According to </span><a href="https://peakenergy.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Peak’s website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the company’s technology will aid in storing energy for utilities and AI data centers.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an interview with CapRadio prior to the announcement, Mossburg said the technology eliminates cooling systems that drive cost and fire risk like traditional grid storages.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What we try to do is we try to remove all the cost and complexity that exists around the useful components of grid-scale energy,” Mossburg said. “So if you look at how much energy costs on the grid today, it's somewhere between five and 10 times more than what it looks like it should cost.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mossburg said the company already has over $1 billion dollars in customer orders to fulfill. Sacramento was chosen as its destination for the facility, beating out Texas. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We have to deploy a little over $100 million in product next year, which is a quite fast scale, because we're only going to do about $10 million this year,” Mossburg said. “It was really important that our first factory come online quickly, and that we are able to source great talent.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><strong>Workforce and local impact<br /></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The new facility in Sacramento is expected to create over 230 jobs in its first phase. This would mark the largest battery manufacturing jobs announcement in the city’s history. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, Barry Broome, discussed the significance of bringing the energy company to Sacramento mentioning that people could learn how to build sodium-ion batteries.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“These production facilities are going to pay people, you know, $60,000 to $70,000 a year,” Broome said. “We love the workforce model for our neighborhoods and our communities that are underserved, [and] we love the fact that it's a climate change product.”</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Broome mentioned SMUD played a role in landing because they offered an "innovative prototyping and technology partnership” with the company.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">District 6 City Councilmember Eric Guerra is a California Air Resources Board member and was present for the announcement. He told CapRadio he was there with Sacramento Employment Training Agency (SETA) to help fill those 230 jobs.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What the industry needs when they come to the region – they need a stable workforce, reliable  workforce, they need reliable timing to start at permitting, and they need reliable energy,” Guerra said. “Why is this important also for the region? It’s because this is an effort to improve our air.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Guerra noted that Sacramento met their</span><a href="https://davisvanguard.org/2025/08/sacramento-ozone-standards-attainment/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> federal air quality attainment</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for the first time last year and said maintaining that status would require cleaner emissions. <br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Sodium-ion technology allows us to capture that solar energy and wind energy when it's not being used,” he said. “So that we can [be] less reliant on fossil fuels that produce emissions that filter through not just the county of Sacramento, but through all of Yolo County.”<br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peak-energy-and-general-motors-partner-to-scale-next-generation-energy-storage-technology-for-the-grid-302795688.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In June</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Peak Energy announced it is partnering with General Motors to produce the sodium-ion battery cells in its Michigan labs starting in 2028. <br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Production will start the first quarter of 2027.</span></p>]]></content:encoded><link>https://www.capradio.org/217958</link><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:04:00 GMT</pubDate><guid>https://www.capradio.org/217958</guid><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>The energy company says their sodium-ion batteries are cheaper, safer, and more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion batteries. Their new facility in Sacramento will create up to 230 jobs.</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary>The energy company says their sodium-ion batteries are cheaper, safer, and more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion batteries. Their new facility in Sacramento will create up to 230 jobs.</itunes:summary><itunes:image href="https://www.capradio.org/media/12282537/img_4334.jpeg" /></item></channel></rss>