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| Natomas News |
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 Is the city picnic, local high school graduation, or your child’s wedding fast approaching? If so, please take a brief moment to share the news with your neighbors! This is an excellent way to keep the entire community aware of current news and upcoming local events.
You may post any information regarding happenings in and around your neighborhood. Make sure to check this section frequently for the most recent events! |
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Special moments through the eyes of children
Posted on: 2008-03-10
By Jocelyn Wiener
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Back before he became Natomas High's School Spirit Rapper, Nathan Logan sometimes felt invisible.
He'd been teased in the past - what kid hasn't? - and as a freshman he slouched around campus, depressed and lonely. He didn't like that trash covered the lunch tables, or that some kids got caught up in fighting.
Positive, rhyming messages about school spirit had started welling up in him back in junior high. But having other kids laugh at you is hard to ignore.
'They kind of thought it was corny,' said Nathan, now 15.
Sometimes, he learned, you have to stay quiet to fit in.
Nathan's father, a minister, always encouraged his youngest son to work hard and help others. As a kid, Nathan had taken that message and run with it.
'He's an old man in a young man's body,' explained his stepmother, Gail Logan.
In 2005, after Malcolm Logan died of a massive stroke, Nathan was bereft. He thought about his father's message a lot.
And if something burns deep within you, it's hard to ignore it forever.
This past November, Nathan – now a sophomore – teamed up with Luke Barrow, Natomas High's best-known beatboxer. Together, they won the school talent show.
They called their rap: 'I See Things Differently.' They wanted to make other kids feel proud of being Natomas Nighthawks.
In December, John Eick, one of Natomas High's vice principals, approached the boys.
The school was going to kick off a 'Clean It Up' campaign in January, targeting grades, language and trash. Could the boys write a rap to go along with it?
Yes, said Nathan. For school spirit, absolutely.
Usually, Nathan prefers to let music find him. Sometimes a song pops into his head, and he has to tell his friends: 'Hold on. I don't mean to be rude. I just got to write this down.'
But for this song, Nathan sat in his room for the better part of one Saturday. He thought and wrote and thought and wrote.
Then, too excited to wait until Monday, he called Mr. Eick.
'I got the song you were talking about for the school about pumping it up,' he said.
The song went, in part, something like this:
This is a song nobody can debate to
This is a song Nighthawks can relate to
Man clean up your campus
This be your mansion
… Clean it up, clean it up, cuh cuh cuh clean it up …
Later on, Luke chimed in with:
All these people getting on my nerves
Here's a trash can, don't leave it for the birds
We've got enough of this junk in the school
Every time I walk by, I get gum on my shoe …
One morning in late January, Mr. Eick kicked off the 'Clean It Up' campaign by playing Nathan and Luke's rap video for the entire school during second period. Some 1,500 pairs of teenage eyes trained on the newly crowned School Spirit Rapper.
At the end of the video, the students in Nathan's world history class applauded. In the halls, he heard other kids telling one another, 'Clean it up!'
'Finally, someone hears me,' he thought. He can't even begin to explain how good that felt.
Mr. Eick promised the students a huge dance party if they kept the school clean for 30 days.
Many embraced the challenge, but none more than the School Spirit Rapper himself.
'So few people are given the spotlight and use it in a positive way,' Mr. Eick said. 'This kid got the spotlight and has stayed true to what he started out to do.'
At lunchtime earlier this week, the campaign was in its final stretch and the campus was looking pretty clean – but not clean enough for Nathan. He threaded his way through the halls picking up empty Cheetos bags and Snickers wrappers and plastic forks. He wore belted, baggy jeans, a striped prayer scarf around his neck and a determined expression on his face.
He approached a group of boys in the hallway, then stopped and stared meaningfully at a wadded-up tissue on the ground. 'Cleeean it up!' he said cheerfully.
One boy reached down and scooped the tissue into the trash. As Nathan moved along, a few students looked at him strangely, others laughed awkwardly.
But plenty of kids returned his high-fives and enthusiastic 'What's ups?' A few reached down to pick up litter when they saw him heading their way.
'That's the guy who made the rap video about cleaning up the school,' one boy murmured.
A group by the portable classrooms requested that Nathan 'spit' a rap for them, then applauded when he was done.
'Thank you all for listening to what I have to say,' he said, earnestly, before moving along.
It was, after all, a sunny spring day. The final lunch bell had not yet rung, and Nathan still had plenty of spirit left to share.
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Winter Rose Pruning
Posted on: 2008-01-08
Note: Not all Rose varieties are pruned the same way. REGULARITY is the key fundamental to successful rose growing.
Purpose of Pruning is to SHAPE the bush. It is a healthy habit to allow rose bushes a period of non-production. The act of pruning permits the rejuvenation process. The removal of branches & old canes serves as a form of dormancy in our warm climate. After pruning it takes 75-80 days to bloom again.
You will need:
1. Leather gardening gloves
2. mall wire brush 2-3 inches wide to remove lose bark from bud union and promote basal activity
3. Pruning saw
4. Long handled lopping shears for thick canes & hard to reach places
5. Eye protection
6. Pruning shears, sharp and clean & cleaning solution to clean after each bush to prevent spreading disease to ALL your plants.
7. Bag for dead cane and leaves
8. Elmer’s glue to seal off large cuts to prevent “Pith borers”-pests that bore into cane &lay eggs
9. Mulch Paydirt or Master Blend Planting Mix
10. Dormant Spray fungicide &pesticide apply immediately after pruning
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| Natomas levee permit delayed
Posted on: 2008-01-08
The state Reclamation Board opted Friday to wait until January to consider granting a construction permit for a huge Natomas levee project, and asked for more hydraulic analysis on the proposal.
The board did vote, however, to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to modify the levees, a crucial procedural step.
The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, sponsor of the $400 million project, agreed to perform more hydraulic modeling in time for the board's Jan. 18 meeting.
The board wants SAFCA to analyze effects on levees in Yolo County and on Sacramento River levees at least as far south as Freeport. The board's staff also needs more time to analyze the complex project.
The Reclamation Board's action addressed only the first phase of construction along 5 miles of the Natomas Cross Canal. The total project involves raising or widening nearly 25 miles of levees in Natomas.
SAFCA Executive Director Stein Buer said the board's request to the Corps of Engineers was key to ensure that federal analysis of the project remains on track.
Delaying the construction permit until January, he said, won't upset plans to start work next summer.
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City of Sacremento Volunteer Program
Posted on: 2006-07-31
The City of Sacramento welcomes volunteers to help provide services and programs to its citizens. The City is committed to maintaining a close relationship between the community volunteers and the City government. The volunteer program provides a broad source of expertise, talent, and manpower for City programs as well as an avenue for citizens to participate in their local government. The citizens also benefit by gaining a greater understanding and appreciation for their local government while strengthening the community's bond.
Volunteers provide assistance with animal care, gardening, tours, arts and crafts, child development, special events and much more. Some departments can utilize volunteers as young as 12, while others require the volunteer to be at least 18. To learn more about how you can help, please use the links to the left, or contact:
Mary Lynn Perry, Volunteer Coordinator
City-wide Volunteer Program
Department of Human Resources/Administration
Historic City Hall
915 I Street, Second Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 808-8317, Fax: (916) 808-1907
Email: mperry@cityofsacramento.org
Information from City of Sacramento Website...Click Here for More Information
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| Pet License Information
Posted on: 2007-01-02
Don't forget about your pet's in the new year! The new year brings new licenses for your pets. You will receive a reminder when your license is due for renewal, don't wait there are fines for being late. Renewals can be done at the shelter, with a veterinarian or through the mail.
Click Here for Information on Renewing Pet Licenses and Getting a New Pet a License
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| Flood-risk DVD now part of pitch for Natomas homes
Posted on: 2007-01-02
How the home-buying landscape has changed.
Amid deepening awareness of Sacramento's flooding risks, a group of builders and developers in North Natomas is taking the unusual step of creating and distributing to prospective home buyers a DVD that lays out -- in frank terms -- the flooding threat to Natomas.
It is not every day a new home builder chooses to spotlight a potential negative aspect of a property, and the development group acknowledges it could cost a home sale here or there.
But members believe a robust disclosure process is critical -- given growing knowledge about local levee problems.
Click Here for the Full Story
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| Sacramento Bee
Posted on: 2006-12-05
Click Here for Local News from the Sacramento Bee
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| Green Yellow Red Placard Program Begins
Posted on: 2007-01-02
As of January 2, 2007, food establishments in Sacramento will begin displaying a color-coded sign to let customers know the results of the business’ food safety inspection and compliance with food safety laws. The sign will be either green (pass), yellow (conditional pass), or red (closed). For more information about this new system, visit the Environmental Management Department website or call (916) 875-8440.
Website: www.emd.saccounty.net/EH/EMDFoodProtect_GYR_Placards.htm
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| North Natomas Regional Park
Posted on: 2007-03-06
The North Natomas Regional Park, intended to be the centerpiece of the Natomas area, is located in North Natomas on North Park Drive near Banfield Drive. Currently, 10.7 acres has been developed, including a lake, landscaping, walkways and bikeways adjacent to the detention basin and drainage canals. Future development of site will include sports fields, nature areas, skate park, group picnic areas, children's playgrounds, bike trail, and a dog park. Funding and a development schedule for these improvements has not yet been determined. The NCA participates with the City of Sacramento in planning and development activities as this park and others get developed, and welcomes community involvement with our efforts.
A new Friends of the Regional Park group has formed to try to get this project rolling. The City is projecting that it might take as many as 30 years to complete our park. We think this is much too long. We are hoping to lobby officials, seek and secure public and proviate funding and help with park design and implmentation. To get involved, please contact Ron Spingarn at RSpingarn@natomascommunity.org . For further information about this park, please see the City of Sacramento website.
Click Here for the Town Center and Regional Park Master Plan
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| Schools Need Mentors
Posted on: 2007-02-05
From the Sacramento Bee
February 1, 2007
You can change a Natomas child's life by becoming a mentor for just one hour a week in the Natomas Unified School District.
Through the Help One Student to Succeed mentoring program, community volunteers are paired with students who need one-on-one assistance in basic reading and math.
Nearly 500 students in Natomas elementary and secondary schools are enrolled in the program this year, with the goal of helping them find success in school.
'I've seen the kids change -- they're connected to school now. I love the program,' Natomas teacher Cynthia Bluewater said.
Under the guidance of a Natomas teacher, mentors work with students in a school learning center and follow easy-to-use lesson plans customized for each student.
Mentors choose the grade level, school and schedule that will work best for them.
The program has served more than 1 million students over the past 30 years and now operates in 40 states.
The Natomas school district, which began the program in October 2006, has been chosen as a national demonstration site by the program.
The school district has partnered with the Natomas Schools Foundation to raise funds for the program and to recruit community volunteers.
More information is available at www.natomas.k12.ca.us/ HOSTS.htm and at www.natomasschools foundation.org, or by calling the district's public information officer, Heidi Yanez, at (916) 561-5253.
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| No Natomas limits
Posted on: 2007-06-26
By Terri Hardy - Bee Staff Writer
Story Appeared in the June 22 edition of the Sac Bee
SACRAMENTO -- Despite the objections of environmental groups, the City Council voted unanimously Thursday to ask the federal government to allow unrestricted construction in North Natomas while levees are brought up to minimum flood standards.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last year ruled Natomas basin levees were weaker than believed and no longer met a minimum 100-year flood protection standard.
Click here for more information
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| Curtain going up on Natomas theater
Posted on: 2007-06-26
Charter school hosts $8.2 million performing arts center.
By Ralph Monta - Bee Staff Writer
It is Sacramento's newest venue for theater, ballet and orchestra with a price tag of $8.2 million and, oh yes, it's on the campus of a charter high school.
Natomas Charter School founders Charlie Leo and Ting Sun are still pinching themselves and wondering if the 14,000-square-foot theater next to their administration office at 4600 Blackrock Drive is real.
The new theater will anchor a performing arts program and a school that has won national recognition. The school's Performing and Fine Arts Academy program was one of five in the country to receive the National School of Distinction award from the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network in Washington, D.C., in 2004. The school was also one of three to be named a California Distinguished School in 2007 and was named the state's charter school of the year in 2006.
Information about upcoming shows at the Benvenuti Performing Arts Center are available at www.benarts.org or by calling (916) 491-1028.
Click here for the complete article
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