South Natomas To Host Weeklong Soccer Tourney

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Heard In Natomas: Aaron Bros Store Set To Close

A NATOMAS BUZZ reader tells us the Aaron Bros art and framing store in the Natomas Marketplace shopping center will close for good on Sept 23. Employees cite poor sales and say they will be relocated to the Folsom location. 

"The sales there are great right now and will probably get better!"

Thanks, B.H., for the tip!!

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Fixes Being Made (Finally) To Natomas Pooch Park

Long-needed repairs are being made this week to a popular North Natomas dog park.

After months of failed attempts to have city parks officials address problems such as puddling and faulty irrigation, an opinion piece published on THE NATOMAS BUZZ appears to have prompted a response. 

Tuesday afternoon dog owners noticed a landscaping crew in the park working to repair drainage problems which had been attributed to illness in some pets. The crew planned to fence off the troubled area and reseed.

"We are very grateful," said Doreen Lopez.

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Natomas Stores Participate In Jonas Bros. Contest

Register at participating stores: Aeropostale, Beach Hut, Ground Zero, Jelly Belly, Journeys, Pacific Sunwear, Sport Clips, and Youngsters.

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For A Good Cause: NP3 Rummage Sale Fundraiser

ORIGINALLY POSTED 7/15

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Natomas Shifts Students To Balance Class Sizes

A week after school resumed at three Natomas campuses, district officials are shifting some students to balance class sizes.

NUSD superintendent Bobbie Plough

Parents at Natomas Park and Witter Ranch elementary schools yesterday learned classes were being collapsed, combination classes created and some students reassigned to the Two Rivers campus in an effort to maintain a 30 students to one teacher ratio.

Natomas Unified superintendent Bobbie Plough said changes became necessary when student enrollment differed from what was projected. In some grade levels more students returned to school than anticipated and, in others, there were fewer. Plough said she was sensitive to parents' concerns about the changes a week after school started.

"We moved rapidly to avoid moving children later in the school year," she said. "The district can reassure parents that we will spend time talking to children and acclimating children to the new classrooms." 

Here is a summary of class collapses and student redistribution do date:

• Collapsing a 4th and 5th grade at Natomas Park, creating a 4/5 combination class
• Collapsing a 6th grade at Natomas Park and reassigning 10 students to Two Rivers
• Collapsing a 6th grade at Witter Ranch and reassigning 5 students to Two Rivers
• Creating a K-1 combination class at Natomas Park

Natomas Park, Witter Ranch and Two Rivers elementary schools previously operated as multiple-track, year-round campuses but are now operating on a single track to save money. Plough attributed this change to making the movement of students more noticeable.

The school district policy is the last student enrolled at a grade level is the first to be transferred to another school, but principals are directed to keep families together.

"Moving students is the absolute last choice for our district and we have formed grade-level combination classes as an alternative to moving students in mass to other school sites," said Plough. "However, there are circumstances where we still have to move students."

Schools starts August 10 at the district's nine other traditional elementary, middle and high school campuses. Plough said student movement is also possible at those schools once enrollment figures are finalized.

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Breaking News: Farmers Market Coming To Natomas!

THE NATOMAS BUZZ has confirmed a certified farmer's market will open on August 14 in Natomas.

After months of negotiations with several property owners, including the Promenade shopping center, officials have secured the Inderkum High School parking lot for a Saturday-morning farmers' market. Farmers are currently being recruited to sell their farm-fresh produce at the new market which will be held 9 a.m. to noon weekly.

"We already have a few really great farms that have committed and I am sure we will get some more to get this successfully started," said Dan Best of Certified Farmers' Markets of Sacramento.

Once the community shows support via their patronage, Best said more farmers will want to come to Natomas.  

"It will be helpful in our building process to have a strong showing right from the beginning and continuing up to the last day of the market," he added.

If successful this season, the market would resume in May. Officials have not ruled out the possibility of a year-round farmers' market in Natomas.

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Natomas Dirt: Those Reliable Reds

BY BILL BIRD

www.sacramentogardening.blogspot.com

Hello friends! How does that garden grow? If it's anything like mine? The word is FINALLY!

Yes -- finally the heirloom tomato plants are springing to life. Finally -- they are growing by leaps and bounds. Some are actually producing fruit! Others are not! And that's LIFE with heirloom tomato plants my friend. Sometimes you get some. Other times -- you get the stick.

Why? Well -- that is certainly the $64 question. Why do some heirloom tomato plants grow and grow and grow -- yet fail to produce a single tomato? How can that possibly happen when the plants located to the immediate right and left are loaded with more green tomatoes than you can possibly count?

How indeed!

The Joys of Growing Heirloom Tomatoes! It should be a book. It certainly is an experience. Heirloom tomatoes can bring the most wonderful of rewards -- and can also usher in the most vexing of problems. Farmer Fred Hoffman writes about one such problem here. There are others.

But I've come to discover -- through experience -- that there are some rather reliable heirloom varieties that not only grow well right here in Northern California -- they're almost guaranteed to produce a boatload of tomatoes.

I call these my "Reliable Reds." They have produced for me year in and year out. They have survived diseases. They have survived infestations (Voles). Although they are not technically "disease resistant," they have shown a remarkable ability to throw off the leaf and stem blight that sometimes strikes the Bird Backyard during these hot July days.

Now -- understand -- these "Reliable Reds" aren't going to knock you flat with that eye-popping heirloom taste like you get with some varieties. They're not going to make your eyeballs roll back into your skull like a Brandywine or Kelloggs Breakfast sometimes can. They don't have that eye-catching bi-colored skin that other heirloom varieties offer.

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Seen In Natomas: Halloween In August?

SPIRIT is taking up residency in the former anchor blue store in the Promenade Shopping Center off North Freeway. The seasonal Halloween store is scheduled to open for business on Sept. 4.

Nearby, Tokyo Steakhouse expects to have a soft opening on August 16. 

Elsewhere in Natomas, Steve's Pizza and La Bou - both on Truxel Road - have closed. 

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Seen In Natomas: National Night Out Celebrations

 The Natomas High School drum corps performs at Point Natomas Apartments event on San Juan Road.

 Councilwoman-elect Angelique Ashby and Sacramento police officers at Witter Ranch Park event.

 Councilman Ray Tretheway at Jefferson Park grand opening celebration.

Gardenland/Northgate Neighborhood Association board members at La Superior Market on Northgate.

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Inderkum Back-To-School Orientation Under Way

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You Asked, We Got The Answer

"Does anyone know what the project on the I-80 West El Camino off ramp and overpass is all about? I hope the goal is to improve it and not make it worse. I searched the Cal Trans website and didn't find anything."

Through November 2010, the city is adding traffic signals to the freeway off ramps and improving pedestrian access with a new pathway. The city is also replacing the deteriorating pavement, adding lighting new signage, striping and sidewalk on the north side of West El Camino Avenue between El Centro Road and Orchard Lane. 

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Natomas Nighthawks Represent At National Night Out

The Natomas High School Nighthawk Drum Corps will perform 5:30 p.m. TONIGHT during a National Night Out event at Point Natomas, 801 San Juan Road. 

For more than two weeks, the drum corps led the nightly parade and performed encores in the food court at the California Sate Fair.

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Heard In Natomas: Postcard Addresses Noise

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Natomas Celebrates National Night Out!

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Interactive Art An Attention Grabber In Natomas

Several Natomas families have embraced the interactive aspect of Joe Scarpa's sculpture.

Whether you love it, hate it or simply don't get it, one thing is certain the "Authors of Our Own Destiny" sculpture in front of the North Natomas Library is likely to grab your attention. Joe Scarpa's interactive public art piece has been the topic of debate since its unveiling earlier this year. Today we share one reader's opinion on the topic.
  

Taggers of Our Own Destiny: Let's Close the Book on Graffiti in Natomas

Commentary by Keith Sharward 

Sometimes what seems like a nice idea turns out not to be so nice.

In September 2008, The Sacramento Bee published an article about the rise in graffiti throughout the Sacramento area, and it included a map showing the increase in reported tagging-related vandalism incidents. North Natomas was, not surprisingly, one of our city's hardest hit areas.*

As someone who regularly reports such graffiti sightings to our city's graffiti abatement team and volunteers in clean-up efforts, I was more than surprised that a book sculpture had been commissioned for Del Paso Road in front of our beautiful, new full-service crown jewel library late last year that literally invites the public to paint whatever it wishes upon it.

According to a press release from Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, "The interactive artwork by Joe Scarpa, titled 'Authors of our own Destiny' [is] . . . visible from a distance, but is also meant to be seen and used by people on foot. . . Scarpa purposefully designed the book sculpture as a blank canvas to be painted or drawn on by the general public, patrons of the library, and students attending the adjacent high school and community college. The artist imagines that the book’s surface will be spontaneously painted with images, writings, and stories -- providing the community with a temporary platform for their their ideas and artworks. The paintings and drawings will only be preserved until the next person paints the over the surface."

Sure, we often see fun and interesting stuff painted on the sculpture -- but we also see material that resembles vandalism found in the grittiest, most challenged, and frankly, most dangerous gang-infested neighborhoods in our city.

What's worse is that the "artists" who "tag" the sculpture are not breaking the law, but are often reported to police in what appears to be a crime in progress by citizens who are probably unaware of the purpose of the sculpture.

Then there's the religious debate over what constitutes "art" and whether such "tagging" falls into the category.

Many North Natomas residents believe it was a mistake to take such a risk in one of Sacramento's newest neighborhoods that has struggled to maintain itself, and I am one of them.

What was supposed to be a canvas for spontaneous and dynamic community creativity has become somewhat of a public nuisance.

I believe it is time for our city to suspend the artist's well-intentioned but ill-fated invitation to the public to decorate the book sculpture and instead move towards a more traditional concept for the piece that will sustain a consistent appearance of beauty and stability in the eyes of our community's majority. I realize this will make the sculpture more sterile and perhaps even boring to some, and I will join in mourning the loss of the dream of a clever concept -- but given the chaos and abuse that the sculpture has endured since its unveiling, I believe it is the sensible thing to do for our community. 

Keith Sharward, a Natomas resident since 1994, is a member of the Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team and is co-founder of Witter Ranch Community Alliance, a volunteer association of the Gateway West and Park View neighborhoods of North Natomas. 

*"Vandalism hits the city: Property owners see red on graffiti." The Sacramento Bee, September 30, 2008, Page B1.

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