All posts by Jeremy Bryne

Sacramento Infrastructure Enhancements

Infrastructure
The Waterfront

Currently, Sacramento is in the final stages of selecting a company to redesign its waterfront in both look and feel in an attempt to change the entire feel of this area.  The ultimate goal is to transform it into a“national destination,” similar to the ones that can be seen in Kentucky, Louisville and Texas.

Meanwhile, over in Roseville’s Westfield Galleria a lot is happening with the arrival soon of a legal store,edible cookie dough store Dough by the Spoon, Peet’s Coffee (to replace the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant) and Indochino Inc. (a store selling $500 and less custom-made men’s suits).

And at the end of last month the first food hall in Sacramento opened with The Bank. The Bank is over 100 years old and features circular vault doors,elegant light fixtures, gilded ceilings and more to transform one back in time.  This 30,000 square foot building will soon be home to 10 food vendors, 3 bars, 68 self-service taps, 2 private lounges and 18 TV screens.

Crocker Park Excitement

Entertainment, , ,
fun run

When a 6 year old boy has juvenile arthritis and raises money for the condition, one has to take notice that’s exactly what Carmichael’s very own Jeremy Kelley did and through this, he has –and continues – to be a huge inspiration to others.

Given that over 300,000 US kids have had a juvenile arthritis diagnosis, trying to find a cure for this is a worthy cause.  As such, the 5k race and fun run held yesterday at Crocker Park – the Jingle Bell Run – was a quite exceptional event.  As well as getting a medal, Kelley left the day with a real sense of achievement.

His mother said it did so much for him, relating:

“He started running around like crazy, the previous six months seemed like a bad dream. We couldn’t believe we had Jeremy back.”

The family is now in management mode and Jaime is an activist and mentor at the Arthritis Foundation.

Sutter Hospital’s New Technology

Technology, ,

Thanks to some new technology from Apple, parents in Sacramento are able to monitor their babies in the ICU from their homes.  Instead of the stress and strain of trying to juggle a family, a job and a newborn stuck in Sutter Memorial’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, there is now an Angel Eye Camera that facilitates daily life.

According to NICU Nursing Director at the hospital, Christina Walsh, the camera is placed over the baby, providing parents with the opportunity to “check in and look at their baby almost anytime they want to.”

The only thing the parents need is a smartphone.  Once they download the app, they can watch their baby wherever they are.  And the cameras that are over the babies have been made possible due to the generosity of the Norah Foundation which was established by the parents of the girl who passed away in the NICU at Sutter.  Ultimately it is hoped that every NICU bed will be fitted with one of these cameras.

Another way iPhone is assisting in a knowledge increase for patients was with its Health app iOS 11.3 beta rollout launched in January of this year.  The goal was to offer patients a central location where they could look at their medical information from many hospitals and clinics and pass that on to caregivers when necessary.

 

California: Next Step

Economy

Even though right now California’s economy is thriving, caution must be employed.  According to Governor Jerry Brown, there is likely to be “an inevitable downturn” of which his Sacramento successor must be aware.  At the recent Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research forum held last week, he warned:

“Don’t be too exuberant. Get everybody ready. The economy is a cycle, and right now we’re at the peak. But you can’t be at the peak forever.”

There has been much change in California in Brown’s time of serving (he served twice in the 1970s and 80s and twice in this decade), with a population expansion today reaching 40 million.  That of course will heavily impact the region, most particularly in housing and environment.

In other words with more people comes a change in the way we live, Brown said at the forum entitled What’s Next for California.

Sales Tax

Economy,

In a recent attempt to increase sales tax in Sacramento, Measure U (which renews a half-cent sales tax and adds another half-cent tax, while rendering the total amount, concretizing the total) was passed.  Over half of voters (55.6%) in the city said yes to the hike in tax to 8.75 percent.

Of this, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said:

“We’ll do it right. We’ll do it in a thorough way and we’ll do it in a way that will make people say ‘Wow, they really meant what they said.’…Measure U is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest real resources in building a modern economy in Sacramento that includes everyone.”

The change in law will come into affect on April 1 and the extra money will be used to basic necessary services such as fire, police, funding for affordable housing and neighborhood projects.

Sacramento: Investing in its Environmental Future

Environment

Sacramento has become an integral part of positive environmental endeavors within California.  According to a recent Forbes article:

“While businesses have a crucial role to play, leadership in the halls of our state government remains essential. When Sacramento sets firm targets for emissions, clean energy, and efficiency standards, it gives businesses the market certainty they need to invest confidently in climate solutions.”

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report has determined that there is only one way to eliminate the worst impacts of climate change.  That is to substantially decrease greenhouse gas emissions so that global warming is held at 1.5° C.

As such, climate leadership in California is more crucial than ever which was why a bill was recently passed there (nowhere else has this been done throughout the nation) that commits the region to “emissions-free electricity by 2045.”  Other states will be observing the progress of this.

Asian Brothers Brew Beers for Sacramentans

Entertainment, , , , ,

Restaurateur Michael Khoa Le has had a dream of producing beer with his friends.  Now that dream is coming true in Sacramento at his Vietnamese Anh Hong restaurant. With their brewing company, they specialize in Asian craft beers, making them the “the first Asian Craft Beer Company in Sacramento [brewing] the first Hmong Beer in the history of Hmong people.”

Approximately 2,800 gallons of the stuff was just delivered to the restaurant, really fulfilling Le’s dream.  Over the years he has created recipes for five beers and now has a contract with Paso Robles’ Santa Maria Brewing company to handle the brewing and bottling.

According to a recent news article:

“People of Asian descent account for about 14 percent of California’s population. Le and his investment group — which includes people of Hmong, Lao, Mien, Cambodian and Vietnamese descent — see an opportunity to become the house beer for California’s Asian community. The craft beer world is riddled with stories of friends who drink a few beers late one night and decide to start a brewery. What we have not seen is California’s sizable Asian community stand up and make a beer marketed at themselves.”

Sacramento’s Job Additions

Employment

Sacramento has had a good track record this last month for the creation of new jobs.  Here, we take a look at some of the industries that were ahead of the game.

In September, Sacramento hired the most physics professors out of the entire country.  Other top recruitment opportunities included research assistant professors and corporate sales reps.

Sacramento fared better than Cincinnati which was the only city “with the second-most new positions for physics professors last month.”  Still, the article found Sacramento to be:

“most competitive in hiring for corporate sales reps, placing fifth among U.S. cities in per-capita openings for that skill set. The city ranked seventh in new jobs for research assistant professors, and 12th for physics professors, again relative to the local population.”

In addition, eClerx – a firm that offers outsourcing services to financial institutions – is “expanding its delivery service in North Carolina and has plans to add 150 new full-time jobs.”