One percent solution for school sports

As the Sacramento City Council goes to the mat once more in the ongoing tussle over a new downtown Sacramento arena, local public high schools face an uneven playing field when it comes to their own athletic facilities.

So borrowing from the public art concept, why not a “1 percenter” program for schools?

South Sac’s Luther Burbank High School just got a long-awaited new stadium. In Los Angeles, currently planning to build a new professional football stadium, the former high school home of football’s Jackie Robinson—Kenny Washington—is in bad shape. Meanwhile, Oakland’s (trying to build a new park for the A’s) public schools, long a pipeline to the major leagues, haven’t produced a major leaguer in about a decade.

So why not help out these cities and the next generation of athletes while generating some added support for the controversial pro playpens? As with public art in some cities, why not set aside 1 percent of construction cost, or some sort of cut, of new arenas or stadiums to go to local high-school facilities and equipment?

But, that’s, like, my opinion, man.

Anyway, the Sacramento Kings continue with their SoCal crush. The San Fernando Valley Business Journal reported they have hired a Valley company to help manage online Kings’ basketball ticket sales. Already the team’s arena is named for SoCal lucky-charm bracelet maker, Power Balance.

Compiled from Purple Drank.

Occupy homelessness

As Barbara Ehrenreich points out so eloquently in her piece in Mother Jones, the Occupy movement—not just in Sacramento, but all over the country—is running up against the reality of homelessness.

She writes:

“What the Occupy Wall Streeters are beginning to discover, and homeless people have known all along, is that most ordinary, biologically necessary activities are illegal when performed in American streets—not just peeing, but sitting, lying down, and sleeping.”

Here in Sacto, we’ve got the insanely abusive camping ordinance, which has managed to keep the area’s ever-growing homeless population out of sight (and mind) for most of us. However, as the Occupy Sacramento people have found out, that camping ordinance is a powerful piece of local legislation.

The big secret that’s in danger of getting out if the Occupy Sacramento people are successful in “occupying” Cesar Chavez Plaza long enough to sleep there overnight: If Sacramento’s homeless were able to sleep in public, we’d never put up with the number of people who have no place to sleep.

We’d be forced to reprioritize our spending to provide shelter. We’d refuse to let this happen in our country, in our town—and it’s only happening now because we’ve successfully pushed it out of sight and mind, down to the river or out on that stretch of Highway 160, near Loaves & Fishes and the railroad tracks. We’d say, “Everyone deserves a safe place to sleep.”

Compiled from Kel’s Hot Flash.