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NEVADA COUNTY — The weather is getting warmer and our rivers are looking more beautiful than ever from our wet winter, but cold water temperatures from snow runoff bring danger.

The Yuba River is especially high right now due to two broken pipes that can no longer divert water.

A lot of people might have the same idea: the weather is warm, so why not check out the river? But for now, it might be best to enjoy the beauty with your eyes rather than go for a swim.

"This year might be different because of the canal problems," said Yuba River State Park visitor Tracie Hicks. "It's really high today and fast."

"I think what people will experience if they are recreating along the south and the middle Yuba River is they're going to see an increased flow at this time, and the duration is longer and the water is a lot colder," said Greg Jones with the Nevada Irrigation District.

That's because the water that would normally flow through the Yuba and Drum canals into reservoirs in Placer and Nevada counties can't get there after the pipes were damaged in a rockslide.

"We are unable to receive that snowmelt through the PG&E equipment, and so that water then, instead of reducing and going through those facilities, they're spilling over the spillways and going into both the middle Yuba River and the south Yuba River," Jones said.

The broken Pacific Gas and Electric canal pipes are expected to be repaired in mid-June, and for now, people in Placer and Nevada counties have been asked to voluntarily conserve water. With the high flows and low temperatures, it's best to stay clear of the Yuba River for now.

"It takes your breath away and it'll freeze up all your muscles," said Michael Ridout, another Yuba River State Park visitor.

"If you're going to get in – well, not this time of year because the water is flowing too fast – but if you get in later, then wear a life jacket. Stay close to shore. Watch out for the whirlpools because they're everywhere," said Dalles Hill, another park visitor.

The Nevada Irrigation District said it meets weekly with PG&E for updates on repairs to the canals. They say they're confident in that mid-June date but if it takes longer they could start imposing mandatory water conservation measures.

The Richmond, a new mixed-use project being constructed in the R Street Corridor, is expected to be completed this year, and its first commercial tenant appears to be a well-known local food and beverage operator.

The four-story project at 17th and S streets is being developed by Sutter Capital Group and will feature 47 market-rate apartments and approximately 8,900 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The project, located across the street from the recently completed Ary Place and just south of Ice Blocks, broke ground in 2022 and is anticipated to be completed within the next few months.

Broker Scott Kingston of Turton Commercial Real Estate, who handles leasing for the commercial spaces at The Richmond, said an approximately 2,500-square-foot space along 17th Street near Rice Alley has been claimed by a bar concept, but he declined to elaborate.

A recent filing with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control indicates that bar concept is being spearheaded by Irish Hospitality Management Inc. and DVW Brothers LLC, both of which trace back to brothers Henry and Simon de Vere White, owners and operators of the Irish Hospitality Group. The filing stated the business, called Day Tripper, is in the process of having a liquor license transferred from former Downtown Sacramento bar Pre Flite Lounge.

Representatives of Irish Hospitality Group did not respond to requests for comment.

The food and beverage group operates concepts such as Ro Sham Beaux on J Street, The Snug on 15th Street, and The Butterscotch Den on Broadway. The group previously operated de Vere's Irish Pub restaurant locations in Downtown Sacramento and Davis, both of which closed in 2021.

Kingston said the remainder of the commercial space at The Richmond has not been claimed, though there has been interest shown from other food and beverage operators. He said the spaces are flexible and could range anywhere from 1,500 square feet to as much as 3,600 square feet.

"What we are really trying to do is make this area the heart of Midtown and curate the best possible mix of tenants we can, whether it's nightlife with a bar, food and beverage, retail, personal services, or fitness," Kingston said. "It's about who is the best fit for the building and the neighborhood."

The Richmond is currently booking tours of its residential units ? a mixture of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments ? and is expected to begin leasing this summer, according to its website.

Sacramento’s now realized moment to host a Major League Baseball team has been more than a quarter century in the making, showing what can happen when both sides of the river collaborate as one with entrepreneurs who worked to make it finally happen.

The 1996 Oakland Athletics had record-setting slugger Mark McGwire at first base and an exciting team. Sacramento, meanwhile, had long-term baseball aspirations as well, but no clear path to get there. So the region started its journey for an MLB team.

In September of that same year, a small group — including myself, Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan and local sports and business leaders — traveled to Denver. We met with representatives of the Colorado Rockies, civic leaders and local government officials to learn how Denver had brought Major League Baseball to their city.

Opinion

The message from Denver was to prepare to take one step at a time. They explained how they had used their successful Triple A team as the primary argument to MLB officials and team owners to support their quest to be awarded a major league franchise.

Despite Sacramentans showing their clear support for our very own MLB team (including thousands of Sacramentans traveling to Oakland to an A’s game), it was apparent that, as long as two MLB teams were located in the Bay Area, our chances of attracting a third team to Northern California were extremely limited.

As a result, we set a course to follow the model used in Denver. We hoped that we could bring Triple A baseball to Sacramento, which we were confident would be resoundingly popular and lay the foundation for seeking an MLB franchise if the opportunity were to present itself.

When the Triple A River Cats opened play on March 15, 2000, in the brand new Raley Field in West Sacramento, the occasion marked the triumphant return of professional baseball to the Sacramento region. Reaching that celebratory moment had been built on the passionate work of Warren Smith and Bob Hemond, who had the dream of returning baseball to Sacramento, as well as Art Savage, who chose Sacramento as the place to relocate the Vancouver Triple A franchise he had acquired.

To get the new ballpark built, the West Sacramento City Council, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors joined together to create the Joint Powers Authority and finance the construction of the ballpark.

Since that opening day in 2000, the River Cats have been one of the leading Triple A baseball teams in the nation. First, as an affiliate of the Oakland A’s, and, in more recent years, as part of the San Francisco Giants farm system, the River Cats have been among the best in both attendance and performance on the field. Over the years, tens of thousands of fans, especially young ones, have enjoyed sunny afternoons and warm evenings at the ballpark, watching current and future major leaguers in a friendly, fun and exciting setting.

With the recent announcement that the A’s will now come to West Sacramento for a scheduled three seasons, the circumstances we could have only ever imagined have finally arrived.

While we have great empathy for the city of Oakland and for A’s fans in the Bay Area, events have provided us a unique opportunity to demonstrate that our successful Triple A team can now be the foundation for earning our very own MLB team. And our support of the A’s while they play at Sutter Health Park can be the closing argument for an award of a MLB franchise — perhaps the A’s themselves or a team through league expansion.

Our sports future will play out as events unfold. Our strategy, devised in 1996, has given us great experiences and wonderful memories for the past 25 years and put us in a position to realize the dream of major league baseball right here in our backyard.

Play ball!

Roger Dickinson is a former Sacramento County supervisor and state assemblyman and a current candidate for the Sacramento City Council. He was heavily involved in the building of Raley Field (now Sutter Health Park).

Business was steady at Downtown Commons, or DoCo, on Friday night next to Golden 1 Center.

The scene was heavy on Kings fans checking out the action of the play-in tournament, their beloved team’s season on the line against the New Orleans Pelicans. Inside bars and restaurants, the brews and emotions flowed. Fans shook their bells. Many wore Kings jerseys of their favorite players. Some wore purple team-colored hard hats, bearing game-face expressions that this matchup would be a fight to the finish.

Backers yelled at TV screens to cheer on their hoops heroes — everyone certain that their voices were heard a thousand miles east in Louisiana.

“They hear us telepathically,” said Melody Purifoy, who caught the game with her friend Brittany Lewis inside Sauced BBQ & Spirits. “They can hear us and feel us.”

The fans did their part. They rooted for their guys but the Pelicans proved again too much. New Orleans won 105-98 to end the season for the Kings, who went 0-6 against the Pelicans when it was all said and done this season. New Orleans advanced to the NBA playoffs and will challenge the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The Kings now come home.

Lewis, wearing a De’Aaron Fox jersey, and often reaching for her bell to shake, said: “I’m a big fan, since 1985 when the Kings got here, when I was born. I was almost kicked out of Golden 1 twice for cheering too loud, calling out officials, getting into it.

“Normal die-hard stuff.”

Why be here? The scene, the moment, the works, fans said. The second-best thing to being at the game was being surrounded by like-minded supporters right outside the Kings home venue.

“We wanted to be here to feel the vibe, to be with other Kings fans,” Lewis said.

Said Purifoy of her pal: “Oh, she’s a riot. She’s a serious fan.”

At a nearby table, Kellie Haynes and her friend Julie Francisco caught the game on TNT. Both were decked in Kings garb. Haynes, a seventh-grade teacher in West Sacramento, wore her white “Feel the Roar” Kings shirt to school on Friday.

Teachers want to engage with students, right? There was plenty of that this week in her classroom, be it eliminating the Golden State Warriors in a play-in contest Tuesday night at Golden 1 to the do-or-die drama before tip-off.

“We talked in class about this,” Haynes said. “We have a lot of students who are Kings fans and some are Warriors fans, and we talked some smack.”

Haynes is a decades-long Kings fan since the early 2000s, when the Kings were championship contenders behind leading players such as Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Doug Christie and Mike Bibby.

“I love the team, but I have to be honest,” she said, “I wasn’t a fan during the bad years. I love the fundamentals of the game, passing the ball. The Vlade teams had that, and this team has that.”

Another table over, Ricky Merrill and his wife of two years, Brittany, agonized over the game. There was more to cheer about in the first half and not so much in the final two quarters when New Orleans seized control.

“Born and raised a Kings fan, since the old Arco Arena days,” he said. “We love the positivity here. My wife wasn’t a Kings fan at first, though.”

Said she: “Now I am. Now I’m obsessed.”

Chris Espera and his girlfriend, Jasmin Portillo, nibbled nervously on their meal and washed it down with beer. Espera said he has been a Kings fan since 2001, so he has experienced the highs of playoff teams under coach Rick Adelman to a 16-year playoff drought to last season’s playoff showing that ended in a 7-game series loss to Golden State.

“It’s been a rough stretch,” Espera said. “The Warriors had their success with those championship teams and we had our downfall, so it was hard. To beat Golden State the other night meant a lot. Last year’s playoff success brought the city together.

“We’re still together, win or lose.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2024, 9:40 PM.

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El Camino had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 15-8 margin over the Sacramento Dragons. That result was just more of the same for these two, as El Camino also won the last time the pair played last Wednesday.

Max Powers made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out seven batters over 3.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Powers has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive pitching appearances. Powers was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring four runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Charlie Snyder, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two stolen bases, five RBI, and a triple. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now stolen at least one in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Sebastian Stecca, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.

El Camino's victory bumped their record up to 13-9. As for Sacramento, they are on a nine-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 3-17.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. El Camino will take on Christian Brothers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Christian Brothers' pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so El Camino's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Sacramento, they will head out on the road to face off against Capital Christian at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Capital Christian is coming into the contest with ten straight losses at home, meaning Sacramento will have to defend against a team hungry for a win.

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