Tag: Tahoe Park

Pop-up TARDIS lending library in Tahoe Park

3eaf5b6e9bc49ec3fc8a15d525a7b287.max800Daniel Steinhart, a healthcare administrator from my neighborhood of Tahoe Park, constructed a “Little Free Library” near his home in Tahoe Park. This one is notable for its incredibly geeky shape: a 1960s-era police call box from the UK, now popularly known as the TARDIS, the ship The Doctor (as in “Doctor Who”) uses to travel through spacetime.

A Little Free Library is a pop-up “take a book, return a book” lending library installation that people can use to recycle books and related stuff (toys/games) with their neighbors. The library is bigger on the inside, with everyone in the community sharing what they can. Continue reading “Pop-up TARDIS lending library in Tahoe Park”

Name this raptor UPDATED with photos

A family of 4 or 5 raptors has nested in Tahoe Park above the playground, and I need help identifying them. I’ll have to go back with a better camera, but in the meantime if anyone who has been there recently can shed some light, my kids and I would be grateful. All I know is it is not a red tailed hawk; we see enough of those to spot them. It is a small raptor with a white belly and grey back and hood, and a striped tail. I have concluded that they are Merlins, a small falcon breed that apparently is becoming common in urban areas. Whatever they are, they are neat! Today we found a bird carcass below the nest; I imagine one of them fell and died and stray dogs ate it? Or perhaps they killed and ate a pigeon–would birds do that?

UPDATE Monday 1:00 PM: Mrs Cool and the kids snapped some awesome photos today, including some that add an air of mystery to the proceedings.

Continue reading “Name this raptor UPDATED with photos”

“East Sacramento” Target?

Mrs Cool pointed out that the new Target store on 65th at US 50 is labeled the “East Sacramento Target.” As this store is firmly located in Tahoe Park East, I would like to start an Internet campaign to refer to this as “Tahoe Park Target.” (This will start just in time to keep the political fires burning.)

The folks at Target may have been going for a strictly geographical appellation, but what they failed to realize is that so were the folks who named our neighborhoods. Who’s with me? I’d love to give my TP some love, but are there any neighborhood experts who have an even more precise neighborhood designation?

More new cheap eats in Tahoe Park: M’s Teriyaki

I’m fine with the fact that Tahoe Park will never have a four star restaurant in its boundaries, or even really a restaurant where you don’t eat with paper forks. However what we do have is good cheap eats. From Tallac Village Donuts to Boon Boon Cafe, the Stockton/Broadway/14th Ave area has its fair share.

We can add one more to the list: M’s Teriyaki. Opened just recently in the small strip that formerly housed “Juan in a Million” taqueria, M’s is your typical cheap Japanese takeout joint. Local real estate agent Pat Vogeli, a Tahoe Park specialist and a loyal reader (Hi Pat!), tipped me off to the place and last night I gave it a try. It is comparable to the Teriyaki Grill place in Market Square — if you’re there, and you’re kinda hungry, it can be great eats. But if you’re looking for ambiance or to eat sushi, it’s probably not on your list.

Chicken teriyaki with a California roll is great comfort food in my book, and the fact that I was able to get 2 hand rolls and freshly grilled teriyaki for under $7 made me pretty happy. It’s probably not a destination for anybody outside the zip code, but it’s good takeout if you find yourself in the area.

M’s Teriyaki
5780 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95820
(916) 739-1888

New eats in Tahoe Park: Cafe Lumiere

Now open at Broadway & 57th in Tahoe Park is Cafe Lumiere, offering breakfast and lunch and Java City coffee (and beer and wine, if I’m not mistaken)! I have yet to try it but we took a gander at the menu and it looked awesome: standard cafe fare, sandwiches, salads, full breakfasts. Check back here for a full review probably after this weekend, where I may sample the breakfast.

This answers supersonic30’s question from over 2 years ago, and so far it does not appear there will be room for a cigarette shop on that block, though there is one across the street.

TP is small enough that all of us who live there know where I’m talking about, but here is what the block looked like about a month ago:

St. Francis Elem. School to move to Tahoe Park

Sac Bee reports that earthquake retrofit rules will force the St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School to relocate… to the former site of John Paul II School in Tahoe Park.

[St. Francis Principal Laurie] Power said estimates for the retrofitting have come in between $3 million to $5 million.

“We obviously don’t have that kind of money lying around in our checkbooks,” Power said. “It will take a lot of planning.”

Funny, the only reason there is an empty site is that the diocese didn’t have a dime to save John Paul II. I am happy though that the site in Tahoe Park won’t go unused.

Last day of school at John Paul II

IHMs (nuns) at work in the classroom at All Hallows Parish School 1966

When the bell rings shortly at John Paul II School in Tahoe Park, it will be Alice Cooper’s dream come true: Schooool’s out. For. Evah. The Catholic Diocese is closing the school and allowing its students to transfer to the new Saint Patrick SUCCEED Academy on the former campus of St. Patrick Elementary School in South Sac.

According to what I have been told, the Diocese currently has no plans to lease out this great old brick school facility. There are still people involved with the All Hallows Parish who might be able to use the facility in the future for educational programs. Me, I’d love to see a public charter school open up there.

John Paul II School opened in 2005 as a merger between All Hallows and St. Peter’s Parish Schools. All Hallows Parish School opened on the site in 1948.

The Sac Bee has a nice photo gallery of the last day of school at Sacred Heart (my alma mater), which opens a new campus across the street this fall. But no mention of JPII.

Halloween wrap-up

We enjoyed some high-returns trick-or-treating last night in Tahoe Park (specifically the region between 11th and Raymond Aves and 58th-60th streets. It was positively hoppin, a great vibe.) Witches seemed to be very popular. As usual, the most popular costume had to be “punky high schooler walking around with a pillowcase full of candy” (and I know that’s not limited to TP…)

When we got home and reviewed the photos we realized that I wore the same outfit as last year, which is funny considering it’s a night specifically about dressing up, even though as I previously stated I do not participate. Read on for the photo comparison…

Continue reading “Halloween wrap-up”

What’s to become of Capitol Boxing Gym?

Updated at 10:35 on 10/19…
If you’ve ever driven on Stockton Blvd around Tahoe Park, you’ve probably seen Capitol Boxing Gym. It was remarkable for its colorful cartoon murals and the fact that it said BOXING in big letters. It was sold in 2004 by the Guevara family that ran it for 35 years (link to a nice News & Review article from 2004), and just this week it has started undergoing some sort of a facelift. Continue reading “What’s to become of Capitol Boxing Gym?”