Chris Ralston, assistant superintendent of facilities for Sacramento City Unified, explains the plan to replace the existing grass field at Crocker/Riverside Elementary School with artificial turf during a meeting at the school on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS
jvillegas@sacbee.com
Sacramento parents are pushing back on a plan to install synthetic turf at a local elementary school, while witnesses testified in the K Street mass shooting trial. Meanwhile, Yuba County learned it will get its first state park.
Here are summaries of these and other top Sacramento region stories for April 22, 2026:
• Synthetic turf debate: Parents at Crocker/Riverside Elementary confronted Sacramento City Unified officials over a plan to replace the school’s grass field with up to 27,000 square feet of artificial turf, raising concerns about heat, injuries and potential PFAS exposure.
• K Street trial testimony: A witness told Sacramento Superior Court she still carries a bullet fragment in her lower back from the April 2022 mass shooting at 10th and K streets that killed six people and wounded 12. Dandrae Martin and Mtula Payton each face three murder charges.
• New state park: Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the nearly 2,000-acre Feather River Park along the east bank of the river near Olivehurst will become Yuba County’s first state park, one of three new Central Valley parks.
• Esparto explosion case: A Yolo Superior Court judge denied a request to allow victims’ families to wear clothing or display images of the seven workers killed in the fireworks warehouse blast, citing concerns about jury impartiality.
• Snowpack reality: Despite recent Sierra flakes, the snowpack stood at just 18% of average as of Tuesday. A meteorologist warned there will likely be “zero snow throughout the Sierra” by mid-summer.
• Federal badge law blocked: A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled California cannot enforce a law requiring federal agents to wear identification, saying it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
• Still not too late for free Earth Day transit: Sacramento Regional Transit is offering free bus and light rail rides Wednesday to mark Earth Day.
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