Carlos Alcala: Second Saturday is on a roll

A whole mess of success: Ten years ago this summer, the city ended the hugely popular downtown Thursday Night Markets. Crowd control was an issue. So was a lack of spending by visitors. Now midtown is experiencing similar growth pains. Second Saturday in midtown has exploded in popularity – more than 10,000 people in April. Crowds jam galleries, eateries (and drinkeries) and sidewalks. If they stayed there, it might not be an issue, but they're also jamming streets, in cars and on foot. "That's a good problem to have," said Connie Miottel, executive director of the Midtown Business Association. Especially since these folks are spending. Restaurants estimate receipts go up as much as 25 percent for the evening. But the traffic. Cars must avoid pedestrians crossing L and J streets where there are no traffic lights. In April, a car was stuck in a jam on the tracks with a train coming. MBA wants to pilot a midtown trolley, said Aaron Zeff, an MBA board member. It'll run along J and L, dropping people at venues and – so they hope – picking them up at parking lots on the edge of the action. Less traffic into midtown, less hoofing it. It's a pilot that may start this Saturday. Business will pay for it to start, but they hope ridership will persuade RT to adopt it permanently. …

Where there's smoke: Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, firefighters and a lot of volunteers held "Operation Smoke Detector" last month to get more people to include the lifesaving devices in their homes. Good idea, but after they went out into the neighborhood, they returned to Maple Elementary School for a barbecue. … Smoke, to promote smoke detectors. …

Recycled news: We asked if anyone actually remembered what they did on the original Earth Day. Some people did. (We barely remember asking. It was two whole weeks ago.) Mike Montgomery, the one with the noted radio voice, was on Capitol Mall in D.C., on April 22, 1970. It was a ragtag turnout, he said, especially compared with the anti-war demonstrations of the era, where a half-million demonstrators showed up. … Ellen Mack of east Sac went to an even smaller gathering. Her rural Connecticut high school's Ecology Club went to Hartford for a march and rally, and even made the evening news. The Ecology Club picked up trash wherever they went, and "I still do that," said Mack. …

Chirp up, chip in: When Stanford Settlement broke ground for a new teen center, Sister Jeanne Felion told participants only one-third of the needed $2.6 million had been raised. They had to find more money. "We got some over here," came a voice from the back of the room. It was 84-year-old Daisy Richards. Richards' companion, Merrill Turpin, 81, slowly made his way up to Felion, the agency's director, with two checks – $1,000 each from him and Richards. "I sort of knew it was coming," said Felion. The couple, participants in Stanford Settlement's senior programs, have been donors before, but she didn't know they were going to do it again right there. …

Inflated scores: Each year, kids at Rio Linda Junior High inflate and release scores of balloons (640 this year) with cards promising to do well on standardized testing. At last report, eight had been returned. One came from Livingston, 100 miles away. The person who found it urged the student who sent it to sleep well and eat a good breakfast before testing, said Harjinder Mattu, the school's principal. That's the right way to inflate scores.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá at (916) 321-1987. Back columns, www.sacbee.com/alcala.