Letters for Nov. 14, 2019

Re: “Coffee Capital” by Steph Rodriguez (Feature, Oct. 24):

Your Coffee Issue set off a nostalgic wave that had me talking to friends about the 1970s. So here goes: Giovanni’s at I and 21st streets, a busy cafe with music. Juliana’s Kitchen serving great food, coffee and a hippie feel. Earhart’s Cafe, remembered as the first cafe to have monthly art shows and being LGBQT friendly. And the genuine underground place in all of Sac ever—the old, brick building we know as the Weatherstone/Old Soul on 21st street.

In the 1970s it was a different place. The coffee shop was run by a defrocked priest. He lived like a monk with a pot belly stove, a hidden bed and huge bags of coffee. Order the Peppermint Tea and see what happens! I wonder if today’s “scene” will inspire warm memories in 40 years.

Bob Saari

Sacramento / via email

Favorite decaf

Re: “Decaf deep dive” by Lindsay Oxford (Dish, Oct. 24):

Thanks for bringing our “suffering” to light. I avoid caffeine due to high blood pressure. My new favorite decaf is from the beans used by Luchador Coffee in the Country Club Mall. They get their beans from Mexico and roast them locally. The flavor is excellent, with the fruity nature of the bean really coming through.

Ernst Schneidereit

Sacramento / via email

Not about race

Re: “‘Copwatching’ while black” by Ben Irwin (News, Oct. 31):

Theo Scott-Femenella, a black man, was recently detained and questioned by police on the Sacramento City College campus because he “matched the description of a black suspect reported to possess a rifle.” In response, Scott-Femenella decided to make this yet another racial issue, claiming that he “felt wronged,” that his “civil rights were violated” and that he was “flat-out racially profiled” rather than recognizing that the police were simply doing their job.

Regardless of what the police do to protect us, they are going to be blamed as racist by those who, like Scott-Femenella, already believe “that black men are more likely to lose their freedom—or even their lives—if they come into contact with law enforcement.” The truly sad thing is that SN&R thought this worthy of a full-page story.

Roland Brady

Sacramento / via email

Don’t underplay theater

Re: “Hound mysteries abound” by Jim Carnes (Stage, Oct. 17):

I’m extremely disappointed with your theater review for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.” The review opens with “perhaps the best show of the year,” and then never attempts to justify that claim. It never does more than touch upon the production itself.

I believe one of the great things Sacramento has going for it is the strength of local theater. As the local arts and entertainment publication, this is exactly something you should be focusing on and possibly expanding. If a production is the best show of the year, people need to know about it, but we also need to know why it is.

Please recommit to in-depth coverage of local theater, and don’t let this become simply a listing of what’s playing. A positive review should mean something, but if I don’t understand the critic’s thought process, I have no way to evaluate it.

Matt Czarnowski

Sacramento / via email