Sacramento news this week: new Sac State dorm, Bryte Park’s $63M overhaul, more

From a new Sac State dorm opening to a $64 million park overhaul in West Sacramento, the past week brought major developments across the region. Here’s a quick catch-up on local stories you may have missed.

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• Sacramento State welcomed first-year students into Mt. Whitney Hall, a new $69 million residence hall that houses 335 students in the campus’s North Village. The five-story, 97,000-square-foot building opened Sunday after 18 months of construction.

• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla convened California nonprofit, university and community leaders in Sacramento on Aug. 18 to hear how federal funding cuts and policy shifts are straining service providers. Leaders warned that H.R. 1 will reduce access to healthcare and food assistance, driving more people to already-stretched food banks.

• West Sacramento broke ground Thursday on a $64 million renovation of the 24.5-acre Bryte Park, which will add an aquatic center, sports fields, a dog park, playground and amphitheater. Construction is expected to take about 18 months, with funding including a $15 million National Park Service grant and $2.49 million from Yolo County.

• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced Tuesday the repeal of the 2001 “roadless rule” that has protected more than 45 million acres of national forest from road construction and resource extraction. About 4 million acres in California are affected, including watersheds of the American, Rubicon and Yuba rivers.

• The California Senate passed a bill that would permanently bar people convicted of certain felony sex crimes and human trafficking from running for office. Lawmakers narrowed the measure to crimes requiring lifetime sex offender registration, drawing criticism that the ban is too limited.