![Monthly naturalization ceremonies at Memorial Auditorium draw early-morning vendors, including volunteers who help the new citizens register to vote. The line begins forming before 8 a.m., and it takes nearly two hours for candidates to check in and be seated.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0318_blog_citizen5_0.jpg?1577874530)
Journey to Citizenship
After years of waiting, Khaleel Yasir and his wife, Zuhal Al Ameen, became naturalized U.S. citizens on Feb. 22 at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. During the monthly naturalization ceremony, 1,060 residents from 81 countries took the oath of citizenship. Yasir resettled his family to Sacramento in 2012 after nine years of service as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Iraq.
![New U.S. citizens Zuhal Al Ameen (left), husband Khaleel Yasir, and children Zain, Mostafa and Baan](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0318_blog_citizen1.jpg?1577874530)
One Family’s Journey to Citizenship
Iraqi family living in Sacramento fulfills a dream to become U.S. citizens
As a teenager growing up in Iraq in the 1990s, Khaleel Yasir wanted to become a U.S. citizen. But his path to citizenship — like that of so many others — turned into a decades-long journey.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0318_dept_snap_embed5_kj.jpg?1577874530)
No Laughing Matter
Building iconic institutions in Sacramento comedy isn’t easy, but local comedian Shahera Hyatt gets the last laugh.
![U.S. Border Patrol Color Guard prior to the Jan. 26 National Anthem ceremony. The Border Patrol is one of the PBR’s main sponsors.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0218_blog_event_bullriding1.jpg?1577874530)
Sacramento Welcomes the Bulls
Golden 1 Center continues as popular stop for Professional Bull Riders Tour
For 16 consecutive years, first at Arco/Sleep Train Arena and now the Golden 1 Center, Sacramento fans have made it a ritual of grabbing their cowboy hats and heading to the home of the Kings to welcome the best talent the bull riding world has to offer.
![Sitting in a sea of neon, geometric-patterned tabletops, Christopher Knecht looks perfectly at home in his ripped denim jeans and sleeveless vest.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0218_dept_snap_lead_embed1_kj_0.jpg?1577874530)
Blast from the Past
Christopher Knecht is a third-generation collector who owns 10 storage sheds, containing 600 square feet of late ‘70s through early ‘90s memorabilia, some of which he inherited from his father and grandfather.
![Service Manager Denis Jiron works on a 1980 Honda CBX six-cylinder at Vintage Monkey on N 16th Street in Sacramento’s River District. “This is basically putting a car engine into a motorcycle to make it a rocket ship,” says business owner Shasta Smith, who celebrated the public flagship’s one-year anniversary last November.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0118_dept_snap_embed1.jpg?1577874530)
Well-Oiled Machine
Vintage Monkey conducts antique motorcycle repairs like a well-oiled machine.
![Sangre del Dragon hot sauce photographed in the Edible Sac High garden. Garden produce is among the ingredients in the hot sauce made by former students.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/blog0412_hotsaucebottles.jpg?1577874530)
Heating Up the Hot Sauce Market
Former Sac High students ace their business plan
What happens when a high school business plan assignment turns into reality? For a team from Sacramento Charter High School, it’s just the beginning of a budding hot sauce business.
![It’s about 3 a.m. on a Wednesday morning in September as 24 crew members begin transforming the Golden 1 Center from a concert venue (British indie pop band The xx played the previous evening) into a basketball court in time for an upcoming pre-season game against the San Antonio Spurs.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1217_dept_snap_embed1.jpg?1577874530)
Night Court
Transforming the Golden 1 Center, from the ground up.
![Cooper gets a blow out from Dana Chavez-Rey outside a home in Rocklin.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1117_dept_snap_embed1_kj.jpg?1577874530)
All Cleaned Up
For 10 years, Dana Chavez-Rey and her husband, Alex, ran a successful brick-and-mortar pet grooming salon in West Sacramento, handling up to 30 dogs and cats a day. Then, they went mobile.
![Judith Berliner is the owner of Full Circle Press, where she uses antique letterpresses to print jar labels with gold foil embossing (pictured here). Her apprentice is Ethan Cameron (on left).](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1017_dept_snap_lead_embed1_kj.jpg?1577874530)
Press Play
As a child, working in her family’s print shop in Grass Valley, Judith Berliner’s job was to help her father produce custom maps and limited-edition books on the antique machinery. She now works those same presses as owner of Full Circle Press.