This Small Town by the Sea Brings ‘Authentic Energy’
Benicia’s First Street offers an eclectic array of historic sites, shops and restaurants
The Solano County city of fewer than 30,000 residents is also an easy day trip for visitors from Sacramento and the Bay Area, with a 10-block stroll along Benicia’s First Street providing a unique opportunity to visit 300 eclectic businesses amidst 19th-century Victorian buildings — all while basking in bay views a couple of blocks away.
Scientists Attest to Value of UC Davis Smelt Lab
Federal funding has been imperiled for facility near Byron
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Feb. 6 that the federal government was looking to not renew funding for the UC Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Laboratory after its current round expires on Friday. While sources close to UC Davis are confident of a new contract being signed with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, that hadn’t happened as of press time, and some are worried about what comes next.
Recycling Unused Food: On the Frontlines With the Agencies and Food Banks Making SB 1383 Work to Feed the Hungry
The food recovery process for SB 1383 is divided into separate tiers. Tier 1, which involves large grocery chains and food distribution centers, went into effect in 2022. The following year, Rancho Cordova’s locker alone recovered 800,000 pounds of food. In that same period, Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services oversaw the redistribution of 14.6 million pounds of edible food that came directly from Capital Area grocery stores.
Chasing Shadows in Tombstone, Arizona
Stepping through the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone, Arizona, there’s a sense of history colliding with the American imagination that is as heavy as its oak bar columns. It’s possible to drink here and wonder if the whole story of Western settlement can be crystallized by 17 violent months that happened in the still-dusty streets outside the door.
The Way We Work: Kenny Pawlek
A glimpse into the daily life of the administrator at Shriners Children’s Northern California
Pawlek keeps that positive outlook through all aspects of managing the 800-employee operation. One secret to keeping a positive morale: lots of dad jokes.
From Baker’s Stats to Stanzas: Jim Franks’ ‘Existential Bread’ Launches in Davis
Picking apart the stuff (seeds, stories, hoaxes) that go into what we think we know about bread
Baker and poet Jim Franks launched his experimental cookbook “Existential Bread” in Davis this week in collaboration with Student Collaborative Organic Plant Breeding Education, an interdisciplinary approach that offers a new way to consider our relationship with food and the complex processes and economics behind it.
Yan Can’t Quit: Why the Celebrity Chef Keeps Coming Back to the Capital Region
Martin Yan, host of long-running PBS cooking show, returns to his Davis alma mater to host a dumpling demonstration
With a career spanning over four decades, it’s safe to say Davis-trained celebrity chef Martin Yan continues to impress.
California’s Fund to Build Student Housing Runs Dry — Leaving Community Colleges in the Lurch
CalMatters: College presidents across the state say the new housing projects are a long-term solution to wildfire recovery and to the state’s enduring affordability crisis, which has hit community college students hard. In study after study, researchers have found that around 20% of California community college students experience homelessness at some point over the course of a year, and many more struggle to pay rent.
When Streetcars Roamed the Capital Region
The classic car system predated light rail by almost a century
While many of us believe that Sacramento’s light rail trains were innovative when they began tooting their way throughout the Capital Region in the 1980s, the current system is actually the reboot of a suburban trolley that slid, wended and awoke its way through the area many decades before.
Chefs, Growers and Citizen Scientists Are Embracing Mushroom Foraging and Its Culinary Potential
The farm-to-fork pipeline is well established in Sacramento — but what about forage-to-fork? We talked to some of the foragers, scientists, chefs and enthusiasts who want to see more foraging in the Capital Region.