
Is Sacramento Ready for the Big One?
Levees and dams are being repaired and expanded to prepare for a future flood
Climate change is increasing the strength of Sacramento’s winter storms. Higher temperatures allow atmospheric rivers to carry more water, research shows. Climate change is also jacking up other flood risks, such as sea rise and snowmelt. All this is raising the chances of catastrophic flooding in Sacramento.

Startup of the Month: Alter Learning
STEAM games designed to make education fun for kids
As an Albanian immigrant who grew up poor, Aldi Agaj dreamed for his children to have the access and opportunities he didn’t have. When his daughter was 4, he had an idea to create an edtech company that gives kids free access to innovative games.

California Schools Continue to Struggle With Test Scores in Reading and Math
CalMatters: One of California’s starkest — and most important — letdowns is the consistent failure to help elementary and middle school students achieve higher national test scores in basic educational skills, such as reading and math. Moreover, California schools have not yet recovered from the educational losses suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pandemic Made Many Parents Get More Involved in Their Children’s Education
“I think what the pandemic really did was just lift the curtain on what was taking place in the classroom and at the administration level for parents to see,” says Justin Caporusso, a Roseville father of four and owner of Caporusso Communications. “A lot of parents saw how much time was spent on classroom management, behavior and really how little time was spent on kind of overall education.”

What the State Is Doing to Help Education
Efforts by California’s government to help students recover from the pandemic go back to its earliest days, with the state investing more than $36 billion to deal with pandemic impacts. The funding has gone to Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grants, expanded teacher recruitment, literacy specialists and much more.

Some Burning Questions on Wildfires
FROM THE PUBLISHER: As it is with all catastrophes, there’s plenty of blame to go around. I guess this can be a useful exercise at some point, but it won’t rebuild people’s homes, restore their most valued possessions or, most importantly, stop this from becoming an annual, recurring heartbreak. We need to ask and answer some obvious questions.

Sacramento-Area Schools are Still Grappling With Academic and Social Recovery From the COVID-19 Pandemic
Around the Capital Region, schools are still working to recover socially and academically from the COVID-19 pandemic. Test scores have been affected, as has school attendance. A new wave of behavioral issues has unfolded, too. Now, a variety of people are working to help students catch up.

Artificial Intelligence Is Bringing Nuclear Power Back From the Dead — Maybe Even in California
CalMatters: Artificial intelligence uses so much energy that its rapid spread could endanger California’s goal of eliminating all carbon emissions by 2045 — even as AI companies may be flooding the state treasury with tax revenue. The conundrum has legislators considering what was once unthinkable: Bringing back nuclear power as a driver of innovation and economic growth, sort of like it was the 1960s all over again.

Art Exposed: Jennifer Peart
Meet the Sacramento artist painting portals to a sustainable future
Addressing themes of reciprocity and stewardship, Jennifer Peart’s artwork draws inspiration from science fiction novels, retrofuturistic architecture and pristine natural landscapes. Her intricate, vivid landscapes, often featuring familiar landmarks, are delicately painted on sustainably sourced wood panels.

Local News Is Breaking. Can These Websites Fix It?
These local news sites are responding to the decline in legacy print newspapers
Many digital news outlets like the Folsom Times have popped up in the Capital Region over the past two decades. Are they destined to cease like the newspapers that came before them, or is it possible to build a local newsroom financially sustainable enough to last?