Those who have seen past California Musical Theatre productions of Beauty and the Beast were in for a treat this year: The “tale as old as time” is decidedly new and improved thanks to a recent influx of grant money from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.

For creative people across the U.S., the Ghost Ship tragedy demonstrates the tough choices many face as they try to remain in their community while the cost of living climbs.

Comstock’s monthly look at the business news in the Capital Region. Here’s our run-down of news from June.

It’s been 12 years since Estella Sanchez signed rent papers on the first Sol Collective Arts and Cultural Center in Del Paso Heights. More than a decade, hundreds of art exhibitions and thousands of community events later, Sol Collective recently purchased the building on 21st Street in Sacramento. We sat down with Sanchez to talk art, activism, the importance of building ownership and snacks.

Fred Palmer, who handles sponsorships for Sacramento Pride, recalls the festival’s 33-year journey from a gathering in McKinley Park to a larger event in Southside Park in Sacramento, finally making “a big, big leap” in 2010 to Capitol Mall, where about 13,000 people are expected to gather this year.

Sometimes it’s better the second time around. At least, that’s what Sacramento artist and gallery owner Theresa Gutierrez, aka Lady Tee, believes. Recently retired as chief of the Centralized Operations Unit in the Center for Health Care Quality of the California Department of Public Health, Gutierrez has become a fixture in the local arts scene with her mural work and recent opening of the ARTners Collaborative in the heart of downtown.

Founded in 2010, Sofar’s first shows were in London, but now includes gatherings in 333 cities worldwide — including countries like Switzerland, Azerbaijan, India, Serbia, Egypt, Brazil and Russia. It considers music and musicians as an untapped global resource in the same way that people with a spare bedroom are replacing the hotel establishment.

April is National Poetry Month and if you’re looking for poetry in Sacramento, “Mahogany Urban Poetry” at Queen Sheba Ethiopian Cuisine on Broadway is a mandatory first stop. For almost 18 years, Mahogany has provided a weekly stage every Wednesday night for both local and touring poets to express fearlessly.

Walking into the Sacramento warehouse where Kelly and Russell Conroy house their woodworking company, Timber + Main, it’s easy to see the source of their inspiration. Salvaged wood slabs, planks and posts rest against the walls just waiting to be turned into something sustainable, beautiful and functional.

Don’t have Fourth of July plans yet? How about a ski weekend … at Lake Tahoe?

That’s what Andy Wirth, CEO of Squaw Valley, is proposing after an historically snowy winter that surpassed 700 inches of snowfall this week. He’s so sure that this season’s snowfall will stick around, he’s hoping to stay open straight through the summer months and into the 2017-18 winter season.