![D'Marcus Frost applies for jobs at the Greater Sacramento Urban League. Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed online community college targets people like the League's clients—working adults with high school diplomas but not college degrees. Photo by Max Whittaker](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/onlinecc_007.jpg?1577874531)
A Community College Online?
Gov. Brown’s plan re-imagines cyber learning, but faces skeptics
Laticia Middleton perches in front of a computer at the Greater Sacramento Urban League’s job center, scanning employment ads. At 30, with two children, a high school diploma and a job at a call center, Middleton is the kind of student Gov. Jerry Brown has in mind as he pushes for a new online community college.
![photo : Terence Duffy](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0218_dept_fotm_lead_terenceduffy_1.jpg?1577874530)
Startup of the Month: Tenkiv
With the power of the sun, Sacramento startup aims to make waves by purifying water
Around the world, 2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water at home. This Sacramento startup aims to make a difference.
![Sacramento Food Policy Council members link arms at the site of their future artistic sign to promote the use of CalFresh benefits at local farmers markets. Left to right:Brenda Ruiz, Slow Food Sacramento Board of Directors; Lorena Carranza, Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services; Davida Douglas, Alchemist CDC; Randy Stannard, Oak Park Sol; Adrien Rehn, Valley Vision](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0118_blog_food_creativeeconomy1.jpg?1577874530)
Oak Park Wins the Bulk of the 2017 Creative Economy Grant for Food-related Projects
Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood brought in the bulk of the winning food-related projects, including a mural that will direct CalFresh (food stamp) beneficiaries to shop at their local farmers market, a high school sidewalk beautification project, and an urban farming training and demo garden. Here’s the projects getting a boost:
![Inmates serving as California firefighters. Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/cdcr_firefighters.png?1577874530)
California May Up its Rehab Efforts to Keep Ex-Inmates from Returning to Prison
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to add millions in new spending on programs to help former inmates stay out of jail—a proposal generating bipartisan praise because of concern they are returning to prison in large numbers. But some say it still isn’t enough.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0118_blog_econ_stockton_ss_1.jpg?1577874530)
Stockton Plants Seeds for Job Growth
Nationally recognized program aims to bolster businesses and revenue
If you have any stake in Stockton’s economy, you know the pain of watching residents (a.k.a. super commuters) leave the city to work in the Bay Area every day of the week.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0118_bb_cannabis_ss.jpg?1577874530)
California Pot Users Turn Out in Droves to Ring in Legal Sales
California rang in the new year with a newly legal product: cannabis.
![Dave Pierini (left) and Jerry Montoya talk about the past and future of B Street Theatre](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0118_blog_culture_bstqa1.jpg?1577874530)
Let’s Talk About the B Street Theatre
Artistic producer Dave Pierini and executive producer Jerry Montoya talk about the company’s history and future as it prepares to move to The Sofia
In mid-December, actor and artistic producer Dave Pierini and executive producer Jerry Montoya sat on an empty stage at the original B Street location to talk about their long history with the professional theater company and their vision for the future. Here is an excerpt from their conversation.
![(elements from Shutterstock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0118_blog_sotm_lead_elements-ss.jpg?1577874530)
Startup of the Month: Athena Intelligence
Ag-tech startup plots to make data efficient at the ground level.
For almost a decade, David Sypnieski has been working in the ag-tech space, focusing on the production and processing levels of California’s food system. Six years ago, he noticed a major hole in the supply chain: Food companies and growers didn’t have solid, easy-to-access data to help them evolve with the times.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1217_blog_bookreview_innovation_ss.jpg?1577874530)
Reshaping The Innovation Narrative
Book Review: ‘Blind Spots’ and the Future of Business
Today’s world of free enterprise has never been more robust. Yet startup activity in the U.S. is at a 40-year low, according to statistics derived from U.S. Census Bureau data. More businesses are dying off than being launched daily, indicative of a broken innovative economy.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1217_bloomberg_verizon_ss.jpg?1577874530)
Upgrade to 5G Costs $200 Billion a Year and May Not Be Worth It
In the wildest dreams of wireless engineers, the mobile network of the future controls our cars, lets our refrigerators talk to the grocery store to order more milk, and provides fast, reliable broadband connections to our homes so we can sever ties with cable companies.