Sandy Smoley was once ubiquitous in local and state government, in the arts, in charity, in civic beautification and ultimately, as an in-demand public affairs and health care consultant for The Smoley Group. We check in with the local icon to see what she’s up to now.

The most recent election for West Sacramento City Council has marked a move toward equity — particularly when it comes to female representation. For the first time in history, West Sacramento has an all-female city council and mayor, who are also all women of color. 

Sacramento and Solano counties are in a standoff with the state over mental health coverage for a portion of Medicaid patients in those counties — a dispute that threatens to disrupt care for nearly 50,000 low-income residents receiving treatment for severe mental illness.

Four years after Stockton conducted a nationally watched experiment, giving 125 households $500 a month with no strings attached, dozens of programs throughout California are testing the idea of a guaranteed income. 

First responders and law enforcement in the semi-rural county are working with limited resources to respond to the multi-layered drug problem. 

AmeriCorps, the federal program that recruits Americans ages 18-26 for a 10-month commitment to national service, turns 30 this year. What do members learn about life in America during their tenure, and what is their impact on Sacramento? 

The closure of a 20-year-long homeless services program left a hole in our chain of homeless services, writes Sherman Haggerty in a guest column for Comstock’s. The local shift to housing first and the elimination of transitional housing have contributed to the rapid growth of our homeless population, he argues.