There are many enviable things about living in our region: gorgeous seasons, beautiful natural resources, wine tasting, down-to-earth people and plenty in the way of entertainment. There are also many problems. Persistent drought has devastated area farms. Many communities have flailed during multiple pandemic shutdowns, growing more isolated. Greenhouse gas emissions from California’s dairy industry are affecting the state’s methane levels and contributing to climate change. Whew!

But despair not! (Or despair less, at least, if that’s more your speed.) Many industrious folks are addressing these maladies through science, improvisation and heaps of chutzpah. For our December Innovation issue, we’re highlighting all kinds of new solutions and processes improving our region’s social landscape and environmental footprint. Some of these trends you may have noticed, like the resurgence of co-working spaces. Others might blow your mind with their outside-the-boxness, like the products being formulated by researchers and businesses to mitigate the methane emitted from cow burps. 

Here’s what else you can expect in the pixels and pages of our digital issue:

Contributor Graham Womack ventures east to the Sierra Foothills, not for a hike, but to explore how rural towns are embracing a growing tech sector. Does this new guard of technology and startup culture have staying power, or is it a temporary trend for the mountain towns?

Learn just what those goats are up to when you see them munching on grass near solar panels, and who they’re benefiting. Writer Steven Yoder speaks to a third-generation farmer and horticulturists to determine how crops and solar farms are creating a whole new science. 

We also look into the rise of ghost kitchens, the rentable kitchen spaces that offer a flexible business model for food entrepreneurs and landlords; go off the beaten track to discover a Grass Valley gift shop with over 23,000 toys; learn about a tech company making real chocolate from plant cells, and much more.

In the December issue, Comstock’s features a special section in partnership with the Greater Sacramento Economic Council focused on GSEC’s efforts to make the Capital Region a hub for innovation in semiconductor research and development, biotech, future mobility and more. Also this month, we present our 25th annual Capital Region Cares section, which features profiles of our region’s nonprofits and explores how these organizations have evolved post-pandemic and how they’re planning for the future.

We hope you enjoy digitally flipping through these stories between the holiday hubbub.