The Sacramento Blue Star Moms provide support to mothers with children in the military, ship care packages to deployed service members, support veteran organizations, promote patriotism, and remember our fallen and support their family members.

Catherine and Michael Johnson, co-owners of GoatHouse Brewing offer their insight into the local craft beer scene. For more from the Johnsons, check out “Country Crafted” in our January issue.

The U.S. is the largest wine market in the world, and California produces 65 percent of all the wine consumed domestically. Our industry generates $57.6 billion in annual state level economic activity, which in turn employs 325,000 Californians. It is vital that California wine remain competitive in a global market.

We are Families NOW. That’s Families NOW, not tomorrow, not next week. We remove the systemic barriers that cause our children to languish in foster care. We show up, and we speak up at the tables where child welfare policies and funding decisions are made, and in the halls where legislation is passed.

As the state’s fiscal watchdog, California State Controller Betty Yee has a finger on the pulse of what is now the world’s sixth largest economy. But her influence reaches far beyond just paying the State’s bills. We sat down with her recently to talk about taxes, climate change and why she is compelled to address issues like human trafficking.

When you really think about it, what are the two pieces of finance that can impact someone the hardest? The answer, we think, is budgeting and credit.

So why is it that we don’t learn about these topics in school?  

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. I was on the phone with my dad; we were witnessing history together. Not since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the bill that would eventually become Medicare and Medicaid had we experienced such a monumental healthcare shift.

A new page on a new calendar is always a time of optimism. The pages are blank and I wonder what I will have written on them by the time the year has run its course. But right now, I’d like to slow down and appreciate the year we just enjoyed.

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.

In providing more than shelter, we are cognizant that we are not just helping animals, but also helping people who love animals. That requires us to be as compassionate, caring and patient with people as we are with animals.