It took four years to write my thriller, but only three months to see it morph from a 122,000-word computer file to a book available on Amazon and at local bookstores.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has a decidedly unique perspective on the role of government borne of experience few can match: he is a former city councilman, California assemblymember and senate president who has come home to local government. We sat down with him to talk about his vision for the city.

Randy Roberts, deputy director of the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, offers her insight into the essential role of museums as community organizations.

Now in the middle of the summer months, energy usage throughout California inevitably has become a significant issue on the minds of millions of residents. Underscoring this reality will, of course, be the sticker shock that many Californians will experience when they open those summertime utility bills.

On Tuesday, Rubicon Brewing Company announced that after 30 years they are closing their doors at the end of the month. The news hit me much harder than it should have and I have been trying to figure out why. Finally it came to me. Rubicon wasn’t just another brewery. It was Midtown. To me, it was everything good Sacramento had to offer.

Bessie Barth, director of Music to Grown On, offers her insight into the role of music therapy.

Can Sacramento continue to invest in the arts when public budgets remain tight and the economy continues to underperform? Wrong question. Rather, we need to ask ourselves whether we can afford not to invest in the arts. We need to change the debate away from a competition for dollars and toward building an understanding of the many avenues by which a vibrant arts scene complements and promotes robust economic growth in our region.

We have a female employee who reported sexual harassment from a male coworker. The woman didn’t want to come forward, but once the CEO found out, he felt he had an obligation to handle the claim. We currently are without an HR manager. What is the proper way to handle this? Should an investigation be made? 

Making a career as an artist is rarely easy, sometimes impossible and usually totally worth it. Sometimes we catch a break and get to skip ahead more quickly than anticipated. Other times we have to put in (very) long hours. Here are a few pitfalls I’ve learned to avoid:

Paulette Trainor, of Paulette Trainor Design, offers her insight into the nexus of technology and good design.

With Californians paying some of the highest gasoline prices around, it is no surprise that fuel efficiency ranks as one of the top considerations for purchasing a new vehicle. Miles per gallon or “MPG” is the metric buyers use to estimate how much it will cost to fill up their tank for their daily commute. But transportation isn’t the only major purchase with long-term energy costs: homes have them too.

Jason Guardino, a gastroenterologist and an assistant physician in chief at Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center, gives his perspective on how our guts have become front and center in the understanding of our overall health.

In case you haven’t heard, Sacramento cuisine and art have come together under the open sky in Midtown at the new Cantina Alley. Inspired by the art, food and atmosphere of Oaxaca, the Cantina Alley restaurant transports patrons to the streets of Mexico with not only delicious food, but authentic art and moments captured by photographer/visual artist Ruben Reveles. We caught up with the international man behind the lens over some mezcal at Cantina Alley to talk about the climate of the arts in Sacramento.

Mike Testa, CEO of Visit Sacramento, offers his insight into what the city has to offer tourists. For more from Testa, check out “The Little Music Festival That Was” in our August issue. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you when it’s available online.

Darryl Rutherford, executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, says there’s no easy answer to the Capital Region’s housing crisis, but here he offers some possible solutions being explored.

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.

In the 27 years I have lived in Davis, there has only been one sizeable business park with wet lab space for life sciences and ag biotechnology companies, which is University Research Park at the corner of Drew Avenue and Richards Boulevard. Each and every time another proposed development for wet lab space comes up to the Davis City Council or to voters, it fails to get a green light.

Since 2012, there has been a significant spike in the number of food policy legislation and ordinances passed at the state and local levels.

One of the most pressing topics right now in housing is low inventory. Frankly, there just aren’t enough homes for sale in the Sacramento region, and it’s a problem. If you’ve bought or tried to buy recently, you certainly know this.

I recently received a promotion, so two months ago I hired “Jane” to assume the role of my former position. Since she’s been here, Jane has constantly undermined me. She has told lies about my character and my productivity to other employees. It is quite obvious that she intends to do whatever she can to show that I am not fit for my new role. What is the best way for me to document her behavior?