When you’ve landed your dream job, you show up early.

It’s more than 90 minutes before game time on a cool, breezy late May evening and Mike Marando, the Sacramento River Cats’ public address announcer, sits hunched over a table in the press box at Raley Field and begins his fastidious pre-game preparation.

If you’re a basketball player, you’re not one to just sit around and spectate. You want to prove you got skills too. Problem is, finding people to hoop with is no walk in the park.

Comstock’s asked this year’s six Women In Leadership recipients to see how they prepare themselves for the day ahead.

Because the current generation of young adults and professionals prefer urban lifestyles to the spacious lawns and ample suburban backyards of their predecessors, Tuttle says the Sacramento region has an unprecedented opportunity to turn its riverfront into a tie between the two cities.

In 2014, Darling launched Free Form Factory, making after-market decks and hulls out of durable polymer material. Two years later, the company relocated from Rochester, New York to Rancho Cordova. Free Form Factory has unveiled a stand-up watercraft prototype that is 100-percent recyclable and electric-powered.

As safety fears have led today’s parents to keep their kids indoors — with electronics and television — and as school recess has been on a steady decline, children may be having less opportunity to play. 

Both James and McPherson are now full-time mystery writers who have found a support group in Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento affiliate of Sisters in Crime. McPherson is also a past president of the national board of Sisters in Crime, which has supported female mystery writers for 30 years.

Walking into the Sacramento warehouse where Kelly and Russell Conroy house their woodworking company, Timber + Main, it’s easy to see the source of their inspiration. Salvaged wood slabs, planks and posts rest against the walls just waiting to be turned into something sustainable, beautiful and functional.

Don’t have Fourth of July plans yet? How about a ski weekend … at Lake Tahoe?

That’s what Andy Wirth, CEO of Squaw Valley, is proposing after an historically snowy winter that surpassed 700 inches of snowfall this week. He’s so sure that this season’s snowfall will stick around, he’s hoping to stay open straight through the summer months and into the 2017-18 winter season.  

Steven Rapadas has been close before.

With 64 amateur bouts under his belt, Rapadas has faced his share of adversity as he’s battled his way through a sport that has consumed his life since his early teens.

Are you the kind of person who thinks in pictures? If so, then storyboarding is for you. Are you the kind of person who doesn’t think in terms of pictures? If so, then storyboarding is for you, too — you may just not know it yet.

The Sacramento Guitar Society Orchestra is one of several programs run by the Sacramento Guitar Society, a nonprofit that’s been around for more than 50 years. Among these programs, the Society also hosts concerts, offers scholarships for guitar camps and facilitates guitar donations for various music programs

I would encourage all of you to make a concerted effort to have difficult conversations in the weeks, months and years to come. Have unusual conversations. Ask lots of questions. Take stock of where your boundaries are, but pay attention to where there might be room for growth and compromise. What opportunities are currently masquerading at your fingertips as unaddressed problems?

When only 10 Girl Scouts nationwide are chosen for the National Young Women of Distinction award, “it’s a big deal” when two of those recipients come from the same regional council. “I don’t know if it’s ever happened before,” says Dr. Linda Farley, CEO of Girl Scouts Heart of Central California.

But it has happened now.

TrueNorth reflects the growing trend of studios and gyms offering stationary cycling — or spin, as the workout is also called — with dozens of these classes available throughout the Sacramento region.

The start of the year is resolution time, the season when gyms push special deals to lure new customers or pull in old ones. Jeff Rizzo isn’t trying to sell you a gym membership, but if you’re into technology and fitness, he does want to equip you with the latest gear for the lowest price.

Success in business often involves lacing up one’s shoes and hitting the ground running. In his memoir released earlier this year, Nike founder Phil Knight explores how his deep obsession with athletic footwear evolved into arguably the most highly-recognized sports brand in history.

Clearly, Sacramento is home to a lot of artistic talent and our holiday traditions are brighter because of it. And we’ve been fortunate to have venues to host these performances. These aged facilities have served Sacramento well for a long time — perhaps too long.

Open seven days a week, the community center includes multi-functional meeting and educational rooms, a fitness center, a fully-stocked teen center, a trellis café with indoor seating and oversized flat screen, a KidZone and more.

I have never been what I would consider a “thrill seeker.” In fact, I often sign myself up for things in a fit of bravado only to freak out at the last moment about all the ways I could feasibly die. But when I heard about indoor skydiving at iFly in Roseville, I was intrigued.