Ed Goldman’s thrice-weekly column, The Goldman State, began a year ago and has readers in 10 states. He wrote the Working Lunch column for Comstock’s for 15 years and the Sacramentions column for Sacramento Magazine for 10 years. He also wrote a daily column for eight years for the Sacramento Business Journal, which has published three of his five books, and was a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times for 10 years.
By this person
![Rosario Rodriguez will take office Jan. 6 as a new member of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. (Courtesy photo)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/img_8463.png?1724357866)
Campaigning Through Cancer
Former Folsom mayor and restaurateur Rosario Rodriguez to add Sacramento County Supervisor to her titles in January
As she was simultaneously running Sutter Street Taqueria (which she founded), serving as mayor on the Folsom City Council and running for the 4th district supervisor seat she won outright in the March 2024 primary, Rosario Rodriguez was being treated for Stage 1 breast cancer, which had been diagnosed in November 2023.
![Josh Morgan, the marketing and community relations director for Sierra College who lives in El Dorado Hills, got the idea for "The Folsom Prison Bloody 13: The Big Escape of 1903" after he grew up hearing family stories about the major prison escape. (Photo by Wes Davis)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/ck0a8681.png?1722977130)
The Violent, Bloody Folsom Prison Escape of 1903
New book details a dark time in the prison’s history
The prisoners made makeshift knives, or shivs, and used stolen razors during their siege. One prison guard died, and two were injured.
![(Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0724_dept_icon_mulvaneys.png?1722025745)
At Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney’s Restaurant, Ingredients and Compassion for the Community Are Locally Sourced
An extraordinary night with an extraordinary couple
For Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney, the long-married couple whose restaurant Mulvaney’s B&L is on the top of almost everyone’s fine-dining list in the Capital Region, two words seem to coexist as a single mission statement: nourish and nurture.
![(Photo by Wes Davis)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0524_dept_icon.png?1715295023)
Dennis Mangers Has Had 8 Careers — and Says He May Be Ready for Another Chapter
An audience with Sacramento’s go-to advocate for the arts, government, education and LGBT equality
Dennis Mangers, who says, “I’ve had eight careers in 83 years,” is known for unimpeachable credibility.
![The California State Railroad Museum gave Anna Judah her due in a recent exhibition. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_mg_9775.png?1714068771)
Anna Judah: Far More Than Theodore Judah’s Victorian Housewife
Through her artistry, she brought the transcontinental railroad to life — before it was built
You wouldn’t know that a tragic love story led to the railroad that connected the East and West coasts for the first time.
![(Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0124_dept_icon.png?1705465401)
Gary Gerould Offers Some Play-by-Play About His Life and Career
The sports announcer goes off-mic to do his own color commentary
Gary Gerould, aka The G-Man, has spent more than six decades as a sports journalist and play-by-play announcer. His greatest gift may be that you don’t have to care that much about the sports he’s covered (basketball, auto racing, sumo wrestling and football come immediately to mind) to be familiar with his name, his distinctively even-keeled voice and his remarkable unflappability.
![The proposed but never built Auburn Dam was supposed to be 700 feet high and able to store 2 million acre-feet of water. (Photos by Fred Greaves)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/dji_20231114105527_0013_d_fg.png?1702354172)
Whatever Became of the Auburn Dam?
One of the largest flood control projects in the country was never built
The Auburn Dam could well be the most talked about water storage and flood control facility in the country that simply doesn’t exist — no matter how much it’s been argued about, advocated for and against, legislatively proposed and architecturally rendered.
![Lowrider enthusiasts pose with their cars at a Sacramento intersection. A new exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum showcases the subculture and its long presence in the city. (Photos by Gabriel Teague)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/gtp_8739_f.png?1700066835)
With ‘Boulevard Dreams,’ the Sacramento History Museum Focuses on Lowriders — as Cars and as a Cultural Touchstone
A ‘paradigm shift’ for a treasured local institution
More than two dozen 1950s and ‘60s vintage cars were parked in a semi-circle in front of the Sacramento History Museum’s entrance, heralding attendees to enter a world they had likely encountered over the past several decades but may have feared or simply misunderstood.
![Angelo Tsakopoulos, 87, is the owner and founder of AKT Development. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1023_dept_icon.png?1697679594)
An Audience with Angelo Tsakopoulos
A conversation with the region’s best-known developer, history-loving philanthropist and undeniable influencer
All sagas have to begin somewhere. For Angelo Tsakopoulos, it was nighttime when he heard people crying on the upper deck of the ship that brought him, at 15, and hundreds of other immigrants to the United States in 1951.
![Kitty O’Neal has been anchoring news at KFBK for an astounding 37 years. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_mg_5697.png?1692124130)
Kitty O’Neal: A Rock Star on Radio and in Her Off Hours
Catching up with the broadcast legend and community gem
Learning of this interview with local media legend Kitty O’Neal, who has been anchoring news at KFBK for an astounding 37 years, a fan of hers gushes, “Wow! I watch her on the radio all the time!”
![Legendary comic strip writer Stan Lee, the mastermind behind Marvel comics, visited Al's Comics in Stockton in 1986. He's pictured here on the right with Mike Greco, son of the store's owner, left. (Photos Courtesy of Visit Stockton)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/stan_lee_at_als_comics_lead.png?1689963317)
Is Stockton Poised to Become a Branch Office of the Marvel Universe?
City officials are trying to lure the superheroes
Maybe Stockton should rebrand itself Upper Tinseltown. This port city, less than an hour’s drive from the capital — and the setting for a number of Hollywood films over the years — is on a mission to make itself a presence in the next “Fantastic Four” movie, due to be released in 2025
![Phil Oates is chairman of the board of the Buzz Oates Group. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_mg_9188.png?1687196237)
Phil Oates Is a Strong Believer in God, Philanthropy, the Sacramento Kings and Candor
At 71, the commercial real estate tycoon continues to earn community-wide kudos — and straight A’s in college
Oates rarely does “the least” he can do. He is chairman of the board of the Buzz Oates Group — a $3 billion commercial real estate investment, management and development firm founded by his late father.
![The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento on and off from 1903-1976. They got their name from Solon, an ancient Greek lawmaker, in a tribute to the team's location in the state capital. (Photos courtesy of the City of Sacramento)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_1983-001-06279_1.png?1683566675)
The Back Story: That Other Time We Had a Local Baseball Team
The Sacramento Solons still evoke fond (and funny) memories
As a team, the Solons had more stops and starts in the area than light rail at rush hour. There were iterations of the club in 1903 and 1905, from 1909 to 1914, from 1918 to 1960, and finally, from 1974 to 1976.
![1962 aerial view of Polaris casting construction in Sacramento, California.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1962_aerial_view_of_polaris_casting_construction_in_sacramento_california..jpg?1681748156)
The Back Story: The Rocket Company that Roared
Aerojet was once a major player in the region — until it wasn’t
If you’re ever on Jeopardy and you’re asked to name an American company that not only helped the country and its allies win a war (the Big One) and, a bit more than two decades later, helped send it to the moon — before getting mired in a sludge of litigation — remember one of this region’s more complicated and often controversial sagas: Aerojet.
![Since 2012, Sandy Smoley has become a Midtown Sacramento landmark hosting “porchies”: informal al fresco get-togethers at the rented home she moved into after she was widowed. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_mg_6370.png?1679700089)
A Visit with the Capital’s Real (and More Beloved) Powerhouse
How Sandy Smoley saved the Sacramento Symphony, got those lights installed on the Tower Bridge, chummed around with Ronald Reagan, and thinks we should all sit on our porches
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.
![Michael Hunter Schwartz, dean of University of Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, outside the Oak Park campus.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/backstory1.png?1675924515)
The Back Story: McGeorge School of Law
The truth and folklore behind Sacramento’s biggest law school
Prof. Michael Hunter Schwartz recounts stories about some big names that passed through McGeorge School of Law.
![Marcy Friedman is an artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. (Photo by Terrence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0123_icon.png?1673918177)
The Quality of Marcy
Catching up with the region’s tireless philanthropist, art collector and painter
Marcy Friedman is one of the greater Sacramento region’s
best-known and most personally beloved philanthropists, as well
as a genuine influencer.
![Entrepreneur Gregg Lukenbill poses at The Trap, the legendary bar he is helping to renovate in Sacramento's Pocket area. Many of his projects are sparked by his fascination with history.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_mg_7373.png?1668635485)
The New Adventures of Gregg Lukenbill: Catching Up With the Man of a Thousand Projects
From owning a professional basketball team and starting an airline service to resuscitating a neighborhood bar, this Sacramento native refuses to slow down
Gregg Lukenbill has a lifelong, nearly unconditional love
for the city he helped build. Get to know the former Sacramento
Kings owner and his new project to revive a legendary bar.
![Warren Anapolsky has an instant warmth with people who come into his shop on a battered block of J Street between Ninth and 10th, where the shop has been situated for decades.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/fg_california_loan_2022_08_26-fg1452.png?1666221814)
113 Years Later, They Still Bring the Bling to California Loan & Jewelry
From Louis Vuitton purses to rare books, you can find it all at the pawn shop
Pawn shop owner owner Warren Anapolsky has an extensive
network of authenticators, including experts in art,
first-edition books and bling. He’s also an expert
himself.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0922_dept_icon_terenceduffy.png?1662588909)
Randall Selland’s Regional Fiefdom of Food
With Sacramento’s first Michelin-starred restaurant (The Kitchen), an elegant Capitol hangout (Ella), three Selland’s Market Cafés and Italian eatery OBO’, this Fresno native makes his son’s ‘Farm to Fork’ more than a tagline
Over the past 30 years, Randall Selland has opened multiple
restaurants of different styles, all with an inclusive, folksy
flair.
![Thom Tanner is the CEO of PresenterTek, maker of the TeleStepper, a robotic teleprompter used by President Joe Biden.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/hires.png?1660587198)
The Newest Iteration of the 70-Year-Old Teleprompter Connects Nevada City to the White House
A device designed to make everyone on camera seem spontaneous
The TeleStepper was created in Nevada City just six years ago.
Since then, the innovative teleprompter has been used by
Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Rodham Clinton and more.
![Former Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness is a regional radio personality, national security and crisis management consultant, college lecturer and more. (Photo by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0622_dept_profile_terenceduffy.png?1655158176)
Former Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness: A Throwback and a Futurist
Lunching with the local legend at a Capital landmark
The former sheriff reflects on 31 years in law enforcement
and his current radio talk show.
![The California State Library holds an expansive collection of 4 million books, old newspapers, historic maps and artwork.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_9.png?1649867715)
At the California State Library, the Pleasures and Treasures Are Yours
Six million items are available for viewing
There is much magic to discover at the California State
Library, whether you visit for research or pleasure.
The institution’s keepers take us on a tour of some of
its treasures.
![Bill Sullivan is the associate publisher of Gold Country Media, which publishes six community newspapers and three magazines in the Capital Region. He’s pictured here at the Auburn Journal, which started publishing in 1872. Its oldest newspaper is the Folsom Telegraph which is 165 years old. (Photos by Fred Greaves)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/fg_gold_country_media2021_12_06-_f300380.png?1641938003)
Gold Country Media Defies Newspaper Naysayers
For six Northern California publications, the alleged death of print is a very big typo
Award-winning Gold Country Media keeps pressing on in a
digital-dominated world.
![Christopher Callahan, president of University of the Pacific in Stockton, found long-lost campus archives about the history of Pacific when he discovered a steel vault hidden from view in the basement of Burns Tower. (Photo by Fred Greaves)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/fg_comst_uop_pres_2021_10_07_gr2519.png?1636998068)
The Back Story: Hidden Treasures
University of the Pacific finds a missing link in its rich history: its birth papers
Opening a cherished safe thought to contain untold historic
riches about the origins of University of the Pacific, President
Christopher Callahan wondered what he’d find.
![Kevin Rooney is chief deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County. (Photo by Terence Duffy, mural by Micah Crandall-Bear)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0721_feat_leadership_rooney_terenceduffy.jpg?1626124114)
On the Rise: Kevin Rooney
Meet 12 young professionals who are shaping their industries and the Capital Region
A two-word motto, which is more like a mantra, guides the career and personal code of Kevin Rooney, chief deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County: “Do justice.”
![Sonya Bradley is the chief of diversity, equity & inclusion at Visit Sacramento. (Photo by Beth Baugher, courtesy of Visit Sacramento)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/sonya-bradley-1500x795.jpg?1625851077)
How Visit Sacramento Markets the Capital Region’s Diversity
In April, Sonya Bradley, a veteran of Visit Sacramento’s public relations and marketing communications department for more than two decades, was named the bureau’s first chief of diversity, equity & inclusion.
![Brothers Gary Frasinetti (left) and Howard Frasinetti run Sacramento’s Frasinetti Winery, which was founded by their grandfather 124 years ago. (Photo by Fred Greaves)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0621_dept_backstory_fredgreaves_lead.jpg?1624979218)
The Back Story: The Long Pour
After 124 years in business, Frasinetti Winery continues making and serving its wine
Frasinetti Winery is the oldest family-owned wine producer in the
Sacramento Valley, withstanding the Prohibition and both World
Wars.
![Siri Nelson, CEO of Marshall Medical Center, says her organization added about 40 new hires in January and February, most in the area of respiratory therapy, staff and triage nursing, and screening staff. (Photos by Terence Duffy)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/feat_healthcare_terence-duffy_lead.jpg?1624647068)
Is the Capital Region’s Health Care Industry on the Critical List?
The region’s health care facilities are beginning what may be a lengthy convalescence when it comes to jobs.
![The Tower Bridge cost nearly $1 million to build in the mid-1930s. It was painted gold in 2002. (Shutterstock photo)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0521_dept_backstory_shutterstock_lead.jpg?1622049211)
The Back Story: A Landmark’s Ups and Downs
Sacramento’s iconic Tower Bridge spans a river — and generations
The Sacramento landmark wasn’t always a golden gate to the
city.
![“The Crockers wanted their museum to be a gathering place for California’s many communities,” says Lial Jones, director and CEO of Crocker Art Museum. (Photo by Fred Greaves)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0421_dept_thebackstory_fredgreaves_lead.jpg?1619457549)
The Back Story: A Family’s Legacy
The Crocker Art Museum dates to the purchase of the site by E.B. Crocker more than 150 years ago
From its official opening in 1885, the Crocker Art Museum (then
known as the E.B. Crocker Gallery) has had a split
personality.
![Tatyana Bak became CEO of Elica Health Centers in 2017. The nonprofit has 11 locations in Sacramento and Yolo counties and three mobile health units. (Photo by Fred Greaves)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0321_dept_thebackstory_fredgreaves_lead.jpg?1617039585)
The Back Story: Back to the Beginning
Tatyana Bak is leading Elica Health Centers’ growth as CEO 30 years after helping to launch a clinic
Tatyana Bak was 29 years old, an émigré from the city of Odessa
in what was then the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, when in
1989 she helped open a medical clinic that eventually evolved
into Elica Health Centers.
![Jose Bodipo-Memba oversees SMUD's sustainable communities program that aims to better comprehend and respond to the needs of the communities it has served for decades. (Photo by Fred Greaves)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0221_dept_backstory_fredgreaves_lead.jpg?1614019372)
The Back Story: A True Utility Player
SMUD has become more than just a public utility
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which has served the
community for nearly 75 years, also became a social
services organization in 2018.
![Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, which opened in 1927, is the crown jewel of the
California capital’s SAFE Credit Union Convention and Performing Arts District. (Shutterstock photo)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0121_dept_backstory_shutterstock_lead.jpg?1611605447)
The Back Story: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
Ninety-three years after opening, it’s ready for the future
While chronologically a relic, the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
is anything but a fossil.
![Michael Ziegler appeared on the cover of Comstock’s in 2001, when it was known as Comstock’s Business magazine.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/header_1.jpg?1590701700)
An Appreciation
Memories of former Pride Industries CEO Michael Ziegler
Whether we knew him as Michael, Mike or Ziggy, hundreds of us had a tendency to preface a reference to Michael Ziegler with two words: “my friend.”