Statewide, students lost four months of math progress and a month in reading progress between the start of the pandemic and the end of 2022. Has that picture improved? 

“When you talk about business, ours has allowed us to bring our culture back,” Tayaba notes. “Building our dance arbor, having our ceremonies — obtaining eagle feathers, abalone, clam shells, pine nuts, items that aren’t easily foraged today — it all costs money. Now we hold workshops, classes, dance practices. We’re trying to rebirth weavers, because our grandmothers were weavers.”

Some moments in pop culture deserve a toast, such as when Season 3 of “Star Trek: Picard” sent critics and “Trekkies” on a warp-speed ride of jubilation, most hailing it the franchise’s best story in decades. Thanks to a small winery in Lodi, enthusiasts who were on that galactic high could pour their pleasure right into a glass. 

Clad in a faded Star Wars T-shirt, Kevin Hernandez begins introducing elated kids to Darth Vader and Rey Skywalker in the flesh. The children start getting light saber training from these live-action characters, slashing and twirling their replica space swords around the heart of Denio’s Farmers Market & Swap Meet.

The viticulture program at UC Davis, as well as its sister programs at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Fresno State University, are quickly growing a new crop of women winemakers who could steer the industry in new directions. 

The two entrepreneurs have tapped an experienced mixologist to work with them on developing their cocktail menu, and have relied on some of the most experienced non-alcoholic distilleries in the nation to help create an experience.

Though quality breweries are cropping up between Donner’s Pass and South Lake Tahoe, the first to drive its stakes in the snow — and the one that’s now shipping beer across the world — is FiftyFifty.

These days, Lake Tahoe’s south shore has enough breweries for a full tasting tour, giving explorers more reason to drive into the mountains.

Carlos Rodriguez found a piece of the California dream by taking inspiration from his childhood in Mexico. He recently planted 2,000 agave crops on his land in Vacaville, which he’ll eventually use to propel the state’s newest movement in craft spirits. 

Northern California’s agave pioneers are helping to evolve the crop from a novelty to a force of stability within California’s changing bread basket.  

In 2007, genetic researchers in Madrid used new DNA techniques to identify the origin-point of mission vines. What they found was that the mission grape’s backstory involved more travel, travail and endurance than anyone guessed.  

In 1968, a lone vintner set out to prove the region’s surviving mission grapes were still marketable. He was in a race against time: Most of the landmark roots were being torn out during that epoch, their soil swapped for better commercial farming options. The late Charles Myers set off a chain of events that would ultimately launch Amador County onto the global wine market. 

The competition’s American debut is taking place in Sacramento partly because two of the captains for the U.S. team hail from the city.

These Capital Region butcher shops are family-owned businesses that offer meat from high-caliber livestock and the magic of housemade marinades.

Winemakers are challenged with the consistent threat of wildfires and their aftermath, plus drought conditions and complex water realities.

As national and international tourism decreased during the pandemic, regional visitation saw a boost. We profile three small picturesque towns that got a big increase in visitors.

Local food may be the future, but many Northern California farmers are struggling or retiring. To brighten the future of farming, nonprofits are cultivating a new crop of agrarian dreamers with comprehensive farming programs. 

Lately, Nevada County eateries aren’t just embracing a farm-to-table trajectory; they’re finding small but meaningful ways to send their experiences home with their customers.