More than ever, it seems, we’re looking for stories that invite joy.

Nearly 2,000 miles northwest of Sacramento, Matthew Perkins rode a boat out into the Gulf of Alaska and saw nothing but endless potential for growth. “It’s kind of overwhelming how much opportunity there is,” he says. “You’re on the water, snow-capped mountains in the backdrop, you look down and see this incredible biomass growing. It’s literally the bounty of nature.”

One of the Capital Region’s more forward-looking, fashionable restaurants, Midtown Sacramento’s Beast + Bounty, announced today it will permanently close its doors as of January 1.

If Willy Wonka opened a sandwich shop, his menu might look a lot like the one at Timmy’s Brown Bag in Placerville.

It may seem unlikely that a middle-aged woman would sprout an all-out obsession with a famous dead guitarist, leading to a love affair with a city some 2,000 miles away. But this “Austin thing” has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my six decades on the planet — and it ain’t over yet.

CalMatters: The Newsom administration is refining a contentious set of proposed rules, years in the making, that would reshape how farms and cities draw water from the Central Valley’s Delta and its rivers. Backed by more than $1 billion in state funds, the rules, if adopted, would require water users to help restore rivers and rebuild depleted Chinook salmon runs.  

Crest Theatre (formerly Empress Theatre) and Empress Tavern, which have been open since 1912 and 2015, respectively, is just one theater-restaurant pairing where you can have a full night out in Sacramento. From downtown Sacramento to Oak Park, legacy theaters around the region are serving up both dinner and a show. 

For stay-at-home mothers like Andrea Green, Khairunnisa Ismail and Shani Dharmasena, the Central Valley’s maker network gives them opportunities to make sales and talk with customers in the community.

On Dec. 21, Petty returns to The Sofia for the ninth-annual Hepcat’s Holla’ Daze Swinging Yuletide Revue, with tickets available through B Street Theatre’s website and box office.

In 2022, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the TransMedics Organ Care System, or OCS device. Known as the “heart in a box,” this device uses normothermic perfusion to pump blood through a removed heart and preserve it for longer periods until it can be transplanted into a new person.