
Status Check: Bonney Plumbing
New CEO Laurie Johnson picks up where Jimmy Crabbé left off
Where Crabbé left off in the development of departmental training and service protocols, Johnson will be connecting the dots in the larger picture for the company.

Something Fishy in Sacramento
Community-supported fishery opens pick-up site in Oak Park
The next big splash in local food is coming from the ocean. Anna Larsen’s subscription fish box company, Siren Fish Co. keeps an eye on sustainability.

Burn Notice
Biomass is coming under fire for polluting the air and threatening wild forests. But is the controversy warranted?
Much of the 8 million tons of woody debris that facilities burn each year is material that would probably burn in open fields if there wasn’t an energy-producing alternative. Since the smokestacks on a biomass plant include filtering apparatuses that can remove some pollutants from the emissions, the industry — which has helped to phase out open burning of agricultural waste — has been credited as an overall boon to California’s air quality.

Will Increasing Minimum Wage Thwart Farm to Fork?
Sacramento’s success depends on opportunity
Sacramento is driving the farm-to-fork movement nationwide. These efforts are led by small, local owners with community-minded restaurants. Our ability to grow this movement could be put at risk if the minimum wage is not approached in a thoughtful way.

Big Bad Biomass
Just because it’s renewable doesn’t make it clean
As California looks for ways to reduce its carbon footprint and help curb climate change, environmental activists are questioning the integrity of the biomass industry, which burns millions of tons of woody plant matter each year to help power the state’s electric grid.

Will Hack for Food
Local technologists use open data to feed Californians
State and local governments aren’t known for being cutting edge or tech savvy. But as the open data movement gains momentum, the private sector is becoming more empowered to usher valuable, though often archaic, institutions into the 21st century.

Status Check: AgTech in the Central Valley
SARTA AgStart kicks off new Field Day program
Last February we reported on advancements in agricultural technology in the Capital Region and the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance’s effort to better connect growers and investors to agtech in the Central Valley (“The New World of Ag,” by Allison Joy). On May 21, SARTA showcased four entrepreneurs at its first AgStart Field Day.

Powering Forward
Clean energy empowers Native American tribes seeking self-sustainability
Tribal sovereignty is an age-old Native American value that today is becoming synonymous with energy independence. With help from JLM Energy in Rocklin, the Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria tribe is on the leading edge of the movement in California.

Are Cricket-Hungry Chicks a Food-System Fix?
Bitwater Farms empowers farmers with a new solution for livestock feed
For Sean McDonald, improving the food production system is the future of his business — and the entire agriculture industry. His work toward those improvements starts with … (drumroll please) … crickets.

Photos: Cullinan Ranch Restoration
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the land in 1991 and incorporated it into the San Pablo Bay Wildlife Refuge. The levy was breached in January of this year.