Keeping the Lights On
Behind the scenes with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District
A backstage look at how the crew at SMUD keeps Sacramento lit up.
Sweet Sorrow
California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg prepares for departure
Darrell Steinberg has been front and center on some of the biggest issues facing the state and our region, from historic land-use reform to mental health care funding.We sat down with him to discuss his current legislative priorities and possible future plans as he enters his final year in the Senate.
The Robots are Coming
Technologies of tomorrow are making their way onto the crop fields of today
Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are racing to give farmers tools to boost agricultural productivity. These five technologies — some big, some small — could change the face of farming.
Sugar & Splice
The Capital Region offers everything nice for ag-bio companies like Stevia First
A Capital Region startup is striving to be among the first in the nation to produce the zero-calorie, natural sweetener stevia on an industrial scale. An agricultural biotech company, Yuba City-based Stevia First is bolstering its chances of success by actively collaborating with experts in the field, drawing on the area’s robust talent pool of farmers, agronomists, agricultural innovators and biotech experts to develop a product that’s superior in both taste and cost compared to its foreign competitors.
Safety Nest
Animal Place provides sanctuary for unwanted animals
Kim Sturla’s biggest challenge isn’t caring for thousands of animals at a time. It’s trying to get people to think about a pig’s life in the same way they would think about a dog’s.
Don’t Count Me Out
Though some say it's a ghost town, citizens refuse to let Rio Vista die
The town of Rio Vista has lost gas production, lost weekend crowds of boaters and windsurfers and lost flagship hotels and Delta shoreline restaurants. But more importantly, its people have lost the notion that prosperity returns to those who stick to the status quo and wait it out.
Land of the Fee
Can micro loans dig farmers out of their financial holes?
Today’s small farmer climbs an uphill battle to find land, secure capital and overcome the hefty start-up costs. Today, farmers make up less than 1 percent of the population (compared to 15 percent in 1950), they tend to be older (the average age is 57) and about 25 percent are expected to retire in the next 20 years. “This is a new problem for human society,” writes Sharon Astyk, author of “A Nation of Farmers.”
Waterborne Disorder
In the event of flood, area hospitals are at risk
In the hours before Hurricane Sandy hit New York last year, the country’s oldest public hospital thought it was ready.