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Flipping Gift Cards

Through cloud-based software, GiftCardBin turns consumers’ trash to treasure

When it comes to gift-giving, you can’t go wrong with a gift card, right? Well, not exactly. Research shows that more than $1 billion in gift cards go unredeemed. Based in West Sacramento, GiftCardBin has been banking on that stat since 2008, buying and selling gift cards that might otherwise go to waste. (Like the $25 Starbucks card you probably have in your wallet right now.)

Feb 24, 2016 Russell Nichols
(Design by Sara Bogovich; elements from Shutterstock)

Transplant Your Garden

Why I choose to call the Capital Region home

It’s important for transplants to realize that our greatest strength can also be our greatest liability. What we bring to the table is a disregard for what, allegedly, cannot be done. But it’s important to understand the context in which our ideas are being received. We need to be just as willing to learn as we are to create.

Apr 4, 2016 Allison Joy
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Save the U.S. From the Harvard-Educated Oligarchy

The late Justice Antonin Scalia argued last year that there was something wrong with having a Supreme Court composed entirely of people who had studied at Harvard and Yale law schools.

Feb 23, 2016 Justin Fox
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Opinion: A $15 Wage Works in Parts of California, Not All

California has reached a deal to raise its statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour. This would certainly be a breathtakingly broad political experiment. The question is whether it will turn into a breathtaking disaster.

Apr 1, 2016 Megan McArdle
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A Growing Green Debt?

As PACE takes off, realtors warn that unwary homeowners are complicating their finances

Call it the tale of two turfs. In summer 2014, 27-year-old Benjamin Triffo wanted to do something about his dry, unattractive yard. He owns a four-bedroom, four-bath duplex in Elk Grove that he’d bought in 2011, and his sprinkler lines were broken. But with the state passing rules last July that would allow fines for overwatering, Triffo quickly figured out that replacing his system and re-sodding would be like attaching a drain line to his checkbook.

Feb 23, 2016 Steven Yoder