
The Herb Column: Is Onsite Smoking on Its Way?
Sacramento City Council could soon decide whether to permit people to light up in smoking lounges and cafes
For proponents of legal cannabis, Prop. 64 will forever be a landmark. But another ballot measure — Prop. 65, passed 30 years earlier in 1986 — gets almost no attention, although it also affects state government’s approach to cannabis.

An Alternative to ‘Deny and Defend’?
One area health system is among a small group of providers nationwide trying something different. In September 2014, Dignity Health implemented a system in four Sacramento-area hospitals designed to bring more satisfaction to patients and families after adverse medical events while boosting patient safety.

Settling For Less
The rising cost of medical malpractice suits has made attorneys who take those cases an endangered species
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be medical malpractice lawyers. That may lack the ring of Waylon Jennings’ original, but area attorneys say it’s a reality given the money-losing proposition of bringing malpractice cases in California.

Stockton, Lagging in Literacy, Focuses on Neglected Library System
City of Stockton plans to build $15 million Northeast Stockton Library and Recreation Center
A 2010 report of the most literate cities in the U.S. placed Stockton at the absolute bottom. The city had climbed three spots on the list by 2016. That was the same year voters passed Measure M, the Library and Recreation Special Tax, approving $200 million for these services.

The Herb Column: Competing With the Underground Market
Licensed operators say they’re barely holding on as their market share gets eaten up by illegal sellers
The underground market is flourishing in Sacramento and across the state. The BCC and city have promised a crackdown. But there’s disagreement in the industry about whether that’s the right move.

How Should You Structure Your Business?
There are four common types of structures to choose from and selecting the right form of entity early is important. Here are some questions to keep in mind when evaluating your options:

Booms and Busts
A brief overview of housing in the Sacramento region
From the squatters who went up against John Sutter to the 2008 Great Recession, we take a long view of the history of housing cycles in the Sacramento region.

Newsom’s Housing Budget, Explained
No wonder Gov. Gavin Newsom dropped those hints earlier this week about an upcoming “Marshall Plan” for affordable housing.

The Herb Column: Still Unbanked, Cannabis Enterprises Struggle
Federal law deters banks from serving legal cannabis businesses
Eleven months after recreational marijuana use became legal in California and six years on from legalization in Colorado and Washington state, legal pot growers and dealers still can’t use banks the same way other businesses can.

The Long Pint of the Law
McGeorge professor develops unique course on the legalities around craft beer
In 1971, UC Davis became the first university in the country to add a fermentation science major to its undergraduate course catalog. However, even though — nearly five decades later — California is nearing 1,000 craft breweries, and despite the legal and regulatory morass that awaits every new brewery owner, Dan Croxall believes that earlier this year, he conducted the first-ever craft beer law class at an American law school.