The face of homelessness in our region is changing. Yes, we still see the typical street people: the disabled man asking for quarters outside our favorite coffee shop, the elderly lady pushing a grocery cart and the sleeping figures huddled under blankets in doorways. These are the chronically homeless — the most vulnerable, change-resistant and expensive in terms of taxpayer dollars spent on shelters, medical care, addiction rehab and law enforcement.

Financial donations to the 83-year-old Stockton Symphony are down sharply, yet shows are selling out.

When a mangy white cat wandered out of the oak woodland and into the lap of Lynne Powlesland, the Folsom resident knew immediately that she had made a new friend.

Amid the country’s worst economy in decades, Michael Genovese was offered more work, and he refused.