When only 10 Girl Scouts nationwide are chosen for the National Young Women of Distinction award, “it’s a big deal” when two of those recipients come from the same regional council. “I don’t know if it’s ever happened before,” says Dr. Linda Farley, CEO of Girl Scouts Heart of Central California.

But it has happened now.

The edge of a Placer County landfill is the unlikely home for an energy partnership that powers homes and fuels jobs for Sierra College students. But that’s exactly what happens at the Western Regional Sanitary Landfill in Lincoln.

Venture Catalyst is one part of a multipronged effort at the school that its leaders say is helping turn university research into companies that produce world-changing technologies. The school has facilitated a total of 49 startups in the last four fiscal years, up from 18 in the four years prior.

Oak Park neighbors Aimee Phelps and Kevin Greenberg delivered their first Art-Through-Pod in September and by year-end will exceed their initial goal of 10 mobile housing units for the homeless.

But they don’t plan to stop there.

Logan Leonhardt walked up to the check-in table at Poll A in Sierra 2 Center and the 4-year-old turned in his purple “ballot” to neighbor and poll worker Eric Johnson. His mother, Krystin, quickly snapped a photo of Logan’s first unofficial vote, which remained on display for the rest of the day.

Kurt Spataro has shopped at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op in three different locations since the 1980s, but he sees “a lot of new things to discover” at the co-op’s bigger and brighter new home at 2820 R St.

Historic business names will go up in lights at the Golden 1 Center food court with the installation of six original neon signs for Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Tower Records, Coronet Portraits, Franke’s Drugs, Newbert Hardware and Sleeper Stamps & Stationery.

The 12 artists selected to paint murals throughout downtown and Midtown Sacramento are putting on their finishing touches and cleaning off their brushes, as the Sacramento Mural Festival draws to a close on Saturday.

When the Sacramento Mural Festival kicks off its weeklong run tomorrow, 12 artists will begin to transform blank walls into works of art. But is this public art or a private venture?

Maybe it’s both.

PG&E piloted the Summer Jobs Program in Fresno in 2012, then expanded it to Sacramento and Bakersfield in 2013. Since the program’s inception, PG&E has invested nearly $4 million to help 900 high school students find summer jobs.

Many wish their favorite places in California were deeply-held secrets. But there’s the hope that, given a little perspective, our current secrets can develop in a way that maintains the original character we fell in love with, without succumbing to the broad appeal forced by faceless investment. Right now, in Amador County, the Shenandoah Valley is at that postcard moment.

More than four decades after his father began selling antique plumbing fixtures out of a garage in Sacramento, Bryan “Mac” McIntire plans to close the Mac the Antique Plumber retail store to focus on an internet-based business model.

Oak Park Farmers Market — held at McClatchy Park — is one of 24 certified farmers markets in Sacramento County, about half operating seasonally from May through November. Joany Titherington manages this market, sponsored by NeighborWorks Sacramento, and she strives for a diverse mix of goodies including organic fruits and vegetables, baked goods and specialty items.

Russ Lester’s property looks, at first glance, like that of many of his neighbors. He grows about 900 acres of walnut trees a few miles east of Winters. But at Dixon Ridge Farms, Lester never tills his land, and he keeps cover crops growing most of the time. He also laces the earth around his trees with biochar, charcoal-like leftovers from biomass energy production.

For more and more investors and would-be funders, nonprofits need to have more than a worthy cause and a compelling mission: They need a plan. Specifically, they’re now being asked to showcase the same mindset that’s required of for-profit organizations, meaning that spreadsheets, metrics and core competencies can matter just as much as pulling the heartstrings.   

With more than 200 spices, salts and seasonings in stock at downtown’s new Allspicery, variety isn’t just the spice of life. It’s a life of spice for owner Heather Wong.

Selling Girl Scout cookies on a rainy Saturday in Sacramento is a far cry from the Oscars, where A-list celebrities chipped in $65,243 after a Feb. 28 plug. Local Girl Scout Troop 1114 has to work a little harder for its money.

Saint John’s Program for Real Change is part of a growing national movement of nonprofits designing programs that include new ways to monitor outcomes and quantify success for those they serve.

In a part of the state with seemingly boundless natural assets, tourism is the number one industry for counties beyond Sacramento’s city limits. Aided by the rise of culinary travel, the farm-to-fork movement, and the craft beer and wine industries, this decade finds rural counties a bigger economic driver for the state than ever.

The Jade apartments are empty. The demolition crews are ready. But before the low-rent apartment building is razed to make way for a downtown Hyatt Place hotel, this 95-year-old will have one last chance to shake off a little rust. The Art Hotel is coming. 

Creating a winning game plan – whether in business or in sports – requires the right mix of identity, focus, incentives and passion. Just ask Bunky Harkleroad, coach of the fast-paced women’s basketball team at Sacramento State.

Douglas Stricker of Folsom, 58, knows all about the need for skilled laborers. In 1992, he launched Golden Development, a company that built storage tanks and other structures for refineries and chemical companies. He had a crew of between 20 and 40 workers but never could find enough reliable welders — even in jobs that paid up to $30 an hour.

One year ago, the husband-and-wife team of Roshaun and Maritza Davis opened their Display: California pop-up retail store, selling holiday gifts from about 30 artists in the Sacramento area. They called it, “The HollaDays.” The “HollaDays” are back at the shop’s location on 34th Street and Broadway in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood. But Display isn’t simply a seasonal gift shop. 

Mention “office party,” and someone is going to have a juicy story, usually involving alcohol-impaired behavior. But according to local experts, your company’s holiday party doesn’t have to be a date that lives in infamy.

Traditionally, the path from law student to full-fledged lawyer has been fairly straight-forward: A student starts out with a summer internship at a law firm, graduates and passes the bar exam, then gets hired at a law firm. In a secure and supportive work environment, law graduates can make good money, meet professional mentors and learn the skills required to be a real lawyer. This is the standard route, the one most students embark on every year. But more graduates like Alexandria Goff are choosing to buck tradition in the name of independence.

When Zinola Manufacturing owner Kevin Zinola took a chance and offered convicted felon Titan Gilroy an entry-level job in his small Sunnyvale machine shop, he had no idea where the relationship would go. In the years to follow, Gilroy reformed his life, worked his way up through several companies and finally, established Titan America Manufacturing.

Nearly 150 volunteers spent Saturday, September 19, sprucing up 10 homes in South Oak Park during the 26th annual Paint the Town event, sponsored by NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center Sacramento Region. 

Artists in hard hats toured the Golden 1 Center construction site during the first week of September to get a first-hand look at the locations selected for four public art projects. Shelly Willis, executive director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, led four orientation sessions for the 17 artists who have been selected to submit proposals in late October.

 On Saturday, Aug. 8, Sutter Memorial — birthplace of 348,089 babies since 1937 — officially closed. At the same time, labor and delivery opened at Sutter’s new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center. Here’s what it all looked like.

It’s early Saturday morning in the neonatal intensive care unit, normally a busy time in the round-the-clock care of premature babies. But the lights are off and the staff is gone, leaving medical director Dr. Stephen Butler as the last man standing at the Sutter Memorial Hospital NICU.

Harvest Bar will offer healthy grab-and-go breakfast and lunch items as well as a juice bar. About a Bite will serve bite-sized cooks, artisan chocolates and other sweets. 

“The beauty of this partnership is our customers get to have it all, and I don’t have to do the things I don’t want to do,” says Jennifer Kaye. “Somebody can come in, grab a fresh sandwich or a salad and then pick up a little something for dessert.”

On a rainy September morning, a long-time 16th Street resident was pulled away from home, dirty, faded and in disrepair. Nine months later, its homecoming was cause for celebration. And in between, the Mercury Cleaners sign was restored, re-engineered, re-wired, repainted and returned to its 1947 glory.

When Leah Yadon saw a flier for the Sacramento Natural Food Co-Op Community Kitchen sessions at Wellspring Women’s Center in Sacramento, she signed up immediately. Food has always played a big part in her life, Yadon says, but no one ever taught her the basic building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. 

The Entertainment & Sports Center art panel of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission met on Monday, March 30, at City Hall, which was officially closed for Cesar Chavez Day. Last fall, the panel recommended the $8-million purchase of a Jeff Koons sculpture to anchor the new downtown arena. 

Get up close and personal with the artists who are set on making the Warehouse Artist Lofts the most creatively inspirational place to call home.