Barely a month into Barack Obamas presidency, his administration announced a major effort to help millions of underwater homeowners refinance into mortgages with lower interest rates. But the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, came with limitations that stifled its effectiveness.

Some said it would never happen. We have bobbed and weaved around building a new sports and entertainment complex for more than a decade.

At Green Acres Nursery & Supply’s new Folsom location, pots of all sizes and hues greet gardeners at every turn. It’s nearly impossible to ignore the rainbow of colors and the assortment of finishes. And that’s precisely the idea.

Jeff Michael, 42, is the director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific. 

When he was winning college golf tournaments as a Fresno State senior, pro golfer Nick Watney was content to come up a few units shy of a history degree. In fact, Nick didn’t want a college degree to fall back on.

On the list of problems everyone should have, deciding how to pay a financial adviser is near the top, just below picking a Porsche mechanic and choosing between Hawaii and Barbados for vacation.

Perry Ghilarducci holds a vivid memory from the day the Internal Revenue Service showed up unannounced at his office. Nobody wants a surprise visit from the IRS, and it’s even more nerve-wracking when the agents are from the criminal investigation division and when, like Ghilarducci, you’re an accountant.

Parts of the Capital Region are experiencing the hopeful signs of recovery, partly due to the re-emerging health of its eastern neighbors.

In the Capital Region, it’s up to each county to reel in recovery by marketing to businesses that stimulate economic growth.

The past few years have seen the biggest social upheaval against the banking industry in this nation’s history, and Capitol Hill lawmakers responded with 848 pages of legislation that liberal critics deride as weak and many conservatives call a job killer.

Brian O’Hearn is an accidental landlord.

Like more and more homeowners caught in the descending mortgage spiral, O’Hearn and his wife, Juliet Williams, faced tough choices. Married in June, they owned his house in Folsom and her Sacramento condo — and both wanted to live in midtown.

Ted White has worked in residential property management in the Sacramento area for more than three decades. He gloried in the boom times and helped homeowners and investors slog through the murky waters of the ongoing real estate meltdown in one of the hardest-hit housing markets in the nation.

Some developers are building again, prodded by increases in buyer traffic at model homes and an uptick in sales over the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first months of 2012.

Stan Atkinson could be described as a homebody these days. It’s not that he doesn’t like to go out occasionally, but Atkinson, like many other aging Americans, would prefer to stay in his home as long as possible.

The Capital Region’s commercial real estate market in the past five years has shifted from a system dominated by a few big brokers to a diverse pool of smaller offices and team players. As post-recession business gains steam, that market is being eyed for its unplowed territory.

The Capital Region’s industrial real estate market is bouncing along the bottom, but local brokers are cautiously optimistic that signs are pointing to a steady, albeit slow, recovery this year.

Tenant: California Independent System Operator
Designer: Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects