For 175 years, from California’s admission into the U.S. until now, it sits as the fourth largest economy in the world. More than 220 attempts have been made to divide our state into two, three and even six states. The various reasons have included its sheer size and its presumed ungovernability.

I just spent a week in Washington, D.C., attending a National Press Foundation fellowship on local small business reporting. What I learned is that the Capital Region’s problems are not unique; small and mid-size cities around the U.S. are experiencing much of the same challenges and problems that we have here.

FROM THE PUBLISHER: Both Capital Public Radio an KVIE have demonstrated determined resiliency in the face of funding cuts. This reflects an admirable pliability coupled with toughness on the part of both stations — and says something very positive about the Capital Region, which is stepping up to support them.

FROM THE PUBLISHER: While the actual, astronomical middle of summer is August 7, the days surrounding it may still retain that hazy, lazy and magical quality Shakespeare celebrated in his lighthearted “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” I’ve lately been finding that some of my dreams for this region and state are leaving me, if not literally sleepless, at least mentally and emotionally tossing and turning.

On average, more than 13,000 animals come into Bradshaw Animal Shelter in Sacramento each year. During our Comstock’s photo shoot, we were told 72 animals came in on one day alone!

FROM THE PUBLISHER: In a moment of either exasperation or truth seeking, Dr. Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychiatry, asked, “What does a woman want?” Today, that question needn’t be gender related. It might be more appropriate to ask, “What does the new generation — the youngest segment of the workforce — want?”

FROM THE PUBLISHER: The on-again/off-again saga of relocating the Sacramento Zoo from its longtime William Land Park location to the city of Elk Grove, a little under 13 miles away, had seemed like an idea whose time, available acreage, freeway access and enthusiastic support had come. Then it seemed like it hadn’t, and the project was unceremoniously killed. What happened?

Comstock’s 2024 stories, designs, photographs and illustrations took home two dozen awards in the California News Publishers Associations’ annual California Journalism Awards. Here are all our awards, with links to the winning content.

FROM THE PUBLISHER: As our seasons change to spring and summer, I look forward to shopping in the many farmers markets in our region. I’ve always been a fan and believe that health is even more important than financial wealth. As Dr. Hans Diehl said at a conference I attended: “Health isn’t everything, but without it everything is nothing.” I live by that notion, and thoroughly believe it.   

FROM THE PUBLISHER: The old expression, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” has a quaintness to it but, in fact, if people hadn’t taken a closer look at their not-broke but not-exactly humming-along ways of doing business, they’d have never modernized their work flow, automated some time-swallowing paperwork practices and kept their competitive edge with rival businesses that weren’t afraid to do some regular “spring cleaning.”