The billable hour is under attack. After a scandal involving allegations of overcharging at global law firm DLA Piper last spring, Northwestern University law professor Steven Harper wrote a New York Times op-ed in which he asserted that the billable-hour system serves no one.

Hoping to capitalize on the revitalization of Sacramento’s downtown core, Nar Bustamante is moving his offices to the burgeoning design scene in East Sacramento off Elvas Avenue. Along with local talent already in place, these designers hope to help solidify Sacramento’s place as a new urban hotspot.

Last May we reported on the Los Rios Community College District’s ahead-of-the-game implementation of state-mandated student supportive services (“Renewable Resources,” May 2014). Those improved services were required by colleges statewide for the fall 2014 term as part of the 2012 Student Success Act. Now, the rest of the state is about to catch up.

Raised in Oak Park and a Sacramento State graduate, Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn brings a lifetime of local experience to the job. Rich Ehisen sat down with Hahn last January — exactly two months prior to the officer shooting of Stephon Clark — to discuss Hahn’s priorities for our April issue, which went to press just days after details of the shooting began to surface. We have updated the Q&A with a follow-up interview that took place in early April.

Code for America works with cities around the country, using open-source software to improve the scalability and reach of government services. Starting next year, Code for America fellows will work with the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and the city of West Sacramento using technology to tackle issues related to health care and food access in the city.

Bryan Barrett knows this land well.

Before much of the land was slated for development in recent years, Barrett’s grandparents David and Dolly Fiddyment owned a ranch near what is now Blue Oaks Boulevard and Orchard View Road in West Roseville. Barrett learned how to drive a tractor on this land, how to swim in a nearby creek.

Whether you’re looking for tenants or shopping for space: Here are some tips that might sweeten the deal or — if overlooked — can make one go sour.

Most of us can’t seem to put down our phones, checking them anywhere from 80 to 150 times per day, and some experts say this addiction is taking a toll on soft skills. 

Seventy percent of colleges now say online education drives their long-term growth strategies. And, where for-profit universities once dominated online MBA programs, now highly rated business schools like Kelley and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School offer them.

Dr. Hakan Ozcelik Professor, a professor of management in the College of Business Administration at Sacramento State, offers his insight into management theory.