Last summer, Magpie Café in midtown Sacramento added a line on their customers’ checks. It gave them the option to tip the cooks separately from the servers. It gave diners what they universally say they want: more control.

If there is any advice businesses can glean from the often surprising research and real life stories about our oddly emotional connection to tipping, it’s this: Don’t mess if you don’t have to.

In 2014-15, hotel occupancy, tourism spending and travel-generated jobs all reached five-year highs. But in such a mercurial industry — underscored in recent years by drought and wildfires — regional leaders and business owners have had to get creative to keep dollars coming in.

Airbnb fought off a San Francisco ballot measure that sought to limit the short-stay rental service in its hometown, an effort to contain housing costs that some say has made the city a playground for well-heeled techies.

Yesterday I had the joy of tasting a preview of the coveted menu, unveiled yesterday, for the Farm-to-Fork Gala Dinner on Tower Bridge. If you were able to snag a ticket to the event, there’s a lot to look forward to.

Here’s the beat on six unique events that will get you out of traditional city spaces for a combination of farm and urban culinary experiences, beginning in Farm-to-Fork Month and extending into the fall harvest season.

I think Mayor Johnson is ready to move on. He has been a big fish in our small pond long enough. The grand opening of the arena in October 2016 will likely be his public farewell, a metaphorical victory lap. Cuts ribbon. Drops mic.Take my prediction with a grain of salt. But if 2016 is his last year in office, how will he be remembered as mayor?

The historic Del Paso Country Club will host the 2015 United States Senior Open Championship during the week of June 22. This prestigious United States Golf Association event will be one of the largest and most significant sporting events to ever take place in Sacramento. Without a doubt, it will be Sacramento’s greatest golfing event.  

Attendance is up, and that’s translating to big bucks for the Capital Region and beyond. 

Comic-themed conventions, or cons, have been around since the 1970s. Even the Capital Region has had its own Sac-Con since 1989. In those days, the events were small affairs attended by a hard-core smattering of lonely youth and middle-aged men speaking their own jargon-filled language. But in the past five years, something changed. Cons became cool.