Before delving into our most popular stories for this year, I’d like to indulge in a little first-person reflection. This is the fifth annual top stories roundup I’ve compiled for Comstock’s, which means I’m coming up on half a decade with the Capital Region’s best magazine. I joined Comstock’s as assistant editor in 2020, a few months after I finished my creative writing degree — and a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down our office and so much of the rest of the world.
I grew into a writer and editor with Comstock’s, and the Comstock’s I grew with reported primarily on the economic effects of the pandemic, most negative. But as I built this list, I realized that our interests and those of our readers are evolving. More than ever, it seems, we’re looking for stories that invite joy.
It’s the right time for it. Though many feel uncertain about their financial future, indicators such as employment rates, moderate inflation and consumer spending demonstrate that 2024 was the country’s economic best since 2019. And though downtowns have not fully rebounded and crime rates are still relatively high, the Capital Region is investing in the nighttime economy, with new music venues, late-night restaurants and outdoor concerts bringing needed light to the darkness.
This year, you read and shared stories about that burgeoning nightlife, as well as opportunities to explore our region beyond its cities. You also enjoyed profiles on rising stars and established leaders, from local celebrity chefs to star surgeons and education innovators. Above all, it seems, you were looking for positive stories that allowed you to look forward to the future. At Comstock’s, we’re proud to be able to tell these stories — truthfully, thoroughly and well. Here’s to more hope in 2025.
January
Top print story:
Mokelumne Hill Is Authentic California Gold Country by Steve Martarano
The former courthouse building was converted into the Hotel Léger
in 1875 and has remained the center of Mokelumne Hill’s social
scene since then. (Photo by Steve Martarano)
This spotlight on “Moke Hill,” as locals know it, was one of our most-read stories of the entire year. The foothills town is a designated California Historic Landmark, with architecture and gardens preserved from the Gold Rush era.
Top web story:
The Delta in Decline by Brad Branan
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is made up of rivers and sloughs
that crisscross the land like veins in the human body. The
Delta’s environment and economy rely on the health of these
waterways. (Photo by Brad Branan)
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one of the most biodiverse and ecologically important ecosystems in our region. But our January cover story revealed that a lack of clean water is putting both wildlife and businesses in the Delta in peril.
February
Top print story:
Photo Essay: Afghans Resettling in Sacramento by Sasha Abramsky, photos by Fred Greaves
Farzana Karimi, a teacher who had high-profile jobs in
Afghanistan, now helps Afghan students adapt to Capital Region
classrooms. (Photo by Fred Greaves)
The Capital Region has long been home to a large Afghan community, with many immigrants first coming to the region as refugees. This population, now more than 10,000 strong, got another increase after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. We met four community members who are helping newcomers adjust to their new lives in Sacramento.
Top web story:
Once a Burn Patient, Now a Burn Surgeon by Marybeth Bizjak
Dr. Jason Heard treats a young patient at Shriners Children’s
Northern California in Sacramento. (Photo courtesy of Shriners
Children’s)
This web profile of Shriners Children’s Dr. Jason Heard received such a positive response that we ended up running it in print the following month. Heard, originally from Iowa and a child burn victim himself, came to Sacramento for a residency at UC Davis Medical Center’s nationally known burn unit and now treats young burn survivors from as far afield as Mexico.
March
Top print story:
From Steno Pads to C-Suites: We’ve Come a Long Way by Winnie Comstock-Carlson
Women in Leadership honorees Maggie Bender-Johnson and Marcie
Kahbody pose at the Jacqueline in Sacramento. (Photo by Glynns
Thomas)
Our president and publisher’s opening letter to the 2024 Women in Leadership issue was inspired by her years as a secretary, a job which took her all the way to the office of the Speaker of the California State Assembly and to her later career in media. Today, she writes, “women can aspire to any job they want, as long as they prepare for it.”
Top web story:
The Chiliheads of Sacramento by Helen Harlan
WowWow Chili’s Mark and Toni Groth at a chili cook-off in
Bonanza, Oregon, in 2016. (Photo courtesy of Mark and Toni Groth)
In the process of reporting on Sacramento’s surprisingly active chili competition scene, Helen Harlan uncovered an unexpected scoop for Comstock’s. We were the first to report that Jimboy’s Tacos, whose founders were chiliheads themselves, put chili back on the menu for a limited time in 2024.
April
Top print story:
Fly Like an Eagle by Judy Farah
This bald eagle nests in the Lake Natoma area. (Photo by Susan
Maxwell Skinner)
Editor Judy Farah says that she has wanted for years to write about the bald eagle family who nest near her home in a pine tree above Lake Natoma. This feature on a collaboration between the UC Davis California Raptor Center and the Department of Defense allowed her to do so, and to put one of those eagles on the cover of the magazine.
Top web story:
The A’s Are Coming to Sacramento by Steve Martarano
West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero welcomes the A’s to
Sacramento at an April 4 event announcing the move at Sutter
Health Park. (Photo by Steve Martarano)
Steve Martarano headed to Sutter Health park on a rainy, windy April morning to hear a “stunner of an announcement”: the Major League Baseball team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics would be playing at the West Sacramento stadium for at least three years.
May
Top print story:
The Bold Vision of Dr. Luke Wood by Sasha Abramsky
Dr. Luke Wood in the boxing room at The Well, the multi-purpose
gym facility at Sac State. (Photo by Terence Duffy)
Sacramento State’s new, young president is making headlines for the university, with developments like an AI hub, a Black honors program and a college for foster youth. This in-depth profile reveals details like his childhood in the foster system and his competitive relationship with his identical twin brother Joshua, a member of our editorial advisory board.
Top web story:
Concerts in the Park Is Bigger Than Ever This Year by Casey Rafter
Concerts in the Park has taken place in Sacramento’s Cesar Chavez
Park for 31 years. (Photo by Spencer Fields, courtesy of Downtown
Sacramento Partnership)
Casey Rafter, now our go-to music reporter and writer of the playlist column Comstock’s Concert Hall, wrote one of his first stories for us on the return of Sacramento’s Concerts in the Park series. Bigger than ever both in terms of musician lineup and venue size, it may have been the best received Concerts in the Park series since before the pandemic.
June
Top print story:
Young Professionals: Phillip Merlo by Dakota Morlan
As executive director of the San Joaquin County Historical
Museum, Phillip Merlo understands the importance of cultural
narratives. (Photo by Terence Duffy)
The most-read profile from our annual Young Professionals showcase featured one of its youngest honorees: Phillip Merlo, executive director of the San Joaquin County Historical Museum. A fifth-generation Stocktonian, he says his mother’s death soon before his college graduation was part of the reason he decided to pour his efforts into the institution near his hometown.
Top web story:
An Inside Look at California’s Newest State Park by Brad Branan
Dos Rios State Park is located at the confluence of the San
Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers. The Tuolumne is in the foreground,
and it meets the San Joaquin on the left. (Photo by Brad Branan)
Dos Rios State Park, located eight miles west of Modesto at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers, is the state’s most visible example of rebuilding wetlands along river corridors. But it’s not the first and won’t be the last, writes Brad Branan, who visited the new state park to get to know its “shocking” biodiversity.
July
Top print story:
This Lovingly Restored House in Boulevard Park Is a Home for Big Ideas by Kendall Morlan
2100 F Street was built in the then-newly developed Boulevard
Park in 1911 for retired cattle baron and banker Joseph Marzen
and his wife, Catherine. (Photo by Dominic Tassinari)
The first installment of our new print column, Unlisted, visits a beautifully restored home built in 1911 for retired cattle baron and banker Joseph Marzen and his wife, Catherine. Written by Managing Editor Dakota Morlan’s mother, it ended up being the most popular article of the month!
Top web story:
Tower Bridge Dinner Chefs Announced by Judy Farah
The chefs for the 2024 Tower Bridge Dinner were (clockwise
starting top left): Jamie Rathburn of Ella Dining Room & Bar,
Cecil Rhodes of Nash & Proper, Yekaterina Balagian of Seasons
Kitchen & Bar, Pedro Depina of The 7th Street Standard and Brock
Macdonald of Beast + Bounty. (Photos by Francisco Chavira,
courtesy of Visit Sacramento)
Editor Judy Farah attended Visit Sacramento’s annual Hospitality Lunch to hear the first news of the chef lineup for the much-anticipated Tower Bridge Dinner. The team included chefs from local favorites Nash & Proper, Ella Dining Room & Bar, Seasons Kitchen & Bar, The 7th Street Standard and Beast + Bounty.
August
Top print story:
What Does a California Lobbyist Do? by Laurie-Lauletta Boshart
Kalyn Dean, vice president of state advocacy for the California
Hospital Association, at the state Capitol. Dean was a criminal
justice major intending to become a police officer but switched
to advocacy and social justice work. (Photo by Fred Greaves)
The popularity of this print feature probably got a boost from its search engine-friendly title, which most Sacramento residents wonder about at one point or another. To answer the question, we met some prominent lobbyists from a diverse range of associations and asked how they spend their time. (Yes, parties are part of it!)
Top web story:
What’s Missing in Sacramento’s Nightlife Ecosystem by Eric Schucht
Channel 24 is a 2,150-capacity live entertainment venue in
Midtown. (Rendering courtesy of Another Planet Entertainment)
City administrators identified a gap in Sacramento’s nightlife economy: small-to-medium performing arts venues that can accommodate between 500 and 1,000 people. We reported on the new venues that are coming to fill that gap.
September
Top print story:
Ready, Set, Action! by Marybeth Bizjak
Actors Xander Berkeley and William Baldwin with director Julia
Verdin on the set of “No Address” movie. (Courtesy of Robert
Craig Films)
Over a few weeks this past year, Sacramento hosted not one but two star-studded Hollywood productions, with William Baldwin, Leonardo DiCaprio and more spotted around town. We reported on the complex public and private partnerships that bring film productions to Sacramento and got a few hints on how much of Sacramento we might see in upcoming movies “Sacramento,” “No Address” and “BC Project” (the working title of the DiCaprio film).
Top web story:
Page Not Found: Sacramento’s Disappearing Digital News by Eric Schucht
Newspaper vending boxes outside a grocery store in Sacramento. Of
the three seen, only Inside Sacramento remains in print. (Photo
by Eric Schucht)
In July 2023, the nearly 50-year-old publication Sacramento Magazine closed shop, and most of its website archives went offline soon after. To find out what happened to them, reporter Eric Schucht spoke to other local publishers, archivists and media experts, one of whom said that “We’ve got now over decades worth of digital content that hasn’t been preserved in any way, and if we don’t do something soon, we’re going to lose it.”
October
Top print story:
Roseville’s Unique Shopping and Entertainment Gathering Place by Scott Thomas Anderson
Eric and Tracy Denio pose at the marketplace their family started
in the 1940s. (Photo by Terence Duffy)
The most-read profile from our annual Family Business issue — and the cover story — featured the family behind Denio’s Farmers Market & Swap Meet, the sprawling shopping destination outside Roseville. Now a place to buy everything from piles of potatoes to stereo systems, it started as a produce hub in the 1940s.
Top web story:
A Chapter Ends in Oakland While Another Begins in Sacramento by Steve Martarano
Oakland A’s players acknowledge the crowd at the Oakland Coliseum
after the last game there on Sept. 26. (Photo by Steve Martarano)
Staying on the A’s beat, Steve Martarano got a press pass to the last game the team would play at the Oakland Coliseum before moving to West Sacramento. His photos captured the bittersweet mood of the game, as well as some fans’ resentment about the eastward move.
November
Top print story:
Late-Night Dining Returns to Sacramento by Jennifer Fergesen
Pocha House, a restaurant and club inspired by Seoul’s late-night
street food stands, serves dishes like KFC (Korean fried chicken)
and bulgogi fries until midnight. (Photo by Rachel Valley)
After a pandemic slump, it’s again possible to get a meal past midnight in the capital. This Taste story visits some new late-night restaurants, like Midtown’s Korean hotspot Pocha House, as well as pre-pandemic survivors like Star KTV Lounge in Land Park (my personal favorite).
Top web story:
The Man Who Buys the Capital Region’s Dying Newspapers by Eric Schucht
Paul Scholl poses for a photo at his office in Carmichael.
(Photos by Eric Schucht)
A dwindling number of print publications is serving the Capital Region, and one man owns 18 of them. Eric Schucht got a rare interview with that man, Paul Scholl, to understand his business model and what he sees in print media.
December
Top print story:
The Life-Saving Organ Trail by Graham Womack
Diana Davis of Citrus Heights lost her 30-year-old daughter,
Danielle, to a brain aneurysm. Danielle was an organ donor and
her lungs, liver, pancreas and kidney were able to save the lives
of others. (Photo by Terence Duffy)
There’s a complex ecosystem of organizations and innovative technologies behind every organ transplant, especially when that organ has to cross state borders to get to a patient in need. Graham Womack reported on the local nodes in that ecosystem and how they’re evolving.
Top web story:
Barks, Brews and Jingle Bells by Scott Thomas Anderson
Amira, a 3-year-old Cane Corso who’s a foster dog for NorCal
Bully Breed, bellies up to the bar at Baker Family Wines.
(Courtesy photo, expanded with Adobe)
With timely holiday content, well-informed bar and drink recommendations, and plenty of pictures of happy pups, there’s no wonder this web story on the SPCA’s annual Jingle Bell Pup Crawl was the most popular of the month.
Note: We compiled this roundup using Google Analytics and excluded Suzanne Lucas’s rollickingly popular Evil HR Lady column — not because we don’t love it, but because it’s the most-read story almost every month of the year.
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