Driving through the security-guard checkpoint to the massive 278,000-square-foot sleek building that emerges — not visible from the street — a visitor to the California Independent System Operator headquarters in Folsom would likely realize something important happens here before even stepping foot inside.

For most of her youth, Sequoia Criteser was petrified of fire. As a child, she would not have imagined starting a career as a fire dancer 13 years ago. 

Within the past year alone, dozens of foodborne disease outbreaks have impacted the U.S. food supply, implicating all sorts of ingredients. Contaminated cucumbers have been blamed, along with tomatoes, cilantro, pork, turkey, tuna and raw milk. Cases have also occurred at the food-service level, often because employees failed to wash their hands.

Our hearts racing and stress levels high, the six of us aren’t sure whether our friendship will survive the next 10 minutes. We’re stuck in a small room together and can’t calm ourselves down long enough to agree on a system for tackling one of the final puzzles that will allow us to break through to freedom. Things are getting testy: We’re heavy sighing, and huffing and puffing. It’s possible I’m raising my voice.

Monk’s Cellar in downtown Roseville smells vaguely of an oatmeal breakfast. It’s actually a new batch of beer brewing, called Friar Funk, a Flemish red ale with wine-like characteristics. 

Northern California’s temperate climate, fertile soil and advanced water-supply system make the region a prime spot for commercial beekeeping, and even more so nowadays. Why’s that? Almonds, which need bees — lots and lots of bees. 

When a new client hears his barber’s name is Renee, he might envision an “old French dude” and not a young woman. The industry remains, after all, a field of men. “When I was in school, it was me and 60 dudes,” says Renee Green, 29.

Mandarins dominate commercial citrus production in the foothills, where oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit and kumquats also flourish. Last month, citrus growers in Placer County and surrounding regions were given a dire warning to safeguard their industry: Do not move outside citrus into this county — no matter where it is from.