PODCAST EPISODE: Editor Judy Farah, Managing Editor Dakota Morlan and contributor Steve Martarano discuss April’s cover story on the A’s, the gray wolf’s California comeback and whether or not dire wolves are a good idea. 

As I covered the craziness of the first Major League Baseball game in Sacramento area history on March 31 and the national interest in the challenges the former Oakland Athletics will face playing an entire season at our own Sutter Health Park, a minor league stadium, there came a moment for me when I realized, “They’re playing Major League Baseball in Sacramento!”

When the team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics took on the Chicago Cubs March 31 at West Sacramento’s refurbished Sutter Health Park, it became official: Sacramento, at least temporarily, has hit the big leagues.

Teneral Cellars winery in Plymouth is an award-winning, women-owned and self-proclaimed disrupter in the industry. It’s also an oasis in the Shenandoah Valley that’s less than an hour’s drive from Sacramento, though reminiscent of a picturesque wine region in Italy.

The Solano County city of fewer than 30,000 residents is also an easy day trip for visitors from Sacramento and the Bay Area, with a 10-block stroll along Benicia’s First Street providing a unique opportunity to visit 300 eclectic businesses amidst 19th-century Victorian buildings — all while basking in bay views a couple of blocks away.

The hotel’s popular downstairs bar and restaurant remained mostly closed for the past three years, but after major updates, including those to many of the hotel’s distinctive Victorian-style rooms, they will open again in the new year.

It was a year that started with much promise for Sacramento State with a Top-10 preseason ranking, talk of a new stadium and the hope that Sacramento could use a new facility to position a move from the FCS’ Big Sky Conference to an upper division conference such as the Pac-12.

It’s a bucket-list destination for Gold Rush-era history buffs — a park in Grass Valley where visitors can get a first-hand, interactive look at one of the largest and oldest mining operations that defined California’s 19th-century obsession with gold.

Truckee’s Bar of America sports a name that sounds like it would be shared with establishments across the country. Not so. Situated in a brick building that dates back to the late 1800s, the former Bank of America location is a one and only, with a name that was trademarked shortly after new ownership took over in 2012, according to principal owner Tom Turner.

Tractor heaven is in Woodland. Those who enter the Heidrick family’s California Agriculture Museum are greeted by aisles lined with rare antique trucks and tractors of all colors, shapes and eras, along with other artifacts depicting the country’s rich agricultural machinery history.

The Athletics’ final game at the Oakland Coliseum after a championship run of 57 years would be a significant event under any circumstance. But the bittersweet day on Sept. 26 took on an extra dimension for the Capital Region with the A’s scheduled move to West Sacramento.

The 10-acre Placer County business off Horseshoe Bar and Auburn-Folsom Road in Loomis may officially be called The Flower Farm, but it’s much more than that — historic inn, gourmet cafe, wine tasting room, gift shop, wedding and events center, nursery and citrus orchard.

There’s not a snowflake in sight at Boreal Mountain along Interstate 80 in Soda Springs the week before the July 4 holiday weekend, but the ski resort is still buzzing with activity.

The unassuming entrance barely hints at the secret treasures that await below. In order to access them, visitors must navigate 162 stairs in an otherworldly descent.

The four-story Ryde Hotel, considered one of the most haunted hotels in Northern California, has been a Highway 160 art deco beacon for almost 100 years. 

Nestled squarely in the midst of dozens of award-winning wineries that make Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley so unique, Amador Flower Farm in Plymouth is home to something different — an eye-popping 1,300 varieties of daylily.

The stunner of an announcement was made official Thursday morning at a blustery and rainy Sutter Health Park. 

The San Francisco Giants arrived at Sutter Health Park on March 24 as the official opening event of the River Cats’ 25th season in West Sacramento, and it was a welcome visit.

In a county known for its wealth of Gold Rush-era museums, undoubtedly some of the most compelling stories from that time reside at a former orphanage hidden within the 160-year-old walls of the Grass Valley Museum.

It’s the first night back after Lotus Pub’s annual two-week holiday break, and at 5 p.m. when the doors swing open on this frigid Friday in January, a line has already formed.

With a seating capacity for just over a thousand fans, it’s smaller than most Capital Region high school gyms. Despite its limitations, the cozy Hornet Gym — also known as The Nest — has been the main facility for NCAA indoor sports at Sacramento State since 1955.

Mokelumne Hill may not be the busiest tourist hub in the Amador-Calaveras Sierra Nevada foothills loop that includes Sutter Creek, Jackson, Angels Camp and Murphys. But that doesn’t mean the uniquely well-preserved 1850s Gold Rush-era settlement along the Mokelumne River, often called Moke Hill by the locals, is lacking in things to do and see. 

It’s a stop for nightly commuters, a biker bar and a family-oriented historical highway landmark, hosting everything from car shows, weddings and baby showers, to taco Thursdays and Wednesday trivia nights. 

Bud Milo enters the 90-year-old restaurant and bar on Main Street in Rio Vista for the first time, and his expression immediately changes after seeing 300 mounted hunting trophies and photos lining the walls. “There’s a whole lot of animals here,” says the incredulous Milo.

While other professional soccer teams have come to town with hype and promise, only to flicker briefly before disappearing — teams like the Gold, Spirits, Geckos, Scorpions, Senators and the Knights — the United Soccer League’s Sac Republic connected with the Capital Region in a major way. 

Wayne Bishop of Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland claims the farm is the largest pick-your-own pumpkin patch in the world. It remains a true family-run business, with Wayne, his wife Ann, his sons Lee and Austin, and his daughter-in-law Courtney leading the farm his parents started more than 50 years ago.

The well-preserved, semi-ghost Placer County town of Dutch Flat, an hour drive east of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada foothills, has earned the description of being “a step back in time,” as local hotelier Leif Lowery described it.

The roar of auto engines and the smell of gasoline, hot dogs, barbecue and beer have marked summer Saturday nights at the Stockton 99 Speedway since 1947 at the oldest running racetrack west of the Mississippi. 

After torrential rains hit the Capital Region early in 2023, flooding out Discovery Park, organizers of the upcoming Sol Blume festival planned there for April 29-30 had some decisions to make. 

Fans filed into the RingCentral Coliseum for a late June day game, less than 15 hours after New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán no-hit the A’s to become the 24th pitcher in MLB history to toss a perfect game.

Sacramento was in the international spotlight July 8-15, when the 18th Homeless World Cup, a compelling weeklong soccer tournament that spotlights the plight of worldwide homelessness, was held on the campus of California State University, Sacramento.

As the crew with Yolo Ballooning Adventures prepares the aircraft for its scheduled 90-minute trip, general manager Mike Veliz looks out over the launch site dotted with half a dozen other balloons from various Northern California companies readying for takeoff. “The best part of this job,” says Veliz, a Woodland native, “is getting to watch the sunrise every day.”

Isleton’s Crawdad Festival — a defining event from the mid-1980s to the late 2000s for the tiny city along the Sacramento River — returned to Main Street for the first time in 14 years on June 17-18, swelling the city of less than 800 residents to an estimated 60,000 over the two-day event.

Even when the tulips aren’t blooming during the April-May window, Crystal Hermitage is a destination experience that has received accolades by AAA Magazine as a top garden to visit in the West.

The story of The Workshop, the popular 600-square foot Cajun-Creole walk-up restaurant in Benicia, starts with a teen romance between Danny Glassmaker and Naomi Buskirk more than 30 years ago. 

The temple and museum is usually a quiet respite for visitors, open by appointment only. But during one weekend, the serenity is replaced by bursts of firecrackers and thousands of visitors attending the Bok Kai Festival weekend, honoring Bok Eye.

Eight schools and their fans landed in Sacramento to play in the NCAA tournament’s first and second round games, bringing in an estimated $10 million in economic impact.

Inspired by its proprietor Brynn Wooden — known to all as Miss B — and Woody, her husband of 40 years, the lodge is a beacon in the tight-knit Gold Rush communities of Colfax, Iowa Hill and Foresthill.

The 4,500-seat facility held a ribbon cutting celebration on Feb. 14 and then opened three days later with a sold-out, three-day President’s Day weekend run of the Eagles, Bruno Mars and Santana.

Nevada County Mead Company is one of the few places in the Capital Region that produces and serves mead, which the ancient Greeks called “nectar of the gods.”

The Benicia Historical Museum houses tens of thousands of artifacts related to multiple wars and the Gold Rush era, providing a place for visitors to learn something new and appreciate the story of California.

The store has delighted visitors through several generations while also featuring a wide selection of greeting cards, puzzles, candy, gifts and houseware items. Having an internet presence has helped them return to pre-pandemic sales numbers.

The Oct. 29 Showdown at Cache Creek brought prominent boxers and promoters to the Yolo County casino, which undertook a $200 million expansion during the pandemic.

Lodi-based, family-owned Calivirgin has reshaped its business. Part of California’s rich olive oil landscape for almost two decades, its new facility allows the owners to showcase award-winning products, introduce a new wine line and host tastings.

The night of Oct. 22 — with three college and professional sporting events starting around the same time — was expected to be a memorable night for Sacramento sports fans.

As the chilly night unfolded, those expectations were undoubtedly exceeded.

Rosebud’s is known for authenticity and acceptance as much as for good food, and is a leader on several local issues involving homelessness and LGBTQ rights.

Crus’ nursery and landscaping construction company help shape the region’s image and produce plants that withstand the rough high-elevation climate of the area.

Created in 1952, Elliott’s Natural Foods was the first in its area to offer many of its health food products. Since their approach to whole and organic food was considered a rarity in the early 1950s, they made dispensing wellness knowledge and advice a part of their business plan, which they carry through to today.

Reflecting on the many chapters of the building best known as ARCO Arena, its farewell event and what’s next for the Natomas site.  

Both the Davis and Sacramento food co-ops have expanded exponentially since their inception in the early 1970s, when they primarily served ”the hippie population.” Fifty years later, has the spirit of 1972 held up?