One of the most inspired quotes about cities comes from planner and architect Daniel Burnham, whose vision for the Chicago lakefront sparked an aesthetic renaissance still paying dividends generations after his death in 1912.

“Make no little plans,” Burnham said. “They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever growing insistency.”

That seems to be the mindset at Sacramento State, where President Luke Wood and Athletic Director Mark Orr have ambitious but vague plans for a new multi-purpose stadium to propel the school into a major athletic conference, such as the Mountain West or Pac-12.

Despite its deep farm-to-fork roots, Sacramento is not an easy place to find locally raised and processed poultry.

When scanning the meat section at area stores, local poultry seems almost invisible.

There are large California operators—Mary’s Chicken and Diestel Ranch—but few local producers. Searching for local birds, I found Sinclair Family Farm in Newcastle.

Situated in the Sierra foothills, Sinclair boasts a range of humanly treated meat products. Karin Sinclair told me her farm provides much more than poultry. She raises and sells meat from cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, ducks and goats, plus chickens and turkeys.

Eight years ago, the Selland Family Restaurants debuted their newest concept, OBO’ Italian Table & Bar. The Folsom Boulevard space once housed Andiamo, a beloved East Sacramento institution. OBO’ kept the Italian fire burning and became a neighborhood favorite.

Similar to Selland’s Market-Cafe, OBO’ combines hot case and cold case foods—beet salad, Caesar salad, chicken breast, mac and cheese. The similarities stop there.

OBO’s menu runs deep into Italian recipes and preparations. Pasta dishes and Italian sandwiches fill the menu and leave room for pizza.

What happens when a child in foster care reaches 18 and “ages out” of the system?

“Far too often, kids lose where they live when they age out,” Suzanne Guinn says. “My good friend spent his whole childhood in foster care, got bounced around a lot, and on his 18th birthday became homeless. He didn’t understand that was coming. Sometimes it’s a surprise to the children.”

Guinn says 25% of foster care kids experience homelessness after aging out.

“It’s hard enough to be 18,” she says. “The decisions you have to make and things you have to do to become adult are challenging enough, but especially if don’t have parents to support you. It’s overwhelming. AcademySTAY does all of that.”

As a kid, I spent many hours at the Crocker Art Museum. Between school trips and weekend jaunts with my artist parents, I wandered the halls finding favorite paintings and artifacts.

One constant was the presence of Lial Jones, the Crocker’s Mort and Marcy Friedman director and CEO. Deeply kind despite an imposing presence, Jones would greet us with a smile. I was star-struck, knowing she ran the place.

Now Jones is retiring. In January, she leaves a 25-year Crocker legacy that could fill volumes.

Under Jones, the collection grew by 23,000 objects, attendance and membership doubled, and programming expanded. She oversaw the tripling of the Crocker’s physical footprint with the addition of the Teel Family Pavilion.

Ryan and Heather Filippini go way back. They met as youngsters at St. Anne’s Catholic School in Lodi, followed separate paths to college, got reacquainted in Sacramento and married in 2010.

Now they work mostly from home. Ryan works in real estate. Heather works for a tech support company. East Sac is their base.

“Our first East Sac home was a two-bedroom, one-bath near Bertha Henschel Park,” Ryan says. “We then upgraded to a larger house across the street. We loved our neighbors and our tightknit neighborhood, especially during COVID lockdowns.”