This month celebrates a milestone: 1,000 Inside editions in 25 years of publishing. Each edition has featured an original piece of local art on the cover. It’s fair to say we have circulated and promoted more art than anyone in Sacramento history. When our quarter-century press run is added up, more than 20 million impressions of art have been shared since 1996!

I am honored to serve as Inside’s cover art curator-in-chief. It’s by far the best part of my job.

At first, when we published one edition, I worried we’d never find enough art for 12 covers a year. I knew a watercolorist who painted house portraits. She had a portfolio of a dozen pieces. That got me started.

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Sacramento Region Essay Contest was created to engage youth in King’s legacy, vision and leadership. Reflecting on Congressman John Lewis’ fight for civil rights through peaceful protests, youth writers were asked to (with COVID-19 health guidelines in mind) “describe an injustice that you see in today’s society and what you can do to address the issue and advancement of John Lewis’ call to action.” The contest was open to middle and high school students in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado and Sutter counties. Inside Sacramento is pleased to publish the top two winning essays

Midtown is a special place. Ask anyone who’s lived, visited or worked there. It’s a fun, funky, homey, bustling village. It’s got abundant history and a bright future. But ask a handful of long-time Sacramentans what that history is, or what the future looks like, and you’re likely to get several different answers.

Local historian William Burg can talk about colorful characters, crime and architecture. Brian Crall, founder of Sacramento Comedy Spot, has run a successful arts organization in the heart of Midtown for a decade. He can describe the joys and challenges of trying to succeed in the part of town that many outsiders treat as a “party house.”

It started with quiche.

The year was 2015 and Arden-Arcade resident Sarah Thompson suffered from post-partum depression after giving birth to her daughter. An avid cook, she was chopping and baking her sorrows out when she decided to see if her kitchen skills might help someone else.

She put out a call on Facebook, offering to make a quiche for anyone who needed “an extra measure of kindness.” A connection came from a woman recently diagnosed with cancer.

We humans tend to resist change, especially when we fear it may lower our property values.

For those fortunate enough to own a home in a state rapidly making it too expensive for our children to buy one, change is coming whether we like it or not. California’s economy cannot sustain itself with a residential real estate market off limits to whole generations. We have to think differently about housing.

For better or worse, the coronavirus inoculation process has been an opportunity for California’s county health departments to show their strengths and efficiencies. Unfortunately, it’s also been a time when counties may come up short.

With more COVID-19 vaccine doses becoming available, the California Department of Public Health placed individual counties in charge of their own vaccination rollouts. The state advised residents to look to their local county health departments for information. That put pressure on Sacramento County Public Health to ramp up to speed.