Artificial Intelligence is going to affect us all, sooner than we think, and not for the best. The World Economic Forum predicts 20% of all jobs will be negatively impacted in the next five years.
Many companies welcome AI. They want to employ fewer people. If AI programs handle the work, organizations don’t have to pay salaries or benefits, just maintenance costs. Robots won’t file workplace lawsuits.
A few years ago, when my wife and I looked for a house to buy after returning to Sacramento from Southern California, we found the perfect place near Tahoe Park.
We liked the neighborhood. The house was updated and reasonably priced. The only drawback was a homeless encampment in the park across the street. That made me uncomfortable. We decided not to bid on the house.
The experience came back to me recently while reading about the lawsuit filed against the city of Elk Grove by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Department of Housing and Community Development. California is taking the city to court over its denial of a low-income housing project known as Oak Rose in Elk Grove’s Old Town.
A cardboard box can save lives.
Don’t believe me? Ask Robert Metcalf, professor emeritus of biological sciences at Sacramento State and co-founder of International Water and Health Alliances.
With his wife, Mary Beth, a retired physician, Metcalf helps raise funds to support an organization called Friends of the Old, or FOTO, a community group in Lower Nyakach, Kenya.
The program provides reading glasses for elderly people, seeds for the neediest households, education for girls and, perhaps most importantly, water-treatment supplies.
Can we chat about the birds and the bees? No, not those birds and bees, but feathered birds and buzzing bees in gardens.
Wildlife habitat gardens are planned and planted for the benefit of birds, bees, butterflies and assorted critters in search of food, water, shelter and nesting areas. Imagine a wild world garden.
Landscapes, often dominated by lawn, shrubs and trees are being tweaked for ecologically acceptable alternatives. The habitat garden is a throwback to simpler times when humans and wildlife lived in harmony.
Substance-use disorders and mental illness are big contributors to homelessness. And our region lacks enough programs to address this problem.
Easy availability of street methamphetamines makes everything worse. Seeking solutions, I worked with WellSpace Health and Sacramento Police in 2019 to create the Substance Use Respite and Engagement center. It’s where people in substance or psychiatric crises can receive help and a ‘front porch’ to recovery-oriented services.
The Reeves family purchased their Carmichael property in 2008. It was a relatively new custom home, but Dr. Aaron Reeves spent a decade renovating the home to suit his family of four. Reeves is a dentist and dental entrepreneur, but his vision and design expertise is on par with many design professionals.
When he was house hunting two decades ago, the late real estate legend Marge Reid suggested he look at the property overlooking Ancil Hoffman Park and Golf Course.