May 30, 2023
The prey lands. A trap is sprung. The prey struggles but is no match for the enzymes that slowly digest it between vibrant green lobes with tooth-like trichomes.
No, this isn’t a scene out of “Little Shop of Horrors.” It’s the daily eating habit of a Venus flytrap, one of hundreds of carnivorous plant species that capture our imagination.
“Carnivory in plants has arisen at least 12 different times in 12 different areas around the world,” says Ron Nies, president of the Sacramento Bromeliad and Carnivorous Plant Society. “The whole idea of plants absorbing insects makes sense. They grow in areas with nutrient-poor soils, so they catch insects to supplement their needs.”
Apr 28, 2023
Wendy Bruns has attended a lot of births. So many that she’s become a hot commodity for friends and family giving birth who want a supportive person in the room.
“Birthwork is definitely a calling,” says Bruns, a Sonoma County native who earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology at UC Santa Cruz. “I had a friend who got pregnant at 19 and the dad wasn’t in the picture, so I went to every prenatal appointment with her and was there when she gave birth to my godson. I hadn’t seen anything about birth except on TV, so I watched birth videos and learned everything I could. Then I attended my nephew’s birth and other friends’ and family’s births and people started saying, ‘You should do this as a career.’”
Apr 28, 2023
Sheila Boxley sees truth in the adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” at her job as president and CEO of The Child Abuse Prevention Center.
“I strongly believe we need to give people the support they need when they need it rather than waiting for tragedy,” says Boxley, who celebrates 25 years at the helm of the center. “We’ve all had that moment where we’ve needed somebody to help us.”
The center began as the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Sacramento in 1977, a small agency serving only Sacramento County. (Every county has one child abuse prevention council.) Over the past 45 years, it has been asked to replicate and expand its programs and services locally and statewide, adopting multiple agencies along the way.
