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Scot Crocker

Downtown Columnist

About This Author

Scot Crocker runs a marketing and public relations firm Crocker Branding & Creative. As a lifelong Sacramentan, he founded the Sacramento Walk of Stars.

Articles by this author

Helping Themselves

Sacramento is home to many people eager to help their community by joining nonprofit groups. But there are holes in this safety net.

Our region has about 15,000 nonprofit groups. These include fraternal organizations, charities, service clubs, foundations and chambers of commerce. The economic impact of local nonprofits is a monster number.

2 Choices

Susan Peters has represented District 3 on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors since 2004. Stepping down this year, she helped recruit a Highway Patrol chief, Rich Desmond, to run for her seat. On the Nov. 3 ballot, Desmond and SMUD board member Gregg Fishman are in a runoff.

While the campaign has become a largely virtual affair in the pandemic, Desmond and Fishman have worked hard to distinguish their views, many of which are similar.

Adapt Or Close

Under state and county health rules, they closed their dining rooms, reopened and closed again. Many Sacramento restaurants pivoted to the new reality. Others weren’t so lucky.

More than 130 restaurants in the Sacramento region have permanently shuttered under the pandemic, Yelp reports. Others plan to reopen, such as Pizza Rock on K Street. Some, such as Empress Tavern on K Street, downsized from more than 30 employees to four.

Sacramento Libraries Are All Booked Up

For many people—seniors to young students—the neighborhood public library was a second home, a springboard to knowledge.

Today, it’s easy to think libraries have seen their best days. Maybe they should fade away like typewriters, cassette tapes and film cameras. The internet has made libraries redundant and obsolete, right?

Curtain Up

Cultural arts groups in Sacramento and the venues that host them often live on the financial edge. They know how to persevere. In recent years, many have thrived.

Now they are shuttered by contagion. Ticket sales are zero. Philanthropy has slowed. The only good news involves the Downtown convention center and theater. They didn’t lose any business because they were already dark.