California Groundbreakers

Election 2018 is in full swing -- and now is the time to start figuring out how you're going to vote! Our Fall 2018 "Policy and a Pints" will focus on California's General Election ballot. We're holding discussions with panelists who, whether they are "for, " against" or "neutral," will give us the straight talk on local/statewide propositions and races, and what it means if you vote yay or nay on each. * * * * * Of the 11 propositions on the ballot this year, four of them are focused on housing. In this podcast, we're taking a look at Proposition 5, about preserving lower property taxes for Californians age 55 and older who sell their home. It's the first proposition to propose changes to Proposition 13, "the third rail of politics," which California voters passed 40 years ago. PANELISTS * Debra Carlton, senior vice-president of public affairs for the California Apartment Association * Christina Livingston, executive director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action PODCAST PLAY

The City of Sacramento recently announced it would rethink its ordinance on buskers and outdoor music performers. It also hired a new "Creative Economy" director to think how arts and music can get a bigger boost here. But there are still some sour notes. The Police Department is still called out to turn the music down. Gentrification means long-time music venues are getting complaints from new neighbors. Local musicians say they lack community support due to a lack of small venues, rehearsal spaces and frugal audiences who don't want to pay. So what should Sacramento be doing to boost its local music scene, and its musicians? Should we look at top music towns like Austin or Nashville and follow their lead? Or are we doing just fine creating our own plan? We're talking with musicians, and the people who book and promote them, about how we can achieve perfect pitch in the capital city. Also, for this podcast, it was fitting to start and end it with music from Sacramento-based performers, so: Podcast i

They're both new to Sacramento. This is their first year on the job. They're listening, watching and learning how things are done here. They're in charge of Sacramento City's public schools and 101-year-old community college. And now they're starting to put their stamp on how education is handled in Sactown's classrooms. Listen to our discussion with Jorge Aguilar, the new superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified District, and Michael Gutierrez, the new president of Sacramento City College, as they talk about schooling Sacramento students; their future plans and how they're going to roll them out; what they've learned this past year; how they're working together to make sure kids go from pre-K all the way to good-paying jobs; and what they've learned about Sacramento schools, students, parents and the city. Recorded May 23, 2018 at Antiquite Midtown in Sacramento PANELISTS * Jorge Aguilar, superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District * Michael Gutierrez, president of Sacramento City C

Art has changed people's minds, shifted public opinions and made history. In our first “Groundbreakers Q&A,” we're talking with four people who create art that does just that.

 The Chicano Movement, known as "El Movimiento," was a major effort in the 1960s and 1970s to extend Mexican-American civil rights and empowerment. A major component of El Movimiento was the artists. They created a socio-political movement that highlighted the plight of Mexicans in the U.S., they gave birth to a Chicano world view and, they generated a cultural renaissance, particularly here in California. 

Think of the famous murals in San Francisco's Mission District and in San Diego’s Chicano Park. The creation of art collectives like the Mexican-American Liberation Art Front in Oakland, Mujeres Muralistas in San Francisco, and the Royal Chicano Air Force in Sacramento. In today's politically-charged times, with DACA and ICE raids and National Guard troops summoned to the border and gentrification impacting Chicano/Latino neigh

The movie "Lady Bird" brought a lot of attention to Sacramento. After its release in Fall 2017, California's capital was written up as a travel destination in the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times. So now that the spotlight is on us, have we arrived as a destination and place to visit/live/exist? Listen to some of Sacramento's taste-makers and trend-setters talking about Sacramento Style. What is it? When you think of Sacramento fashion, decor, architecture, what do you see in how we dress, decorate and live? How do we compare and contrast to San Francisco, Los Angeles, the rest of California? Do we have a signature style yet, or are we still coming into our own? PANELISTS * Ryan M. Brough, co-owner of Sacramento Fashion Week and owner of Ethos Event Planning * Maritza Davis, co-founder of the marketing agency Unseen Heroes and the retail concepts Damas and Display: California * Jake Favour, conceptual designer and project curator who has shaped the look and feel of many

There is an unprecedented surge of first-time female candidates, running for political office nationwide in Election Year 2018. But here in California, the bluest state of them all, women candidates are still hitting a wall. Women account for only 26 of the 120 state legislators -- and they actually lost seats in the past two elections. In a round of caucus meetings back in January, Democratic Party activists in three competitive Southern California House races overlooked EMILY’s List-endorsed candidates and threw their support, by wide margins, to men. Even after the #MeToo movement, female candidates in California are still forced to contend with lots of disadvantages — fewer political connections, competitors with higher profiles, a lack of desire for bare-knuckle politics, and supporters unaccustomed to writing women large checks. But the 2016 election has energized women in unprecedented numbers to step up to run - what will the results be in 2018? We met at Arcade Underground in Old Sacramento to

It's obvious that "affordable" and "housing" rarely go together in California. We're known for having some of the highest rental and housing prices in the U.S. But some Californians are taking action by: * fighting for more funding for affordable housing construction * authoring laws that create higher-density housing and forces cities to meet their housing goals * demanding rent control on apartment buildings, and demanding the repeal of a law that forbids it And come November 6, Californians will be voting on some of their actions on the state ballot, and many local ones, too. This "Policy and a Pint" focuses on the latest efforts to create more affordable housing -- by the state legislature, local advocacy groups, and the construction industry -- and what to keep in mind when voting "yay" or "nay" on them on your ballot. PANELISTS * Jovanna Fajardo, Sacramento Director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, one of the groups in the Sacramento 4 Housing coalition that's trying to get a

Recorded on February 26, 2018 at CLARA Auditorium in Sacramento The Central Valley is often called "America's Salad Bowl" and "the World's Breadbasket." It's definitely integral to Sacramento's "Farm to Fork" image. But right now, more than ever, it is Ground Zero for immigration-reform issues, ICE raids, and a Federal/State clash over "aiding and abetting authorities." That's leading to a lot of fear, turmoil and changes in Central Valley -- to the towns, the farms, the workforce and the food that's being grown and raised there. No matter where you live in California, all of that will affect the food you eat, and probably how much you pay for it. In this "Food for Thought" discussion, we take a close look at the "Farm" in our Farm-to-Fork efforts, and talk about the Central Valley, the often overlooked but major player in the foodie scene we gush over. PANELISTS * Santana Diaz - Yuba City native with family roots in agriculture who started the culinary programs at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, then be

Sacramento calls itself the "Farm to Fork Capital," but it won't be written up in a Michelin Guide for the foreseeable future (we're not included in the Guide for the Bay Area and Wine Country). But that's okay, because we've got a couple of natives who left town to work at Michelin-starred restaurants and are now coming back home with their Top Chef skills and creds, and opening up their own places here. For our first "Food for Thought" event of 2018, those two chefs talk about all things food - skills, favorite dishes and ingredients, their new restaurants, and whether "Michelin" and "Sacramento" belong in the same sentence. PANELISTS * Brad Cecchi - a Carmichael native who earned a Michelin star as executive chef at Solbar in Calistoga, and came back to open Canon in East Sacramento * Scott Ostrander - he sold his Sacramento home, intending to backpack through Europe, but instead got a job at the three-star restaurant Alinea in Chicago before returning here to blend Michelin skills with Farm-to-Fork ph

Besides #MeToo, one of the best-known hashtags in California right now is #WeSaidEnough. That term was introduced in a bipartisan letter published last October in the Los Angeles Times, with signatures from more than 140 women working in California politics. It was the first statement nationwide by women calling for an end to the pervasive culture of harassment and assault within the halls of government. Their actions highlighted the fact that, even in a state as progressive as California, the Capitol community can still be an "old boys' network" that doesn't always treat women working within it with much respect. So what happens next? What will come from the Capitol's legal investigations and legislative hearings? Should we expect specific bills on this issue, and will they have teeth? And how will the sexual harassment scandals in state government translate into policy that affects workplaces around California? PANELISTS * Samantha Corbin, executive director of #WeSaidEnough, the op-ed letter that turn

This discussion was recorded on November 30, 2017. We partnered up with the Crocker Art Museum for its "Conversations that Matter" series to have a conversation about the future of the neighborhood that surrounds it -- Downtown Sacramento. It has been a little more than a year since the Golden 1 Center opened. The arena brought in a host of hot-ticket concerts and kicked off a slew of new development around it. Next up: development of the Railyards, revitalizing the riverfront, and making Old Sacramento more of a draw for the locals. But what are the plans for housing? For handling the homeless issue? For turning the still-too-many stretches of derelict buildings into something more pleasant? For parking and public transit? And making sure Downtown doesn't turn into an overpriced playground only a few can afford to enjoy? We're talking in the Crocker Museum's Friedman Court with a group of people in charge of handling these issues about what has changed in Downtown Sacramento, what has improved and what

We're running a monthly series called "Food for Thought," in-depth conversations with groundbreakers who run farms, restaurants, wineries, breweries and bars around California and are shaking up the way we eat and drink. For our fifth talk, we're emphasizing the "farm" in farm-to-fork efforts, and discussing the future of farming in California. Are there enough young farmers to take over for seasoned ones who want to retire? Can they afford to make a living in a high-cost-of-living state? Can they be profitable and sustainable when climate change makes it harder to predict what they can sow and reap? PANELISTS * Dennis Donohue, head of Western Growers' Center for Innovation and Technology * Mary Kimball, executive director of the Center for Land-Based Learning PODCAST TIMEFRAME * O to 6 minutes - Intro to California Groundbreakers - who we are, and upcoming events * 6 min - "Eventually hot salads will catch up, and then radicchio will overcome kale" -- Panelists introduce themselves, and share their favo

California's new gas tax went into effect November 1. That means most drivers will pay 12 cents more per gallon of gas, diesel increases 20 cents a gallon. Starting January 1, you'll be charged a new annual vehicle fee ranging from $25 to $175, depending on the value of your car. The gas tax increase ushers in a 10-year program to raise more than $52 billion for transportation projects, like repairing roads and improving traffic congestion across the state. Will that money be spent wisely? Governor Jerry Brown fought hard to get the gas tax (officially known as Senate Bill 1) passed last April, saying "real money" is needed to fix California's aging transportation systems. But Republican lawmakers are skeptical that the gas tax is the best way to handle road repairs, saying taxpayers already pay plenty for them, money is available from the state's general fund, and Brown should scrap his multibillion-dollar bullet train project. Now they're actively working to put a repeal-the-gas-tax measure on the Nove

We're running a monthly series called "Food for Thought," in-depth conversations with groundbreakers who run farms, restaurants, wineries, breweries and bars around California and are shaking up the way we eat and drink. Our fourth talk is with the Brewmasters, two people who've won lots of awards for creating some of some of the best craft beer to come out of Northern California. One is a seasoned vet who helped a small Chico-based brewery grow into a billion-dollar company. The other is a young whippersnapper who, 13 months after moving his beers from the garage into a professional setup, won two gold medals at the California State Fair. To celebrate Octoberfest, we raised some pints and celebrated California craft beer with a great discussion by these two guys who've helped to make it famous. PANELISTS * Steve Dresler - the just-retired Brewmaster of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., who has overseen the development and production of almost all of its new beers for more than 30 years, and has won the the bre

Here's the final "Icebreaker" mini-podcast focused on California Groundbreakers in the beer industry, in advance of our live "Brewmasters" event on October 11 . Like many beer lovers, Kate Whelan started out as a homebrewer. But she was tired of talking only with guys about beer. So she co-founded HopBroads nearly five years ago, a group focused on attracting more women to the craft beer culture. She's also a member of Pink Boots Society, which supports and promotes women working in the craft brewing industry ( one superstar Pink Boots member is Crooked Lane Brewery head brewmaster Teresa Psuty, who just won a Gold for her Wobblor Dopplebock at the Great American Beer Festival). Now she's the director of Sacramento Beer Week, a major brewfest scheduled for May 2018 that's guaranteed to draw tens of thousands of people. That means Whelan is in charge of turning around a once-rudderless ship and boosting Sacramento's cred -- and its 60-plus breweries -- to beer drinkers statewide. Whelan took time out dur

Here's our third "Icebreaker" mini-podcast focused on California Groundbreakers in the beer industry, in advance of our live "Brewmasters" event on October 11 . November 1, 2017, marks the 30th anniversary of Rubicon Brewing, the oldest operating brewery in Sacramento (and the 6th oldest in California). But owner Glynn Phillips couldn't make it that far. On August 7, he told the public he was shutting down. It was one of the worst days in his life. Two months later, Phillips sat down with us -- bringing along a big-ass bottle of unfiltered Rubicon IPA to drink -- and talked about the rise and fall of Rubicon. How he got into brewing beer as a minor and met Rubicon founder Ed Brown at his friend's house. How making Rubicon IPA was like dropping a bomb on Northern California's beer scene. How the brewery went gangbusters but then the craft-beer competition got tough. How he made the fateful decision to close -- but why that may not necessarily mean the end of Rubicon. Phillips says he's in better spirits

Here's our second "Icebreaker" mini-podcast focused on California Groundbreakers in the beer industry, in advance of our live "Brewmasters" event on October 11 . Charlie Bamforth, the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences at UC Davis, is nicknamed the “Pope of Foam,” which pretty much says it all. Throughout his 30-plus-year career, Bamforth has embraced every dimension of beer, from raw materials and processing to its impact on the human body, published multiple research papers and written nine books, and he is generally considered to be one of the world's leading writers and speakers on beer. He also is a football (soccer, to us Yanks) fanatic, has a witty sense of humor and is a much-loved professor who loves to teach. Pope Charlie is retiring next year after a nearly 40-year career helping breweries worldwide improve their beer and turning UCD students into in-demand brewmasters. He sat down to talk with us at 10 am, so no beer, but once we asked Bamforth about the firs

We're starting to do "Icebreakers," mini-podcasts that we upload in advance of our live Groundbreaker events (which are always recorded and uploaded as the main podcasts). In advance of our "Brewmasters" event on October 11 -- a live conversation all about beer with master brewers Steve Dresler of Sierra Nevada and Mike Mraz of Mraz Brewing -- we're sitting down in the recording studio with a few other people who also do groundbreaking stuff in the beer industry. First off, a conversation with J-E Paino of Ruhstaller Brewing in Sacramento. Not only did he restart the once-largest brewery west of the Mississippi, (Ruhstaller Brewery operated from 1881 to 1933, and Paino opened it up again in 2010), he's the only beermaker in California, besides the mega-big Sierra Nevada Brewing, to grow his own hops. Sacramento used to be the largest hop-growing region in the U.S. in America, till Prohibition shut that all down. Now Paino wants to restart that industry too, and make this area the Napa Valley of hops. (Th

We're running a monthly series called "Food for Thought," in-depth conversations with groundbreakers who run farms, restaurants, wineries, breweries and bars around California and are shaking up the way we eat and drink. Our third talk is with "Los Autenticos," four well-known restaurateurs known for their Mexican cuisine. All of them have opened up new hotspots in Sacramento during the past year, and they're intent on serving authentic food and drink the way it should be prepared -- and serving it up in settings that reinforce the fact you are indeed eating the "real" thing. To get an early start on celebrating Mexico's Independence Day, we talked with the four señores at Casa de Español, a great place to celebrate Latin American culture, to hear how their cultural roots and backgrounds led them to their present roles as Sacramento's ambassadors of Mexican cuisine. PANELISTS * Art Aguilar and Max Archuleta - this dynamic duo teamed up to open the open-air Midtown's Cantina Alley in February, an immediat

Wide Open Walls (WOW) is the official name for Sacramento's annual mural festival, now in its second year. Between August 10-20, 2017, 50 artists from 12 countries are painting 40 individual surfaces, from small-business walls and back-street alleys on the Grid to silos and water towers in the suburbs. When they look around Sacramento, what will catch their eye? When they put down their brushes and paint-sprayers, what will they leave behind for us? Street art is a big deal around the globe -- think Montreal with its own famous Mural Festival, Wynwood Walls in Miami, San Francisco's Mission District. As the capital of the (currently) 5th largest economy in the world, is it Sacramento's time to join the ranks of international cities known for their colorful, vibrant street-art scenes and communities? If so, what should those look like? What images should be on those walls? Who decides what they should be and where they should go? And how do the non-painters of us living here figure into creating a world-cl