In February, I wrote “30 Years in Print,” recalling how Inside Sacramento began as a neighborhood experiment and grew into the largest print circulation publication in Northern California, with 80,000 copies of each monthly issue delivered to homes, helping to define our community.

The milestone was celebratory and sobering.

For three decades, Inside Sacramento has been 100% advertising supported. We don’t charge for the magazine. No subscription requirements or paywalls. Our model is simple. Local businesses invest in reaching local readers. We deliver high-quality journalism, storytelling and photography to the neighborhoods we share.

But the media landscape has changed.

You can’t talk to local farmers without somebody mentioning Next Generation Foods.

With packing operations in West Sacramento and fields in Yuba and Sutter counties, Next Generation is a grower and distributor that supplies restaurants and venues with rice, beans, quinoa, even popcorn.

The company has supplied Chef Billy Ngo’s Kru and his other restaurants for almost 20 years. Next Generation serves The Kitchen, Mulvaney’s and UC Davis Medical Center. Popcorn at Golden 1 Center comes from Pleasant Grove Farms via Next Generation.

I talked to Next Generation founder and owner Michael Bosworth and learned how his company helps sustain the farm-to-fork culture.

Pity the pedestrian, lowest creature on Sacramento’s evolutionary ladder. Cars are king. Bicycles come next. Then homeless people, who have more agency than a resident who wants to take a walk.

I learned this by accident, never thinking it was true until I realized there’s no other explanation.

Pedestrians need to face facts. The city has no love for us.

I made this discovery while researching a column last month about my friend who stands his ground when bicycles barrel toward him on city sidewalks.

Given the mayhem and dysfunction in Washington, congressional midterm elections take on extra significance.

In Sacramento County, the California 7th Congressional District finds incumbent Doris Matsui challenged by City Council Member Mai Vang. It’s the first time in 21 years Matsui meets a serious opponent.

I worked with both candidates during my time on City Council. The contrast between Matsui and Vang is stark. Voters get to choose between a dynastic, legendary figure in city politics or a relative newcomer from the Meadowview suburbs.

Scott Ostrander and Paul DiPierro bring a cutting edge to Origami Asian Grill, their East Sacramento favorite. With a new enterprise, Gami Burger, the duo rolls out a different formula.

Focusing on the familiar and getting two separate locations up and running fast, the Gami team is already dishing out comfortable favorites.

Ostrander and DiPierro started Origami Asian Grill in 2018. They took Michelin-star know-how and applied it to dishes such as Sichuan fried chicken and ramen. The fried chicken is tops in my book.

During the pandemic, restaurants adapted or declined. Origami adapted, occasionally featuring a Gami Burger pop-up. The meal hit the spot with diners seeking consolation. Burger pop-ups became one of Origami’s most popular pandemic-era productions.

Valene Byrd is all about helping with art. She’s the founder of ART-TISM, a nonprofit that provides art activities, resources and advocacy for children on the autism spectrum and their families.

ART-TISM started as an act of love for Byrd’s son, Mateo. During the pandemic, longtime teacher Byrd transformed her living room into a classroom for Mateo, now 11, who has autism.

She worried about the impact of isolation and wanted him ready to transition back to the classroom. Byrd reserved half a wall for Mateo’s art. At the end of the year, the wall was full of his drawings.