DWB: Great questions. While you may not have the staffing to do breaking news, you could use your reach and technology to do more thoughtful trend pieces that look at what types of crime are happening where and how that compares to previous years. It could tell the whole story with quotes from law enforcement, sociologists and those involved. You are already doing a great job being proactive with the ask an officer pieces. I like Craig's idea of getting involved with the neighborhood associations. You could profile each one to help people identify and feel pride in where they live.

I left inspired. One particularly helpful discussion was New Drivers of Opportunity: How changes in AB 32, AB 811 and the stimulus act will reshape the regional clean tech economy. Valley Vision's Kristine Mazzei and SACOG's Mike McKeever offered a glimpse into the bright future they see if we stay focused and CEC advisor Panama Bartholomy was refreshingly frank. Thank you to the organizers. I know how much work goes into something like that.

I have great respect for sports writers. It (almost) always ends the same: one team wins and one loses and the reporter has to quickly tell the story behind the numbers. James is one of the best. Thanks for hosting these Sac Press. Looking forward to food writing (and perhaps tasting).

Great pictures.

PS: Great pictures.

Jon: Thank you for taking the time to cover this. You did a wonderful job of cutting through the insider jokes to get at the meat of how this important election will impact real people. I look forward to reading more in the next five months.

Thank you Colleen and Stella for the votes of confidence. I think this is an important discussion and look forward to hearing from the people on the front lines about their vision of the future. Thanks for hosting.

Go Dale!

So sad. Thank you for making it personal. Sometimes we forget these are real people behind the headlines.

Looking forward to seeing the Duct Tape Guys.

Thank you Laura for posting this. I will send people here for an explanation if they give me that raised eyebrow "whaaat" face like I am talking a foreign language when I invite them to these valuable networking events. I look forward to seeing you at the next one.

Laura: Great advice. Thanks for sharing. Your consistent communication through social media brings people together.

Thanks for sharing.

Great pictures of a landmark mural by a talented local artist.

Thank you for the article. Sacramento is home to a lot of great journalists, full-time, freelance and otherwise. Sacramento Press and the unrelated Sacramento Press Club are great resources for finding places to sell articles, fine tuning your research skills and sharing best practices with other journalists in the same situation. Best of Luck. We are all figuring out this thing together.

Congrats Bill. This is a great organization.

I love the energy of these economy-changers. Looking forward to a full week of events supporting and celebrating business creation in Sacramento.

Sacramento Bee book club features local and visiting authors as does the Sacramento chapter of the National Kidney Foundation, which has its annual lunch in November. Amicus Books in Marysville is a writer's haven and a number of local book stores do book readings. We also have a growing community of small publishers, agents and book packagers in the area who help with everything from concept, coaching and editing to design and printing services. I'm sure most of these groups could use all the help they can get. You can find many of these people on the Writers Who Wine site on Facebook.

Actually Sacramento already has a vibrant writer community. I have attended two writer gatherings in two days - Sacramento Press Club Freelance Social Journalism panel discussion where more than 40 attended and Writers Who Wine at Scandals where more than 20 shared their progress. Sacramento Press puts on some wonderful workshops. UC Davis Extension offers a plethora of writing courses and is presenting a workshop on how to write about your mother later this month. I know of a number of writer meet-ups and critique groups who help each other word-by-word. Urban Hive hosts freelance and writer events and I just heard about an indie publishing seminar going on in Roseville later this month. I have attended no fewer than four book launches by local authors over the summer and two more were announced last night. Local authors have had a great deal of national success in a variety of genres. The word is out. Sacramento writers are thriving and we welcome you to the literal (and possibly literary) capital of the state.

I worked at Levinson's back in the day and was very happy to see the front preserved and the space put to fitting use. It has become a magnet for creative types. Plus the coffee is rich and the mochas works of art. I am sure the new location will have the same activating effect on the surrounding neighborhood.