Sactown Magazine - July-August 2022

Magic Mountain

On a clear day, find your way above the tree canopy in Sacramento, look southwest, and there you’ll spot it—the soaring 3,849-foot peak at the center of Mount Diablo State Park. The summit—reachable by foot, bike or car—rises over a thousand feet higher than the world’s tallest building, and from it, you can see 40 of our state’s 58 counties. At Mount Diablo, you can also hike up to 150 miles of trails, camp in the ultimate “room” with a view, and literally lunch above the clouds. So go west, young men and women, and experience California from a whole new point of view.

The Long Way Home

Earlier this year, Land Park journalist Martin Kuz spent five weeks in Ukraine, both as a reporter covering Russia’s invasion of his late father’s homeland and as a son hoping to better understand the forces that shaped his father’s life. He returned to Sacramento—home to the largest concentration of Ukrainian immigrants in the United States—with a profound new understanding of his complex heritage forged by war and loss. In this essay, Kuz chronicles his journey at the intersection of global history and personal identity.

Wayne’s World

Last year, Sacramento lost a local legend—painter Wayne Thiebaud. Like other cities around the country have done, we should remember our greatest hometown artist with a museum befitting his global stature.

A Viral Sensation

When Dr. Richard Corsi floated an idea on Twitter for a highly effective, inexpensive, DIY air purifier to help lower the risk of Covid, his light-bulb moment went viral in the best possible way. Now many of America’s top scientists—and even the White House—are touting the invention, and people all over the planet are thinking inside the box.

Planting Ideas

At Burger Patch’s new Land Park location, husband-and-wife owners Phil and Danea Horn think outside the vegan bun and launch an innovation lab, where they’ll be cooking up new creative plant-based concepts. Fishless fish tacos, anyone?