The Return of the Elk Grove CityCast: A New Approach, More Great Info

The Elk Grove CityCast is back! After a year-long hiatus, we’re relaunching with a fresh format that uses AI technology to bring you highlights from the City’s weekly email updates.

In this episode, we’ll share details about Elk Grove’s Military Street Banner Program, upcoming community meetings on the City’s first permanent homeless shelter, and how the Cosumnes Fire Department’s new Mobile Integrated Health Program is enhancing care in our community.

We’ll also cover opportunities to shape Elk Grove’s transit future, celebrate culture with Diversity Dining Week and a Diversity Awareness Month concert and preview the fun of the upcoming Silent Disco event. Plus, don’t forget important reminders about Labor Day holiday closures.

Rate, review and subscribe to the Elk Grove CityCast to get more information about the people, programs, and services shaping the City. You can find the Elk Grove CityCast anywhere you get your podcasts or listen online at elkgrove.gov/podcast.

Transcript

The Return of the Elk Grove CityCast: A New Approach, More Great Info

Kristyn Nelson: Thanks for tuning into the Elk Grove CityCast, the podcast about Elk Grove, California. I'm Kristyn Nelson, Elk Grove’s Public Affairs and Communications Manager. And with the help of artificial intelligence, we're rolling out new episodes that dive into the relevant topics, events, and happenings within our city.

We're using technology to provide you with new resources that will help you to stay informed and connect with the community at the time and with the tools that you prefer. So whether you have a passion for podcasts or print material, subscribe to social media, or dig into digital. We want to be a source for local information that's valuable to you.

Now without further ado, let me turn it over to our AI friends for a deeper dive into this week's topics. 

Aiden AI Male: Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today, we're really jumping into Elk Grove's community updates. We've got this stack of info you sent over. It feels like a direct line almost right into what's happening right now as the city, you know, heads towards September.

Aileen AI Female: Exactly. And our goal here isn't just to list things off. We want to pull out the really important stuff from these sources, give you that shortcut to knowing what's actually going on in well, what seems like a pretty vibrant community. We'll connect some dots for you. 

Aiden AI Male: Okay. Set into connecting dots. This first thing actually surprised me….the Elk Grove CityCast. 

Aileen AI Female: Hmm. 

Aiden AI Male: It's back now. If you followed it, you know, it kind of stopped suddenly back in July, 2024. That was after the sad passing of co-host John Hull. But it looks like city staff got creative. And what's really interesting, kind of innovative actually, is how they're bringing it back.

They're using AI technology to basically report the updates from the city's weekly email. It's like a tech driven restart. 

Aileen AI Female: Yeah. And that's, well, it shows how cities are thinking ahead using tech to keep communication lines open, especially when things, you know, get disrupted unexpectedly. It's not just a neat trick. It could be a model for other smaller places, maybe facing staffing issues to keep information flowing. Shows real commitment.

For you listening, this info comes straight from those weekly emails. You can sign up for them. They come out on Mondays at elkgrove.gov. 

Aiden AI Male: Okay, let's shift gears a bit. Another thing that really stands out here is how the city honors its veterans. It's quite nice actually. They have these banners. You've probably seen them along Elk Grove Boulevard and Civic Center Drive, honoring local Vets. But here's the new part, and it's pretty unique. They're offering a one-time free one-year sponsorship for a banner. This is for an honorably discharged service member who lives in Elk Grove, or maybe lived here and passed away, or someone involved with a local service group, or even went to school here.

It does depend on space, obviously, and the application deadline for this next round is Monday, September 1st. 

Aileen AI Female: And what's insightful there, I think is the free aspect. By sponsoring it, they remove that potential cost barrier for families. So this kind of really personal recognition becomes accessible to more people.

It helps build a wider sense of community ownership around honoring veterans. It's creative. Goes beyond just, you know, statues. It puts appreciation right into the everyday view. 

Aiden AI Male: Right. Okay. So moving from honoring the past. Let's talk about shaping future support, specifically homelessness.

Aileen AI Female: Yes.

Aiden AI Male: It's a critical issue everywhere the city's taking what seems like the next big step. Planning for a permanent year-round shelter. And there's a meeting coming up about it, a virtual one. It's the second of three community meetings. This online one, it's gonna recap feedback from the first meeting and help kind of narrow down the values and features for the shelters design that's happening via Zoom, uh, Saturday, September 6th from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM 

Aileen AI Female: Hmm.

Okay. But here's a really crucial detail for you listening these specific meetings. They are not about the shelter's location. That conversation about where it might go, that's planned for meetings later in the fall. It shows a very deliberate structured approach, doesn't it? Focusing first on the what's and how the design, the values before tackling the where. It's about building consensus first makes sense for such a sensitive topic.

So if you're interested, definitely attend and you can sign up for updates too at elkgrove.gov/longtermshelter. 

Aiden AI Male: Okay, now this next one, this really caught my attention. It's about how the community's looking after resident health in a new way. The Cosumnes Fire Department has launched something called the Mobile Integrated Health Program, MIH for short. It's a pilot program.

The idea is to bring timely in-home support to people who have trouble getting regular care. Improve health. Less ER visits. So who's it for?

Well, it seems focused on people managing chronic conditions, maybe recovering from a hospital stay or facing other barriers to getting traditional medical help. Basically bringing care to them. How it works, it runs three days a week. There's a licensed advanced practice provider involved. 

Aileen AI Female: Right, like a nurse practitioner, or a PA, someone who can actually diagnose and treat 

Aiden AI Male: Exactly. And a retired paramedic. They focus on non-emergency stuff, prevention, follow-up care. Initially, they'll be helping frequent 9 1 1 callers, visiting folks recently discharged from the hospital in their service area, and even responding to some behavioral health issues or medical things that, you know, don't really need an ER visit. 

Aileen AI Female: Yeah, this is a, a pretty significant shift actually. It's broadening the role of emergency services beyond just, you know, lights and sirens. Using an advanced practice provider brings that higher level of care right into the home and having a retired paramedic. Smart. Taps into years of experience without the immediate pressure of an emergency. It's a cost-effective, skilled team, and it's funded by the American Rescue Plan Act with support from Supervisor Pat Hume. That pilot runs through the end of this year, so they're testing it out. It's a proactive approach to healthcare access. 

Aiden AI Male: Okay, changing lanes completely, now. How are you gonna get around Elk Grove in the future? The city wants your input on that too. They're working with SacRT or Sacramento Regional Transit, exploring ways to expand high frequency transit.

It's part of this blue line Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT implementation plan. This could really improve links between Elk Grove and the wider region. We're talking potential new services along Bruceville Road….Big Horn Boulevard… connecting Cosumnes River College down to Kammerer Road and Highway 99. So there are four different options on the table extending light rail or bringing in this new BRT service. You can weigh in through an online survey or there's an in-person workshop. That's September 2nd, 6:00 PM at District56.

Aileen AI Female: Which is that big community center, right? 

Aiden AI Male: Yeah, the state. The state-of-the-art one. Perfect place for it. And you can find links and everything at elkgrove.gov/transitplan.  

Aileen AI Female: Stepping back a bit, this really highlights how important public feedback is for these big, long-term infrastructure plans. I mean, these decisions affect daily life for years, so getting community input now is key. And just quickly on BRT, bus rapid transit, it's not just regular buses often means dedicated lanes, traffic signal priority stuff that makes it almost as if it's fast and reliable as light rail. But, usually cheaper to build, so it's an efficient option.

Aiden AI Male: Definitely. Okay, so beyond infrastructure and services, Elk Grove also seems really focused on celebrating its diverse community spirit. Which is great to see. They're known as one of the diverse spots in the Sacramento region. And they lean into that with events focused on food, music, dance, art. Actually, September is officially Diversity Awareness Month there, and they're kicking things off with Diversity Dining Week, starting September 5th.

Explore Elk Grove is running it again. You can go to their website at exploreelkgrove.com, get a free mobile pass. Gets you special deals, discounts. Sounds like a perfect excuse to try a new restaurant or maybe a cuisine you haven't had before.

And it's not just food. There's music too. Part of the month celebration includes a free concert by…get this…Metalachi.

Aileen AI Female: Metalachi. Okay, I'm intrigued. 

Aiden AI Male: Right. They're described as this LA band fusing mariachi fire with heavy metal thunder. The description says, think Guns N Roses meets Vicente Fernandez. 

Aileen AI Female: Wow. Okay. That's, that's a combo. 

Aiden AI Male: Definitely sounds unique. That free show is Sunday, September 7th, about6:00 PM also at District 56. Details are on the city site. 

Aileen AI Female: You know what's fascinating here is how deliberately they're using food and music. These really accessible things. Not just to celebrate diversity, but to actively bring people together. It really says something about the city's character. Its identity. 

Aiden AI Male: Yeah, absolutely. And speaking of fun events, one more quick one for music lovers, especially if you like to do your own thing. The public affairs team is doing a silent disco. 

Aileen AI Female: Oh, those are fun!

Aiden AI Male: Yeah. It's at the Old Town Plaza. For their next Fridays in the Grove event. That's Friday, September 5th, starting at 6:00 PM

Three music channels, two live DJs free family event. You can buy refreshments or just hit up one of the restaurants nearby on Main Street.

Okay. And wrapping things up, just a quick, practical reminder for your calendar. Monday, September 1st is Labor Day. So city hall, the animal shelter, the Special Waste Collection Center. They'll all be closed. But good news for trash day routines, trash and recycling collection stays on its normal schedule.

Aileen AI Female: That's always good to know.

Aiden AI Male: Right? No disruption there.

And of course, emergency services, police, fire dispatch. They're available 24 7. Just like any holiday. 

Aileen AI Female: So if we kind of zoom out and connect all these pieces, what we've really seen today isn't just, you know, our random list of updates. It's more like a snapshot of a really dynamic community actively shaping its future, trying new things with communication and services and really celebrating its unique cultural mix that shows a city that's, well adapting and trying to thrive. 

Aiden AI Male: Yeah, exactly. You basically just got a quick, but hopefully insightful, look at how one city's doing things. Using AI for news, launching mobile health teams carefully, planning big projects like transit and celebrating culture in fun ways. It really shows how communities are finding these new paths to connect and evolve.

So maybe something to think about is how all these different threads the tech, the community discussions on tough issues like homelessness, the cultural celebrations, how do they all weave together?

Aileen AI Female: Yep.

Aiden AI Male: What does this mix of technology, civic engagement, and cultural vibrancy really mean for the future of city life? How does it build resilience? Makes you think. 

Kristyn Nelson: Thank you for listening to the Elk Grove CityCast. Tune in again soon for another deep dive into the news, events and happenings around the city of Elk Grove. Like what we're doing? Please rate, review, and subscribe to the show to help spread the word to other audiophiles

Want more news before the next episode? Follow the city of Elk Grove on social media. You can find us on x. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Nextdoor. Or get our news delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for the city's weekly email update at elkgrove.gov.

Thanks again for listening For the City of Elk Grove, I'm Kristyn Nelson.