Hospital beef, no coffee

When Carolyn Stone and the rest of the board Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation walked out (pushed, they say), they took the “Dancing with the Stars” event with them. The show will go on, but with a new beneficiary… Such events weren’t high on the list of the hospital’s fundraising priorities – just one of the many differences leading to the big split. Hospital CEO Kelly Mather and her team were looking to consolidate fundraising activities and cut costs. Stone called it “vicious bullying,” and led the mass resignation. People, doctors, can’t we all just heal thyselves?

Nothing brewing at 591 Broadway, the proposed location for a Peet’s Coffee denied by the city Planning Commission (page 2). The application process was triggered by the city’s new formula store ordinance. A chain to be sure, but Peet’s did not exceed most of the new rules, other than the one most arbitrary: the new business must be judged to fit both the business mix and the historic character of the neighborhood. Four commissioners felt, like a latte without foam, it didn’t quite work… So, the building sits vacant and garishly painted. Across the street is the old fire station, the development of which (said to include a Peet’s) is stuck in financial and NIMBY limbo… It happened years ago, but when it comes to talking about strict planning and design issues around the Plaza, there’s a big neon elephant in the room. It’s name: 7-11.

The cost of procrastination just went up again, too. The library fine for late DVDs is now a buck a day. But now you can check out ebooks that, after the agreed return date, simply disappear from your computer.

From an SF office worker surrounded by major budget cuts: “We’d talk about it around the water cooler,” she says, “but they took out the water cooler.”