A vote for peace and quiet; Sonoma Santa and more
After all the angst over Measure B, it would be nice to take a nice long vacation from politics — if we could all agree on what hotel to stay in… If you need a ride to the polls Tuesday, the Preserving Sonoma Committee folks can help you out. The ride is free, but the best part is the promise of no campaigning or lobbying during the trip. To request and schedule a ride, call 996-9498 and leave a message with name, phone number, address, and time of day requested. And enjoy the quiet time – the discussion will certainly heat up again when the results come in that night.
The Sonoma Police Department has landed a $70,000 state grant for special traffic safety measures. The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions. While traffic deaths from all causes declined by nearly 39 percent between 2006 and 2010 in California, they rose by 2.6 percent in 2011, and another rise is expected in 2012. Recent trends show increases in two new categories, distracted driving and drug-impaired driving, but DUI deaths remain the largest sector, at nearly 30 percent of traffic fatalities. The SPD will use the grant money, in part, to train officers to better identify and test drivers under the influence, DUI patrols, identifying worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders, and even staking out DUI offender probationers with suspended or revoked driver licenses… If you plan a busy holiday social season, put Vern’s on speed dial.
Santa Claus, cruising down Broadway on a fire truck, arrives at Sonoma City Hall at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, December 6. The jolly one will lead the countdown to light the array of holiday lights, which this year ring the entire building. A nip of complimentary hot chocolate, provided once again by the Soroptomists, and it’s back to the North Pole workshop. Those iPads and PlayStations don’t make themselves, you know.
Vintner and concert promoter Bruce Cohn got out his big pen and wrote a big check to the Redwood Empire Food Bank, which “does incredible work in Sonoma County, especially in light of the recent reduction in food stamps by the government.” The $35k donation, from his 27th annual B.R Cohn Charity Events Fall Music Festival in September, will go along way: “The food bank is able to turn a dollar’s donation into several dollars worth of food, which is incredible.”
