Plaza naming rights deal?
Tuesday headlines you may have missed: Sonoma council mulls Plaza naming rights.
“AT&T Sonoma Square” and “Sonoma Plaza by Visa” are among the possible names for the historic downtown area as officials ponder a naming rights deal to save the city from financial ruin. Also under discussion are the proposed “Friedman Brothers Planning Commission” and the “Sherwin Williams League for Historic Preservation.”
Ritz to SDC: Mind if I play through?
The Ritz Carlton hotel group has reached a tentative agreement with the state to build a resort and golf course on the grounds of the Sonoma Developmental Center. Attorneys for the developer said they found a little-known loophole to allow the contract. “Development, I mean come on,” said one insider. “It’s right there in the name of the place.” As part of the deal, Ritz will build several traffic roundabouts, paint all doors pink and ban the use of leaf blowers.
Measure C headed for ballot
The emergent activist group Prohibit Sonoma is gathering signatures to force a special election for a ballot initiative banning all future ballot initiatives. “It’s a bit confusing,” admitted one resident. “I mean, if I’m for it, which means I’m against it, doesn’t that mean I shouldn’t sign the petition in the first place?”
Tasting Rooms put cap on input, comments
Tired of all the yakking about where they should be located and what permits they need and how late they can stay open, Sonoma’s downtown tasting rooms have told the town to “shut its yapper already.”
Forum on drought held in driving rainstorm
Attendance at Monday’s public meeting on water conservation would have been higher absent the inclement weather, officials said this week.
Tuesday was, of course April Fools Day. But by the way, that last item is true.
Homegrown Steve Rinaudo is an official member of the Sonoma Stompers baseball team, set to start its season in June at Sonoma’s Arnold Field. Among the centerfielder’s biggest fans: parents and fellow Dragon alumni Danny and Maureen, who now live in Orangevale, and grandmother Marie Rinaudo-Davis, still presiding over the clan’s home base on East Spain Street.
Two candidates, Ken Brown and Jack Wagner, have filed an official “Notice of Intention” to run for the Sonoma City Council. The form allows them to start accepting campaign donations. The more formal nomination period is July 14 through August 8. Three seats are up for grabs in the November 4 contest.
Not sure why you’d set up camp by parking a mobile home in front of the police station, but one visitor did, at least until March 22. Posted maximum time to stay parked there: 72 hours. Time allowed to the forewarned driver: 73 hours.
