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Play ball; cut the budget; and define 'smoke'

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Sonoma Valley Sun

When the Sonoma Stompers open their home season July 1, longtime local broadcaster Tim Livingston will be behind the microphone as all 33 home games will be broadcast on KSVY 91.3 FM, and SVTV 27 Comcast Cable. The homegrown talent just finished his 10th season as the radio and TV voice of Sonoma Valley High School sports. In 2009 and 2010, he was the play-by-play broadcaster for the Dunedin Blue Jays, the Advanced-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. At the age of 20, Livingston, got his broadcasting start in 2004 with KSVY as the play-by-play man for Sonoma Dragons football and, as coverage expanded, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and even rugby. The 2002 SVHS grad grew up playing baseball on Arnold Field; now he’s in the booth for the inaugural season for Sonoma’s first-ever professional baseball team. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be the voice of the Stompers,” said Livingston. “I can’t wait to see what this team can do in my hometown and be there for all the action at such a beautiful place to watch a baseball game.”

Sonoma Valley Hospital will cut its budget by five percent, about $2.5 million. The new facility looks great, but not enough folks are using it. Inpatient admissions have dropped by 40 percent in the past year, from 140 to 80 per month, because payers like Medicare do not cover as many admissions as in the past, said CEO Kelly Mather. “While we are working to keep pace by reducing salary and other expenses, with net revenue so much lower than planned, more changes must be made by the end of this fiscal year to maintain viability.” Expenses will be cut, while prices, and fear of layoffs, will increase.

Sonoma Raceway President and General Manager Steve Page will be inducted to the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame later this month. Page joined Sonoma Raceway as President and General Manager in 1991, after 11 years with the Oakland Athletics. At the track, he oversaw Sonoma Raceway’s $100 million modernization project, which transformed it into one of the premier motor racing venues in the country. Among the other inductees is Bob Bondurant, founder of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. Fast company, indeed.

Regarding the ban of smoking cigarettes (electronic and otherwise) in public, what about pot? If an approved medical-marijuana user has to fire up a joint in public – to address a medicinal emergency, of course – is that an infraction?




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