That accidental tourist is now a virus patient
A random passenger aboard a Princess cruise in Japan is making a very unscheduled stay in an undisclosed Sonoma County hospital after being quarantined for the COVID-19 virus. Officials say there is no cause for alarm, but will not identify the name of the accidental tourist/patient — or the exact hospital — over concerns for “personal privacy”. The odyssey began when the entire ship was in quarantine; then, some of the passengers were flown directly to Travis Air Force Base. Tuesday, Sonoma County Department of Health Services confirmed that one passenger from that ill-fated trip is in “the County receiving care to lessen the burden on the local health care system in the communities near the base.” Sonoma County is not the only jurisdiction in the Bay Area to receive such COVID-19 patients from Travis Air Force Base, said Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Celeste Philip… Our region may depend on tourism, but this is ridiculous.
Progress on the affordable housing front. Ground has been broken and the ribbon officially cut on the Altimira Apartments on Broadway and Clay Streets in Sonoma. Work is already underway for the 48-unit project, which Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, the nonprofit developer, says will provide housing and services to families and formerly homeless veterans earning 30% to 60% of the median income in Sonoma County. Monthly rents will range from about $460 to $1,540. If all goes well, construction will wrap by summer’s end.
Meanwhile, residents (and some city councilmembers) are alarmed at the number of homeless people having the audacity to use the City-sanctioned homeless shelter. Vice Mayor Rachel Hundely has a few thoughts; see her adjacent op/ed for more.
In the Springs, folks are wondering why two high-profile construction projects, both under the Ken Mattson umbrella, seem to be on hold. About his two mansions at the base of Moon Mountain road, no comment. As for the Boyes Food Center project, the delay is bureaucratic. Planning issues and and environmental reviews for the planned retail complex and apartments make a 2020 start unlikely — spring of 2021 is more realistic.
Congrats to Tracy Salcedo on her latest book, Search and Rescue — Alaska. The prolific Glen Ellen author (and occasional Sun contributor) has written extensively about nature, hiking and history. This time, she shares “some of the Last Frontier’s best search-and-rescue stories.”
The staffer at Enterprise Car Rental was friendly, efficient and professional. And although he adeptly explained the payment and check-out process, he was nowhere as overbearing as his name may have suggested. The moniker on his counter nameplate: Manny Splain.
–Val Robichaud, [email protected]
