Railroaded: community input totaling lacking in ‘outrageous’ SDC plan

We are writing (to Sonoma County officials) following our review of the draft environmental impact report pertaining to the Sonoma Developmental Center’s (SDC) future. By Deborah C. Nitasaka, M.A., co-founder, Sonoma County Housing Advocacy Group As most following this planning process, including Sonoma County... Continue

A vote for Deegan

I have long been concerned about the current direction of the past and current leadership in the City of Sonoma. We have three openings on our City Council and the opportunity to elect individuals that will actually be in a position to bring effective change... Continue

Standing with the Teachers Union

One of the cultural aftershocks of the pandemic trauma is a remarkable spike in union action in the U.S. The fact that about a third of the American workforce was laid off during the covid crisis awakened a widespread mobilization of young people in the... Continue

A magical evening in an enchanted forest

Jack London State Historic Park transformed into an enchanted forest on Sept. 24 as 320 guests attended the gala fundraising event, “Once Upon a Time in a Not-So-Distant Forest.” The event raised more than $550,000 for the non-profit Jack London Park Partners which has... Continue

The true, brutal story of an American genocide

Between 1846 and 1873, California’s Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did... Continue

Impact100 Sonoma sets new grant policy

In 2023, women’s collective giving organization Impact100 Sonoma – one of the valley’s largest funders – will again offer multiple Impetus Grants of up to $25,000 to local nonprofit organizations. In 2022, Impact100 awarded a record $335,500 in Impetus Grants to 14 valley nonprofits. That... Continue

The age of innocence

Between awareness of climate change, an Internet filled with disturbing images, cultural shifts about identity, and extreme political division, things seem terribly complicated and difficult right now. It’s tempting for those of us born in the 1940s or 50s to feel that life was once... Continue

The pace quickens

Vladimir Putin has announced that he is drafting more troops and threatening to use nuclear weapons if anyone interferes with his call for a “referendum” on the Donbass. The draft has triggered widespread Russian protests. Biden has declared, again, if Putin does any such thing,... Continue

Job opening: Aide to Supervisor Gorin

Sonoma County is looking for a part-time Supervisor's aide. Continue

George Webber at 500

Sonoma history actor George Webber has an active imagination. Growing up in Des Moines, Iowa in the 1960s he would always be found in the woods, playing cowboys and Indians. His family’s Victorian home was built in 1880, high atop a ridge leading down to... Continue