Items: County offices in Sonoma, Adobe Drug opens, gated community, and more
Sonoma County is bringing a number of county services — economic assistance, child support, and health services among them — under one local roof. The 19080 Lomita Avenue building in Sonoma, a Nelson company property, will become a regional service center, saving a trip to Santa Rosa by car (bad enough) or bus (way worse). Supervisor Susan Gorin will have an office there, as will County departments of Health Services, Human Services, and Child Support Services, along with a housing navigation services center, and the Office of Equity also will utilize the space to facilitate community engagement work. Nonprofit orgs will have space there, too… The five-year lease calls for rent payments of $17,597 per month for the 7,332- square-foot office. Move-in is anticipated for October after some minor improvements are made.
Back in business with a throw-back name, the now-locally-owned Adobe Drugs is open on West Napa Street in Sonoma. It’s a sweet story. Aman Garg worked there when it was Pharmaca, which closed suddenly in February when the national chain went kaput. Garg dedicated himself to re-opening the space as an independent business. “I know everyone,” he figured. “I know the doctors, the hospitals, the vendors and most of all the customers. I love Sonoma and my family and I are committed to the health and wellbeing of the community.” He negotiated a lease and convinced many staffers to return. Pooja, his wife and partner, said, “We’ve been working nonstop for over six weeks to get everything ready.”… Back before it was Pharmaca, the business was known as Adobe Pharmacy & Drug. When Garg’s crew explored the attic space above the ceiling, they found the original store window sign. “I think that’s an indication that it was all meant to be,” said herbalist Paul Clark.
The Sebastiani Theater, still grand but showing some of her 89 years, is proposing ADA upgrades and building repairs to keep current and comfortable. The biggest addition would be about 5K sq. ft. to the back of the building to create a separate venue for special events, lectures, smaller screenings, intimate music shows and so on. A food prep kitchen, in space added to the theater’s northern side, would enhance the venue’s value as a rental for weddings, private parties and conferences. Next step: Sonoma Planning Commission.
Bonnie Lee has always been a writer and a storyteller. She also runs Taxpertise, the Sonoma income tax firm. But since the IRS has never been known to appreciate creative writing, Lee found an outlet in a form she calls the “tax novella.” Her first book using that technique, Taxpertise for the Creative Mind, set factual tax tips and problem-solving within a fictional framework. “I can’t think of a single artist who wants to read a straight up tax book,” she figured. Arriving this month is her first true novel, The Card Game. The book takes place in 1976. Jeanette, Sarah, and Minnie, while packing up the last of their friend’s life, hatch a plan to go on a splurge. Using the deceased’s credit cards they leave their dead-end lives in San Francisco for a cross country adventure. It’s bonding, shopping, and high living. Will all that creative accounting catch up to them? The book’s on sale now at Readers’. As always, save your receipts.
Barriers have been installed at the Sonoma Developmental Center to bar vehicle traffic into the campus from Arnold Drive. As of June 12, the gate at the main entrance at Harney will be closed from sunset to sunrise. Gates at Holt Street and Wilson Street will be permanently closed. Pedestrian access is unchanged. The barriers have been installed as a security measure, the County said, to keep vehicles out of the area at night and decrease the chance of vandalism. So there you have it, a gated community!
Sonoma Arts Live and the rest of the Bay Area theater world is dealing with the passing of Michael Ross, the beloved, respected, award-winning director. “SAL owes so much to Michael Ross and his talent, humor, and dedication to theater in the North Bay,” said Jaime Love. “ I can’t imagine producing a season without him, but we will, because that’s what theater people do, keeping his memory alive by creating what he loved, great theater. We hold his husband Tim Setzer in our hearts and send the deepest condolences and love. We celebrate his unparalleled artistic work and will forever cherish Michael’s legacy and memory.”
