Read. Listen. Watch.
Not quite the three Rs, but pretty useful skills in their own right.
It’s also one of several revolving mottos for the new SonomaSun.com Web site, an endeavor that embraces a forward-thinking model of what a community newspaper can be. We’re not reinventing the wheel here, but we’re hoping to help make it spin true. Not only do we believe news should be free and available online, we want it to be convenient too. This new version of our Web site affords us an exciting new context to strive for editorial excellence while significantly expanding the site’s utility to our readership.
We’re particularly proud of “SonomaNow” (or as we call it around the office, the “über calendar”) as well as our video webcasts, which literally show Sonoma in a new light. Likewise, the audio stream from local radio station KSVY 91.3 FM Sonoma is readily available from our site.
As the weeks go on, we will be implementing new functions and features to enhance your local news experience, and we encourage feedback during this process. Send us tips and ideas – everybody in the community can collaborate on this project. Check out page 14 of this edition of the Sun for more details about using the site, about its myriad features, and about submitting your event details to our calendar.
You can help us use this dynamic forum to bring you “warmth, light, and truth” in new ways, shaping the future of local media.
Red Rubber Ball
“Yes, the worst is over now. The morning sun is shining bright, like a red rubber ball.” We know our singing isn’t the best, but does anyone else remember that Paul Simon song?
Not, of course, that we remember its original release by The Cyrkle back in 1966, but these lyrics often came to mind as we went past the big Union 76 ball at Napa Street and Second Street West. The ball that is no more.
We guess the ball’s removal was the right thing to do, aesthetically. That section of Highway 12 is more scenic without it, and it does take more than a few decades to acquire “historic” status. Nevertheless, a part of Sonoma’s familiar streetscape is gone, and we’ll miss it, for a time.
Apples and … Oncology
Like all voters in the Valley, we received a questionnaire in the mail a few weeks ago from the Sonoma Valley Health Care Coalition. Now that we’re finally sitting down to review it, beyond just the attractive new logo the coalition has adopted, we find the wording quite interesting. In particular, while we shouldn’t read too much into it, it appeared that the coalition had decided that we in the community would, in fact, have to tax ourselves to get a new hospital:
“A bond, backed by a property tax, is required to build/remodel a hospital. This property tax is anticipated to last for a period of up to 30 years.”
Now, our readers know that we’ve been calling for the coalition to evaluate quickly the one proposal put forth by a private group to build and run a new hospital without the need for tax money. That’s because we don’t see how any new ballot measure requiring 67 percent voter approval could succeed for a $100+ million bond if a “free” (no bond) alternative exists.
As it happens, the Cirrus Health Group proposal is to be evaluated by the coalition at its meeting next Monday (7 p.m. at Vintage House). The discussions promise to be exciting, and we encourage everyone interested in the future of local healthcare (and who isn’t, really?) to attend. See you there!
