The Sonoma Garden: Signs of troubled trees

By Karen Boness -- I recently got a call from a woman who was very distressed about her Japanese maple trees. As she described it, the trees were dying. Based on her description I suspected that her trees were succumbing to verticillium wilt. caused by... Continue

21 cookbooks for a better food system

Food Tank, a nonprofit advocate for sustainable agriculture, has selected 21 cookbooks that reflect a growing, transforming food system. The authors and editors that have contributed make up some of the world’s leading experts in sustainable eating… and the food is darn good, too. See... Continue

Valley attorney wins lawsuit challenging adequacy of County’s Climate Action Plan

Superior Court Judge Nancy Case Shaffer in Santa Rosa has ruled in favor of local Sonoma Valley attorney Jerry Bernhaut's lawsuit challenging Sonoma County's Climate Action 2020 Plan. A lawyer with River Watch, a Sonoma County firm active in filing environmental challenges, Bernhaut's suit argued... Continue

Update: Photo of bank robbery suspect

The suspect in Tuesday's robbery at Rabobank is still at large, but the Sonoma Police Department has released a photo of the man taken by the bank's surveillance system. Sheriff's detectives believe the suspect to be possibly Hispanic rather than African- American as previously reported. He... Continue

What is an ‘age friendly’ community?

An age-friendly community features safe, walkable streets; housing and transportation options; and services tailored to older people. But how to get it all done? Sonoma County, which has joined the World Health Organization Global Network of Age Friendly Communities, wants your ideas. If you are... Continue

First report: Sonoma bank robbery

The Sonoma Police Department received a call of a bank robbery that occurred just after noon today. The robber exiting Rabobank was described as an African male adult wearing a green sweater, baggy blue jeans and had a mesh black mask. No guns or weapons... Continue

Chapter 6: The good people of Buckeye Creek Estates

The continuing saga of a beleaguered Sonoma mother of five on the trail of a missing emerald necklace – the legendary Green Tara. Rachel knows that she cannot dig herself out of seventeen years of routine with the same shovel she used to dig the hole,... Continue

‘Growing the whole child’

Pictured, from left: Dunbar's Alissa Pearce, Chris Everidge of Sassarini and Flowery, guest presenter Chef Ann Cooper, Altimira's Kimberly Weber, and Adele's Yannick Phillips. By Sarah Ford | Sonoma Valley Sun -- A group of four Sonoma school horticulture educators recently traveled to Berkeley to attend a... Continue

Neighborhood portraits: The Springs

By Jennifer Gray Thompson | Special to The Sun Leslie Boutell, Urban Refind I was born and raised in Berkeley, a very diverse, liberal, creative place. My mother was an artist and my father was a professor at Cal. I didn’t stay after high school... Continue

Deadline for Groundwater Advisory Committees applications

Applications are due Monday, July 31 for board-appointed members of groundwater advisory committees for the Sonoma Valley The advisory committees – also forming for Petaluma Valley and Santa Rosa Plain -- will provide input and feedback on policies, programs and projects to the newly created boards... Continue