April showers bring May flowers – and they also bring some good news on the water front. In early April, Governor Brown declared the end to California’s four-year drought. The governor’s announcement wasn’t a surprise to many of us: Sonoma County has received more rainfall... Continue
Columnist
I was scared I might have terminal cancer last year. The doctors and holistic practitioners gave me herbs, X-rays, blood tests and a maze of treatments. My body wasn’t well. I was either plugged up or letting go. (You know what I mean.) I’ll spare... Continue
Retailing has never been an easy business. Changing tastes, new technologies, capricious landlords and finding loyal employees alone are enough to create conditions of failure. Add in the Internet, and today's retailer faces incredible odds. Here in Sonoma, those of us who've been here for... Continue
It’s hard to be a mother. I didn't have kids but I have dogs and it’s been a rough month. It started out okay, but then life has its tough spots and so does love. Trying to be a good enough mother is impossible. And being... Continue
When a major new commercial building project is proposed in Sonoma, its appearance is scrutinized, poked, prodded, and otherwise worked-over by committees until it is declared suitably "Sonoma-Style". Thus we see "Sonoma-Style Farmhouse" and "Sonoma-Style Barn" popping up in proposal project narratives reading more like real... Continue
Hospitals in Mogadishu aren’t great and in Syria they are routinely bombed, but in America even low-education voters understand that hospitals are a public service as vital as police, fire, water and Twitter. Fortunately, Sonoma Valley Hospital is a good one, and Measure E will... Continue
The swift and massive civic response to the Trump election is a social movement, galvanized by widespread revulsion against the white nationalist element in the Republican base. The Democratic Party political leaders have lagged behind the populist upsurge. They have still not found their bearings... Continue
"I enjoy candlelit dinners, a walk on a moonlit beach, and spending time in the woods enjoying the beautiful nature around us." Oh please. Who writes this smarm? I've perused dating sites and snicker at the profiles. Is there no one looking for love that... Continue
The City of Sonoma has always had oligarchs, powerful people of great wealth and the inclination to use it. First among these was General Mariano Vallejo, the Mexican General who owned much of Northern California, including the town of Sonoma. He laid out the city,... Continue
America was founded from within a state of paranoia, the persecution experience of the Puritans and other Christian sects in England. Coming to the shores of North America was envisioned by them as their refuge from paranoia, but instead of escaping it, they brought it... Continue