Public Citizen

Larry Barnett lives in Sonoma where he was elected to three terms on the City Council and served twice as Mayor. A thirty-five-year resident, he currently serves on Sonoma's Planning Commission, where he recently was Chair for two years. Until her passing, he was married to his wife Norma for 50 years, has two daughters and three grandchildren.

The responsibility of leadership

As we witness the clown-like leadership circus happening in Washington D.C. it's worthwhile to reflect on the leadership of our own locally elected officials and how well, or not, they are behaving and serving the public interest. We have four major publicly elected boards or... Continue

The science of white holes

Scientists have long known about black holes, those deep-space phenomena whose gravitational attraction is so powerful that not even light escapes their relentless pull. Scientists in the local observatory down at Steiners have seen black holes so massive that even consciousness disappears. Lately they’ve been... Continue

Men’s war on women

Men's war on women did not begin with Donald Trump, far from it. Its roots are Biblical and mythological, bound up with creation stories tying women to the introduction of sin and evil into the world; so deeply embedded in our collective psyches is this... Continue

Must be something in the water

The increasing number of self-inflicted decisions by public officials are causing the local scientists down at Steiners to suspect that a debilitating neurotoxin has infiltrated our water supply. Known by its chemical signature, ST2P1d, the compound was thought to be largely confined to ecosystems around... Continue

Sonoma, Super-Sized

Since its beginnings, Sonoma has been a small town. It once was the county seat, long ago, but that role fell to Santa Rosa and, well, thank goodness for that. From then on Sonoma's destiny seemed to be an indelible Bear Flag moment of history... Continue

July is the season of change

July is a month of great change for many Sonoma Valley organizations. July begins the fiscal year for most Sonoma Valley nonprofits, schools and government agencies. It's also the date that the terms of many local nonprofit board members begin. How well organizational change goes... Continue

What? Me worry?

There’s a lot to worry about, God knows. I just finished Edward Hallowell’s book, “Worry,” and though it brought up some worries, it offered some solutions. too. Hallowell says: “The more you worry, the better you do, up to a point. They key is to... Continue

The pathology of happiness

When an idea, an object, a substance or an emotion preoccupies consciousness to the near exclusion of anything else, we call it an obsession. And when an obsession becomes a compulsion so powerful as to assume the driving force of consciousness - even when harmful... Continue

Susan Gorin on the County’s new budget

July 1 marked the start of the new fiscal year 2017-18. I invite you to take a closer look on the County’s website (URL below). The website has been active for approximately one year and is an ongoing effort to provide full transparency. I realize... Continue

Remembering Cecil

Around this time in 2015, Dr. Walter Palmer, DDS, of Bloomington MN, killed Cecil the Lion with the intention of adding Cecil’s magnificent head to his extensive collection of dead wild animal heads. Those not familiar with Dr. Palmer and his exploits can simply Google... Continue

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