Our Sonoma… where do we stand today?

The big question that we hear all the time these days in our community is, “What’s going on at La Luz, how is everyone doing?” The answers tend to be as complex and complicated as the issues facing all of us today: financial and physical... Continue

Now that we’re awake, what’s next?

The ongoing political destabilization provoked by the unlikely election of Donald Trump has now escalated to what may be a constitutional crisis. The Trump Organization’s open challenge to the legitimacy of an independent judiciary, cracks in our international role as leader of NATO, tension in... Continue

A proclamation to keep Sonoma Sonoma

We note that City Council is entertaining whether to declare Sonoma a Sanctuary City, or some such thing. The idea is to demonstrate support for and unity with our Latino friends and neighbors who feel very threatened by the Gestapo-like ICE round-ups of undocumented residents... Continue

Ag & Open Space District needs community input

The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District was created by the visionary Sonoma County voters in 1990 to ensure that Sonoma County retained its rural way of life – including farming and ranching lands that produce local food and support our economy, community separators that maintain each city’s unique identity and... Continue

The rise of the underground

Authoritarian regimes use threats of force, coercion and intimidation to cow the populace and force it into submission to that regime's imperatives. Enlisting the aid of those who wield weapons - military and police forces with the power to arrest and incarcerate - regimes bent... Continue

America’s mean streak

The Statue of Liberty famously beckons "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", certainly one of the kindest welcoming messages any country has employed. And yet, I've been wondering why America can be so mean. I'm not saying American's... Continue

Beyond Orwell, way beyond

America's political flirtation with a temperamental, impulsive, emotionally undeveloped political leader has blossomed into a full-blown crisis of faith in our systems of government and democracy itself, and comparisons between America in 2017 and George Orwell's “1984” are frequent and often salient. Accordingly, Orwell's dystopic... Continue

Getting the Hispanic community involved in environmental issues

The Sonoma Ecology Center is launching a program called Senderos Naturales -- “Pathways to Nature.” The goal of the program is to involve the Hispanic community in environmental issues. SEC staff commented, “We have always had the hope of interesting the Latino community in our... Continue

Love in an angry age

Relationships and love seem more difficult in this age of divorce, divisive politics, computer reliance and isolation. At the same time, relationships of all kinds are more important than ever before. We simply have to learn to live and work together. I know, I know.... Continue

The IRS dirty dozen tax scams

Not all tax scam are instigated by outsiders. Some normally honest folks succumb to the temptation to falsely inflate deductions or expenses on tax returns. This may be at the top of the list of the IRS’ 2017 “Dirty Dozen” tax scams. Doing so may... Continue

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