In July of 2010, to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of our pueblo, I conducted an archaeological excavation at the Casteñada adobe, inviting the public to come out and dig, screen and catalog artifacts. The owners at the time, Robert and Leslie Demler,... Continue
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We are all challenged with something… death, divorce, illness, money issues, bad coffee, who knows what. It all makes community connection more important than ever before. Whether we are getting older or in transition, we need each other. Nobody taught me friendship 101. Sometimes I’m... Continue
Communication between people defines us as social beings; all our senses are employed in the act of establishing contact and sharing information with others. Ordinarily, our senses work in concert with each other, creating a synesthetic blend of information from which we continuously convey and... Continue
In 1835, the Pueblo of Sonoma was founded and Mariano Vallejo appointed Commandante of the Fourth Military District and Director of Colonization of the Northern Frontier. Vallejo describes his arrival to Sonoma County, on his way to the mission to lay out the pueblo of... Continue
In a society of over 300 million people efficiencies are needed, and representative democracy is how we choose to provide efficiency in the development and administration of governmental public policy. Other societies are organized differently but all governmental systems, whether democracy, monarchy or autocracy are... Continue
Spanish colonial efforts in the Americas necessitated doctrine addressing the relationship between the Spanish and indigenous populations. The welfare of the conquered Natives was addressed by the Laws of Burgos in 1512. Important to indigenous peoples, the laws attempted to regulate and dictate the interactions... Continue
2013 was an eventful year for federal tax developments, beginning on January 1, 2013 with the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), which permanently extended the Bush-era tax cuts for all but the highest income taxpayers. Listed below are some highlights... Continue
Benjamin Braddock, the part played by Dustin Hoffman in director Mike Nichol’s acclaimed film “The Graduate,” is taken aside by a dinner guest at the graduation party thrown for him by his parents and quietly told the secret to his future success. “Plastics,” the guest... Continue
Temelec is not a cheese. It is, however, a census-designated place, also known as a CDP. The United States Census Bureau created the designation for statistical purposes, and defines it as a concentration of population other than cities, towns and villages. As most of you... Continue
This time of year even people with a lot of money worry about money. An average American spends $786 on Christmas gifts. And now, with the halls un-decked and all those live trees dumped. What’s next? Yup, the tax man. I talk to folks who... Continue