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Columnist

The high price of money

Money, it seems it is all people are talking about. Gas is over $6 a gallon, food prices are up, and most homes in Sonoma Valley are selling for $1,000,000 or more. But, how much money makes one rich today?   There has been a lot... Continue

What’s love got to do with it?        

It's an unsettling time for the heart. We alternate from grief and fear to feeling grateful or grumpy. More killing of innocent beings, political divides, vaccine arguments, income and fire fears, abortion threats and personal loss alongside gladness for spring socializing – it’s all too... Continue

Thoughts and prayers for a great awakening

    The dark clouds on the periphery of my progressive political stronghold are drawing nearer. We see the full extent of the successful 40-year drive of the cultural conservatives, backed by unlimited right-wing oligarch money, politicized prosperity gospel evangelicals, and ruthless Republican political operatives... Continue

The Ins and Outs of Fast-Food

My wife and I offered to drive our granddaughter to an appointment in Santa Rosa, and as we neared the destination, we passed an In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out is a fast food joint, in case you don’t know, and apparently very popular. My wife and I... Continue

Purple Haze

I grow intestinal polyps as well as the wine country grows grapes. Such polyps, benign growths when small and young, can become pre-cancerous if allowed to mature; accordingly, every three years I have a colonoscopy and any polyps are removed. The worst part of having... Continue

War and patriarchy

It’s not surprising that the threat to destroy Roe V. Wade has shown its ugly head at the same time as a desperate, bloody war and a horrible white supremacist attack in Buffalo. All three are expressions of patriarchy gone haywire as power elites strive... Continue

Climate disaster for fun and profit

We are constantly reminded that Planetary Doom is inevitable if we don't get our greenhouse-gassing/carbon-emitting/arctic-melting/deforestating/overfishing/over-eating/under-exercising/over-dumping and plastic under control by 2050.   After that, the planet as we know it (yes, even the Plaza) will become a giant Apocalyptic movie set. And Humans with our gassy/trashy/smashy/TicToc... Continue

Little hellions, they muttered…

Chapter 33: 1947 • Sonora ~  “Shhh,” she whispered, filling a glass with water. As Larry came flying down the hall, she sloshed the glassful under the door. His soles hit the wet linoleum; sliding right past, he crashed feet first through the white balusters... Continue

Preserving Sonoma’s urban arboretum

The trees and shrubs lining our streets and filling front and back yards help form our primary urban landscape; their shade, varied forms, and range of colors add texture and movement to an otherwise concrete and asphalt tableau. Some call this an urban forest, but... Continue

Disparity of mental health services in Sonoma Valley 

At the onset of the first COVID-19 lockdown, physical health was top of mind. Knowing so little about the novel coronavirus, and witnessing waves of devastation across the globe, then in our county, we wondered: How do we stay healthy? How do we protect families... Continue