Some things are so obvious that you don’t have to hire an expert to confirm them. Those of us who were here during the 2017 fire storm know what the road traffic was like. At times, it was a gridlock. The Valley of the Moon... Continue
Editorials
This is the only way to describe what’s happened in relation to the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) since its closure. The closure alone was the first rock to tumble; disabled residents and their families were relegated to vagaries of care in a harsh landscape of... Continue
The Sonoma City Council will be conducting its yearly goal setting session on January 30. This public meeting will not be held in the usual City Council Meeting room on 1st Street West, but at the Lodge in Sonoma on Broadway. This will be an... Continue
Either by closing shop completely or being gobbled up by publishing conglomerates, independent small city papers are going extinct all across America. A local community newspaper is an endangered species. Either a workable business model must emerge, or printed papers are going to continue to... Continue
Sonoma’s City Council recently decided to begin the process of switching from At-Large council elections to By-District. The reason for this decision is not because the City of Sonoma’s electoral process violates any voting rights law, but because an attorney has figured out a way... Continue
If the new Trump administration follows through on its declared plan to deport millions of undocumented residents, a policy which would gut the County of Sonoma along with its cities, how should our local government respond? Some cities, San Francisco, for example, have declared themselves... Continue
The City of Sonoma needs to get serious about its budget. Even though the voters recently approved a ½ percentage increase in the city’s sales tax, the $3 million it may produce will do little more than fill the $2.8 million General Fund budget deficit.... Continue
Of the nine counties that comprise the Bay Area, three have avoided becoming part of megalopolis: Marin, Sonoma and Napa. The natural barrier of the Bay between San Francisco and Marin still poses an obstruction to the wholesale exploitation of the North Bay. Had BART... Continue
Our October 3 cover caption, "Sonoma Valley Ununified School District," was a sadly accurate commentary on the current state of affairs in our Valley’s educational leadership. The recent chaotic Town Hall meetings, held by Superintendent Rodriguez-Chien to address school “consolidation,” revealed anger and frustration that... Continue
Our national election in November is perhaps the most consequential of our lifetimes, and we can’t ignore it. If the GOP succeeds in taking the White House and both houses of congress, if Project 2025 gains a foothold and gets implemented, life in American will... Continue