It’s said that in every storm cloud, one can find a silver lining. Perhaps that’s true. A storm cloud is how one might describe what has settled over school finances this year. On Tuesday night, the school board approved layoff notices to more than 20... Continue

We title our column today in contrast to the “Goodbye, Colorado” headline in the Rocky Mountain News, which ceased publication last week after 150 years of service to its community. That such a venerable newspaper should decide to close its doors is yet another reminder... Continue

That’s generally not what you want to hear from your doctor. Yet that was one of the professional opinions expressed at the Sonoma Valley Health Care District Strategic Planning Committee meeting last week, in an exchange that featured frank assessments of the prospects for health... Continue

We understand that one of our columnists, James Berry, who has covered local music events for us for several years, will start writing this week for the other newspaper here in Sonoma. We are sorry to see James go, but he has our best wishes... Continue

These are fluid times economically, and the media business is a fluid one, anyway, where our stock in trade is a pencil and notepad. (Okay, we’re thoroughly computerized and digitized, though we resist being homogenized.) We say farewell this week to our friend Daedalus Howell,... Continue

One of the many joys of being in the media business in a small community is the variety of opinions we hear on a broad range of issues. The latest stems from Sonoma Valley Bank’s proposal to increase its capital reserves through the issuance of... Continue

Awful news on Sunday, about young teenage children getting drunk late Saturday night and one or more of the boys assaulting the girl in the group. It appears a sordid mess, and we can’t help wondering, “Where were the parents?” The youngsters were in a... Continue

Now, there’s a locale to choose for a honeymoon. Like most of you readers, we expect, we spent much of Tuesday morning watching the spectacle in our nation’s capital. We remarked, of course, on the obvious – the transfer of authority in the world’s most... Continue

And Bullwinkle goes, “Me, Rocky – save me first!” Yes, we expect that dates us a little, though maybe readers will just assume we’re thinking of the recent movies and not the original TV cartoon. But we, like the cartoon characters, can become accustomed to... Continue