We don’t want to overstate its importance, but there is some significance to the victory by Juan Pablo Montoya in Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Toyota/SaveMart 350 race at Infineon Raceway. Namely, Montoya is Hispanic. He hails from Bogota, Columbia, and was already an accomplished international... Continue

“You’ve got to turn off the Spanish television set” and avoid Spanish-language books and newspapers, too, according to the recommendation from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to Spanish-speaking immigrants who don’t speak English. His comments came in response to a question about how Hispanic students could improve... Continue

At its meeting last week, the Sonoma City Council talked itself around, after a long discussion, to the right position on an item brought forward by council member Ken Brown. He wanted to establish as an acknowledged board “norm” the ability for any one council... Continue

Politics is arguably more art than science. But “science,” the collection and analysis of data, has an important place in government. Data-driven decisions are generally the better ones. Last week, we reported on the opinion poll that Don Sebastiani had commissioned of voters in the... Continue

The controversy continues over photographs taken during the student protest march on May 15. While police surveillance is always troubling, we don’t think many in the community were terribly alarmed by the high school safety officer doing his job, accompanying a student march off-campus and... Continue

Making the news last week were several well-known local folks who confronted a Sonoma deputy sheriff during the student march last Tuesday. Mike Smith, Will Shonbrun, and Dave Henderson, doing their best to re-live the ‘60s, took Deputy J. Cobert to task for photographing students... Continue

Some readers expressed concern about our characterization last week of the choices by the Sonoma Valley Health Care Coalition as they appeared in the Executive Summary of its report: “1) Broadway... 2) In-town.” We attached significance to the listing order, especially due to the fact... Continue

El Dia de los Niños, May Day March, Cinco de Mayo, These local events within the last week were peaceful, happy celebrations of cultural heritage and of American freedom, and they turn our thoughts once again to the topic of immigration. There is a case... Continue

We still thought it was worth pursuing – the “free” hospital that Cirrus Health Group wanted to build on Eighth Street. Despite the troubles that arose among Cirrus, the Sonoma Valley Health Care Coalition, and the Sonoma Valley Health Care District Board of Directors, concerning... Continue