Where did you grow up, Byron? I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, the third of three children of working parents. I hated Jacksonville, and in 1968 when I was fourteen, though I looked older, I began working at my aunt and uncle's 24-hour diner in... Continue
What’s Happening
Local Sonoma Valley News:
Sonoma Valley Hospital is going out of the baby business. Its board, confronting an overall $3.2 million budget deficit, voted to close the obstetrics department within two months. The move will save about half a million this fiscal year, principally by cutting 7.5 full-time equivalent... Continue
The Sonoma City Council decided Tuesday not to place a certified pro-cannabis petition on the November ballot, opting instead to study the impacts of the dispensary business on the town. The timing of the decision means the proposed ordinance, which would have allowed the retail... Continue
The Sonoma Valley Hospital will decide Wednesday night if the facility should eliminate its obstetrics department, a cost-cutting move recommended by CEO Kelly Mather. A second big vote, whether to cut the hospital’s Skilled Nursing Facility, has been dropped from the agenda due to “strong... Continue
[caption id="attachment_89235" align="alignright" width="420"] The Nuns Wildfire not only destroyed the house but also the bridge that served as the only means of access. This is just one of the challenging properties that remains to be cleared of debris. The Corps, under the direction of... Continue
The Arts Guild of Sonoma presents Ruby Newman as its Featured Artist, through July 30. The exhibition focuses on Ruby’s all-new series of acrylic works in various sizes in the figurative, landscape and abstract styles. Gallery-framed limited-edition landscape prints will also be available. It’s a... Continue
Sonoma developer Bill Jasper has filed a lawsuit against the City of Sonoma, alledging he was unlawfully denied his right to build three luxury homes on a prominent Sonoma hillside. The plans for the three homes above Brazil Street, at Fourth Street East, were originally... Continue
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday a $60,000 grant to support Sonoma's winter shelter for unhoused residents of Sonoma and Sonoma Valley. Operated by Sonoma Overnight Support, the program offers nighttime food and bedding from December through March. Last winter, the shelter, provided in a Sonoma... Continue
Byron Hancock, a Sonoma resident and Certified Financial Planner, is the new president of the Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley. Hancock assumes the helm from Marck Zuehlsdorff, vice president and manager of the Sonoma and Napa branches of Bank of Marin. Hancock, a 1977 graduate of... Continue
2017 SVHS graduate Aaron Marcus-Willers recently returned to Sonoma after a year in China, studying Mandarin and living with a Chinese family. In the fall he is off to NYU Abu Dhabi. The Sun’s Sarah Ford checked in with him the other day about his... Continue