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Local Sonoma Valley News

How to keep the SDC in public hands

A proposal for the future of the lands and buildings of the Sonoma Developmental Center, put forward by the Glen Ellen Historical Society, is the topic of a community meeting on Thursday, December 8, 6pm, at Hanna Boys Center. An alternative to the County's plan... Continue

Final tally: Celeste Winders is the new School Board trustee

  When the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters published announced Friday the official outcome of the November election, Celeste Winders had won the Area 2 seat, nosing out Joe Lemas by 11 votes. The Sun asked the newly-elected trustee how she viewed her upcoming work.... Continue

For the homeless, a brief shelter from the cold

In response to predicted freezing temperatures, the City of Sonoma and the County of Sonoma opened a temporary warming shelter at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall. The shelter opened at 7 pm on Thursday, December 1, and remained open through Saturday morning, December 3. "This... Continue

What makes a good community meeting?  

How do we let our elected officials and various board members at both the county and Sonoma city level know what our opinions and needs are? I have been thinking a lot about this recently because of where we are on the specific plan and... Continue

City of Sonoma has new police chief

The City of Sonoma announced today the selection of Lieutenant Brandon Cutting as the new Chief of Police, effective December 6, 2022. An 18-year veteran of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, Cutting was the top pick following an internal recruitment process. “Brandon’s commitment to the... Continue

So how’s Sonoma doing with its trash?

By Travis Wagner -- The short answer is that we are doing fairly well. From January through October 2022, the recycling rate of Sonoma residents was 28 percent by weight. The organics collection/composting rate was 42 percent. This means Sonoma residents diverted 70 percent of... Continue

This week’s chitter, chatter and innuendo

Fired? Quit? TikTok rehab? After less than 18 months on the job, Sonoma Valley Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Adrian Palazuelos is out – and we’ll never know why. The abrupt “separation agreement” was announced November 18. The document included a clause which limits any... Continue

The real Issue is community power, not a plaza

As residents of the Boyes Hot Springs, we attended both public meetings last week– one in English and the other in Spanish– addressing the question of establishing a plaza in the parking lot next to the Boyes Hot Springs post office building (18092 Sonoma Highway).... Continue

Warming center in Sonoma through Sat. morning

The City of Sonoma and County of Sonoma will again open a temporary extreme weather warming center tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Sonoma Veterans Building in Sonoma. Based on freezing temperatures forecasted by the National Weather Service, the center will remain open through Saturday... Continue