Hero Awards for area’s first responders

[caption id="attachment_86298" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Rep. Mike Thompson presents Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue his Public Safety Hero Award.[/caption] U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) presented his annual Public Safety Hero Award to the teams of first responders that battled the October wildfires. Traditionally,Thompson honors one law enforcement officer... Continue

Happy Hour Sonoma Valley Style

[caption id="attachment_18544" align="alignnone" width="420"] $1 oysters at Shiso’s weekly happy hour[/caption] Young or old, rich or poor, who doesn’t love a good happy hour? In my home state of Indiana, happy hour is illegal, out of fear that patrons will binge drink themselves into an... Continue

Oysters, brisket, & pinot, oh mi!

This past weekend over a hundred Pinot Gris and Noir fans gathered at Kenwood's Landmark Vineyards for their annual Spring Festival. This is the start of their Best of California event series, which showcases Bay Area food and Landmark's wine every other month during spring and summer.... Continue

Meeting topic: Shaping SDC’s future

Members of the Sonoma Developmental Center Coalition believe that the best hope for “saving” the Center is not to fight for the status quo, but to develop an entirely new vision for how the facility can serve a host of community needs and still provide... Continue

Kenwood man survives avalanche on Everest

[caption id="attachment_50001" align="aligncenter" width="410"] Jon Reiter (left) and Moises Nava at Hotel Everest View in 2014 (Jon Reiter)[/caption] Kenwood resident Jon Reiter has survived an avalanche on Mount Everest which happened after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the area. Reiter, a custom home builder, has... Continue

Earth Day Sonoma Valley style

April 22 is Earth Day, which celebrates the Earth's natural environs and helps us humans reflect on ways that we impact the environment. Sonoma Valley is no stranger to the ecology movement and we tend to pride ourselves on being locavores (eating food grown within 100 miles from where... Continue

Food + Drink Bites for April 16

The latest food + drink news, events and calls for your participation in and around Sonoma Valley. As the legendary James Marshall Berry says... "If your gig isn't in my column, you didn't tell me about it." Send your news to our Food + Drink... Continue

Whole Foods tops “worst prices” grocery store list for 2015

[caption id="attachment_49047" align="alignnone" width="455"] Whole Foods is the most expensive of all chains, but customers love their selection of pre-made food (Facebook)[/caption] Consumer Reports released the results of their latest supermarket survey - what supermarkets have the best and worst prices? They surveyed over 62,000 readers... Continue

VOM Water District sets conservation rules

Limiting irrigation to three days a week and water served only by request in restaurants are among the rules issued by the Valley of the Moon Water District (VOMWD) in an effort to cut overall water use by 20 percent less compared to 2013. VOMWD’s... Continue

School District honors

Four “awesome educators” and a local school have received prestigious honors an recognition, said a proud Louann Carlomagno, superintendent of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District Nominees for the 2015 Classified School Employee of the Year, coordinated by the California Department of Education, include: Cyndi Potter... Continue