June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

[caption id="attachment_52895" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Cynthia Scarborough, Executive Director of Vintage House, plants purple flags to raise awareness of elder abuse in the community. (Rachel Hundley)[/caption] Tomorrow, June 15 marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Last week, Sonoma City Councilwoman Rachel Hundley, alongside staff at Vintage... Continue

Addressing the housing shortage

Upcoming public meetings on the lack of affordable housing in Sonoma Valley: Methodists Hosting Housing Discussion, Sunday, June 14 Sonoma United Methodist Church is hosting a discussion of the Valley’s increasingly difficult housing situation after worship Sunday, June 14, and is inviting concerned members of... Continue

Hospital expenses — ‘Enough is enough’

(These comments were initially made to the Sonoma Valley Health District Board of Directors at its recent public meeting.) Hello my name is Linda Siemer. I am speaking here tonight on behalf of svhtransparency.com. This group obtained some information utilizing the California Public Records Act... Continue

Sonoma planning commission OK’s Williams-Sonoma expansion

Events with up to 80 guests and valet parking will be allowed at the Williams-Sonoma store on Broadway unless last's nights decision of the Sonoma Planning Commission is overturned on an appeal to the City Council. In a 4-3 decision, the commission allowed a one-year temporary... Continue

Vacation rentals impact good faith neighbors

(This letter is in response to Supervisor Susan Gorin's recent column) Dear Supervisor Gorin, I appreciate your stance but one severe negative impact that seems to be lumped in with the impact on a community or neighborhood as a whole is the plight of the... Continue

Decoding the news propaganda machine

The rise of the Fox News/conservative radio network has challenged the traditional assumptions about the standards for political discourse and the very concept of facts as a basis for political decision-making. The most astute observers of this phenomenon have been comedians like Jon Stewart on... Continue

Grassroots effort to save Broadway trees

In response to the City of Sonoma's discussion about removing 17 mature trees along upper Broadway, a group has formed and is collecting petition signatures online to save the Red Oaks and have sidewalk repairs paid for by the city. At the April 20 City... Continue

Vacation rentals: The long and the short of it

In 2011, “Time” declared the sharing economy as one of the “10 Ideas that will change the world,” and titled their article, “Don’t Own. Share.” The sharing economy would engender a sense of community, create “meaningful human connections” and even produce a biological “spike” of... Continue

Dodd’s Pay Equity Bill passes Assembly

A gender pay equity bill authored by Assemblymember Bill Dodd (D-Sonoma Valley) was passed by the state Assembly on Wednesday with bipartisan support. The legislation would require companies that contract with the state to have policies in place to help ensure gender pay equity, and... Continue

R.I.P. Measure A

“This issue is trust. Should voters put their trust in the Board of Supervisors as well as the city councils in the county’s nine incorporated cities, all of which will receive a share of the funds, to spend the money the way it is intended?” --... Continue