Host a Stomper

The Sonoma Stompers baseball season begins June 1, but first, the players need a good night’s rest. In a longstanding and honored part of professional baseball, the team is looking for host families for its ballplayers through the summer season. Host families are needed to... Continue

Final weekend for Amalia Mesa-Bains’ ‘cultural landcapes’

The exhibition “Private Landscapes and Public Territories: Botanicals, Archives and Libraries in the Work of Amalia Mesa-Bains,” is now on view at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art. The gallery show, a collection of altars, installations, maps and folding books, runs through September 16. Artist profile by The... Continue

The trail blazers: local eco-pioneers lead the way

By Jonah Raskin Last October’s firestorms stunned Sonoma Valley citizens, though once the smoke cleared and embers were extinguished, families and friends ventured out to see the spectacle of blooming flowers and green trees. Richard Dale, the executive director for 26 years at the Sonoma... Continue

An eco-village for Eldridge?

Reader opinion by Stephanie Hiller The disposition of the 864-acre property that has housed the Sonoma Developmental Center for decades has been fraught with uncertainty, largely because the State has undertaken a process it has not used before. “It’s unorthodox,” said Daniel Kim, Director... Continue

No chateau required

The Garagiste Wine Festival – the term plays on French slang for people who makes wine in their garage – is a gathering of the best wines you’ve never heard of – yet. A hit in Southern California, where the L.A. Times called the exuberant... Continue

SV Hospital rolls out three-year plan at public meeting

Sonoma Valley Hospital has updated its three-year rolling strategic plan and will hold a special board meeting to invite community feedback. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 26, at 5 p.m. in the hospital’s basement conference room. The Sonoma Valley Health Care District Board invites the... Continue

Hanna gala to honor outgoing principal

At its 12th annual “Evening With the All-Stars Gala” on April 21, Hanna Boys Center will honor Archbishop Hanna High School Principal Dennis Crandall, who will be stepping down from his current role in June. Hanna’s signature fundraising event, this year’s gala will benefit the... Continue

Disagreements, polite (school district) and otherwise (hillside homes)

The hiring of Socorro Shiels as the new superintendent of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District, already approved by a unanimous vote, will be formalized at the April 17 board meeting. Britta Johnson, president of SVUSD Board of Trustees, says Sheils, among other attributes, “has... Continue

Meeting topic: The future of the Sonoma Developmental Center

[caption id="attachment_37006" align="aligncenter" width="420"] The Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children, on the eastern slopes of Sonoma Mountain, in 1910.[/caption] Scheduled to close by the end of this year, the Sonoma Developmental Center will soon undergo transformations sure to affect... Continue

Sonoma man guilty of child molestation

Paul Dwayne Kilgore, once the athletic director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley, has been found guilty of six counts of child molestation. The jury found that Kilgore, 70, had committed the offenses against multiple victims, who were all under the age... Continue