Editorial

The physical landscape and human culture of Sonoma County is a multi-layered tapestry of many ethnic paths, heritages and contributions. But if we were to only celebrate one perhaps it should be Latinos and Hispanics, as we now seek to do with National Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Yes, why do we care about them? With so much in this world to care about, why do we care if a baseball team wins or loses? Clearly, many of us care, millions and millions of us. My cousins drove in from Fresno for the games. Others come from Sacramento and points east. There are identified groups from far north of here at the ballpark: Ukiah, Fort Bragg and I think I saw a contingent from Arcata once.

— Rollie Atkinson

June DeSilva hasn’t cooked a meal since March. It’s not because she can’t cook, it’s just that her friends won’t let her.

Editor’s note – As we celebrate our 150th year of publishing, the Healdsburg Tribune seeks to balance a reverence for the past, a keen eye on the present and a healthy curiosity about the future. Occasionally, a forward-thinking reader sends us what we like to call “A letter from the future,” examining present-day Healdsburg from an imagined perspective of the future. Jay Beckwith submitted this thoughtful and interesting essay.

The more arguments that are presented in support of Measure A, the quarter-cent sales tax increase on the June 2 ballot, the stronger our opposition becomes. First it is called a “road tax.” Now “Yes on A” campaign literature features a firefighter and a public safety message. What is Measure A, really? It is a “free pass” for our Board of Supervisors and their labor union contributors to avoid fixing their unfunded pension problem and other budget imbalances.

Healdsburg’s Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) is a citizen initiative enacted to preserve the town’s unique quality and character and insulate it from the pressures of unregulated market driven development. It effectively put the brakes on residential development and allowed the community to contemplate its future free from outside development pressures. The GMO’s authors and supporters are to be commended for their courage, perseverance and continued resolve.

Who will be elected as Sonoma County’s District Attorney on June

Here in Sonoma County we take our carbon footprint very seriously. Together as residents, businesses and local governments we have done much to lower our energy use, resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. We have been repeatedly recognized as conservation and sustainability leaders across the country.

Two decades ago, lots of Sonoma County winemakers and innkeepers were jealous over the attention heaped on their counterparts in Napa Valley, but they swore they’d never actually want to be another Napa or another wine country version of Disneyland. Back then, Sonoma’s wine and hospitality people would chortle, “Sonoma’s for wine, Napa is for auto parts.”