Partisanships; we have them
Remember when one of our biggest arguments was over “paper or plastic” when we went grocery shopping? Turns out, we were all wrong. Now it’s canvas or bring your own recyclable bag. New mothers used to be torn over whether to breastfeed their babies or use infant formula from purified cow’s milk, vegetable oil or soy. Many people once viewed breastfeeding as “unnatural.”
Our overlapping droughts
It’s official: Sonoma County is now suffering through multiple droughts, all at the same time. Some are related to one another and some are not. Some are being worsened by the coronavirus pandemic and its related economic impacts. One of the droughts we can mostly blame on Mother Nature, but the others are totally on us.
Commentary: Why I’m Voting Yes on Measure R
As a member of Healdsburg’s Community Housing Committee, I had the honor of getting to know many community members. It was striking to me that people who already had secure housing themselves were so invested in finding solutions for other people to live in Healdsburg. The pluralism of ideas shared inside committee meetings and on the streets amongst neighbors has been inspiring.
Misleading claims about cannabis
There are several misleading claims in Ron Ferraro’s April 28 op-ed, Cultivating Cannabis in Sonoma County. The public hearing process is not normally a three to five year process. If the county and the industry had not brazenly decided on cannabis regulations without listening to or responding to neighborhood concerns, cannabis applications would have moved much more quickly through the system.
The state of California prisons
For the last 15 years, I have been a volunteer in prisons, teaching convicted felons in the field of sociology and running self-help groups. Most of my students are “lifers,” men who have been convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, or burglary for which they have received sentences of 15 years to life and much more. None of them are on death row, and most are now eligible for parole, having served their minimum sentences. Often, they have served far longer.
Arts & Entertainment
Christmas music like it used to be, with swing
Now widely known as “The Harlem Nutcracker,” Ellington and Strayhorn wrote it for Columbia Records, along with film scores and other work. It was met with a sensational reception
















