Editorial

Pests, whether ants in the kitchen or weeds in the garden, are a frustrating reality in any home or garden. While many of us think of a pesticide as the quick solution, it is not the safest alternative for our family’s heath and for the environment. Our watershed, creeks, rivers and local water bodies can be contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals that we commonly use. These chemicals are not only a threat to aquatic life, but can also affect the quality of our drinking water and our health. So, how can we control pests safely? What are alternatives to pesticides? Should pesticides ever be used?

The origins of Memorial Day are often attributed to General John Logan. It is true that, in 1868, he gave impetus to an official “Decoration Day” as it was first called, a time for remembering the Civil War dead and decorating their graves. But Logan never really understood the meaning of the day. Until his own death, he remained a radical reconstructionist whose fierce anger toward the South never abated.

Early in 2013, the new members of the Board of Directors of the Healdsburg Animal Shelter confronted the task of examining the Shelter’s business model and dealing with its continuing operating losses—losses that had severely eroded the Shelter’s financial reserves. In providing the high level of care that the Healdsburg community has come to expect, the Shelter has now exhausted nearly all its operating reserves.  Today we need community support—more than ever in the Shelter’s 53-year history—to keep the Shelter operating and fulfilling its mission.

A fascinating new rationale is going around to explain why wineries have to throw so many big parties. It has to do with a relatively new social force called “wine club pressure.”

I promised myself that I would give the whole gun control issue a bit of a break. I find it depressing in the extreme and it only exacerbates my feeling of helplessness. I broke that promise to myself because a) no matter how I tried my thoughts still carom back to the subject, b) I had my fingers crossed when I made the promise and c) I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get the words ‘exacerbate’ and ‘carom’ in one paragraph.

I am shocked to see the misleading signs regarding Drakes Bay Oyster Company popping up around the Sonoma and Marin Counties. These signs should say Save Point Reyes Wilderness. I strongly support organic sustainable agriculture and I love oysters but the attempt by Drakes Oyster Company and their corporate allies to deny wilderness status to Drakes Estero has nothing to do with farming and everything to do with opening publicly owned wilderness lands to development. Pt. Reyes National Seashore is a wonderful example of cooperation between agriculture, the national park system, and wilderness.

The look could only be described as a smirk. That’s what it was, that’s what struck me to the core like a cold stabbing, sliver thin bolt of ice. The photo in the paper showed the brothers standing at the Boston Marathon. Near a place that would, in a matter of minutes, resemble more a ravaged war zone than a celebratory gathering of runners from around the world realizing their life-long, or annual, dreams.

Summer will soon be upon us. Though spring cleaning gets us all ready for the summer season, pool and spa owners face a special set of cleaning and maintenance tasks. Improper discharge of pool/spa water and the chemicals in it into streets or storm drains can have an impact on streams and rivers. The following steps can help keep your pool or spa clean and functioning for recreational use without harming the environment:  

There’s a lot of focus on teaching kids about bullying. There are laws against bullying. No name-calling weeks in schools. We urge kids not to be intimidated.

It was one of those great Sonoma County spring mornings. Sun shining, wind blowing. Pollen – and hope – in the air. I walked out on my veranda overlooking the nine-hole golf course I recently completed. I relaxed, with mimosa in hand, while watching the kids frolic on the water slide they crafted for a science fair project at school (using only recycled water from our indoor waterfall) and smiled knowing that my family is set financially for the rest of our lives, and my children will be attending the finest colleges in the land with perhaps some overseas study to broaden their understanding and appreciation of different cultures.