Editorial

For some members of the Healdsburg community who took pride in Healdsburg being a big school district, enrollment decline may seem unfavorable. However, the research over the last 30 years on school size has demonstrated over and over that less is more. HUSD’s current enrollment of 1,850 students is an advantage, not just because there is more money per student but also because of the more intimate, personalized learning environment it creates. Our students are not just a number, but individuals with strengths, talents and challenges.

I was heading home from a Giants game t’other day (that’s how Shakespeare would write ‘the other day’), sitting on the back of the ferry boat (or the stern of the ship as Shakespeare the sailor would have written). It was a lovely day. The sun was shining, the mist was refreshing, the Giants against all odds had won and the beer had given me a pleasant life-is-good-and-I-love-all-human-beings vibe.

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.

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?

On this coming Easter Sunday we will rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a moment visited by angels from the afterlife delivered to us by the almighty power of God. The Easter stories of the rolled away stone and empty tomb will be retold and the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke will be recited where Jesus, the son of God, died for our sins and “was carried on high into heaven.”

Richard Burg wrote in a recent commentary that he was disappointed in the actions of the Healdsburg City Council when they insisted on equity in the new governing document for the Sonoma County Library of which the Healdsburg Regional Library is a founding member.  I welcome Richard’s admittedly belated attention to a process that has been going on for years.  Let’s try to answer his question, “What is Equity?”

— Rollie Atkinson

There are stark, disturbing clouds darkening parts of every community and neighborhood in Sonoma County. Please be alerted that these clouds are increasing and will not go away without our intervention.

Editor: I continue to be baffled by the City Council’s unswerving resolve to build a roundabout at the five corners area. This project has been in the works for 10 years. It has been pointed out by several that a better, less disruptive, and simpler means of achieving smooth traffic flow into and out of our city would be to add a southbound 101 freeway entrance on Westside Road, and a northbound exit off Westside Road.

I lived in Santa Rosa for 51 years. Since 1986 my wife and I have lived in Healdsburg. I feel  the long experience in these two “cities” gives me some perspective to make judgments about our current squabble about what is best for Healdsburg.