Editorial

Editor: I was so excited for the new Giorgi Park to open because

It’s hard for me to imagine what it is like to be a young black man and to be the object of suspicion, fear and harassment for being myself, for being young and black. Our president says he knows what it’s like and that Trayvon Martin, the black teenager killed by a white neighborhood watch volunteer could have been him when he was a teenager. The boys assailant, George Zimmerman, was tried and acquitted and as far as I’m concerned, that is legally the end of the matter. But I can’t help wondering what it was like for Trayvon Martin, what it was like for Barack Obama, and what it was and is like for millions of young black men.

— Rollie Atkinson

The people of Sonoma County, according to various surveys and census reports, possess above average traits in spiritualism, tolerance and philanthropy but attend church and religious services less frequently than their counterparts in other parts of the country.

Our California drought is a tangle of mathematics problems. And, so far, it doesn’t look like the numbers are adding up. Facing our worst drought in 120 years, we know the severe lack of rain will require a lot of subtraction and sacrifice. This math test is no longer optional. Last week, Gov. Brown made it mandatory and we all have to save a minimum of 25 percent over previous rates of water usage.

Since the June 10th ruling in the education-equity case, Vergara v. California by Judge Rolf M. Treu, where he essentially agreed with the plaintiffs—nine California students—that the state’s laws governing teacher tenure and dismissal unfairly saddle disadvantaged and minority students with weaker teachers, tenure reform has become a hot-button item.

Editor: The recent protest in Geyserville against Burbank