Columns

Each year, I help my father-in-law with his Christmas card and letter. He has me take a picture of him (and of his cat) and we create a card online. He’s straightforward about what he likes, so the experience is quick and painless. He then gives me a summary of the year — projects he’s undertaken, trips he’s taken, milestones met — and I write a short letter to friends and family on his behalf.

Somewhere in the week after Nov. 3, in our country and our community, we will reach a deciding moment in our collective lives when a series of major choices will be required. The choice could be, and should be, more than turn left or right, or even just stay the course. It should be a conscious effort to build a new future or to try and claw our way back to a place we felt better regardless of the impact, or more likely find some middle ground.

Are unused and expired medications filling up your medicine cabinet? Don’t flush them down the drain because they will end up in creeks and streams and are harmful to fish. Don’t throw them in the trash because they can leach into the ground when they end up in a landfill and can contaminate groundwater. Help protect your family and the environment by taking your unwanted medications to a participating take-back location.

Here's what's happening at the senior center this week: 

Our Sonoma County, like the rest of the country these days, has been filled with political marches, public square demonstrations and other louder than usual exercises of free speech. But in some places there also has been violent backlash, arrests and both high-decibel heckling...

By Pierre Ratte This weekend’s rain released earthy fragrances, falling gently over two days and lessening fire-season anxieties. Maybe the rain is ending this year’s fire season and beginning winter’s filling of reservoirs and the Sierra’s snowpack. Last winter, Northern California received epic rain and...

Commentary — We at SMART ask that you don’t be misled by what is now a privately funded $1.7m campaign against our fledgling train. Facts are constantly being distorted by No on Measure I, as they’ve been doing since before the train was even on the tracks.