Columns

John Mutz told the Windsor Democratic Club on Thursday, Feb. 22 that he believes the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department needs to change its culture. He says law enforcement is rooted in a status quo that has negative impacts, not only on citizens but also on the officers themselves.

I believe the Sonoma County Sheriff’s office needs to get back to the basics – ensuring public safety above all else, being fair and accountable and building partnerships to better engage with the community we serve. That’s why I’ve announced my candidacy for sheriff, and it’s why I’d like to have a conversation with you, and perhaps ask a favor.

My husband and I had the pleasure of seeing Jerry Seinfeld live at the Luther Burbank Center last Friday night. As you know, we are huge Seinfeld fans and I was lucky enough to score the tickets for his Christmas present.

"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn't." ~ Mark Twain

Most things do not belong in the toilet. In fact, it is easier to list what can go in: water, toilet paper, pee and poo (the three P’s).

The student survivors of the Florida high school mass shootings are speaking out about school safety and gun violence. It seems they have the nation’s attention. They have provoked comments that “this time may be different.” Maybe these Florida students represent a new generation with a new voice and a new set of convictions. Maybe.

After more than two decades as a beacon of hope and support for Windsor residents, the Vineyard of Faith Lutheran Church (VOF) and its 125-member congregation face an uncertain future.

I write this on March 1, Saint David’s Day. Saint David is to Wales as Saint Patrick is to Ireland. Saint David, Dewi Sant in the native tongue, was born about the year 500. Like Saint Patrick in Ireland 100 years earlier, Saint David established schools and monasteries in the westward protruding belly of Britain that is Wales.

Finally, a common sense answer to gun violence and the seemingly weekly school massacres.

“Dark Land, Dark Mirror,” Jonah Raskin’s new, suspenseful murder mystery takes place in Sonoma County in the present day. The detective is a feisty woman named Tioga Vignetta. The criminals are all pretending to be respectable citizens. The fall guy who’s framed for a murder in town is a Mexican from Chiapas named Kiko Martinez who grows flowers and has hit songs south of the border.