Columns

Thank you to those who made the fair happen

Many of us of a certain age remember learning how to spell “encyclopedia” from Jiminy Cricket. This small Walt Disney character advised us that if we were full of curiosity and wanted to know the answers, we should get the … (sing it with me now … ) E-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a.

Making the case that substandard housing is a public health issue, long time tenant’s rights attorney, Edie Sussman, advocated for rent control and just cause eviction in her presentation to the Windsor Democratic Club on Sept. 28. Sussman represented 36 former tenants of the Bennett Valley Townhomes in a lawsuit against the owners of the property. The plaintiffs recently agreed to a Sonoma County record $2.7 million settlement. She noted that substandard living conditions can often lead to respiratory conditions, including asthma, and other health issues, which impact the level of health in our communities.

Fall weather and the crush can only mean one thing: it’s almost pumpkin time! Email your autumnal news to IDlewood 3…” at idlewood3@hbgtrib.com. “Hedda Healdsburg” wants to know all.

From family separation to arguments over border walls, matters of immigration are never far from the national spotlight these days. Many of these debates seem centered on far-away places and people. But they have serious impacts for Sonoma County families, children and schools.

David Escobar spoke Aug. 23 to the Windsor Democratic Club about his people, the Lenca-Pocan of the eastern El Salvador-Honduras-Nicaragua region and the effects of immigration on both the immigrant and the country they arrive at.