Columns

To make America great again, as Mr. Trump keeps promising, shouldn’t we start in our own communities? We realize that all of America’s communities are unique and have different notions of what greatness means. But isn’t there a very definitive set of values and pursuits that fit under the banner of “We, the people?” Isn’t it a belief in freedoms, rights and responsibilities that unites the alt-liberals of northern California (most of us) with the poor working class of coal country West Virginia?

The Healdsburg Certified Farmers’ Market ended for the season Nov. 25, but I thought I’d write one more column to close out the season, and then will take a break until April, a month before we open for 2018.

While many Sonoma County residents feel wildland fire fatigue, we should embrace some hard facts about the underlying factors that have contributed to the situation. California, our county, the nature of the wildland-urban interface, climate change and human factors have led us to a critical and troubling wake up call. Decisions about fire safe roads and development in high fire risk areas are being made at the state and county levels that will determine our future.