Columns

Last week our local newspapers made big news with a write-up in The New York Times. The article covered our new model for small newspapers to become community-owned with a reader-powered newsroom and dozens of new individual investors.

Today, we flip the calendar to the new month of November, and we wish we could also turn the page on all the recent news about mail bombs, another horrific mass shooting, bitter political divisions and dismal news about pending climate and global doom. Maybe our post-election period will cast glimmers of hope, new and positive energies or a reminder that “these things too shall pass.”

SMART expanding to Windsor? State parks made safer and drinking water made cleaner? Rainwater-capture systems not being added to your property tax? Ballot propositions going into effect five days after all votes are counted? Revenues generated from transportation fees and taxes going only to transportation funding?

The Congressional Republicans, in the past always against increasing the deficit, are trying to ram through tax legislation that would drastically increase the deficit by giving huge tax cuts to the billionaire/millionaire class and corporations. They have admitted that they are being pressured by their rich donors (i.e. Koch Brothers, Trump, friends of Trump, and others) who want huge tax cuts.

Who was that praying for all the rain? Are you done yet? Wait, maybe we should remind ourselves where we live and what our flood and drought history tells us.

The following snippets of history are drawn from the pages of the Healdsburg Tribune, the Healdsburg Enterprise and the Sotoyome Scimitar, and are prepared by the volunteers at the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society. Admission is always free at the museum, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The murder of George Floyd has shone a bright light on America’s systemic racism, and particularly on how some police officers routinely treat BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) people with bias, abuse and violence. There is tremendous momentum for substantive change, and I welcome it. I fully support the Black Lives Matter movement and am eager to consider and adopt policies that advance its goals.

The month of pumpkins. Those globes of orange and gold fill the farms around us now, and provide endless goodies for consumption or decoration. From pies to pumpkin spiced drinks, tiny ones used as table décor to huge ones filling the back of a pickup, the pumpkin is celebrated throughout the country as a squash everyone can love.

Homeowners and fire officials in northern Sonoma County are leaning on local government to keep more of their property taxes local to go toward fire prevention services.

January finds the city working full swing on a variety of projects.