RRWA Environmental Column: Pet pesticides and the watershed
Summertime means longer days, warmer temperatures and an increase in outdoor activities. If you are a dog or cat owner or come in contact with pets, you know that summertime brings more pests, especially fleas and ticks. Why are these pesky pests a cause for concern? What should we consider before using pet pesticides and are there alternatives we can use to protect our pets, ourselves and our environment?
Let’s Book It
Happy New Year — or perhaps Happy Innovating Year! “Learning never exhausts the mind.” (Leonardo da Vinci) Get energized; resolve to try/learn something new. Ukulele lessons? Writing a memoir? How about sharing or challenging authors’ viewpoints at book discussions? Or, with your child, practicing magic tricks, exploring ideas in physics, or working with LED lights? Creative ideas, fresh methods, up to date technology and imaginative solutions are offered by your library to make 2018 the best year ever. Grab your curiosity, and steer yourself in to a Happy New You.
A river runs through us
We love our Russian River for its eternal beauty, its nurturing forces, its quenching properties, its recreation and play and its renewing spirits. We love our river — except when we don’t. And right now we are distraught over the destruction its breached muddy torrents visited upon us yet again.
COMMENTARY: County health concerns should be call to action
Recent news that Sonoma County’s overall health ranking has fallen to No. 7 in the state, down two places from last year in a statewide health survey, should concern us all. More alarming was the Sonoma County Department of Health Services’ January 2018 report noting that our childhood cancer rate is the fourth highest in California and that cancer is the leading cause of death in all age groups.
Constitutional sunshine
Next week (March 12-18) is when newspapers and journalists annually celebrate “National Sunshine Week,” dedicated to the preservation of freedom of the press, open government and the foundations of our people’s government as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
Commentary: Measure I is smart
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.
Arts & Entertainment
Yale Whiffenpoofs to land on Raven stage Sunday
The very name “Whiffenpoofs” is whimsical, but followers of the collegiate music space know that the repertoire and reputation of this Yale University a cappella group is anything but laughable. Sure there are old Yale drinking songs, certainly a bit of jazz-era energy, as well as more modern pop. But are they classical? And what exactly is a “whiffenpoof” anyway?
