Columns

Sept. 21 through 28 is Creek Week in the Russian River Watershed. Join in with this spirit of environmental conservation and community enrichment by getting educated, invested and involved.

100 years ago – January 16, 1919

This is not Suicide Awareness Week

By the quirk of this season’s holiday calendar, we recently made a visit to Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, while visiting family and friends in nearby Maryland. The visit offered us a chance to affirm that our Republic, in all its manifestations of power, laws and democratic institutions was still standing in upright position and not collapsing under the weight of the current impeachment turmoil. After listening for a week as our highest elected officials ranted, raved and foamed at their mouths during the Congressional hearings, we half expected to see the U.S. Capitol’s dome smoldering in black smoke.

When we first read about the goal for Sonoma County to see 138,000 new electric vehicles (EVs) replace gas-powered cars by the year 2030, we chortled in disbelief. We wondered about how realistic the Center for Climate Protection was being in its new “Beyond Combustion” white paper on the county’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels.

Those who have strolled past Downtown Bakery and then found themselves easing into Levin’s without a thought of buying a book because they were enigmatically drawn in, join a host of others. Walking the east side of Center Street on the Plaza, there is an allure to enter Levin’s. Warm and worn Persian carpets, well-curated tables of bestsellers and frequently changed display books are part of it.