Columns

Ultimately, there is no real good that comes with the historic devastation and destruction of property and loss of lives that Hurricane Harvey visited upon Houston and the nearby Gulf Coast. Twenty trillion gallons of rain fell on the area, 60 lives have been lost, 185,000 homes destroyed, almost 500,000 people displaced and an estimated total of $180 billion in damages to be expected.

Returning home from the recent Russian Riverkeeper fundraiser, for the umpteenth time I wondered what exactly makes for a successful event. There was so much I appreciated about the Ripp’n River Bash. Let’s begin with the invitation — blue, white and black, the creative artwork screamed “river,” with a mission clearly stated front and center:

Q) My printer was very old and needed to be replaced, so I went to Best Buy and bought an all-in-one printer. The young man demonstrated it in the store and I liked the quality of the text and the photos that he printed. I brought it home and a neighbor helped me set it up. But it doesn’t work at all. What did we do wrong?

Voice of Harvey

This Labor Day is unlike any other we can remember in our lifetime. There is more labor to be done than there are willing workers. It seems there is a “help wanted” sign hanging on almost every other door or store window we pass. The biggest concern for local grape growers as the 2017 harvest begins is finding enough workers to pick their crops. With the official unemployment rate at 3.9 percent, this Labor Day in Sonoma County will be marked in stark contrast to recent Labor Days that were marred by a recession when the local unemployment rate hit a high of just over 11 percent.

Time to speak up

For the record

Anybody got a plan?

On Tuesday, an abbreviated three-member Windsor Planning Commission reviewed conceptual plans for the annexation and development of between 240 and 250 homes on 58 acres of vineyards north of Jensen Lane at the western edge of Windsor.

Trump replacements