Columns

A day in the life of raising two teenagers is always interesting. You never know what kind of mood they will be in, or if they are going to be a functioning human being that day or not. It’s kind of like testing the waters each morning.

Salmon for mayor, election to fill his seat

When I started teaching four decades ago, schools held monthly fire drills and occasional earthquake drills, but the focus on safety never outweighed the emphasis on learning.

Dear Editor: I received a utilities bill from the City for my August usage. $1,096.84! That’s up from $727.77 in July, which was also outrageous. I called the utilities department several times the week of 16 September, left a message and received no response. I cannot...

Fire season is over at last. This week, we’re bracing for wind, waves, rain and snow at elevation. Meteorologists predict a “bomb cyclone” as this goes to press, with four days of continuous rain. Not 40 days, notes Pierre Ratte with causal ease - after all, he filed his latest Snapshot from a Baja beach!

I grew up listening to music by the Beach Boys, and wanted so much to join them and become a Surfer Girl. A drawback:  I lived in Chicago. But I could channel surf on the TV, couch surf as I got older when visiting with friends in other cities and also web surf when shopping for the holidays. Now, looking forward to the new year it appears that our library invites us all to Adventure Surf! It does not matter when or where you live in Sonoma County, opportunities to experience joy and accomplishment are offered to all ages. Check out the events listed below, and get on board. And you don’t have to worry about sharks!

Cannabis tourism will negatively impact property values 

It’s a big job, community journalism. It doesn’t pay well; there are long hours and holiday work. For every uplifting story we write about sacrifice, accomplishment and joy, there’s another one about betrayal, conflict and disappointment.