Gifting for graduates
Mylar balloons, new shoes and envelopes full of money always make good gifts for graduating students. And, this being June and the beginning of the local graduation season, it’s not too early to pick over suitable gift suggestions. But caution is urged. Not all gift categories fit all graduates. Clothing, personalized tattoos or inspirational books can really miss the mark. Graduates may be quite young with much more to learn, but they know exactly what they want. Especially when it concerns fashion, peer approval and mandatory tests for coolness.
‘This is how we live here…’ Liza’s market journey
At the Healdsburg Certified Farmers’ Market, strawberries are reaching their peak sweetness, their scent lingering in the air before they are even visible in the stalls. Spring onions and green garlic are tender, fava beans are shelled by the pound and sugar snap peas—the kind of bright green that seems to be omnipresent in my life lately—offer that crisp, wet-mouth crunch that makes them an irresistible snack...
Winter pruning is for suckers
It’s winter. The occasional frost tips the blades of grass creeping slowly but surely through the brown, dry turf we don’t water all summer long, conserving water for the warm season crops of vegetables and orchard trees.
Our monopolized choices
As the California June 7 primary gets closer (mail-in voting starts in three weeks) we are hearing more and more people complaining about a lack of choices among the five remaining presidential candidates. Even some of the candidates are grumbling about the “monopolistic” powers of the Democratic and Republican party machines.
Letters to the Editor, Feb. 29
"Sure miss the days when candidates were motivated to run to serve their communities and take the high road during the campaign, focusing on their backgrounds, experience and skill sets rather than trying to skewer their opponents. Those kinds of tactics do make it easier to decide who NOT to vote for …"
Arts & Entertainment
Dia de Muertos lives on in Healdsburg
At Dia de Muertos—Healdsburg’s most colorful event of the year, recognized Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Plaza—Sonoma County residents showed up to remember loved...













