Columns

The Farmers Market … have you been yet this season?

The Zucchini Festival takes place Sept. 14 at the Healdsburg Farmers Market: zucchini decorating competitions, giant zucchini contests and zucchini car races. It is such a blast to be a part of and/or to watch.

When we first investigated and reported in April about the rising use of electronic cigarettes by local teens we came away astonished by the set of facts that pointed to a public health crisis that was impacting thousands of unwitting local students. Since that time, the horrors of “vaping” have increased in volume and intensity. Earlier this month, Dr. Celeste Philip, Sonoma County’s public health officer, issued an alert and urged local doctors to watch for lung illnesses that could be linked to vaping nicotine and cannabis. This week, the first death in California attributed to vaping was reported among 57 similar cases of lung illnesses linked to vaping. More than 500 mysterious lung illness cases and five deaths have been reported nationwide.

Mother Nature is a charmer most of the time; an alarmist some of the time. In early morning, I was checking my email at the computer in my den, a cozy room filled with books and heated in winter by a gas insert stove. The familiar song of the mourning dove interrupted my train of thought.

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.

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.

Jana Adams, a Sonoma County real estate broker, has an extensive support group. She needs it and so does her daughter, Brooke, who just turned 6, and who has Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that typically begins in infancy or early childhood and that’s characterized by seizures that can last minutes or hours. The name for the syndrome comes from Charlotte Dravet, a French doctor who discovered the gene mutation that was later named after her.

By Juliana LeRoy

Ageless Grace, Wednesday, Sept. 18 and 25, 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Free.

National Public Radio has a popular program called “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me.” During part of the show, celebrity guests tell far-fetched stories and try to fool listeners who have to guess which stories are true and which are false. Wanna play? Let’s. Here is a series of “breaking news reports.” Try and guess which are real and which ones might be fake.