Columns

The beautiful sunshine is back to warm our faces and to dry out our fairways. Like many of you I spent the last two months watching Windsor Golf Club’s 1st, 9th, and 18th fairways get battered and soaked by the winter rainstorms. These holes looked like long deep lakes with a few tiny “dry” grass spots for birds to rest.

In the aftermath of the worst firestorm in Sonoma County history last week, local chefs snapped into action doing what they do best: They cooked. They cooked for first responders and the people they saved. They cooked for evacuees. They cooked for volunteers who were helping at local evacuation shelters. The resulting meals included homemade sausages, steak and lasagna. They were adorned with fresh vegetables from local farms, fresh bread from local bakeries and lots of love.

This newspaper has received its fair share of questions, criticisms and abuse of late. Some readers don’t like our tightening news pages and new emphasis on digital news delivery. We’ve tried to explain the changing business of newspapers, but not everyone is getting the...

During 2020 and the pandemic, cocktail books flew off the shelves. Books like Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails; The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartenders Guide; Spirits and Cocktails from Around the World; and Artisanal Cocktails - Seasonal Drinks Inspired by the Bar at Cyrus by Healdsburg’s own famous cocktail baller, Scott Beattie, experienced a significant uptick in sales.

What’s wrong with the rest of America these days? There are too many places and hometowns where angry mobs are marching in the streets and hate speech is spewing from their town squares. Why are so many of our fellow Americans at odds about their own history? They are tearing down old statues from their plazas and courthouse lawns, but not everyone understands why. We should teach them a lesson about how to make better use of their public squares. We really should.

I readily admit, getting older is a challenge. Most days I can move along just fine because in my mind I’m the same guy I’ve always been. But every now and then I run into someone, who without trying to, reminds me of how...