Opinion

It’s as dry as a bone out there. Our region has received less than one-third the normal amount of rainfall to date – 13 inches of rain compared to an average of 38 inches. As a result, on April 21, the day before Earth Day, the State of California declared a drought emergency in the Russian River watershed, which spans Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

It’s official: Sonoma County is now suffering through multiple droughts, all at the same time. Some are related to one another and some are not. Some are being worsened by the coronavirus pandemic and its related economic impacts. One of the droughts we can mostly blame on Mother Nature, but the others are totally on us.

Wasting water in the name of tourism

The following snippets of history are drawn from the pages of the Healdsburg Tribune, the Healdsburg Enterprise and the Sotoyome Scimitar, and are prepared by the volunteers at the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society. Admission is always free at the museum, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Sonoma County Supervisors are considering an update to the county cannabis cultivation ordinance. It would allow for ministerial permits for cultivation through the agricultural commissioner, if one qualifies, instead of a 3-5-year public hearing process. Staff has come up with very restrictive policy, and documented no significant environmental impacts due to the limited amount of potential available acreage.

The following snippets of history are drawn from the pages of the Healdsburg Tribune, the Healdsburg Enterprise and the Sotoyome Scimitar, and are prepared by the volunteers at the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society. Admission is always free at the museum, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The following snippets of history are drawn from the pages of the Healdsburg Tribune, the Healdsburg Enterprise and the Sotoyome Scimitar, and are prepared by the volunteers at the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society. Admission is always free at the museum, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Editor's note: The Tribune accidentally printed an old From the Library column this week. The correct column, updated at noon on April 16, is below.

This Week in H’burg is a weekly column featuring photos and fun facts from local photographer Pierre Ratté. Each week we’ll feature a new photo from Ratté along with a fact about the subject matter of the photo.