Editorial

Summer will soon be upon us. Though spring cleaning gets us all ready for the summer season, pool and spa owners face a special set of cleaning and maintenance tasks. Improper discharge of pool/spa water and the chemicals in it into streets or storm drains can have an impact on streams and rivers. The following steps can help keep your pool or spa clean and functioning for recreational use without harming the environment:  

My wife Bonnie and I recently went to the de Young Museum to see the Vermeer (1632 - 1675) exhibit on loan from the Mauritshuis in The Hague. The Exhibit is called “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” after what is perhaps Vermeer’s best known work. The girl turns to look at us over her left shoulder and as she turns our gaze is drawn to the single pearl on the lobe of her lovely ear. A text describes the painting as the Dutch “Mona Lisa.” The exhibit reveals a world of mostly prosperous looking men and women. Self assured, Protestant, one might even say secular. They are a class of people absent from earlier times, the early Renaissance and the Middle Ages. They are neither prelates (there is one painting of a preacher in the exhibit), nor princes, and they are certainly not peasants. They are burghers and their families, men of commerce, trade and industry; and they read and write. There is a charming, domestic scene of a woman, seated comfortably at a desk in her own home. She is writing, maybe a personal letter, maybe household accounts, but the point is she is writing, something that a few hundred years earlier few other than clergy were able to do.

“In summer, the song sings itself.” And, summer in the ‘Burg is a delightful and busy tune; even hot. Fan yourself, then send a missive to “IDlewood 3…” - your “who, what, where” column. “Hedda Healdsburg” wants to know all!  

I ran into Mike McGuire the other day at the First Annual

What was that that just happened? We’re referring to the

While America is heading toward its first “billionaires-only” election for a new president next November, is there anything us local peons can do to save next year’s important elections for new county government leaders?

So you’re turning 65. Congratulations! It’s time to start taking advantage of your Medicare benefits. And just how do you do that?

Despite recent rains, the cumulative average rainfall for the water year to date (July 1, 2013 – March 9, 2014) is still well below average. The Santa Rosa basin currently, as of March 14, has 14.1” compared to an average of 25.2”. The Ukiah basin has 11.45” compared to the average of 30”. While the drought status in much of the county was updated from “extreme” to “severe,” water storage levels in Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma continue to be well below average. Lake Mendocino’s water supply storage capacity was at 50 percent and Lake Sonoma’s water supply capacity was at 73 percent (as of March 14).  

A fascinating new rationale is going around to explain why wineries have to throw so many big parties. It has to do with a relatively new social force called “wine club pressure.”

As the weather heats up, our thoughts turn to water. As in, where can I hang out on the Russian River? How can I save water in my garden, while still keeping it beautiful? And where can I volunteer to help keep the river and other local waterways clean?