Editorial

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).  

Thirty percent of the world’s population lacks adequate access to safe water and a child dies every 90 seconds on our planet from a water-related disease. Many schools and hospitals in underdeveloped countries lack safe drinking water or sanitation.

Healdsburg Charter School (HCS) opened in August 2011, after extensive visioning and community involvement, and has become a thriving school with a waiting list at each grade level. The school is housed at two sites, with K-2 students at Healdsburg Elementary School and grades 3-5 at Fitch Mountain Campus.

The big mystery about the exciting new Russian River riparian setback rules is whether anyone really has a clue how they’ll work.

I have read the commentaries of candidates for the City Council with great interest. It is obvious to me that some of the candidates have really done their homework to learn the issues through the media, from members of the City Council and the City staff. Every candidate was encouraged to meet with City staff which included the City Manager, City Attorney and department heads. Most chose to, a couple did not. Their commentaries reflect that.

There are 78 million dogs in the U.S. today. They eat and then each eliminates almost a pound of poop every day. The resulting 3.6 billion pounds of dog poop produced in a year can fill 800 footballs fields, one foot deep! This is no small nuisance. Sonoma County’s 43,000 dogs produce over 32,000 pounds daily. Cleaning up your pet’s waste helps keep our pets, the environment, and each other healthy.

Dressing in my sweats, high-top shoes, hooded jersey and cap, I leave the house to meet the morning  cold. As my father would say, “No one is tougher than the weather!” I am going to meet an old friend— wild, steep, dense stands of redwood, oak and madrone— the forested path of the Fitch mountain fire trail. Hiking it brings understanding and awareness of life’s connectedness, of oneness with the Earth.

When the new Healdsburg City Council reconvenes on January 3, 2017, there will be one vacant seat. In the wake of the 2016 election, councilmember Eric Ziedrich tendered his resignation, effective December 31, due to the rejection of Measure R by Healdsburg voters.

It is hard to believe, but in 1954, a deadly virus in the United States scared families, changed behaviors, and led to some panicky behavior, somewhat like Ebola is doing now. It was called by some a “plague” and it was said that the greatest fear of Americans in the 1950s were the atomic bomb and this illness. It would kill 8,000 people in the first years of the 1950s, and it would generally target young, healthy kids.  If it did not kill someone, it might cause significant paralysis, even to the point of that person not being able to walk, or lift an arm, or even to breathe.  And that paralysis could be permanent.