Wine, weed, water and us
Sonoma County and its residents have become victims of too many cumulative impacts. We have backroads with too many wineries and valleys with not enough water. We’ve had tons of illegal cannabis for decades and are now fighting to figure out how to make it legal and grow it in the right places. Farmers need lawyers and land use consultants just to plant a crop or plow a hillside. We’ve had a generation-long debate about preserving our rural character but we can’t even agree on what the term exactly means.
Things change, things stay the same
Exactly two years ago, I wrote a commentary on this page declaring that I would be away from the paper on maternity leave for a few months and that I was leaving the paper in very capable hands while I was away. I wrote that while I would be stepping back from the endless deadlines and late night meetings, I knew I would be up against a different set of challenges as I gave birth to my first child.
Arts & Entertainment
A festival of love at local film center
While some 17 films and three “surprise screenings” are spread out over the four-day festival, that obscure majority is outweighed in impact by four classic love stories, including 'Roman Holiday,' 'The Birdcage,' 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg' and none other than Nick Cage and Cher in 'Moonstruck.'












