Editorial

Healdsburg’s rental housing market is in crisis. Evictions, 60 day notices and often 20 percent-plus rental increases are occurring daily, the most recent eviction being the 21-unit rental housing on Prentice Drive, with all tenants being evicted for building repairs, and rents going from a range of $850 to $1,400 to $2,100 – a 65 percent rental increase and more in one year. How many rental units and people are in Healdsburg? According to the 2010 housing element statistics there are 4,378 total housing units in Healdsburg. Forty-two percent of them (1,857) are rental units. With an average of three persons per unit, this could represent 5,571 people in our community of 12,000 residents.

Bacteria are a natural part of the environment, but some bacteria like those found in human or animal waste can be a hazard when we are exposed to it in the rivers where we work and play. These microscopic single-celled organisms are found virtually everywhere, including water, soil, plants, animals and the human body. Bacteria provide numerous benefits to the environment, including the decomposition of organic matter, like breaking down leaves and plants to nourish the soil. Bacteria also serve several functions in the human body, including assisting with digestion, aiding the immune system and protecting against harmful and disease-causing invaders, known as pathogenic microbes.

“Why doesn’t someone do something about all the trash in the creek?” This question from an 11 year old girl scout surprised me. Dozens of energetic volunteers surrounded us scouring the banks of Santa Rosa Creek along the Prince Memorial Greenway for trash washed down by the winter rains. I started to explain that many people were indeed doing something, only to be interrupted by her observation that cut to the quick of any storm water program, “Yes, but if people were really doing something, we wouldn’t have to be here cleaning up after them.”

For the last 15 years, I have been a volunteer in prisons, teaching convicted felons in the field of sociology and running self-help groups. Most of my students are “lifers,” men who have been convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, or burglary for which they have received sentences of 15 years to life and much more. None of them are on death row, and most are now eligible for parole, having served their minimum sentences. Often, they have served far longer.

The future of farming will be on parade next week during the