News

Michael Haney named interim executive director

Early every spring in Sonoma County, just after the yellow mustard blooms in vineyard rows, but before the snowy white apple blossoms of April, rises the hand-picked sounds of acoustic folk and bluegrass music along the Laguna de Santa Rosa at the annual Sonoma County Bluegrass and Folk Festival.

Festival runs Oct. 22-25

California counties that are on the state health department’s coronavirus watchlist will be required to start the school year in distance learning. Sonoma County has been on the state’s watchlist since July 10.

All west county schools will be back in session on Monday, Nov. 4. This includes all schools in the following districts:

County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase gave an update on the county’s COVID-19 virus statistics earlier this week, noting changes in the governor’s system for classifying county virus statistics and pointing out similarities and differences between Sonoma County’s virus cases and the cases of other counties in the region.

There’s a hive of PhDs at the University of California at Davis who are working to reinvent food production in the Golden State. Researchers have fanned out across the globe collecting rare plant samples; others are grafting Frankenstein trees and stitching together root systems of plums and peaches to create better almond and walnut trees.

There are many signs of change afoot in Healdsburg, from new restaurants under development, favorite espresso shops reappearing and multi-unit housing projects sprouting on the edges of town.  But some changes are less visible, though ultimately more significant. E&M, a 67-year-old motor repair shop, is...