COVID-19 cases, new syndrome on the rise among children, especially Latino children
At least seven California children have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, more than 350,000 kids have tested positive for the virus and the number of youngsters diagnosed with a new, rare inflammatory syndrome continues to spread.
Newsom’s $2 billion school reopening fund could actually cost districts money
In his bid to get California school campuses back open, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed giving extra money to schools that managed to open by a certain date.
Voter guides arriving soon for west county special elections
According to an announcement from the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, voters in west county should start receiving their voter guides for the March 2 Special Election soon. Guides will start being mailed out to voters on Jan. 21.
School opening still seems far away despite vaccination roll out and the governor’s proposals
There were several items on the agenda at the Jan. 19 Windsor school board meeting, but none garnered more attention, or time, than the latest information about a possible return to in-person instruction and vaccine information as it relates to schools.
County receives HUD waiver to skip 2021 homeless count
With a waiver from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the county will not conduct the full 2021 Sonoma County Point-in-Time Count of homeless residents this year, according to the Ending Homelessness program manager for the county’s Community Development Commission (CDC).
City enters into exclusive negotiating agreement for Thyme Square affordable housing
At a Cloverdale City Council meeting last week, the council gave the green light for the city to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Integrated Community Development for the possible development of affordable housing units on Lot A of the city’s South Cloverdale Boulevard Thyme Square property.
Forestry Crab Feed won’t host annual feed fundraiser, but you can still donate
While the annual Forestry Crab Feed fundraiser and raffle is canceled this year due to COVID-19, you can still donate to the organization, which aims to raise funds for local nonprofits and for CalFire firefighters who’ve lost their homes or were injured in recent wildland fires.
Jam’s Joy Bungalow offers free food twice a month
From her perch in her tiny kitchen on the plaza, Jamilah Nixon of Jam’s Joy Bungalow has a good view of the daily struggles of Sebastopol’s homeless population, many of whom spend the day in the plaza. But she knows that these days it’s not only the homeless who are struggling financially and may be in need of a good hot meal.Nixon has always been generous with food, offering sandwiches to those in need, but this month, she made it official by announcing that she’d be offering free food to anyone who needs it on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month between 3 and 5 p.m.On those days, she makes a big pot of something luscious and dishes it up for anyone who needs it, be they the unhoused, laid off workers or even those who she said “just need to feel that something good happened to them that day.”In these times, that line could get pretty long.“I live in Sebastopol, and I’m a single mom raising a daughter,” Nixon said. “If I was out of work right now or was furloughed or had a business that wasn’t doing well, I know that it would be really tough for me to make ends meet, and give her a sense of normalcy and be able to go out and kind of feel like you’re part of the community.”She launched the first food giveaway on Christmas Day, serving gumbo and cornbread. Then on Jan. 12, she put out the word on social media.The next day, roughly 25 people showed up to take her up on her offer.She was a little disappointed in the turnout because she’d made enough food for 50 — black eyed peas with chicken and andouille sausage chili with cornbread, but she realizes it may take a while for people to catch on that it’s happening.“It’s just gonna have to grow by word of mouth,” she said. “And we have a couple guys in the homeless community that are spreading the word.”But the food isn’t meant solely for the homeless.“I also really want to reach out to restaurant workers and other workers that are furloughed and that are barely making ends meet or have families that they’re trying to feed,” she said.“There’s no questions asked,” Nixon said. “We’re just offering everybody a bowl of food … and if they have a family at home, and they need three or four bowls, that’s fine too. We’ll pack it up to go,” she said.Though she’s not soliciting donations for this effort, she’s be happy to accept them, noting people can just leave money in the tip jar.“We’re putting everything in there toward buying food,” she said. “All that money is being funneled back into feeding people, either when they come up and they need a sandwich, or when they come to one of these Wednesday events.”“We have so much abundance in Sonoma County,” Nixon said, “that it’s important to recognize that not everybody in our community is thriving right now.”Townsy is a recently-launched Sebastopol community app, offering local news, online shopping at local stores, a local event guide, local volunteer and job boards and more.
