News

With schools across Sonoma County reopening after a yearlong closure, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin is working alongside school districts to provide the necessary support to families in the new hybrid learning format, according a statement from the club.

Special Town Council Meeting

Since Christmas, Jam’s Joy Bungalow on the square in Sebastopol has been providing free meals for anyone who needs it between 3-5 pm on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month.  This month, that schedule didn’t work for her, so Jam’s owner Jamilah Nixon declared “Free Food April,” offering to provide a delicious meal to those who can’t afford to pay (no questions asked) during the whole month of April.

School grounds are filling up at recess again as more students ditch virtual learning and return to brick-and-mortar classrooms. But for the many mothers who had to cut back on work during the pandemic as kids stayed home, back to school has not meant back to normal.

Trigger warning: This article contains details of sexual assault that may be troubling to folks and to sexual assault survivors.

On Saturday night, April 10, Dominic Foppoli released a statement — his first since the beginning of the allegations of sexual assault against him — denying any wrongdoing and in turn pointing the fingers of misdeeds in other directions. He also made it clear he has no plans to resign.

The theme of the April 14 meeting of the Cloverdale City Council is seemingly water — the council will be viewing a presentation on its updated water and sewer rate study and giving direction on whether or not to proceed to a public hearing with new rates, and will also be discussing whether or not it wants to join the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership. Additionally, the council will be reviewing an amendment to its polystyrene prohibition ordinance.

Editor’s note: All people named are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Protestors are calling for his ouster, politicians, including close friends, are calling for him to resign, and another woman has come forward alleging abuse, but Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli has remained silent, releasing only cursory statements through his lawyer.

On March 30, 2021, Sebastopol police officers received information of possible sexual assaults that occurred in the City of Sebastopol between December 2019 and March 2021.Upon further investigation, the suspect was identified as Robert Jacob, the former mayor of Sebastopol (2014) and the co-founder of Peace in Medicine, Sebastopol’s first cannabis dispensary.On April 10, 2021 at 7 a.m., Sebastopol police officers contacted Robert Jacob in the 7400 block of Woodland Avenue and took him into custody for an arrest warrant related to five felony and one misdemeanor sexual assault crimes against a minor, including  266j PC, 288(c)(1) PC, 288.2(a)(1) PC, 288.2(a)(2) PC, 288.4(a)(1) PC, and 289(i) PC. (According the California Penal Code, these involve, among other things,  transportation of a child under 16 for lewd and lascivious acts, distribution of child pornography, arranging a meeting for sexual purposes with a person believed to be underage and sexual penetration with a person under 16 years of age.)Jacob was transported to the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility and is being held without bail.This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sebastopol Police Department at 707-829-4400 and refer to Report #21-0220.Townsy Sebastopol is a recently-launched community web app, offering local news, online shopping at local stores, a local event guide, local volunteer and job boards and more. Find it at https://townsyapp.com.Sonoma West Publishers is partnering with Townsy to make our news more accessible to the Sebastopol community.