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“All who believed were together and had all things in common. They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need…”

If we must say so ourselves — and why shouldn’t we? — the citizens of Healdsburg are one of the proudest and most generous communities to be found anywhere. We cherish our traditions as we also expand our horizons and meet all kinds of challenges with a stalwart blend of conviction and compassion. Healdsburg is home to good folks with big hearts.

There are people who don’t agree with me. Yeah, I had the same reaction – what? It’s true though. I realize that more and more when I try to talk sense into unreasonable people. How do I know they are unreasonable? Because well, they just are, that’s how.

Pests, whether ants in the kitchen or weeds in the garden, are a frustrating reality in any home or garden. While many of us think of a pesticide as the quick solution, it is not the safest alternative for our family’s heath and for the environment. Our watershed, creeks, rivers and local water bodies can be contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals that we commonly use. These chemicals are not only a threat to aquatic life, but can also affect the quality of our drinking water and our health. So, how can we control pests safely? What are alternatives to pesticides? Should pesticides ever be used?

The origins of Memorial Day are often attributed to General John Logan. It is true that, in 1868, he gave impetus to an official “Decoration Day” as it was first called, a time for remembering the Civil War dead and decorating their graves. But Logan never really understood the meaning of the day. Until his own death, he remained a radical reconstructionist whose fierce anger toward the South never abated.

Early in 2013, the new members of the Board of Directors of the Healdsburg Animal Shelter confronted the task of examining the Shelter’s business model and dealing with its continuing operating losses—losses that had severely eroded the Shelter’s financial reserves. In providing the high level of care that the Healdsburg community has come to expect, the Shelter has now exhausted nearly all its operating reserves.  Today we need community support—more than ever in the Shelter’s 53-year history—to keep the Shelter operating and fulfilling its mission.

A fascinating new rationale is going around to explain why wineries have to throw so many big parties. It has to do with a relatively new social force called “wine club pressure.”

I promised myself that I would give the whole gun control issue a bit of a break. I find it depressing in the extreme and it only exacerbates my feeling of helplessness. I broke that promise to myself because a) no matter how I tried my thoughts still carom back to the subject, b) I had my fingers crossed when I made the promise and c) I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get the words ‘exacerbate’ and ‘carom’ in one paragraph.

I am shocked to see the misleading signs regarding Drakes Bay Oyster Company popping up around the Sonoma and Marin Counties. These signs should say Save Point Reyes Wilderness. I strongly support organic sustainable agriculture and I love oysters but the attempt by Drakes Oyster Company and their corporate allies to deny wilderness status to Drakes Estero has nothing to do with farming and everything to do with opening publicly owned wilderness lands to development. Pt. Reyes National Seashore is a wonderful example of cooperation between agriculture, the national park system, and wilderness.

The look could only be described as a smirk. That’s what it was, that’s what struck me to the core like a cold stabbing, sliver thin bolt of ice. The photo in the paper showed the brothers standing at the Boston Marathon. Near a place that would, in a matter of minutes, resemble more a ravaged war zone than a celebratory gathering of runners from around the world realizing their life-long, or annual, dreams.