Reporter’s Notebook: Covering disasters
Covering big disaster stories like floods and fires always has presented extra challenges to us local journalists. We not only have to report on the disaster — but we have to live through it, too.
Market Report: A market goodie for every mood
Hello market friends. I don’t think I have to say, it’s an incredibly weird time right now. A scary virus, an equally scary economy; everything in our world has been turned upside down. Nothing seems normal anymore.
Main Street: Responsibilities
The United States of America is a land of immigrants. In addition to those who we commonly perceive as an immigrant — someone who was born in another country — anyone whose ancestors came from Asia, Europe, South America, the Middle East, Africa (if you go back far enough, that includes all of us), or elsewhere, is the descendant of an immigrant.
Wine Words – Wine Country gratitude
During this season of gratitude, toasts around the county include thanks for what was saved from the Kincade Fire.
It’s ‘Big Easy’ to jazz up your meal rotation
Listening to a jazz band improvise recently, I thought of food.
Gifts for ourselves
What links the outcomes of recent news stories about schoolteacher pay and strikes, SMART train expansion, mental health services, Kincade Fire recovery, expanded fire protection services, future Highway 101 improvements and happier holidays? Would you believe local shopping dollars?
Plastic straws, plastic oceans
At the mouth of the Russian River, which defines the watershed in which we all live, there is a mud and sand flat full of driftwood, large rocks and lots and lots of colorful items. These are soda bottles, lost toys, household containers, play balls, boat parts, piles of bottle caps, broken cases, bags, missing shoes and unidentifiable pieces of our modern life. They’re all made of plastic.
Ripe Rewards: Tomatoes
There are certain times of the year here in Sonoma County when you feel compelled to, you really must, work with certain foods. It is almost criminal not to, because they grow so beautifully, and most of all they taste out of this world.
Street sweeper: first line of defense
The sound of the street sweeper is music to my ears. As the street sweeper drives down the street the sound of the vacuum unit reminds me that the sweeper is our first line of defense in preventing debris from entering the storm drain system. By keeping debris out of our storm drain system, the street sweeper is doing its part to prevent debris from entering our creeks and rivers.
