Columns

Editor's Note: This column is from one of the Times' sister publications, Sonoma West Times & News. We thought our readers would be interested in columnist Bob Jones' recollection of the events in Montgomery. 

As Healdsburg continues to tread forward in the era of COVID-19 and the dialogue of racial injustice weighs heavily in our hearts and minds, our community still faces tension and uncertainty when it comes to reopening our schools, supporting our downtown plaza, housing and food insecurity, health and the protection of our city from fires. I look forward to serving our residents and the city of Healdsburg to make sure that we meet these challenges head-on.

Summer is upon us. If you’ve kept a garden or maintained a landscape here in Sonoma County, you know just how thirsty plants can get in the dry season. Luckily, many of the guiding principles for having a water-wise garden in our climate have...

The library has now been operating with curbside pickup for a few weeks and we are happy to report that this system has been working pretty smoothly. Our thanks go out to so many of you who have taken advantage of this new service, both for giving it a try and for working carefully with our safety protocols as we work to ensure the health of the public and our staff. If you haven't given it a try yet, I encourage you to do so and you can read more information online at sonomalibrary.org/curbside. 

There are many victims of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 — locally, across our nation and globally as well. Just in Sonoma County, there are several kinds of victims, and not all are humans. First, we have had 20 COVID-19 fatalities and over 2,000 positive infections. Thousands of local workers have become unemployed or have lost their jobs. Our Latinx population has suffered by extra measure. Individual businesses and our general economy are being victimized by the enforced closure under public health safety rules. But maybe the most perilous victims are our school children, after only the disease’s deaths.

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.

On Thursday, July 23, from 6 to 7:30 pm, Omar Paz, Jr., will speak to the Windsor Democratic Club, via Zoom, concerning critically important issues facing Sonoma County’s workers and residents. 

Few things speak levity like Champagne or sparkling wine. How better to raise ones spirits than with a glass of effervescence? Since we are all in need a lift right now, let’s talk bubbles.

One way to distract ourselves from the threats of the coronavirus pandemic would be to focus on all the unfinished work we started 244 years ago to form “a more perfect union.” This was the imposing goal laid out in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution in 1787. It included the ideals of justice for all, domestic tranquility, general welfare and to secure the “blessings” of liberty and prosperity.

Maybe it was irresponsible. But I was recently within earshot of the following comments at an outdoor event at which I was the only one wearing a mask an hour after reading in the morning paper that COVID-19 cases were spiking in several states, including California, and several counties, including Sonoma: