By Dennis Rosatti

Few everyday citizens have reason to engage in regional government, even though the decisions these government bodies are making impact all of us in the Bay Area.

Our appointed local elected representatives come together to discuss problems, solutions and strategies to upcoming challenges and issues that cross local boarders. The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), Metropolitan Transportation District (MTC), Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority (SFBRA) are not likely to be conversation pieces around the dinner table, and they rarely find their way into the local newspapers with issues of interest. The average person probably doesn’t even realize that many of these government entities exist, let alone know what they do or understand how to engage in a process that might benefit their neighborhood or local town.  

Mothers and Allies Challenge Wine Industrialist

By Shepherd Bliss

Half a dozen mothers from Sebastopol and its countryside quickly rallied hundreds of people to their side to challenge Sonoma County’s Paul Hobbs Winery. He wants to convert a 40-acre apple orchard into a vineyard that would use pesticides; it borders five schools on Watertrough Road, including Apple Blossom and Orchard View. Together they have around 700 children. 

When mentally ill people kill, is it the same as murder for passion or money?

By Vesta Copestakes

James Eagen Holmes entered a crowded theater in Colorado and gunned down dozens of people, killing 12. 

Jared Lee Loughner attended an Arizona political rally and murdered 6, wounding 13.

Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School killing 20 children and 6 adults.

Houston Herczog came home from a Santa Rosa gym and stabbed his father 60 times with multiple knives.

What these four men have in common is that they have all been diagnosed as mentally ill. The first three were tried and declared insane at the time they killed. Houston Herczog is waiting for his trial and verdict. As we go to press, his case  - #SCR610509  - is scheduled for the morning.

Sonoma County residents and businesses will soon have a choice in purchasing electricity. Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) the proposed community choice program, is about to bring a competitive alternative to PG&E.
Up until now, PG&E’s monopoly meant that we had no choice. But a new way of introducing competition into the energy market is now available that lets PG&E do what it does best, like maintaining wires and responding to outages, while allowing SCP to offer greener energy at a competitive price. In the process, money that is now sent out of the county to PG&E is kept in our community to support local efficiency programs and renewable energy projects.