Op-Ed Opinion Essay

On March 6th, as Chair of Russian River Watershed Protection Committee, I received an email and pictures from one of our supporters and a resident of the Vacation Beach area, expressing her concern about a raw sewage spill near her house (close to the Vacation Beach Pump Station).

As people begin to live longer, financial planning will become even more important. Many customers have told me that these home loans just aren’t right for them, but the reality is that they can be a major financial windfall for seniors in multiple situations.

Encouraging you to VOTE for what YOU believe is GOOD for YOUR Community

The fire isn’t over though. Far from it. Santa Rosa is no longer like a war zone with hugs, but there is a long way to go. Fire survivors are all different, but one unifying characteristic is that none of us is past the fire.

Every election is important, but this one has serious significance for both local and national elections. Our readers check in with their opinions on who and what they encourage you to vote YES.

It is important to first honor the significant hard work that went into seeking community input and writing this strong guiding fire recovery and resiliency framework for action, especially under difficult conditions. While there are more detailed fire recovery recommendations that have been crafted, such as in the recent report from the Alliance for a Just, Equitable and Sustainable Recovery, here are a few of the recommendations to help strengthen this plan.

The 13.8-mile marathon, has not met with local praise and support because the plan disrupts the only road for access to residences and businesses at the tail end of tourist season. The original plan called for shutting off the entire highway and that has been revised to closing sections at a time as the runners make their way down the coast.

According to early results of the March 5 special election, voters in the Palm Drive Health Care District resoundingly passed Measure A. It is important to be clear on what precisely voters approved. In the District's haste to call the special election, I am afraid the process was bungled, resulting in widespread confusion about what was being voted on - whether Resolution 18-10, passed unanimously by the District Board on December 7, or Resolution 19-01, adopted on a 4-1 vote of the District Board on February 4. 

It seems every day brings a new spate of federal, state, hospital and clinic restrictions on the opioids needed by millions of chronic pain patients to be functional human beings. Some are seeing their doses cut back. Others are cut off completely.

I feel it’s important for people to be informed. I am quite aware of how conservative news outlets report the Women’s Marches as “anti-abortion protests”... “the election”..or “women’s rights.” Its easy enough to criticize & say “what rights have you lost?” It’s not about “lost rights.”

A recent application for a large commercial cannabis grow and processing facility adjacent to Graton homes and the West County Trail has put a spotlight on the county’s evolving cannabis regulations.

Many concerns have been shared by the community in regards to the harmonious setting of the two properties recently sold along theWest County Trail. This space is currently zoned for agriculture and for myself, as a naturalist, is where my concern resides

Anger. Fear. Exhaustion. Jubilation. Relief. A strong desire to rebuild, restore, strengthen, and protect. We who endured the massive wildfires here in Northern California a year ago are still experiencing all of these feelings, and more. As are many of us across the entire nation, in response to what I’ll summarize here as political events during the past 18 to 24 months.

Across Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, funerals would be graced by a stranger providing one last chance at savings the deceased’s soul. Bread or other simple food would be placed on the corpse, to absorb sin from its flesh, and then it would be consumed by the willing sin eater.