Springs MAC — the County’s official voice — enters its fourth year

The Springs Municipal Advisory Council (MAC), a panel of eight community members tasked by Sonoma County to advise on local issues and concerns, was formed three years ago. Just after year one, the stay-at-home order and pandemic restrictions forced the new group to move from... Continue

City of Sonoma names new Public Works Director

The City of Sonoma has named Mike Berger as the new Director of Public Works. Berger, who started April 18, brings more than 30 years of civil engineering experience as a designer, contractor, construction manager and operations manager. He oversee a departmental budget of over... Continue

Huge disaster-response drill at SDC this weekend

There’s an earthquake scheduled for this weekend, but don’t be alarmed – It’s only a test. State agencies have chosen the Sonoma Developmental Center for their annual emergency-response drill. Here’s the scenario: a 7.9 earthquake hits the area on Thursday, April 28th at 3 p.m.... Continue

Those fleeing Ukraine deserve full refugee status

We are very much interested in becoming sponsors of Ukrainian refugees, however, we just learned that so far, the U.S. is only planning on providing “Humanitarian Parole” instead of Refugee status to the Ukrainian refugees. This is a huge mistake and is likely to result... Continue

An eye for volunteering

Adding a seasonal flourish to National Volunteer Month in April is Carol Lussier, a stand-out volunteer at Vintage House. Each Wednesday and Friday, she decorates the dining room for the Soup’s On! and Supper’s On! programs. Her hand-crafted and spectacular decorations commemorate the season, the... Continue

Ufology

I loved science fiction movies and books as a kid; I still do, although I don’t read much sci-fi these days. In 1958, at camp Androscoggin in Maine, Earth vs. Flying Saucers was shown one movie night, and visions of a disabled saucer crashing into... Continue

Earth Day view from Sonoma Ecology Center

By Richard Dale, Sonoma Ecology Center executive director -- There’s a soft greenness over our corner of the world this time of year, a flush of life in the grasses now in seed and the late wildflowers, a ripeness that heralds a turn of seasons... Continue

You should know how to recycle by now

Why is it so hard to recycle? Why is it so hard to rinse cans and bottles and place them in the recycling cart for Recology? Recology makes it easy. At our house we have a container with a lid that we can put all... Continue

The earth has its day

Sonoma Ecology Center was founded in 1990 after the first global Earth Day celebration, held locally on the Sonoma Plaza. This year's Earth Day is April 22, and the SEC has a full weekend of events, walks and outings planned. April 22nd, 9 AM -... Continue

New directions for Health Action Sonoma County

The last two years have demonstrated the overwhelming disparities in health outcomes in our county, with the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on our Latinx and BIPOC community. The pandemic exposed the interconnectivity of our health, living conditions, income, work environments – the social determinants of... Continue