Local

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors largely agreed Tuesday with how the county’s independent law enforcement watchdog has approached its role over the past year and a half, even amid some lingering critiques that surfaced following the release last month of the agency’s first annual report.While the board signaled support for Jerry Threet, who runs the nascent agency set up to review the Sheriff’s Office, two supervisors, Shirlee Zane and David Rabbitt, repeated their calls for the watchdog to keep its top focus on one of its roles — audits of internal sheriff’s department investigations. “The audits continue to be […]

Art for Life is the longest-running art auction to end HIV! The 30th annual event is less than three weeks away on Saturday, September 16, at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. We hope you can join us! More than 150 local and generous Sonoma County artists have donated inspired works of art. The highest bidder will take home their pieces that night knowing their purchase provides essential resources for life-changing services for people living with HIV in Sonoma County. Go to www.f2f.org for tickets.

 Caltrans will switch traffic this week on both north and southbound lanes of Highway 101 as part ongoing construction work on the Marin-Sonoma Narrows project, officials said.Monday evening, northbound traffic will be shifted to the right, while southbound traffic will be detoured onto the median starting Wednesday night. The speed limit in the construction zone will be reduced to 55 mph, Caltrans said. Only local traffic will be allowed to exit behind temporary safety barriers, and motorists are asked to be aware of local drivers merging onto Highway 101. Drivers should leave safe traveling distances between vehicles in front of […]

The Dog Days of summer are upon us at the Sebastopol Area Senior Center, so let’s celebrate with our homage to Disco on Saturday, August 26, 2017, from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. DJ Lori Z will provide very danceable tunes. Snacks provided and wine and beer for purchase. Our dances are all-inclusive and are meant to be enjoyed by the entire community, regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation. The cost is $10, and there will be a modest charge for wine and beer. Proceeds benefit the Senior Center. NO DOGS, please.

Two County of Sonoma Human Services Department Adult and Aging Division programs serving seniors have been honored for their innovation with an Aging Achievement Award by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). The LGBTQI Seniors Connection Program and Sonoma Collaborative Care Project were among 52 aging programs to receive honors at the n4a Annual Conference and Tradeshow, July 29–August 2, 2017, in Savannah, GA. The 2017 n4a Aging Innovations and Achievement Awards, supported by WellCare, recognizes Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and Title VI Native American aging programs that develop and implement cutting-edge approaches to support older […]

Sebastopol’s Hip Chicks, whose organic chicken fingers are now sold in more than 5,000 stores, have opened The Kitchen, a chicken nugget tasting room and lunch counter featuring “flights” of their original, ketchup and maple chicken fingers, fried buttermilk chicken sandos, a chicken meatball sub, turkey burger, egg sandwich with sweet potato hash, apple cider corn dogs and local beer and wine selections. Chef/owner Jennifer Johnson, a Chez Panisse alum founded the company with her wife, Serafina Palandech, to provide healthy, sustainable and most-importantly family-friendly foods, starting with their nuggets, and expanding to other products like breakfast sausage, meatballs and […]

   On Saturday, September 23rd OutRight Action International (OutRight) will launch the inaugural Crush Out, bringing together the wine country’s LGBTIQ community and allies for the first time to support equality on a global, national, and local scale. The benefit hosted by the historic Trione Vineyards & Winery will support the work of OutRight, the National LGBTQ Task Force as well as Positive Images, which serves youth in Sonoma County.    “Our community is most adversely affected by discrimination and violence globally, but with the current administration’s hateful agenda, we are looking at setbacks nationally as well,” states Executive Director […]

Santa Rosa police will set up a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint in Santa Rosa between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. Friday.Officers at the undisclosed location will be specifically on the lookout for drug-impaired drivers. Car accidents involving people under the influence of drugs have been increasing throughout the state, Santa Rosa police said. The last DUI checkpoint Santa Rosa police conducted in June resulted in three DUI-alcohol arrests and two DUI-drug arrests, while 18 drivers were found to be driving without a license and one was picked up for an outstanding warrant.