

- Written by: Norcal Administrator
ALSO: The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor reports winter storms in California are now "making a dent" in the state's four-year historic drought.
Read more: California Regulators Approve New Rooftop Solar Program

- Written by: Norcal Administrator
Industry and agriculture both contribute to the degradation of water quality in California’s waterways.

- Written by: Norcal Administrator
ALSO: The California Assembly has voted to give retail employees double pay on Thanksgiving Day.
Read more: Brown Backs Overhaul Of California's Sentencing System

- Written by: Norcal Administrator
The annual state of Sonoma County Breakfast was held this morning, with Efren Carrillo, the incoming chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors as the featured speaker.
- Protest and Politics at Annual Business Event
- CSU Trustees Weigh Competing Student, Faculty Needs
- Tracing Evolution's Limits
- S&P Cautions Against More California Spending
- Local Granges Face Unwanted Identity Choice
- Governor Brown Claims California Has Created Two Million New Jobs Since 2011
- Warm Water Wreaking Havoc on Ocean Systems
- Government support urged for family savings accounts
- Brown Calls For Fiscal Discipline In State Of The State Address
- The Geography of Genius
- Brown To Give Record 14th State Of The State
- Rethinking Urban Development
- Change To Prop. 13 Could Be Headed For November Ballot
- Pressing for Action on Homelessness
- Lawmakers Propose Ban on Powdered Alcohol in California
- Making “green” ammonia as a chemical battery
- Senate's Homelessness Proposal May Need To Go To The Ballot
- Brown's California Preschool Overhaul Raises Concerns
- Water Agencies Say Conservation Regulations Don't Provide Enough Relief
- Water Agencies Receive Final Round Of "Emergency Drought" Aid
- Big Change To Prop 30 Tax Extension Initiative
- New Restrictions On Concealed Weapons On Campus
- How a Movie’s Sound Design Works
- Prescription Drug Cost Caps Take Effect
- Heath Insurance Outreach for California Latinos
- Authorities Arrest Suspect On Terrorism-Related Charges In Sacramento
- Courthouse Square Tree Removal Questioned
- Making strides in Alzheimer's Treatment
- Ballot Measure Eyed for Wetlands Restoration
- California Lawmakers Prep Gun Control Bills
- Local researchers advance understanding of Alzheimer's
- Wetlands as a Hedge Against Sea Level Rise
- Special Session Fates Unclear As Lawmakers Tout New Priorities
- New Places For More Beer In California
- Electric Vehicle Adoption Accelereates
- Electric Vehicle Adoption Accelerates
- Prohibition-Era Restrictions On California Liquor Distillers To Be Lifted
- Pregnancy Centers To Comply With Abortion Information Law
- New California Law Protects Digital Privacy
- New Year Brings Higher Minimim Wage
- Should You Insure Your Drone?
- New California Law Targets Wage Theft
- California College Police Get New 'Tools' For Investigations
- California Law To Require Bright Markings On BB Guns
- Dr. Elmo's Holiday Hit Endures
- Building a New Life in America
- California Regulators Could Loosen Water Conservation Mandate
- Busy Times for Sonoma Land Trust
- California Faulted for Underspending on Anti-smoking Efforts
- California Minimum Wage Becomes The Highest In The U.S.
- Queen of the Sun
- POLITIFACT: Did 2,000 Suspected Terrorists Legally Buy Guns In The U.S.?
- Moorland Neighborhood Park Plans Take Shape
- DMV Releases Draft Rules For Driverless Cars
- The Rio Theater’s New Life
- California Rooftop Solar Proposal Defies Utilities
- Community Separators Going Back Before Sonoma County Voters
- California Property Values Jump 6% Over Last Year
- Better Foster Care Provides a More Typical Life
- North Bay Braces for a Drenching
- New Voter Bill Of Rights Coming Next Spring
- Campus Store Offers Student-made Goods
- The Badger Is A Rare, But Essential Member Of Park Wildlife
- Could New California Law Prevent Mass Shootings?
- John Trudell, 1946-2015
- Why Plastic Bag Ban Opponents Have Two Ballot Measures
- Coastal Wildlife Featured in “Mendonoma Sightings” Book
- Thousands Enroll In Covered California
- Supervisors Back Revised Living Wage Ordinance
- Regulators Consider Changes To Mandatory Water Conservation Rates
- Rethinking Single-stream Recycling
- Meal Worms Could Solve World's Plastic Problem
- Recycling on the Ropes
- Winter Hiking In Your Regional Parks
- Wolf Protection Plan Criticized
- FEC Chair Laments Lack Of Action On 'Dark Money'
- Promoting the Social Marketing of Wine
- Poll Compares Climate Change Concern In California To Other Countries
- Economic Incentives for Home Solar Systems Under Fire
- Brown: California Needs Allies In Fight Against Climate Change
- Protecting Livestock from Predators
- Tech-driven Vending Machines Out to Transform Breakroom Food
- California Leads the Nation in Homelessness
- Another Strong Holiday Shopping Season For California?
- Updating 'The Wine Bible'
- Understanding Roots
- Community Choice Power Coming Under Fire
- POLITIFACT: Have Costs Dropped 'Several Hundred Million Dollars' For California’s Bullet Train?
- The Story of the Sonoma Coast, Told (Mostly) in Pictures
- California Jobs Report Vastly Improved This Month
- A Prolific Year for Michele Anna Jordan
- Rafting Rivers in the Sky (in a Plane)
- Fiscal Analyst Predicts California Budget Surpluses
- PPIC Study On Water Management
- Homeless Encampment Relocates
- Organized 'Tree Nut' Crime Could Be Diminishing
- Microbes "scrub" winemaking wastewater
- Scientist Says Hedgerows Can Reduce Pesticides
- Navy Signals Willingness to Protect Whales
- Healdsburg Gleaners “Rescue” Food for Pantries
- State Approves $500M For New Jails
- Launching a New Case for Home Health Workers’ Wage Increase
- California Budget Surplus Nears $1 Billion
- Re-introducing Medicinal Herbs
- Additional funds will temporarily boost repaving roads
- Project Censored in 2016
- Dam Removal Awaits Congressional Confirmation
- POLITIFACT: California Lawmaker's Claim About Insured Motorists Is Fantasy
- The Toolbox Project Gains Momentum
- State Insists High-Speed Rail Remains On Track
- Kanaye Nagasawa’s Journey to Fountaingrove
- Fighting Back over "Fine Print"
- Cal State University Faculty Group Authorizes Strike
- Rick Steves' Lifetime of European Travel
- Unions Offer Competing Minimum Wage Increases
- Deal On Recreational Marijuana Initiative Finally Emerges
- Keys to Sustainability—For the Wine Industry and Beyond
- Regulators Fine Suppliers Over Water Use
- SMART’s Pathway Progress Questioned
- Is Voting In Costume Legal In California?
- Cricket Speeds Up, Gains Popularity in the North Bay
- How to Change Hospital Culture When It Comes to Giving Birth
- School Parcel Tax Tops Quiet November Election
- California Waiting On Medicaid Waiver
- Confronting Cyberbullying
- More Counties Focus On Health Care for Undocumented
- Revisiting Community Separators
- North Bay Science Discovery Day
- Don't Miss The Last Weekend of the Tolay Fall Festval
- Rooftop Solar Industry Says Rate Changes Could Spell Doom
- Home Healthcare Workers Seek Support
- Major Milestone For Groundwater Regulation Approved
- Sustainability and the Next Generation
- California Lobbies Offer Candidates A Frank Lesson
- DMV: Too Busy With Present To Deal With Future?
- Don't Count On El Niño For Sierra Snowpack
- The Sonoma County Library Outlines Its Future
- Bats Are Amazing and Abundant in Our Regional Parks
- Forecast: Strong El Niño Will Improve California Drought
- Strike Vote Next Week for SSU Faculty
- Activism as a Key to Improving Latinos’ Health
- Lawsuit Challenges CDCR's Halloween Sex Offender Policy
- Deportation Now Less Likely For Immigrant Drug Offenders
- Santa Rosa Named a “Fair Trade Town"
- Mixed Actions From Brown On Drone Legislation
- Goji Berries Take Root in Sonoma County
- Local Author Event: A Bicycle Built for Two Billion
- Brown Signs Motor Voter Law
- Lack Of Oversight Of Oil And Gas Wells Leads To Review
- Santa Rosa Orchestra Debuts New Works
- Billionaire Steyer To Fund California Cigarette Tax Effort
- Grants Boost Food Stamp Use at Farm Markets
- Brown Signs Equal Pay For Women Law
- A Smartphone App to Aid “Gig” Workers
- Governor Brown Signs End-Of-Life Legislation
- Co-Working Catches On In Sonoma County
- Brown Vetoes Harsher Sentences, Signs Use-Of-Force, Racial-Profiling Bills
- The Growing “Gig Economy” in the North Bay
- Top California Air Official Backs New EPA Ozone Limit
- Farm Workers Get New Protections from Pesticides
- New Poll On Tax Initiatives
- Congress Eyes Mental Health Measures
- "Background" Ozone Major Problem For Northern California & Nevada
- Rainwater Aids Bodega’s Fire Department
- Managing the Tule Elk at Point Reyes
- New Report On Realignment and Prison Population
- Environmentalist Pushes New Water Bond
- Sonoma State University and Oakland Zoo Work Together to Improve Lives of Lemurs
- Volunteers Are Needed For The Tolay Fall Festival
- California Water Rights System Tested During Drought
- Invasive Speices, Past and Future
- California-China Trade Office Prospering
- The Root Problem with Invasive Species
- Groups Push To Increase California Voting Turnout
- Supervisors Weigh Licensing Tobacco Sales
- Second Initiative Filed To Extend Prop 30
- Documenting California's Disappearing Glaciers
- Fighting Traffic Tickets In California Might Get Cheaper
- Valley Fire Resources & Information
- Creating a Big "Fish Bubbler" to Save Drought-Afflicted Salmon
- Wate Bark Returns to Spring Lake Regional Park
- Water Bark Returns to Spring Lake Regional Park
- California Regulators Warn Of Insurance Scams In Fire Zones
- Small Mountain of Trash Cleared from Laguna Channel
- Megafires Don't Melt Opposition To California Fire Fee
- The Sonoma County Authors’ Project
- Voices from Valley Fire Evacuee Camp
- Will Climate Change Lead to Mass Migration?
- Rare Defeats For Brown As California Legislature Wraps Up
- One Woman’s War on Plastic Litter
- Legislature Approves Foster Care Overhaul
- Pinkwashing in Alcohol Beverage Advertising
- Court Ruling Benefits Bees
- Medical Marijuana Deal On Agenda For Legislature's Final Day
- A Reporter Adapts to Elected Office
- End Of Life Bill Passes California Assembly
- An Introduction to the Theremin
- Bipartisan Road Repair Deal Now Considered Unlikely
- Bees Still Facing Multiple Threats
- A Diverse Workforce Faces More Challenges
- Farmworker Health Survey Details Disparities
- Major Issues Unresolved As Legislature Begins Final Week
- Inside Bodega's Historic Schoolhouse
- Inside Bodega's Historic Schoolhouse
- California Continues to Grow Green Jobs
- BioBlitz Hikes Will Help Catalog The Natural History of Two Parks
- State Regulators Fine Oil And Gas Operators For Failing To Report Water Use
- Inside Bodega's Historic Schoolhouse
- California Coal Divestment Bill Heads To Governor's Desk
- Neighborhood Input Sought for Moorland Park
- Building Bipartisan Collaboration in Sacramento
- Enjoy Kid-Friendly Hikes In Your Regional Parks
- Fictionalized Petaluma Featured in new Sci-Fi Novel Series
- When the Inside Air is a Health Hazard
- Assessing Indoor Air Quality
- Grey Wolves Begin to Reappear in California
- Energy Efficiency Boosts California Economy
- Some Improvement In California Drought Year Over Year
- Noted Civil Rights Activist Dies in Santa Rosa
- Mapping one of the last frontier’s --- California’s Coastal Seafloor
- Banks Repossess More Homes In July
- Effort Renewed To Pass Right-To-Die Legislation
- Sugarloaf Park benefit concerts squeezed by attendance cap
- Flat Managed Care Tax Proposed
- Life Behind the School Counselor’s Desk
- Project Will Study How Drones Can Improve Wildfire Management
- Sausalito’s Homegrown Tall Ship
- Social Security Enters Ninth Decade
- Park Rangers Often Perform "Other Duties As Assigned"
- El Nino and the Blob Could Change Drought in California
- Feeding Birds In Your Backyard? Time to Quit
- Reborn Palm Drive Hospital Awaits Re-opening
- Coastal Commission Adopts Sea Level Rise Guidelines
- Home health workers still excluded from county’s Living Wage
- State Agrees To One Inmate's Sex Reassignment Surgery - But Not Another's
- Revisiting Rosie the Riveter
- Cities, Counties Urge Infrastructure Spending
- Rocky Fire Unpredictable For Fire Fighters
- Exploring Sonoma County’s Varied Geology
- Russian River Patrol Keeps Beach Goers Safe
- Brown Visits Rocky Fire, Calls It "New Normal"
- SAY’s Dream Center Takes Shape
- Massive Toxic Algae Bloom Flourishes Along The West Coast
- Banning Bids to Label GMO Foods
- Public Wi-Fi May Hold Risks
- Judge Clears Way For Regulators to Enforce Water Cutbacks
- Inside View Now Available at Wildlife Hospital
- After Failing Air Quality Report, Improvement Plan Suggested
- No Fire Fighter Shortage Despite State's Shrinking Prison Population
- Alternative Birthing Centers
- Community Colleges Try To Improve Education Planning
- Tracking Traffic in the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor
- Take A Walk On The Wild Side in Sonoma County's Great Outdoors
- Californians Reduce Water Use By 27 Percent in June
- An 'Opportunity Fair' for Young Workers
- Napolitano Testifies In Senate Hearing On Campus Sexual Assualts
- Pending Sainthood for Junipero Serra Remains Controversial
- Despite Gains, Greenhouse Gas Goal Remains Elusive
- Medi-Cal Turns 50
- Barn Cats Offer 'Green' Pest Control During The Drought
- Covered California Releases 2016 Insurance Rates
- Preparing for Life Beyond Coal, Oil and Gas
- Study Shows Wildfires Occurring At Higher Elevations
- Anticipating Life After Fossil Fuels
- Get Outside and Float The Summer Away Along The Russian River
- I-10 Bridge Collapse Might Not Be California's Last
- Group Prepares Latinos to be Leaders
- Teaching Financial Literacy
- Ride-Sharing Companies, Taxi Industry Battle In State Agencies, Legislature
- Bill Would Allow Fire Fighters To Jam Interfering Drones
- Climate scientist says one El Niño year won’t end California’s four-year drought.
- Explore Sonoma County’s River Parks
- Apps Help Farmers With Efficiency During The Drought
- Climate Scientists Share Rewards, Frustrations in THIN ICE Documentary
- Medical Marijuana Regulation Bill Gains Momentum
- Seeking a Sustainable Niche in the Operating Room
- Melding Old and New at Lincoln Elementary
- Study: Cell Phone Use While Driving In California Increased In 2015
- 'Imperfect' Produce On Sale To Reduce Food Waste
- Hobby Drones Hamper Firefighting In California
- Gaining in the Fight Against AIDS
- Bill Would Legalize Citizen Recordings Of Police Officers
- Anti-Smoking Measures Stall In Assembly
- Keeping Up With White Sharks
- Community College Transfer Initiative Targets UC's Most Popular Majors
- Understanding 'Jellies'
- Right To Die Bill Faces Next Hearing
- Housing costs and the North Bay’s Vanishing Middle Class
- California Electricity Rates Could Rise For Some Users
- US Forest Service Says Conditions Ideal For Megafires in California
- EPA to Expand Pesticide Ban
- Smart Phones Sold In California Must Have Kill Switch
- Objections Raised to Congressional Drought Bill
- Documenting Restorative Justice in Santa Rosa
- All California Workers Eligible For Sick Pay Today
- The Next Generation of Food
- Assembly Republicans Introduce Transportation Plan
- Strong First Year for Sonoma Clean Power
- New Rules For Smoke Alarms To Take Effect
- COTS Re-opens Doors to Family Shelter
- Two North Coast National Marine Sanctuaries Expanded
- Vaccine Bill Wins Assembly Approval
- Landpaths Introduces ‘TrekSonoma’ Outings
- "Sodomite Suppression Act" Ruled Unconstitutional
- Framing Roseland's Future
- Summer Youth Ecology Corps Goes Back to Work
- Why The Price Of Eggs Is Skyrocketing
- Volunteers Participate in Conservancy, Stewardship of Park Lands
- California Must Change Tax Or Face Losing Billions
- Brown Now "Open" To New Taxes Without Voter Approval
- Children’s Museum to Open Indoor Exhibits
- Banks Pick Up Pace Of Home Foreclosures
- Inside Costa Rica’s Ban on In Vitro Fertilization
- Filmmaker Probes the Russian River's Health
- Green Energy Advocacy Groups Consolidate
- Lawmakers Pass State Budget That Lacks Governor's Support
- Green Roof Tops New Amy's Drive-Thru
- California Regulators Curtail Senior Water Rights
- From Softball To Skateboards, Regional Parks Are A Place To Play
- Democrats' Budget Has More Money For UC, CSU
- Prop 13 "Split-Roll" Proposed In California Legislature
- AIDS Memorial Quilts on Display in Santa Rosa
- Environmental Groups Challange Fracking in CA
- Supervisors Adopt Living Wage Proposal
- Musical Play Memorializes Labor Icon
- Democrats Counter Brown's Budget Proposal
- Assembly Tries Again on Drug Cost Containment
- Predicting Fire Before it Hits
- A Musical View from Inside San Quentin
- Second Annual Trails Challenge Returns to Sonoma County
- Feds, California Agencies Sued Over Water Management Plan
- Spreading the Word About Soil
- Marin Museum of Bicycling Set to Open
- Immigrant Health Care Bill Passes Senate
- Sonoma County Voters Reject Measure A
- Senate Passes Measure Repealing Max Grant Rule For Families
- Marin Residents Weigh Options in "Game of Floods"
- Legislature Must Act Fast On Hundreds Of Bills
- Composting’s Cloudy Future in Sonoma County
- Taylor Mountain Volunteer Trail Work This Weekend
- Undocumented Health Care Bill Moves Forward
- Medicine Disposal Requirements Upheld
- California Budget Proposal Raises Questions Of Vaccine Bill Retaliation
- Implementation of Riparian Corridor Rules Begins
- Expanding 'Motor Voter' Registrations
- State Builds Emergency Barrier To Protect Water Supplies
- Prepping for Fire Season With the Hot Shots
- California Republicans Change Tone On Immigration
- Calculating Residential Water Changes
- CMA Drops Opposition To Physician Aid In Dying
- Vineyard Water Conservation
- Privatization May Threaten California Parklands
- Brown Signs International Climate Agreement
- Field Poll On California’s Mandatory Water Reduction Plan Shows Concern
- Inside a California Mentor Household
- Personalized Support for Developmentally Disabled Adults
- Brown's Budget: Beyond Schools, Selective New Spending
- Responding to Pollution's Health Impacts
- Effort Underway to Remove "Lynching" From Penal Code
- Space Satellites Can Detect California’s Groundwater
- State Legislators Weigh Soda Tax
- Developing a One Planet Lifestyle
- Child Care Advocates Find Warmer Reception This Year At Capitol
- Sales Tax Increase Would Finance Road Repairs
- Spring Is The Perfect Time To Celebrate The Parks!
- Bill Would Move Police Investigations Outside Grand Jury System
- New Sculpture Garden Out to Make a Big Impression
- Amending Prop 13 to Fight Poverty
- Brown Defends Delta Tunnels Project, Agriculture Industry
- Sebastopol Hospital’s Reopening Delayed
- Amid Lousy Conservation, Water Board Imposes Mandated Cuts
- Public Funds Just Seed Money in Fighting Homelessness
- Undocumented Immigrant Health Care Bill's Cost Estimate: $175-$740 Million
- SRJC Opens Dream Center
- 'Health For All Act' Would Expand Health Care Coverage for Undocumented Immigrants
- Robot Face-Off! Student Competition Teaches Kids Programming, Problem Solving
- Boarding and Kayaking All Part Of The Fun In Parks Celebration 2015
- New Tools for Financing Sustainability
- Envisioning a Future for Sonoma's Developmental Center
- Young Adults with Autism Thrive in Their New Home
- Health Games -- Innovation or Fad?
- A Brief Opening of the Border at San Diego
- West Marin Papers Merging
- Birders Can Get Their Fill At Sonoma County Parks Celebration 2015
- Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences
- The Native People of the Sonoma Coast
- The North Bay’s Tight Housing Market Assessed
- Connecting New Farmers with Land
- Parks Celebration 2015 Comes to Sonoma County
- Brown Says Water Rights Changes Coming
- ModMath App Assists Dysgraphic Students
- Slow Progress In Congressional Water Talks
- California: A State of Change
- Court Intervention Sought for Bees
- California FTB Ready For Tax Day
- Eco2School Fun Energizes Students to Drive Less
- Florida Governor Wants California Port Jobs
- Kaiser Announces Large-scale Autism Study
- Mandatory water cuts mean changes for California
- Covered California Considers Capping Specialty Drug Prices for Consumers