This is the third and final story in a series from KRCB in collaboration with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism California Fellowship detailing the detrimental health effects of wildfire smoke and the dangers Sonoma County's agricultural workers face. Living and working in the midst of wildfires and the smoke they produce is becoming a more prevalent part of late summer life in Northern California. The consequences of breathing wildfire smoke without proper protection can last well after the smoke has cleared. For Sonoma County's agricultural workers, those dangers can be acute, but progress has been made. "She reiterates how they've been fighting for this cause for a long… read more

This is part two in series from KRCB in collaboration with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism 2022 California Fellowship looking into the danger wildfire smoke poses to Sonoma County's agricultural workers. Wildfire smoke can leave wounds that last long after the fire has been put out. In October of 2017, the Tubbs Fire burned for nearly the entire month, turning over 5600 homes and businesses into cinder and ashes..and making the North Bay air noxious with smoke for days on end. Coinciding with harvest time, it renewed questions over health and safety of agricultural workers, compelled to work in unhealthy conditions. Over the past five years, a focus has been on access to and… read more

Sonoma and Marin counties will soon launch a partnership program that supports farmers initiating climate-friendly practices designed to create an exchange of climate-smart agricultural products between the two counties. Announced last Wednesday, the counties are set to receive up to $10 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, which is a federal effort to accelerate the implementation of climate-smart agricultural practices. Though the exact grant amount is still to be set in November, the funds have the potential to provide up to 100 farms in the area with support for carbon farming techniques over the course of five years. This… read more

This is part one in a three part series by KRCB, in collaboration with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism 2022 California Fellowship on wildfire smoke, its effect on our health, and how workers in the farms and fields of Sonoma County are responding to the threat. Wildfires are changing. With their new intensity and near year-round possibility, fires are remaking landscapes across the globe. From Siberia to Australia to right here in Sonoma County. While wildfire can in most instances be escaped, its companion - smoke - is the part we can not so easily run from. Producing hazy red skies, ash that swirls underfoot, and a burnt acrid flavor to the air, wildfire smoke can inundate… read more

An affordable housing project and hotel planned for an area near Sonoma cleared a critical hurdle this afternoon. The county board of supervisors approved surrendering part of Old Maple Avenue just north of Sonoma. A portion of the road, which parallels Verano Avenue, will make way for a 120 room hotel and 72 unit affordable housing complex. Officials say the road is a remnant of an earlier vacation resort...in poor repair and unneeded. Supervisor Susan Gorin praised the project and said she's thrilled something is finally moving forward. "We started discussing this, Paul's Resort, with the previous owner of this parcel, burned down, just after it was remodeled. It was so, sad. But then a… read more

The risk of major wildfire across Sonoma County and the north coast is just about nil for the next week or so. That's according to a federal inter-agency weather and fire forecasting agency. Recent early season rains drenched some areas, and quenched others. But, fire season isn't quite over. Brent Wachter is a Fire Meteorologist with Predictive Services, a federal inter-agency group that tracks plant and soil moisture, along with weather, providing intelligence to CalFire, US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, among others. He said the dynamics have a lot to do with timing. "All that recent moisture certainly has an impact, especially in the short term. We had some pretty highly… read more

Like just about everyone else in Sonoma County, Petaluma is looking for more water. They recently made it happen. Aiming to stave off any shortage, last week Petaluma moved forward with a new municipal well - this time on the city’s west side. Called the Oak Hill Municipal Well, Dan Herrera, a civil engineer for the city, explained the project’s necessity. "We have a local production goal from Sonoma Water to deliver 40% of our average day demand." Herrera said. "This is about 4.6 million gallons per day. We have 10 active wells that produce about three MGD. Only about 20, 27 to 28% of that average day demand. So, so we have a little bit more that's needed." The new well won't run year… read more

After the recent release of proposals related to re-using the Sonoma Developmental Center, the public had it's first opportunity Thursday to sound off on plans for a thousand homes, nearly as many jobs and a road connecting Arnold Drive with State Route 12. Sound off they did. Officials tried framing the proposal as optimal, considering the requirements, limitations and financial considerations. Brian Oh is with Permit Sonoma "Everything about this project is a balance. It's a balance of old, it's a balance of new. It's a balance of a number of objectives, from affordable housing to preservation of open space and recognizing that affordable housing is the top priority, how are we bringing… read more

Kaiser Mental Health Care workers rallied at the Santa Rosa Kaiser facility on Bicentennial Drive in Santa Rosa Friday afternoon as their strike entered its 33rd day. With a breakdown at the bargaining table, Kaiser workers were picketing in Santa Rosa, saying overcrowding and under-staffing by Kaiser is hurting patients seeking mental health services. Sal Rosselli, President of the National Union of Healthcare Workers - the union representing mental health clinicians at Kaiser, said the fight in Santa Rosa is part of a larger struggle. "You know, the, the folks that are striking are so selfless, right?" Rosselli said. "It's not about economics. It's not about their salary or benefits. It's… read more

Covered up and reworked throughout much of the last hundred plus years - urban creeks are getting a second look from local governments for their vital role in local ecosystems. Hidden under paved parking lots or fenced away below steep walls, Sebastopol’s Calder Creek is often inaccessible and out of sight - at least for now. "The ecological benefits, the potential for fisheries, the storm water and groundwater recharge benefits, atmospheric cooling." Jessica Hall said. "There's a lot of reasons that under-gird, why we are doing this." Hall, is a Switzer Foundation Fellow who’s helped develop a restoration plan for Calder Creek. The Sebastopol city council has approved the early stages of… read more

The Sebastopol city council has denied an appeal in a pressurized dispute connected to a new restaurant within the city - one with a controversial owner. A routine alcohol use permit for Sebastopol restaurateur Lowell Sheldon’s newest venture called Piala has been much scrutinized. The permit application, in the name of Piala co-owner Jeff Berlin, has again received modifications. This time via the Sebastopol city council. Jesse Hom-Dawson, who has spoken out against Sheldon’s alleged misconduct, filed an appeal to approval for the permit by the city's planning commission. She questioned whether Berlin can be relied upon to uphold the conditions of the permit. "We are asking someone whose… read more

A key vote took place in late August in a five-year-plus-long controversy over agricultural work in evacuation zones in Sonoma County. After months of official and staff deliberation, repeated worker demonstrations, and organized pushback from vineyard owners, the Sonoma County board of supervisors voted unanimously to approve a county-wide "Ag Pass" program. During an emergency, it allows agricultural producers and a limited number of employees to access commercial operations like farms, vineyards and livestock facilities within mandatory evacuation zones. That's if they have to do critical jobs like watering crops, caring for livestock or maintaining generators. Supervisor James Gore… read more

A new blueprint for future development and stewardship along the Sonoma Coast is nearly complete. Why does the coastal area have its own planning document? "In some ways we could say that this whole process started in Sonoma County, February, 1960, when the board of supervisors approved atomic park and said, that it'd be an inconvenience for the applicant to see the plans before it was approved, this catalyzed and galvanized coastal activism." So said Gary Helfrich. "So we're kind of at the birthplace of the Coastal Act in Sonoma County." Helfrich, is a planner with the County. One outgrowth from the activism he described: the California Coastal Commission and local coastal plans, or LCP's,… read more

With little debate and no amendments, Rohnert Park's city council Tuesday approved barring people from sleeping in wide swaths of the city. The measure was approved 3-0 with both Vice Mayor Samantha Rodriguez and councilwoman Pam Stafford absent. It bans, among other things, camping within fifteen hundred feet of any school, daycare or library, prohibits cooking gas from being left unattended and wastewater from being dumped. The council has long heard demands for action. Several business owners in proximity to the Roberts Lake Park and Ride, now a large tent city, cited random vandalism and encounters leaving employees feeling threatened. Owner of a nearby Mary's pizza shack location,… read more

The 4.4 temblor struck at 6:39 pm Tuesday and was centered two miles northeast of downtown Santa Rosa, just North of Cobblestone Drive. It was at a depth of 3.5 miles and felt as far away as Clear Lake, Napa, Oakland, and San Mateo, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website. A 4.3 aftershock hit less than a minute later at 6:40 pm. That event also struck at a depth of 3.5 miles and was centered not 3000 feet northeast of the initial shock, near Parker Hill Road and Leete Avenue, according to updated data from the USGS. A minor aftershock measuring 1.6 struck at 6:46 pm, centered just East of Fountain Grove Lake. So far, no reports of any injury or significant damage. At 6:40 pm 302… read more

Two and a half years into the COVID pandemic, early protections and emergency money have for the most part - dried up. Their benefits have been well documented, as has the divisive discourse around increased social spending. As prices rise and individuals are left to pick up the pieces, some cities are trying a much discussed, but rarely implemented experiment: guaranteed income. "We have so many families who are living paycheck to paycheck, who are having to make really tough decisions about, you know, do I sort of buy more food or do I pay the electric bill? How do I time my grocery trips?" That’s Sonoma County’s 5th District Supervisor, Lynda Hopkins. "And our hope is that just taking… read more

Adding a deck in Santa Rosa? A permit and inspection will set you back $199.93 before the first board or nail. A retaining wall? $185. Are those fees exorbitant and hampering the city's progress? Santa Rosa is considering revamping how and how much it charges for development fees, permits and inspections. The effort won't touch one of the major bugaboos of the real estate industry: impact fees. But officials are reaching out to builders and the general public on how to streamline a cumbersome process, and perhaps subsidize certain efforts. Claire Hartman is director of Santa Rosa's Planning and Economic Development Department "The services are still going to be provided, you're still going… read more

Guided by workers in orange vests on a recent Friday, a pair of cranes slowly lowered lumber into place. Meanwhile, gates are being fitted to dog kennels. Across the courtyard, laborers are painting trim, testing locks. There's a welter of activity at what at first blush could pass for a university building or headquarters of a new tech startup flush with venture capital. But, this is neither. What is taking shape here is wildly different; a site integrating a medical clinic, job training and counseling, childcare, mental health treatment with housing, all for those living on Sonoma County's streets. When it officially opens Thursday, officials with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of… read more

With extreme heat expected and water supplies dwindling, experts at a monthly county drought briefing praised conservation while warning drought is now looking like it will linger into the coming winter. Summing things up, Supervisor Chris Coursey said, the weather hasn't been kind. "Well, the first seven months of the year, have been the driest in Sonoma County in the past 128 years, with rainfall twenty inches below what's normal. I am an optimist by nature, but our main storage reservoir, Lake Sonoma is now more empty than it is full." With the first real rains likely more than two months away, that will only get worse. Brooke Bingaman, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service's… read more

Well-loved and long-travelled, the nearly ninety-year-old Pratt Pony truss bridge spanning the Russian River at Monte Rio is nearing a date with oblivion. More of an utilitarian work horse from the 1930's Works Progress Administration-era than a marvel of engineering sporting soaring elements, the bridge, despite a landmark designation, has reached the end of the line. Janice Thompson is deputy director of engineering and maintenance with Sonoma County Transportation and Public Works. "She was built in 1934 and she has served us well" Time however, marches on. While it lacks modern features such as wider lanes for bigger vehicles or a breakdown lane, findings ruling it seismically… read more

With some states adding restrictions or prohibiting abortion, California is moving in a different direction. Nevertheless, local medical experts say they remain concerned about access, misconceptions and the future, even in solid blue California. A statewide constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion and contraception is set to go before voters in November. But at a roundtable meeting convened on a recent Friday by North Bay congressman Mike Thompson Friday, it was obvious concerns remain. Cheryl Johnson, executive director of the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, says patients seeking care are whipsawed by sudden shifts. "This toppling of Roe V Wade is just a real… read more

The attorney representing the family of a man killed by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy in July says that the officer who shot him did not follow proper protocol and does not have the proper temperament to be in law enforcement. Izaak Schwaiger, who has represented many parties in suits against law enforcement, is launching a federal wrongful death lawsuit against both the county and the deputy for the death of David Pelaez Chavez, 36, of Lower Lake. Pelaez Chavez was shot by Deputy Michael Dietrick on July 29 in rough, hilly terrain near Geyserville after officers said they repeatedly asked him to drop a hammer and a tiller he held in one hand and a rock in the other. Pelaez Chavez does… read more

A 2021-22 Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury report has called for greater police protocols and oversight in Rohnert Park after the U.S. Department of Justice accused two officers there of "shaking down" motorists for drugs and cash. Officers Brendan "Jacy" Tatum and Joseph Huffaker were patrol officers that conducted department-sanctioned traffic stops between 2015 and 2017 along U.S. Highway 101 between Cloverdale and Rohnert Park in attempt to stem the flow of illegal cannabis between Mendocino and Sonoma counties. When cannabis became legal in California, the focused program wound down and was eventually stopped in 2017, but federal prosecutors allege that Tatum and Huffaker continued to… read more

Before European contact, linguists say there were over 300 Native American languages spoken in North America. Fewer than half remain. This summer, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs announced it was awarding $7 million to American Indian and Alaska native tribes under the Living Languages Grant Program. The program is geared towards helping the tribes revitalize languages once thought to be lost. The Wiyot Tribe of Humboldt are planning on using the funding to reclaim their language: Soulatluk. [historical audio of Della Prince plays here] The woman you’re hearing is Della Prince, the last fluent speaker of Soulatluk. She died in 1962, but her voice lives on through recordings. She’s… read more