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PG&E holding North Coast fire season webinar on Wednesday
photo credit: Marc Albert/KRCBPG&E's Petaluma substation Will wildfire danger mean you'll have your electricity cut this summer? How vulnerable are electrical transmission lines and what's being done about it? Next Wednesday you can hear first hand, directly from Pacific Gas & Electric Company representatives, who have scheduled an online informational session. "The town hall is going to focus on updates on the work we are doing up and down the North Coast, wildfire safety updates and how customers can get prepared for wildfire season," said Megan McFarland, a PG&E spokesperson. "Also there is going to be a lot of time at the end...
Higher sales taxes being pursued as Sebastopol faces looming crisis
Sales taxes could rise above 10% in Sebastopol if city and county measures pass this November. It is looking more likely that Sebastopol voters will be asked to raise sales taxes in November. The Sebastopol city council, by a 3-2 vote, has authorized a poll to test support for raising the city's nine and a quarter percent sales tax by another quarter or half of a percent. The city of 7,500 is staring down a budget crisis. City Manager Don Schwartz laid out its scale to the council. "The general fund, long term prospects roughly $4.3 million plus, a year is what we...
CalFresh dollars are matched at farmers markets, but for how much longer?
photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB At a farmers market, you’ve got options, both a wide variety of veggies and ways to pay. But one vital option for low income Californians is at risk of disappearing altogether. At the buzzy Saturday morning Farmers Lane farmers market in Santa Rosa you can find all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables - sprouted cauliflower, gala apples, and plenty of kale. You might also notice people paying for their veggies with a special kind of paper bill. It’s part of a program called Market Match. Minni Forman explained. "For every dollar that a CalFresh shopper spends at a participating...
Students address SSU president's controversial retirement
photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCBChalk messages left near the former SSU student protest encampment on Person Lawn. An agreement made between former Sonoma State University President Mike Lee and students protesting as part of SSU Students for Justice in Palestine sparked an international flurry of headlines last week. For the first time since Lee was abruptly placed on leave by California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia, the students who negotiated directly with him and other high level university administrators speak out. Julianna M. directly addressed the new leadership. "We demand that the acting president, address, honor, and act upon these demands set forth,...
California cracked down after a crash killed 13 farmworkers. Why are workers still dying on the road?
photo credit: Courtesy of California Highway PatrolPhotos taken of a vehicle pulled over by California Highway Patrol packed with 10 workers despite only having seats for seven passengers. One worker sits on a bucket while another lies behind the back row. This is a CalMatters story. Read their full version here. FIREBAUGH — Adorned with Mexican flags, a cluster of crosses in the dirt on the side of a two-lane highway is the only sign of lives lost. On any given day, passenger vans whiz by rows of almond trees, carrying farmworkers to the orchards and vineyards that stretch across Fresno and Madera...
California could gain first indigenous-named marine sanctuary in U.S.
photo credit: Courtesy of NOAA California’s Central Coast is home to one of the world’s most biodiverse stretches of ocean. It’s full of rare and endangered species like gray whales, peregrine falcons and sea otters. It’s also the ancestral homeland of Native American tribes, including the Indigenous Chumash and Salinan peoples. For years, the Northern Chumash have been working to create a new national marine sanctuary that would protect these waters from offshore oil drilling and other development. If the federal government approves the designation this summer, it would be the first marine sanctuary in the U.S. to be nominated...
Clover joins global methane reduction effort
photo credit: Marc Albert/KRCBClover Sonoma committed to cut methane emissions. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Roughly six months after a global initiative was launched to control methane, a potent greenhouse gas, a major Sonoma County dairy has signed on. The effort launched at the most recent UN climate conference. "We had two new signatories, Starbucks and Clover Sonoma join the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, a global convening of food companies that are coming together to drive transparency and action that can help tackle methane emissions from the dairy sector, said Katie Anderson with the Environmental Defense Fund, which is behind the...
Wildfire season is fast approaching - what's the outlook?
photo credit: CA National Guard/flickrThe aftermath of 2017's Tubbs Fire, which claimed 22 lives, left Santa Rosa's Coffey Park neighborhood burned, destroying close to 1,400 structures. Summer sun, dry grass, and the time for wildfires is fast approaching; and North Bay State Senator Mike McGuire has something to say about it. The wet winter has been welcome for many, erasing drought throughout the state That's some good news, said McGuire. "The vast majority of California's reservoirs, our lakes, They are at or very near capacity," McGuire said. But the winter rains yield some consequences, he said. "What we also know is big rain...
Federal, state govt's, forestry companies to coordinate, collaborate on shaded fuel breaks
photo credit: Courtesy Marin Wildfire Prevention AuthorityShaded fuel breaks rob wildfires of enough fuel to slow explosive growth, giving firefighters a better shot at containing a blaze. When forests turn tinder dry and an errant spark ignites a wildfire, humidity, wind speed and direction become critical. Conditions on the ground matter too. Recognition of that fact led to an agreement. Announced earlier this year, federal and state agencies are joining private landowners---mainly forestry companies---to prepare for, and defend against wildfires that seem to be gaining in intensity and frequency. The agreement seeks to coordinate the building and maintaining of shaded fuel breaks--a tool perhaps more important than air tankers. In the first in a series of stories on shaded fuel breaks, KRCB's Marc Albert spoke with Matt Dias, president and CEO of Calforests, a trade association representing forestry products and logging companies that own and manage 3.5 million acres of California. Dias says member companies are very much interested.
Cloverdale joins other localities in revising rent control rules for mobile home parks
photo credit: Courtesy of GoogleMaps.Screenshot of an image inside one of Cloverdale's mobile home parks in 2008. Moving to save tenants in some of the county's least expensive housing from unaffordable rent increases, Cloverdale's City Council is expected to approve sweeping changes to its rent control rules covering mobile home parks. The council already gave its initial approval. The new rules will take affect June seventh if they are passed tonight. The move follows Petaluma, Cotati and other local jurisdictions who revised their own rules. That's after park owners, citing inflation, sought rent increases some residents said would force them onto...
Forget Sim-City and City Skylines 2, Petaluma holding real world "Plan-fest"
photo credit: Marc Albert/KRCBA blue heeler catches a train rolling into Petaluma. Will country dogs go city? What will Petaluma be like in 20 years? On Saturday, a five-hour long open house at the fairgrounds will attempt to answer that question. But ears will also be open. What Petalumans like about the vision, what they hate about it, and how it could and should be altered.... Those are the main reasons behind what's officially being called PlanFest. It's an event to spread the word about four-years of work that's already gone into building Petaluma's 2045 general plan---and making alterations that build more support across the community. A general plan is a blueprint to guide future growth---kind of a wish list of where new housing, businesses, entertainment and recreational facilities should go, That's along with a goal of preserving Petaluma's culture and quality of life. With a commitment to sustainability and two yet-to-appear transit-oriented residential districts to coalesce, there should be plenty to talk about. Planfest isn't just for urbanists, YIMBYs, NIMBYs and preservationists. There will also be goats and sheep, at least until 10 in the morning, art-play activities, prizes and free tacos. Planfest runs from 9 am until 2 pm Saturday at the Petaluma fairgrounds.
Comment period opens as NPS considers removing elk fence from Point Reyes
photo credit: Courtesy of the National Park Service.Tule elk at Point Reyes National Seashore. Controversial fencing keeping hundreds of wild tule elk in a small part of Point Reyes National Seashore may be coming down. Removing the fence and allowing elk to roam freely, beyond Tomales Point, are among changes included in a new National Park Service plan. Under the preferred alternative, the elk fences---which keep them confined to Tomales Point would be removed, replaced by fencing that restricts the movement of cattle. The two other options being considered would leave existing fencing in place. A 30-day public comment on the three other options...
Petaluma cuts school-zone, downtown speed limits
photo credit: Courtesy Intelligent Instructor Petaluma is cutting speed limits in school zones to 15, 20 in business districts. It's official. You'll have to drive a bit slower in certain parts of Petaluma, possibly as soon as a month from now. KRCB's Earlier this week, the city council unanimously agreed to speed limits in some school zones to 15 miles per hour and to 20 miles an hour in what the city calls 'business activity zones.' "What we're saying here is, slower speeds are safer," said Petaluma Mayor John McDonnell. The new speed limit won't cover every school zone, however, something frustrating enough to local resident...
Faculty join the ranks of Sonoma State solidarity camp
photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB What started as a student protest against the war in Gaza, and university ties to Israel, has attracted the support of faculty at Sonoma State. Asked why they’re standing with students, the answer is mostly the same. "I'm here because there's genocide happening," said Professor Katherine Lee. "I'm here because I believe, first of all, in the student's right to free speech and assembly," Professor Ron Lopez said. "Also the ethical and moral obligation to stand up against genocide and unjust war." "To echo what's already been said, there's a ethnic cleansing going on," Professor Sylvia Soto said. "There's...
DNA helps Sonoma Co. Sheriff ID 1967 homicide victim
DNA technology has provided inroads into a cold case out of Sonoma County stemming from the 1960s, according to the Sheriff's Office this week. The decomposed remains of a woman were found in February 1967 down a steep cliff off state Highway 1, just north of Jenner. Then known only as Jane Doe, the woman's cause of death was listed as multiple fractures to her skull and ribs. After attempts to identify her led nowhere, Doe's remains were laid to rest at the County of Sonoma Cemetery. Fast-forward to 2009, and Doe's remains were exhumed and examined by San Francisco State University...
KRCB's Wine Beat: Behind the barrel
photo credit: Tina CaputoDouglas Rennie, a master cooper, said the heat from the fire doesn't touch the wood, it just heats the wood, and the natural sugars that are left in the wood from the seasoning become caramelized. Most people don’t think of wine barrels as having a “season.” But at the Seguin Moreau cooperage in Napa, barrel-makers are just moving into their busiest time of year. Barrel orders typically come in around February, and by April and May, the production room is buzzing. In a typical vintage, the facility makes 20,000 barrels for more than 800 wineries across North...
Sonoma State students show no sign of leaving
photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCBSonoma State students holding a scheduled midday rally in support of Palestine between the well trafficked Student and Recreation Centers. A full week after Sonoma State students joined the wave of campus protests against the war in Gaza, the number of tents set up across the university’s centrally-located Person Lawn is more than triple the first night. And while students at schools like UCLA, Columbia, and Cal Poly Humboldt have been met with swift and violent police force, that hasn’t been the case at Sonoma State. SSU Students Affairs VP Gerald Jones explained why. "These are our students," Jones...
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