Local Story

Chris Smith, March 21, 2020, for the Press Democrat The full spectrum of misery being inflicted by this damnable pandemic isn’t only terrible but terribly uneven. Some, including all whose livelihoods have evaporated or are in stark danger of doing so, are hurting far more than others. Those worse off are on the minds of people like Marv Hyman and like Dennis Wilkes’ landlord and Deana Abramowitz, who devise ways to level out some of the pain. To read the full story, please open this link:...

By Brian Farragher, Aug 15, 2019, Special To The Index Tribune For almost 75 years Hanna Boys Center has been instrumental in turning around the lives of thousands of troubled, at-risk boys and helped them become productive citizens. We are proud of this heritage. But like many organizations — religious, educational, political and corporate — Hanna has had missteps and failures which have come to light. You’ve probably read about them. These incidents of sexual abuse over several years are...

By Susan Minichiello, Aug 11, 2019 for the Press Democrat As its schools face declining enrollment and shrinking budgets, local policymakers are asking why Sonoma County has 40 public school districts — and exploring whether they can save money and improve students’ education by consolidating. Only four counties in the state have more school districts than Sonoma County, which has been carved into an intricate, often overlapping mosaic of public agencies responsible for educating nearly...

By Chris Smith, Aug 12, 2019 for the Press Democrat As we anguish from the plague of mass shootings, a boy who took a stray bullet as he left soccer practice in Santa Rosa two months ago resists the fear that would have him simply hide from the world from now on. “He’s not the same kid,” the sweet-tempered 11-year-old’s distraught mother told me. “He’s afraid something’s going to happen to him, or to us.” I know the names of the boy and his mom but won’t mention them because they’re...

The Sonoma County Civil Grand jury recently released two reports related to their review of the County’s Behavioral Health Division (BHD) 2018-2019 budget and an inspection of the Jail’s Main Adult Detention Facility ( MADF ) health care resources and services. The jury commended the Sheriff’s Office for doing a job “it was not designed to do and doing so competently.” This includes providing inmates with opportunities for adult education and implementing a Jail-Based Competency Restoration...

By Duane Dewitt, July 29, 2019 for the Sonoma County Gazette Roseland Community Library Will Live On into the Future Roseland Library will host a “Veterans Connect Pop up”Providing information about benefits available to them Thursday August 15 Roseland Community Library will live on into the future. “The Sonoma County Library has signed a six-year lease on a building at 470 Sebastopol Road, across the street from the current temporary library.” according to Ray Holley of the Sonoma County...

By Panchalay Chalermkraivuth, August 2, 2019, Sacramento Bee Robert “Priest” Morgan hasn’t slept without a cocktail of pills since the night he says God kicked him in the head to wake him up – the night he opened the front door of his Santa Rosa mobile home to see a fire engine, a few people running up and down Sahara Street and screaming. “The sky looked like the Fourth of July,” he said. “The entire park except for my street was an inferno.” It wasn’t Independence Day – it was Oct. 9,...

Staff Report, July 28, 2019, Sonoma Index-Tribune Every day, 50 to 75 Sonoma County children and teens need a safe place to live. There is currently an urgent need for foster parents and adoptive families to open their homes to local foster children, according to the county’s Sonoma Foster Care agency. Local families can learn more about foster parenting at Explore Foster Parenting, a one-hour discussion held monthly, 6 to 7 p.m., at 2255 Challenger Way, Suite 100, Santa Rosa. The dates for...

Residents hold up "Divest" signs Tuesday before the public comment portion of a Board of Sonoma County Supervisors meeting. Residents urged supervisors to divest from U.S.-Mexico border detention facility-connected companies. (Tyler Silvy/The Press Democrat)