Virtual Events Spread During North Bay Shelter-in-Place

Public gatherings continue to be cancelled and postponed with the current Shelter-in-Place orders covering Sonoma, Marin and Napa County. In the face of ongoing social distancing, many venues, artists and organizations are starting to bring their events into your home with online gatherings.

The Alexander Valley Film Society is sheltering in place with movies, and welcomes the public to sit in on a special remote viewing party. First, AV Film Society encourages cinephiles to go to Amazon Prime and watch the 2015 dramedy “The Week,” about a washed-up television host who spends seven days boozing and self-reflecting after his wife leaves him on the eve of their 10-year anniversary.

“The Week” was filmed at multiple locations in and throughout Sonoma County, including Cloverdale’s historic Owl Cafe and Healdsburg’s Passalacqua Winery. It also won the 2015 Sonoma International Film Festival Audience Award.

On Sunday, March 22, AV Film Society Executive Director Kathryn Hecht hosts an online Q&A with Rick Gomez, writer and star of “The Week,”  and Jenny Gomez, who produced the film. Watch the movie first and register for the online discussion here.

In Petaluma, the Rivertown Poets have long held a monthly “A-Muse-ing Mondays” poetry reading and open mic at Aqus Cafe. Now the poetry goes online with Rivertown’s first ever Virtual Poetry Reading and Open Mic. Mark your calendars for Monday, March 23rd, at 6:15 pm. Those who wish to read their three-minute-or-less poem can do so over the stream, and others can sit back and enjoy from the comfort of their own home.

Live music venues were one of the first public spaces to close in the wake of coronavirus concerns, and it looks like live concerts won’t be coming back to the North Bay for a couple weeks. For music lovers who need to scratch that live experience itch, longtime Cotati institution Redwood Café, which live streams all of its concerts, is re-broadcasting “The Best of The Redwood Cafe Live” with special streaming events each evening. Visit the venue online to see the shows each night, or simply browse the video archive on Redwood Cafe’s Facebook page.

The Museum of Sonoma County is currently closed to support the local efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. Yet, the museum boasts an online database of its permanent collection of historical objects and artwork that is searchable by subject and topic. There’s also a lot of YouTube videos on the museum’s website exploring recent exhibits like the “From Suffrage to #MeToo: Groundbreaking Women in Sonoma County.” Finally, the kids (and adults) will enjoy the museum’s “Color Me Sonoma” downloadable coloring book featuring iconic Sonoma County sites and fun local history.

Napa County Issues Shelter-At-Home Order

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Napa is the latest California county to order residents to restrict their non-essential movements for the next three weeks in an effort to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus.

“One proven way to slow the transmission is to limit interactions among people to the greatest extent practicable. By reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, this Order helps preserve critical and limited healthcare capacity in Napa County,” a Nixle alert issued by the Napa County Office of Emergency Management on Wednesday afternoon states.

Unless amended, the order will be in effect between 12:00 AM on March 20, 2020 until 11:59pm on April 7, 2020.

The full order is available here.

Where California Stands with Coronavirus Testing Right Now

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By Rachel Becker and Ana B. Ibarra, CalMatters

Coronavirus testing has been plagued by confusion, delays and chaos, with the number of available, usable tests far outstripped by the need.

The situation, healthcare providers and experts say, has impaired their ability to know how many people have the virus—but a significantly larger number, they suspect, than that confirmed by state and federal officials.

Gov. Gavin Newsom says, however, that help is on the way, from university medical centers, private labs, the tech sector and more.

So where are we on this? Who can get tested and where exactly should you go? If you do get a hold of a test, is it going to cost anything? Here’s what you need to know.

How many tests does Calif. have?

On Sunday, Newsom said California has conducted 8,316 tests, and has the capacity to run just short of 9,000 more. On Monday evening, he said that the state’s 19 public health labs have increased tests “by a few hundred” over the previous 24 hours. Still, he said, “That clearly is not enough.”

By Tuesday, the number of public health labs conducting testing had increased to 21. And the state has also turned to academic medical centers as well as private companies to fill in those gaps. UC San Francisco, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, and Stanford University are all offering tests for the novel coronavirus—and UC Davis is currently racing to get three different types of tests online.

Nam Tran, associate professor and senior director of clinical pathology at UC Davis, said one of the tests that runs on an SUV-sized instrument created by Roche Diagnostics should come online within weeks and is expected to churn out 1400 results per day.

He called it a “game changer.”

As for private firms, Quest Diagnostics has been running 1,200 tests a day out of its lab in San Juan Capistrano, Newsom said Monday—and could ramp up to 10,000 tests per day across the country with the addition of another laboratory by the end of this week.

Should I get tested?

Californians are still facing delays, or no tests at all. And a surge of demand for testing supplies—including swabs, kits for extracting the virus’s genetic material, and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers—threatens efforts to scale up tests.

At a time of limited resources, testing should be reserved for people with moderate to severe symptoms and for those with underlying health conditions, said Michael Romero, a program manager with Placer County’s public health emergency preparedness team.

Symptoms can show up between two days and two weeks after exposure to the virus, and include fever, cough, and trouble breathing, according to the CDC.

“Our guidance is if you have mild symptoms, just stay home, testing would help you know whether you have it or not, but it wouldn’t change anything,” because there is currently no treatment, he said.

Can I get tested?

One challenge is the patchwork of guidance about whom to test first across California’s counties, private testing companies, and health systems, according to Kat DeBurgh, executive director of the Health Officers Association of California.

Guidelines may vary by county because of the uneven spread of the coronavirus, and local public health departments are required to approve the tests run through their labs, DeBurgh said.

She’s calling for more guidance from the state about whom to prioritize, she said, to help with the crush of calls that local public health officers are triaging.

In Los Angeles, for instance, the public health lab “will test specimens from high risk patients requiring a rapid public health response if they test positive,” according to guidance from the county. Any other patients with fever and symptoms of a respiratory illness who may have been exposed should be tested by a commercial lab instead.

At Kaiser Permanente, clinicians decide who to test, spokesman Marc Brown told CalMatters in an email.

Tests are only available to Kaiser members with a doctor’s order.Priority goes to hospitalized patients as well as people with symptoms who also have additional risk factors such as being over 60, heart or lung disease, or being immunocompromised. Anyone exposed to someone with a confirmed or suspected case of the virus, or who recently traveled somewhere affected by it, will also be prioritized.

Where can I get tested?

People should first check with their doctor to ask whether they’re collecting specimens, said Romero with Placer County. If their doctor is not doing testing, they can try calling their local urgent care. Romero said people should not go to the emergency department just for testing. That is what would cause unnecessary over-flooding in the ER, he said.

Some counties, such as Los Angeles and San Diego, ask that people who do not have a primary care provider call the county’s 2-1-1 line for information on where they can find providers with tests. Sutter Health, for example, asks that its patients schedule a video visit with a doctor to check whether they meet testing criteria. If they do, then doctors make arrangements with patients about specific locations where they can go for testing.

Some health systems have also opened drive-through testing for its members.

Are tests free? What if I’m uninsured?

Earlier this month, Newsom announced that all screening and testing fees would be waived for about 24 million Californians. That includes co-pays and deductibles for a hospital and doctor office visit associated with the test. But if a person is sick and needs further treatment and care, that cost is not required to be waived.

Newsom’s order does not apply to people who work for large employers and whose private health plans are regulated by the federal government. That said, an emergency coronavirus response bill pending in Congress would require that testing and all related fees be covered by all forms of insurance without out-of-pocket costs for the patient.

The California Department of Public Health has said that people who are uninsured and have symptoms should contact their county for information on how to get tested.

Some health clinics, like the AltaMed group in Southern California, are waiving test fees even for patients who are uninsured, but again, tests are only given to people who are showing symptoms. Also, clinics can help enroll patients in any available county program that may cover fees, and clinics themselves often charge on a sliding scale, which means costs are based on a person’s ability to pay.

Testing through the Verily screening pilot program screening in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties is a philanthropic effort and also free to the public.

What’s the deal with Verily’s triage?

Confusion has dogged the rollout of a triage site aimed at directing concerned Californians to testing. At first, President Donald Trump said Friday that “Google has 1,700 engineers working” on a screening website that would be “very quickly done.”

In fact, it was Verily, the life sciences subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, behind the effort, and the site was not a nationwide screening tool but one specifically for Californians in the Bay Area. Newsom announced the triage website on Sunday, where people can fill out a questionnaire and schedule an appointment at one of two test sites in Santa Clara and San Mateo.

So far, demand outstrips availability: 174,000 people visited the website in the first day since it opened, Newsom said Monday. 174 people filled out the questionnaire. Fifty people signed up for specific appointments—and 30 people actually showed up. Newsom said he expects testing to grow by 200 to 400 tests per site, and in a press briefing on Tuesday, he projected the Verily mobile test sites had conducted 320 tests that day.

Newsom said the whole idea is to expand these mobile test sites beyond the Bay Area. “The good news is operationally, things went fairly well, not perfectly, but fairly well.”

What will this test actually tell me?

The current test for the novel coronavirus looks for the virus itself by sniffing out the virus’s genetic code. These tests can tell you if you have an active infection. What they can not tell you is whether you’ve been infected and recovered.“

Something that is missing from our knowledge of this virus is how many people are exposed to it,” said Philip Felgner, director of the vaccine research and development center at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. That data is key for understanding the breadth of the outbreak, and just how lethal it really is.

How can we track the virus?

Researchers across the world are working on developing another kind of test—one that looks for signs of the immune response to the virus, called antibodies. This kind of test—a serological test—would allow scientists to search out people who have recovered from less severe or asymptomatic cases of the virus who never ended up in a hospital.

That could help scientists identify chains of viral transmission, home in on hotspots of the outbreak, and would be a first step towards a fuller understanding of why some people recover more readily than others. STAT has reported that the CDC is working on developing two of these tests, and Science has reported that scientists in Singapore used a serological test to track the outbreak.

Here in California, Felgner at UC Irvine has teamed up with a company called SinoBiological to create tests that can hunt for antibodies to nine different infectious agents including other coronaviruses like ones that cause SARS and MERS, as well as viruses that lead to similar symptoms, like influenza.

Felgner and a research institute in San Francisco called Vitalant intend to validate these tests and other, similar ones, by running them with leftover samples of donated blood from Seattle. Another test will look for the kinds of antibodies that can neutralize infections, giving a sense for how effective the immune response actually is.

Michael Busch, director of the Vitalant Research Institute, clarifies that these tests aren’t to screen the blood.

“We don’t screen blood purposefully for this virus, it’s not a transfusion transmissible agent,” Busch said.

The goal, instead, is to survey communities to find out just how far the virus spreads, and for how long.

“What it does show you is how many people were infected,” Busch said. That changes the calculus for what we understand about how often the virus causes severe symptoms, or kills people—and where exactly to be looking for it.

CalMatters.org is a nonpartisan media venture explaining policies and politics.

BottleRock Napa Valley Postponed to October

In a move that comes as little surprise given the North Bay “shelter-in-place” orders, the organizers of BottleRock Napa Valley have rescheduled the three-day music festival from May 22–24 to October 2–4, 2020.

The festival released a statement announcing the postponement in the interest of public safety and health in the face of a spreading coronavirus pandemic.

Fortunately for music fans, the festival also announced that all headlining acts, including Stevie Nicks, Dave Matthews Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others, are already confirmed for the new dates, and all passes to the sold-out fest will be honored in October. Read the full statement below:

BottleRock Napa Valley has been rescheduled for the weekend of October 2nd – 4th, 2020 at the Napa Valley Expo, after careful consideration and in coordination with our local and state authorities.

We made this decision with the safety and best interests of our fans, musicians, partners, employees, and community being paramount. We are committed to putting on the festival to not only share great music and the incredible Napa Valley hospitality, but because it’s vitally important to the livelihood of all those who make BottleRock Napa Valley the festival it is.

It is with great pleasure we can announce that all our headliners, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Nicks, Dave Matthews Band, Miley Cyrus, Khalid, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Zedd and more are confirmed for the rescheduled dates. Additional lineup updates will be announced as soon as possible.

All passes will be valid for the new October 2nd – 4th, 2020 dates.

We will be emailing tickets holders within the next few weeks with more details about exchanges and returns.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we look forward to seeing you in early October.

With love from the entire BottleRock Napa Valley Family.

District Attorney Warns Against Coronavirus Price Gouging

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With concern continuing to grow over the possible spread of the Coronavirus, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch reminded local businesses of the state’s anti–price gouging law last week.

“California’s price gouging law prevents business from wrongfully profiteering on essential goods, supplies and services during an emergency,” Ravitch said in a statement. “I urge all businesses operating in and around Sonoma County to understand and comply with the law, and I encourage anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or who has information regarding potential price gouging, to immediately file a complaint.”

Penal Code Section 396 defines price gouging as “raising the price of many consumer goods and services by more than 10 percent after an emergency has been declared.”

The Sonoma County Department of Health Services and Gov. Gavin Newsom have both declared a state of emergency due to the spread of the virus. Price gouging protection will stay in effect until Sept. 4, 2020 under Newsom’s declaration of emergency.

Violators of the price-gouging ordinance could be subject to as much as a year in county jail and a $10,000 fine.

Ravitch’s office sent out similar warnings following the October 2017 wildfires. On Dec. 24, 2019 Newsom extended the state of emergency for Sonoma, Napa and several other fire-affected counties until Dec. 31, 2020.

That order covers rental housing, food, medical or emergency supplies and construction materials, among other things.

Residents can file complaints online at the Sonoma County District Attorney’s website (sonomacounty.ca.gov/District-Attorney/) or call 707.565.5317.

Climate Activists Organize Community Summit

[UPDATE: The following event was cancelled due to the spread of COVID-19.]

The Sonoma County Climate Activist Network (SoCoCAN) will host an event this Sunday, March 15 that will include numerous local activist groups and nonprofits, and a local elected official.

Speakers will include wildlife biologist and Sonoma County Poet Laureate Maya Khosla, Sonoma State University graduate student Cory O’Gorman and North Bay Organizing Project Environmental Justice Organizer Tayse Crocker, who will share their work on wild lands and waters.

Elizabeth Kaiser, of Singing Frogs Farm in Sebastopol, will speak about how using sustainable farming methods can regenerate soils, grow healthy foods and restore balance to local ecosystems.

Members of the youth climate action groups, Sunrise Movement and Schools for Climate Action, will talk about their work—and how older activists can assist them.

Lynda Hopkins—farmer, environmentalist and Sonoma County Supervisor—will speak about the environmental issues facing the county in the coming years and elected officials’ role in solving them.

The event will be held on Sunday, March 15 from 1:30–6:00pm at the Odd Fellows Hall at 545 Pacific Ave. in Santa Rosa. The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition will provide free bicycle parking. For more information, contact [email protected] or call 707.595.0320.

A Call for Grit

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Sonoma County has a long history of “problems” with law enforcement agencies going back at least 20 years or so. For example, this quote from a Press Democrat story from 2014: “In 2000, a U.S. Civil Rights Commission advisory committee recommended Sonoma County, Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park implement citizen review boards, noting the grand jury’s lack of financial independence and organizational separation from local law enforcement.”

In point of fact, there have been problems with the Sheriff’s Department and cities in Sonoma County with law enforcement agencies—an inordinate number of deaths of people held in custody and of fatalities during arrests by police or Sheriff’s Deputies—and recommendations by federal civil rights commissions and grand juries for independent citizen review bodies at the county level.

Prompted by the Andy Lopez fatal shooting by Deputy Gelhaus a few years back, a citizen’s police review board (IOLERO) was finally established after decades of expressed concern by county residents. Yet still and very recently there have been fatal incidents, killings of people by county law enforcement, and so it appears that police oversight, independent investigation and accountability are more in need than ever.

But now it also appears that the agency created to do this oversight work—referred to in bureaucratese as “auditors”—is being manipulated to become a toothless, compliant and subservient tool of the Sheriff’s Office. You may think this is hyperbole, but with even the most basic awareness of police/civilian relationships here and elsewhere it’s a common problem of major proportions and everyone knows that.

The Sheriff’s Office fought with the prior head of the oversight agency until he resigned in utter frustration and resistance to doing his job. We, the public, know this. His current replacement seems hell-bent on rendering the agency she’s supposed to lead and champion into one of no consequence that serves the law enforcement agency she’s supposed to watchdog.

Is this your objective as well, Board of Supervisors? Are you going to relinquish your promise and duty to the people of Sonoma to hold police accountable for their actions and subject them to an independent investigation by outside agencies? Are you so politically intimidated by the sheriff and the district attorney that you will not stand up for the people who elected you? Will you show some grit in this matter and honor what you set out to do just a few years ago in the name of a child who was killed—shot eight times—for carrying a toy gun?

This is bigger than Sonoma County. This is a national issue. Be the leaders we elected you to be.

We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write [email protected].

Meeting Bernie

Bernie Sanders represents many things to many people. To me, he represents a thoughtful and considerate man, and here’s why:

While living in Vermont in the early ’80s, I had the opportunity to meet Burlington’s Mayor Sanders under somewhat challenging circumstances. The first took place on a bitterly cold day during the December holidays. I had parked in downtown Burlington, across from City Hall, to finish some last-minute gift shopping with my three young kids. When we returned to our parking space, the car—a rusty Subaru—was gone. It was then that Bernie approached with a “Can I help you?” When I told him I thought our car had been stolen, he looked at the street sign that clearly stated “12-minute Parking” and asked, “Did you read the sign?” I hadn’t. Bernie told us to “Wait here,” left us for a couple of minutes and returned to let us know that the car had been towed and he’d called a cab to take us to the car impoundment.

A few months later, after having dinner with friends in downtown Burlington, we got back to my car amid a full-blown snowstorm to discover the battery was dead. While we pondered what to do, a car slowly cruised by, made a U-turn, and pulled up to the front of us. Mayor Bernie emerged with the words, “Looks like you fellas need a jump.” Cables were connected, the car started and off he went.

Bernie is a true man of the people—then and now.

Retired Superintendent/Principal

Petaluma

For the Record

Thanks for your cover story “On The Record” (Feb. 26). I appreciated you representing this most enduring of formats—the vinyl record—and places where we can shop, buy and trade.

I especially appreciated the info on Jason Scogna’s radio show. Since 2014, I’ve been hosting an all-vinyl radio show called The Vinyl Cave, Friday nights 7–10pm on 91.3 FM KSVY in Sonoma. It can also be heard at www.ksvy.org. I encourage people to discover or rediscover the fun of dropping the needle and feeling the warm sound of vinyl. Turn it up and you feel it in the heart, not in the head like other audio media.

Thanks again, Bohemian!!!

Sonoma

Helping SIFF

Our independent film festival in Sonoma still needs many more volunteers. The dates of the Sonoma International Film Festival are
March 25–29. Please go to our website, www.sonomafilmfest.org, click on the drop-down menu, then on “Support” and “Volunteers Welcome,” then on signup.com. For more info or questions please contact: [email protected].

Sonoma

Write to us at [email protected].

Return to Stage

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The renovation and remodeling of Santa Rosa Junior College’s 80-year-old Burbank Auditorium is now complete.

The venerable 600-seat theater has been reconfigured into two performance venues; a 400-seat proscenium-arch space and a 200-seat, three-quarters thrust studio theater. The JC’s Theatre Arts Department, which has had to take their shows “on the road” for the past two years, returns to campus to open the Studio Theatre with Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan.

McDonagh, often referred to as “the bad boy of Irish theater,” is known for his darkly humorous looks at Irish life both onstage (Beauty Queen of Leenane) and in film (the cult-classic In Bruges).

It’s 1934 and the citizens of Inishmaan, one of Ireland’s Aran Islands, are all abuzz with the news brought by island crier/gossip/blowhard Johnnypateenmike (Riley Craig). It seems that a Hollywood film crew has arrived to shoot a documentary on a nearby island (This is based on a true incident). The isle’s younger folk, like the egg-centric Helen (Hayley Hollis) and candy-obsessed Bartley (Samuel Gleason), have dreams of being discovered. Orphaned Billy Claven (Daniel Dow), known to all on the island as “Cripple Billy,” sees it as his chance to escape a life full of unhappiness and derision, perpetrated even by the loving “aunties” (Allyson Bray, Samantha Bohlke-Stater) who raised him.

More tragedy than comedy, there’s an undercurrent of sadness and cruelty to the story that matches the bleakness of the play’s setting. Each time the show seems to be veering into redemptive sentimentality, McDonagh executes a quick U-turn.

Director Leslie McCauley has a talented ensemble at work here, with the expected challenges of casting college-age students in mature roles minimized by good costume, hair and makeup design by Ariel Allen. Standouts include Dow, who does particularly good physical work, and Craig, who impresses with what is a generally loathsome and pathetic character. Dialect work is also strong courtesy Dialect Coach/Cultural Advisor Jane Martin.

Peter Crompton’s scenic design and Theo Bridant’s light-and-sound design work in tandem to transform the intimate theater and transport the audience to a wee bit o’ Ireland, as does the live musical accompaniment by Lisa Doyle and Sonia Tubridy.

At two-and-a-half hours (with intermission), the show seems to meander a bit—but that, and its deliberate pacing, are no doubt representative of life on a remote Northern Atlantic rock.

Erin go Bragh.

Rating (out of 5): ★★★★

‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ runs Wednesday–Sunday through March 15 in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Burbank Auditorium Studio Theatre at 1501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Wednesday–Saturday, 8pm; Saturday & Sunday, 2pm. $10–$25. 707.527.4307. theatrearts.santarosa.edu

‘Directions to the Dumpster’ Chronicles Homeless Journey

Edward Campagnola has a story to tell. Currently living as an unsheltered resident in Sonoma County, he spent the last five years writing his story, and last year he released his debut novel, Directions to the Dumpster.

Now available on Amazon.com, the book traces Campagnola’s journey in homelessness and his attempts to get out of it. It is also a story that aims to dispel preconceptions about homelessness and end the stigma associated with it through a campaign of awareness and compassion.

“I’ve been in a cave really for five years,” Campagnola says. “You’re lucky if you have a phone, you know what day it is. I would lose days if I didn’t have a phone, but having it is a security risk.”

This glimpse into Campagnola’s daily experience is one of the book’s many details that dissolves the reader’s veil of ignorance and exposes them to the reality of what unsheltered residents go through day to day.

The title of the book, Directions to the Dumpster, is a phrase Campagnola uses literally and figuratively. He argues that in a capitalist society, the homeless are seen as worthless, while they also are often given directions to the dumpster when they do reach out and ask for help.

“I originally titled the book Going to California, a la the Zep tune,” Campagnola says.

Originally from New Jersey, Campagnola traveled to New Orleans, Houston and Las Vegas after the death of his wife.

“I was soul-searching at the time,” he says.

At one point in his travels he suffered a violent, random attack on a California-bound Greyhound bus that left him with PTSD. When he arrived in Sonoma County, words began to pour out of him.

“It was unbelievable, and I don’t know if it was from the attack, but phrases just started flowing out of me,” Campagnola says.

Collecting those phrases in notebooks, Campagnola wrote his manuscript on a Sonoma County Library computer. He wrote the novel as a form of therapy, as a way to reconnect with his adult children and to give society a better understanding of homelessness in America.

Campagnola describes his book as a documentary-style narrative, detailing events as they occurred and letting the reader make their own personal connection.

“I did not bother to express what my feelings were,” he says. “Except for the moment when I talk about a handwritten letter from my wife that I lost—I was more distraught than any point in my life.”

Though Campagnola secured a publishing contract, the book is an entirely DIY experience, with Campagnola editing and promoting the book on his own. The road to publishing was a long one, but he’s ready to do it again.

“The book’s a cliffhanger,” Campagnola says. “I’ve already started writing the sequel. I decided the title will be Directions Home.”

‘Directions to the Dumpster’ is available online.

Go to Church

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David Bowie once said, “Music itself is going to become like running water.” He was talking about how people never think of their tap water: They wash dishes in it, they drink it and the water becomes so commonplace that it’s taken for granted until it’s not there.

For many artists and audiences in the North Bay, the tap for live-music experiences in downtown Santa Rosa has been stuck on low-flow for some time. And people are starting to notice.

Make no mistake, there are a number of bars, clubs and coffeehouses in town that host bands; but for intimate, engaging concerts in a devoted theater space, nothing has quenched Santa Rosa’s musical thirst quite like the newly opened nonprofit venue the Lost Church.

Located on Mendocino Avenue, three blocks off of Courthouse Square, the Lost Church is a 99-person, fully seated listening room that follows in the footsteps of the San Francisco venue of the same name.

That original venue, located in San Francisco’s Mission District, is the brainchild of musicians Brett and Elizabeth Cline, who took their irregularly shaped house and turned the living room into a venue.

When the Clines began looking to expand their Lost Church into a multi-venue project, they contacted North Bay musician, producer and promoter Josh Windmiller, whose work includes founding and running the popular Railroad Square Music Festival (returning on June 14, 2020) as well as playing in bands such as the Crux.

“I never thought I’d be the venue guy,” says Windmiller. “But this is a perfect fit for me. I want to create art, be around artistic people and I want my fellow music makers to thrive.”

When Windmiller met Brett and Elizabeth and found out they wanted to expand their theater model to other communities and make them sustainable, nonprofit ventures, he jumped at the chance to help make it happen.

“”This is our proof of concept, to show that spaces like this are possible in our community,” Windmiller says.

In the works since late 2018, the Lost Church boasts warm acoustics, charming décor and a focus on live music, with a stage set under chandeliers and vines.

“The whole thing feels like a post-apocalyptic cabaret space,” Windmiller says. “It feels like we’ve sequestered ourselves in this building where vines are growing, but we’ve decked it out with beautiful art and stained wood and intimate lighting, and it has a good vibe.”

While Executive Director Brett Cline was a driving force in the building and design of the Santa Rosa venue, the running of the theater is entirely in the hands of the North Bay community. On the ground floor of the project from day one, Windmiller is now the venue’s development director.

“The San Francisco people aren’t going to begin to pretend that we don’t have a pretty awesome scene up here,” says Windmiller. “And honestly, the only thing we have a dearth of is places to play—there is an unequal representation of artists to venues. We have some really great venues, but not enough of them that can take a risk on up-and-coming artists and not a lot that can host a show in a place that is this intimate.”

“I like the aspect of what they are trying to build there, in that it seems to be music focused,” says Philip Pavliger, a Santa Rosa photographer who works with Windmiller on events like Railroad Square Music Fest. “Santa Rosa has a fair number of venues, but there didn’t seem to be a place where local artists could go to try out new material in front of an audience.”

When Pavliger heard about the Lost Church, he took the chance to shoot a new exhibit, “Rhapsody of Nine,” featuring photo portraits of local musicians in the venue. The photos are currently on display nearby at Acre Coffee on Fourth Street.

“There’s an amazing amount of talented people here in the area,” Pavliger says. “For me the idea is to help support and grow something I think the city could really use.”

So far, the Lost Church has consistently hosted attentive and enthusiastic audiences, and Windmiller says the venue is ideal for smaller acts, solos, duos or stripped-down bands because they don’t have to try to cut through distractions.

“There’s definitely a place for cafes, clubs and bars—those are some of the main places I’ve played with the Crux,” Windmiller says. “But there’s a certain vibe and experience that one finds in a theater, and this is a small theater, this is a parlor room, and that’s so exciting to be creating here.

“Our belief and our conviction is that live experience can be sustained, loved and can grow through being different from those experiences that we find in the digital era. Where Netflix and YouTube can provide privacy and distance from the performer, live experiences can provide intimacy, engagement and evenings with the community and art that will be unforgettable. What we need to do is sustain a place where new acts and even established artists can have those experiences with an audience.

“Maybe the time we’re living in is post apocalyptic, maybe the internet has destroyed the world like a robot uprising, and indeed we are creating a theater from the ruins of the old world.”

Virtual Events Spread During North Bay Shelter-in-Place

Films, poetry readings, concerts and more go online.

Napa County Issues Shelter-At-Home Order

Napa is the latest California county to order residents to restrict their non-essential movements for the next three weeks in an effort to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus. "One proven way to slow the transmission is to limit interactions among people to the greatest extent practicable. By reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, this Order helps preserve critical...

Where California Stands with Coronavirus Testing Right Now

By Rachel Becker and Ana B. Ibarra, CalMatters Coronavirus testing has been plagued by confusion, delays and chaos, with the number of available,...

BottleRock Napa Valley Postponed to October

Headliners confirmed for new dates, festival passes will be honored

District Attorney Warns Against Coronavirus Price Gouging

With concern continuing to grow over the possible spread of the Coronavirus, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch reminded local businesses of the state's anti–price gouging law last week. "California's price gouging law prevents business from wrongfully profiteering on essential goods, supplies and services during an emergency," Ravitch said in a statement. "I urge all...

A Call for Grit

Sonoma County has a long history of "problems" with law enforcement agencies going back at least 20 years or so. For example, this quote from a Press Democrat story from 2014: "In 2000, a U.S. Civil Rights Commission advisory committee recommended Sonoma County, Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park implement citizen review boards, noting the grand jury's lack...

Meeting Bernie

Bernie Sanders represents many things to many people. To me, he represents a thoughtful and considerate man, and here's why: While living in Vermont in the early '80s, I had the opportunity to meet Burlington's Mayor Sanders under somewhat challenging circumstances. The first took place on a bitterly cold day during the December holidays. I had parked in downtown Burlington,...

Return to Stage

The renovation and remodeling of Santa Rosa Junior College's 80-year-old Burbank Auditorium is now complete. The venerable 600-seat theater has been reconfigured into two performance venues; a 400-seat proscenium-arch space and a 200-seat, three-quarters thrust studio theater. The JC's Theatre Arts Department, which has had to take their shows "on the road" for the past...

‘Directions to the Dumpster’ Chronicles Homeless Journey

Sonoma County man’s novel offers personal insight

Go to Church

David Bowie once said, "Music itself is going to become like running water." He was talking about how people never think of their tap water: They wash dishes in it, they drink it and the water becomes so commonplace that it's taken for granted until it's not there. For many artists and audiences in the North Bay, the tap for...
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