State Delays Commercial Dungeness Crab Season Until Mid-December

Commercial Dungeness crab season is delayed until at least mid-December, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.

The original opening date of Dec. 1 is delayed to Dec. 16 due to various factors including whale presence and low-quality crab meat.

In the CDFW’s central management area, from Point Arena to the Mexico border, whales remain in the crab fishing area resulting in a potential for entanglement. In early December, the department will reassess entanglement risk and whale presence.

In addition to whale presence, meat quality testing in crabs in the CDFW’s northern management area has shown that the crabs will not be ready to be fished until mid-December.

“Our hope is both quality testing and additional marine life survey data will support a unified statewide opener on Dec. 16, just in time to have crab for the holidays and New Year.” CDFW director Charlton Bonham said.

More information on Dungeness crab can be found online at www.wildlife.ca.gov/crab.

Broadway Holiday Spectacular Screens Safely in Sonoma County

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Best known for star-studded and show-stopping live performances, Sonoma County’s Transcendence Theatre Company was forced to cancel in-person events and move things online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This summer, the company let audiences relive the best moments from its annual “Broadway Under the Stars” festival—normally presented at Jack London State Park—by presenting online video showcases of the family friendly song-and-dance shows.

Transcendence Theatre Company also regularly treats North Bay crowds to a “Broadway Holiday Spectacular” stage show each December. This holiday season, Transcendence transitions to safely present “Broadway Holiday Experiences,” featuring entertainment at the drive-in as well as online.

Like their “Broadway Under the Stars” video showcases, Transcendence has collected five years of recorded stage performances from the “Broadway Holiday Spectacular,” and will screen those performances for socially distant crowds at drive-in events on Dec. 4–6 at SOMO Village in Rohnert Park, and Dec. 11–13 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma.

“I have been fortunate to be part of four of the last five holiday concerts,” says Tony Gonzalez, Director of this year’s “Broadway Holiday Experiences” at the drive-In. “And we’ve got a fun momentum going, creating this warm holiday-in-the-home feel with friends and family, accentuating the best part of the holidays.”

The video collection of concert footage features over 60 performers from Broadway musicals including White Christmas, Hamilton and Frozen; and featured performers include Will Ray (Les Misérables), Brittney Morello (Young Frankenstein), Luis Figueroa (42nd Street) and others.

Those drive-in screenings will also feature live hosts Meggie Cansler Ness and David Gordon performing alongside the filmed entertainment.

“They’re two performing artists that have been in multiple shows these last five years, so they will share some memories and songs in person,” Gonzalez says. “It’s been fun to create this kind of hybrid form of entertainment to keep everyone safe.”

The drive-ins will also include in-car activities, and food from local purveyors will be available to purchase, along with popcorn and snacks.

“In an effort to have folks involved, we are creating a kit that goes in your car with props that go along with the songs,” Gonzalez says. “We’re also going to lead everyone in a sing-along because that just feels right at the holidays and you’re safe in your car because no one else has to hear you except for your family.”

The “Broadway Holiday Experiences” video showcase will then move online for free viewing via YouTube from Dec. 18 through Dec. 23.

“Transcendence over the years has wanted to reach out further than the Bay Area,” Gonzalez says. “We encourage everyone to share the link and watch along with friends and families.”

‘Broadway Holiday Experiences’ plays at the drive-in Dec. 4–6 at SOMO Village in Rohnert Park and Dec. 11–13, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma. 5pm arrival, 6:15pm show. $59–$249 per car. Transcendencetheatre.org.

Letters to the Editor, Nov. 25


Wrong Mountain

You have no doubt heard from many readers that the correct answer to question 1 (c) in the Nov. 18 edition of “Trivia Cafe” is FALSE because the premise is incorrect.

California’s highest mountain is Mt. Whitney, not Mt. McKinley. Mt. McKinley is in Alaska and is now officially called Denali.
Tom Conneely
Mill Valley

Good Reads
Great job, Eddie! (“Next Chapter,” Lit, Nov. 18) Awesome you’re writing and telling these stories—they need to be heard.
Ali2
Via bohemian.com

Robot Talk
RE: “Sorry Siri” by Rita S. Losch (Open Mic, Nov. 18) I can’t stop laughing. And you wonder why I don’t follow Siri driving directions? LOL!
Jane Sneed
San Francisco

Why Hawaii
State Sen. Bill Dodd on Thursday, Nov. 19, defended his participation in a policy conference at a Maui beachfront luxury hotel as the coronavirus surges in California, calling it “business as usual” in his job as a lawmaker.

Last I read Hawaii was careful with mainlanders, so quarantining was not in effect? Who paid for this trip as Sen. Dodd is from a purple county? Couldn’t use Zoom, Live Meeting or GoToMeeting?
Gary Sciford
Santa Rosa

North Bay Teen Artist with Autism Debuts at de Young Museum

Marin County teenager James Lee, also known as Jamesey, finds joy in making art. Diagnosed with autism at age two, Lee has been drawing and painting since he was a young child, finding comfort in the colors he works with and in the gestures of painting on large canvases, which often gets him dancing as he paints.

A longtime student at Oak Hill School in San Anselmo, which serves students with autism spectrum disorders and other health impairments, Lee was forced to stay home when the school shut down due to the pandemic in March. So, he turned to art and started painting every day.

Soon after that, in June, the de Young Museum in San Francisco announced an open call for submissions from local artists for “The de Young Open” exhibition. Over 6,000 artists from nine Bay Area counties submitted over 11,000 works, including Lee’s mother, who submitted two works on behalf of her son under the name Jamesey.

Of those works, jurors selected Jamesey’s “Pandemic Blue #1” to display as part of “The de Young Open,” giving Lee his official debut as an exhibiting artist.

For de Young’s open exhibition, the jurors accepted less than 8-percent of all the works submitted, and each piece of art was reviewed anonymously, meaning the jurors had no idea that “Pandemic Blue #1” was the work of a teen with autism when they selected it.

“Pandemic Blue #1” can be seen now at the de Young Museum or on the museum’s website, which shares Lee’s story in the artist statement, writing that though Lee cannot verbally identify colors, he has an instinctive grasp of color theory. Painting a layer at a time, Lee varies his hue and tone, and he is now learning to “self-edit” his art by covering parts of the canvas in plastic, applying layers of paint over them, and removing the plastic to create shapes or structures. This process is repeated over and over until Lee declares that the canvas is “so beautiful.” Finally, he draws over the layered colors in Sharpie, adding symbols of swimming pools and lifesavers that have become his own personal iconography.

In addition to “Pandemic Blue #1,” Lee has over a dozen paintings in his ongoing pandemic series, and his family is generously donating his paintings for a virtual auction to benefit Oak Hill School, which has had to cancel its annual fundraiser that provides scholarships to students in need. To own a Jamesey piece of art and support Oak Hill School, visit the auction site airauctioneer.com/jamesey.

North Bay’s Season of Giving Is in Full Swing

North Bay service industry workers, farm workers and students are all on the receiving end of three generous outings and offerings from local volunteer groups who want to help those in need this season.

In Napa County, nonprofit organization Celebration Nation is rolling out a major campaign to provide Thanksgiving dinner along with blankets, jackets and other winter essentials to over 3,000 farm workers and low-income families.

The newly unveiled #ThankYouFarmWorkers campaign will be in Calistoga today, Monday, Nov. 23 from 4pm to 7pm, to distribute free food and more at Calistoga Seventh Day Adventist Church located at 2102 Grant Street.

The drive-thru Thanksgiving distribution event is being helmed by Flor Martinez, an-immigrant rights activists who herself worked as a farm worker before she qualified for DACA. Since Martinez has multiple contacts in the agricultural community, she is also able to directly contact farm supervisors and arrange transportation vehicles to the farm sites for additional distribution by volunteers.

For today’s distribution event, farmworkers and their families can receive a turkey, a box of food items and other winter items, and gift cards. Celebration Nation is dedicated to supporting the Latino community throughout California, and this distribution event is one of many taking place in underserved communities in the state.

In Sonoma County, a newly formed organization, the Service Industry Relief Fund of Sonoma County, is joining forces with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul District Council of Sonoma County to launch a campaign to help service industry workers living in Sonoma County who have lost half or more of their income due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Service Industry Relief Fund of Sonoma County (SIRFSC) is offering $500 stipends to those workers who qualify, and the funds are made possible by local donors; meaning that this is an opportunity to directly support someone in Sonoma County through a donation that goes entirely to those in need.

“Sonoma County is home to more than 70,000 service industry workers, many of whom have lost part or all of their income to Covid-19, including me,” says Krista Williams, lead coordinator for SIRFSC, in a statement. “Most of us were already making less than the County’s median income before the pandemic struck, so it’s wonderful that those who can are helping those who desperately need assistance.”

“Our agency has found ways to provide help to those who need it in Sonoma County for more than 60 years,” says Jack Tibbetts, Executive Director of St. Vincent de Paul Sonoma County, in a statement. “We are proud that Krista and her team have created a way to address a new source of great need in our county, and we are equally proud to support their work.”

The Service Industry Relief Fund of Sonoma County is online now and accepting applications for stipends as well as donations at sirfsc.org.

In Marin County, an all-volunteer parent group is stepping up to support Marin students by giving over $100,000 in pandemic relief grants. The group, Dedication to Special Education, typically focuses on those students with special needs; though the group is now opening its funds to all students in Marin who are navigating the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Adults aren’t the only ones struggling with the changes in our lives; kids are really struggling as well,” says Jenny Novack, co-chair of the organization, in a statement. “It’s all about access to educational opportunities and, during the pandemic, it is about having a plan to support individual student’s needs whether they have an IEP (Individual Education Plan) or not.”

Dedication to Special Education’s pandemic relief grants will allow the Marin County Office of Education to contract with companies to provide literacy support for students struggling to work with new technology, and the group is also committed to supporting students with social-emotional learning challenges.

“It is clear the current need for our kids isn’t only academic. Addressing social-
emotional learning goes hand in hand with academic learning,” says Novack.

Several Marin school districts are currently rolling out these programs within their individual schools and the county intends to have all tools in place by the end of the year.

“This is an extraordinary contribution for, not only the over 4,000 children in special education, but approximately 40,000 public school students and its impact throughout Marin is significant,” says Mary Jane Burke, Marin County Superintendent of Schools, in a statement. “The parent volunteers of Dedication to Special Education work hard throughout the year to raise money for the grants program. With the pandemic, they saw an opportunity to help with distance learning for all students. I don’t know of any other effort quite like it. We are truly blessed to have them as partners.”

Virtual Event Traces Evolution of Jazz Organ This Weekend

Two decades into its endeavor to share the American art form of Jazz with North Bay audiences through live concerts and educational programs, Healdsburg Jazz is having one of its busiest years in 2020.

Even with its annual summer festival canceled and live events on hold due to Covid-19, Healdsburg Jazz became one the first North Bay arts organizations to take its programming online with music history classes and virtual concerts.

In addition, Healdsburg Jazz founder and longtime artistic director Jessica Felix announced her retirement in September, and acclaimed composer and bandleader Marcus Shelby took over duties as the festival’s new artistic director in October.

Shelby recently laid out his vision for the future at Healdsburg Jazz’s virtual Gala earlier this month, which also featured performances by several popular artists and words from other honorees and community leaders.

With so much going on, it’s easy to miss the fact that Healdsburg Jazz is hosting anther eye-opening and ear-pleasing virtual presentation this weekend, as world-renowned jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco offers the “Evolution of Jazz Organ” on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 5pm.

DeFrancesco will discuss his 30-plus years on the jazz scene and will take an extensive look into Jazz Organ, and it’s impact on the music. Along with DeFrancesco, the presentation will feature guest artists such as drummer Billy Hart and tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon, both of whom are longtime collaborators with DeFrancesco as well as Healdsburg Jazz favorites.

Raised in Philadelphia, DeFrancesco’s musical emergence in the 1980s marked the onset of a Jazz renaissance. While jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington and Fats Waller originally adopted the Hammond organ in the early days of the scene, the organ had all but gone into hibernation in the jazz world from the mid-’70s to the mid-’80s until DeFrancesco reignited the flame with his vintage Hammond organ and Leslie speaker cabinet.

The son of “Papa” John DeFrancesco, an organist himself, the younger DeFrancesco remembers playing as early as four-years-old. Soon after, his father began bringing him to gigs in Philadelphia, sitting in with legendary players like Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones, who quickly recognized his talent and enthusiasm.

With a natural gift for music, DeFrancesco also swiftly picked up on the trumpet after a touring stint with Miles Davis as one of the two youngest players ever recruited for any of Davis’ ensembles.

DeFrancesco’s musical relationship with drummer Billy Hart dates back to 1989, and the two players have shared recording duties on several releases over the years, including Grammy-nominated releases. DeFrancesco and Jerry Weldon have shared five recording sessions and the bandstand countless times over the years as well.

All three musicians have an extensive history on the jazz scene, collectively performing or recording with just about every musician with a connection to the pioneers of jazz. DeFrancesco invited both Hart and Weldon to join him for this zoom event to share their experiences performing together and their extensive music history with a specific focus on Organ Jazz.

‘Evolution of Jazz Organ’ streams online Sunday, Nov. 22, at 5pm. Free, registration required. Healdsburgjazz.org.

BREAKING: Gov. Newsom Announces Limited Stay-At-Home Order

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday a limited stay-at-home order for California that will go into effect Saturday night and last for a month to try to limit the spread of Covid-19.

The order is for counties in the “purple” or most-restrictive tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy plan and will order all non-essential work and gatherings to stop from 10pm to 5am. Sonoma and Napa counties are both in the Purple Tier.

Newsom announced on Monday that 41 of the California’s 58 counties would go into the purple tier as Covid-19 cases have increased statewide recently.

Below is a copy of the curfew announcement from the California governor’s office.

State Issues Limited Stay at Home Order to Slow Spread of COVID-19

Non-essential businesses and personal gatherings are prohibited between 10 PM and 5 AM beginning Saturday, November 21 at 10 PM

SACRAMENTO – In light of an unprecedented, rapid rise in COVID-19 cases across California, Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced a limited Stay at Home Order requiring generally that non-essential work, movement and gatherings stop between 10 PM and 5 AM in counties in the purple tier. The order will take effect at 10 PM Saturday, November 21 and remain in effect until 5 AM December 21. This is the same as the March Stay at Home Order, but applied only between 10 PM and 5 AM and only in purple tier counties that are seeing the highest rates of positive cases and hospitalizations.

“The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge. We are sounding the alarm,” said Governor Newsom. “It is crucial that we act to decrease transmission and slow hospitalizations before the death count surges. We’ve done it before and we must do it again.”

This limited Stay at Home Order is designed to reduce opportunities for disease transmission. Activities conducted during 10 PM to 5 AM are often non-essential and more likely related to social activities and gatherings that have a higher likelihood of leading to reduced inhibition and reduced likelihood for adherence to safety measures like wearing a face covering and maintaining physical distance.

“We know from our stay at home order this spring, which flattened the curve in California, that reducing the movement and mixing of individuals dramatically decreases COVID-19 spread, hospitalizations, and deaths,” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. “We may need to take more stringent actions if we are unable to flatten the curve quickly. Taking these hard, temporary actions now could help prevent future shutdowns.”

“We are asking Californians to change their personal behaviors to stop the surge. We must be strong together and make tough decisions to stay socially connected but physically distanced during this critical time. Letting our guard down could put thousands of lives in danger and cripple our health care system,” said Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s acting Public Health Officer. “It is especially important that we band together to protect those most vulnerable around us as well as essential workers who are continuing their critical work amidst this next wave of widespread community transmission across the state. Together we prevented a public health crisis in the spring and together we can do it again.”

Covid-19 case rates increased by approximately 50 percent in California during the first week of November. As a result, Governor Newsom and California’s public health officials have announced a list of measures to protect Californians and the state’s health care system, which could experience an unprecedented surge if cases continue their steep climb.

On Monday, the state pulled an emergency brake in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy putting more than 94 percent of California’s population in the most restrictive tier. The state will reassess data continuously and move more counties back into a more restrictive tier, if necessary. California is also strengthening its face covering guidance to require individuals to wear a mask whenever outside their home, with limited exceptions.

Late last week, the state issued a travel advisory, along with Oregon and Washington, urging people entering the state or returning home from travel outside the state to self-quarantine to slow the spread of the virus. The travel advisory urges against non-essential out-of-state travel, asks people to self-quarantine for 14 days after arriving from another state or country, and encourages residents to stay local.

Marin County Author Writes About Nazi-fighting Boxers in 1930s America

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During the 1930s, the FBI and the mob recruited boxers to fight Nazis on American soil. The scenario sounds like far-fetched fiction featuring a cast of strange bedfellows. Except, it really happened.

Tiburon author Leslie K. Barry based her new novel, Newark Minutemen, on the true story of her uncle, Harry Levine, one of a group of Jewish boxers enlisted by the FBI and the Jewish Mafia to brawl with American Nazis and interrupt their fascist pursuits in Newark, New Jersey.

Prior to World War II, the German American Bund, a Nazi organization, operated in America. The Nazi alliance held rallies, marches and children’s summer camps across the country to propagate its pro-Hitler position, often flying swastikas and American flags side by side.

The largest rally drew a crowd of 20,000 Nazi supporters at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. Thousands of protestors gathered in the streets outside the arena to demonstrate against the fascists.

In Newark, New Jersey, a smaller group worked behind the scenes to fight the American Nazis: the Newark Minutemen.

Barry, 58, already knew many stories about her late uncle, the 1936 Golden Glove champ. However, at her mother’s 90th birthday party, she overheard a relative ask her mother an intriguing question: “Esther, do you remember when your brother would beat up the Nazis and come home bloody?”

For the next two years, Barry spoke with her mother, Esther Levine Kaplan, every day to learn more about her uncle and his involvement in battling the Nazis. At the same time, Barry and her cousin researched the history of the Newark Minutemen and the German American Bund.

Barry gathered anecdotes from her family and others, FBI reports and newspaper articles. Clearly, the FBI collaborated with the Jewish Mafia to disrupt the activities of the American Nazis. In Newark, mob boss Abner “Longie” Zwillman recruited the Jewish boxers, including Barry’s uncle, to do the work.

As Barry began weaving the true story together, she decided to write a novel, rather than a strict historical account, which allowed her to introduce a fictional love story. Her main character, Yael Newman, a Jewish boxer, falls in love with Krista Brecht, the daughter of the Nazi group’s leader. The situation grows more complicated when Newman infiltrates the German American Bund.

“I loved the idea of the Titanic,” Barry said. “I wanted to add drama over this with a love story. I wanted to appeal to a younger audience and I thought this was the way to do it.”

Before Barry wrote the novel, she penned and sold the screenplay of Newark Minutemen. Usually the novel comes first.

After talking to Steven Spielberg and Robert Redford’s production company, Barry chose to sign with Fulwell 73 Productions, where late-night TV host James Corden is a partner. The company has already attached screenwriters to the project and is in talks with a director to bring the drama to life on the big screen.

“The story is part of my legacy,” Barry said. “I’m so lucky that I have my mom at 95. We were always close, but I got to know her on such a different level when we were talking about the story. I understand now how they lived and why. It’s an incredible takeaway.”

Barry considers the story of the Newark Minutemen and the German American Bund applicable to what is happening in America today.

“I try to understand why it happened,” Barry said. “People lose faith in the government and look for other solutions. Half our country doesn’t trust the government right now and the other half won’t trust the new government. I saw the mini documentary A Night at the Garden, which has the footage from the Madison Square Garden rally. It was chilling. What the German American Bund did was brilliant. ‘We need to get back to Americanism.’ It’s all about positioning and if you don’t think too much about it, people start nodding their heads.”

Tim Bluhm Takes on Merle Haggard for New Tribute Album

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Tim Bluhm thinks he was about 22-years-old when he first heard outlaw country music singer-songwriter Merle Haggard. Bluhm was already playing in a rock band in Chico at the time, but Haggard’s forlorn lyrics and steadfast vocal delivery quickly adhered themselves to Bluhm’s musical subconscious.

“I guess I started working on trying to sing like him right then, but it took me a long time to feel anything close to good about my attempts,” Bluhm says in a statement. “He sang with such effortlessness and honesty, and he was good at humor too.”

For the last three decades, Bluhm’s music has held elements of Haggard in them; whether it was in popular West Coast soul band The Mother Hips–which Bluhm has co-fronted since 1990–or in Bluhm’s contributions to projects like Skinny Singers with Jackie Greene, Ball-Point Birds with Greg Loiacono, the Rhythm Devils, Brokedown in Bakersfield and Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers. It’s also been a part of Bluhm’s solo albums, including those albums he recorded in the aftermath of a bad outdoor accident that put him in a wheelchair in late 2015.

Now 50-years-old (and largely recovered from his accident), Bluhm is paying proper tribute to Merle Haggard with his forthcoming fourth solo record, Hag Heaven, coming out on Friday, Nov. 20, through the label Blue Rose.

Recorded in Bluhm’s Marin County home studio, which boasts both vintage instruments and top-quality recording gear, Hag Heaven is a collection of 11 of Haggard’s most beloved compositions.

Bluhm co-produced the album with frequent collaborator Mark Adams and he contributes vocals, guitars, piano and keyboards alongside session musicians Dave Zirbel on pedal steel, Megan Lynch Chowning on fiddle, Aidan Collins on bass and Daryl VanDruff on drums. This same cast of characters recently came together to record Mark Adams Band’s recently released album, Loaded with Lefty: A Tribute to Lefty Frizzell.

For Hag Heaven, Bluhm chose his favorite Merle Haggard songs and recorded their covers with respect for the original recordings. Bluhm says the album’s first single, “Am I Standing in Your Way,” showcases Haggard’s vulnerability, fortitude and humor all at once.

“This song embodies the attitude for which I love Merle Haggard so much,” he says.

The new album also features the classic Haggard song “Every Fool Has a Rainbow.”

“I’m pretty sure Hag takes the guitar solo on the original recording so I had to try it out too,” Bluhm says. “His soaring vocal and the lush orchestration are classic Merle.”

Bluhm also covers Haggard’s early hit “Hungry Eyes,” touches upon Haggard’s penchant for prison songs with “Hunstville,” examines Haggard’s Dust Bowl-era of songs with “Someday We’ll Look Back” and explores Haggard’s religious side with “Don’t’ Give Up on Me.” As a musician himself, Bluhm also covers Haggard’s “Footlights” on the record.

“I think this is one of his very best songs,” Bluhm says. “He tells a great little story about playing shows for 20 years and having to go out and kick ass every night, even if he’s not feeling it. I guess I can kind of relate.”

‘Hag Heaven’ is available on limited-edition vinyl on Friday, Nov. 20, at Bluerosemusic.com.

Sonoma Noir: New Jonah Raskin Mystery

Shelter-in-place provided prolific Sonoma County author Jonah Raskin ample time to conclude his murder mystery trilogy starring private investigator Tioga Vignetta. Loyal readers will enjoy getting to know familiar characters more deeply, however, this first-time reader had no trouble diving into Dark Past, Dark Future without having read the first two books.

Raskin’s book is set in and around Sonoma Valley, full of recognizable locales even if most are given fictional names. Though based in the present-day, it feels a bit outside of time. Its protagonist, Vignetta—lover of noir—is, herself, outside of time, a bit like Elliott Gould’s Philip Marlowe. Vignetta doesn’t stumble or mumble in bewilderment around 2020 the way Gould’s Marlowe does the early 1970s, but her world seems to feel more cinematic to her than to others in it. Her behavior can be anachronistic. She prints out a hard copy of an address instead of referencing it on her smartphone. When we hear her inner thoughts, they have a rawness and humor different from her quips in conversation.

“Fuck anxiety,” Vignetta thinks as she drives past vineyards on her way home, where she’ll discover someone has broken in. And then, “Fuck grapes.” Later on, the same veraison she felt disdain for lifts her mood. Raskin, who is from the East Coast, has lived in Sonoma County for much of his adult life. One senses his fondness, frustration and fascination with the region throughout Dark Past, Dark Future.

Raskin has published 15 books, ranging from academic nonfiction to poetry and memoir. Followers of his work will recognize common themes—marijuana, the wine industry, far-left politics and Jack London all make appearances.

It’s clear Raskin enjoys genre fiction and hardboiled crime—he turns the Valley into a stylish milieu of sex, drugs and blackmail, which makes the book a breeze to read. Yet there are moments where the style gives way to harder grit. Raskin’s foreword explains that domestic violence and sexual assaults against women have reached epic proportions in the 21st century, exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s both sobering and dread-inducing to read this note, knowing the protagonist will face such trauma. Raskin, who knows when to be serious, handles the scene in graphic detail, but thankfully spends more time on Vignetta’s recovery.

The author says he is too attached to Tioga to let go of her completely, but that this is the last we’ll hear of her for a while. He’s already completed his next novel, featuring a different protagonist. It’s set in San Francisco in the 1950s.

“Dark Past, Dark Future” is available from Santa Rosa’s McCaa Books. — C.R. Griffith

State Delays Commercial Dungeness Crab Season Until Mid-December

Commercial Dungeness crab season is delayed until at least mid-December, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced. The original opening date of Dec. 1 is delayed to Dec. 16 due to...

Broadway Holiday Spectacular Screens Safely in Sonoma County

Transcendence Theatre Company provides holiday entertainment at the drive-in as well as online.

Letters to the Editor, Nov. 25

Wrong Mountain You have no doubt heard from many readers that the correct answer to question 1 (c) in the Nov. 18 edition of “Trivia Cafe” is FALSE because the premise is incorrect. California’s highest mountain is Mt. Whitney, not Mt. McKinley. Mt. McKinley is in Alaska and is now officially called Denali. Tom...

North Bay Teen Artist with Autism Debuts at de Young Museum

Jamesey’s “Pandemic Blue #1” was selected out of 11,000 entries for display in the museum’s open exhibit.

North Bay’s Season of Giving Is in Full Swing

Groups are donating funds and food to those in need in Sonoma, Marin and Napa Counties.

Virtual Event Traces Evolution of Jazz Organ This Weekend

Healdsburg Jazz hosts free presentation on Nov. 22.

BREAKING: Gov. Newsom Announces Limited Stay-At-Home Order

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday a limited stay-at-home order for California that will go into effect Saturday night and last for a month to try to limit the spread of Covid-19. ...

Marin County Author Writes About Nazi-fighting Boxers in 1930s America

During the 1930s, the FBI and the mob recruited boxers to fight Nazis on American soil. The scenario sounds like far-fetched fiction featuring a cast of strange bedfellows. Except, it really happened. ...

Tim Bluhm Takes on Merle Haggard for New Tribute Album

‘Hag Heaven’ pays homage to the outlaw country legend.

Sonoma Noir: New Jonah Raskin Mystery

Shelter-in-place provided prolific Sonoma County author Jonah Raskin ample time to conclude his murder mystery trilogy starring private investigator Tioga Vignetta. Loyal readers will enjoy getting to know familiar characters more deeply, however, this first-time reader had no trouble diving into Dark Past, Dark Future without having read the first two books. Raskin’s book is...
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