Annual Survey Shows Rise in Homelessness

Sonoma County’s preliminary point-in-time count data showed an 11% increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in 2024 compared to 2023, but County officials are hopeful a new program will address the growing need.

Through a partnership between Sonoma County, the cities of Santa Rosa and Petaluma, and homelessness prevention nonprofit All Home, a $2.6 million program tentatively called “Keep Sonoma Housed” is set to launch this summer. The program, a two-year pilot, will provide hubs throughout the County to serve as access points of services for people at risk of falling into homelessness.

Michael Gause, Sonoma County Department of Health Services’ Ending Homelessness team manager, said that the support could range from emergency rental assistance to help with utility payments, along with case management services.

“The gap we have noticed over the last year or two is the lack of a unified prevention program,” he said.

Gause said the County and Santa Rosa have each committed $500,000 to the effort; Petaluma is contributing $300,000 and All Home has matched that with private philanthropy dollars for a total of $2.6 million. The city of Santa Rosa will be the lead agency for the pilot.

“A common misconception about homelessness is that people want to be homeless. That’s not the case,” Gause said. “There are a variety of different reasons—a lot of homelessness can come from a sudden emergency or could come from years of trauma. It’s a multi-layered, multifaceted issue that really affects people differently.”

DHS said possible causes for the increase in homelessness in 2024 included the closure of Covid-19-era sheltering and supportive programs in late 2023 when state and federal funding ended, along with issues like the continued lack of affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs.

Supervisor David Rabbitt said that while he would have liked to see lower numbers, Sonoma County’s increase in those experiencing homelessness was not surprising, as many counties throughout the state are experiencing similar outcomes.

“We need to continue to invest in proven strategies to decrease our unhoused population and ease the burden on our communities,” Rabbitt said.

The final and full PIT count report will be available this summer, but preliminary figures show a total of 2,522 people experiencing homelessness as counted on the day the count was conducted, Jan. 26, from 5-10am. This was up from 2,266 in 2023—a year when the PIT count showed a 22% decrease over 2022.

“Department of Health Services staff worked so hard during the pandemic to house people and then to rehouse them once the Covid-generated programs started closing, but when the funding disappeared, large numbers of beds disappeared as well,” said DHS director Tina Rivera.

Rivera highlighted some positive outcomes from the 2024 PIT count, including a decline in homelessness for families. She also expressed excitement to launch the Keep Sonoma Housed pilot.

“We are hoping to stop people from becoming homeless in the first place,” she said.

How Regulators Stopped AT&T from Killing Landlines

California’s Public Utilities Commission today rejected AT&T’s application to stop providing landlines and other services in areas where there is no other option.

Its 4-0 vote came after a judge determined the application by AT&T California was “fatally flawed.”

AT&T is the “carrier of last resort” for California, an official designation that means it covers most major cities, rural communities and the land of more than 100 tribal governments. To find out if your home is in that area visit bit.ly/att-map. The commission first labeled AT&T a carrier of last resort nearly three decades ago.

More than a dozen speakers during the public comment period at today’s meeting supported keeping AT&T’s carrier-of-last-resort designation and landlines. Previously, more than 5,000 public comments were written in response to AT&T’s application and nearly 6,000 people attended eight public forums held earlier this year. Numerous commenters said that, due to inconsistent cell coverage in their area, their landline is their primary means of communication with family, medical providers and the outside world in the event of an emergency. Those concerns are particularly important for senior citizens, people with disabilities and people who say they are sensitive to electromagnetic activity.

AT&T argues that the people its landlines now serve in the areas in question can turn to voice over internet service offered by cable providers or to mobile phone service offered by wireless providers like Verizon.

Steve Hogle lives in rural Sonoma County and told the commission today that spotty cell phone coverage was a danger to his family during the 2019 Kincade wildfire.

“If we didn’t have a copper landline we would’ve not known about the evacuation and the extremely serious fire that went through here and most of our property,” he said. “I don’t want [voice over internet service] because if there’s no power, there’s no internet, and all these things are of extreme importance to the safety of this community.”

The company has attempted to end carrier-of-last-resort designation obligations in roughly half of U.S. states, but those efforts don’t always stay within the confines of the law, according to federal prosecutors. In 2022, AT&T Illinois agreed to pay a $23 million fine to resolve charges it attempted to influence former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

The commission’s decision does not bring an end to the carrier-of-last-resort debates in California. AT&T and roughly a dozen members of the California Legislature have publicly expressed support for Assembly Bill 2797, which would effectively bring an end to some carrier-of-last-resort obligations.

The California State Association of Counties, Rural County Representatives of California and Urban Counties of California said last week that they oppose the bill, adding in a letter to the bill’s author that it would “leave large swaths of the most vulnerable Californians without reliable and affordable access to basic telephone service.”

The Public Utilities Commission also voted 5-0 today to begin proceedings to change rules for companies that are designated a carrier of last resort. It’s time to modernize those rules said commission president Alice Reynolds, because a lot has changed in the past 30 years, including a shift toward cell phones and away from landlines, and the commission’s mandate now includes making high-speed internet access universally available.

“I’m hopeful that through this new rulemaking, we can really modernize these programs and move towards the future to meet our broadband for all objectives,” she said ahead of the vote.

Duke of Uke: Jake Shimabukuro performs in Napa

Jake Shimabukuro doesn’t want to take any credit for the ukulele boom over the last decade as thousands have picked up the four-stringed Hawaiian instrument.

But the “Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele,” who not so coincidentally broke through to the mainstream with a viral video of his performance of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in 2006, literally sees his influence on generations of ukulele players at every show. And he might again when he brings his Tradewinds & Rainbows Tour—with “very special guest Henry Kapono, and featuring Jeff Peterson”—to Napa’s Meritage Resort on June 29.

“Whenever we play in a new venue, the people there will be saying ‘There’s so many people that brought their instruments to the show tonight. Are they going to play along or something?’” Shimabukuro said in a recent interview. “No, they don’t play along or come up [on stage]. They’ll bring them to the signing booth after, and I’ll sign them. They’ll say, ‘We’ve never seen that before.’ It’s just kind of a fun, fundamental thing that happens at the shows. I love that.”

Born in Honolulu, the 47-year-old Shimabukuro was a star in his home state and Japan for more than a decade before “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” garnered widespread notice, launching him on the path to becoming the world’s most famous ukulele player.

But his journey with the four-stringed instrument began decades before anyone heard him play.

“I first picked it up when I was four because my mom played,” Shimabukuro said. “She taught me a few chords, and I just loved it. But I was always so shy, I would never play in front of people. When I got older, I took lessons.

“I always loved playing, but I would only play for my mom and dad,” he added. “I never dreamed of being onstage; I never even wanted to. But it was my passion. I would try to get home from school as soon as I could, so I could practice.”

In high school, Shimabukuro met some other ukulele players and began to play with them. But he resisted those who urged him to play at school assemblies and talent shows.

“I was like, ‘No, no, no.’ But somehow, eventually they talked me into it,” he said. “Then I started doing some of those things. And I just really enjoyed performing in front of people, which was a big surprise to my family and even myself because I was always very shy.”

Talked into making a record by his high school music teacher, Shimabukuro heard himself on the radio shortly after graduating from high school and became the ukulele player in Pure Heart, a trio that, with its 1999 debut album, won four Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, the Hawaiian equivalent of a Grammy.

When the band broke up in 2002, Shimabukuro went solo, signing a deal with Sony Japan. Then, just before posting “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” which received more than 15 million views, he moved into the U.S. market, opening for Jimmy Buffett and seeing his albums climb to the top of the Billboard World Music Charts.

Those albums contain a mix of Shimabukuro original compositions, cover songs and collaborations with the likes of Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes, Dolly Parton and, on the recently released Grateful, many of Hawaii’s top musicians.

The songs from Grateful figure prominently in the show that Shimabukuro and electric bassist Jackson Waldhoff are bringing to venues around the country.

“We’re definitely playing a lot of the music,” he said. “They’re the instrumental versions because I can’t sing to save my life. We definitely do all the instrumental stuff. But we also try to do a lot of the vocal tunes as well, some of the other classics on there like ‘Kawika.’

“Hopefully, one of these days we’ll be able to bring a lot of the artists on the album … and we can perform these songs live,” he continued. “We did that in Hawaii, not all of them, but we got a lot of them, for a [fire] relief effort. But it would be great to be able to take them out with me on the road. It would be really special.”

The rest of the show is split between Shimabukuro’s original compositions—which he says he’s becoming ever more confident in performing—and his attention-grabbing covers.

“Maybe 40%, if not 50% of the show is original songs, but I like to mix in the covers because, for me, when I’m listening to new artists it’s always so exciting when I hear something that I’ve already heard before and I can hear their interpretation of it,” he said. “It makes it a lot easier to connect with the audience, so I love throwing those in.”

Those covers are selected because they’re personal to Shimabukuro, who grew up listening to his mother’s collection of records from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s before discovering songs on his own, often while working at a record store.

“Whenever I do a song like ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ or if I get to do something like [Queen’s] ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ or [Leonard Cohen’s] ‘Hallelujah,’ to me it’s the equivalent of a sports fan wearing their favorite player’s jersey,” he said. “I remember growing up, you know, you would wear your No. 23 Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan jersey, or my son loves Steph Curry’s, and wears his jersey.

“As a musician when you cover another song of another artist, it’s like putting on your George Harrison jersey or your Queen jersey or your Leonard Cohen jersey,” Shimabukuro said. “You’re kind of celebrating your appreciation and admiration for these amazing artists that inspired you and influenced you.”

Jake Shimabukuro performs at 7pm, Saturday, June 29, at Blue Note Summer Sessions at Meritage Resort, 850 Bordeaux Way, Napa. 866.370.6272. meritageresort.com

Lost Church in Trouble

Musician Josh Windmiller drives fundraiser

The Lost Church, your Bohemian “Best of” Sonoma County venue, is moving house! A conflict with Santa Rosa’s erratic permitting department over the 4-year-old venue’s converted garage space has moved forward plans to seek a permanent downtown location.

According to Crux bandleader and L.C. fundraiser Josh Windmiller, the space in the old Press Democrat building always served as a proof-of-concept. Their pandemic-tested model roundly proved itself with the hosting of 134 shows of all genre stripes during the last year and the organizing of the beloved Railroad Square Music Festival—a free all-day music festival staging 20-plus local bands and bandas.

CH: Tell us about the unique position this venue has in the scene.

JW: There are many more artists who need a 75-seat theater than there are who need a 750-seat theater. The Lost Church serves these grassroots performers who form the cultural foundation of any community. Our small size also allows us to keep our costs for running the theater low, allowing us to have lower prices and to take chances on up-and-coming performers.

CH: We understand the importance of music. What is the importance of local music?

JW: Local music has an important impact on the identity and economy of any community. It is through this medium that we share our stories with one another, see a broad representation of the cultures around us and share physical space together.

CH: While there are plenty of one-off parties and record releases, could you name some of the series? And bring in our local poets, local comedians and local storytellers that you show.

JW: There is the Full LP series, where local artists come together to play their favorite albums cover to cover; Minor Beats Youth Open Mic; StandProv, which is half stand-up/ half comedy improv; Found Poets; A Melodious Affair, which teams hip-hop MCs with a live band; and Stanroy Song Service—songwriters in the round playing songs and telling the stories behind them.

We are kicking off our new venue fundraising campaign with an open house block party Saturday, June 29. There will be a marching band, classic cars, a variety show revival, Moonlight beer, tacos and more!

Help Out. The narrative of a cool thing starting up and crashing down in downtown Santa Rosa is a broken record. Change the narrative! Scan this QR for links to donate, watch old Lost Church shows or hear Josh Windmiller’s music—it’s our sound.

Scan me.

Remembering Donald Sutherland, Peacemaker

The world just lost a great actor and a notable peace advocate—Donald Sutherland, who died on June 20, 2024, at age 88. Known for films like Kelly’s Heroes, MASH and The Hunger Games, his influence extended far beyond the silver screen. He tirelessly campaigned for peace and social causes.

His outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War led him to back the Indochina Peace Campaign, a movement aimed at halting U.S. aggression in Vietnam and fostering peace in the region. He also co-organized the FTA—officially Free the Army, often written with a different F-word—tour with Jane Fonda.

This series of anti-war shows, performed worldwide for American troops, provided a counter-narrative to the pro-war United Service Organizations tours. With Fonda, Sutherland produced a documentary about their FTA tour. It featured skits and anti-war songs, interspersed with Black G.I.s talking about their experiences of racism in the Armed Forces.

Despite being the target of FBI surveillance and attempts to undermine his anti-war activism, Sutherland’s commitment to his cause remained unshaken, even when the documentary he co-produced with Fonda about their FTA tour was abruptly removed from American cinemas. His unwavering spirit and unwavering dedication to his principles made him a prominent figure in the anti-war movement.

Sutherland’s anti-war campaigning continued, and he criticized the policies of George W. Bush’s administration. At the Venice Film Festival in 2019, alongside Mick Jagger, he criticized global political leaders for failing to address climate change. “They are ruining the world,” Sutherland said. “We have contributed to the ruination of it, but they are ensuring it.”

Donald Sutherland’s legacy as a peacemaker and contributor to the arts, social causes and the anti-war movement remains a testament to the power of conviction. It leaves an indelible mark on the world.

Chris Houston is president of the Canadian Peace Museum and a columnist for The Bancroft Times.

Your Letters, June 26

Say It, Don’t Spray It

Bravo John Brogan’s demand to abolish graffiti. It defaces property and is disgusting to look at; its messages are indecipherable, meaningless and therefore stupid. Its presence signals that neighborhoods are in inexorable decline—not only the property, but the people suffering from its presence as well.

Worse, when we all just accept this blight it only creates more. The moment you see it in your neighborhood immediately get your spray can and paint it out. We may not “get” the graffiti message, but they’ll sure get ours.

Rex Allen

Via PacificSun.com

Spare Change

In many walks of life, abject failure brings about reassessment, recovery, revision, restructuring and renewal. We’ve seen this process take place in science, business, medicine, engineering and even religion, all throughout history.

It seems to have escaped us in politics and government, two related endeavors that may be the most change-averse of all.

In the U.S., in the coming election, we are faced with the most dreadful choice in my lifetime of 73 years: Two men completely unqualified to play the role they seek, despite the fact that both have played the role before.

The glaring weakness, this hideous scenario, must be removed and replaced if we are to remain the world’s leading democracy. It must not happen again.

Craig J. Corsini

San Rafael

Corrections Dept.

In last week’s article “Spanning Time” (June 19, 2024), author Molly Giles was erroneously said to be married. She is not. We regret the error.

Tributes, TacoFest and More

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Sonoma County

SoCo Library Teen Film Fest

Amateur filmmakers can now submit their films to the Sonoma County Library’s fourth annual Teen Film Festival through July 31. Sonoma County residents ages 12 to 19 can submit an original film up to six minutes long. Entrants will be grouped into three age categories: 12 to 13 years old, 14 to 16 years old and 17 to 19 years old. The director of the top film in each age group will receive a $100 gift card. Sonoma County Library teen services librarians will serve as film judges. Winning films will be shown at the Teen Film Festival Premiere on Aug. 28 at 6:30pm at the Rohnert Park-Cotati Regional Library and also be posted to the library’s YouTube channel in August. This event is open to all. Aspiring teen filmmakers can check out camera equipment free of charge through the library’s E Street Studios, located at the Central Santa Rosa branch. Teens seeking more information on festival submission guidelines should visit a library branch or go online to the Teenspace blog at sonomalibrary.org.

Napa

‘M is for Water’

Di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art is pleased to present “M is for Water,” a group exhibition guest-curated by artist Isabelle Sorrell. The exhibition features works by Shiva Ahmadi, Mari Andrews, Mildred Howard, Paul Kos, Hung Liu, Cheryl Meeker, Susan Middleton, Gay Outlaw, J. John Priola, Isabelle Sorrell, Theodora Varnay Jones and Wanxin Zhang. “M is for Water” will be on view from June 29 to Oct. 6 in di Rosa’s Gallery 1. An Opening Reception on Saturday, June 29, will welcome di Rosa patrons at 5:30pm, and the public from 6-7pm. Public reception is $10 general admission, free for di Rosa members. “M is for Water” is the latest in a series of exhibitions curated by Sorrell exploring the origins of language and its relation to human consciousness. Di Rosa will host an Artist Panel Discussion on Saturday, July 13, from 2-3:30pm. $25 general admission includes gallery admission; free for members. Located at 5200 Sonoma Hwy, Napa. dirosaart.org.

Windsor

TacoFest

Bring the family to the third annual Windsor Taco Fest & Lowrider Car Show from 4-8pm, Saturday, July 13, on the Windsor Town Green—no advance tickets needed this year. Tacos will be available for purchase from various local food trucks and restaurants, accepting cash or credit. See which tacos win the hearts of our panel of local celebrity chefs! Adults can enjoy beer and wine, while there will be plenty of nonalcoholic beverages for the kids. Some 100 lowrider cars from across the North Bay Area will be parked around Windsor’s Town Green and entered in a juried auto show. Come see classic cars turned into shiny works of cultural art. Bring your own low-backed beach or camp chair to set up on the Green and enjoy free music from the ranchero band Los Compas De Turicato Michoacan. There will be free children’s activities and an arts-and-crafts market featuring the work of local artisans. For more details about TacoFest, Somos Windsor or other Somos Windsor events, visit somoswindsor.org.

Nicasio

Parsons/Harris Tribute

A rare collection of Bay Area country music giants will gather to celebrate the architects of country rock and Americana music—Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Performers include Jill Rogers and Myles Boisen (Crying Time), Loralee Christensen and Paul Olguin (the Loralee Combo), Doug Jayne (Laughing Gravy), and Candy Girard and Kevin Russell (the Familiar Strangers). Sean Allen, Dave Zirbel and Tim Gahagan will also perform. The genre definition “country rock” was virtually unknown until Village Voice critic Richard Goldstein mentioned it in a 1968 article titled “Country Rock: Can Y’All Dig It?” Well, can you? The show commences at 7:30pm Friday, June 28, at Rancho Nicasio,1 Old Rancheria Rd., Nicasio. Tickets are $30.

Free Will Astrology: Week of June 26

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): This may sound weird, but I think now is a perfect time to acquire a fresh problem. Not just any old boring problem, of course. Rather, I’m hoping you will carefully ponder what kind of dilemma would be most educational for you—which riddle might challenge you to grow in ways you need to. Here’s another reason you should be proactive about hunting down a juicy challenge: Doing so will ensure that you won’t attract mediocre, meaningless problems.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Now is an excellent time to start learning a new language or to increase your proficiency in your native tongue. Or both. It’s also a favorable phase to enrich your communication skills and acquire resources that will help you do that. Would you like to enhance your ability to cultivate friendships and influence people? Are you interested in becoming more persuasive, articulate and expressive? If so, Taurus, attend to these self-improvement tasks with graceful intensity. Life will conspire benevolently on your behalf if you do. (PS: I’m not implying you’re weak in any of these departments; just that now is a favorable time to boost your capacities.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Barbara Sher and Barbara Smith wrote the book I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. I invite you to think and feel deeply about this theme during the coming months. In my experience with Geminis, you are often so versatile and multi-faceted that it can be challenging to focus on just one or two of your various callings. And that may confuse your ability to know what you want more than anything else. But here’s the good news. You may soon enjoy a grace period when you feel really good about devoting yourself to one goal more than any other.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You are entering a phase when you will be wise to question fixed patterns and shed age-old habits. The more excited you get about re-evaluating everything you know and believe, the more likely it is that exciting new possibilities will open up for you. If you are staunchly committed to resolving longstanding confusions and instigating fresh approaches, you will launch an epic chapter of your life story. Wow! That sounds dramatic. But it’s quite factual. Here’s the kicker: You’re now in prime position to get vivid glimpses of specific successes you can accomplish between now and your birthday in 2025.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): How many different ways can you think of to ripen your spiritual wisdom? I suggest you choose two and pursue them with gleeful vigor in the coming weeks. You are primed to come into contact with streams of divine revelations that can change your life for the better. All the conditions are favorable for you to encounter teachings that will ennoble your soul and hone your highest ideals. Don’t underestimate your power to get the precise enlightenment you need.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Border collies are dogs with a herding instinct. Their urges to usher, steer and manage are strong. They will not only round up sheep and cattle, but also pigs, chickens and ostriches—and even try to herd cats. In my estimation, Virgo, border collies are your spirit creatures these days. You have a special inclination and talent to be a good shepherd. So use your aptitude with flair. Provide extra navigational help for people and animals who would benefit from your nurturing guidance. And remember to do the same for your own wayward impulses!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): We have arrived at the midpoint of 2024. It’s check-in time. Do you recall the promises you made to yourself last January? Are you about halfway into the frontier you vowed to explore? What inspirational measures could you instigate to renew your energy and motivation for the two most important goals in your life? What would you identify as the main obstacle to your blissful success, and how could you diminish it? If you’d like to refresh your memory of the long-term predictions I made for your destiny in 2024, go here: tinyurl.com/Libra2024. For 2023’s big-picture prophecies, go here: tinyurl.com/2023Libra.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio-born Gary Hug was educated as a machinist and food scientist, but for many years he has worked primarily as an amateur astronomer. Using a seven-foot telescope he built in the backyard of his home, he has discovered a comet and 300 asteroids, including two that may come hazardously close to Earth. Extolling the joys of being an amateur, he says he enjoys “a sense of freedom that you don’t have when you’re a professional.” In the coming weeks, Scorpio, I encourage you to explore and experiment with the joys of tasks done out of joy rather than duty. Identify the work and play that feel liberating and indulge in them lavishly.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your power spots will be places that no one has visited or looked into for a while. Sexy secrets and missing information will be revealed to you as you nose around in situations where you supposedly should not investigate. The light at the end of the tunnel is likely to appear well before you imagined it would. Your lucky number is 8, your lucky color is black and your lucky emotion is the surprise of discovery. My advice: Call on your memory to serve you in amazing ways; use it as a superpower.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Happy Unbirthday, Capricorn! It’s time to celebrate the season halfway between your last birthday and your next. I hope you will give yourself a fun gift every day for at least the next seven days. Fourteen days would be even better. See if you can coax friends and allies to also shower you with amusing blessings. Tell them your astrologer said that would be a very good idea. Now here’s an unbirthday favor from me: I promise that between now and January 2025, you will create healing changes in your relationship with your job and with work in general.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): While sleeping, my Aquarian friend Janelle dreamed that she and her family lived in a cabin in the woods. When dusk was falling, a strange animal put its face against the main window. Was it a bear? A mountain lion? Her family freaked out and hid in a back bedroom. But Janelle stayed to investigate. Looking closely, she saw the creature was a deer. She opened up the window and spoke to it, saying, “What can I do for you?” The deer, who was a talking deer, said, “I want to give you and your family a gift. See this necklace I’m wearing? It has a magic ruby that will heal a health problem for everyone who touches it.” Janelle managed to remove the necklace, whereupon the deer wandered away and she woke up from the dream. During subsequent weeks, welcome changes occurred in her waking life. She and three of her family members lost physical ailments that had been bothering them. I think this dream is a true fairy tale for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A psychologist friend tells me that if we have an intense craving for sugar, it may be a sign that deeper emotional needs are going unmet. I see merit in her theory. But here’s a caveat. What if we are currently not in position to get our deeper emotional needs met? What if there is at least temporarily some barrier to achieving that lovely goal? Would it be wrong to seek a partial quenching of our soul cravings by communing with fudge brownies, peach pie and crème brûlée? I don’t think it would be wrong. On the contrary. It might be an effective way to tide ourselves over until more profound gratification is available. But now here’s the good news, Pisces: I suspect more profound gratification will be available sooner than you imagine.

Homework: Take a vow that you will ethically do everything necessary to fulfill your most important goal. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

The Most Expensive Listings in Sonoma County, California

Sponsored content by TOMO Real Estate

When you think of Sonoma County, in Northern California, you think of sprawling hills, vineyards, relaxing spas and acclaimed food. Located just 30 miles north of San Francisco, there are more than 425 wineries, amazing hiking trails through the redwoods, and beautiful homes along the Pacific Coast. Unfortunately, the cost of living isn’t cheap. 

According to the Council for Community and Economic Research, the cost of living in Sonoma County is 52 percent higher than the national average. But typically it is more likely that you’re moving here from elsewhere in California and compared to the rest of California, the cost of living in Sonoma County is fractionally lower than the California average. Fractionally is the key word since things are still expensive here. Forbes magazine rates California as having the nation’s third-highest living costs behind Hawaii and Massachusetts. So it’s no wonder Sonoma Country has some of the most expensive homes in the country. 

We at Tomo, a real estate and mortgage company, wanted to know just how expensive, so we looked at the most recent homes on the market, and came up with this quick list of the 5 most expensive homes in Sonoma County. And, no, that is not a typo for the first home on our list—the sale price is $32.5 million, but what you get is beyond your wildest dreams. 

Here is Tomo’s List of the 5 most expensive listings in Sonoma County, CA:

AddressSale PriceSquare FeetAcres
7596 Sonoma Mountain Rd, Glen Ellen$32,500,00013,989156
2025 Redwood Hill Rd, Santa Rosa$10,900,0006,62257.29
20600 Broadway, Sonoma$8,850,0004,5344.0
1315 5th St E, Sonoma$7,800,0004,5972.2
97 Stone Crop Rch, The Sea Ranch$6,995,0004,650.94

Interested in other Real Estate Trends? 

Check out more real estate trend stories in Tomo’s series: 5 Places to Buy a Victorian Home, 12 Places to Buy a Beach House in Connecticut, or Best Cities for Flipping Houses. Looking for a home with more of a reasonable budget—see all our homes for sale in Sonoma County.

‘Kinky Boots’ struts at 6th Street

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April is the cruelest month is the opening line to T. S. Eliot’s 1922 poem, The Waste Land. But June has been no picnic for the North Bay theater community either. Transportation issues marred the opening of the Mountain Play while bouts of illness plagued other productions.

Napa’s Lucky Penny had to utilize an actor with script in hand for one of The Real Housewives of Napa Valley with a medical emergency. Sonoma Arts Live lost their entire opening weekend of Lend Me a Tenor after several cast members took ill, while Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse canceled the opening night performance of Kinky Boots to give their understudies a go at a run after illness took out a number of their players.

But, as either British actor Edmund Kean or circus impresario P.T. Barnum said, “The show must go on!” And so it shall for 6th Street’s production of Kinky Boots. The Cyndi Lauper/Harvey Fierstein musical runs in the GK Hardt Theater through July 7. 

The story of a struggling, English family-owned shoe manufacturer and its unique solution to avoid closure was first told in a 1999 BBC television documentary. That broadcast inspired a “mostly true” film adaptation in 2005, and that film inspired the 2013 multi-Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical.  

Charlie Price (Noah Vondralee-Sternhill) has been avoiding the family shoe business for years, but the death of his father finds him back at the factory and dealing with the possible shuttering of the company. A chance meeting with drag queen Lola (Jonathen Blue) leads to a discussion about the lack of quality women’s footwear for men.

Then Charlie returns to the factory and begins to lay off his employees. He’s challenged by employee Lauren (Grace Kent) to find an underserved niche market and save the company. Charlie soon puts two and two together and enlists Lola’s help in designing footwear for drag queens.

There are, of course, obstacles to overcome. Charlie’s fiancé, Nicola (Nicole Stanley), wants him out of the shoe biz and in London. Factory workers like uber-macho Don (Skyler King) continually harass Lola. Soon, Charlie is cracking under the pressure.  

It all works out (of course). Soon Charlie, Lola and a cadre of drag queen angels are off to Milan for a make-or-break footwear fashion show and the unveiling of Lola’s Kinky Boots.   

Director Patrick Nims and his creative team have mounted a good production that is still struggling with some cast absences. Vondralee-Sternhill is excellent in the lead and is well-matched with the multi-talented Blue (he’s also the show’s costume/makeup/wig designer).

The bulk of the show takes place in Luca Catanzaro’s nicely-detailed factory set, complete with operating conveyor belts that led to one helluva wardrobe malfunction.  The audience absolutely ate it up. And kudos to performer Maureen O’Neill for singing and dancing (and laughing) her way through it.

Lauper’s joyous and emotional songs are performed to tracks. And while well-performed by all, a live orchestra is sorely missed.

Despite the challenges 6th Street continues to face in mounting Kinky Boots, the production holds up pretty well. Only a heel without a sole would think otherwise. 

‘Kinky Boots’ runs through July 7 in the GK Hardt Theatre at 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W. 6th St., Santa Rosa. Thur.-Sat., 7:30pm; Sat & Sun, 2pm. $29–$51. 707.523.4185. 6thstreetplayhouse.com.

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