Page 319 – Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Letters: Who’s Worried?

Letters to the Editor

Bohemian.com

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Jul 1, 2020

It has been 3 months since Congress passed the bill that gave many of $1200, while leaving others out. There has been nothing to help with rents and mortgages or to help landlords, which means a HUGE housing crash when the economy opens up and 25% of us get eviction notices.

The people who have lost their jobs need Medicare For All and a $2000 UBI for all the months of the lockdown. But instead of sending a bill with those things to the Senate for a vote, Speaker Pelosi wrote a bill with Cobra instead of Medicare For All and removed UBI from the bill, but including a bailout for lobbyists. McConnell clearly doesn’t like this bill, but Pelosi really wants people who lost their jobs to get shafted with Cobra, so she’s not sending another bill.

Meanwhile, millions of people never received the FIRST $1200 check and it’s been three months! Was Congress worried about the homeless? No. Was Congress worried about families with an undocumented immigrant that didn’t get the check? No. What about starving students, most of which, it seems, did not get a check? Is Congress worried about them? No.

Well, what IS Congress worried about? There are millions of people who never got help. There are millions and millions without health insurance. They’re worried about renaming military bases named after Confederates, they’re worried about some story about Russian bounties, which even if it’s true, wouldn’t be anything new between the two countries. We’ve been fighting proxy wars, trying to use others to kill each other, for decades. And they’re worried about November. That’s right, elections. Rep. Anna Eshoo even has a bill that addresses microtargeting of political ads.

But if Members of Congress were REALLY worried about November (hint: it’s more profitable being the opposition party) they would want you, the voters, to see that they truly cared about you and your ability to survive this crisis. They would be fighting for Medicare For All and would be saying, over and over if they had to, that “we have to get the people some help”. If YOUR Representative and Senators aren’t doing THAT, I guess you know where they stand.

What can you do? Well, you can start by contacting your elected representatives and telling them what you want them to support. Demand they fight for you. And you can share this information and advise others to do the same. Will it make any difference? It depends on how many people contact them.

Jason Kishineff

American Canyon

No Holds Barred

Open Mic

Bohemian.com

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Jul 1, 2020

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Karlene Navarro, Director of the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO), has now revealed herself to be an extension of the Sheriff’s Office public relations arm.

Navarro has given cover to Sheriff Mark Essick’s refusal last year to ban the carotid artery hold, a move she applauded, saying the hold needed more study.

In fact, the Community Advisory Council (CAC) of IOLERO spent a few years working on Use of Force policy recommendations after studying best practices around the country and meeting with members of the public. Those thoroughly researched recommendations were presented and rejected almost a year ago.

Last summer, Navarro told the members of the CAC that they would be terminated at the end of 2019 and scheduled no monthly meetings for the rest of their terms. The Board of Supervisors made her hold one more meeting.

Navarro then created her own CAC, which has done little work according to their reports at their June 2nd meeting. Navarro recently recruited interns from SSU to work with the CAC, but a CAC member had to ask the status of that program.

Now she says that their “research,” which had not begun on June 2nd and was to include studying the policies of 52 sheriff’s offices in the state, was completed in the next couple of days, was determined to support ending the carotid hold and was sent on to the Sheriff so that he could support banning the carotid hold, coincidentally, just as the state was enacting such a ban. We’re to believe that the work began on June 3rd and Essick accepted it in time to institute his ban on June 6th.

I’m not buying any of it.

Essick and Navarro have had their hands forced by public protest and are covering their tracks, but this hold should have been banned last year, before a sheriff’s deputy used it to kill David Ward. And all of it gives the lie to the word “independent” in IOLERO under Director Navarro.

Susan Collier Lamont lives in Santa Rosa.

Red, White, Blue—and Green

Rolling Papers

Jonah Raskin

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Jul 1, 2020

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He doesn’t want me to use his real name. His employers might be unhappy to read about his adventures in the marijuana world, though he knows that weed is as American as cherry pie. Let’s call him “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” or JLS.

What makes his story compelling to me is that he hated the cannabis culture that surrounded him all through his boyhood. Born in 1987, he has lived and worked, most recently as a landscaper, in Sonoma County. For much of that time he didn’t smoke pot, though his dad, who was a big-time grower, would leave pot, rolling papers and joints on the kitchen table for JLS to use at his leisure. Most teens would be in heaven. Not JLS. But enough from me.

Here’s JLS himself:

“My childhood smelled like pot. My dad grew bushy plants 10 to 12 feet tall. My decision not to use weed was a form of rebellion. I was a kind of plant: happy eating pizza and playing dungeons and dragons. It wasn’t until my dad moved away from Sonoma that I began to smoke. That was in my 20s. By then, I was greatly overweight. Marijuana helped me lose many pounds and get healthy, though recently my use has slowed. I no longer have to be stoned to enjoy a hike. I’ve always had a deeply ingrained work ethic. My European ancestors were peasants and farmers. Like them, and like my father, I have a green thumb. My birthday present when I was five was a shovel.”

Eighteen years later, JLS still uses a shovel to dig holes and plant trees on big estates. He drives a tractor, removes weeds from gardens and spends most of his days outdoors in the sun, the wind and the rain.

What he would like now more than anything else would be to own property in Sonoma County, but he can’t afford it. He’s critical of the fact that grapes are nearly everywhere, that agriculture here is dependent on one crop and that diversity in the fields is largely a thing of the past.

“When people ask me what I would like,” JLS says, “I tell them, ‘To live here 60 years ago when land was affordable and you could farm and make a living.’”

Meanwhile, he keeps his thumbs green, makes landscapes beautiful and earns enough money to pay the rent and buy food. Hey, he’s not in paradise, but it’s not too shabby a life, either. Happy Fourth of July, guy.

Jonah Raskin is the author of “Marijuanaland: Dispatches from an American War.”

Wine Country’s Racist Past

Culture

D'mitra Smith

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Jul 1, 2020

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Sonoma, we need to talk.

We need to talk about the Hanging Tree.

We need to talk about the unofficial sundown law reported to have been on the city books until at least the ’60s–’70s.

We need to talk about how the history of the rape, torture and murder of children, women and men at the Barracks and Mission has been erased.

We need to talk about the statue of the murderer General Vallejo.

We need to talk about the middle school named after the rapist, torturer and murderer Jose Altimira.

We need to talk about the indigenous massacre sites that are all over this Valley, which are unnamed, uncared for and whose souls yearn to be acknowledged.

We need to talk about the lynchings that happened on our roads that have never been discussed.

We need to talk about how the great Dr. Maya Angelou once lived here but had to leave because of racism.

We need to talk about enslaved Black veteran John Grider of the Bear Flag Revolt party.

We need to talk about the unnamed, enslaved Black Americans in the Bear Flag party and their erasure from the plaza and the statue of Joseph Revere.

We need to talk about the racist Bear Flag Revolt reenactment.

We need to talk about the Chinese immigrants who built everything but were not allowed in town.

We need to talk about how the Bracero program cemented the generational conditions of socio-economic poverty and destitution that continue to haunt farmworkers in this Valley.

We need to talk about the good old boys.

We need to talk about historical landowners, their connections to white supremacy and how elected officials have been afraid to speak up.

We need to talk about the fact that the widespread use of the N-word at nearly every school is unchecked and undealt with by Sonoma Valley unified school district.

Sonoma, we need to talk.

Conversations are happening all over the country. Statues are coming down. Names are being changed. Statements of condemnation, letters of apology, resolutions, policy changes, are happening nationwide. Anyone can get on a mic and express support. Anyone can post an article or a hashtag. Anyone can put up a sign or wear a T-shirt.

Show us the tangible change.

Show us the truth and reconciliation commission. Show us the steering committee.

Show us that you can walk the talk.

D’mitra Smith is the chair of the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights, and a co-founder of Save Your VI, the Sonoma County Black Coalition and Food for All – Comida para Todos.

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally posted on Facebook at 12:46pm, June 14, 2020, where it went viral days before local media outlets picked up the story.

Surreal Santa Rosa Art Show Looks at the Occult in America

BohoBlog

Charlie Swanson

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Jul 1, 2020

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Surreal Santa Rosa Art Show Looks at the Occult in America

It may sound supernatural, but the Occult is very much a real movement that fits in somewhere between religion and science. It’s a term that came about 500 years ago when people began practicing astrology and alchemy, and it became a belief system in natural magic that made land in the earliest days of America.

Santa Rosa artist Cade Burkhammer is a student of the Occult in America, and he’s traced its movements and influences in his artwork. Best known as the creator and artist of the Wise Fool Tarot Card set, Burkhammer now turns his attention to American mysteries in a new solo virtual exhibition, “Occulture.”

The art show features 30 new paintings and drawings inspired by America’s history of Occult practices and the country’s modern day problem with Kleptocracy and environmental peril. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the exhibit will be available to view virtually on YouTube beginning Saturday, July 4.

Originally from Ohio, Burkhammer traveled the country as a young man, living in New York City and Austin, Texas, before moving to San Francisco in 2000. More recently, Burkhammer got married and moved to Santa Rosa. He also artistically moved into the Backstreet Gallery & Studios in Santa Rosa’s South of A (SOFA) Arts District near Juilliard Park.

As an artist, Burkhammer is interested telling stories that incorporate Surrealism and Symbolism in his work.

“I appreciate Narrative art, and I think Surrealism and Symbolism are very narrative and creative, very imaginative,” he says. “And I like the history of them, the way that Symbolism was a response to the industrial revolution and World War One, and they went back to the ancient Greek mythologies for their inspirations. The Surrealists and Dadaists did something similar during World War Two, but they added political and spiritual ideals to it.”

Picking up where those artists left off, Burkhammer is interested in creating a new art movement that addresses technology, wealth and social class disparities and the climate crisis.

“I want to bring back the narrative interaction with the audience,” he says. “Kind of mix the imaginative with the facts of what’s going on right now.”

Before this current “Occulture” project, Burkhammer spent 15 years creating his Wise Fool Tarot Deck, which was released in 2017.

“I had to do about 80 paintings for that,” he says. “I mostly worked on it in my free time, and spent a lot of time researching it as well as raising funds to print it.”

For those who don’t know, tarot cards are much like playing cards, but instead of Kings and Queens, the cards illustrate figures like magicians, emperors, stars, moons and even Death itself. In the Occult world, tarot cards are seen as tools for divination such as predicting the future or answering secret personal questions.

After completing his own Wise Fool Tarot Card deck, Burkhammer also did the illustrations for a new version of a deck created by renowned writer RJ Stewart called the Dreampower Tarot. Currently, Burkhammer is working on a set of oracle cards, which differs from tarot cards in that their meanings are more up to the interpretation of the artist.

“Oracle decks have less dogma to them,” Burkhammer says. “This one is a Nightmare Oracle deck that’s saying that we are kind of living in a nightmare right now. The American dream is nightmarish right now.”

Burkhammer’s “Occulture” exhibit is also a story of America, and his paintings on virtual display this weekend use ancient mythology to relate today’s problems to the mythological influences he has studied.

That mythology includes the Greek and Roman Furies, who ancients believed were goddesses of vengeance that punished men for crimes against nature. Burkhammer turns those ancient Furies into the “Furies of Industry,” depicting elements of Earth, fire, air and water that are being destroyed by modern society.

Burkhammer also depicts modern gods and goddesses such as Columbia, which was the feminized personification of the United States up until the Statue of Liberty and then Uncle Sam replaced her as symbols of American independence. Even today, Columbia can be seen as the logo for Columbia Pictures, and she is still the namesake of the country’s federal capital, the District of Columbia.

In this exhibit, these gods and goddesses are depicted as reminders of the United States’ pre-Christian origins, such as the Freemasons who were among the country’s founding fathers. Burkhammer’s art also delves into environmental issues and tackles the modern-day cult of capitalism.

“As a Pagan, we worship the ground, the Earth as a living being, and I see our natural church being destroyed for unnecessary technology,” he says. “I think that’s another type of Occult that’s negative and dark.”

Artistically, the paintings on display in Burkhammer’s show are a blend of photo-realism and expressionism that he developed over the years.

“To be recognized as an artist, you need something that’s either very traditional and acceptable or something that’s extraordinary and original,” he says. “I didn’t want to do the traditional, so I’ve always gone towards being experimental.”

Burkhammer’s experimental technique includes combining mixtures of latex and enamel paint to further juxtapose the styles of realism and expressionism in the subject mater. His process also finds him adding charcoal, graphite, ink or spray paint to his drawings.

Originally, Burkhammer was hoping to show “Occulture” in person, though with the shelter-in-place restrictions still happening and concerns of Covid-19 still spreading in the community; he is filming the work as it hangs in the hallway of Backstreet Gallery. “Occulture will be available to view as a virtual exhibit beginning Saturday, July 4. Visit Burkhammer’s YouTube page to see the show.

Petaluma Police Say They Can’t Charge Man Who Removed Artwork

News

Peter Byrne

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Jul 1, 2020

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Petaluma Police Say They Can’t Charge Man Who Removed Artwork

On June 20, a man tore down Black Lives Matter artwork on a fence in Petaluma’s Leghorns Park. The action, which was witnessed by numerous protesters, kicked off a legal debate between police and protesters.

The Petaluma Police Department, citing advice from the Sonoma County District Attorney and Petaluma City Attorney, argue that although they do not condone the man’s actions, they also can’t do anything to stop him because the artwork is not formally permitted.

The action of removing the artwork could be considered free speech under the First Amendment, Deputy Police Chief Brian Miller said in an interview last week. He said that the District Attorney’s office advised that the man was “acting on behalf of the City” when he tore down and destroyed the signs.

Miller said that Police Chief Ken Savano discussed the artwork issue with William Brockley, an assistant district attorney, as well as Petaluma City Attorney Eric Danly.

Asked for comment, Brian Staebell, a chief deputy district attorney, said that Brockley spoke to the chief, but he did not say that the man was acting on behalf of the city or that his removal of the signs was protected speech. Staebell explained that the District Attorney’s office does not “advise police departments on who to arrest and who not to arrest and who to cite and who not to cite.”

Miller did not respond to a query asking why he told the Bohemian that Brockley had given that legal advice to the police when Staebell said that he definitely had not.

Petaluma City Attorney Eric Danly said, “The person who removed the signs was not acting as an agent of the City. It is unlikely that mere sign removal would qualify as expressive activity protected by the the U.S. Constitution or the California Constitution.

In three cellphone videos of the man forcibly removing artwork and speaking with protesters on June 20, protesters claim that the man, whose name has not been disclosed by law enforcement, visited the park several times over the course of days to remove artwork created in support of the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. In response, organizers now regularly drop by the park to keep an eye on the artwork.

In the videos, protesters form a line in front of the artwork and hold a somewhat heated conversation with the man, dressed in a hooded jacket, face mask and gloves, about the meaning of the nationwide protests. Eventually a protester calls the police, hoping they will be able to handle the problem.

In the videos, protesters discuss pressing charges against the man for destroying the artwork and hitting one woman in the face with his elbow while removing the artwork.

The police have opted not to press charges against the man for shoving and striking artists and removing the art.

In a videoed interaction, a Petaluma Police officer explains that he can not arrest or charge the man for removing and destroying the art work because the artwork exists in something of a legal grey zone.

Confused, one woman responds, “It sounds like there’s nothing we can do to stop him from ripping down the signs.”

The officer explained that the city was choosing not to enforce the municipal code that usually bars citizens from installing unpermitted art or signs in many spaces. Because the art was technically not permitted, the police could not prosecute the man for removing it, the officer says.

“We can’t play favorites, so to speak,” the officer comments. “If we’re charging him with taking down the signs, then we’d have to charge you for putting up the signs.”

He later tells a woman who had been struck by the man as he vandalized the artwork that she would have to “make a citizen’s arrest” if she wanted the matter pursued.

Indeed, the twisting legal logic of this episode leads to an odd place. If it stands, the man would essentially be allowed to remove and destroy the artwork with legal impunity. And it would open the door for anyone to destroy unpermitted signs and artwork that was located on City-owned property, including at City Council meetings or during a political protest or, to be a bit surreal, during the Butter & Eggs Day Parade.

Is Art only allowed to be displayed in public places if The Law approves of if?

City Attorney Danly said, “The signs have only remained on the fences by virtue of the City choosing not to enforce the section for the time being. As a result, there are not readily available or clear legal bases for the police department to prohibit the removal of signs that are prohibited from being affixed in the first place.”

Danly did not respond to yet another follow-up question about whether members of the public are allowed to remove and destroy the art work, which could be considered private property, similar to a car parked beyond the parking meter time limit on a public street. Although the car may be parked in violation of a municipal code, that does not give a public citizen permission to take the law into their own hands by removing and destroying the vehicle. Or does it?

The long term fate of the artwork may be addressed at a city council meeting next week, Danly says.

City staff are preparing an agenda item for the City Council’s Monday, July 6 meeting to formally permit the artwork. If that resolution is passed and the man returns to remove the signs again, police would be obligated to press charges.

But the Council members might want to ask Chief why he apparently told his officers that the man was expressing his right to free speech and acting on behalf of the city when he vandalized their private property, the artwork. And why Miller later claimed that the District Attorney and City Attorney had created that argument, when they did not.

And the most important underlying question looms huge: If the out-of-control man had been Black or Latino or Native American, would he be alive today?

North Bay Tenants, Activists Fear Wave of Evictions

News

Will Carruthers

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Jun 30, 2020

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North Bay Tenants, Activists Fear Wave of Evictions

Maria, a mother who has lived in Sonoma Valley for over a decade, lost hours at work due to Covid-19 and worries about the pandemic’s long-term effects on the children in her community.

As Covid-19’s economic impacts drive many vulnerable residents back to work even as Sonoma County’s caseload begins to skyrocket, those children may be left at home while their parents attempt to pay off debts accrued during the shutdown. Maria asked to use a pseudonym to protect her identity.

“We’re not going back to work for pleasure; we’re going back out of sheer necessity,” Maria, who speaks Spanish, told the Bohemian through a translator. “We are risking exposure to pay for our needs.”

Although she has not yet heard of anyone being evicted in Sonoma Valley, Maria says she has heard of many landlords asking for several months of rent at one time for families who have fallen behind on payments. While they still have housing, these families wonder how they will ever repay the debt. So far, three and a half months into the shelter-in-place orders, this question has not been answered at any level of government.

In the North Bay, similar to the rest of the state, tenants and landlords are governed by a patchwork of temporary eviction-protection ordinances passed in late March. The rules have paused legal eviction proceedings for the duration of the pandemic plus a few months, depending on which county one lives in.

Although tenants who miss payments because of Covid-19 or related economic impacts are currently shielded from evictions, many are racking up thousands of dollars in rent debt due to missed payments.

Once the crisis is over, depending on a tenant’s county’s local protection, their landlord may begin eviction proceedings if the tenant can’t repay the debt quickly enough.

Although no one knows how long the pandemic—or the related economic impacts—will last, some protections and government payments are scheduled to stop in the coming months.

Perhaps most important, the boosted unemployment payments offered under the CARES Act—an additional $600 per week on top of state unemployment benefits for those who qualify—are set to expire at the end of July.

The situation is even worse for undocumented workers and others who don’t qualify for

unemployment benefits. North Bay governments and nonprofits distributed hundreds of

thousands of dollars in direct aid for rent and other costs, but the funds were used up very quickly.

In May, Gov. Gavin Newsom established a $125 million fund for California’s two million-plus undocumented residents. In the end, only about 250,000 undocumented residents, a fraction of the two-million-plus estimated to live in the state, will receive $500 one-time payments.

Under the current rules, all of these overlapping factors could lead to a wave of evictions once the pandemic is declared over and the protections disappear.

In the early days of Covid-19 shelter-in-place orders, when the Multicultural Center of Marin (MCM), a San Rafael-based nonprofit, surveyed over 150 Canal residents, three quarters said paying rent was their biggest concern.

Three months later, that problem still hangs over tenants. While Douglas Mundo, MCM’s executive director, is quick to thank Marin County and state officials for extending the eviction protections, he fears that, at some point, the tenants will be at risk of eviction due to the rent debt.

“Even with all of those resources (from the county and nonprofits), it’s not enough,” Mundo says. “This is going to be longer than we expected… . We don’t know how long this will last.”

If the pandemic and the related economic impacts drag on without a solution, tenants will likely only rack up more and more rent debt.

New Normal?

On Monday, June 29, Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation that would extend and expand a federal eviction moratorium which currently only covers renters living in housing financed by federally-backed mortgages or using federal-housing vouchers.

Still, Warren’s bill doesn’t touch the question of rent debt. But, according to a June 15 Urban Institute report, those missed payments are continuing to add up, especially if the CARES Act benefits are not replaced.

The report estimates 8.9 million renter households in American—20 percent of all renter households—lost at least one household income in April and May, likely impacting the household’s ability to pay rent.

If that continues, it could drive even more renting families into financial trouble.

In 2015, long before the pandemic, 54 percent of California renters paid more than 30 percent of their income per month for housing, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.

Paying that portion of their income for housing makes a family “rent burdened.”

The Urban Institute study compares what it would cost to altogether eliminate the rent burden for all American families—essentially filling in the financial hole that preceded the pandemic—to just bringing the level of rent-burden back to pre-pandemic levels, returning families to their “normal” level of financial burden.

It would cost $4.6 billion a month, on top of the current CARES Act and state-level

unemployment payments, to return those renter households to pre-Covid levels of rent burden, the study estimates. If the CARES Act benefits lapse, as they are currently scheduled to do in late July, it will cost an additional $8.7 billion per month nationwide to fill the gap with an income-support program, the Urban Institute estimates.

If the federal government offered direct rental assistance payments on top of the current CARES Act payments it is currently offering, it would take $1.8 billion per month to return renting households to pre-Covid levels of rent burden. It would cost almost six times as much—$11.9 billion per month—in direct rent payments on top of the CARES Act benefits to alleviate rent burden altogether, the study estimates.

In the interim, pending any massive social support bill, workers are left with a hard decision: return to work and risk contracting Covid-19 or stay home and continue accruing debt?

Maria says she has heard of other Latinx workers—who account for 74 percent of Sonoma County’s identified Covid-19 cases although they only make up 27.2 percent of the total population—picking up house-cleaning work and senior-care work to pay their bills.

But, if those families are expected to pay off the rent debt on top of other costs after the

pandemic, it won’t be a return to the pre-pandemic “normal.”

“Probably the only thing we can do, once the economy opens back up, is get a second or third job, but that means we’ll leave our children unattended and not cared for,” she says.

Blockbusted

Arts

Charlie Swanson

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Jun 30, 2020

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The term “Blockbuster Movie” was invented 45 years ago, when Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (a movie about a deadly threat that shuts down a town) opened in theaters on June 20, 1975. Since then, movies and movie theaters have become as synonymous with summer as the beach or the county fair.

In those 45 years, movie theaters have persevered in the wake of competing forces such as the home video market of the ’80s and ’90s and the Internet Age, where Netflix attracts nearly 70 million subscribers in the U.S. alone. Now, movie theaters, like many other arts and entertainment industries, are struggling to overcome a worldwide pandemic that has kept them closed since March and which threatens to make this the first summer in nearly a half-century without movies.

“We’re all being subjected right now to this ongoing uncertainty that the state of California has when movie theaters can reopen,” says Dave Corkill, owner of Cinema West Inc.

Corkill has been in the theater business for almost as long as blockbusters have been around, and Cinema West’s locations in California currently include theaters in Sonoma County, Marin County, Contra Costa County and Alameda County, all of which are still in the process of trying to safely reopen even as Covid-19 cases continue to rise statewide.

“Contra Costa County just pushed back movie theater re-openings from July 1 to July 15,” Corkill says. “We just got word from Alameda County that they have no indication that movie theaters can reopen any time soon. We’re expecting Sonoma and Marin County to follow suit as they have in the past.”

In addition to navigating the various government agencies responsible for safely reopening the state, movie theaters are also dealing with a never-before-seen wave of Hollywood films being delayed by studios that don’t want their 200-million-dollar movies to play to empty houses. One such film is Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which was originally slated to open in mid-July. The highly anticipated sci-fi thriller is now scheduled to be released on August 12.

“The distributors depend on a large number of movie theaters, particularly in California, Texas and New York—which are the biggest markets in the country—to reopen en masse so that they can get the kind of return on their new movies,” Corkill says. “It’s an ongoing and ever-evolving process at this point.”

With that in mind, Corkill says that at this time Cinema West is planning and preparing to reopen the theaters they will be allowed to on July 10, but he knows that is likely to change.

In light of the delayed release schedule, Corkill and other theater owners are also positioning themselves to screen classic movies in the first weeks they are open.

“But we know that can’t go on forever,” he says. “We’re hopeful that we’ll see the new movies soon and we’re hopeful that the public will embrace us once we do open.”

“We’re in a holding pattern,” says Allen Michaan, owner of Oakland’s historic Grand Lake Theatre. “We’re waiting for the future, we’re waiting for the day movies are released again and people go to the movies again. Whether that’s going to be weeks, months or a year I don’t know, we’re going to wait and see.”

Like many other theater owners, Michaan’s primary focus is on the safety and well-being of his staff and guests, and he says he will wait until both the industry and the government say it’s safe to reopen. He also says he’s fortunate to be able to continue making mortgage and other payments while the Grand Lake is closed.

“I used to own a lot of theaters, at one time I had 19 locations going at once in the Bay Area,” he says. “Had I had that kind of a company today, I would not have been able to weather this storm.”

While Michaan thinks that movies will come back, he is not so sure audiences will come flocking to the theaters.

“I think they will come back, but in my opinion people are not going to come flooding back to theaters, they are going to take a cautious wait-and-see attitude, but they’ll be back,” he says.

In the meantime, some movie theaters, including Rialto Cinemas, Lark Theater, Cameo Cinema in St. Helena and the Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, have taken to the internet to offer patrons online streaming rentals of both classic and contemporary films. Since the summer began, still other theaters have revived the Drive-In movie, with outdoor screenings popping up across the region at locations including the Alameda County Fairgrounds, the Bon Air Center in Marin County and the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds in Northern Sonoma County.

Once movie theaters do reopen, there is a good chance things will look very different.

“We are meeting or exceeding the safety protocols that have been mandated,” says Neil Perlmutter, vice president of Santa Rosa Cinemas, which runs theaters in the North Bay as well as Central and Southern California. “There’s going to be social distance seating in the theaters, we’re going to ask that guests wear face coverings indoors, including the auditorium, except when eating or drinking. We’ll have the shields in place between staff and guests, we’ll have enhanced cleaning for all the common touch-points. We’ll probably have fewer show times to allow for more cleaning and to spread the show times out to help alleviate people being in the lobby at the same time.”

A month ago, Santa Rosa Cinemas was planning to reopen theaters in Sonoma County as early as July 1, though recent developments have pushed that timeline back to late July.

“Last week, New York came out and said they were going to hold off opening theaters until August at least because they wanted to get some data on transmission indoors,” Perlmutter says.

New York State’s decision is a major reason why Tenet and other high-profile releases like Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan were pushed back to August. Without new movies to screen, Perlmutter says opening in July was not economically viable.

“We can’t play just old movies for a month,” he says.

Still, Perlmutter will be screening some old movies this month as part of his ongoing CULT Film Series at the Roxy Stadium 14 in Santa Rosa. The classic underground film program will present three double-feature screenings every other week, starting with a screening of Jaws and Jaws 3-D (presented in RealD 3D) on Thursday, July 2 at 7pm. The series also screens a Richard Pryor double feature on Thursday, July 16, with Stir Crazy and Brewster’s Millions playing on the big screen. Finally, CULT will screen a pair of underrated horror gems, Tourist Trap and Puppet Master, on Thursday, July 30.

“It seems like there’s a lot of folks who are interested in coming back; we get comments all the time on our site from people who are legitimately mad at us for being closed,” Perlmutter says. “I think there’s a fundamental need for people to get out of their house.”

See California’s History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Sonoma Exhibit

Arts

Charlie Swanson

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Jun 30, 2020

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See California’s History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Sonoma Exhibit

From the Beach Boys to the Grateful Dead, California has been home to some of the most iconic rock and pop music of the last 100 years, and the state’s musical culture is still going strong.

Look back on the early days of West Coast rock ’n’ roll, as the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art presents a new exhibit, “California Rocks! Photographers Who Made The Scene, 1960–1980.”

The museum’s exhibition celebrates the role photographers and their images play in the history of California’s music culture, with over 60 photographs capturing iconic performers over several decades.

“‘California Rocks! Photographers who Made the Scene, 1960–1980’ is a wild ride celebrating the history of rock ’n’ roll in California,” says Linda Keaton, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art executive director, in a statement. “The images and photographers in the exhibition make it clear why California was at the epicenter of cultural and social change during rock’s golden age. In light of the lack of concerts this will give not only art lovers, but rock music lovers, another outlet for fulfillment.”

The exhibit is curated by author and former San Francisco Chronicle music-critic Joel Selvin, who’s career covering Bay Area music goes back to 1970. His writing has appeared in publications worldwide and he has authored more than 20 books, including New York Times bestseller, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, with Sammy Hagar.

“These photos are so great, you can see the music,” Selvin says, in a statement. “And there will be a lot of famous people on the walls, but the real star is California.”

The exhibit includes images of California artists and bands, as well as photos of iconic figures performing in the state over the course of 30-plus years. Highlights include a photo by Robert Campbell of Elvis Presley performing in 1956 at Oakland Auditorium; a shot by Baron Wolman of Big Brother & The Holding Company hanging out in 1968 at Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco; an image by Michael Malloy of Little Richard at the Whiskey a Go Go in Hollywood circa 1969; a photo by Henry Diltz of Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur and Linda Ronstadt backstage at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1974; and a shot by Steve Ringman of Talking Heads playing live at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley in 1983.

One of the most compelling images in the exhibit is a shot of the Rolling Stones performing at Altamont Speedway in 1969. Captured by Beth (Sunflower) Bagby, the image features a member of the Hells Angels biker gang in the foreground with his back turned to the camera. Behind the Hells Angels member, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger can be seen on stage looking to the right, a grim expression on his face. The 1969 Altamont Festival infamously hired the Hells Angels for security, and members of the outlaw motorcycle club went on to murder 18-year-old African American man Meredith Hunter during the Rolling Stones set.

“California Rocks!” is the first exhibit to open at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art since the Covid-19 pandemic closed businesses for the purpose of social distancing in March. “The health and safety of museum visitors is our utmost priority and SVMA will be complying with all federal and state guidelines as well as any additional measures that might be needed to further enhance the safety of our visitors, volunteers and staff,” wrote the museum in a statement. “SVMA is also exploring options to present this exhibition online.”

SVMA asks that people with symptoms not visit the museum, and requires face coverings for all visitors and staff while in the museum. Disposable masks will be available for those who do not have one. SVMA also asks that visitors observe social distancing in the museum, which will enforce a capacity of 21 people.

In addition to these iconic images, the exhibit will also feature a special photo homage to local rock ’n’ roll vintner Bruce Cohn, who produced the annual B.R. Cohn Charity Events Fall Music Festival for 29 years. The homage will include photos taken by Bay Area photographer Pat Johnson, and Cohn will also pour his Trestle Glen wines on select occasions throughout the exhibition run.

“California Rocks! Photographers Who Made The Scene, 1960-1980” opens on Wednesday, July 1, at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, 551 Broadway, half a block from Sonoma Plaza. Scheduled museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 5pm, though hours may be subject to change. General admission is $10 and free for SVMA Members. Get additional information and updates at svma.org.

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Sonoma County Reminds Residents Of Fireworks Ban

News

Bohemian Staff

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Jun 29, 2020

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With fire season underway and July 4 celebrations approaching, Sonoma County officials are reminding residents and visitors that it is illegal to use fireworks in all unincorporated areas of the county.

“Our dry summer landscape creates a greater potential for fires caused by fireworks,” said Chief James Williams, the county’s fire marshal, said in a statement Monday.

Susan Gorin, the chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, urged residents not to use fireworks as entertainment during Independence Day celebrations this weekend.

“We have been working hard to protect ourselves and neighbors in recent months and we must continue to be diligent now that fire season has arrived,” Gorin said in the statement.

Fireworks start an average of 18,500 fires per year, including 1,300 structure fires, 300 vehicle fires, and nearly 17,000 other fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

More information about Sonoma County’s Fire Prevention Division is available here.