Page 327 – Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Meet Sonoma County’s First Youth Poet Laureate

BohoBlog

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Jun 1, 2020

Meet Sonoma County’s First Youth Poet Laureate

Zoya Ahmed, an incoming senior at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, has been named the first Youth Poet Laureate of Sonoma County. Nonprofit organization California Poets in Schools and Phyllis Meshulam, current Poet Laureate of Sonoma County, spearheaded the historical selection, and a local panel of poets and literary experts chose Ahmed from an esteemed pool of local student applicants.

Following in the footsteps of other California counties such as Alameda and Los Angeles counties, Sonoma County’s inaugural Youth Poet Laureate search began in March and aimed to recognize a local student who “achieved excellence in poetry” and who showed commitment to the arts through writing and engagement in clubs or afterschool activities.

The panel of judges tasked with selecting the youth poet laureate included Meshulam, outgoing Poet Laureate of Sonoma County Maya Khosla and other county poets and teachers.

“Zoya Ahmed is a brilliant performer,” Meshulam said, in a statement. “Empowering a young person with a microphone to reach out and address the many special concerns that others of her age may experience, is a very significant gift to the community.”

Before becoming Sonoma County Youth Poet Laureate, Ahmed was the 2019 winner of Sonoma County’s Poetry Out Loud recitation contest and went on to become a finalist in the California State Poetry Out Loud contest.

Ahmed’s one-year term as Sonoma County’s Youth Poet Laureate begins today, Monday, June 1. As the Youth Poet Laureate, Ahmed will lead or participate in at least five public appearances, including readings and workshops. While those events were originally planned to be in-person and ideally spread out over the county’s supervisorial districts, virtual events are now the likely and encouraged mode of engaging with the community until the Covid-19 pandemic retreats.

Ahmed’s first scheduled virtual appearance will be at the California Poets in the Schools Virtual Poetry Symposium happening June 26–28. Founded in 1964, California Poets in the Schools is one of the nation’s largest school literary programs and boasts over 100 trained, professional poet-teachers leading poetry sessions throughout the state.

Sonoma County schools and community organizations are encouraged to contact Ahmed through the California Poets in the Schools with inquiries about hosting her at a public event.

Along with the public and virtual events, Ahmed will be awarded a $500 prize and given the opportunity to publish a collection of her own poems or lead a similar youth-publication project of her choosing.

In a statement, Ahmed thanked her family and acknowledged poetry as her way of connecting to her heritage and staying resilient in difficult times. Read her full statement below:

“I embrace my diverse background as a first generation South Asian American, having both roots in Pakistan and India. This colorful heritage is my drive. Every day I am empowered to work hard towards achieving my goals, humbled by the opportunities I am given, and inspired to give back to the community.

My biggest motivators are my parents and my family, who encourage me each and every day. They are my muse; they symbolize the meaning of sacrifice in my life. Their stories, especially those of the women in my family, are what give my writing a spark of creativity and perspective.

My dad has really been one of my biggest supporters and has fueled my passion for poetry. Being a poet himself, he taught me Urdu as my first language along with Hindi, and that became the foundation of who I am as a desi American teen. Urdu is such a vibrant and poetic language as it embraces the rich tradition of poetry called shayari.

Having this background in poetry, I knew it was going to have a role in my life and thus I picked up writing a few verses in my free time. I find poetry to be a vehicle to connect with my own experiences and surroundings, a way to voice issues and topics that I want acknowledged. However, I never thought that I would have achieved as much as I have. Now, I am more motivated than ever to be resilient and persevere through my journey as a human being.”

Protesters Call For Increased Eviction Protections, Sheriff’s Resignation

News

Will Carruthers

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Jun 1, 2020

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Protesters Call For Increased Eviction Protections, Sheriff’s Resignation

Shortly after 8am on Monday a caravan of approximately 50 cars unleashed a volley of honks on a wide, tree-lined block of McDonald Avenue in Santa Rosa.

The protesters, organized by the North Bay Organizing Project (NBOP) as part of Sonoma County United in Crisis, called on District 3 Supervisor Shirlee Zane and District 4 Supervisor David Rabbitt to support stronger eviction protections for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis.

Two caravans—one in Santa Rosa in front of Zane’s home and the other in Petaluma in front of Rabbitt’s home—descended at the same time, with participants livestreaming on Facebook.

The supervisors passed the county’s current moratorium in March with a promise to reconsider the issue at a June 2 meeting. Zane and Rabbitt were selected because NBOP felt the two are most likely to oppose changes to the current moratorium.

NBOP argues that the current moratorium leaves thousands of county residents at risk of eviction if they cannot pay off accrued rent debt after the moratorium expires, 90 days after the Covid-19 pandemic is declared over.

The organizers of the Monday-morning protest called on the supervisors to extend the moratorium on Covid-19-related evictions to one year after the crisis and expand the moratorium to ban all evictions, not just those directly tied to Covid-19. They also called on the supervisors to ban late fees, rent increases and remove a requirement in the current ordinance requiring tenants to provide documentation proving a loss of income.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss many of the changes NBOP advocated for at a meeting on Tuesday, June 2.

Sarah Casmith and Rio Molina, NBOP housing organizers, addressed Zane through a portable speaker after the honking stopped.

Zane, standing in front of her house, told the protesters, “I’m on your side.”

“There should be no evictions during a pandemic …” Zane said. “We have to extend the moratorium. We cannot afford to have one more homeless person …”

Asked whether she and the other supervisors would support extending the moratorium for a year or longer, Zane said, “I don’t want to answer a question—I don’t know at this point, but I will tell you that it needs to be extended at this point.”

Zane, who was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2008, lost a reelection bid in March to Chris Coursey, a former Mayor of Santa Rosa. Zane will leave office in January 2021.

In January, during Zane’s race against Coursey, the National Association of Realtors contributed $156,000 to an independent expenditure committee supporting Zane’s candidacy. By law, independent expenditure committees are not allowed to coordinate strategies with the candidates they support, but Zane’s critics say the contribution indicates that Zane’s sympathies lie with landlords and developers, not renters.

Landlord advocacy groups have argued that, if tenants do not pay rent, landlords, including mom-and-pops, will go out of business. Proposals that aim to solve the problem are being debated at all levels of government.

In April, Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced legislation that would cover landlord and mortgage holders’ missed rent payments if they promise to follow certain rules. More recently, the California Apartment Association, an industry group, has endorsed Senate Bill 1410, proposed state legislation that would set up a program to cover some landlords’ costs. It remains unclear how much funding the relief program proposed in SB 1410 would receive.

During her conversation with Casmith on Monday, Zane attempted to redirect from the eviction moratorium, saying that she has been an advocate for affordable housing during her time as a supervisor.

“I spent my whole career fighting for affordable housing and homelessness,” Zane told the protesters. “You guys should go talk to all of the white, middle-class NIMBYs that put their thumb on the Chanate project that would have brought 700 units of affordable housing… That’s why we’ve got more Latinos dying … because we have too many people living in a house and they get infected—it’s horrible. You’ve got to think about who your real enemy is. As long as white, entitled NIMBYs who think they shouldn’t have any apartments in their neighborhood …”

“Right now this is about evictions and people staying safe in their homes during a pandemic,” Casmith responded.

Zane was referring to the Chanate Property, a county-owned property in Santa Rosa.

In a 2018 lawsuit, the Friends of Chanate argued that the county had not followed environmental-planning rules. In a ruling, a judge agreed with their reasoning and effectively halted the sale of the property.

A proposal by Chanate Community Development Partners, LLC called for up to 800 units with 20 percent of them designated for very-low-income households, according to a June 20, 2017 staff report presented to the Board of Supervisors.

[Read the Bohemian’s 2018 investigation of the proposed Chanate deal and the Friends of Chanate lawsuit here.]

Sheriff’s Protest

After departing Zane’s house, the Santa Rosa caravan moved to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office a few miles away to call for the resignation of Sheriff Mark Essick following his announcement last Thursday that, beginning Monday, his office will only enforce the state Health Order, not the County Health Order. In his statement Thursday, Essick said that he was concerned about “inconsistent restrictions on business and personal activities” in the county order.

On Friday, after a morning meeting with elected leaders attempting to change Essick’s mind, Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin told the Press Democrat that Essick had agreed to enforce the County Health Order.

The Sheriff’s Office responded by updating the Thursday night Facebook post: “Contrary to other reports the Sheriff is not reversing his position.”

More closed-door negotiations ensued on Friday afternoon while public confusion spread.

Finally, around 6pm, the Sheriff’s Office released another clarification to Facebook: “The Sheriff’s position stands and we will not be enforcing the County Health Order starting June 1.”

On Saturday, the Sheriff’s Office was the site of a daytime Black Lives Matter protest, after hundreds of people marched from Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa to the Sheriff’s Office a few miles north.

In a speech in front of the Sheriff’s headquarters on Monday morning, Leticia Romero, the president of NBOP’s board of directors, called on Essick to resign over his decision not to enforce the County Health Order.

“I feel the Sheriff’s decision pits white people and the business community against people of color,” Romero said in an interview afterwards, referring to concerns that the Sheriff’s decision would worsen the already disproportionately heavy impact of Covid-19 on Sonoma County’s Latinx residents.

“These tensions have existed in our community for a long time but they’re not always so blatant,” Romero added. “We can’t stay quiet when that happens.”

Christo, Artist of ‘Running Fence,’ Dies at Age 84

Arts

Charlie Swanson

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Jun 1, 2020

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Christo, Artist of ‘Running Fence,’ Dies at Age 84

There are those in the North Bay who remember “Running Fence,” the 24-and-a-half-mile-long art installation that criss-crossed its way through the hills of Western Sonoma and Marin County for two weeks in 1976.

The massive temporary art installation was one of many monumental artworks conceived and created around the world by artist Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and his partner in life and art, Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon; who together were simply known as Christo and Jean-Claude.

Christo died peacefully in his New York City home on May 31, at the age of 84. A statement from his estate noted that he died of natural causes.

While Christo and Jean-Claude (who died in 2009) are gone, their artworks-in-progress continue, with “L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped” in Paris, France, still on track for September–October 2021.

Moreover, their ambitious array of temporary installations such as “Running Fence”—which exceeded the boundaries of any one medium art by combining site-specific architecture, sculpture, assemblage and fabric art—are forever imprinted in the memories of those who witnessed them firsthand.

Born in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, in 1935, Christo first met Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon in Paris in 1958 when he painted a commissioned portrait of her mother. Together, the two artists embarked upon a career in art marked by their “wrapped” aesthetic, in which they covered entire coastlines, valleys or skyscrapers in colorful fabric.

In 1969, Jeanne-Claude and Christo made an international splash with “Wrapped Coast,” in which they used erosion-control fabric and 35 miles of rope to literally wrap the cliff-lined coast of Little Bay, in Sydney, Australia. They followed that with “The Valley Curtain,” a 1,300-foot-long cloth stretched across Rifle Gap in the Rocky Mountains near Rifle, Colorado, in 1972.

Perhaps the couple’s most famous work was their North Bay installation, “Running Fence,” which is remembered not only for its massive scale, but for its four-year process of realization. The installation, inspired by a snow fence Christo and Jean-Claude saw while driving along the Continental Divide in 1972, was conceived as an 18-foot-high fence of white, billowing nylon snaking along the hills of Sonoma and Marin County west of Highway 101.

The idea was for the fence to highlight the hilly topography of the North Bay, though they had to convince ranchers and other locals to let them do it, an ordeal that took 18 public hearings and three sessions in California’s superior courts before reaching approval. The installation itself, which began in April 1976, included some 400 workers stretching the reported 240,000 square-yards of woven nylon canvas between more than 2,000 steel poles.

When completed in September of 1976, “Running Fence” drew visitors from around the world to the North Bay for its two-week duration. The fence’s route crossed 14 roads and 59 private ranches as it wound its way from near Highway 101 to the Pacific Ocean near Bodega Bay.

No real trace of “Running Fence” remains on those ranches and along the roads leading to the coast, though a piece of the nylon hangs in the Rio Theater in Monte Rio and historical markers commemorate the work in Valley Ford. For those who could not see the Fence when it was up, several photos of the work, along with sketches and other documents, are on display on Christo and Jean-Claude’s website.

Local fans included Charles Schulz, who praised Christo and Jean-Claude in his Peanuts comic strip in 1978 by showing Snoopy’s doghouse wrapped in the artist’s signature fabric. In 2003, Christo returned the favor by presenting a wrapped doghouse to the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.

After “Running Fence,” Christo and Jean-Claude continued to make headlines with art installations such as “The Umbrellas,” in which yellow and blue umbrellas were placed in Southern California and Japan, respectively. Those umbrellas were in place from 1984–1991.

In 2005, the couple installed “The Gates” in New York City’s Central Park, featuring over 7,500 saffron-colored sheets of fabric placed overhead along the park’s walkways. After Jean-Claude’s death in 2009, the pair’s conceived works continued on, with “The Floating Piers” in Italy, 2016, and “The London Mastaba,” made up of 7,500 oil barrels in the shape of an ancient Mesopotamian bench, in 2018.

In reporting his death, Christo’s office offered the following statement: “Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible but realizing it. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s artwork brought people together in shared experiences across the globe, and their work lives on in our hearts and memories.”

Sonoma Supervisors Set to Discuss Eviction Moratorium on Tuesday

News

Will Carruthers

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May 29, 2020

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With thousands of residents out of work and increased federal unemployment benefits set to sunset in early July, many are worried state and local eviction moratoriums could result in a wave of evictions in the months after the Covid-19 pandemic is officially declared over, that is.

To that end, at its Tuesday, June 2 meeting, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will revisit a local moratorium on evictions due to lost wages as a result of Covid-19.

A meeting agenda released Friday afternoon states that the board will receive a briefing on “Housing Stability Measures during the COVID-19 Emergency.” The board passed a countywide moratorium in late March with a promise to revisit the issue at its June 2 meeting.

But, months into the Covid-19 pandemic, it remains unclear how—or whether—local, state and federal government agencies will be able to solve the multiple housing crises, affecting renters and mortgage holders, which are currently unfolding.

Of primary concern to tenants is that, under the county and state orders, renters are still required to make up missed rent payments after the pandemic. If they are unable to do so, landlords will be allowed to begin eviction proceedings after the moratorium is lifted.

From the landlords’ side, it still remains unclear how or when landlords will recover payments tenants missed due to Covid-19.

For its part, the California Apartment Association (CAA), a statewide advocacy group for landlords, supports Assembly Bill 1410. The proposed legislation, which is working its way through the state legislature, would create a fund called the Covid-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The state program would pay some landlords 80 percent of missed payments.

In exchange, landlords would need to promise not to charge late fees for missed payments or pursue any remaining missed rent payments left after receiving payments through the state program.

But, as is often the case these days, where the money to pay for such an assistance program would come from—or how much would be offered in total—remains a mystery.

According to the current version of AB 1410, the program would receive funds through the state budget process.

But, with so many hands out for such a severely limited number of dollars, will the state be able to set aside a meaningful amount of money for a rent-relief program?

In April, the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation released a rough estimate of the number of missed rent payments. All told, about 2.3 million renter households in California could be impacted by Covid-related layoffs or other lost income.

Those impacted renter households could miss as much as $3.96 billion per month statewide, according to the Terner analysis.

Although the estimate is likely on the high side since some impacted tenants may be able to pay partial rent, the overall number illustrates the massive scale of the problem.

UPDATED: Sheriff’s Stance On Health Order Enforcement Now Unclear

News

Will Carruthers

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May 29, 2020

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UPDATED: Sheriff’s Stance On Health Order Enforcement Now Unclear

According to the Press Democrat, during a Friday-morning meeting with other local elected officials, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick reversed course on his Thursday-afternoon announcement that, starting June 1, his agency would no longer enforce the county Health Orders. Now, it looks like Essick has changed his mind again—or that the PD got its story wrong.

Here’s a summary of the past 24 hours: In a Thursday-afternoon social-media post, Essick announced that his agency would only enforce the state’s Health Order, not the County Health Officer’s orders. In the post, Essick cited what he called “inconsistent restrictions on business and personal activities” in the county Health Orders.

Members of the Board of Supervisors and other local law enforcement agencies said they were caught off guard by the Sheriff’s decision.

In a joint statement released Thursday evening, the Board of Supervisors said that “the Sheriff’s message has had the unfortunate effect of creating confusion in our community.”

Within hours of Essick’s announcement, other local law enforcement officials, including Santa Rosa Police Chief Ray Navarro, released statements saying they would continue to enforce the county health orders in their respective jurisdictions.

Then, on Friday, after a morning meeting between local, state and federal politicians along with county health officials, the Press Democrat reported that Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin had said that the Sheriff had agreed to continue enforcing the County Health Orders.

Now, even that Press Democrat report is uncertain. An undated update to the Sheriff’s original statement on Facebook reads “UPDATE: Contrary to other reports the Sheriff is not reversing his position.”

The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday afternoon.

5:20 PM UPDATE: At 4:15pm, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office released a new statement about the Sheriff’s meeting with elected leaders this morning. The statement does not clarify whether or not the Sheriff’s Office will enforce the County Health Order.

“Sheriff Essick understands that during these challenging times a flexible response is necessary to adapt to the rapidly evolving situation presented by COVID-19. The Sheriff’s Office will continue to educate the community, while evaluating newly available data from our public health partners and collaborating with Public Health to determine enforcement priorities and protocols,” the statement reads in part.

Mike DeWald, a reporter and producer for KSRO and KCBS, Tweeted soon after the Sheriff’s new statement was released that the Sonoma Sheriff “clarifies that deputies will handle enforcement on a ‘case by case basis’ and determine enforcement priorities as new data becomes available,” according to a conversation he had with a Sheriff’s spokesperson.

Reached by phone, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office was not immediately able to clarify whether or not the agency will continue to enforce the county orders in addition to state orders.

SUNDAY UPDATE: The Sheriff’s Office has added an update to its Friday, May 29 Facebook announcement “UPDATE 6pm: To clarify, the Sheriff’s position stands and we will not be enforcing the County Health Order starting June 1.”

North Bay Bands Go Online for Weekend of Virtual Concerts

BohoBlog

Charlie Swanson

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May 29, 2020

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North Bay Bands Go Online for Weekend of Virtual Concerts

It’s Friday, and that usually means dozens of live events in the North Bay—especially concerts—are gearing up to rock audiences in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.

Of course, things are not usual right now, and while venues across the region remain closed and Covid-19 cases continue to mount, the best way to get that earful of local talent you’ve been craving is to go online with these live-streaming shows coming up May 29–31.

HopMonk Tavern’s three locations in Sebastopol, Sonoma and Novato usually host weekly concerts featuring local and touring stars. Yet, the Covid-19 sheltering has kept all three stages empty since mid-March. So for the last month, the folks at HopMonk have made do—in the absence of live events—with the online concert series, “In the Meantime.”

This weekend, the “In the Meantime” series packs in several virtual shows, beginning with a set by longtime North Bay–musician Buzzy Martin tonight, May 29, at 6pm. Martin’s beloved brand of “Baby Boomer Rock ’n’ Roll” has won him fans and friends around the country, and he has performed with members of the Doobie Brothers, Pablo Cruise, Journey, Santana, Les Claypool of Primus and Huey Lewis and the News. Martin is also known for his offstage acts of selfless citizenship—such as teaching music programs to at-risk youth in juvenile halls and inmates at San Quentin Prison—which have earned him official civic recognition.

Tomorrow, May 30, HopMonk presents a virtual concert at 4:30pm with Evan Fraser and Vir McCoy, accomplished multi-instrumentalists who have been recording and performing music together in bands like Dogon Lights, Dirtwire and others over the last 20 years.

On Sunday, May 31, HopMonk gives the virtual floor to North Bay singer-songwriter Stella Heath. Before the stay-at-home orders went into effect in March, Heath was one of the busiest musicians in the region, averaging four gigs a week with her bands the Billie Holiday Project, Bandjango Collectif and others.

Since the sheltering, Heath has remained busy, only this time online. In addition to her Sunday afternoon set for the “In the Meantime” series, Heath can be heard singing with Bandjango Collectif bandmate Skyler Stover on Saturday, May 30, with Spicy Vines Winery’s live streaming show at 6pm. The two will perform stripped-down versions of their band’s blended jazz-and-folk tunes for that Saturday evening stream.

Also on Saturday, the second episode of Living Room Live, the free online venture from the organizers of Rivertown Revival and Friends of the Petaluma River, continues to present all of the best parts of the canceled Rivertown Revival. Starting at 7pm on May 30, the streaming showcase, hosted by musician and music promoter Josh Windmiller, will feature performances by the purveyors of San Francisco soul Royal Jelly Jive, world music masters La Gente SF, the original North Bay bad boy Frankie Boots and Petaluma singer-songwriter Hannah Jern-Miller.

Finally, several North Bay stars come together this Sunday, May 31, at 11am, for the latest installment of UnderCovered, a concert series hosted by newly formed artist initiative Social Distance Live. The UnderCovered series so far has featured local musicians performing covers of their favorite songs by groups such as the Velvet Underground and artists such as Bob Dylan (specifically Dylan’s work from 1979–1989).

This weekend, UnderCovered sets its sights on the songs of Joni Mitchell, and scheduled artists include Alison Harris performing “Come in Out of the Cold,” Dawn Angelosante performing “River” and Gowdey Caitlin and Jeremy Lyon teaming up on the song “California.”

Napa Winery Files Lawsuit Against Governor

News

Daedalus Howell

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May 28, 2020

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Caymus Vineyards announced that it is filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Gov. Gavin Newsom and California State Public Health Officer Sonia Angell alleging discriminatory treatment in the state’s reopening plan for non-essential businesses.

The most recent orders permit the reopening of winery tasting areas only if they also provide sit-down meals. However, the nearly 50-year-old winery contends in a statement released this week that the continued closure of wineries that don’t serve food “violates the Equal Protection, Due Process, and Takings Clauses of both the U.S. and California Constitutions.”

“If it’s safe for restaurants and other wineries to serve meals, it’s undeniably safe for wineries to open for tastings,” says Chuck Wagner, founder and President of Caymus Vineyards in a statement. “Our lawsuit makes a simple demand that we be treated fairly and equally.”

So far, the Stage 2 variance self-attestation filed by Napa County with the state and approved last week by California health officials allows for, among other activities, seated restaurant dining and indoor retail with the practice of social distancing.

“As Napa County pursues this variance permitting eligible businesses and workplaces within its jurisdiction to advance further into Stage 2, it remains steadfastly committed to collectively protecting the public and essential workers,” it’s stated in the document, which is signed public health office Karen Relucio.

Wineries and tasting rooms, however, must remain closed until the state’s Phase 3 of reopening is activated.

At the root of the situation is the fact that most Napa County winery use permits prohibit wineries from offering full-meal service. The result is that wineries cannot yet open for wine tastings and remain in accordance to the Phase 2 reopening guidelines. This, alleges the complaint, “makes no sense” and “specifically harms Napa County wineries.”

The lawsuit is petitioning the court to allow Caymus Vineyards (and other Napa County wineries facing the same issue) to reopen wine tastings claiming that Napa County has determined that it meets the state’s Phase 2 guidelines of Stage 2.

Allowances for county variances listed at the state’s Covid-19 Resilience Road Map site
prescribe that Stage 2 reopening can deepen in certain counties if there are “Less than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days OR less than 8% testing positive in the past 7 days.” At present writing, according to County of Napa’s website, there have been a total of 111 cases, with still 52 active, 56 recovered and 3 resulting in fatalities in a population is estimated to be 137,744.

Caymus’s lawsuit contends that it’s unfair of the governor to allow “a small sub-group of wineries to open for tastings,” according to the winery’s statement. “He is discriminating against a large number of wineries in Napa County and across the state.”

“The recent orders provide no explanation for the disparate and unfair treatment between wineries that serve food and those that do not,” says Michael Carlson, vice president and general counsel for Caymus Vineyards. “The double standard of allowing restaurants and wineries that serve food to reopen while prohibiting wineries from conducting wine tastings alone is both unconscionable and unconstitutional. Napa County is allowing wineries to expand their outdoor tasting space to accommodate social distancing. The state’s guidance is not just inconsistent with that allowance, but a damaging impediment.”

Petaluma River Bacteria Plan Scheduled For State Review

News

Will Carruthers

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May 28, 2020

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Petaluma River Bacteria Plan Scheduled For State Review

A plan to set new restrictions on the levels of bacteria in the Petaluma River Watershed is nearing the next stage of approval.

At a virtual meeting on Tuesday, the California State Water Resources Control Board, an oversight body which presides over nine regional water quality boards across the state, will consider a plan meant to cap and reduce the amount of bacteria getting into the Petaluma River Watershed.

The federal Clean Water Act requires the state to create the regulatory plan, known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), for water bodies which have been found to have excessive levels of pollution. In the case of the Petaluma River Watershed, the culprit is an excessive level of bacteria.

The hearing comes six months after the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Control Board approved the plan. The plan will be sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final approval If the State Water Board signs off on Tuesday.

The main stem of the Petaluma River has been listed as impaired—a regulatory term which means regulators have discovered unsafe levels of bacterial or other contaminants in the water—for over four decades.

Other parts of the watershed appear to have been contaminated more recently. For instance, the San Antonio Creek, which runs into Marin County, was added to the state’s list of impaired waterways as a result of recent data collected by the regional water board.

In November, Farhad Ghodrati, an environmental scientist with the San Francisco Bay board, told the Bohemian that water quality tests completed in recent years showed that the watershed has “some of the highest concentrations [of E.Coli indicators] we have seen in the [Bay Area] region.”

Excessive levels of bacteria in the watershed may be tied to a wide range of sources, including a wastewater treatment plant, sanitary sewer collection systems, private sewer laterals, onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS), vessel marinas, homeless encampments, confined animals facilities (e.g., cow dairies, commercial horse facilities), grazing lands (e.g., cattle and sheep ranches), domestic pet waste, and [stormwater runoff from municipal and Caltrans properties], according to a State Water Board staff report.

More information about the Petaluma River Bacteria TMDL is available here.

Click here to read our past coverage of the plan.

Safely Shop & Dine at These North Bay Markets

BohoBlog

Charlie Swanson

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May 28, 2020

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Safely Shop & Dine at These North Bay Markets

As stay-at-home and social distancing restrictions are slightly relaxing in parts of the North Bay, many are looking forward to returning to the shops and restaurants they love. Yet, a recent surge in Sonoma County cases of coronavirus has shown local leaders that we are not quite ready for a full re-opening just at this moment, meaning take-out and curbside shopping is still the norm going into this weekend.

If you’re itching to get out, the best way to do so and support local businesses is to visit the shops and eateries at local outdoor markets like the Barlow in Sebastopol, Oxbow Market in Napa and Marin Country Mart in Larkspur.

The Barlow
Situated on a 12-and-a-half acre district in downtown Sebastopol, The Barlow open-air “maker’s marketplace” features dozens of retail and dining spots with Sonoma County chefs, vintners and other artisans creating local products and experiences.

Since the March shelter-in-place orders closed the physical locations for these artisans, many have transitioned to online ordering with options for curbside pick-up and take-out. Recently, the Barlow announced that the marketplace’s restaurants and eateries are now open for outdoor dining.

Food and drink options in the Barlow currently includes Acre Pizza, Barrio Cocina Mexicana, Community Market, Crooked Goat Brewing, Fern Bar, Golden State Cider Pax Wines, Seismic Brewing, Spirit Works Distillery, Sushi Kosho, Taylor Lane Coffee, The Farmer’s Wife, The Nectary, Two Dog Night Creamery, WM Cofield Cheesemakers and Woodfour Brewing.

Shops in the Barlow include Barge North apparel and home goods store, California Sister floral arrangements, Elsie Green décor and gifts shop, JG Switzer textile and bedding shop, the Lori Austin Gallery, Rust Clothing Boutique and Scout West County gift and home accessories store.

Oxbow Public Market
In Napa County, where dine-in restaurants and retail are both seeing restrictions lifted in terms of social distancing, the Oxbow Public Market is reopening its spacious and recently remodeled outdoor Oxbow River Deck, which now includes retractable shade structures and lighting.

Beginning Saturday, May 30, open-air, socially distanced communal tables and seats will be available for visitors on the deck, and Oxbow merchants will continue to offer online and over-the-phone ordering and pickup options for guests. The market is soon creating a designated curbside delivery area in the parking lot east of the main market hall as a drive-thru option for those who want to dine at home.

For guests who want to shop at the Oxbow Public Market, the new deck is part of the market’s new set of health and safety protocols made in accordance with all state and Napa County health requirements. The market will continue to also track and regulate the number of customers on hand to comply with social distancing regulations.

Oxbow Public Market merchants that are open for dine-in, takeout and retail include Anette’s Chocolates, C Casa, Fatted Calf, Fieldwork Brewing Company, Five Dot Ranch, Gott’s Roadside, Hog Island Oyster Company, Hudson Greens & Goods, Kara’s Cupcakes, Kitchen Door, Live Fire Pizza, Model Bakery (re-opening May 30), Olive Press, Oxbow Cheese & Wine Merchant, Ritual Roasters and Whole Spice. Additional merchant re-openings will be announced soon.

Marin Country Mart
Located adjacent to the Ferry Terminal in Larkspur, Marin Country Mart’s assortment of organic eateries, boutique shops and other services are coming back online after closing down in March. The village-style shopping center’s new model, which it’s calling Dutch Door Shopping, allows for curbside and social distant services like online classes in lieu of in-person events.

Shops and services that are open for pick-up, take-out or local delivery at Marin Country Mart include Poppy Store children’s boutique, Clic women’s clothing store, Toy Crazy, George pet store, Hudson Grace décor shop, Sarah Shepard Gallery, Flora & Henri artisanal home and gift shop, Jenni Kayne wardrobe and home goods store, Hero Shop luxury women’s store and Copperfield’s Books.

To-go dining options at Marin Country Mart include Farmshop’s nightly dinner specials, Hog Island Oyster Company, Johnny Doughnuts, Pressed Juicery, Rustic Bakery, Shake Shack, Sushi Ko, the Siam and El Huarache Loco.

Visit each of these markets online first for full details.

Summer Guide Update

Letters to the Editor

Bohemian.com

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May 27, 2020

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Napa Porchfest will not take place in July (“Lost Summer,” May 20). The committee will reevaluate the situation mid-July and decide whether we will be able to move forward with it at a later date.

Amy Lyons Linn

Via bohemian.com

Wanted: Isolation Experts

COVID-19 has given almost all Americans a lesson in how to deal with isolation, which you may want to add to your resume if you also speak Russian and meet other qualifications. Why? Because NASA is looking for 30-to-55-year-old men and women with experience in the practice of seclusion. They must also be fluent in English and Russian and have advanced degrees. The job will put those who qualify in isolation with a small international crew for eight months in Moscow. The purpose is “to study the effects of isolation and confinement as participants work to successfully complete their simulated space mission.” It will give the space agency an idea of what astronauts will experience on extended space missions.

John Grimaldi

Association of Mature American Citizens

Amazon Woes

Kudos to Tim Bray, a distinguished engineer formerly at Amazon. Mr. Bray, a vice president and veteran engineer with the company’s cloud-computing division, said in a post on his personal blog that he quit on May 1st “in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19.”

Now, if Amazon “leadership” could release Jay Carney and David Zapolsky for their shameful plan to discredit and demonize whistleblowers and other warehouse workers, who are the true backbone of Amazon for, among other things, working conditions and worker safety.

Gary Sciford

Santa Rosa