More North Bay Summer Camps Are Going Online

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More North Bay Summer Camps Are Going Online

Summer has started for thousands of students in the North Bay, but many families are struggling to figure out how to spend the season, as the usual array of kids’ camps and outings is largely canceled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, several Sonoma County arts and education organizations such as the Alexander Valley Film Society, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and Transcendence Theatre Company announced their plans for offering virtual summer arts camps in lieu of in-person programs.

Now, many other North Bay groups are jumping in the digital pool to provide their own virtual art experiences for kids in Sonoma, Marin and Napa County.

Healdsburg Center for the Arts is one of many nonprofit arts hubs that are temporarily shut during the stay-at-home orders related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Center also cancelled many fundraising events in the wake of the pandemic, including the beloved Healdsburg Earth Festival, the Healdsburg Art Festival and a number of popular art classes for adults and children.

“The past ten weeks have given us an opportunity to reflect on the benefits a community art center provides and we’ve had the opportunity to re-think about the future of the organization”, said Diana Jameson, Healdsburg Center for the Arts Board Member, in a statement. “We have discovered there is great interest and enthusiasm in the community for Healdsburg Center for the Arts to continue its creative endeavors, even during this public health crisis.”

To that end, the center is now offering online Bookmaking Summer Camps through a partnership with Book Arts Roadshow, co-founded by award-winning artist and former HCA board member C.K. Itamura. The camps are run over Zoom and offer the opportunity to explore the art and craft of making books while at home. The online sessions run select dates, June 27 to July 26, with sessions for ages 5–7, 8–12, 13–18, and even adults.

Bookmaking materials for the online sessions are provided by a grant from the Bill Graham Foundation. Packages of bookmaking materials will be mailed to registered participants ahead of the workshops.

“An online Bookmaking Summer Camp series for adults is included,” Itamura said in a statement. “Because bookmaking can be stress-free and fun and we’re pretty certain most adults can use a dose of that right about now.”

In addition to the Bookmaking Camp, local artist Jean Warren reformatted her popular Watercolor & Journaling workshop to make use of Zoom. Warren will guide students through watercolor painting lessons via video and email at a to-be-determined date. Register for camps and get more information at Healdsburgcenterforthearts.org.

When most people think “summer camp,” they think of the great outdoors, and usually the North Bay is a haven for kids to backpack, hike and explore in natural sites like the Laguna de Santa Rosa.

This summer, the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation knows that gathering, even in nature, is problematic in the face of a pandemic, so the group is inviting kids to join the Laguna Explorers @ Home program to explore the wonder of nature in their own backyards.

Aimed at kids ages 6–11, Laguna Explorers @ Home includes at-home activities that engage the senses, ignite curiosity and increase environmental literacy. The activities are designed for children to do on their own without much need for parent’s interference. The program also incorporates online meetings and circle time for discussion, play, and sharing with other children and Laguna camp staff.

Environmental explorations will run July 6–10 and July 13–17. Each Monday, explorers will pick up a pack at the Laguna Environmental Center, the pack comes with the materials needed for the week, including custom field journals, nature craft supplies, activity instructions, naturalist tools, game cards and more.

A Parent Pack will also be provided with instructions, website links and supplementary materials including “rewards” for participation that parents can give their child each day. Get more details and register for Laguna Explorers @ Home at Lagunafoundation.org.

Now in its 15th year of operation, the Napa School of Music has provided thousands of lessons to families in Napa, Solano and Sonoma Counties, with approximately 400 students taking lessons every week from 16 top-notch teachers. In addition to private and group lessons, the school engages budding musicians in Music Camps, which are going virtual this year.

Beginning June 8–12, and running several subsequent weeks through August, the Napa School of Music’s camp schedule is packed with small-group sessions in guitar, ukulele, music recording and other classes that are designed for all ages and all skill levels, with instrument rentals available.

Beginner guitar, bass guitar and ukulele virtual camps will start aspiring musicians on the right foot with instructions in fundamentals and exposure to a repertoire of songs they can play with minimal skill.

Advanced virtual camps, designed for older tweens and teens, take the basic concepts of guitar, bass and ukulele to another level with new strumming concepts, advanced arrangements of popular melodies to learn and more. Other virtual camps include Musical Theater Camp and Songwriting Camp. Get details and sign up at Napaschoolofmusic.com.

In Mill Valley, the Marin Theatre Company is renowned not only for their stage productions, but for their commitment to community engagement. That includes the company’s Drama Conservatory, which provides classes, camps, workshops and performance opportunities for Bay Area children and teens. Approximately 8,5000 students participate in the company’s programs each year, and while the MTC’s doors closed in March due to Covid-19, they continued to engage with young actors and playwrights remotely in online classes through the Spring.

Now, MTC is introducing a new concept, Summer Camp in a Box, which was created as a way to bring summer camp activities directly to younger students so they can participate from the safety of home. The format is literally a box of theatrical supplies that can be picked up or dropped off. Boxes range from $50-$75, and scholarships are available.

Each box is themed and targeted at Kindergarteners-through fifth graders, and each box includes instructions and materials needed to complete drama activities, arts and crafts, games, recipes and more.

Themes range from “Living Literature,” which lets young ones act out classic kids books like The Magic School Bus, The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Dr. Seuss stories, to boxes based on Disney movies like The Secret Life of Pets and Frozen that let kids run wild with their imagination.

In addition to the Summer Camps in a Box for the young ones, theater kids in middle and high school can sign up for summer camps conducted virtually through Zoom, with an emphasis on acting and improvisation. All virtual camps for tween and teens are $100 and, again, scholarships are available. Register for MTC’s summer camps and boxes at Marintheatre.org.

Man’s Jaw Fractured, Teeth Knocked Out By Law Enforcement During Protest

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Man’s Jaw Fractured, Teeth Knocked Out By Law Enforcement During Protest

At a protest on Sunday night an unknown law enforcement officer shot a plastic grenade at a protester less than 15-feet away, severely injuring the man, according to a press release sent to local media outlets yesterday.

The crowd-control weapon used is known as a sting-ball grenade, a black ball somewhat larger than a tennis ball. When it detonates, it disperses dozens of smaller rubber balls at high velocity.

On Sunday night, the projectile hit Marqus “Red Bear” Martinez, a Santa Rosa native and father of five, in the face, fracturing his jaw, splitting his lip, and knocking out four front teeth, according to a press release distributed by his supporters on Wednesday.

Photographs of Martinez’s injuries, Martinez during the protest, and the sting-ball grenade are included with the press release.

“It seems to me like I was singled out, they saw me with my phone recording and then they shot directly at my face with a plastic type of grenade,” Martinez is quoted in the release. “After that I ran, I didn’t understand why they were meeting us with such force, we were only trying to talk with the police, we were being peaceful.”

In a phone interview, Izaak Schwaiger, a Sonoma County attorney who has filed multiple civil rights lawsuits against local law enforcement agencies, said that it remains unclear whether or not the Santa Rosa Police Department was the only law enforcement agency at the scene on Sunday. Schwaiger said this is the first time, to his knowledge, that the Santa Rosa Police Department has used a sting-ball grenade.

It is possible that multiple law enforcement agencies may have collaborated to shut down protesters in Santa Rosa on Sunday, as they have done in other cities around the country, Schwaiger said.

The Santa Rosa Police Chief Ray Navarro did not return a request for comment on Thursday afternoon.

After the injury, Martinez was transported to Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto for reconstructive surgery. Supporters have organized a fundraiser to cover Martinez’s medical costs. The GoFundMe campaign has raised over $18,000 in the past day.

“The Santa Rosa Police Department did not give aid after shooting directly at Martinez,” the press release states.

In their release, Martinez’s supporters demand an investigation into the officer who shot the sting-ball grenade and that the department stop using tear gas, pepper spray and sting-ball grenades during protests.

“We demand extensive training and de escalation tactics within peaceful protests, we demand the rights of protestors be respected, we demand the demilitarization of police and investment in black and People of Color communities. We demand an end to the war against black, indigenous and all people of color,” the press release states in part. ”These demands are in alignment with the Black Lives Matter movement.”


Communication Breakdown

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Communication Breakdown

This week, as widespread protests against police brutality engulfed cities around the country, two North Bay Sheriffs made headlines for reasons not directly tied to the protests. Instead, the top lawmen in Marin and Sonoma counties were embroiled in scandals due to poor communication.

On Friday, during his daily press briefing, Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle of overseeing a racist institution. 

Newsom said that a close friend had told him that the Marin Sheriff’s Office had stopped his son because he was Black. 

Newsom’s office backpedaled the accusation after some more research into the particular incident. The Governor’s chief of staff called Doyle on Saturday to apologize for the Governor’s statement, according to the Marin Independent Journal.


It turned out that Newsom’s friend’s son was stopped by a different law enforcement agency in Ross about four years ago. But, according to the Marin IJ, it’s not exactly clear which agency conducted the stop. Neither the Sheriff nor the Ross Police Department have a record of the incident in question.

Still, Derek Smith, Newsom’s friend, told the paper that he had a “constructive” meeting with the Ross Police Chief based on Smith’s concerns that his son might be targeted because of his race. 

Meanwhile, one county to the north, Sheriff Mark Essick is facing a crisis essentially of his own making. On Thursday, Essick announced in a statement posted on the law enforcement agency’s official Facebook page that, beginning June 1, the agency would only enforce the state Health Order, not Sonoma County’s Health Orders.

In the following days nearly every local elected official—including leaders of city law enforcement agencies—made public statements condemning Essick’s decision or critiquing the way in which he made the announcement.

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.” 

On Monday, Essick had agreed to enforce the county health order, at least until June 8. 

Still, many people are out for Essick’s job. On Thursday, hours after Essick’s initial announcement, Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett released a statement calling Essick’s actions “reckless” and concluding that Essick “has to go.” 

Leticia Romero, president of North Bay Organizing Project’s board of directors, agrees.

“I feel the Sheriff’s decision pits white people and the business community against people of color,” Romero said, adding that the Sheriff’s decision may worsen the already disproportionately heavy impact of Covid-19 on Sonoma County’s Latinx residents.

Virtual art show examines appeal of the West Coast

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Virtual art show examines appeal of the West Coast

Four years ago, while vacationing in Europe, a man in a Copenhagen train station asked me where I was traveling from.

“California,” I said.

“California!” exclaimed the man, who then broke out in a chorus of “L.A. Woman” by the Doors.

Such is the appeal of the Golden State, and by extension, the entirety of the West Coast. From the Wild West days to “Portlandia,” the western states have long held a fascination for travelers, free spirits, music lovers and artists from around the world.

Now, Novato’s acclaimed Marin Museum of Contemporary Art invites the public to regionally inspired art in the new virtual exhibit, “Left Coast.”

The exhibit includes paintings by 46 artists from across the country, juried by gallery-owner and curator Ken Harmon Hashimoto. Bay Area art lovers know Hashimoto’s San Francisco gallery space, Hashimoto Contemporary. Recently, he expanded with a second location in New York City’s Lower East Side.  

For this online exhibit, Hashimoto took inspiration from newspaperman Horace Greeley, who is credited with the phrase, “Go West, young man,” in a 19th-century editorial that encouraged American Civil War veterans to take advantage of the Homestead Act and colonize the public lands in the western U.S. territories.

That statement has been used to define the excitement with which American settlers traveled to the region, and during the last 200 years, the West Coast’s allure has morphed and taken on mythological status for a multitude of reasons. Today, people continue to flock to cities from Los Angeles to Seattle to find fortune and fame, whether as Hollywood movie stars or Microsoft tech innovators.

The artistic inspirations for MarinMOCA’s “Left Coast” exhibit are as varied as the art itself. Pieces include paintings, photography and sculpture that reflect the magnetic draw of the region, with palm trees, avocados and In-n-Out Burger signs all featured as subjects. At the same time, many pieces in the online exhibit capture contemporary troubles, with works that directly address topics like the North Bay’s 2017 Tubbs and 2019 Kincade fires as well as homelessness and pollution.

“This exhibition explores the appeal of the West Coast through the optics of contemporary art,” Hashimoto says, in a statement. “From painting to drawing to photography to sculpture, the Left Coast has inspired as many artistic mediums and styles as it has historic movements and migrations. It is my hope that this exhibition will inspire viewers, as much as the Best Coast has inspired the many artists, poets, filmmakers, farmers, miners and workers throughout history.”

While the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in Novato remains closed to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the “Left Coast” exhibit is available to view online now, and a virtual “walk and talk” video featuring the art in the gallery will be available online in mid-June.

Marinmoca.org.

JUSTIN Time

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JUSTIN Time

There’s an old school of thought that holds that an “eaux” suffix used in lieu of an anglo “O” is inherently classy. You know, in a “retreaux” kind of way, similar to how your dog Fido cleans up to become Fideux. By extension, this is how I feel about Bordeaux varietal—they’re classy—and yes, I can go from typology to logography in about a glass and a half. And I don’t need to justify doing so since I was sipping JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery’s 2017 JUSTIFICATION, a marvelous red blend led by cabernet franc that puts its own wordplay right on the label.

The varietal choice here is interesting in itself. Often used In blending, cabernet franc is the ladder upon which cabernet sauvignon climbs to greatness thanks to the grippy, tannic structure it offers. It stands to reason JUSTIN would have some on hand—located in Paso Robles, the vineyard/winery was founded in 1981 and is known for crafting world-class Bordeaux-based wines, particularly its cabernet sauvignon. Here, however, cab franc is the main attraction, backed up by a lush merlot. The breakdown is 65 percent cabernet franc and 35 percent merlot, which plays both varietals to their strengths. The result is akin to the synesthetic time travel of Proust’s madeleine: Twinings Blackcurrant Tea at Christine’s Cafe circa 1988, topped by red licorice soaring over it all like the oboe in Mozart’s “Gran Partita.” Cinnamon, cedar, autumnal rakings and the shavings of a Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil.

The wine is opulent but with concision; it makes its statement in a few bon mots and leaves the room. It does not apologize or patronize, which, of course, makes you want it all the more. A few more tastes and an additional note begins to come to mind. Perhaps it was that line from Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” playing on Spotify that landed just as I sipped—something about vampires on Ventura Boulevard—and I tasted … was it blood? Another taste, then another and finally, like Marie Antoinette’s heady provocation before the guillotine—“Apres nous, les deluge!”—I experienced a flood of righteous sanguinity that awakened an ancient and horrifying thirst deep from within my being … OK, enough vamping on Poe. But there is an interesting, if quiet, note of iron undergirding the affair, which adds yet another dimension to this wine’s complex and compelling profile.

Pair with the moon, a howl and the throat of your lover.

Covid-19 creates cause for paws

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Covid-19 creates cause for paws

People flocked to shelters during the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic to foster or adopt an animal according to Elena Bicker, executive director at Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF).

“Everybody was on lockdown and wanted the unconditional love and companionship of a furry friend,” Bicker says, about the early days of quarantine. 

Soon, the Walnut Creek shelter housed only nine animals—medical cases who stayed on site for veterinary care. As of last Tuesday however, they had 92 animals in their system. That’s back to a normal number of cats and dogs being prepared for adoption.

ARF has adjusted to social-distancing regulations in the same way restaurants have. First, the animals go through the process of getting appropriate shots, spay/neuter surgery and microchips before being placed in appropriate homes. Potential pet owners fill out an online application, which is followed by a telephone call or video chat with a counselor.

“Once the adoption is finalized, we schedule a time for you to come to the curb and pick up your dog or your cat,” Bicker says. 

While the division of animal care and control is still active at Marin Humane, the shelter currently cares for just four dogs, three cats and a reptile. Lisa Bloch, the director of marketing and communications, says that they sent nearly all of their animals to foster homes within a day or so of the shelter-in-place order.

“We were lucky to have a solid group, already on hand; vetted, knowledgeable, caring, loving people who opened their homes,” Bloch says. 

Marin Humane was initially concerned that they might have to furlough some employees but the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan prevented them from having to take that step. There’s a core group of employees at the main campus in Novato but the rest of the staff, and nearly 600 volunteers, have been working remotely.

“We’re not out of the woods,” Bloch says. “We have not really determined the effect of losing revenue from the cancellation of our spring events, summer camp and animal behavior and training program.”  

Bloch also recalled some of the early unknowns shelters across the country faced at the start of the pandemic. Would so many people get sick that they wouldn’t be able to take care of their animals?

“We were worried that people would get scared that their pets might give it to them and they might start relinquishing their pets,” she says.

But that hasn’t happened.

At Oakland’s Cat Town Adoption Center, development director Quinn White says people have been responding to financial appeals, “kindly and beautifully.” But those donations haven’t provided any extra revenue. A large part of their funding comes from visitors who come to the center. They pay $10 to play with cats for an hour, while having an espresso and a pastry at the Rawr Coffee Bar. Like ARF and Marin Humane, Cat Town canceled a big fundraising event, and likely will cancel one planned for the fall.

One change that is working remarkably well is the virtual-adoption process. Typically a potential adopter would meet a cat at a foster’s house. Now, the visit is virtual. This is turning out to be a benefit to the shyest cats, who normally hide under the bed at the sight of a stranger. In these virtual visits, the cat is already comfortable in a foster home and shows off their personality. The cat is, of course, going to hide when it arrives in a new home. But the new owner has already seen a playful or snuggly side of the animal.

“It’s a nice incentive for people to be patient and put in the work to win over a shy cat’s heart,” White says.

Cat Town might even keep this protocol in place for those especially shy cats after shelter-in-place ends.  

Deemed an essential business, the owners of the Sonoma Pet Center, Eric and Lauren Warddrip, haven’t had to close. They’ve changed their approach to daily operations, offering delivery, curbside pickup and limiting the number of patrons allowed in the store. Before Covid-19, they had kittens and cats that were available for adoption from places such as Pets Lifeline and the Napa County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center.

“That’s come to a halt,” Erik Warddrip says. “We don’t think it’s a great idea to have people congregating in the store like we typically would.” 

Sonoma Pet Center is two doors down from a Whole Foods, but many of the other stores in the mall have kept limited hours or remained closed. The energy of customers coming and going is missing.

“I don’t want to say it’s depressing, but it’s eerie, is a better way to put it,” Warddrip says.

Jack, the shop cat who’s been at the store for 14 years, used to hang out with the lunchtime crowd. He’d wander out to the gazebo in front of the store for attention and treats but, Warddrip says, “those folks aren’t there right now because they’re limiting the amount of time they’re spending outside of the home.” The Warddrips know most of their customers. Now they see them on a monthly, rather than a weekly, basis. 

Along with “an army of trapping volunteers,” Adam Myatt has continued his work during Covid-19 as an active board member of Feral Change. Myatt’s mantra is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Feral Change is “dedicated to helping the Oakland community control and manage its feral and homeless cat population.” Myatt—a.k.a. the Cat Man of Oakland—defines his role as someone who “keeps the machine rolling.” He acts as a conduit to connect trappers with people who contact him about feral cat sightings. He also teaches people the trapping trade so they can do it themselves. Or, as on the day I spoke with him, he can transport a van of 15 to 20 cats to the Richmond-based Fix Our Ferals for neutering.

Resources are thin during these “weird times,” but Myatt is an expert at dispensing the crucial tenets of TNR, education and communication.

“I can point you to the resources to make it happen,” he says. “You don’t want to show up in someone’s neighborhood and start snatching cats. Leave notes. Put up a sign, ‘Have these cats been fixed?’ Talk to your neighbors.” 

Myatt, along with Ann Dunn, co-founded Cat Town in 2014. Although he left the organization on a sabbatical in 2016, he continues to admire the way they’ve approached their mission during the pandemic.

“They still have their foster homes; they’re still doing virtual adoptions like crazy,” Matt says. He believes they’ve been highly adaptive. “What’s the situation? How do we continue and still help? That’s the spirit of Cat Town and of Oakland.”

Star-Crossed

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For many months I’ve wondered about the inclusion of astrology in the Pacific Sun. What? You could be having a column on Zoroastrianism, for all the ways there are of coping with life on Earth. Or a humor column. That would be great! We need one now more than ever. Whatever happened to Stan Sinberg? In all the column-inches that you devote to the pseudo-knowledge of astrology, you could be putting out real facts about the real happenings of the day. Oh!? It’s entertainment? Excuuuuse me!

Tenney Ford

San Rafael

Diseased

Friends, let us talk about herd immunity. Covid-19 is ugly. It is a virus. It will make a large number of us sick. It will kill some of us. Those who don’t die will most likely develop some sort of immunity. This disease will steal lives. But here’s what it can’t do; it can’t steal souls. It is another disease altogether that is doing that.

I ask you, what kind of disease makes men chase a young jogger, or go into a person’s house and shoot them then say “Oops, wrong address?” What God-Forsaken disease makes a man so sick that he believes, forgive me for saying this, that he can taunt a man in handcuffs as he kneels on his neck? What kind of disease is this that takes the soul of one man and then the body of another? 

I ask you as Americans, how many have to die before we declare this a state of emergency and quarantine those infected? How long until we have gotten sick enough of racism that we develop a herd immunity?

I fear, my friends, that we are a long way off. And for this more than anything, I am incredibly sorry.

Jolene Cox

San Rafael

UPDATED: Memorial Hospital Workers Protest Proposed Contract

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UPDATED: Memorial Hospital Workers Protest Proposed Contract

Healthcare workers represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) gathered in front of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital on Wednesday to protest a proposed new contract which the union says would result in a two-fold increase in hundreds of workers’ health insurance costs.

In a press release distributed ahead of the four-hour socially-distanced protest, the event’s organizers accused Providence St. Joseph Health, the Santa Rosa hospital’s parent company, of trying to pass costs onto workers while paying for newspaper advertisements praising healthcare workers for their bravery and sacrifices during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The proposed change could increase healthcare premium costs for almost 800 workers from $1,887 to $4,609 per year, among other negative impacts on workers, according to the union.

“We have caregivers who reported for work while their homes burned down in the 2017 wildfires and while their families were being evacuated in the 2019 wildfires because they’re committed to serving our patients,” said Steven Batson, an anesthesia technician, said in the press release. “Now, during this pandemic, hospital management calls us ‘heroes’ and runs paid ads to convince the public that they care about us, but actions speak louder than words. They clearly don’t respect or value us.”

Memorial’s parent company is much larger than one might expect. According to its website, Providence has “51 hospitals, more than 800 clinics and a comprehensive range of health and social services across Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington.” St. Joseph Health, the Santa Rosa hospital’s direct parent company with operations in California and Texas, is one of eight chains owned by Providence.

In the past few months, Providence has received at least $509 million in federal Covid-19 stimulus funding, a healthy addition to the company’s $12 billion in cash reserves, the New York Times reported on May 25.


Still, Melissa Tizon, a Providence spokesperson, told the New York Times that the company lost $179 million in April “even with the federal grants.”

“Remember, the pandemic isn’t over,” Tizon added. “We need to be financially stable for the next possible wave.”

For its part, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital reported $72.8 million in operating profits last year, according to data filed with the state. A hospital spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

Workers on the picket line worried that Providence’s financial stability will come from in the form of pay cuts and reduced benefits for workers.

Mito Gonzales, a lab technician who has worked for Memorial for nearly 25 years through multiple owners, stood on the picket line on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re tired of all the takeaways,” Gonvales said. “When we bargained our current contract three years ago, we figured there wasn’t much more they could take away.”

The new contract is all the more insulting for workers because of the three emergencies the staff has worked through: first the October 2017 and November 2019 wildfires and now the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the wildfires, Memorial remained open while Kaiser and Sutter closed their doors and evacuated, says Tammera Campbell, a radiological technician who has worked at Memorial for 12 years.

Now, Memorial workers’ hours have been cut by as much as eight hours per week during the pandemic despite the fact that Providence received millions of dollars in aid from the federal government, according to Campbell.

While she acknowledges that Memorial has lost revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she argues that those losses shouldn’t be passed on to workers. Providence could cover Covid-19 costs with the $12 billion it has stashed in savings along with the hundreds of millions the company recently received from the federal government, Campbell says.

“It feels like they are using the pandemic against us,” Gonzales adds.

UPDATE, JUNE 5: 


In an emailed response received yesterday, Christina Harris, a St. Joseph Health spokesperson, said that the New York Times article “does not provide a complete picture of the economic impact the virus has had on our organization.”

Harris cited the need to purchase additional supplies at the same time that elective surgeries, a moneymaker for hospitals, were delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Still, it’s worth noting that all hospitals have faced similar restrictions and workers speaking on the picket line Wednesday said they expected further cutbacks in the new contract whether or not Covid-19 had hit.

In the same email, Frank Beirne, the regional Chief Operating Officer for St.
Joseph Health in Northern California, gave the following statement about the NUHW picket:

“At St. Joseph Health, we want the same thing as our
caregivers represented by unions—contracts that provide competitive pay and
benefits to support caregivers and their families, and allow us to attract and
retain the best talent while remaining good stewards of our resources.

It is important to note that informational picketing is not
a strike and does not impact patient care in any way. We respect the
right of our caregivers to participate in these activities, but we are
disappointed that NUHW at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital is picketing against our
current contract offer. That contract offer is as good as, and even better
than, contracts that NUHW members ratified at every other St. Joseph Health
ministry in Northern California.”

‘Them Belly Full’

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‘Them Belly Full’

“Them belly full, but we hungry / A hungry mob is an angry mob”

Those opening lines are from a 1974 song by reggae musician, Bob Marley, in describing the reaction of people to their plight against hunger brought on by the “system.” Marley, born in “British” Jamaica, knew something about oppression, reflected by his song lyrics.

However, this anthem could easily be sung by people hungry not only for food, but for justice. In American Society, where for centuries, African Americans continue to be treated as second-class citizens—“them belly full,” all right! It’s not that black lives don’t matter, it’s that they don’t matter enough!

I am old enough to remember, 55 years ago, the Watts “riots” while living in Los Angeles. The subsequent summers of the late 1960’s saw many urban ghettos aflame, throughout our country. The lethal combustion of summer heat and years of collective internal frustration and anger in those communities that were denied the equality of opportunity to provide for themselves and their families produced toxic consequences and further despair. All it took was “one incident,” usually involving an infraction of the law—and human rage scorched the landscape—city blocks were reminiscent of war zones. Investigations would be carried out and commissions formed to seek the causes of the “unrest,” with remedies promised but rarely fulfilled.

“To Protect and Serve” is understood to be the underlying coda by which law enforcement operates on the streets. Unfortunately, too often in our still racially segregated communities, the police force is looked upon, as it was many decades ago, as an occupying force.

The latest victims’ names now yelled out and seen written on the placards among the demonstrators may change as the years go on. The issues don’t! It’s not rocket surgery! The answers are within our reach.

The question we must ask ourselves is—are we, as Americans, “Belly full”; and hungry and angry enough to change?

E.G.Singer lives in Santa Rosa.

Poetry as Prophecy

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Poetry as Prophecy

I’m hazy on the details, but apparently a couple of freelance astronauts parked a Tesla at the International Space Station, Trump outlawed Twitter or something and the river of sh*t, racism, murder and disease that America presently resembles caught on fire. I dunno for sure—it’s difficult to sip from the news firehouse while wearing this N-95 mask. 

Frankly, the only thought I’ve had of late is a lyric from a song by Yacht:

“I thought the future would be cooler / I thought the brave world would be newer.”

The future has proven neither cool nor new as the same old stories cycle back into the media—white cops perpetrating violence against people of color, a mystery disease killing thousands and the finger of an entertainment industry figure resting atop the Button. This is not the nuclear bang promised Gen X at the apogee of the Cold War. This is worse and somehow more radioactive.

So, do any other lyrics fit this moment? Thousands. Any line from the “Ball of Confusion” works as well, if not better, as does “The End” by the Doors—before the snake bit (“This is the end, my only friend, the end”—too doomsday?). As Dorian Lynskey at The Guardian points out, however, the lyric of our times is not from a song but a poem and that poem is and always has been William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming.”

Lynskey wrote an analysis about the poem’s enduring utility as shorthand for troubled times that included a look at some of the work’s greatest hits:

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,”

And…

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.”

Sound familiar?

“If it feels especially potent now, perhaps it is because we have become painfully accustomed to the idea that progress is fragile and it is all too easy to fall back,” writes Lynskey. “The only consolation the poem offers is the knowledge that, for one reason or another, every generation has felt the same apocalyptic shudder that Yeats did 100 years ago.”

Perhaps it’s my own naivete or a relative lack of years but this turn of the cycle seems … different. There is a constellation of bright lights just over the horizon and if you squint at these stars just right you might even see what they spell: To misquote Yeats, “Surely some revolution is at hand.”

Daedalus Howell slouches toward Bethlehem at DHowell.com.

More North Bay Summer Camps Are Going Online

Kids can explore nature and art from home with these virtual offerings.
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Man’s Jaw Fractured, Teeth Knocked Out By Law Enforcement During Protest

At a protest on Sunday night an unknown law enforcement officer shot a plastic grenade at a protester less than 15-feet away, severely injuring the man, according to a press release sent to local media outlets yesterday. ...
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Communication Breakdown

This week, as widespread protests against police brutality engulfed cities around the country, two North Bay Sheriffs made headlines for reasons not directly tied to the protests. Instead, the top lawmen in Marin and Sonoma counties were embroiled in scandals due to poor communication. On Friday, during his daily press briefing, Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle...
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Virtual art show examines appeal of the West Coast

Four years ago, while vacationing in Europe, a man in a Copenhagen train station asked me where I was traveling from. “California,” I said. “California!” exclaimed the man, who then broke out in a chorus of “L.A. Woman” by the Doors. Such is the appeal of the Golden State, and by extension, the entirety of the West Coast. From the Wild West...
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JUSTIN Time

There’s an old school of thought that holds that an “eaux” suffix used in lieu of an anglo “O” is inherently classy. You know, in a “retreaux” kind of way, similar to how your dog Fido cleans up to become Fideux. By extension, this is how I feel about Bordeaux varietal—they’re classy—and yes, I can go from typology to logography...
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Covid-19 creates cause for paws

People flocked to shelters during the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic to foster or adopt an animal according to Elena Bicker, executive director at Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF). “Everybody was on lockdown and wanted the unconditional love and companionship of a furry friend,” Bicker says, about the...
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Star-Crossed

For many months I’ve wondered about the inclusion of astrology in the Pacific Sun. What? You could be having a column on Zoroastrianism, for all the ways there are of coping with life on Earth. Or a humor column. That would be great! We need one now more than ever. Whatever happened to Stan Sinberg? In all the column-inches...
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UPDATED: Memorial Hospital Workers Protest Proposed Contract

Healthcare workers represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) gathered in front of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital on Wednesday to protest a proposed new contract which the union says would result in a two-fold increase in hundreds of workers’ health insurance costs. ...
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‘Them Belly Full’

“Them belly full, but we hungry / A hungry mob is an angry mob” Those opening lines are from a 1974 song by reggae musician, Bob Marley, in describing the reaction of people to their plight against hunger brought on by the “system.” Marley, born in “British” Jamaica, knew something about oppression, reflected by his song lyrics. However, this anthem could...
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Poetry as Prophecy

I’m hazy on the details, but apparently a couple of freelance astronauts parked a Tesla at the International Space Station, Trump outlawed Twitter or something and the river of sh*t, racism, murder and disease that America presently resembles caught on fire. I dunno for sure—it’s difficult to sip from the news firehouse while wearing this N-95 mask.  Frankly, the only...
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