Dec. 30: Creative Practice in Santa Rosa

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Dec. 30: Creative Practice in Santa Rosa

Life coach and art therapist Christi Corradi has been helping people overcome self-doubt and construct more positive lives under the program Mastering the Art of Life. This weekend, she leads a workshop to help unlock inner creative energy and start the New Year on the right path. Make This Your Best Year Yet is a hand-on adventure where participants can craft and paint whatever they desire, no art experience required. In the process, attendees learn something new about themselves and carry that newfound knowledge into 2018 for the better. Saturday, Dec. 30, at Full Circle Studio, 360 Tesconi Circle, Santa Rosa. 10am. $47–$97. 707.478.8147.

Dec. 31: Fresh Start in Sonoma

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Dec. 31: Fresh Start in Sonoma

Whether he’s living in Tahoe or on the Hawaiian Islands, sushi chef Jacob Talbert has been making the best of raw fish for over two decades. The culinary power behind Rocket Sushi in Sonoma from 2013 to 2016, Talbert is currently a mobile operation, catering and crafting under the name Sushinoma. This New Year’s Eve, Talbert drops in on fellow Sonoma spot Starling Bar for a Sushinoma Pop-Up that pairs delicious fish with a bevy of cocktails and libations. After filling up on sushi, dance the year away with Sonoma Sound Syndicate until the ball drops on Sunday, Dec. 31, at Starling Bar, 19380 Hwy. 12, Sonoma. Reservations required for seatings; music starts at 10pm. 707.938.7442.

Count It Down

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Count It Down

Allow us to be the first to close the books on 2017. With old acquaintances, both forgotten and remembered, we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet—and we’ll start with these New Year’s Eve parties around the North Bay. From delectable dinners to cabaret shows and blowout concerts, here’s a selection of ways to ring in 2018.

SONOMA COUNTY

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown Kids and families are invited to join master of ceremonies Snoopy and the gang at the Charles M. Schulz Museum for an afternoon of crafts and games, with a big balloon drop and root beer toasts at noon and 3pm. Hey, it’s New Year’s somewhere. 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa. 10am to 4pm. $5–$12. 707.579.4452.

New Year’s Eve on the Square Since reunifying earlier this year, downtown Santa Rosa’s Courthouse Square has become a beacon of fun in Sonoma County. This New Year’s Eve is no exception, as the square welcomes families for an evening of live entertainment, activities for kids and several vendors serving food and drinks. Third Street and Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa, 5pm. Free admission; catered VIP packages available at $125. 707.701.3620.

Mischief Masquerade The North Bay Cabaret never fails to raise a few eyebrows, and master of ceremonies Jake Ward is pulling out all the stops for this third annual New Year’s Eve spectacular. Featured live performances include Sonoma County burlesque star Dangerous Dollie, musician and inventor Andy Graham, improv comedy troupe the Gentlemen Bastards, slam poet Jordan Ranft and others. The masquerade also features two full bars, dinner and bites, a photo booth and a Champagne toast at midnight. Whiskey Tip, 1910 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa. 8pm. $20–$25; 21 and over. northbaycabaret.com.

New Year’s Eve at Barndiva The Healdsburg culinary destination once again offers two separate menus of elegant dining in a festive and fun atmosphere. In the restaurant, a six-course meal of classic favorites serves up prime sirloin and black truffle mac ‘n’ cheese, with special wine pairings available. In the relaxed bistro setting, the music gets pumping as you work off the calories with a dance or two. Reservations are recommended. 231 Center St., Healdsburg. $145 and up. 707.431.0100.

Petaluma Museum’s Gala Concert & A Night in Vienna Sky Hill Cultural Alliance and the Petaluma Museum Association present their ninth annual New Year’s Eve gala concert full of classical flair and marvelous entertainment from members of the San Francisco Symphony. After that show, the action moves to nearby Hermann Sons Hall for “A Night in Vienna,” featuring many traditional Viennese dishes and desserts, and waltzes performed by a live orchestra. This black-tie-optional event toasts the new year in stellar fashion. Gala concert happens at 20 Fourth St., Petaluma, 6pm. $50–$70. A Night in Vienna happens at 860 Western Ave., Petaluma. 8:30pm. $150. 707.778.4398.

New Year’s Eve at Spoonbar Whether you want an amazing dinner to start the night’s fun, or a spot for late-night cocktails to wrap up your New Year’s Eve, Spoonbar has what you’re looking for. First up, a decadent five-course meal boasts luxurious caviar, roasted prawns and Black Angus fillet on the menu. After the meal, DJs get the dance party going. If you show up late, you can still partake in the dessert bar and sip on handcrafted cocktails before a glittering Champagne toast rings in the new year.
219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. 6pm, dinner; 10pm, party. $125 dinner; $55 party. 707.433.7222.

Totally Awesome New Year’s Eve Party Break out your best ’80s gear and turn back the clock for a radical NYE celebration at the Flamingo Resort. The ’80s invasion includes throwback party band Aqua Nett and DJ Refugee mixing it up in the ballroom and lounge. Full bars and concessions fuel the fun, and the resort hotel is offering special guest room packages with a deluxe breakfast buffet the next morning. 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa. 8:30pm. $55–$75; 21 and over. 707.545.8530.

Locals Low-Key New Year’s Eve The lively Sonoma Speakeasy is taking it easy this New Year’s Eve and letting folks cool it down while they countdown to 2018 with an acoustic evening featuring Left Coast Syncopators, an offshoot of the jubilant Rhythmtown Jive. Join local musicians Ken Jacobs, Kevin Zuffi, Tim Eschliman and Lou A. Rodriguez and slow-dance the new year. 452 First St. E., Ste. G, Sonoma. 9pm. $10. 707.996.1364.

New Year’s Eve Bootleg Ball Can you imagine what New Year’s Eve must have been like during Prohibition? Well, Sonoma Cider is laying out all the good stuff that came from bootlegging in the Roaring Twenties, including cider, beer, wine, cocktails and bubbly. There’s also a load of casino games and live music from local favorites Dixie Giants, Oddjob Ensemble and Hannah Jern-Miller. Plus, three-course dinner options are available. 44-F Mill St., Healdsburg. 7pm. $65–$150;
21 and over. 707.723.7018.

New Year’s Eve Purple Party If funk is what you want, funk is what you’ll get at Twin Oaks Roadhouse. First up, Bay Area world-beat buzz makers Free Peoples set the tone with a mix of soul, reggae and funk that has defined the band since 2005. Then, Sonoma County’s Marshall House Project lay down some of the slickest grooves this side of the Family Stone with eclectic and energetic rhythms. 5745 Old Redwood Hwy., Penngrove. 9pm. $25; 21 and over. 707.795.5118.

New Year’s Eve at Astro Motel Purchased and renovated by the team behind Sonoma County’s beloved Spinster Sisters restaurant earlier this year, the newly chic Astro Motel near Juilliard Park is ready to open its doors for a New Year’s Eve party. First, dine at the Spinster Sisters with a three-course prix fixe dinner. Then, walk to the Astro for a night of music and toasting, with Santa Rosa genre-bending blues star Karen Shook performing until the ball drops and the Champagne pops. Rooms and dinner reservations are booking fast, so reserve your spot today. Spinster Sisters,
401 South A St., 5:30pm to 9:30pm. $65. 707.528.7100.
Astro Motel, 323 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa. 9pm. Rooms start at $250. 707.200.4655.

NAPA COUNTY

Brian Culbertson Since opening in downtown Napa, the Blue Note Jazz Club has brought world-class talent to the North Bay, and to close the year, the club welcomes back contemporary jazz superstar Brian Culbertson for three nights of music, including a massive NYE celebration. Dec 29–31. 1030 Main St., Napa. Friday and Saturday, 7:30pm and 9:30pm; Sunday, 7:30pm and 10:30pm. $55 and up; $69–$99 NYE show. 707.880.2300.

Red Tie Affair The Westin Verasa in Napa is seeing double and throwing not one but two parties to ring in 2018. First up, a dinner party at La Toque offers a Champagne reception before a sumptuous six-course dinner with a sommelier wine-pairing option. After the meal, the Red Tie Affair kicks off next door at Bank and Bar, with dancing and cocktails leading up to the Champagne toast. 1314 Mckinstry St., Napa. Dinner at 7:30pm; after-party at 9pm. $75 and up. 888.627.7169.

Carlos Reyes & Friends If formal attire is not your forte, Napa also offers an electric and eclectic night of music from renowned Bay Area harpist and violinist Carlos Reyes, who welcomes several guests to Silo’s for two shows. Special desserts, party favors, bubbly and down-home fun culminate in two ball drops, one for each coast. 530 Main St., Napa. 7pm, 10pm. $75–$100. 707.251.5833.

New Year’s Eve Dinner Train The Napa Wine Train is a popular adventure for North Bay wine and travel enthusiasts, and this New Year’s Eve event boasts a night of culinary delights aboard the train. Sparkling wine and appetizers await you at the station, and a decadent four-course meal is served while the sights of the Napa Valley pass you by during a three-and-a-half-hour ride.
1275 McKinstry St., Napa. Reception at 5pm; train boarding begins at 6pm. $229 and up. 800.427.4124.

Speakeasy Dinner & After-Party Wine country public house Goose & Gander’s annual New Year’s Eve bash includes a five-course dinner, cocktails and authentic ragtime piano by Bob Ringwald before DJ Rotten Robbie spins vinyl in an after-party perfect for flappers and dappers of any era. 1245 Spring St., St. Helena. Dinner at 6pm; $165 plus wine pairing and dancing. After-party only, 9pm; $40. 707.967.8779.

New Year’s Eve Getaway Celebrate New Year’s Eve Napa Valley–style as the Meritage Resort offers multiple options for dinner, including dinners in the Estate Cave with Trinitas Cellars and a “Taste of the World” dinner and buffet in the Meritage Ballroom. Both dinners conclude with the annual ballroom celebration and a midnight sparkling toast and balloon drop. A two-night stay is required to fully get away for the holiday. 875 Bordeaux Way, Napa. 855.318.1768.

New Year’s Eve Dinner & Party at Silverado The resort makes a day of it with a New Year’s Eve dinner that features four courses and includes complimentary admission to the big party, with DJs spinning the hits, party favors and sparkling wine toast
at the midnight balloon drop. 1600 Atlas Peak Road, Napa. Dinner, 5pm to 9pm; $30–$90. Party, 9pm; $35. 707.257.5400.

MARIN COUNTY

Noon Year’s Eve Ring in the New Year with your little ones at the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Kids will love the celebratory ball drop at noon, dance to DJ Mancub and get busy at various art activities. In addition, the family can enjoy access to the museum’s indoor and outdoor exhibits. Fort Baker, 557 McReynolds Road, Sausalito. 9am to 2pm. $14–$15. 415.339.3900.

New Year’s Eve Standup Comedy Showcase Osher Marin JCC’s eighth annual New Year’s Eve event boasts more laughs than you can shake a bottle of Champagne at. This year, the showcase finds five smart and clean comedians on the bill, hosted by Jeff Applebaum, who has spent over 20 years making crowds laugh in his adopted hometown of San Francisco. The rest of the lineup includes standup stars like Andrew Norelli, a veteran of both late night talk shows and TED Talks, and relatable comedian and writer Milt Abel. A selection of cocktails, beer and wine start the party and a midnight toast wraps it up.
200 N. San Pedro oaRd, San Rafael. Pre-show party starts at 7:30pm. $32 and up. 415.444.8000.

New Year’s Eve at Throckmorton Theatre The community comes together to break bread, literally, in this New Year’s Eve party that feeds the masses with a symbolic offering of bread and other bites and promises a chance to dance the night away with a headlining set from Marin’s country rock veteran Danny Click & the Hell Yeahs. The theater also hosts the good vibration of Tivoli, with Tibetan bowls, native flutes, bells and more ringing in the year. Champagne will be flowing and spirits are sure to be high,
142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. 7:30pm. $25–$50. 415.383.9600.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood A popular sight in the North Bay, the psychedelic rock and roll family who operates somewhere in the wilds of Marin County dubbed “Unicorn, California” are back at Terrapin Crossroads for another round of New Year’s festivities. This past year saw
the brotherhood release their acclaimed roots-rock album Barefoot in the Head, and now the former Black Crowes frontman and his bearded band of merry men once again fly their freak flag on Dec. 29–31, 100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael. Friday and Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 9pm. $50; $80–$200. 415.524.2773.

Lucero One of the hardest working bands for nearly 20 years, Memphis musical institution Lucero lay down three nights of alternative rock in Mill Valley this New Year’s Eve, and they’re inviting different local stars to join them each night. On Friday, Marin country-rock raconteur Victoria George opens the weekend with a Nashville-meets–San Francisco sound. On Saturday, reliable roots-rock outfit San Geronimo descend from the hills of West Marin for a show of what critics call California Soul. On Sunday, San Francisco staple Travis Hayes offers a heaping helping of emotionally stirring folk-rock. Three night passes are available, so Lucero fanatics can get a whole year’s worth of the band’s guitar-driven, denim-clad rock ‘n’ roll on Dec. 29–31, at Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley. 9pm; 21 and over. Friday and Saturday, $42–$47; Sunday, $87–$97; three-night pass, $157. 415.388.3850.

New Year’s Eve Sound Healing Groove The ever-enchanting Harmonia Wellness Center and social club says farewell to 2017 and welcomes 2018 with a loving and eclectic community celebration. Start the night in the Kava Lounge, before getting into the groove with the Sonic Shamanic’s assortment of gongs, singing bowls, drums and more. After midnight, let it all hang down by sipping on elixirs and Champagne, dancing to DJs and basking in the glow of the new year and possibilities to come. 2200 Marinship Way, Sausalito. 8pm. $75–$100. 415.332.1432.

NYE at the Center Mill Valley Recreation and Piazza D’Angelo present the party of the year with live music from the Sonic Steps and headliners Notorious. Enjoy complimentary Champagne upon entry plus delicious appetizers throughout the night, no host full bar, and festive party favors to heighten the mood during an exhilarating countdown to midnight. Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley. 8pm. $70; 21 and over. 415.383.1370.

New Year’s Eve Prix Fixe Dinner Show San Rafael’s premier supper club Fenix knows how to cook up a good time. This year, Fenix mixes a delectable dinner with the power-packed sounds of Heartless, Northern California’s best tribute act to Heart.
919 Fourth St., San Rafael. 7pm. $125. 415.813.5600.

New Year’s Eve Celebration at Left Bank Brasserie The festive Brasserie is open all day with an à la carte menu and a four-course prix fixe dinner. While it’s sure to be packed all day, the last seating may be the first to fill up, as those who book 11pm reservations can expect to enjoy a complimentary sparkling wine toast and party favors at the stroke of midnight. 507 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur. Opens at 11am. $75 for prix fixe dinner. 415.927.3331.

Best of the San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition This gut-busting comedy show at the Marin Center’s Showcase Theatre rings in the new year with the funniest alumni of the internationally recognized standup competition. Several comedians will be on hand for this show, which always sells out well in advance. 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. 9pm. $40. 415.473.6800.

Boogie Under the Golden Gate New Year’s Eve With panoramic views of the Bay as a backdrop, the Travis Marina Bar & Grill, formerly the Presidio Yacht Club, welcomes western swing veterans the Lonestar Retrobates back for its seventh annual New Year’s Eve party. Boasting a boogie-woogie attitude, the ensemble welcomes popular vocalist Sylvia Herold to join in the harmonies and complimentary Champagne at midnight toasts to the new year in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. 1679 Sommerville Road, Sausalito. 9pm. $30–$40.

Next Time

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Next Time

It’s no exaggeration to say that I nearly died in the Nuns fire.

Around three in the morning on Oct. 9—and without any official warning from anyone (or any device) that a deadly catastrophe was unfolding—I left my home, only to be blinded by heavy smoke and swirling ash as I tried to navigate my car down Bennett Ridge, a mountainside community east of Santa Rosa.

It was an excruciatingly slow process, as visibility was nil. Flames surrounded the car and fell from above. There was no time for caution, only escape. The smoke blocked my vision and also made breathing difficult. As I drove down the road, neighboring houses were already succumbing—either fully engulfed or within moments of going up.

A quick and tense glance back at the house my parents bought in 1974 provided a view of embers falling from the sky, and the beginnings of a fire along what used to be a beautiful wooden deck—a fire that would annihilate my childhood home.

As the smoke cleared, the news was horrible. More than three quarters of the homes on Bennett Ridge were lost, and one of my neighbors had died.

But for hours leading up to this perilous escape, there hadn’t been a single warning from emergency officials, or from anyone. There were no blaring alarms, no police or fire sirens, no phone calls of warning. Around midnight, a car heading down the hill honked its horn, but that could have someone tooting a farewell after a Sunday-night visit. It certainly wasn’t an urgent message declaring a dire emergency or a need to evacuate. Those things never occurred on Bennett Ridge.

The Nuns fire hit Bennett Ridge hard, and a simulation created by the National Weather Service says the winds were likely between 75 and 90 miles per hour. The speed, force and intensity of the fire has given rise to the argument that an early-warning system may not have saved many houses. It’s hard to fight a fire that’s raining down from above and moving swiftly from treetop to treetop.

But it’s also true that an early-warning system may have given people enough time to salvage some personal belongings. I’d liked to have saved the American flag given to my mother at Arlington National Cemetery when my father, a Marine Corps war hero, was laid to rest. But there was no chance to grab those family heirlooms—or even a spare pair of shoes.

The absence of a regional early warning for Napa and Sonoma did not go unnoticed in those counties, and around the state, where fires continue to burn late into the year. But new legislation may address that.

The online journal Wildfire Today reported that the day before the series of fires forever changed Sonoma and Napa counties, “all cell phones in Rincon Valley east of Santa Rosa loudly blared with a message about a child abduction in San Francisco about 48 air miles to the south, but the Amber Alert system was not used as the wildfires bore down on the densely packed communities in Sonoma County.”

No such alert was issued in the early hours of the fire. Instead, local officials leaned on the Nixle and SoCo alert systems, which were inadequate to the task and wound up sending messages to fewer than 35,000 cell phone users, reported Wildfire Today, in a county of more than 500,000 people.

The Nixle and SoCo systems require people to opt-in or sign up in advance—but the Catch-22 was that if residents didn’t know to sign up in advance, chances are they didn’t. Most learned of the fires from first responders banging on their doors, or through fleeing neighbors, or because their house was already on fire.

It may be too little, too late for some in burned-out Bennett Ridge, but regional elected officials announced plans this month to get the whole state on the same page when it comes to an emergency alert system. As-yet-unwritten legislation would require a robust wireless alert system in all 58 counties and create standards for their use.

The program would utilize the existing wireless-emergency alert system administered by the FCC to provide early warnings from local officials. As has been widely reported, warnings were never issued in the North Bay fires through the so-called wireless-emergency alert (WEA) system set up by the feds. The new legislation would presumably standardize and update the WEA technology and protocols to promote wider use.

One of the would-be bill’s sponsors is Marin County–based State Assemblyman Marc Levine, whose spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty explained that WEAs are short, geographically targeted messages sent to mobile devices during emergencies. Marin County officials, particularly those in West Marin, have been paying close attention to developments on the early-warning front, given the daunting challenge of evacuating fire-sensitive areas along the coast, where the roads are few and the fire-fuel is ample.

The warnings range from presidential alerts, imminent-threat alerts and AMBER alerts. The first is issued in the event of a national emergency; the second alerts are issued for events such as the fire disasters this fall; and the third are issued when law enforcement enlists the public to help locate abducted children. The system has been stymied by insufficient upgrades that haven’t kept up with the pace of technology, which is one of the reasons that local officials did not use the system during the North Bay fires. Another reason the system wasn’t used, as offered early in the aftermath of the fire, was they didn’t want people to panic by issuing the warnings.

State Sen. Mike McGuire is onboard for the legislative push, and a staffer for the Healdsburg Democrat says the goal is to create emergency-alert uniformity among the counties. The North Bay delegation of McGuire, Levine, Assemblyman Jim Wood, Sen. Bill Dodd and Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry aims to offer legislation that will require every county in California to adopt the most up-to-date WEA system, with trained operators who can implement an evacuation order using the system.

The benefit of the WEA is that residents don’t have to opt-in or opt-out of it to get the geographically tailored warning. All you need is a cell phone or tablet that can receive the text-like message warning of imminent danger. (Another suggested reform would give more leeway to the number of characters that can be utilized in an alert.)

“Since WEAs are geographically targeted, most mobile phone users do not need to opt-in or be added to a registry,” Flaherty says.

“For example,” she adds, “let’s say an individual is a Los Angeles County resident but was visiting Sonoma County during the fires. If that individual had a WEA-capable mobile device, they should have received the mobile alert regardless of their residency in Los Angeles.”

According to the FCC, most major wireless providers carry WEA-capable devices. Individuals can confirm if their device is capable of receiving the alerts and that they are available in their area by checking with their wireless provider. It’s up to the provider to opt-in or out under the program, says the FCC. “Wireless companies volunteer to participate in the WEA system, which is the result of a unique public-private partnership between the FCC, FEMA and the wireless industry to enhance public safety,” says the FCC website.

The WEA was created in 2012 under the Warning, Alert and Response Network Act (WARN), and since then, reports the FCC, some 21,000 WEA alerts have been issued. None, however, were issued in the North Bay fires.

“The local alerts themselves have to be issued by local authorities,” says Doherty. “In that way, local providers must do the opting-in. While FEMA is the host of WEAs, individual alerting authorities such as cities or counties must receive training before receiving alert-issuing authority. This is why we want to see counties given the resources and training necessary to ensure all counties have alert-issuing authority.”

There’s no projected cost to implement the program, and it’s unclear what the bill will do to encourage wireless companies to participate.

“We will have to see what the Appropriations Committee decides in May,” says Flaherty. “Currently, it is still a legislative concept, the bill still needs to be drafted and introduced. We expect to know closer to spring what its timeline for approval will look like.”

Spring is just in time for what used to be known as “fire season” in California, which officials now warn is a year-round phenomenon.

Additional reporting by Tom Gogola.

Kiss Off

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Kiss Off

‘Under normal circumstances,” says comedian Will Durst, “making jokes about imminent nuclear war and the total annihilation of the human species would not be appropriate. But at this year’s Big Fat Year-End Kiss-Off Comedy Show, there probably will be some stuff about Trump and Kim Jong-un because megalomaniacs with daddy issues and strange haircuts are always good for a gag.”

Appropriate or not, Durst has returned, once again, for his annual, year-ending comedy showcase, featuring a cavalcade of six comics: Durst and his wife, Debi, Johnny Steele, Mike Bossier, Mari Magaloni and Arthur Gaus. Together, they will be appearing at Sonoma’s Sebastiani Theater on Jan. 4 at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg on Jan. 6. Blending skits and bits and standup sets, the sextet will hit Sonoma County fueled by a sense of comic conviction, a prickly touch of moral outrage and a wicked (and hilarious) sense of humor.

The show marks the 25th year that Durst and company have staged the increasingly popular show, gradually turning New Year’s week into his own personal big, fat, year-end holiday.

“We actually didn’t call the show ‘Big Fat’ for years,” Durst says, “because at first it was lean and mean. But it grew, and now we’re doing, like, 13 shows in 12 cities. We’re doing Sonoma County twice, and two venues in Marin. We’re doing Walnut Creek. We’re spreading our mocking and taunting from one end of the Bay Area to the other.”

It will not be hard, he says, to find things about 2017 to make fun of. “Some years,” he says, “there is just not much to work with, not very good grist to run through the comedy mill. But this year—wow! The grist has been ultra-fertile and fecund. We have enough material for two, three hours. So we get to cherry-pick the very best stuff. And it’s gonna be amazing.”

Among the various topics the team will be tackling, he says, are the National Anthem controversy, Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech and the recent Star Wars movie.

“And of course,” he says, “I might take a few swipes at the current occupant of the White House. Because until the bombs actually fly, he’s still pretty funny.”

One Plant at a Time

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One Plant at a Time

‘Back in the day, I was a flower child,” Tsouprake says. “Now I want to be the poster girl for good, clean, lab-tested, organic cannabis products.”

For two decades, Debra Tsouprake worked as an emergency medical technician. As a single mom, she raised three boys, now grown men and working in the cannabis industry. She has been to Burning Man four times, plus she has a degree in fine arts from Santa Rosa Junior College.

Tsouprake is the CEO of Green Heart Alternative Health Care, which specializes in products—tinctures, creams, edibles and confections—made by women for the health and wellbeing of women, though men aren’t turned away. Not surprisingly, given her medical background as an EMT, Tsouprake makes house calls and consults with patients who are too sick or infirm to go to a dispensary.

“What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another,” she says. “My patients range in age from 40 to 90. I don’t leave packages on doorsteps. I sit at the kitchen table and I educate everyone involved. The last thing I want is to get grandmothers high. My aim is to help them manage pain and wean them from harmful pharmaceuticals. I help them figure out the right dosage and I check back regularly. I make sure no one has an allergic reaction.”

Tsouprake is searching for a retail space where she can operate her business. In fact, Santa Rosa officials insist that if she wants to continue in the cannabis industry, she cannot remain an online-only business. It’s brick-and-mortar or nothing. Finding retail space has not been easy.

“Landlords offer huge warehouses, which I can’t use,” she says. “Others are wary when they find out the nature of my operation.”

Tsouprake is relatively new to the industry, though she began to smoke marijuana as a teenager in the late 1960s. Thanks to experts like Patrick King—”the Soil King”—she has learned how to grow organically. This year she harvested early when ash from the fires began to fall on her property. “The buds were small,” she says. “They still had a ways to go to reach maturity.”

Even sadder for her was the fact that growers she knows lost their homes and their crops in Glen Ellen and Santa Rosa. Still, Tsouprake is an optimist. She thinks that Sonoma County will help small growers.

“What we have is a beginning,” she says. “Nothing is set in stone. Politicians are getting a crash course in cannabis. We have to change the world one plant at a time.”

Jonah Raskin is the author of ‘Marijuanaland: Dispatches from an American War.’

Letters to the Editor: December 27, 2017

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Letters to the Editor: December 27, 2017

Taxing

Democrats and other liberals fail to understand two fundamental beliefs of those who support the tax reform bill: First, people who have money should not be required to support those who do not. Liberals insist that women have the right to control their own bodies, yet they don’t think people have the right to control their own money. The rich should be able to choose if and when to donate their money to charity.

Second, the federal government is too big and wastes taxpayers’ money on things for which the government should not be responsible. The only way to shrink the government is to reduce taxes, and because those with the most money pay the most taxes, cutting taxes for the rich is the most effective way to shrink the government.

The bottom line is, so what if the tax reform bill is a massive tax cut for the rich? What makes liberals think they are entitled to rich people’s money? The point of the bill is not to help rich people, but to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. Now, Congress needs to take the next step and cut spending.

—Alan Wayne

Santa Rosa

The new tax bill is tax code change and not tax reform. The plan leaves in place the bad practices and procedures of dividing us into classes, ignoring the
$9 trillion tax evasion problem over the next 10 years, taxing production instead of consumption, deceitful practice of taxing business continues, feeding the swamp instead of draining it, using government power of “direct taxation” and keeping in place the Sixteenth Amendment that enables the second requirement of a communist state: a graduated income tax per The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. The best plan is the FairTax Act of 2017 (HR 25). Real leaders address the root causes of bad taxation that are taxing production instead of consumption and direct taxation enabled by the Sixteenth Amendment.

—Paul Livingston

Jacksonville, Florida

Let’s Keep Talking

Last week’s visit by Flame and Fortune in the American West author Gregory Simon to Santa Rosa prompted a lively discussion about how and where we rebuild after the fires. Based on the aftermath of the Oakland Hills fires and others across the west, the book examines the planning, political and profit-making mechanisms that contribute to fire disasters like we’ve seen in Sonoma County and now Southern California.

The Greenbelt Alliance is advocating for a resilient rebuild and recovery that reduces fire risk. We also support new homes and shops getting built near transit in existing towns and cities and along the SMART line. However, Greenbelt Alliance is not, and never has, called for a building moratorium, which your article (“Hot Topics,” Dec. 20) suggests. Let’s keep the dialogue going.

—Teri Shore

Regional Director,
North Bay Greenbelt Alliance

No Choice

The Trump administration decided that animals raised for food under the USDA Organic label need not be treated any less cruelly than those in conventional farming. The decision reverses years of U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, which held that the “organic” label should impose minimal ethical, health and environmental standards. For the animals, this included adequate space, light and access to the outdoors. This will no longer be the case.

Caring consumers opting for “organic” animal products, to reduce their role in subsidizing these abuses, will now have no choice but to switch to plant-based foods, including the widely available nut- and grain-based meats, milks, cheeses and ice creams.

—Larry Rogawtiz

Santa Rosa

Write to us at le*****@******an.com.

Post Note

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Post Note

Movie critics have hailed
The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep (pictured) as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. But the real-life political realities of Graham and her newspaper are another story.

The Post comes 20 years after Graham’s autobiography Personal History appeared and won enormous praise. The book is a poignant account of Graham’s quest to overcome sexism, learn the newspaper business and gain self-esteem. However, as media history, it is deceptive.

“I don’t believe that whom I was or wasn’t friends with interfered with our reporting at any of our publications,” Graham wrote. But Robert Parry, who was a Washington correspondent for Newsweek during the last three years of the 1980s, has shed light on the shadows of Graham’s reassuring prose.

Parry said he witnessed “self-censorship because of the coziness between Post-Newsweek executives and senior national security figures.”

Among his examples: “On one occasion in 1987, I was told that my story about the CIA funneling anti-Sandinista money through Nicaragua’s Catholic Church had been watered down because the story needed to be run past Mrs. Graham, and Henry Kissinger was her house guest that weekend. Apparently, there was fear among the top editors that the story as written might cause some consternation.”

Graham’s book exudes affection for Kissinger, Robert McNamara and other luminaries who remained her close friends until she died in 2001. In sharp contrast, Graham devoted dozens of righteous pages to vilifying Post press operators who went on strike in 1975. To her, the thuggish deeds by a few of the strikers were “unforgivable”—while men like McNamara and Kissinger were wonderful human beings after they oversaw horrendous slaughter in Southeast Asia.

In Graham’s world, elites mattered most. Although widely touted as a feminist parable, her Pulitzer Prize–winning autobiography lacks solidarity for women without affluence or white skin. They barely seemed to exist in her range of vision; painful realities of class and racial biases were dim, faraway specks.

Graham’s consent to report on the Pentagon Papers in June 1971 was laudable, helping to expose lies that had greased the wheels of the war machinery with such horrific consequences in Vietnam. But the Washington Post was instrumental in avidly promoting the lies that made the Vietnam War possible in the first place. No amount of rave reviews or Oscar nominations for The Post will change that awful truth.

Norman Solomon is the coordinator of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of a dozen books including “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.”

Familiar Ground

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Familiar Ground

‘Nice to be home this time of year,” says Tommy Castro, speaking from his home in San Rafael. The veteran Bay Area blues rocker and his band the Painkillers have just returned from back-to-back tours of the U.S. and Europe to promote their new album, Stompin’ Ground.

“We’re looking forward to getting back to the Mystic Theatre on New Year’s,” he adds. For several years, the Tommy Castro Band was a staple at the Petaluma venue on New Year’s Eve. Now, after a brief hiatus, Castro is ringing in the new year with the historic theater once again on Sunday, Dec. 31.

First forming the Tommy Castro Band in San Francisco in 1991, one year before the Mystic Theatre was founded as a venue, Castro feels an intimate connection with the Mystic.

“There’ve been so many great nights of music there,” he says. “We have a long history with the room and more importantly with the people.”

“I get sentimental now that I’m a gentleman of a certain age,” Castro laughs.

The 62-year-old songwriter’s sentimentality also shows through on his new album, as Stompin’ Ground is a window into Castro’s origins growing up in San Jose in the ’60s and ’70s.

After forming the Painkillers in 2012 with bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown, Castro released The Devil You Know in 2014 and Method to My Madness in 2015, both of which were praised for their gritty, fiery blues-rock sound.

Stompin’ Ground mixes the blues Castro grew up listening to on the radio, the soul music he heard coming from the lowriders cruising the streets and the socially conscious message songs of the day.

“I just started working on songs like I always do,” says Castro. “As I was doing that, the album started to take on this theme of a certain time and place in my life.”

Lyrically, Stompin’ Ground features a passionate streak of songwriting, with tunes like “Fear Is the Enemy,” “Enough Is Enough” and “My Old Neighborhood” offering messages of introspection and inspiration.

“And then there’s just some cool, fun R&B songs,” says Castro.

Also featuring covers of Elvin Bishop and Buddy Miles, Stompin’ Ground sheds light on how Castro’s musical upbringing has had a lasting effect on his career.

“I’ve listened to a lot of music in the last, what is it, 50 years now?” Castro says. “But I’ve always held on to the three core ingredients from that time: blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll.”

The Sunken Place

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The Sunken Place

My top 10 of 2017, in alphabetical order: The Florida Project, Get Out, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, The Square, Twin Peaks: The Return, War for the Planet of the Apes, Whose Streets?, Wonder Woman and Wonderstruck.

Most of the time, 2017 was “the sunken place,” in Get Out‘s term, the zone of helplessness in which one can only observe and hope for deliverance. In some respects, director Jordan Peele’s Get Out was the most Zeitgeist-ridden movie of the year, this mousetrap of a film about horrible science-fiction skullduggery carried out by good white people. War for the Planet of the Apes and Wonder Woman were vaster and more detailed with revolutionary fervor.

Guillermo del Toro’s Shape of Water had the texture of classic cinema, from its yearning for the red-velvet-lined movie theaters of the old days to its sensational use of color. Sally Hawkins’ performance sums up one odd aspect of 2017 in film: there were so many fine mute performances, including Hawkins (the best), the delightful Millicent Simmonds as a girl of 1927 in Wonderstruck and Amiah Miller’s Nova in Apes.

The Florida Project‘s endearingly hopeful study of the ground-down poor was unique. The street kids were ingenious, hustling, sticky and mischievous in this tribute to the Our Gang series set in Florida welfare-land motels. Lady Bird could have been as facile as John Hughes’ Pretty in Pink, but there’s a difference in the way it savors the reverse angle of the hard-working, weary mom (Laurie Metcalf) driven nuts by her daughter’s fancies.

Whose Streets? a documentary made under the noses of the police in Ferguson, introduced us to people different than the rampaging thugs in the news. We need visions of heroism—real, as in the neighborhood guardians in Whose Streets?, comic-book style, as in the gallant Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) or just plain comic, like Lil Rel Howery’s TSA agent in Get Out. Peele’s faith in the TSA demonstrate we still have some trust in our institutions—but time is running out on how long we have left to understand one another.

Dec. 30: Creative Practice in Santa Rosa

Life coach and art therapist Christi Corradi has been helping people overcome self-doubt and construct more positive lives under the program Mastering the Art of Life. This weekend, she leads a workshop to help unlock inner creative energy and start the New Year on the right path. Make This Your Best Year Yet is a hand-on adventure where participants...
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Dec. 31: Fresh Start in Sonoma

Whether he’s living in Tahoe or on the Hawaiian Islands, sushi chef Jacob Talbert has been making the best of raw fish for over two decades. The culinary power behind Rocket Sushi in Sonoma from 2013 to 2016, Talbert is currently a mobile operation, catering and crafting under the name Sushinoma. This New Year’s Eve, Talbert drops in on...
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Count It Down

Allow us to be the first to close the books on 2017. With old acquaintances, both forgotten and remembered, we'll take a cup o' kindness yet—and we'll start with these New Year's Eve parties around the North Bay. From delectable dinners to cabaret shows and blowout concerts, here's a selection of ways to ring in 2018. SONOMA COUNTY Happy New Year,...
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Next Time

It's no exaggeration to say that I nearly died in the Nuns fire. Around three in the morning on Oct. 9—and without any official warning from anyone (or any device) that a deadly catastrophe was unfolding—I left my home, only to be blinded by heavy smoke and swirling ash as I tried to navigate my car down Bennett Ridge, a...
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Kiss Off

'Under normal circumstances," says comedian Will Durst, "making jokes about imminent nuclear war and the total annihilation of the human species would not be appropriate. But at this year's Big Fat Year-End Kiss-Off Comedy Show, there probably will be some stuff about Trump and Kim Jong-un because megalomaniacs with daddy issues and strange haircuts are always good for a...
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One Plant at a Time

'Back in the day, I was a flower child," Tsouprake says. "Now I want to be the poster girl for good, clean, lab-tested, organic cannabis products." For two decades, Debra Tsouprake worked as an emergency medical technician. As a single mom, she raised three boys, now grown men and working in the cannabis industry. She has been to Burning Man...
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Letters to the Editor: December 27, 2017

Taxing Democrats and other liberals fail to understand two fundamental beliefs of those who support the tax reform bill: First, people who have money should not be required to support those who do not. Liberals insist that women have the right to control their own bodies, yet they don't think people have the right to control their own money. The...
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Post Note

Movie critics have hailed The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep (pictured) as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. But the real-life political realities of Graham and her newspaper are another story. The Post comes 20 years after Graham's autobiography Personal History appeared and won enormous praise. The book is a poignant account of Graham's quest to overcome...
Read more

Familiar Ground

'Nice to be home this time of year," says Tommy Castro, speaking from his home in San Rafael. The veteran Bay Area blues rocker and his band the Painkillers have just returned from back-to-back tours of the U.S. and Europe to promote their new album, Stompin' Ground. "We're looking forward to getting back to the Mystic Theatre on New Year's,"...
Read more

The Sunken Place

My top 10 of 2017, in alphabetical order: The Florida Project, Get Out, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, The Square, Twin Peaks: The Return, War for the Planet of the Apes, Whose Streets?, Wonder Woman and Wonderstruck. Most of the time, 2017 was "the sunken place," in Get Out's term, the zone of helplessness in which one can only...
Read more
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