Sonoma County photographer Tenay took these pics at the big “Tattoos & Blues” event at the Flamingo in Santa Rosa earlier this month — a yearly tattoo convention and classic car show that is way too cool for me, if I’m honest. The PD reported that “about 55 shops and some solo artists” joined “2,500 attendees during the three-day event at the Flamingo Resort & Spa.” What a scene…

Note from Simone: These pics originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Bohemian, called Wine Country Today. Subscribe here!

• The Graton Indians and three other local tribes have sued the federal government in an attempt to reverse the approval of the Koi Nation tribe’s proposed Shiloh Resort & Casino in Windsor — and local elected officials in Sonoma County and Windsor are considering doing the same. (Sources: Press Democrat & Press Democrat & Press Democrat & Casino.org & Nextdoor)
• The famous spillway in Napa County’s Lake Berryessa reservoir, known as the “Glory Hole” by locals and fans, is reportedly still in effect after the crazy-wet winter we’ve had. It only forms when the lake is full enough — so without a total deluge of unexpected rain, it’ll likely fade within the next few weeks. Peep it while it’s hot! (Sources: Lake Berryessa News via Facebook)
• Russian River Brewing Company, whose wildly anticipated annual Pliny the Younger release is coming up next week, just debuted another delicious-looking beer for a cause. This one is a West Coast Pilsner called “We Love LA” — and half the price of your pint goes to Los Angeles fire victims. You can order it online or try it at both the brewery’s locations in Santa Rosa and Windsor (plus other pubs that serve their beers, like the Elephant in the Room in Healdsburg). Brewery owners write on Facebook: “The style West Coast Pils has roots in Los Angeles with our friend Bob Kunz from Highland Park Brewing. It seemed fitting to brew a fund raiser beer for LA with a beer style that started in LA.” (Source: Russian River Brewing Company via Facebook)

Note from Simone: These briefs originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Bohemian, called Wine Country Today. Subscribe here!

After months of uncertainty about its lease, the folks behind Santa Rosa’s popular Mitote Food Park — “the very first Mexican Food Park in Northern California,” according to their website, and a total melting pot of a community hangout — say their last day open at 665 Sebastopol Rd. in the Roseland neighborhood will be next Saturday, March 22. They plan to reopen a few blocks east at 100 Sebastopol Rd. sometime in the future, but they don’t know exactly when yet. From their Facebook announcement, posted yesterday afternoon: 

Come enjoy your favorite food trucks, as well as our delicious cocktails this coming week, as Saturday, March 22nd will be our last day of operation at 665 Sebastopol Road. We have been so grateful to our loyal customers and supporters. We do not have a new date yet to reopen down the street at 100 Sebastopol Road, so please help support our trucks by ordering from them for your parties or catering needs until we can give them a permanent home again. Keep following us, as well as our loncheras for news on where to find them in the interim, as well as information on our reopening.

As far as I can tell from Google Maps, the 100 Sebastopol Rd. property is just a big, bleak industrial lot right now — one that you can bet is about to get a whole lot colorful, when Mitote moves in. The Press Democrat has been following the food park’s ongoing lease issues this year; below is some history from a PD story that ran last month.

In 2019, Sonoma County awarded [Mitote Food Park owner and operator Octavio Diaz] a temporary lease for the site, which was already slated to be developed into Tierra de Rosas, a mixed-use commercial and residential village that includes affordable housing, a public plaza and mercado.

Diaz opened Mitote in 2022 and it soon attracted visitors from Santa Rosa and beyond with its cuisine from different parts of Mexico, including Oaxaca, Jalisco, Michoacan, Yucatán and Mexico City, as well as cultural events, music and drinks.

Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Bohemian, called Wine Country Today. Subscribe here!

The drawn-out downfall of Summerfield Cinemas, one of Sonoma County’s last indie movie theaters, ended with a soft, sad landing last Sunday at a nostalgic goodbye party and final day of screenings at the historic venue across from Howarth Park. Summerfield is rumored to have opened as far back as the late ’60s or early ’70s, and has served as a refuge for countless local art kids and cinephiles over the decades. Press Democrat reporter Alana Minkler attended the theater’s last day on March 9. Here’s an excerpt from her dispatch, including an iconic Summerfield love story:

The buttery scent of popcorn lingered as three former Summerfield Cinemas employees stepped into the dimly lit lobby Sunday, their eyes scanning the familiar space one last time. On the theater’s final day of screenings, they gathered to relive memories and say goodbye to the beloved Santa Rosa movie house.

Among them was Jeff Weislow, who credits the theater with shaping his life — both professionally and personally.

In 1974, Weislow arrived in Sonoma County to attend Santa Rosa Junior College. At 19, he had moved 500 miles from home, looking for a part-time job. Summerfield Cinemas was hiring.

“My hair was long, but my clothes were clean, and I had experience,” he said. “Call it timing or fate, but in an instant, my life would forever change.”

Hired as an usher, Weislow spent two years guiding moviegoers to their seats with a flashlight. But his biggest takeaway from the job wasn’t just fond memories — it was love.

Becky Weislow had been working at the concessions counter for six months when Jeff joined the staff. The two became fast friends, their connection deepening into something more. They kept their relationship quiet, concealing it from their manager, Butch Bondi.

Butch Bondi, who was also at Sunday’s party, had a parting message for the public: “Tell people to go to the movies.”

The initial blow for Summerfield fans came last spring, when news broke of the Planet Fitness gym chain potentially taking over the old theater space. By summer, neighbors and other theater supporters were protesting on the sidewalk outside Summerfield — standing up for arthouse cinema in the crazy heat. In the end, the grassroots movement didn’t stop the sale. But by winter, the deal fell through anyway, giving the community a glimmer of hope. Within months, though, theater owner Dan Tocchini announced he had to shut down Summerfield for his own reasons. This, despite ongoing community rallies to save the theater. “It’s a theater that we all love and cherish, but time ran out for the business,” the owner told the PD. More from the story:

The longtime operator confirmed the closure in an email [on Feb. 25] and said the business had struggled to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer art-house films being released in theaters.

The closure represents another blow for local cinema buffs who have held tight to Summerfield and Sebastopol-based Rialto Cinemas amid nationwide contraction in the business.

Local operators estimate more than 30 movie screens across Sonoma County have been lost with the closure of Rohnert Park’s Reading Cinemas in November 2023 and other smaller movie houses in the pandemic.

Theater owners posted a final goodbye message to Facebook last Monday, the day after their party: “Thanks to everyone who came out yesterday to celebrate Summerfield Cinemas final day. Thanks to all the patrons for supporting the Summerfield throughout the years. Thank you and farewell!”

Update, April 6: Christian Kallen, a colleague of mine from the Healdsburg Tribune — the Bohemian’s small-town sister paper! — made the astute point to me that a very important name was missing in all the local coverage of Summerfield closing. “I have not seen a word about Ky Boyd, who created the art film formula for the location prior to Tocchini’s buying it out,” he said. “Don’t you find this strange? Boyd of course went to Sebastopol to start the Rialto, and carry on the independent film tradition.” You can read more about Ky Boyd and his local legacy in this recent story by the San Francisco Bay Times, called “Rialto Cinemas Preserves the Third Place.” Long live arthouse cinema, indeed!

Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Bohemian, called Wine Country Today. Subscribe here!

School districts all across California have been dealing with a major budget crisis this year. (CalMatters has a good story on why.) And it’s no different here in wine country. The board of trustees for Napa County’s largest school district, Napa Valley Unified, just axed 35 employees at a whopper of a meeting on Thursday, according to the Press Democrat. The school system in Sonoma County is feeling the burn, too. The county’s largest district, Santa Rosa City Schools — reportedly facing a $20 million budget shortfall — recently decided to shut down three elementary schools and three middle schools over the next two years. (The plan is to move seventh and eighth grade classes to nearby high schools.) Santa Rosa’s school board also just removed the popular principals of Elsie Allen and Maria Carrillo high schools from their posts, as another facet of this massive reshuffling — inspiring big, emotional protests and walkouts over the past week. Schools in Sonoma Valley and Petaluma are facing some especially painful cuts as well.

PD reporters have been covering the local school-budget saga like dogs with a bone; you can find a helpful roundup here of what’s happening at each district in Sonoma County, and a full archive here of their excellent coverage of school closures and layoffs across the North Bay.

And now, on top of state funding cuts to education, federal funding cuts could be on the horizon, if Trump — oops, sorry, mentioned him again! — makes good on threats to withhold U.S. Department of Education funds from any schools that don’t shut down their “woke” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. (And if a new lawsuit filed by the he American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association fails to stop him.) Meanwhile, ed leaders in Sonoma and Napa counties have vowed not to shut down any DEI programs, no matter what Trump says or does. Here’s what the impact could be: The PD has previously reported that “just shy of $15 million in federal funds feeds into Sonoma County, passed through the California Department of Education… toward five main program areas supporting student achievement, effective instruction, English-language learners, students who are immigrants and educational tools for success.” Hang in there, everybody…

Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Bohemian, called Wine Country Today. Subscribe here!