Your Letters, March 11

Tunnel Time

Reopening the old railroad tunnel between Mill Valley and Corte Madera could be Marinโ€™s most ambitious Rails to Trails project in the 25 years since we first introduced the idea. Thanks to transportation alternatives of Marin, the general community census was positive, as long as the cost did not detract from local schools, etc. 

Measure AA has been generating $35 million per year for 20 years for transit. It would seem reasonable that a hefty chunk of that money could go to the most important bicycle facility in Marin. In an ideal world, Mill Valley City Council would find the thousands of signatures that supported the project that we submitted 15 years ago. 

We know the alto tunnel proposal has a vociferous lone opponent who will say anything to keep extra people away from his backyard. 

Letโ€™s hope that somebody in power steps up to make it happen for the greater good.

Christopher H. Lang
Founder
Marin County Bicycle Coalition

Whine Country

I never thought Iโ€™d live to see the day when tourists made Petaluma louder than your average show at the Phoenix Theatre. In the old days, if you wanted noise, you crammed right up against the PA speaker and let a band like Lung Butter rearrange your sensory perception for the night (or week, depending).

Now the racket comes from Wine Country touristsโ€”packs of weekend wanderers who treat downtown like itโ€™s their personal theme park. Iโ€™m an old punkโ€”I believe in a little chaos. But maybe keep it under 11. Some of us survived the โ€™80s and would like to hear the birds again.

Cassady Caution
Petaluma

โ€œMake. Believe.โ€ Jonas Goldstein and Timo Ryan of The Laguna Lab

On the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 27, The Soft Medicine Sanctuary announced its sudden permanent closure, effective the next day. 

That evening, on the other side of Sebastopol, The Laguna Lab held its long-planned official opening. Thus, accidentally and fatefully, one venue closed and another opened in Sebastopol. It was as if the universe had stepped in to strike a decisive balance.

The Laguna Lab opening event was given the name โ€œMake. Believe.โ€, and the lineup included Deep House Yoga, a communal black light painting, Mitzi and her band, The Space Walker, DJ Bank$hot, oracle and tarot, Timoteo, Shiny Objects, and Laiddbackzach and his band.

By their own account, their most successful events to date were a Bob Weir (Grateful Dead)ย tribute night and a family-friendly New Yearโ€™s Eve party (based on โ€™80s New York City hip-hop culture). They plan a regular funk night, a teen AI bootcamp, puppet theater, perhaps an educational mini-golf course and limited partnerships with Sebastopol Center for the Arts and the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundationโ€”โ€œBig ideas, no money,โ€ in the words of Timo Ryan, one of the two team principals. Indeed. They are indeed in the middle of a funding gap and require an additional $25,000 to keep the space open.

The following Tuesday afternoon, I met Ryan and Jonas Goldsteinโ€”the other team principal. They toured me through the space and showed me their investor pitch deck. It was glossilyย impressive. Goldstein has a background in art direction and marketingโ€”as well as video art, sculpture and digital art spaces. Ryanโ€™s talents include DJing, local FM radio, hospitality andย regenerative farming. Together they share an aesthetic (and a lease).

The space was starkly impressive; a former e-bike manufactory, it has 3,500 square feet of open event space and 1,500 square feet of office space. The event space was largely empty, except for a DJ both, a ping pong table adapted into a sign, a skeletal egret puppet, a large banner by Jun Jun Li reading โ€œlooking forward to the futureโ€ and a two story paper mache sculpture of a yogi balanced on their head and neck.

Ryan and Goldstein and the team take the water bird egret as their mascot and derive muchย meaning from the venueโ€™s location, at the bleeding edge of the Laguna de Santa Rosaโ€” across the street from The Barlow complex. Conceptually, it is the blending zone, the mixing zone, the border between civilization and primordial nature. Culturally, its team is located at the intersections of art media, genders, generations, analog and digital, West Coast and Eastย Coast, including both urban art professionals and regenerative farmers, all coming together to make things happen.

That is, if they can make their funding shortfall (grants and angel investors are in process but months away). See ways to help below. The Laguna Lab is also asking the community for volunteers with a background in operations to work on their COO advisory board.

Just before deadline, Goldstein reached out to thank their angel landlord, Dan Davis, โ€œwho gave us the runway to launch.โ€ It remains to be seen whether the community, lately bereft, will answer their call.

Learn more: The next event scheduled at The Laguna Lab is March 14. Titled, โ€˜Get on the Bus,โ€™ it is the first of their intended funk sessions. For times and location, visit The Laguna Lab via lagunalab.org or instagram.com/lagunalab_.

Human Habitat: Restoration Not Just โ€˜For the Birdsโ€™

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Nature lovers know that scientists who study the health of bird populations and their habitats in the San Francisco Bay Area have detected an alarming decline in bird populations. 

A report published in January by the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture and Point Blue Conservation โ€œpoints to a concerning decline of shorebirds over the past two decades.โ€ 

Julian Wood, the San Francisco Bay program leader at Point Blue, said, โ€œI was shocked. The declines range from 25% to 86% for some of these birds since 2006.โ€ The last such report was published in 2011. These reports are the product of a monitoring program that encompasses 20 different bird species, five in different habitat groups, with more than 100 volunteers participating. Wood is hoping people can see value in habitat restoration and โ€œenjoy progress that we have made towards boosting some but not all of these populations.โ€

Reading about the study got me thinking, what about creating and maintaining healthy human habitats? 

There are homeless encampments throughout the Bay Area. What in the world have we allowed to happen to a segment of our population such that they need to live in squalor?

Homelessness is not a new problem, but it is probably a bigger one now than ever, and like the loss of bird habitat, probably all over the world. It is an extremely complicated issue, the experts would say, with many root causes, but all of them result in a serious form of loss of human habitatโ€”at least for some people.

In addition, it is a social problem from which people run like hell. Whereas we have well-funded organizations that study the natural world very skillfully, we seem to have many fewer that study the world of human habitats as successfully. We have lots of opinions, tons of rhetoric, a large pile of prejudice, but no good data and no answers.

The best answer to restoring bird populations is to restore habitat. So, what would it take to restore habitat for humans?

Craig Corsini is a writer and grandfather in Marin.

The Third Mind, a Book Brigade, โ€œIโ€™ll Try Anything Twiceโ€ and Paint & Wine

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Petaluma

Third Mind

Psychedelic improvisation meets rock pedigree when The Third Mind rolls into the Mystic Theatre in support of its new release, Spellbinder, arriving March 13 as a companion to last fallโ€™s Right Now! The projectโ€”anchored by Grammy-winning guitarist Dave Alvin and bassist Victor Krummenacher of Camper Van Beethoven and Crackerโ€”has evolved into something closer to a freewheeling collective than a conventional band. Built on spontaneous, Miles Davisโ€“inspired improvisation, The Third Mindโ€™s sound blends psychedelia, blues and exploratory rock, often stretching songs into hypnotic, shape-shifting performances. The lineup features a deep bench of collaborators including guitarist David Immerglรผck (Counting Crows), drummer Michael Jerome (Richard Thompson), singer Jesse Sykes and keyboardist Willie Aron. Their live shows have earned a reputation for expansive jams and fearless musical detoursโ€”earning praise from critics who call the band both a psychedelic mind-bender and one of the most compelling jam outfits currently on the road. 8pm, Wednesday, March 18, Mystic Theatre, 23 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. Tickets and information at mystictheatre.com.

Larkspur

Book Brigade

Larkspur is turning the page, literally, when the community celebrates the opening of its new library with a book brigade worthy of local legend. Volunteers will form a human chain stretching from the current Larkspur Library to the new one, passing a symbolic final batch of books hand to hand along Magnolia Avenue. Organizers are calling for roughly 800 participants to take part in the civic spectacle, inviting families, students, community groups and neighbors to help make a little Marin history. The brigade marks the ceremonial relocation of the libraryโ€™s collection from 400 Magnolia Ave. to the new facility at 10 Rose Ln. in Larkspur. After the books make their journey, the celebration continues with remarks from local leaders, a ribbon-cutting and an open house where visitors can explore the new building and outdoor gathering space. Food, activities and a festive atmosphere will round out the morning as Larkspur welcomes its new literary hub. Check-in 8:30am, book brigade 9โ€“9:45am, remarks 10:30am, ribbon cutting 11:30am, Saturday, March 28; begins at Larkspur Library, 400 Magnolia Ave., and concludes at the new Larkspur Library, 10 Rose Ln. Free; registration required at tinyurl.com/magnolia-to-rose.

Sausalito

โ€˜Anything Twiceโ€™

Bay Area mental health and addiction recovery advocate Carly Schwartz comes to Sausalito Books by the Bay to discuss her darkly funny new memoir, Iโ€™ll Try Anything Twice. The former editor at HuffPost San Francisco and the San Francisco Examiner recounts a life that veered from high-functioning newsroom hustle to a deeply personal reckoning with bipolar disorder, addiction and recovery. Schwartzโ€™s story travels far beyond the newsroom, including a dramatic turning point following a failed suicide attempt at a remote Panamanian commune that forced her into the unfamiliar terrain of psych wards, ketamine treatments and the long road back. Her memoir tackles those experiences with candor, gallows humor and a healthy skepticism toward the tidy narratives of self-help culture. The author will appear in conversation with Sausalito Vice Mayor Melissa Blaustein for an evening of discussion and book signing that promises equal parts honesty and irreverence. 6pm, Wednesday, March 18, Sausalito Books by the Bay, 100 Bay St. sausalitobooksbythebay.com.

Sonoma

Paint & Wine

Wine countryโ€™s art-meets-landscape tradition continues at Bartholomew Estate Winery with a new exhibition pairing the photography of Jason Tinacci with the paintings of Porter Brooks. Tinacciโ€”well known for his evocative wine country imageryโ€”captures the rhythms and working poetry of Sonoma Valley through the lens, while Brooks counters with bold, textural canvases that reinterpret the regionโ€™s natural beauty through color and expressive movement. Set within the sweeping vineyards and oak-dotted hills of Bartholomew Park, the exhibition reflects the estateโ€™s long-standing connection between art, land and wine. The 375-acre property traces its roots to Count Haraszthy, an early pioneer of California wine, and today operates under the Bartholomew Foundation, which maintains the park and winery while supporting preservation of the siteโ€™s natural and cultural heritage. A portion of artwork sales from the show will benefit that mission. 4โ€“6pm, Sunday, March 15, Bartholomew Estate Winery, 1000 Vineyard Ln., Sonoma. Registration required at bit.ly/bart-paint.

Grounded: โ€™60s French Farce โ€˜Boeing Boeingโ€™ at SRJCย 

For centuries, France has produced such famous playwrights as Moliรจre, Beaumarchais, Rostand, Sartre and Ionesco and such plays as Tartuffe, The Marriage of Figaro, Cyrano de Bergerac, No Exit and Rhinoceros

And yet, according to the Guinness World Record organization, the most performed French play in the world is a 1960s sex farce about a swinging Parisian bachelor juggling three fiancรฉes. The play is Marc Camolettiโ€™s Boeing Boeing, and the Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts program has a production running through March 8.

The title refers to the Boeing 707 aircraft which revolutionized air travel in the late 1950s by cutting travel time for millions of passengers and flight crews. Thatโ€™s the key plot point of the play as American bad boy Bernard (Jay Soto) counts on the extended travel time for air hostesses (we call them flight attendants these days) to allow him to โ€œscheduleโ€ adequate time to be with three women: American Gloria (Shay Rudy), who flies for TWA; Italian Gabriella (Victoria Cunha), who flies for Alitalia; and German Gretchen (Ally Liberty), who flies for Lufthansa.ย 

Heโ€™s able to do this with the reluctant cooperation of his French maid, Berthe (Hannah Fain), and a handy airline timetable.

Complications arise with the arrival of old school chum Robert (Jake McFadden), a Wisconsin innocent who soon wants in on the action. All hell breaks loose when changing schedules and bad weather lead all three women to be back in Paris at the same time and all headed for Bernardโ€™s apartment. Cue the slamming doors. 

I like a good farce as much as anyone (and the JC did an excellent job last year with Rumors), but this play has not aged well. The sexism and misogyny of the late โ€™50s, early โ€™60s remains. Only an Austin Powers-like approach might make it a bit more palatable today.  

Director Justin Smithโ€™s student cast does its best with characters that are literally foreign to them. Sotoโ€™s Bernard is a bit dry and lacks the oiliness necessary to make his late-play redemption believable. McFaddenโ€™s kid-in-a-candy-store Robert comes off a bit better and lands some funny bits. The three ladies have their moments, but theyโ€™ve been tasked to play caricatures with accents. Fainโ€™s frazzled Berthe also gets a few laughs.

The real stars of the show are Kasey Vannoyโ€™s set and Jessica Colley-Mitchellโ€™s costumes.

While I appreciated all their hard work, Boeing Boeing just doesnโ€™t fly these days.

โ€˜Boeing Boeingโ€™ runs Wedsโ€“Sun through March 8 in the Santa Rosa Junior College Burbank Auditorium Studio Theatre, 1501 Mendocino Ave. Thursโ€“Sat, 7:30pm; Sat & Sun, 2pm. $15โ€“$25. 707.527.4307. theatrearts.santarosa.edu.

โ€˜By The Seat of our Pants,โ€™ Dirty Cello Releases New Album at HopMonk

If one takes a gander at the social media pages for Sonoma County-based band Dirty Cello, they will see a pretty crazy moment that just happened to be captured on video. 

Dirty Cello cellist and vocalist Rebecca Roudman is in the midst of a searing version of the Charlie Daniels Band classic, โ€œThe Devil Went Down to Georgia,โ€ when suddenly, as if possessed by Beelzebub himself, the hairs on her bow string completely fall apart.

Roudman explains they โ€œliterally exploded, sending the hair flying and a little plug of wood off into the audience.โ€ Ever the professionals, even in the face of a never-seen-before moment, she adds, โ€œMy band keeps vamping, which gives me enough time to go backstage and grab another bow. It was wild because Iโ€™ve never had a bow fail this way before.โ€ As if this moment was already one for the books, Roudman caps this wild tale by saying, โ€œJust to make things extra weird, the person that rehaired my bow was sitting in the front row.โ€

While hoping for something weird to happen at a concert is somewhat akin to attending NASCAR and hoping for a wreck, Dirty Cello will be hitting the stage on Saturday, March 7 at HopMonk Sebastopol. 

Roudman says this is a show everyone is particularly hyped about. โ€œ[This show] is a very special one. Thereโ€™s a few places we return to year after year, and HopMonk is one of them, but this time, we get to release our new album, called By The Seat of our Pants,โ€ she notes.

When asked what to expect at the show, Roudman says, โ€œWe begin the concert with whatever strikes our fancy, and then for the first few songs, we play lots of different styles, from classic rock to blues to lightning-fast bluegrass. Once we see what resonates with the audience, we focus on that genre while still maintaining a lot of variety. There is no set list, and for this show, there is no opener.โ€

Dirty Cello consists of Roudman, Jason Eckl on guitar, Evan Ceremony on bass and Diego Soto on drums. If some of those names ring a bell, itโ€™s because they also play in an expanded band called Renegade Orchestra, which also prides itself on turning a preconceived notion of a musical style on its proverbial ear.

Roudman says, โ€œLong before Dirty Cello was even a twinkle in my eye, I had a whole career as a classical cellist with the Santa Rosa and Oakland symphonies. I actually moved on from the Santa Rosa Symphony recently. Since early childhood, all Iโ€™ve done is play the cello. When it came time to branch out and form a rock band, all my classical training and years and years of practice let me take a non-rock instrument and keep up with shredding guitarists.โ€

Yet, instruments like the cello arenโ€™t really made to take the sort of onstage beating an artist like Roudman typically renders. Thus, sheโ€™s found a few workarounds to make sure the center will hold. That includes a specially made cello. She explains, โ€œA lot of folks ask about my celloโ€”itโ€™s not made of wood, but is instead made of carbon-fiber, a very strong, weather-proof material. For outdoor shows, this is invaluable.โ€ 

Before the carbon-fiber, Roudman says she โ€œplayed on a wooden cello, and that one met its demise when I was coming off stage from playing with the San Francisco Ballet, and I clipped it with my purse and it snapped the neck off. The insurance payout paid for the carbon-fiber cello.โ€

She has also found some workarounds to keep cables from getting pulled out as well as having a special stand so she can stand up and rock out. โ€œIโ€™ve also discovered that normal cello bridges really donโ€™t stand up to the kind of playing I like to do, so Jason (Eckl, who is also Roudmanโ€™s husband) has learned to make cello and violin bridges,โ€ she notes. โ€œAfter some experimenting, Jason has developed special reinforced bridges that work well for my kind of playing and donโ€™t warp.โ€

Dirty Cello performs at 8pm, Saturday, March 7, at HopMonk Sebastopol in The Abbey, 230 Petaluma Ave. Tickets start at $25. More info at dirtycello.com.

Free Will Astrology, Mar. 4-10

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Many ancient cultures had myths that explained solar eclipses as celestial creatures eating the sun. In China, the devourer was a dragon. A frog did it in Vietnam, wolves in Norse lore and bears in several Indigenous American legends. In some places, people made loud noises during the blackout, banging drums and pots, to drive away the attacker and bring back the sun. I suspect you are now in the midst of a metaphorical eclipse of your own, Aries. But donโ€™t worry. Just as was true centuries ago, your sun wonโ€™t actually be gobbled up. Instead, hereโ€™s the likely scenario: You will rouse an appetite for transformation that will consume outdated ideas and situations. Whatever disintegrates will become fuel for new stories. You will convert old pain and decay into vital energy. Your luminous vigor will return even stronger.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Maybe you have been enjoying my advice for years but still havenโ€™t become a billionaire, grown into a potent influencer or landed the perfect job. Does that mean Iโ€™ve failed you? Should you swap me out for a more results-oriented oracle? If rewards like those are the dreams you treasure, then yes, it may be time to search for a new guide. But if what you want most is simply to cultivate the steady gratification of feeling real and whole and authentic, then stick with me. P.S.: The coming days are likely to offer you abundant opportunities to feel real and whole and authentic. Take advantage.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1557, a Welsh mathematician invented the equals sign (=) to avoid repeatedly writing the words โ€œis equal to.โ€ Over the next centuries, this helped make algebra more convenient and efficient. The moral of the story: Some breakthroughs come not from making novel discoveries but from finding better ways to render and use whatโ€™s already known. Iโ€™m pleased to say that you Geminis are primed to devise your own equivalents of the equals sign. What strengths might you express with greater crispness and efficiency? What familiar complications could you make easier? See if you can find shortcuts that aid productivity without sacrificing precision.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): One benefit of being an astrologer is that when I need a break from being intensely myself, I can take a sabbatical. My familiarity with the zodiac frees me to escape the limits of my personal horoscope and play at being other signs. I always return from my getaway with a renewed appreciation for the unique riddle that is my identity. I think now is an excellent time for Cancerians like you and me to enjoy such a vacation. We can have maximum fun and attract inspiring educational experiences by experimenting. I plan to be like a Sagittarius and may also experiment with embodying Aries qualities.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In Scandinavian folklore, thereโ€™s a phenomenon called utiseta. It involves sitting out at night in a charged place in nature, like a crossroads or border. The goal is to make oneself patiently available for visions, wisdom or contact with spirits and ancestors. I suspect you could benefit from the equivalent of a utiseta right now, Leo. Do you dare to refrain from forcing solutions through sheer will? Are you brave enough to let answers wander into your midst instead of hunting them down? I believe your strength is your willingness to be still and wait in a threshold.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You are a devotee of the sacred particular. While others traffic in vague abstractions, you understand that vitality thrives in the details. Your attention to nuance and precision is not fussiness but a form of love. I get excited to see you honor life by noticing all of its specific textures and rhythms. Now, more than ever, the world needs this superpower of yours. I hope you will express it even stronger in the coming months. May you exult in the knowledge that your refusal to treat the world carelessly or sloppily isnโ€™t about perfectionism but about respect.ย 

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Architect Antoni Gaudรญ spent more than 40 years designing Barcelonaโ€™s Sagrada Famรญlia cathedral. He knew he wouldnโ€™t live to see it finished. Itโ€™s still under construction today, long after his death. When he said, โ€œMy client is not in a hurry,โ€ he meant that his client was God. I invite you to borrow this perspective, Libra. See how much fun you can have by releasing yourself from the tyranny of urgency. Grant yourself permission to concentrate on a process that might take a long time to unfold. What a generous and ultimately productive luxury it will be for you to align yourself with deep rhythms and relaxing visions. I believe your good work will require resoluteness that transcends conventional timelines.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The ancient Chinese philosophical text known as the Tao Te Ching teaches that โ€œthe usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness.โ€ A vessel full of itself can receive nothing. Is it possible that you are currently so crammed with opinions, strategies and righteous certainty that youโ€™ve lost some of your capacity to receive? I suspect there are wonders and marvels trying to reach you, Scorpio: insights, inquiries and invitations. But they canโ€™t get in if youโ€™re full. Your assignment: Temporarily empty yourself. Create space by releasing cherished positions, a defensive stance or stories about how things must be.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The Yoruba concept of ashe refers to the power to make things happen. Itโ€™s the life force that flows through all things, and can be accumulated, directed and shared. Right now, your ashe is strong but a bit scattered, Sagittarius. You have power, but itโ€™s diffused across too many commitments and half-pursued desires. So your assignment is to consolidate. Choose two things that matter most and fully pour your ashe into them. As you concentrate your vitality, youโ€™ll get more done and become a conduit for blessings larger than yourself.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Whatโ€™s holding you back? What are you waiting for? A nudge from destiny? A breaking point when youโ€™ll be compelled to act? A hidden clue that may or may not reveal itself? Itโ€™s my duty to tell you this: All that lingering and dallying, all that wishing and hoping, is wasted energy. As long as youโ€™re sitting still, pining for a cosmic deliverance to handle the hard parts, the sweet intervention will keep its distance. The instant you claim the authority to act, youโ€™ll see it clearly: the path forward that doesnโ€™t need a perfect sign, a final push or fateโ€™s permission slip.ย ย 

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If youโ€™re anything like me, you wince as you recall the lazy choices and careless passivity that speckle your past. You may wonder what you were thinking when you treated yourself so cavalierly, pushed away a steadfast ally or let a dazzling invitation slip by. At times, I feel as if my wrong turns carry more weight in my fate than the bright, grace-filled moments. Hereโ€™s good news for you, though. March is Amnesty Month for all Aquarians willing to own up to and graduate from their missteps. As you work diligently to unwind the unhelpful patterns that led you off course, life will release you from the heavy drag of those old failures and their leftover momentum.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In systems theory, โ€œcritical pointsโ€ are moments when long periods of small changes gradually accumulate, and then suddenly erupt into a big shift. Nothing appears to happen for a while, and then everything happens at once. Ice becomes water, for instance. I suspect youโ€™re nearing such a pivot, Pisces. Youโ€™ve been gathering strength, clarity and nerve in subtle ways. Soon you will be visited by what we might call a graceful, manageable explosion. The slow, persistent changes youโ€™ve been overseeing will result in a major transition.

Homework: Experiment with this principle: Take only what you need. Newsletter: FreeWillAstrology.com.

The Poet-Lawyer, Attorney Bernice Espinoza

Bernice Espinoza assumed the sobriquet of โ€œpoet-lawyerโ€ after a formative confrontation with a Judge who charged that she must choose between poetry and the law. He urged her to be a poet. Instead, Espinoza chose to be both.

She moved to the North Bay ten years ago. She was in Santa Rosa for the first four of those years, the only self identifying woman of color in the Public Defenders office  (where sensitivity and cultural competency can have a decisive role in client defense). There โ€œBereโ€ was inspired to begin teaching in โ€œknow your rightsโ€ classes in the community).

For the past five and a half years she has worked as a defense attorney for immigrants in Federal deportation cases  (currently at Sonoma Immigrant Services) . Being bi-lingual and bi-cultural are great assets in this work. As is her trauma-informed approach โ€” 97 percent of her clients are asylum seekers ( and must therefore demonstrate a history of violent discrimination in their countries of origin. Crime that their governments were unable or unwilling to protect them from. Governments are sometimes the perpetrators.) Art helps too in drawing our these sometimes horrific stories โ€” her process with them begins with sketchbooks, and often involves, music, art, and of course poetry. 

I met Espinoza in her law office in Santa Rosa.It was a tense time to visit her. In January the Trump Administration Fired 15 Immigration Judges in San Francisco (leaving only 4). This is part of a campaign to deny these immigrants fair due process in favor of โ€œexpedited removal.โ€

Bernice Espinoza, could you elaborate on the meaning of โ€œpoet-lawyer?โ€

โ€ฆ I am a weaver of words for community, love, and story-telling โ€” in and out of the courtroom.

Before we blend the poetry and the law, tell me about your poetic practice independent of the Law. How do you use it?

I have a little PTSD and ADHD. For me, poetry was and is a form of therapy. It was my therapy before I had an opportunity to have โ€œtherapy.โ€ [ for her process ] there is not an English word equivalent for โ€œdesahogar.โ€ Itโ€™s literal meaning is โ€œto stop drowning.โ€ But what it figuratively means is to stop drowning in emotion or feeling and release all your pain and suffering. Poetry was always my way to desahogar or stop from drowning.

For a lot of immigrants or children of immigrants โ€” latine youth, there is a stigma around mental health treatment but there is an acceptance of art. Shared at Flor y Cantos [ Mexican-American music and literary art events ], the poetry has a healing power not just for oneself, but for our communities.

Tell me about court rooms as floricantos โ€” as it were.

Now I can use the words and the writing, not only for my own healing, but in the courtroom โ€” telling the stories โ€” giving the flower and the song [ the flor and the canto ] so that people can Remember that people are people โ€” regardless of where they are sitting in the courtroom โ€” We are all humans.

Learn More : Sonoma Immigrant Services can be reached at www.conomaimmigran.org. Bernice Espinozaโ€™s work as a โ€œremoval defense attorneyโ€ is funded through a grant from The Secure Families Collaborative ( established by the county and county council in 2018 and now an independent nonprofit. They need help. Bernice will be the featured poet at April 4th edition of The Found Poet poetry series at The Big Easy in Petaluma.ย โ€ข


A Poem by Bernice Espinoza

Words are so powerful

that God used them 

to speak Life into existence

We use them now for RESISTANCE

Free 

Free 

Palestine!

Black Lives Matter!

Land Back!

When our communities are under attack

What do we do?

STAND UP, FIGHT BACK!

โ€œI am Joaquin. . .โ€

โ€œI have a dream.โ€

And everything between

Like the Mayan poem In Lakโ€™ech

You are my other me

So, I will use poetry for

Trans life visibility

Queer unity

To trample the oligarchy

Because

they canโ€™t take our history

or our Joy

OUR JOY

We will 

laugh

sing

write

play

hold our loved ones in our arms

Celebrate 

marriages

births

graduations

victories

We will celebrate joy

We will be 

JOY

Worst Day, Redux: Americaโ€™s Mass Shooting Epidemic

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In the early afternoon of April 17, 2025, I received what to date has been the worst message ever sent to me. It was my daughter, a senior at Florida State University, texting that she was running from campus because there was an active shooter nearby. 

I am grateful that my daughter thought to run when they heard the gun shots from her classroom, as did her boyfriend. I know that my daughter is still on ready alert when she hears sirens or what sounds like gunfire. I hoped never to have that kind of scare again. 

And then I woke up on March 1, 2026 to read a headline about a mass shooting in Austin, my daughter and her boyfriendโ€™s new home, where she attends law school. This time, a gunman opened fire in a bar, not far from her campus, leaving 14 people wounded. I couldnโ€™t stop crying as I messaged her to ensure that they were OKโ€”thankfully, yes. 

When does this stop? According to the Gun Violence Archive, there had already been 50 mass shootings in the U.S. three days before this one in Austin. Why should parents (like me) have to read the headlines and wonder if the second time my daughter was close to one of these incidents was the last? 

This country has been built on violence, justifies violence when it suits its needs and produces narratives to young people that violence is the answer to conflict. Violence is the way the United States typically โ€œsolvesโ€ international and domestic conflicts, from killing Indigenous peoples and taking their lands to โ€œremovingโ€ leaders to suit its needs. 

As I write this, I am reading about the U.S. and/or Israel killing 153 schoolgirls in Iran, and I am dying for those families. Reports are that the shooting in Austin may have been in retaliation for the U.S. attacks. 

This has to stop. May we all figure out how to do betterโ€”for us, for our world, and please, for our children.

Laura Finley, Ph.D., teaches in the Barry University department of sociology & criminology in Florida.

Bourbon, Barbera, Burgers: Edmondo Sarti Appreciates Craft

San Francisco-born burger chain Super Duper Burgers, which originally opened in 2010 with one location in the Castro neighborhood, has expanded to Corte Madera with its newest location, just opened this February. 

Built on the philosophy of fast food with slow food values, the retro-inspired fast-casual spot highlights all-natural, vegetarian-fed beef from Brandt Beef, free-range chicken sandwiches, organic veggie burgers, free house-made pickles, and organic milkshakes and ice cream cones crafted with Straus Creamery. To celebrate the recent opening on Feb. 11, the first 50 guests scored a free burger.

โ€œAfter years of looking for our next perfect location in Marin, we are excited to have the opportunity to open in Corte Madera,โ€ said Edmondo Sarti, COO of Back of the House, the company that owns Super Duper. โ€œAs a long time Marin County resident, this restaurant is right around the corner from my home, and Iโ€™m pleased to finally be able to serve my community and have Super Duper become part of the Corte Madera community.โ€

As a longtime San Francisco restaurant industry pro, Sarti has more than 25 years of experience opening, managing and operating restaurants throughout the Bay Area. Super Duper has been at the forefront of his work as Back of the Houseโ€™s flagship concept, and has grown to 18 locations under his operational leadership.

Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?

Edmondo Sarti: It started when I was 13, making pizzas in my uncleโ€™s restaurant in the village of Portoverrara, Italy. Now, 40 years later, I am still wondering how my path led me here, allowing me to follow my passions and do what I love everyday.

Did you ever have an โ€˜ahaโ€™ moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.

It happens all the time, and thatโ€™s what keeps it interesting. Just when I think Iโ€™ve seen it all, someone introduces me to a new classic or an unexpected combination that pleasantly surprises me. Staying open to that kind of discovery is important.

What is your favorite thing to drink at home?

Depends on the mood and the occasion. My usual rotation is wine, an Americano, a bourbon, a gin martini or a Super Duper shake.

Where do you like to go out for a drink?

I really enjoy going to Farmshop in Larkspur for an Admiral. Great atmosphere, well-crafted drink, no pretenseโ€”a combination is harder to find than it should be.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?

My go-to wine will always be Barbera, but on a warm island Iโ€™d lean toward something bright from Southern Italy like a Falanghina, Greco or Fiano. And Iโ€™d probably sneak in a Super Duper lemonade too,ย  just for good measure.

Super Duper Burger, 5839 Paradise Dr., Corte Madera, superduperburgers.com.

Your Letters, March 11

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Writer Craig Corsini compares concern about loss of bird habitats to the lack of consideration for human homelessness.
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Bourbon, Barbera, Burgers: Edmondo Sarti Appreciates Craft

As a longtime San Francisco restaurant industry pro, Edmondo Sarti has more than 25 years of experience opening, managing and operating restaurants throughout the Bay Area.
San Francisco-born burger chain Super Duper Burgers, which originally opened in 2010 with one location in the Castro neighborhood, has expanded to Corte Madera with its newest location, just opened this February.  Built on the philosophy of fast food with slow food values, the retro-inspired fast-casual spot highlights all-natural, vegetarian-fed beef from Brandt Beef, free-range chicken sandwiches, organic veggie burgers,...
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