Shotsie Gorman has been sending us photos of the various Sonoma Strong tattoos he’s done since the fires—all proceeds go to helping victims of the catastrophe now pretty much ended, insofar as containment stands at around 95 percent. Here’s a few scenes and Sonoma Strong tats straight from Shotsie’s shop:
Unlike grape growers, cannabis growers who lost their plants in the fires don’t qualify for crop insurance. But the news isn’t all bad. Qualified cultivators will get some tax relief from Sonoma County.
Tax bills for growers in the legal pipeline are due Oct. 31. But those with damaged or lost crops can request a reassessment of their farms. No crops, no tax.
“They’re not out of luck,” says Andrew Smith, deputy agricultural commissioner for Sonoma County’s Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures. “You shouldn’t have to pay tax on something that’s not marketable.”
The ag department is helping growers get out to see their property in fire-affected areas. “We anticipate the need for [crop-loss assessments] to be very great,” says Smith.
Eligible growers include those who have applied for permits or those who have filled out a penalty-relief form. Taxes for growers are based on the canopy size of their crops.
According to Tim Ricard, project manager with the county’s Economic Development Board, 122 permit applications have been submitted to the county. The vast majority of those are for cultivation. Ricard said his agency has proposed the board of supervisors extend tax deadlines for the cannabis industry to Nov. 17, and to the end of November for those in the evacuation zones.
Tawnie Logan, president of the Sonoma County Growers Alliance board of directors, counts three permit applicants affected by the fire so far, and of those planning to submit applications, there are at least 10 cultivation sites, three manufacturing labs, two warehouses for mixed-permit use and two genetics nurseries lost or damaged by the fire.
Beyond that, for those disqualified for permits by zoning, Logan counts 15 cultivation sites lost and one lab operation that was looking for property with the proper zoning. As for home grows, she estimates at least 50 were lost in the city limits and another 50 in the unincorporated areas.
But that doesn’t mean there is going to be shortage of cannabis. SPARC and CannaCraft, two major Sonoma County producers and distributors affected by the fires, say they will backfill their inventory from other sources in California. In the run-up to recreational legalization next year, the state’s cannabis production this year is at an all-time high.
It’s been a long, terrible month in the North Bay, but the air seems to be clearing just in time to remember that Halloween is right around the corner.
As the spirited holiday falls on a Tuesday this month, clubs and venues around the region are taking the entire weekend to party with local acts and touring bands. Get your costumes ready; these shows and events are so fun, it’s scary!
Santa Rosa’s Pacific Soundrise take the stage this week on Oct. 28 at the Whiskey Tip in the Roseland neighborhood to celebrate the release of their new album,
Chug Life. The reggae-rock outfit, fronted by brothers Shaun (bass) and Spencer Read (drums), will lead a costume party and likely chug a few beers in the spirit of the Halloween weekend.
In Petaluma, the Phoenix Theater hosts its annual Halloween Covers Show on
Oct. 28, featuring local bands dressing up as their favorite classic rockers and playing the hits they grew up on. Indie-folk band Trebuchet trade in their harmonies for head-banging jams from Andrew WK, songstress Ashley Allred channels Madonna and other North Bay favorites impersonate everyone from At the Drive-In to ZZ Top. Also in Petaluma, Halloween gets heavy with a face-melting bill at the Big Easy on Halloween night, Oct. 31, with Hellbender headlining a shred-a-thon.
In Guerneville, Jerry Knight’s River Theater hosts a costume party on Oct. 28 with the psychedelic sounds of House of Floyd, the premiere Pink Floyd concert experience in the Bay Area. Other tribute acts overflow in the North Bay this week, including Black Sabbath tribute band Electric Funeral, playing at Spancky’s Bar in Cotati on Oct. 27, and 1980s rock-revue Aqua Nett at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa on Oct. 28.
Despite losing microphones and cash to some scumbag looters during the recent evacuations, Sonoma’s Sebastiani Theatre is moving forward with its annual Witchie Poo Halloween extravaganza, performing musical medleys for the whole family Oct. 28–29. Also in Sonoma, the Reel Fish Shop & Grill holds a Halloween bash and benefit for fire victims featuring rock and rollers Modern Action and a silent auction, and B&V Whiskey Bar & Grille presents a late-night Halloween party with drinks, dancing and costume contests, both on Oct. 28.
In Napa, Halloween gets fabulous with a concert at Silo’s on Oct. 28 with dance-inducing band the Fabulous Screwtops. In Calistoga, the town’s favorite dive bar, Susie’s, encourages patrons to dress in costume for a DJ party on Halloween, Oct. 31.
For more info on these and other Halloween concerts, see the Music calendar, adjacent page.
“To name something is to own it,” is a statement typically flung around in semiotics dissertations and dopey Thomas Friedman editorials. But now the North Bay faces a sensitive and non-academic naming issue of its own. If to name it is to own it, who will own the fires?
So far it looks like “Wine Country Fires” is emerging as a potential consensus choice, but there’s a hedge for the moment in the media.
It’s too soon.
Numerous references to the “so-called” wine country fires” have appeared throughout the week in publications and online sites ranging from the local Press Democrat to the Mercury News to MarijuanaDoctor.com to the East Bay Times.
“The so-called wine country fires” has become something of a placeholder.
“So-called” by whom? I never called it that. Did you? Who is this patient-zero who first uttered the phrase “Wine Country Fires,” without the tactful restraint of a qualifying “so-called”?
An informal survey undertaken this week revealed scoffing, repulsion and shrugging fatalism in the face of “Wine Country Fires” as the culturally accepted catch-all for the series of fires that raged through the region the past couple of weeks.
People don’t seem to like “Wine Country Fires” much, and why is that?
In some measure, “so-called” is what you say when you don’t want to say the thing that “some people” are saying (or promoting)—but might, in the current scenario, be a little crass and awkward to freely unveil to a victimized and fire-stoked public.
Are they “so-called” for the time being because of generalized unease, or outrage, about how “Wine Country Fires” puts the wine industry first on the victim list in the rendering of the horrific events and their aftermath?
So-called or not, it is hard to argue against the potential marketing and promotional benefits to the industry should “Wine Country Fires” emerge as the consensus choice.
Before the fires, wine country was already taking a beating from environmentalists and the neighbors insofar that questions about “peak wine” were on the civic agenda in the grape-crowded hills and dales of Napa and Sonoma counties.
The built-in emphasis that Wine Country Fires puts on the destruction that met wine country may serve to extinguish some of that debate, given the industry’s critical role in the regional economy, which ripples into every imaginable corner of civic life—hotels, gas stations, restaurants, retail, the media.
Many residents and workers here in some way or another rely on the wine-tourism economy, so an advocate for “Wine Country Fires” might say that it’s just an accurate reflection and extension of an already-established regional appellation. It doesn’t leave anyone out, since everyone relies on or interacts with the wine country in some way or another.
Another might argue, “Wine Country Fires” is a vulgar appropriation of disaster for the purposes of marketing and promotion.
It’s a touchy subject. It may even be a so-called moment of truth.
On any other day, a dark and foreboding afternoon sky over Santa Rosa, with heavy, drooping clouds, might raise some concerns among residents—but nearly two weeks after fires broke out through the North Coast, rain has danced into the region, perhaps a bit lightly, and there’s a discernible sense that a fire wind-down is afoot.
Still, Santa Rosa residents Thursday were more likely to see out-of-town fire equipment rolling through city streets than the local SRFD—Burbank, Pasadena, Sacramento pumpers were just a few of those spotted around town. And as of Thursday morning, fire officials at Cal Fire had pushed out the date of expected full containment of the numerous fires from tomorrow to next Tuesday, Oct. 24. Friday was always a hopeful estimate, officials stressed earlier this week, but as the Buddhists like to say, “hope and fear won’t change the weather.”
Thursday morning, total containment stood at 80 percent across the Tubbs, Pocket and Nuns fires, with the Tubbs at 92 percent, Pocket at 73 percent and Nuns at 82 percent.
A paramedics crew from Truckee Meadows, Washoe County, Nevada, was eating lunch at El Patio downtown in the early afternoon—and in their own way, giving back to a community they’d driven hundreds of miles to protect and heal: The owners of El Patio, the colorful Mexican restaurant popular with the junior high kids from Santa Rosa Middle School, had lost a home in the Fountain Grove part of town. Through it all, the El Patio chicken fajitas tacos were as reliable as ever.
The Truckee Meadows crew said they were headed home later today or tomorrow and were awaiting word on whether their services would still be needed locally, as the wind picked up a bit and a few drops of rain started to fall. But just a few.
The command center set up at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds continued to be operational, as first-responders and National Guardsmen lined up for free tacos from a Dora’s truck set up in the parking lot. Burly tattooed men were getting massages, a common sight through the week, and a phenomenon whose origins may lay in the days after 9-11 when first responders were tested to the limits of their endurance, and public massages were a common sight.
There was a welcome sense of calm and accomplishment at the command center, as first-responders chatted over paper plates of chow and endless cups of coffee. The Fairgrounds still hosted a massive tent city for first responders, scores of fire trucks were parked as far as the eye could see, and it appeared as though the National Guard was preparing to reduce its presence in the city.
It’s kind of amazing to think that in less than six weeks, all that eye-popping National Guard military equipment will be gone—and supplanted by thousands of cannabis-economy participants who’ll descend on the Fairgrounds in early December for the annual Emerald Cup. I think it’s a safe bet to say that total containment will have been achieved by then.
No one in the North Bay has been left unaffected by the recent wildfires that ripped through Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake Counties this month. As a result, several events and festivals planned this month have been cancelled. Those that are continuing on are almost all now acting as fire relief fundraisers and several events are popping up specifically to benefit victims of the fires. Aside from the events listed in this week’s issue, here’s a round-up of some of the ways you can enjoy community gatherings and support families who lost everything in the fire.
Tonight, Oct. 18, San Rafael’s Key Tea House, located inside Open Secret, is turning its weekly open mic into a North Bay Resiliency Event, featuring music from Lauren & the Arrows, Kendra Current and After the Fall, as well as a silent auction. Donations will be accepted and proceeds will go to various fire departments and relief funds.
Also tonight, the final week of the popular Songwriters in the Round event at HopMonk Tavern in Sebastopol features host Jon Gonzales and musicians Pete Stringfellow, Mimi Pirard, Chris Haugen and Kate Magdalena performing to raise funds for Redwood Credit Union’s Fire Relief Fund.
Tomorrow, Oct. 19, Redwood Cafe in Cotati is hosting “People Helping People,” a benefit concert featuring members of Onye & the Messengers and Afrofunk Experience as well as Amadou and DJ Loisaida. Proceeds and monetary donations will go to people affected by the Sonoma County fire and clothing donations collected by non-profit Bloom will be redistributed to those who need it most.
On Friday, Oct. 20, Silo’s in Napa presents an evening of music to benefit the four-legged victims of the fires, featuring Blues and R&B band Second Street and donating a portion of the ticket proceeds to Napa Humane, which is caring for lost and displaced pets.
On Saturday, Oct. 21, Sonoma Cider and Black Sheep Revival Productions team up for a benefit concert featuring Two Lions Band, Three for Silver and Fast Heart Mart to benefit those impacted by the recent Sonoma County Fires.
Also on Oct. 21, the Healdsburg Hotel hosts a community gathering featuring jazz music by Chris Amberger Group, comfort food by chef Scott Romano and local beer and wine. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Sonoma County Resilience Fund.
On Sunday, Oct. 22, Catelli’s Restaurant in Geyserville is holding the previously promoted “Harvest for Harvey” event, now renamed “Harvest of Hope,” to raise funds for Sonoma County fire relief victims.
These and other events are displaying the supportive, selfless attitude that many in the region have taken in the wake of the wildfires. The Bohemian has also set up our own relief fund, Rebuild Sonoma, and you can donate by clicking here.
The ongoing CULT Film Series had lined up an October filled with Halloween goodness, but last week’s fires shifted the focus of the series from fun to fundraising. This week, CULT teams up with Hot 101.7 radio station to present 1987’s horror-comedy gem Blood Diner, screening at the Roxy 14 with director Jackie Kong in attendance and featuring an afterparty at Bibi’s Burger Bar. All ticket sales will benefit victims of the fires, so arrive early and fill the theater for a cathartic evening of thrills and chills on Friday, Oct. 20, at Roxy 14 Stadium, 85 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa. 7pm. $15. 707.525.8909.
Every summer, the Peacetown concert series mixes music and positive energy for weekly love fests in Sebastopol. This week, the organizers behind the series, specifically the Mr. Music Foundation, which also provides music programs in local schools, are gathering together for a special day-long Peacetown Fire Benefit. The event promises to include music, dancing, laughter and healing for those affected by the fires. Admission is free, though monetary donations will be gladly accepted for the Redwood Credit Union Fire Fund. Food, beer, fine wine and a silent auction will also raise funds on Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Sebastopol Community Center, 390 Morris St., Sebastopol. 2pm. Free. 707.508.5449.
As the smoke clears, Napa County’s artistic community is beginning to rally. Such is the case with singer-songwriter Shelby Lanterman, who is organizing the Napa Strong: Benefit Concert, featuring an array of local talent. The all-day event features performances by Ordinary Sons, Dirty Cello, the Sorry Lot and a ton of other songwriters. All proceeds from the door go to Napa Valley firefighters and a tip jar and silent auction will benefit the Napa Valley Disaster Relief Fund for victims of the fire. Come support Napa on Sunday, Oct. 22, at Billco’s Billiards, 1234 Third St., Napa. 1pm. $5. 707.226.7506.
Sonoma County improvisation and standup group Evil Comedy was prepping their second annual HaHaHalloween event when fires swept through the region last week. Now, the comedy extravaganza is proceeding as a benefit for victims of the recent fires in Sonoma and Napa counties. First responders will get in for free and the proceeds for the event will be donated to support relief efforts. In addition to a lineup of local comedians, the event will have beer and wine on hand and a silent auction. Evil gives back on Sunday, Oct. 22, at the Arlene Francis Center, 99 Sixth St., Santa Rosa. 7pm. $10. 18 and up. 707.528.3009.
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