June 6: Speak Out in Napa

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June 6: Speak Out in Napa

In today’s rapidly changing social climate, more people are realizing that antiquated gender and identity norms are no longer enough to accurately describe the diverse community we live in. Yet, many still don’t know how to address their gender-fluid loved ones with appropriate language and sensitivity. In that vein, Napa-based organizations LGBTQ Connection, PFLAG Napa and Napa Valley CanDo are teaming up for an informative forum, Alphabet Soup, on the topic. For anyone interested in learning more about how to support and engage with LGBTQI family and friends, this forum advocates for understanding on Tuesday, June 6, at Napa Library, 580 Coombs St., Napa. 7pm. Free.nvcando.org.

What We Saw at BottleRock 2017

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We spent three sun-soaked days in Napa for the fifth annual BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival with 120,000 of our closest friends. With tons of bands and lots of libations propelling the fun, our photographer snapped a couple shots of what we saw and who we rocked out to. All shots are by Pollen Heath.

Popping Up

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Popping Up

If the folks at Sebastopol’s Ramen Gaijin are throwing a pop-up dinner, it’s worth taking note.

Ramen Gaijin, as you may recall, was born as a pop-up at neighboring Woodfour Brewing Co. It was such a hit founders Moishe Hahn-Schuman and Matthew Williams set out on their own in 2014 to open their own place, now one of the busiest—and best—restaurants in town. It’s not Hahn-Schuman and Williams behind this pop-up, but one of their more adventurous cooks, Ruben Alcaraz and his buddy Raul Mendez, a sous chef at Napa’s 1313 Main.

The duo are creating a rootsy, eclectic ode to the flavors of Mexico City, particularly the street food from the city’s upscale Polanco neighborhood. That’s what the one-night-only restaurant will be called: Polanco. It run 5–9pm June 5. For fans of Mexican food willing to travel far beyond burritos and quesadillas, it’s not to be missed.

Let’s start with the corn, one of the foundations of central and southern Mexican cuisine. The corn (or hominy in this case) Alcaraz and Mendez will be using comes from artisanal growers in Oaxaca. Alcaraz says the variety is more than a thousand years old and GMO-free.

“To eat something that’s been handcrafted by the Aztecs and Mayans from a thousand years ago is pretty unique,” he says.

They’ll be grinding the grain on-site for tortillas and tamales, and it will also used in a pozole rojo, a chile-laced pork and hominy stew.

Other dishes on the nine-item menu include roasted corn with a powdered grasshopper aioli, birria tacos made with goat meat marinated for 10 days and tamales served with duck confit and a 120-day mole made with more than 100 ingredients.

“Every week my partner gives it a stir to get the mole to emulsify, age and keep fermenting,” Alcaraz says. “We don’t know how people are going to take it. Some people might really dig it, but some people might be like, ‘Wow, this is too much for me. I’ve never exposed my palate to those kinds of flavors.'”

There will be cocktails, too, but don’t expect Margaritas. Alcaraz has created four tequila and mezcal cocktails, and borrowed the Oaxaca Manhattan from New York’s Death & Co. One drink he’s created features jicama juice with mescal and another is a riff on a White Russian made with horchata.

Alcaraz is taking a wait-and-see approach to future pop-ups, but the effort is clearly a passion project for him. He did a taco-centric pop-up at Ramen Gaijin last year, but Polanco is more ambitious.

“It’s something I always wanted to do. I just had it in me, and I was tired of having to go to El Molino Central all the way in Sonoma just to get some good Mexican food. Why can’t we do it here?”

Beastly Good

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Beastly Good

After 104 years of staging elaborate outdoor theater productions in a massive rock amphitheater high on Marin County’s Mt. Tamalpais, the legendary annual Mountain Play has routinely much proven that, when it comes to staging the world’s most popular musicals, bigger is always better. The current production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast further makes that point.

With a cast of 37 performers and a live 20-piece orchestra, aided by a soaring, rotating castle, with cleverly over-the-top costumes by Michele Navarre-Huff (love the dancing cheese-grater), and boasting strong singing voices that squeeze every ounce of emotion and nostalgia from Menken, Ashman and Rice’s gorgeous score, this heartwarming and eye-pleasing presentation is without question one of the biggest, and best, shows of the season.

Adapted in 1994 from the Oscar-nominated 1991 animated film, the stage version is, in many ways, superior to the original film, and far better than the recent “live action” film adaptation starring Emma Watson. One of the film’s failings was that it dropped or replaced some of the stage musical’s best songs. Fortunately, those tunes – mainly “If I can’t Love Her” and “Human Again” are in fine form here, beautifully sung and artfully staged by director Jay Manley.

Not just a master of stage spectacle, Manley is obviously a romantic at heart. This is, after all, a love story – love of al kinds—and that point is clear throughout, no matter how many dancing spoons, howling wolves, and splashy song-and-dance numbers the audience is served.

As Belle, Chelsea Holifield is fine and feisty, and as the Beast—a once-selfish prince cursed to become a monster till he learns to love and be loved —Daniel Barrington Rubio is magnificent, a first-rate singer and an impressive enough actor to make us believe he’s terrifying, even while wearing a slightly fluffy animal head with horns that flop about like rabbit ears. Jeff Wiesen (who played Captain Hook in the Mountain Play’s Peter Pan two years ago) plays the villainous Gaston so expertly he had audiences loving him and hating him at the same time.

Other standouts include Buzz Halsing as Cogsworth, the Beast’s curmudgeonly butler, curse to slowly become a clock, and the superb Zachary Isen as Lumiere, another servant, similarly transforming into a candelabra. The entire cast is strong, with a particularly fine, shape-shifting ensemble.

Well worth the trip up the mountain, this Beauty and the Beast is theatrical magic of the best, biggest, and most enchanting kind.

★★★★

Out, But Not Down

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Out, But Not Down

As an increasingly disgraced White House bullies its way from one feckless and embarrassing outrage to the next, LGBTQ+ activists and advocates in the North Bay and across the country are grappling with the same despair that hangs in the air for many Americans.

For the LGBTQ+ communities of the North Bay, advocates already face fallout from Trump’s ramped-up deportation efforts, of special concern in a rural region that lacks the queer-dedicated resources of San Francisco, and where LGBTQ+ noncitizens face a cruel double- or triple-vulnerability—to be young, undocumented and gay.

“I’m not living that experience, but there is already a huge sense of fear, of being LGBT-identified, and then this huge undercurrent of being deported. It creates a whole different dynamic for an individual and a culture,” says Javier Rivera-Rosales, director of Positive Images in Santa Rosa, an advocacy and outreach group that works with LGBTQ+ youth from around Sonoma County. “It jeopardizes stability and rootedness that this is the only thing they know; this is their home.”

Rivera-Rosales highlights the difficulty in out-front advocacy and outreach in the current climate of fear, where some undocumented LGBTQ+’s retreat to isolation or loneliness. Others become empowered and speak out. “People who don’t disclose their status are still speaking out and being that advocate,” Rivera-Rosales says. Even still, he continues, “one of the biggest things I see is that fear component.”

Youth facing deportation are also ensnared in cultural and familial issues. “What is your relation to your family and your friends to your queerness, your gender identity, your sexual orientation?” he asks. “I know folks personally that don’t feel safe in either category.” And even when a Latino LGBTQ+ teen goes to the group where people share their identity, he says those queer spaces “are not always comfortable because there’s not a lot of people of color or people from other backgrounds in Sonoma County.”

That sense of fear is something that Eric Sawyer can speak to as one of the founders of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) in the 1980s. The lifelong HIV/AIDS and human-rights worker is pessimistic about the state of the union as he tees off in a phone interview from New York about a country that has “actually elected someone who has no qualifications whatsoever to be the [president] of the United States and is bringing with him a cadre of imbeciles and incompetent pilferers. Self-absorbed me-me-me vacuum cleaners trying to dry the world of every natural resource, anything of value to enrich themselves.”

ACT-UP’s media-savvy activism spurred public attention and worldwide action that helped save Sawyer’s life and those of countless others during the height of the AIDS epidemic. He rattles off proposed environmental cuts and giveaways under consideration by the White House, including “the National Park Service, the EPA, the right to drill in the ocean anywhere, in any national park,” as he engages with the present level of frustration he feels and the proper response to it.

Sawyer says the feeling of despair in the air is very much like the early days of ACT-UP as an indifferent and/or homophobic media and political class wrote off the deaths as isolated incidents, while “a plague [was] decimating the gay community and IV drug users and other vulnerable groups.”

The difference between now and then was that during the Reagan era, for all its flaws and faults, the vulnerable and already-trampled weren’t also dealing with “the widespread degradation of American society, the rule of law and our government,” Sawyer adds. “It’s clear that some of these pariahs that are in the White House for whatever reason, really want to collapse society, and I can only suppose it’s so they can rape and pillage it. I don’t understand why there is not revolution in the streets. It’s fucking unbelievable.”

An earlier generation of gay men faced down a flatly homophobic culture as they took the first steps out of the closet. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker John Scagliotti came out of a 1960s anti-war generation that broke numerous social and cultural barriers to pave the way for a nation where, a half century after the 1969 Stonewall riots, gay marriage is now a constitutionally protected right. At least for now. Scagliotti was an activist during a period when life and death for many young people was answered through the question of whether they’d be sent to Vietnam or not. His Before Stonewall is one of several films he made that details LGBTQ+ history in the United States.

Scagliotti says that despite the urgent depravity of the current spectacle underway in Washington, he’s not convinced America is cracking up under the strain of its multiple ailments as he considers whether ACT-UP–style activism—confrontational, media-savvy and unrelenting—is a product of the times.

“I don’t feel we are there yet,” he says. “ACT-UP came out of a real sense of horror. Everyone was dying. And I don’t feel, as much as [the current president] is kind of bad, vulgar and ridiculous and silly, and rounding up Mexicans, but so did Obama—I don’t think people feel it yet. Maybe on climate change, young people might feel that. That’s the closest thing. That’s what ACT-UP is from, so there is a possibility there, the shared sense of existential despair,” he says.

Scagliotti was surprised at the lack of coordinated protests to the deportation regime now underway. “I would have thought that once that they started rounding up Mexicans, it would end,” he says. “That would be that. They would have to stop the next day, because so many people would be out there doing so many things—but nobody stopped the mass deportations.”

Can anyone? And is ACT-UP’s media-savvy, confrontational approach the way to go?

“The most fascinating thing about ACT-UP was its sophistication with the media,” Scagliotti says. “Actions were very thought-out and all based on six, 10, 20 people and a sort of a cell, and no one could tell anyone else what to do. I think this is a much better approach than these boring mass-demonstration protests. Both are important but it would be fascinating to see that kind of activity. You really have to feel it—that existential despair—down to your bones, to understand how ACT-UP worked.”

Ian Stanley is the 38-year-old program director of LGBTQ Connection in Napa, a multi-services outreach group focused on youth advocacy and activism. He cites the paucity of services for Spanish-speaking LGBTQ+ residents as one of several gaps his organization tries to fill in a rural region with many noncitizens and other LGBTQ+ youth. The organization was founded to support young trans-persons, he said, “and especially the youth who are least likely to be connected or to find support.”

Stanley’s organization is expanding into Sonoma Valley and Calistoga in the coming months. “California has a buffer of protection,” he says, “but the rhetoric is creating fear” for young trans people and immigrant communities alike.

“As our program has grown, we have definitely had to pay attention to our role in the community and the approaches we take,” Stanley says. On the question of ACT-UP–style activism, he says he grew up “white and privileged in the North Bay, had a hard time understanding the tactics that were used by other movements because I didn’t know what they did for the community.”

But after studying the history of the LGBTQ+ community and the role ACT-UP played, he now sees “undocumented LGBTs who are really at the forefront and pushing action and change—pushing fair and just immigration reform. They are much more at the forefront. It pushes you to the life-or-death model.”

Eliseo Rivas is a millennial outreach worker at LGBTQ Connection in Napa. He says young activists can’t keep up with the need in a region where “between Sonoma, Solano and Napa, sometimes people will travel to San Francisco to get the services they need.”

Their services and the welcoming environment are needed now more than ever, says Rivas, to confront “the existential dread that may face a young person now, a teenager who is seeing more and more of their rights taken away from them.”

Art of the Source

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Art of the Source

Maria Isabel Lopez comes to the Sonoma County arts scene via an unusual path that has taken her from a Philippines barrio to the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Along the way, the former actress nurtured her love of visual art.

These days, that love of art inspires Lopez to experiment with mosaics and ceramics. She’s spent the last few years in Manila and Sebastopol studying new mosaic techniques. Her work will be on display at Art at the Source’s open studio showing next week. Art at the Source is a free, self-guided tour of some 160 West County artist studios.

Lopez’s art is made up of human-made materials and stones. “It features a lot of quartz, lapis lazuli and chalcopyrite, since I’m fascinated by the color purple and its natural iridescence,” says Lopez. Religious and natural symbols—crucifixes, trees, the yin and yang symbol—are a common element in her work. “My inspiration comes from that higher spiritual source. I am so limited on my own as a human, and my art is a way of giving gratitude.”

Art at the Source runs 10am to 5pm, June 3–4 and 10–11. Lopez’s studio is at 1313 Scheibel Lane in Sebastopol. For
more information, visit artatthesource.org

Spotlight on Guerneville

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Spotlight on Guerneville

Mark Emmett co-founded the Guerneville Community Alliance to give residents a greater voice.

Mark Emmett has been looking out for Guerneville since he moved there 25 years ago.

After retiring from the Alameda County Fire Department, Emmett worked as a general contractor until two back surgeries made him give up manual labor. But he didn’t slow down. He was elected to the Russian River Fire Protection District board of directors in 2014.

One of the first things Emmett noticed upon his new appointment was that 20 to 25 percent of the ambulance calls the fire department received were for the homeless. It takes at least two hours for paramedics to transport someone from Guerneville to a hospital in Santa Rosa and then drive back, during which time there’s no ambulance available in town. Since that realization, Emmett has been at the forefront of trying to remedy Guerneville’s homeless problem and others.

“The people who live and work here needed a voice,” Emmett says. “People need to have an avenue to speak up instead of feeling more neglected.”

With that in mind, he co-founded the nonprofit Guerneville Community Alliance to work on solving community problems.

Homelessness is at the top of the list. At one of the group’s meetings on homelessness in January, more than 500 people showed up. One of the group’s first projects was to identify homeless encampments and clean them up with the help of Guerneville’s Clean River Alliance.

“Our goal is to help and provide services for the people who want help, who want to change, and keep people safe by helping control the people who are abusing substances and engaging in other illegal behavior.”

Through this initiative, the organization has worked with the sheriff and private property owners.

“We’ve created relationships with the supervisors, Efren Carrillo and now Lynda Hopkins and with law enforcement; we were even approached by [Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office] Captain Mark Essick, who said, ‘We really need to connect to your organization,'” Emmett says.

“We’re working to provide services to people who want help. And what we’ve done with Guerneville law enforcement, it’s really working for the drugs and illegal stuff. The demographics of the town are changing. It’s not just a vacation spot anymore. We’re trying to meet that.”

Emmett was pleased that the Guerneville Community Alliance was able to broker a meeting with local merchants, the sheriff’s office and the homeless.

“It was so law enforcement and the merchants could hear their stories—it was very dramatic.”

Beyond homelessness, Emmett wants to work with other river towns to share ambulance services, and he has his eyes on projects to improve air quality.

“I simply love the community,” he says.

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LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Lynette McLean hates it when visitors head to Muir Woods instead of the less crowded (and closer) Armstrong Woods reserve.

How would you spend your perfect day in Guerneville?

My perspective as an innkeeper is different than when I was a tourist. Then, it was sitting on a deck and watching the trees. Now, it would have to be having breakfast on the deck, taking my dog on a walk at Armstrong Woods, driving to Bodega Bay and having an outdoor barbecue with friends. Guerneville is a low-key town; there’s enough to do to be occupied, but not too much, so you feel like you’re missing out. I wish I could just turn off the wi-fi at night [at the inn] to encourage relaxation.

Where is your favorite place to eat in Guerneville?

As an innkeeper, it’s like having kids—I can’t say a favorite. I always point out the taco truck at Safeway. Usually, people aren’t comfortable eating at trucks in strange towns, so I like to reassure them. It’s so yummy and the people are so sweet. There’s nobody doing lousy food [in Guerneville], so that’s great. I try and point out places they might overlook, like Bloomsters [Korean Diner]. People think it’s just a historical find, and less about food, so I like bringing things to their attention.

Where do you take first-time visitors to Guerneville?

They’ve got to go to Armstrong Woods. It pisses me off if they’ve already gone to Muir Woods—they’re so similar, but one’s full of tourists and the other is basically empty where you can be by yourself.

What do you know about Guerneville that others don’t?

Lots of things since I’m an innkeeper—I can’t tell you though. Fifty feet from where I’m sitting is the tallest redwood tree in Guerneville. It’s absolutely stunning and gigantic. It got hit by lightning a long time ago, and it’s maybe eight feet across. It’s so old that the bark has started to twist.

If you could change one thing about Guerneville, what would it be?

I like eating outside. I would love to magically make Main Street wide enough to be able to have a 10-foot sidewalk for eating outside [in front of shops]. I think that Guerneville is perfect, with its funky charm and interesting, passionate people, which is definitely what I’d like to keep.

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THINGS TO DO IN GUERNEVILLE

‘Rise Up’ Rally at Sonoma County Pride

The North Bay’s long-standing gay pride weekend, Sonoma County Pride, this year brings the LGBTQ+ community together in a brand-new event, the “Rise Up” solidarity rally. In addition to advocating for gay rights, this rally will rise to the occasion and call for action on women’s rights, immigration rights and economic equality. The rally will feature over a dozen keynote speakers, including Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch and Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, as well as activists who represent a vast range of political and social groups looking to resist the current administration, Congress, and the courts seeking to roll back hard-fought civil rights. Saturday, June 3, Guerneville Lodge, 15905 River Rd, Guerneville. 1pm. sonomacountypride.org.

Unity Parade & Festival at Sonoma County Pride

After you’ve risen up at Saturday’s rally, be sure to get a spot along downtown Guerneville’s Unity Parade route on Sunday, as the popular parade showcases the vibrant LGBTQ+ community in the North Bay for a 30th year. This year’s parade features Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Greg Sarris, Hopkins and nationally recognized transgender activist and motivational speaker Aydian Dowling as grand marshals. Once the parade traverses downtown Guerneville, the Unity Festival commences with Dowling presenting a keynote talk, “My Journey to Authenticity,” as well as music from folk duo Mouths of Babes, who’ve recently relocated back to Sonoma County, and an array of exhibitors, food and drinks and celebratory fun for all. Sunday, June 4. Parade starts on Main St, Guerneville at 11am. Festival happens at Guerneville Lodge, 15905 River Rd, Guerneville. Noon to 7pm. sonomacountypride.org.

Rockin’ the River

In the summer, Guerneville’s picturesque plaza adjacent to the river park goes from quaint hangout spot to highly-charged concert venue when the Rockin’ the River series brings electrified fun to town every other week. The family friendly street party features popular rock bands from throughout the Bay Area and beyond performing for crowds in the setting sun, and this year’s series opens with a set by slide guitar master Roy Rogers and His Delta Rhythm Kings. Other acts scheduled for this summer include soul rockers the Highway Poets, the all-female powerhouse Led Zeppelin tribute band Zepparella, Los Angeles-based salsa dance band Invasion Latina and Motown masters the Best Intentions. Bring chairs or dancing shoes and enjoy this series every other Thursday, June 22 through Sept 14, at Guerneville Plaza, Armstrong and River Roads, Guerneville. 7pm. Free admission. rockintheriver.org.

Russian River
Beer Revival

Reflecting the town’s laidback and friendly vibe, the 15th annual Russian River Beer Revival will not let a record-breaking rainy season sully the shores of the Russian River where the beer tasting and barbecue cook-off take place. Hosted by West County microbrewers Stumptown Brewery, this year’s event promises to revive your inner ale aficionado with beers and ciders from some 30 crafters, and two dozen barbecue teams facing off in a tasty competition. Live music and local color make for a special day under the sun on Saturday, Aug 19, at Stumptown Brewery, 15045 River Rd, Guerneville. Gates open at noon. $75-$100. Shuttle bus from Santa Rosa available. Pre-sale only, no tickets at the door. stumptown.com/revival.

Hop Along

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Hop Along

The wealth of IPA brands competing on the beer aisle is no boon to fans of different styles—even a red ale must be a “red IPA” to get a little shelf space. But for this week only, I’ll check my attitude and explore some surprising local variation within the category:

Cloverdale Ale Floyd IPA Fresh hops on the vine meet a grainy, biscuity note, and there’s a juicy, citrus zest to balance the bitter hop finish. All-around classic California IPA from Ruth McGowan’s brew pub. (6.7 percent ABV.)

Third Street Aleworks Bodega Head IPA Although named for the Sonoma Coast’s famed promontory, the aroma and hop profile point to the east: grainy, earthy and complex, this reminds me of a spicy but mellow British IPA like Belhaven’s Twisted Thistle.
(7.1 percent ABV.)

Sonoma Springs Subliminal Gold IPA Ach, even the rare microbrewery that specializes in authentic German-style beer has to pimp an IPA on the market to survive? Doch—this is “subliminal” after all: it’s like a hopped-up version of the brewery’s Kölsch-style ale, with a hop list that includes Hallertau Blanc. If you want to keep up with the IPA-drinking crowd, but really just want a more awesome version of a traditional American beer style with German roots, this is the ticket. (7 percent ABV.)

Fogbelt Del Norte IPA Last time we visited Fogbelt, it was for their freshly harvested, wet-hop aromas. Here, the aroma is more like a fresh bag of hop pellets—it’s pleasant, just different. An amber-tinted classic with rich ale flavor and tangy citrus. (7 percent ABV.)

St. Florian’s Flashover IPA Also losing “India Pale Ale” points for being not so pale, this earthily hopped, malty brew wins them back for balance. (7.3 percent ABV.)

Bear Republic Hop Shovel IPA Promising a shovelful of hops, this light gold, mellow IPA suggests lemon blossoms and ends up in the piney, citrusy camp. (7.5 percent ABV.)

Lagunitas IPA I wanted to include this best-selling, Petaluma-born IPA (6.2 percent ABV) as a baseline of the ultra-piney-hoppy, unabashedly bitter West Coast IPA style—but what happened here? This bottle, from six-pack, has oddly fruity, chewing-gum notes but not much more of interest. Old bottle, or new direction? In any case, I’ll stick with the brewery’s “Onehitter Series” like the latest Waldos Special Ale, with its sweet, resiny Lagunitas hop profile turned up to—well, over 11. At 11.9 percent ABV this is more like a double or triple IPA, and that’s a story for another day.

The Killing of Branch Wroth

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The Killing of Branch Wroth

On May 12, the son of my good friends, Marni and Chris Wroth, was killed by Rohnert Park police.

Branch Wroth was in distress. Instead of being helped, he was killed. Despite the instructions of the Taser manufacturer, that people who exhibit “extreme agitation” or “violent irrational behavior” may be “at an increased risk of sudden death,” Branch was Tasered. Eight and a half years ago, Rohnert Park police killed Guy Fernandez for the same reasons, the same way.

Recently, on the street a few doors from my house in Santa Rosa, a man started screaming. He was clearly having a mental break. The Santa Rosa police and an ambulance showed up. The police and EMTs spoke with him very gently, very calmly. It went on for a long time. He even ripped boards from a neighbor’s fence trying to escape. They stayed calm. They never hurt him. He was still screaming as they closed the ambulance doors, but nobody was harmed.

It can be done. We must demand this of law-enforcement agencies.

The Wroths were never allowed to see their son before his cremation. An independent coroner was denied. The sheriff’s office, which freely uses excessive force, will investigate. Everything about this highlights the inhumanity of this system.

We take lives so easily in this country and make every excuse for it. Too many people accept this. We have always thought that earlier forms of punishment—cutting off hands for stealing a loaf of bread, hanging for minor infractions—were barbaric. But they continue to this day, as police are exonerated for killing unarmed people who have committed no crime or crimes equivalent to stealing bread. And instead of paying for a front row seat to the hanging, we can watch on our cell phones. That too many Rohnert Park residents do not seem to object does not make it right.

In its May 2000 report, 17 years ago (!), the California Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called for the immediate creation of a civilian review board in Rohnert Park. Seventeen years of arrogance and inaction on the part of that city have followed.

The Wroth family’s hearts are breaking. It did not need to be this way.

Susan Lamont is a member of the Police Brutality Coalition Sonoma County.

To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write op*****@******an.com.

Letters to the Editor: May 31, 2017

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Letters to the Editor: May 31, 2017

Blame the Gun

Thanks to Peter Byrne, Kathleen Finigan and the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County for their elucidating and eloquent letters in response to my letter (“Let It Rest,” May 10).

I agree with the Peace and Justice Center that the tilting scales of justice should be heard at the highest court level. I agree with Kathleen and Judge Smith that Sgt. Gelhaus does not have a license to kill teenagers within three seconds. Contrary to Peter, I think Erick is quite a guy for shouldering the awesome burden of this tragedy for our community.

Peter presaged the Bohemian’s Hot Summer Guide with aggressive language like “blasting,” “criminally,” “killer” (I’m one too, but called a “hero” for killing Iraqis in 1991), “splattering . . . automatic gunfire”. Peter concludes that all “white” (Erick’s skin, like mine, is actually closer to pink) cops want to shoot all “colored” children, and county officials value this skill over children’s lives. Absurd!

Peter, there is no way to nonaggressively carry a toy gun. Is there such a thing as a toy gun? Like candy cigarettes? What kind of community allows children on city streets with toy guns?

Peter and Kathleen’s ad hominem attacks are disappointing, but point to the way language and Goebbels’ Big Lie work to confuse the public. Machiavellian indeed. The refusal of both to use my name (they reference the “writer,” “author,” “this gentleman”) implies they fear the American bogeyman of “the Other.” Like the president fears immigrants. Surprising if Peter or Kathleen have ever carried a weapon for a living or to protect their community. That’s OK; there are people like Erick to do so for them.

Sheriff Freitas vows not to work with ICE at the street level. I support that. I support the Peace and Justice Center’s position on the excessive use of force by all deputies and the corroding influence of Sonoma County’s ubiquitous wineries and breweries. My perspective on culpability is neither skewed, nor do I blame Andy or his parents, though I wonder who let him out of the house with that toy gun. Sonoma County’s Sheriff’s Office may have a “serious problem.” Perhaps the Peace and Justice Center would support me if I ran for sheriff? Finally, I agree with people who believe this case has been ground into fine bits. Time to let Andy, Erick and Sonoma County rest.

—judge (ret.) christopher patrick murphy berkheimer

Guerneville

Wicked Witch

Donald Trump is a witch. He practices magic, especially black magic, and casts spells over his followers. Even though Trump gave highly classified information to the Russians, advocates the imprisonment of journalists, grabs pussies, disparages the handicapped, obstructs justice with the firing of ex-FBI director James Comey, his supporters are more passionately pro-Trump than ever before.

The only explanation is witchcraft. Recently, I spoke to a Trump supporter, and she explained that she loves Trump because he is a champion of the working class. I said: “Look at what he does, not what he says.” I explained, by way of example, that his healthcare plan would throw 24 million Americans off their healthcare. She just stared at me blankly. The information did not register.

Yes, Donald Trump is a witch, and his followers are delusional.

—nicole gillette

Kentfield

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

June 6: Speak Out in Napa

In today’s rapidly changing social climate, more people are realizing that antiquated gender and identity norms are no longer enough to accurately describe the diverse community we live in. Yet, many still don’t know how to address their gender-fluid loved ones with appropriate language and sensitivity. In that vein, Napa-based organizations LGBTQ Connection, PFLAG Napa and Napa Valley CanDo...
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What We Saw at BottleRock 2017

We spent three sun-soaked days in Napa for the fifth annual BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival with 120,000 of our closest friends. With tons of bands and lots of libations propelling the fun, our photographer snapped a couple shots of what we saw and who we rocked out to. All shots are by Pollen Heath.
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Popping Up

If the folks at Sebastopol's Ramen Gaijin are throwing a pop-up dinner, it's worth taking note. Ramen Gaijin, as you may recall, was born as a pop-up at neighboring Woodfour Brewing Co. It was such a hit founders Moishe Hahn-Schuman and Matthew Williams set out on their own in 2014 to open their own place, now one of the busiest—and...
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Beastly Good

After 104 years of staging elaborate outdoor theater productions in a massive rock amphitheater high on Marin County’s Mt. Tamalpais, the legendary annual Mountain Play has routinely much proven that, when it comes to staging the world’s most popular musicals, bigger is always better. The current production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast further makes that point. With a...
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Out, But Not Down

As an increasingly disgraced White House bullies its way from one feckless and embarrassing outrage to the next, LGBTQ+ activists and advocates in the North Bay and across the country are grappling with the same despair that hangs in the air for many Americans. For the LGBTQ+ communities of the North Bay, advocates already face fallout from Trump's ramped-up deportation...
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Art of the Source

Maria Isabel Lopez comes to the Sonoma County arts scene via an unusual path that has taken her from a Philippines barrio to the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Along the way, the former actress nurtured her love of visual art. These days, that love of art inspires Lopez to experiment with mosaics and ceramics. She's spent the...
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Spotlight on Guerneville

Mark Emmett co-founded the Guerneville Community Alliance to give residents a greater voice. Mark Emmett has been looking out for Guerneville since he moved there 25 years ago. After retiring from the Alameda County Fire Department, Emmett worked as a general contractor until two back surgeries made him give up manual labor. But he didn't slow down. He was elected to...
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Hop Along

The wealth of IPA brands competing on the beer aisle is no boon to fans of different styles—even a red ale must be a "red IPA" to get a little shelf space. But for this week only, I'll check my attitude and explore some surprising local variation within the category: Cloverdale Ale Floyd IPA Fresh hops on the vine meet...
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The Killing of Branch Wroth

On May 12, the son of my good friends, Marni and Chris Wroth, was killed by Rohnert Park police. Branch Wroth was in distress. Instead of being helped, he was killed. Despite the instructions of the Taser manufacturer, that people who exhibit "extreme agitation" or "violent irrational behavior" may be "at an increased risk of sudden death," Branch was Tasered....
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Letters to the Editor: May 31, 2017

Blame the Gun Thanks to Peter Byrne, Kathleen Finigan and the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County for their elucidating and eloquent letters in response to my letter ("Let It Rest," May 10). I agree with the Peace and Justice Center that the tilting scales of justice should be heard at the highest court level. I agree with Kathleen and...
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