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Oyster Cove seeks permission to start grading site ahead of final approvals
photo credit: Courtesy, City of PetalumaConceptual drawing of the Oyster Cove development looking southeast from D Street. Petaluma officials tonight will weigh a tough choice. Developers of the planned 132 unit Oyster Cove subdivision near downtown and Steamer Landing Park are seeking permission to start construction, shortly. That's even though final approvals are not yet in. Brookfield Properties, in a letter to the city a month ago, warned that unless they can begin grading the site now, they'll cancel the entire project. The company says any delay will ruin financing of the project. Brookfield says it will pile a deep layer of new soil on top of the site. And that needs a year to settle and compact before the 21-building complex can begin construction in earnest next spring. The city is considering the request, but may add a requirement that Brookfield undo any grading work if the project falls though.
Pot in Petaluma? Cannabis regulations getting renewed look in near future
photo credit: City of PetalumaMap showing in red where cannabis business can currently locate in Petaluma. Two joints and a pizza? Right now if you were to buy cannabis within the legally “approved manner" in Petaluma your options are pretty limited. The city is looking to update its cannabis rules though. Petaluma city attorney Eric Danly described the city's current, fairly restrictive, rules. "They allow personal cultivation, commercial testing, and manufacturing," Danly said. "They allow delivery only. That is not onsite sale retail. They allow that for up to two permitted businesses, and they do it in terms of location in the city,...
Grifters bilked PG&E customers out of nearly $900,000 last year
Phone scammers called nearly a thousand North Coast residents last year, attempting to swindle them out of cash with warnings their electricity was about to be turned off. In many cases, it was a success. Reports of utility scams reached an all time high last year according to PG&E. The company says it received 43,000 complaints about fraudulent calls throughout its service area, roughly the northern half of California. "In 2023, scammers swindled nearly $900,000 from PG&E customers," said PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland. PG&E says the average victim lost $785. The trend isn't easing. In January, PG&E reports its customers were successfully cheated out of...
Racism declared local public health emergency
photo credit: Marc Albert/KRCBMan unleashes racist tirade at Board of Supervisors Acknowledging glaring differences in life expectancy, medical coverage and incomes, Sonoma County's board of supervisors last week unanimously declared racism a public health crisis in the county. The resolution is an admission that equality remains elusive, even in a region seeing itself as enlightened and welcoming. Tina Rivera, the county's director of health services said she is among those who regularly face racist behavior and assumptions. "I stand with those who, like me have suffered discrimination, micro-aggressions, bigotry, physical, mental and emotional harm. Because as a black woman living, yes, I live...
Special water sourcing adds ‘sense of place’ to Napa Valley brewer’s beers
photo credit: Tina CaputoNile Zacherle samples spring water near Agwin. Water is a key ingredient in brewing beer, along with hops and barley, but you rarely see it mentioned on labels. Water is just water. Right? Well, not all producers feel that way. Nile Zacherle, the owner of Mad Fritz Brewery in Napa Valley, goes to extremes to source water from wells and springs throughout the region to use for different beers. He regularly drives Napa’s winding back roads to collect water in a 350-gallon tote that he keeps in the back of his van. While lots of beer producers adjust...
Pot in Petaluma? Cannabis regualtions getting renewed look in near future
photo credit: photo credit text goes here Image description text goes here Two joints and a pizza? Right now if you were to buy cannabis within the legally “approved manner" in Petaluma your options are pretty limited. But the city is looking to update its cannabis rules. Petaluma city attorney Eric Danly described the city's current, fairly restrictive, rules. "They allow personal cultivation, commercial testing, and manufacturing," Danly said. "They allow delivery only. That is not onsite sale retail. They allow that for up to two permitted businesses, and they do it in terms of location in the city, only in...
Pot in Petaluma? Cannabis regualtions getting renewed look in near future
photo credit: City of Petaluma Map, showing in red, where cannabis businesses can be located in Petaluma. Two joints and a pizza? Right now if you were to buy cannabis within the legally “approved manner" in Petaluma your options are pretty limited. But the city is looking to update its cannabis rules. Petaluma city attorney Eric Danly described the city's current, fairly restrictive, rules. "They allow personal cultivation, commercial testing, and manufacturing," Danly said. "They allow delivery only. That is not onsite sale retail. They allow that for up to two permitted businesses, and they do it in terms of location...
Petaluma Health Center lays off 32 staff as Covid funds dry up
photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCBPetaluma Health Center CEO Pedro Toledo at the unveiling of PHC's mobile clinic in August 2022. Petaluma Health Center has announced a round of layoffs as Covid specific funds expire. 32 people will be out of work due to the layoff, about six percent of Petaluma Health Center’s staff of over 500. Petaluma Health Center CEO Pedro Toledo explained the need to shrink the payroll for the time being. "We've been working on unwinding from our COVID-19 staffing levels," Toledo said. "And in addition to COVID-19 funding declines, there's also been a rise in everyday costs, so these layoffs...
Local farmer commended for eco-conscious, 'regenerative' methods
Marc Albert/KRCBFarmer Sarah Silva comforts a lost lamb at Green Star Farm. Local farmer Sarah Silva has been named 2024 Climate Smart Farmer of the Year by the organization Community Alliance with Family Farmers KRCB news recently visited Green Star Farm, which Silva operates near Sebastopol to learn about regenerative agriculture and how she is using it to heal the land, sequester carbon, boost yields and sometimes, get some cash too. Pastoral, and idyllic are the right words, but can't paint an accurate picture. Bleating goats echo across an emerald carpet of thick grass rising from lazy hillocks. A minute stream rambles...
3 retail theft suspects arrested after police chase, crash on 101
photo credit: SRPD via Bay City News Some of the recovered stolen items, according to SRPD. Santa Rosa officers arrested three retail theft suspects after a vehicle pursuit and collision, police said Tuesday. At 2:46 p.m. Monday, officers were dispatched to the Dick's Sporting Goods store at 1975 Cleveland Ave. for a report of an organized retail theft. According to the store's employees, three people loaded significant amounts of merchandise into some garbage bags before leaving the establishment.The employees provided police with a description of the suspects' vehicle and its license plate.Shortly after the report, an officer saw a vehicle, which appeared to...
Public comment period opens on Shiloh Resort and Casino enviro report
photo credit: Bureau of Indian Affairs/Dale PartnersProposed layout of the Shiloh Resort and Casino near Windsor, CA. It’s called the Shiloh Resort and Casino. The controversial project, proposed by the Koi Nation of Southeastern Pomo, is still in the planning stages. The next step is an environmental impact statement - known as an EIS - soon to be prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, And the clock has started ticking for public input. As proposed, the resort and casino consists of a 400-room hotel, an event center, spa, restaurants, and over 100,000 square feet of casino floor; sitting on nearly 70...
3 Santa Rosa residents suffer minor injuries after plane crash lands
photo credit: google Maps The plane landed near Whitehorn. Three Santa Rosa residents, including a 2-year-old child, suffered only minor injuries after their small plane lost engine power and deployed an onboard parachute that floated the aircraft down into a remote part of Mendocino County last week.The Cirrus SR22 took off from Shelter Cove Airport in Humboldt County about 1 p.m. March 8, headed to Santa Rosa with two 38-year-old adults and the child on board, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, which responded along with authorities from Humboldt County.The single-engine plane lost power about five minutes after takeoff and the...
CERES moves everything and the kitchen sink following S.A.Y. bankruptcy
photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCBPrepared meals from Ceres shuttered Dream Center kitchen sit in cold storage at Ceres Kitchen in Sebastopol awaiting delivery. The abrupt bankruptcy of Santa Rosa nonprofit Social Advocates for Youth - S.A.Y. - is having ripple effects that go beyond just the youth and foster services they once provided. The fallout from S.A.Y.’s collapse isn’t over either; not least for the dozens of at-risk and foster youth who’ve lost the safety net of S.A.Y.’s services. One of S.A.Y.’s longtime tenants in Santa Rosa has also had to scramble a short term solution to the bankruptcy, said Deborah Ramelli. "Ceres...
Last Sausalito 'anchor out' floating home removed from Richardson Bay
photo credit: Ray Saint GermainMona Mewitz, 62, on her converted WWII minesweeper on Richardson Bay on July 13, 2023. The last floating home in Marin County's ecologically fragile Richardson Bay has been removed following a state mandate to protect area eelgrass that is a vital part of the water's ecosystem, a spokesperson for the Richardson Bay Regional Agency said Thursday. The removal is also a coda to what had been a controversial floating subculture of boaters living on the waters off Sausalito. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission in 2021 entered into an agreement with the Richardson Bay Regional Agency ordering that...
CSU schools struggle to graduate Black students; cultural centers aim to help, but not at SSU
photo credit: José Luis VillegasLeila Cormier at Sacramento State on Jan. 22, 2024. Cormier is a student leader at the school's Martin Luther King Jr. Center. Leila Cormier’s breath quickened and her mind raced as she prepared to lead her first workshop at Sacramento State’s resource center for Black students. Surrounded by 25 students, paint and dirt, she wanted to overcome her fear of public speaking and develop skills for her post-graduation goal of changing public policy. Cormier is a fourth-year political science major and Africana studies minor who has been heavily involved in Sac State’s Martin Luther King Jr. Center. The workshop combined...
Santa Rosa show spotlights emerging women artists
photo credit: Marc Albert/KRCBA brief gallery talk punctuated First Friday festivities. A local art show....the 'Newcomers Art Project,' showcases dozens of works by seven female emerging artists, along with their inspirations and creative drive. Movement, light, water, making sense of life's absurdities and big questions are some of the subjects explored in a bevy of works, on display in Santa Rosa through the weekend. One of the artists in the show, Amelia Ketzer-Dean, said she's been bitten by the creative bug since a young age. "I think it's just something that comes to me, naturally, I love to create and it's almost...
Who's going to represent Sonoma County in Sacramento? Multiple races still to be decided
photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB Ballot counting continues throughout California, but where do things stand in the races to represent Sonoma County in Sacramento? Sonoma County’s state level representation is split between five districts - two state Senate and three Assembly seats represent portions of the county. Primaries were held in four of the five districts on Super Tuesday. One of the night’s big winners has been Assembly member Damon Connolly. "I will take the power of the people over big corporate interests, anytime. Am I right," Connolly said, speaking at an election night event for fellow Assembly candidate Chris Rogers. Connolly looks set to...
State inviting crabbers to test rope-less gear
photo credit: Marc Albert/KRCBOrdinary crab traps are a danger to migrating whales Beneath the waves of the open ocean, whales face can a deadly risk---getting caught in ropes and lines connecting crab traps with floating buoys, and drowning. Officials, pushed by environmental lawsuits, have responded by delaying commercial fishing seasons until migrating whales have cleared those fishing grounds. Those actions haven't been universally welcome. Environmentalists say whales are still being killed, while crabbers argue the added restrictions are sinking them financially. There may be middle ground though. Last week state officials announced regulators will help pay for real world trials of something promoted...
New plan for long vacant Cotati lot
photo credit: Courtesy, City of CotatiConceptual rendition of planned Cotati housing along 116. On a site envisioned a quarter century ago as a home for the then telecom giant Nokia, officials in Cotati last week agreed to move forward with plans for close to 200 apartments and retail shops. The city has granted preliminary design review of what's being called the Cotati Village Community. The recent approvals certify the development as complying with the city's general plan, thus exempting it from further environmental review. Current plans call for 177 apartments to rise in six buildings across the nearly eight-acre site. The location...
Early results show sales tax for fire service with sizable lead
photo credit: Marc Albert/KRCBFirefighters cheered when initial results appeared Measure H, the Sonoma county sales tax measure to improve fire departments throughout the county, appears headed for a win. That's with early results last night suggesting local voters are willing to dig deeper into their pockets for the right cause. The mood was fairly jovial around the Healdsburg wine bar and venue Sonoma Coyote as the clock ticked closer to when polls would close and shortly thereafter, the release of initial results. The vibe was decidedly playoff game at a sports bar---but this is Healdsburg, so there was paella and maracona almonds. Not...
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KRCB 104.9 is Sonoma County's NPR station. We provide live radio news, podcasts, and social media news updates covering Sonoma County governmental affairs, wildfire, arts, culture, and breaking news.
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