All clips written by Roger Coryell, owned by their publishers
If you have ever cracked a fresh Sonoma Coast crab, slurped a local oyster or picked up a filet of wild rockfish at a Santa Rosa seafood counter, one very specific piece of equipment deserves a thank-you. Not a boat. Not a net. An ice machine. And for years, it has been quietly falling apart….
Drive north through Hopland this spring, past Ukiah into Redwood Valley. You'll notice gaps. Where Cabernet and Zinfandel twisted toward the sun last October, now there's bare dirt, stacked rootstock,…
At the Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission's April grant hearing, commissioners spent the better part of an afternoon listening to some of the most ambitious habitat restoration pitches the…
Drive south on Highway 101 toward Hopland, and you’ll pass a turnoff for McNab Ranch Road. Most people zip by without noticing. But that little road is the namesake of…
Drive south on Highway 101 toward Hopland, and you'll pass a turnoff for McNab Ranch Road. Most people zip by without noticing. But that little road is the namesake of…
Wildfire preparedness in Sonoma County centers on evacuation routes and ember threats—spot fires ignited far ahead of main blazes—which Israeli startup FireDome claims to address through detection and rapid response.
March in Sonoma County has a particular mood: longer light, cooler nights that still mean business, and gardens that look like they're thinking about what comes next. It's also a…
Sonoma County just dropped a document that reads like a warning label — and it’s weirdly easy to miss because it’s not a crime, a fire, or a lawsuit. It’s…
At North Bay Science Discovery Day oin Santa Rosa, n March 7, Alyssa Huang plans to do more than run a booth. She wants to change the way kids —…
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a young person in Sonoma County gets court-ordered into the juvenile justice system, here’s one answer: Sometimes, they don’t go to Juvenile Hall.
If you have spent any time around wine people, you have heard the phrase: It starts in the vineyard. DaVero Farms and Winery is taking that one step further, straight…
Ticks collected along Umbrella Tree Trail at North Sonoma Regional Park came back positive in pooled tests for Borrelia burgdorferi — the bacterium that causes Lyme disease — at a…
Petaluma’s school board hit the brakes Tuesday night after parents discovered — and then read aloud — safety plan language telling staff to “collect intelligence” on student walkouts, including monitoring…
The morning starts the way county meetings often do — polite, almost ceremonial.
If you sat through Tuesday night’s Sonoma City Council meeting (Feb. 4), you heard two very different kinds of local truth in the same room.
At Tuesday night’s Sonoma City Council meeting (Feb. 4), the first public comment was about something most people would walk past without a second thought: a patch of Himalayan blackberry…
If you’ve ever run a business that gets reviewed online, you know how this usually goes. The more people you serve, the more likely it is that someone has an…
On a winter morning in west county, you can still find places where the loudest thing is a shovel bite and a creek moving under the willows. That’s the mood…
A 16-pound mountain lion cub from Southern California spent Thursday night in Sonoma County under close watch after state biologists couldn’t locate her mother.
Rohnert Park’s network of license-plate reader cameras isn’t going away. But after a long, uneasy public debate, city leaders agreed to put some limits on how much data police can…
John Burgess / The Press Democrat The Medlock Ames estate vineyard in Healdsburg received the first Sonoma County Regenerative Organic Certification for practices including no tilling of the rows and…
The Pride flag at Sonoma Valley High School was only down for a few hours. But for the students who spoke at the Jan. 26 Sonoma City Council meeting, the…
Getty Images Close up of a man looking and touching on phone over laptop with coffee atop book aside sitting at cafe’s white table. Study or Working, Going Outside.
It was 1987. Vermont. I was young, dumb, and living with a woman whose Rottweiler was very pregnant.
You see them at the mouth of the Estero Americano, gliding low over the water with wings locked, skimming inches above the surface. Farther upstream, there is sometimes a flash…
One of Sonoma County’s most familiar farm names received statewide recognition this winter. Lee and Wayne James of Tierra Vegetables in Santa Rosa were named Legacy Farmers of the Year…
When the Russian River flooded in early January, the wastewater treatment plant outside Guerneville flooded with it. Millions of gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the river over two days.…
Sonoma County has always had a quiet side hustle economy. You just didn’t used to be able to taste it.
It is small on paper but enormous in practice. It can turn an ordinary day into something you remember. It can make hard days survivable. It can loosen the grip…
Roll north out of Marin County on Highway 1 and the energy shifts the second you cross the county line. Development thins out, the wind picks up, and you get…
Look, I appreciate the thought. I do. I know you care, I know you’re busy, and I know you bravely entered a HomeGoods during peak Mariah Carey season and survived.…
Not the normal ones. Not snow and holly and “ugh, relatives.” The weird ones. The words that sound like they’ve already had three hot toddies and are reading obscure poetry…
Word junkie: the bull market in buzzwords, with boots on the ground
Built for balance and flavor, this vegetarian spread leans on roasted roots, bright citrus, and make-ahead ease. From carrot–ginger soup to red-wine poached pears, each dish layers comfort with polish—a…
There’s a special someone padding down the halls of Forestville School — and she’s got four paws, a wagging tail and a talent for making everyone smile. Gretel, the school’s…
The mornings across Sonoma County smell like harvest—diesel, damp leaves and cider. Trucks roll before dawn not just to crush pads but to apple sheds and pumpkin patches. October is…
Orillia, Ontario. CAN – October 16, 2012
Cider pressing with Ethic Cider. Go on a Fall Farm Adventure Sept. 27 & 28 with Sonoma County Farm Trails. (Sonoma Farm Trails_
Expect some candid crop talk at the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. The newly released 2024 Sonoma County crop report is on the agenda, and it shows the…
A sweeping plan to remove two century-old dams on Northern California’s Eel River promises to revive native fish runs – but it also raises alarms for the wildlife that has…
One year ago, Recology poured $35 million into its Santa Rosa recycling plant. With 100 conveyor belts, optical scanners, and storage bunkers the size of small houses, the Materials Recovery…
Red worms on a white background
Kicking off Occidental Pride 2023 with an opening ceremony by Drs. Brenda FlysWithHawks and Erica Tom. Adrian Chang photo.
Sebastopol’s free neighborhood music festival is back Sept. 13, but not on porches. After a packed debut on High Street in 2024, PorchFest organizers will shift this year’s event to…
The weather’s not the problem. Highs in the 70s and 80s, nights in the 50s, and barely a whisper of rain — classic Sonoma September. The Harvest Moon on Sept.…
The Madrona in Healdsburg has been recognized on the MICHELIN Guide's "10 Most Beautiful Hotels in California" for 2025, a design-focused list highlighting properties where setting and interiors are as…
Seven months after a February slide damaged Westside Road and sent a house into the Russian River, the county will reopen the Forestville segment on August 28 at noon. This…
The aroma of apple fritters greets visitors before they reach the gate at Ragle Ranch Regional Park, signaling arrival at the Gravenstein Apple Fair. The event celebrates its 52nd year…
After years of planning and community anticipation, Cloverdale's Alexander Valley Healthcare Wellness Center is advancing with a redesigned, more sustainable approach. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the modified…
Sonoma County has become California's leader in cooperative child support agreements by prioritizing empathy over adversarial courtroom battles.