All clips written by Roger Coryell, owned by their publishers
Mendocino County supervisors will open two days of budget hearings Tuesday with a legally balanced $106.7 million spending plan that masks a deep structural deficit by relying on $2.6 million…
Longtime gardeners got just 15 days notice before the water was shut off May 23.
Mendocino County is not in a drought. That was the message Tuesday, May 19, from county Department of Transportation staff, who delivered the first formal drought briefing since the county…
LAST SUMMER, paddlers who pulled their boats onto a wet strip of sand near Forestville in Sonoma County were met by private security guards and signs telling them to leave.…
MENDOCINO CO., 5/13/26 — Cannabis has collapsed from its boom years, and wine is contracting. Coastal tourism is one of Mendocino County’s few industries still pulling crowds — but the county doesn’t support its primary tourism marketing platform, Visit Mendocino County, at least not with the fun...
A Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury report released Sunday May 10 says the agency that has spent 35 years buying up farmland and open space across the county is, by and large, doing the job voters paid it to do. The report’s title — “It’s On Their Website!” — is the jury’s broad answer to citizens w...
A 1916 Saxon roadster painted suffrage yellow rolled up to the Saturday Afternoon Club in Santa Rosa on Thursday afternoon, carrying two of the best-known names in the modern women’s…
A slough borders the western fence line where state Highway 37 meets Interstate Highway 80 in Vallejo, with egrets working the marsh. On the dry side, 160 acres contain grass…
When I moved to West County twelve years ago, dropping a load of yard trimmings at the Pocket Canyon transfer station cost $7. Today the minimum charge for the same vehicle, at the same gate, is $47. The per-ton rate over those twelve years has climbed roughly with inflation. The minimum has clim...
The agenda for the April 21 Sebastopol City Council meeting seemed rather blasé, but the council chambers were packed with neighbors from some of the town’s worst-maintained streets come to…
A 1916 Saxon roadster painted suffrage yellow rolled up to the Saturday Afternoon Club in Santa Rosa on Thursday afternoon, carrying two of the best-known names in the modern women's…
YOUNTVILLE — At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29, the Yountville Town Council went into closed session. The agenda had one item: a performance evaluation for Town Manager Brad Raulston.
Cloverdale Vice Mayor Todd Lands has spent the better part of this month working the phones with the Trump administration, lobbying USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and her staff to derail PG&E’s plan to tear down the Potter Valley dams. He told the Press Democrat last week that 750,000 people in th...
Residents from three Petaluma parks flooded Monday’s city council meeting to defend Jody Johnson, who has led their fight against major rent increases for three years On Friday afternoon, residents of Youngstown Mobile Home Park found an unusual document on their doorsteps. Hand-delivered — reportedly by the park’s own manager — the packet appeared to…
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…
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.
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.
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…
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…
Sonoma County has always had a quiet side hustle economy. You just didn’t used to be able to taste it.
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…
At the August 20 Sonoma City Council meeting, residents spoke out about a proposal to rezone parts of the historic Sebastiani Winery property from agriculture to a new “Sonoma mixed…
The idea sounded simple enough: add one percent to every tasting room bill in Sonoma County and put the money toward marketing our wines. That’s the Wine Business Improvement District…
Sewer bills keep climbing, tanker trucks still haul roughly 17,000 gallons a day out of Occidental, and summer bacteria warnings shadow parts of the Russian River. West Sonoma County gets…
After months of warnings about a looming deficit, Sonoma’s books now pencil out in the black. City Hall is projecting a $200,000 General Fund surplus for the 2025—26 fiscal year…
For the first time in five years, the Petaluma River’s going to get a good, deep clean. Come fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be back with their…
Every town swears it’s unique. Sonoma County went ahead and legislated it. From gas pumps that never shall be to courthouses where even the grass has rights, our patchwork of…
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…
Windsor is spending $1.2 million on a 107-foot aerial ladder truck to match the town’s rising skyline. The Town Council approved the purchase for the Sonoma County Fire District using…
In Rohnert Park, California, a new industrial facility is at the center of a heated local debate. On one side is Resynergi, a company proposing a cutting-edge “advanced recycling” plant…
Wednesday’s Sonoma City Council meeting turned tense as residents crowded into the chamber to challenge what they saw as insider influence and a lack of transparency in the city’s General…
How much more will it cost to license your dog, run your restaurant, or pay off a DUI?
Sonoma County has become California's leader in cooperative child support agreements by prioritizing empathy over adversarial courtroom battles.
When someone in Sonoma County faces a mental health crisis, trained counselors — not just police officers — now respond to help. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has committed…
When Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies share inmate information with federal immigration officials, it can instantly change lives—families split apart, community trust erodes, and neighborhoods feel less safe. This Tuesda
California has just drastically changed the rules around building new homes, rolling back parts of a controversial state law known as CEQA — short for the California Environmental Quality Act.…
At its May 8 meeting, the Sonoma Valley Board of Education voted 4-1 to close Flowery School at the end of the 2025-26 school year. The decision is based on…
A process that will shape Sonoma County for decades quietly launched this month, and if you blink, you might miss it. Sonoma County’s general plan—the blueprint guiding everything from housing…
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved Regional Parks' application for an $8 million state grant to help acquire 1,517 acres of forestland near Monte Rio for park expansion.
Water is life in Sonoma County. It fuels our vineyards, sustains wildlife, and keeps our communities thriving. But for months, landowners, farmers, and environmentalists have been locked in a legal…
Next week, Sonoma County's plan for managing its cherished coastline faces a pivotal moment. On Thursday, Nov. 14, the California Coastal Commission will decide whether to approve the county's updated…
Champions and heroes are rare, especially in disadvantaged places like Roseland. While some are paid to work in these areas to help residents, it's even more heroic when volunteers give…
West Sonoma County residents have a chance to shape the future of their wastewater systems and potentially lower their bills. A new committee, created in response to costly sewer spills…
The Russian River County Sanitation District will hold a public hearing on May 21, 2024 at 9:45 a.m. at 575 Administration Drive, Room 102A, Santa Rosa to discuss proposed sewer…
In Rio Nido, locals are coming together for a big cause: bringing back the Rio Nido Post Office. This effort, led by the Friends of Rio Nido and the Rio…
Chanslor Ranch, a 378-acre property along Highway 1 near Bodega Bay, has officially become Sonoma County's newest regional park and open space preserve following Sonoma County Ag + Open Space's…
Years from now, you'll all say you were in the room where it happened. You'll all say it, but only thirty or so of you will not be fibbing. History…
In Guerneville, the debate over becoming a city is gaining momentum. With a pivotal public workshop scheduled at Guerneville School on Jan. 27, the community is actively discussing the future…
In an effort to address and better understand economic disparity within the region, the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Sonoma County is gearing up to host a pivotal discussion under…