Rhonda Smith, soon to be retired Sonoma County Viticulture Specialist for the University of California Cooperative Extension, has seen unparalleled changes in the industry during her tenure. Starting in 1986 Rhonda assumed a position as…
Posts published in “Essays”
Many years ago this summer, I was standing in the Shield's Cemetery at the graveside services for Mickey Bloyd. It wasn't necessary for me to think back to my high school years in Boonville --…
Streaming services have inundated the world’s quarantined population. The rising digital waters have distracted and anesthetized viewers, but also, at times, buoyed and instructed them. It is Netflix that has issued the defining entertainments of…
In this moment of shifting historical identities — the Fort Bragg City Council has taken up the question of whether to change the town's name on Monday — it might help to know what the…
Ukiah isn’t Detroit. Or Chicago, where two years ago the city spent more than $113 million on lawsuits involving police misconduct. But neither is Mendo an island, as shown by residents who, in spite of…
Berkeley, CA June 22, 2020 — The Fusion Centers were working overtime this past week. You probably didn’t know. Reading daily newspapers wouldn’t have helped you. Nor would listening to the radio or watching TV.…
Daniel Jeans was born a slave in 1835 Missouri. After the Civil War he made his way to California and to the Anderson Valley, probably in the wake of families he'd known in Missouri when…