The monthly recognition honors exceptional public schoolteachers in Sonoma County, and it is organized by the county office together with partners at Amaturo Sonoma Media Group and Wine Country Radio. The partner stations air announcements inviting community members to submit nominations, and the case for Dieckmann, in the county office's summary, rested on her kindness and dedication to her students and on the difference she makes in the first years of a child's schooling.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

What the nominations said

One nomination, quoted in the announcement, described a teacher whose former students stay attached long after they leave her room. "Mrs. Dieckmann is a school favorite," the nomination read. "Past students come by her classroom all the time to visit and say hello. She goes out of her way to make sure that each student in her classroom is heard, appreciated and engaged."

A Sassarini parent made the same point from the family's side of the desk. "Her patience, kindness, and dedication make such a difference during these important early school years," the parent said.

Dr. Amie Carter, the Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools, whose office runs the program, put the honor in terms of what an early teacher leaves behind. "Those early years really make a difference in a child's educational journey. Teachers like Ms. Dieckmann will always be remembered by students as the inspiration for a lifetime love of learning," Carter said.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

How the monthly honor works

Each month the county office reviews nominations submitted in English and Spanish through its website by students, families and staff from public school districts and charter schools across the county, and selects one teacher. The program page adds that both the number of nominations a teacher receives and the quality of teaching described in them factor into the choice, and that past winners cannot win again.

The October award carries two tangible pieces, both listed the same way in the announcement and on the program page: a $500 classroom gift card sponsored by Community First Credit Union, described on the program page as a classroom supply gift card, and a six-month family membership from the Sonoma County Family YMCA.

Sassarini Elementary, at 652 Fifth Street West, is an elementary school in Sonoma Valley Unified, with transitional kindergarten among its grades, on a campus where every student in grades TK-5 takes part in a weekly Maker Lab, according to the school. For October, one of its transitional kindergarten classrooms is also the county's honored one, and its teacher starts the rest of the school year with a room that past students keep visiting, and the $500 classroom supply gift card for her classroom.

The year ran in two acts, according to the Winegrowers. A warm spring came first. Then cold, wet and windy weather settled in during bloom, when the vines set their fruit, and the crop came in light. Summer reversed the story: exceptional weather through the peak growing season let the remaining fruit reach full maturity, with the color, ripeness and flavor development the group says point to a smoother mouthfeel and outstanding flavor in the finished wines.

Sonoma County Winegrowers

Less fruit, high hopes

Karissa Kruse, the Winegrowers' president and chief executive officer, acknowledged the cost of a short crop while pointing to what is now in the tanks. "While lighter yields present real challenges for our farming families, the quality of the fruit and the early reports from our winemakers give us a lot to look forward to," Kruse said in the announcement. She added that wineries are buying additional grapes to meet consumer demand, and that the group hopes a smaller harvest helps bring greater balance to the grape marketplace in the region.

One account comes from Steve Sangiacomo of Sangiacomo Family Vineyards, listed in the announcement for the Sonoma Coast AVA. He described one of the earliest harvests on record, with grapes that stayed on the vines a long time developing flavor, below average yields from the cool bloom weather, and small berries that have the family excited about what ends up in the bottle.

A season that started on July 16

The early theme was set at the very first pick. Steve Dutton of Dutton Ranch, in the Green Valley and Russian River Valley AVAs, said his crews kicked off harvest on July 16, the first pick in Sonoma County and the earliest start in the ranch's history. What fruit there was, he said, proved exceptional, especially the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with beautiful concentration, balance and flavors.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

In Alexander Valley, Bret Munselle of Munselle Vineyards reported a calendar he had never seen: his whites started and finished inside the month of August for the first time ever, running four to five weeks earlier than he considers normal, and his reds were done by October 12, also a first. The shortfall varied by variety. His Chardonnay came in about 10 to 15 percent below the five year average, while nearly every Sauvignon Blanc block picked at right around half of its five year average.

The pattern repeats across the county's 19 American Viticultural Areas in the accounts the Winegrowers collected. Jim Rickards, marking his 50th year farming in Sonoma County, paired one of the earliest budbreaks ever with one of the earliest harvests. Brian Ball of Sphaerics Wine credited the warm March weather and the smaller crop load for the early start, and said the moderate summer left the fruit with bright acidity, deep color and concentrated flavor. Justin Seidenfeld of Rodney Strong Vineyards called 2026 the earliest harvest of his career and one of the lightest, and praised the concentration now showing in the tanks. In the Petaluma Gap, Tony Lombardi pointed to the afternoon winds and marine air that keep that area's Chardonnay and Pinot Noir bright, a character he said is showing up again this year.

What a short crop means from here

For Sonoma Valley growers and the tasting rooms that pour their fruit, the arithmetic of 2026 is now fixed: considerably less wine from this vintage, and, if the early reports hold, wine the trade will be proud to sell. The Winegrowers, a marketing and educational organization that counts more than 1,800 grape growers across those 19 AVAs, also note that 99 percent of the county's vineyard acreage is certified sustainable by a third party auditor, the result of a push the group led beginning in 2014. The next chapter of the 2026 story will be written in the cellar, as fermentations finish and the first young wines can actually be tasted.

Empty bags are free too. Once the station opens, City Hall will hand out empty sandbags to city residents during normal business hours, with a limit of 10 per resident while supplies last, according to the city. One group is urged to go first: owners of properties that have flooded in the past, who are encouraged to build their bags now, while no rain is in the forecast.

Via City of Sonoma

Why the early start

The early opening is a hedge against the forecast. The city says current outlooks point to the potential for a strong El Nino this winter, while stressing that El Nino does not guarantee flooding or severe storms in Sonoma. Sacramento has already acted on the same outlook. On September 21, the governor proclaimed a state of emergency across California over the developing 2026-27 El Nino event, pointing to a federal Climate Prediction Center forecast of a greater than 90 percent chance of a very strong event this fall and winter, and a 69 percent chance that it reaches historic strength sometime from October through December.

The proclamation tells the state Office of Emergency Services to coordinate preparedness work with local and tribal governments, and directs the Department of Water Resources to stage flood fighting supplies ahead of the storms, sandbags among them. At the local end of that chain, the city says its staff are reviewing winter storm procedures and coordinating with partner agencies, and that it will keep posting winter information and weather updates as conditions warrant.

The county town hall is Wednesday evening

Residents who want the countywide picture can get it the following night without leaving home. Sonoma County Emergency Management hosts Sonoma Winter Ready 2026, a virtual town hall on Wednesday, October 21, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on Zoom, with interpretation in Spanish available. The program runs from household preparedness to evacuation and road safety, local hazards and mitigation, and registration is at bit.ly/SonomaWinterReady2026, according to the city.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

One chore while the streets are dry

The city also asks for one small job now, before the gutters fill: keep fall leaves and yard debris out of the street, where they collect at storm drains and can block drainage when heavy rain arrives. Collect them instead of blowing or sweeping them into the street. If leaves pile up at a drain next to your property, the city says clearing them is fine when it is safe to do so, and never when water is moving fast or conditions are unsafe.

The rest of the advice will sound familiar to anyone who packed a go bag for fire season, because the city says the same kit carries through winter: emergency supplies, backup light and a way to charge a phone, medications, and a household plan for staying in touch. The city points residents to its Emergency Preparedness page to sign up for alerts and find checklists. Fall, in other words, is for checking the supplies while the sky is still blue.

The path in question is the town's main off-street route. Sonoma County Tourism describes the Sonoma Bike Path as a Class I bike path, also called the Sonoma City Trail, a rails-to-trails conversion of the route the Sonoma Valley Railroad Company once used through the town of Sonoma, threading neighborhoods and open fields, passing General Mariano Vallejo's home in Sonoma State Historic Park and the Depot Park Museum before it ends at Fourth Street East. Junipero Serra Drive is one of the places where that path meets a residential street carrying car traffic.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

One element of a citywide project

The crosswalk is not a one-off. The Traffic Safety Committee agenda packet of May 5, 2026, in a Public Works report from Ashley Cotter, PW Admin and Project Manager, places it inside CIP T-6, the Citywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project, the Go Sonoma project, then on track to go to construction in Fall 2026. The packet lists the project's major elements as ADA ramp upgrades at bicycle path crossings, bike path improvements at Fifth Street West, intersection improvements at Studley Street and Fifth Street West, and a bike boulevard installation at Third Street West connecting the Fryer Creek Bike Path to the Sonoma Bike Path, with the raised crosswalk and a traffic circle at Third Street West and Perkins Street among the new traffic elements to be installed.

The staff report explains the choice of treatment. The raised crosswalk detail is in the City's adopted Neighborhood Traffic Calming Toolbox, and is suitable for midblock crossings, high pedestrian areas and residential streets. At Junipero Serra Drive, the report says, the feature is proposed to provide increased visibility for those crossing the bike path, as well as to slow vehicles down as they drive through the location. A 65 percent plan submittal for the raised crosswalk was attached to the May packet.

The money and the next step

The May packet's financial note says the project will be fully funded with the adoption of the fiscal 2026-27 budget, that construction is funded by the Go Sonoma tax measure as a competitive project, and that the City was awarded $1.6 million in funding for construction. The October update is the city telling residents the Junipero Serra piece is moving from plan set toward pavement, under the funding arrangement the May packet described.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

The next public step is the November 2 update to the Traffic Safety Committee, the body that reviewed the element in May. Until the work is built, the crossing stays what it has been: an at-grade meeting of the path and a residential street. After it, drivers will feel the path before they see it, which is rather the point of a raised crosswalk.

For Sonoma County, the Friday numbers trace the turn. PG&E's own Friday morning list put 2,041 county customers de-energized, the full local de-energized count for the event. By 5 p.m. on Friday, a PG&E spokesperson told KPIX, 1,092 Sonoma County customers remained without power. KION Central Coast, carrying the KPIX reporting, put the other Bay Area totals at 5 p.m. at 2,592 in Napa County, 2,130 in Alameda County and 43 in Contra Costa County, a Bay Area total of 5,857, and reported that Solano County's roughly three dozen outages had all been restored.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

A day ahead of the original estimate

The restoration came faster than first promised. KION reported that improving weather conditions meant PG&E expected to start bringing service back on Friday afternoon, a day ahead of the original Saturday-afternoon estimate, and PG&E's updates show the sequence: initial patrols begun by 12:30 p.m. on Friday in 19 counties including Sonoma, then, by 4:30 p.m., the weather declared passed for Sonoma and the other listed counties, with about 33,611 customers, 39 percent of those impacted, already restored. The red flag warning from the National Weather Service expired earlier on Friday, forecasters said the strong offshore winds were easing, and the marine layer was expected to push back in along with a general cooling trend next week, though moderate heat lingers into Saturday.

Statewide, the event that began on Wednesday had totaled nearly 90,000 customers out, KION reported. PG&E's Friday morning accounting put the de-energized total at 85,905 customers. Against that, the more than 66,000 restored by Friday evening leaves fewer than 20,000 customers still out by that accounting, spread across the foothill and coastal counties, with Sonoma County's share down to the 1,092 counted at 5 p.m.

What Saturday holds for the remaining customers

The work is not finished. PG&E said patrols and restoration work would pick back up in the morning, once conditions were safe, until every remaining customer had power again. Restoration follows inspection: crews must check lines and equipment and repair any damage found before a circuit can be re-energized.

Richard Wood, via Wikimedia Commons

"PG&E understands the disruption an extended outage can cause and appreciates our customers' patience as crews complete this important safety work," the utility said in its Friday evening update. Customers can check the latest shutoff and restoration information for their own address at pge.com/pspsupdates. For the valley households still dark on Saturday morning, that address check, and the sight of patrol crews on the roads above the valley floor, are the two things that matter.

This round adds a voting emphasis to the movement's protest days. The Bohemian, in its October 13 calendar, described No Kings: Vote Early as a nonpartisan push on participation, weighted this round toward registering voters and getting ballots in early ahead of the November 3 general election, part demonstration and part practical election help. Indivisible Sonoma County's own framing, in both its October 12 week-ahead post and its October 15 weekend post, says the day is not purely a protest and describes it as "turning people power into voter power"; its October 12 post carries the movement's slogan: "no thrones, no crowns, no kings."

Donald S. Lear, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The practical details

The gatherings are free, and the Bohemian noted that locations, times and registration for the day are collected at nokings.org. Gatherings are planned throughout Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties. Indivisible's county listings for today also include Santa Rosa's Old Courthouse Square from noon to 3 p.m., Healdsburg Plaza from 11 a.m. to noon, Petaluma's Walnut Park from noon to 3 p.m., Sebastopol's Four Corners from 10 a.m. to noon, Windsor's Town Green from 10 a.m. to noon, and Napa from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The timing is not incidental. The county's drop boxes opened on October 6, and Indivisible's weekend post notes that they remain open until 8 p.m. on November 3, and that November 3 is the last day to vote. Today's Plaza gathering and the library ballot drop-off stop are, in effect, a two-hour nudge to use them early.

What to expect on the Plaza

Organizers describe the events as nonpartisan and designed to increase participation from all eligible voters. The Sonoma stops run two hours: the Plaza from 10 a.m., and the library for ballot drop-off until noon. The election itself is 17 days out.

Via Wikimedia Commons

KTVU, reporting the shutoff's first full day on Thursday, framed the event against the roughly 88,000 customers PG&E had warned could lose power, ahead of forecast Diablo and Mono winds expected to sweep the region through the weekend. Those offshore winds are downslope winds, blowing from the land toward the ocean, and they arrive dry and warm, which is the combination that heightens wildfire risk and drives the shutoff decision.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

What Friday and Saturday hold

The event is not over. KION reported that PG&E said more shutoffs were possible on Friday morning, and that the latest event could continue through Saturday afternoon. Abridged, the PBS KVIE newsroom, reported the utility expects the dry, windy conditions to last through Saturday morning, and that the end of the weather does not mean power returns at once: PG&E crews first have to patrol the lines, inspect the equipment and fix whatever damage they find, and how long that takes will differ by location.

There was one early sign of the turn. KTVU reported Thursday that a first group of roughly 6,300 East Bay customers might have service back as soon as Friday afternoon, with line and equipment inspections planned from noon on Friday and power possibly restored by 4 p.m. if conditions allow. That timeline was given for the East Bay, not for Sonoma County, and PG&E directs every customer to check their own address and estimated restoration time on its PSPS website.

Why the utility says it acts, and where to get help

PG&E's stated reason is prevention: the utility says it de-energizes lines when conditions are primed for wildfire so that its equipment cannot start one. The utility's own releases put about 5,500 Medical Baseline customers inside the potential shutoff area, and say that when possible its employees will visit those customers in person if they do not confirm they received the safety notices, focusing on people who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

Help remains where it was yesterday, only now it is open. KION and Abridged both reported more than 40 Community Resource Centers opening across 25 counties, offering device charging, Wi-Fi, accessible restrooms, water, snacks and other supplies, with locations listed on the utility's outage website. Residents who need additional assistance, including transportation, food replacement or backup power, can dial 211 or visit 211.org, and customers can sign up for address alerts even if their name is not on the electricity account.

The Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce's event calendar calls tonight the final Movies Under the Stars event of the season, and the city's own listing closes the 2026 series with this double feature after two earlier nights: The Incredibles on August 28 and Back to the Future on September 18, each starting at about 7:00 p.m. SonomaValley.com's event listing carries the same date, films and venue for tonight.

Donald S. Lear, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

What to bring, and what it costs

Admission is free, and free popcorn will be available while supplies last. Additional concessions will be available for purchase; the Chamber's listing adds that concessions will be sold onsite by Sebastiani Theatre. The city's advice for the evening is the series standard: grab dinner from a local restaurant, bring the family, and settle in with a blanket or lawn chairs for a movie or two under the stars.

The pairing is a Plaza kind of double bill, one film for the youngest viewers in the early slot and a second, later screening once the light is gone. After tonight, the lawn behind City Hall goes back to being a lawn until next summer's series. Blankets down by 6:00 p.m. is the whole instruction set.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Sojourn first established its presence at 141 East Napa Street in 2009, in what the announcement describes as a modest, single-room tasting space with just one table for intimate, seated tastings. The winery's listing on Sonoma.com tells the same story from the guest's side of the table: a Tasting Salon just off the Square where seated tastings compare its Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon side by side across their growing regions, from the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley to Napa Valley.

Donald S. Lear, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Room for bigger tables, and a patio

Ownership has already changed how the space works. The company says it has transformed the 143 East Napa Street space around a large custom table with seating for up to 12 guests, so it can host larger private and corporate groups, and that the indoor expansion pairs with an outdoor tasting patio. Guests are being poured the winery's single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon in the newly unified layout.

"Owning our home on East Napa Street is a profound step forward for the Sojourn team," said Sherrie Perkovich, the winery's head of marketing and consumer experiences, in the announcement. "We started here in 2009 with a single table and a vision for deeply personal, seated tastings," she added, describing a hospitality culture the company says ownership now lets it preserve on its own terms.

A renovation, phased, and buyouts to come

What comes next, the company says, is renovation in phases, working with the frame of the buildings as they stand and keeping the small, seated character regulars know rather than trading it away for scale. The three-building site also makes a new format possible: letting one group take the whole property for its own occasion, whether a company gathering or a tasting arranged for a single party.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The deal lands in a season when Sonoma wine news has run the other way, through closures and a Chapter 11 filing the Post has covered this fall. A winery buying the buildings it has occupied since 2009 is the opposite motion: a bet, made in the middle of a hard market, that the block just east of the Plaza is where it intends to stay.

The utility sent notifications on Wednesday morning to the additional customers brought into the event, and in a second announcement later on October 14 it said customers in scope have received multiple notices and will be notified again within four hours of their planned shutoff. KION Central Coast, reporting independently, traced the same climb: about 30,000 customers were being monitored on Monday, the figure rose to 70,000 on Tuesday, and it reached about 88,000 on Wednesday, with about 2,000 of those in Sonoma County. Much of the Wednesday expansion, KION reported, landed in Amador, Tuolumne and Madera counties.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

What has not changed, and what residents should check

The Post reported on October 14, based on the City of Sonoma's October 13 notice, that neither the city nor the main Highway 12 corridor through Sonoma Valley was anticipated to be within the potential shutoff area, and that the areas identified sat primarily in higher-elevation locations surrounding the Valley. That was the city's reading of the October 13 map; the countywide scope has grown since, and PG&E directs every customer to check their own address on its PSPS updates page rather than rely on county totals or earlier maps.

The shutoff window runs from Wednesday evening, October 14, through Saturday afternoon, on the back of a dry offshore wind event the utility expects to last through Saturday morning. Bloomberg, in an October 15 report carried by the Insurance Journal, put the same statewide figure at as many as 88,000 PG&E customers across 29 counties including Napa and Sonoma.

Why the forecast forced the wider map

The National Weather Service warned that the combination of wind, warmth and falling humidity would keep the risk of large, fast-growing fires high over most of the area, with winds strong enough to topple trees and raise the risk of unintentional outages even outside the planned shutoff areas. PG&E's own forecasters said dead brush and grass have grown critically dry, nearing historical minimums in some areas.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

The widened event follows a separate shutoff days earlier that, according to KION, affected about 10,400 customers in Colusa, Glenn, Shasta, Tehama and Yolo counties. Statewide, about 5,500 Medical Baseline customers are in the current scope, and PG&E says that when possible its employees will visit Medical Baseline customers who do not confirm they received its safety notices, focusing on people who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment.

Help while the power is out

PG&E says it is planning to open more than 40 Community Resource Centers during the event, offering accessible restrooms, device charging, Wi-Fi, blankets, air conditioning, bottled water and snacks, with locations listed through its outage center. Customers who need additional support can contact 211 before, during or after an outage by calling 211, texting "PSPS" to 211 or visiting 211.org. The utility's preparation advice is the familiar list, issued while there is still time to use it: charge phones, medical equipment and other essential devices, keep flashlights and fresh batteries at hand instead of candles, stock drinking water, nonperishable food and necessary medications, and check on family members, friends and neighbors who may need help.

The areas currently identified for possible shutoffs sit primarily in higher-elevation locations surrounding the Valley, according to the city, and PG&E is considering a shutoff in those areas beginning around midnight between Wednesday, October 14 and Thursday, October 15. The city cautions that conditions and potential outage areas may change, and it urges residents who live or work outside the city, particularly in hillside and mountain areas, to check their own address directly with PG&E rather than relying on regional maps.

Richard Wood, via Wikimedia Commons

Countywide, PG&E puts the possible scope at 1,783 Sonoma County customers, including 69 customers on its Medical Baseline program. The figure comes from the utility's October 13 announcement of a possible shutoff spanning about 70,000 customers across 29 counties, a breakdown the San Francisco Focal and the Redding Record Searchlight also published. PG&E sent day-ahead notifications on Tuesday to customers in the targeted areas, after an initial round of notices on Monday, and says about 5,700 customers who were first included have since been removed from the scope, while about 4,000 customers shut off earlier in the week may be affected again.

Why the utility is weighing a shutoff

PG&E ties the possible shutoff to a dry offshore wind event forecast to run from Wednesday evening, October 14, through Saturday, October 17, with Diablo winds peaking on Thursday in portions of the North and East Bay. The utility cites extremely dry vegetation and humidity expected to fall into the single digits and teens in many areas, and says turning power off in targeted areas reduces the risk of its energized lines starting a wildfire. KTVU, reporting independently, puts the possible Bay Area window at Wednesday through Saturday across parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

The city's post draws a careful line on the weather itself. Citing the National Weather Service's Tuesday morning forecast discussion, the city notes gusty offshore winds, lower humidity and poor to moderate overnight humidity recovery in the North and East Bay hills and mountains, with the strongest winds in higher elevations, and says current forecasts remain below Red Flag Warning thresholds. Elevated fire weather, the city explains, is not an official warning; it describes warm, dry and gusty conditions that can raise fire risk.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

What residents should do now

For households inside the possible scope, PG&E says it will conduct in-person visits, when possible, to Medical Baseline customers who do not confirm they received its safety notices, with a focus on people who rely on electricity for life-sustaining equipment. The utility says it is still lining up Community Resource Centers for this event and will share locations once they are confirmed. Customers can check whether a specific address is being monitored on PG&E's PSPS updates page.

Even for residents outside the scope, the city suggests a short preparedness pass, because unplanned outages can still happen in windy, dry weather: charge phones and backup batteries, locate flashlights, make sure you know how to open a garage door manually, and review backup plans for medical equipment or other essential devices. The Post will update this story if PG&E firms up, widens or cancels the shutoff scope for Sonoma Valley.

At SFO, arriving coach passengers walk into the terminal on the secure side and head to their gate without clearing security a second time, while their checked bags are transferred to their flight. The Points Guy, which reported the launch independently, says the coaches arrive at Gate A3 in the International Terminal and that the ride takes a little over two hours, depending on traffic. Landline founder and CEO David Sunde put the pitch plainly in the announcement: trips to anywhere in the world, he said, can start close to home.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

The outbound service covers five airlines at launch: United, Alaska, Hawaiian, American and JetBlue, with more partners promised in the coming months. The trip home works differently. Travelers arriving at SFO on any airline can ride back to STS, collecting their bags first and meeting the coach at the curb outside baggage claim at every SFO terminal, including the International Terminal.

Service begins with eight daily round trips. Coaches leave STS at 5, 7, 9 and 11 a.m. and at 1, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m., with return trips leaving SFO from about 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. One-way fares are $55 per adult, and children 15 and under ride free with a paying adult. The Points Guy notes the rides are not eligible for airline loyalty points. Reservations are open now through Landline's booking site, where travelers enter their SFO flight and the tool recommends a coach departure time.

The coaches are fitted with extra-legroom leather seats in a 2x1 layout, Starlink Wi-Fi, power at every seat and an onboard restroom, and they are wheelchair accessible. The model is not new for Landline: the company already runs a remote terminal service in Framingham, Massachusetts, where travelers check in and clear security in the suburbs before riding to Boston Logan International Airport. The Points Guy calls the Sonoma County route Landline's first on the West Coast.

Via Wikimedia Commons

For Sonoma Valley residents, the appeal is the drive they no longer have to make at the start of a trip: no Highway 101 run to SFO, no airport parking, and no second security line at the far end. Airport manager Jon Stout said in the announcement that the service extends the convenience STS is known for to SFO's much larger network of domestic and international flights. The first coaches roll on November 17.

The county Registrar of Voters lists Hutton as a business owner, Mackie as a nonprofit executive director and Menefee as a retired firefighter paramedic. All three qualified during the nomination period that closed August 7, and each filed a candidate statement for the county guide.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

This is the first City Council election conducted under Sonoma's new district-based election system. Voters in Districts 1, 3 and 5 elect one council member each this year, to four-year terms running through 2030. Districts 2 and 4 hold their first district elections in 2028.

The Districts 3 and 5 races never made the ballot. With only one candidate nominated in each, the council cancelled those elections under state Elections Code section 10229 and, in an August update, appointed John Gurney to the District 3 seat and Ron Wellander to the District 5 seat. That leaves District 1 as the city's only open contest.

For voters, two dates matter most. The registration deadline is October 19: a registration must be postmarked or submitted electronically by then to count for the November election. And city offices are non-partisan, so the council race appears without party labels.

Sonoma County Library, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

District 1 residents unsure which district they live in can check the city's online District Finder; the clerk's office notes the tool exists for exactly this purpose in the city's first district election year. The Post will report results on election night.

Donald S. Lear, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The statement tells the story of how Sonoma's built environment developed over time, identifying the important periods, events, themes and patterns that shaped the city. It is the kind of document that underpins preservation decisions: before a city can decide which buildings and places count as historic, it needs a shared account of what happened where.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The draft is the first major public product of the city's citywide historic study and survey project, the effort inventorying Sonoma's historic resources. A finished context statement becomes the reference that planners, commissioners and property owners use when the question is whether a building matters enough to protect.

For residents, the ask is concrete: review the draft, flag what is wrong or missing, and contribute the community stories that official records tend to miss. Local knowledge, family histories and neighborhood memory are exactly the material that makes a context statement better than the archives alone.

The draft and the comment instructions are posted on the city's website, and the city's October 2 newsletter points readers to the review page. October 19 is the deadline to get corrections and stories into the record.

Via Wikimedia Commons

To qualify, travelers must be SkyMiles members, free to join, at least 21 years old, and flying on a paid or award ticket on a flight marketed and operated by Delta or Delta Connection. The case can hold up to 12 unopened 750-milliliter bottles with their original labels, must weigh no more than 50 pounds, and stay within Delta's 62-linear-inch checked-baggage limit. The wine has to be packed in an approved shipping box or travel container, presented at the ticket counter, and left unsealed so an agent can inspect it at check-in. The perk works in one direction only: checking a wine case on a flight to one of the five airports still costs the usual fee.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

The other four participating airports are San Francisco International, Oakland, San Jose Mineta, and Sacramento International. Delta says the list may expand over time. Travelers who already check bags free, like Medallion elites and Delta cardholders, gain nothing extra here; the waiver is aimed at everyone else, saving the $45 first-bag fee on the trip home.

Delta is not the first airline to make wine fly free. Alaska Airlines' Wine Flies Free program, which includes Sonoma County among its West Coast airports, dates to 2007, and Southwest Airlines rolled out its Sip and Ship program earlier this year, covering 19 airports including STS. Delta's program joins that lineup on the same day the airline plants its own flag at the county airport.

Today is also Delta's first day of service at STS in its own right. The airline launches twice-daily nonstop flights between Salt Lake City and Sonoma County, its first-ever service at the airport, operated by Delta Connection partner SkyWest with Embraer E175 aircraft. That gives SkyMiles members a one-connection path from across the country straight to wine country, and a free ride home for a case of what they taste here.

Via Wikimedia Commons

For a visitor, the practical version is simple: join SkyMiles before the trip, pick up an approved wine shipping box, pack up to a dozen bottles, and leave the case unsealed until the ticket agent inspects it. The case is checked at the counter and picked up at baggage claim on the other end.

The advisory covers the North Bay interior valleys, including Sonoma Valley, with high temperatures in the mid-90s to low-100s through Wednesday. Mild minimum temperatures and weak onshore flow will limit overnight relief, the Weather Service said.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The heat affects anyone without effective cooling and adequate hydration, according to the advisory, with impacts likely in some health systems, heat-sensitive industries and infrastructure.

The advisory has been in place since Saturday morning, when the Weather Service first issued it amid the October heat spell. Cal/OSHA reminded employers on October 2 to provide cool-down areas, rest breaks and drinking water for outdoor workers as the heat arrived.

The Weather Service urges extra precautions while the advisory stands: drink water, wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing, and limit strenuous activities to the early morning or evening. Anyone experiencing symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke should act quickly.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

The advisory also carries the season's familiar warning for drivers: check the backseat and never leave young children or pets in unattended vehicles. Car interiors reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes, the Weather Service said.

The advisory is scheduled to expire at 10 p.m. Wednesday. The Post will report any further extensions.

The expansion adds new ZIP codes in Placer, Sonoma and Sutter counties, plus portions of Amador and Yuba counties, according to the insurer's announcement. In Sonoma Valley, the new footprint includes ZIP code 95476, covering the city of Sonoma as well as Boyes Hot Springs, El Verano, Eldridge, Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente and Glen Ellen.

Via Wikimedia Commons

"Our goal is to make it easier for people to access the care they need, when and where they need it," said Aparna Abburi, CEO of Sutter Health Plan. "By expanding our service area, we're giving more communities access to Sutter's full network of doctors, hospitals and care teams while providing employers and consumers with more coverage options."

The insurer says the move is its sixth service-area growth since it began serving Northern California in 2014, and the plan now serves commercial customers across 18 counties. The expansion was also reported to respond to requests from local employers, brokers and community leaders for more health plan options in the valley.

What changes, and when

For small-business employers, coverage in the new ZIP codes became effective October 1, 2026. Employees in the 95476 ZIP code can now be offered Sutter Health Plan options, and large groups plus individual and family shoppers in these communities gain access with the January 1, 2027 effective date.

Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

Sutter Health Plan points to two outside recognitions as part of its pitch: a 4-out-of-5-star rating from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for 2026, its fifth straight year at 4 stars or higher, and Sutter Health's ranking at No. 2 nationally among large health systems on Premier's 15 Top Health Systems list. The Post will follow up if local brokers or employers report on early uptake.

In Sonoma Valley, the Weather Service's HeatRisk tool is expected to reach Level 2, or Moderate, according to the city's notice. That orange-level rating indicates a level of heat that can affect people who are sensitive to heat, especially those without access to effective cooling or adequate hydration, the city says.

Gotrees4, via Wikimedia Commons

The advisory zone named in the Weather Service bulletin includes the Sonoma Coastal Range and the North Bay Interior Mountains, along with the East Bay and San Francisco Bay shoreline, the Santa Cruz Mountains and parts of the Central Coast. Forecasters note that mild overnight lows in the higher elevations will limit overnight recovery, and that the heat can affect anyone without effective cooling or adequate hydration.

How to stay safe

The city's notice asks residents to drink plenty of water through the day even if they do not feel thirsty, spend time in air-conditioned or cooler spaces, and limit strenuous activity during the hottest part of the day, shifting outdoor plans to the early morning or evening. Lightweight, loose-fitting clothing is recommended for time outdoors.

Residents are also asked to check on older adults, young children, people with certain health conditions, outdoor workers and anyone without access to cooling, and to never leave children or pets in a parked vehicle. Anyone who develops symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke should act quickly, the city says.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Cal/OSHA reminder to employers

In a statewide advisory dated October 2, Cal/OSHA reminded employers to protect workers amid the high heat across California, including cool-down areas, rest breaks and access to drinking water for employees. The advisory notes a separate extreme heat warning in effect across much of Southern California from Friday morning through Thursday evening, while a heat advisory for Northern California covers the Sonoma coastal range and surrounding areas from 11 a.m. Saturday until 10 p.m. Monday.

The advisory runs through 10 p.m. Monday, October 5. Because forecasts can change, residents should keep watching local forecast updates from the National Weather Service through the weekend.

Established in 1983, the award recognizes outstanding artists in the performing, visual and literary arts who demonstrate excellence in their craft and make meaningful contributions to the Sonoma Valley community.

Gotrees4, via Wikimedia Commons

Eligible artists live within the Sonoma Valley Unified School District boundaries, which include Schellville, Vineburg, the City of Sonoma, El Verano, Boyes Hot Springs, Fetters Hot Springs, Agua Caliente, Eldridge and Glen Ellen.

How to nominate

Nominations can be submitted through the online nomination form on the city's website, or in person or by mail: send written nominations to the Parks and Recreation Department, RE: Treasure Artist Nomination, No. 1 The Plaza, Sonoma, CA 95476.

Each nomination should include a description of the artist's work and achievements; photos, a portfolio or a link to their work; how they have contributed to the Sonoma Valley community; and why they should be honored as the 2027 Treasure Artist of the Year.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The city notes that multiple nominations for the same artist are welcome but do not necessarily increase the artist's likelihood of selection, and that letters of support or submissions that duplicate or substantially repeat another nomination will not be considered as separate nominations.

What the honor brings

Treasure Artists are celebrated throughout their year of recognition, including at a public reception hosted by the commission, where they receive the Key to the City. Honorees also have opportunities to exhibit their work in City Council Chambers and to participate in the Sonoma Old Fashioned 4th of July Parade.

The 2026 honor went to Ada Limón, selected by the commission last November from a field of six nominees. The 2026 nomination window ran September 9 through October 31, 2025, according to the commission's agenda.

Selecting a Treasure Artist is never easy because Sonoma Valley is home to so many remarkable artists who give generously of themselves. This year's nominations were especially thoughtful and heartfelt, which speaks to the creative strength of our community. Even with such an extraordinary group of nominees, Ada Limón stood out. Her achievements reach across the nation and the world, yet her work remains deeply rooted in Sonoma and resonates with the places and people who shaped her. With her recent return to the Valley, this recognition feels both timely and incredibly meaningful.Connie Schlelein, Cultural and Fine Arts Commission chair

I am beyond humbled to receive this honor. I know well that Sonoma Valley is full of incredible artists and many of those artists have mentored me, raised me, and continue to inspire me to this day. This is a beautiful recognition that I will hold dear.Ada Limón, 2026 Treasure Artist

The vineyard's reputation is older than the label. For years the estate sold its grapes rather than bottling them, and the buyers were some of the county's best-known names: Gary Farrell, DeLoach Vineyards, Beringer Vineyards and Davis Bynum. Wines made from those lots helped persuade the wider wine world that the young appellation could produce serious wine.

Limerick Lane Cellars

Much of that early arguing was done by Tom Collins, the estate's first owner, who farmed the property and made its wines. At a time when few in the valley were claiming it could stand with the world's established regions, Collins said this corner of it could, and worked the land on that basis.

Hitting our fortieth harvest is a testament to the resilience of this winery and everyone who contributed to its success along the way. Tom saw what this land could do before most people did, and everything we make here is predicated on that conviction. Our role is to carry forward the vision that began forty years ago and let these vines keep telling their story.Karen Francis DeGolia, owner of Limerick Lane Cellars

A long road back to the Lane

DeGolia first came to the property in the early 1990s, when she was engaged to Collins and working the ranch as the vineyards were brought back. After his unexpected death she left Healdsburg for Detroit and a career in the automotive industry. She returned to live and work at the winery in 2002, and in the years that followed bought two neighboring vineyards, the Ricci vineyard and the 12-acre Cypress Ridge. When Limerick Lane itself came up for sale, she bought it and joined the pieces into the 53-acre estate the winery farms today.

The 1910 block still anchors the estate, producing Zinfandel under winemaker Chris Pittenger. The farming is deliberately spare: little irrigation and frequent dry-farming, no conventional herbicides, and cover crops left standing between the rows. Output stays small by design, roughly 5,000 cases a year, most of it released in lots of fewer than 300 cases.

Limerick Lane Cellars

The winery says the anniversary year will bring a new estate release and a celebration for the many people who have shaped Limerick Lane over four decades, with details to be announced in the coming months.

The university calls it its biggest fall celebration, and the invitation extends beyond campus: students, prospective students, alumni, parents and families, faculty and staff, and community members are all welcome.

Sonoma State University

What is on

Friday, October 2 opens with men's lacrosse and Harvest Night, an evening of live music by SPF1985 with fall-inspired activities, crafts and local flavors by The Lakes.

Saturday, October 3 is the busiest day. Seawolf Discovery Day welcomes prospective students and families getting to know the campus; the men's lacrosse alumni game brings club sports athletes back to the field; SSU Palooza and Community Day offers music, food trucks, local vendors, games and a beer and wine garden; and the night closes with a big-screen showing of Toy Story 5 under the stars, with attendees encouraged to bring a blanket or chair.

The weekend wraps Sunday, October 4 with Bingo, Bubbles and Brunch, a final morning of prizes and campus spirit.

Sonoma State University

The full Big Blue Weekend schedule is posted at bigblueweekend.sonoma.edu.

The program reads like the Ecology Center's greatest-hits list: local music, hands-on workshops, kid-friendly activities and farm games, local food and beverages, and a pickle-making competition. The center is inviting home fermenters to enter their quick pickles in the culinary contest, and it is calling for student poets, grades K through 12, to read on the festival stage from 10 to 11 a.m. for a Poetry Pop-Up on the theme A Garden Grows.

Photography courtesy of Sonoma Ecology Center.

The park itself is the main attraction. Stewarded by the Ecology Center a few minutes from downtown, Sonoma Garden Park is a working community garden and public green space open daily from sunrise to sunset, with garden plots, a children's garden, and Saturday harvest markets through December.

The festival doubles as a fundraiser for the park's ongoing care. The center lists a long roster of sponsors backing the day, from Sonoma Water and the county agricultural preservation and open space district to Nugget Markets, Sonoma County Farm Bureau and Zero Waste Sonoma.

Practical notes: the event runs 10 to 3, and admission is free. Bring a reusable bag; the Saturday harvest market tables will be out too.

Photography courtesy of Sonoma Ecology Center.

Court records list roughly $17.2 million in assets against about $39.1 million in liabilities. Major lenders named in the reporting include American AgCredit and Tiverton Advisors, the latter holding a disputed $18 million claim, according to bankruptcy documents.

Photography courtesy of Gundlach Bundschu.

The winery says it will keep pouring. The company has said the winery and tasting room will remain open during the court-supervised restructuring, while it works with a possible new investor who has not been publicly identified. The sixth-generation family behind the estate, led by chief executive Jeff Bundschu alongside his sister Katie Bundschu, says family members plan to remain involved in the business even as the restructuring is expected to end the family's majority ownership.

The company has endured more than a century-and-a-half of historic challenges and transformational change; however, this Chapter 11 filing is unprecedented for our family and our company.Jeff Bundschu, chief executive of Gundlach Bundschu, in a declaration filed with the Chapter 11 petition

We enter this process with great humility and remorse for the burden the company's financial distress places on our employees, vendors, lenders, customers, and community.Jeff Bundschu, in the same court declaration

The strain traces to a deal struck just before the pandemic. In February 2020 the company took on debt to acquire a 60-acre winery and vineyard in nearby Glen Ellen as the home of Abbot's Passage, the brand Katie Bundschu founded in 2016. Within weeks, COVID-19 shut down tasting rooms and disrupted the hospitality business the expansion was meant to grow.

What followed was a broader slump across the wine business: declining demand, excess inventory, distributor consolidation, and weaker demand for grapes and contract production. The company says it cut costs by more than 40 percent over the past three years, reduced its workforce from about 102 employees to 63, and closed the Abbot's Passage tasting room in June as it tried to stabilize its finances. Family members also put personal assets into the business and sought outside investment or acquisition offers before turning to Chapter 11.

Via California Wine Tours.

For a family that has farmed the same Sonoma Valley ground since Jacob Gundlach established what became Rhinefarm in 1858, the filing closes one era and opens an uncertain next one. The estate survived the 19th-century phylloxera outbreak, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, Prohibition, recessions and major California wildfires. Six generations later, locals know it simply as GunBun.

Our family has been entrusted with this land for six generations. We are fighting for the opportunity to help ensure that the seventh generation, and the Sonoma Valley community that has grown alongside us, has a future here.Jeff Bundschu, in the company's announcement of the filing

The winery says it will continue serving wine club members, hosting visitors and holding scheduled events while the case proceeds. What comes out of the restructuring, and who owns it, now runs through the bankruptcy court.

Via SF Station.

The indoor crop has been a long time coming. When Sonoma County granted the farm its cultivation permit on September 30, 2019, the first legal cannabis permit issued in the county, the approved plan for the site paired a dry-farmed outdoor garden with an indoor greenhouse and a facility for plant propagation and strain development, and the first harvest was then slated for late 2020.

Photography courtesy of Sonoma Hills Farm.

The farm is led by Aaron Keefer, the former culinary gardener for the Thomas Keller Group and The French Laundry, who joined as vice president of cultivation and production. The farm describes its approach as bridging cannabis with Sonoma's agricultural legacy and the farm-to-table lifestyle.

For Sonoma County's still-young legal cannabis industry, the greenhouse marks a turn: a farm that helped open the county's legal era is betting its flagship strains can thrive under glass as well as under the Petaluma Gap sun.

Photography courtesy of Sonoma Hills Farm.

Photography courtesy of Sonoma Hills Farm.

The series ran from June 7 through October 4, filling Sunday afternoons on the square with free live music. The September 27 performance featured Robert Dehlinger's Alpha Rhythm Kings, led by a bandleader the organizers bill as Sonoma's own.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Free concerts on the Plaza are one of the square's oldest traditions in spirit, even as the lineups change year to year. The amphitheater sits at the park's edge, close enough to the surrounding restaurants and tasting rooms that a Sunday show easily becomes a full afternoon downtown.

The series is presented as a community gathering first and a concert second. Blankets and lawn chairs are the seating chart, and the crowd skews local, with tourists mixing in as the summer visitor season peaks.

The October 4 finale is the last scheduled free concert on the Plaza this year. With the Tuesday Night Market season also ended, the square now turns toward fall: harvest crowds, holiday planning, and the quieter rhythm of the off-season.

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It is a dispatch from a plaza town. The Post covers Sonoma the way you would cover it on foot: City Hall, the Plaza, the schools, the valley, the trails and the coast, in brisk daily pieces that respect your time and assume you live here, or wish you did.

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It is not a wire service, a tourism brochure or a social feed with headlines. It does not do outrage, and it does not do stenography. It verifies before it publishes, corrects when it errs, and keeps its opinion on this page, clearly labeled.

The Post's posture toward power is simple: curious, persistent and independent. The council, the county, the state agencies with land in the valley, the nonprofits spending public money's neighborly equivalent, all get the same treatment. Straight questions, fair hearing, on the record.

Its posture toward readers is simpler still. You are a neighbor, not a metric. The morning email is called The Morning Post because it should read like one: the day's essentials, the week's look-ahead, nothing you have to wade through.

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A word on speed. The Post is brisk, but brisk is not careless. A fast story with a hole in it is just a rumor with a masthead. We would rather be second and right, and on the stories that matter most to this town, we intend to be both.

The plaza has been the center of Sonoma's public life for two centuries. This publication is a bet that it still is, and that a town this interesting deserves a daily record worthy of it.

The Post is open. Send tips through our contact form. We will do the walking.

The field, per the county registrar's certified candidate list: in District 1, Michael L. Menefee, Julian Mackie and Peggy Hutton. In District 3, incumbent John P. Gurney is unopposed. In District 5, Ron Wellander is unopposed.

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District elections change the character of representation. Council members answer to a neighborhood now, not the whole town, which should sharpen attention to the unglamorous local: the street that floods, the park that needs lights, the permit stuck in a drawer. It also ends the era when every council race was a town-wide popularity contest.

The uncontested races deserve a note. Two of the three seats on this first district ballot drew a single candidate each. That is not a failure of the system; it is a signal about civic recruitment. Districts make each race smaller and more winnable, which should, over time, draw more neighbors into running. The Post hopes this year's quiet races are the exception.

What the Post will do: cover the District 1 race closely, introduce the candidates in their own words, and report the results on election night. What we ask of readers: find your district on the city's map, and vote like your street depends on it. It does.

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The exhibition brings together Stanley's large-scale acrylic paintings, gouache and watercolor works on paper, and sculptural objects, presented alongside selections from the artist's personal archives: sketchbooks, studies, photos and notes that trace her process.

Courtesy of M. Louise Stanley

The museum describes Stanley as standing a bit apart from her Bay Area Figurative contemporaries, artists like Robert Arneson, James Albertson and Peter Saul, who share her embrace of humor, high and low, as a way of commenting on serious subjects. Stanley's work is noted for wildly imaginative narratives and a distinctly female perspective shaped by close observation of everyday life.

An opening reception was held Saturday, September 26, from 5 to 7 p.m., free for members and $10 for non-members with online registration required. The exhibition is the museum's major fall offering and anchors its program through the holidays into the new year.

SVMA, the valley's only art museum, has built its reputation on exactly this kind of show: a deep look at a California artist whose national profile rewards a home-region retrospective. The archive material, sketchbooks and studies alongside finished paintings, gives visitors a view into how the work gets made, not just what it looks like finished.

Courtesy of M. Louise Stanley

The exhibition runs through January 24. The Post's arts coverage continues with the museum's winter programming.

Dead Letter's arrival in the old post-office building is the kind of adaptive reuse the Plaza does well: a civic structure reborn as a dining room, in a town where the line between history and hospitality has always been thin. The restaurant's Northern California menu leans on the region's farms and producers, a formula that has worked on the square for generations.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The openings land at a busy moment for the Plaza's food scene. The square's restaurants serve as the town's de facto dining room, feeding tourists, locals celebrating milestones, and the steady flow of visitors who come for the park and stay for dinner.

For Plaza-watchers, the turnover is familiar. Storefronts on the square rarely sit empty long, and each new opening is read locally as a signal about where the town's dining energy is heading. Two openings in the same season suggests the signal is strong.

The former post-office building's conversion is worth noting on its own. The Plaza's best-loved spaces tend to be the ones with a past life, and a 65-seat room in a historic civic building fits the square's character better than new construction ever could.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Neither restaurant has announced grand-opening festivities, and both appear to be settling into regular service. The Post will keep an eye on the square's tables as the fall season brings harvest crowds downtown.

London, born in 1876, bought the abandoned ranch in 1905 and spent his final decade building it into a working ranch and writer's retreat: the cottage he expanded, the stone Wolf House that burned before he could move in, and the grave site under a mossy boulder where he and his wife Charmian are buried.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The park's calendar includes an October 8 program on the history of the Sonoma Developmental Center, a neighbor whose story intertwines with the valley's. It is the kind of programming the park does well: using London's ranch as a lens on the wider Valley of the Moon.

The park is operated by Jack London Park Partners, the nonprofit that took over operations when state budget cuts threatened the park system. The partnership model has kept Beauty Ranch open and programmed, and anniversary years are when that model proves its worth.

For visitors, the 150th is an excuse to see the ranch with fresh eyes: the Wolf House ruins at golden hour, the cottage porch where London died in 1916, the trails climbing Sonoma Mountain behind the ranch. The park's 800-plus acres are the real exhibit; the birthday is the invitation.

Courtesy of Jack London Park Partners

Program details are available through the park. The Post's outdoors coverage continues with the fall trail season.

The city published a street-by-street schedule for the three days of work, so residents can see exactly when their block is affected. Slurry-seal days mean no parking on the treated streets, brief access restrictions and fresh blacktop that needs hours to cure before traffic returns.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Rain delays are routine for this kind of work: sealant needs dry pavement and a clear forecast window to bond properly. Pushing the project rather than rushing it in marginal weather is the difference between a seal that lasts years and one that peels by spring.

Preventative maintenance is the unglamorous end of street spending, and the cost-effective one. A slurry seal costs a fraction of a grind-and-overlay, which costs a fraction of full reconstruction. Cities that stay on schedule with seals spend less on streets over time; cities that defer pay later.

With the September 21-23 window now complete, the city's 2026 street program turns to whatever the pavement management plan has queued next. The Post will keep the official schedule linked for residents checking whether their street made this year's list.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The plan would guide future decisions and budgeting for the park, but it would not authorize any construction on its own. Each future project would still need its own approvals and funding.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The scope reflects how much weight the Plaza carries. It is simultaneously a National Historic Landmark district, the town's central park, its main event venue, a tourist destination and the front yard for the businesses that ring it. Those uses have always competed politely; a master plan would write down how they are supposed to coexist.

The RFP follows earlier groundwork. The city previously sought proposals for a topographical survey of the park, the kind of unglamorous mapping that precedes any serious planning. A survey of residents and stakeholders was also conducted to gather early input on the park's future.

Preservation will be a central tension. The Plaza's historic character is its economic engine, but the park also needs modern irrigation, accessible paths, lighting and event infrastructure. The plan is expected to address how to upgrade systems without eroding what makes the square distinctive.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Financial sustainability is explicitly in the scope, a sign the city wants the plan to reckon with maintenance costs, not just aspirations. The Plaza is expensive to keep at the standard visitors expect, and the plan will need to say how that gets paid for.

No timeline for selecting a consultant or completing the plan has been published. The Post will follow the process as the city moves from seeking proposals to writing the document that will shape the square's next decades.

The campus closed as a developmental center years ago, and the state has been working through what comes next ever since. The specific plan would set land uses for the developed core, while the program EIR analyzes the environmental consequences at a planning level, with project-level review to follow for individual developments.

Courtesy of Sonoma Land Trust

One large piece is already settled. In early 2024, 650 acres of the property's open space were transferred into the state park system, securing the ridgelands and wildlands around the campus core for conservation and public access. That transfer took the most ecologically sensitive land off the development table before the planning debate began in earnest.

What remains contested is the developed core: the historic buildings, the infrastructure and the question of how much housing, and what kind, belongs on a campus the state is effectively redeveloping from scratch. Glen Ellen residents have followed every iteration closely, and the EIR process is where their concerns about traffic, water, fire safety and historic preservation get formal answers.

Sonoma Land Trust, which has run a dedicated program around the property's transformation, describes the site as one of the most consequential land-use decisions in the valley's recent history. The trust's interest is the open space and habitat connectivity; the county's interest is housing and a coherent plan for state-owned land.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The EIR process is slow by design: draft, public comment, responses, revisions, certification. Each round generates thousands of pages and months of debate. The Post will track the milestones as the document moves toward certification and the plan moves toward adoption.

The draft revisions address relocation impact reports, resident notice, relocation assistance and the affordable-housing findings the city must make before a closure or conversion can proceed. A staff report prepared for a council study session lays out the legal and procedural framework in detail.

Via Wikimedia Commons

Mobile-home parks occupy a unusual place in California housing law. Residents typically own their homes but rent the land beneath them, which makes a park closure an existential threat: the home is difficult and expensive to move, and the resident's investment is stranded if it cannot be relocated.

That asymmetry is what closure ordinances try to correct. Relocation impact reports force a park owner to document, in advance, what closure would cost residents and what assistance is offered. Notice requirements give residents time to organize. Affordable-housing findings require the city to reckon with the loss of lower-cost homes in a market that is not replacing them.

The drafts remain under study; no adoption vote has been reported. For the hundreds of households in the town's three parks, the ordinance is the difference between a process with guardrails and one without.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The Post will report back when the council moves the revisions from study session to a vote.

The budget packet shows the General Fund, the city's main operating account, with about $29.1 million in revenue against about $30.2 million in expenditures, a gap of roughly $1.1 million. General Fund dollars pay for police, planning, parks, administration and the other services residents associate most directly with City Hall.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The rest of the $46.3 million flows through restricted funds: water and sewer enterprise accounts, special districts, grants and capital funds that can only be spent for designated purposes. Those dollars matter, but the General Fund is where the council's discretion, and its dilemmas, live.

A structural gap between General Fund revenue and spending is the number to watch in the year ahead. Cities close such gaps with some combination of revenue growth, spending restraint and reserves, and each choice has a constituency. The budget as adopted is the council's opening answer; the quarterly updates will show whether it holds.

For a town of about 11,000 residents, $46.3 million is a substantial operation, and much of it is invisible when it works: water that runs, streets that drain, police who answer, planners who process permits. The budget is the document that says what the town values enough to pay for.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The Post will track the quarterly budget reports as the fiscal year unfolds, starting with the first update this fall.

The district's April 15 statement said it had been in direct communication with the chair of the county Board of Supervisors and her staff throughout the enforcement action, and that the chair's office had also been in touch with the California Department of General Services, the state agency that owns and manages the property.

Via Wikimedia Commons

According to the district, the Department of General Services acknowledged the hazardous vegetation conditions and was finalizing a contract with a vendor for regular ongoing maintenance and correction of the violations, with work expected to begin soon. The district said it would monitor compliance as the work got underway.

The dispute captures a structural problem with the campus: a vast state-owned property in high fire country, transitioning between uses, where maintenance responsibility is clear on paper and complicated in practice. For Glen Ellen residents living downhill and downwind, overgrown state land is not an abstraction.

The enforcement action landed as North Bay fire agencies were rolling out stricter defensible-space requirements for thousands of property owners in the highest-risk zones, with an emphasis on education before citations in the first year. The new rules go beyond the old 100-foot clearance standard, with tighter requirements for tree spacing, ladder fuels and even fence and deck materials.

European Space Agency, via Wikimedia Commons

The Post will check the campus's compliance status as fire season progresses and the state's maintenance contract takes effect.

Under the partnership, a dedicated Students Rising Above pre-college advisor will work alongside the Club's College and Career Program Manager, offering group workshops and one-on-one advising to juniors and seniors. Seniors get intensive application-year support: college list development, application help and financial aid completion. Juniors get the groundwork: eligibility review, college exploration and early planning.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The program targets the most common failure point in college access work, the moment support disappears after high school graduation. Seniors who complete the program can enroll in SOAR, Students Rising Above's college persistence program, which follows students from graduation through their degree with advising, mentorship, career development and emergency and basic-needs support.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley already has what college access programs spend years trying to build: real, trusted relationships with young people and their families. This partnership lets us bring our advising expertise into a space where that trust already exists, so students don't just apply to college, they enter with a trusted advisor already in their corner.Students Rising Above, in the partnership announcement

The model pairs two different institutional strengths: the Club's deep local relationships with students and families, and Students Rising Above's specialized advising apparatus. It is a division of labor that makes sense in a small valley, where no single organization has to do everything alone.

The announcement did not detail enrollment targets or the advisor's schedule at the Club. The Post will check in as the school year gets underway.

Photograph by Sarah Stierch, via Wikimedia Commons

The council considered a proposed employment agreement at its September 2 meeting, the next step toward formalizing the appointment. The city's announcement framed the selection as the conclusion of a recruitment process, with Alilovich emerging from the interim role she has held through the spring and summer.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The city manager runs Sonoma's day-to-day government: the budget, the staff, the council's policy agenda and the unglamorous machinery of permits, public works and public safety. In a small city, the manager is also the person residents call when the machinery stalls.

Alilovich's months as interim gave her a running start on the issues awaiting the permanent manager: a newly adopted budget, the Plaza master plan process, district-based elections in November, and the ordinary churn of a tourist town heading into harvest season.

The appointment also closes a chapter of transition at City Hall. Interim leadership can keep a city running, but major decisions, from labor negotiations to long-term planning, tend to wait for a permanent manager with the council's full backing.

Via Wikimedia Commons

The Post will report the terms of the employment agreement once the council's action is final. For now, City Hall has its pick, and the pick already knows where the files are.