The Sebastopol City Council’s March 2 meeting at 6 p.m. over Zoom looks to be an eventful one, presenting the city’s new police chief, discussing whether to approve and adopt a climate campaign’s goals and continuing the extended Benedetti car wash public hearing, according to the agenda.

Larry Robinson has been providing a poem a day for readers in west county for 25 years.

State health officials announced last week that all counties will start playing by the same rulebook on March 1, when Blue Shield will take over distribution of vaccines in California. Counties across California will have a phased in transition to the new plan, with Blue Shield taking over v…

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors announced earlier this week that it’s establishing a 15-member commission to aid the supervisors in redrawing supervisorial district boundaries, once it receives results from the 2020 Census. Those who are interested in applying to join the commission, …

Measure B proposes taxing overnight tourists to fund emergency services and schools

West county voters will drive the destiny of a West Sonoma County Union High School District parcel tax in the fast-approaching March 2 special election.

Editor's Note: While this article has to do with the San Joaquin Valley, we felt that it's pertinent, given Sonoma County's strong agriculture industry.

On Feb. 24, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers responded to a call about a vehicle over an embankment on State Route 1 south of Fort Ross Road.

In a statement released on Feb. 25, the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) announced it will be shutting down its teacher vaccination clinic next week due to lack of vaccine availability.

School districts in California’s richest neighborhoods are far more likely to offer in-person instruction than those serving its poorest, though the state as a whole remains behind the rest of the country in bringing students back inside physical classrooms, according to a CalMatters analysi…

West County Health Centers (WCHC) recently pivoted toward scheduling COVID-19 vaccinations through direct outreach instead of open self-registration to effectively prioritize groups most at-risk.

Starting March 7 Blue Shield, the state’s third-party COVID-19 vaccine administrator, will be taking over as Sonoma County’s vaccine distributor.

Public hearing for proposed Benedetti car wash to see another day

Sebastopudlians driving down Bodega Avenue Wednesday morning saw an unusual sight in front of the Sebastopol Fire Department: a flock of flamingos.

The Sebastopol City Council received a mid-year budget review presented by Administrative Services Director Ana Kwong at the Feb. 16 city council meeting, unanimously approving a resolution to adjust the city’s adopted operating budget for the fiscal year of 2020-21.

California will soon be sending out $600 one-time stimulus payments to millions of low-income California households, with extra help for undocumented workers left out of the federal government’s pandemic relief. The Golden State Stimulus is part of a $7.6 billion economic stimulus package th…

The Western Sonoma County Historical Society is on the hunt for copies of Sebastopol Times from specific years that the society doesn’t already have in its collection.

Some community organizations have been doing their good work for various charity causes for so long that the “younger” members are closer to age 65 than a decade or two beyond. Such is the case of the local veteran’s group, the Sonoma County Voiture No. 338 of the 40&8.

Essential food workers will be eligible for vaccinations starting Monday

Sebastopol’s planning director presented the city’s expected Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) number for the upcoming eight-year cycle of housing development, extracted from what she described as “the sausage-making process” at the Feb. 16 city council meeting.

Betai Koffi, who committed multiple crimes in Bodega Bay while under the influence of LSD on July 4, 2019, was sentenced on Feb. 11.

Feb. 25 will mark the first in a series of public meetings being held to update Sonoma County’s hazard mitigation plan. The five-year update of the 2016 Sonoma County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will have a more multi-jurisdictional approach.

COVID-19 case rates are finally starting to decline in Sonoma County following the dramatic holiday surge, but Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase is still urging residents to continue to get tested.

As Congress hammers out President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, California has worked out its own plan to get more cash into the hands of struggling Californians, particularly undocumented families left out of federal assistance.

Some west county school districts are positioning to invite elementary and some middle schoolers back for in-person learning now that Sonoma County’s adjusted daily case rate has eased to below 25 per 100,000 residents for five days straight, signaled in a Feb. 10 joint press release from th…

A group of conservationists from Sonoma County Conservation Action is urging the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to consider implementing a moratorium on county permitted tree cutting in an effort to save and preserve Sonoma County’s iconic oak woodlands.

Kevin Kilgore was recently appointed as the new police chief of the Sebastopol Police Department after the city spent over a year on the lookout for a permanent authority figure since Police Chief James Conner retired in December 2019.

The West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) trustees wasted no time at the Feb. 10 board meeting approving a resolution to shift to a by-trustee area election system and seek a waiver of a community vote to have the new system in play by the 2022 board election.

Streamlined permit process eliminates public hearing process

The Sebastopol City Council meeting this week has a short but mighty agenda this week, as the council reviews the city’s mid-year budget, receives information about its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers and holds a public hearing and first reading for its campaign finance disc…

Permit Sonoma is presenting an opportunity for the public to provide input at a virtual public workshop on Feb. 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. regarding the development of the draft County Winery Events Policy. This effort is a countywide initiative related to agricultural zoning districts outs…

Californians with high-risk medical conditions will qualify for COVID-19 vaccines starting March 15, the state’s health secretary announced Friday.

While humans struggle with COVID-19, a migratory bird faces a different epidemic

Help is on the way for seniors of the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) whose diplomas are on the line after nearly a full year capsized by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those who live in the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District or the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) have until Feb. 16 at midnight to register to vote in the March 2 special election to sink or support two measures on the ballot, according to a Feb. 11 press release from…

New state mapping data details California’s school-reopening divide, in which hundreds of school districts — mostly smaller and rural or inland — are offering in-person instruction to elementary students while many of the state’s largest, urban districts remain indefinitely in remote learning.

The Sebastopol Planning Commission is facing a different question of design — itself.

This Sunday, on Valentine’s Day, the Analy Mental Health Club will be collecting feminine hygiene products and new and lightly used bras at Rust Boutique in the Barlow between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Sonoma County is administering COVID-19 vaccines at a faster rate than other counties of its size, according to new data from the Sonoma County Department of Health Services.

In 2019 the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office responded to 72 of the 596 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests for impending inmate release information and in 2020 the Sheriff’s Office responded to 57 of the 466 information requests, ultimately resulting in 31 arrests by ICE i…

Districts must submit COVID safety plans for approval and acceptance before being given the green light

A new portal of COVID-19 relief has opened for the west county community. West county residents can now apply to receive rental and utility assistance through West County Community Services (WCCS) and River to Coast Children’s Services (RCCS).

Thousands of California families chose to keep their children out of kindergarten this past year, opting instead for other in person programs or no school at all.

The city of Sebastopol’s first commissioned public art piece rounds another corner toward its first destination, but where the destination is exactly remains unknown. At the Feb. 2 Sebastopol City Council meeting, the council chose to continue to search for a location for the piece comission…

The West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) board will meet Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. over Zoom to go over the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA) and possible action on the district’s next steps, potential approval of more flexible credit options for the graduating class …

Have questions about Sebastopol? The city encourages residents to ask the big orange cat.

The city council reviewed letters of interest for local and regional board and committee vacancies and gave Mayor Una Glass, or a designated delegate in her absence, direction on who to vote for at the Feb. 11 City Selection Committee and Executive Board of Directors of the Sonoma County May…

How soon teachers can expect to get vaccinated depends largely on where they live and could determine whether the bulk of California’s students return to campuses this spring — or next fall.

It all started last July when a friend sent Heather Kiyomi a picture of a “Take a plant, leave a plant” plant stand she’d found on the internet.