We are on the verge of a historic moment: The Board of Supervisors will vote on Tuesday 12/10 on a resolution to halt any future investments in Wells Fargo or BNP Paribas, naming them as primary funders of the private corporporations responsible for detaining immigrant children separated from their families.
Please come out on Tuesday 12/10 at 8:30. The item will be considered 8:45, after a presentation by the Treasurer Erick Roeser. As in 1985, when the Board considered a resolution to divest from South African Apartheid, the county treasurer is feigning ignorance of the options to invest wisely and ethically. (See the Close to Home article below.) If this resolution passes, the county will be on track to take up socially responsible investment policies AND put an end to county funding of immigrant camps.
Lynda Hopkins, who is putting forward the resolution, has reminded us that the board responds to public pressure, so we must bring it on!!! See you there! We’ll have talking points for everyone who wishes to make a public comment. Bring posters or signs!
On Thursday, December 5th, 2019 Food For Thought hosts Sonoma County’s 18th annual Dining Out For Life event. This year 75 area restaurants and cafes will participate, donating from 25 to 100 percent of the day’s sales to benefit Food For Thought, a nonprofit organization that provides healing food and nutrition to more than 850 people living with HIV and other serious illnesses in Sonoma County.
“The Dining Out For Life event gives people the opportunity to enjoy a meal at their favorite restaurant, while benefitting their neighbors in need,” said Ron Karp, executive director of Food For Thought. “It is our biggest fundraiser of the year. The proceeds from Dining Out For Life ensure that we are able to continue to provide our life-sustaining services to people living with HIV who are at risk of malnutrition.”
A wide range of restaurants throughout Sonoma County are participating in Dining Out For Life. Diners can enjoy a variety of options from a fast-casual experience to a farm-to-table meal incorporating the best ingredients Sonoma County has to offer. Participating restaurants are located in Bodega Bay, Cotati, Forestville, Geyserville, Guerneville, Healdsburg, Occidental, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Valley Ford and Windsor. For a complete list of participating restaurants visit: FFTfoodbank.org/dofl-restaurants. Whole Foods Market is the presenting sponsor of this year’s Dining Out For Life Sonoma County.
About Food For Thought
Food For Thought is a nonprofit organization that provides healing food and nutrition to more than 850 Sonoma County residents living with HIV and other serious illnesses, who are at risk of malnutrition. Comprehensive nutrition services include healthy groceries (enough for 21 meals per week), prepared meals, nutrition counseling and hands-on healthy cooking classes. Food For Thought’s nutrition services increase the health of its clients, reduce food insecurity, decrease costs to the health care system and improve the lives of hundreds of individuals living in Sonoma County.
About Dining Out For Life
Dining Out For Life is an annual dining fundraising event raising money for community-based organizations serving people living with HIV. It is an international event held in more than 50 cities in the U.S. and Canada.
RECRUIT, RECRUIT, RECRUIT!!The Spahr Center is fortunate to have a large, warm and loyal base of supporters who attend our events, volunteer on a variety of tasks, and make generous donations to help us achieve our life-saving and life-affirming mission. We want to GROW that family in order to accomplish even more and better things for our community moving forward. Will you help us to do that? Learn more
SAVE THE DATE!Click the photo for more info!The Spahr Center revises its logoThe Spahr Center is rightfully proud of its name and logo, which pay homage to our brilliant and accomplished founder, Jane Spahr. The Board of Directors has recently approved a revision to the logo that communicates directly and effectively to a wide audience what our purpose is: to serve Marin’s LGBTQ+ & HIV communities. No more wondering; we are out and proud! Look forward to seeing this updated image on all of our publications, and around town! Donate
Social Support GroupsThe Spahr Center offers a variety of social support groups. Below is a list of the groups, with a short description. Please click any of the groups to learn more!
Latino Support Group – this group is for Latinos living with or affected by HIV.
Friends and Family of LGBTQ youth – This group is a welcoming and safe place to discuss how to best support our trans and queer youth.Thriving in Marin – this group is for any individual who identifies as a “long-term survivor” of HIV.
The annual Fall Arts & Crafts Fair will be open for holiday shoppers in the auditorium of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts on Friday, November 15 from 10 AM to 8 PM. Eighteen local artists will be selling fine art, ceramics, jewelry, poetry and books for holiday shoppers looking for special, handcrafted gifts.
All of the artists showcased are members of Sebastopol Center for the Arts and regularly have items for sale at the SCA Store on a rotating basis year-round. Attendees may recognize some of the more well-known artists such as watercolorist Sally Baker, artist and poet Sherrie Lovler, ceramicist Larry Robinson and paper sculptor Nancy Winn among others.
“I love to see artwork get into the hands of those who appreciate it. The items for sale at our Fair are very high-quality pieces produced by working professionals. Any and all of these items would make an exceptional gift,” says SCA Store Manager Elizabeth Peyton.
Additionally, SCA’s current exhibition “ABSTRACT” will be open and on display for the shoppers to view as they shop the Fair. Food and beverages will be available for sale all day and admission to both the Fall Arts & Crafts Fair and “ABSTRACT” Exhibition are free.
CALENDARFall Arts & Crafts FairFriday, November 15, 2019 | 10 AM to 8 PMSebastopol Center for the Arts282 South High Street, (Veterans Building)Sebastopol, CA 95472Admission: Free to the public
Our community is once again on fire, and we need your help.The UndocuFund for Fire Relief in Sonoma County has reopened to support undocumented families who have lost homes, jobs, wages, or been displaced by the still-growing Kincade Fire.
Would you consider donating once again to help our community recover?Your incredible generosity allowed us to distribute more than $6 million to undocumented fire victims in Sonoma County following the 2017 Northern California fires. Thousands of donors like you, along with dozens of benefits and volunteers, allowed us to give direct financial aid to nearly 2,000 families who lost homes, possessions, and earnings due to the fire. We hope you can support us again.
There are an estimated 38,500 undocumented immigrants in Sonoma County. Unlike other fire victims, they do not qualify for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Undocumented victims are also less likely to pursue other benefits for which they qualify due to fear of immigration enforcement, lack of familiarity with official institutions, and limited English proficiency.
Help your undocumented neighbors get back on their feet after this terrible disaster. Any amount helps.
There are many ways to support us beyond donating:Sharing the news with your friends, family, and on social media to let others know UndocuFund has reopened.Holding a fundraiser or benefit, either in-person or virtually, to raise money for UndocuFund and spread the word.If you are bilingual and want to volunteer, please contact Susan Shaw of the North Bay Organizing Project at sshaw@northbayop.org.
You can also follow us on Facebook to receive future announcements about volunteer needs and other updates.We do not have capacity to receive physical donations at this time, but we encourage you to donate to one of the many organizations are able to process donations.
A day of calm winds and an intense air attack aided firefighters battling the Kincade Fire Monday to gain a foothold on the western edge of the massive blaze, allowing evacuation orders for nearly a dozen communities including Guerneville and Sebastopol to be downgraded to warnings.
The Sonoma County Sheriff said residents of the far western reaches of the massive evacuation zone that extended from Geyserville, Healdsburg and west to the Pacific Ocean at the height of the firefight over the weekend could return home.
Officials said residents could return to their homes unimpeded by law enforcement officers patrolling the area.
“This means that you can return home now at your own risk,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release. “This area is still at risk from the Kincade Fire, and much of this area does not have power or natural gas due to the power shutoff. Remember, if you hear the hi-lo sirens, it’s time to evacuate.”
“There will still be more peace officers in your neighborhood,” authorities said. ” You do not need to check in with anyone and you do not need a peace officer escort.”
Here are the areas where the evacuation order has been downgraded to an evacuation warning.
ZONE 7
Jenner
Bodega Bay
Bodega
Occidental
Monte Rio
Rio Nido
Duncans Mills
Cazadero
Guerneville
Forestville
Graton (west of Highway 116 only)
Zone 8
Sebastopol
Twin Hills
Western unincorporated Santa Rosa
The situation was much improved than over the weekend when strong winds drove the massive wildfire beyond containment lines, growing to 66,231 acres – 103 square miles – by early Monday and destroying 96 structures, including 40 homes.
Cal Fire said there were 4,000 firefighters manning the lines early Monday and they were being assisted by troops from the California National Guard. Nearly 80,000 homes were being threatened by the blaze.
“The fire was extremely active during the day yesterday (Sunday),” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mike Blankenheim told reporters at a Monday news conference. “The fire more than doubled in size and that did present some challenges for us. The priorities for today (Monday) are we are going to work on the Mt. St. Helena area in the northeastern corner (of the fire.) Working in the Mark West area and the Shiloh area.”
“The fire made it that far south last night,” he added. “We are going to be really aggressive today, working on perimeter control.”
Cal Fire Monday AM update on Kincade Fire:
Firefighters had the blaze 10 percent contained before Sunday’s howling winds whipped it further out of control, expanding the evacuation area from Geyserville to the Pacific Ocean and driving some 180,000 residents from their homes.
Local residents filled evacuation centers from Petaluma all the way to San Francisco, waking Monday morning hopeful their homes would not be damaged or destroyed by the blaze.
By sunrise, containment had tumbled to five percent, but firefighters were able to save homes in Windsor from mass destruction.
“We had a very scary day today,” Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli told KPIX 5 Sunday night. “We could have lost a lot of homes in Windsor…Thanks to the absolute valiant effort by first responders…They have been able to save pretty much all of Windsor.”
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essink said with the intensity of the fire fight in Windsor on Sunday, had the area not been evacuated far in advance, there would have loss of lives.
“Yesterday in the northeastern area of Windsor, we had a very aggressive fight of the fire by our partners at Cal Fire,” Essink said. “Had that area not been evacuated those firefighters would not have been as effective they were…We had a lot of success yesterday in Windsor…The northern area of Windsor was saved by their efforts.”
Around Healdsburg, several buildings were damaged or destroyed including the more than 100-year-old Soda Rock Winery that was turned into a smoldering pile of ruins with just the front brick wall still standing early Monday.
Two firefighters were injured Sunday fighting the blaze, Cal Fire Division Chief Jonathan Cox said during an afternoon press conference. One suffered minor burn injuries, but another suffered significant burn injuries and had to be airlifted to the UC Davis Medical Center.
Around 10:15 p.m. Sunday evening, the fire flared up again in the area of Markwest/Larkfield Wikiup, where mandatory evacuations had previously been issued.
Deputies used Hi-Lo sirens to warn residents on Faught Road from Shiloh to Old Redwood Hwy in Larkfield-Wikiup. The fire’s movement over the Shiloh Ridge was threatening homes and residents in Napa County by Monday morning.
“If in this area, you need to leave immediately!” the Sonoma County Sheriff asserted to people that hadn’t yet left.
Firefighters were racing from one spot fire to another along the roads surrounding the ridge, trying to limit damage and the blaze’s advance.
Essick said the magnitude of this event struck him while visiting evacuation shelters.
“There is certainly a sense of fear out there,” he said. “A lot of people have questions about what’s going on…Ladies and gentleman, we are doing the right thing by keeping you out of these evacuated areas.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued a proclamation Sunday evening, declaring a local emergency to provide shelter for Kincade Fire evacuees. The city will open a temporary disaster shelter to help those displaced by the fire at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption at 1111 Gough Street.
“San Francisco stands with our neighbors to the north and is ready to help in every way we can,” said Breed. “Our City departments are working in unison to provide shelter and care to those who have been displaced, while first responders continue to fight the fire in Sonoma County.”
More than 200 law enforcement officers were patrolling the evacuation zones for safety and to prevent looting. Essick said there was one arrest Sunday of a suspicious person in one of the evacuation zones who could not provide a location for where they were headed.
At an evacuation center at Napa Valley College, Francisco Alvarado, 15, said he, two younger brothers and his parents decided to leave their Calistoga home in advance of evacuation orders. Two years ago, the family had to flee, but in the middle of the night.
“I’m pretty mad that we have to keep evacuating,” he said. “I just want to be home. I’m trying to leave here tomorrow; I want to sleep in my bed.”
Hundreds of people arrived at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa by Sunday. Some came from nursing homes. More than 300 people slept in an auditorium filled with cots and wheeled beds. Scores of others stayed in a separate building with their pets.
Among them was Maribel Cruz, 19, who packed up her dog, four cats and fish as soon as she was told to flee her trailer in the town of Windsor, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of San Francisco. She also grabbed a neighbor’s cat.
“I’m just nervous since I grew up in Windsor,” she said. “I’m hoping the wind cooperates.”
