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The Sonoma County Gazette Newspaper is distributed FREE in Sonoma County to Forestville, Graton, Occidental & Sebastopol addresses and on NEWSSTANDS from Santa Rosa to Bodega Bay, including Healdsburg, Windsor, the Russian River towns of Guerneville, Monte Rio, Duncans Mills, Cazadero & Jenner, to Freestone & Valley Ford - more than 200 locations across Sonoma County.

Volume 5, Number 10 October 16 - November 13, 2008

Well - one thing about the Obama-Biden ticket is that they want to build peace and prosperity from the bottom up. Trickle down economics never did work. So now we have a chance to see if bottom up not only creates a better economic climate for us all, but that having our basic needs on top of the priority list will create the comfort we all seek, and that translates to less anger - which translates to less violence. If all goes well, this will spread across the planet. Comfortable people are rarely angry enough to kill others. Motivated by ambition rather than anger. What a concept!

Now let's see how that translates to California politics - then to Sonoma County...

Sonoma County Election Results »

Water on Our Minds
From River Flow to Wastewater Discharge
By Vesta Copestakes

Over the last few weeks I've been culling archives of this newspaper and filing them away. I can tell by my lead articles how often water is the top story. We seem to be defending our water, saving our rivers, trying to figure out what to do with our wastewater – over and over and over. So here we go again – I attended two very important water meetings in one week. I'll start with the most interesting then get to the most frustrating.

Biological Opinion

We've waited 11 years for this. The research in this document is what will be used to determine water flow levels within the Russian River Watershed that runs from Potter Valley in Mendocino County all the way out to Jenner on the coast. It includes Lake Pillsbury, Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma as well as Dry Creek and the Russian River. These are all waterways where dams, at these lakes, control the flow of water. That flow is what has been connected to the health of local fish on the Endangered Species List and why this report is so important. The Environmental Protection Agency says protect those fish – and protect them we must.

Water on Our Minds »

The Crisis in Health Care
by Jim Araby

Reader Jim Araby has written a fine piece of journalism on the health care crisis in our country. "As any Sonoma county employee can tell you, the volatility in health care is not good for the average American. And just like the problem we are facing in seeking resolution to our financial crisis, we have political leaders grasping at straws to come up with a solution."-J.A.

The Crisis in Health Care »