The basic building block for influencing local elected officials is the neighborhood, says organizer Jim Diers, because people tend to be most involved and active closest to their homes.

 What defines a neighborhood? Jim Diers, author of Neighbor Power, Building Community the Seattle Way, says there are some basic characteristics that tend to be self-selecting, and common almost everywhere.

Neighborhood Watch programs are among the best known and most widespread applications of the idea that neighbors can benefit from looking out for one another.  Diers sees that as a small step in the right direction, but advocates taking thing much further.

Jim Diers will be the keynote speaker at the Santa Rosa Neighbors Summit Friday evening in the Santa Rosa City Council chambers. Events begin with a free meeting and presentation by neighborhood organizer Jim Diers on Friday evening, Aug. 20, 7-8:30 pm, followed by the working Neighborhood Summit on Saturday  Aug. 21, 9:30 am to 2:30 in the Finley Community Center on West College at Stony Point.

Whether Jack London set his stories in the harsh Yukon winter, the savage beauty of south Pacific islands, or contemporary American society, his insight into human behavior keeps them compelling now. That was the attraction behind the latest effort to convert London’s fiction to film.

Burning Daylight is set in 1920s New York, but it was actually shot entirely in and around Toronto. Writer-Director Sanzhar Sultanov says his hometown made a good stand-in for the Big Apple.

There will be a special preview screening of Burning Daylight Monday, August 9 at  7 pm at the Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma, as a benefit for the Jack London Foundation. Sultanov will be present for a question and answer session after the film is shown. Advance tickets can be purchased here. Watch the trailer for Burning Daylight:

Holding on to old emotional wounds and resentments can be hard on your health, as well as your psyche. International Forgiveness Day, which is observed on August 8^th, promotes the healing of those hurts.

Dr. Frederic Luskin, Director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project, says practicing forgiveness offers numerous benefits.

Twin brothers Noah and Logan Miller, the co-writers and co-directors of the film Touching Home, say their autobiographical story of coming to terms with their difficult alcoholic father has resonated with a great many other families that had lived through similar issues.

The Logan brothers will be among the recipients of one of four awards at this year's International Forgiveness Day observation Aug. 8 in San Rafael, recognition that they find particularly meaningful.

See the trailer for Touching Home:

Branding cattle may evoke images of the old west a century ago, but it’s a still-active part of agriculture in the North Bay, with a lengthy history here, too.

Just as they were a century again, brands are used today to identify the legal owners of not just cattle, but horses, mules, burros, sheep and swine.

Ernie Ongaro (right) grew up on his family’s ranch along San Anselmo Creek, and began helping with the livestock branding at the age of 10. These days, he lives and raises beef cattle southwest of Sebastopol. Over the years he’s seen many familiar local brands go inactive (but his book includes both active and inactive brands from Marin and Sonoma counties). He’s also seen the shady practice of “overbranding” employed all the way into the present day.

You can see an array of sample brands below.