Chocolate is at least 3000 years old, and we have the ancient Mayans to thank for it. By way of the conquistadors, that is.

There is tantalizing historical evidence showing that the Mayans were quite creative in their use of chocolate, and the flavor combinations they developed, but archeo-ethno-botany researcher Kirsten Tripplett (left) , says few details of their actual recipes have survived.

Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes was probably the first European to taste chocolate, and it was he who first exported some back to his homeland.

Dark or milk chocolate? Many people have a distinct personal preference, but Tripplett says it’s clear which type is better for us.

Calls for greater transparency in the inner fiscal dealings of foundations based at California State University campuses are mounting, after some of those details became public.

State Senator Leland Yee (D-SF) has championed legislative action to apply the state’s Public Records Act to the CSU academic foundations and other auxiliary organizations. He says these latest revelations about their lax fiscal management only reinforces the need for such a measure.

California Faculty Association president Lillian Taiz, a history professor at Cal State Los Angeles, charges that the newly revealed CABO minutes make it clear that the CSU administration’s opposition to Senator Yee’s sunshine bill, SB 330, was driven not by principle, but protective self-interest.

At Sonoma State, there are four separate auxiliary organizations, explains Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Administration & Finance, Laurence Furukawa-Schlereth. But the budget for the Academic Foundation is much larger than those of  the other three  combined.

Here's the link to the SSU tranparency webpage. You can also read the Executive Summary of the CFA report on the CABO minutes they found. To read the full report, go here. Scroll down for the links to the minutes themselves.

When a child is born or diagnosed with deafness or hearing impairment, both medical responses and educational interventions are available. But how are parents to make informed choices? That’s the subject of a bitter debate right now in Sacramento.

All of this debate is focused on a bill that mainly sets out to create an informational brochure intended to give parents of hearing-impaired infants a roster of resources they can explore. The brochure is to be created by a panel of 15 people knowledgeable about this issue, but even that has become a point of contention. Jim Brune, Executive Director  of the Deaf Counseling Advocacy and Referral Agency, Director of charges that the panel will not be representative, but Assemblyman Tony Mendoza says that's not accurate, as the most recent changes in the panel will make it more inclusive.

Perhaps the most vehement opponents of AB 2072 is the The California Deaf Newborn Identification & Advocacy Stakeholder Coalition, a lengthy list of organizations who have mounted a web-based campaign against the bill that includes this list of arguments against it.

They also strongly support early access to American Sign Language.  Sheri Farinha, CEO of Deaf Newborn Intervention and Advocacy, says that past failures to do this are now being reflected in the academic performance of students whose exposure to language was delayed past their earliest formative years.

You can read the full text of Assemblyman Mendoza's AB 2072, including the most recent amendments made last Aug. 2o, here.

In most any museum, the items on display are just a small slice of their large and varied collection. And the Sonoma County Museum is no exception.

By acquainting himself with the breadth and variety of the total museum collection, Curator Eric Stanley  is then able to find ideas and items to draw from it to flesh out thematic displays. One recent instance of this, he recalls, was an exhibit based around the concept of Botany.

Another collection within the larger multitude of historic items that fascinate Stanley are the relics remaining from Santa Rosa's Chinatown. Now vanished and virtually unknown to all but the oldest area residents (or students of local history), it was a vibrant part of the core community less that 100 years ago.

The Sonoma County Museum is celebrating its own history with a  25th Birthday Party on Saturday afternoon. See a full schedule of upcoming museum activities here, including their rare, late September warehouse sale.

Eric Stanley

A change at the Santa Rosa Farmer’s Market that begins on Saturday may help some lower income households enjoy healthier menus.

To make the introduction of the food stamp program at the Santa Rosa Farmer’s Market this Saturday more festive, manager Paula Downing says several special events will be part of their day.

Mary Kelley, manager of the Healdsburg Farmers Markets (they have two each week), observes that the few food stamp users who have begun to shop there are going through some serious changes in their shopping and food preparation practices.

Locations, dates and times forall the many  Sonoma County Farmers' Markets can be found here.

Follow this link for information about the Food Stamp program in Sonoma County