The first Filipinos to travel to North America came aboard the Manila Galleons such as this, Spanish trading ships that traversed the Pacific ocean during the 1700s and 1800s. 

Most of the young Filipino men who came to California in the first half of the 20^th century intended to eventually return home, but many of them never did.

 Remembering Our Manongs- Sonoma County's Filipino History   is a historical documentary film covering the first Filipino immigrants who traveled to the US and settled in Sonoma County during the First half of the 20^th Century. The film will be broadcast on KRCB-TV, Channel 22 on Tuesday evening, May 12, at 9 pm.

Partial funding for the film came from  California Council for the Humanities through their California Stories grant with additional support from the Filipino American National Historical Society.  The Society's Sonoma County chapter is one of 30 across the country. Chapter president Delia  Lanosa Rapolla explains the organization's purpos in 5the audio clip below.

For more information about the film call (707) 294-3784.

John Muir (right) died 95 years ago, but he still speaks to modern day California. And not just through his writings.

Retired Methodist minister Don Baldwin (seen here in character) has embraced the role of ground-breaking environmentalist John Muir in public appearances throughout northern California and beyond.

 Even after studying biographies and Muir's own extensive writings, Don Baldwin remains amazed by the early environmentalist's ability to survive handily in the wilderness with the most minimal supplies.

 Despite his capacity for extended solo sojourns,  Baldwin reports that Muir was also a highly social person, when he came back down from the mountains.

"John Muir" will be appearing twice in Sonoma County on Sunday, April 19th, first at the 11 am service at the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Santa Rosa  and at 2 pm in Sebastopol for the annual Earth Elders event (left) at Luther Burbank's historic Gold Ridge Farm. 

Sonoma County's main dump, seen from the air at left,  has been closed since 2005, but its future continues to be hotly debated.

Operating a landfill anywhere in northern California is a difficult prospect in today's regulatory climate, observes Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, and even a well-funded private company must surmount those obstacles.

A proposed Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for Sonoma County could eventually be able to sort out and reuse as much as 90% of the region's waste stream. Alan Strachan, one of the backers of that project, suggests that through composting or other processes, even most of the remaining 10% could someday be reused.

Longtime recycling advocate Mike Anderson is one of many voices taking up the call for setting a goal of zero waste.

 The March 30th forum on the future of the Sonoma County landfill was co-hosted by the Climate Protection Campaign and the  Leadership Institute on Ecology nd the Economy.

The entire public forum was recorded and will be broadcast at the following times on Community Media Channel 26 in Santa Rosa:

 More information and background about Ecoleader .

To learn more about the Landfill.

With railroad tracks as one of  its main features, the new Holocaust and World Genocide Memorial on the Sonoma State University campus looks both forward, and back.

Sculptor and art professor Jann Nunn , seen at left with some of the 5000 glass pieces she assembled into the memorial's tower, says her work typically includes both personal and political elements, and this is no exception.

The election of President Barack Obama was a huge step forward in America's history regarding race, but long-time civil rights activist Julian Bond believes there is still much more to be done.

 In the 21st Century, says Bond, the concept of civil rights is expanding to include a multitude of other minorities within the larger society, such as gay men and lesbians.

Julian Bond will speak March 20 at Sonoma State University at 7:30pm  in the Person Theater on "The Road to Freedom:  From Alabama to Obama." The event is open to the public.  He's no stranger to college campuses, even today, as a professor at two universities near Washington, D.C. That has given him a clear sense of who today's college generation are, and where their interests and motivations lie.

The chart below offers an illustration of the central role Julian Bond has played in the national conversation about race over the past half century (links shown with dotted lines are no longer current).