The driving of the Golden Spike, uniting the first trqnscontinental railroad (below), was a pivotal moment in the history of the American west.

The North Bay Report with co-authors Jane Neilson and Howard Wilshire continues here:

The American West at Risk summarizes the dominant human-generated environmental challenges in the 11 contiguous arid western United States - America's legendary, even mythical, frontier. When discovered by European explorers and later settlers, the west boasted rich soils, bountiful fisheries, immense, dense forests, sparkling streams, untapped ore deposits, and oil bonanzas. It now faces depletion of many of these resources, and potentially serious threats to its few "renewable" resources. (more)

To read more about the book and its authors, click here.

For information about an upcoming book discussion with two of the authors at Four-Eyed Frog Books in Gualala, click here.

Fireworks stands like this are legal in Petaluma, Sonoma, Sebastopol, and some other California cities, where they are major money-makers for local non-profits. But firefighters say the potential wildfire risks outweigh the benefits to the community groups.

So far, the North Bay has mostly avoided the spate of wildfires that have flared across California. Santa Rosa Fire Chief Bruce Varner has a suggestion on how to keep that good fortune continuing.

You can see an interactive map of the current fires in California here .

Simply possessing fireworks such as these is illegal throughout California, as Santa Rosa Fire Chief Bruce Varner explains in this audio clip.

Those working to combat human trafficking in northern California find they routinely have to overcome two basic assumptions that are widespread, but wrong: It's all about sex, and it doesn't happen here.

Community members are invited to a free public presentation on this issue, on the evening of July 2 at 6 pm at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa. Event details are available in English and in Spanish .

Michael Corey Davis is the director of the documentary Cargo: Innocence Lost

Davis also talked about his first film, Svetlana's Journey:

Beer ads on baseball games are one thing, but aggressive marketing of sweet, fruity alcoholic beverages on cable shows aimed at young audiences is quite another. The promotion of these "alcopops" is coming under fire from several directions, and today' s report updates two of them.

A new study from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth points an accusing finger at the alcohol industry, sharing that it is deliberately targeting much of its advertising at underage cable television viewers.

The Marin Institutehas been an active advocate on the alcopop issue in California.