Dear Member,

   Check out the two new programs about Petaluma on June 23 at 11 pm, and June 24 at 9:30 am. Producer Andrew Martin has been working on his Petaluma Memories series for several years and has been kind enough to share it with KRCB for airing. These two episodes, on the Leghorns and on Helen Putnam give the viewer a peek at the last 60 years of that city’s  history.

   As always, KRCB is pleased to work with independent producers who add richness and diversity to our schedule. When it makes sense, we will also work with the producer to seek out national distribution.

   And, don’t forget to join us—online or on your television—for an exciting encore weekend of the Bay Area Travel and Wine Auction  June  21 – 23 . We’ve held some of the best items back for this weekend. You can check them out at krcb.org/auction, put in a bid, and even put in a reserve bid. There are some wonderful travel and adventure opportunities, and you can support KRCB at the same time.

Dear Member,

   This month one of our Health Connections foci will be mental health.  Because May is mental health awareness month, Sonoma, and no doubt many other counties, will be hosting a wide variety of community meetings, workshops, parent education opportunities, suicide prevention training, and many other critical community gatherings.

   KRCB, along with the 12 other public television stations in California, has been working for over two years to develop an important documentary addressing the issue of stigma and mental health.  Evidencing a huge commitment to addressing this critical challenge, every public broadcaster in the State will air the documentary on Thursday, May 30; on KRCB look for it at 8:00 pm.  A New State of Mind: Ending the Stigma of Mental Illness reviews the pervasive prejudice and stigma with which folks with mental challenges must cope. 

   KRCB is extremely proud to have been the primary station mover behind this initiative.  In addition to the documentary we will be airing short form programs throughout the following months.  These programs will support the main message that stigma and discrimination is the widespread norm and must be addressed.

   Tune in!  Your support makes it happen.

Dear Member,

   As usual, the year seems to be moving more swiftly than it ought to. For KRCB North Bay Public Media, that normal swift passage of time seems to be, this year, enhanced by the several simultaneous major projects we have undertaken.

   Those include, as we discussed last month, the partnership with the County of Sonoma for our Health Connections initiative. By now you will have already heard reports within North Bay Report as well as at krcb.org and on social media platforms.

   And March, as you see on page 4, brought acclaimed work on the Big Read, Sonoma County. KRCB and lead partners the Sonoma County Library and Library Foundation were joined by our good friends at Copperfield’s Books. Thanks to their efforts Emily Dickinson was everywhere and so was her poetry.

Though less in the public eye, this has also been a very busy time of the year for our business office, what with the annual audit, multiple annual reports due to CPB, etc. Congratulations to our staff for a squeaky clean audit, praise from the auditor, and the smoothest report filing in recent years.

   It takes a host of dedicated staff here at KRCB to make it all happen, along with your support of course!

Dear Member,

I am delighted to let you know that KRCB North Bay Public Media will be working closely with the County of Sonoma over the next several years to expand the conversation about and awareness of key factors affecting our health. (See article on page 4.) The County has recently awarded the station a grant to seed an array of programming and activities toward this end. We will be seeking the balance of funding from other sources and already have 10 local organizations and businesses that have joined the KRCB Health Connections initiative to support this work.

While this work is being generously supported by Sonoma County, it is important to note that the issues which we will be exploring and investigating pertain throughout the entire Bay Area. We will be using examples and individuals from Sonoma County, but the challenges and road to solutions will be the same in San Jose and Livermore and Marin County. So, to our members throughout the region, don’t tune out the conversation; we all need to re-think and re-focus on the real matters affecting our health.

We are proud of the confidence that the County has demonstrated in KRCB and will be working hard to merit that confidence. Stay tuned!