The Sonoma County Economic Development Board hosted the 6^th annual State of the County breakfast Wednesday morning, with Supervisor Paul Kelley delivering the centerpiece address. KRCB was there to record and bring you his talk.

Supervisor Paul Kelley

New year's resolutions aren't just for individuals; local businesses also can, and quite possibly should, pledge to take fresh actions in 2009.

Ben Stone, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board (above) offers this advice to business owners as the new year begins:

For workers, 2009 will also likely be an unsettled year. In the following audio clip, Stone suggests some creative approaches to keeping paychecks coming for those who may find themselves "downsized."

Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) chairs the Assembly Budget Committee, and believes the budget actions taken Thursday were at least technically legal. But because they employed a never-before-used strategem, that's open to debate. Sacramento Bee political columnist Dan Walters explains the issues here .

The incoming Obama administration gives a Sonoma State sociologist hope that the 1996 federal welfare reform policy will itself get some overdue reforms.

Dr. Shelia Katz studies the ways in which women who are receiving federal assistance can access higher education, and how that affects their lives and incomes thereafter.

Katz is also advocating that provisions for job training be included in any large public works jobs legislation that the new Obama administration promotes.