It's name--The Sun Dragon--may not even be the most unusual thing about the newest civic solar installation in Sebastopol.

The Sun Dragon's unusual appearance also offers some technical benefits, which Kyes explains in this audio clip.

 The possibility of a new wastewater discharge pipeline to the county's popular Steelhead Beach in Forestville (above)  has apparently been killed by cost considerations.

 The pipeline to the proposed Steelhead Beach discharge site would have run through the quiet corridor of Osprey trail (below). Photos courtesy West County Gazette.

Brenda Adelman of the Russian River Watershed Protection Committee contends that Santa Rosa could and should reduce the amount of water flowing into the treatment plant by moving more aggressively to repair leaking sewer pipes that allow rainwater to get in.

Job skills, high school diplomas, personal responsibility and building low income housing-they're all wrapped up together in YouthBuild Santa Rosa.

YouthBuild has been active in Sonoma County for the past 13 years, but the overall program has a much longer history.

A new cohort of YouthBuild students is forming now, with required interviews on Dec. 15. Casey McChesney outlines the application process.

  The 2001 YouthBuild class were joined by then Santa Rosa Mayor Mike Martini (front, second from left), Congresswoman Lynne Woolsey, and County Supervisor Mike Reilly at the grand opening of their new office seven years ago. The program is now preparing to move into new, larger quarters in early 2009.

Greenbelt Alliance's recently published Smart Infill: A practical guide to creating vibrant places throughout the Bay Area  was written to inform decision makers about the benefits of these policies, and cite examples where they have been successfully employed. One of them, says Daisy Pistey-Lyhne, is the Town of Windsor.

Sonoma County has been a leader in adopting community separators or Urban Growth Boundaries for its cities. Those are a key first step in redirecting growth away from sprawl patterns back into urban infill.

For more information about the Sonoma County branch of Greenbelt Alliance, click here .

Greenbelt Alliance also regularly hosts hikes throughout the BayArea. You'll find a list of upcoming events here.