Creative financing directly from Sonoma County may soon help local home and business owners add solar and other energy-efficiency improvements to their properties.

County Supervisors have scheduled their public hearing on the proposal for 9:30 am on Tuesday March 24.

 The vast majority of the projects expected to get funding through the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program will be retrofits of existing structures. The program will also fund installation of tankless water heaters, such as the one described below.

In the eventual recovery from the current economic crisis, there will be geographic winners and losers-and the Bay Area is well positioned to be among the winners.

Richard Florida, is a researcher, educator and the author of several books, including Beyond Mass Production and The Rise of the Creative Class. He also wrote the cover story for the current issue of  Atlantic Monthly, which is titled, "How the Crash Will Reshape America."In it, he explains that some American cities will be much harder hit by the current economic downturn than others.

But in both the regions that prosper in the new economy, and those that will continue to decline, Florida says the Ameircan citizenry will have no choice but to evolve new lifestyles.

You can read Florida's full article in The Atlantic here. The magazine has also prepared online interactive maps showing how population, income an, as a measure of innovation, the number of patents issued, have changed over the years between 1975 and 2002.

Richard Florida's most recent book is Who's Your City,  which is subtitled How the Creative Economy is Making the Place Where You Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.  In it, he ranks American cities  by their suitability in terms of life-stage, rating the best places for singles, young families and empty-nesters.  Santa Rosa shows up well in both the first and last of those categories.

One reason we see so many home satellite dishes on rooftops around us is that there's no easy way to get rid of them.

Recycling unwanted satellite dishes is still easier than destroying them, as these Iranian soldiers are trying to do.

Click here for information about how to volunteer with the Sonoma County 2-1-1 program.

 As for the dubious Property Tax Reassessment solicitations, homeowners are advised that the county does not charge for this service, and southern California companies that offer to do it for a fee should not be taken at face value, especially any deadlines they may set. The Sonoma County Assessor's office has set no such deadlines. If you have recieved such a solicitation, you are invited to contact the Sonoma County District Attorney's office at (707) 565-3161.

You can download the form for a no-c0st reassessment of your Sonoma County property directly from the County Assessor's website.  Questions for the Assessor's office can also be called in to (707) 5651888.