Whether Jack London set his stories in the harsh Yukon winter, the savage beauty of south Pacific islands, or contemporary American society, his insight into human behavior keeps them compelling now. That was the attraction behind the latest effort to convert London’s fiction to film.

Burning Daylight is set in 1920s New York, but it was actually shot entirely in and around Toronto. Writer-Director Sanzhar Sultanov says his hometown made a good stand-in for the Big Apple.

There will be a special preview screening of Burning Daylight Monday, August 9 at  7 pm at the Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma, as a benefit for the Jack London Foundation. Sultanov will be present for a question and answer session after the film is shown. Advance tickets can be purchased here. Watch the trailer for Burning Daylight:

Since the Americans With Disabilities Act was enacted by Congress 20 years ago, it has changed much more than building codes.

When the ADA passed, it took some time for the law’s new requirements to have a visible effect. But Anthony Tusler (left), founder of About Disability, a Penngrove-based advocacy office, observes that there were some notable changes in the public media landscape almost immediately.

 Most adult Americans with disabilities were cheered and empowered by the passage of the ADA in 1990, but Tusler acknowledges there were a few who felt threatened by the changes the bill would bring, and opposed it.

Despite their gains in other areas, most disabled Americans continue to struggle to find meaningful employment. Tusler suspects some employers manipulate the hiring process to avoid dealing with the ADA.

This is one of a series of photos taken in April, 1977 by Anthony Tusler at the demonstration and picketing at the U.N. Plaza in front of the Federal Building in San Francisco. The group then entered the offices of HEW and refused to leave. It was the longest occupation of a Federal Building by any group. Demonstrations were also held at other Federal Buildings across the country. Because of the political pressure of these actions Secretary Califano signed the regulations in May. A more complete history can be read at 504 Sit-in: Historical Articles and Eyewitness Accounts.

Fort Ross, the only Russian outpost ever established on what is now the continental United States, celebrates the 198^th anniversary of its founding with an annual Cultural Heritage Day on Saturday, July 31.

In addition to the imported Russian culture that was central to life at Fort Ross, park interpretive specialist Hank Birnbaum says that the native Kashaya people and their heritage will be well represented at the event Saturday.

Schedule Of Events In The Fort

10:00 Gates open to the fort.

10:00 St. Nicholas Cathedral performs a liturgy

10:30 Slavyanka Choir performs Russian secular music

11:00 Russian Folk Music & Dance

12:00 Musket and cannon demonstration

1:00  Russian Folk Music & Dance

2:00 Slavyanka Choir performs Russian liturgical music

3:30 Musket and cannon demonstration

5:00 Gates close

This expanded schedule of events for this year’s Cultural Heritage Day is, in part, preparatory to the more extensive celebrations already being planned for the Fort’s bicentennial in 2012.

Liberal Sonoma County was once a hotbed of anti-communist fervor, as well as home to a series of utopian communities, all of which is on display at the Sonoma County Museum.

When taking a longer historical view, Eric Stanley, exhibitions and collections curator for the Sonoma County Museum, says the term “communism” should be understood to be used much more generally than in contemporary political discourse.

The exhibit, Red Sonoma: Communism and Radical Politics in Sonoma County, is housed in a single small room at the side of the main exhibit area, and continues through September 26. 

It was developed as a companion show to the museums’ current main show of contemporary art from Cuba. Stanley says public reaction to it has been mostly, but not entirely, positive.