There were no real “bad guys” loose on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus yesterday, but five dozen real police officers were there to train in tracking and capturing some simulated shooters.

The SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team training exercises took place behind yellow police taped barriers, well out of sight of any members of the public and even the few reporters allowed in. But Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Mike Tosti says the citiznery will benefit from what they could not see.

SRJC Police Cadet Corrine Linder, who volunteers to be part of the emergency response scenarios, said she felt her regular training and experience had equipped her well for the day’s exercises.

Click here to see photographs from the training exercise taken by the Press Democrat's Jeff Kan Lee.

More women than ever are going to college, and they are graduating in record numbers, too. Expect in certain subject areas, such as math and the hard sciences. A local group believes that the way to change that is to start early.

Expanding Your Horizons is not a job fair, but local board member Julie Silk says it does give the girls who participate a close-up look at some career possibilities they might not previously have considered.

The online registration form for the Sonoma County Expanding Your Horizons workshop at Sonoma State on March 20, is available here.

March Fourth was billed in advance as “A Day for Action” in support of education funding in California, and Sonoma County rose to the occasion, especially on the campus of Sonoma State University.

SSU Academic Senate chair Susan Moulton (speaking at the rally at left)  noted that many factions of the campus community, who often are at odds with each other on numerous issues, find common cause in the need for support for education.

Not everyone at the rally was a teacher, student or university worker. Wilma Rawls, a nearby Rohnert Park resident, came to collect signatures for a state ballot measure intended to ease California’s budget process.

Students for Quality Education, the recently formed activitst group that led the protest demonstration in Salazar Hall, has drawn up a list of ten demands for change, including the renaming of the office of Customer Services.

You can read the full list here.

Keeping kids safe when they’re online isn’t about technology so much as trust and communication.

It’s a well-worn cliché that kids are often—maybe usually—more tech savvy than their parents. Petaluma-based tech guru Leo Laporte says the first step in open communication with teens about their adventures online is often helping Mom and Dad catch up.

But, he adds, getting a grip on the online landscape today is usually a short-lived accomplishment.

Leo Laporte and his family will present “Wired Families, Safe Kids—One Family’s Journey,” at Sonoma Academy at 6:30 pm on Thursday, March 4th.