A group of local water suppliers and agricultural and watershed organization have established the Russian River Independent Science Review Panel, an effort to establish a sound scientific basis for future water supply and watershed management decision making in the Russian River.

The new Panel will provide objective scientific review and recommendations on watershed monitoring, water management, the agriculture frost protection programs and implementation of the lower summer minimum in-stream flows specified in the federal Russian River Biological Opinion on Salmon and Steelhead.  To better understand physical and ecological processes in the basin, the Panel will collect and review existing data, identify data gaps, review water management efforts, and develop a conceptual model that systematically describes physical processes and associated ecological processes in the river system.

Dr. Matt Kondolf"To date, there has been no systematic, basin-wide assessment of the physical processes in each tributary to determine controls on surface flows and primary limiting factors for salmonid habitats" said panel chairman  Dr. Matt Kondolf of the University of California at Berkeley.  "Data are lacking from most of the watershed, but even the data that exist have not been systematically used to their potential."

Phase 1 of the Panel's work will focus on the Coyote Dam to Healdsburg area of the watershed and the Mark West and Green Valley Creek tributary basins.  Subsequent work will be focused on other portions of the watershed.

A team of local leaders from water agencies and other stakeholder groups reviewed over 25 applications for the panel and chose the following eight members:

Dr. Matt Kondolf, Chair         Fluvial geomorphologist and Professor of Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley.

Dr. Matthew Cover                 Assistant Professor of Ecology at CSU, Stanislaus.

Dr. Richard Adams                 Professor Emeritus of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Oregon State University.

Mr. Christopher Farrar            Hydrogeologist, formerly with the U. S. Geologic Survey.

Dr. F. Douglas Shields, Jr.      Consulting Hydraulic Engineer and retired from the National Sedimentation Laboratory.

Dr. James Constantz               Research Hydrologist at the National Research Program at the U. S. Geologic Survey.

Dr. John Bredehoeft               Consulting Hydrogeologist and formerly Senior Research Geologist at the U. S. Geologic Survey.

Dr. Vincent Resh                    Professor of Entomology at UC Berkeley.  Member of the Science Advisory Board of the Delta Stewardship Council.

Dr. Michael Marchetti             Professor of Ecology at St. Mary's College of California.

The eight-member panel will be assisted by a graduate student team from UC Berkeley and the staff of the California Land Stewardship Institute. 

Marin County will hold its first POW/MIA Recognition Day on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium at San Rafael's Civic Center. The event is free and open to the public, and is hosted by the Marin Alliance for the American Spirit (MAAS), a newly formed nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring active duty soldiers and veterans. The program will include a tribute to all veterans, speakers, music, a military flyover and a free reception.

In 1979, Congress passed a resolution authorizing National POW/MIA Recognition Day as a day for Americans to remember the nation's prisoners of war (POWs) and soldiers who are missing in action (MIAs) as well as their families, to be held on the third Friday of September. Local events are organized by veterans across the county.

The Dept. of Defense puts the total of MIAs at 87,000 and 142,000 POWS – 17,000 of whom died while interned – since World War II.

The nonprofit Marin Alliance for the American Spirit's mission is to develop and present educational programs that foster patriotism and a sense of community, and to host events honoring active duty soldiers, veterans and their families.

The Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation has awarded $2 million to support the expansion and renovation of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital's emergency department and regional trauma center. This makes the foundation the leading contributor to a campaign which has garnered $4.2 million in community donations to date.
In addition, the Finley Foundation has offered a challenge grant, for which the hospital would receive an additional $500,000 by raising a matching $2 million within the coming year." We are so fortunate to have this vital service close to home and we invite others in the community to join in supporting this crucial project," said Norma Person, President and Director of the Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation, which was established by her late husband, Evert Person, one of Sonoma County's foremost philanthropists.
The Finley Foundation's gift supports Santa Rosa Memorial's $15 million expansion and renovation of the emergency department and trauma center, which broke ground in May 2012. The project will add nearly 50 percent more square footage to the North Coast region's busiest ER, which treats an average of 100 patients daily or about 36,500 individuals each year.
The expansion of the ER and trauma center, which will total just over 13,500 square feet, is scheduled to be completed in early 2014. It will feature 26 private patient rooms plus a triage room (for a total of 27 fully enclosed rooms), allowing the region's only designated Level II Trauma Center to treat more critically ill and injured patients – while more quickly caring for patients with less serious conditions. The expanded ER is designed to treat at least50,000 patients or more per year.

Outraged and alarmed by the recent spate of car versus bicycle incidents on Sonoma County roads, including a cluster of fatalities, cycling advocates announced this morning a proposed new law to offer expanded protections to those who share the roads with motor vehicles.

Max BeachAttorney Max Beach says the proposed ordinance would cover an existing gap in existing legal protections for cyclists and other users of public roadways.

In addition to the personal protection and public safety issues involved in this issue, there are also some important economic considerations, Brett Gave, owner of the Trek Store cycle shop in Santa Rosa and a member of the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau Advisory Board, noted that public perceptions of cycling safety in Sonoma County can affect the local tourism economy.