We’ve all heard the saying,” It takes a village to raise a child.” But that same sort of collaborative community can play an important part in the lives of its older members as well. That’s what the Village Network of Petaluma is setting out to create., as we hear on today’s segment.

The Village Network of Petaluma will be holding their Kick Off and Membership Drive at the Petaluma Library Saturday afternoon, April 19 from 1-3 pm.  As their invitation says:

"The Village is having a big Kick-off Event and Membership Drive this Saturday, April 19, 1:00 - 3:00, in the Petaluma Library! Learn more about the Village, benefits of membership, and also about opportunities for sharing your skills as a volunteer. Live music, speakers from our Village and Sausalito Village, food, and fun! Come and help build a Village you'd like to be part of..."

  Wider use of waste water--from sinks, showers and laundry-- for landscape irrigation can preserve diminished freshwater supplies. A pilot program in Marin is out to make that both easier and more common.

  As this chart indicates, more than half of a typical home's water use could be recycled through a graywater system.

  In an early bid to combat greenhouse gas emissions and conserve energy, the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program was set up back in 2009. It just passed its five year anniversary date, which provides an opportunity to review the program's effectiveness.

SCEIP is also co-hosting an Energy Action Forum today at Paradise Ridge Winery  in Santa Rosa, from 4-7 pm,  to honor six local Energy Champions.  They are:

§       Santa Rosa Plaza – Simon Properties, Santa Rosa

§       Sonoma Veterinary Clinic – Dr. Howard Rosner, Sonoma

§       Glaser Center, Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa

§       Speer’s Market, Forestville

§       Empire College, Santa Rosa

§   Cotati – Rohnert Park Unified School District, Rohnert Park

For more information or to register for the forum please contact SCEIP at (707) 565-6470 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Jim Keene, partner at The Bike Peddler and NorCal Bike Sport in Santa Rosa, says he's seen a spike in bicycle theft in Santa Rosa and he's grown tired of responding to 3 a.m. burglary alarms. 

"Santa Rosa seems to be becoming the bike theft capital of the Bay Area," says Gary Helfrich of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. Now, Keene, Helfrich and other members of the local cycling community are forming a task force to address the problem.