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John Daly says his bright riding garb is a form of protective coloration.The 36 mile round trip from Occidental to Santa Rosa Junior College is hardly flat, but it just a day's ride to work and back for Sonoma County's Bicycle Commuter of the Year.
Although he's been making the trip from Occidental to Santa Rosa and back for many years, John Daly has had to make some changes to his preferred commuter route, as vehicle traffic patterns shifted over time.
Early morning darkness in wintertime will curtail Daly's ride a bit--he drives out of the hills to the flatter lands, then boards his bike--but the weather is not a consideration. Mostly, he says, he'll just power on through it.
Members of the Tea Party movement often invoke elements of the US Constitution to buttress their political positions. In doing so, they often distort those sources, argues writer and radio host Brian Kahn, whose new book sets out to set the record straight.
Brian KahCorporations exert an inappropriate influence over 21st century culture and politics. In Real Common Sense, Brian Kahn offers a straightforward proposal to rein that in, and cites key American leaders from the past to bolster his assertion that making such a change is consistent with the Founding Fathers' democratic values.
Nowhere is the abuse of corporate power more apparent and egregious than in commercial broadcasting. Here. too, Kahn says, the current problems are a result of abandoning the checks and balances of the past.
Kahn's solution? An excise tax on broadcast advertising, to be used to fund public radio and television, and revive serious journalism.
As an environmental writer, Julia Whitty reports on the oceans of the world and the life they support, from beneath the surface--in more ways than one.
A scientist before she became an ecological jounralist, Julia Whitty says she tries to offer readers a literary link to the natural world, not just in Deep Blue Home, but in most of her work.
Whitty recognizes that her journalism, both in film and print, has given her many rare and remarkable experiences in the natural world. In order to fully express them to readers, she explains, she has to introduce some of her own response to those sights and events in her writing, both in her blog, and her book.
Elegant Terns nest close together, pushing out the larger and darker gulls in this small valley on Rasa Island. Julia Whitty photo.In the past month, Whitty revisited Rasa Island in the Sea of Cortez (right), an important nesting site for endangered Elegant Terns and Heerman's Gulls. Following a successful effort to erdicate rodent invaders there, she reports that the rookery is thriving once again.
Julia Whitty will read from Deep Blue Home at the following Sonoma County Library branches this month:
Healdsburg: Saturday, May 21, at 11 am
Guerneville: Saturday, May 21 at 2 pm
Coddingtown (SR Northwest): Friday, May 27, 4 pm
Rohnert Park; Saturday, May 28, 11 am
Sonoma Valley: Saturday, May 28, 2 pm
If there's no money available to keep state parks in Sonoma County open, what else can be done? County Regional Parks director Caryl Hart is working on some options.
The full list of state parks to be closed is posted below, with North Bay locations shown in bold.
Caryl Hart
Posting parks as closed and barricading entry points won't keep everyone out, acknowledges Hart. Especially those whose presence may prove harmful to the preserved areas.
California State Parks Closures to Meet General Fund Reductions
Anderson Marsh SHP
Annadel SP
Antelope Valey Indian Museum
Austin Creek SRA
Bale Grist Mill SHP
Benbow Lake SRA
Benicia Capitol SHP
Benicia SRA
Bidwell Mansion SHP
Bothe-Napa Valley SP
Brannan Island SRA
California Mining & Mineral Museum
Candlestick Point SRA
Castle Crags SP
Castle Rock SP
China Camp SP
Colusa-Sacramento River SRA
Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP
Fort Humboldt SHP
Fort Tejon SHP
Garrapata SP
George J. Hatfield SRA
Governor's Mansion SHP
Gray Whale Cove SB
Greenwood SB
Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP
Hendy Woods SP
Henry W. Coe SP
Jack London SHP
Jug Handle SNR
Leland Stanford Mansion SHP
Limekiln SP
Los Encinos SHP
Malakoff Diggins SHP
Manchester SP
McConnell SRA
McGrath SB
Mono Lake Tufa SNR
Morro Strand SB
Moss Landing SB
Olompali SHP
Palomar Mountain SP
Petaluma Adobe SHP
Picacho SRA
Pio Pico SHP
Plumas-Eureka SP
Point Cabrillo Light Station
Portola Redwoods SP
Providence Mountains SRA
Railtown 1897 SHP
Russian Gulch SP
Saddleback Butte SP
Salton Sea SRA
Samuel P. Taylor SP
San Pasqual Battlefield SHP
Santa Cruz Mission SHP
Santa Susana Pass SHP
Shasta SHP
South Yuba River SP
Standish-Hickey SRA
Sugarloaf Ridge SP
Tomales Bay SP
Tule Elk SNR
Turlock Lake SRA
Twin Lakes SB
Weaverville Joss House SHP
Westport-Union Landing SB
William B. Ide Adobe SHP
Woodson Bridge SRA
Zmudowski SB
Total Park Closures: 70
Numerous studies have concluded that tasers do not pose risks to the people they shock. A closer looks finds this conclusion is far more likely when the study was funded by the Taser maker, or conducted by someone with links to the company.
UCSF cardiologist Dr. Byron Lee, a specialist in electrophysiology, says he has been curious about tasers ever since they have come into prominence as a widely used tool of law enforcement. This study was his first opportunity to look more closely at their use--and consequences.
In northern California, tasers have been used with some frequency to subdue individuals who are high on methamphetamine, as they can be more strenuously resisant toward police officers. But Dr. Lee says their altered state also places those individuals at greater risk from the electrical shocks.
