By design, Sonoma County’s $47 dump fee is a customer-acquisition strategy for Republic and Recology When I moved to West County twelve years ago, dropping a load of yard trimmings at the Pocket Canyon transfer station cost $7. Today the minimum charge for the same vehicle, at the same gate, is $47. The per-ton rate…
Month: May 2026
Photo by Styves Exantus (Pixels)
Lake County enters fire season with its safety net already stretched
May is supposed to be the month when Lake County talks about preparedness. Clear the brush. Check the evacuation routes. Get the go bags ready. Make sure the tools work before the smoke shows up. It is practical advice, and in Lake County, it is not optional. Wildfire preparedness is not a seasonal slogan here….
Photo courtesy North Shore Fire District
State money buys trucks, but Lake County fire districts still face crunch
Lake County enters fire season with new equipment money, deeper budget worries On the first day of Wildfire Preparedness Month, Lake County fire leaders stood beside state Sen. Mike McGuire to celebrate $2 million in state money for badly needed firefighting equipment. The funding will help three local agencies replace or rebuild aging apparatus: two…
Photo courtesy Robledo Family Winery
Sonoma’s first Mexican American family winery is in bankruptcy court
Robledo Family Winery, founded by a man whose father was a Bracero, joins the worst quarter California wine has seen in years. In a glass case at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History sits a hat that belonged to Reynaldo Robledo Sr. Next to it, his tools. Next to those, a label from the…