A Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury report says Petaluma let years of animal services failures slide. The city says the jury misread the law. The council votes Monday on a response that disagrees with all eight findings.
Year: 2026
Sonoma Developmental Center still out of fire-code compliance
A brush fire this week was the reminder: the state-owned Sonoma Developmental Center campus in Glen Ellen is out of compliance with the county fire code as fire season sets in, and its redevelopment is stuck in court.
The Napa-Sonoma Marshes near American Canyon, on the low-lying Napa County edge of San Pablo Bay. Photo: Melissa McMasters via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
San Pablo Bay floods tonight, and no storm is behind it
A minor coastal flood advisory runs through Thursday. The National Weather Service says 3 to 6 inches of tonight’s high tide is sea level rise — and the North Bay’s water peaks nearly two hours after San Francisco’s.
Golden hills of northern California reflected in the still water of the Nicasio Reservoir in West Marin County.
Sonoma keeps saying yes to Marin’s Russian River pipeline
Sonoma County’s supervisors approved a 15-year water contract with Marin on the consent calendar, with no discussion. The number that mattered — a near-doubling of Marin’s winter draw on the Russian River — was not in the staff report they read.
Sonoma County’s sheriff watchdog keeps its subpoena power
The state Supreme Court won’t review the appellate ruling that upheld IOLERO’s subpoena power. That ends a two-year fight and clears the Sonoma County watchdog to investigate whistleblower complaints against the Sheriff’s Office.
Sonoma County jail death follows vote to scrap mental health wing
Hours after supervisors killed the jail’s long-planned 72-bed mental health wing and moved its money to a proposed Los Guilicos campus, a man died in his cell — the county’s first in-custody death since 2024.
Who is going to watch the Russian River?
Brenda Adelman spent 45 years watching the Russian River’s wastewater permits. Her group folded this spring, and more than 100 boxes of river history need a home. She’s asking for archiving help.
Napa nursing home sold for $6.25M, fentanyl suit pending
Piner’s Nursing Home in Napa sold for $6.25 million and rebranded as Napa Community Health Center, even as a civil elder-abuse lawsuit over a fentanyl overdose moves through county court.
St. Helena: where the town’s water comes from
St. Helena’s water runs from an 1878 earthen dam built by Chinese laborers in York Canyon to today’s Bell Canyon reservoir — a 150-year story of dams, droughts, lawsuits and the wine families who started it.
Yountville’s French Laundry faces three labor lawsuits
Three former workers have sued the operators of Yountville’s French Laundry in Napa County Superior Court since March, alleging unpaid hours, missed breaks and off-the-clock work. The restaurant group says it will fight the claims.