Letters to the Editor: Preventing Catastrophe

The tragic structure fire in the Sleepy Hollow area of Marin County that left one person dead on Oct. 26 must ignite in us the inner fire needed to combat global warming. We simply cannot allow a handful of irresponsible and reckless energy magnates the “freedom” to continue to destroy our planet’s health and life-supporting ability with their continuing expansion of fossil fuel production and use.

President Biden’s presidency will make it easier for us to work for the transition to renewable energy. However, we can not merely sit back and expect that the coming catastrophe of global warming will be prevented by President Biden.

Joe Biden’s election merely opens the door a little more widely for us to increase the fight needed to halt the deadly destruction of the Earth’s atmosphere with endless pollution from greenhouse gases and the further destruction of our forests and trees. And it is essential that we in the United States insist that the political leadership of the United States end its senseless rivalries with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

The United States must replace its self-defeating policy of fighting against the world’s other superpowers and instead work in alliance with these other major world governments to radically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and to defend the health and restoration of the Earth’s dangerously abused ecosystems. And our window of opportunity is not large.

Time is running out in our ability to create this radical change in humankind’s relationship with nature—with our only home, this Earth. If we fail to act immediately, it will soon be too late to save our lives from this most grave threat to our survival.

Rama Kumar
Fairfax

Formerly Unsheltered Sonoma County Author Takes New Direction

Edward Campagnola has stories to tell. For several years, Campagnola’s story was that of living as an unsheltered resident in Sonoma County, and he spent five years writing that account in his debut novel, Directions to the Dumpster, released last year and now available on Amazon.com.

The book traces Campagnola’s journey in homelessness and his attempts to get out of it while dispelling preconceptions about homelessness and the stigma surrounding it through compassionate writing.

In April of this year, the Bohemian ran an article about Campagnola’s struggles to find housing and his efforts to publish his novel, and soon, after another local publication picked up the story, a homeowner in Petaluma reached out to Campagnola and offered him a place to stay.

“It’s an amazing place, I have a room and a garden, and there are dogs that I’ve befriended,” Campagnola says. “I have a place to write, and the resources.”

With those resources, Campagnola has already nearly completed his second manuscript, titled Directions to Mercy Street. The new novel picks up where Directions to the Dumpster left off, and follows Campagnola’s journey during the last year as he found redemption in his writing and hope in his new housing.

“It was rough with ‘Dumpster,’ without the resources,” Campagnola says of writing his first novel. Not only was he forced to write in notebooks and on library computers, but the raw intensity of some of the experiences in the novel—such as being the victim of a violent, random attack on a California-bound Greyhound bus that left him with PTSD—were difficult for him to revisit emotionally.

Campagnola wrote Directions to the Dumpster as a form of therapy, and to give society a better understanding of homelessness in America.

Directions to the Dumpster is a phrase Campagnola uses literally and figuratively, arguing that in a capitalist society, the homeless are seen as worthless in so much as they are often given directions to the dumpster when they do reach out and ask for help.

This argument could extend to housing itself in the North Bay, as Campagnola failed to find a room to rent before his local publicity; even with a monthly budget of 800 dollars to spend and groups like Catholic Charities helping him search.

Now in a secure place physically, Campagnola’s writing is flowing out of him like never before and Directions to Mercy Street is packed with emotionally-charged true stories from the last year, including how the Covid-19 pandemic looked to unsheltered residents.

“I’m on the street when it begins,” he says of the pandemic. “I saw nobody on the street, and I went into this speech about the meek inheriting the whole thing. And this guy listening to me says, ‘nice speech, but save it.’”

Currently, Campagnola is editing Directions to Mercy Street and looking for a publisher to help get the novel out to a wider audience. He is also already writing other manuscripts, and coming up with new projects and even several songs.

“I have been humbled to my knees,” Campagnola says, with regards to finding housing. “The gratefulness that I feel is without bounds.”

“Directions to the Dumpster” is available online now at Amazon.com.

BottleRock Napa Valley Moves to Labor Day Weekend for 2021

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It’s been a long road to BottleRock Napa Valley this year, as the North Bay’s biggest music, food and wine festival was forced to cancel its planned eighth annual three-day party at the Napa Expo in downtown Napa last Memorial Day Weekend due to Covid-19.

Initially, the organizers behind BottleRock hoped for a fall version of the event this past October, though the festival officially shelved plans for a 2020 event back in July and instead announced that BottleRock would return in 2021.

Now, BottleRock Napa Valley announces that the road to the festival will go on a bit further, as next year’s event is now being moved from Memorial Day weekend 2021 to Labor Day weekend, September 3 to 5, 2021.

“We are looking forward to presenting BottleRock during such a beautiful time of the year in the Napa Valley,” says BottleRock Napa Valley producer Dave Graham. “We’re excited to bring back some joy to the Napa Valley through live music, with the health and safety of our patrons, artists, vendors, staff and surrounding communities front of mind.”

Organizers made the decision to shift the dates from May to September 2021 just as Napa County moves into a more-restrictive tier of social distancing this week as the state attempts to curb its current rise in Covid-19 case numbers. Festival organizers stress that rescheduling the festival to 2021 is to prioritize the health and safety of patrons, artists, vendors, staff and the surrounding Napa Valley communities that annually support an influx of tens of thousands of attendees.

According to California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state has seen its quickest increase in new Covid-19 cases over the last 10 days since the pandemic began in earnest in March, and state officials are even considering additional measures such as a statewide curfew to discourage people from social gatherings that increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

“Every age group, every demographic, racial, ethnic (group) in every part of the state, we are seeing case rates increase and positivity rates increase as well,” Newsom said during a recent briefing on the pandemic. “We are seeing community spread broadly.”

The 2020 BottleRock Napa Valley festival’s scheduled music headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band and Stevie Nicks were all previously confirmed to perform when BottleRock returned in 2021, and while there is no details on the new Labor Day weekend lineup, organizers will reveal the 2021 BottleRock festival performers early next year.

One thing is for sure, when it returns in 2021, BottleRock Napa Valley will once again feature the world’s top musicians on five stages, as well as its infamous BottleRock Culinary Stage showcasing culinary and celebrity mashups.

All tickets that were sold for BottleRock Napa Valley’s postponed 2020 dates are valid for the September 2021 dates, and festival ticket holders have been notified of their options via email. Those who wish to preregister to purchase available tickets for the new dates as soon as they’re available can visit bottlerocknapavalley.com.

Newsom Apologizes for Attending Birthday Dinner in Napa County

Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly apologized Monday for attending a birthday party at the French Laundry earlier this month, saying that he contradicted the guidance he’s given discouraging social gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, attended the 50th birthday party for Jason Kinney, a longtime political advisor, on Friday, Nov. 6, at the Michelin-starred restaurant in Yountville, located in Napa County.

In addition to advising Newsom, Kinney is a lobbyist who worked for California Strategies, a Sacramento firm, from Jan. 1, 2012, through Nov. 6, 2018, according to state lobbying records.

At the end of 2018, Kinney served on Newsom’s gubernatorial transition team and then registered as a lobbyist with Axiom Advisors, a recently-formed lobbying firm, CalMatters reported at the time.

Last month, Kinney made news again when Capital & Main, an investigative reporting website, broke news that Newsom’s administration had approved additional fracking permits for one of Axiom Advisors’ clients. The news came a month after Newsom signed an executive order to ban fracking in the state by 2024.

The Nov. 6 French Laundry dinner included at least 12 people, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which Newsom said on Monday was “a larger group than I had anticipated.”

“I made a bad mistake,” Newsom said. “Instead of sitting down, I should have stood up and walked back to my car and drove back to my house.”

Newsom acknowledged that he contradicted his own administration’s guidance on social gatherings, which discourages the mixing of more than three households, and noted that he has to practice the standards he’s laid out for the rest of the state.

Newsom added that he’s gone out to dinner only two other times since February, both times outdoors and alone with Siebel Newsom rather than with a larger group.

“I need to preach and practice, not just preach and not practice,” he said. “I’ve done my best to do that. We’re all human, we all fall short sometimes.”

At the time, Napa County was in the “orange tier,” the second least-restrictive tier of the state’s pandemic reopening system, allowing both indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants.

However, the state tightened restrictions on most counties Monday, moving more than two dozen – including Napa County – into the state’s most-restrictive, purple tier as cases rise across the state.

Newsom granted that he had concerns about losing political capital and public trust at a time when the state hopes to rein in riskier activities like indoor dining at restaurants and just over a week before Thanksgiving.

“You have to own it and you have to be forthright,” he said. “I’m doing my best every single day and trying to model better behavior. So I made one mistake, I should have just gotten up from that table and left. And so you own that, you move on and you continue to do the work that you were sent here to do.”

North Bay Artist Follows Rising Tides with Aquatic Sculptures

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Over the past several months, a curious sight has arisen from the waters surrounding Marin County. Four markers, painted in black-and-white stripes and adorned with nautical symbols, have been placed throughout the Bay to document the rising tides in a new visual model created by local sculptor Jeff Downing.

This month, Downing displays his aquatic markers at MarinMOCA in Novato for the exhibit, “Level Up! A Sculptural View of Sea Level Rise.” Opening on Nov. 21, the show will reveal sea level rise and its direct impact on communities in Marin.

Downing’s concept for “Level Up” came about in 2017 when he participated in an environmental art project in Mexico.

“There was a lake on the site that was full most of the year,” Downing says. “But there’s a drought season and the lake water goes out, and a lot of the things covered in water are exposed.”

Downing installed aquatic sculptures in Mexico to mark the diminishing water levels, though he was inspired to document the opposite effect when he returned to the Bay Area.

“I thought about working with water, and the Bay Area having its own water issues with drought, but it also has tidal flooding,” he says. “I became interested in the tidal surge and King Tides, which happen twice a year. King Tides show what tides are going to be like with sea level rise, and everybody’s learning now that sea level rise is progressing because the Earth is getting warmer and the ice caps are melting.”

According to data compiled by the California Coastal Commission, San Francisco Bay is projected to see a rise between 1.1 and 2.7 feet by 2050. To see exactly what that means for Marin, Downing began placing his aquatic markers in waters near the Richmond Bridge and spots like Gate 5 Road in Sausalito, where the Bay already rises dramatically.

In addition to being eye-catching works, Downing’s sculptures aim to raise awareness and to educate the public about the realities of rising tides.

“My project is about making something that is attractive and beautiful, but it also has a meaning,” Downing says.

An East Coast native, Downing moved to the Bay Area in the ’80s to play music, and he pursued ceramics at the Academy of Art. There, Downing met artist and longtime College of Marin professor Bill Abright, who inspired Downing to further refine his art.

To date, Downing’s brightly colored sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and public venues in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil and throughout Europe. In addition to being a working artist, Downing is a full-time professor at San Francisco State University.

For the MarinMOCA exhibition, Downing will display several ceramic markers, as well as photos of them in the waters around Marin, with explanatory text accompanying the visuals. After the exhibit closes, the markers will be placed in the lagoon at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael as a public art display.

“They’re going to be a monument of sea level rise awareness,” Downing says. “It will be a public art sculpture with a message.”

“Level Up” opens on Saturday, Nov. 21, at MarinMOCA, 500 Palm Dr., Novato. Marinmoca.org.

Covid Update: Napa, Other Counties Moved to State’s Most Restrictive Tier

Most of the Bay Area’s counties will move into more-restrictive reopening tiers this week as the state attempts to extinguish its current rise in new coronavirus cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.

A total of 28 counties – including Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Napa, Santa Cruz and Solano counties – will be moved into the most-restrictive “purple tier” on Tuesday, part of what Newsom described as the state “pulling the emergency brake” on its reopening plans.

In addition, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties moved into the red tier, the second most-restrictive tier in the system.

According to Newsom, the state has seen its quickest increase in new cases statewide over the last 10 days since the pandemic began in earnest in March.

“Every age group, every demographic, racial, ethnic (group) in every part of the state, we are seeing case rates increase and positivity rates increase as well,” Newsom said during his Monday afternoon briefing on the pandemic.

“We are seeing community spread broadly,” he added.

The only counties in the greater Bay Area that did not move to a stricter tier were Sonoma and Monterey counties, which were already in the purple tier.

The state has also tweaked the way counties are assigned to tiers, moving them to a more-restrictive tier after only one week of rising cases rather than the previously established two.

Newsom said state officials are considering additional measures such as a statewide curfew to discourage people from social gatherings that increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

The tier changes will take effect Tuesday.

North Bay Food Banks Ramp Up Efforts as Winter Sets In

It comes as no surprise to learn that the demand for food donations has soared since the Covid-19 pandemic started in March of 2020. In an effort to help feed those in need this holiday season, North Bay food banks are expanding their programs and recruiting the community to aid them in their efforts, with food drives and other initiatives happening in Marin and Sonoma County.

SF-Marin Food Bank
Currently, Town Center Corte Madera is hosting the 28th annual Town Center Corte Madera Food Drive in cooperation with the SF-Marin Food Bank. Marin County residents are encouraged to drop non-perishable food items off at the giant turkey display (pictured). SF-Marin Food Bank will then distribute that food to families in need during the holiday season.

The most needed food items include tuna, chicken and salmon in pop-top cans or tear-open pouches. Other items in demand include canned meats, low sodium chili and stew, and nut butters. Donations will be collected under the giant turkey’s wing through December 31.

“The need for food donations is soaring this year, which makes this food collection drive even more important,” Town Center Corte Madera General Manager Monty Stephens says in a statement. “Each year, our community comes together and donates approximately 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of food during our annual food drive, which goes a long way to help those in need. We are hoping for a record year.”

SF-Marin Food Bank is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in San Francisco and Marin by serving more than 60,000 households a week; meaning that more than 48 million pounds of food will be delivered this year to assist more than 140,000 residents in need of food assistance.

Town Center, featuring more than 50 shops, restaurants, specialty stores and services, is located at 100 Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera. For more information on the food drive, visit shoptowncenter.com.

Food For Thought
On Monday, Nov. 23, Sonoma County nonprofit Food For Thought will be holding dual Drive-Thru Holiday Food Drives in Santa Rosa and Petaluma to help provide its clients with everything they need to make a festive holiday meal.

The food items can be dropped off to the Food For Thought team in the parking lots of the Santa Rosa Plaza or Petaluma Village Premium Outlets. Donors will be asked to stay in their vehicles to keep social distancing in effect.

Food For Thought provides nutritional meals to more than 1,000 Sonoma County residents who are at risk of malnutrition or living with a range of serious illnesses. For the upcoming Drive-Thru Holiday Food Drives, Food For Thought is asking the public to donate items such as Cranberry Sauce, Canned Pumpkin and Stuffing Mix.

The Drive-Thru Holiday Food Drives will be open for donations from 10am to 4pm on Nov. 23, and donations can be made at 1071 Santa Rosa Plaza in the small lot on First Street between A and B Streets, next to the Sears building; and 2200 Petaluma Blvd. North, in the parking lot to the left of the main entrance to the Petaluma Village Premium Outlets. Food For Thought is also hosting a virtual food drive at FFTfoodbank.org.

Napa County Officials Urge Testing as Covid Cases Rise

Napa County is seeing a sharp increase in positive Covid-19 cases in the past 10 days and officials are urging residents to take proper steps to prevent further spread and to take advantage of testing.

Positive cases in the county between Wednesday, Nov. 4, and Friday, Nov. 13, have increased by 357 to 2,432.

In Calistoga, mobile COVID-19 testing will be available by appointment Monday and Tuesday at the Calistoga Fairgrounds, 1435 N Oak St.

Testing is also available in Napa at the Napa County Expo, 575 Third St. in Napa.

Appointments can be made by calling (707) 253-4540 or online.

Golden Gate Bridge District Votes to lay off 150 Workers

The Golden Gate Bridge District Board of Directors voted Friday to lay off nearly 150 employees to help shore up the district’s projected budget shortfall of some $48 million due to reduced ridership during the coronavirus pandemic.

By an 11-5 vote, the board chose to eliminate 146 filled staff positions and 59 vacant ones in early January. The board elected the layoffs in lieu of raising the bridge toll by up to $2 to replace the district’s lost revenue.

The board also pushed back the effective date for the layoffs from Dec. 5, which was recommended by the board’s staff, to Jan. 4 to avoid laying workers off during the holiday season.

“Sadly, it’s clear we need to take affirmative action to either reduce costs or raise revenue,” said Director Brian Sobel, the chair of the district’s Budget and Finance Committee.

With no authority to tax Bay Bridge, bus or ferry users, Sobel argued that paring down the district’s staff is the only way to cut costs without raising toll prices.

The district is expected to exhaust its remaining federal relief funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act by the end of November, at which point its coffers will be nearly empty, according to district officials.

In addition to reduced traffic from the Marin headlands into San Francisco, bus ridership is down 75 percent from normal levels while ferry ridership is down 96 percent, according to Sobel.

District officials have faced public pushback in recent weeks, as well, when they’ve suggested the need to raise toll prices for the district to remain solvent.

The board also heard from multiple bus operators and union representatives arguing that the district was treating them as numbers on a spreadsheet rather than dutiful employees.

“This is a horrible and difficult situation that puts our duties as directors at odds with our feelings of compassion for our employees who work hard in our transit and ferry divisions,” Sobel said.

Board Director Sabrina Hernandez said it was painful to hear employees say that they feel undervalued by the district, adding that their work has not gone unnoticed.

“We recognize that you come to work, that you’re committed, that you’re making your own sacrifices on a day-to-day basis and face the unknown with people walking in the door and, perhaps, bringing COVID on board, exposing you and the rest of those riders on the bus,” she said.

Multiple board members expressed varying levels of optimism that President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration would be able to work out a new pandemic relief package, or that one could be passed during congress’ current lame duck session.

However, the level of funding for beleaguered public transit agencies in a potential relief bill remains up in the air, Sobel said.

Board Director David Rabbitt, who also serves on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, suggested potential federal funding for the Bay Area’s 25 Federal Transit Administration-eligible transit agencies would have to eclipse the $1.3 billion included in the CARES Act to adequately meet the needs of agencies like the district and BART.

“We got $1.3 billion and we thought that was a fabulous number, quite frankly,” Rabbitt said. “But that won’t be enough moving forward with the situation in front of us.”

Should the district receive more federal funding before Jan. 4, the board would be able to call a special meeting and reduce the number of layoffs or avoid layoffs entirely, according to district officials.

The board unanimously approved a $2.1 million severance package for the employees who will be laid off, offering them four months of medical benefits for the employee and their family and four weeks of severance pay or a $600-per-week stipend for 10 weeks.

The board also voted 14-1 to temporarily reduce pay for mid-managers, deputy general managers, district officers and members of the board by 10 percent.

“The district is clearly faced with an extreme financial deficit,” Board President Barbara Pahre said. “And it’s our responsibility, fiduciarily, to make the difficult decisions.”

California Issues Travel Advisory Amid Uptick in Covid-19 Cases

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, issued a travel advisory today asking people entering or returning to the three states to self-quarantine for 14 days to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The advisory applies to those traveling for non-essential reasons, such as tourism or recreation, and does not pertain to those traveling for essential work, including critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, urgent medical care, safety and security.

“California just surpassed a sobering threshold—one million Covid-19 cases—with no signs of the virus slowing down,” Newsom said in a Friday morning news release. “Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers and vulnerable Californians. Travel increases the risk of spreading Covid-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives.”

On top of the travel advisory, state health officials are also urging residents to limit interactions with other households.

On Thursday, California became the second state, behind Texas, to surpass one million cases of Covid-19. The rise in cases has prompted cities to rollback reopening plans with Sacramento, San Diego and Stanislaus counties moving back into the most restrictive tier this week—marking the highest number of counties in the purple tier since Oct. 6.

In Sonoma County, cases are also on the rise. As of Thursday, the county of nearly 500,000 people had recorded 10,679 Covid-19 cases and 149 deaths. Sonoma County remains in the state’s most restrictive tier.

Napa County, which has a population of nearly 140,000, had recorded 2,432 Covid-19 cases and 17 deaths as of Thursday.

Letters to the Editor: Preventing Catastrophe

The tragic structure fire in the Sleepy Hollow area of Marin County that left one person dead on Oct. 26 must ignite in us the inner fire needed to combat global warming. We simply cannot allow a handful of irresponsible and reckless energy magnates the “freedom” to continue to destroy our planet’s health and life-supporting ability with their continuing...

Formerly Unsheltered Sonoma County Author Takes New Direction

Edward Campagnola is currently editing the uplifting sequel to his debut novel, ‘Directions to the Dumpster.’

BottleRock Napa Valley Moves to Labor Day Weekend for 2021

Napa's music, food and wine festival is set to return Sept. 3-5 next year.

Newsom Apologizes for Attending Birthday Dinner in Napa County

Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly apologized Monday for attending a birthday party at the French Laundry earlier this month, saying that he contradicted the guidance he's given discouraging social gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, attended the 50th...

North Bay Artist Follows Rising Tides with Aquatic Sculptures

Jeff Downing displays his aquatic markers for the exhibit, “Level Up," opening on Nov. 21 in Novato.

Covid Update: Napa, Other Counties Moved to State’s Most Restrictive Tier

Most of the Bay Area's counties will move into more-restrictive reopening tiers this week as the state attempts to extinguish its current rise in new coronavirus cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. A total of 28 counties - including Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Napa, Santa Cruz and Solano counties - will...

North Bay Food Banks Ramp Up Efforts as Winter Sets In

Food drives in Marin and Sonoma County help the hungry while remaining socially distant.

Napa County Officials Urge Testing as Covid Cases Rise

Napa County is seeing a sharp increase in positive Covid-19 cases in the past 10 days and officials are urging residents to take proper steps to prevent further spread and to take advantage of testing. Positive cases in the county between Wednesday, Nov. 4, and Friday, Nov. 13, have increased by 357...

Golden Gate Bridge District Votes to lay off 150 Workers

The Golden Gate Bridge District Board of Directors voted Friday to lay off nearly 150 employees to help shore up the district's projected budget shortfall of some $48 million due to reduced ridership during the coronavirus pandemic. ...

California Issues Travel Advisory Amid Uptick in Covid-19 Cases

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, issued a travel advisory today asking people entering or returning to the three states to self-quarantine for 14 days to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. ...
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