Rohnert Park E-Edition
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Follow us on Sign up for the FREE e-Edition and get the latest local news delivered to your mailbox Quote of the week: “I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the May 7, 2021 14 Pages heart to let him down.” Newspaper of Rohnert Park-Cotati-Penngrove-Sebastopol Abraham Lincoln GuesI am an actors andWho? wrestler born in California on May 2, 1972. I initially gained fame through wrestling in both the WWF and WWE — you could say I was a rock. I then became a wildly popular actor. I set an all-time world record when I earned the highest income for a first-time starring role. Answer: Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Answer: Inside this issue WSCUHSD responds 2 Welcome May 2 Letters 2 Undermining the homeless 3 Library news 4 Police Logs 4 STEM scholarships 4 Student honored 4 Blood donation eligibility 7 Tired on the last lap Gardening principles 8 Elliahna, 9, and Brisayis, 10, were running Keep cars and river clean 8 buddies and ran 11 laps at Technology Middle Spring cleaning 8 School on April 28 for Girls on the Run. Former officer sentenced 8 GOTR is a national non-profit that aims to strengthen young girls’ confidence, as well as Life sentence 8 their physical and emotional health. The local RP man sentenced 12 elementary schools have been participating in COVID relief 14 this program for years. Outdoor summer camps 14 Tracy Si Ag + open space North Bay Theatrics Café Espresso Feature of the week announces grants brings children theatre By Cassandra May Albaugh According to a March 23, 2021 press release, the Board of Direc- tors for the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open classes to Sebastopol Space District (Ag + Open Space) approved $5.8 million in grants By Brandon McCapes Weekly Columns for 2020. This is a matching grant program, “which solicits appli- Few sectors of American life were affected more by the pandemic lockdowns than the theatre. cations every two years. The intent is to provide funding for acqui- But after restarting in-person classes with pandemic safety measures in December, North Bay The- Thomas Elias 3 sition, restoration, and recreational development projects” offering atrics, a youth theatre company out of Cotati, is not only back in business, but expanding to Sebastopol. benefits to cities and the county. This cycle, six projects throughout Don Schwartz 3 Starting in May, Creative Director Ashley Kimball along with her business partner Vanessa Frost the county were selected. They will add 145 acres of “new and en- Sweeping up solutions 3 will be offering youth programming for children between the ages of five and 18 at the Sebastopol Cul- Words to ponder 3 hanced parks, trail additions and several new access points to exist- tural Community Center. History 3 ing local parks.” “We’ve definitely had our ups and downs but we’re still chugging along, baby,” Kimball said. Among the six projects approved was the Crane Creek Regional In 2013, Kimball, a Sonoma State University grad and former Miss Sonoma County, started North Park Expansion & Copeland Creek Trail Extension. The grant was Bay Theatrics out of Marin County, before moving to the Cotati, where a favorable deal with the city for $1,360,600. It combines acquisition and improvement for public allows them to use the recreation center for weekly rehearsals. access into the project. It also includes recreation development and “We really found our home in the City of Cotati at their recreation buildings. We worked out a part- restoration elements. According to the press release “residents of nership and that partnership has allowed the company to grow. I’m really wanting to establish the com- Rohnert Park and the surrounding area can look forward to a 75- pany here in the county,” Kimball said. acre major expansion of Crane Creek Regional Park with added For seven years, Kimball, a self-described “theatre gypsy,” has etched out rehearsal space in a number trails, new park connections to the City of Rohnert Park and Sonoma Rancho lacrosse 5 of theaters and rec rooms across Marin and Sonoma Counties, switching to an outdoor space when she State, and a safe connection for pedestrians and bikers visiting via A thriller ending 5 reopened classes late last year. the nearby SMART station.” A big win 5 The reception Kimball has received since reopening underlies the deprivation kids have suffered The Crane Creek project was the largest grant this cycle. Three through lack of socialization over the past year. At first, her students took them a few minutes to even Making a splash 6 others were funded for a million dollars each. One was a Santa Rosa start talking. That is, until they started moving with some dance exercises. This week in RP sports 6 project involving 10 acres, for “A Place to Play Community Park “The relief I watched over all of them was amazing. Especially for my teenagers, and those were the Improvements.” Another was a Healdsburg project for the “Healds- ones I was most worried about during all of this,” Kimball said. burg Montage Development Park” covering 36 acres of acquisition Entertainment Later that month, her students put on a live holiday production over Zoom. and improvement. The third million-dollar grant was for a 21-acre ‘Theatrics’ see page 6 project for the Petaluma River Park Foundation that is listed as im- provement of public access and recreation development and restora- tion. Two smaller projects also received funding. Sonoma County Regional Parks was awarded $795,000 to improve public access of about .7 acres for the Bodega Bay Trail – Coastal North Harbor. The Cotati cottage housing Town of Windsor was also granted $650,000 to acquire and provide By Brandon McCapes public access to the Keiser Park Expansion project involving 2.3 An ordinance to the Cotati Municipal Code regarding cottage housing projects is moving through acres. the Cotati City Council. Cottage housing projects are defined by single-family homes, which may be ‘Grants’ see page 2 Scott Sheldon 12 clustered around a common area, and allow for increased density in residential areas. The origins of the project date back to September 2019, when the City of Cotati was awarded Ken Weise 12 $160,000 in state funding through the SB2 Planning Grant to increase housing availability within the Drivers cited for violating city, according to a staff report from the April 27 Cotati City Council meeting. The report reads, “The proposed cottage housing ordinance is intended to encourage development Health... hands-free cell phone law of a different form of housing that would allow for individual ownership as well as increase the range In an effort to raise awareness and help stop distracted driving, of housing options available in Cotati, while also pursuing Cotati’s goal to preserve its small-town at- Body... the Cotati Police Department, issued 110 citations during the month mosphere as it grows.” Mind... of April to drivers who violated the state’s hands-free cell phone The ordinance would respond to increased demand placed on localities by the state to respond to the law. “Citations serve as a way to deter bad, dangerous and illegal ‘Cottage housing’ see page 11 Sprit... behaviors,” Traffic Officer Reinke said. “Nothing should take away a driver’s focus on the road and certainly not a phone screen.” Julie Ann Soukoulis 7 According to the 2020 California Statewide Public Opinion Sur- Sebastopol Council moves Steven Campbell 7 vey, more than half (51.7 percent) of drivers surveyed reported being Glenn Mollette 7 hit by or nearly hit by another driver talking or texting on a cell phone. Under current law, drivers are not allowed to hold a phone or other forward with fireworks ban electronic device while behind the wheel. By Brandon McCapes If you need to make a call or send a text, pull over and park at a Having been one of only three cities in Sonoma County to permit the use of “Safe & Sane” fireworks safe location. Drivers should silence their phones or put the phone in the week leading up to the Fourth of July, the City of Sebastopol will soon ban the sale and use of out of reach, such as the glove box or trunk. all fireworks within city limits. Kids While cell phones remain one of the biggest distractions, other At their meeting Tuesday, the city council introduced an ordinance that will repeal and replace parts serious distractions include eating, grooming, applying makeup, of the Sebastopol Municipal Code and Uniform Fire Code, and negate any conflicting resolutions per- reaching for fallen objects, using a vehicle’s touchscreen, knobs, taining to the permission of certain firework sale and use in the city. dials or buttons, changing clothes, or any other task that takes your The ordinance, which is expected to be adopted at the next city council meeting, will leave Cloverdale eyes or mind off the road. the only city to continue to permit fireworks, as Rohnert Park considers a similar ban. Funding for distracted driving enforcement is provided by a grant The fireworks ban first came to the council on April 6, where the issue of the sale of legal fireworks from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National by non-profit organizations operating within the city limits of Sebastopol was raised. Non-profit groups, Highway Traffic Safety Administration. ‘Fireworks ban’ see page 11 r Happ Discount n us fo y Ho $ off Joi Open for ur Pet column 4 Out-Side dining All auto body repairs100 of $2,000 or more! Some restrictions may apply.