Follow us on March 5, 2021 14 Pages Newspaper of Rohnert Park-Cotati-Penngrove-Sebastopol Serving Sign up for the FREE e-Edition Communities and get the latest local news of delivered to your mailbox Rohnert Park, Cotati and Penngrove since Quote of the week: 1993 “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffer- SMART and others offer free rides ing into hope for the future.” Nelson Mandela to COVID-19 vaccine appointment Starting today, Marin Transit, SMART and Golden Gate Transit and Ferry will provide free transit trips to GuesI am an Instagrams Who? star born in and from vaccination sites for community members England on March 4, 1999. with appointments. All three agencies are offering free My parents are a famous soccer rides by bus, train and boat in both directions to mass player and a former pop star. vaccination sites, hospitals, or anywhere else that is I made my first television offering vaccinations. appearance at age 3, and I To receive a free ride, customers should be ready to have three younger siblings. show physical or digital confirmation of their same- day vaccine appointment at time of boarding. This I share my first name with a joint effort by Marin County transit agencies is aimed borough in New York. at reducing transportation and cost barriers for com- Answer: Brooklyn Beckham Brooklyn Answer: munity members to receive the vaccine. A new drive-through clinic is now operating at the Larkspur Landing Ferry Terminal, which opened on Inside Sunday, February 21. The site is expected to provide 200 COVID-19 vaccinations per day the first week of this issue operations and could provide up to 2,000 vaccinations per day as vaccine supply increases. Marin Transit will offer a shuttle to and from the Larkspur SMART sta- Plead no contest 2 tion to the Ferry Terminal vaccine site for those with mobility issues. Riders can follow the directional sig- Debt collection activities 2 nage at the exit of the platform leading to the shuttle Letters 2 pickup area. Those who prefer to walk from the station Epic games v. Apple 3 are permitted to access the site on foot or by bike. Library news 4 More information on additional vaccination sites and appointment availability in Marin County can be Police Logs 4 found on the Marin County Health Department's vac- Call for blood donors 4 cination options webpage. Russian River watershed 4 SMART operates regular service Monday through Child abuse surges 5 Friday. View the train schedule online at SonomaMar- Local businesses 5 inTrain.org/schedules-fares. For questions or trip plan- ning assistance, contact the SMART Customer Service STEM Summit 5 Center at 511 or (707) 794-3330, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Local students 5 Socially distanced passengers, including one with an electric scooter, exit the 5:56 p.m. North bound SMART train weekdays, except holidays. Schulz Museum 5 at the Cotati Station Monday evening. ‘Free ride’ see page 3 Robert Grant Luther Burbank’s birthday 5 Teaching poet and authors 5 Save water 7 Sebastopol Basic gardening principles 7 SSU professor recognized 8 Telemedicine 8 endorses climate Fun Facts 11 Café Espresso action platform By Brandon McCapes Feature of the week The City of Sebastopol will add its voice alongside over 700 gov- ernmental and nonprofit agencies in endorsing a climate action ini- tiative associated with the statewide climate advocacy group Climate Center. The Sebastopol City Council voted unanimously to adopt the res- olution, which will pressure state lawmakers to take more serious Weekly Columns climate action measures, outlined in a four-point plan designed by the Climate Center, at their regular meeting March 2. Thomas Elias 3 The Climate Center is a statewide non-governmental organiza- Darrin Jenkins 3 tion, which, among other accomplishments, has worked to expand Sweeping up solutions 3 community choice energy access through organizations like Marin Words to ponder 3 Clean Energy and Sonoma Clean Energy. Through community History 3 choice energy organizations, which source renewable forms of en- ergy, communities enrolled are able to ensure more of their electric- ity bill is going towards green power over fossil fuels. According to the Climate Center website, the organization has helped to provide 11,000,000 Californians with access to community Accidents on the rise choice energy, boasting 88-percent fossil-free power through such More businesses have reopened, which has increased the amount of traffic on the roads. Not back to organizations across the state. pre-pandemic levels, but enough to qualify as a “commute.” There are more drivers on the road waiting Climate Center board member and former Sebastopol Mayor Sportsman’s Report 12 until they reach their turn off before changing lanes to take the exit. Tuesday afternoon one such driver, Larry Robinson, who presented the initiative to the city council, said allegedly, cut in front of this truck right before the Todd Road off ramp. The truck driver swerved to Climate Center, having been successful in developing and expanding avoid the ensuing collision and sailed into the adjacent field. The other driver did not stop and as of the community choice energy model, is now redirecting its efforts Entertainment this writing has not contacted authorities. The truck driver survived the incident. CHP, SCFD and Cal towards pressuring California state legislators to enact even more Trans are seen assessing the damage, gathering investigative information, ensuring the damaged truck proactive climate action policies. did not pose fire or any other danger to near-by residents and discussing the best way to move the “California is the fifth largest economy in the world, and as Cal- truck. ifornia goes, America goes. We’re at a critical juncture where the Robert Grant world is looking for leadership in solving the leadership and we can set an example here in California,” Robinson said. Robinson said that by joining other elected and non-profit organ- izations that have already adopted the initiative, the City of Se- bastopol would be adding its voice to demand the state take climate Some residents question action even further than its current suggestion for carbon neutrality ‘Climate action’ see page 8 Scott Sheldon 12 Ken Weise 12 Cotati police survey By Patrick Norton A community issue survey conducted in November of 2020 left some residents with questions of Transgender Day Health... their own. The survey focused on residents’ views on public safety and policing. Conducted by FM3 Body... Research Opinion, Research, & Strategy, an independent research entity, the survey aimed for statistical Mind... validation. FM3 Research sought to capture a segment of the population that was representative of the of Visibility - 2021 city itself. Questions were also carefully selected to develop patterns that could lead to scientifically By Cassandra May Albaugh Sprit... based conclusions. The survey results and presentation can be found online at cotaticity.org. What do Laverne Cox, Chaz Bono, Caitlyn Jenner, and Elliot Some residents wanted to know how many people of each race were stopped by police in the last Page have in common? Given the title of this article, they are obvi- year. They also wanted to know how many young people had completed the survey. Why young people ously visible, famous Transgender persons publicly living their au- Julie Ann Soukoulis 6 and minorities were skeptical of the police? What types of interactions people of each race had with Steve Campbell 6 thentic lives. In recent political elections several Transgender the police? What was the perceived attitude of the officer, and if residents experienced racism in their politicians won election. Sarah McBride won a Delaware Senate Glenn Mollette 6 interactions with police officers? Some of the answers to these questions are hard to attain due to the seat. Twenty-six-year-old Taylor Small was elected to the Vermont George Malkemus 6 nature of a survey format. Specific details behind the survey questions are unattainable without fol- legislature. Stephanie Byers was the first transgender elected official low-up questions to respondents. Another factor obscuring information is the margin of sampling error in the State of Kansas as she also won a legislature seat. So, they of plus or minus 5.2 percent. Which can go even higher when questions are targeted at sub-groups. too are visible. But what about those who aren’t famous or public? Nevertheless, the FM3 Research maintains a 95 percent confidence level in the conclusions of the sur- On March 31, they, and their allies, can celebrate International vey. Which stated, “there is a distinct minority of residents with negative perceptions or experiences Transgender Day of Visibility. Kids ‘Survey’ see page 7 Transgender Day of Visibility is relatively new. Rachel Crandall of Michigan, a transgender activist, was the founder of the event in 2009. She was frustrated that there was lack of recognition for trans- gender people, even within the LGBTQ+ community. The only ex- CRPUSD isting event was Transgender Day of Remembrance which is held annually in November to mourn the murders of transgender men and Activities for kids women from the previous year. But there wasn’t anything to ac- knowledge and celebrate living members of the community. This Kids activities Special Board report day is also about raising the awareness of the discrimination faced including coloring pages By Cassandra May Albaugh by this community in housing, employment, sports and public ac- The Cotati Rohnert Park Unified School District held a special meeting March 2. The only agenda commodations among other activities of daily life.