I offer my heartfelt condolences to the members of the Petaluma City Council for undertaking the thankless job of untangling the myriad of conflicting agendas that paralyze our local political process. Add to this burden the albatross of dwindling city revenues Of course, this particular albatross is largely the fault [...]

When 2008 dawned I hoped it would be a better year for me, personally, my town and my country than it's predecessor had been. I have the same hope for 2009. It's a new year with a new President, perhaps a new economy and new opportunities. I'm going to do [...]

I wish all of you who take the time to read any of the blogs on Petaluma 360 a Happy New Year. And I'm wishing for stuff, I hope that, in the coming New Year, our erstwhile City Council can find the time to take care of at least a [...]

I'm always surprised when I encounter the outrage many Petaluman's express to the concept of change or...Heaven forbid...growth. It's as if Petaluma is already perfect the way it is, or in the minds of our local historical preservationists...perfect the way it was. Hmmm...a perfect town wouldn't have crime, fires, health [...]

I guess even a sweet town like Petaluma has to have it's share of drunks and rowdies. Thank goodness for the diligence and professionalism of our local constabulary.

If you're looking for some good news, you might consider that we've been recently told the recession officially started late last year. I call this "good news" because recessions generally last about two years. If true of this recession it means it's already about half over. I guess that makes [...]

Personally, I thought the ads for Prop 2 were rank propaganda. The examples in the TV spots were never identified as having occurred a) recently, b) in California or c) the US. Yet voters obviously took them at face value without apparently needing any further evidence that California farmers and [...]

I can think of few examples that better demonstrate the rule that children shouldn't play with fire than the recent Measure K fiasco. An intelligent politician knows than to float a trial balloon made of lead, lest credulous folk (e.g., the people who think Michael Moore makes serious documentaries and [...]

A probe from India's Lunar orbiter, Chadrayaan-1, crashed on the moon Saturday with the stated goal of mapping the Lunar terrain. Hmmm. Since the root for "terrain" is "terra" or Earth, perhaps the word should be lunarrain? Nonetheless, I'm unsure as to the value or use for a moon map. [...]

Despite overwhelming public support for creating some kind of Rainier Interchange, at least one newly elected City Council member has stated that implementing this much-needed connection between Petaluma's east- and west-sides is not "a priority." Of course, given the state of the City's budget, one could argue that we no [...]