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One year after the Wine Country wildfires, both Sonoma and Napa are still suffering afterburn when it comes to tourism.
The old adage is that “perception is reality,” and that is keeping tourism officials busy as they work to convince tourists that Wine County didn’t evaporate in the fires and, despite what they might see on the news, not all of the state is on fire.
New advertising campaigns are being launched. Additional funds are being budgeted, and tourism teams are feathering out nationwide (and internationally) to spread the word—Wine County is open for business.
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The mission of this 22-year-old nonprofit is simple and clear: to create and supervise long-term relationships between caring adults and at-risk school children in need of academic and social support. A cohort of energetic, committed volunteers and 11 staff members maintain mentoring centers on eight campuses of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District. Currently, there are 450 active mentor-mentee pairs, with 102 children on a waiting list that the Mentoring Alliance board is determined to decrease.
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Gangs were a given in the Santa Rosa community of Roseland, when Vicente Tlatilpa was growing up. It would have been easy for him to fall in with the wrong crowd, but instead, he found Conservation Corps North Bay (CCNB), which provides year-round job training and education services for disadvantaged youth. It turned out to be a life changer.
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Marin and Sonoma counties have official Age-Friendly status, and Live Healthy, an initiative of Napa County’s Livable Communities, is incorporating the same elements to develop new strategies for meeting the needs of its aging population.
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There aren’t many charitable events, fundraisers, volunteer recognition events, and other benefits in the North Bay that don’t feature Lagunitas beer. The company, while known for being nonconformist, innovative interpretations of traditional beer styles, and humorous stories on its packaging, has also become synonymous with giving, as so many nonprofits rely on them for product donations, sponsorships.
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The Youth Poster Contest, created by Bruce Burtch, enables the Marin County youth ages 12 to 18 to focus on the subjects they believe deserve the most attention and require immediate action. Topics have included social justice, women’s rights, immigration, firearms regulation, climate change and other issues that affect their lives.
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Since last year’s wildfires, Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa has been instrumental in helping displaced residents find secure housing in Sonoma and Napa Counties. The nonprofit has adopted a model to meet county-specific approaches for the two areas. The majority of the need is concentrated in Sonoma County. Here Catholic Charities helped triage 901 people in a long-term recovery group that’s served 1,407 people.
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In the North Bay, many jobs remain unfilled, spanning a variety of industries. Health care and hospitality industries can’t find qualified professionals, and county government and school districts are having trouble filling any kind of jobs. At any level, more jobs are available than there are skilled professionals to fill them. What’s going on?
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Prohibition was once known as a “noble experiment.” President Herbert Hoover described it as “a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching purpose.” Under the 18th Amendment, the “manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors” was forbidden from 1920 to 1933, but consumption was not considered illegal. By law, any wine, beer or spirits that Americans had stashed away as of January 1920 were theirs to keep and enjoy in the privacy of their homes.
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One year after the Wine Country wildfires, both Sonoma and Napa are still suffering afterburn when it comes to tourism.
» read more
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In the pop culture of the ’60s, tie-dye attired hippies gathered in San Francisco’s Haight-Asbury district to smoke pot, protest the war in Viet Nam and advocate for civil rights. And though activism continued, attire evolved to faded denims, the preppy J. Crew look and Mad Men suits. Over the next two decades or so, cannabis, though still illegal, became socially acceptable replacing the martini at cocktail parties.
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This might be hard to swallow, but humans didn’t always possess such a sweet tooth for sugar. Sugar was once considered a “fodder” crop, which meant very little of it found its way into human diets. It’s presumed that in ancient times people chewed on sugarcane stalks occasionally. In the 1960s big sugar paid off scientists to downplay the effects of sugar on heart disease, and instead convinced them to place the blame on saturated fat as the nutritional scapegoat. These deceptive efforts persist to this day. In 2015, The New York Times found that “big sugar” behemoth Coca-Cola funded scientists who downplayed the link between sugar and obesity. The following year, The Associated Press revealed that “big sugar” companies funded studies claiming that children who eat candy weigh less than those who don’t. Fortunately, today’s scientific research on sugar isn\\\'t as artificial as it was a few decades ago.
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A number of new businesses opened in First Street Napa this fall, boosting pedestrian traffic downtown and tax revenue for the City of Napa. The recent arrivals included lululemon, Maker’s Market, the Mayacamas Vineyards tasting room, and John Anthony Family of Wines’ new office headquarters. Napastäk Napa Valley, a boutique specializing in gourmet foods, will open in this winter.
The entire 325,000 square foot mixed use development, which is still under construction in some areas, will contain 45 restaurant and retail businesses when complete. The development has undergone a remodel that cost more than $200 million. New aspects of the project include Class A office space with three regional powerhouses in residency including Silicon Valley Bank, Pacific Union International and John Anthony Family of Wines. The development also now has on-site property management. “We took the heart of downtown, which was empty for 18 years, and invested a considerable amount of funds in a triple-block area. We’re trying to bring a balance of experiences and excitement,” says Todd Zapolski, managing partner of Zapolski Real Estate LLC, the developer of the project along with Trademark Property Company.
Additional structures that are not part of the original 45 shops and restaurants under ownership of First Street Napa include the Gordon Building, a historic structure built between 1929 and 1935 with Spanish Colonial Revival styling and Spanish Renaissance details. “The Gordon Building is a blank canvas at this time. [It] could potentially consist of creative class office space on top of new street retail space,” says Zapolski.
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What has 100 trillion members, can make you feel exuberant or depressed, are as unique to you as a fingerprint and weighs less than four-and-a-half pounds? Give up? The colony of microorganisms, or “microbiota,” as they’re properly called, that live in our gut. These are colonies of microorganisms living in your intestines, and as medical science is learning, these microorganisms have a lot to do with your health. Gut bugs facilitate digestion, influence your metabolism, strengthen your immune system and maintain your mental well-being—when they’re happy. But as medical scientists are learning, when they are not happy, our microbiota play a key role in a surprising array of illnesses ranging from general un-wellness to rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), allergies, asthma, headache, fatigue, anxiety and even depression.
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A glass of perfectly chilled champagne to toast a milestone is one of life’s rituals, and pharmaceutical products are crucial for managing pain. While alcohol and prescription drugs have value, they also come with a cruel downside: the addiction to such substances has the power to take control of one’s life, often causing immeasurable damage. Addiction is a formidable challenge. The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes it as “a chronic disease characterized by drug-seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.” No one chooses to be an addict; instead, it usually creeps up on people. One drink follows another, or unrelenting pain creates the need for more medication. Repeated use, however, leads to changes in the brain that interfere with self-control and destroys an individual’s ability to resist the urge to have one more drink or take another pill.
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If you’re an employer, you know the hiring process for a new employee is complicated. Being a good judge of character and sealing a job offer with little more than a handshake served most employers well for a long time. Now, more regulations exist that employers must follow to the letter when they’re considering job candidates.
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