Leadership in Sustainability celebrates community leaders

2011 Leadership in Sustainability Awards Dinner 

The “Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy” invites elected and appointed officials, community leaders, government and agency representatives, philanthropists, community advocates, and anyone interested in issues of sustainability to its third annual Leadership in Sustainability Awards Dinner on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the Mary Agatha Furth Center in Windsor. The event recognizes and celebrates Sonoma County community leaders who have displayed remarkable achievements in creating socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable communities. At this year’s event, keynote speaker Jakada Imani will deliver a message highlighting the importance of advocating for and empowering underprivileged youth.

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Women's Spaces - Sonoma County Community Media

Women's Spaces

A website dedicated to ordinary

women doing extraordinary things.

...A television show made locally at the Community Media Center in Santa Rosa by Elaine Holtz, producer of Women's Spaces, and now streamed live on the internet. The Community Media Center is another wonderful vehicle for sharing experiences, opinions, knowledge, skills and accomplishments that inspire people to achieve their dreams and inspire others. I encourage you to look into the affordable classes and opportunities CMC provides the community. Elaine is a great example of a self motivated, talented communicator who wants to empower other women.

Please check out this website: www.womensspaces.com.

Find Elaine's interview with Vesta Copestakes, publisher of The Sonoma County Gazette on the above link. You will be inspired by Vesta's journey that led her to becoming publisher of SCG, and some of the challenges and many positive surprises she encountered along the way. In the interview, Vesta explains how this free monthly magazine developed and how it is written by readers. If you have a subject that you are passionate about, write about it and send it to Vesta or run it by her first. View the magazine at www.sonomacountygazette.com for examples. But first watch Elaine's video for tips from Vesta on how to write your own article.

If you would like to be interviewed on Elaine's show, Women Spaces, or have an idea to share, please contact Elaine at elaineholtz@sbcglobal.net or call 707-527-5987.

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Forestville's Bob Burke Goes to Heaven

Everyone's Hero - Bob Burke

is Welcomed into Heaven on June 10th, 2010

This is something everyone will agree on - whether you believe in Heaven or not - Bob Burke deserves to sit with angels in Heaven because he was an angel on earth.

My name is Gayla Gilliland and I work for Cattlemens Steakhouse. Also I was a near and dear friend of Bob Burke's. His funeral is scheduled for June 22nd at 10am at St. Rose Church in Santa Rosa. There will be a rosary held on June 21st at 7pm at St. Rose Church in Santa Rosa. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call or email. Have a wonderful day.

gayla.gilliland@beststeakinthewest.com

Lucky for him, he got the recognition he deserves a mere week before he died of a heart attack in his home. Disability Services & Legal Center (DSLC) honored Bob with the 2010 Independent Living Legacy Award and I am certain this will be celebrated in is honor at Burke's Canoes on June 30th at 6pm. Come to Forestville at the intersection of River and Mirabel Roads, sit under the majestic Redwoods and honor this man who honored every single person he touched.

Bob Burke has influenced the lives and hearts of thousands of people over the last 40-plus years. This one man started a personal mission to give kids who are sick and disabled some fun and a social life that is hard to come by. Every Wednesday throughout the summer he'd have a BBQ down by the Russian River at Burke's Canoes, owned by Bob and his siblings. In the winter months he'd have families and friends gather at bowling alleys, pizza parties and anything he could do to make life fun, at least now and then, for kids so sick life just isn't fun on a daily basis. These events made people laugh, spend time with others in their often isolated lives, and connect to share stories, ideas, solutions as well as love and appreciation.

Every year Bob worked with leadership groups from El Molino and Analy High school to help raise funds for his program. This not only brought in needed money, it also contributed to the lives and education of young people so gave Bob another opportunity to help youth.


Bob held fund raisers throughout the year to raise money for his cause. The biggest and best-known tradition in West County has always been the Christmas Holiday Dinner hosted and donated by the Gonnella family at the Union Hotel in Occidental.  People came just to be part of the fun, the tradition, to enjoy local school choirs, socialize with friends and donate money to Bob's personal mission. The Forestville Chamber of Commerce would change the date of their monthly meeting every year just to accommodate Bob's dinner so everyone could attend.


Bob brought Santa Clause to every Forestville Holiday Tree Lighting until his health started to impinge on his ability to sit for hours and greet children. He brought the Easter Bunny to the Forestville Easter Egg Hunt year after year - just for fun and to be part of his home town community. The Burke family has been an integral part of Forestville history for generations and Bob has been their Family Angel bringing his abundant love to people who need it most.


Bob Burke's Kids Program has been under the nonprofit umbrella of West County Community Services who help with the many volunteer efforts it takes to do Bob's good work. Please contact them if you would like to volunteer - donate money in Bob's honor or be part of what it will take to continue Bob's mission into the future.

When a Memorial Service has been scheduled - I'll let you know - or contact me:
Vesta Copestakes
vesta@sonic.net

Bob Burke's Kids Program - WCCS

PO Box 602
Forestville, CA 95436
(707) 887-2222
www.bobburkeskids.org


West County Community Services

P. O. Box 325

Guerneville, CA 95446
(707) 823-1640

www.westcountyservices.org

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BUSINESS LEADERS: 40 Under 40 Recognized

Forty under 40 winners for 2010

The North Bay Business Journal released the names of the winners of its fourth-annual Forty under 40 awards today. The winners, selected from more than 75 nominees, were chosen on the basis of their leadership in companies and organizations across the North Bay.

Winners of 2010 awards will be honored at a gala reception on April 27, 2010 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. Tickets are available for $49 per person or $510 for a table of 10, including company name on the table. To attend, contact Linda Perkins at events@busjrnl.com or 707-521-5264, or register online.

Listed alphabetically, 2010 Forty under 40 winners are:

Clay Angel, Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center

Michelle Ausburn, Moss Adams

Nate Bisbee, TLCD Architecture

Kadin Blonski, Lanahan and Reilley

Jefferson Buller, Bank of America

Linda Chavez, Safety & Environmental Compliance Associates; Chavez Family Cellars

Karen Cividanes, Optio Solutions

Geoff Coleman, BKF/Carlenzoli; Santa Rosa Junior College

Jason Cunningham, West County Health Centers

Patrick Donohue, Scott Technology Group

Dylan Dupre, SPG Solar

Jason Ehn, Redwood Credit Union

Judd Finkelstein, Judd’s Hill

Brian Finnegan, Burr Pilger Mayer

Dominic Foppoli, Foppoli Wines; W Real Estate; Pureland USA/China

Michael Green, Abbey Weitzenberg Warren & Emery

Jeremy Greer, West Coast Solar Energy

Nate Gulbransen, West Coast Solar Energy

Susan Hansen, 4-H Foundation of Sonoma County

Mike Harris, CrossCheck

Steve Jannicelli, Moss Adams

Jessica Jauregui, St. Joseph Health System

Bob Just, St. Joseph Health System

Geoff Kruth, The Farmhouse; Guild of Sommeliers

Ken Kurtzig, iReuse

Carol Larson, Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center

Kevin McGee, Jackson Enterprises; Healdsburg Beer Co.

Dustin McMullen, Lavid Designs

Dustin Mowe, Portocork

James Nevin, Brayton Purcell

Carlos Perez, Bike Monkey

Chris Reiter, Woodruff Sawyer & Company

Ylisa Sanford Seymour, Sanford, Jigalin & Seymour, a financial advisory branch of Ameriprise Financial

Michelle Scanlon, Brown & Brown of Northern California

Nicole Smartt, Star Staffing

William Soper, Beels Soper

Marcos Suarez, Prominent Realtors

Jana Trout Wacholz, Wild Oak Saddle Club

Amber Twitchell, California Human Development

Rich Vitali, Coordinated Project Installations

Randy Waller, W Real Estate, 5th Street Financial


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Article printed from North Bay Business Journal: http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com

URL to article: http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/19580/forty-under-40-winners-for-2010-announced/

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[1] link: http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/19593/register-to-attend-the-forty-under-40-awards-reception/

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Aaron Vargas - Truth and Justice?

Truth and Justice?
By Mindy Galliani

On February 5th there was a hearing in the Aaron Vargas murder trial out of Mendocino County. Aaron is accused of killing the man who he claims sexually and psychologically abused him for many years. The purpose of the hearing was to address the motion that ADA Beth Norman filed last month which asked Judge Ron Brown to order Aaron to undergo a psychiatric examination by their expert, Dr. Emily Keram. The motion was prompted by Assembly Bill 1516, which went into effect on the first of this year. The bill requires the court to order (when the prosecution requests it) the defendant to submit to an examination by a prosecution-retained mental health expert whenever the defendant places his or her mental state in issue. Could this new bill be the reason that the prosecution asked for that fishy continuance last Fall, causing the trial to be postponed until after the new year and the new bill took effect?


Defense attorney, Tom Hudson, objected to the motion and argued on the grounds that it violates Aaron’s Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Dr. Keram took the stand to testify as to why she believes it is important that she examine Aaron. While making an effort to not even so much as glance in the direction of the sexual abuse victim accused of murder, she argued that she couldn’t thoroughly rebut the psychiatric expert’s testimony for the defense if she hasn’t examined Aaron herself. Being that she hasn’t yet examined Aaron, she sounds very confident that she is going to form an opinion that will contradict the opinion of the defense’s expert – that opinion being that Aaron has PTSD caused by the years of sexual and psychological abuse that was inflicted upon him by Darrell McNeill. ADA Beth Norman stated that she has retained Dr. Keram to rebut the defense’s psychiatric expert, and Dr. Keram reiterated the point more than once, so why would she even need to examine Aaron if her opinion has already been formed? Because that is how our dysfunctional justice system works.

Mr. Hudson wanted to find out exactly what psychological tests his client would be given by Dr. Keram. He named the long list of tests that the defense’s expert has given Aaron. These tests, and maybe more, will be given to Aaron a second time by a second expert that the defense has retained. Dr. Keram continued to argue for her need to give Aaron these tests, to which Mr. Hudson replied, “why, is three better than two?” Dr. Keram stammered, then she came up with the argument that the reports from two defense retained experts won't be sufficient because she would either need to examine Aaron herself or have a colleague who she knows will "call it like he sees it" examine Aaron. Is it that the defense's experts aren't calling it like they see it or that they just aren't calling it like she's being paid to see it? It became increasingly obvious that she is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the prosecutions arguments and she will give whatever opinion that she is paid to give.


Listening to the prosecution’s hired mouthpiece dance around the defense’s questions, for what felt like an eternity, gave me a headache and caused the bailiff to nod off. In all fairness, it may have been ADA Beth Norman’s child-like temper tantrums, in response to the Judge’s reluctance to trample over Aaron’s Fifth Amendment rights, which gave me the headache. In between tantrums she appeared to be texting on her blackberry, and I wondered who was on the other end of those texts – maybe DA Meredith Lintott was texting from her Ivory Tower, or maybe it was her cold-hearted colleague, and former prosecutor on the Vargas case, DDA Jill ‘abuse is irrelevant’ Ravitch.

The Judge finally put a stop to the song and dance when he came up with a way to get around the pesky Fifth Amendment issue – let Dr. Keram and her “call it like he’s sees it” colleague examine Aaron after he waves his Fifth Amendment rights during the trial (which begins March 22nd) in order to testify. So the prosecution will get their psychiatric examination. Dr. Keram will put Aaron through at least an entire day of tests and questions, all to arrive at the already-formed opinion that she has been paid to give. So much for truth and justice.

You can go to SaveAaron.com to read more about Aaron’s story.

...and a previous posting on the gazette for background and linked articles:
http://www.sonomacountygazette.com/blog/2010/01/aaron-vargas-murder-trial-examines.html

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From the Gaza Freedom March–in Cairo!

Gaza Freedom March–Vigil at the Nile

A report & blog from Gaza Freedom Marcher Starhawk, a Cazadero, Sonoma County resident and activist for political, social and environmental causes. This is her most recent entry into her blog - you can take it from there by following her at http://http//starhawksblog.org/...and learn more about the gaza freedom march at: www.gazafreedommarch.org ...more below...

Still a bit dazed and confused from jetlag, I went down to the Lotus Hotel where Medea Benjamin and Anne Wright and many of the other organizers are staying. It is also peeling and seedy, and when people told me, “Thank you for putting your life on the line,” I didn’t quite imagine that the biggest mortal dangers would be elevators, with archaic wooden cages and exposed wiring and metal grates dating back to the Third Dynasty. Of course, that’s only if you survive the Cairo traffic. Crossing the street here is a bit like trying to dodge your way through a herd of stampeding mustangs.

So far unscathed, I got sucked into doing media work for most of the afternoon. About a hundred people went out to the Kasr al Nil bridge around noon—the bridge to the large island in the middle of the Nile. They placed cards and flowers on the bridge to commemorate the more than 1300 Gazans who died in the Israeli assault that began a year ago today, on December 27, 2008. The police eventually showed up and ordered them off the bridge, but didn’t arrest anyone.

The plan for the afternoon was to meet at 4 pm down by the Nile and take feluccas, the small sailboats that go up and down the river. On the boats, we could meet in small groups and then converge later for a larger meeting. We hurried down there (I spend a lot of these actions trailing after people who are younger, faster and slimmer) and eventually I jumped in a taxi with a few other women at Lisa’s suggestion. A knot of activists were surrounded by a thicket of cameras. The police were blocking us from getting on the boats, and shut down the rental place. But we gathered, a group of several hundred, which we had been expressly forbidden to do. Medea Benjamin, one of the Code Pink leaders, jumped up and made an impromptu speech. “Who here wants to take a boat on the Nile, like tourists do?” she asked. Everyone raised their hands. “Who here wants to go to Gaza?”

The crowd began cheering and unfurling banners and chanting “Free Gaza!” We lit our candles in cups and held them aloft. There were people from all over the world in the crowd—young students and old people, every imaginable mix of countries and races and religions. The spirit was strong, and as more and more police arrived, everyone remained calm. The crowd began marching back down the riverside, and then the police threw up a cordon and blocked us in. Lisa was trying to negotiate and persuade the head officer to let us march down back to the bridge and disperse there, but he wouldn’t go for it. The police were not in riot gear—most of them seemed to be in plain clothes, and their hearts weren’t realy in keeping us blocked in. They held hands to barricade us, and they kept smiling. People lifted up their arms and ducked under and got out, and from time to time they opened up and let people out, without much rhyme nor reason. Basically, they are personally in sympathy with our cause, and that’s working in our favor.

Eventually, they moved aside and let everyone go. People felt strong and empowered by the action. We had been told that the Egyptian government did not want us to protest in Cairo, to be interviewed by the press, to interact with Egyptians. And we had done all of the above.

Our canceled meeting had been rescheduled and moved several times, but finally we had it outside, in the middle of Tahrir Square, a big central square in downtown Cairo, right out in the open. What I love about explicitly nonviolent actions, and what sometimes gets lost in the attempts we make to accommodate diverse tactics and security culture, is that in-your-face attitude we can adopt when we aren’t trying to hide what we’re doing. The authorities say, ‘you cannot meet in groups larger than six people,’ and cancel our permit for a building, so we meet in the center of town in the public square. We create a dilemma for the authorities—either arrest us or concede this political space.

The cops left us alone. But—all the busses that we’d rented for our attempt to go to Gaza tomorrow have been canceled due to pressure from the government. Ordinary Egyptians, who live here, don’t have the privilege we enjoy and are not immune to threats.

The French contingent went en masse to their embassy, threatening to encamp on its lawn, and got them to intervene with the Egyptian government and they got security permits for their busses. Or so we’ve heard—I don’t know yet if the busses actually arrived or were allowed to leave.

With all the stress and continually changing conditions, I’m still deeply thrilled to be here. Under the clamor and the smog lies a sense of age and a whiff of ancient things. That river we’re walking besides is the Nile! I see a scraggly cat and think, ‘This is where cats come from!” I see a man in flowing robes and kaffiyeh who could have been standing there for a hundred years.

Tomorrow Anne Wright, a U.S. diplomat who resigned in protest against the Iraq War and who has become a dedicated activist, will take another delegation to the foreign office to continue their negotiations. Please keep up the calls and the writing. I apologize for the typo in the previous post—the website is:

http://www.gazafreedom.org/

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1946

Your support is keeping us safe and will hopefully open the road to Gaza—not just for us, but for the people whose lives and health and freedom are blighted by this siege.

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