Want to know when the flu will strike? Researchers are using "Big Data" to predict flu trends.

It's the height of flu season and public health officials want to know where it's headed next. On today's North Bay Report we learn of a project to use "Big Data" to improve estimates of flu trends. KRCB science reporter Danielle Venton has more.

Learn more about Google Flu Trends and flu prediction on our website at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Smell is one of our most primal senses, yet everyone perceives scents differently.

Not only is there a nearly infinite variety of smells in the world, we each perceive them a little bit differently. Yet everyone is directly affected by the scents around them.

Mandy Aftel talks about her book, Frangrant at Copperfields Books in Healdsburg tonight at 7 pm. You can also hear more from her on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Plans to reopen Sebastopol’s now-shuttered community hospital took an important step forward yesterday, as a more detailed financial plan was endorsed.

Sebastopol’s Palm Drive Hospital could reopen in early April with a new name and management team, under a plan endorsed by the Palm Drive Health Care District’s Board of Directors yesterday.

You can review those documents for yourself on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Public comments before county supervisors were abruptly suspended yesterday amidst loud and angry protests.

Angry and impatient Andy Lopez activists loudly vented their frustrations before county supervisors yesterday afternoon, forcing an early halt to the public comment period.

You can read the Task Force letter to Sheriff Freitas, and his response, on the North Bay Report webpage radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Seniors have health needs quite different from children and young adults. A new effort is underway to identify and address them.

As Sonoma County’s adult population grows older, additional programs and supports will be needed to serve them. A “Healthy Aging Collaborative” is underway to map those needs and find ways to address them.

Learn more on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Like California as a whole, Sonoma County’s economy is forecast to continue improving, slowly but steadily through 2016. Economist Dr. Jerry Nickelsberg fills in the details.

The Great Recession is now safely behind us, with the nest two years expected to be a time of continuing gradual economic growth. That was the forecast presented at the annual State of Sonoma County forum yesterday.

You can find more news stories on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Burning fossil fuels is bad for our health. So one activist doctor says hospitals shouldn’t hold stock in those companies.

From apartheid in South Africa to tobacco in the United States, corporate divestment campaigns have successfully pushed for social change. Now that approach is being tried to combat climate change, with health care organizations as a target.

Dr. Ring was in Santa Rosa yesterday to advocate for her cause. You can find more about it on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

A mysterious goo coating the features of dozen of seabirds has rescue workers busy leaning them, while state wildlife investigators try to figure out what it is.

Scores of seabirds, coated with a strange, unidentifiable goo, have been found since Friday around San Francisco Bay. Most have been cleaned up and will survive, but the source of the problem remains unknown.

We have pictures of the affected birds, and a link to support the rescue efforts, on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Some of the year’s highest tides this week offer a preview of rising sea levels. The highest tides of the winter are rolling up on the Pacific Coast today, and the California King Tides Project is watching them with an eye toward the future. There will be another, slightly lower series of King tides next month, on Feb. 17th & 18th. Learn more about king tides, and how they are being tracked on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Long before his now-historic ascent of El Capitan, Kevin Jorgeson talked rock climbing with KRCB. We revisit that conversation.

Over the past three weeks, Sebastopol resident Kevin Jorgeson has gone from fame among rock climbers to international acclaim. But his unprecedented free climb of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall was something that he and climbing partner Tommy Caldwell were already preparing for when Jorgeson talked with KRCB back in April of 2010 In honor of his new accomplishment, we reprise that interview today.

We have more with Kevin and pictures of him in action on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org/news. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.