Local conservationists are promoting the drought fighting capabilities of beavers.

Beavers once lived over almost all of California, before they were trapped to near extinction. They may be staging a comeback, though. On today's North Bay Report KRCB science reporter Danielle Venton visits with local conservationists who are promoting these animal's unique ability to affect the landscape.

Learn more about beavers and see pictures of a local beaver dam on our website at radio.krcb.org. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Combine modest neighborhoods with a shared vision, and aggregate them into a small but largely self-sufficient city, and you’re beginning to get the concept Claude Lewenz calls a “village town.”

Claude Lewenz believes he’s developed a better idea for a 21st century city, one that is now gaining attention in Mendocino County. He calls it a “village town,” and explained it in this archival North Bay Report from October, 2010.

You can find much more about the Village Town vision, both in Mendocino County and in general, on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

When life give you too many tomatoes, make Bloody Mary mix.

Better than just recycling, “upcycling” uses waste materials to create new products with increased value. Laci Sandoval is doing exactly that with surplus tomatoes.

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

A new director for Palm Drive Hospital says it could reopen in just a few months, though huge hurdles remain to be cleared.

Dr. Richard Powers has practiced family medicine at Sebastopol’s Palm Drive hospital for decades. Now he’s going to help run the closed and bankrupt facility, which he is intent on seeing reopened next spring.

There’s more from Dr. Powers on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

New rules governing water use for vineyard frost protection will finally begin to take effect next year. But the issue remains tricky.

Winegrape growers are facing new regulations governing diversions of water from the Russian River and its tributaries for late season frost protection. But some say that state and county bureaucracies stand in the way of a better response to the problem. The issue was the subject of an Agricultural Water Use Workshop in Cloverdale yesterday. KRCB’s Bruce Robinson was there.

There’s more on this issue on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Sonoma County Latinos’ reaction to Obama’s immigration moves: It wasn't nearly enough.

For many Mexican immigrants in Sonoma County, President Obama’s moves to relax deportations for millions, while welcome, fell far short of what they had hoped for.

You will find more about this issue on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

More than 900 People’s Temple members died at Jonestown in 1978, but dozens more survived.

It’s been 36 years since more than 900 people died at Jonestown, a remote outpost in the South American country of Guyana. But for one former People’s Temple member, the memories remain raw.

Laura Johnston Kohl will read from her book and talk about her experiences in a pair of north county events tomorrow, in Healdsburg and Cloverdale. Find details about them on the North Bay Report webpage at radio.krcb.org. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Dry years have wreaked havoc on California’s agriculture and wildlife. What is being done to prepare for dry times that lie ahead?

On yesterday’s North Bay Report we examined some of the effects of the current drought on California’s economy and wildlife. Today, KRCB reporter Danielle Venton examines what Proposition 1 – the recently passed state water bond – will mean for the North Bay.

Learn more about Proposition 1 on our website. You’ll find more news online at radio.krcb.org. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.