North Bay Report 3

They’re still enjoying the excitement in Santa Rosa over the recognition awarded to the Press Democrat for its coverage of the North Bay fires.

A few weeks ago, some of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat travelled to New York City to accept the paper's award for its outstanding coverage of the North Bay wildfires. PD columnist Chris Smith visited our studio that day, and talked with Corey Hudson about the paper's achievement, and about the future of print journalism. Newspapers are in trouble all over the country, as revenue and readership continue to fall and journalists abandon ship for other work. For the Press Democrat, local ownership is a point of pride, as is the new recognition from the Pulitzer committee.

Find links to the Press Democrat’s fire coverage and KRCB’s at KRCB.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Two local nonprofits -- Ceres Community Project and Food for Thought -- are working with Medi-Cal on an innovative program to feed patients with congestive heart failure. The aim is to offer more proof that food can be medicine.

The groups will provide low salt, low fat meals for low income patients. The goal is to improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs. KRCB news director talked with Food for Thought executive director Ron Karp about the pilot program.

There’s more at KRCB.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Imagine learning from winemakers in Croatia or Australia while sitting in a classroom in Rohnert Park.

The new Wine Spectator Learning Center is now open on the Sonoma State campus in Rohnert Park. The facility aims to introduce a new generation to skills needed for the wine business, while sharpening the capabilities of those in mid-career.

Ray Johnson, executive director of the Wine Business Institute spoke with KRCB news director Steve Mencher about how the center will transform the institute's work.

Find more stories about the wine business at KRCB.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Discover the one thing that fire survivors can do first when memories feel immediate and overwhelming.

Now here’s the second part of our conversation with Wendy Wheelwright, who manages the California HOPE program locally. HOPE provides free counseling for fire survivors and other community members still healing after October's wildfires. Wheelwright told KRCB news director Steve Mencher that counselors will go anywhere to provide support.

To find out more about free counseling services, and to hear one survivor’s story, visit KRCB.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Eight months after the North Bay Wildfires, our caring community is offering free counseling to survivors and others affected by the fires.

Today, we talk with Wendy Wheelwright, project manager for a county-wide counseling initiative called HOPE – for Helping, Outreach, Possibilities, and Empowerment. It aims to help people suffering physical and mental effects of October’s fires. The counseling is free, and can be accessed anywhere.

Wheelwright told KRCB news director Steve Mencher that many folks dealt confidently with the crisis during and right after the fires. But those same people may just now be feeling the pain of loss: their own, and that of others.

For links to free counseling resources nearby and to hear one survivor’s story, visit KRCB.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

The women’s march after Donald Trump’s inauguration made a powerful statement. But some women of color felt left out.

Thousands of Black women will march to the Capitol in Sacramento tomorrow for the second annual Black Women's March. Organizers say this march gives Black women a safe space to empower one another. Ja'Nel Johnson reports.

See a photo from last year’s Black Women’s March at krcb.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

There weren’t too many surprises in local elections Tuesday night, but avoiding a runoff in the Sonoma County sheriff’s race was somewhat unexpected.

Capt. Mark Essick garnered just over 57-percent of the vote for Sonoma County sheriff Tuesday night, avoiding a runoff in November. Here’s part one of our interview with Essick, conducted a few weeks ago. He spoke with KRCB news director Steve Mencher.

Hear all three parts of our interview with the next Sonoma County sheriff Mark Essick at KRCB.org/news – and you can find the election returns you care about at KRCB.org/primary. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

The last week of May, a milestone was reached in Coffey Park – elected officials and neighbors gathered to celebrate the completion of Dan Bradford’s home – the first to gain a certificate of occupancy in the fire-devastated area.

KRCB News Director Steve Mencher was there as the festivities got underway.

Find more of our coverage of the North Bay fires, at KRCB.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

On a scorching afternoon, community members from Southwest Santa Rosa and throughout the county came to remember Andy Lopez. The shooting death of the 13-year-old boy in 2013 inspired community members to build a park in his honor.

It would have been Andy Lopez's 18th birthday Saturday. To mark the occasion, a park opened in the Moorland neighborhood. It commemorates the life of the thirteen-year-old shot by a sheriff's deputy in 2013. KRCB news director Steve Mencher has this audio postcard.

You can find a link to upcoming activities at the park on our website krcb.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

Four-and-a-half years after his death, Andy Lopez is in the news again this weekend. Tomorrow would have been the 18th birthday of Andy Lopez, who died four-and-a-half years ago in Sonoma County when a sheriff's deputy mistook his toy gun for a real one. His life and death still hang over the county today, as filmmaker Ron Rogers tells KRCB news director Steve Mencher. A park created in his honor opens Saturday.Catch up on news of the Andy Lopez case at KRCB.org/news. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.