North Bay Report 3

A local nonprofit will be serving locally-sourced goodies on the new SMART trains as they begin service today.

Regularly scheduled SMART Train service kicks off today after a Grand Opening ceremony in Santa Rosa. You can ride for free today – and half price until Labor Day. Reporter Steve Mencher talked with the CEO of the group providing concession services on the trains about its innovative partnership with SMART.

Learn more about Becoming Independent on the North Bay Report webpage at KRCB dot 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.

Part teach-in, part rally, politicians and ocean activists met yesterday to challenge President Trump’s executive order, which could shrink local marine sanctuaries.

Yesterday in Sausalito, Representative Jared Huffman convened a packed meeting that had the look and feel of a Congressional hearing. Several hundred people listened to politicians and ocean activists discuss President Trump’s threat to make local marine sanctuaries shrink by about half. Reporter Steve Mencher was there.

Find links to earlier stories on the marine sanctuaries issue on the North Bay Report webpage at KRCB dot 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 College of Marin is moving towards becoming a zero emissions school.

This week students at College of Marin headed back to the classroom to start a new school year. And one thing they might not have noticed is a change in what kind electricity the college is using. KRCB’s Tiffany Camhi reports.

Learn more about the school’s sustainability efforts on the North Bay Report webpage at KRCB dot 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.

Sonoma State University kicked off its academic year yesterday with a convocation at the Green Music Center. Find out some of the school’s priorities, on the next North Bay Report, airing at 6:18 and 8:18 am and 5:30 pm. Or find it online at KRCB.org

Last week, we talked about Sonoma State’s new approach to remedial learning in English and Math. Today we return to the Rohnert Park campus, to listen in on remarks by SSU President Judy Sakaki. Her address yesterday to the opening convocation for the academic year emphasized plans to broaden access to the school for underrepresented groups. Steve Mencher has more.

Find our earlier story about Sonoma State’s curriculum changes, and links to Judy Sakaki’s official biography on our webpage at KRCB dot 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.

Trash rates are going up in Santa Rosa. But service improvements may lessen the bite.

No city official wants to wake up to a headline in the paper about rates for trash and recycling soaring 60 percent. But although Santa Rosa's rates are very likely to rise that much next year, people may be more willing to pay the higher fees if they bring better, more earth-friendly service. Santa Rosa Deputy City Manager Gloria Hurtado told reporter Steve Mencher that the new contract is not quite a done deal.

Find links to our story from earlier this summer on the successful union organizing campaign among city sanitation workers on our webpage at KRCB dot 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.

Decaying public infrastructure and a call to rein in winery expansion underlie next week’s local elections in Napa County.

Two incumbent supervisors are facing brisk challenges in Napa County’s primary election, while voters there are also being asked to approve funding for schools and a new jail.

Tune in to KRCB Television on Primary Election night for live reporting of the results with Bruce Robinson and Dick Spotswood. Coverage begins at 9 pm. Find out more on the North Bay Report webpage at krcb.org/news. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. You can comment, share and like us there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.

By 2030, a new report suggests, there’ll be no reason to buy an internal combustion vehicle in Sonoma County.

Earlier this month, a report from the Center for Climate Protection in Santa Rosa made a startling prediction: if the current rate of adoption of electric vehicles in Sonoma County continues, the sale of internal combustion vehicles here could essentially end by 2030 – just 13 years from now. Steve Mencher talked with the report’s author about its findings.

Find links to the electric vehicle report and information about steep discounts and special EV programs on our webpage at KRCB dot 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.

North Bay winegrowers can’t find enough workers to pick their grapes.

Harvest season is in full swing for vineyards in Northern California...but many winegrowers are seeing a shortage of laborers to work in their fields. KRCB’s Tiffany Camhi spoke with Karissa Kruse of Sonoma County Winegrowers to find out what’s causing the labor crunch...and what growers are doing to make sure no grape goes unpicked.

Sonoma County Winegrowers executive director Karissa Kruse talked with Tiffany Camhi, for this edition of KRCB's North Bay Report. Find out more about the organization on our webpage at KRCB dot 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.

Classes start next week at Sonoma State – just down the road from us in Rohnert Park. We’ll find out about big changes in the CSU system coming exactly a year from now, on the next North Bay Report, airing at 6:18 and 8:18 am and 5:30 pm. Or find it online at KRCB.org

Earlier this month, the California State University system announced some significant changes in its approach to teaching. The focus is on improving outcomes for students who arrive at school with deficits in English or Math. Steve Mencher sat down with one of the administrators at Sonoma State charged with implementing the new direction.

Although Sonoma State has a head start on the new initiative, campuses throughout the CSU system will be rolling out the changes starting in the fall of 2018. More details on the changes are on our webpage at KRCB dot 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.

Santa Rosans who came to the Charles Schulz Museum Saturday for a party may have missed a small gem of an exhibition.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa celebrated its 15th Anniversary over the weekend. Reporter Steve Mencher dropped in last week to visit one of his favorite Peanuts characters, subject of a small but lively new exhibition…

Behind Peanuts: Pigpen runs through January 14, 2018 at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. You can see Snoopy’s doghouse wrapped by Christo and his late wife and collaborator Jeanne -Claude any time. Find pictures of the doghouse, and a couple of Pigpen strips, on our webpage at KRCB dot 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.