Sonoma County

Kenneth Liu Identified as S.F. Abalone Diver Killed Sunday

Sonoma County authorities this morning identified the San Francisco man whose body was pulled to shore Sunday as 36-year-old Kenneth Liu. According to sheriff deputies, Liu was one of three Abalone divers killed in three separate accidents off the coast of Northern California where powerful rip cur ... More >>

Marin "Fairy" Busted for Halloween Heist of Accused Marijuana Dealer

A Marin County woman donning a fairy costume was booked into jail after she allegedly attacked and robbed an accused Novato marijuana dealer on Halloween. According to news reports, 21-year-old Molly Ann Blumberg was with two other women on Oct. 31 when they went to 46-year-old David Murray Randolph ... More >>

Botanical Bakery's Got a Spicy Little Number

Sonoma County's Botanical Bakery offers teeny tiny shortbread cookies ("Shorties") that are about the size of a quarter and flavored with herbs and spices such as fennel pollen and lavender. The latest variety, Chocolate Chipotle, is the feistiest and most potentially addicting of all the Shorties. ... More >>

Wine Harvest Day Tripping in Sonoma County

Harvest time in wine country is quickly approaching and it's time to start making plans to head up north to "help" -- drink wine -- with this year's harvest. While you may be thinking about Napa Valley with its sleek tasting rooms and celebrity chefs, unassuming and rustic Sonoma has just as much to ... More >>

Wine of the Week: Sonoma Rookie Hits the Big Leagues

There are thousands of wines vying for your attention. Napa Valley Vintners, the trade organization that promotes and protects the Napa Valley name and runs the preeminent Auction Napa Valley, boasts 431 members alone--and those are just the Napa-based wine brands that chose to join and pay dues. So ... More >>

Hungry Dude Goes Completely Berserk After Eating Mini-Mart Food

Have you ever wondered what's really in those nachos  served at your local gas station? What about the hot links rolling around the warmer. And the deli sandwiches? How long have they been there?We're even more curious about the mini mart spread after reading a story about a 27-year-old man who ... More >>

Body Washed Up at Bodega Bay Might Be Sailor From Farallon Islands Accident

Authorities say they might have recovered the body of one of the sailors who went missing after a boating accident near the Farallon Islands earlier this month.Tourists spotted the body at the base of the cliff at Bodega Head Tuesday evening, but helicopters couldn't see anything "due to the darkne ... More >>

Cookie Brittle: Two Words That Go Great Together

​Upon initial inspection of Holly Baking's Sweet Ginger Cookie Brittle, Cook E. Monster conjured up images of sticky candy getting stuck in the back teeth. Instead, these neatly shatter into piles of sugar, cinnamon, and pulverized ginger. The box touts all-natural ingredients, but the cookies the ... More >>

Meet Heather Meader-McCausland, Whose Alaskan Photos Make SFO Less Depressing

Heather Meader-McCausland grew up in rural Alaska, 100 miles above the Arctic Circle, and in Sonoma County, Calif. She was born to Elaine and Fred Meader, the filmmakers who produced the Alaskan documentary "Year of the Caribou," so nobody was surprised when she picked up a camera. Her photo exhibit ... More >>

Donald Casper Update: Reward Increases in Fatal Hit-and-Run of S.F. Commissioner

Donald Casper ​It's been more than three months since former San Francisco Civil Service Commissioner Donald Casper was tragically killed while jogging on a rural road in Sonoma County -- and police have made no arrests, nor have they named a suspect. Frustrated by the lack of progress, the cops h ... More >>

Gun Rights Crusaders Target State Over Definition of "Assault Weapon"

Hell yeah I got a license for it! ​The term "assault weapon" has always rankled Second Amendment absolutists. Handled properly, an umbrella could be an "assault weapon." Considering the purpose of a weapon, the term "assault weapon" is rather redundant. In this state it's also "unconstitutionally ... More >>

Drink Your Way Through the Weekend

THEMACGIRL*/FlickrThis isn't the kind of wedding cake you'll see at SFMOMA​You made it this far and have hopefully recovered from the Kopstootjes from earlier this week. Here's a fresh guide to getting your drink on this weekend. SFMOMA Blue Bottle present Wedding Banquet Where: Rooftop G ... More >>

Tolosa Shows What Chardonnay Smells Like Without Oak

​Earlier this year I attended a fascinating seminar, led by a perfumer, at Tolosa Winery in San Luis Obispo County. Over the course of several mentally exhausting hours, we learned by blind-whiffing essential oils exactly what many of the descriptors we use all the time smell like. For examp ... More >>

Rare Franciscan Manzanita Could Be Listed as Endangered Species After All

Only one left​SF Weekly readers might recall the wild discovery two years ago when a Franciscan Manzanita bush -- thought to be extinct -- was randomly spotted in a Presidio traffic island. Since then, environmentalists have fought to have the plant protected -- and now they might have won.The U.S ... More >>

Sonoma in the City: Huge wine tasting

Close your eyes and imagine you're in Sonoma County. Wait -- whose shoulder is that?​Sonoma in the City Grand Tasting Where: Westin St. Francis hotel, 335 Powell St. (at Post) When: Tuesday, July 12, 5:30 - 8 p.m. Cost: $55 Unless you're willing to spend more than $60 a bottle, Sonoma Cou ... More >>

Summer Guide: Bay Area Summer Food Festivals

Joseph Erich Pearson, S.F. Dispensary Owner, Arrested After Blaze Burns Marijuana Grow in Rural Sonoma

Marijuna blaze​The co-founder of San Francisco's slickest medical cannabis dispensary and a member of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force has been charged with multiple felonies stemming from a Sonoma County marijuana grow, according to news reports.Joseph Erich Pearson, 34, co-founder o ... More >>

Teen Jumps Off Golden Gate Bridge; Survives

One too many jumpers​A teen from Sonoma County jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge today during a school field trip, yet survived after falling nearly 250 feet. Media outlets are reporting that at about 11 a.m., the Windsor High School student jumped from the eastern sidewalk, just south of the Sou ... More >>

In Print: The Pomplamoose Revolution, A Guide to Noise Pop, and More

​ From the latest SF Weekly:The Pomplamoose Revolution: On an improbably sunny midwinter day, amid green pastures and meandering cows, two unassuming musicians are waging a revolution against the established order of the recording industry. Here, inside a dim shed formerly used as a dog kennel, J ... More >>

Technology fuels Zoe Keating's cello explorations

'Bikini Traveler' Corinne Theile Strips Again at Sonoma Airport

​Corinne Theile, the woman who got everyone's attention (including Conan O'Brien's) on Thanksgiving day by stripping down to a black bikini when gallivanting through a TSA security checkpoint at LAX, repeated her stunt Monday. Theile tweeted on Sunday to the 1,794 followers of her @Super_Hera acco ... More >>

Alleged Edwin Ramos Murders Haunt Sonoma Pro-Sanctuary City Candidate

Edwin Ramos, the man who killed sanctuary cities​ The 2008 slaying of an Excelsior District man and his two sons in San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, roiled ill will towards the city's sanctuary city status. But now the murders are being held against a candidate for the Board of Su ... More >>

Save the Date: Fall Apple and Cheese Tasting in Healdsburg

pengrin™/FlickrSonoma County Gravenstein.​An orchard of ancient Gravenstein apples ― prized for their ability to tart and plump up a pie by Jonathan Kauffman ― will be the setting for a fall tasting next month in Healdsburg. The three-hour event at Gina's Orchard is heavy on samples of s ... More >>

S.F.'s Blissmo Urges Foodies to Go Green via Web Discounts

The flash sales marketer wants consumers to support what it deems good-guy businesses.​According to a Change.org article published this week, "flash sales," or e-mail and Web operations offering time-sensitive discounts on products, are "the hottest segment of the consumer web market." How ha ... More >>

Fresh Eats: Urban winery in Dogpatch, Farm:Table is small but beautiful

Sutton Cellars: An Urban Winery Grows in Dogpatch

Lou BustamanteSutton Cellars' Carl Sutton.​Despite occasionally living up to the grittiness of its name, the Dogpatch is becoming one of the best neighborhoods in the city for food. Right off the T line, it boasts some notable residents: Recchiuti's production facility, Piccino, Serpentine, Ki ... More >>

Fresh Eats: Saving the Gravenstein, enjoying the Wayfare's Hangtown Fry

Slow Food's Gravenstein Apple Promotion: Make a Pie, Save a Tree

​ To the people who know them, Gravenstein apples are pie apples. One of the first varieties to appear in the markets in late summer, they have a bright acidity and a gorgeous aroma that survives even after the apples have been baked or simmered for hours. There are currently 900 acres of Gravenst ... More >>

S.F. Rising: Spelt Bread from Grindstone Bakery

J KauffmanThe picture of health(fulness).​S.F. Rising is a weekly survey of bread in San Francisco ― the baked and the fried, the artisan and the novelty.Grindstone Bakery sprouted seeds spelt bread Source: Whole Foods (California St.), Bi-Rite Market, Rainbow Grocery, Berkeley BowlToast-appr ... More >>

Tourism Board on Odd Juxtaposition of Words 'County' and 'Country': We Meant to Do That!

Is Sonoma Country a constitutional monarchy? Or do its kings still rule by divine right? ​You receive odd things when you work at a newspaper. A job candidate signifying he or she was ready to "hit the ground running" sent us some baby shoes (we gave them to a baby). An even more deranged candidat ... More >>

Fresh Peach Tasting and Preserves Swap

From Goats to Egyptian Onions, Craigslist Can Hook You Up with the Essentials of Urban Life

Find a hand job. Or a truckload of Zinfandel grapes.​Nearly 70 years ago, Albert Camus ruminated on the isolation of city life: As a remedy to life in society I would suggest the big city. Nowadays, it is the only desert within our means. If only he'd lived to know Craigslist. We're no longer ... More >>

Love Vino? Hang Out on Facebook? It Could Land You a Gig with Sonoma Co. Winemaker

e.t via FlickrThe winning "lifestyle correspondent" will spend six months touting Murphy-GoodeCalling all Twitter addicts with a thing for wine: A Sonoma County winemaker wants to pay you a boatload of money simply to hang out, sip Zinfandel, and send tweets. Seriously. Okay, so it calls for a bit ... More >>

Pig Out: Pigs and Pinot Festival in Healdsburg, March 20 to 21

Looks like SFoodies will find lots to choose from in Sonoma the weekend of March 20, between the Artisanal Cheese Festival that we wrote about in Petaluma, and Charlie Palmer's Fourth Annual Celebration of Pigs and Pinot, a series of dining and educational events hosted by Palmer at the Hotel Healds ... More >>

Cheeseheads: Artisanal Cheese Festival in Petaluma, March 20-23

Sonoma will be ground zero for aficionados of California's artisan cheese producers. The third annual Artisan Cheese Festival, held at the Sheraton Sonoma County - Petaluma, will run from Friday, March 20, through Monday, March 23.  The festivities begin with a Meet the Artisans welcome reception a ... More >>

2009 Growers Dinners at Jack Falstaff

Executive Chef Jonnatan Leiva of Jack Falstaff (398 2nd St.) has planned a whole new set of "Growers Dinners" for 2009 in order to bring diners closer to where their food comes from and the people that are responsible for it, from the farmers to the chefs. We spoke with the affable Leiva back in N ... More >>

Cheese Hunt: Bi-Rite Market

The selection includes many hard-to-find, top-quality brands.

Jane, You Ignorant Drunk

Press Democrat Gives Misleading Solace to Area Bank Depositers

Friday: Strangely Mannered at Gallery 1988

Northern California Dreamin'

The Phoenix theater is the best clubhouse a local music scene could ever have

Horse Pay

An enterprising volunteer gives Sonoma State University a unique solution to its athletics-funding problem: a stable of thoroughbreds

Best Biplane Rides

Vintage Aircraft Co.

Summer Events a Go Go!

What to do, all summer long

Life During Wartime

Watching the motorcycle cops drive by from the Last Supper Club and Fringale

A Tomb of One's Own

A course that explains how to celebrate and dispose of a dead loved one at home seems creepy. And then interesting. And then as natural as death itself.

Current Events

How development pressure and environmental law may force radical change along the seemingly idyllic but deeply troubled Russian River

How to Stalk, Kill, and Cook a California Wild Pig

Duck! You're in Wine Country

Why do police in bucolic Santa Rosa kill more citizens per capita than cops in crime-ridden cities like San Francisco and New York?

Dish