RoundUp: Goats, gelt, and some good news for Ezra
Recycling your Christmas tree, Ezra moves up, a Police Open House, and more
There is no curbside pick-up for Christmas trees in the town of Sebastopol. Instead, Recology suggests you should cut your tree down to fit inside your green bin.
Don't want to do this? Here are a few more options:
TAKE IT TO THE BIN BEHIND THE YOUTH ANNEX: Sebastopol residents can dispose of Christmas trees to be recycled in a bin located in the city parking area to the rear of the Sebastopol Youth Annex at 425 Morris Street, Dec. 26 to Jan. 10, 8 am to 4 pm. Trees must be natural, unflocked and undecorated. Artificial trees are not accepted.
FEED IT TO THE GOATS: Independence 4-H will pick up your Christmas tree and feed it to goats at local farms. This is the fourth year that 4-H has offered this service. To protect the goats, remove any decorations (and watch out for those ornament hangers). No flocked or artificial trees. The suggested donation is $20, and all funds go to support 4-H. Sign up for tree-pick-up here.
Badger Ranch: You can also drop off your tree at Badger Ranch,1841 Gravenstein Hwy South, in Sebastopol. They will be accepting Christmas trees (and pumpkins) now through January. Enter drop area in parking lot via frontage road to the east.
UNINCORPORATED WEST COUNTY: Curbside tree pick-up is available in unincorporated areas of west county for Recology customers on their regular trash days between Dec. 30 and Jan. 24. According to Recology, “Residential customers may place their tree on the curb the night before their regular collection day during the specified time period. Flocked trees will not be collected. Trees over six feet should be cut in half.”
Correction: Ner Shalom Chanukah party
Last week, we mistakenly posted that Ner Shalom’s Chanukah party, which is tonight, is free. There is actually a minimal ticket price and registration is requested. Here’s the scoop:
Ner Shalom Chanukah Party
Sunday, Dec. 29, 4 pm to 7 pm at Ner Shalom, 85 La Plaza, Cotati. $11.50 adults, $6 kids.
Join Ner Shalom as they celebrate the Festival of Lights. Register here.
4 pm to 5 pm: Games and activities for families with children.
5 pm to 7 pm: Celebrate the holiday with food, music, games and much more! Join Rabbi Irwin, Ner Shalom Youth and Family Education Director Reb Mia Zimman, and company as they light the Chanukiah, enjoy latkes and a potluck dinner, and sing a few tunes. Bring your own personal menorah and candles and light up the night!
Ezra is leaving us…and going on to bigger things
Our wonderful reporter Ezra Wallach, who’s been with us since May, has been hired away by the San Francisco Standard. That’s a big move up—and he deserves it. We knew we couldn’t keep him for long. We’re happy for him, but wow, we’ll miss him. He’s done such a great job for us!
A natural investigative reporter (a rare bird), he broke the story about cannabis equity grants, led our investigation into the Woodmark Apartments, and literally owned the Adrian Yanez story. He’s been great to work with, and we wish him all the best!
We are currently looking for a new reporter, so if you know someone send them our way at sebastopoltimes@gmail.com.
Photos from the Sebastopol Holiday Dinner
Rotary Club Sebastopol Sunrise organizer Kathy Rogers said the Sebastopol Holiday dinner on Christmas Day went off without a hitch. They served a full Christmas dinner to 318 guests. She said she normally takes more photos, but she was having too much fun playing an elf in the toy section, giving toys away to eager children.
Sebastopol Police Open House
The Sebastopol Police Department held an open house last night, and despite the rain, a fair number of folks showed up to look inside the police cars and get a tour of the station.
One of the visitors, Taylor Lampson, wrote to the Times afterward, “Everyone was so friendly,” he said, “and I always wondered what a jail cell looks like.”
Interestingly, though the department has several jail cells, most of them are used for storage, as the department doesn’t have enough personnel to run a modern jail. One of the cells is used to hold lost dogs—a frequent occurrence—before they’re picked up by North Bay Animal Control.
Sebastopol Police Logs, December 16-22
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
10:04 a.m. Vandalism with defacing property (misdemeanor) at Palm and Petaluma avenues. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
7:19 p.m. Possession of unlawful paraphernalia (misdemeanor) and violation of probation (felony) at Danmar Drive and Gravenstein Highway North. Suspect arrested.
TUESDAY
8:00 a.m. False imprisonment (felony), battery on a person, damaging a wireless communication device and damaging property (misdemeanors) at Morris Street and Sebastopol Avenue. Suspect arrested.
9:47 p.m. Driving while under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol level of at least 0.08%, violation of probation, and operating a vehicle without an interlock device when restricted (misdemeanors) at Valentine Avenue and Zimpher Drive. Suspect arrested.
WEDNESDAY
2:51 p.m. Getting credit under false pretenses, grand theft, theft of more than $950 from an elder dependent adult, and obtaining more than $400 under false pretenses (felonies) at Laguna Park Way. Pending further investigation.
THURSDAY
10:52 a.m. Failure to appear in court after promising in writing (misdemeanor) at Bodega and Petaluma avenues. Suspect arrested.
FRIDAY
8:41 a.m. Failure to appear in court after promising in writing (misdemeanor) at Johnson Street and Laguna Park Way. Suspect arrested.
11:53 a.m. Vandalism with defacing property (misdemeanor) at Morris Street and Sebastopol Avenue. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
3:46 p.m. Swindling (felony), getting money under false pretenses, and petty theft (misdemeanors) at Bodega Avenue and Petaluma Hill Avenue North. Pending further investigation.
SATURDAY
9:05 a.m. Served with a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency, possession of a controlled substance (misdemeanor) and violation of probation (felony) at Petaluma and Sebastopol avenues. Suspect arrested.
9:40 p.m. Served a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency at Golden Ridge and Washington avenues. Suspect arrested.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 167 other events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
The week of Dec. 23-28
This holiday we’ve been publishing our favorite essays from our first ever Personal Essay Contest. We’ll be running personal essays through Jan. 1, then it’s back to news.
Congratulations to Ezra. I have enjoyed, and learned from Ezra's work. Hopefully we will hear from him, and about his work, in the future!
That’s good news for the SanFrancisco Standard, too. They got a ringer. And Ezra sails?