Roundup: May is a bridge between spring and summer
Happy Mother's Day. A seasonal bridge over the Laguna goes up this week. Plus, free dinner for teachers, lots of police logs, and who will live at the Woodmark apartments.
Like the Bridge over the Laguna’s Waters
Reader Jasmin Ansar wrote to ask when workers will be laying down the seasonal bridge over the Laguna de Santa Rosa.
Erik Billings, assistant public works superintendent for the city of Sebastopol, provided an answer to this question. “The seasonal bridge is set for installation on Wednesday May 15,” he said. I also asked him how they determine when to install the bridge.
Billings replied “Generally, it is the first part of May, and we strive to have it in before Memorial Day weekend. The factors that we look at are when the rain stops as well as when the trails are dry enough for us to drive on as we need to mow them, so we have access for a truck and trailer to get the bridge in location to install. Before we mow, we have a wildlife survey done along the trails to identify areas of concern like nests that we need to be careful of or avoid. Needless to say, there are a number of steps to complete prior to the actual installation which takes a little pre-planning and coordination.”
Teachers Eat Free on Tuesdays in May at Cozy Plum
The end of the school year is a crazy time for teachers. Here’s a nice offer to ease the stress: Cozy Plum is inviting teachers to eat free on Tuesday nights in May. “We’ve had such a great turnout in previous years we wanted to bring it back to Cozy Plum,” said owner Charles White III.
White said they started offering free meals for teachers because his co-owner Lisa LaDonne is a teacher at Willowside, and both of them come from families of teachers.
Their Facebook page makes this invitation: “If you’re a teacher, come by our 6970 McKinley location in downtown Sebastopol (next to Whole Foods). Tell a teacher friend or family member. No purchase is necessary. Pick your one item and enjoy. It’s that simple. See you on Tuesday from 4 to 7 pm.”
Who gets in to the Woodmark Apartments?
Construction on the Woodmark Apartments, an apartment complex with 48 multifamily units for farm workers off of Bodega Avenue, is expected to be finished by the end of this year. Last week we spoke with Lauren Alexander, the founding partner of Armony Development, who is working with The Pacific Companies to complete the project. She said that it has not yet been decided whether applicants will be chosen on a first-come-first-served basis or a lottery system. Regardless, here’s what she said about who is eligible:
“Each applicant will be required to provide proof of employment or wages as well as identification. The applications are reviewed by a team, following numerous State regulations for tax credit housing projects including limitations on the number of residents per bedroom, current and expected income to match the available unit affordability, and more. The first phase of the project is for farmworker households where at least 50% of their income comes from agricultural work.”
Anyone interested in applying can stop outside the site where a banner with contact information is located.
Peace in the garden
The Sebastopol Peace Garden at Ragle Regional Park has a beautiful wisteria in full bloom — a fragrant gift for peace lovers and mothers everywhere on Mother’s Day.
A triple dose of Police Logs
In the past, we’ve traditionally done Police Logs as stand-alone articles, but we’re changing that up and making them a regular part of our Sunday Roundup. They are linked in the weekly listing below.
The week of May 4-11
Sebastopol Times hits 3,000 subscribers — that’s almost half the town!
Sebastopol Times just hit an important landmark—we now have more than 3,000 subscribers! That means almost half the town of Sebastopol is reading the Sebastopol Times to find out what’s happening around town. Of those, 735 are paid subscribers and 2,266 are free subscribers.
We appreciate all of our subscribers, but our paid subscribers are the ones that keep local journalism alive by paying the incredibly modest salaries of our reporters. Our goal is to have one in four subscribers be paid subscribers.
We’re a little under that right now. We need 15 people who are currently free subscribers to become paid subscribers. If you’ve been thinking of doing that—or even if you haven’t—now would be a great time to make the switch.
Here’s why one of our newest subscribers decided to subscribe:
“Many of my close friends have told me they love Sebastopol Times online so that is why I am subscribing now.” —Paula Cumming Pearce
The Sebastopol Times is well-written, timely and very informative. I think that all subscribers should be "paying" subscribers.