Sunday Roundup: Farewell to Spring
Twin Hills bond measure passes, update on the library situation, graduation at Analy, tree removal in Libby Park and SREF education grant recipients announced
Bond measure for Twin Hills school district passes
Measure A, a $14 million bond measure put forward by Twin Hills Union School District, exceeded the 55% it needed to pass, based on the unofficial results. Early results showed that Measure A had passed by a very small margin.
As of Friday, however, about 300 more votes had come in, which pushed the percentage of “Yes” votes to near 60%.
A small turnout usually favors school bond measures. Only 1,416 people weighed in on this decision, with 1,308 of them voting by mail.
Twin Hills Superintendent Dana Pederson shared her gratitude for the approval of the bond measure in a written statement:
We are incredibly grateful to the Twin Hills community for its support of Measure A. This vote reflects the value our community places on public education and its commitment to ensuring our students have safe and well-maintained schools.
At a time when facility funding is increasingly difficult for school districts to secure, this local investment will help us address critical facility needs while maximizing future state matching opportunities. We thank our voters for their trust and look forward to being responsible stewards of these community resources.
Update on the library situation: possible mold concern
The sudden and mysterious closure of the library on Thursday due to an unnamed “environmental concern” led to rampant speculation on NextDoor over the weekend. Now, at least, we have an answer to the question of what kind of environmental concern the library is investigating.
KRON reported that “City partners are currently running tests and investigating the situation, including possible concerns with mold and wallpaper peeling, according to a Sonoma County Library administrator.” This supports what we’ve learned during our reporting.
The question, however, shouldn’t be “Is there mold in the building?” There is mold at some level in every building, especially older buildings, and everywhere outdoors. The questions are whether it’s a dangerous mold, how much there is, and whether remediation will be required. That’s what the city and library administration are trying to assess. The library will be closed until they figure that out.
Analy High School commencement ceremony
The commencement ceremony for Analy High School’s Class of 2026 took place under blue skies on Thursday evening at 5:30 pm.
The Analy High School Digital Broadcast class and the Analy High School Media Production Club combined to record the ceremony and made it available on YouTube.
Congratulations to the Analy Class of 2026.
Dying pines cut down at Libby Park
A tree service has been working to take down three aged Monterey pines in Libby Park. Two of the trees were close to Pleasant Hill Avenue North. The sections of two of the tree trunks have not yet been removed.
In March 2023, a Monterey pine at the same location fell and blocked the road, which we covered here. Old and gnarly Monterey pine trees have been falling down in the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn, some of which have not been removed.
Calscape, the California Native Plant Society, says the Monterey pine is native to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo Counties in California, but this fast-growing pine tree has been widely planted elsewhere. Calscape offers this guidance: “Grow this plant only along the coast well within the coastal fog bank. In inland areas, it will grow fast if given water but typically dies after around five years.”
Rotary’s SREF announces this year’s education grants
At Friday’s noon Rotary meeting, John Blount, President of the Sebastopol Education Rotary Education Fund (SREF), gave some background on the organization and JT Martin explained the financials of this group, which is its own non-profit independent of the Sebastopol Rotary Club. SREF has a million-dollar balance it has plans to grow the fund.
“Harvard doesn’t need your money; Yale doesn’t need your money, nor does UC Berkeley,” Blount said, reminding people that they can make a difference locally with donations to SREF, which supports educators and students. “And you can trust Rotarians to manage your money,” said Blount with a broad smile. He expects that SREF will play an even larger role in supporting educational programs in Sebastopol and West County in the future.
This year’s grants were:
#1 Restoring Focus and Well-Being: A Bell-to-Bell Phone-Free School Day at Analy High School project ($15,000 )
The grant supports the school’s move to a “phone-free” campus, next year underwriting the purchase of an application (the Commons App) that restricts phone use on the campus.
#2 Exploration to Impact project at Academy of Innovative Arts high school. ($14,160)
The grant supports purchasing of equipment for the makerspace, including a CNC machine and the relocation of a mill that was donated but needs to be moved onto the campus.
#3 Support for the 2026 Summer Maker Camp ($3,500)
Summer Maker Camp provides a five-day camp in the first week of August for fifty middle school students. This project offers students an opportunity to learn, create and explore through hands-on projects. (Dale Dougherty, co-publisher of Sebastopol Times, is the director of this camp.)
#4 West County 7th Grade Challenge Day project. ($30,000)
The grant supports nine Challenge Day workshops for all 7th-grade students across West County middle schools. This was a successful program last year and benefits the mental health of students.
#5 The Teacher of the Year program ($5,360.00)
This is 19th year that SREF has honored elementary, middle, and high school teachers throughout western Sonoma County. This year’s recipients were:
New teacher of the year: Calli Behler;
Career teacher of the year: Allie Johnston;
Innovative teachers of the year: Sasha Prosser and Katie Nelson.
See this article in Sebastopol Times to learn more about the four teachers who received the award.
The total distributed for 2025-2026 was $68,020. The CTE sports medicine program at Analy was awarded a $50,000 grant in 2024-2025. Kai Hamblin, a CTE instructor in the program, described how the program helps students prepare for a career in sports medicine. The grant was also matched by their partner, Corrective Exercise and Rehabilition, which was represented by Dr. Moni Syeda.
Also, Friday’s Rotary meeting was the last one led by the current President Kathy Hicks. She said that she never imagined being President when she joined Rotary, but she enjoyed leading the club and listed many of the good things Rotary does for the community. She played a clip of a pop song for each of her fellow board members, as well as her own “walk-off” music — “Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye.”
Forestville Parade and Youth Park Barbecue
The Forestville Parade and Youth Park BBQ is this weekend. The parade happened yesterday morning — thanks to Rollie Atkinson for these photos. The BBQ, a fundraiser that supports Forestville’s privately owned Youth Park, continues today.
Susana Crofton
When Susana Crofton left this earth on May 26, so many friends had their hearts broken.
Eleanor (Nell) Kneibler
Eleanor (Nell) Kneibler of Sebastopol was born in 1944 in Jacksonville, Florida, and died on May 1, 2026. Her parents were Eleanor and Arthur Kneibler. When she was three, the family moved to Libertyville, Illinois. She was the oldest of eight children and enjoyed a country childhood full of outdoor activities, sports, and being a…
Note to subscribers
This week, two of our elderly subscribers contacted us needing to cancel their subscriptions. Their budgets are tight, both said, and they had to cut back on spending. It was a reminder that high gas and grocery prices, along with everything else — affordability was one of the big election issues — are felt locally.
Of course, we were glad to cancel and refund their subscriptions. The good news, we explained, is that they can continue to get all of the local news stories from Sebastopol Times, whether they are a paid subscriber or not.
Because enough of you are paid subscribers, we can afford to give free subscriptions to those who couldn’t otherwise afford one. So, as you think about your own subscription, please consider that you are giving a gift to others who may not be able to pay. We want everyone to know what’s going on in Sebastopol and West County.
The Week of June 1-6
It was a busy week with the June 2nd primary election, Analy High School’s commencement ceremony, the library closure, and A&M BBQ’s future still uncertain.
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Thanks to all three writers for the excellent Sebastopol news roundup today, framed by Dale's beautiful photo at the top, and the eloquent Note to Subscribers at the end.
“Grow this plant only along the coast well within the coastal fog bank. In inland areas, it will grow fast if given water but typically dies after around five years.” Five years is obviously a typo, Monterey pine are short lived but not that short.