Sebastopol swears in seven new officers and dispatchers at the police department
There was a big celebration at the police department on Wednesday for the swearing-in of several new officers and dispatchers. Here’s the word from Police Chief Sean McDonagh:
We are very pleased to be approaching full staffing at the Sebastopol Police Department for the first time in many years,“We currently have a certified police officer completing the final stages of the recruitment process, whom we hope to have starting on September 28, and our final officer position is filled by a recruit currently attending the police academy in Windsor, with graduation anticipated in early December.”
Lieutenant Andy Bauer, Police Support Services Manager Emily Threadgill, and I have worked tirelessly since I joined the department in March 2025 to attract and recruit high-quality candidates to Sebastopol. That work is now coming to fruition.
I’m extremely grateful for Andy and Emily’s leadership, administration, and support of the department throughout this process. It has very much been a team effort, and I’m proud that the results of that work will ultimately benefit the citizens of Sebastopol.
Motorcyclist takes Police Chief on high-speed pursuit through town
Also, in other police news this week, the Sebastopol Police Department reported on Facebook that a motorcyclist led Chief McDonagh on a high-speed pursuit through town. The motorcyclist was headed northbound on South Gravenstein Highway, then went north on Petaluma Avenue, then to McKinley Street, and south on Morris Street, before heading west on Bodega Avenue; he turned onto Ferguson Road, and went down Mill Station Road.
“The pursuit ended at the intersection of Mill Station Road and Occidental Road,” the post said. “Due to his high rate of speed, the motorcyclist was unable to negotiate a bend in the roadway immediately before the intersection with Occidental Road, causing him to crash and be ejected from the motorcycle.”
The rider was identified as Jesse Kruszynski, a 45-year-old male from unincorporated Sebastopol. He was taken into custody and taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Volunteers are needed at Sebastopol Community Apple Press
By Robert Burke
Do a Google search for “community apple press,” and you will find a few in Canada, several in England, but only one in the United States....right here in Sebastopol.
Slow Food operates a community apple press at the Luther Burbank Experiment Farm at 7777 Bodega Avenue. On weekends, members of the public can bring their apples and, for free, make delicious apple juice to drink fresh or to make hard cider. Slow Food also operates the press for primary schools on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Each day, 5 or 6 volunteers are needed to set up the press, supervise its safe operation, and clean it up at the end of the day. Volunteer shifts are four hours, starting at either 8:30 or noon. No experience is needed. An experienced leader will be there to show you the ropes. Slow Food cannot maintain this service without help from the community. If you can help, go to https://slowfoodrr.org/volunteer-at-the-apple-press/ and sign up.
The apple press is open from August through October.
Correction: The Occidental Jazz Festival is September 18 and 19
The opening line of yesterday’s article about the Occidental Jazz Festival made it sound like the festival was this week or next. It’s the week after: Sept. 18 and 19. Find out more here.
New Maria Isabel Lopez exhibit
Sebastopol mosaic artist Maria Isabel Lopez has a new solo exhibition, “Illumination in Glass,” at Usher Gallery in Petaluma, Sept. 8 to Oct. 19, with an opening reception on Sept. 12, from 5 to 8 pm.
Lopez is a former Miss Philippines, an actress and a political activist. The art in the exhibit features both religious and secular-yet-spiritual subjects (nature, the body, etc.). Her luminous mosaics, crafted from stained glass, natural stone, and mixed media, explore faith, resilience, cultural heritage, nature, and hope.
Lopez, who has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines, began focusing on art as something to do between acting assignments.
“I've been a mosaic artist since 2012, back in the Philippines, starting with found materials, like shells, coral, pebbles,” Lopez said.
She said there isn’t a tradition of stained glass art in the Philippines, but she learned about glass mosaic at a workshop at the Chicago Institute of Mosaic and then at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Berkeley. “Then I kind of leveled up my materials using glass and mixed media,” she said.
Describing the work in her new exhibit, she said, “The works are in relation to light, illumination, and awakening. It's not all religious pieces. I have nature. I have nudes, because I believe the body is a vessel of the Holy Spirit. I relate all this to illumination, to awakening.”
An Album Art Collection at Retrograde
If there’s one thing we really miss from the vinyl era, it’s the record covers themselves, usually with interesting art on the front and liner notes on the back.
Jim Wheaton has organized a collection of record-album art on display at Retrograde in Sebastopol. He says: “I started collecting albums for their artwork a few years ago, when they were much easier to find for cheap at Goodwill. I started building the Triptych and Quadtych album frames using the laser cutter at Chimera Art Space, so I could curate selected albums that ‘went together’ in some way.”
Sebastopol Times covered the clever Bell Clock that Jim created in 2022, which has since been moved to a new location at the back of Toy Works, so it rings out over the downtown plaza.
What happened to the Sebastopol Police Logs?
They’re back, and we have some catching up to do. Here’s the most recent one:
In the future, we will link to new police logs in the Sunday Roundup, but we will not be sending them out as a separate email.
The bounty that is the giant chestnut tree at Burbank Heights is happening again
Lauralee Aho reports that Burbank Heights is again selling chestnuts from the giant four-trunk chestnut tree on the property.
“The nuts are dropping now,” she said, “so the harvest should last for the rest of September, but ya never really know. If you want some, call soon.”
Call Lauralee at 707-696-0572 to purchase nuts. $2.50 per lb.
Thank you!
This week's appeal to our free subscribers, The Kind of September, generated 30 new paid subscribers! We are grateful to all of you who have become backers of Sebastopol Times. Two new subscribers shared their thoughts about why they became paid subscribers:
The story about the high-speed chase through Sebastopol is, of course, very dramatic and interesting. But why is there nowhere any explanation about why it took place or what the results were? Was this guy just speeding, or had he committed other crimes and was sought for arrest, or what?
Welcome aboard to the new police staff!