As I was reading our two Sunday morning newspapers, today, my "eagle-eyes" (I have six of them) were captured by two headlines. The Press Democrat featured "The changing majority, an article documenting the racial shift in Healdsburg and reflecting the future for the Sonoma County schools, on page 1. "Outsourcing to India for reporters" topped page A2 of the San Francisco Chronicle. Hmmm, interesting IMHO. Why?

As I read various newspapers this past week, I was quite conscious of the negatively worded articles that described how different groups or individuals blamed other people or organizations over this issue or that viewpoint. It was a "downer," and I couldn't help but recall the old saying - When you point your finger at someone else -

All this week, several communities, counties and regions around the nation have been conducting emergency table top exercises or disaster drills. Ever since 9/11 and Katrina, Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have spent millions of dollars on helping government agencies and citizen organizations to prepare for extreme disasters, whether they be man-made or natural.

This Sunday, May 6, is "River Cleanup" Day. Hopefully, hundreds of volunteers will turn out to participate in our community's annual event to gather up the debris and trash that has found its way into our original "highway" to San Francisco. It is also a time to look up what Bill Soberanes has written about our "so-called" river.

If Bill Soberanes were still alive, today, he would be very pleased with the recent get-togethers of a new community action group - The Sages of Petaluma.