Cover story, North Bay Bohemian

Hot Summer Guide 2013

Taylor May — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Every which way to spend your time in the summertime months by Taylor May and Nicolas Grizzle Summertime memories are best made casually—the late-night walks, the impromptu skinny-dipping sessions, the boozy kisses and the houses full of friends. But planning your summer is key also, if only to make sure you don't miss the best that the North Bay has to offer.…

Steep Climb

Nicolas Grizzle — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Will the doping scandal affect public interest in America's biggest bike race? by Nicolas Grizzle By now, we all know about the wreckage. In January, Lance Armstrong sat down and told Oprah Winfrey, and thereby the world, that he used illegal performance-enhancing substances to win a record seven consecutive Tour de France titles.…

Start of Something Big

Gabe Meline — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:00:00 -0700

BottleRock descends upon the tiny town of Napa by Gabe Meline Gabe Meyers walks the empty grounds of the Napa Valley Expo, imagining how it's going to go off. Some workers assemble scaffolding down the way.…

Voices of Dreamers

Estefany Gonzalez — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 -0700

With Obama's Deferred Action program, more and more immigrant youth are telling their stories by Estefany Gonzalez "But they choose to come here." It's a common argument one hears in the ongoing debate about immigration—that because immigrants choose to come to the United States, they deserve to deal with the results of that choice.…

Art and Soul

Gretchen Giles — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0700

The Doyle Collection finds a permanent home at SRJC by Gretchen Giles Oh, to return to college! To again experience that heady time of exploration and inundation when the aged young freewheel to philosophy class, actually enjoy math class and rip eagerly through a novel a week in English class.…

Choose Your Own Adventure: North Bay

Rachel Dovey — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0700

In which our Resident Tourist Guide lets you be the star of the story by Rachel Dovey, Nicolas Grizzle and Gabe Meline At 10,000 feet, your parachute opens and you're floating above the North Bay. The clear sky allows you to see for miles in every direction, each holding its own set of adventures.…

A Picture of Tragedy

Rachel Dovey — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0700

The family of Mark Herczog, a father killed by his son, pleads for compassion as a court trial looms by Rachel Dovey In November of 2011, Mark Herczog wrote a short, desperate note on his calendar for the week of the 21st. It was about his son.…

Words from Around the Way

Nicolas Grizzle — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Our twice-annual look at authors from Sonoma, Napa and Marin by Nicolas Grizzle, Gabe Meline and Taylor May Each spring and fall, we at the Bohemian shine a light on local authors' work, and each spring and fall, we receive more and more submissions. This is due in part to the rise of self-publishing, sure—anyone with a Word file, an internet connection and a few hundred dollars can produce slick-looking paperbacks to give to friends and sell in local bookstores.…

The Highwaymen

Richard von Busack — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0700

'On the Road' finally makes it to the big screen by Richard von Busack The one and only time I met Allen Ginsberg, I wasted the moment talking about the 1991 movie of William Burroughs' Naked Lunch. Ginsberg started the conversation, though, by asking me what I thought of David Cronenberg's work.…

Best of 2013!

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Announcing the Bohemian's Best of the North Bay Best Of Winners! Claim your awards by clicking here!…

Tabletop Talent

Jessica Dur Taylor — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Local chefs offer deals with Sonoma County Restaurant Week by Jessica Dur Taylor, Nicolas Grizzle and James Knight If you're like us, you've combed the couch for change at least twice in the last month. You eye your shelves looking for books or records to sell, you scour the Craigslist "free" section and you save all those 15 percent–off coupons that show up in the mail.…

Scientology Slam

Nicolas Grizzle — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0800

Haunted by his cult ancestry, Jamie DeWolf visits Sebastopol with words as weapons by Nicolas Grizzle Remember mp3.com? In the pre-YouTube, early Napster world of the internet, it was how the masses legally downloaded songs and videos.…

The Best Food Money Can't Buy

Jessica Dur Taylor — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0800

While most poor families get the world's leftovers, WHOA Farm grows organic food specifically to be given away by Jessica Dur Taylor At the Santa Rosa Health Center in Roseland, 50 percent of Dr. Patricia Kulawiak's adolescent patients are obese. "There is an epidemic of diabetes in this area," Kulawiak tells me over the phone, "and since good, healthy food is expensive, poverty severely limits your options."…

A First-Class Institution

Jim Hightower — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0800

Despite the clamor raised over cutting Saturday delivery, the Post Office is not broke—and it hasn't taken any of our tax money since 1971 by Jim Hightower Consider 50 cents. What does that buy these days?…

Bottling the Tradition

Jay Scherf — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0800

In which our reporter travels to Argentina and discovers that when it comes to mate, Americans are doing it all wrong by Jay Scherf 'That's a load of crap! That's not mate!"…

Jumping Back In

Helen Pachynski — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0800

A wishful widow surveys the dating scene by Helen Pachynski Having just watched an old episode of Sex & the City, I am feeling very Carrie Bradshaw as I sit at my computer. But there ends the comparison.…

Not So OK, Cupid

Rachel Dovey — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0800

In a small town, online dating can sting in big ways by Rachel Dovey To its millions of users, OkCupid might seem like the hip younger sibling to online dating sites like eHarmony or Match.com. The free site will welcome you with an illustration of a woman whose feathered bangs and chic boots connote certain keywords—urbane, maybe.…

Worst. Date. Ever.

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0800

In which Bohemian readers submit their woeful stories of romance gone awry. Happy Valentine's Day! We asked for your bad-date stories, and boy, did you ever deliver. With a total of 16 real-life dates gone awry, submitted by readers, we here at the Bohemian have been gifted with sad anecdotes of Febreze-in-the-face spraying; meeting for the first time on an airport tarmac in a wedding dress; asking one's daughter to call mid-date with an "emergency"; being surrounded by rowdy drunk sports fans on a bus and going to a Tommy Castro show.…

Late Night at the Lanes

Rachel Dovey — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 04:00:00 -0800

Traipsing through the North Bay's few remaining bowling-alley bars by Rachel Dovey "Where else are you gonna find a middle-aged Cubs fan bumping and grinding on a pool cue?" I'm in the lounge at Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park and the scene that 21-year-old Travis Byrd describes is, indeed, happening.…

Living in Limbo

Leilani Clark — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:00:00 -0800

Sonoma County ranks high for 'disconnected youth'—those out of school and unable to find a job—and reversing the trend isn't easy by Leilani Clark Bella Ortega didn't spend her 18th birthday with family or friends. Instead, she was locked up in a Sonoma County Juvenile Hall cell on a violation charge, thinking hard about how she'd ended up in such a low place on such an important occasion.…

Heavy Lifting

Nicolas Grizzle — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 04:00:00 -0800

Olympic weightlifting: not just for muscled-up meatheads anymore by Nicolas Grizzle I'm looking for the white lights to know I'm still alive. My trainer whispers into the stat keeper's ear, "One hundred kilograms."…

"Visualize" This!

Brian Thomas Gallagher — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:00:00 -0800

A new book debunks the industry of forced positivity by Brian Thomas Gallagher I don't remember when I began saying it, though as a worldview it seems to have always been with me. Whenever things are bad—annoying, unpleasant, dire, morbid, arduous, depressing—and someone offhandedly says, "It could be worse," I always reply, "And it probably will be." I certainly never thought of it as a morale booster—more of a sardonic rejoinder to a mindless remark, a platitude in response to a platitude.…

Where's the Money?

Juliane Poirier — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:00:00 -0800

Citizens group calls for Napa County treasury to move funds away from disgraced big banks by Juliane Poirier Outraged citizens are protesting that millions of dollars of Napa County treasury funds are in the hands of banks whose unethical business practices contributed to the 2008 financial meltdown: Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo is being sued by the U.S. government for fraudulent mortgage-issuing practices, and both banks are part of last week's $8.5 billion settlement with federal regulators for foreclosure violations.…

So Long, 2012!

Bohemian Staff — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 04:00:00 -0800

Let's recap the local stories of 2012, shall we? by Bohemian Staff It Finally Opened Buy a great bottle of wine now, and it probably will be at its peak in a few years.…

After the End of the World

Nicolas Grizzle — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 04:00:00 -0800

The Bohemian's brief guide to bearing the terrible burden of enjoying life again by Nicolas Grizzle So the world didn't end—that's reason enough to go out and celebrate. On top of that, the wretched/glorious (people had different seats in the arena) span of time known as 2012 is coming to an end.…