News Blasts 

rohnert park coffers grow

Having sealed a pact with Sonoma County in July 2008, the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria announced last week that it is gifting the city of Rohnert Park with $500,000 to maintain the city's special enforcement crime-fighting unit. This gift totals $2.63 million made by the tribe to Rohnert Park since 2004. According to a press release composed by Lori Fye, the tribe also recently donated $8,000 to the city for use in planting daffodils. These financial gifts help to tighten the tribe's bond to a city that they hope will soon be home to a resort hotel and casino.

jewish free clinic

In more news from the little city whose Wikipedia page is strangely wrought in Cyrillic, the Jewish Community Free clinic begins Monday evening walk-in service starting on March 2 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Staffed entirely by volunteer professionals, the JCFC serves the 100,000-plus Marin County and Sonoma County residents who do not have health insurance. 490 City Center Drive, Rohnert Park. To learn more, call 707.585.7780 or go to www.jewishfreeclinic.org.

sustainable novato

With Novato preparing to update its general plan, the Sustainable Novato group hosts a community forum on Creating Sustainable Communities on Feb. 25. Joining its greenie brethren in Fairfax, Mill Valley, San Rafael and Sonoma County, Sustainable Novato seeks ways to cement such values into its general plan as living more lightly upon the earth while having a closer connection to one another. Panelists include assemblymember Jared Huffman, green transit leader Stuart Cohen, planning policy wonkette Heather Wooten, Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey, housing advocate Marty Murtagh, air-quality chief Kurt Karperos and sustainability consultant Warren Karlenzig. The discussion goes deep and green on Wednesday, Feb. 25, from 6:30pm to 9pm at the Next Key Center, 1385 N. Hamilton Pkwy., Novato. $5 donation. 415.272.3142.

walks on the wild side

The Laguna de Santa Rosa stretches some 14 miles and supports some 200 different species of birds. And those are just some of its smaller numbers. Docents are needed to help educate grammar schoolchildren on this astonishing ecosystem, but it's not for wussies. A free session for interested docents is slated for Feb. 23; training, however, consists of 10 consecutive Monday-long sessions out on the Laguna with a team of biologists, hydrologists and environmental scientists and costs $145 to defray material costs. This is a stupendous way to immerse oneself entirely in the richness of the Laguna. See if you've got what it takes on Monday, Feb. 23, at the Central Library, Third and E streets, Santa Rosa. From 6:30pm. 707.527.9277, ext. 102.