petaluma news

• Phoenix faces funding challenge

  By DAN JOHNSON, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

  Wednesday January 7, 2009 11:36 am

  

  AC

  The Phoenix Theater, the popular music hall and teen center, faces major challenges as it tries to obtain funding and recover from a highly publicized recent incident in which two people were shot after attending shows there.

• Police to look into 'Food Not Bombs' location

  By DAN JOHNSON, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

  Wednesday January 7, 2009 12:03 pm

  Food Not Bombs volunteers are still serving food to day laborers at Washington and Howard streets on Saturdays, and the Petaluma Police Department intends to again send officers to the location to determine whether or not they are violating any laws.

• Teen's family blames party host

  By PAUL PAYNE, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

  Wednesday January 7, 2009 7:28 am

  

  PD

  The family of a teenager killed when he stumbled in front of a passing car outside a New Year's Eve barn party in Petaluma blamed the 56-year-old host for the death, saying he was illegally charging admission and furnishing minors with alcohol.

• With optimism, 2009 City Council begins work

  By COREY YOUNG, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

  Tuesday January 6, 2009 12:52 pm

  

  AC

  With three new faces and one significantly tightened budget to work with, the Petaluma City Council held its first meeting of the new year Monday, its members expressing optimism in the face of challenging economic times.

• Pastor applauds property ruling

  By PAUL PAYNE, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

  Tuesday January 6, 2009 7:19 am

  

  PD

  Petaluma Episcopal Church leaders were hopeful Monday that a state Supreme Court decision in a Southern California case would help them reclaim ownership of their 118-year-old church from members who split over the ordination of gay ministers.

• Turin to merge with San Jose firm

  By STEVE HART, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

  Monday January 5, 2009 11:21 am

  

  PD

  Turin Networks, one of the survivors of the shakeout in Sonoma County's Telecom Valley, is merging with a San Jose company in a move that could help both businesses ride out a slump in the networking equipment sector.

• Greener council takes over city in red

  By PAUL PAYNE, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

  Monday January 5, 2009 7:06 am

  Members of what is expected to be a more environment-friendly Petaluma City Council will take the oath of office today and begin working to fulfill campaign goals such as encouraging transit-oriented development.

• Barn gets closer look

  BY PAUL PAYNE, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

  Friday January 2, 2009 1:39 pm

  

  PD

  Albert Terribilini's old wooden barn looks like dozens of others scattered across rural east Petaluma, its brown exterior weathered by years of wind and rain.
  But inside, the 56-year-old rancher and video producer has built an elaborate clubhouse, complete with a liquor bar, a dance floor and a bandstand, where he throws parties for friends three times a year.

• Petaluma teen dies in New Year's tragedy

  By BOB NORBERG, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

  Thursday January 1, 2009 2:40 pm

  

  PD

  A New Year's Eve party that attracted as many as 300 people east of Petaluma resulted in arrests for drunkenness and ended in tragedy Thursday with the death of an intoxicated teenager who was stumbling on a dark roadway and was hit by a car.

• Looking ahead to 2009

  By COREY YOUNG, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

  Thursday January 1, 2009 3:00 am

  

  AC

  Petaluma just closed the book on a year that saw everything from shuttered stores to sesquicentennial celebrations, muddy floodwaters to violent shootings.
  In fact, more than 75 percent of respondents to an Argus-Courier poll either said 2008 was not a good year for the city, or said they weren’t sure whether the past 12 months were good or bad for Petaluma.

• Students aid East African families

  By DAN JOHNSON, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

  Thursday January 1, 2009 3:00 am

  One student contributed two weeks of her allowance, while another emptied his piggy bank and six others made posters that they placed around the school campus, along with donation cans.

• New City Council members to be sworn in Monday

  Thursday January 1, 2009 3:00 am

  The three winners in November’s City Council election will take their oaths of office before Monday’s meeting.

• Maddie Simmons, 17, chosen Youth of Year

  Thursday January 1, 2009 3:00 am

  

  AC

  Maddie Simmons was named the Boys & Girls Clubs of Petaluma’s 2008 Youth of the Year during an event at the Lucchesi Park Clubhouse on Dec. 5.

• Councilwoman’s property listed in foreclosure

  Thursday January 1, 2009 3:00 am

  A rental property owned by Petaluma Councilmember Samantha Freitas was listed as being in default under a legal notice published in the Argus-Courier recently.

• How did your neighborhood vote?

  By COREY YOUNG, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

  Wednesday December 31, 2008 11:42 am

  

  AC

  So much for an east-west divide.
  An Argus-Courier analysis of precinct-by-precinct results from the Nov. 4 City Council election shows that the candidate who won the most precincts, ex-mayor David Glass, did well in voting districts on both sides of town.

• Thieves target Shollenberger parking lot

  Wednesday December 31, 2008 3:52 pm

  

  AC

  Local residents have reported recent vehicle break-ins at the parking lot of Shollenberger Park, and the Petaluma Police Department offers some suggestions to help prevent such incidents.