Answers to News Quiz 2014

1. The answer is A.

2. The answer is B.

3. The answer is false. Santa Rosa recorded 11.25 inches between Dec. 1 and Dec. 12. The record is 17.89 inches set in 1955.

4. The answer is D.

5. The answer is C. One of the indictments alleged that Yee offered to help pass legislation making it harder for professional football players to obtain workers comp in exchange for campaign contributions from an unidentified NFL owner.

6. The answer is C. Sonoma County’s jobless rate, which peaked in early 2010 at 11.2 percent, fell to a six-year low of 4.9 percent in September.

7. The answer is D.

8. The answer is B. The legal briefs came later, which apparently helped in his acquittal.

9. The answer is B, although Healdsburg also had some lively debates this year about roundabouts and fluoridation, neither of which were banned.

10. Bumgarner gave up six earned runs - an ERA of 1.03 - while setting the all-time post-season record for innings pitched. For his exploits, he was chosen the Most Valuable Player in the World Series, Sports Illustrated magazine’s Sportsman of the Year and, as of Tuesday, the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.

11. Rohnert Park Mayor Amy Ahanotu was born in Nigeria. His colleague, Jake Mackenzie, was born in Scotland.

12. False. The company that split off from Agilent Technologies is called Keysight - not Eyesight - Technologies.

13. In October, a federal report focused on the damage caused by the cultivation of marijuana in the so-called Emerald Triangle. Meanwhile, a state report warned that many streams could be sucked dry if marijuana cultivation isn’t curtailed.

14. False. In 2014, the City Council approved the design for the reunification of Old Courthouse Square. But one small obstacle remains: The city doesn’t have the $17 million necessary to do the work. It’s now been 18 years since the council began making plans to put the square together again.

15. The firefighters union was fined for a violation of campaign disclosure rules and for failing to offer people the opportunity to opt out of future calls. The calls to more than 22,000 homes alleged that candidates Chris Coursey and Lee Pierce “want to make Santa Rosa a more dangerous place to live.” Coursey went on to become the top vote-getter in the November election. Pierce finished sixth and out of the running.

16. Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol was closed. Efforts to re-open the hospital continue.

17. The quake was blamed on the obscure (or formerly obscure) West Napa Fault.

18. The answer is D. California officials are battling the worst whooping cough epidemic to hit the state in seven decades.

19. The answer is B. According to the California Department of Public Health, Sonoma County in May was leading the state’s 58 counties in whooping cough infections with a rate of nearly 63 cases per 100,000 people. The statewide rate was 4.48 per 100,000 people.

20. The answer is C. Operators of the roller rink, known as “The Wrecking Yard,” were unable to raise the $50,000 or more needed to install a sprinkler system required by the city.