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]]> Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography. Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:27:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/articles/911089997 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/news/911081088
]]> Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave. Now the tables have turned. Sun, 8 Nov 2009 04:03:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/news/911081088 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069883
]]> Liberals and conservatives each have their own intellectual food chains. They have their own think tanks to provide arguments, politicians and pundits to amplify them and news media outlets to deliver streams of prejudice-affirming stories. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:25:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069883 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069886
]]> It’s been a rough year since Barack Obama was swept into the Oval Office on the promise of change. His national poll numbers have suffered as a result. Yet here in the North Bay, the president still enjoys strong support, according to the latest online Press Democrat Editorial Board survey. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:11:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069886 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069890
]]> EDITOR: I think a combination of raising rates and reducing the waste flow could generate enough money to reopen our dump. For instance: *Raise the garbage fee on all can sizes, say 20 percent. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:09:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069890 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/entertainment/911069910
]]> It’s difficult to take an interest in modern American dance without encountering the influence of choreographer Twyla Tharp. City Arts & Lectures presents Tharp, one of the pioneers of contemporary dance, at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8, at Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:43:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/entertainment/911069910 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069915
]]> A couple weeks before Veterans Day, I went down to the World War II Memorial on the Mall to join Bob and Elizabeth Dole and a group of elderly soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen from her hometown of Salisbury, N.C., who had been flown to Washington that morning to get their first view of the nation’s tribute to the troops that helped defeat... Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:05:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069915 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069917
]]> We don’t know why Faleh Hassan Almaleki came to this country in the mid-’90s, and it’s unlikely he’ll be able to tell us anytime soon. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069917 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069920
]]> Imagine waking up one fine Sunday morning to learn that they are laying down barbed wire in Washington. The coils cut off the western side of the city from Northeast and Southeast. Over the next three years, the steel wire is replaced by a wall of concrete 12 feet high. Now you are trapped, and if you’re on the wrong side, the Washington Monument... Fri, 6 Nov 2009 15:56:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069920 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069950
]]> Remember those Republican boasts that they would turn health care into President Barack Obama’s Waterloo? Well, exit polls suggest that to the extent that health care was an issue in Tuesday’s elections, it worked in Democrats’ favor. But while health care won’t be Obama’s Waterloo, economic policy is starting to look like his Anzio. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 12:28:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069950 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/lifestyle/911059896
]]> As World War II generation grows ever smaller, younger people must help to plan, organize Veterans Day parade, events Thu, 5 Nov 2009 18:50:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/lifestyle/911059896 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/news/911081084
]]> For $50, you can buy a Thomas the Tank Engine train set. Or, if you are the investor Warren Buffett, you can purchase the complete set of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., for $26 billion or so. Some assembly required. Sun, 8 Nov 2009 04:03:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/news/911081084 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/business/911081051
]]> When Rodney Strong Wine Estates announced last month that it had gone "carbon neutral," it became only the second winery in the nation and one of a handful in the world to lay claim to such green ground. But what does that mean, exactly? Sun, 8 Nov 2009 04:03:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/business/911081051 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069881
]]> Even though more people want to visit the States than the U.S. can handle, the federal government is planning a $10 fee on visitors that will be used to attract even more of them. The fee is part of a bill awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature and is one more of the hassles that Washington is imposing on visitors, especially from... Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069881 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069952
]]> It costs $722 to fly from St. Paul/Minneapolis to Bismarck, N.D., and you can fly from St. Paul/Minneapolis to Paris for $754. Life is unfair; we all know this. Big prizes go to mediocrities while you struggle on, unappreciated. The righteous suffer while the wicked prosper. Bernie Madoff danced around the Securities and Exchange Commission... Fri, 6 Nov 2009 12:25:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/opinion/911069952 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/community/911069963
]]> Jazz group Ez Kewl performs on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Aqus Café Foundry Wharf. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 11:22:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091106/community/911069963 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091108/community/911069966
]]> Great Big Sea featuring Jeremy Fisher plays at the Mystic Theatre Saturday, Nov. 14. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 11:10:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091106/community/911069966 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079968
]]> Boaters and swimmers are urged to stay away from surging surf along the North Coast this weekend as large breaking waves reaching 20 feet are expected to Sunday. Sun, 8 Nov 2009 10:12:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079968 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079962
]]> House Democrats, joined by one Republican, voted 220-215 to approve a sweeping health care overhaul that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and extend coverage to millions more. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 23:09:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079962 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079956
]]> The North Coast’s two congressional leaders hailed passage of a landmark health care plan late Saturday, despite having reservations about some provisions in the bill. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, criticized a last-minute amendment pressed by Republicans that would place tight restrictions on federal funding for abortions. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 23:07:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079956 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079938
]]> Petaluma City Councilman David Glass will seek the city's mayoral seat now that Mayor Pam Torliatt is running for the Sonoma County board of supervisors. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 23:03:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079938 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079939
]]> Shiloh Sustainable Village, proposed as a model of environmentally friendly construction on Windsor’s southern periphery, has suffered a severe setback, the victim of financial problems. Lenders took back the six-acre property two weeks ago from the developers, who were unable to secure financing to build the $50 million project. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 22:39:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079939 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079944
]]> As more cyclists join motorists on Wine Country’s often-narrow roads, authorities report increased incidents of friction, close calls and rude behavior. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 22:24:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079944 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/news/911079943
]]> As a movie script, it can’t compete with “Knute Rockne, All American,” but it really is the stuff of films like “Friday Night Lights” and “Remember the Titans.” Sports stories are, after all, just people stories with a subplot, and this one is all about the old guys remembering the glory days and ensuring that their memories will be shared. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 22:21:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/news/911079943 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/news/911079947
]]> Enough people are walking into Fourth Street’s 130-year-old E.R. Sawyer Jewelers wearing worried looks that it’s starting to concern owner Doug Van Dyke. Customers hear or read that Sawyer’s is going to close and they think it’s the jewelry store. It’s not. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 22:18:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/news/911079947 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079960
]]> Rev. Jim Wheeler is minister of the Richmond Presbyterian Church. He formerly was youth and family pastor at Church of the Roses in Santa Rosa. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 20:15:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079960 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079964
]]> Cathleen Evans loved the ocean, whether it was a day on Tomales Bay or on a grand high seas adventure with her husband along the western coast of the United States. Evans, who was born and raised in Petaluma, died Oct. 30 at her home in Marshall after suffering a series of strokes. She was 88. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 19:57:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079964 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079966
]]> Santa Rosa’s cyclocross fall and winter racing season opened Saturday with a mix of road racing, mountain biking and steeple-chasing. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 19:34:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079966 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079970
]]> Graffiti cleanup efforts in Santa Rosa are faltering in the face of budget cuts. Creek culverts have been hit hard by taggers who leave behind hundreds of spray-paint cans. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 18:43:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079970 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079984
]]> Within an hour's time, two guns were taken out of the hands of alleged Norteño gang members by Santa Rosa police officers patrolling the streets of northwest Santa Rosa Friday night, officials said. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 11:16:00 -0500 http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091107/articles/911079984