As a Catholic and a retired nurse, Ann McGee is conflicted about her church’s controversial stance on abortion and federal health-care legislation. The Santa Rosa woman is anti-abortion, but she worries church officials risk derailing the legislation by drawing a hard line on the issue. Published November 20, 2009
With four seconds left and the ball six inches away from their end zone, the 11 seniors on Petaluma's defense could almost taste their high school mortality. Published November 20, 2009
Montgomery is a North Coast Section Division II playoff fixture. Last year the Vikings sat home and watched, the first time in eight years. Evidently, they didn’t like the experience. On Friday night the Vikings successfully returned to the tournament after their one-year hiatus. Published November 20, 2009
Maria Carrillo was one play away from writing one of the most dramatic endings in the history of its football program. But Casa Grande stole the ink. Published November 20, 2009
Monta Ellis scored a season-high 34 points and had eight assists, Anthony Morrow added 23 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat Portland. Published November 20, 2009
PETALUMA – Down by five points, Rancho Cotate had the ball on Petaluma’s one-yard line Friday night. There was 4.8 seconds left in the game. The Cougars had just completed a 30-yard pass. Momentum? Published November 20, 2009
Dany Heatley scored three times, Joe Thornton recorded his 600th NHL assist, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Philadelphia Flyers. Published November 20, 2009
PETALUMA – Down by five points, Rancho Cotate had the ball on Petaluma’s one-yard line Friday night. There was 4.8 seconds left in the game. The Cougars had just completed a 30-yard pass. Momentum? Published November 20, 2009
The top-seeded Petaluma girls’ volleyball team will play for its first North Coast Section title when the Trojans host second-seeded Redwood in the Division II finals at 7 tonight in Petaluma. Published November 20, 2009
Sutter Health is giving up its three-year effort to bow out of sole responsibility for operating a doctors-in-training program because federal Medicare funding restrictions make it financially unworkable. Published November 20, 2009
A fast and deep field of runners could give Sonoma County high schools one of the region’s best showings Saturday at the North Coast Section Cross Country Championships. Published November 20, 2009
Robert Charles “Bobby” Brodie, manager and long-time bartender at the old Topaz Room, died Wednesday in Santa Rosa. He was 73 and had lived in Santa Rosa most of his life. Published November 20, 2009
Sonoma State placed five Seawolves on the NCAA Division II West Region men’s and women’s soccer teams. Leading the men on the first team were goalkeeper Brook Johnson and defenders Ryan Hall and Stuart Gallant. Midfielder Cory Taufer received second team honors. Published November 20, 2009
Stanford, once the laughingstock of the sports program, has completed a 180 turnaround from where it was. Just ask any Cardinal student. Published November 20, 2009
A 27-year-old man suspected of trying to rape a pregnant woman in southern Sebastopol made his first court appearance Friday. Odalis Solano Rosario faces charges of attempted rape, penetration with a foreign object and kidnapping. Published November 20, 2009
Aubrayo Franklin does not need to record a bunch of tackles, get some sacks and an interception to capably perform his job. But he does it anyway. Published November 20, 2009
SANTA ROSA ‘Ham for Holidays’ at 6th Street Playhouse Next month, Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse will stage the world premiere of a new holiday comedy titled “Ham for the Holidays.” Written and directed by actor Shad(CQ) Willingham,(CQ) the play is a Christmas farce set in a smalltown radio station. Published November 20, 2009
The Press Democrat will provide live scoring updates from three NCS football playoff games today. The blog starts at 6:45 p.m. Published November 20, 2009
The burgeoning arts community that’s grown up along South A Street near Juilliard Park in Santa Rosa is throwing its fifth annual Winter Blast on Saturday night. Published November 20, 2009
A five-time drunken-driving offender was arrested in Petaluma on Friday for purchasing five bottles of wine in violation of his probation, police said. Published November 20, 2009
Students barricaded themselves inside buildings on University of California campuses to protest a 32 percent increase in student fees and budget cuts that have led to slashed programs and lost jobs. Published November 20, 2009
Healdsburg unveils its newly renovated Giorgi Park on Saturday, spruced up and expanded with nearly $3 million and the labor of more than 100 volunteers. Published November 20, 2009
Four patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday. Published November 20, 2009
SAN QUENTIN — Prison officials say a man convicted of a 1987 double murder has died of natural causes, 16 years after he was sent to death row at San Quentin State Prison. Prison Lt. Sam Robinson says 53-year-old Cedric Harrison died at an outside hospital Thursday. Published November 20, 2009
Santa Rosa's Alicia Hodenfield has been forced to tighten her belt in these tough economic times. But she, like many in Sonoma County, says she still has a lot to be thankful for. Published November 20, 2009
A two-car collision that blocked all lanes of southbound Highway north of Rohnert Park late Friday morning was among more than a dozen crashes scattered around the North Coast as rain settled over the region. The story was the same throughout the Bay Area, where vehicles overturned and other minor injury crashes were called in. Published November 20, 2009
This year, as we prepare to gather once more at the Thanksgiving table, we asked our readers to share their memories, both fond and funny, of this iconic holiday. Published November 20, 2009
Sonoma County unemployment reached 10.1 percent in October, up dramatically from the rate of 6.1 percent for the same month a year ago. There was little sign that retailers are hiring for the holiday season. Published November 20, 2009
A Lakeport man killed in a Wednesday morning vehicle crash on the Highway 20 overcrossing of Highway 101 in Redwood Valley has been identified as Paul Brown, 49, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said. Published November 20, 2009
An Mendocino coast resident was badly injured when she drove a pickup truck off Highway 128 and into a redwood tree west of Philo on Thursday afternoon, trapping her legs in the crumpled front end of the vehicle, authorities said. Published November 20, 2009
A 19-year-old Santa Rosa man caught on tape as he pedaled away from Maria Carrillo High School on an allegedly stolen bicycle was spotted and arrested Thurday afternoon, six days after the suspected theft. Published November 20, 2009
The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Published November 20, 2009
A gunman went on a rampage on the island of Saipan Friday, first at a shooting range and then at a World War II historical site, killing four people and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself, officials said. Published November 20, 2009
CHICAGO — Holding back tears, Oprah Winfrey told her studio audience Friday that she would end her show in 2011 after a quarter-century on the air, saying "prayer and careful thought" led her to her decision. Published November 20, 2009
A Santa Rosa man suspected in an armed residential robbery three weeks ago is being held without bail at the Sonoma County Jail after his apprehension and arrest by Santa Rosa Police. Published November 20, 2009
Along McDonald Avenue in Santa Rosa Friday morning rain caused bright liquid amber leaves to drop their leaves, making for a colorful stroll home. Published November 20, 2009
Rohnert Park fire investigators are looking at a portable heater as the possible cause of a townhouse fire that blackened an upstairs bedroom on Racquet Club Circle but was doused before it spread farther. Published November 20, 2009
CHICAGO -- Shoppers increased their spending at Kmart stores for the first time in at least seven years this fall, picking up cheap toys, shoes and items for their homes. Published November 20, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The foreclosure crisis likely will persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of homes, pulls down housing prices and raises concerns about the broader economic recovery. Published November 20, 2009
WASHINGTON -- A gauge of future economic activity and a report on unemployment benefits signaled Thursday that the recovery likely will remain weak in the coming months. Published November 20, 2009
State legislators and other elected state officials will get an unexpected 18 percent pay cut next month after lawmakers' challenge of a salary reduction backfired. Published November 20, 2009
Most women in their 20s can have a Pap smear every two years instead of annually, say new guidelines that conclude that's enough to catch slow-growing cervical cancer. Published November 20, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently. Beginning Thursday, Yahoo started mining the short messages posted on Twitter to find fresher information about hot topics. Published November 20, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO -- The struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs -- more than a third of its work force -- as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage. Published November 20, 2009
NEW YORK -- For Citibank credit card holders, there is one way to escape the bank's rate hikes currently under way: Meet a monthly spending requirement. Published November 20, 2009
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Starry-eyed children writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season likely won't get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers. Published November 20, 2009
The government watchdog overseeing economic stimulus spending said Thursday that, in its rush to take credit for saving hundreds of thousands of jobs, the Obama administration was overly confident in its job-counting and did not acknowledge significant errors in the figures. Published November 20, 2009
Congressional budget crunchers said Thursday the Democrats' latest health-care plan would hold down federal red ink for at least 20 years, an assessment that gave supporters hope as the Senate moved gingerly toward a historic debate Saturday. Published November 20, 2009
Gift cards are again the most-requested present for the holidays, but don't be surprised if you receive a discounted sweater instead. Shoppers are likely to pull back on buying the popular cards for friends and family this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Published November 20, 2009
Dell Inc. said Thursday that its net income dropped 54 percent in the latest quarter and amid signs the company isn't fully benefiting from the computer industry's fledgling recovery. Dell's numbers missed Wall Street's forecasts, and the shares fell almost 6 percent in extended trading. Published November 20, 2009
Rates on 30-year mortgages stayed below 5 percent this week but remained above the record set earlier this year, Freddie Mac said Thursday. Published November 20, 2009
Packaged foods company Pinnacle Foods Group is buying Birds Eye Foods, the nation's largest frozen food company, for $1.3 billion. As a result of the deal, a planned public offering of Birds Eye Foods stock will be withdrawn. Published November 20, 2009
A Swedish woman who had been serving a life sentence for the 1981 murders of a Lake County sheriff's deputy and a Stockton restaurateur will be released in 2011, a Swedish court ruled Monday. Published November 20, 2009
Cross over the river at Monte Rio, then make your way through the woods. On a remote shore road between Villa Grande and Duncans Mills hides the ultimate grandma’s house, illuminating the darkened November day like an ornate little night light. Published November 19, 2009
Here’s what you do if you want an immediate demonstration of media bias in political coverage and to see trap doors open on the heads of leftists throughout the land as little birds step out singing, “Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.” You speak the name of Sarah Palin and let it be known she’s traveling about the land saying stuff. Published November 19, 2009
Once again, the hard choices fall to local officials who have virtually no control over their revenue and no choice but to face parents and students and apologize for slashing programs — again. Published November 19, 2009
Jerry Brown’s first governorship of California was marked by what one might term — charitably — a high degree of flexibility. Although he generally hewed to a liberal line after his 1974 election, Brown was often willing to bend ideology for political advantage, a tendency that some called “flakiness.” Published November 19, 2009
On Monday, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force took a step backward in the fight against breast cancer. The task force announced that it would no longer recommend routine mammograms for women between the ages of 40 and 49, a group that accounts for about one out of six breast cancers. Published November 19, 2009
EDITOR: Words can’t adequately express how angry the article about the posh conditions on Death Row made me (“Death Row may be worth it for some inmates,” Nov. 12). Apparently, a death sentence in California entitles convicted murderers such as Richard Allen Davis, Ramon Salcido and Billy Joe Johnson to free room and board and full-service medical... Published November 19, 2009
Normal human beings — let’s call them real Americans — cannot understand why, 10 months after President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Congress is still tied down in a procedural torture chamber trying to pass the health care bill Obama promised in his campaign. Published November 19, 2009
The PlayStation 3 exclusive packs plenty of 'big action moments' and a blockbuster-worthy script, but its movie-like pacing constricts gamers' ability to explore. Published November 18, 2009
Editor: I returned home from my second tour of duty in Vietnam 40 years ago this month. What I returned to was not at all pleasant. While I was angry, I refused to let it get the best of me and affect my military performance. Published November 18, 2009
Editor: In Don Bennett’s recent column about Petaluma’s restaurant history, “Town’s changing dining landscape,” he is very negative and tries to correlate patterns of change in restaurants, the decline, the replacement of old dining establishments, with the City Council majority’s concern about protecting downtown Petaluma. Published November 18, 2009
