January 2024 Meetings

Posted by Kenneth Macy on Feb 05, 2024
 

Bruce McPherson

1/25
Fifth District Supervisor Bruce McPherson was our speaker this evening.  Bruce is retiring from public service now and wanted to recount some of the things that stood out during his tenure. 
 
There were seven state-declared natural disasters involving the SLV during that time including the CZU wild fire, rain & flood emergencies, road outages, power outages & ... . One important item in the process of mitigation is the Big Basin Water Company infrastructure failures and bankruptcy.  BBWC is now being operated by a receiver while discussions are ongoing for a long-term "fix".  There has also been a recent $850,000 grant from the state to begin improvements.  Two other items in the early stages of discussion are an "escape" route for the Lompico neighborhoods and a sewer line for the densely built-up areas along highway 236.  Bruce is looking forward to his retirement and becoming a private citizen again.
 

Carol Weisenstein

1/17
Carol Weisenstein is a Puppy Raiser with the Canine Companion organization.  She became interested in this after the 9/11 disaster and knew her daughter had a friend who worked there.  This is a nation-wide group who raise & train then gift companion dogs to "those in need". 
They were founded in 1975 and now have offices and training facilities (6 of these in all) across the U.S.  Carol is associated with the Training Center in Santa Rosa.  There are currently 270 employees raising 800 puppies per year, over 90% of which are 50/50 mixes of Labrador and Golden Retriever.  The dog she is raising now is Dexter and he came with Carol to the meeting today.
 

Rachael Brown

1/11
The author of the book "For Fork's Sake", Rachael Brown is a proponent of diets structured around whole foods, plant based and no oil.  She went on this diet herself several years ago as a defense against Alzheimer's disease. 
During a DNA analysis, she discovered she had the gene associated with this disease; there is also a family history.  She found "The China Study" which recommended this regimen.  Rachael is associated with the Bay Area Institute for Plant Studies.  50% of the proceeds from sale of her book go to charity.