Sonoma County is quietly stepping into a new form of public health surveillance: testing wastewater to estimate community drug use. The county’s Department of Health Services has begun sampling sewage at major treatment plants and analyzing it for traces of drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, nicotine and xylazine, sometimes called “tranq.” …

As tax season approaches, many Sonoma County farmers, ranchers and small business owners are facing a new challenge they did not expect. Last year, Intuit discontinued ItsDeductible, a long-running tool that helped taxpayers track charitable donations and estimate fair-market values for donated goods. For years, it quietly helped people document everything …

Every year there’s the bird count. People bundle up, grab binoculars and head out at dawn, quietly thrilled by a flash of wings or the chance to say, “That was definitely a kestrel.” It’s wholesome. It’s nerdy. It’s very cool. This morning, Sonoma County did a different kind of count. Instead …

The private members club plans a resort near Kenwood featuring cottages, dining and wellness facilities, with an opening targeted for 2027. If you’ve been half-paying attention to Sonoma Valley lately, you know it’s been quietly doing its thing while Napa and Healdsburg grab the headlines. But this week brought news that …