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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

RISING WATER IN GUERNEVILLE

3,800 22 46.10 FEET 5.66 INCHES

Number of residents evacuated Number of county roads Height at which Russian River Total rainfall in 24-hour period
in Russian River area closed on Tuesday is expected to crest Wednesday ending 4 p.m. Tuesday

Heavy floods as rain

President Donald Trump

House
reaches record levels votes
to block
Trump
Democrats lead charge
to overturn president’s
emergency declaration
By ERICA WERNER, SEUNG
MIN KIM AND PAUL KANE
WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — The House

on Tuesday passed a resolution
to overturn President Donald
Trump’s declaration of a nation-
al emergency on the southern
border as majority Democrats
painted an apocalyptic portrait of
a lawless chief executive who is
out to gut the Constitution.
The 245-182 tally was mostly
along party lines, with 13 Repub-
licans defecting to side with Dem-
ocrats on a vote that effectively
became a test of GOP loyalty to
Trump. Despite their frequent
complaints of executive over-
reach during President Barack
Obama’s administration, most
Republicans fell in line with
Trump’s decision to try to cir-
KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
cumvent Congress to get billions
of dollars for his border wall. As
Sycamore Court resident Chris Tipton carries a neighbor’s plants to higher ground on Tuesday in Guerneville. About 3,800 people were ordered by a result, the vote fell well short
the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to evacuate from communities along the Russian River amid record-breaking amounts of rain. of the two-thirds majority that
would be required to overcome
Russian River predicted to hit 46 feet, worst in over 2 decades Trump’s threatened veto.
Democrats argued that
Trump’s claim of a crisis at the
By GUY KOVNER, RANDI ROSSMANN border was baseless, and that he
AND NASHELLY CHAVEZ was embarking on the road to
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT dictatorship by unilaterally de-

T
claring an emergency to try to get
housands of people were ordered to leave
homes along the Russian River on Tuesday TURN TO TRUMP » PAGE A2
before they were overtaken by rising flood-
waters as an atmospheric river stalled over Sono-
ma County, inundating the region with unprece-
dented amounts of rain. IMMIGRATION
The brunt of the storm has now passed, but

INSIDE
its impact will only grow
Wednesday as water con- State audit
reveals harsh
■ Residents of Colonial tinues to pour into the
Park are inundated / A3 rain-swollen river from
the hills above. Residents

treatment
■ SR City Council in Guerneville were
cancels meeting / A4 warned to brace for the

of detainees
■ Schools closed as worst flooding in more
flooding increases / A7 than two decades before
■ Roads closed across the Russian River crests
county / Online late Wednesday night and
slowly begins to recede. JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT By JAZMINE ULLOA
About 3,800 people were ordered by the Sono- Pat and Bob Engel took their dogs for a walk to see the flooding on Green Valley Road AND ANITA CHABRIA
ma County Sheriff’s Office to evacuate more than in Graton on Tuesday afternoon. More than 20 roads were reported closed by flooding. LOS ANGELES TIMES
two dozen communities — including Guerneville,

Thousands evacuated
Monte Rio and Duncans Mills — in an area that SACRAMENTO — Lengthy
stretched from Asti in the north to Jenner in the stays in cells. A lack of access
west, where the river empties into the Pacific to doctors, counselors and legal
Ocean. Emergency shelters were opened in Santa aid. Few bilingual staffers who

Rosa and Sebastopol to house displaced residents.
The river was forecast to crest at 11 p.m.
Wednesday in Guerneville at 46.1 feet, its high-
est level since 1997 when it hit 45 feet. That would
still be shy of the record level set by the infamous
Valentine’s Day flood of February 1986, when the
river submerged much of Guerneville at 49.5 feet.
“We’re talking about access to all of Guerneville
being blocked by water. Unless you’re prepared to
wait this out for a few days, we recommend people
get out of Guerneville. Don’t just move to higher
ground so we’re not having to rescue you,” Sher-
iff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said.
Santa Rosa received 5.66 inches of rain Tuesday,
breaking a record for daily precipitation dating
back to 1902, the National Weather Service report-
ed. The downpour brought 6.57 inches of rain to
Santa Rosa in the 36 hours since the atmospher-
ic river arrived Monday morning. Venado, in the
hills west of Healdsburg, amassed more than a
foot of rain — an astounding 14.16 inches — over
the period.
TURN TO FLOODS » PAGE A6
ahead of floodwaters
By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Jilla Gauthier loaded antique furni-
ture, collectibles and clothes from her
two Main Street shops onto a U-Haul
truck, as heavy rain battered water-
logged Guerneville throughout Tues-
day.
Black plastic bags filled with clothes
lay on the floor of one of her shops,
Queen River Clothing. Wooden shelves
were placed on top of metal cloth-
ing racks to keep them from getting
wet should the floodwater inundate
Guerneville’s main thoroughfare as
predicted by Wednesday night.
Gauthier, who also owns River Queen
Handmade & Collectibles, worked fe-
verishly to save what she could with a
single regret on her mind.
“I was a fool and I didn’t buy flood in-
surance,” she said.
Gauthier was among thousands of
Russian River-area residents and busi-
ness owners who spent Tuesday pre-
paring for what’s expected to be the
region’s worst flooding in two decades.
The river is forecast to rise to 46 feet by
11 p.m. Wednesday. If the river crests
at 45 feet or higher that would put this
flood among the region’s worst in his-
tory. The devastating New Year’s Day
1997 flood was the last time the river
reached 45 feet.
Although county officials Tuesday
TURN TO EVACUATED » PAGE A7
can explain rules or services.
Limited opportunities to call or
see friends and family.
On Tuesday, Attorney Gener-
al Xavier Becerra released find-
ings from the first state inspec-
tion of California’s immigrant
detention centers, designed to
provide a deeper look into the
conditions inside the system as
the Trump administration takes
a more aggressive approach to
confining people who are in the
country illegally. California is
one of the first states to examine
everyday operations at the facil-
ities.
Over the past three years,
more than 74,000 immigrant
detainees from more than
150 countries have been held at
California’s 10 public and pri-
vate detention centers, all in-
TURN TO AUDIT » PAGE A2

Advice B7 Crossword B7 Lotto A2 Newswatch B2 CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME: Santa Rosa SANTA ROSA ©2019
Business B8 Editorial A8 Movies D4 Obituaries B3 man faces up to 10 years if convicted in High 59, Low 42 The Press
Democrat
Comics B6 Horoscopes B5 Nation-World B1 State news A5 assault of 67-year-old Korean man / A3 THE WEATHER, C8
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019
SR man facing hate crime charge
Suspect, 22, arraigned
in attempted robbery,
attack of Asian man, 67
By JULIE JOHNSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Prosecutors on Tuesday
charged a Santa Rosa man with
committing a hate crime during
an attempted robbery and at-
tack against a 67-year-old Asian
man over the weekend.
SANTA ROSA » COLONIAL PARK MOBILE HOME ESTATES
Christine Brown wades through water to reach her son’s truck outside her mobile home in the Colonial Park mobile home park in Windsor
Flooded seniors keep
on Tuesday. Brown needed to go to the pharmacy and pick up supplies.
calm and carry on
Creek overflow has become a regular occurrence for park residents
By AUSTIN MURPHY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Just past the handsome red-brick
façades flanking the entrance to the Co-
lonial Park Mobile Home Estates, a traf-
fic sign displays the speed limit of 15. On
Tuesday, it seemed a fair question to ask:
15 mph, or 15 knots?
A quarter-mile or so past the club-
Santa Rosa adds parking pass as shuttle ends
City bus service to
SMART station plagued
by ridership, cost issues
By WILL SCHMITT
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Plagued by low ridership,
a free Santa Rosa bus service
will shuttle passengers to and
from the Sonoma-Marin Area
Rail Transit station in Railroad
Square for the last time Friday as
2301 Hardies Lane
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
(707) 579-4452
schulzmuseum.org
The North Coast
The victim, who wasn’t identi-
fied because of the nature of the
attack, told police the man asked
him if he was a United States cit-
izen during the confrontation,
Santa Rosa police officials said.
Antonio Valdez, 22, was ar-
raigned in Sonoma County Su-
perior Court for three felony
crimes — attempted robbery,
elder abuse causing great bodi-
ly harm or death and assault
— plus a special allegation that
the attack was committed as a
house and the office, another sign an-
nounced: FLOODED. That proved more
and more of an understatement the far-
ther west one traveled. Residents closest
to the creek dividing the mobile home
park from its neighbor, St. Rose Winery,
were forced to navigate water that rose to
their knees, and sometimes higher.
While the area’s most serious flood-
ing and evacuations took place along
the city moves to replace it with a
discounted parking permit.
The City Council in late No-
vember decided to end the
ParkSMART shuttle on March 1,
a little more than a year after it
began in December 2017.
Low ridership and relatively
high trip cost were consistent
problems for the shuttle. City
staff previously determined that
at its peak in September about
20 people rode the shuttle on a
given day.
Sharing the stories, inspirations, and influences
of Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts.
hate crime.
The man was walking along
Sebastopol Avenue east of South
Wright Road about 11:45 p.m.
Saturday when he was confront-
ed by Valdez, who demanded his
wallet and began punching and
kicking him, according to San-
ta Rosa police. Police said the
attack, which was unprovoked,
ended when it became clear the
victim had no money on him.
In court Tuesday, Valdez
asked Judge Jamie This-
the Russian River, well to the west, this
mobile home park north of Santa Rosa
weathered its own, less publicized crisis.
Although one resident was furious at
a motorist who’d driven past too fast,
creating a wake that tore 20 feet of siding
from the base of his mobile unit, the pre-
vailing sentiments, it seemed, were black
TURN TO FLOODING » PAGE A4
To partially offset the loss of
the shuttle, the City Council in
January approved a new permit
allowing commuters who regu-
larly use public transportation
to park in the First Street garage
for $31 a month. That’s half the
cost of the regular monthly per-
mit for the garage.
Transit riders who transfer
between SMART and the San-
ta Rosa CityBus system will
continue to receive discounts.
SMART riders are eligible for
tlethwaite to release him so he
could find a lawyer.
“I have no recollection of
what happened that night,” Val-
dez said before he was cut off by
the judge, who warned him not
to discuss details of the case at
this point of the proceedings.
Prosecutor Bob Waner urged
Thistlethwaite to select the
highest amount of bail permit-
ted due to the seriousness of the
allegations.
“This was a very violent as-
JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
a free two-hour transfer onto
any public Santa Rosa bus,
and city bus riders who pay
with a Clipper Card receive a
$1.50 credit upon transferring
onto a SMART train.
To qualify for the discounted
permit, commuters need to fill
out an application, pay a one-
time $10 startup charge and
provide proof that they regular-
ly use public transit. They can
provide a reduced-price Santa
Rosa CityBus or Sonoma Coun-
- Today’s nonprofit is sponsored by -
TE COM
RA
C E LE B
AR
TN E R S HI
P
A3
sault of a 67-year-old Korean
man who was just walking,”
Waner said.
Thistlethwaite set bail at the
maximum of $85,000 and or-
dered Valdez return to court
March 5 with a lawyer to enter
a plea.
Valdez faces up to about
10 years in state prison if he
is convicted of all the charges
against him, Sonoma County
TURN TO HATE CRIME » PAGE A4
Housing
projects
on city’s
agenda
Santa Rosa Planning
Commission to consider
two proposed developments
By WILL SCHMITT
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A landmark Roseland project featur-
ing new housing and public space is
poised to move forward while another
nearby planned subdivision appears
stalled ahead of hearings before the
Santa Rosa Planning Commission this
week.
The commission will meet at 4 p.m.
Thursday at City Hall to consider the
Roseland Village Neighborhood Center
project and the Dutton Meadows sub-
division in southwest Santa Rosa. The
two projects combined could create up
to 386 new housing units in the least de-
veloped corner of Santa Rosa.
Trumark Homes initially proposed
building more than 100 townhomes on
about 18 acres it bought nearly two de-
cades ago near Hearn Avenue and Dut-
ton Meadow, a project the city approved
in 2006. However, the San Ramon-based
developer abandoned the project be-
cause of the recession.
Environmental studies already were
taken care of, he said, but “the project
never penciled” out, said Robin Miller,
Trumark Homes planning director. The
Dutton Meadows project was revived af-
ter the 2017 wildfires, he said.
The current proposal calls for up to
130 single-family homes and 81 detached
secondary housing units, with about
20 of the homes designated as affordable
housing.
The current design would be finan-
cially feasible for Trumark, Miller said.
If it doesn’t go forward, Santa Rosa
would “lose 211 home opportunities.”
Santa Rosa made housing a top pri-
ority even before the 2017 fires, which
wiped out 5 percent of the city’s hous-
ing stock. The City Council has passed
a battery of new measures meant to
make the city more attractive to hous-
ing developers, particularly those who
TURN TO HOUSING » PAGE A4
ty Transit monthly pass or a
document showing they spent
at least $25 with a Clipper Card
in a month. Permit holders will
be required to reverify their
commuter spending every three
months.
The application is available
online at srcity.org/3023.
You can reach Staff Writer Will
Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.
schmitt@pressdemocrat.com.
On Twitter @wsreports.
A proud Celebrate
MU
Community Partner
N ITY
A4 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Storm prompts
Santa Rosa council
to cancel meeting
By WILL SCHMITT
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Santa Rosa City Coun-
cil’s Tuesday meeting was
canceled as a result of in-
cessant rainfall that may
cause historic flooding in
parts of Sonoma County.
Mayor Tom Schwed-
helm called off the meet-
ing, saying he wanted to
avoid a situation in which
people could be stranded
at City Hall because of
weather conditions.
“I don’t think it’s good
practice to have public
meetings when it’s going
CRISTA JEREMIASON / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT to continue to downpour,”
The lot on Sebastopol Road, the site of the old Albertson’s, where a mixed-use proposal under consideration would add Schwedhelm said.
175 apartments at Roseland Village in Santa Rosa. Three cannabis dispen-
sary appeals had been on
proposed dispensary.
The dispensary would
comply with the city’s pre-
scribed 600-foot boundary
between cannabis stores
and elementary and high
schools, but local school
officials want a buffer of
1,000 feet.
Santa Rosa City Schools
had requested the coun-
cil postpone taking up
Bkind’s proposal for the
pot dispendary if it had
gone through with Tues-
day’s meeting because
school district staff mem-
bers were busy monitor-
ing the storm, Schwed-
helm said.
The two other cannabis
business appeals and a
discussion about the city

HOUSING and with a different trajectory to al-

CONTINUED FROM A3
wanted to build downtown apart-
ment towers.
But concerns about how Tru-
mark’s current project could impact
traffic in the future led city staff to
oppose it.
It’s rare for staff members to rec-
ommend denying a project on the
Planning Commission’s agenda.
Typically, developers meet with
city planners to resolve potential is-
sues before public hearings.
Amy Nicholson, a city planner,
said traffic engineering staffers were
“very concerned” with Trumark’s
new vision of how roads should be
built in the Roseland area. The cur-
rent project calls for developing a
three-way intersection at Dutton
Meadow and a future extension of
Northpoint Parkway just south of
Meadow View Elementary School.
Previous city plans called for an in-
low for faster traffic speeds.
Staffers concluded the infrastruc-
ture revisions would be felt well
beyond the project area, Nicholson
said.
“This is really a big change to a re-
gion that needs to be evaluated at a
higher level,” she said.
City staff members met with Tru-
mark’s representatives several times
to discuss their concerns about the
project before Thursday’s hearing
was scheduled.
“There didn’t really seem to be a
compromise,” Nicholson said. Miller
echoed the sentiment.
A mile to the north, the Roseland
Village Neighborhood Center ap-
pears to have a smoother path for-
ward.
The Sebastopol Road development
would include 175 apartments, 75 of
which would be reserved for low-in-
come tenants. Tentative plans going
before the Planning Commission
also call for a 1-acre public plaza,
a “civic building” that could house
a food mercado on about 7½ acres
owned by the county’s Community
Development Commission.
tap for the council Tues-
day.
A public hearing on the
transitioning to a entire
fleet of electric buses also
were set to go before the
The plan’s substantial low-in- Planning Commission’s council Tuesday.
come housing component allows approval of the proposed Those items could be
the CDC’s master developer, Fos- BKind dispensary on heard at the March 12
ter City-based MidPen Housing Sonoma Avenue was re- meeting or postponed to
Corp., to request three concessions scheduled to March 12, a later date. The council
from the city: allowing the 100 mar- the date of council’s next also has meetings sched-
ket-rate apartments to be built first regular meeting. uled for March 26 and
and in separate buildings from the Santa Rosa City Schools April 2.
affordable units, and only requir- had appealed the commis-
ing 324 parking spots, 69 fewer than sion’s approval because of You can reach Staff Writ-
the 393 that otherwise would be re- BKind’s proximity to the er Will Schmitt at 707-
quired. Santa Rosa French-Amer- 521-5207 or will.schmitt@
City staff members recommend ican Charter School pressdemocrat.com. On
the Planning Commission approve 685 feet east of the Twitter @wsreports.
the requested incentives because
they don’t harm the environment or
historical property, create a public
safety issue or run afoul of the law.
The overall tentative plans for the
Roseland Village Neighborhood Cen-
HATE CRIME
ter also have staff’s support. CONTINUED FROM A3
You can reach Staff Writer Will District Attorney officials Outside the courtroom,
Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will. said. Valdez’s mother and his
schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On According to court re- father, Florencio Castro,

tersection to the north of the school
the Roseland library branch, and
Local journalism
Twitter @wsreports. cords, Valdez was convict-
ed of misdemeanor bat-
tery in 2016 and sentenced
to two years probation,
41, of Santa Rosa, said they
could not believe their son
would assault someone be-
cause of their race.

FLOODING “I feel very dering his property can’t ing. Self-pity was in short which he completed in His parents said Valdez

CONTINUED FROM A3
humor and resignation.
absorb.
Has he graded or wid-
bad for my ened the creek? Don’t get
Etchell started. He has
tenants.” spent, by his estimate,
ties the
supply — possibly because
residents knew about the
complex’s history of flood-
ing when they signed their
contracts. Keep calm, and
2017.
As Valdez was escorted
out of the courtroom, his
mother called out to him
despite court rules pro-
has a 3-year-old son and
two jobs, one at a restau-
rant and another with a
nighttime maintenance
crew. Castro said his son

“You buy a house near
a river, you’re going to
get wet once in a while,”
PHILIP ETCHELL, manager
of the mobile home park
Local journalism
community together.
$100,000 on work and per- high, and dry, and carry hibiting defendants from came home after the in-
mits. He has met with six on, might as well have been communicating with peo- cident and woke him up
different agencies, includ- their motto. ple in the audience. saying, “help me, help

philosophized 88-year-
old Lorraine Holtzen, of
whose driveway on this
day it could be fairly said:
A river runs through it.
And so it did, through the
backyard, past a garden
gnome whose chin barely
cleared the water, into the
swollen creek.
While flooding has be-
come something of a reg-
ular occurrence, affecting
roughly one third of the
190 units in the community
catering to senior citizens,
Holtzen points out that the
water recedes quickly once
the rain stops.
“I like it back here,” she
declared. Asked if she’d
ever complained to man-
As Seen on The Today Show!
agement, like some of her
neighbors, she replied:
“It’s not their fault.”
Management concurs.
Complex manager Phil-
ip Etchell, whose family
has owned the land for 60
years, “since it was prune
orchard,” notes that these
flooding episodes used
to be far less frequent —
“once every 10 years. But
that was before these at-
mospheric rivers started
coming through.” Anoth-
er culprit, he believes: the
rapid growth of Windsor.
The roofs and streets and
smooth surfaces of the
suburbs create “instant
runoff” that the creek bor-
ties the
ing the Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the Sonoma
County Water Agency and
the Army Corps of Engi-
neers.
After three years of
community together.
meetings, he finally se-
cured a grading permit and
hauled away tons of aggre-
gate that had been depos-
ited in Pruitt Creek down
through the decades.
That dredging has made
a real difference, he be-
lieves. Had it not hap-
pened, this week’s flooding
“would be worse.”
That said, he goes on, “I
feel very bad for my ten-
ants.”
Many of them, for their
part, don’t share this feel-
A whiteboard in the “I love you,” said Val- me.” Valdez and another
empty clubhouse adver- dez’s mother, Celeste Val- family member went out-
tised “Chair Yoga,” sched- dez, 40, of Forestville. side and were contacted
uled for Wednesday night. “Thanks, Mom,” Valdez by police.
Attendance is likely to be
light. The sign by the pool
seemed especially appro-
priate, on this day:
said.
Two independent wit-
nesses reported the as-
sault to police, officials
“My son is not a hateful
person. If anything hap-
pened, he was provoked,”
Castro said.
No Lifeguard On Duty. said. After Valdez left on
foot, the victim returned You can reach Staff
You can reach Staff Writer home and a relative called Writer Julie Johnson at
Austin Murphy at 707-521- police. Officers found Val- 707-521-5220 or julie.john-
5214 or austin.murphy@ dez nearby, his clothing son@pressdemocrat.com.
pressdemocrat.com. covered in blood. On Twitter @jjpressdem.
Local journalism
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A6 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Chris Davalos of Guerneville helps his father after he became stuck on Armstrong Woods Road on Tuesday in Guerneville.

FLOODS “We’re talking about access to

CONTINUED FROM A1
With the ground fully
saturated from the wet
winter and recent heavy
storms, runoff and over-
flowing creeks and streams
were expected to push the
river past flood stage at
32 feet Tuesday night. The
river was also expected
to rise above its banks in
Healdsburg and Hopland
before dawn Wednesday.
More than 20 county
roads were reported closed
by flooding Tuesday night
from Sonoma Valley to
Healdsburg.
West County Supervi-
sor Lynda Hopkins, who
represents the lower river
area, said the storm ex-
ceeded initial forecasts
that estimated the river’s
crest in Guerneville at
34 or 35 feet.
“It has been a bit of a
all of Guerneville being blocked
by water. Unless you’re prepared
to wait this out for a few days,
we recommend people get out of
Guerneville.”
SGT. SPENCER CRUM, Sonoma County Sheriff’s office
sleeper storm,” Hopkins
said.
But there were dra-
matic moments, she said,
describing a video she re-
ceived from a friend in Ca-
zadero that showed uproot-
ed full-sized trees floating
down Austin Creek.
The unrelenting rains
were carried by an atmo-
spheric river — the name
given to moisture-laden
bands of water that roll into
California from the Pacific
Ocean — that stalled over
the North Bay on Tuesday,
National Weather Service
meteorologist Rick Canepa
said. Wind and rain are ex-
pected to ease Wednesday,
Canepa said, with scat-
tered showers continuing
into Thursday.
Another storm system
is expected to come off
the ocean late Friday into
Saturday, with a chance
of showers Sunday. Next BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
week, a stronger storm Doug Hall clears logs away that had washed onto Broadway in the Schellville area south of
with “a juicier flow to it” Sonoma on Tuesday. More than 20 roads were reported closed by flooding.
is expected late Tuesday,
Canepa said. “localized flooding,” but
In Santa Rosa, city work- no problems had occurred,
ers were in the field mon- city spokeswoman Adriane
itoring areas known for Mertens said. Crews were
also keeping an eye on the
hilly fire-scarred areas in
Fountaingrove at risk for
landslides, urging resi-

DENTAL
dents to be vigilant and call
911 if any soil appeared to
be slipping.
Signs of possible mud-

Insurance
slides include cracked
roadways and the sound
of trees cracking, Sonoma
County Emergency Man-
ager Chris Godley said.
Physicians Mutual Insurance Company Sonoma County offi-
cials asked people to be
on the lookout for signs of
A less expensive way to mudslides throughout the
county, especially in areas
help get the dental care you deserve burned during the 2017 Oc-
tober wildfires, Godley said
during a news conference
If you’re over 50, you can get coverage for about $1 a day* Tuesday afternoon. Teams
were deployed to north-
east Santa Rosa, where
the Tubbs fire burned, as
Keep your own dentist! You can go to any dentist you want well as the Sonoma Val-
ley, where the Nuns fire
burned, but found no sig-
No wait for preventive care and no deductibles – you nificant land movement
there, Godley said.
could get a checkup tomorrow The rain-soaked pas-
tures of the West Sono-
ma County hills are rife
Coverage for over 350 procedures – including cleanings, for landslides and falling
trees, said Joe Pozzi, a Val-
exams, fillings, crowns…even dentures ley Ford sheep and cattle
rancher. Rain is typically
NO annual or lifetime cap on the cash benefits you can welcome, but “it’s all about
timing,” Pozzi said, noting
receive that all the water coming
down now is running right
off the land.
“We could use a few days
JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Tony and Debra Mares pack up their Adirondack chairs in
their home campsite in the Rivers Bend Campground on the
Russian River near Rio Nido on Tuesday afternoon.
“This is all the water we get,
folks. Come June we’re going to
wish we had more.”
CAITLIN CORNWALL,
biologist with Sonoma Ecology Center
ters. Schell Vista firefight- early from places like Rio
ers pulled two vehicles out Nido.
of deep water on Broadway Regular updates from
in Schellville. Sonoma County officials
The deep water also were sent out via various
forced Schell Vista fire- methods Tuesday, includ-
fighters to evacuate their ing on the County of Sono-
main station at Highway ma Facebook page and
121 and 12. Between calls the neighbor networking
they camped at the older platform Nextdoor, county
station on Eighth Street spokeswoman Jennifer La-
East and East Napa Street, rocque said.
Schell Vista Fire Chief Ray
Mulas said.
Two other alert systems,
Nixle and SoCo Alert,
Multiple Russian Riv- which requires users to
er calls included fallen opt in for notices, were also
trees, including a large used to provide the public
fir that fell into a house with information, she said.

FREE Information Kit of drying out,” he said,

expressing a thought that
many city dwellers might
share.
Caitlin Cornwall, a biol-
ogist with Sonoma Ecology
Center, saw a lost opportu-
nity in the water rushing
through roadside ditches
and city storm sewers.
Landowners, nonprofits
and local governments
need to think more about
capturing rainwater in-
stead of getting rid of it as
quickly as possible, Corn-
wall said.
“This is all the water we
on Highway 116 north of
Guerneville, taking out a
corner of the house and
causing major damage.
A major mudslide in the
9300 block of Bohemian
Highway closed the road
Tuesday afternoon, and
Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve
Baxman said it would re-
main blocked for “a long
time.”
The slide, including trees
and debris, was 6 to 8 feet
deep, he said.
Graton firefighters were
running during the night,
getting their first call for
Wireless emergency
alerts, which are managed
by the Federal Communi-
cations Commission and
target phone users in a
specific geographic area,
were deployed Tuesday to
alert residents along the
Russian River of the man-
datory evacuations, coun-
ty spokeswoman Briana
Khan said.
A map of areas that will
be flooded is available at
SoCoEmergency.org.
Road closure informa-
tion is at RoadConditions.
sonoma-county.org.

1-888-4
1-888-490-6318
90-6318
get, folks,” she said. “Come a water rescue at 3:30 a.m.
June we’re going to wish when a newspaper deliv- Staff writers Martin Espi-

1-888-490-6318
we had more.”
Tuesday was a busy day
Or >> www.dental50plus.us/SantaRosa for first responders county-
wide, and a memorable one
for some residents who
*Individual plan. found themselves wading
Product not available in MN, MT, NH, NM, RI, VT, WA. Acceptance guaranteed for one insurance policy/ through muddy brown
certificate of this type. Contact us for complete details about this insurance solicitation. This specific offer is floodwaters pouring over
not available in CO, NY; call 1-800-969-4781 or respond for similar offer. Certificate C250A (ID: C250E; PA: county roads.
C250Q); Insurance Policy P150 (GA: P150GA; NY: P150NY; OK: P150OK;TN: P150TN) Fire crews in west and
east Sonoma County field-
ed multiple calls for drivers
6096E-0917 MB17-NM008Ec stuck in cars or abandoned
vehicles left in flood wa-
ery driver drove into sub-
merged Graton Road in
downtown Graton, said
Graton Fire Chief Bill Bul-
lard. That was followed by
three teens who drove into
the same flooded area from
the west side and needed
help to get out.
Hopkins warned that
some small lower river
communities could be cut
off by rising water and
urged residents to get out
noza and Austin Murphy
contributed to this report.
Staff Writer Guy Kovner
can be reached at 707-
521-5457 or guy.kovner@
pressdemocrat.com. Staff
Writer Randi Rossmann
can be reached at 707-521-
5412 or randi.rossmann@
pressdemocrat.com. Staff
Writer Nashelly Chavez
can be reached at 707-521-
5203 or nashelly.chavez@
pressdemocrat.com.
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 A7

Schools closed as flooding intensifies

Eleven districts
will close campuses
Wednesday for rain
By SUSAN MINICHIELLO
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Eleven public school dis-
tricts will close their cam-
puses Wednesday because
of flooding and other prob-
lems caused by this week’s
storm.
Six public school dis-
tricts closed their campus-
es Tuesday, as bus routes
flooded and downed trees
and mudslides spilled onto
roads across Sonoma Coun-
ty. District officials say
schools along the Russian
River will likely remain
closed for days, with more
heavy rain expected to fall
in the area.
“It’s a decision made on
a day-by-day basis,” Sono-
ma County Superinten-
dent Steve Herrington said
about the closures.
Alexander Valley Union,
Geyserville Unified,
Guerneville and Montgom-
ery Elementary districts
closed schools Tuesday.
Harmony Union and Monte
Rio districts dismissed stu-
dents at noon.
St. John the Baptist Catholic School students cross Healdsburg Plaza during a downpour. Six
public school districts closed their campuses Tuesday.
As of 10 p.m. Tuesday,
all six districts announced
schools will remain closed
Wednesday, according to
the Sonoma Office of Edu-
cation. They were joined by
five other districts: Clover-
dale Unified, Healdsburg
Unified, Forestville Union,
Oak Grove Union and West
Side Union. Additionally,
El Molino High and West
County Charter Middle in
the West Sonoma County
Union district will be closed
Wednesday, along with Vil-
lage Public Charter School.
Nathan Myers, Monte
Rio superintendent and
principal, said it’s possi-
ble his K-8 school may be
closed Thursday, too.
Monte Rio Union School
is right across from the Rus-
sian River. County officials
ordered mandatory evacu-
ations Tuesday afternoon
for communities along the
river, which is expected to
reach a height of 46 feet by
late Wednesday.
Besides a few minor
leaks being repaired, Myers
said the school is well-situ-
KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2015
ated at higher ground. He
said students were picked
up by parents around noon
Tuesday.
Forestville Union re-
M.A. Organization
Degree
mained open Tuesday,
but half its students were
picked up early by parents,
Superintendent Phyllis Pa-
risi said. Families were en-
couraged to get their kids if
their schedule permitted it.
“We live in an area where
transportation is incredibly
difficult for our families,”
Parisi said.
Some staff members
who live along the Russian
River left work early to
find their homes flooded in
2 feet of water, Parisi said.
After-school activities were
canceled for Tuesday and
Wednesday.
Suzi Heron, office man-
ager at Harmony Union
School District, said that
although its three Occiden-
tal schools aren’t near the
river, families live close to
it. The district temporarily
lost power Tuesday. Stu-
dents were picked up by
parents and sent home by
bus, Heron said.
“We’re quite a ways from
the river, but roads in and
out (of schools) are flood-
ing,” Heron said.
Montgomery Elementa-
ry in Cazadero, close to the
Sonoma Coast, also closed
Tuesday when it lost power
after a fallen tree knocked
down a power line, Her-
rington said.
Santa Rosa Junior Col-
lege closed Shone Farm at
noon to students and visi-
tors. The farm will remain
closed Wednesday because
of flooded roads, a college
spokesperson said.
You can reach Staff Writer
Susan Minichiello at 707-
521-5216 or susan.minichiel-
lo@pressdemocrat.com. On
Twitter @susanmini.

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KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT MAOD@sonoma.edu
Sycamore Court resident Jesse Hagan evacuates to higher ground on Tuesday in the 707.664.3977
apartment complex in lower Guerneville.

EVACUATED total remodel.”

CONTINUED FROM A1
afternoon issued a manda-
tory evacuation for towns
along the river including
about 3,800 people, several
residents were intending
to stay and ride out the
storm. Many swarmed
Guerneville grocery stores
and markets to grab bot-
tled water, milk, beer and
nonperishable food. They
bought toilet paper, fire-
wood and filled their cars
and trucks with gasoline.
Inside the downtown
Safeway, shoppers stood
in long lines, some asking
each other how high the
river was expected to reach.
“They say 46 feet!” said
one man pushing a cart
with several packages of
bottled water.
As people walked to and
from the supermarket,
emergency alerts could be
heard shrieking on cell-
phones and a couple of
people scrambled to check
the news.
Mike Johnson, a retir-
ee who recently moved to
Guerneville from Wash-
ington state, walked to the
Safeway from his home
on First Street, unsure of
whether to evacuate or
stay in his home.
“When they say every-
body get out, does that
mean me?” Johnson asked.
Johnson was worried
he wouldn’t be able to get
in and out of Guerneville
because of road closures.
“That’s why I’m shopping,
to get enough stuff to get
me by for a couple of days.
If this store goes under,
there goes your food.”
Those who had been
through previous floods
knew exactly what to ex-
pect Wednesday.
Jeff Bridges, general
manager and part owner
of the R3 Hotel, calmly co-
ordinated flood prepara-
tions on Tuesday after his
last guest left a day early
to avoid being stranded in
Guerneville. Bridges said
he expected much of the
first floor of the popular
23-room resort to be under
7 feet or more of water.
“It will probably reach to
the top of the door frame
there,” he said, standing
at the far end of the ho-
tel’s bar. “We will need a
Hotel workers moved
office equipment, comput-
ers, important business
records and liquor to the
second floor of the ho-
tel. Bridges, who is also
president of the Russian
River Chamber of Com-
merce, said he’s been with
the resort since 1992 and
Wednesday’s flood would
mark his fourth.
Bridges said previous
floods, including one in
2006 that forced a signifi-
cant hotel remodel, hap-
pened around New Year’s
Eve. He said he and oth-
er Guerneville residents
thought they were out of
flood danger that year.
“We thought we were
kind of out of the woods,”
he said.
Bridges said he and his
colleagues would work
hard to get whatever they
could to the second floor of
the hotel before the flood-
water comes.
“The more you get up,
the more you get out, the
less you have to clean be-
cause it’s nasty,” he said of
the water. “When it floods,
it’s everything, sewer lines,
septic systems, garbage
cans. ...We’re fortunate we
have rooms upstairs.”
Because of the expected
calamitous weather, the
county’s emergency home-
less shelter in Guerneville
opened at noon at the re-
quest of county Supervisor
Lynda Hopkins, said Pat
Jones, shelter manager for
West County Community
Services.
Shortly after it opened,
about two dozen people
with sleeping bags and
backpacks had already
claimed a spot on the floor
of one of two open rooms.
By 5 p.m., officials trans-
ported them to shelters
in Santa Rosa where they
would be safely away from
the Russian River area.
People living along the
river can go to either of
two emergency shelters
opened Tuesday — Sebas-
topol Center for the Arts,
282 S. High St., and Sonoma
County Fairgrounds Grace
Pavilion, 1350 Bennett Val-
ley Road, Santa Rosa.
You can reach Staff Writer
Martin Espinoza at 707-
521-5213 or martin.espino-
za@pressdemocrat.com.
On Twitter @renofish.
A8
A PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING NEWSPAPER
The Press Democrat
Santa Rosa, California
Steve Falk, Chief Executive Officer
NEWS
Catherine Barnett, Executive Editor
Ted Appel, Managing Editor
Eric Wittmershaus, Deputy Managing
Editor
EDITORIAL
As Russian River
rises, heed the
early warnings
H A deal for Trump
ere in Sonoma Coun-
ty, we talk a lot about
emergencies and early
warnings.
With good reason. Many
people got no warning when
wildfires swept across large
parts of the county, destroy-
ing more than 5,300 homes, in
October 2017.
If they had some more time,
people say they
could have sal- People want
vaged important
papers, family cellphone
photos and
heirlooms. Some alerts, texts,
lives may have
been spared. sirens —
People want
cellphone alerts, whatever it
texts, sirens
— whatever it takes to keep
takes to keep
them safe.
them safe.
Another emergency is loom-
ing — a flood on the Russian
River.
Flood waters rise slowly, so
this time there is ample notice.
And we strongly urge river
residents to heed warnings and
follow evacuation orders, man-
datory or otherwise.
By Tuesday morning, author-
ities were advising residents
to leave Rio Nido, Monte Rio,
Guerneville and other flood-
prone communities.
With heavy rain falling,
and more in the forecast, the
Russian River was expected to
reach flood stage — 32 feet at
Guerneville Bridge — Tues-
day evening. By the end of the
day Wednesday, the California
Nevada River Forecast Center
projects that the river will crest
at 46.1 feet in Guerneville.
That would be the biggest
Russian River flood since 1995,
and the sixth-largest on record.
River residents are hardy
folks, and many of them have
been through floods before.
However, as Sonoma County
sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum told
Staff Writer Randi Rossmann,
CONTACT US
LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK:
Email letters of no more than 200 words
to letters@pressdemocrat.com. Writer’s
name, address and phone number must
be included. Letters may be edited for
length and clarity.
Trump, trade and the advantage of autocrats
T PAUL KRUGMAN
here’s been some good
news on global trade late-
ly: A full-scale U.S.-China
trade war appears to be on hold,
and may be avoided altogether.
The bad news is that if we do
make a trade deal with China,
it will basically be because the
Chinese are offering Donald
Trump a personal political
payoff. At the same time, a much
more dangerous trade conflict
with Europe is looming. And the
Europeans, who still have this
peculiar thing called rule of law,
can’t bribe their way to trade
peace.
The background: Last year the
Trump administration imposed
tariffs on a wide range of Chi-
nese products, covering more
than half of China’s exports to
the United States. But that might
have been only the beginning:
Trump had threatened to
impose much higher tariffs on
$200 billion of Chinese exports
starting this Friday.
What was the motivation for
these tariffs? Remarkably, there
doesn’t seem to be any strong
constituency demanding pro-
tectionism; if anything, major
industries have been lobbying
against Trump’s trade moves,
and the stock market clearly dis-
likes trade conflict, going down
EDITORIAL
Jim Sweeney, Editorial Director
Kerry Rego, Editorial Board Community
Member
Ruthie Snyder, Editorial Board
Community Member
“A lot of these floods get to 34,
35 feet, and we tell people to
move to higher ground. But
we’re looking at 46, 47 feet.
“We’re talking about access
to all of Guerneville being
blocked by water,” Crum con-
tinued. “Unless you’re prepared
to wait this out for a few days,
we recommend people get out
of Guerneville. Don’t just move
to higher ground so
we’re not having to
rescue you.”
That’s a pretty
clear warning.
From past floods,
first responders
know what to
expect. By the time
the river reaches
35 feet, homes in
the Mirabel Trailer
Park in Forestville
and the lowest
sections of Guerneville begin to
flood. By 41.5 feet, River Road is
impassable in Guerneville, and
by 44 feet, the Safeway store
floods. So does the commercial
district in Monte Rio. At 46 feet,
most of downtown Guerneville
is inundated, and River Road
floods in Rio Nido.
If you’re thinking about go-
ing to take a look, don’t. If you
must be in the area, slow down
and avoid flooded areas. Here’s
another warning: A county or-
dinance prohibits boating when
the river is above flood stage.
Firefighters have plenty to do.
They don’t need to worry about
any extra rescues.
Many homes have been
elevated since the 1995 flood.
Those buildings probably won’t
be inundated, but the area
could be cut off for a day or two
until the river recedes.
As he stocked up on Tuesday
morning in Guerneville, Mike
Johnson, a recent transplant
from Washington, wondered:
“When they say everybody get
out, does it mean me?”
Our advice: If you’re asking,
you ought to be ready to go.
STAFF CONTACTS:
Editorial Director Jim Sweeney
Phone: 707-521-5201
Email: jim.sweeney@pressdemocrat.com
when tensions rise and recover- sions, which all seem to involve
ing when they ease.
So trade conflict is essentially companies to buy U.S. agricul-
Trump’s personal vendetta —
one that he is able to pursue
because U.S. international trade came after a Chinese pledge to
law gives the president enor-
mous discretion to impose tariffs This will please farmers, al-
on a variety of grounds. Pre-
dicting trade policy is therefore will even make up for the losses
about figuring out what’s going
on in one man’s mind.
Now, there are real reasons
for the U.S. to be angry at China what China is offering doesn’t at
and demand policy changes.
Above all, China notoriously vi- interests at stake. All it does is
olates the spirit of international give Trump something to tweet
trade rules, de facto restricting about.
foreign companies’ access to its
market unless they hand over
valuable technology. So you
could make a case for U.S. pres-
sure on China — coordinated
with other advanced economies
— to stop that practice.
But there has been little evi-
dence that Trump is interested
in dealing with the real China
problem. I was at a trade policy
conference over the weekend
LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK
EDITOR: So President Don-
ald Trump wants money back
from California’s high-speed
rail project (“President wants
money back,” Feb. 20). Let’s
swing him a deal: We’ll start
making payments just as soon
as he pays back all the credi-
tors and others he stiffed on
his six business bankruptcies.
Among the affected were
hundreds of his own casino
employees — maids, bellhops,
bartenders — who lost more
than $2 million collectively in
their retirement savings when
his casino’s stock price plum-
meted to near zero.
All this while Trump contin-
ued to live in the lap of luxury
and protect his family — while
the families of his employees
and creditors were hung out
to dry.
ANDREW HIDAS
Santa Rosa
Schools failing students
EDITOR: After all the lively
discussion leading up to the
Santa Rosa school board’s
A-G decision — requiring
all high school students to
take college-prep classes — I
would have thought expecta-
tions from the feeder school
districts, increased tutoring
resources and extra help in the
classroom would have been
part of the success plan. Now
we have nearly 4 in 10 students
with a “D” or “F” in the grade
column (“Struggling with
math,” Monday). This group of
kids needs help and resources
to succeed on the narrow path
that has been laid out by the
current administration.
MARK WARREN
Santa Rosa
Living with lions
EDITOR: We have had letters
complaining that mountain li-
ons are being hunted or crowd-
ed out of their natural habitat
to the point of extinction. My
neighbor saw two mountain li-
ons on my property two weeks
ago, and I live in Rincon Valley,
in the city limits.
Catamounts are territorial,
where experts were asked what
Trump really wants; the most
popular answer was “tweetable
deliveries.”
Sure enough, Trump has
been crowing about what he
portrays as big Chinese conces-
China’s government ordering
tural products. In particular, the
postponement of the trade war
buy 10 million tons of soybeans.
though it’s far from clear that it
they’ve suffered from previous
Trump actions.
The point, however, is that
all get at the real U.S. national
Oh, and by the way: China’s
biggest bank, which happens
to be majority-owned by the
Chinese government, occupies
three whole floors in the Trump
Tower in Manhattan. It has been
planning to reduce its space; it
will be interesting to see what
happens to that plan now.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Com-
merce Department has prepared
a report on imports of European
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019
and males cover something
like 500 miles looking for fe-
males and trying to “grab and
go” with what food they get
along the way.
I suspect that mountain lions
are nowhere near extinction,
and because of their endan-
gered status, they have been
allowed to propagate to the
point where the population has
exceeded what areas are left
in terms of territories around
here in California.
In other states, because of
the vast expanses, I suspect
that cougars are also nowhere
near extinction and are still
considered more of a pest. I
have a sign up at one entrance
warning trespassers that there
might be a mountain lion on
the property. But, of course,
small kids disregard the sign.
CARL MERNER
Santa Rosa
Young climate activists
EDITOR: I’m heartened by
the global youth movement
addressing climate change.
My baby boomer generation
allowed climate disruption to
occur, and we’re doing very
little to mitigate it. But our
children, grandchildren and
future generations are the ones
who will be forced to deal with
the most horrific impacts.
Most future refugees will
be due to climate disruptions
rather than wars. Even the U.S.
military has acknowledged
and made plans to deal with
global climate change-based
civil wars, migration and
world health issues.
Although The Press Demo-
crat has provided scant cov-
erage of this issue, thousands
of European students from
Brussels to Berlin to London
to Stockholm and beyond have
been protesting against their
governments’ lack of earnest
response to climate change.
The U.K.-based progressive
think tank Institute for Public
Policy Research declared
recently that “we have en-
tered the age of environmen-
tal breakdown.” Youth-led
groups, such as Sunrise, Our
Children’s Trust and Youth-
Strike4Climate, are building
the power of youth to urge our
automobiles that, according to
the German press, concludes
that these imports pose a threat
to national security.
If this sounds ridiculous,
that’s because it is. Indeed, while
the Europeans aren’t angels,
they do abide by global rules,
and it’s hard to accuse them of
any major trade sins. Yes, they
do have 10 percent tariffs on U.S.
cars — but we impose 25 percent
tariffs on their light trucks,
which makes us more than even.
But a department headed by
perhaps the most corrupt com-
merce secretary in history will,
of course, conclude whatever
Trump wants it to conclude. And
this report gives the president
the legal authority to get us into
a trade war with the European
Union.
If it happens, this trade war
will be immensely damaging.
The EU is America’s biggest
export market, directly ac-
counting for around 2.6 million
jobs. Moreover, our economies
are very much intermeshed —
which is why even the U.S. auto
industry is horrified at the pos-
sibility that Trump will impose
tariffs on cars.
But here’s the thing: Unlike
the Chinese government, the EU
can’t order private companies
country and our planet’s lead-
ership to take climate change
and subsequent environmental
destruction seriously while
reclaiming democracy in the
process.
The youth groups also
demand that Congress pass a
Green New Deal put forward
by progressive members of the
Democratic Party.
There is no Planet B.
VIVIANE ISABEAU
Santa Rosa
Mourning a news carrier
EDITOR: My paper was
late for the first time ever this
past Saturday. It was also late
on Sunday, which was highly
unusual. I was wondering if
my carrier was ill, only to find
out that my carrier had passed
away due to an unfortunate
accident (“Carrier fondly re-
called by clients,” Tuesday).
I want to let all the carriers
know that even though we,
your customers, have never
met you, you are appreciated.
My paper was always wrapped
well for rainy weather and
always on time. I could tell
that this carrier really cared
about the customers, and I am
mourning the loss.
So for all of you who get up
early to get us our news, you
touch our lives, even though
we have not met face to face.
We mourn this loss with you.
JANICE JOHNSON
Santa Rosa
A climate blessing
EDITOR: We have been
blessed by the weather. The
snowpack is 140 percent of
normal, compared to 2018 at
20 percent. I heard that rain
amounts are at 18 trillion
gallons year to date. Years of
drought have taken a toll on
California. God bless all who
have lost property and lives.
Now what are our political
leaders going to do with this
windfall of climates bless-
ing? Climate creates rain and
drought. Politicians create
water shortages.
M.E. GORMAN
Rohnert Park
to make splashy purchases of
U.S. goods. And it certainly can’t
steer business to Trump Orga-
nization properties. As a result,
the chances of spiraling trade
conflict remain high.
The point is that when it
comes to dealing with Trump
and his team, autocracies have
an advantage over democracies
that follow the rule of law. And
trade disputes are arguably the
least of it.
Think about the push by
financially conflicted Trump ad-
visers to sell nuclear technology
to the Bone Saw Kingdom, other-
wise known as Saudi Arabia. Or
think of the influence golf-play-
ing expats seem to be having
over Venezuela policy.
So while stock markets are
happy about the prospects
for trade peace with China,
the broader picture is deeply
disturbing. If we do manage
to limit the damage from this
confrontation, it will be for the
wrong reasons. And the warped
motivations governing U.S. for-
eign policy may yet have deeply
destructive consequences, with
a trade war far from being the
scariest possibility.
Paul Krugman is a columnist
for the New York Times.