Sonoma County News

A suspected shoplifter, later found to have what appeared to be a gun in his backpack, refused to surrender when confronted by police at the Kmart store in north Santa Rosa on Sunday morning, setting off a skirmish and a large-scale law enforcement response that left him and several officers injured.

It was a troubling sign when Marin County's 2013-14 Civil Grand Jury criticized the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit's board of directors.

We coastal Californians tend to disrespect our disasters, probably because - unlike hurricanes and tornadoes - they don't have a "season" when we can reasonably expect them.

This combination of photos provided by the family via The Press Democrat and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department shows an undated photo of 13-year-old Andy Lopez and the replica assault rifle he was holding when he was shot and killed by two Sonoma County deputies in Santa Rosa, Calif.

A group of protesters gathered this afternoon and blocked traffic on northbound U.S. Highway 101 in Santa Rosa to show their disapproval with the Sonoma County prosecutors' decision not to file criminal charges against a sheriff's deputy who fatally shot 13-year-old Andy Lopez in October.

Announcement release from Fundemonium : Fundemonium owners Steven and Jean Elliott announce that they are moving their hobby, game, and toy store this August to 579 Rohnert Park Expressway, and the new store will more than double the size of the current location.

The California Highway Patrol in Santa Rosa is seeking the public's help in locating a vehicle and driver suspected of being involved in a fatal hit and run collision Saturday morning in unincorporated Sonoma County.

Everyone expects new growth in the spring and summer, but it's not only nature that's blooming.

Petalumans driving Old Adobe or Frates Road have likely noticed PG&E workers installing new pipeline beneath Green String Farm, where the two streets converge.

There was perhaps some wishful thinking at work when owners of Sebastopol's landmark feed store hung a banner last spring announcing the business would reopen late this summer.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton lifted a stay she had imposed on claims made against Sheriff's Deputy Erick Gelhaus by the parents of Andy Lopez.

Prosecutors filed almost four dozen new fraud charges Friday against a Rohnert Park man accused of manufacturing credit cards, stealing others' identities and living a lavish life of fast cars and luxury rental homes on the fake credit.

A man who eluded capture after a shootout during an attempted robbery at a Bennett Valley jewelry store Thursday remained at large Friday morning, Santa Rosa police officials said.

Called on to investigate the fatal shooting of a toy-gun carrying 13-year-old boy by a sheriff's deputy, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch chose a consultant she described as "an independent, outside expert on human performance in high-stress encounters, such as officer-involved shootings."

The board of directors of Sonoma Clean Power voted Thursday to request that Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo be removed from his board post with the agency, saying his arrest last year and subsequent acquittal on charges of attempting to peek into a female neighbor's home have made him a distraction for the new public electricity provider.

Digging her work boots into a hillside at Westminster Woods near Occidental on Thursday, Madison Martinez hammered steel rods through a block of wood to secure a new step on the steep and winding trail.

At least two people are wounded after a shooting during an attempted robbery at a Santa Rosa jewelry store while the manhunt for a possibly wounded second suspect has been called off for now.

As if all those fresh fruits and veggies and other homemade goods weren't enough, local farmers' markets can now add another feature to their lineup: wine tasting.

Announcement from the Petaluma Police Department: The Independence Day Weekend anti-DUI crackdown in Sonoma County reports 39 DUI arrests from local routine traffic enforcement and special "Avoid the 13" deployments in Sonoma County.

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