A Petaluma360 Blog

Our River Town

Bill Hammerman on Petaluma's past, present and future

Two Blogs for the Price of One: Part II

Tuesday, at 7:10 by

Yesterday’s copy of Then & Now Blog #9, first printed on 4-19-06 (six years ago) outlined a citizens-driven initiative that, for the first three years (2006-2009) grew to include over 100 CERT grads (30 of whom earned Ham Technician Class Licenses), represented over a dozen NERT areas in Petaluma, including one that met the criteria for a STAR Neighborhood (Safe+Trained+Alert+Ready). Since then, Petaluma ALERT, has declined in numbers as well as loosing its official sponsorship by the Fire Department. This… Read More »

Two for the Price of One: Part I

Monday, at 11:25 by

What a deal! The following blog could have been categorized as either Then & Now or Emergency Preparedness. This coming Wednesday, (4/18) will be the 106th Anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake that caused severe damage in Santa Rosa. Some stories related to this historic event have already appeared in local newspapers recently. To date, this “wanna be” reporter has posted 88 blogs under the Emergency Preparedness heading and 42 under Then & Now. (These earlier blogs are available… Read More »

These Warnings Are Getting Closer

Tuesday, at 12:57 by

Yesterday’s news included an earthquake report that included two quakes that occurred seven seconds apart, one mile from El Cerrito, on the Hayward Fault. The Press Democrat stated that although these quakes were minor and short in duration, they were felt from Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz. Many Californians might say, “So what? Earthquakes happen around the world every day!” True; but it seems that some are getting closer to Petaluma and Sonoma County and are happening on a fault… Read More »

Community Preparedness Starts With You

Sunday, at 10:25 by

The above slogan kicked off the 10th anniversary of FEMA’s Citizen Corps Program. This advice has been one of the foundation stones for our Petaluma CERT-NERT-CERN initiatives since the start of our blogging about disaster and emergency preparedness for the Argus-Courier on September 7, 2006. This is EP blog #88 and is directed toward the most important players in any community’s efforts to Be Ready and to Be Prepared for a major disaster ….YOU and your neighbors. Copy and paste… Read More »

FEMA Shares Lessons from 2011

Friday, at 3:45 by

In his “Disaster Preparedness & Recovery” blog, posted 2-1-12, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate highlighted three emergency management lessons he believed were learned from the many disasters that occurred in 2011. #1- Not all disasters come with warnings. Regardless of the type of disaster (flood, tornado, hurricane, earthquake), we need to be ready. #2- We can’t underestimate the importance of the entire team. All of the response and recovery efforts from federal, state, and local groups (private sector, nonprofits, faith-based community,… Read More »

To Blog or Not to Blog …

Tuesday, at 5:06 by

That is a question often asked by bloggers as they struggle to capture the attention of their readers and to hopefully engage them in a dialogue related to the topics posted by the blogger. This is a question I have often asked myself after having posted 85 blogs related to Emergency Preparedness since September 6, 2006. This question is being used as the title to this blog because Adam Crowe used it a few days in connection with his “Disaster… Read More »

What is the BAEER Fair?

Friday, at 6:35 by

Last Saturday, I drove down to the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael to attend the annual BAEER Fair and see how many of the original planning committee were still active in organizing an event that had its origin 35 years ago. Currently, the BAEER Fair is a special project of the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, in Berkeley. But first; what is a BAEER Fair? BAEER = Bay Area Environmental Education Resources. The purpose of the annual… Read More »

Guess what we found in the garage?

Tuesday, at 7:51 by

You won’t believe this; but The Trio (aka Me, Myself, & I) are trying to fulfill their New Year’s resolution to “clean out” the garage. (Yes, we all know that they have made that resolution for at least the past several years.) Tucked away, in the far corner, was a real computer antique – an Osborne 1 Portable Computer. It hasn’t been used in over 20 years. Also found was a User’s Reference Guide, Software Program discs, and a Quick… Read More »

It’s the Last Day of 2011

Friday, at 9:06 by

Perhaps The Trio can squeeze in one more blog before year’s end. Hammerhead reports that he hasn’t read any story lately that really “hits the nail on the head.” Likewise, Eagle-Eyes hasn’t been impressed with any of the headlines printed in our local newspapers, recently. Perhaps 2012 will be different. Perhaps The Trio should focus their attention in new directions? Me, however, doesn’t want to give up on the formation of a Petaluma Neighborborhood HamWatch Network. Myself has gotten weaker,… Read More »

A Few Christmas Memories

Friday, at 2:29 by

When Christmas was just around the corner, Bill Soberanes would often devote an entire column to his holiday memories. Rather than attempt to translate his thoughts, using my words, here are a few of his memories about Christmas published by the Argus-Courier years ago. * * * * * Although Santa now arrives via many different ways of transportation, I miss the days when he came in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. I’ve found that many people who used to… Read More »