Spears for Years
I applaud Paul Wirtz for his commitment to growing asparagus (The Crop Report, April 15). The Marin Master Gardeners have an excellent article on this topic, which might benefit readers who want to raise their own asparagus. Caution: this is not a project for those who want instant gratification. It takes three years until you can actually harvest the crop!
Via Bohemian.com
Miss You, Matt
I’m glad that the Bopeemian did a story on Matt Carrillo (“So Long,” April 8). He was a really influential person. He definitely touched me. (I’m still going to say Bopeemian, though, since that’s my jam.)Â
Matt, you are missed. Facebook went nuts for you. Let’s try to go nuts for each other with better timing in the future. OK?
Via Bohemian.com
Playground for the Rich
Sonoma County is no longer a working class place, but a huge playground for the rich and connected. Work for a living? You need at least two jobs to afford to stay here. There is no middle class, only the rich and the servant class who serve them.
The Jan. 28 letter to the editor (“Strikingly Uninformed”) written by the Walmart director of communications verifies my rant. This lady brags how the average wage for full time associate (oh, how PC—just say it: employees, workers) is $13.31! Wow! With all that pay, you can cut your second job a few hours so you might be able to save up enough, in say a few months, to go to the many eateries advertised in the Bohemian. That’s a poverty-level wage here in Sonoma County. You can’t live and pay your way here on that. Of the entire workforce at Walmart, how many are full time “associates”? My bet is not even half of them.
We keep being fed this lie that the middle class is dwindling. No, it is not. It is gone, long gone. For me to live a middle-class lifestyle that my parents enjoyed would mean I would have to be pulling down around $200,000 a year.
I would really like to see an article or breakdown of just how many workers here in Sonoma County make a wage like that with a full-time job and full benefits that include, health, dental and retirement. Outside of government sector jobs, I don’t know anyone who gets that anymore. The middle class is gone, and Sonoma County is becoming just a huge playground for the rich.
Windsor
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