NEWS
Point Reyes tiny homes open doors
Three years ago in November, Enrique Hernandez set out to gather crisp apples and herbs from the garden beside his home at the Martinelli ranch. With his harvest, he baked a postre de manzana to celebrate the 94th birthday of Leroy Martinelli, a former rancher and dump operator whose property housed the trailer Mr. Hernandez…
Payments to ranch tenants wrapped up
In the beginning, they were overlooked. Ranchers and dairy operators were paid a combined $30 million in the legal settlement last year to relinquish their leases in the Point Reyes National Seashore. But the people they employed or to whom they rented housing—ordinary folks woven into the fabric of West Marin, nearly all Latino—received nothing.…
St. Columba’s celebrates two milestones
Elizabeth Jones first stepped into St. Columba’s Episcopal Church after the untimely death of her best friend. The pair met in college and were an instant match: one abhorred typing and needed her papers transcribed, and the other needed work. The two remained inseparable until Ms. Jones’s friend died from kidney disease in the early…
Bolinas honors surfing culture
Standing on the beach nearly 30 years ago, Marialidia Marcotulli watched surfers emerge from the water with what she could only describe as a glow. They had gained something out there beyond the break that remained, for her, a mystery—until she became one of them. She began at a surfing school for women, then…
Candidate filing period open for general election
The candidate filing period for the Nov. 3, 2026, general election has opened, and 35 seats are up for election across West Marin. The Bolinas-Stinson Union and Lagunitas School Districts both have three full-term, four-year seats up for grabs, while the Nicasio School District has two full-term seats. Shoreline Unified has two seats for the…
Coastal commission approves permit for Seadrift construction
The owners of a Seadrift home who broke rules designed to protect delicate waterfront ecosystems have received a permit to legalize landscaping and construction work. Last Friday, the California Coastal Commission granted William and Stephanie Mellin a coastal development permit with conditions, including a requirement that they donate $25,000 to an as-yet-unnamed nonprofit that supports…
FEATURES & OPINIONS
Leave trees and woody debris in our creeks
Recently, I was awakened by a loud cracking in the night. It was 12:45 a.m. A few minutes later, the top of a large, leaning Oregon ash splintered off and crashed into our backyard and San Geronimo Creek, taking down our powerline. It was the third time in 15 years that a tree brought down…
In the Fields, July 16, 2026
By the calendar, summer is only a third of the way over. But flowers are reaching their crescendo in the gardens at Point Reyes Flowers, whose arrangements are featured in Gordon Bryan’s vases at downtown’s new Bar Auklet. Dahlias of many colors are the stars of the gardens, while perennial sunflowers tower at nearly 10…
