Pent-up feelings over a proposed hotel in downtown Sonoma, and over an initiative that would curb such growth, spilled over at Monday’s City Council meeting. The council voted 4-1 to give City Manager Carol Giovanatto the authority to research consultants for help in preparing a report on the impacts of the proposed ballot measure, should proponents succeed in qualifying it for an election.

Sonoma’s city attorney on Monday released a summary of a proposed ballot measure that would limit hotel development in the city, including the controversial Chateau Sonoma & Spa proposed near the Plaza.

Four of the busiest lobbying firms in Sacramento have North Bay connections. Atop the heap is a firm co-founded by former North Bay lawmaker Bev Hansen.

The top of Fitch Mountain, the landmark that helps define Healdsburg, is one step closer to becoming a public park.

Five months after its tribal backers won final federal approval to move ahead, the largest casino resort in the Bay Area is starting to take shape on the northwest edge of Rohnert Park.

A 59-room luxury hotel proposed near Sonoma’s historic Plaza would pump an estimated $14 million a year into the town’s economy and add to future congestion at a critical intersection on the Plaza’s south side. Traffic is among the major considerations as town planning commissioners take their first official look Thursday at developer Darius Anderson’s plans for the Chateau Sonoma Hotel & Spa on West Napa Street a half-block from the Plaza.

Political consultant Paul Andersen of Petaluma said Monday he is responsible for an anonymous website that posted criticisms of congressional candidate Stacey Lawson.

Beleaguered directors of the Healdsburg Animal Shelter assured the City Council Monday that while they face difficult challenges finishing a new $3.5 million building it will be a state-of-the-art shelter for ‘contemporary animal care.’

Controversial rules designed to protect endangered fish and regulate how grape growers use water from the Russian River will be revisited by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Piner-Olivet School Board president Lisa Anderson said she is glad the district’s $20 million bond measure didn’t win in a landslide in the Nov. 2 election. Huh? See why she’s glad the measure survived but came ever so close to failing.