Santa Rosa Councilman and Sonoma County supervisorial candidate John Sawyer has taken to Facebook and the phones this week to calm a small storm among his supporters and counter a newspaper story about his backing for a ballot measure to boost funding for children’s services.

Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday approved a small addition to the list of county roads targeted for long-term maintenance while signaling support for study of a possible property tax increase to boost road upkeep. Board members cited county budget pressure and flat state road funding as two of the reasons for the makeshift moves and revenue search.

Nine medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted in the areas of Sonoma County outside city limits, the county Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday. The cap, proposed and under review since last year, is designed to prevent an over-concentration of cannabis outlets in the county government’s jurisdiction.

It was a love fest on Tuesday when the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and a standing-room-only crowd declared that Annadel State Park must be saved. Here was a show of community support worth celebrating. Still, the Board of Supervisors knows — and the park’s supporters should know — that the hard part lies ahead.

Candidates vying to replace retiring Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown are off to a relatively slow start in the fundraising race. Gina Cuclis topped the list of five candidates in the contest for the 1st District supervisorial seat, which takes in Sonoma Valley, the city of Sonoma and parts of eastern Santa Rosa.

Growing unease about a wave of vineyard projects that call for clear-cutting forested hillsides has Sonoma County officials calling for an emergency halt until new regulations are crafted. Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Tony Linegar has proposed a four-month moratorium on vineyard projects that would remove trees from ridge tops or slopes greater than 15 percent.

Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday approved spending $204,000 through June on four new jobs centered on economic development and business attraction. It is the first step in hiring plan that calls for $591,000 in new county spending annually over the next five years.

Sonoma County officials are set to take another step today toward limiting the number of medical marijuana dispensaries permitted to operate in the unincorporated area. The Planning Commission will consider a limit of nine shops — equal to the six suppliers operating under existing county rules, plus three other suppliers with pending permit applications.

Sonoma County’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously endorsed an $84 million project to expand Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport to enable more daily commercial flights.

The Santa Rosa City Council has taken on the responsibility for winding down the work of its redevelopment agency. The council voted unanimously Tuesday to become the ‘successor agency’ for the assets and obligations of the agency it first established more than 50 years ago.