The Healdsburg City Council on Monday approved a temporary contract with Sonoma County to take over responsibility for animal control, prompted by the imminent closure of the independently-run Healdsburg Animal Shelter.

Three years after voters chose her to be Sonoma County district attorney, Jill Ravitch launched her re-election campaign Thursday night, hosting a fundraiser attended by as many as 250 supporters that included elected officials and community leaders.

Directors of the Healdsburg Animal Shelter announced Monday that after more than 50 years of operation, the facility will be closing its doors by the end of the month.

Sonoma County supervisors made quick work of their budget discussions Monday, agreeing in just four hours on a $1.37 billion spending plan that increases staffing for public safety, health and human service divisions and maintains funding for road repairs while seeking to hold down expenses in most other programs.

A long-awaited plan to lengthen the runways at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, potentially delivering more flights and an economic boost to the region, is close to winning approval and construction should start this summer, officials said.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Tuesday signed an agreement intended to bring together a broad array of government, farming and environmental interests on science and stream restoration projects in the Russian River watershed.

A former chicken slaughterhouse in Fulton is on its way to a reincarnation that could make it part “artists’ depot,” part wine storage facility or even a Halloween haunted house.

An unprecedented tsunami of development along Highway 101 in Sonoma County is putting thousands of people to work and pumping nearly $2 billion into the economy.

Up and down the spine of Sonoma County, more than a dozen big-budget projects are underway, creating or expanding centers for the arts, shopping opportunities, health care facilities, business offices, hotels, restaurants and a casino resort.

With four cities down and four to go, Sonoma County officials this week enter the second half of their roadshow to convince cities to take part in the county’s planned public power agency.

The presentations are intended to tout benefits and answer questions about the effort to displace Pacific Gas and Electric Co. with an alternative that offers a higher share of energy from renewable sources.

Windsor on Wednesday became the first city to join the Sonoma Clean Power Authority, created as an alternative to PG&E to provide a greener product at competitive, if not cheaper rates.