The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an emergency halt to new vineyards and orchards on forested slopes and hilltops. The four-month freeze was prompted by a wave of new vineyard projects and a need to update 12-year-old farming regulations that don’t deal with tree removal. What, if any, changes would you like to see?

Setting aside concerns about long-term costs, Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday took their first steps toward assuming temporary management of Annadel State Park. The board unanimously authorized Regional Parks Director Caryl Hart to open negotiations with the state about taking over operations of the popular 5,000-acre park on Santa Rosa’s eastern flank.

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 government faces its fourth consecutive year of budget reductions, with a projected $10.4 million general fund deficit in the coming 2012-2013 fiscal year, county officials said Tuesday. Increasing county costs, including rising salary and benefit expenses, have continued to outpace flat or declining revenues. “We are not going to get out of this mess without permanent change in our budgeting. And that’s going to mean permanent reductions in our pay and/or our pensions,” Supervisor Mike McGuire said.

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’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.

In a shake-up at the top of Sonoma County government, the Board of Supervisors on Monday appointed David Sundstrom to Sonoma County’s vacant chief financial officer post. He currently serves as the elected auditor-controller of Orange County. The board bypassed a recommendation by Rod Dole to select his longtime No. 2 administrator, Donna Dunk.

Investigators in the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office were told Tuesday that they no longer will be allowed to routinely take home their work vehicles. The issue has been simmering in a months-long dispute between District Attorney Jill Ravitch and investigators in her office. Several county supervisors said the county should review and possibly reduce a long list of perks given to county employees on top of their salaries.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously endorsed a plan to boost annual county spending on economic development by $600,000, but put off a decision on how to pay for the project. “The whole goal is to improve the business climate for job creation and job retention,” said Ben Stone, director of the county’s Economic Development Board.

Two Sonoma County supervisors are calling for a $600,000 increase in annual spending on economic development, saying any turnaround in the county’s 9.4 percent unemployment rate requires public-sector support. Do you think it makes sense? What would you recommend?