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.

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.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a slate of zoning code changes for some types of agricultural land while backing off any limits on vacation rentals on other farming properties. Agricultural processing facilities now will be permitted where they previously were prohibited in a mixed-use zoning called agriculture and residential, or AR.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday formally dissolved its redevelopment agency to meet a state-ordered shutdown effective today. The deadline affects about 400 redevelopment agencies statewide. “This is a very, very sad day,” Supervisor Shirlee Zane, chairwoman of the board, said before the vote.

Sonoma County officials are set to take their first formal step this week in a bid to assume operation of Annadel State Park. The move is meant to avoid the planned closure of the popular Santa Rosa destination, one of five state parks in the county slated to be shuttered July 1 as part of the state’s budget-cutting efforts. “There’s tremendous support in the community for us to keep this park open and operate it,” county Supervisor Shirlee Zane said.

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.

Facing some vocal opposition and a hearing before Sonoma County supervisors, a Marin County land management firm has agreed to conduct a full environmental review of its plans for a ranch near the mouth of the Petaluma River. The project, which would elevate farmland near the bay, is a potential windfall for the company headed by Marin investor Skip Berg, which is paid to dispose of the soil that is dredged from the bay each year to maintain shipping channels.

Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane this morning took over as chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, receiving the gavel from Supervisor Efren Carrillo. She called 2011 the most challenging year of her life.

After years of planning and study, a proposed $84 million expansion of Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport is set for a vote Tuesday by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. The project calls for longer runways, more commercial flights and a new passenger terminal, along with other upgrades.