Desta Gallery, the name of Emebet Korn's renowned, longtime San Anselmo art gallery, draws its moniker from the Amharic language's word for joy, which we could all use a bit more of these days.

Korn officially opened Desta Gallery this week at 100 Throckmorton Avenue, the former space of LF Stores' apparel shop and the Capricorn Gourmet Cookware before that. 

She says she was drawn to Mill Valley's current and historic arts-centric culture, from the First Tuesday Artwalk and the already great galleries here to the fall arts and film festivals.

"San Anselmo is absolutely a sweet, lovely place to live, there's no doubt about it," Korn says. "But Mill Valley has more of an upbeat energy in my eye in terms of the diversity of experiences that people seek out – it's always been very stimulating to me. It's also a community that gives a lot of attention to the arts community."

"I’m open – it’s good feeling," says Korn, whose children attended school in Mill Valley. "And people have already been so kind."

Born in Ethiopia, Korn moved to the Bay Area to attend college, studying fashion design and art and eventually launching her own line of high end women’s apparel. She's also served as a design consultant over the years and ran her own nonprofit before opening an art and tea gallery, before eventually focusing just on the art itself.

Korn's focus has primarily been on contemporary art by emerging and established artists, and she's currently showcasing  works by Katheryn Holt and John Wood through Nov. 4.

The 411: Desta Gallery is at 100 Throckmorton Ave and is open Tues.-Sat., 11am-5pm and Sun., 12-4pm. Face masks are required. MORE INFO. 

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Chef Todd Shoberg, who packed a career's worth of culinary memories into his nearly 10 years at restaurants in Mill Valley, was killed Monday in a head-on car crash on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road.

Shoberg, a 42-year-old resident of Petaluma, died after his Mazda 6 sport wagon drifted across the center divide on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road and crashed into a Peterbilt dump truck, the Marin County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Division confirmed to the Marin Independent Journal Tuesday. The collision occurred at around 9:10am Monday just west of the French Marin Cheese Factory, and Shoberg was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the IJ. The driver of the dump truck was taken to MarinHealth Medical Center in Greenbrae for treatment.

“We are deeply saddened to hear the tragic news about Todd, who brought such creativity and acclaim to the Mill Valley culinary landscape in his time at Piatti and Molina,” the Mill Valley Chamber said in a statement. “Our heartfelt thoughts are with his young family at this tremendously difficult moment.”

Shoberg, a native of Grand Haven, Mich., worked in kitchens in Albuquerque, N.M., and Boulder, Colo., arrived in the Bay Area in 2006, working as a sous chef at Town Hall in San Francisco.

A former professional mountain biker who nabbed a silver medal at the national collegiate championships and went to the Olympic trials in 2000, Shoberg knew the history of Marin as one of the birthplaces of mountain biking. Six weeks after his arrival, he visited Muir Woods on a friend's recommendation, and was left in awe of Mount Tam.

"I knew that this was where I needed to be," he said in 2011.

Shoberg took the reins at Piatti in March 2009, inheriting a decade-old Italian restaurant with a reliable customer base but a spotty track record among foodies. He set out to put Piatti on the farm-to-table map, launching a daily Market Menu in May 2010 laden with farmers market ingredients. In 2010, Piatti, part of the Moana Hotel & Restaurant Group, recorded its most profitable year in its then-12-year history, Shoberg said at the time.

In 2014, Shoberg teamed with restaurateur Ged Robertson to launch Molina at 17 Madrona St., the space formerly occupied by Robertson's Small Shed Flatbreads. Molina almost immediately became a destination, with a daily-rotating menu and even more frequently rotated vinyl records on the turntable providing a soundtrack for a creative space built around the historic Alan Scott brick oven.

When Shoberg left Molina in early 2016, he stayed busy, helming an array of pop-ups in San Francisco, San Anselmo and Fairfax, consulting on a food truck and a number of restaurants and creating the concept for a new restaurant in Malibu. He was just days away from signing a lease to open a new restaurant in Petaluma when the opportunity to run Sammy Hagar's historic El Paseo along with manager Cassie Corless arose in 2017.

Less than a year later, Hagar, citing his array of business interests, a popular Rock and Roll Road Trip TV show, a new album,  busy concert schedule and "to be able to spend more quality time with my family," Hagar closes El Paseo, ending a run that began in 2009 when Hagar and celebrity chef Tyler Florence took over El Paseo.

Shoberg quickly jumped over to be the executive chef and culinary director at the 55-acre Dillon Beach Resort, and was most recently the executive chef of Brewsters Beer Garden in Petaluma.

The IJ reported that California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, as the cause of the collision is unknown. The cause and manner of death is pending the completion of a forensic post-mortem examination and toxicology testing, which have been scheduled this week, the coroner said.

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Like vital nonprofit organizations all over the globe during the COVID-19 crisis, Kiddo!, the Mill Valley Schools Community Foundation, which funds art, music, dance, drama, poetry, teacher grants and PE, has seen its usual stalwart fundraising engine hit turbulence.

Kiddo!’s 2020-21 campaign goal is to raise $2.5 million funding, with more than 90 percent of those funds used to pay teacher salaries and specialists for all of the Mill Valley School District's arts education programs and physical education. To date, Kiddo has only raised 23 percent of these funds.

"Each year we start from $0.00, and each year, thanks to contributions from parents, grandparents, businesses, and members of our community, Kiddo! has been able to provide funding in support of teachers and quality educational programs in the arts and other areas for each child in the Mill Valley School District," Kiddo! Executive Director Bill Lampl wrote in an appeal to MVSD families and Kiddo! supporters. "The impacts of COVID-19 on public education are undeniable. Local businesses are suffering. Furloughs and layoffs are affecting many families. Many of our parents and business partners will not be able to support our students in the same capacity as in past years. The potential loss of these funds makes your donation even more crucial."

Despite the 2020-21 school year opening with distance learning, MVSD's Kiddo!-funded teachers and specialists will be keeping children engaged in new and innovative ways. There will be individualized art kits for all K-5 and MVMS art elective students to ensure every child has tools and resources to participate at home, including art teachers' new K-5 websites.

"For 38 years, we have put our children first and come together as a community to support Kiddo! so that every child in the Mill Valley School District has the opportunity to receive a well-rounded education, including the arts," Lampl added.

In an effort to rejuvenate the fundraising cycle, Kiddo! has teamed up with the folks at the historic Mill Valley Lumber Yard on a donation drive that supports #ShopMV efforts by entering anyone who makes a Kiddo! donation by Sept. 30 into a drawing to win one of the following prizes:

• Fun Day for Four Package: Enjoy a relaxing day of e-bike rentals from Mad Dogs and Englishmen followed by a VIP reserved table (for lunch or dinner) at Watershed restaurant ($540 combined value)
• Aviator Nation- $100 gift card
• Bloomingayles- floral arrangement ($125 value)
• BŌL Cafe- $100 family gift card; good for 10 BŌLS
• The Edit- stylish clutch and belt ($321 value)
• FarmHouseUrban- two hours of home design consultation with owner, Serena Armstrong ($450 value)
• Flour Craft Bakery- $40 gift card
• Lulu Designs- Prayer Necklace- 16" yellow bronze pendant with 14k gold fill cable chain ($92 value)
• Makers Market- $50 gift card
• Mill Valley Studio- family photo session ($450 value)
• Once Around- $100 gift card
• V. Mimiaga Art Studio- " Sunflowers," original painting by Victoria Mimiaga,16"x16" ($1200 value)

DONATE TO KIDDO! HERE.

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What do you do if you love fantastic film-making but can't safely enjoy it outside of the confines of your home or your car?

For the 43rd edition of its Mill Valley Film Festival, the California Film Institute says it has it all figured out, given the circumstances.

​MVFF43 organizers unveiled its full lineup this week, highlighting an array of star-studded marquee screenings of likely Academy Award contenders and a whirlwind of spotlights, tributes, special premieres and appearances that will leave cinephiles' heads spinning. The big COVID-era difference to years past is that in lieu of red carpets and glitz, we'll all be at home, or in our cars, as all screenings are either virtual or at the festival's drive-in cinema, a "studio-grade outdoor cinema, with a 52-foot screen, 4K projection, and Dolby 5.1/7/1 sound" at Lagoon Park-Marin Center in San Rafael.

"Although MVFF43 will not look the same as in previous years, what initially seemed like a challenge now feels like an opportunity to bring us together in an unexpected way, during an unprecedented time,” CFI Executive Director Mark Fishkin said in his announcement. “We will continue to boast the year’s best films from all corners of the globe this year, professionally showcased in an online virtual cinema and at the studio grade, MVFF43 Drive-In Cinema at the beautiful Lagoon Park-Marin Center in San Rafael."

That drive-in features 10 nights of screenings, as well as a full slate of DocLands films, CFI's documentary film festival postponed from earlier this year. Due to logistical complications related to the COVID-19 crisis, MVFF43 will not include any Mill Valley presence for the first time in its history.

MVFF43's Drive-In Cinema kicks off Oct. 8 with the world premiere of Edward Hall’s Blithe Spirit, based on the 1941 play by Noël Coward, featuring Dame Judi Dench, Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher, and Leslie Mann.

“The film is a true delight, conveying a high-energy and 'spirited' story that has withstood the test of time," Fishkin said. "Featuring an abundance of wit and a bit of fantasy, it is the perfect antidote to months of sheltering in place. Join us as we once again celebrate the magic of the movies, gathered together safely, under a screen – and sky – full of stars.”

The 2020 Virtual Screenings will debut with Ariel Winograd’s wildly entertaining ride through the execution of one of the greatest bank heists in Argentinian history, The Heist of the Century (El Robo Del Siglo); Alexandre Rockwell’s Sweet Thing, a stunning ode to the magical resilience of childhood; the California Premiere of Byambasuren Davaa’s Veins of the World, which follows a young Mongolian boy as he learns grief can be a source of empowerment in his quest to honor his father’s memory; the US Premiere of The Boys Who Said No!, the third in a triptych on war, resistance, and nonviolence from Oscar-nominated Bay Area filmmaker Judith Ehrlich; and David Garrett Byars’ Public Trust, an in-depth exploration of the mounting conflict over public lands in America, which was to be the Opening Night film of the previously postponed DocLands Documentary Film Festival.

The drive-In screenings include Blithe Spirit, a spectacular Noël Coward adaptation from Edward Hall starring Judi Dench; the ultra-stylized Mainstream by Gia Coppola, a commentary on contemporary social media; Ammonite by Francis Lee starring Kate Winslet, an 1840s-set portrait of an intense relationship between a fossil hunter and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea; The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart from legendary producer Frank Marshall; Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion winner Nomadland by Chloé Zhao, starring Frances McDormand; and a special 40th anniversary presentation of Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

HERE'S THE FULL SLATE OF SCREENINGS AND EVENTS.

Here's a selection of some of the virtual and drive-in screenings and tribute events:

Near the beginning of Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock’s intimate profile of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Justice becomes visibly moved when a group of high school students presents her with a painting of herself. Unlike a portrait by a different artist some years earlier that had depicted her bigger than her actual diminutive size, this painting is an accurate portrayal. It is a revealing moment: Ginsburg wants to be seen not as larger than life, but really as she is. By relying on Ginsburg’s own words and actions, as illuminated by carefully culled archival footage and interviews, Mock covers the full breadth of Ginsburg’s life, views, and career. Furthermore, Mock succeeds in creating a compelling portrait as authentic, poignant, and powerful as the Justice herself. MORE INFO.

Newly-single and decidedly-introverted editor Charles Young is having one of those days. Hungry, heartbroken, and on deadline to release a video tribute to a famous actor knocking on death’s door, Charles accidentally locks himself out of the house while paying the food delivery guy and finds himself standing on the stoop in his polka-dot socks, with a phone battery that’s on its last leg. This heartfelt and funny romp around a NYC block is made all the more endearing by a phenomenal Brian Tyree Henry (If Beale Street Could Talk, MVFF41) as Charles. MORE INFO.

Viola Davis has rightly gained incredible recognition for her work. She’s the first Black woman to attain that great trifecta of acting: two Tony Awards, for Fences and King Hedley II; an Oscar, also for Fences; and an Emmy for How to Get Away with Murder. She is an artist of the highest order, whose brilliance as an actor and producer and whose dedication to speaking out with eloquence and wisdom on issues of equality, especially for women and Black women, have established her as one of the great performers and spokespeople of our time. She finds the heart and soul of her characters, giving them a fullness of life, a sense of their hopes and aspirations, so that we as audiences understand the human spirit more deeply. Think of Mrs. Miller in Doubt, the complexity of Annalise in How to Get Away with Murder, and her deep work as characters written by August Wilson.

​Her breathtaking, powerful, sensual rendition of the title character in the upcoming Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe, again confirms she is the perfect embodiment of Wilson’s work. Mind the Gap continues to shine light on issues that 2020 has laid bare—systemic racism, inequity, and the deep need to reframe narratives in film and life. Davis founded JuVee Productions with her husband to give voice to the voiceless through strong, impactful, and culturally relevant narratives. She speaks truth, she lives truth, through her embodied characters and the sustained commitment of her extraordinary life. MORE INFO.

In Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, Delroy Lindo is a Vietnam vet who returns to the country on a treasure hunt for gold. But the film's real treasure is its cast, particularly Lindo, haunting in his portrayal of a war-damaged soul. It is only the latest triumph for the Oakland actor whose roles resonate with his wide emotional palette and attention to the smallest character detail. We celebrate this Bay Area icon with a spotlight that includes Lindo in conversation on Da 5 Bloods and his esteemed body of work. MORE INFO.

Kate Winslet was still a teenager when she blazed across screens as an adolescent killer in Peter Jackson's 1950s-set true crime drama Heavenly Creatures in 1994, establishing herself as a formidable talent to watch. Nominated for seven Oscars, Winslet won for The Reader in 2009. She is back in period form as a 19th-century fossil hunter in Ammonite, which plays MVFF Oct. 11 at the Drive-In. MORE INFO.

On one incredible night in 1964, four icons of sports, music, and activism gather to celebrate one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. When underdog Cassius Clay, soon to be called Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), defeats heavy weight champion Sonny Liston at the Miami Convention Hall, Clay memorialized the event with three of his friends: Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.), and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). Based on the award-winning play of the same name, One Night in Miami is a fictional account inspired by the historic night these four formidable figures spent together. A Centerpiece Spotlight Program features a video conversation with Regina King and the presentation of the MVFF Award. MORE INFO.

Featuring the final performances of the Neville Brothers and Dr. John, Take Me to the River New Orleans goes inside New Orleans recording studios and delivers performances that span the city’s broad musical landscape of jazz, brass, soul, hip hop, and funk. In this sequel to director Martin Shore’s 2014 feature Take Me to the River, which explored the musical legacy of Memphis, the director offers us an exquisite musical travelogue of The Big Easy, with remarkably candid and reverential portraits of the artists who keep its melodic history alive, with appearances from Snoop Dogg, Irma Thomas, Big Freedia, Ledisi, Mystikal, and Ani DiFranco among many others. MORE INFO.

Directed and written by Florian Zeller, this film stars Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman in Zeller’s screen adaptation of his acclaimed play, an uncanny examination of the dramatic effects that dementia inflicts upon both the person afflicted and their loved ones. MORE INFO.

Dame Judi Dench took her first steps toward becoming a living legend in 1957 when, at the age of 22, she debuted at the Old Vic as Hamlet's Ophelia. She went on to become one of the best actors of her—or any other—generation. At 85, she stars in MVFF's Opening Night Film at the Drive-In, Blithe Spirit. Her awards must fill a trophy room: that Oscar, a Tony, ten BAFTAs, seven Oliviers, and many, many more. Join us as we fête this Dame with her latest honor and conduct a lively discussion regarding her singular career. MORE INFO.

It’s all about the harmony for the British-born, Australian-raised Gibb brothers—Robin, Barry, Maurice, and later on, Andy—who came to fame as the Bee Gees. Frank Marshall’s infectiously watchable film is a trip through their life and times, through their highs and lows. MORE INFO.

The 411: The 43rd Mill Valley Film Festival is Oct. 8-18. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, all screenings are virtual or at the drive-in cinema at Lagoon Park in San Rafael. MORE INFO & TIX.

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As previously reported here, here and most recently here,

As evident to anyone paying attention in the past several months, there's been an absolute surge of conscious activism and artistic energy in Mill Valley that has galvanized the community, from youth-fueled long overdue conversations on racial equity and policing in Mill Valley to a blossoming of inspired art.

That work continues Saturday, Sept. 26 in the Downtown Plaza, this time on the heels of the news that a Kentucky grand jury brought no charges against Louisville police for the March 13th death of Breonna Taylor, who was gunned down in her home during a no-knock raid connected to her ex-boyfriend.

Local artist Wesley Cabral, whose "Heroes" painting in the plaza has drawn rave reviews for its celebration of the late civil rights pioneer John Lewis and the late actor Chadwick Boseman, is among those organizing a multi-faceted vigil for Taylor  in the plaza.

Cabral says he'll be painting a small mural in the downtown plaza Saturday afternoon and "we'll use it to create an altar for the vigil. The community is welcome to come be together, share words and reflections."

The vigil will start at 7pm.

There are also efforts to move Cabral's "Heroes" mural to the side of the building at 34 Miller Ave. containing Urban Remedy, adjacent to the Old Mill Trail map.

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At the time, Maxemin told city officials, "We have an already approved project that I inherited, that I will build if I have to. But we think we can do a lot better for this community in terms the quality of the project and the number of units that we'll have for workforce housing."

Fast forward two years and the Mill Valley Planning earlier this month approved a new color scheme for the approved project, which has seen some hints of renewed activity of late.

Need a reminder of what the project will look like? Check out the rendering at right.

HERE'S THE STAFF REPORT.

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Outside of Mill Valley's usual tentpole events throughout the year, the rhythms of the Depot Plaza on an average day stretches from the morning coffee klatsch to workers enjoying a midday lunch to afternoon scootering of little ones.

For myriad reasons, that rhythm is markedly different now. It might have something to do with the fact that COVID-19 crisis has us pining to check out the downtown street closures, eat some delicious food and hear some impromptu live music. But it also might be that everyone in Mill Valley's rich artistic community are craving expression and inspiration, from its creators to its consumers.

In recent weeks, we've seen the arrival of a group project, led by artist Zoe Fry, that features a trio of free-standing doors in the Depot Plaza as a way to promote racial justice, with each door built around a timeline of racial inequity and systemic racism. The first door focuses on decades of historic racism in Southern Marin, with the second highlighting the BIPOC community's experienced with racism in present-day Marin. The third door seeks to chart a path to racially equitable future.

The back side of each door is designed to spur community interaction, serving as a community message board of sorts that allows people to answer the questions posed by the imaged on the front doors. Here's the project:

Some impromptu art projects have also emerged on the plaza, including a painting from Wesley Cabral called “Heroes” and featuring the visages of the late Black civil rights leader John Lewis and Black movie star Chadwick Boseman on plywood board in the Depot Plaza. City officials determined that the painting could not stay on the plaza because it did not go through Arts Commission protocols, but Paul Lazzareschi, owner of the Depot Bookstore & Cafe on the plaza, allowed Cabral to put the piece behind a construction fence at the Depot.

“It’s a free country,” Lazzareschi told the Marin IJ. “I think he didn’t go through the right channels…but because of what’s happening in our world people are expressing themselves and I thought it is a cool expression. I don’t want to alienate anyone. I’m a free speech guy. … It’s a beautiful painting, it’s an amazing painting — unbelievable.”

Then there was the glass-half-full bunch behind the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, who were unable are to hold the 64th edition of the event over the weekend of Sept. 18-20 but pivoted to put that artistry out into the Mill Valley community. "MVFAF: Beyond the Park" took the work of 16 artists and put it into the storefronts of downtown Mill Valley merchants.

​"Harking back to the founding of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival 64 years ago, we had 16 local artists displaying their work in select downtown store windows leading up to and during the event," says Steve Bajor, the festival's executive director.

To enhance the beauty of the downtown Plaza and evoke the feeling of the festival, the Fall Arts Festival committee and board members created hand-made chimes, mobiles and hanging sculptures to adorn the Downtown Plaza. The iconic lanterns people love and associate with the festival were also hung in the plaza to bring an artful glow in the evenings.  
 
"In all, the art in merchant windows, hanging embellishments and lights in the plaza was a promise of the return of the wonderful and beloved “in-person” community event we all anticipate and enjoy every fall," Bajor says.

This blossoming of art all over the plaza continues into early October as the Arts Commission and Kiddo! launch a public art project on the plaza in an effort to create public art that brings the community together. The project, dubbed "Knitting Us Together," will have artists of all ages creating knit or crocheted patches of yarn and flowers and temporarily covering some of the trees in the plaza with those urban knitting pieces.

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On the heels of Marin's long-awaited reopening progress on Sept. 15 for an array of business sectors for the first time since late June – retailers and hair salons could expand to 50% capacity, nail salons could open indoors, places of worship and movie theaters could open at 25% capacity and restaurants opened indoors at 25% capacity – the next logical conclusion for businesses and their customers is fairly straightforward: WHAT'S NEXT?

The next phase, moving into the orange "tier 3," would, for instance, allow Mill Valley restaurants, movie theaters and places of worship to operate at 50% capacity, a significant step forward to creating a business model that might actually pencil out. But although Marin could technically move into "tier 3" as early as Oct. 6 – counties must remain in the tier it's placed in for at least three weeks and must meet the requirements of the next tier for two weeks – it's highly unlikely to do so, County of Marin officials say. Here's why:

It's no secret that essential workers, the vast majority of whom live in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, have suffered disproportionately during the COVID-19 crisis, accounting for 70 percent of Marin's coronavirus infections despite comprising just 16 percent of the population. That trend extends well beyond Marin and throughout the U.S., and state officials are planning to add an "equity metric" to its list of COVID-19 leading indicators to account for that fact.

Currently, a pair of indicators – the average number across one week of new coronavirus cases per day and the average percentage of positive tests – dictate what tier counties end up in within the state's four-tiered risk status framework. An equity metric would compare a county’s COVID-19 percent positivity rate across low-income neighborhoods like the Canal and Marin City to more affluent neighborhoods.

Bridging that gap quickly looks like a daunting proposition, as the county's recent positivity rate was 7.1% and that of the Canal neighborhood was 18%, and had been as high as 25%, according to county data.

“It’s always been our goal to limit the burden of COVID-19 in our community — now it’s everyone’s goal," Omar Carrera, director of Canal Alliance, a nonprofit serving Marin’s largest Latino community, told the Marin Independent Journal this week. "If we don’t narrow the disparities, it hurts all of us.”

“While we look forward to hearing from the state about the specific details of the equity metric, we certainly support the concept of it," said Paula Reynolds, co-director of the Mill Valley Chamber. "Reducing COVID's disproportionate impacts within Marin would bolster our continued safe reopening, particularly with regard to avoiding another outbreak in the Canal given that its residents are essentially the backbone of the vast majority of service businesses in Marin.”

In his weekly report to the Marin County Board of Supervisors, Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis noted that state officials were still finalizing the new metric. "We don't yet know what exactly will be measured and how frequently," he said. "The state is looking to find a way to ensure that we are incorporating the goal of reducing disparities between  communities. One of the dominant themes of the state has been the disproportionate of impact on essential workers."

Willis told the Marin IJ that "it is possible we will continue to move forward, but I really think we should be focusing on maintaining the gains we’ve already achieved. I would define success here as maintaining our status in tier 2 for at least two months.”

“It’s going to be a challenge for every county,” Willis added. “What we’re being asked to do is to address deep historical inequities that drive differences in case rates between communities. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 is just a symptom of a much larger societal issue.”

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As the Mill Valley City Council took steps this week to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and prohibit the sale of tobacco products at pharmacies, an expert on nicotine addiction is set to speak at the Outdoor Art Club on Oct. 1 in an event open to the public via Zoom.

NicoTeen: Curbing the Youth Nicotine Vaping Epidemic, features Dr. Jodi Prochaska, a Stanford University professor of medicine who directs Stanford’s masters’ program in Community Health and Prevention Research. She'll focus on the fact that the use of e-cigarettes has increased a staggering 900% in recent years, and many of these new users are teens. 

Prochaska will talk about the harms of nicotine vaping to young people, local measures being taken to address the teen vaping epidemic and treatment options. 

This event will be hosted on Zoom. GO HERE TO REGISTER.

MORE INFO ON THE CITY'S BAN.

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Drinks at the neighborhood pub in Shasta led to a close encounter with the State of Jefferson, a freight train, and the secret alien colony in the mountain. The first single off the Well Known Strangers’ forthcoming full-length collection celebrates the bohemian splendor and brash eclecticism of their home state of California and all of the terrestrial life forms therein.
 
Written by lead vocalist Amber Morris and lead guitarist/vocalist David Noble, "The Mountain Song" will delight fans of The Well Known Strangers’ debut LP TMI while also forging into new and more adventurous musical and lyrical territory. What does it all mean? “Go ask the mountain.”
 
The Well Known Strangers’ style of “California Country Soul” features powerhouse vocalist Amber Morris (Narada Michael Walden, Tim Hockenberry, Eric Martin Band, Mark Karan Band); David Noble (Poor Man's Whiskey, Pardon The Interruption) on lead guitar and vocals; Joshua Zucker (The Jones Gang, Rowan Brothers, Poor Man’s Whiskey) on bass and vocals; Austin de Lone (Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, The Fabulous Thunderbirds) on keys; Mick Hellman (The Go To Hell Man Band) on drums and vocals; Rob Anderson (emerging talent and repeat world champion cyclist) on guitar.

Check out Well Known Strangers’ "The Mountain Song":

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The historic wood burning Alan Scott brick oven inside the space at 17 Madrona Street in downtown Mill Valley has been at the heart of an array of beloved restaurants over the years. 

Its latest usage – as the epicenter of a new iteration for Bootjack Wood Fired as a multi-faceted bakery – might be the closest to its original intent, says Bootjack owner Ged Robertson.

“Most people love the smell of fresh baked bread in their town,” he says. “Everything doesn’t have to be brought in from the outside. We have cooked everything from chickens, pizzas and whole pigs in it, but never a loaf of bread! Until last month. It was whispering to us the whole time.”

The “little house on the hill” comes full circle this week as Bootjack Wood Fired, the latest moniker for the business built around the renowned brick oven, shifts gears this week and reopens Thursday as a bakery, churning out a variety of loaves of bread, toast, pastries and a breakfast sandwich, as well as pastries and coffee from Four Barrel.

​Baker Cam Esaryk will initially doing so in small quantities to start given the small size of the oven and the nascent nature of the operation, given that Esaryk has spent the past month getting used to the oven and providing breads, hamburger buns and pastries to the other two restaurants owned by Ged Robertson: Watershed and Shoreline Coffee Shop.

Eventually, Bootjack’s menu will grow to include pizzas, both square and round, as well as sandwiches, focaccia and salads.
Bootjack morphing into a bakery-driven model is very much a return to its roots, as famed baker Chad Robertson and his pastry chef wife, Elisabeth Prueitt, opened Bay Village Bakery in the space in 1999, before eventually opening the renowned Tartine Bakery in 2002 and winning a James Beard Award for outstanding national pastry chef in 2008.

Robertson later opened Small Shed Flatbreads there, eventually closing it in November 2014 before it became Todd Shoberg’s revered Molina restaurant. When Shoberg left in early 2016, Watershed chef Kyle Swain took over the kitchen at Molina, which closed there in 2017. In March 2018, the Moana Restaurant Group opened Pizza Molina, a casual, pizza-centric reincarnation of its predecessors, and Robertson and Swain reclaimed the helm in early 2019 after Pizza Molina closed.

“The pandemic made pizzas somewhat redundant at Watershed and Bootjack, and as everyone at home started making bread for their families, we as restaurant operators made a bakery,” Robertson says. “Kyle and I have been toying with adding a bakery in the morning at Bootjack for a long time but hadn’t had the time to put in the remodel. until the SIP. There were several bakeries that we were hopeful opening up on East Blithedale. And when they all seemed to all fall through, we went for it.”

The linchpin in making it happen was Esaryk, whose journey from Vancouver to Mill Valley makes him a unique fit for the new operation, Robertson says. 

Born and raised on Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia, Esaryk studied philosophy and literature in college and was drawn to Zen Buddhism and meditation at the Victoria Shambhala Meditation Centre. Through the center, Esaryk learned about the acclaimed San Francisco Zen Center and its Green Gulch Farm. He decided to visit the center to experience that community and study Buddhism there, and ended up staying there for a few years, and then studied at the Tassajara Zen Center in Carmel Valley.

In his time at Green Gulch, Esaryk was a baker’s apprentice, learning everything he could about bread making, from procuring ingredients to the fermentation process, “doing it the old fashioned way with a sourdough starter,” he says. 

In recent years, Esaryk would bump into Swain on occasion, with Swain popping into Pane Italiano Qualità, better known as PiQ, the Italian coffee shop and bakery in Berkeley where Esaryk was baking breads. The bakery was managed by Massimo Covello, formerly the executive chef at Piazza D'Angelo. After PiQ closed, Esaryk went back to making bread at Green Gulch.
When Robertson and Swain hatched the idea of shifting Bootjack’s focus, Esaryk was the perfect fit, Robertson says.

“Kyle and I are always looking to learn something new,” he says. “Cam has been a great teacher to us and in turn it feels good to support him. Having our own bakery gives Kyle and I a little more control over the other restaurant’s menus.”

Bootjack at 17 Madrona St. is open Wednesdays through Sundays, 7:30 am-2 p.m. CHECK HERE FOR UPDATES. ​

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For regular users of the Mill Valley Public Library, it's no secret that our little town has one of the most innovative teams in the Bay Area, constantly churning out creative content that has been pushing the envelope for years and has also found a way to nimbly adapt to the COVID-19 crisis.

So it comes as no surprise that in celebration and recognition of the library’s amazing Library-in-Place program, the Mill Valley Library Foundation, with contributions by local artists Martha Cederstrom, Lynne Finlay Klein, Victoria Mimiaga and Frances Whitnall have launched a free, downloadable coloring book to the community. The artists created the coloring book pages featuring iconic Mill Valley scenes and library images.

GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE COLORING BOOK.

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In a surprise to no one, Sound Summit executive producer and Mill Valley resident Michael Nash canceled the 2020 edition of the event in June.

In doing so, the annual celebration of and fundraiser for Mount Tamalpais State Park by Nash's Roots & Branches Conservancy nonprofit joined the ranks of music and arts festivals around the world that have fallen victim to the COVID-19 crisis. Music lovers will have to wait until 2021 to gather in Mt. Tam's 4,000-seat Cushing Memorial Amphitheater, home to the Mountain Play, for performances from world-class artists. 

In the meantime, Nash and his team have cooked up a virtual live stream of the widely hailed 2016 Sound Summit performances, featuring sets from Wilco, Los Lobos, Bill Frisell, and Bay Area locals The Stone Foxes and Matt Jaffe. Powered by Nugs.net, the live stream, set for Sunday, September 27, 7-9pm (viewing options available here), is free but seeks donation to raise money for Sound Effects, its relief effort for Bay Area musicians who have "not been able to gig since the pandemic took hold and will likely not be able to do so for some time," Nash says.

​Roots & Branches partnered with Sweet Relief, which will handle applications for and distribution of grants to musicians.

"“In the absence of being able to hold Sound Summit this year, we just wanted to do our small part in trying to lend a hand to local musicians whose livelihoods have been seriously compromised since coronavirus dramatically altered the landscape,” Nash says. "The stream is free to watch and 100% of donations raised will go to musicians, not to Sound Summit or Roots & Branches."

The annual one-day Sound Summit has raised more than $200,000 for Mount Tam over the years, with lineups that have included jazz legend Herbie Hancock, Grateful Dead vets Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, Grace Potter, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Dr. John & the Nite Trippers and Marin favorites the Mother Hips, among many more.

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To say that Phil Richardson’s journey to building a multi-faceted development project on his vacant 575 East Blithedale Avenue at Camino Alto lot has been circuitous would be a vast understatement.

​Each time Richardson has gone to City Hall for a public hearing or informal study session since he bought the 1.2-acre property in 2004, Richardson’s faced stiff opposition from neighbor groups that have packed public hearings, hired land-use attorneys and gone back and forth with him via sign wars.

That opposition has largely centered around the project’s potential impacts on traffic, its density, its previous lack of diversity and affordability among the units, potential for negative impacts on nearby property values and how people would access it given the bustling nature of that intersection, among others.

Richardson, who moved to Mill Valley in 1967 and has lived in Tiburon for the past several decades, is in the midst of preparing his latest application to the City of Mill Valley, this time for a project he says reflects his longtime membership in the non-governmental Mill Valley Affordable Housing Committee and the Rotary Club of Mill Valley, as well as a heightened desire within the community for a project that creates some more affordable housing opportunities, particularly for first responders, teachers and essential workers.

Richardson’s latest proposal, now called Richardson Terrace in place of the Blithedale Terrace moniker of yore, calls for 25 homes – six market-rate homes for seniors, six homes for lower-income residents, 13 market-rate homes and 2,000 square feet of office space. The development would include 52 underground parking spaces, Richardson said.

Richardson says that his latest proposal responds directly to the concerns of City planning commissioners in 2017 by reducing the height along the street from three stories to two, by putting the parking underneath the project, by having only one single-family home on the street and by increasing, with both the six units for seniors and six affordable units, the mix of units.

Richardson says he hopes that the City of Mill Valley, drawing at least in part on the Affordable Housing Trust funds raised via the city's 1 percent City fee applied to all new housing projects and remodels costing $100,000 or more, to buy some of all of the affordable units and make them available for rent to city employees, much like the Town of Tiburon did with six units within its Point Marsh complex. 

“This project is not detrimental in any way that I can see,” says Richardson, who hired renowned architect Mark Cavagnero to design the latest proposal in an effort to address the Planning Commission's expressed desire in 2017 for more modernity in the buildings. “It provides 12 units for people that need access to local housing, nothing’s bigger than 2,000 square feet

He says he hopes to get a hearing for later this year. In doing so, he seeks to end a journey that's well into its second decade.

Richardson's proposal had its last public hearing – for the Planning Commission to recommend certification of its final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) – in April 2012. Richardson began the EIR process with the city in 2006.

The city released the draft EIR in March 2010, analyzing the project’s impact with regards to aesthetics, air quality, biological resources, geology and soils, hydrology and water quality, noise, transportation and traffic, hazards and hazardous materials, land use, population and housing and public services. The final EIR was posted in 2012.

At a 2012 study session, Richardson’s project called for a terraced plan of 20 single-family, two- and three-bedroom townhomes varying in style from 1,100 to 2,000 square feet. Of the 20 units, two would be reserved for lower-income households and two for moderate-income households. In an attempt to get a sense of what, if any, variation on his proposal the community could support, Richardson also put forth a project that included alternatives eight units and four second units.

The Blithedale Terrace property was included in the city's 2003 Housing Element update as a place for a 20-unit residential development as part of the city's efforts to meet from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Richardson’s property was included in the Capacity Analysis within the City’s 2015-2023 Housing Element.

In an op-ed in 2012, Richardson wrote, “it appears that the community needs to do some soul searching. Is this a town where only the wealthy can move in by building large houses on steep lots in our canyons? Why can't the ordinary citizen have an opportunity to live in a 21st Century home in Mill Valley, one that is within walking distance to everything?”

In 2017, at an informal study session with the Planning Commission, Richardson received similar objections to his proposal of 20 two- and three-bedroom, three-story townhouses, ranging from 1,200 to 2,100 square feet Commissioners told Richardson at that time that they preferred smaller-scale projects that include affordable housing, or senior housing with fewer units and bedrooms, and also included a mix of uses, such as office spaces, given its mixed use zoning designation.

Housing advocates note that while units can be designated as affordable, their actual positive impact comes down to the designation of low, very low or extremely low income levels because the median income in Mill Valley is so high.” For instance, the median income in Mill Valley in 2020 is $143,000, which indicates that monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit would be approximately $2,700, while a very low-income unit would be $1,700 per month.

Better than most, Bruce Dorfman understands the complexities of building anything, particularly anything affordable, in Mill Valley. His firm Thompson Dorfman tried to build a small project in its parking lot Forrest St. in 2007, a project that sought to work with the Mill Valley School District and provide four residential townhouses designated for teachers. Like Richardson’s past efforts, that project also received considerable opposition from neighbors and other groups concerned about density, re-zoning requirements and the removal of a tree.

“The only way to get true (deeded) inclusionary or affordable housing built is that you have to build a project large enough to make this requirement a necessity for approval as well as economically sustainable,” Dorfman said. 

Given Mill Valley’s lack of large, vacant lots, local officials and developers will likely have to continue to “hit singles,” as Councilmember Urban Carmel explained last week about the city’s focus on promoting the creation of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and its new “House Mill Valley” house match program via Covia.

“In Mill Valley’s case, given the lack of large-scale projects, we're going to need to create affordable housing on a onesie twosie basis,” Dorfman says. “But if we do it enough, it’s a good and necessary start.”

Here's a slideshow of the renderings of the 575 East Blithedale Ave. project: