For the second year in a row, the good folks at Clean Mill Valley and the Outdoor Art Club are teaming up to clean up Boyle Park. The event is set for Friday, October 16th, 10am to 12:30pm.

"Be part of this fun and rewarding community service activity!" OAC officials said in an email to its members." Join our friends at Clean Mill Valley for a socially distanced, clean-up of Boyle Park followed by a well-earned and relaxing picnic."

The OAC provides buckets and litter "grab-sticks."
Participants bring their own lunches. Contact Susan Tighe, susantighe@comcast.net or Judy Evans, buggsie@comcast.net with any questions.

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On the eve of Tuesday's expected reopening of an array of business sectors in Marin for the first time since late June, the state of California altered its methodology for calculating key COVID-19 metrics. The controversial, unexpected move pushed Marin from the red "tier 2" it was slated to move into Tuesday back into the purple "tier 1" it's been in since the state debuted its new Blueprint for a Safer Economy framework in late August.

That methodological shift could have disastrous consequences for local businesses hoping for a resumed reopening as we head into the fall – unless County of Marin officials are able to convince the state this week to reconsider its decision on Marin via an adjudication process this week.

For now, given the incredibly late notice of the decision, Marin businesses are able to open Tuesday morning without any consequences, but won't be able to continue its reopening on Wednesday and thereafter unless explicitly given the green light to do so from county officials.

As a reminder, here are the reopenings that were previously approved to occur starting Tuesday, Sept. 8, that are now on hold:

• Retail establishments are allowed to open indoors at 50% capacity
• Personal care services are allowed to open indoors
• Museums are allowed to open indoors with 25% capacity
• Places of worship are allowed to open with 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
• Movie theaters are allowed to open indoors with 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
• Gyms are allowed to open indoors with 10% capacity
• Restaurants are allowed to open indoors with 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer, for the first time since when Marin was placed on the watch list as a result of a sustained spike in COVID-19 metrics. Marin indoor dining's return was previously reversed in early July after it was allowed to open allowed to open on June 29
• Hair salons and barbershops could move to 50 percent of their space's maximum capacity indoors.
• Hotels, which were allowed to open on Aug. 24, would be allowed to open their fitness centers at 10 percent capacity.

"We’re essentially on a hold," Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said. ""We're working with the state to make sure the tier we end up in is based on a mutual understanding of our numbers. This comes as surprise to me and to our community."
​
The "hold" allows Marin to have a placeholder for a conversation about this before Marin gets categorized into either the purple or red tiers for the next three weeks, Willis added. "We’ll be working with our epidemiologists and the state's and the state’s epidemiologists to see what changed on their end."

The discrepancy centers around the credit that Marin had received from the state's previous methodology that credited Marin for its high testing rates, a bonus of sorts on top of its metrics on new daily case numbers per 100,000 residents, as well as positivity rates. The state adjusted its rates – even though it had informed Marin that it would open within the red "tier 2" on Tuesday, with the county sending out a press release on Friday confirming that decision.

"I think we can sort this out in a matter of days," Willis said, noting that a rise in case counts in the final week of August was based solely around an outbreak at a skilled nursing facility on Novato. 

"The state is in control," Willis said.

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It's been nearly two years since the Mill Valley Planning Commission rejected a proposal, within an informal study session, from the then-owner of the 500 Miller Avenue project to turn it into either a) a project containing 28 condo units varying from small to large, including seven below market rate units, 4,030 square feet of retail space and all of the required parking for the units contained on site or b) a 19-unit iteration with three below market units and 4,450 square feet of commercial space.

Over those two years, the property at 500 Miller has seen minimal activity, beyond being home to Mill Valley's most inviting would-be rock climbing wall. Maxemin never went back to the city with another proposal because he already inherited an approved nine-unit project with zero below market units. That project was approved by the city in 2011 and grandfathered in under state law.

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 Maxemin has sold the property and the project, and the new owners are going before the Planning Commission on Sept. 9 for approval of a new color scheme for the approved project.

HERE'S THE STAFF REPORT.

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Should your favorite grocery clerks at Mill Valley Market be able to live in our community if they want to? How about our firefighters, teachers and police officers? If the answer’s yes, how do we go about making that happen?

That work – identifying short-, medium- and long-term strategies to make sure that those vital contributors to our community can live here – has been a major focus of the City of Mill Valley in recent years, and the long-overdue, much-needed conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion in town have raised the stakes even more in recent months. 

​The City Council is set to consider on Sept. 8 a program that would take a step in the right direction. 

The proposal is to sign a $150,000 agreement with ​Covia, a Walnut Creek-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to "promote and cultivate healthy communities for positive aging," to create "House Mill Valley," a program that would match residents with more house than they need with people looking for more affordable housing opportunities than Mill Valley currently offers.

In 2017, the council hosted an affordable housing summit and backed an affordable housing ordinance that includes a 1 percent City fee to be applied to all new housing projects and remodels costing $100,000 or more. City officials say the fee could generate approximately $375,000 annually, with revenue going into an affordable housing trust fund. The options on how to deploy that funding include acquiring properties, building multi-unit projects, renovating existing developments or finding ways to subsidize rental rates for workforce housing.

Covia's "House Mill Valley" program is one such use. In March 2020, the council approved its guidelines for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, establishing the priorities for the use, distribution, and expenditure of trust fund proceeds. Those five priorities, listed here, include "projects that leverage existing, underutilized housing stock to create more affordable housing rental opportunities, such as a home match program (connecting homeowners with local community members interested in housing)."

HERE'S THE FULL STAFF REPORT ON THE "HOUSE MILL VALLEY" PROGRAM.

MORE INFO ON COVIA'S HOME MATCH PROGRAM:

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In cases you've been living under the world's largest rock or live every day by the mantra that 'ignorance is bliss,' you're well aware that there is a U.S. Presidential Election on Tuesday., Nov. 3.

The folks at the Outdoor Art Club continue to do everything they can to keep people informed, and they're hosting 'A Presidential Election in Unpredictable Times,' a talk by John Rothmann, host of the John Rothmann Show on KGO 810AM and a frequent lecturer on U.S. politics and the presidency, about the upcoming presidential election. Rothmann is a veteran of numerous political campaigns on the national, state, and local level, including Richard Nixon’s in 1968. The event is set for September 24 at 1pm, hosted by the OAC via Zoom.

REGISTER HERE.

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One of the most difficult aspects of the COVID-19 crisis to navigate for government officials has been violations of health and safety protocols, from businesses not complying with the relevant health and safety protocols to people not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.

After first unveiling a task force comprised of representatives from municipalities throughout Marin and county employees,  Marin County officials are turning over the responsibility of investigating tips about businesses violating COVID-19 public health rules to Marin’s cities and towns.

County officials announced the policy shift this week after an earlier plan faced logistical challenges and proved too difficult to manage. To streamline processing going forward, each municipality will investigate and consider issuing fines for violations taking place within its own jurisdiction limits, and the reporting of the problem will go directly to that jurisdiction. For instance, those seeking to report violations within the City of Mill Valley should email SIPviolations@cityofmillvalley.org, while those doing so in unincorporated parts of Mill Valley like Tam Junction or Strawberry can fill out this short form. 

“In order to flatten the curve in Marin, we must ensure that people are engaging in social distancing and wearing face coverings,” said Angela Nicholson, Assistant County Administrator and Director of Marin’s Emergency Operations Center during the pandemic. “Our hope is that outreach, education, and warnings will deter those who are not following the business requirements. It is quicker and more efficient for each jurisdiction to follow up on its own complaints.”

Since it issued an order in July to create the process to report violations, County officials have received at least 175 business violations via Marin County’s Environmental Health Services Division over the first six weeks of the enforcement order. In all, Environmental Health Services logged more than 500 complaints during that period, but many were duplicates of one incident or not related to businesses. With the goal of compliance, the County has contacted more than 100 businesses to provide education and gain compliance with the shelter-in-place (SIP) order. Only a handful of businesses have required second and third visits or fines.

Mill Valley City Manager Alan Piombo said the focus of the City's approach to violations will be "education, education, education. Our process will start with education and a warning, and we'll return three days later and only issue a citation if a business has chosen not to comply." Fines range from $250 to $10,000 for businesses and from $25 to $500 for individuals.

“We are more than six months into this health emergency, and ending it  will take a sustained team effort,” said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Public Health Officer. “Enforcement is vital to help people be held accountable for actions that jeopardize public health and prolong the pandemic.”

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The folks behind the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival are a glass-half-full bunch.

So when they were faced with the inability to hold the 64th edition of an event that would typically draw thousands of people to Old Mill Park Sept. 18-20​ to celebrate art, they simply pivoted to put that artistry out into the Mill Valley community. "MVFAF: Beyond the Park" takes the work of 16 artists and puts it into the storefronts of downtown Mill Valley merchants.

Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival collaborates with downtown merchants and the City to bring art and joy safely to the community.
 
The festival that would typically draw thousands to Old Mill Park has been scaled down to a miniature 3-day event September 18, 19 and 20. 

​"Harking back to the founding of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival 64 years ago, we'll have more than 15 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. "The community is invited to stroll, view and even purchase art created by these ceramicists, painters, photographers and more."

To enhance the beauty of the downtown Plaza and evoke the feeling of the festival, the Fall Arts Festival committee and board members have created hand-made chimes, mobiles and hanging sculptures to adorn the Downtown Plaza. The iconic lanterns people love and associate with the festival will also be 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 will be a promise of the return of the wonderful and beloved “in-person” community event we all anticipate and enjoy every fall," Bajor says.

Here are the artists and the merchants hosting their work:
 
Roja Rugs, 59 Throckmorton Ave. • Brett Crawford – Ceramics
 
Poet and the Bench, 11 Throckmorton Ave. • Judith Lemmens – Ceramics
 
Alexander’s Artisan Rugs, 1 El Paseo Lane.•  Nance Miller – Paintings
 
Watershed Restaurant, Mill Valley Lumber Yard, 129 Miller Ave. •Tina Fossella – Ceramics
 
Ambatalia, Mill Valley Lumber Yard, 129 Miller Ave. • Kristin Jakob – Botanical Drawings
 
Once Around, Mill Valley Lumber Yard, 129 Miller Ave. • Karen Meadows – Mixed Media
 
E.O. Exchange, 84 Throckmorton Ave. • Lissa Herschleb – Ceramics & Jewelry
 
Terrestra, 30 Miller Ave.• Barbara Contini – Woodwork
 
Famous4, 96 Throckmorton Ave. • Jan Buscho – Paintings
 
Vintage Wine and Spirits, 82 Throckmorton Ave. • Laura Culver – Paintings
 
142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave. • Emily Dvorin – Sculpture
 
142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave.  •Lettie Schubert – Puppets
 
Christopher Salon & Home, 23 Throckmorton Ave. • Mike Moir – Photography
 
Two Neat, 111 Throckmorton Ave. • Davis Perkins – Paintings
 
J.McLaughlin, 75 Throckmorton Ave. • Lance Kennedy – Photography
 
The Store, 68 Throckmorton Ave.  • Boglarka Pataki-Barothi – Paintings
​

HERE'S THE FULL MAP OF PARTICIPATING STOREFRONTS AND ARTISTS.

MVFAF organizers have also come up with a pair of fundraising drives to support the 2021 edition, with Mill Valley Market donating 2% of your purchase to the organization. Each time you shop at Mill Valley Market, tell the cashier you would like their "Shop and Give" program to go to code “7075” (Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival).

Amazon Smile will also donate 0.5% of your purchase to MVFAF: Sign in to smile.amazon.com on your desktop or mobile phone browser; From your desktop, go to Your Account and select the option to Change your Charity; or from your mobile browser, select Change your Charity from the options at the bottom of the page; Type into the search bar “Friends of Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival” (this is our 501(c)(3) organization). You can also contribute directly to the festival via its website or send a check to “Friends of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival," PO Box 300, Mill Valley, CA. 94942. Donations are tax deductible.

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By nearly all accounts, Gov. Gavin Newsom's unveiling late last week of the new Blueprint for a Safer Economy, a revised statewide framework for business reopening amidst the COVID-19 crisis that centers around four color-coded tiers (see graphic below), brings welcome clarity.

It replaces the previous “county monitoring list” as a way to measure counties' ability to loosen and tighten restrictions on activities and business operations. In doing so, it's focused at a more granular level while factoring in equity indicators such as high testing rate in disproportionally impacted areas. Unlike the monitoring-list model, which was based on a matrix of numbers that was difficult to parse, the new system is based largely on new daily case numbers per 100,000 residents, as well as percent positivity rates. 

The new framework leans much more heavily on state guidelines instead of a county-by-county approach. It allows for new, much-needed progress for Mill Valley businesses, with local hair salons and barbershops able to open Aug. 31 (at 25 percent capacity) for the first time since late June, when they were allowed to open for the first time since March during the COVID-19 crisis, before being forced to close just two weeks later due to then-new restrictions on Marin and all of the dozens of businesses on the statewide COVID-19 Watch List.

That progress is propelled by Marin's continued improvement on key COVID-19 metrics, with 5.9 new positive cases this week per 100,000 residents and an overall three percent positivity rate. That data puts Marin into the purple "tier 1," but coupled with the state's credit for counties with high testing rates, all indications have been that Marin will be able to move into the red "tier 2" soon after Sept. 8, the next scheduled weekly evaluation of metrics statewide. Each time a county moves into a new tier, it must stay within that tier for three weeks before advancing to a new tier.

“We made a lot of progress in August, so we know what it takes. It’s a team effort for all of us,” said Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis. “We’re at a critical junction. To hold onto these gains,s we need to stay strong in the ways we protect ourselves and others. If we see unsafe social mixing, or less face covering, we’ll see more transmission and could have to shut down again.”

As the county announced Friday afternoon, Marin enters "tier 2" on Tuesday, March 8, allowing restaurants to reopen indoor dining for the first time since it was allowed to do on June 29, only to have indoor dining's return reversed just a few days later when Marin was placed on the watch list as a result of a sustained spike in COVID-19 metrics. Unless new daily case numbers and/or percent positive case rates spike in the next several days, indoor dining can reopen, but only at 25 percent capacity.

So now comes the big question for Mill Valley restaurateurs: 

Will that make a difference for restaurants relying so heavily on al fresco dining options and takeout/delivery? Does adding a few tables inside pencil out? And will customers feel comfortable showing up to eat indoors?

Felicia Ferguson, co-owner of Piazza D'Angelo, doesn't think so. “Though we really appreciate the clarity around this new framework and welcome the progress, reopening at 25 percent capacity won’t have a positive impact on our bottom line, particularly given the heavy lift of reorganizing the restaurant to gain just a handful of tables,” she says.

There are impacts of the new framework on other industry sectors in Mill Valley if Marin enters the red "tier 2" next week:

• Hair salons and barbershops could move to 50 percent of their space's maximum capacity indoors.
• Places of worship could hold indoor services at 25% max capacitor 100 people, whoever is fewer.
• Movie theaters could open at 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer.
• Hotels, which were allowed to open on Aug. 24, would be allowed to open their fitness centers at 10 percent capacity.
• Gyms and fitness centers can open indoors at 10 percent capacity.
• Restaurants that have bars may open them indoors only at 25 percent capacity of the bar area and 6-feet of social distancing must be maintained, though family members could sit together at a bar. Servers behind the bar must also be able to maintain that 6-feet social distance.
• Plexiglass may be deployed in those cases to reduce risk, but plexiglass would not reduce social distancing and max capacity requirements for restaurants.
• ​For restaurants planning ahead for the rainy winter months, outdoor tents may not have three or more walls on a tent, but are allowed to have two walls. 

The new framework would allow Mill Valley schools to return to in-person learning as early as Sept. 22, though such a move would likely be subject to labor negotiations between teachers and the Mill Valley School District. Sixteen Marin schools have applied so far for a waiver to reopen in-person learning, and another 9 waiver applications were submitted to the state this week, County of Marin officials said. Such waiver applications would no longer be necessary once Marin moves into the red "tier 2."

But Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis cautioned against interpreting recent progress as a reason to let down our guard in any way. "Just because it is open doesn't mean it is safe," he said. "We need to move into a more mature and sustainable approach to this disease by having people take into account their personal responsibility to others and doing all of the things we need to keep each other safe."

"The tone that is set by reopening inevitably goes to, 'the coast is clear,'" Willis added. "But it's the opposite. In order to take these steps we want to take for our economy, we need to be even stronger in these other ways that we protect ourselves." 

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Multi-faceted nonprofit organization seeks sponsors. GO HERE FOR INFO.

Felecia Gaston, founder of the Performing Stars nonprofit organization in Marin City that has lifted up more than 3,000 children and introduced them to the arts, has long been a force of nature in Marin City and well beyond.

But 2020 is a particularly momentous time for Gaston and her stars, as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of an organization that has gone so far above and beyond a traditional nonprofit arts group. Over the span of three decades, Performing Stars has provided low-income, largely multicultural children professional training in dance, music and theater, but also access to digital literacy, reading, civic education and a variety of after-school activities and summer camps.

"We continue to provide them with costumes, feed them, transport them to classes, teach them social skills and manners and watch them thrive," Gaston says.

To mark the moment, and mindful of the prohibition against in-person events amidst the COVID-19 crisis, Gaston and her team are presenting a 30th Anniversary Virtual Gala on Saturday, Dec. 12 built around the theme of "Le Cirque des Etoiles" (The Circus of the Stars), featuring circus performers, aerialists, magicians, musicians and inspiring speakers. 

Virtual attendees can expect heartwarming videos, performances, and the personal stories of alumni who have been supported by Performing Stars throughout the years, Gaston says, noting that there will also be an array of auction items and text-to-give opportunities throughout the event.

"Our goal is to make this virtual event as exciting as a live production," Gaston says. "Staying true to the values and experiences created over the lifetime of Performing Stars, attendees can expect Spontaneous Bursts of Joyous Expression.  We are excited about the virtual format of the event as it will allow us to expand the audience and increase awareness of Performing Stars’ mission. For the first time, regardless of your economic means, we will be welcoming the entire Performing Stars community to be part of this celebration."

The event offers an array of sponsorship opportunities, from Virtual VIP experiences to a "ringside seat" with food, drinks and party favors delivered to your door. MORE INFO HERE.

​
The foundation of Performing Stars dates to Gaston's childhood in Georgia. "I watched little white girls go off to ballet class and I desperately wished I could go too, but it was unthinkable at that time due to segregation," she says. "However, I never let go of that dream, and I wanted to find a way to help other children of color fulfill their own dreams."

In 1989, Gaston shared her dream with some of her mentors and Performing Stars was born, with "zero budget, but lots of faith, passion and hard work," she says.

"Marin County is one of the wealthiest counties in California, where the income of many is well over $100,000," she says. "Yet there are children who live in isolated and segregated communities here where poverty is concentrated and the annual income is less than $18,000. We believe that every child deserves to 'star' in roles that will help build the self-esteem necessary to face the challenges of successful adulthood."

Gaston says that more than 90 percent of Performing Stars' alumni graduate from high school, with at least 50 percent going on to college or trade school and the remainder getting jobs.

"We've moved children from being like me, that little girl in Georgia who was forced to be a spectator on the outside looking in, to becoming engaged participants on the inside looking out," she says. 

​In 2019, Felecia Gaston appeared on ABC7 to discuss Performing Stars' youth play "Marinship," about the Marin City's integral role in building ships during World War II. Watch it here: 

MORE INFO ON SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERFORMING STARS' 30TH ANNIVERSARY VIRTUAL GALA.


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​For Beni Shinohara, the joy of performing outside alongside her fellow San Francisco Opera Orchestra musicians at the #MillerTakeover street closures over the past two months in downtown Mill Valley has come from both ends of the life cycle.

​Shinohara says she loves answering questions from young children who perch themselves across from the performance area in one of the tree beds on the Depot Plaza. "The way they listen to it and ask questions – it's truly engaging for them and we musicians feel the vibrancy of the young families," Shinohara says. "Kids are our future and they need to know that there's more to life than games and YouTube but there is this live classical music that they can also enjoy. It is amazingly remarkable for me to see the enjoyment in their eyes as we perform."

On the other end of the life cycle, Shinohara and her fellow musicians were thrilled in recent weeks as they've seen former regular attendees of the Throckmorton Theatre's free Wednesday Noon Concert series show up to hear classical music outside on a Sunday instead of the mid-day, mid-week shows they enjoyed so much pre-pandemic.

"It was like a reunion in some ways," says Shinohara, a former board member of Throckmorton Theatre, the longtime Mill Valley arts hub.

Those Throckmorton concerts, now on hold, are the foundation of a collaboration that has brought live, al fresco classical music to downtown Mill Valley every Sunday evening since early July, and they likely wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the COVID-19 crisis that has ravaged the Bay Area arts and music communities. 

"All those years on the board, my main focus was to connect this lovely theatre in Mill Valley to the whole Bay Area musician community," Shinohara says.

When SF Opera musicians learned this summer that their fall season had been cancelled, as have all arts and entertainment gatherings of nearly all sizes, they had nowhere to play and were looking for venues.

So when Mill Valley Chamber officials reached out to Throckmorton Theatre founder and executive director Lucy Mercer to see if musicians would be interested in performing at the street closures to complement al fresco dining and shopping, Shinohara and her fellow musicians jumped at the chance.

"Musicians want to perform," Shinohara says. "That is what we do. Lucy is such a visionary and we're grateful that we could all make this happen. It has been such a great thing for all of us – a win-win-win."

SF OPERA ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS PERFORM AT THE #MILLERTAKEOVER STREET CLOSURE ON SUNDAY EVENINGS, 5:30-6:30PM. 

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Over the course of the COVID-19 crisis in Marin, there have been no shortage of innovative programs to both feed frontlines workers and the elderly while also generating some much-needed revenue for local restaurants. Since March, that has included Feed the Frontlines Marin, BOL's Pay It Forward, as well as SeedReleaf and Play Marin's meals for to address heightened food insecurity in Marin City.

Now comes word that the Marin County Board of Supervisors has responded to demand and revived the Great Plates Delivered Program, which provides free meals to qualified older adults who are sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and ineligible for other nutrition programs and generates revenue for participating restaurants and caterers. The revival spans from September 10 to October 9 and includes the same 717 recipients and   many of the same food vendors. 

Mill Valley's Juice Girl, owned by Karen Olson, at left, is among the food vendors included in the program, as is Iron Springs, Marin Gourmet, Vin Antico, Spinnaker, Boudin
Nourish, Parkside Café and Marinitas, among others. Great Plates participants are assigned their restaurant selection by the County. People can only order from the restaurant assigned to them, and the program isn't able to accommodate switching or special dietary preferences.

The County of Marin first participated in the pilot program between May 18 and June 10, recruiting 28 local restaurants and catering companies to provide up to three meals per day to 717 older adults who were at high risk for the disease and met the program criteria. The program cost the county $538,000, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) expected to reimburse the county for all but $33,625. The agency picks up 75 percent of the cost, while the state of California picks up approximately 19 percent of the cost.

“The pilot was well received by residents and the participating vendors alike,” says Karu Beuerman, the county's director of social services. “Some older adults reported that it was the best they had eaten in years and that the program helped them come back to life during these difficult times. Restaurants commented that it was a gratifying and moving experience to see people in need enjoying the food they prepared.”

Participants who qualify receive three free restaurant meals a day, five days per week. Qualifying applicants must be at least 65 years of age or 60-64 and at high-risk as defined by the Centers for Disease Control, including those who are medically documented as COVID-19 positive, COVID-19 exposed, or living with an underlying health condition; Individuals living alone or with one other program-eligible adult; Individuals not receiving assistance from other state or federal nutrition assistance programs; Individuals earning no more than 600% of the federal poverty limit, which is $74,940 or $101,460 for a household of two; Individuals who can affirm an inability to prepare or obtain meals. 

MORE INFO ON THE GREAT PLATES PROGRAM.

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The COVID-19 crisis has been devastating, to varying degrees, for all Mill Valley businesses.

Arts and entertainment venues have been among the hardest hit, and few have suffered like the Sweetwater Music Hall, Throckmorton Theatre and Marin Theatre Company. 

"I don't know when we’re going to be a full business again," Sweetwater General Manager Madison Flach told us in May. "Right now, it's just about trying to stay hopeful, be pragmatic and make plans for a variety of different scenarios."

Since that time, Flach and her close-knit team of employees launched a short-lived Summer Pop-Up Tiki Bar for food and beverage takeout featuring live music. That pop-up went pop quickly because of a variety of factors, namely the inability to allow people to gather to hear the music, as well as the City of Mill Valley's long-planned Downtown Project, which brought considerable noise and dust to the area around the Sweetwater.  

Live music and theatrical venues are in a particularly bad spot, as Gov. Gavin Newsom and, more locally, Marin County Public Health Officer Matt Willis, have indicated that live music and entertainment will be among the last sectors of the local economy to return. To make matters worse, while businesses across the country have filed insurance claims for losses related to the pandemic, claims filed by arts groups have been met with "a torrent of denials, prompting lawsuits across the country and legislative efforts on the state and federal levels to force insurers to make payments," according to the New York Times. The insurance industry has argued that its policies never promised this kind of coverage in the first place and that fulfilling all of these requests would bankrupt the industry.

“This is an existential crisis,” Dayna Frank, the owner of First Avenue in Minneapolis, a regular spot for Prince, the Replacements and Hüsker Dü that opened in 1970, told the New York Times in May. “Independent venues have no financial backstop. We do not have corporate parents. There are no financial resources we can turn to.”

Flach and her team have taken solace in the idea that some of the most famous music venues in the United States are in the same exact situation. They're joined by more than 1,300 venues and promoters for the likes of Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, the Fox Theater in Oakland, 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia in forming the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). The organization retained powerhouse lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to seek tax relief and more flexible loan programs. 

Leaning on the overall impact of live music as an "economic multiplier" and a powerful force whose events have positive ripple effects on surrounding businesses like restaurants, retail shops and hotels, the organization has touted studies indicating that the value added by arts and culture to the U.S. economy is "five times greater than the value of the agricultural sector."

Despite that effort, NIVA has struggled to turn that argument into action from U.S. Congress, specifically inclusion of federal funding for independent music venues within a third coronavirus relief package for businesses and unemployed Americans devastated by the impact of the coronavirus, which Congress was unable to pass before they went on recess earlier this month.

At a press conference this month announcing support for bipartisan legislation aimed at providing relief to independent live venues, promoters and festivals, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he hoped to change that. He was joined by NIVA Executive Director Rev. Moose and LCD Soundsystem front man James Murphy to show support for the Save Our Stages Act, a bipartisan relief package for venues and indie music presenters. Introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the Save Our Stages Act would provide grants to independent live music venues, festivals, promoters and agencies that have lost nearly 100 percent of their revenue since the pandemic. A companion bill in the House is led by U.S. Reps. ​Peter Welch (D-VT) and Roger Williams (R-TX).

Indie venues "are places that occupy parts of cities that nobody wants to be in when they start," Murphy said. "They fill in the gaps and communities spring up around them. They take those warehouses that nobody wanted to be in and they build places that foster the most diverse music scene in the world."

Letting hundreds of venues go out of business would be a huge cultural loss for the country, Murphy says, noting "we’re not going to be able to rebuild these from zero. You can’t knock out all the mom and pops and think that more mom and pops will spring up. If we knock them out, it’s just chains."

Schumer said independent venues, "like theaters and concert halls, are the beating heart of New York’s cultural life and a driving force in the economy," adding, "that’s why it’s so important to provide dedicated federal assistance to independent venues so when it is safe, we can gather again for music, comedy, theater and other live performances in venues that have been around for generations."

"These mom and pop venues are unable to fully reopen until well into 2021 due to safety concerns posed by large gatherings," Rev. Moose said. "These institutions draw most of their revenue from acts that tour the United States, and until it’s safe to gather people en masse, it won’t be possible for venues to bring back their staff."

Save our Stages would provide Small Business Administration grants equal to at least six months of financial support to pay employees and cover expenses like rent and utilities.

To date, those concerned with saving independent venues have sent 1.8 million emails to their elected officials through SaveOurStages.com.

Want to help generate support for the Save Our Stages Act? Go to www.saveourstages.com to tell your elected officials that you care about your local independent venues like the Sweetwater Music Hall, Throckmorton Theatre and Marin Theatre Company, and want them to get assistance until they can reopen safely. 

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Three years after Donna Seager and Suzanne Gray landed the first solo painting exhibit from legendary singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez with “Mischief Makers” a series of acrylic paintings of some of the most famous “risk-taking revolutionaries” at their Seager Gray Gallery at 108 Throckmorton Avenue, the trio are collaborating again.

This time Baez, the folk music icon is working with Seager and Gray, her Mill Valley gallery representatives, to offer 100 prints of Baez's portrait of her sister, the late Mimi Fariña, for a suggested donation of $1,000 each to benefit Bread & Roses, the nonprofit Fariña founded, Bread & Roses Presents. The organization's mission is to bring "hope, healing and joy through live music and the performing arts to children, adults and seniors who are disadvantaged, marginalized, or otherwise isolated in diverse institutional settings in the San Francisco Bay Area."

For more info on ordering  on print orders, call Bread & Roses at 415-945-7120, email here or  go to breadandroses.org/donate. Of the $1,000 donation, $925 is tax deductible.



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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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