North Bay Report: Gravenstein Apples, Immigration and CSU Protests

Nonprofits Doing Good

The local chapter of the Red Cross will hold its  8th annual Real Heroes breakfast and fundraiser on Wednesday morning, at which ten North Bay citizens will be recognized for their contributions to their community and the world. Today's report profiles one of them.

Just two months after the earthquake rocked Haiti in January 2010, Jon Batzdorff and his ProsthetiKa nonprofit were starting work on the self-contained prosthetic laboratory they would send to the island nation. As it turned out, he explains, it took longer to deliver than it did to build.

There may be other transportable prosthetic labs somewhere in the world, but Batzdorf didn't go looking for examples to emulate. He simply set out to adapt his own workspace.The result can be seen in the photo on the right.

Modern prosthetic technology has become quite sophsticated, and his work in California often employs these complex mechanisms. But for patients in Haiti, explains Batzdorff, a simpler approach was needed.

In addition to providing a needed medical service in the wake of a major natural disaster, Batzdorff and ProsthetiKa are thinking long-term, determined to create a resource that will continue to serve Haiti for many years to come.

Interested in this story? Listen to the full report from KRCB's news director here.

College Budget Cuts

Students and faculty across the California State University system staged concurrent protests Wednesday, railing against the recent history of rising administrative costs, alongside higher student fees, and cutbacks in course offerings and the professors teaching those classes.

A modest but energized crowd of students, faculty and observers gathered outside Stevenson Hall on the Sonoma State campus during the noon hour Wednesday, part of a coordinated statewide series of protests. While volunteers circulated post cards and cell phones to relay calls for change to CSU Chancellor Charles Reed, a series of speakers denounced his administration's lack of support for the school's educational mission, and pre-emptive expansion of the CSU's managerial staff and infrastructure, at the expense of students and teachers.

Listen to the whole story from KRCB here. Check out Rohnert Park Patch's coverage here.

Immigration

While the U.S. immigration policy remains a confusing and unworkable mess, Sonoma County's participation in its punitive practices should be kept to a minimum, argues one local activist. So he's putting his own health on the line to make his point.

Is a two week hunger strike long enough to be effective? Santa Rosa Immigration lawyer Rick Coshnear admits he may have to find out, if he has to cut it short to uphold his commitment to his professional caseload.

From Arlington Virginia to Taos New Mexico, says Coshnear, a few concerned communities have tried to stand up to the ICE demands for immigration holds. Here in northern California, San Francisco and Santa Clara are in the forefront of those efforts, and last year the latter city won a significant, if little publicized admission from the federal agency.

His hunger strike has political and professional motivations, Coshnear explains, but it was also a serious personal response to prolonged and mounting frustrations around the immigration enforcement issue locally.

Listen to KRCB's report here.

Gravenstein History

From the dominant local crop, to a specialty fruit with a fervent fan base, Sebastopol's Gravenstein apples have a long and colorful history, now documented in a newly published book.

One of the most recent titles from local history specilists Arcadia Publishing,  Sebastopol's Gravenstein Apple Industry was co-written by four active members of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society, Frank Baumgardner, Evelyn McClure, Stacy Ruppert and Rae Swanson. McClure explains that this book grew out of a previous project some of them had worked on together.

The U.S. Army's demand for dried apples during World War II boosted and supported Gravenstein production. But when the war ended, Evelyn McClure relates, Sebastopol's apple growers had to scramble to find replacement markets, so they tried a variety of promotional efforts.

Gravensteins are not widely grown, and because they do not stand up to travel very well, these apples are either sold fresh close to where they are grown (lucky us!) or processed into juice or applesauce, which brings scant return for the growers. Even so, report Frank Baumgardner and Evelyn McClure, this variety has a well deserved reputation that reaches well beyond Sonoma County, and even Northern California.

Interested in this story? Listen to the full one here.

Editor's note: This story was reported and produced by KRCB, and written for Rohnert Park Patch with the permission of KRCB News Director Bruce Robinson.