The Santa Rosa Press Democrat

By STEVE HART THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Horizon Air’s Santa Rosa flights saw a 1 percent increase in passengers in November, the first time since January that there was year-over-year growth. Horizon carried 16,168 passengers to or from Santa Rosa last month, up from 15,987 a year ago, according to Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport figures. Full Story »

By BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Amid a light drizzle, high school students on Friday planted hundreds of acorns as part of a woodlands restoration project at the Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen. “We are restoring a vineyard that was obviously cleared of oak woodland that was there and a spot that was also cleared for a pasture,” said Jeanne Wirka, Bouverie biologist. Full Story »

BY MARY CALLAHAN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A taste of simpler times is just the antidote for the harried, commercial frenzy that's come to define December, and what better way to get it than to step into the past for an old-fashioned pioneer Christmas. Full Story »

By PAUL PAYNE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A Windsor man convicted in a gang-related attack at this year's Sonoma County Fair has been sentenced to eight years in prison, prosecutors said Friday. David Tapia, 19, pleaded no contest to the Aug. 6 attack in which a man was hit in the head with a rock and stabbed in the neck. Full Story »

By KEVIN MCCALLUM THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Sonoma County home prices slipped slightly in November but remained well off the lows hit earlier this year before bargains hunters swooped in and devoured the supply of homes. Full Story »

By PAUL PAYNE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A Sonoma County jury Friday delivered guilty verdicts on all charges against a Santa Rosa man accused of stabbing his girlfriend 68 times and hiding her body their children's toy box on Mother's Day in 2008. Full Story »

By STEVE HART THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A bankruptcy court judge on Friday set no deadline for Sonoma County real estate investor Clem Carinalli to restructure his finances and begin repaying creditors. Full Story »

BY PAUL PAYNE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Sonoma County jurors deliberating the fate of accused murderer Honorio Pantaleon reviewed trial testimony this morning regarding the bloody crime scene and whether car seats were used to transport his children after he fled. Full Story »

BY KERRY BENEFIELD THE PRESS DEMOCRAT 'Amazing, 'rare' and 'well informed' are just some of the words administrators use to describe Barbara McGillivary, a Santa Rosa mom active in all three of her kids' schools. Full Story »

At least one person was hurt in a Friday morning crash in downtown Santa Rosa that blocked Santa Rosa Avenue while rescue crews worked to extricate a driver. Full Story »

By ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES - The year's best meteor shower is coming to North America. Weather permitting, the peak time to view the Geminid meteor show will be around midnight Sunday Eastern time when up to 140 meteors per hour could streak across the sky. Full Story »

BY ROBERT DIGITALE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A showdown is looming between grape growers and the agency tasked with protecting the fish in the Russian River as new regulations are considered to limit diversions for vineyard frost protection. Full Story »

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, begins this evening with gatherings commemorating an event from the second century B.C. Full Story »

By GUY KOVNER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Swine flu has sickened about 4.3 million Californians, a rate comparable to the disease's national impact, public health officials said Thursday. Full Story »

By BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Showers overnight Friday dropped little rain in Sonoma County, and the drizzly weather is expected continue through the weekend, forecasters said. Full Story »

By JULIE JOHNSON and RANDI ROSSMANN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT After a early-morning pancake breakfast in front of Santa Rosa’s Target store, nearly two dozen foster-care children went on a Christmas shopping spree with the help of Santa Rosa police officers. Full Story »

By BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A 25-year-old man was stabbed in what Santa Rosa police are describing as a gang attack Thursday at Juilliard Park. The man, a Rohnert Park resident, left the park and was taken later to a local hospital for treatment. His injuries were not life-threatening, police said. Full Story »

By BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A Santa Rosa gas station clerk ran for his life during an early morning robbery Friday after a gunman fired several shots at him, police said. “Six inches and we could have been looking at a homicide,” Police Sgt. Steve Fraga said. He said the robbery occurred just before 6 a.m. at the Shell station at Steele Lane and Administration Drive. Full Story »

GUY KOVNER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A late-model Mercedes-Benz caught fire in a west Petaluma garage Thursday night, destroying the car and scorching the garage attached to a home in the 1000 block of Phillips Avenue, a fire official said. Full Story »

GUY KOVNER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A Petaluma man with three previous drunken-driving convictions was arrested on suspicion of a fourth offense after an officer spotted his car parked at a bar, police said. Randolph John Pashilk, 63, was arrested Wednesday night at his apartment complex in the 300 block of N. McDowell Blvd., Sgt. Ken Savano said. Full Story »

By CLARK MASON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Healdsburg’s new mayor believes 2010 could be the year citizens feel the effect of budget woes. “For the last year, I’ve been telling my fellow council members 2010 will be more challenging than 2009,” said Jim Wood, who was unanimously selected to serve as mayor for the coming year. He replaces outgoing mayor Eric Ziedrich. Full Story »

By JULIE JOHNSON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Piner High School students played Santa for the 11th year Thursday, bringing gifts to children at Monroe Elementary School in Santa Rosa. The toy delivery is the main service project of Piner's Associated Student Body. Full Story »

Steve Barbose, a Sonoma City Councilman since 2006, has taken over as the city's mayor for 2010. Barbose, 61, will preside over meetings and be the face of the five-member City Council, taking over from longtime Councilman Ken Brown, who handed over the gavel last week. Full Story »

By BLEYS W. ROSE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Ronald W. Sykes, who served as an executive in several high technology manufacturing companies in Sonoma County including Optical Coating Laboratory, has died at his Sebastopol home at the age of 77. He and his family had lived in Sonoma County since 1974. He died on Nov. 26. Full Story »

By PAUL PAYNE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A Santa Rosa winery has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a Sebastopol man who was permanently disabled in an alcohol-related car crash in 2006. Full Story »