Forestville in the Press Democrat recently

Lyda Estelle Castleberry (September 22)

Texas native Lyda Estelle Castleberry embraced life in the Russian River region after relocating with her family to Forestville more than 50 years ago.
She worked in Forestville, attended church there and supported many sporting events and school activities in Forestville and Sebastopol for her three children.
Castleberry died Sept. 5 at a Forestville care home. She was 88. She’d suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease for about 10 years, said her son, Chan Castleberry of Forestville...

Section of new trail in disrepair (September 24)

A section of the newly paved Santa Rosa Creek bicycle and pedestrian trail in west Santa Rosa is cracking and needs to be repaired.
"The last time I saw it, a week ago, it is getting worse," said Christine Culver, executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. "Not bad enough to drop a wheel in yet, but they will have to do some repairs."
The 2-mile section of trail between Willowside and Fulton roads was paved in July at a cost of $365,000. It is part of the 16 miles of bicycle and pedestrian path from Santa Rosa to Forestville...

Inside story of Sonoma County's Probation Camp (September 26)

What sort of work camp for teen offenders is Tom Neuwirth running anyway?
There are no razor-wire fences to keep young inmates inside the Sonoma County Probation Camp, located in the countryside north of Forestville, not far from the Russian River. And the camp's bustling workshops are virtual arsenals of tools and industrial materials that could make lethal weapons.
Neuwirth believes the camp for up to two dozen convicted boys 16 to 18 years old is cutting edge — and was all the more so when it opened as the first of its kind in California 55 years ago...

Salmon begin their run (September 28)

The first chinook have passed through the Sonoma County Water Agency fish ladder in the Russian River at Forestville, the beginning of a fall spawning run that biologists expect to be the best in five years.  Salmon Count Annual counts of chinook returning to the Russian River.
“This year it should be better, I would say in the range of 3,000 by the end of the season, maybe more,” said Bill Sydeman of Petaluma, president of the Farallon Institute for Ecosystem Research.
“The conditions that determine their ocean survival in 2008 and 2009 were good, that means their survival should be pretty good.”...