Tyger Tyger: Party DJ Colleen Teitgen

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Tyger Tyger: Party DJ Colleen Teitgen

Colleen Teitgen—the prolific DJ Dyops—likes to party. Sitting across from her bold eyes, bouncy blond tresses and brazen laugh at Brew Coffee, I found myself thinking of “the party animal.” 

That, of course, is an animal perfectly adapted to flourish in the environs of party land. The mythological party animal is apparently a moth, as Teigan takes the Heniocha dyops as her sigil—the night-loving, flame-seeking “butterfly.”

DJ Dyops is open format, not bound to genre, but her musical heartland is house music, hip-hop, afro beat and spun pop sugar.

Cinncinnatus Hibbard: Colleen, I understand your first DJ kit was an orange and tan Fisher-Price record player. How long have you been a pro?

Colleen Teitgen: Ten years.

Tell me about your method.

I’m a hard worker. And more than that—I’m obsessed with (laughs); I spend all my free time looking for hot new tracks, discovering new artists or digging through my record crates.

Tell me about your approach to DJing.

Mostly, I let music speak for itself. When I can, I try to enhance the music through my mixing and to create unexpected surprises—like mixing Britney (Spears) into Bad Bunny.

DJing is much more than putting together playlists and mixing (blending in the next song).  Lead us into the art of the DJ by describing your DJ console-controller.

It has eight pads for q-points, and effect controls for 10,000 effects—like echoes, delays, sound fx, studders, spirals, and reverb, the equalizer controls. It has disk platters for nudging, backspin and finding your spot in a track or scratching. And it has the stem splitter, which can divide digital tracks into their individual instrument and vocal tracks.

Those are a lot of creative choices for the DJ—beyond track selection. When you’re up on your console, bossing the party, what else are you paying attention to?

I am constantly reading the dance floor—what genres people are really responding to—leaning into that, but not letting things get stagnant. I’m looking for that next track and deciding at what point in the song to mix it in. I’m checking  the clock, or I’m checking my phone to see if the next DJ is here yet. I’m shooting promo footage and taking selfies with people. I’m checking in with security about any trouble developing in the crowd. I am responding to drunk girls flashing song requests with their phones.

(Laughs) That is a lot to manage into beat-matched smoothness. You play around a lot, with the wild Wolf Pack DJs, at ecstatic dances, exercise classes at SPITE Fitness and at music festivals, but your flagship event is LUSH—at Vintage Space. Describe LUSH.

LUSH is Sonoma County’s only monthly LGBTQ+ dance party. I started it at Jaspers before moving it to Vintage Space. In addition to monthly guest DJs, we have go-go dancers, and we break up the dance with burlesque and drag performers. We also have vendors—usually Jenny DeYoung and Illiana Sanchez.

I have fond memories of the ‘queer prom’ you hosted there. What’s your next event?

It’s an alien disco.

Party local: DJ Dyop’s instagram (@dj.dyops), where she cross-promotes with many of her DJ friends, doubles as a listing of some of the best parties in the North Bay. 

Her next event, ‘Area 54: An Intergalactic Alien Disco,’ is 8pm, Saturday, Oct. 18, at Vintage Space at the Flamingo Resort and Spa, 2777 4th St., Santa Rosa. 

The event features space-y light art by Magicalized, alien burlesque by Foxy Cheex and Taters Mashed, alien disco soul singing by Audio Angel and Space Walker, soul train dance lines and a climactic alien dance battle. See this week’s ‘Crush’ column on page 11. And search Eventbrite.com for ‘Area 54.’

Your Letters, Oct. 15

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Mixed Message

Gosh, I’m finding it challenging to reconcile how our brilliant chief executive is “brokering” peace in the Middle East while inciting violence and war in our cities in the former United States.

One could conclude that we have a really fun multiple personality disorder problem in the White House, which is after all, what we taxpayers deserve, having installed a degenerate lunatic not once but twice as leader of the free world. 

This disaster is going to take a long time to deal with, folks. Let’s get at it. It was too late decades ago.

Craig J. Corsini
San Rafael

Veil Mail

Every October, as the days grow shorter and the air takes on that electric crispness, we hear again that old phrase: “The veil is thin.” Whether one takes that literally or metaphorically, there’s something about Halloween that makes the invisible visible. The past brushes up against the present, and we glimpse the ghost of who we were—or might yet be.

Amid the candy and costumes, Halloween reminds us that mystery still exists in the margins of our overlit lives. Maybe the veil isn’t between the living and the dead at all, but between the ordinary and the extraordinary, waiting for us to peek through.

Cammy Blake
Petaluma

Deciding to Fight, Dems Deliver with Prop 50

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Deciding to Fight, Dems Deliver with Prop 50

The 2025 election will be the first time I’ll be able to vote. As a newly-turned 18 year old, as well as someone with an openly political family, I’m excited to vote and to finally be able to have a say in a country I’ve been living in my whole life. 

Another reason I’m so excited to be able to vote in this upcoming election is because of the controversial measure on the ballot this year: Proposition 50.

I can say with certainty that I will be voting “yes.” Even though I don’t always agree with my democratic representatives’ choices, or sometimes their lack thereof, I view supporting Prop 50 as something necessary. In a political climate that is increasingly polarizing and extreme, Prop 50 is a chance for Democrats to finally fight fire with fire. 

Over my entire life, I’ve seen Republicans make major political and morally-gray decisions, and Democrats always trying to uphold a moral high ground. From the Supreme Court to the filibuster, only one party has been making these decisions, and gaining political power from them. I think that the Democrats’ standing back goes against the platforms they ran on, and doesn’t accomplish anything. While they can claim that they are the “fair,” the “just” and the “better” party, their actions only succeed in letting Republicans have their way. They are not considering the voters their lack of action might impact. 

I think Prop 50 may be the first time the Democrats are deciding to fight, and to compromise their morals rather than step back and let the Republicans take control. While I don’t support gerrymandering, I believe Prop 50 is necessary to fight back and equalize the playing field for both parties. It would return the representation back to the baseline, and would tell other states that California is willing to do what it takes, even if that means doing something morally gray. I don’t think that elections can ever be fair if both parties don’t play by the same rules, and follow the same protocols. 

The equalization of representation that Prop 50 will achieve is the first step in that direction.

Simone Dayton is a high school student in Marin County and an intern at the ‘Pacific Sun.’ 

Free Will Astrology: Week of Oct. 15

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Free Will Astrology: Week of Oct. 15

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Life is tempting you to tiptoe to the brink of the threshold of the rawest truth, the wildest beauty and the most precious love. Your ancestors are conspiring with your guardian angels to lure you into the secret heart of the inner sanctum of spiritual truth. I am totally sincere and serious. You now have a momentous opportunity—a thrilling opening to commune with subtle powers that could provide you with profound guidance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the forests of America’s Pacific Northwest, “nurse logs” lie fallen but fertile. These dead trees host seedlings, mosses and new saplings that rise from their decaying trunks. I regard this as a powerful metaphor for you, Taurus. Something old in you is crumbling, like outdated beliefs, outmoded duties or obsolete loyalties. Part of you may want to either grieve or ignore the shift. And yet I assure you that fresh green vitality is sprouting from that seemingly defunct thing. What new possibility is emerging from what was supposed to end? Resurrection is at hand.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A deeper, wilder, smarter version of love is beckoning you from the horizon. Are you ready to head in its direction? I’m not sure you are. You may semi-consciously believe you already know what love is all about, and are therefore closed to learning more. It’s also possible that your past romantic wounds have made you timid about exploring unfamiliar terrain. Here’s my assessment: If you hope to get exposed to the sweeter, less predictable kinds of intimacy, you will have to drop some (not all) of your excessive protections and defenses. P.S.: At least one of your fears may be rooted in faulty logic.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Princess Diana transformed the British monarchy because she insisted that royal duty should include genuine emotional connection. Her generosity wasn’t merely ceremonial but was expressed through hands-on charity work. She had close contact with youth who had nowhere to live. She walked through minefields as part of her efforts to rid the planet of that scourge. She hugged people with AIDS at a time when many others feared such contact. “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward,” she said. Her ability to maintain grace while remaining emotionally authentic reflected a genius for blending strength with sensitivity. Can you guess her astrological sign? Cancerian, of course. Now is a perfect time for you to draw inspiration from her example. Express your wisely nurturing energy to the max.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Certain African lions in Kenya have no manes. Scientists theorize it’s an adaptation to heat or a reflection of extra aggressive hunting strategies. But symbolically, it challenges expectations: Is royalty still royalty without the crown? I bring this to your attention, Leo, because I suspect you will soon be asked to explore your power without its usual accouterments. Can you properly wield your influence if you don’t unleash your signature roar and dazzle? Will quiet confidence or understated presence be sufficiently magnetic? Might you radiate even more potency by refining your fire? I think so. You can summon strength in subtlety and majesty in minimalism.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): During the next nine months, you will face a poignant and potentially inspiring choice: whether to wrangle with an endless tangle of mundane struggles, or else to expand your vision to the bigger picture and devote your energy intensely to serving your interesting, long-term dreams. I hope you choose the latter option. For best results, get clear about your personal definition of success, in contrast to the superficial definitions that have been foisted on you by your culture. Can you visualize yourself years from now, looking back on your life’s greatest victories? You’re primed to enter a new phase of that glorious work, rededicating yourself with precise intentions and vigorous vows.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I’m pleased to inform you that the coming weeks will be an excellent time to make a big wish upon a bright star. But I must also tell you how important it is to be clear and exact. Even a slight error in formulating your wish could result in only a partial fulfillment. And aiming your plea at the wrong star could cause a long delay. Sorry I have to be so complicated, dear Libra. The fact is, though, it’s not always easy to know precisely what you yearn for and to ask the correct source to help you get it. But here’s the good news: You are currently in a phase when you’re far more likely than usual to make all the right moves.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): During World War II, Scorpio actor and inventor Hedy Lamarr developed frequency-hopping technology to prevent enemies from jamming torpedo guidance systems. Her solution rapidly switched radio frequencies in hard-to-intercept patterns. The technology was so advanced that no one could figure out how to fully adopt it until years later. Engineers eventually realized that Lamarr’s invention was essential for WiFi, GPS and cell phone networks. In the coming weeks, Scorpio, you, too, have the potential to generate ideas that might not be ready for prime time but could ultimately prove valuable. Trust your instincts about future needs. Your visionary solutions are laying the groundwork for contributions that won’t fully ripen for a while.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I guarantee you won’t experience a meltdown, crack-up or nervous collapse in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. What unfolds may bring a similar intensity, but in the opposite direction: a personal breakthrough, a cavalcade of illumination or a surge of awakening. I urge you to be alert and receptive for relaxing flurries of sweet clarity, streams of insights that rouse a liberating integration or a confluence of welcome transformations that lead you to unexpected healing. Can you handle so many blessings? I think you can. But you may have to expand your expectations to welcome them all.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In 1959, a Swedish engineer named Nils Bohlin designed the three-point seatbelt, revolutionizing car safety. Working for Volvo, he insisted the design must be made freely available to all car manufacturers. Bohlin understood that saving lives was more important than hoarding credit or profit. Capricorn, your assignment now is to give generously without fussing about who gets the applause. A solution, insight or creation of yours could benefit many if you share it without reservation. Your best reward will be observing the beneficial ripple effects, not holding the patent.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Your exploratory adventures out on the frontiers have been interesting and mostly successful, Aquarius. Congrats. I love how you have avoided tormenting yourself with self-doubt and roused more boldness than you’ve summoned in a long time. You have managed to ignore useless and superstitious fears even as you have wisely heeded the clues offered by one particular fear that was worth considering. Please continue this good work. You can keep riding this productive groove for a while longer.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In Korean tradition, mudangs are shamans who endure a personal crisis or illness and emerge with supernatural powers. They perform rituals to seek the favor of spirits. They heal the ancestral causes of misfortune and ensure good fortune, prosperity and well-being for the people they serve. I don’t mean to imply you’re following a similar path, Pisces. But I do think your recent discomforts have been like an apprenticeship that has given you enhanced capacity to help others. How will you wield your power to bless and heal?

Discovery to Destiny: Vinarosa’s Chef Sergio Howland

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Discovery to Destiny: Vinarosa’s Chef Sergio Howland

Executive Chef Sergio Howland leads the kitchen at newly revitalized Vinarosa Resort & Spa in Santa Rosa. He grew up in Mexico City, lucky to know at 10 what he was destined to do. Upon immersion in a set of Discovery Channel videos, “Great Chefs, Great Cities,” he recreated each dish from the show for his family. 

At 18, firmly set upon a culinary life path, he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York, launching him into an international career guided by some of the world’s best chefs. That global expertise shines through the truly farm-to-table menu at John Ash, including impressive housemade breads; Howland’s passion for sourdough baking shows off well.

Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?

Sergio Howland: I’ve been cooking professionally for more than 25 years, a career that has taken me from New York to Colorado, Florida, Barcelona and Mexico. I feel fortunate to have traveled so widely while refining my craft. Along the way, I developed a deep passion for wine, which makes my current role especially meaningful. When the opportunity arose to move to the Russian River Valley and lead the culinary program at Vinarosa, I didn’t hesitate.

Did you ever have an ‘aha’ moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.

Back in culinary school, my very first wine class hooked me completely. I remember diving into the subject, eager to learn as much as I could about this incredible world. My true ‘aha’ moment came with a glass of Barolo from Piedmont. The aromas, the complexity, the layers of flavor—everything about that wine was captivating. From that moment on, I knew wine would be more than just an interest; it would become a lifelong passion.

What is your favorite thing to drink at home?

Usually when I get home, my wife and I cook dinner. We usually have a glass of white wine while cooking and then a glass of red for dinner. We don’t really drink hard liquor. We stick to local craft beer and wine.

Where do you like to go out for a drink?

I love to visit wineries and taste what they are doing. Yesterday on my day off, we visited Bacigalupi. I also like to visit Cooperage and Russian River breweries.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?

If I’m stuck on a deserted island, I’d probably be grilling fish or making ceviche, so a crisp white wine would be my go-to. Something bright and refreshing, like an Albariño or a Sancerre—perfect with all that seafood. Of course, I’d hope I washed up with a corkscrew too… Otherwise, it could get tricky.

Vinarosa Resort & Spa, 4350 Barnes Rd., Santa Rosa, 707.575.7350. vinarosaresort.com.

Well Traveled: Jeff Greenwald Revisits ‘The Size of the World’

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Well Traveled: Jeff Greenwald Revisits ‘The Size of the World’

Thirty years ago, Jeff Greenwald became unenchanted with airplanes. 

As an established travel writer who crisscrossed the globe on assignment for a variety of magazines, he had already logged more miles than Magellan, Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus combined. Yet, as he approached his 40th birthday, an idea intrigued him. What if he could circle the globe without ever leaving the Earth’s surface? 

Inspired by Tibetan Buddhist perspectives, the journey would be a kora, a circumnavigatory pilgrimage around a sacred site, in this case the planet. That is, Greenwald would start at his home in Oakland, then journey around the globe, and eventually return to his home in Oakland—all without boarding one single airplane.

The resulting book, The Size of the World: Once Around Without Leaving the Ground, was published in 1995 and documented Greenwald’s entire journey. A brand new 30th anniversary edition has just emerged, with Greenwald looking back on a lifetime of travel, especially the ever-changing ways that travel is documented. He appears in conversation at Book Passage Corte Madera on Saturday, Oct. 18.

Greenwald launched his journey in December of 1993, during the initial stages of the World Wide Web. The following month, in Oaxaca, Mexico, he posted the world’s first travel blog when he dragged an HP OmniBook into a Telmex office and uploaded a dispatch to the Global Network Navigator, an early website run by O’Reilly Media, the Sebastopol tech-book publisher. For the rest of the journey, he sent back various dispatches from the road.

Aside from capturing a harrowing journey around the planet, replete with jail time, cargo-ship stowaways, encounters with human slaves, a meeting with legendary writer Paul Bowles and all sorts of trouble, the book takes us back to an optimistic era, when the web was an untapped global frontier, a brand-new digital space invented to connect everybody, everywhere.

“There was this fascination—I remember writing about this in the book—this fascination with information and how weightless it is and the ability to carry so much information around on something like a small laptop,” Greenwald said. “And meeting hundreds of people in the world who had no idea what the internet was, had never heard of email, certainly didn’t have email addresses and could not imagine that in 20 years’ time, they’d all have this thing in their pocket called the smartphone that would transform their lives completely.”

Any true pilgrimage, in theory, must hurl the traveler into a series of hardships and temptations. In Greenwald’s case, they came in the form of unfriendly borders, religious fanaticism or vodka-swilling Turkish babes half his age. In New York, he finagled his way onto a cargo ship across the Atlantic. In Senegal, he overcame a nightmarish sequence of events in trying to escape Mauritania by crossing Western Sahara, an area still riddled with landmines. It was in Mauritania that he encountered people who still actually kept and sold human slaves. 

In a heartening chapter from Tangier, Greenwald busts in on the author Paul Bowles, then 83 and in poor health. After decades of irksome fanboys mischaracterizing him as a Beat Generation dude, Bowles actually gave Greenwald much more time than either expected. They hit it off and spent a few days talking shop about life, writing and travel.

Throughout the book, Greenwald weaves the 20 original web dispatches into the main narrative of his journey around the planet. On the actual day of his 40th birthday, he was marooned in the Sahara, uploading a blog before that word even existed.

“The OmniBook (laptop) weighed about four pounds,” Greenwald recalled. “It had a pop-out mouse that was absolutely adorable, and the most wonderful thing about it was that you didn’t always have to find a converter.” 

Even better, the laptop ran on AA batteries for nearly a week. That helped when stuck on a boring cargo ship for days on end.

“A lot of the parts of the book where I’m crossing, for instance, the Gulf of Oman for 12 days, or going across Saudi Arabia where there’s no way to plug in, it was absolutely a miracle to have this little laptop that was still able to record and write,” Greenwald said. “It had a black and white monochrome screen. It was smaller than any laptop I’ve owned since. That laptop is what made all those 20 dispatches possible.”

The OmniBook, however, nearly landed Greenwald in serious trouble. In Tangier, Greenwald was typing away in a bar when two secret police then approached him and wanted to know what he was writing. He wouldn’t tell them, so they dragged him away in an unmarked car and threw him in jail. They’d never seen a laptop, and they thought Greenwald was tinkering away on some sort of spy equipment. He had to phone back home to his editor in San Francisco, who then verified to the cops that Greenwald was on the up and up—a travel writer, not a spook.

After he circled the globe, in and out of hysterical or harrowing predicaments, Greenwald crafted the book with additional Tibetan Buddhist terminology. We get various chapters named according to various bardo states of transition: “Bardo of Fried Egg Sandwiches,” “Bardo of Rock ’n’ Roll” and even “The Bardo of Johnny Walker Red.”

“I chose to use the word more metaphorically to mean any difficult or unpredictable passage between one point and another, and to the entire trip,” Greenwald said. “I was very focused on the idea that this was a pilgrimage, and going around the world without leaving the ground was something I was doing to honor the earth, to sort of understand its true size and to challenge myself in an extremely difficult way for my 40th birthday as a travel journalist.”

Now a septuagenarian, Greenwald looks back on a book from 30 years ago with a tremendous sense of wonder, as any lifelong traveler would. He feels privileged to have captured a key moment in time, a world that was totally different and changing, and to have been part of the change himself, technology-wise.

These days, younger tech-savvy travelers often ask Greenwald for advice. He usually says the same thing.

“Wherever you go, wherever you find yourself, take at least a day or two to completely disconnect and, just yourself, be steered by whatever strange travel suggestions and encounters happened to you that day,” he said. “Don’t look at your phone. Don’t go online. Plant yourself firmly in the place that you are and focus outward rather than this sort of digital inward that we’ve all become somewhat accustomed to.”

Just don’t forget the OmniBook. 

Jeff Greenwald in conversation with Michael Shapiro, 4pm, Saturday, Oct. 18, Book Passage Corte Madera, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd.

Harmony and Heart with Essence & Gold Country at Sweetwater

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Harmony and Heart with Essence & Gold Country at Sweetwater

As singer-songwriter Essence Goldman takes the stage at Sweetwater Music Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 22, she won’t just be performing songs from her new album, Father’s Daughter—she’ll be performing acts of devotion. 

“I didn’t know how to process my grief any other way than to write about it and to honor my dad in song,” she said. “That felt like the best way to create a monument, to create an altar to him in song.”

A sixth-generation San Franciscan, Goldman was raised by her father, a single parent and artist whose creative life shaped her own. “He was an incredible artist and an incredible father who made me who I am,” she said. “He taught me a lot of things and gave me an expansive view of the world and creativity.” 

His passing, she explained, left a void she filled the only way she knew how—through music. That process led to Father’s Daughter, a deeply personal album steeped in Americana and country influences, recorded close to home in Marin. 

“This record is about grief, healing, resilience and rebirth,” Goldman said. “I’ve never felt more connected to the music or to myself.”

Through writing and performing these songs, Goldman discovered something profound: “I think making this record was a journey in honoring my dad but also recognizing the inner strength in myself that I didn’t know I had,” she said. “He actually had given me the tools—and I was using them.”

That inheritance of creativity and compassion extends to her nonprofit, Believe Music Heals, through which Goldman works with people who are terminally ill, incarcerated or otherwise struggling. “I help them turn their focus toward creativity and self-expression,” she explained. “My dad did that. I watched him use art and creativity as a way to transform his own life through hardship. He modeled that for me.”

Goldman’s insight into the healing power of art is as articulate as her music is emotional. “When you write or sing, it allows you a moment of stillness to listen to your inner voice and honor what is true for you,” she said. “By putting something in a song, you give it a place to live. You don’t have to carry it on your shoulders every single day.”

That idea—of transforming pain into prayer—is the thread running through Father’s Daughter. “Every time I sing those songs, I go to that place,” she revealed. “You have to feel it to sing it. But then it has its place—you don’t have to sing it every single second. It’s like a prayer. You give it a place. You’ve created an altar.”

Goldman’s path has been shaped by collaboration as much as introspection. Her project with the late Bernie Dalton, Bernie & the Believers, gained national attention through NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert and is now being developed into a feature film by Paramount and John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Co. “It couldn’t have been planned,” she said. “It was a turn in the road for me that surprised everyone involved. It just has a life of its own.”

At the Sweetwater show, Essence & Gold Country will be joined by an impressive lineup of friends and fellow travelers, including the Jenny Kerr Band, The Dogweeds, Jacob Aranda and Josiah Flores. 

For Goldman, performance isn’t work—it’s lifeblood. “I love music and I love singing, and I live for it,” she said. “Doing what you love isn’t a labor—it’s a passion.”

Essence & Gold Country performs at Sweetwater Music Hall, 7:30pm, Wednesday, Oct. 22. Tickets and info at sweetwatermusichall.com.

Farm Animals Get New Lease on Life at West Marin Sanctuary

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Farm Animals Get New Lease on Life at West Marin Sanctuary

After Miyoko Schinner, an award-winning chef who started a vegan cheese company, bought a house and barn on 16.5 acres of land in Nicasio, animals in need kept showing up. First came Reggie and Rufus, the two “OGs,” or original goats.

Three potbellied pigs, Aragon, Onyx and Oxy, followed. Then came a cow. Soon, Schinner decided that instead of simply taking in farm creatures referred by animal sanctuaries, she would open her own nonprofit refuge. In 2015, Rancho Compasión was born.

Over the last decade, they have rescued more than 500 animals. Currently, 115 farm animals live at Rancho Compasión, which is neither a ranch nor a petting zoo. All animals at the sanctuary receive lifetime resident status. No matter what unfortunate circumstances they come from and what quirks they bring with them, the animals spend their remaining years in the refuge’s care.

“Each animal here has a pretty big story,” said Caroline Singleton, Rancho Compasión’s director. “Most of our residents come from various situations, like the 4-H program or Future Farmers of America, as well as factory farming. Many are backyard birds that were neglected—hoarding situations.”

The menagerie includes llamas, donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese. Cats and dogs also garner resident status, sometimes based on achievement.

“The dogs are actually Miyoko’s,” Singleton said. “Koan, a mixed breed dog, saved one of our roosters from a bobcat. So, he’s very much involved with the operations down here.”

Almost always near capacity, the sanctuary allows the residents to roam and forage freely on the property, giving them the opportunity to forge unique relationships with other species. Singleton explains that allowing them to coexist sets Rancho Compasión apart from similar organizations.

“It makes it difficult during the springtime, when hormones are flying,” she said. “Sometimes we have to separate a few of the birds, but other than that, everybody really just figures it out on their own. We have a donkey and a pig that really get along well.”

Then there’s the interspecies romance between Echo, a goose, and Angel, a cow. As a smaller animal, Echo sleeps in a house at night. Upon exiting the house in the morning, he runs up the hillside to greet Angel, and they forage together. Anyone who tries to get close to the cow will have a Chinese duck gently attacking—nibbling—their feet.

“Echo’s warning you,” Singleton said. “This is my lady. Stand back.”

Rancho Compasión’s four-person staff, three full-timers and one part-time employee, have their hands full caring for possessive Echo and more than 100 other residents. But the team members wear many hats, coordinating additional activities at the sanctuary.

They prioritize children’s educational programs and are especially proud of their service to kids from vulnerable communities.The sanctuary also has a large organic garden that grows enough produce to donate to San Geronimo Valley Community Center’s food drive and a few community fridges. At a special fundraiser next month, the nonprofit will serve their own produce for 200 guests.

On Nov. 15, Rancho Compasión celebrates its 10-year anniversary with Cirque du Sanctuary, their first ever gala. The event includes a cornucopia of vegan food and entertainment by aerialists, flow artists, a magician and a live band.

“Why not make humans the circus?” Singleton asked.

A limited number of tickets remain for Cirque du Sanctuary. For more info or to buy tickets, visit givebutter.com/c/JRsQlT.

UPDATE: Why a jury acquitted San Rafael cop as city settles lawsuit for $999,000

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UPDATE: Why a jury acquitted San Rafael cop as city settles lawsuit for $999,000

A jury acquitted San Rafael police officer Brandon Nail of all charges last week in the beating of a local man, Julio Jimenez Lopez, stopped for drinking in public in 2022.

The courtroom was full of spectators as a Marin County court clerk read the verdicts for the two felony counts: not guilty of beating a person under color of authority and not guilty of filing a false police report, bringing more than four weeks of trial and jury deliberations to a close.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Sun broke the news that San Rafael agreed to pay Jimenez Lopez $999,000 to settle the federal civil lawsuit he and his wife filed against the city and the two officers involved in the use of force. Jimenez Lopez claimed that he suffered serious injuries during the incident, including a broken nose, a concussion and a torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery.

How did a 12-person jury find Nail not guilty while the city employing him determined that the man he beat deserves almost a million bucks? Interestingly, San Rafael and Jimenez Lopez reached their settlement agreement on Aug. 20, almost two months before the jury in the criminal trial rendered their verdict on Oct. 14.

According to San Rafael’s city attorney, Rob Epstein, the parties in the civil lawsuit kept the settlement agreement under wraps because it could have influenced the outcome of Nail’s criminal trial. Neither Epstein nor Theo Emison, one of Jimenez Lopez’s attorneys, would say whether the delay in announcing the settlement stemmed from a court’s directive or an agreement between the parties to the lawsuit. Payments from public funds are a matter of public record.

Since the criminal case’s jury members were unaware of the substantial civil settlement, it certainly didn’t sway their decision to acquit Nail of all charges. The two outcomes do appear incongruent at first glance.

No one has disputed that a police use of force incident occurred on July 27, 2022, after Daisy Mazariegos, then a San Rafael police officer, approached Jimenez Lopez and two male friends for drinking in public on Windward Way in the Canal neighborhood. Videos from Mazariegos’ and Nail’s body-worn cameras show the violent encounter and the moments preceding it.

Under Mazariegos’ direction, the men sat on the sidewalk while she questioned them, although Jimenez Lopez stood when instructed to get his identification. Nail, who had just arrived as back up, told Jimenez Lopez to, “Sit the fuck down.”

And so began the unnecessary escalation, according to criminal prosecutor Geoff Iida. Jimenez Lopez sat, then stood again as he tried to explain that he needed to get up to retrieve his ID from his pocket. The two officers grabbed his wrists to place him in handcuffs. Nail did a leg sweep maneuver, tripping Jimenez Lopez, causing all three to tumble to the ground. In less than 60 seconds, Jimenez Lopez was lying face down on the pavement in a pool of his own blood.

Both the prosecution and defense relied heavily on the videos during the trial. Iida described Jimenez Lopez as cooperative but needing clarity about commands. Defense attorney Julia Fox disagreed, maintaining that he did not comply, and the officers were well within their rights to use force to handcuff him.

“Mr. Iida would have you believe that Officer Mazariegos encountered Mahatma Gandhi on Windward Way,” Fox told the jury.

Frame-by-frame video playback showed that as the three fell to the ground, a few of Jimenez Lopez’s fingers from one hand grasped Nail’s vest. The prosecution asserted that the man who had complied with all commands simply reacted to falling. The defense stated this move prompted Nail to punch Jimenez Lopez in the nose because of safety concerns—the officer’s vest held weapons, including a taser, baton and pepper spray.

Nail’s assault defense boiled down to one question: Were the officer’s actions reasonable? And that standard applies not to the jury’s perception of reasonableness, but to another officer in a similar situation. Oscar O’Con, Nail’s then-supervisor, testified that his subordinate behaved reasonably.

The count of falsifying a police report essentially hung on whether Nail believed that Jimenez Lopez attempted to place him in a headlock and struck him about the head. While the prosecutor claimed none of this occurred based on the video footage, the cameras were  blocked for a few milliseconds during the tumble, providing Fox enough ammunition to say it could have happened. Additionally, Mazariegos’ baton briefly touched Nail’s neck, which he could have mistaken for an aggressive action by Jimenez Lopez, the defense attorney opined.

Experts weighed in on both sides. Ultimately, the jury decided that the prosecution did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

At the request of the jury, Judge Kevin Murphy, who presided over the trial, agreed to seal the jurors’ names. All jury members, except the foreman, declined the Pacific Sun’s request for comment.  

“Everyone walked in [the jury room] with a different mindset but an open mind,” the unidentified foreman said. “For a month, we didn’t get to talk about it. Then we were very thoughtful about looking at the law and applying the evidence. That guided us to the verdict.”

Had Jimenez Lopez’s civil case reached trial, the standard of proof would have been lower than in the criminal trial. Rather than beyond a reasonable doubt, a civil jury would have considered the preponderance of evidence.

“I think, from the city’s perspective, Mr. Nail’s conduct was wrongful, and Mr. Lopez got injured,” San Rafael’s attorney Epstein said in an interview with the Pacific Sun. “That continues to be the city’s position on those issues.”

However, Epstein also said this wasn’t the main driver in deciding to settle the claim for $999,000. He explained that a jury’s verdict for the plaintiff could leave the city on the hook to pay Jimenez Lopez’s attorneys fees—and four lawyers from two law firms represented him and his wife.

“If there had been a verdict for the Lopezes, even if the amount was substantially below the $999,000 settlement number, I am confident that his attorneys would have been seeking an attorney’s fees award from [U.S. District Court] Judge [Vince] Chhabria well in excess of $1,000,000, separate and distinct from any damages award,” Epstein continued.

Those following the Jimenez Lopez assault may remember yet another legal proceeding stemming from the incident. After the San Rafael Police Department terminated Nail for violating department policies, he contested the decision in arbitration and won. With the criminal acquittal on all charges and the arbitrator’s binding decision on his employment, San Rafael issued a statement that it “has no choice but to reinstate Nail” as a police officer.

The different outcomes in the criminal and civil cases involving the beating of Jimenez Lopez in 2022 seem to demonstrate the adage that “The wheels of justice turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine.” 

Piatti Dishes Up Romance in Mill Valley

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Piatti Dishes Up Romance in Mill Valley

At Mill Valley’s Piatti, romance is plated, poured and passed across the table in generous helpings. 

A reliable dining destination for a first date, it’s equally grounded for rekindling something familiar or celebrating a romantic milestone that took years to earn. 

Set beneath the gaze of Mount Tamalpais, the restaurant exudes rustic refinement, all warm light, and the low murmur of people discovering, or even remembering anew, why they like each other. 

There’s a certain choreography to it—servers glide past with hand-made pastas and well-timed smiles, wine glasses tilt toward candlelight and every so often someone laughs just loudly enough to let the room know that life, at least for tonight, is good.

We started our date, as the romantically inclined often do, with oysters—plump, briny and chilled to perfection. They arrived with a Calabrian chili mignonette that carried a slow-building warmth, more flirtation than fire, and a lemon wedge for punctuation. Enjoying oysters together is a simple ritual, but Piatti knows it’s one of the oldest love languages in the book.

Next came the Bucatini Cacio e Pepe, a dish that could pass for edible philosophy: nothing but pasta, cheese and pepper, yet somehow transcendent. Piatti’s version uses house-made bucatini tossed in pecorino and freshly cracked black pepper until it achieves that elusive alchemy between piquant and silky.

The Chicken Marsala is always a good choice, tender and deeply aromatic, its sauce a balance of earth and sweetness. Mushrooms and cipollini onions mingled like longtime lovers, each enriching the other, while the olive-oil whipped potatoes offered a luxurious canvas for every bite. It’s the kind of dish that satisfies both appetite and nostalgia—and is elegant enough for a date night, but familiar enough to feel like home in Italia.

We also enjoyed the salmon with lemon risotto, broccolini and radicchio. The fish had a buttery interior that melted into the creamy brightness of the risotto. The broccolini added a whisper of bitterness; the radicchio, a painterly flash of purple and crunch. It was a symphony of contrasts—acid and fat, light and rich.

The alluring wine list includes domestic offerings and a wide variety of Italian imports. Locally,  the Scribe Pinot Noir or the County Line Syrah shine. Or one may try one of the dozens of offerings from Italian locales including Sicily, Sardinia and Tuscany. 

When choosing drinks, don’t pass over the cocktail menu. Recommended by our server, the Super Tuscan is a bourbon cocktail that was smoky and floral, familiar but mysterious, like a jazz standard one can’t quite place. The secret was the addition of a splash of sangiovese and an adept combination of ginger, maraschino, lime and bitters. It paired seamlessly with the meal, proof that Piatti’s bar program shares pillow talk with its menu.

By dessert, the room had settled into that collective hum particular to restaurants that understand rhythm—a pacing that invites conversation, reflection, even a little nostalgia. And, in our case, espresso. A huckleberry and thyme panna cotta is a delicate end to the evening, or one could go traditional with a rich tiramisu or gelato with an espresso.

At its heart, Piatti Mill Valley is less a restaurant than a love letter—to Italian tradition, to California produce and wine, and to the ritual of dining as connection. Romance, after all, isn’t about perfection. It’s about being present with each other, which Patti makes easy.

Piatti, 625 Redwood Hwy., Mill Valley. millvalley.piatti.com.

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