Public Safety
The NWS San Francisco issued a coastal flood advisory on Tuesday, Nov. 3, valid from Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 6 a.m. through Monday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. for North Bay Interior Valleys and San Francisco Bay Shoreline. Up to 1.6 feet of inundation is possible in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways, with high tides enhanced by up to 1.2 feet of surge. The advisory warns of flooding of low-lying infrastructure, isolated road closures, coastal erosion, and restricted beach access.
Local Politics
Democrat Mike McGuire defeated Republican Rep. James Gallagher in California's 1st Congressional District, with the AP calling the race shortly before 9 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2026. McGuire led 58% to 42% with about 43% of votes counted. The district was redrawn during Gov. Gavin Newsom-led redistricting to extend through Lake County and into Sonoma County, incorporating Santa Rosa and Healdsburg. Gallagher, elected in June to fill the term of the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, had campaigned against the new map as disenfranchising conservative-leaning Northern California counties.
Community News · Sonoma County
Bull kelp forests along the Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino county coasts lost 95% of their coverage since 2014 due to ocean heatwaves, a wasting disease killing sunflower sea stars, and unchecked purple urchin populations. The collapse eliminated the $44 million recreational abalone fishery and the $3 million commercial red urchin catch, with the state expected to extend the abalone moratorium another 10 years. Diver Eric Sedletzky founded the Purple Urchin Removal Project (PURP) at Stillwater Cove on the Sonoma Coast, hosting weekly volunteer urchin removals. The Greater Farallones Association selected Stillwater Cove as one of five test sites for kelp replanting, and researchers identified the bacterial cause of the sea star wasting disease in 2025.
