Archived Radio Show

June 26, 2023

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA230626

Listen to the Show on the Mp3 Player below

Duration 57 minutes

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Featuring

Click the Name to access the Segment below

1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz,  Host of Women's Spaces 

2. Barbara Walsh: Member, 2022-2023 Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury, which issued its Final Report.

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1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz: I have a special guest this morning. Joining me in the studio is Barbara Walsh who is a past member of the Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury (CGJ). So much has been in the news about the Grand Jury and the responsibilities it has I thought it would be informative to explore a local Grand Jury to get some history and find out how it works and how folks can get involved.

Happy Birthday to my brother Mark Howard Kalman Holtz, 75 years old. Mark is my baby brother and I love him dearly. Wishing him a joyous year.

Happy Birthday to my friend Susan Lamont, my first guest on Women's Spaces. Also 75 years old. Her sister Janet, born on the same day, made a gorgeous Women's Suffrage quilt for Susan, which she presented to her at the party we attended yesterday.

We also celebrated Summer Solstice on June 21. The solstices may be the oldest astronomical observations made by man. 

 This is the last Friday of the month, and we will be doing the Women’s Spaces Pledge. It appears in the right-hand column.

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2. Our guest Barbara Walsh  shares a bit of her life journey to becoming an attorney. She found out after getting her bachelor’s degree in foreign languages that a secretarial job was not for her. Thanks to her mother and a friend’s mother she was encouraged to go to law school, and she then passed the bar the first exam. However, she faced what was overwhelmingly at the time the field dominated by men until one male lawyer gave her chance in his law firm. She eventually gained a position with the Worker’s Compensation Board, where she worked on 400 cases.

Upon retiring, Barbara felt a need to do more for society, so she applied on the Sonoma County Superior Court’s Grand Jury website to volunteer as a grand juror and was accepted as one of the 12 jurors by lotto of approved candidates. There are also Alternate Jurors chosen, who take the places of jurors not able to finish their term. The only requirements are to be a citizen over 18 years old, a resident of the county, be proficient in English and in computers, and be willing to commit oneself to one year of service working 10 to 20 hours/week doing interviews and research on the topics before the Grand Jury.

The first grand jury was assembled in England in 1166, and it was included in the Magna Carta in 1215 at the insistence of the nobility to King John.

 The jurors work as a team, and each have their talents to offer. The topics are chosen from requests for investigation, which can be made online. The requests need not be made by citizens or residents. The topics are about how the county is governed, county departments, schools, and special districts like the Smart Train. Topics are chosen if they affect a large enough audience in the county and benefit the county by promoting improvement. The Grand Jury has several committees. Barbara belonged to the committee on warming stations in extremely cold weather. All requests are considered allegations until the information is verified. The recommendations of the Grand Jury are called Findings. Public entities must respond to the Grand Jury Report, whose summary and complete report can be found on the Superior Court’s Grand Jury website. The Warming Center report is already being addressed by the County Board of Supervisors.

About our guest: Barbara Walsh is a past member of the Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury. She holds a law degree from San Francisco Law school. She worked with two attorney offices and after 40 years of service retired in 2019.
After two years of retirement, she applied to serve on the Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury. She did so because she wanted to do something to help the community. While her law practice was fulfilling, she did not feel that she was contributing in a meaningful way to better the community. Service on the Grand Jury does fill that for her need.
Barbara also has a BA Degree in French from UC Davis and although she majored in French, she also studied Spanish and Russian. Barbara’s hobbies are spending time with family (she has three sons and a wonderful 11-year granddaughter), taking care of her pets (horse, cat, parrot, and parakeet), horseback riding, and reading.
She is happily married and celebrates 47 years with her husband.

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Guest Links:  

Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury information page:  https://sonoma.courts.ca.gov/general-information/grand-jury

Grand Jury Reports & Responses, including the 2022-2023 CGJ Report and Responses by Agencies
** Responses available to view at all Sonoma County Library Branches.  https://sonoma.courts.ca.gov/general-information/grand-jury/grand-jury-reports-responses

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Reference Links:

Grand jury faults Sonoma County for lack of warming centers for homeless people during cold weather emergencies -
Following the citizen panel’s investigation, county supervisors approve plan intended to aid local groups, coordinate response. Article by Austin Murphy, The Press Democrat, 6/25/2023: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/grand-jury-faults-sonoma-county-for-lack-of-warming-centers-for-homeless-pe/

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History of the Grand Jury on wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_jury

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 Herstory

Our history is our strength. Check out important dates to remember in herstory at the National Women's History Alliance,, where the date descriptions were sourced unless otherwise indicated.

Herstory Event:

June 25, 1903 – Marie Curie defends her doctoral thesis on radioactive substances at Université de la Sorbonne in Paris, becoming the first woman in France to receive a doctoral degree.

Herstory Birthdays:

June 27, 1880 (1968) – Helen Keller, advocate for people with disabilities, writer, and lecturer.

June 28, 1946 (1989) – Gilda Radner, comedian, and original cast member of Saturday Night Live.

June 29, 1858 (1932) – Julia Lathrop, social reformer in the area of education, social policy, and children’s welfare. The first woman ever to head a United States federal bureau when she served as director of the United States Children’s Bureau (1912-1922).

June 29, 1897 (1992) – Kazue Togasaki, physician who pioneered a place in medicine for women of Japanese ancestry and was one of the few physicians allowed to practice medicine in the Japanese Internment Camps during World War II.

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Announcements  

Monday, July 3, 2023, 11 AM PT # repeats 11 PM PT, the show will feature Rev. Dr. Patricia Keel on Our Inner Freedom in Unity. Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live

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Wednesday, July 5, 2023, 11 AM PT, repeat of Monday's show that features Rev. Dr. Patricia Keel on Our Inner Freedom in Unity.  Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA. https://petalumacommunityaccess.org/kpca 

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Music Selections

The Opening and Closing Theme song The Woman in Your Life is You is done with permission of the Composer and Singer Alix Dobkin ((August 16, 1940 – May 19, 2021) Alix Dobkin death was just announced - Thank you for all you did for Lesbians to be recognized and Women to be honored. May you rest in peace. See our Interview with Alix Dobkin on 12/1/2014 and our Memorial to Alix Dobkin on 5/24/2021

The Woman in Your Life is You by Alix Dobkin from the album Living with Lavender Jane (2010 Women's Wax Works) - www.alixdobkin.com

If I Can Dream, sung by Kina Carina Jaarnek from the album  Kina Carina Jaarnek and Elvis Presley Band (2005 Winterland Records). 

Singing for Our Lives sung by Holly Near from the album And Still We Sing – The Out Spoken Collection (2002 Calico Tracks Music)

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Link:  Spinitron.com Playlist for Women's Spaces Show