Michael Combs on Muck Rack

Michael Combs

Santa Rosa
As seen in: The Oak Leaf
Covers:  Mental health, social justice, environment
Doesn't Cover: Finance, sports

Michael Combs’s Journalist Portfolio

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Pomo Canyon Trail: A Sonoma County scenic sampler

Pomo Canyon Trail: A Sonoma County scenic sampler

Oak Leaf — From redwood forests to coastal prairies and beaches, the Pomo Canyon Trail offers the best sampling of Sonoma County scenery you can get, but be prepared to sweat for it. The Pomo Canyon Trail is a 7.2-mile out-and-back trail with a rough elevation gain of 1,463 feet that is classified as moderate to strenuous.

SRJC theater presents a pandemic miracle with "It's a Wonderful Life"

SRJC theater presents a pandemic miracle with "It's a Wonderful Life"

Oak Leaf — SRJC's Theater Arts prevailed through this unprecedented pandemic year of remote learning and arranged an innovative and heartwarming production with "It's a Wonderful Life." Its final showings are this Friday and Saturday. Suicide, a love triangle, bankruptcy, a wish gone wrong and a miracle come true make this play captivating from the very first minute.

SRJC Theatre Arts presents "It's a Wonderful Life," its first online musical ever

SRJC Theatre Arts presents "It's a Wonderful Life," its first online musical ever

Oak Leaf — Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts performs "It's a Wonderful Life" as its second online play and first online musical" at 7:30 p.m. Friday Nov. 27 live on YouTube. The iconic story about appreciating circumstances mirrors the turbulent present - and the play's production itself. SRJC President Dr. Frank Chong will make his SRJC stage...

Experienced backpacker reviews popular sleeping bag styles

Experienced backpacker reviews popular sleeping bag styles

Oak Leaf — Oak Leaf staff writer Michael Combs brings his backpacking experience to let beginners know of the basic difference between mummy and quilt style sleeping bags.

SRJC Board of Trustees formally recognizes SRJC sits on Pomo land

SRJC Board of Trustees formally recognizes SRJC sits on Pomo land

Oak Leaf — The Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees acknowledged that SRJC lies on territorial Pomo land by unanimously approving an SRJC land acknowledgement on Oct. 13. This land acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes and respects the Pomo People as the traditional caretakers of SRJC land and their continued relationship with it.

Measure P: Increasing transparency and accountability over the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office

Measure P: Increasing transparency and accountability over the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office

Oak Leaf — Sonoma County's Measure P promises to expand civilian oversight of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office to increase transparency, accountability and public trust in local law enforcement during a time of increased skepticism among the county's minorities and young residents. Civilian oversight of the Sheriff's Office has existed since 2013, after a deputy shot and killed...

SRJC Theater Arts presents Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express"

SRJC Theater Arts presents Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express"

Oak Leaf — SRJC Theatre Arts is performing "Murder On The Orient Express," a play based on Agatha Christie's 1936 novel, and streaming live on YouTube at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 and 24. Laura Downing-Lee directs the murder mystery featuring an eccentric cast of international travelers on The Orient Express, a famous train headed from Istanbul to Paris....

SRJC awarded $3 million HSI grant for Latinx and low-income students

SRJC awarded $3 million HSI grant for Latinx and low-income students

Oak Leaf — The U.S. Department of Education awarded Santa Rosa Junior College a nearly $3 million grant with goals of increasing academic preparedness and degree and certification completion among Latinx and low-income students. SRJC qualifies for this new Title V Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) grant program, named "Lanzamiento," because 25% of its students identify as Latinx.

The California stop, explained

The California stop, explained

Oak Leaf — What happens when you drive up to a stop sign? You just want to drive right through it. You're human. You're not unique. Everyone wants to disregard stop signs, because everyone has an amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain that processes emotions, and it's selfish.

Cat Brooks: What is radical reform?

Cat Brooks: What is radical reform?

Oak Leaf — Cat Brooks, leader of Black Lives Matter and self-described "radical activist" with a national profile, spoke to more than 100 Santa Rosa Junior College students Nov. 2 about defunding the police and her history fighting racial injustice. In her roles as Executive Director of the Justice Teams Network, co-Founder of the Anti Police Terror Project...

Glass Fire Incident photo gallery

Glass Fire Incident photo gallery

Oak Leaf

The downward spiral of the screen: Online education and motivation quagmire

The downward spiral of the screen: Online education and motivation quagmire

Oak Leaf — Open Zoom. Click. Login to Canvas. Click. Find theGoogle doc. Click. Wait, check Facebook. Click. Link to Youtube. Click. Joseph Sapp spends another day staring at his computer screen. One moment he's focused on class and homework, but with a half-inch move of his mouse - and click!

Opinion: I don't want ignorant people making decisions that affect my life

Opinion: I don't want ignorant people making decisions that affect my life

Oak Leaf — A confession: when I started voting, I entered the booth and filled out bubbles because I felt I was expected to. At first, I submitted my ballot incomplete and left what I didn't know blank, but after seeing numerous "go out and vote" campaigns I felt compelled to fill out every page.

Black lives more than matter: Being an agent of change against structural racism

Black lives more than matter: Being an agent of change against structural racism

Oak Leaf — Dr. Abdimalik Buul, an award-winning professor at San Diego City College, spoke with 65 Santa Rosa Junior College students and faculty Feb. 5 over Zoom about becoming an anti-racist. Dr. Buul is a scholar practitioner who uses social justice and activism as his guiding pedagogy for change.

SRJC Board of Trustees announces new vaccination sites and emergency funding for students

SRJC Board of Trustees announces new vaccination sites and emergency funding for students

Oak Leaf — Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees announced emergency funding and the opening of vaccination sites at the Santa Rosa and Petaluma campuses at a Zoom meeting Feb. 9. The Santa Rosa clinic offers vaccinations to students only, while the Petaluma clinic is open to the public.

Opinion: I don't want ignorant people making decisions that affect my life

Opinion: I don't want ignorant people making decisions that affect my life

Oak Leaf — An opinion piece proposing that an educational requirement to voting may be beneficial.

Oak Leaf

Board of Trustees announces new vaccination sites and emergency funding for students

Board of Trustees announces new vaccination sites and emergency funding for students

Oak Leaf — Event coverage: Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees meeting. 2/17/21

Black lives more than matter: Viewing the SRJC vision statement through an anti-racist lens

Black lives more than matter: Viewing the SRJC vision statement through an anti-racist lens

Oak Leaf — Dr. Abdimalik Buul, an anti-racist activist, spoke with Santa Rosa Junior College students about the lack of a model of equity for students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in SRJC's vision statement March 5. In this second of a three-part "Black Lives More Than Matter" workshop, Dr. Buul reminded students of the relationship between the four...

Sage wisdom from a lifetime of blues

Sage wisdom from a lifetime of blues

Oak Leaf — Children of legendary blues musicians gave advice to Santa Rosa Junior College students about becoming successful Black artists in a white-dominant society at the "Legacy of the Blues" panel Feb. 23. SRJC Black Student's Union sponsored the panel with Zakiya Hooker, daughter of John Lee Hooker; Tony Saunders, son of Merl Saunders; and Josh White III.

Students and faculty react to SRJC remaining mostly online through 2021

Students and faculty react to SRJC remaining mostly online through 2021

Oak Leaf — The announcement that online instruction will continue into the Fall 2021 semester on April 8 evoked another round of mixed reactions by Santa Rosa Junior College faculty and students.

Review: King Falafel

Review: King Falafel

Oak Leaf — Review of local restaurant, King Falafel.

BLAC, BSU and Black students and faculty to stage "BlackOut" walkout May 5

BLAC, BSU and Black students and faculty to stage "BlackOut" walkout May 5

Oak Leaf — Santa Rosa Junior College Black Leadership Association Collective (BLAC) is staging a "BlackOut" walkout during the Academic Senate meeting at 3:15 p.m. May 5 on the front lawn of Santa Rosa Junior College Campus near Mendocino Avenue and Elliot Street. BLAC co-founder Dr. George Sellu said, "The walkout is to call attention to the refusal of administration and faculty leaders to address the demands of Black faculty, staff and students.”

Board of Trustees schedules listening session in response to BLAC's protest against listening ses...

Board of Trustees schedules listening session in response to BLAC's protest against listening ses...

Oak Leaf — Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees meeting May 11 2021.
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