Chris Smith: A Facebook video helps a Santa Rosa nursery catch a thief

One time was too many.

But Fred King of Santa Rosa's landmark, 121-year-old King's Nursery nearly dropped his leaves when his suspicions about a particular shopper caused him to review his security video.

He watched as a woman driving a white Nissan carted away a nice pot without paying for it, then returned eight days later and walked off with another pot and a garden bench - a total of about $500 in merchandise.

Fred and a helper patched the video into a Facebook short set to music. He asked the public's help to identify the woman.

The video drew more than 81,000 views. Several viewers supplied a name. Fred said that on Sunday, a Santa Rosa police officer went to the suspect's house and cited her after finding the stolen bench and one of the pots in clear view.

Fred will donate them to The Living Room, the day center for homeless women and children. He said in true Fred fashion, “We're trying to make sunshine out of a shady deal.”

Watch the video here:

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OH SO CAREFULLY. That's how you remove more than a century-old, earthquake-loosened stained glass windows from a historic church.

It'll be something to watch Wednesday when workers begin to take out the windows of the First Baptist Church on First Street East in Sonoma.

The hand-cut glass came to Sonoma in 1903 from San Francisco's First Methodist Church.

The windows already were in need of TLC when they were weakened by the Napa-Sonoma quake of 2014. Church members are still toiling to come up with the $58,000 it will cost to have all of the lovely, old windows removed, taken entirely apart, reconstructed and replaced in the church.

Doing the work is the Calistoga glass firm, Great Panes.

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LAST YEAR about this time, the crowd at the Wednesday Night Market hushed as three couples recited their wedding vows on the Old Courthouse Square stage.

Just before 7 p.m. at this week's market, three other couples will renew their vows there in front of everybody.

Market manager Leslie Graves scheduled the ceremony after Jeffrey Clark asked if he and his wife, Heather, could mark their 25th anniversary back where their eyes first met.

It was a Thursday Night Market in 1992. Jeff was challenging passersby at 4th and D to try to win a teddy bear by sinking a basket in a trick backboard.

His future wife stepped up, dropped $20 for a heap of tries - and sank her first shot.

Jeff and Heather married June 11, 1993. If you go Wednesday, let Jeff show you his arm tattoo with a 4th-and-D street sign, a basketball, a $20 bill, a teddy bear and the name of the woman who stole his heart like Stephen Curry snatching a pass from LeBron James.

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MISS SOCO COVER-UP: Did you see that after 97 years the Miss America competition is ditching the swimsuit strut?

The Miss Sonoma County contest will follow suit.

For years, the portion of the Miss Sonoma County competition that required the hopefuls to step about in a one-piece swimsuit stirred debate.

But organizers stuck with the tradition, noting that Miss Sonoma County is a lead-up to Miss America and that it can be of benefit to remain poised and confident while standing before a crowd in a swimsuit. No more.

Chris Smith is at 707-521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.