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Photographer Rick Tang braved the early February storms to make these images of the area surrounding Healdsburg. Click on any image and it will launch a full-size version; use your browser's "back" arrow to return to this page and the Image Gallery.

“We had to make a safety call. Without the bridge, there’s no safe way to get across the creek,” Skip Brand of the Lake Sonoma 100 said on Sunday afternoon. “The creek is 6-7 feet deep and raging right now. Plus, the wind picked up in the late afternoon and several trees came down, creating additional hazards.”

Retired attorney Jon Eisenberg filed civil suit against the City of Healdsburg, charging multiple Brown Act violations in two recent cases that demonstrate what he calls “a pattern of misbehavior that is deeply embedded in the culture of Healdsburg’s city government…” His action focused on what he called the “tainted decision making” in the effort to get Measure O on the ballot and the campaign to get it passed; and the transition to district elections now underway.

Sharp-eyed motorists have noticed a name change on a long white office building on Healdsburg Avenue, just a quick stroll away from the Quail and Condor bakery. The colors are still blue and white but the Bright Event Rentals sign is gone, and in its place the bold letters proclaim Russian Riverkeeper, now in its umpteenth home in Healdsburg, and still ready to Save the River.

The saga of Healdsburg’s basketball seasons, boys and girls, continues to be played out, though hopes for a repeat league championship for the girls have been damaged by the dominance of Ukiah, a new addition to the NBL-Redwood division, which remains undefeated in league play.

Feb. 8: The longrunning, ever-surprising Lake Sonoma Steelhead Festival returns to the Congressman Don Clauson Fish Hatchery at the head of Dry Creek Valley. This free event attracts up to 10,000 people to the visitors center, for natural history education, live music, arts and crafts, and fishing-themed games. From 10am to 4pm...

Perhaps for the first time in its young life, the new Drew Esquivel Hall on the Healdsburg High School campus boasted a bleacher full of fans—wrestling fans, drama fans, fans of the school district and of Drew Esquivel himself—all come to recognize the dedication...

Several local pizzerias have an unspoken bond running between their kitchens. Geyserville’s Diavola, the Matheson restaurant, Journeyman Meat Co., PizZando … even Big John’s Market. The common element is that they all purchased their pizza ovens from Mugnaini, a wood fire oven manufacturer in Healdsburg...

Weight classes have a meaning, and a strategy, although judges today are pretty strict in their weight calls. The technology of measuring weights is so sophisticated these days, there are few if any ways to “nudge” the scale. “So if you go to a competition and you step on a scale, and you are a 10th of a pound over, you are disqualified” in the weight class, Scott Weidemier said. “There’s no leeway. They’re all digital scales these days, that are certified every year.”

When asked about how the idea for a rock ’n’ roll orchestra for all came about, Jason Eckl dove in on the feeling that orchestral performances can be a bit stiff. “My wife is cellist Rebecca Roudman, who is a member of a number of Bay Area orchestras [including both the Oakland East-Bay Symphony and the Santa Rosa Symphony], and this means I’ve been to a lot of orchestra concerts,” he said.