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There’s a tradition in the news biz, at year’s end, of retracing all the major stories that unfolded during the 12 months prior. It feels like a healthy exercise—an opportunity to zoom out and let the bigger picture sink in, free from the frantic 24-hour news cycle (or, weekly in our case). It’s also a great reminder, though small-town life can seem humdrum, that we’re surrounded at all times by modern-day lore and legend...

It’s with an eye toward making the most of that most valuable of assets—parking in Healdsburg—that Mat Humphrey is filling up the available leases on the property at 44 Mills St. one by one, and staggering their prime hours so the lot is productively filled as much as possible. The highest and best use, one might say, to echo the realtor’s mantra.

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...

Equal parts Dr. Strangelove, The Battle of Algiers and Paper Moon, the film follows Leonardo DiCaprio as a member a revolutionary group rescuing immigrants from a detention center in Southern California....

The newly refreshed Children’s Room lives up to the hype. The laser-cut madrone tree silhouettes provide a charming entryway into the room. Tables and chairs in the room are of different heights to accommodate a variety of sizes and preferences, with spaces for children of different ages and interests.

The Healdsburg City Council took a brief break from weightier business last week—new in-lieu fees, the Eel-Russian River project—to decide something more symbolic: the city’s first official plant.

The Healdsburg Jazz Winter Festival runs from Thursday, Jan. 30, to Sunday, Feb. 2, with shows at the Paul Mahder Gallery, Spoonbar, Montage, the Michel-Schlumberger winery—even St. Paul’s Catholic Church, where Stella Heath’s tribute to Ella Fitzgerald will take place Saturday afternoon. (Heath performs locally year-round, but this Feb. 1 show is already sold out.)

The school year’s first big invitational track meet took place last Saturday at Santa Rosa High. The Big Cat Invitational hosted student-athletes from 27 schools in Northern California from early morning until late in the afternoon on March 7.

 “A much-loved member of the community died a few days ago,” seemed insufficient. It couldn’t quite capture the spirit or impact of Jennifer Utsch, who died early Wednesday morning, Feb. 19, in hospice care in Tucson. Healdsburg responded with a spontaneous gathering.

Their invitation hinged on being one of the top three Division 5 teams at the North Coast meet last weekend, Nov. 22, and the team pulled it off – finishing in third place behind the expected winner San Francisco University and Convent & Stuart Hall, also of San Francisco.