News

In his bi-weekly City Manager’s Report of April 4, Jeff Kay broke the news that the Bird Bikes program, providing a “micro-mobility” option for Healdsburg residents and visitors, has been canceled well ahead of its expected expiration date in early 2026. “Bird recently notified the City of their intent to terminate the agreement and we regret to announce that the e-bike share program will be concluding its operations in Healdsburg,” Kay wrote.

As Q1 2025 data reveals, Healdsburg’s real estate market is defying conventional wisdom with a 150% surge in luxury home sales while Sonoma County’s high-end market continues to decline. These counterintuitive trends are reshaping our understanding of the local market in ways that might surprise even longtime residents.

Proposed cuts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of $500 million to funding for regional hunger relief organizations will stop deliveries to local food banks nationwide, including the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB). That could mean the suspension of $750,000 in food shipments to REFB alone, and their availability for redistribution to local families.

Those streetside dining areas and tasting rooms that everyone has an opinion about will be given another look by the Healdsburg City Council at the April 7 meeting. The council will evaluate the plan last formalized in January 2023, with an eye toward potential modifications before the end of 2025.

The county’s Department of Public Infrastructure has announced a schedule for rebuilding the Wohler Bridge, a historic steel-truss span over the Russian River less than six miles from Healdsburg. Construction will begin on April 1, and the bridge will be closed throughout the summer.

Early in the morning of March 12, three Healdsburg Police officers went to Los Gatos to arrest the suspect Damian Martines-Osorio, who was now living under another alias. With the cooperation of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, whose officers surrounded the scene, police attempted to arrest Martines-Osorio. Once again, however, he attempted to flee on foot but this time he was captured while trying to jump over a fence. The arrest was logged at 8:48am. 

Given all the angst and opinion voiced in previous public hearings (and social media) about the city’s transition to District Elections, Monday nights’ meeting took place in a desert. Fewer than half a dozen members of the public were in the room when the hearing, fourth in a series of five, got underway at the posted “time certain” 6:45pm on March 17. But the meeting set forth the future of Healdsburg district elections for years to come.

Senior-home staffers threw a joint birthday party for the Big Four last Friday afternoon, on the final day of February. They branded it a “centenarian celebration.” The first two birthday girls wheeled into the snug party lounge were Healdsburg natives Marge Lampson and Marge Barnard, who remember attending public school together in Healdsburg.

A spate of graffiti incidents took place in Healdsburg early in the morning of March 1, but before it was over two men were arrested with incriminating evidence that police believe associated them with three such vandalism incidents that same morning.

 “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.