Cityscape: Drought requires 20% water conservation
It’s as dry as a bone out there. Our region has received less than one-third the normal amount of rainfall to date – 13 inches of rain compared to an average of 38 inches. As a result, on April 21, the day before Earth Day, the State of California declared a drought emergency in the Russian River watershed, which spans Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
Let’s go big
This month, almost 50,000 Sonoma County households will receive the first of six monthly $300 federal child support checks. Democrats and all Republicans in both the Senate and House of Representatives approved these stimulus checks unanimously. Last week, similar unanimous votes were taken in both chambers of the California legislature, approving the dispersal of one-time $600 stimulus checks to most households. The city council of Santa Rosa is considering a form of a guaranteed income to eligible households and many other local and state governments are considering similar guaranteed income programs. All this would be a radical departure from past decades of government economic policy.
Where the Sidewalk Ends, the Farmers’ Market Begins
'There’s a magic hour on Saturday mornings when the sun hasn’t quite burned through the morning mist and the scent of basil floats on the breeze. It’s in that moment—coffee in one hand, tote bag in the other—that Healdsburg wakes up..." Meet our new columnist, Liza Gershman.
Market: The rhythms of the season
"There’s a rhythm to it all: the harvest, the heat, the soft plunk of fruit into baskets and the bubbling whisper of molten strawberries on the stove, " writes columnist Liza Gershman. She goes on explain that the gift of the 'Farm + Market: Healdsburg' book she's working on is in the people she's meeting, the friends reconnected with, and the beauty of walking through gardens, farms, ranches..."
Open Mic: Digging a deeper hole
A noted Dry Creek farmer complains that streambed degradation is evident at Yoakim Bridge as the gravel around the instream pier has been scoured away, resulting in a partial void under the pier footing. ...
Tabloid fever dreams take turn for the worst
The fantasies that once lived on cheap newsprint now pulse through mainstream culture. In the social media age, anything can be “true” if it flatters one’s bias or fuels their outrage, writes Jared O, Bell.
Color Me Meh: the Color of the Year is White
Pantone has anointed its 2026 Color of the Year and, in an act of breathtaking caution, selected white. Well, basically white. “Cloud Dancer” is its official name—a soft, contemplative white-adjacent non-color billed as a balm for our overstimulated moment.
Arts & Entertainment
Christmas music like it used to be, with swing
Now widely known as “The Harlem Nutcracker,” Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn wrote it for Columbia Records, along with film scores and other work. It was met with a sensational reception
