Editorial

Hotel doesn’t reflect Healdsburg

Journalists have many essential jobs, and with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, we are witnessing their toughest assignment of all. Being a war correspondent is the life-risking assignment it looks like. The journalists now reporting from Ukraine these days are often in the line of fire with tanks rolling near them, scattered gunfire all around and war planes overhead. War correspondents answer to a select calling that requires bravery and a commitment to a mission that is closely aligned with the soldiers they share a battleground with.

Federal health officials who reported that nearly half of Californians live in “high-risk” counties for COVID-19 were relying on old data, and only a small number of counties now fall into that category, according to local officials.

All students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, will no longer be required to wear a mask indoors at schools and child care facilities starting March 12. 

Recessions in California tend to widen the gap between rich and poor. The sharp pandemic downturn of 2020 followed this pattern with low-income workers suffering the most. But unprecedented government relief kept millions from falling into poverty, and demand for labor boosted wages when businesses reopened.

We live in a world of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ — always have, and probably always will. But the divide between who has the most and who needs just a little bit more has never been greater. People like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg can make millions of dollars a day on Wall Street while neighborhoods of families can’t make ends meet or promise their children a better life.

Ah, February — so many notable dates: Groundhog Day, Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day. However you celebrate, please send your newsy items to me in care of The Healdsburg Tribune. “IDlewood 3” (433) was the town’s original telephone exchange and now “Hedda Healdsburg” wants to know all!

A changing Healdsburg

Vowing to be smarter after lessons learned over the past two years, the Newsom administration yesterday gave a glimpse of what the next few months — and potentially years — may look like in California with COVID-19 likely to stick around.

What is freedom? Is everyone entitled to his or her own definition of freedom or do all of us have to agree on a single definition to have a functioning society? Why does the question about freedom seem so relevant now?