Editorial

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?

The first two months of 2022 are shaping up to be the driest January and February in California history, prompting state officials to warn of dire water conditions ahead. 

At 66, Edward El has a new lease on life — literally. In two weeks, he’ll move into his own apartment in Berkeley after spending the better part of the past 16 years homeless.

The Healdsburg City Council adopted a climate emergency declaration in 2019 and has taken some isolated actions since then. However, the city lacks a comprehensive Climate Action Plan with deadlines and staff/budget allocations. Healdsburg 2040, a citizen-led grassroots organization, believes the city council must prioritize climate action in its goal-setting session on March 7, 2022.

This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that requires large employers in California to offer workers up to 80 hours of COVID-related paid sick leave.

The oldest people in Sonoma County can remember the days of Prohibition (1920-1933) and we still have a cluster of World War II survivors who can tell stories about food and gas rationing and local coastal blackouts to hide from Japanese submarines. Our most elder Baby Boomers can recall when the county’s population almost doubled between 1950 and 1970, from 103,405 to 204,885. (Today’s population is 486,000.)