Local Business

Donna L. Tokugawa, the co-owner and host of The Taste of Tea, wasn’t just known in Healdsburg as a restaurant co-owner, she was known as an outgoing and compassionate community member and a friend to all, the kind of friend who accepts everyone with...

The founder and owner of the popular knitting shop Purls of Joy is retiring at the end of this month and, in an effort to keep the shop going and the friendly store spirit alive, a group of about 50 local knitters are working to form a member-driver co-op to maintain the business.

Bill Foley firmly planted his personal flag in Healdsburg on Friday last, using the Stanley Cup as a magic talisman to enchant residents, visitors and tourists with a championship promise fulfilled. The Stanley Cup was on display at the Plaza gazebo at noon on Aug....

One of the events that has pinned Healdsburg at the epicenter of California’s Wine Country, and which year after year increases its visibility, is the Wine & Food Affair.  It takes place this weekend for the 24th season, one of three signature events from the...

Just seven years after the West Sonoma County Vintners filed their petition, the West Sonoma Coast—where the cold marine air and heavy fog offer distinct advantages for growing wine grape varieties ranging from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to Syrah—has officially been sanctioned as a...

After two hours of discussion on Sep. 23, the commission voted 5-1 to approve the conditional use permit for the property as a “luxurious 13 bed Substance Use Disorder Facility,” to be renamed The Ruse Treatment...

After 20-plus years in the wine industry, I can admit that I am guilty of writing off a winery or brand or assuming I know it well enough, only to later realize that it has been so long since I’ve actually visited the winery,...

The latest round of grants from the Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District (HTID) was announced earlier this month, the most recent installment in a program begun in 2020 and approved to last for 10 years. The latest distribution, of over $100,000, went to 11 organizations for their ability to put “heads in beds,” per the requirements of the HTID. But not everyone was pleased...

One month ago, all of Sonoma County’s “public life” was put off limits. No schools, locked parks, barricaded beaches, no dining out or casual shopping trips. Gathering places where conversations and friendships get shared are taboo. Libraries, coffee shops, brewpubs, art galleries and any space smaller than six feet square, are now officially declared uninhabitable.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a devastating economic toll on Sonoma County’s economy: tourism, once a mainstay, is non-existent; 16,000 local workers have filed for unemployment; more than a thousand small businesses have applied for the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) Payroll Protection Plan (PPP). Meanwhile local governments continue to provide essential public health and welfare services, while their normal revenue sources trickle to near-zero.