Briefs

Healdsburg City Leaders Approve Water, Sewer Bill Hikes

May 28, 2024

We've been hearing about big potential increases to our water and sewer bills for some months now — and it appears the time has come. The Healdsburg City Council approved a series of rate hikes at their meeting last week, amounting to an increase...

Healdsburg Ballot May Ask for More Market-Rate Housing

January 23, 2024

KRCB public radio ran an interesting piece last week on the lack of market-rate housing options in Healdsburg right now, and how "local rules passed over two decades ago... to protect Healdsburg from overdevelopment" seem to be making our housing problems worse. So city...

James Gore Running for State Senate

January 19, 2025

Looks like California’s second senatorial district, which stretches along the entire North Coast, could belong to a Healdsburg politician for many more years to come! Hometown kid Mike McGuire has been holding onto the State Senate District 2 seat for more than a decade, but he’s about...

‘Abandoned Pipeline’ Needs Monitoring at Old Healdsburg Sewer Site, City Says

February 19, 2024

Healdsburg city officials are looking for a local firm to "provide biological monitoring services" at the stream running alongside the city's big sewer station on Magnolia Drive, at the southwest edge of town. They want the firm to report back on the "health of...

Edge Esmeralda ‘Popup Village’ Returns to Healdsburg in May

February 23, 2025

Despite some initial skepticism among locals last year, hundreds of Sonoma County residents ended up flocking to the monthlong Edge Esmeralda event in June 2024 — an experimental conference-meets-festival filled with international “techno optimists” trying to come up with better ways of living in...

In Memoriam: Chuck Doire

March 19, 2024

Healdsburg resident Charles Laurent Doire, better known as Chuck, reportedly passed away back in January. He died "peacefully" at age 65, according to his obituary. Although born down in SoCal, he spent most of his life here in Healdsburg. More from Chuck's obituary: "He...

Healdsburg Plaza Wi-Fi Improvements Ahead

March 25, 2024

After years of crappy — albeit free — Wi-Fi service in the Healdsburg plaza and the surrounding area, our city leaders have decided to upgrade the plaza Wi-Fi system so that people can actually rely on the connection, for a price tag of around $100,000 in...

Thumbprint Cellars Closes Healdsburg Tasting Room

February 18, 2025

On the southwest corner of the plaza, at 102 Matheson St., the Thumbprint Cellars team just ran their final weekend of wine tastings at their 15-year home in downtown Healdsburg. Second-generation winery owner Carter Lindstrom-Dake, son of Thumbprint founders Scott and Erica, told me over...

In Memoriam: Arline Smith

March 19, 2024

Longtime Healdsburg resident Arline Hotle Smith passed away last month at age 89. She and her husband of 62 years, Bill, "moved to Healdsburg with their three children in 1976," according to her obituary. They were known to "travel extensively on their boat, circling...

Healdsburg-Area Reservoirs Full After Rains

February 14, 2024

Here's a quick reservoir check-in from the county's water agency, Sonoma Water. (We have our own water agency here in Healdsburg, but we pull from pretty much the same water sources, so much of their info is relevant to us.) The agency wrote in...

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