Local Business

The two-story Mediterranean-style cottage at 217 Healdsburg Ave., which for years served as the public walk-in presence of the Chamber of Commerce, is for rent. Though small—it’s less than 700 square feet, 347 on the ground floor—its location could not be better for the right customer: Next door to the H2Hotel and a block’s walk from the Plaza...

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.

Not too many works of art have changed the course of wine appreciation, but Sideways is on the short list. The 2004 movie, with its scenes extolling the virtues of pinot noir and the dismissive line, “I am not drinking f—g merlot!” changed not only...

The new proposal was to expand the formula-free zone one block further into the Downtown Commercial district. McDowell showed a map where a red line marked the border of the proposed formula-free zone; it surrounds most of seven city blocks adjacent to the Plaza, marking a significant expansion of the prohibition zone.

SPONSORED – If you live in Sonoma County, you’ve likely seen Food for Thought volunteers collecting food donations at local grocery stores nearly every weekend of the year. And if you’ve ever donated food, money, or time as a volunteer, everyone at Food For Thought thanks you!

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...

The welcome mat for Sonoma County’s wine country was rolled up several weeks ago in the midst of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place, and there is no prediction of when it might be rolled out again. Only a little over one quarter (27.8%) of the county’s 7,000 lodging rooms were occupied at the beginning of this month, down from an average occupancy rate of 78% from a year ago.

Ramos Shoe Repair is an outlier on Healdsburg Avenue, even in the recently christened “North Makers Arts District” or NoMAD area between North and Piper streets. Neither a clothing store, an art gallery, a bakery nor a tasting room, it’s a shoe repair store, a working-man’s shop.

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,...

One-day event will include all sorts of businesses and nonprofits