Local Watch Duty App Has Been a ‘Lifeline’ for LA
I don’t know a single person here in Sonoma County who doesn’t already have the Watch Duty app downloaded and poised to start spewing notifications, in case of wildfire. But most of my Los Angeles friends had never heard of it before Jan. 7,...
Case Update: Deadly Healdsburg Hotel Fight
The Press Democrat has an update on the shocking death in town last summer of Abel Garza, a 41-year-old father of three from Santa Rosa who police say attacked a group of hotel staffers in the pool area at Hotel Healdsburg earlier that day. One of the staffers,...
Chicken Pot Pies Save Cloverdale Drive-In?
A former "food runner" for SingleThread on North Street, Healdsburg's fanciest and most decorated restaurant, is now running an increasingly popular chicken pot pie operation up at a "historic drive-in on Cloverdale’s main drag," the Press Democrat reports. Nicole Hinchliffe and her husband, who...
In Memoriam: Doc Cummings, Beloved Busker
Healdsburg’s most familiar busker, the inimitable Doc Cummings, has passed away in his early 70s, according to friends and family on Facebook. His name was Donald O. Cummings, but he reportedly went by his initials — “Doc” — for short. I’m not sure how Doc died,...
Healdsburg Artist Relaunches After-School Program for Kids
Healdsburg artist Jennifer "Jendala" Utsch, known around town for her traveling cart of metal chimes, is starting up her weekly after-school kids art program "Sparkle Time" again this Valentine's Day, after a few years off due to the COVID pandemic and her own ongoing...
Healdsburg’s Historic Simi Winery Might Get New Owners Soon
The San Francisco Chronicle made a bold prediction early last month: “This will be the year of California winery closures.” Here in Healdsburg, from where I’m sitting, the 2025 wine-industry shakeup has looked more like a Great Reshuffling — aka, wine bosses selling off certain properties or reshaping their...
Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary
SPONSORED - Osmosis offered it’s first cedar enzyme bath in Sonoma County in May of 1985 in a handcrafted structure made from recycled wood in a friend’s back yard. Founder Michael Stusser had his life changed when he experienced the enzyme bath for the first time while living in Japan. “As the healing warmth of the bath enveloped my being, the whole picture of a healing sanctuary with a magical fermentation bath at the core surrounded by meditative Japanese style gardens, architecture and gracious hospitality flashed before my minds eye. From this remarkable moment I knew it was my calling to come back to Sonoma County and recreate the Japanese enzyme bath in West,” Stusser says.
Timeshare Company Advertising More Healdsburg Homes
Have you heard of Pacaso? It’s an insanely successful real-estate startup from San Francisco that lets buyers co-own luxury homes on the timeshare model, then use the Pacaso app to take care of all the scheduling and maintenance stuff. Ever since Pacaso set foot in Healdsburg's Dry Creek Valley...
Preserve to Serve Again
This article was contributed by Kary Hess.
When it comes to the bountiful Sonoma County harvest, the abundance can be too much to eat all at once.
People end up throwing out even their home-grown garden produce. But there is a way to keep all that...
Who Has the Cheapest Corkage Fees in Healdsburg?
There's an interesting piece in the latest issue of the Trib on the rising price of corkage fees for the BYOB experience at restaurants in town. SingleThread leads the pack at $150 per bottle. Agave is on the much lower end at $8 per bottle — and...











