News

Magnolias are in bloom around H’burg this week. Big leathery brown and green leaved trees send out magnificent white-petaled blooms, usually marking the beginnings of Spring. Yet flowering in our nearby magnolia is happening late this year. Its emerging blooms, tightly wound, are only...

Flu season, generally from Nov. 1 to May 31, arrives this year as Sonoma County continues to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Sundari Mase, the Sonoma County health officer, warned of the potential risks of both viruses circulating in the community at the...

Rates for both water and wastewater services will rise, as reflected on the next City of Healdsburg utility bill, which residents should receive soon. While the cause is not directly related to the ongoing drought or persistent pandemic, there’s little doubt that the two emergencies...

Painting alarming scenes of fires, floods and economic disruption, the California Legislature’s advisors this week released a series of reports that lays out in stark terms the impacts of climate change across the state.

Healdsburg’s downtown on Monday was the location of a crime scene investigation, upon the discovery of what police called “an unresponsive person” in a business parking lot half a block from the Plaza.  Although the investigation continues and no identification of the deceased has been...

A signature piece of Healdsburg history became a record-setting piece of real estate when the River Belle Inn on Front Street sold to luxury hospitality developer Vertice for $7.25 million, effective last month. The price is reported as $659,091 “per key,” according to the San...

Sonoma County is taking another step towards a gas-free future. On March 14, the county’s board of supervisors approved a ban on new retail gas stations in the unincorporated county as California endeavors to end the sale of gas-powered cars in 2035. Sonoma County’s ban...

Measure O, which will be on the Nov. 5 ballot, would ease restrictions on new housing construction imposed by Healdsburg’s Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) by creating zones of exclusion from the GMO. But that’s not the whole story...

The grumbling attained legal emphasis  just after Christmas, when on Dec. 26 Healdsburg attorney Jon Eisenberg filed a letter with the city that raised a number of alleged Brown Act violations during the lead-up to the Measure O vote in November, violations he clearly is prepared to take to court. He then raises concerns about the Dec. 16 City Council meeting itself, suggesting that additional Brown Act violations took place in that process as well...