News

The Foley Family Community Pavilion gets another workout this Friday, May 8, when SMART holds a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Healdsburg Extension Project. The event, from 1 to 3pm, will include complimentary refreshments, commemorative T-shirts and other swag....

The big question looming over the Tuesday Market for much of last season was its location for 2026. Having been on the Healdsburg Plaza for years, and associated with that spot, moving it was not something the management, vendors or the community wanted. The city felt strongly, however, that the new Foley Family Community Pavilion should be the site for both markets, having built the facility specifically for them...

At the end of 2025, the Healdsburg City Council approved 'When the Time Comes,' a new program designed to help residents navigate end-of-life planning and support. The WTTC program gets underway this month, a resource hub at the Senior Center handling questions, concerns and complexities related to the final decisions an individual or a family must make.

The local Flock system is connected to a regional information network, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which compares license plate and other vehicle information to see if it produces a “hit” with the wider law enforcement database, as well as to alerts pushed out by neighboring agencies. But how is that information used more widely?

Even as the Great Redwood Trail Agency (GRTA) board gave final approval to the ambitious 300-mile rail-to-trail route across three counties, the project came face-to-face with an obstacle it was unable to avoid. Not a canyon or a gulf, nor an earthquake or a typhoon, but a little stretch of rail called the Skunk Train.

Mid-afternoon on Friday the 13th of March, a silver Tesla bounced over the sidewalk and struck a light stand and crosswalk alert button at the corner of Healdsburg Avenue and Plaza Street, according to police reports. The driver was seen getting out of his vehicle, surveying the damage and then getting back behind the wheel and continuing southbound on Healdsburg toward the Roundabout.

The flurry of civic gratitude concluded with the annual Marie Sparks Volunteer of the Year Award. The annual program was started in 1996 after the death of Marie Sparks, well known and recognized for her volunteer efforts in the community. Sparks is remembered for her passion, persistence and grit, which encouraged many to join her in volunteering.

"For me, being present was not optional," writes the former mayor. "While I attended as an individual, my role on the City Council carries a profound responsibility to do everything I can to protect and support our community."

The Healdsburg City Council spent much of the day on March 25 discussing existing and future city goals, and how to maintain and enhance services in a goal-setting session for the coming year.

A full spread of fruit, cookies and cupcakes, coffee and tea helped take the edge off dinner-hour munchies at the SMART Open House in Healdsburg on March 23.