News

Correction: The festivities were arranged by Tony Fisher, not David Skolnik.

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) has been providing the equivalent of over 80,000 meals to people in need per day, a 50% increase up from last year, and with the drastic change in demand, the organization says they are in dire need of more funds, food and volunteers.

James Schuessler replacing the retiring Joe Harrington

As the old saying goes, “A cup of tea makes everything better,” and Russian River Tea Company owner Holly Hunt is working to bring the comfort of tea to Sonoma County health care workers.

Already buffeted by the recent years of business interruptions from wildfires, power outages and floods, it looks like some of Healdsburg’s downtown businesses are not going to survive the current pandemic-caused economic shutdown.

Along with missed senior proms and canceled Class of 2020 high school graduations, Healdsburg, Windsor and Geyserville FFA and 4-H members also will be missing the annual youth livestock judging and auctions at the Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair (HFFCF) and the August Sonoma County Fair.

Annual Twilight Parade might be staged later in the summer

The Healdsburg City Council will consider a contract agreement with Dave Kiff — who grew up in Healdsburg and who later served as city manager of the city of Newport Beach — to serve as interim city manager of Healdsburg. If approved, he would take the reins on July 5, after current City Manager David Mickaelian steps down to become the general manager of the Tahoe Donner Association in Truckee.

While the decrease in human activity due to COVID-19 hasn’t made a significant difference in Sonoma County’s air quality, it has triggered increased activity in local habitats.

Usually the secret to success is to think outside of the box, or so the saying goes. But for Sebastopol businesses, the first step to successfully pivoting from shelter-in-place to business-as-usual came in a cardboard box. The Sebastobox, to be specific. The box’s tagline, “All...