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Healdsburg
April 25, 2025

Open Mic: SMART Owes Public a Review of Railroad Bridge Plans

Healdsburg’s Russian River Railroad Bridge is the sole remaining example of a steel Subdivided Warren Truss bridge on the former line of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Built in 1901, the bridge has three spans supported by four concrete piers, a steel deck and superstructure on both sides of a single track. What does SMART plan to do with it?

4-Day ‘Cyclone’ Hammers Healdsburg

For four long, wet days in Healdsburg last week, historic rainfall totals and quickly rising Russian River and Foss Creek waters hopped their banks, flooded streets, caused road closures, led to a small mudslide on Fitch Mountain and flooded at least one home in town.

‘Shenkman Letter’ Prompts Overhaul of City Elections

Healdsburg overview
The names on the letterhead strike terror in the hearts of city governments across the state: Malibu-based attorneys Shenkman & Hughes since 2011 have made it their mission to call out local governments in California that elect officers by “at large” voting. Now it's Healdsburg's turn, to split its area into five districts for city council elections. This could be interesting...

Measure O Defeat Shows Split City

When the sound and the fury, the smoke and the flames dispersed, Measure O went down to a definitive defeat, roughly at a 60-40 split. Clearly this was not what the Healdsburg City Council intended when in June they rationalized themselves into putting it on the General Election ballot.

Last Election of its Kind

Christine Webster votes
On Tuesday night, four of the five residents on the ballot for the Healdsburg City Council whiled away the after-dinner hours downtown, waiting for the results of the day’s general election. Although newcomer Heather Hannan-Kramer was nowhere to be found, Ariel Kelley and her...

City Settles Inclusionary Housing Fee Lawsuit

Front door of Healdsburg city offices
Last last month the City of Healdsburg reached a settlement with a local couple who challenged a required $20,000 inclusionary housing fee for a new house and ADU on their residential property. The settlement, for $35,000, puts a temporary end to a legal challenge of the City of Healdsburg’s inclusionary housing fee policy.

Restaurant Dream Ends With Rude Awakening

Illustration
At the start, Molti Amici gave every indication of hitting Bingo. The location was much-loved by locals, having housed Ari Rosen’s Campo Fina for 10 years, only a few steps off the Plaza, and featured not only a large stone pizza oven but a bocce court as well (both left over from Campo Fina). Then the ingredients didn't mix any more.

SMART Train Headed for Lytton Springs

SMART train on tracs
That big clock is finally ticking for the train’s arrival in Healdsburg—it’s no longer only a memory or a pipe dream. Last week brought the news that the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District had been awarded an $81 million grant from the state to extend the rail service from its current terminus, at the Sonoma County Airport, though Windsor to Healdsburg’s northern city limit by 2028—including construction of a new or remodeled rail bridge over the Russian River.

Another Utopian Vision Stirs in Cloverdale

Vision of Utopia
Remember in June, when 1,000-plus “techno optimists” from around the world convened in Healdsburg for a mysterious month-long series of talks, salons and workshops on how to build a utopian future? They weren't kidding.

Recent Drug, Firearms Busts ‘Alarming’

Arrest evidence of guns, ammo, drugs
Two recent arrests in Healdsburg for drug and firearms violations, both publicized by Healdsburg Police on their social media platforms, raised eyebrows among readers and residents as they demonstrate that the crimes of firearms and narcotics are not limited to urban areas, but are present in Healdsburg as well.
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