News

On July 11th the Healdsburg Transportation Advisory Commission called a special meeting to decide whether it should recommend that the city council approve or deny a commercial lease and concession agreement with Robert Markwood for a non commercial operator certified flight instruction and airplane rental service at the Healdsburg Municipal Airport.

Although a lot of Fitch Mountain is not in Healdsburg’s city limits it has long been considered a Healdsburg community. The Fitch Mountain Association just had its annual potluck meeting at the Villa and several items of local interest were discussed.

As the weather heats up, our thoughts turn to water. As in, where can I hang out on the Russian River? How can I save water in my garden, while still keeping it beautiful? And where can I volunteer to help keep the river and other local waterways clean?

The July 5th edition of the San Francisco Chronicle featured a remembrance of the 75th anniversary of the first Herb Caen column to appear in that paper. I started reading Herb Caen’s columns when I was a senior at Napa High School (Class of ‘62). My parents subscribed to the Napa Register so, for reasons I can’t recall, I began to read Caen’s Chronicle columns in the Napa High library. I’d leave home in whichever of my dad’s vehicles was available, often the ‘56 Chevy pickup which I still drive, arriving at the high school in time to walk through the main entrance, avoid stepping on the tile school emblem on the floor just inside the door, say hi to friends gathered around the senior heater, a radiator at which for some unknown reason a group of senior boys congregated, and then I’d head to the library for my daily dose of Herb Caen before heading off to my first period class.

Hallelujah! It is done. Clang of bell and roar of gun. The so-called Defense of Marriage Act is no longer the law of the land. It should be called the Restriction of Marriage Act, because it limits marriage to certain citizens but not others. And in California, Proposition 8, the law voted by the people to restrict marriage to straight people, is defunct.  

Each Year I try to write about boating safety, hopefully to help prevent an accident or possible fatality. Just last week a 7 year old boy got caught in a propeller, severely cutting both legs. How does this happen?

The big mystery about the exciting new Russian River riparian setback rules is whether anyone really has a clue how they’ll work.

Summer quiz

Palliative Care to many sounds ominous and foreboding.  But as a practicing physician in Healdsburg for 38 years and caring for many elderly people, I see its value. Its main goal is quality of life, and defining patient’s wishes and seeing that they are followed.

Americans have much to be grateful for. Freedom makes the top of the list for most of us because it’s expressed in so many aspects of our daily lives. Independence Day marks our celebration of freedom — it remembers we declared our independence from political and economic oppression by outsiders.