News

Nearly a year after the retirement of its previous chief of police, the city of Sebastopol announced its new police chief, Daniel Healy, Monday morning. Healy is currently second-in-command with the Suisun City Police Department. He will start at the department on Dec. 14 and will be sworn in on Dec. 15.

Amid a dwindling water utility fund, the Healdsburg City Council is considering the possibility of increasing water rates by roughly the equivalence of two 5.4% rate increases. Rate prices will vary per household and some may see an over $7 increase.

A series of online voter information forums on the recently announced sale of the Healdsburg District Hospital began Monday evening and continues Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. via a Zoom teleconference. Pre-registration is not required and live questions and comments are accepted.

The crowning of the king and queen at Geyserville’s 6th annual Adult Prom Fundraiser at de Lormier Winery on Saturday is always a fun time. “King” Lisa Harjak and “Queen” Barbara Petersen were chosen for contributing the most to the event. The fundraiser is a benefit for the Geyserville High School student prom.

With the sun shining, the brooks babbling and green in abundance, it is time to experience the regrowth of the regional parks in Sonoma County. Many are witnessing the rising wildflowers and vegetation from the ashes of October, with trails being reopened and support for restoration. A few months after the fire, the fungi, plants and flowers are blooming once again in the midst of the spring season. Sonoma County is active as always, with thousands of people participating in the season’s sunshine.

Trash time — Healdsburg community members, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Healdsburg 4H members came out with trash bags on Sept. 28 to help clean up Foss Creek. The event was part of creek week, a countywide effort to clean up waterways and the Russian River watershed. Teams spread out along Foss Creek to pick up trash. One team even found an abandoned bike and wooden pallet.

Tucked among the festive display at Windsor’s Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove, a single tree with purple ornaments shares insight into a life that, one year ago, Cheryl and Jayson Blakley would have never pictured for themselves.

Residents of the Town of Windsor should be able to sleep in a bit longer this week. Town Manager Jon Davis said that the town would have a final inspection from the Federal Rail Administration on Monday, Aug. 4, following which “Quiet Zone” signage along the railroad track would be unveiled that would forbid SMART trains from using their horns within city limits.

Alliance Medical Center — a federally-qualified health center (FQHC) that serves low-income families in Healdsburg, Geyserville and Windsor — recently launched invitation-only vaccination clinics for older seniors and farm workers. A team of eight traveling nurses from across the country are partnering with Alliance to help get the vaccine into the arms of essential workers and the most vulnerable.