Columns

News from 1975: The event was marred by several fights late in the afternoon. As the afternoon wore on a number of young children were permitted by their parents to splash and play in the Plaza fountain. The children frequently squirted water on Fest guests and were difficult to control. Healdsburg Police arrested two men on charges of resisting arrest and disturbing the peace, after officer Don McNair was reportedly jumped by them.

"There’s a rhythm to it all: the harvest, the heat, the soft plunk of fruit into baskets and the bubbling whisper of molten strawberries on the stove, " writes columnist Liza Gershman. She goes on explain that the gift of the 'Farm + Market: Healdsburg' book she's working on is in the people she's meeting, the friends reconnected with, and the beauty of walking through gardens, farms, ranches..."

When a girl wants to be a cheerleader at Healdsburg High School, all she has to do is go to the practices, find a sponsor, perform a cheer in front of the student body and get enough votes to be elected. Simple enough. But what happens when the cheerleading candidate is a boy? Flashback to 1975, when they figured out how to make it happen.

"One if by land, two if by sea.” Longfellow immortalized Paul Revere’s ride for freedom, which took place 250 years ago, on April 18, 1775. Revere’s mission was to alert Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were coming to Lexington and Concord to destroy military supplies.

At the Healdsburg Certified Farmers’ Market, strawberries are reaching their peak sweetness, their scent lingering in the air before they are even visible in the stalls. Spring onions and green garlic are tender, fava beans are shelled by the pound and sugar snap peas—the kind of bright green that seems to be omnipresent in my life lately—offer that crisp, wet-mouth crunch that makes them an irresistible snack...

Wisteria is associated with romance and spring, and it turns out spring love is more than a romantic idea. Longer days and increased warmth boosts phytochemicals in plants and hormones in animals. Plants transition from vegetative to reproductive growth (blooms and flowers) when Flowering Locus T (FT) is released.

More than 100 children and adults gathered at a get-together meeting Thursday noon at the Mill Creek school house. The following schools were represented: Junction, Felta, Pine Ridge and Mill Creek. A picnic lunch was enjoyed and this was followed by a program in which every school took part. This and more historical news from the Healdsburg Museum...

'There’s a magic hour on Saturday mornings when the sun hasn’t quite burned through the morning mist and the scent of basil floats on the breeze. It’s in that moment—coffee in one hand, tote bag in the other—that Healdsburg wakes up..." Meet our new columnist, Liza Gershman.

Readers weight in on the latest news from the city on districts, parklets and Birds: "I spoke to the gentleman who had the contract to maintain the bikes a couple of months ago.  He told me how difficult the job was. He had to pay for all the replacement parts upfront, and wait for reimbursement from Bird. That is why so many bikes were in such a state of disrepair..."

The library and museum world is reeling from a new executive order issued on March 14, 2025, targeting the Institute for Museum and Library Services, which provides federal funding to support libraries in all 50 states. Sonoma County Library Director Erika Thibault reports...