Healdsburg Tribune December 26 2024 by Weeklys

Healdsburg Tribune

THURSDAY, DEC. 26

Hanukkah

Join a community candle lighting on Thursday, Dec. 26, organized by the new organization Jewish Healdsburg. Gather in the Plaza beginning at 5pm for the lighting of the second candle of the menorah at 5:30pm. The Hanukkah celebration will continue until 7pm at Acorn Café. All are welcome, please RSVP at jewishhealdsburg.org/rsvp.

FRIDAY, DEC. 27

Blues Revue

Here’s something a little different for the tasting room: a blues revue called RambleTone at Furthermore Wines on Friday night, from 5:30-8:30pm. No cover, 328-A Healdsburg Ave. Weekend at Bernie’s

Start the weekend off right at the Elephant as Weekend at Bernie’s plays rock, funk and R&B. The wellseasoned quintet plays the Elephant in the Room on Friday night, 8-11pm. Cover is $10 at the door, 177 Healdsburg Ave.

SATURDAY, DEC. 28

Second Story

A rare Saturday concert at the Second Story stage with singer-songwriter Sean Hayes, a veteran of Irish to R&B bands and styles. Tickets are $35, from 7-10pm, at Little Saint, 25 North St., littlesainthealdsburg.com.

Lobby Jazz

Congratulations on surviving another Christmas, now just hang out in the Hotel Healdsburg lobby for a while as the Trevor Kinsel Trio delivers jazz standards with a twist. The bassist is joined by Lauren “Spike” Klein on drums and Ian Scherer on guitar. Music 6-9pm, no cover, limited menu available, 25 Matheson St.

➝ Holiday Happenings, 2

FIRE SPARKS RENEWED CONCERN ABOUT ‘THE NARROWS’

COULD LIMITED FITCH MOUNTAIN ACCESS FAIL IN AN EMERGENCY?

By Christian Kallen

A narrow stretch of Sunset Drive overlooking Villa Chanticleer, which has been called out by its residents as a potential hazardous location in an emergency, experienced a real-time test last Friday morning when a

Center move back to town; a dance studio open at Dragonfly Farm & Floral; a couple of hundred seniors move into the new Enso Village zen living facility at the north end of town; the Fitch Mountain dog park and trails reopen after a total makeover; the Solful weed dispensary set up shop in an old Victorian on Healdsburg Avenue; and an affordable YWCA child care option launch out of the Healdsburg Community Center. And the wheel keeps spinning … Read more: Meet the New Adel’s: Healdsburg Diner to Reopen Soon, May 29; Legal High Comes to Healdsburg, Oct. 16; Restaurant Dream Ends With Rude Awakening, Nov. 6

Protests in Healdsburg

The first big one, in spring, was an offshoot of the regional Gaza war protests.

contractor’s pickup truck suddenly caught fire, sending flames some over 20 feet into the canopy of the wooded neighborhood.

While the fire department arrived on the scene relatively quickly, its efforts to extinguish the blaze led to controlled traffic on the road at intervals for up to an hour—raising pretraumatic stress among the neighbors. “The narrows were impassable for an hour!” texted Mima Petrick to her husband, at 9:13am Dec. 20. “Everyone agreed that now the fire department can say that this is unacceptable… Everybody on the other side of the narrows would not have been able to get out.”

The term “the narrows” is a descriptive one the residents of Sunset Drive, Stewart Lane and Valley View Drive have come to apply to a quarter-mile stretch of the road that, lacking a sidewalk or curb,

Activists from the Sonoma County for Palestine group discovered that General Dynamics, a major U.S. weapons manufacturer behind some of the bombs that Israel is dropping on Gaza, has operated a large facility in Healdsburg for years— right next to the post office on Foss Creek Circle. In a protest at the building one April morning, they chanted: “General Dynamics, you can’t hide—stop arming genocide!” This impassioned demonstration in turn reinvigorated the weekly Thursday-night antiwar protests long staged at the bus stop on the western edge of the Healdsburg Plaza. Local farm and vineyard workers also took to the streets of Healdsburg en masse this year, to demand higher pay and better treatment—especially during natural disasters like fires and floods. First, as is now

seems to be at risk of sliding downhill into Villa Chanticleer property—and perhaps taking a car with it. Or at the very least being too “narrow” for both first responder vehicles and evacuating residents during an actual emergency. Several times during the past two years, members of the neighborhood have used the public comment period of Healdsburg City Council meetings to call attention to the dangers inherent at this pinchpoint of the road, in case an evacuation is necessary due to earthquake or fire. When a contractor’s 2005 Ford F450 caught fire on Friday morning, exactly at the location of concern for many of the neighborhood residents, their worries flared up again.

“There was smoke coming from under the hood, then a flash, and that was followed by the fire—my

Fitch Mountain,

Photo by Rick Tang

Plaza, April 2024.

Country Duo

Former Santa Rosans Dallas

Caroline and Justin Peterich moved to Nashville and joined forces to create danceable music with country soul. Tickets $20 for this Dec. 28 show, starts at 7pm, Coyote Sonoma, 44-F Mill St.

MONDAY, DEC. 30

Puppet Art Theater

“The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is dramatized by the Puppet Art Theater, the classic tale of a prankster who gets his comeuppance. With snowy surprises, silly mishaps and plenty of laughs, this holiday romp puts a fun twist on the classic tale. It’s performed once at 11am on Monday in the Multipurpose Room of the Healdsburg Community Center, 1557 Healdsburg Ave.

NEW YEAR’S

EVE, DEC. 31

Have a Laugh

The Raven Theater is trying something new this year, a comedy festival for New Year’s Eve. Headliner is Frankie Marcos, winner of the 2024 San Francisco Comedy Competition, with two runners-up, Marcus Howard and Shaheen Khal, warming up the crowd. Show is 8-10pm, tickets are $40-$75, the Raven is at 115 North St., raventheater.org.

5-DISTRICT DECISION SLAMMED BY RESIDENTS

Note: The City Council’s informal decision on Dec. 16 to adopt a five-district, selected mayor format for city government in the redistricting process drew immediate reactions from several community members, who felt the decision was made unnecessarily quickly and short-circuited public discussion of the options. Here are a few of their comments:

Dear Editor: The Healdsburg City Council, supported by the city manager, unilaterally determined that we would not explore increasing the number of districts or the possibility

WEAPONS FACTORY IN HEALDSBURG?

GENERAL DYNAMICS’ 2,000-POUND BOMBS USED IN GAZA

By Ian McKee

As a lifelong resident of Sonoma County, I consider myself lucky to live in a place like this. I have unending gratitude for the beauty of the world around me—the gold, ruby-crowned kinglets with their sweet songs, the elusive, keen-eyed green

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS

Coyote Sonoma

The New Year’s Eve “Glitter & Grooves Bash” at Coyote Sonoma delivers the Funky Dozen and their high-energy funk, soul and party classics. “Sparkly attire encouraged— come dressed to dazzle and get ready for an unforgettable celebration!” Doors open at 6pm, music starts at 9pm, champagne toast comes at midnight. Tickets $45-$55

of electing an at-large mayor. This decision, which was not agendized and did not need to happen before Jan. 6, was pushed through without community input. In a 4-1 vote (sic), the council decided to keep the “status quo” with five districts and a rotating mayor. Community attendees were stunned at how quickly and deftly the council shut down all options, seeming to support their own self-interests. It was a disgraceful manipulation of the process and their power. No wonder residents are disenfranchised with participation at any level and feel a visceral mistrust. We can and should do better as a community.

HeatherHannan-Kramer Healdsburg

heron observing its muddy lakeshore. I’m excitedly anticipating the coming months, when glorious fungi of all types will emerge from tree trunks and mycelium networks hidden in the earth. I’m enthralled by the rolling hills of Sonoma Valley, and am thrilled to live less than an hour from the coast and only 20 minutes from a … weapons manufacturer?

Recently, I was shocked to learn that a General Dynamics factory exists right here in Sonoma County. This is a factory that creates technology for the 2,000-pound bombs that have repeatedly been dropped on thousands of civilians in Gaza, as well as technology used to surveil our southern border. I expect that for many of my neighbors the existence of this factory will also come

at bit.ly/3XEJhVX. Coyote Sonoma, 44-F Mill St. Elephant in the Room

Of course the Elephant is in for the long haul, with the John Courage Trio making the noise starting at 9pm, with special guest Schlee, free appetizers and hot cocoa at midnight. $20, 177 Healdsburg Ave.

For additional New Year’s Eve and related events, see the accompanying article or visit the Calendar link at healdsburgtribune.com.

Ongoing “Vroom! Toys on the Go,” this year’s holiday exhibition at Healdsburg Museum, features toy vehicles collected by the late Steve Castelli and a model train

LETTERS

‘A disappointing beginning’ I didn’t realize the City Council would be voting on a significant district formation factor (at Dec.16 meeting). However, in reviewing the agenda I see that part of their task was to provide direction to staff. I made the effort to attend in person in order to listen and learn, but in particular to ask questions.

Paul Mitchell from Redistricting Partners, the two women from Windsor who made a special trip to share their city districting experience, the thoughtful and principled Phil Luks among other speakers; each urged being true to the stated intent of this major change to voting districts, i.e. to make equity foremost in the process and for a more fairly represented future. To me that

means partnering with the community. In that regard, how did last night’s vote increase decision making access for all, especially the Spanishspeaking 34%?

Betsy Mallace from Windsor advised that Healdsburg stay open as long as possible; that we wouldn’t really understand what was best for our city and the community until the public actually begins drawing up a variety of maps. City Manager Jeff Kay was pushing for staff direction but he did not insist on a decision last night, so why not reopen the process to allow more people to become engaged and heard?

With all the emphasis on multiple input hearings, transparency and inclusion, last night felt like a really disappointing beginning. We all have competing issues that beg for our

OPINION

as a shock. They might also be surprised to learn that engineers from this factory give presentations to students in STEM classes around the county, which in my opinion represents a chilling normalization of the violence that this factory inflicts on defenseless people around the world. Violence meted out to poor and defenseless people is something I am personally familiar with as someone who endured homelessness for many years in this county. Violence against the unhoused population is nothing new to Sonoma County, and recently it has gotten even worse. I myself have suffered harassment at the hands of police, being told under threat of arrest or assault to move along even when I had nowhere to go.

When I look at a company like General

Dynamics—one that exports these weapons for the purported sake of “national security”—I can’t help but think of how many people I know who’ve passed away on the street and wonder how much more “secure” they would have felt if they had shelter from the elements and food to eat. I think of how, in the richest country in the world, we spend billions on brutally banishing the homeless from society instead of housing them. I think of how, according to HUD, it would take $20 billion dollars to house everyone currently living without shelter—and how the United States spent $820 billion on its military just in 2023 alone. This obscene reality is the price we pay when we invite weapons manufacturers into our own backyard. But does a violent,

display from Wayne Padd. Continues through Jan. 19 and definitely worth a visit, Wednesdays through Sundays, 11am to 4pm. 221 Matheson St.

Closures

City of Healdsburg offices are closed through Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. They will reopen for business on Monday, Jan. 6, including a City Council meeting that night, to include the second public hearing of the redistricting issue. 6pm, 401 Grant St. and online at healdsburg. gov/zoom.

Post events on the Tribune’s online calendar at healdsburgtribune.com/ calendar and send special announcements to editor@ healdsburgtribune.com.

personal time and attention. If this is how future districting decisions will be made, why should we feel encouraged to stay engaged?

Democracy is on the line for at least the next four years. Let’s be a model for how we work together democratically and what is truly fair and possible in Healdsburg.

Merrilyn Joyce Healdsburg

‘Railroaded this decision’

I am very disappointed with how the city manager and council came to such an abrupt and exclusive decision on the number of districts and the role and determination of the future mayor. The council’s actions last night railroaded this decision through, without community input or even

reckless company like General Dynamics really belong here? Is a company that manufactures tools to enact violence at the border, violence overseas, violence against its workers with an unsafe working environment, and violence against our communities by normalizing war and destruction really welcome in Sonoma County?

Does a company that took in record profits of $11.7 billion dollars during the third quarter of 2024—profits that are directly linked to the ongoing genocide in Gaza—have a place in our backyard? In the place that goes so far toward defining who we are as individuals and as a community? I would say absolutely not.

Today, as I shelter from the rain in my own house, without the threat of police and public harassment, I

acknowledgement of the proposed process that was laid out in advance. I am a 10-year resident of Healdsburg, 15 of Sonoma County, and was truly astounded by the maneuvering that occurred yesterday. I feel it is our duty as citizens who are committed to a more equitable community to call out the self-serving “leaders” who so deftly pushed this well-intended train off the track. My interest, after closely following the recent City Council election, is in helping to have a more collaborative and inclusive governing body. I am open to the concept of six districts plus an at-large mayor, and would love to engage in collaborative discourse around the pros and cons of the different options on the table.

Rebecca Miller Healdsburg

think of everything that General Dynamics is taking from us all. I think, too, of the world I want to be a part of; a world where nobody has to suffer in the cold and rain on the streets because our government, and we as a society, prioritize enacting violence at the border. I think of a world where no factory worker has to die in an explosion at a missile factory, because no such factories any longer exist. And I dream of a world where the millions of men, women and children who became casualties of war are still alive—still laughing, dancing, singing, creating, learning and growing without the threat of bombs raining down on them. Bombs made right here in Sonoma County.

Ian McKee is a Santa Rosa resident.

Photo by Will Bucquoy

HANUKKAH Families and friends share the light at a 2022 Hanukkah celebration in the Healdsburg Plaza. This year a similar community candle lighting will take place at the Plaza, starting at 5pm on Thursday, Dec. 26.

Holiday Happenings, 1

New Year’s Eve in Healdsburg

NOT THE USUAL TUESDAY NIGHT THIS WEEK

Staff Report

New Year’s Eve is a few hours suspended from the normal rules of time, neither one year nor the next, yet both. While a “memorable evening” is often the goal, it’s all too frequently a night whose details escape memory. Still, a new year at least offers the assurance that things will be different, whether better or worse remains to be seen … next year.

A small handful of places plan to stay open past midnight, beyond their usual hours, to usher in the new year. A few plan festivities and special menus, but will close before the clock strikes 2025.

Lo & Behold

DJ Kevin West will manhandle the sounds, and the dance floor will be open for the “last dance” of 2024, following regular dinner service that ends at 10pm. No cover, a “traditional grilled cheese toast” (?) at midnight, open till 1am. Lo & Behold Bar and Kitchen is at 214 Healdsburg Ave.

Troubadour

Boulangerie by day, diner by night, Troubadour Bread & Bistro celebrates with extended seating hours and a special menu of French-inspired dishes leading up to a midnight toast, featuring a champagne pairing menu to complement each course.

318 Healdsburg Ave.

John Ash & Co.

The celebrated restaurant at Vintner’s Resort, one of Sonoma County’s original farm-to-table icons, will pull out the stops for a fivecourse dinner and afterparty, starting at 8pm. Memorable but not cheap: Cost is $255 or more per person, plus the usual charges, (707) 5757350 for reservations. 4350 Barnes Rd. at River Road., Santa Rosa.

Cyrus Geyserville

It’s a “Caviar & Champagne” night upstream at Cyrus, with a special Bubbles Lounge reservation beginning with a glass of grower-producer Champagne, and featuring aged Ossetra Caviar (15g). Option to customize by selecting the inimitable Krug Grande Cuveé to fill one’s glass. For parties of 1-4, prepaid reservations at $95 per person plus, from exploretock.com/cyrus.

Bubble Bar

The classic way to spend New Year’s Eve is by toasting sparkling wines and indulging in the glamour of French culture. And what better way than a New Year’s countdown in Paris? (Troisdeux-un … !). That would be 3pm local time, so naturally the Healdsburg Bubble Bar will be open noon to 8pm that Wednesday, Dec. 31, to make the most of the occasion. Then do it all over again at midnight—this will be owner Sarah Quider’s first New Year’s Eve in the tasting room, so she’ll stay

open past 12am! 134 North St. (707) 395-4434.

Spoonbar

The H2Hotel ground-level restaurant will be open from 5-10 pm on Dec. 31, with a special five-course tasting menu ($125) by candlelight, featuring delightful dishes and desserts. An optional wine pairing is available for $60. There will also be live music by John Schott and Marc Capelle, playing a mix of pop, jazz and soul tunes until 10:30pm. 219 Healdsburg Ave.

The Matheson

Rooftop 104 will be open from 3-8pm and will serve a special featuring YukonChive Croquettes with California White Sturgeon Caviar and crème fraîche, paired with a glass of sparkling wine, for $25 per person. Gather around the firepit, sip your drink and take in the breathtaking views of Fitch Mountain (before 5pm these days), bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one. 104 Matheson St., fourth floor.

Dry Creek Kitchen

Charlie Palmer’s DCK culinary team offers two festive menus for New Year’s Eve, each featuring seasonally inspired Wine Country fare. Seating No. 1, from 5-7:15pm, is a four-course dinner for $145 (optional $75 wine pairing), while the second seating, from 7:3010pm, is a five-course dinner for $175 ($95 wine pairing). Menus and reservations at tinyurl.com/2uwc75ye, 317 Healdsburg Ave.

Thanks For Joining us for the Last 100 Years.

Since 1921, locals have called our course home, creating memories that last more than a lifetime. Our staff is proud to be a part of the history of healdsburg, and we invite you to become a part of our story. Our 9 holes of storied california golf are just the beginning. You can enjoy the nostalgia of the past, or experience the cutting edge at our top tracer driving range. Even if you don’t play golf, There’s no better place in town to watch the sunset, have a glass of local wine and find yourself in the traditions of healdsburg. So stop by and meet us if you haven’t. We’ve been waiting for you.

MIDNIGHT There are various ways to read the word ‘toast,’ but on New Year’s Eve it usually has something to do with champagne.

FIRE CONCERNS

husband Hector jumped out of the vehicle, and it was engulfed within seconds,” said Adriana Barragan. She and her husband own Smooth Style Concrete Construction of Windsor, and were on their way to a job they were working further up Sunset Drive.

stated, “I’d like to emphasize that in an evacuation scenario, we would have been able to facilitate the safe evacuation of residents even with our fire apparatus on scene. In this specific case, there was sufficient room to perform our duties while maintaining the ability to allow vehicles to pass when it was safe to do so.”

Drive to allow for emergency vehicles coming in, in the event of some kind of emergency, and allowing for pedestrian cars to exit at the same time,” he said.

more widely known.”

segment of Sunset Drive, the City has included the project in the 5-year capital improvement budget.” Macdonald, following the truck fire’s clean-up, said, “I understand the concerns of the residents, and I hope this information provides some reassurance. Every situation is different, but we are committed to prioritizing public safety and responding appropriately, and we really appreciate this neighborhood’s diligence in fire and emergency preparedness.” ➝

“It could have been the brakes, it could have been electrical,” she said. “We’re not 100% sure. We’ve been driving that truck up and down for the last couple days, and it’s been fine. So it was a shock to us, too.”

The fire department arrived in seven minutes, and a foam fire treatment was applied to extinguish the fire by suffocating it. The leaves of the trees arching above the site of the fire were scorched, but the fire did not spread.

“If it was the summertime, I feel like it could have been worse, honestly, because the flames did get up to the tree,” Barragan said. “So I feel definitely like if it happened in the summertime, we would’ve been in big trouble, really. It would’ve been a lot worse.”

Fire Marshal Lance Macdonald, who has met with the concerned residents of Sunset Drive,

The truck, which was pulling a trailer, was a total loss. It was towed away before noon, and the stranded mostly undamaged trailer was removed before day’s end.

Neighborhood COPE

Tim Leach is a retired investment executive, a Sunset Drive resident and a member of the neighborhood Fitch Mountain COPE (Citizens Organized to Prevent Emergencies).

Like other members, he attended several City Council meetings over the past couple of years to make the council members more aware of the issue of the narrows—and to encourage them to put a fix in the public works budget before an actual emergency led to potentially tragic consequences.

“The basic message was the inadequate width of that portion of Sunset

“In that section of Sunset, there is an embankment on one side and a steep drop-off on the other. There’s no barrier. There’s not anything preventing someone from missing the edge of the road and having an accident going down the hill,” he added. Especially in the smoky conditions of a fire emergency, or a midnight flight from disaster.

Though the residents spoke to the City Council on several occasions this past year, Leach said they’ve been trying to get the message across since 2017. Leach said he was one of the first people to meet with the City right after the Tubbs fire, meeting with the assistant city manager and Larry Zimmer, the city’s Public Works director.

“They were appreciative of our concerns, but made it very clear that there wasn’t money in the budget to make the significant repair work that would be required to widen the street out … but they certainly seemed willing to listen,” he said. “That’s when we launched our efforts to make our opinion

Another member of COPE, Rachelle Chong, spearheaded the effort to line up residents to speak in series to the City Council during the public comment period toward the beginning of the meetings. Since comments are limited to three minutes, several residents would “tag-team” to deliver their complaints, and request that the City prioritize public safety— their safety—over more cosmetic or commercial upgrades already in the Public Works calendar.

A number of different residents represented the group on different occasions. When asked whether the truck fire on Sunset Drive rekindled their interest, Leach answered, “Yeah, no pun intended. Absolutely.”

It would be no small job, but Leach and others adamantly maintain it’s a job that should be done. There are certainly other projects on the City’s public works list, “laudable projects, but with varying priorities,” as Leach put it. “Some of which are commercial priorities. I get that, but in this case, this is a health and safety priority.”

The effort and expense to widen and make “conforming” that section of Sunset would not be

FLASHBACKS

incidental. It would take engineering studies, perhaps a substantial retaining wall on the downhill side and on the uphill side as well, to prevent slippage from either direction.

“It would be expensive to do because of the engineering and all that, but at the end of the day, what’s the price of having an adequate, safe ingress and egress?” Leach asked.

When asked about the issue this week, Public Works Director Larry Zimmer responded, “Recognizing the need to make improvements to that

CURATED NEWS FROM 50, 75 AND 100 YEARS AGO, FROM THE HEALDSBURG TRIBUNE

100 years ago: December 25, 1924 RECORD SEASON

SWAMPS LOCAL

POSTAL FORCE

Forty sacks of parcel mail, all tightly packed, received Monday at the local post office, forms the record Christmas mail ever received in Healdsburg, according to Postmaster Pearson. The post office was crowded all week with people sending packages and receiving them, and a long line of patrons was to be found most of the day at the windows. The rush will continue for several days, because in spite of the admonition to get Christmas mail away early flocks of patrons are found on the list of “lastminute” shoppers. The arriving mail is larger than that going out to

some extent, because local people as a rule have been sending away their gifts to others for the past ten days.

75 years ago: December 23, 1949 COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS EVE PROGRAM

Healdsburg will observe Christmas Eve with a community Christmas carol program to begin at 7:30 o’clock at the American Legion Hall. Group singing, led by Smith Robinson, with Eliza M. Monroe at the piano, will open the program, and special numbers by vocalists and instrumentalists are to be presented. As an added feature of the evening, the Christmas Story will be given with colored slides illustrating the various scenes. Following the Christmas Eve program, groups of carolers will tour the community singing. The community event is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce as part of Christmas season activities. Noontime carol

singing broadcast from the Plaza each day this week has been another part of the Yule celebration here. In charge of arrangements for the public address system used in the Plaza is Douglas Badger, and Rev. J. I. Thomas organized the program. Singing carols on tape recordings broadcast each noon were the Chancel Choir of the Federated Church, Elementary School chorus, and the High School choral group.

50 years ago: December 19, 1974

HEALDSBURG: THE CITY THAT PAYS CASH

In a day when nobody seems able to save much, it may seem extraordinary, but the Healdsburg City Council has saved nearly $275,000 in the last year, enough to pay cash for the two new 60 kilovolt transformers that are now being installed at the Fitch Mountain substation.

The council accepted City Manager James Stanfield’s recommendation Monday night that the city pay cash for the transformers, rather than accept a 12% interest loan that it had arranged for last year. Total cost of the transformers is $274,664. Stanfield said that if the city were buying them today they would cost an additional 30%. The city went to bid on the transformers a year and a half ago. Stanfield said, “We have developed a $100,000 well system and a $300,000 electricity facility in the past year and paid cash for it all.”

Councilman Doug Badger noted that the city had also paid cash when the Gauntlett water system was developed, that it paid cash when it built the fire house and bought the Villa Chanticleer. The only bonds the city has floated in the past 15 years have been for the city hall and the sewage disposal plant.

Photos courtesy Healdsburg Museum

CHOIR Members of the Healdsburg Federated Chancel Choir sang the Christmas cantata, ‘The Shepherd’s Christmas,’ by candlelight in the sanctuary of the Federated Church on Saturday evening, in 1952, under the direction of Smith Robinson (left).

RESPONSE Healdsburg Fire at the scene of the Dec. 20 conflagration on Sunset Drive, with the truck covered by fire-suffocating foam.

Photos courtesy Hector Barragan

CITY BUSINESS State Sen. Randolph Collier, and City Council members Ed Langhart, Art Schieffer, Felix Lafon and Doug Badger, far right, in Healdsburg’s Centennial Year, 1967.

SPORTS

Renamed Gym Opens for Wrestling

REMODELED

DREW ESQUIVEL

GYM A HIT WITH WRESTLERS, PARENTS AND SPORTS FANS

By Caleb Knudsen

Grapplers of the North Coast Section met for the first time earlier this month in the remodeled former Frost Gym, soon to be officially christened Drew Esquivel Hall. The most recent occasion was, fittingly, the Drew Esquivel Tournament, held on Dec. 21 in memory of

Healdsburg High’s former star wrestler who died suddenly in 2016.

This year’s wrestlers are for the most part, if not entirely, first- and secondyear wrestlers, and coach Scott Weidemier is careful to give them the kind of exposure that will grow their skills and enthusiasm for the sport instead of frustrate them.

“We’re holding our own,” he said, still recovering from managing two back-to-back tournaments with a total of 35 schools participating.

The varsity tournament followed by a day the Mick

Tapparo Jr. Invitational JV Tournament held in the same hall, dramatically lit from above to highlight the classic forms of GrecoRoman wrestling. The JV tournament, too, was named for a former Greyhounds athlete who also died suddenly in 2016.

The relatively inexperienced Healdsburg team had their best showing in Friday’s JV tournament.

“We ended up taking second as a team on Friday night, which was actually a very pleasant surprise,” Weidemier said of the Tapparo JV competition.

“We were in first place

up until the last couple of matches, and then Windsor won a match and won the tournament.”

The JV tournament had 19 schools, the varsity 16. They were dual meets, with the schools facing each other one at a time in an elimination, but wrestling in all weight classes— a workout for the students as well as the coaches.

Which means the size of the school’s wrestling team is a big factor in how well they compete against so many other schools in a tournament. For the Drew Esquivel varsity tournament, said Weidemier,

“We didn’t have our full lineup, what with a couple people gone for the holidays. And we’re giving up a few weight classes anyways. So even with our best lineup, we’re a little bit behind the eight ball.”

Regardless, it was time well spent for the competitors. “It really was a good experience for the kids. You know, they’re starting to kind of put things together,” Weidemier said.

Though many of the matches in the huge tournaments took place in either the main Smith Robinson Gym or the smaller East Gym, the newly named

Esquivel Gym proved to be the star of the show. One big reason: an overhead spot that highlighted the competitors, two at a time under the lights.

“I tell you what, people were walking in going ‘Ooh’ and ‘Ahh’ you know, just complimenting the heck out of the facilities,” Weidemier said. “And, you know, it was really nice to hear after all the work that’s been put into making that room, between architects and the school administration and the design work and everything that went into it over the years.”

Girls Undefeated as Soccer Year Ends

GOALKEEPER KIM LOPEZ, DEFENSE STIFLE OPPONENTS WITH SHUTOUTS

By Caleb Knudsen

Local soccer fans have witnessed a series of strong games from the girls team at the tail end of 2024. From the opening game against St. Helena on Nov. 14 through last Friday’s match against Gateway in San Francisco, the Greyhounds have run up an impressive nine wins in a row without a defeat.

Friday’s game was also their fourth straight win on the road, showing the team’s comfort with travel to an opponent’s yard. And note this: The single goal scored by the Gators was keeper Kim Lopez’s first in three games, following shut-out wins over John Swett, 5-0, and Cloverdale, 4-0.

At the Dec. 10 Cloverdale game, the most recent played at HHS, June Sullivan scored in the first half off an assist by Maddie Munselle to put the Hounds up 1-0 at the break. But Sullivan wasn’t done for the night: She scored two more goals in the second half, with Renata Maturana also finding the back of the net. The Lady Greys were more dominant two nights later against Swett, winning 5-0 on goals by five different players: freshmen Olivia Saini and Sullivan, sophomore Lila Krek and junior Lucy Behrens, and senior Sophia Saini. Munselle had two assists as well. With the calendar year ending, the team will take a couple of weeks off before returning to action on Jan. 8, 2025, against RUP on the Healdsburg pitch, 7pm.

Photo by

GOAL Freshman June Sullivan navigates past

5-0 shutout

their Hwy 101 rivals.

Photos by Michael Lucid

JUDGE NOT Junior Anette Dehesa working on a fall with a reverse half over her Lower Lake opponent in the Dec. 11 match at the newly named Drew Esquivel Hall.

tradition, they stormed the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience’s deluxe “grand tasting” event near the Plaza in May.

Then they returned with hundreds of additional protesters in July for a march through town that shut down Memorial Bridge. The organization behind it, farmworker advocacy group North Bay Jobs With Justice, said it was the largest protest in its decade of existence.

One highlight: Bay Area performance artist and University of California professor L.M. Bogad played the character of a big, bad winery owner, complete with a jumbo wine glass and a dollarsign necktie.

North Bay Jobs With Justice, along with Corazón Healdsburg and other allies, are gearing up for more action in 2025—especially given recent threats from the Trump administration to deport all undocumented immigrants, many of whom live and work here in Healdsburg.

Read more: Gaza War Protesters at General Dynamics, April 17; Farmworkers March for ‘Disaster Pay’, July 31; Open Mic: Is Deportation A Cause for Local Concern?, Dec 18

The Housing Debate Healdsburg city officials scored a couple of big wins for affordable housing this year. They cut the ribbon on the new Monte Viña Apartments near the hospital, and plans moved forward for more largescale housing projects near Big John’s and Parkland

Farms. But fearing this pace wouldn’t be enough to meet the state’s steep housing goals, the City Council penned Measure O for the General Election ballot in November. It proposed we loosen the rules on how much multi-unit housing can be built in Healdsburg per year—thus opening a Pandora’s box of citizen concerns.

Warring yard signs dotted lawns across town.

Facebook and Nextdoor groups exploded with accusations from both sides. In the end, the “No on Measure O” camp won out—forcing city leaders to go back to the drawing board. Keep an eye out for alternate housing/growth solutions making their way through City Hall in 2025.

Read more: Milestone Monte Viña Project Adds Affordable Housing at a Lower Cost, May 1; State Windfall Brings $21 Million to Healdsburg, Aug. 28; Measure O Defeat Shows Split City, Nov. 13

Local Election

We all took some time off from the national election drama this year to watch some key political face-offs play out at the local level. In particular, the contest to replace longtime California State Assemblymember (and Healdsburg resident) Jim Wood got pretty spicy. An avalanche of mailers, gossipy at best and vindictive at worst, made the case for and against certain candidates in the Assembly District 2 race.

One of them, Healdsburg’s own City Councilmember Ariel Kelley, tried to make the “McGuire leap” from Healdsburg to Sacramento. But State Sen. Mike McGuire’s own pick, down-to-Earth Santa Rosa politician Chris

Rogers, ended up clinching the spot. In comparison, this year’s Healdsburg City Council race was fairly low key. We voted three incumbents, including Kelley, back into their seats—leaving us with the same set of local council members we’ve had for a couple of years now. But within a month of the election, our incumbents managed to light another flame of controversy with their hasty handling of a switch to district-based City Council elections in town. Expect more heat on them in the coming year.

Read more: Campaign for Assembly Gets Down and Dirty, Feb. 22; Last Election of Its Kind, Nov. 6; Redistricting Gets Started, Dec 18

Dry Creek Wildfire

On a windy Father’s Day afternoon, frighteningly early in the fire season, rural Healdsburg saw its first major wildfire since the Walbridge fire in 2020. The Point fire, as officials named it, churned through 1,200 acres of bone-dry vegetation near Lake Sonoma in a single night—prompting hundreds of residents, workers and tourists to evacuate; destroying three country homes and seven other structures; threatening dozens of world-famous wineries and damaging some of their grapevines; and prompting widespread PG&E power outages that lasted for days.

But once it was over, most agreed: The Point fire could have been so much worse.

A combination of prior prescribed burns, smart firefighting and a lucky turn in weather gave this one a

happy ending, all in all.

Still—the scare was so intense, and the summer so hot, that Healdsburg city officials made the tough call to cancel Fourth of July fireworks a few weeks later, due to high fire risk. They’re still discussing whether that should be a permanent change, though leaning toward bringing back the tradition. Stay tuned.

The rest of our 2024 fire season was marked by minor blazes that firefighters stamped out early. Cal Fire officials also made an example of three different men who they said started fires near Healdsburg, with felony charges and years of likely jail time.

The clincher: One of these alleged arsonists actually worked for Cal Fire.

Perhaps more impactful than the fire season this year was the rainy season. A couple of historic rain storms hit Healdsburg, to kick off and close out 2024—pushing the Russian River and Foss Creek to their limits and exposing our weakest links by flooding them. And the rain just

keeps coming. Remember when all we could talk about was the drought?

Read more: Point Fire Torches Dry Creek Valley, June 19; 4-Day ‘Cyclone’ Hammers Healdsburg, Nov. 27

Many other local storylines captured our hearts and changed our lives this year: Rising utility bills. Battles over ancient oaks.

Multiple violent crimes along the Foss Creek Pathway. A massive casino proposed in Windsor. Some movement on the SMART

train’s slow march northward. A curious tribe of “techno optimists” who set their sights on Healdsburg, and now Cloverdale. Plaza festivals galore. Another state trophy for the Prune Packers baseball team, and a repeat league win for the Healdsburg High School girls basketball team— even a glimmer of hope for the school’s beleaguered football squad. The rest, as they say, is still unwritten. Here’s to the next chapter of our Healdsburg epic.

The Best Way to Let Everyone Know

EL DUEÑO Bay Area performance artist and University of California professor L.M. Bogad gets into character as a winery owner at Healdsburg’s farmworker protest over the summer.

DANCERS Members of the local Ballet Folklorico all aswirl in the Plaza for Dia de Muertos, in late October 2024.

Photos by Rick Tang

Healdsburg Tribune December 26 2024