šŸŒ± More Vax Debate + Local Crop Report + Where To Eat On Xmas

Simone Wilson
·5 min read

Well hello there, Healdsburg! I'm back in your inboxes this wintery Tuesday to share everything I know about what's happening in town today. Let's get right to it...

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny and very chilly. High: 48 Low: 36.

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Air over Healdsburg:

This is what the air over Healdsburg looked like earlier this morning. (Photo courtesy of Holly Wilson)
This is what the air over Healdsburg looked like earlier this morning. (Photo courtesy of Holly Wilson)

Here are the top 3 stories today in Healdsburg:

  1. Annnd the countywide debate rages on, over whether the Healdsburg City Council should be able to block unvaccinated community members from attending city meetings in person ā€” including unvaccinated councilmember Skylaer Palacios. In a letter to the editor printed today in the Press Democrat, Healdsburg resident Jon Jones criticizes the "comfortably entitled demonstrators fogging up the windows of Healdsburg City Hall last week" for equating "their self-centered faux-martyrdom with being 'victimized' by segregation and 'Orwellian' oppression." In an interesting counter-letter right next to Jon's, one of the protesters, a Santa Rosa resident named Camille Harris who says she's a "78-year-old vaccinated woman" who attended the rally in support of Skylaer, argues that reports of out-of-towners banging on City Hall windows were overblown. "I believe vaccination mandates are un-American, and if we do not speak up for our freedom, we will lose it," the protester writes. (Press Democrat; paywall)

  2. The official "Sonoma County Crop Report" for 2020 was released last week by the county ag department, and it's about as rough as expected. There was a nearly 30 percent drop in the overall value of crops compared to the year prior, from around $960 million to $680 million, the report shows ā€” and the value of the wine grape harvest in particular plummeted 45 percent, thanks in large part to wildfire smoke that tainted grapes beyond repair. On top of that, "the coronavirus pandemic brought unforeseen impacts to farms, nurseries, supply, and labor," officials say. There was one surprise winner in 2020, though: "Livestock and poultry product values increased by 20 percent compared with 2019 due to a 24 percent increase in both organic and conventional milk production." Interesting... (Patch Press Release Desk & North Bay Business Journal & Sonoma County Government)

  3. We're way behind on Healdsburg police logs! Here are some standout moments from the last three weeks' worth of incident reports: Someone who drove away from a Healdsburg gas station "with the gas nozzle still in their tank, causing about $2,400 worth of damage"; an "extremely intoxicated" man on Center Street seen "falling over a metal railing into a hedge"; a transient reported for "setting up camp" below a residential building on Healdsburg Avenue and "scaring tenants"; a neighbor on Orchard Street who allegedly "screamed a witch cackle" and threatened to kill another neighbor's dog; and a surprising number of domestic arguments where someone jumped in front of someone else's car. Weirdly though, the log for the week of Nov. 16-21 is missing from online police records. (Healdsburg Police Dept. & SoCoNews Healdsburg & SoCoNews Healdsburg)

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Healdsburg pic of the day:

The Christmas tree at the Healdsburg Plaza, as seen in the misty wee hours Sunday morning. (Photo courtesy of David Grulke)
The Christmas tree at the Healdsburg Plaza, as seen in the misty wee hours Sunday morning. (Photo courtesy of David Grulke)

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Today in Healdsburg:

  • Finals Week at Healdsburg Junior High: Minimum Day (All day)

  • Healdsburg City Planning Commission Meeting (All day)

  • CorazĆ³n Healdsburg Savings and Budgeting Workshop, Feat. $100 Gift From Redwood Credit Union (Call for time)

  • Holiday Crafts & Sweet Treats Workshop at Private Barn Studio (3:45-6PM)

  • L&M Project Homekey Community Meeting (5-6:30PM)

  • CorazĆ³n Healdsburg Talleres Para Padres / Workshop for Parents at Healdsburg Community Center: La Vida DespuĆ©s del Parto / Life After Childbirth (5-6:30PM)

  • West Side Elementary School Board of Trustees Meeting (5:30PM)

  • Bilingual Holiday Sing-Along & Family Holiday Party at Costeaux Bakery (5:30-7:30PM)

  • Healdsburg Running Company Trail Sisters Run Up Fitch Mountain, Feat. Hot Cocoa Finish (6PM)

From my notebook:

  • Asahi Sushi & Kitchen will be serving dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Here's what's on the menu. (Facebook)

  • Or if you wanna get fancy, Spoonbar and Dry Creek Kitchen are both serving big, elaborate three-course meals on Christmas as well. (Sonoma Magazine & SF Chronicle; paywall)

  • Healdsburg High School's annual scholarship handbook for seniors is out now. They're available on campus at the career center, and an electronic version has also reportedly been emailed to all seniors. (Facebook)

  • The Matheson downtown has been named one of the Bay Area's best new restaurants of 2021 by the San Francisco Chronicle. "Itā€™s a gourmet amusement park of sorts, but the Matheson follows through on quality on every level," the Chronicle writes. (SF Chronicle; paywall)

  • CorazĆ³n Healdsburg is looking for volunteers to come help assemble COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to be "distributed to the Sonoma County community." (Facebook)

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That's all for now, folks. See you tomorrow for more!

ā€” Simone Wilson

About me: I was born and raised in Healdsburg, CA, where I was the editor of the Healdsburg High School Hound's Bark. I have since worked as a local journalist for publications in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York City and the Middle East. I'm currently a senior product manager for Patch.

This article originally appeared on the Healdsburg Patch