🌱 SoCoNews Update + New Fire Truck, Station + Chalk Hill Blaze

Simone Wilson
·9 min read

Hey, everybody! Simone here with your Monday edition of the Healdsburg Daily. Let's get this week started off right, with a quick dive into everything you need to know about what's happening around town...

First, your daily weather:

  • Monday: Sunny and beautiful. High: 75 Low: 47.

  • Tuesday: Cloudy in the morning, clearing to sun. High: 71 Low: 42.

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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 5 stories in Healdsburg today:

  1. I got some more bad news in my inbox over the weekend about the impending shutdown of the Healdsburg Tribune. While the paper will go out of print and email newsletter will halt this Thursday, I had thought the local reporting would continue online. But a member of the board of directors for the Tribune's parent nonprofit, the Sonoma County Local News Initiative, now tells me in an email that "as of April 28, all news operations — print and digital — will cease, including our weekly email newsletters and online news coverage for Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor and West Sonoma County." She continues: "Is there a future for local news in rural Sonoma County? We believe there is, but the path forward is unclear. The nonprofit SCLNI will take a break, focus on ending this phase with integrity, and labor over the next several months to plan a financially sustainable and locally trusted model that fills this important need. Will we be successful? We hope so, but it remains to be seen." Residents are now encouraged to "stay tuned" by checking the SoCoNews website for updates — "while it will not be updated daily with news," the board member says, "it will be maintained as a way to update our readers as soon as we can" — or emailing future@soconews.org to get on the SoCoNews mailing list. (Inbox & Support SoCoNews)

  2. A vegetation fire broke out in rural Healdsburg late yesterday afternoon, right near the intersection of Chalk Hill and Sturgeon roads, according to the Press Democrat. It started at 4 p.m. and slowly spread to around two acres before "fire crews from Geyserville, Cal Fire and Healdsburg" were able to put it out. More from the PD: "There were no reports of injuries or structures threatened as of 7:30 p.m., officials said.Most of the firefighters had left the scene by 8:30 p.m., officials said.A cause for the fire is under investigation." (Press Democrat; paywall)

  3. Speaking of fire! Healdsburg Fire Chief Jason Boaz gave the department's annual report at the City Council meeting last week. He shared that compared to 2020, there was an uptick in two types of calls: "medical calls for service" and "calls for service for Healdsburg’s residential care facilities." However, COVID-related calls stayed at about the same volume as the year prior, and actual fire-related calls were down a little — accounting for only 4.31 percent of the total call load in 2021. "Boaz said he wouldn’t call 2021 a quiet fire season, but the Healdsburg Fire Department did not have as many strike team deployments as they typically do," the Trib reports. He explained that Healdsburg firefighters help other county-level fire departments protect both Fitch Mountain and the Dry Creek-Sotoyome area, which includes Mill Creek and Westside roads. More from the Trib: "Fitch Mountain generates roughly 50 plus calls a year. The Dry Creek area is much larger and generates about 200 plus calls a year. The Dry Creek-Sotoyome area had 163 calls in 2021, a significant downtick from previous years. Boaz said he believes the decrease in calls has to do with the fact that many people lost their homes in the Walbridge Fire, which devastated the Mill Creek area in 2020." (SoCoNews Healdsburg)

  4. Here are a few more exciting, forward-looking tidbits from the fire chief's update. The first: In matter of weeks, the Healdsburg Fire Dept. will be rolling out a new "ladder fire truck" with an 107-foot ladder and a 500-gallon tank, then showcasing it at the FFA parade next month. Secondly: "The Montage fire substation, which is being developed in conjunction with the Montage housing project and the North Village project, is scheduled to go into the construction phase next year with about a 14-month build time," the Trib reports. The new station won't be staffed 24/7, according to the fire chief, but "it will be used when needed such as during Red Flag warnings or high fire danger."And finally: Fire officials and city leaders will "soon be embarking on the creation of a community wildfire prevention plan (CWPP), a detailed document that measures wildfire risks specific to an area and identifies ways to mitigate that risk in a comprehensive plan.A CWPP also helps with obtaining grant opportunities to fund identified vegetation management and other fire prevention projects." The goal is to have the plan finished by September. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)

  5. Remember that pilot program the Ford auto company launched recently at a couple Healdsburg vineyards — Bevill Vineyard Management and Vino Farms — where they gave vineyard workers electric vehicles to use on the job? The goal was to "demonstrate how electric vehicles and web-based fleet management tools can have a positive impact on the agriculture industry in terms of increasing productivity, improving sustainability and lowering the total cost of fleet ownership." Well now, the Sonoma County Winegrowers org, Ford's partner in the program, is doing a crazy thing and offering a "complimentary one-year subscription for software to operate Ford Motor Co.’s new fleet of electric vehicles and charging stations," the PD reports. "It will be free for all grape growers in Sonoma County." (Facebook & Press Democrat; paywall)

Today and tomorrow in Healdsburg:

Monday, April 25

  • Mindful Monday Virtual Yoga for All Ages at Sonoma County Library (4:30-5:30PM)

  • E Street Studios Virtual Media Maker Meetup at Sonoma County Library (6-7PM)

  • Zumba With Chuy at TCElite Gym (7:15-8:15PM)

Tuesday, April 26

  • Sonoma County Airport Job Fair (1-4PM)

  • After-School Art Lab at Healdsburg Center for the Arts (Weekly, 3:30-5PM)

  • Friends of the Healdsburg Library Annual Membership Meeting (4-5PM)

  • AVFilm & Corázon Healdsburg's After-School Film Program (Weekly, 4-6PM)

  • Corazón Healdsburg "Mi Bebé y Yo" Taller / Workshop: "Crear un Plan de Parto" / "Create a Birth Plan" (5-6:30PM)

  • Healdsburg City Planning Commission Meeting (6PM)

  • Healdsburg Running Company Pub Run at Henhouse Brewery in Santa Rosa (6PM)

Healdsburg pic of the day:

The folks behind the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/shoplocalhealdsburg/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:@shoplocalhealdsburg;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">@shoplocalhealdsburg</a> Instagram account recently posted this pic of an especially glamorous potato collected during a "glean" last year through Healdsburg nonprofit <a href="https://www.farmtopantry.org/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Farm to Pantry;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Farm to Pantry</a>, which collects excess produce from local farms and distributes it to those in need. "That potato was unreal! One piece!!!" they told me. "Harvested last season in Healdsburg at a private estate farm." (Photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/shoplocalhealdsburg/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:@shoplocalhealdsburg;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">@shoplocalhealdsburg</a>)

From my notebook:

  • Foodies throughout the Wine County and beyond are gushing over the new Little Saint space on North Street. (Sonoma Magazine)

  • There's a big "community picnic" coming up at the plaza on Saturday, May 14, starting at noon — right after the farmers market. "As a zero waste event, bring snacks/lunch and a blanket or folding chair to sit on," says Healdsburg leader and activist Brigette Mansell. "We will gather for a conversation of issues relevant for our community." (Sonoma County Gazette)

  • A reminder that another major new event is coming up at the end of May: The Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience, an "intimate weekend with the farmers, winemakers, and chefs who make this region so special" reportedly benefitting "local organizations that are making a meaningful difference in the lives of farmers and their families." General admission tickets are $200 (with a $50 discount for actual Healdsburg residents) and VIP tickets are $2,500.(Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience)

  • Also: Organizers of the Wine & Food Experience are looking for "foodies, aspiring chefs, people who love people, experienced event volunteers, wine lovers, or those who just love being involved" to help out. (Facebook)

  • And FYI, the first event of the Wine & Food weekend — which you can also just attend without committing to the whole shebang — will be a live FFA-raised hog barbecue at The Matheson. Tickets to that one are $65. (Facebook & Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience)

  • Did you know that Healdsburg author Gabriel Fraire released a "collection of oral historiesfrom long time residents" of Healdsburg? You can buy it online or request an autographed copy from Gabriel atgafraire@sonic.net. (Facebook & Amazon)

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Alrighty, now you're in the loop! See you tomorrow...

— 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