2018 was certainly a busy year for us news gatherers and writers at the Tribune with fire anniversaries, business buyouts and the rise of opioid use in Sonoma County, hotel limits and plenty of newsmakers around town, from avid readers to new councilmembers.
After only a few years of business, SHED, the modern grange, cafe and meeting space announced it would close its door the end of December, Sonoma West Publishers announced its direct public offer in seeking community investors, a new mayor was appointed, high school varsity football was cancelled and a slew of other major events transpired.
To give readers a chance to rewind the tape and take a look back at 2018 the Tribune compiled a comprehensive list of major news events from the past 12 months. We broke down newsmakers and events by business, city council/government, disaster, crime, schools and people and included a gallery of our best photos of community events to offer readers a clear canvas of Healdsburg’s year in news.
Without further ado, here is what made pages of the Tribune and was the talk of the town this year:
Schools
In November the Healdsburg Unified School District made big news when they announced a revision to their public track and field use policies. For the first time the track at Healdsburg High School has restricted hours with the field closed for public use unless otherwise permitted. The new track hours are before and after school — 6 to 7:45 a.m. and 6:30 to 9 p.m. on weekdays. The track will be opened around 8 a.m. on the weekend for public use. And while many Healdsburg residents were frustrated with the limited hours and restricted access, Healdsburg Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuvel said the new hours were a way to increase school safety and ensure that the field and track are used properly.
Vanden Heuvel told the Tribune in November, “The school board agreed that it was a safety issue and despite the fact that it has been open historically we thought it might not be the best practice for keeping students safe.”
Smoke in Sonoma County once again made the news when several county schools were forced to close schools due to smoke from the Camp Fire in Paradise, which created extremely unhealthy air quality. However, parent outcry erupted when the county offered an index of what air quality levels would merit a school closure.
As reported by Windsor Times editor Heather Bailey, “SCOE elected to set the threshold for school cancellation at an AQI of 275, almost 100 points above where the air quality had been on the previous cancellation days.” When the county of education added that schools could make their own decision on when to close, the incident still riled up parents and residents alike.
New school board trustees were also elected in November after midterm elections. Incumbent Donna Del Rey was reelected for a new term with 3,233 votes and newcomer/seasoned educator Mike Potmesil was elected with 3,135 votes. At the Dec. 19 Healdsburg Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, Del Rey was appointed as vice president and former vice president, Jami Kiff was appointed to the position of board president.
In a landscape where high school shootings disturbingly seem to be the norm, school safety was another important topic this year. Healdsburg High School received active shooter training on Oct. 9. Training for staff focused on the concept of ALICE, alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. After hours of training videos and literature, staff went through six different active shooter scenarios to practice the ALICE concept.
In August, the school district tackled inequality in schools. In June after hearing several public comments from highly concerned residents, Superintendent Vanden Heuvel pledged to work towards change at elementary schools following charges of racism. Since then Vanden Heuvel has been on the Healdsburg Equity Task force. The group recently completed a listening campaign interviewing 47 people from school staff to students, parents and former HUSD staff and parents. The campaign aimed to better understand the community’s concerns regarding implicit bias, systemic oppression and racism.
In April, an online school threat, that was later discovered to be hoax, unsettled many. On April 8 several local school districts, including Healdsburg, received vaguely threatening emails.
In response to the threat, Windsor Superintendent Brandon Krueger released a letter to parents and staff about the incident: “Though the email was very vague, I notified Windsor Police Department. Local law enforcement agencies worked immediately on an investigation. It became apparent quickly that the email had originated in Europe, from a group that has tried to create panic by emailing threats in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the group referenced the email on their Twitter account, apologizing to followers for emailing schools too early, and thus not inciting mass school evacuations. It was determined through local law enforcement agencies in the county that the threat was deemed to be a hoax and not credible, therefore schools will remain open.”
People
A lot of Healdsburg faces also made the news this year. In October, HHS seniors Mary Richie and Gio Sciullo were crowned Homecoming Queen and King during the halftime game festivities at Recreation Park on Oct. 5.
In September Healdsburg Charter School student Grace McAllister, 7, talked with the Tribune about her goal to read 250 books from the library by the end of second grade. McAllister said she mainly loves chapter books and graphic novels and told the Tribune that for her, “reading takes her everywhere.”
In August, Healdsburg City Council recognized former City Clerk Maria Curiel on the eve of her retirement. Curiel had been with the city for 16 years and first started at city hall as an intern in 1977. Curiel was honored with a proclamation from the state of California from State Senator Mike McGuire.
In July, Healdsburg native Mike Lownes celebrated his 100th birthday. Lownes was born in 1918 and went to school in Mill Creek form 1925 to 1935 and Healdsburg High School from 1935 to 1937. On Friday, July 13 Lownes was at the Windsor Senior Center for one of his five birthday parties celebrating a century. Lownes was presented with a proclamation in celebration of his monumental birthday from then Windsor Mayor Bruce Okrepkie.
In May, someone quite surprising came into town, a teenaged bear. During the week of May 18 the bear was caught taking a stroll on First and Matheson Streets by police cameras. Luis Rodriguez, the night sergeant on duty at the time told the Tribune in an email: “We had a furry visitor in town last night. It ran around downtown and in our back lot for a while, then eventually headed off to the east outskirts of town.” The bear eventually wandered off and was reportedly last seen east of town near Fitch Mountain.
In April, Healdsburg’s girls basketball coach Harry Tappin died at 79. Tappin died at his Healdsburg home on April 20 after several years of declining health following a battle with cancers and strokes. Known as a basketball coach legend, Tappin started coaching the girl’s basketball team in 1984. Over the years HHS teams won the Sonoma County League title 12 in 16 years and advanced to the North Cost Section title three times.
In February, a Healdsburg nonprofit got a big nod from “The Ellen Show” when members from Corazón Healdsburg and the Free Store were invited to a special taping of the show honoring those who did “acts of good” in their community.
Disaster
Unlike 2017, disaster headlines didn’t fill up as many Tribune editions in 2018.
However in late November, the Matos family lost their home when a kitchen broiler oven caught fire, quickly spreading flames throughout the home, which also serves a senior care facility (Magnolia Manor). Luckily, due to the heroic efforts of Liz Matos and son Carlos Matos, all six seniors care residents got out safely and no one was harmed in the incident. And while the family has a long rebuild ahead of them the community has come out in numbers to donate to the family via a GoFundMe page. So far, the campaign has raised around $7,400.
Of course what made the news in October was the one-year anniversary of the Sonoma County 2017 wildfires.
The Tribune covered the story of four Sonoma County residents affected by the fires from different corners of the county. Those interviewed included former Mark West Springs resident Jeremy Decker, Cloverdale Unified School District superintendent, former Fountaingrove resident Kathryn Hill, Director of Special Education at Windsor Unified School District, former Riebli Valley resident Cathleen Stafford and Sebastopol Fire Chief, Bill Braga. The group recounted their experience on that October night and also discussed how they were recovering and what they learned post fire.
Healdsburg also had its share of fires in August and June. Luckily, the two grass fires were contained rather quickly. The August 16 fire broke out around 1:36 p.m. on Westside Road and grew to 13.5 acres. Healdsburg Fire and CalFire were quickly on scene and were able to contain the fire. No structures were lost and no injuries were reported; however, former Managing Editor Ray Holley accidently got covered in fire retardant during a drop while photographing the fire. The retardant caused no harm and washed right off.
Another grass fire broke out in June off of Chiquita Road. The Thursday, June 7 fire saw three responding agencies, Healdsburg Fire, Geyserville and CalFire. Personnel and equipment from Cloverdale, Windsor and Dry Creek Rancheria were also used to help control the fire.
