Open Mic: Surprise Raid in Kern County Foreshadows What’s to Come
The Border Patrol conducted unannounced raids throughout Bakersfield on Tuesday, Jan. 7, descending on businesses where day laborers and field workers gather. Agents in unmarked SUVs rounded up people in vans outside a Home Depot and gas station that serves a breakfast popular with field workers. "It was profiling; it was purely field workers,” said the manager of a local gas station.
‘Fit and Over 50’ at Local Health Clubs
Much has been written about the awarding of culinary stars, ratings of 90-point wines and the ascendancy of the million-dollar, two-bedroom home. But one award made to a Healdsburg business should not slip through the cracks—the naming of the Healdsburg’s location as North America’s “World Gym of the Year.”
This year’s Packers pack a punch
It took the Healdsburg Prune Packers less than two innings to start sending balls over the Rec Park fence. Center fielder Jonathan Kim of the University of Michigan slammed a high fly over the right field fence with two runners on, and from that point on the power-hitting Prune Packers have made hitting homers part of their game plan.
Bird Bikes Take Flight to Another Location
In his bi-weekly City Manager’s Report of April 4, Jeff Kay broke the news that the Bird Bikes program, providing a “micro-mobility” option for Healdsburg residents and visitors, has been canceled well ahead of its expected expiration date in early 2026. “Bird recently notified the City of their intent to terminate the agreement and we regret to announce that the e-bike share program will be concluding its operations in Healdsburg,” Kay wrote.
Slidin’ Back Into Town
A little-known country song of recent years begins with the words: “I shook the hand of the man who shook hands with the King.” It’s about being close enough to greatness to touch it—at least second hand.
Roy Rogers has touched the hand of so...
Letters to the Editor, Oct. 24
"I am an affordable housing advocate, but Measure O and its aftermath are riddled with issues. I see it as a huge, uncertain affordability experiment, not a plan..." So writes a long-time Healdsburg resident about the city's plan to create an exclusion zone from the Growth Management Ordinance...
Top 5 Local Stories of 2024
There’s a tradition in the news biz, at year’s end, of retracing all the major stories that unfolded during the 12 months prior. It feels like a healthy exercise—an opportunity to zoom out and let the bigger picture sink in, free from the frantic 24-hour news cycle (or, weekly in our case). It’s also a great reminder, though small-town life can seem humdrum, that we’re surrounded at all times by modern-day lore and legend...
Plugging In to Pick It Up: EV Hauling on the Way
The crash and clatter were familiar, but not the whir and whine of the garbage truck itself. In fact, the noise the truck made was more familiar to owners of Prius’ and other EVs. The truck was a McNeilus side-load electric vehicle, or EV. Tracking its progress were City of Healdsburg Public Works engineers, evaluating the future of all-electric garbage trucks for everyday waste hauling.
There’s only one R&RHoF
Visiting Cleveland isn’t complete without checking the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame off the bucket list. If in Cleveland, it’s an easy checkmark. It’s Cleveland after all. Despite former claims to fame, Cleveland’s currency now is a museum commemorating rock music, the Rock Hall.
City Council hears plans for new community pavilion
The Healdsburg City Council got its first good look at the latest plans for the Foley Family Community Pavilion last week, and despite some questions about abandoning legacy events from the Plaza altogether, the council liked what it saw.
Arts & Entertainment
Klezmatics return to Healdsburg for the Holidays
Topo, in Fiddler on the Roof, was a Klezmer musician, “schlepping his way from shtetl to shtetl… a distinctive image of pre-war Jewish life in the Ashkenazi communities of Eastern Europe,” according to worldmusic.net.






















