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A Feb. 27, a fire erupted at the former Wicked Slush business on Healdsburg Avenue that did considerable damage to the structure—for almost 50 years the location of canoe rental businesses and, more recently, the Wicked Slush ice cream café.

The total amount of $70,835 was down slightly from last year’s $74,160, still the largest single-year donation given by the Boosters. It is a half-century-old organization of parents and former athletes who want to keep helping out the school’s sports.

Pachanga! The city’s celebration of arts grants winners is Saturday Sept. 6 at the Healdsburg Plaza, starting at 5:30pm. This free and family friendly event shines a spotlight on the talented recipients of the Diversity in the Arts Grant as a Latin American fair with live music, dancers, photographers, visual artists and more.

This coming weekend sees three shows hit the floorboards, with another in the wings. From Cloverdale to Windsor, and back to Healdsburg.

Twilight Parade: floats, spirited community groups and festive performers. The annual parade, from 6-8pm, kicks off the annual Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair that runs through Saturday, May 24.

That big clock is finally ticking for the train’s arrival in Healdsburg—it’s no longer only a memory or a pipe dream. Last week brought the news that the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District had been awarded an $81 million grant from the state to extend the rail service from its current terminus, at the Sonoma County Airport, though Windsor to Healdsburg’s northern city limit by 2028—including construction of a new or remodeled rail bridge over the Russian River.

Demolitions are usually not to be celebrated, unless they mark a rejection of the past. That wasn’t what was going on last Friday morning when city officials, donors, alumni and community members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin gathered to watch the walls come down at the Healdsburg clubhouse built 80 years ago.

As the first cannabis dispensary opened in Healdsburg, more than one customer observed he was cutting down on VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled), a key metric in the city’s goal of reducing greenhouse gasses. The next nearest dispensary is 10 miles away in Larkfield, and beyond that twice that far to Cloverdale...

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.

Visitors to Healdsburg are now finding more public parking spots right downtown, in a large central lot formerly reserved for business use. The lot is getting heavy use on weekends, and the competition for those 30-plus slots can be stiff. There’s one catch—it’s not...