100 years ago – December 2, 1920
Plan afoot to use Geysers to make power
The city of Healdsburg is facing an opportunity to buy power at a price unheard of in the sale of electricity. If plans now under consideration mature and prove successful, the monthly bill of this municipality for power delivered by the California Telephone and Light Company will more than cover the cost of the same amount of “juice” for a year or two. In a nutshell, this power is to be developed by harnessing the heat of the Geysers, which has been wasting in the air for centuries. John D. Grant, who purchased the Geyser Springs property about a year ago, has conceived the plan of utilizing the heat that is going to waste in the canyon of Pluton Creek. Mr. Grant believes he can generate sufficient steam from the Geysers to furnish the entire Sonoma County with power, and at rates that will annihilate competition by companies that buy oil for fuel.
50 years ago – December 3, 1970
Drawing for cash, Santa arrives Saturday
Cash and Santa Saturday … that’s what’s in store for Healdsburg shoppers and children respectively. Saturday morning at 10 a.m. in the Plaza will be the first drawing of two in the Healdsburg Merchants Christmas Shopping Spree promotion and Santa Claus is scheduled to arrive at 2 p.m. in town and hold court in the Plaza. In both cases the events will be held in the Healdsburg Shopping Center if it’s raining. Tickets will be drawn from those deposited by shoppers during the past two weeks and winners will have to be present to win. Tickets which are not drawn will be put back into the pot for the second drawing Dec. 19. Scheduled to be given away are two $100 prizes, six $50 awards and four $25 prizes.
25 years ago – December 6, 1995
Debate hot; it’s trees vs. bike paths
City Council members on the verge of a yelling match Monday night pit bicycle paths against street landscaping, creating a heated deadlock on a north-end housing project. After over seven years of work on the council-supported Parkland Farms Subdivision project, the approval of the tentative map was nearly held up as the Council argued in a 2-2 deadlock vote on the future of a single 375-foot stretch of road. Only two weeks ago at the last council meeting, the council approved plans to create a network of bicycle routes connecting major destinations within the city. Two members were in favor of having a bicycle route on Saddle Trail, while the others favored landscaping with trees to mitigate power poles on the block. The future of this block-long bicycle path remains to be seen.
