Columns

During my 48 years of working at newspapers I have had a long list of jobs including sports photographer, daily news reporter, small town sports editor, news editor, general manager, publisher and owner. Now, effective at the end of last month, I am an ex-publisher and former owner. I am retired.

On a recent visit to Jon Wright’s Feed Store for chicken feed, I noticed that Jon still has a poster of his customer Joe Montana in his #16 Jersey on the back wall next to the wood burning stove in his office. It brought back the memory of Nicholas Montana, a boy in my fourth grade classroom, who, while reading the book “Ishi: Last of his Tribe” and learning about California botany and the native buckeye tree, asked, “Ms. Kelley, are you talking about conkers?  It was what his grandfather called the nut of the buckeye, and in my mind I saw children throwing them at each other in the Mayacamas Mountains. That led to a parallel motion picture where I envisioned children of the Pomo or Wappo people, or Ishi from his Yahi tribe, also collecting and throwing buckeye nuts at each other, in their time and in this place we now call California.

We often banter about the word and the concept of what we call “community.” There’s probably no single definition we can use. Does community just happen, or does it require some sort of strategic planning? We combine the word when we talk about community policing, community mental health, community economic vitality, community diversity and even community journalism. When we say community, we don’t always mean communal; sometimes we also include conflict.

Hotel doesn’t reflect Healdsburg

Journalists have many essential jobs, and with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, we are witnessing their toughest assignment of all. Being a war correspondent is the life-risking assignment it looks like. The journalists now reporting from Ukraine these days are often in the line of fire with tanks rolling near them, scattered gunfire all around and war planes overhead. War correspondents answer to a select calling that requires bravery and a commitment to a mission that is closely aligned with the soldiers they share a battleground with.

We live in a world of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ — always have, and probably always will. But the divide between who has the most and who needs just a little bit more has never been greater. People like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg can make millions of dollars a day on Wall Street while neighborhoods of families can’t make ends meet or promise their children a better life.

Ah, February — so many notable dates: Groundhog Day, Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day. However you celebrate, please send your newsy items to me in care of The Healdsburg Tribune. “IDlewood 3” (433) was the town’s original telephone exchange and now “Hedda Healdsburg” wants to know all!

A changing Healdsburg

What is freedom? Is everyone entitled to his or her own definition of freedom or do all of us have to agree on a single definition to have a functioning society? Why does the question about freedom seem so relevant now?

The Healdsburg City Council adopted a climate emergency declaration in 2019 and has taken some isolated actions since then. However, the city lacks a comprehensive Climate Action Plan with deadlines and staff/budget allocations. Healdsburg 2040, a citizen-led grassroots organization, believes the city council must prioritize climate action in its goal-setting session on March 7, 2022.