Columns

Our readers ask things like, "Why is the City Council in the arts and culture business? I’m glad the City Council members got a raise, but why does Healdsburg even need a City Council? Wouldn’t a city manager be enough? Perhaps the best news from the meeting is how few people were there trying to get more money from the city taxpayers for their special projects...."

Excerpts from back issues of the Healdsburg Tribune, as curated by the Healdsburg Museum and Historic Society, from 100, 75 and 50 years ago...

I went to the Robert Ferguson Observatory on Saturday evening. So did a lot of other people. The gathering was to see a rare event, the aurora borealis. Usually, northern lights are confined to latitudes far north of Sonoma County. But if you were...

The May 6 council meeting generates instant feedback, with readers commenting on the Growth Management Ordinance and new water rates...

Yosemite Valley is known to many. But few know there was, and is, a second valley of extraordinary beauty in Yosemite National Park. It’s called the Valley of the Hetch Hetchy...

There’s a lot of water flowing into Yosemite Valley. All the major waterfalls are gushing, including Vernal Falls. Unnamed waterfalls from snowmelt seemingly flow out of granite walls everywhere one looks.

“Welcome signs” are scheduled to be erected, one at each approach to Healdsburg, within the next two weeks, according to releases from the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce. Sponsors of the signs are the four Healdsburg service clubs: the Business and Professional Women’s Club, Kiwanis Club, 20-30 Club and the Rotary Club.

The Healdsburg Library has been very busy so far in 2024, writes Branch Librarian John Haupt. "Our in-person visits continue to rise as we see people of all ages coming to study alone or in groups, play games, attend a musical event or get help accessing a digital audiobook. The library and the staff look forward to helping you when you visit for these activities and more."

Reportedly it all started in Mesoamerica 4,000 years ago. In 1528, Cortez received cacao seeds from the Aztec emperor and introduced them to Spain. Spanish aristocrats mixed the seeds with honey and water. It took nearly one hundred years and a royal marriage till the French got jiggy with chocolate drinks...

"G. Mezzasalma of the Diana Packing Company has just shipped three carloads of wine to eastern buyers and within a short time expects to make other larger shipments. He states that he will have shipped a very considerable quantity of wine before the end of June." (1924)