$24M 'Fire Hawk' Copter + Massive Estate Sale + Gas Station Ban?

Happy Friday, everybody! Simone here with your weekend edition of the Healdsburg Daily, packed full of everything you need to know to get this weekend started. It's an especially big one for local events!

BTW, thanks so much to everyone who reached out with feedback about their preferred newsletter send time — heard you loud and clear, and will try to get 'em out earlier going forward. Now let's get to it.

First, your weekend weather:

• Friday: Some fog and clouds through mid-morning, turning to sun. Like yesterday, it's also expected to be super smoky. Weather officials warn of bad air quality across Sonoma County due to multiple NorCal wildfires. High: 86 Low: 50.
• Saturday: Seriously cooling off. More fog and clouds in the morning, then sun. High: 79 Low: 45.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny. High: 82 Low: 46.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. The man who died in a rollover crash earlier this week just south of Healdsburg on the 101's Los Amigos frontage road has been identified as 32-year-old Windsor resident Severiano Alcantra. In the days since his death, the young man's friends and family have erected a shrine for him at the spot where he died. Flowers, photos and prayer candles line the guardrail warped by his Dodge truck in the crash, and messages like "RIP lil cuz with big love" are Sharpied onto the guardrail itself. One photo apparently shows him holding a young boy. (Press Democrat; paywall)
2. Sonoma County just hit another COVID vaccine milestone: Eighty percent of eligible residents, or four out of five of us, are now at least partially vaccinated. That said, delta is still running rampant, case counts remain high and the county's hospitals are more and more strained. Nine COVID deaths have been reported so far in August countywide. According to the PD: "Two of the four latest fatalities were people vaccinated against the virus, including a homeless woman between 50 and 64 who died Aug. 8, and a man over 65 who died Aug. 9." (Patch Press Release Desk & Press Democrat; paywall)
3. Here's your chance to weigh in on the City of Healdsburg's big 2021 update to its 2020 Urban Water Management Plan., as well as the municipal landscaping ordinance. City leaders say they'll be holding a "working session" Monday evening to "provide feedback and receive public comment on both items." Councilmember David Hagele has more info on how to read the plans and tune in live. (Facebook)
4. The Press Democrat makes the case that Sonoma County is much better off this fire season than in years past. Why? In part, a much-improved evacuation alert system; a growing network of "more than 50 wildfire detection cameras on mountaintops throughout the North Bay," many equipped with AI fire detection tech; the addition this year of two more strike teams and 70 more firefighters for "peak staffing" at Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit; and a new $24 million "twin-engine Fire Hawk" helicopter arriving later this month to the Cal Fire base in Lake County. (Press Democrat; paywall)
5. Vice News and the UK Guardian both wrote this week about a coalition of Sonoma County cities, which includes Healdsburg, moving toward a moratorium on any new gas stations opening for now. Petaluma has already made the move, based on the premise that gas stations are "one big link in the fossil fuel chain that is driving climate change," as the Guardian puts it. And "Petaluma’s neighbors are aiming to craft language for a single gas station ban that’s replicable in each jurisdiction across the region," Vice reports. (Vice News & UK Guardian)

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This weekend in Healdsburg:

Friday, August 20

• Healdsburg Plaza Sidewalk Sale (Aug. 20-22, All Day)
• School Picture Make-Up Day at Healdsburg High School Cafeteria (8AM-3PM)
• Services for Caroline Marker of Healdsburg at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (10:30AM)
• Kids Run Club: Run to Amy's Wicked Slush From Healdsburg Running Company (5PM)
• Friday Evening Wine & Song at Hudson Street Wineries: Rootstocks (6-8PM)
• Dustin Saylor Live at Hotel Healdsburg (6-8PM)
• Summer Music Series at Mazzocco Sonoma Winery: The Funky Dozen (6-8PM)
• Sonoma Shakers Live at Coyote Sonoma (7-10PM)
• The Raven Theater Presents Shakespeare in the Park (7:30PM)
• Highway Poets Live at Elephant in the Room (8PM)

Saturday, August 21

• Healdsburg Cycle Tour at Giro Vigneti (7AM-3PM)
• Drought Drop By: Pick Up Your Free Water-Saving Kit at Healdsburg Community Center (8AM-12PM)
• Healdsburg Saturday Farmers Market (8:30AM-12PM)
• Massive Moving Sale on Dry Creek Road (Aug. 21-22, 9AM-3PM)
• Two-Day Youth Kayak Skills Camp at Riverfront Regional Park (Aug. 21-22, 9AM-4PM)
• Birding 201: Adaptations at Riverfront Regional Park (9AM-1PM)
• Community Meeting at Barbieri Park, Re: Montage Healdsburg Affordable Housing Project (10AM)
• Meet Snoopy & Charlie Brown at Charles M. Schulz Museum 19th Anniversary Celebration (10AM-1PM)
• Pinot, Pups & Pizza at Montagne Russe (10AM-5PM)
• Taste Destination 128 Wine & BBQ Cookoff (11AM-4PM)
• Chalk Hill Estate's 6th Annual Soirée Blanc, Feat. Derek Irving and His Combo (1-4PM)
• Live Music by Adam Lieb at Spicy Vines Winery (3-6PM)
• "Reach for Home" Virtual Dinner in the Vineyards To End Homelessness (4PM)
• THE 222 Opening Night: George Cables Trio (6PM, 8:30PM)
• Live Music at River's Edge: AWAKE, A Doors Experience (6-10PM)
• The Raven Theater Presents Shakespeare in the Park (7:30PM)
• Junior Toots and the Fiyah Squad Band Live at Elephant in the Room (8PM)
• Rock Candy Live at Coyote Sonoma (8-11PM)

Sunday, August 22

• Out in the Vineyard: Mix & Mingle at Macrostie Winery (4-7PM)
• Live at Dukes Spirited Cocktails: Lara Louise (5PM-8PM)
• Fog Holler Band Live at Elephant in the Room, Feat. Special Guest Reverend Hylton (6PM)
• George Cables Trio at THE 222 (7PM)
• The Raven Theater Presents Shakespeare in the Park (7:30PM)
• Lake Sonoma Full Moon Run from Grey Pine Trailhead (8PM)

Healdsburg Patch Notebook

• A sampling of the items available at this weekend's big moving sale at 1365A Dry Creek Road near the 101: couches, rugs, art supplies, costumes, winter gear, surf boards, a "kid's ninja course," "books GALORE" and "a million other things." (Craigslist)
• Legislation currently making its way across California lawmakers’ desks would allow local restaurants and bars to continue serving alcohol outside for another year. (North Bay Business Journal)
• If you're still on the hunt for a recycled water tank, there's a great thread on Nextdoor of neighbors sharing all the places you can buy one. (Nextdoor)
• How cool is this job: the United States Postal Service is looking for "rural carrier associates" to deliver mail to residents living in the boonies outside Windsor and Guerneville. "Feel your stress disappear as you begin your delivery route in some of the most breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful landscapes in the world," USPS says. (Facebook)
• A really bad wildfire swept through the outskirts of Clearlake over the past couple days, over in Lake County. More than 55 homes and 80 "outbuildings" were reportedly destroyed, many of them at two mobile home parks that burned. "These are stark numbers for what was a relatively short fire in a small area," the Lake County sheriff says. "It was quite damaging." Meanwhile, four other major fires are still burning across NorCal — the Dixie, Caldor, McFarland and Monument fires. (Times Herald & Press Democrat; paywall)
• Check out these sweet pics of Day Two of the 2021-22 school year at Healdsburg Junior High School, including some classroom doors decorated by students to capture "the HJH way." (Facebook)
• In case you're interested, here's a recording of Wednesday's Healdsburg school board meeting. (Facebook)
• The annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival at Golden Gate Park just announced it'll be online-only again this year. Organizers call it a "difficult conclusion," but say that "we can’t waver from our mission of providing the safest and most magical musical environment." (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass)

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Alrighty, you're all caught up for the weekend! See you here next week for more. And if you're loving these newsletters, consider bringing some more friends and neighbors along for the ride. You can send them this link to subscribe.

— Simone Wilson

About me: I was born and raised in Healdsburg, CA, where I was the editor of the Healdsburg High School Hound's Bark. I have since worked as a local journalist for publications in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York City and the Middle East. I'm currently a senior product manager for Patch.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Healdsburg Daily? You can reach me at simone.wilson@patch.com.