🌱 'Ag Pass' Controversy + Healdsburg Couple Buys Chateau + Live Music

Hey, everybody! I'm back in your inbox at the top of the weekend with your regular roundup of everything you need to know about what's happening in Healdsburg. Tons of fun-looking events this weekend! Hope you all have a great one...

First, your weekend weather:

• Saturday: Cloudy and even cooler. High: 70 Low: 56.
• Sunday: Chance of rain! High: 70 Low: 50.
• Monday: Mostly sunny and heating up again. High: 80 Low: 49.

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Here are the top 5 stories in Healdsburg today:

1. The guy who shot a bullet into a child's bedroom on Bailhache Avenue in Healdsburg earlier this year — 61-year-old Robert Marroquin — just got six years in prison, according to the Press Democrat. "At about 4:30 a.m. Jan. 5, Marroquin’s neighbors woke up to the sound of a bullet penetrating the glass door of their child’s bedroom," the PD reports. "The child was asleep in his crib and avoided injury, investigators said in January. Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies determined Marroquin discharged a gun from his property in the 200 block of Bailhache Avenue and hit the neighbors’ home. He had been 'dangerously shooting firearms in the area' for months, according to the DA’s office. Investigators searched Marroquin’s bedroom and found a rifle, ammunition, suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia." (Press Democrat; paywall)
2. Lots happening at the upcoming Healdsburg City Council meeting on Monday. Councilmember David Hagele shared a handy summary of agenda highlights on social media. They include the long-awaited adoption of "the Fiscal Year 2022-23 & 2023-24 Budget & Capital Improvement Plan B"; a presentation on "the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update" and discussion of the city's overall housing strategy; the consideration of a "voluntary water sharing agreement between water rights holders within the Upper Russian River" and "a contract for the Water Reclamation Facility Flood Mitigation Project for an amount of $160,600"; the potential approval of some other small requests for local events, like alcohol at the Giro Vigneti Bike Tour and plaza-area closures for Healdsburg Crush; and more. You can explore the full agenda on the city's website. (David Hagele via Facebook & City of Healdsburg)
3. Former Healdsburg couple Mark Goff and Phillip Engel, famous around town for renovating the gorgeous blue Victorian farmhouse at the corner of Fitch and North, are making headlines now for buying up an old, $1.2 million "ruined chateau" in the tiny French village of Avensac — with the intention of returning it to its former glory. "Although the chateau was apparently built in the early 19th century, it was actually constructed on the site of an older chateau dating back to the 14th century," according to CNN. "It has around 48 rooms, including a billiard room and a library." Once they're done restoring it, Goff and Engel plan to turn it into a hotel where visitors come to stay for at least a week, centering their stay around stuff like "cooking, knitting, painting, cycling, canal cruising, even creative writing." And in the meantime, the couple is reportedly winning over the locals: "Keen to make a good impression, they invited their new neighbors around to celebrate on the day they signed the contracts. ... Goff and Engel have since hosted a Halloween party for the entire village, and say they want locals to feel included in their chateau experiment. 'Of course, it's our house,' says Engel. 'But in a way it belongs to the community as well.'" (CNN & Curbed SF & Facebook Groups)
4. Sonoma County is one of 13 counties across California just declared by the CDC to have a "high" level of COVID danger. What does that mean, exactly? The CDC is giving the designation to any area where there are "at least 200 weekly cases per 100,000 residents" and local hospitals are seeing either a "weekly total of 10 or more COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents" OR 10 percent-plus of their staffed hospital beds filled by COVID patients. For counties like ours on the high-risk list, the feds are recommending that we continue to mask up indoors. However, Sonoma County hasn't mandated that yet, unlike some of the other counties on the list. And FWIW, county data shows that the peak of COVID cases about a week-and-a-half ago has since started trending downward, albeit slowly. (NY Times & Press Democrat; paywall)
5. A new study out of UC Irvine calls into question the morality of the "ag pass" — aka, the permission slip you can get from county officials to enter an evacuation zone to tend to your plants or animals. The study, called "Addressing Disparities in Sonoma County’s Agriculture Pass" and funded in part by the same North Bay Jobs for Justice group who's been waging a campaign recently against some big Healdsburg wineries on behalf of farmworkers, makes the case that wineries and farms are incentivized by the program to put their workers in danger during wildfires. More from the Business Journal: "Researchers claim that almost 300 farmworkers (178 during the 67,484-acre Glass Fire and 115 during the deadly 363,220-acre LNU Lightning Complex that broke out two months before) were placed in harm’s way 'within the fire perimeter.' The study also points out that some passes out of the 233 it reports were approved in Sonoma County fail to indicate how many workers are on the job." Read the whole report here. (UC Irvine & North Bay Business Journal; paywall)

This weekend in Healdsburg:

Saturday, June 4

• Healdsburg Running Company Calistoga Run on Oat Hill Mine Trail, With Finish at Buster's Original Southern BBQ (8AM)
• Healdsburg Saturday Farmers Market (8:30AM-12PM)
• Funeral Service for Healdsburg Resident Elena Scalese at St. John's Church (9AM)
• Bishop’s Ranch 75th Anniversary Picnic (10AM-4PM)
• Savour Sculpture: Open Studio Event at T Barny Gallery & Sculpture Garden (June 4-5, 10AM-5PM)
• Read to a Dog at Healdsburg Library (11AM-12PM)
• Tamarind Clothing Birthday Sale (June 4-5, 11AM-6PM)
• New Exhibit at Upstairs Art Gallery: "25 Years Celebrating Art" (June 4-26, 11AM-6PM)
• Dry Creek Peach Farmstand Open (12PM)
• Hand Fan Museum Spring Art Challenge for Kids: Pick Up Your Blank Fan (12-5PM)
• Pride Party at Capo Creek Winery, Featuring Special Drag Performance With SF's Best (1-4PM)
• Live Music on the Piazza at Bacchus Landing, Feat. Music by Gina & The Gents (4-7PM)
• Medlock Ames Field Day, Feat. Music by Two Lions (5PM)
• Lobster Feast Dinner at Martorana Family Winery (5-8PM)
• Evening of Gin & Genes at Jendala Art Studio Behind Healdsburg City Hall, Feat. Jam's Joy Bungalow Food Truck, DJ Sets, Silent Auction & Raffle (6-9PM)
• Randy Vincent Trio Live at Hotel Healdsburg (7-9PM)
• The HOTS Live at Coyote Sonoma (7:30-11PM)
• Comedian Paula Poundstone Live at the Raven Theater (8PM)
• The Pulsators Live at the Elephant in the Room (8-11PM)

Sunday, June 5

• Sundays in the Plaza, Featuring The Healdsburg Community Band (1-3PM)
• Visitation for Deceased Healdsburg Resident Richard Pellegrini at St. John's Church (3-7PM)
• Food Truck Sunday at Bacchus Landing, Feat. Lucha Sabina Mexican Food (4-7PM)

Monday, June 6

• Burial of Healdsburg Resident Elena Scalese at Oak Mound Cemetery (10AM)
• Flag Raising Ceremony for Pride Month at Healdsburg City Hall (5:30PM)
• Aikido Summer Session at Healdsburg Community Center (June 6-29, 5:45PM)
• Healdsburg City Council Meeting (6PM)

From my notebook:

• We recently lost three familiar faces from Healdsburg: war veteran and Cloverdale gas station owner Richard Pellegrini at age 89; seamstress and florist Elena Scalese at age 73; and devoted Healdsburg Evangel Assembly of God church member Betty Glenn Mallory at age 98. (Legacy.com & Legacy.com & Legacy.com)
• Sonoma County officials held a virtual town hall Thursday on the drought. You can rewatch it here. (County of Sonoma via Facebook)
• One of the Healdsburg wineries participating in Ford's electric vehicle pilot tells Forbes that early results have been strong. “We have over 50 vehicles on Ford Pro Telematics and have already identified insights that are improving our bottom line like long idle times costing us an estimated $24,000 per year in wasted gas,” says Marissa Ledbetter, VP of operations at Vino Farms. “We expect those benefits to grow as electric vehicles and charging stations become a more regular part of our operations.” (Forbes)
• Guess who played the national anthem at the Giants' home game on May 25? The school bands from Healdsburg High and Junior High! And there's video footage. (Facebook Groups & Facebook Groups)
• The fourth graders at Healdsburg Elementary got to have a "bike rodeo" last week — a way to "learn about bike safety through a fun obstacle course that taught them the rules of the road on a bike," the school says. (Healdsburg Elementary School via Facebook)
• A neighbor on Nextdoor is looking for "singles or doubles tennis players to play with locally... either at Giorgi park or the HS!" (Nextdoor)
• Did you know there's a new restaurant called The Bistro inside the Senior Center on Matheson, half a block off the plaza? They serve lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays and brunch on Fridays, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost is $10 if you're under 60 and only $5 if you're 60-plus. (Nextdoor)
• And here are 11 other places to get a great meal for $10 or less in Healdsburg — including the Downtown Bakery, Amy's Wicked Slush, Taqueria Guadalajara and more. (Sonoma Magazine)
• The Healdsburg Center for the Arts is taking applications from local creatives hoping to be part of an "emerging artists" show later this summer. Think you got what it takes? (Healdsburg Center for the Arts)
• Voting is officially underway for the June 7 election. Open positions on the ballot include a U.S. representative, a state senator, a state assemblymember, a couple of judges, a county schools superintendent, a county supervisor and a sheriff. (Sonoma County Government)
• The Healdsburg Tribune ran a feature last week on the Elephant in the Room Pub and how it grew into Healdsburg's go-to for live music and beer. (Healdsburg Tribune)

You're officially in the loop for today. See you all next week!

— 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? Contact me at simone.wilson@patch.com