🌱 COVID Hits Church Party + Yoga Studio Moves + More Anti-Vaxers

Hey, y'all — long time no see! I'm back after a very COVID-y holiday with everything you need to know about what's happening in Healdsburg these days. Let's get right to it.

First, today's weather:

Fog in the morning, with chances of rain throughout the day. High: 56 Low: 47.

Air over Healdsburg:

Here are the top 3 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. During last night's Healdsburg City Council meeting, there was another attempted rally outside City Hall against the vaccine mandate at meetings. "The only problem? No one was in the building," the Tribune reports. "With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases associated with the highly contagious — though less deadly — omicron variant, last night’s council meeting was the first to return to a Zoom-only format since in-person meetings resumed Nov. 15." Around 14 protesters showed up in total, most reportedly from Santa Rosa, and sheltered from the rain under the plaza gazebo for around 10 minutes before disbanding. From the Trib: "Their intention was to interrupt the council meeting as a much larger group of 40 did on Dec. 6, banging on windows and walls in the corridor outside the council chambers after being denied entry." (SoCoNews Healdsburg & Facebook)
2. A recent Christmas party held by a winemakers' club at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Healdsburg was something of a super-spreader, according to the Press Democrat. A rep for the club, the Garage Enologists of Sonoma County, says "she talked to everyone in the club, and by her estimation, half to three-quarters of the partygoers wound up infected" with COVID — for a total of "perhaps 25-30 of the 45 people who met at Good Shepherd Lutheran." And overall, Healdsburg is leading the pack in Sonoma County for the highest case rate of any ZIP code. County data shows there are around 175 active cases in town right now. (Sonoma County Government & Press Democrat; paywall)
3. Healdsburg's Yoga on Center studio has officially moved out of its downtown home after 17 years. They'll now set up shop temporarily at the "beautiful Felta School House" out Westside Road, but the center is still looking for a permanent home in a more central location. "The tears are flowing with no end in sight," one of the center's co-owners wrote on social media on New Year's Day. She added: "I hope the rumors are not true — that big money investors are forcing us out of the space that we have loved and cared for. If it IS true then the City of Healdsburg is in big trouble. ... This is so much more than a Yoga Studio loosing it's lease after being in good standing for all these years, this is about the destruction of a small town." (Facebook & Nextdoor)

Today's Healdsburg Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Ring, the home security company. Ring does a lot more than doorbells: check out their full suite of smart home products at Ring.com. And thank you Ring for helping to make local news happen in Healdsburg!

Healdsburg pic of the day:

Today and tomorrow in Healdsburg:

Tuesday, January 4

• New Exhibit Opening at Upstairs Art Gallery: "Bold Flavors in Fauve" by Willow LaLand (Jan. 3-30, 11AM-6PM)
• Brown Bag Book Club at Healdsburg Library: "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (12-1PM)
• Corazón Healdsburg Taller / Workshop: Interacciones Entre Padres y Bebés / Interactions Between Parents and Babies (4:45-6:30PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Ladies Night Run, Ending With Cocktails at Harmon House (6PM)
• Virtual Spanish Conversation for Beginners at Sonoma County Library (6:30-7:45PM)

Wednesday, January 5

• Sonoma County Library Bilingual Family Storytime on Zoom (10:30-11AM)
• Healdsburg High School Girls Basketball Home Game Vs. Piner (JV 6PM, V 7:30PM)

From my notebook:

• Healdsburg students returned to school today after a couple weeks off for winter break. (Healdsburg Patch)
• In-league games also begin today for Healdsburg High School's impressive-looking basketball teams. Read a preview of the season ahead in the Tribune. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
• The latest Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report, a famous annual list of "small hideaways in unspoiled corners of the globe," features two spots in Healdsburg this year: The Montage resort and Cāpo Creek Winery. (PRNewswire)
• The Healdsburg Library has expanded its opening hours. The library will now be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Sunday, and will stay open a couple hours longer on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, til 8 p.m. (Facebook)
• Healdsburg's own Raven Theater will reportedly host a leg of the Real Irish Comedy Tour this coming spring, on March 10. (Real Irish Comedy Tour)
• Neighbors across Healdsburg are reporting via Nextdoor that their houses got egged on New Year's. (Nextdoor)
• An "old red dog" named Chaz from North Street has been missing since New Year's Eve. "He is very sweet, he has a thyroid problem and needs his meds," his owner says. Has anyone seen Chaz? (Facebook)

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Events:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley 31st annual Crab Feed 2022 (January 22)
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That's it for today. See you tomorrow with a bunch more updates!

— 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.