🌱 Fire Season Prep + Police Chief Memorial + Lots Of Live Music

Hello, my people! Simone here with your bountiful weekend edition of the Healdsburg Daily. Hope you all enjoy the tail end of this heat wave and the possible douse of rain early next week. Without further ado, here's everything you need to know about what's happening in town...

First, your weekend weather:

• Saturday: Cooling down from the heavy heat this week, but still very warm and sunny. Lots of wind, too! High: 75 Low: 46.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny and breezy, with a chance of rain at night. High: 70 Low: 44.
• Monday: Much cooler. Wind and rain. High: 56 Low: 37.

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Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. There's an interactive memorial taking shape in the plaza gazebo right now for Healdsburg's former police chief, Kevin Burke. It's reportedly been accumulating "flowers, photos and sticky notes" over the past few days from those who knew or admired him. Burke died on Tuesday after apparently taking his own life; sheriff's deputies said they found his body next to a gun and a note. "You could always count on seeing Kevin in the Plaza at the Tuesday Concerts, at numerous special events, or having a conversation with a community member," Healdsburg city officials posted online. "We can't think of a better place to share your thoughts and remembrances" than the gazebo. A reporter from the PD stopped by the memorial on Thursday and talked to Healdsburg's community services director, Mark Themig. “People are still a bit in shock," he said. "They’re coming into a better understanding of what happened. Obviously Kevin was struggling, and people are questioning how can something like this happen. ... Why didn’t we see it?” (Facebook & Healdsburg Patch & Press Democrat; paywall)
2. You know the local wildfire safety movement by farm and vineyard workers and their advocates, to pressure winery bosses into enacting measures like "language justice, disaster insurance and hazard pay" during fire season? Well, now there's a counter-group forming called "Sonoma Wine Industry for Safe Employees (SonomaWise)." It's made up of major players in the wine industry, according to the SF Chronicle, and they're pushing back against many of the claims and demands from workers. A spokesperson for the group tells the Chron that "what they are asking for is either already in place or already being addressed, and frankly, they are late to the program." He also claims that "more than 1,000 people have signed a 'pledge of support' on the website for this group." You can check out their website to see all the counterarguments. (Sonoma Wise & SF Chronicle; paywall)
3. Speaking of fire season — prompted by this recent heat wave, Cal Fire crews are already staffing up, readying their equipment and preparing for calls in our area, at least a month earlier than usual, according to the local ABC station for the Bay. The report says Cal Fire held a "bulldozer training class" as a proactive measure on Thursday "under the hot sun in Healdsburg." More from the report: "'We're seeing conditions now in early April that we would see in mid to late June and as this week continues with the weather we're having, that could bump that average out even farther,'" said CAL FIRE Chief Ben Nichols. Chief Nichols says the hot weather is why CAL FIRE is hiring more seasonal firefighters than it has in years, 120 alone for its Sonoma, Napa and Lake County unit. The crews are starting nearly a month and a half earlier than what's usually budgeted for. 'At this point, we're forecast to hire peak staffing by the end of May, extremely early compared to years past,' said Nichols." (ABC7)
4. Impatient with the progress of the government's sex-crime investigation into former Windsor mayor and Healdsburg winery son Dominic Foppoli, seven of his alleged victims are suing him — and his family's winery — in civil court. Their lawsuit says that the Christopher Creek Winery estate on Limerick Lane "profited financially from Foppoli 'luring' women to events, then declined to investigate reports of sexual assault." And in a joint statement to the Chronicle, they say: “We are united in our voice and stand against Foppoli as well as the entities that enabled him and provided a place for him to continue his predatory behavior which harmed many women beyond us. This is our call for and time for justice.” When an avalanche of allegations started falling on Foppoli last spring, he "stepped down as mayor and as chief executive of Christopher Creek Winery, identified as the location of four of the alleged assaults," the Chronicle reports. (SF Chronicle; paywall)
5. More details are emerging on the upcoming season of the Healdsburg Farmers' Market, which kicks off next weekend on Saturday, April 16, in the big parking lot at North and Vine. "We're so excited to be on the home stretch of the Saturday Market re-opening!" market officials say. Since next weekend is Easter, they're planning an egg hunt for kids on opening day. New vendors this year will reportedly include Kem Farms, offering organic berries; Healdsburg's new Noble Goat Farm with a "variety of local crops"; Sangsan Healdsburg, a pop-up Thai restaurant; Big Spoon Sauce Company with their signature "spicy, savory chili sauce"; Datehini, another sauce maker; New Bloom Coffee & Tea, offering coffee and all sorts of "herbal teas, elixirs, nut milks and horchatas"; a jam business called Wine Country Preserves; and "lots of new artisans" selling their crafts. Along with many of the regulars from last year, of course! The market runs from 8:30 a.m. to noon. (Facebook & ConstantContact)

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This weekend in Healdsburg:

Saturday, April 9

• Lake Sonoma Race Series: 50 Miler & Marathon, Feat. Lola’s Market Monster Burritos & Wicked Slush (6:30AM, 8AM)
• Zumba at Healdsburg Elementary's Fitch Mountain Campus (10AM-12PM)
• EGG-Stravaganza: Neighborhood Spring Gathering Event at Healdsburg Senior Living, Feat. Lunch Buffet (10AM-1PM)
• "Huge" Moving Sale on Parkview Drive, Feat. Furniture, Hammocks, Toys, Camping Equipment, Etc. (10AM-3PM)
• "Gateway to Wine Road" Across Northern Sonoma County (April 9-10, 11AM-4PM)
• Carl Green Live at Rockpile Vineyards (April 9-10, 11AM-5PM)
• Sonoma County Library Virtual Panel Discussion on Freedom of Expression (12PM)
• Spring Winery Dinner at Jordan Winery (6:15-9:30PM)
• Farm to Pantry, Corazón Healdsburg & More Present: "Encanto" Drive-In Movie at Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds (8PM)
• Forever Goldrush Live at the Elephant in the Room (8-11PM)

Sunday, April 10

• Zumba at Healdsburg Elementary's Fitch Mountain Campus (10AM-12PM)
• Maison Porcella Pop-Up Brunch at Lioco Wine Tasting Room on Matheson (10AM-2PM)
• Lake Sonoma Race Series: Wilson Winery Tasting & Charcuterie Event at Coyote Sonoma (12-2PM)
• Sip & Savor Sunday at Bacchus Landing: Food Truck Series (12-4PM)
• Come Check Out Eden Village West, Jewish Organic Farm Summer Camp (12-4PM)
• Pink, White & Ratafia Day at Breathless Sparkling Wines (2PM)
• Palm Sunday Pipe Organ Concert at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (5PM)
• Manny & Friends Live at Duke's Spirited Cocktails (5-8PM)
• Deadline to Submit Art for Upcoming Miniatures Exhibit at Healdsburg Center for the Arts (11:59PM)

Monday, April 11

• Mindful Mondays Virtual Yoga for Teens at Sonoma County Library (Weekly, 4:30-5:30PM)
• Meet-N-Greet at the Harris Gallery With Joe Passalacqua, Candidate for Sonoma County Superior Court Judge (5-7PM)
• Live Blues at Duke's Spirited Cocktails, Feat. Sam Hamby of Marshall House Project (5-8PM)
• Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority Community Meeting (5:30PM)
• Corazón Healdsburg Committee Meeting (6PM)
• City of Healdsburg Housing Element Working Group Meeting (6:30PM)

From my notebook:

• PG&E started a big "pavement restoration project" along multiple streets in downtown Healdsburg a couple days ago, and it's scheduled to last all the way through Friday, April 22. It will affect around eight blocks between Healdsburg Avenue and Johnson Street, from Sherman down to Piper — and traffic may get pretty snarled. Click through for a map of exactly which blocks are impacted. (Healdsburg Patch)
• Longtime Healdsburg resident and former Windsor schoolteacher Marguerite Frances O’Hair has passed away. She and her husband Don "moved to Healdsburg in 1971 and often said it was the best move they ever made," according to her obituary. "They embraced their new hometown where they made life-long friends and could not imagine living anywhere else." (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
• The Healdsburg Chorus is gearing for a couple shows later this month. First they'll play in Sebastopol on Sunday, April, 24 — then at our very own Raven Theater on Saturday, April 30. They'll be performing a "collection of songs about nature," from "Here Comes the Sun" to "Singin' in the Rain" to "Let the River Run." (Inbox & Raven Theater)
• The latest installment of the cool monthly pipe-organ concerts at St. Paul's Episcopal Church is happening tomorrow, FYI. It's a special Palm Sunday edition "featuring the music of Holy Week" and "culminating with J.S. Bach’s Fantasia in C minor." And it's free! (Healdsburg Patch Calendar)
• Well-known Healdsburg lawyer Joe Passalacqua is running for county judge. You can come "hear more about him, his views or get to know him" at the Harris Gallery downtown on Monday evening. (Facebook)
• Have you spotted the super colorful new mural at Healdsburg High? It was painted by the Genders and Sexualities Alliance club. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
• Healdsburg 's Murphy-Goode winery is replicating their viral hiring campaign from last year, in which they offered a couple lucky industry hopefuls a "$10,000 per month salary, vineyard-front, rent-free accommodation for a year in Healdsburg, and a year’s supply of Murphy-Goode wine." You can apply on their website. (The Drinks Business & Murphy-Goode Winery)
• Sunday is the last day to vote for the Healdsburg plaza in the USA Today contest for "best public square in America." It's one of 20 squares nominated across the country. (USA Today & Facebook)
• Finally, an official opening date for The Madrona hotel and restaurant out Westside Road, after its "multi-year $6 million revamp": Thursday, April 21. (Eater SF)
• There was a great profile in the Trib last week of Malinalli López, the City of Healdsburg's press officer and a Latina filmmaker who wants to encourage local youth to get into film. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)

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— 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.