Housing Forum + Costeaux Hires Up + Healdsburg Pickleball Courts?

Ahoy, good people of Healdsburg — it's me, Simone, your host of the Healdsburg Daily. We've been welcoming a lot of new subscribers on board recently, so to all of you reading for the first time: So glad to have you with us! I'll be here in your inbox most mornings to tell you everything you need to know about what's happening in town.

First, today's weather:

Hot, sunny and clear with a calm afternoon wind. High: 95 Low: 57.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. Sonoma County has finally hit Dr. Fauci's golden milestone of 70 percent vaccinated, after lingering in the sixties for what felt like ages. And another 8 percent of the county's population has reportedly received a single dose of vaccine. That puts us around 12 percentage points ahead of California, and around 20 points ahead of the nation. But so far, that hasn't been enough to stem a major COVID-19 surge in Sonoma County. We're now at a reported seven-day average of 77 new cases per day — the worst it's been since late February. Hospitals across the county are "seeing an average of more than 40 COVID patients a day," officials report. Of those, 83 percent are unvaccinated. (Sonoma County Government)
2. Healdsburg's expanding Costeaux French Bakery empire is bringing on some impressive new higher-ups. Javier Tenorio Jr. will serve as the bakery's director of operations, and Rose Jimenez its director of marketing. “This is an exciting time for Costeaux,” says the local bakery chain's CEO. Costeaux currently has outposts in downtown Healdsburg, inside Big John’s Market, next to the Sonoma County airport and in Santa Rosa's Roseland neighborhood. (North Bay Business Journal)
3. The young Windsor man who killed 60-year-old Healdsburg resident Jose Beltran in a drunk-driving crash on Old Redwood Highway a few years ago has been handed a prison sentence of 15 years to life. On that day in October 2018, he reportedly "drank about 8 beers on his way home from work" and "wove in his lane and crossed the double yellow lines twice before crashing into Mr. Beltran, who was driving north to Healdsburg." (Patch Press Release Desk)
4. A group of around 50 passionate local pickleball players says it's lobbying the City of Healdsburg to designate official pickleball courts somewhere in town. "The high school has 2 makeshift courts, Georgi has one and the community center cafeteria area has one," a member of the group says in an email to Patch — but "access to some of these courts is limited and in all cases but one, we are using a tennis net instead of a standard pickle ball net." The group says it's working with the city's Parks & Recreation Commission on possible solutions "to satisfy the growing interest and needs of our community" as "our numbers continue to increase." (Inbox & Facebook)
5. The long-talked-about Healdsburg Housing Forum is upon us. Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., hop on Zoom to find out about "a lot of brand new Affordable Housing units coming down the pipeline here in Healdsburg," says City Councilmember David Hagele — including "what is being built, when it’ll come online, what your employees could qualify for, how the application process works, etc." (Facebook)

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Today in Healdsburg

• Pet Caricatures at the Schulz Museum (2-5PM)
• Senior Citizens Advisory Commission at Healdsburg City Hall (4PM)
• Free CME/CE Suicide Prevention Training at Alexander Valley Film Society (4-6PM)
• Healdsburg Prune Packers Baseball Game at Rec Park (6-8PM)
• Trivia Night at Coyote Sonoma (7-9PM)

Healdsburg Patch Notebook

• Today we learned that there's an entire wine industry event devoted to "helping wineries and wine brands discover and navigate the wide world of wine packaging." And it's based in Healdsburg, of course. (WineIndustryAdvisor.com)
• Mr. Moon's is hiring! (Facebook)
• As the Lake Sonoma water line continues to drop, some interesting stuff underwater is now seeing the light of day. One resident spotted an old stone fireplace-looking thing; another spotted what they believe to be "either a mine or part of the old Hot Springs." (Facebook)
• The Sonoma County Government has voted to move its offices into the 1950s-era Sears site in downtown Santa Rosa. It "stretches from B street to Highway 101 and includes a Santa Rosa Plaza parking structure." (Press Democrat; paywall)
• If you thought you saw some smoke coming from the Geyserville area yesterday morning, it may have just been the "significant dust cloud" produced by a helicopter trying to land near a car crash involving two kids on Chianti Road, local fire officials say. They were airlifted to a children's hospital in Oakland. (Facebook)
• Looking to branch out from Healdsburg's twice weekly farmers' markets, or just feeling greedy for more fresh produce on more days of the week? Check out this roster of 20 or so other markets across the rest of Sonoma County. (Facebook)
• A gentle reminder from Healdsburg Community Services that your pets are not welcome at Tuesdays in the Plaza. (Facebook)
• Tip of the day from the county's current Saving Water Challenge: "While mowing your lawn, leave clippings on the grass. This cools the ground and holds in moisture." Here's how to compete in the challenge. (Facebook)
• PSA from Russian River preservationists: Please dispose of your old medicines properly, so they don't end up in the waterway. Here's how. (Patch Press Release Desk)
• Neighbors report seeing lots of opened mailboxes and scattered mail on the drive out toward Alexander Valley recently. (Facebook)
• Did you know? Healdsburg nonprofit Farm to Pantry harvests produce from local farms that would otherwise go to waste, then distributes it to those who need it. There are multiple "gleans" scheduled at Healdsburg farms through the end of this week. Sign up to lend a hand. (FarmtoPantry.org & Google Sheets)
• Healdsburg has a blood drive coming up this Friday at Exchange Bank. (Facebook)
• There were a couple Phoebe Bridgers sightings yesterday at Healdsburg's new coffee shop. (Twitter & Twitter)

From our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Event:

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Alrighty, that's it for today. See you tomorrow morning, same place same time! If you're feeling these newsletters, consider bringing some 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.