🌱 Housing Near Big Johns + Winery Worker Autopsy + COVID Cases

Good morning, neighbors! It's officially winter now, after yesterday's solstice — and this long, slow rain feels like a Christmas gift to the parched earth of Sonoma County. Hallelujah! To celebrate, here's everything you need to know about what's happening in Healdsburg today. Enjoy...

First, today's weather:

Cool with periods of rain. High: 51 Low: 49.

Air over Healdsburg:

Shoutout to our premier local sponsor:

If you still need a last-minute Christmas tree and would rather find it locally than go to one of those big pop-ups, Grandma's farm at 17740 Healdsburg Avenue, just north of the Alexander Valley Road turnoff, is your best bet. They've still got a bunch of fresh-cut, 6-to-7-foot Noble, Douglas and Nordmann firs, as well as wreaths, garlands and mistletoe. If you wanna hang out a while, there are other fun things to do, too — like sit on tractors, listen to grandma's wild stories, check out the farm animals, buy some eggs, make some s'mores, sip hot drinks, etc. You can even bring your dog! Stop by any day til Christmas, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Want to see your business featured in this spot? Click here to apply.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. Remember Salvador Plaza Centeno, the 61-year-old winery worker who died on the job at Healdsburg's Dry Creek Vineyard in October? He was found “partially submerged in a grape fermentation tank," and some had questioned whether the winery might be responsible. Now, his autopsy report shows that "complications of alcoholic cirrhosis, an advanced stage of liver disease" was the main reason he died, according to the Press Democrat. The coroner said other contributing factors could have been "possible suffocation due to a lack of oxygen in the fermentation tank" and "atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or a build up of plaque in the arteries that can limit the amount of oxygen-rich blood that travels in the body." State workplace safety regulators are still investigating. Read the full story in the PD. (Press Democrat; paywall)
2. Did you know there's a big affordable housing project "tentatively being planned" along Dry Creek Road on the way out of town, across from the Hotel Trio and behind Big Johns? The developer is Burbank Housing, and they say they've "partnered with the City of Healdsburg to develop the 3.5 acre vacant undeveloped, City-owned site located at 155 Dry Creek Road with affordable housing for lower income families in our community. The project also includes a partnership with Reach for Home, helping to ensure everyone has access to housing." Developers plan to submit their official proposal in early 2022. Before that, there's a community outreach meeting about the project coming up on Wednesday, Jan. 12. See the renderings here. (Facebook)
3. The much-anticipated wintertime COVID spike appears to be starting its ascent in Sonoma County. The most recent county data shows our case count climbing up over the past couple days. Local health officials tell the PD that "a winter surge is certainly coming" for both the delta and omicron variants, but that they "don’t see anymore shutdowns coming our way. Things would have to be super, super drastic." Shutdowns or no, county health officials are begging everyone to get their booster shot, especially amid all the holiday gatherings. Alliance Medical Center in Healdsburg, for one, is giving out shots daily. (Healdsburg Patch & County of Sonoma & NY Times & Press Democrat; paywall)
4. We missed this when it happened a couple weeks ago. A wanted man from Santa Rosa was arrested on Vine Street in Healdsburg, near the Safeway shopping center, on the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 8 for "felony aggravated obstruction" of a Healdsburg police officer. (Which is reportedly "related to the crime of resisting arrest," but "is a more serious offense because it involves the use of threats of violence.") The suspect, 26-year-old Daniel Sciucchetti, "has 19 prior cases in Sonoma County and dozens of arrests across the state including one where he stole a dog from an animal shelter in Santa Cruz," according to Sonoma County Scanner Updates, a citizen reporting group that monitors local crime. (Sonoma County Scanner Updates via Patreon & KSBU)
5. The San Francisco Chronicle has been highlighting its top journalistic projects of 2021, and this one's highly relevant to our community: The Chronicle printed a series of in-depth stories this year that exposed and detailed decades of alleged sexual misconduct by ex-Windsor mayor and Healdsburg winery son Dominic Foppoli — aka, the "prince of the wine country." Thirteen women have now accused Foppoli of using his status to get close to them and eventually assault them. The Chronicle spoke to many of them at length. It's a lot to take in — but it's important work. (SF Chronicle & SF Chronicle; paywall)

Today's Healdsburg Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at GoodRx — the best way to save money on your prescriptions. GoodRx helps you locate the lowest prices for medications at local pharmacies, so you're not overpaying. Works for pet medications too! To see how much you can save, go to GoodRx.com.

Healdsburg pic of the day:

Want to see your local photo here? Submit it for consideration. We especially love pics of community members! Please just confirm in your email that you own the rights to the photo, and that Patch has permission to republish it.

Today and tomorrow in Healdsburg:

Wednesday, December 22

• Take & Make Craft Kits at Healdsburg Library: Watercolor Snowflakes (Dec. 15-31, all day)
• City of Healdsburg Senior Citizens Advisory Commission Meeting (4PM)
• Community Posada Navideña at Glen Apartments (6PM)
• Trivia Night at Coyote Sonoma (7-9PM)

Thursday, December 23

• Free Zumba Class at TCElite Healdsburg (Weekly on Thursdays, 10AM)
• Advanced Spanish Conversation Virtual Session at Sonoma County Library (1:30-2:45PM)
• Community Posada Navideña at Healdsburg Avenue Apartments (6PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Foss Creek Path Run, Ending in Puerto Rican Parklet Party & Potluck at HRC (6PM)

As you can see above, I'm trying out a new format for this section where I list both today and tomorrow's events, so you can plan ahead a little better. Thoughts? Let me know.

From my notebook:

• Quick correction! I printed yesterday that the Montage was one of two Healdsburg businesses that won a North Bay Business Journal award for the region's "top projects" of 2021. In fact the winner was the Matheson. Can't keep track of all these fancy local "M" names... (North Bay Business Journal)
• Question from a reader that maybe y'all can help with: "Are there any local Candy Cane Lane type places in Healdsburg? Streets that all or most homes decorate with lights, etc?" If you know of any good spots, reach out to me at simone.wilson@patch.com and I'll share them here. (Inbox)
• Also FYI, there are three Healdsburg houses marked as having great displays on the Press Democrat's crowdsourced "Sonoma County holiday lights map" for 2021, all in the Sunnyvale Drive area behind Circle K. (Press Democrat; paywall)
• There's a helpful convo happening on Nextdoor about the closest places you can visit to play around in the snow during all this precipitation. Sounds like Pine Flat Road out through Alexander Valley is a good bet. (Nextdoor)
• Healdsburg's Memorial Beach dam is roaring at a healthy clip a couple days into these rains. See the soothing video from prolific Healdsburg street photographer Ron Keeley. (Facebook)
• The Healdsburg Chorus is looking for someone to fill an open "choral accompanist position" beginning January 10. Candidates should be "familiar with classical, show and pop styles." (Nextdoor)
• In case you missed it: Someone prototyped an amazing LEGO version of Cal Fire's crazy new "Fire Hawk" helicopter, one of which is stationed in our area. "Let’s make the S-70i CAL FIRE Hawk LEGO design a buildable reality!" local fire officials say. You can vote here. (Facebook)
• Ever wonder what goes on with all our grapevines this time of year? The county's winegrowers association explains that the vines are now in their "dormancy period," during which they "slow down and rest for a few months." But still, "out in the vineyards, grape growers are busy pruning, setting the stage for the next crop by cutting the shoots and leaving a certain number of buds on the vine that are intended to grow and produce clusters of grapes that will eventually become the ’22 vintage." (Facebook)
• Some great photos of the big wrestling tournaments at Healdsburg High last weekend were just posted by local photogs Michael Lucid and John Sachs. (Facebook & Facebook)
• Healdsburg's own three-star Michelin restaurant, SingleThread, is reportedly heading to Park City, Utah, next month to host a "ten-day hot-pot dining experience during the Sundance Film Festival." (Forbes)
• An adorable "female shepherd mix" wearing an orange bandana was found wandering along Dry Creek Road near Canyon Road a couple days ago. Anyone know who she belongs to? (Facebook & Nextdoor)
• A handsome orange tomcat was found this week as well, on West Grant Street near Grove. (Facebook & Nextdoor)
• The Healdsburg animal shelter also just uploaded this sweet video of Tigger, a chocolatey 8-year-old cat who's been waiting to find a home since July. "I just love her, and I really want her to go to a forever home for Christmas," says the shelter worker who made the video. (Facebook)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Save 15 Percent On FTD’s Christmas Collection (December 25)
• Add your event

Loving the Healdsburg Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

• Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe
• Get your local business showcased in front of readers
• Send me a news tip or suggestion at simone.wilson@patch.com

Now you're in the loop! More soon...

— 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.