More 'Cultural Burns' + Healdsburg Bank Merger + Grape Harvest!

Hey, neighbors! I'm back with your Tuesday edition of the Healdsburg Daily, a.k.a. everything you need to know about what's happening in Healdsburg today.

First, today's weather:

A little fog and some clouds in the morning, turning to sun. High: 93 Low: 52.

Here are the top 5 stories in Healdsburg today:

1. Healdsburg firefighters, along with other crews from across Sonoma County, have been helping fight the massive Dixie Fire in the northern Sierra Nevada for almost a month now. It's being called the largest single wildfire in California history. An amazing AP photo making the rounds shows Healdsburg fire engineer Justin Potter, boots off in the grass, resting in Dixie's sickly orange glow "as his crew prepares to battle." The Healdsburg Fire Dept. says it has one engine and four crew members in the fight; Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit has "three strike teams, one bulldozer team and a dozen or so overhead personnel," according to the PD. Despite their efforts, nearly 400 homes and structures have reportedly been destroyed so far. (Facebook & Associated Press & Press Democrat; paywall)
2. Meanwhile, the fire prevention measure in the local spotlight is "low and slow cultural burns," an Indigenous method of avoiding large, destructive fires and keeping forests healthy. The Trib has a great piece on the group of "fire ecologists, land management experts and stewardship specialists" — including Clint McKay of the Dry Creek Band of Pomo and Wappo Indians — who gathered at the Villa last week to school the community on this approach. By the end of the event, the group "had planned a burn of about 10-acres," the Trib reports — "and nearby residents were asking for more." (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
3. The 2021 grape harvest has begun. As usual, grapes for sparkling wines are being collected first, at lower sugar levels. The Business Journal has some cool pics of "some of the first wine grapes of the 2021 North Coast crush" arriving at Healdsburg "custom sparkling winery" Rack & Riddle last week. The harvest for non-sparkling wine grapes should follow a couple weeks from now. It being 2021, though, early indicators show that grapes harvested during this crazy drought year will be fewer, smaller and more flavor-packed. "It could be a winemaker’s year, with a lighter crop and intense flavors and color,” one local winemaker says. And if big wildfires hit Sonoma County at the same time they did last year, in late August, things could get way more complicated. (North Bay Business Journal)
4. The Healdsburg Prune Packers, our very own amateur collegiate baseball team, won the California Collegiate League State Championship tourney over the weekend. "FIGHT FINISHED!!!" the team posted on Facebook, alongside a very patriotic pic of the team at Rec Park. "The Healdsburg Prune Packers are your 2021 California Collegiate League champions!" (Facebook)
5. Two big banks with outposts in Healdsburg are now one: The Bank of Marin just finalized its purchase of American River Bank. With the merger, Bank of Marin officials are reportedly evaluating closing one of their two Healdsburg locations. No word on which one yet. (North Bay Business Journal)

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Today in Healdsburg:

• Clinica de Vacunacion / Vaccination Clinic at Alliance Medical Center in Healdsburg (8:30AM-4:30PM)
• Healdsburg Tuesday Farmers Market (9AM-12:30PM)
• Healdsburg Junior High School Readiness Fair (9AM-3:30PM)
• Trail Sisters Lake Sonoma Run & Optional Paddle/Swim (10AM)
• August Luau Brunch at Healdsburg Senior Center (10-11:30AM)
• Healdsburg City Planning Commission Meeting (TBD)
• August Veggie Happenings Zoom Talk: UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County (12:30-1:30PM)
• Sonoma County Office of Education Back to School Webinar (4PM)
• Live at Duke's Spirited Cocktails: The JT-3 (5-8PM)
• Tuesdays in the Plaza: The Mother Hips (6-8PM)

Healdsburg Patch Notebook

• Speaking of cultural burns! The Northern Sonoma County Fire District “fuels crew,” made up mostly of Santa Rosa JC students, just hit a milestone of "42 miles of roadside vegetation management" over three years on around 303 acres in Geyserville, Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley. And they're still out there cutting and chipping 7 days a week, district officials say. Read more details about the impressive project. (Facebook)
• Coronavirus hospitalizations continue to climb in Sonoma County, fueled by the delta variant. According to the PD: "As of Sunday, there were 70 people with COVID-19 in local hospitals, including 17 shown in intensive care. Only during the winter’s deadly wave of cases were more local residents hospitalized with COVID-19 on any given day." (Press Democrat; paywall)
• Now, on top of the delta and delta-plus variants, we're hearing more about the "lambda variant" popping up in California as well. As of late last month, 144 cases had been documented across the state. A UC Berkeley epidemiologist tells the Business Journal that "we should be very, very concerned." (North Bay Business Journal)
• Napa's bigtime, three-day BottleRock music festival is still scheduled to take place in person over Labor Day Weekend. On the lineup: Guns N' Roses, Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, Megan Thee Stallion and more. Here's what to know about COVID-related restrictions for the festival. (Napa Valley Patch)
• There's another pop-up vaccine clinic at today's Healdsburg Farmers Market. It will return weekly on Tuesdays "until the need seems to die down," market organizers say. Also: "We were very encouraged two weeks ago when they ran out of vaccines they were so busy." (Facebook)
• The Alexander Valley Film Society just secured a "set of pop-up screening equipment to take on the road" this summer, including at shelters and any wildfire evacuation sites. Now they're looking for "a covered trailer to get it all to and fro." (Facebook)
• A friendly-looking black-and-white dog was found near the Montage resort just outside of Healdsburg yesterday. Recognize him? (Facebook)
• In other lost-pet news: A fuzzy black pig was recently spotted trotting down Alexander Valley Road near Lytton Springs Road. It has since been reunited with its owner, neighbors say. (Facebook)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed about what's happening locally. See you tomorrow for another update! If you're feeling these newsletters, consider bringing some friends and neighbors into the fold. 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? Reach out anytime to simone.wilson@patch.com.