🌱 Mural Almost Done + July 4 Weekend Events + Wine Worker Injustice?

Morning, neighbors! It's me, Simone, your host of the Healdsburg Daily — back in your inbox this morning to walk you through everything you need to know about what's happening this Fourth of July weekend in town. I'll be going wine-tasting with some friends for the first time ever (!) over the weekend, then floating the river Monday and watching the fireworks right alongside you all. Hope everyone stays safe and enjoys the heck out of the holiday. 💥

First, your weekend weather:

• Friday: Fog turning to sun. High: 83 Low: 51.
• Saturday: Partly sunny and cooling off a little. High: 79 Low: 50.
• Sunday: Mix of sun and clouds. High: 76 Low: 48.
• Monday: Mostly sunny for the holiday! High: 77 Low: 52.
• Tuesday: Sun and clouds. High: 78 Low: 53.

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Here are the top 3 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. A new, immigrant-inspired mural peppered with butterflies is taking shape on the alley wall of Black Oak Coffee just off the plaza. (Scroll down for a pic of the almost-finished product!) The painting of the 53-foot-by-12-foot mural is being led by a Sonoma County-based group called The Monarch Project, "who use art to tell the stories of immigrants and to empower the community" — but also features the work of many community members who have stopped by to help over the past couple weeks. according to the Press Democrat. You can still stop by through the evening July 8, at which point there will be a n official unveiling from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. From the PD: "The name tags of people who helped with the mural cover a white poster board on display in the alley. [Monarch Project founder and lead artist Rima Makaryan] designed the mural, which is being worked on by her team and passersby who wish to participate, and it aims to shed light on the often unnoticed work of immigrants in the Sonoma County wine industry, as well as the changes Healdsburg has experienced over time. According to Makaryan, some Healdsburg residents feel like they have been pushed out, and the mural design is about 'bringing them back' and 'allowing the community to create something for themselves.' Imagery on the mural consists of gears, brown hands, monarch butterflies and metal pipes. Makaryan says it can be interpreted in many ways, but she focused on highlighting 'the people who bring us the wine that makes Healdsburg so prosperous.'" (Healdsburg Center for the Arts via Facebook & Press Democrat; paywall)
2. Speaking of! KQED public radio just published an in-depth piece on how local immigrant farmworkers "fighting abuses are vulnerable to retaliation." For the story, they followed "Samuel," a Oaxacan immigrant who worked for years at Healdsburg's Mauritson Farms, "which owns and controls the vineyards that produce Mauritson Wines." After being promised a spot back on the farm, he and a group of fellow workers were reportedly let go this year after they "spoke up against what they believed to be unfair and unsafe working conditions they had experienced for the past three years" — including being "asked to work on extremely hot days without adequate protections against the heat," seeing their pay "docked for unjustified reasons" and suffering "verbal abuse from the foreman who supervised them." Their case is being represented by North Bay Jobs for Justice, the same group leading the campaign for winery bosses to provide better protections for their workers amid wildfires and other environmental threats. You can read KQED's full investigation here. (KQED)
3. At long last, California lawmakers have killed the infamous cannabis cultivation tax — "partly blamed for strangling" the newly legal weed industry in its fledgling years by making it nearly impossible for growers to break even, the North Bay Business Journal reports. The fight against the tax was led by Healdsburg's own state senator, Mike McGuire, who has "repeatedly contended that the cultivation tax has 'crushed' the growers, especially since the state tax had gone up this year from $9.65 to $10.08 per dry weighted ounce on their crops." More from the story: "Advocates of the business are hailing as a victory the elimination of the cultivation tax and a cap on the excise tax at 15% for three years. Instead, the burden will shift to the excise tax, which may increase for retailers come July 1, 2025 — the first day of the state’s annual fiscal budget for that year. Growers have felt the pinch over the last year or two of a market in turmoil. The wholesale price on a product in a massive supply has plummeted, while state taxes have gone up and the illicit market has remained intact.”(North Bay Business Journal; paywall)

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This weekend in Healdsburg:

Friday, July 1

• Epicurean Alfresco Lunches at Jordan Winery: Flavors of France in Healdsburg (July 1-3, 12:30-2:30PM)
• "Ready, Set, Build!" at the Healdsburg Library: Create an "Upcycled Racer" for Fourth of July Duck Dash on the Plaza (3-5:30PM)
• Little Monsters Culinary "Summer in the Vineyard" Kids Cooking Class at Merriam Vineyards (3:30-5PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Kids Run to Amy's Wicked Slush (5PM)
• Friday Evening Wine & Song at Hudson Street Wineries, Featuring Live Music by Local Folk Trio The Musers (5-8PM)
• Healdsburg Prune Packers Baseball Game Vs. the San Francisco Seals at Rec Park (July 1-2, 6PM)
• Wilson Wines Summer Music Series at deLorimier Winery, Feat. Live Music by The HOTS & Food by Wine Country Artisan Pizza (6-8:30PM)
• Second Street Band Live at Coyote Sonoma (7-10PM)
• Raven Players Present "Woody Guthrie's American Song: A Truly American Musical" at the Healdsburg Plaza (July 1-3, 7:30 PM)
• AVFilm Presents Outdoor Film Screening of "Independence Day" on the Healdsburg Community Center Lawn (7:30PM)
• Jacob Phillip Benning Live at the Elephant in the Room (8-11PM)

Saturday, July 2

• Healdsburg Running Company Run & Swim at Lake Sonoma (8AM)
• Healdsburg Saturday Farmers Market (8:30AM-12PM)
• Read to a Dog at the Healdsburg Library (11AM-12PM)
• Fourth of July Celebration at Bacchus Landing, Feat. Live Music on the Piazza From Classic Rock Band Used Goods & Cajun Food From Bayou on the Bay (12-4PM)
• Artist's Reception for New Show at Hammerfriar Gallery: Kristen Throop's "The Princesse" (3-6PM)
• Jazz Trio Performs Standards at Furthermore Wines (4-7PM)
• Centennial Club Backyard BBQ at Seghesio Family Vineyards (5-7PM)
• Bennett Friedman Trio Live at Hotel Healdsburg Garden Courtyard (6-9PM)
• The Bluebyrds Live at Coyote Sonoma (8-11PM)
• Norwood Fisher's Trulio Disgracias Live at the Elephant in the Room (8-11PM)

Sunday, July 3

• Red, White & BBQ With Hootenanny Band at Rodney Strong Vineyards, Feat. Meat by KinSmoke (11AM-3PM)
• July 3rd Fireworks at Keiser Park in Windsor (7:30-9:30PM)
• Sundays in the Plaza, Feat. Folk/Bluegrass Musician Hannah Jern-Miller (1-3PM)

Monday, July 4 (Independence Day! 🇺🇸)

• Healdsburg Boy Scouts Host Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast at the Villa (7AM-12PM)
• Fourth of July Kids' Parade & Duck Dash in the Plaza, Feat. Live Music by the Healdsburg Community Band (10AM-1PM)
• Special Fourth of July Menu at Spoonbar, Feat. Americana Music on the Sidewalk (4-8PM)
• Healdsburg Prune Packers Game Vs. the Santa Rosa As at Rec Park (5PM)
• Healdsburg Grange Fourth of July Fundraiser at 311 Monte Vista Ave. (6PM)
• Fourth of July Fireworks at Healdsburg High School (9PM)

Tuesday, July 5

• Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 6-9 at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts: "Enter the 3rd Dimension" With Teacher Justine Mendoza (July 5-8, 8:30AM-12PM)
• Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 3-5 at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts: "Fairies, Sprites & Gnomes" With Teacher Maria Gerstley (July 5-8, 9AM-12PM)
• Healdsburg Tuesday Farmers Market (9AM-12:30PM)
• Brown Bag Book Club at the Healdsburg Library: "The Mercies" by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (12-1PM)
• Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 10-17 at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts: "Drama, Improv & Pantomime" With Teacher Loretta Rotolo (July 5-8, 1-4:30PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Ladies Night Run Ending at the Harris Gallery for Wine & Live Music (6PM)
• Tuesdays in the Plaza, Feat. Music by Folk Rock Band The Coffis Brothers (6-8PM)
• Matt Silva and Nick Otis' Bossa Nova Duo Live at the Elephant in the Room (7-10PM)

Wednesday, July 6

• Sonoma County Government Hosts Virtual Home Resiliency Workshop: "Saving Energy at Home - Your House Is a System" (11:30AM-12:30PM)
• "Learn How to Crochet" for Teens With Purls of Joy Co-Op Experts at the Healdsburg Library (3-5PM)
• African Drumming With Onye Onyemaechi at the Healdsburg Library (6-7PM)
• "Knits N Knots": Learn How to Knit or Crochet Mason Jar Covers With Purls of Joy Co-Op Experts at the Healdsburg Library (6-8PM)
• Trivia Night at Coyote Sonoma, Feat. "The Office" Theme (7-9PM)

From my notebook:

• There were a couple of small wildfires to our south yesterday. The closest one was a half-acre vegetation fire in Windsor, at Shiloh Road and the 101, that reportedly "bumped the freeway" before firefighters put it out. They also extinguished another half-acre blaze on Skyfarm Drive in Santa Rosa with the help of locals. (Sonoma County Scanner Updates via Facebook& Sonoma County Scanner Updates via Facebook)
• Here's everything our city leaders have said so far about how and where to watch the fireworks Monday night! (Healdsburg Patch)
• BTW — there won't be any Fourth of July street closures for the fireworks show, but there will be some for the kids' parade and Duck Dash on the plaza earlier in the day. Center Street between North and Matheson, as well as Plaza Street between Healdsburg Avenue and East Street, will be blocked off between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (Healdsburg Patch)
• Did you know that the sale of fireworks is banned everywhere in Sonoma County except Cloverdale? The local Lions Club is reportedly selling them at a booth in town. More from the PD: "Cloverdale fire and police departments plan to increase patrols to monitor the sale and use of safe and sane fireworks there. Authorities in neighboring Healdsburg, along with Cal Fire, plan to increase patrols in order to curb the use of fireworks during the Fourth of July weekend." (Press Democrat; paywall)

Now you're in the loop and ready to head into the weekend. See you on the other side!

— 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? Contact me at simone.wilson@patch.com