New Gig For Fire Goats + Russian River Cleanup + Housing Woes

Ahoy, neighbors! Simone here with your fresh edition of the Healdsburg Daily. Here's everything you need to know about what's happening today in town.

First, today's weather:

Some fog and clouds in the morning will give way to sunshine. High: 84 Low: 50.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. Healdsburg's famous herd of fire-abatement goats just got a new gig. After grazing on the slopes of Fitch Mountain for the past couple months, they were transferred this week to the Healdsburg Ridge Open Space near Parkland Farms. And they've got some brand-new baby goats and sheep friends in tow now, too! From the Healdsburg Fire Department: "These little furry fuel crews will be working their way around the perimeter of the open space. This creates a defensible space and calming zone to slow a fire. They will be at the entrance for a couple of days. Please remember the fence is electrified and keep your dogs on a leash around them." (Facebook)
2. Healdsburg resident Duran Antonio Jimenez, 22, was found sitting in a stolen Jaguar in the Monte Rio fire station parking lot earlier this week, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff. After deputies ran the Jaguar's plates and discovered it had been reported stolen in Santa Rosa over the weekend, they arrested the young man "on suspicion of vehicle theft and possession of a stolen vehicle," the PD reports. (Press Democrat; paywall)
3. The annual Russian River Watershed Cleanup Day is coming up on Saturday, Sept. 18! Healdsburg cleanup locations will include Riverfront Park, Badger Park, Alexander Bridge Road, Del Rio Woods Regional Park and a spot just upstream of the Syar concrete plant. You can sign up here to participate. (Russian Riverkeeper)
4. Here's where $500,000 worth of recent PG&E wildfire settlement money will be going: a new "Wildfire Resiliency workforce training program" at the Santa Rosa JC. The grant will fund up to three years of wildfire workforce training for students starting this fall, including in paid internships at the JC's 120-acre Shone Farm forest just south of Healdsburg. They'll learn about stuff like prescribed grazing (goats!), forest fuel reduction, fire-resilient landscaping, defensible space, and post-fire mitigation and restoration. (Healdsburg Patch)
5. Sonoma Magazine goes in-depth this week on the plight of longtime Healdsburg residents navigating the local housing market, where the median price of a single-family home is now nearly $1.5 million. And the post-COVID work-from-home movement, demonstrated by the army of well-off young "solopreneurs" on laptops at new local co-working space CraftWork Healdsburg near the plaza, isn't helping. "One of the things that can be challenging for a town like Healdsburg is that you can almost become a ghost town in the sense that the charm that made you a destination is also pricing out the locals that live there,” Healdsburg's housing administrator says. (Sonoma Magazine)

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Healdsburg pic of the day:

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Today in Healdsburg

• Dry Creek Peach Farm Stand Open (12-4PM)
• Sonoma County Office of Education Webinar: Health and Educational Update (4PM)
• Virtual Teen Anime Club at Sonoma County Library (4-5PM)
• Wine & Sushi Pairing at Merriam Vineyards (5:30-7:30PM)
• Corazón Healdsburg Committee Meeting / Reunion de Comité (6-8PM)
• Trivia Night at Coyote Sonoma (7-9PM)

Healdsburg Patch Notebook

• Big John's is now hiring "in all departments." Stop by the grocery store to pick up an application. (Instagram)
• These jobs are also available right now within the Healdsburg school district: food service assistant, high school campus supervisor and bus driver. (Facebook)
• Pacaso, the same real-estate company that's been selling co-owned homes on the timeshare model in Healdsburg's Dry Creek Valley, is now picking up properties in Sonoma, as well. Residents down there are equally concerned. (North Bay Business Times)
• The newly relocated Healdsburg Center for the Arts is trying to raise $35,000 to cover the costs of converting 334 Center Street into the arts education emporium of our dreams. "The site was a paint store for over 50 years so there’s a lot to be done transforming it to your community art center!" (Healdsburg Center for the Arts)
• The Sonoma County Airport just upgraded and expanded its valet parking situation, in partnership with a local company called SP+. (Facebook)

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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.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Healdsburg Daily? Reach out anytime to simone.wilson@patch.com.