🌱 New Healdsburg Police Squad + COVID Uptick + Fancy Hotel News

Hey, neighbors! Simone here with your rainy Tuesday edition of the Healdsburg Daily, full of everything you need to know about what's going on in town today. Let's dive right in...

First, today's weather:

Rain likely this morning, with a chance of more rain later today. Otherwise, clouds should fade to sun. High: 62 Low: 47.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. We're a day into this second, more subtle "atmospheric river" of the season. An atmospheric river is a long, narrow channel of water vapor akin to a river in the sky. By the time it moves out of the Healdsburg area — later today or tomorrow — we'll probably have gotten around 2 inches of rain. And strong winds predicted overnight were expected to die down by the time you read this in the morning. All in all, weather officials were most concerned about flooding that could result from short bursts of rain in vulnerable areas burned by wildfires in recent years. From the National Weather Service: "The previous atmospheric river from Oct 24th brought twice as much rain over a longer time frame, so the main concern and item of interest will be 30- to 60-minute rain rates at gauges near or in recent burn scars." (Healdsburg Patch & Press Democrat; paywall)
2. There's a new, two-person division of the Healdsburg Police Department called the "Community Oriented and Equity (CORE) Policing Team." It consists of one female police officer, Kristin Dean, and licensed marriage family therapist Jeff McGee. They'll be responding to "calls on homelessness, mental health and other calls where a licensed family therapist response would be a more effective and equitable approach," according to the Tribune. "For instance, if a resident called the department with concerns about their child’s mental health, the CORE team could respond and provide proactive mental health aid, or if there was a call about an unlicensed vendor selling fruit on the street, the team could offer aid and connect them with helpful resources." The concept was first proposed by Healdsburg's former police chief, Kevin Burke, during the big racial-justice movement of summer 2020. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
3. Did you know this week is "education week" in Healdsburg? The Healdsburg Education Foundation is running it, in a push to raise money for local schools. "Flags will be hung throughout town, huge HEF Ed Week banners will be in strategic locations, and businesses and our citizens will come together to donate money," a foundation rep tells us by email. Money from the foundation has previously funded stuff like, for example, seven new paraprofessionals — aka, "aides" who help kids learn in smaller groups — for all the kindergarten and first-grade classrooms at Healdsburg Elementary School, as well as a new "parent outreach coordinator" at HES to serve as a "liaison between the school district and Spanish-speaking families in the community." Wanna get involved? You can either donate directly or visit one of the local businesses giving a portion of certain sales this week to the foundation, including Amy's Wicked Slush, Taste of Tea, Costeaux, Vallete Wines and more. (Inbox & ConstantContact & Healdsburg Education Foundation)
4. This is interesting. At a three-day conference in Healdsburg last week, "nearly 60 developers, architects and investors from more than 20 states" gathered around what's being called a new “Build Small” movement in the development sector. According to the Business Journal, the movement is "aimed at allowing communities and developers to develop projects with greater community consensus that also keep 'a sense of place' while attracting visitors." And the guy at the epicenter appears to be Jim Heid, a "real estate developer, landscape architect and a founding partner of the CraftWork co-working enterprise space in Healdsburg." He recently wrote a book called “Building Small" as a "toolkit for those wanting to capture and retain the unique character of their downtown areas while navigating the planning process for incremental development on a smaller scale." Read more about all the Healdsburg developers — and hopefuls — involved. (North Bay Business Journal)
5. New COVID cases are slowly on the rise again in Sonoma County. The running seven-day average of new cases per day has risen from the 40s and 50s in October to the 60s and 70s so far this November, New York Times data shows. And the daily infection rate per 100,000 residents increased by more than 60 percent in the past two weeks. The vast majority of people getting sick are unvaccinated, the Press Democrat reports — and "contributing factors include increases in school cases and gatherings, particularly in entertainment venues and among friends and family, as well as Halloween festivals." The 95448 ZIP code in Healdsburg ranks third highest currently for active cases across the county. (Sonoma County Government & Press Democrat; paywall)

Today's Healdsburg Daily is brought to you by our friends at Ring, the home security company. Ring does a lot more than doorbells: check out their full suite of smart home products at Ring.com. And thank you Ring for helping to make local news happen in Healdsburg!

Healdsburg pic of the day:

Today in Healdsburg:

• Healdsburg City Planning Commission Meeting (6AM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Ladies Night Run on New Foss Creek Pathway (6PM)
• Virtual Documentary Film Discussion at Sonoma County Library: "Warrior Women" (6-7PM)
• Virtual UC Application Workshop / Taller Para Solicitudes de UC for Sonoma County Students (6-8PM)

Healdsburg Patch Notebook

• After we featured some upcoming Christmas events in last Friday's newsletter, a reader reached out to remind us about the "large Menorah lighting" being held at Oakville grocery on the plaza on Monday, Nov. 29 for Hanukkah! There will be "latkes, dreidels, prizes and more." (Inbox & Jewish Sonoma)
• Reminder: The Parrish Cafe near the roundabout is closed this week for kitchen renovations. They're hoping to be back open by the Friday after next — we'll keep you posted. (Healdsburg Patch)
• Is there anyone in town you're grateful for this holiday season? If you fill out this form and write a letter of thanks to a "person, group or thing that makes life in Healdsburg better," we'll feature it here. (Healdsburg Patch)
• Healdsburg is getting another fancy hotel and restaurant early next year. The project is called "The Madrona," and it appears to be a renovation of the old Madrona Manor out Westside Road. Bay Area design firm Jay Jeffers is reportedly involved. (The Zoe Report & The Madrona)
• Have you heard of DNA Doe Project, the impressive Sebastopol-based nonprofit solving cold cases left and right using "investigative genetic genealogy"? They've cracked over 70 cold cases in just four years, including one last month involving a victim of 1960s serial killer John Wayne Gacy. And their current caseload reportedly "involves a Jane Doe from the Healdsburg area." (Press Democrat; paywall)
• A recent analysis by Sonoma County health officials found that "when adjusting for age, unvaccinated individuals are more than 32 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than vaccinated people are." (North Bay Business Journal)
• Healdsburg's youth soccer season is winding down. Here's a recap of recent games from the Tribune. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)

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You're all caught up for today! See you tomorrow for your next update. If you're feeling these newsletters, consider inviting some of your friends and neighbors to follow along. 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? I'm all ears. You can reach me at simone.wilson@patch.com.