🌱 Plaza Rally Tonight + Deadly Westside Crash + Yarn Shop Update

Hello, neighbors! I've got a special Monday edition of the Healdsburg Daily for you today, full of everything you need to know to start off your week in town. It's gonna be a weirdly hot one, with the possibility of some rain again this coming weekend. Here we go...

First, the weather this week:

• Monday: Sunny and warm. High: 77 Low: 50.
• Tuesday: Sunny again, and even warmer, with some wind. Hottest day of the week. High: 83 Low: 48.
• Wednesday: Some fog, then sun. A little windy. High: 80 Low: 45.
• Thursday: Mostly sunny and still super warm, but getting cooler. 76 Low: 43.
• Friday: Mostly sunny. High: 75 Low: 44.
• Saturday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of rain at night. High: 74 Low: 46.
• Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain. Much cooler. High: 65 Low: 43.

Air over Healdsburg:

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Here are the top 5 stories in Healdsburg today:

1. There's a one-hour "climate action rally" planned at the Healdsburg plaza this evening, ahead of the biweekly City Council meeting, to "address the urgency of the climate crisis." It's scheduled to last from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. According to local activist Brigette Ann Mansell, who has also been a leader in Healdsburg's water conservation movement, the rally is supposed to be "a productive, generative, hopeful way to influence our city council before their second meeting of Goal- Setting!" The rally is backed by the Sonoma County Climate Mobilization group. Mansell says a number of other local groups are involved as well — including Indivisible Healdsburg, Healdsburg Community for Sustainable Solutions, the We Are Talking Healdsburg Google Group and more. "Getting off fossil fuels is critical if we are going to decarbonize by 2030," she says. "To that end, we will also be imagining what it could look like in Healdsburg by 2030, eight years from now, if we take this challenge seriously." (Inbox & Facebook & SoCoNews Healdsburg)
2. There was a horrible car crash out Westside Road yesterday, near Sweetwater Springs Road. A man reportedly crashed his car into a tree while being chased by a CHP officer. Upon impact, the car burst into flames, killing the driver, according to the PD. He had been chased for miles before he crashed. CHP officials tell the PD that "the incident began shortly before 10 a.m., when a CHP officer monitoring traffic on Highway 101 in the Geyserville area spotted a Mercedes-Benz sedan going about 130 mph on the southbound side of the freeway." The officer then "made a U-turn and tried to pull the driver over," to no avail. So he "chased the driver south to the Dry Creek Road exit, where the driver got off the freeway and went south on Kinley Drive before turning onto Westside." When the Mercedes-Benz caught fire, the CHP officer reportedly "tried to pull the driver from the car before it caught fire but he was unsuccessful." The driver's name hasn't been released yet. May he rest in peace. (KTVU & Press Democrat; paywall)
3. A coalition of local immigrant advocacy orgs, including our own Corazón Healdsburg, is demanding that Sonoma County become an "immigration sanctuary," the Sonoma Index-Tribune reports. They sent a letter to the county Board of Supervisors last week, urging them to approve an ordinance that would "sever all ties between the Sheriff’s Office and federal immigration authorities." The letter comes after a recent transparency forum held by county officials on the sheriff's cooperation with ICE. Last year, for example, the sheriff provided info about 43 local immigrants to ICE. "None of those instances led to an arrest by ICE," according to the Index-Tribune. "Still defense attorneys, immigration activists and members of the community counter, saying that while state law allows the Sheriff’s Office to provide information, it does not require it. They argue the county should cease the practice altogether, as at least five other counties across the state already have, because coordination with federal immigration authorities breeds public distrust and fear, traumatizing communities." (Sonoma Index-Tribune; paywall)
4. Quick update on Purls of Joy, the Healdsburg knitting shop and community gathering space being taken over by a passionate group of locals who formed a co-op for the cause. "As of March 1st, the ownership of the store was transferred over to Purls of Joy Healdsburg. That is our legal name," says co-op member Janice Orrego. The group has been able to raise almost $10,000 through a GoFundMe campaign, which is still up and running if you want to pitch in. There's still much to do — including budget and licensing stuff, utility setup, "staffing the store and getting the word out that we are in business," Janice says. More from their latest newsletter, issued last week: "We are currently opened for business and can only accept cash or check at this time. However, we are working very hard behind the scenes to get the shop fully operational. Patience is a must during this transitional time. In the meantime, feel free to stop by anytime between 11:00AM—5:00PM Wednesdays thru Saturdays. Come say ‘hi’, see old friends, make new friends and feel part of the community that we all love about Purls of Joy." (Inbox & DropBox & GoFundMe)
5. I'm a whole month behind on sharing the Healdsburg police logs! Here are links to all the incidents reported to local cops during the last couple weeks of February plus the first couple weeks of March, as published by the Healdsburg Tribune. Reports included a slew of suspected DUIs and hit-and-runs across town; an alleged drunk who tried to steal a child's bike on Healdsburg Avenue; various neighbors who thought they heard fireworks, but no evidence of fireworks was found; a couple on Burgundy Road who "returned home after two days away and found that their home was burglarized and their vehicle stolen," along with their "coin collection"; some other items stolen out of parked cars; a bunch of transient-related complaints; a guy who claimed he is being stalked by around 10 people "on foot and in cars... including a newer Cobra Mustang and a low-rider Mustang"; a suspect on Powell Street "seen on camera tampering with the water lines of a business, causing $6,000-$8,000 in damage"; and many more. (SoCoNews Healdsburg & SoCoNews Healdsburg & SoCoNews Healdsburg & SoCoNews Healdsburg)

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Healdsburg pics of the day, spring lupine edition:

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Today and tomorrow in Healdsburg:

Monday, March 21

• Registration Opens for Summer Programs at Healdsburg Pool (All Day)
• LandPaths Spring Break Nature Camp / Campamento de Primavera at Preston Farm and Winery (March 21-25, 9AM-3PM)
• Spring Break "In the Net" Co-Ed Soccer Camp at Healdsburg Community Center (March 21-25, 9AM-3PM)
• Job Fair at Francis Ford Coppola Winery (1-4PM)
• Meet the Artist at Upstairs Art Gallery: Carolyn Wilson, "Favorite Things" (2:30-6PM)
• Climate Action Rally at Healdsburg Plaza (5-6PM)
• Healdsburg City Council Meeting (6PM)
• Healdsburg Chorus Rehearsal at Community Church (6:30-8:30PM)

Tuesday, March 22

• Healdsburg American Association of University Women (AAUW) Spring Forum: "The Ocean Off Our Coast" (Weekly, March 22-April 19, 10-11:45AM)
• Healdsburg Running Company "Trail Sisters" Run at Shiloh Regional Park (6PM)

From my notebook:

• Healdsburg police are still looking for more info about for an apparent shooting on Ward Street earlier this month. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
• There's a new piece of activist journalism in the Bohemian, equal parts fascinating and frightening, about the history of "whiteness and the culture of lynching " in Sonoma County in the early 1900s. Featuring some shady characters from Healdsburg. (North Bay Bohemian)
• Alexander Valley Elementary is getting a cool new "multipurpose building and STEAM lab" on campus. Here are some pics of how construction is coming along. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
• The outdoor summer concerts planned at Healdsburg's Rodney Strong Vineyards this year include Tower of Power, Colbie Caillat and Blues Traveler. (Press Democrat; paywall)
• Sauvignon blanc is the most in-demand grape variety in Healdsburg and the rest of the county right now, the PD reports. (Press Democrat; paywall)
• A neighbor's cat got loose in Parkland Farms over the weekend. "I was hoping someone may have seen her," the owner says. "She is a brown tabby and doesn’t have a collar because she takes it off Everytime we put it on her 😓." (Nextdoor)

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Alrighty, you're all caught up for today. See you tomorrow for more!

— 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.