🌱 Wastewater Grant + Farmers Market + Catalytic Thieves Caught?

Good morning, people of Healdsburg! It's me, Simone, your host of the Daily. I've got lots to tell you on this sizzling springtime Wednesday. Come along to find out everything you need to know about what's happening locally...

First, today's weather:

A little fog in the morning — then super hot and sunny. High: 81 Low: 46.

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Air over Healdsburg:

Here are the top 5 stories in Healdsburg today:

1. Healdsburg has been awarded $7 million by the state to add 4-plus miles to our wastewater distribution network in town. According to City Councilmember Ariel Kelley, the money will go toward "constructing a 'purple pipe' recycled water delivery system to our vital city parks and high water need sites." And "while this doesn’t get us 100% of the way there, it is a huge step in the right direction." The city is still waiting on another federal grant needed to complete this $13-15 million pipeline project, according to Terry Crowley, the city's utilities director. Officials are hoping it will "help offset withdrawals from the Russian River and Lake Mendocino." Also: Another $7 million is going to "a partnership between the Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians, neighboring vineyard owners, fisheries agencies and Sonoma County... to pursue an innovative effort to recharge the Alexander Valley groundwater aquifer through diversion of high winter Russian River flows onto agricultural fields when the vines are dormant," the PD reports. "The idea is to capture flows that would otherwise head out to the ocean and use them to flood the land, allowing the water to seep in and filter into aquifers below." (CA Dept. of Water Resources & Facebook & Press Democrat; paywall)
2. Another local project that just got some county funding is the "L&M Village" being created for homeless people on the old L&M Hotel campus at the south end of town. The City of Healdsburg and the org that will operate the site, Reach for Home, previously got $7 million from the state to "transform the 22-unit hotel into an interim housing site for Healdsburg’s chronically homeless" — and now they're getting nearly $1 million more from the county. "Thank you to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors for this most recent award!" city leaders posted on Facebook this week. "The City of Healdsburg is thrilled to move forward with the project at the L&M Village to help homeless persons get access to housing and much needed social services." (Facebook & Sonoma County Government)
3. The Healdsburg Boys & Girls Club likewise just got some big money toward their ongoing $12 million project to restore the aging club building on Piper Street, according to the PD. They'll reportedly get a cut of the $4.8 million donation that MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, just made to the larger Sonoma-Marin Boys & Girls Club — of a whopping $281 million she's donating to the national umbrella org. From the PD: "The Healdsburg project seeks to modernize a more than 60-year-old building that has no air conditioner. The John Jordan Foundation, a private philanthropy for disadvantaged youth operated by Jordan Vineyard & Winery, has pledged $1.5 million to that project" as well. (Press Democrat; paywall)
4. Healdsburg police say they finally caught a couple of the folks they think may have been ripping off catalytic converters from local vehicles. Late Monday night, during a "traffic stop on a suspicious vehicle," cops say they discovered both the driver and passenger — 40 year-old Gerardo Estrada of Richmond and 33-year-old Edgar Samuel Gonzalezcastro of El Sobrante — had felony warrants out of Contra Costa County. Then, a "subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a hydraulic vehicle jack, a sawzall, 22 sawzall metal blades, multiple charged batteries, a quick battery charger, and a methamphetamine pipe," police say. Both men were arrested on the spot. They have a "significant criminal history involving catalytic converter thefts throughout the Bay Area," according to the Healdsburg Police Dept. (Facebook)
5. Only a few weeks til the return of the Healdsburg Farmers' Market! The market, now in its 44th year, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays from April 16 through December 17. And the Tuesday markets will start running May 17. "This season we welcome several new farms, new food producers and craftspeople to our midst," market officials say in a new press release. "We’re also seeing the return of live music, and have many talented artists performing each week." (Inbox & Sonoma County Gazette)

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Today and tomorrow in Healdsburg:

Wednesday, March 23

• Corazón Healdsburg After-School Teen Center for Spring Break (March 23-25, 10AM-6PM)
• Canon Book Group at Healdsburg Library: "King Lear + A Thousand Acres" (6-7:30PM)
• The Healdsburg School Presents Their 2022 Musical, "Annie Jr." (March 23-24, 6:30PM)
• Trivia Night at Coyote Sonoma (Weekly, 7-9PM)

Thursday, March 24

• AARP Tax Help at Healdsburg Library (Weekly, 10AM-3PM)
• VinoPaint & Sip at Papapietro Perry Winery (4-5:30PM)
• Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce Networking Mixer at Orsi Family Vineyards (4:30-6PM)
• Sit and Stitch at Purls of Joy Healdsburg (Weekly, 4:30-7:30PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Trail House Run With Yoga at Annadel State Park (6PM)
• The Legend Johnny Rawls Live at Elephant in the Room (7-10PM)

Healdsburg pic of the day:

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From my notebook:

• The second Healdsburg teen who went missing last week, Gisela Marie Leos Cisneros, has been found safe, according to local police. (Press Democrat; paywall)
• The Tribune has a good writeup on the climate action rally in the plaza Monday evening. Protesters stood in the gazebo raising handmade signs with messages like "No new gas stations" and "Fare free transit" and "I bike everywhere" and "SMART trains all the way," the Trib says. Some activists also reportedly made "the link between the war in Ukraine and the United State’s dependence on fossil fuels." (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
• The city has said that last year's popular recycled water distribution program for residents was too expensive to run for free again this year. However, a private company called American Tank and Water Hauling recently announced they'll be offering recycled water deliveries to Healdsburg homeowners for $64 a pop. (Facebook)
• The PD says there was a sign outside Healdsburg Gas Mart yesterday "proclaiming its regular unleaded fuel, which sold for $5.63 per gallon, as the 'cheapest gas'" in town. And it's true, the newspaper confirms. (Press Democrat; paywall)
• Quick update on the state of local grapevines from Sonoma County Winegrowers: "Spring has sprung and bud break has begun! ... As buds break, grapevines come out of their dormant state, and small green buds will emerge as baby shoots appear." (Facebook)
• Check out this crazy $4.5 million estate for sale out Brack Road off West Dry Creek. It includes a three-bedroom main house, another restored one-bedroom from the 1800s, "a studio cottage with a full kitchen and a vintage barn that has been converted to two artist studios." (Healdsburg Patch & Redfin)
• Sonoma County government officials are running a COVID video contest for local students. The challenge is to "create a 30-60 second video encouraging your peers to get vaccinated against COVID-19." Winners get a cash prize. (Facebook)
• Tickets are now on sale to see "civil rights icon and activist" Dolores Huerta speak at the Raven Theater on Cesar Chavez Day "about her personal story of community organizing and activism," according to local nonprofit Corazón Healdsburg. (Facebook)
• Healdsburg Mayor Ozzy Jimenez shared a pic this week of all five city councilmembers "finally" together in person at council chambers for Monday's meeting. "The future is bright," he says. (Facebook)

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You're all caught up for today! See you tomorrow for another update.

— 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.