LocalLocal newsnews at your at your ngertips everyevery weekweek fingertips $1.00 JustJust $1!.00!
Greyounds sports Greyounds sports section teaser section teaser Sports,Sports, Page XPage X
at the newsstand at the newsstand
$1 at$1the at newsstand the newsstand
TheHealdsburg HealdsburgTribune Tribune The Enterprise & Scimitar Enterprise & Scimitar
Visit for daily updates on local news views www.healdsburgtribune.com for daily updates on local news andand views Our 158th year,Visit Number 43 www.healdsburgtribune.com Healdsburg, California
Our 155th year, Number 00© ur 155th year, Number 00©
CITY, SMART WORKSHOP RECONSIDERS THE LOCATION OF THE STATION
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
October 26, 2023 Date, Date, 20202020
RAILROAD DEPOT CHALLENGED BY NEW DOWNTOWN VINE STREET PROPOSAL By Christian Kallen
Photo by Christian Kallen
A more-than-full house at the Senior Center meeting room last Thursday evening brought excitement, and opinions, to a City of Healdsburg workshop with SMART on where to locate a rail transit station in town. “We’re happy to have standing room only in here—we regard it as a good thing,” said City Manager Jeff Kay before introducing Eddy Cumins, the general manager of Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit. Indeed, the larger turnout and engaged conversations during the 90-minute workshop showed that the pending arrival of SMART, and the location of SMART’s proposed Healdsburg station, continue to be of vital interest to Healdsburg residents. Cumins came to SMART from Utah just two years ago, but during that time more energy, productivity and funding have characterized the rail’s development. A longdelayed extension from the Sonoma County Airport to Windsor is underway, and 65% of the $176 million needed to build out the extension all the way to Healdsburg is already funded, he said. “Obviously that’s not 100%, we still have a ways to go. But I can tell you there’s a lot of funding opportunities that are out there that we plan to take advantage of.” The first activity that Healdsburg will see when the funding is available will be rebuilding the railroad bridge, located just upstream of the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge over the Russian River. The railroad bridge is key
COLOR OF PEACE The Healdsburg Memorial Bridge turned its lights white on Oct. 23, to signal support for a peaceful solution in the Middle East. They will remain white until Nov. 3, when they will change to red, white and blue to recognize National Veterans Awareness Week.
Healdsburg Chooses the Color of Peace CITY COUNCIL RECOMMENDS 10 DAYS OF WHITE LIGHTS FOR MEMORIAL BRIDGE By Christian Kallen
At the first meeting of the Healdsburg City Council that followed the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, several residents asked that the city use its bridgeillumination policy to turn the renovated bridge over the Russian River blue and white, the colors of Israel. First to speak was Califia Witsch, a local realtor. “In times of such distress it’s important for us as a community to stand in solidarity with those who have suffered,” she said, her voice breaking. “I come before you today to request a small but meaningful gesture of support.
I would like to propose that we light up Memorial Bridge in the colors of blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as a symbol of solidarity and compassion for the people of Israel.” Mayor Kelley, at the end of that meeting, requested that the council take up the bridge lighting at the next council discussion, per the city’s bridge policy. Councilmember Herrod suggested it be added at the DEI work session, scheduled for Oct. 23, and taken up at that time instead of waiting for the next regular council meeting, scheduled for Nov. 6. City Manager Kay agreed, and on Monday this week a somber council considered the request. In the intervening weeks, the complexity of the situation in the Middle East grew, and it became clear that the
Don’t ask me to wave a flag today, unless it is the flag of Peace. Don’t ask me to sing an anthem, unless it is a song of Peace. Don’t ask me to take sides, unless it is the side of Peace.” IRWIN KELLER
Month (June 1-30), Independence Day (July 1-5), National Veterans Awareness Week (usually the first week in November), December Holiday Season and Hanukkah (dates variable). However, the policy does allow for illumination in recognition of unique opportunities, including local, regional, national and world events. “Requests to illuminate
violence could not be simply characterized. Though some at the Oct. 16 meeting thought the city should have made a statement sooner, the city’s Healdsburg Avenue Bridge Lighting policy outlines a process that must be followed before lights can be changed, or installed, for special purposes. The policy which was adopted only in May of this year allows for five annual illumination events: Pride
the Bridge in recognition of an event not included in the Annual Illuminations list may be made by City Councilmembers via a request for a future City Council meeting agenda item,” reads the policy. The city’s report on the items for this week’s meeting included the information that, since National Veterans Awareness Week is imminent (to begin Nov. 3) ➝ Color of Peace, 2
➝ SMART, 10
CATCHING UP WITH BREATHLESS HEALDSBURG’S FUNNEST WINE LABEL FRONTS A SPARKLING WINE INDUSTRY By Christian Kallen Photo courtesy of Breathless Sparkling Wines
SISTER ACT From left, Breathless Sparkling Wines principals Sharon Cohn, Rebecca Faust and Cynthia Faust show off their Sweepstakes Award from the 2018 Sonoma County Harvest Fair, for their 2012 Brut.
There’s an oasis in Healdsburg, in an industrial park at the end of Moore Lane, past storage sheds and warehouses toward a dead end. Even though it’s not the kind of place people just happen upon, when they find it they’re not disappointed. Breathless Sparkling Wines is a local legend, a place to find local bubblies
of national stature right here in town. Its tasting area is surrounded by mature trees with overarching canopies and blue umbrellas, creating a comfortable, shaded space cozy enough for conversation. It’s a social environment, and it’s probably impossible not to have a good time. After all, they serve champagne. And there’s something about champagne—the bubbles, the relatively modest yet noticeable alcohol, the exuberant act of opening a bottle—that banishes the blues. Not without reason is it associated with life’s happiest moments: an engagement or a wedding, a birth or a birthday, a promotion or an award. It’s also, more than any other drink, associated with women. Breathless makes no bones about ➝ Breathless, 10