🌱 Vineyard Worker Lawsuit + Fiery Crash + Healdsburg Obstacle Course

Hello, everybody! Simone here with a special mid-weekend edition of the Healdsburg Patch newsletter on this sweltering Sunday, filled with all the local news you need to know right now. Let's get right to it.

First, your local weather:

• Sunday: Mostly sunny and super hot. High: 100 Low: 60.
• Monday: Still mostly sunny and super hot. High: 100 Low: 55.
• Tuesday: Mostly sunny again. Cooling off a little. High: 91 Low: 53.

Here are the top 3 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. Remember that big worker protest in April outside Vino Farms on Eastside Road, a vineyard management company that oversees around 4,300 acres of vines in Sonoma County? Well, the company has just "agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging it failed to pay workers for all the hours they worked and failed to allow workers meal and rest breaks," according to the Press Democrat. Here are some more details from the PD: "The settlement covers 537 workers employed by the company statewide between July 2017 and September 2022. It’s not known how many Sonoma County workers are covered by the settlement. 'Truthfully, it’s good. They treated people very badly,' said Gildardo Lopez, 30, a former Vino Farms worker who has been told the settlement applies to him. He said he worked on 'the line' — in the vineyard rows — for 11 years, living at the company’s Healdsburg property, until November 2021. 'Honestly, the company treated us unjustly,' he said, speaking in Spanish. According to the settlement, which was finalized June 27, on average, workers covered by the settlement will receive a net sum of at least $1,485. ... The suit alleged that Vino Farms did not pay farmworkers for all the hours they worked, including for overtime; that the company did not provide meal breaks or rest periods, and that it required workers to buy tools without compensating them." Read the full report here. (Press Democrat; paywall)
2. There was a really bad crash on the 101 just north of Healdsburg on Thursday night that killed a man, according to the California Highway Patrol. From the Patch report: "The CHP started receiving reports at 9:44 p.m. of a wrong-way driver traveling southbound in the northbound lanes, near Dutcher Creek Road. Within minutes of the initial call, a witness reported the wrong-way driver had caused a head-on collision, CHP Officer David deRutte said. Emergency personnel found two vehicles with major damage. A Sonoma County sheriff's deputy reported two people were trapped in their cars. The driver of a GMC Yukon — a 45-year-old Cloverdale man — suffered major but non-life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, deRutte said. The wrong-way driver, a Cloverdale man in a Nissan Sentra, was pronounced dead at the scene, deRutte told Patch. CHP's preliminary investigation confirmed the Sentra driver was traveling southbound in the wrong direction on northbound US-101. The Yukon driver was traveling northbound on US-101, north of Canyon Road as the Sentra crashed head-on into the Yukon. Both cars caught fire. The flames were quickly extinguished by fire personnel. The driver of the Yukon was trapped in the wreckage and was freed by firefighters. The identity of the Sentra driver was expected to be released by the Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's office once his family members were properly notified." (Healdsburg Patch)
3. Have you heard about the giant obstacle course that a Healdsburg couple set up in their yard on Grove Street a few years ago, right next to the skate park? It's called LionHeart OCR, and it's a homeschooler haven and summer camp whose "sessions regularly sell out," according to the Press Democrat. "Some people have sideyards with shrubbery and grass, but that’s not how Adam Savin and his wife, Jodi Daprano, roll," the story goes. "In the clearing to the north of their Healdsburg house is an elaborate obstacle course, featuring stations with names like the rope climb, hoist bags, balance beam, spear toss and A-frame Cargo Net." More from the PD's profile: "On any given weekday morning for the last several summers, passersby on Grove Street might see children, ranging in age from 6 to 12, swarming over those obstacles, laughing, shouting, then stopping to catch their breath. Yes, the program hones the youngsters’ fitness and teaches them physical skills. But for Savin and Daprano — a yoga instructor who starts the kids off each morning with a brief meditation, some sun salutations and a 20-minute sequence of asanas — that’s just the jumping off point. The idea, they say, is to encourage the campers to have a great time while 'learning to be the best versions of themselves.'" You can read tons more about the program in the PD. And check out the LionHeart OCR website to learn how to get your own kid on the course! (LionHeart OCR & Press Democrat; paywall)

Here's to the wonderful local business who sponsors this newsletter. Check out what they can do for you:

Looking to buy or sell a luxury property in Sonoma County? Healdsburg’s Sotheby’s International Realty is a local firm with global reach that specializes in luxury real estate, vineyards, wineries and land in Sonoma County. Healdsburg's Sotheby's: local expertise, deep market knowledge, and a passion for the community. Whether buying or selling, it pays to work with the best. Call Healdsburg’s Sotheby’s at 707-433-4800.

Click here to get your business featured in this spot.

Healdsburg pics of the day, Fourth of July edition:

Do you have any great local pics that you want to share with your community? You can submit them here and I may feature them in the newsletter. Please just confirm in your email that you took any photos you're sending, and that Patch has permission to republish them, K? Thanks! 📸

Coming up in Healdsburg:

Sunday, July 16

• Little Saint Hosts Book Signing With Architect & Author John Ike (11AM-1PM)
• "A Taste of Pine Mountain" at Spicy Vines Winery: Grand Wine Tasting, Oaxacan Lunch & Vineyard Tour at 3,000 Feet to Explore Mountain Viticulture (11AM-3PM)
• Healdsburg Prune Packers Play Home Game Vs. Menlo Park Legends at Rec Park (12PM)
• Sundays in the Plaza, Featuring Live Music by Acoustic Blues Musician David Landon (1-3PM)
• Final Performance of "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Raven Theater (2PM)
• Dragonfly Floral Hosts Compote Design Class (2-4PM)

Monday, July 17

• Healdsburg Center for the Arts Hosts Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 6-9: "Mixed Media Mania" (July 17-20, 8:30AM-12PM)
• National Academy of Athletics Hosts Basketball Camp for Kids at the Healdsburg Community Center (July 17-21, 9AM-3PM)
• "Disney on Broadway" Summer Theatre Camp for Kids at the Raven (July 17-29, 9AM-3PM)
• Healdsburg Center for the Arts Hosts Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 10-17: "3-D & Mixed Media" (July 17-20, 1-4:30PM)
• Tween Hangout at the Healdsburg Library: Movie Monday (3:30PM)
• Northern Sonoma County Chapter of Communities Organized to Prepare for Emergencies (COPE) Hosts Leadership Meeting for "Community Leaders, Fire Officials, Nonprofits, Governmental Orgs & Anyone Else Interested in Supporting Emergency Preparedness" (3:30-5PM)
• Yoga in the Vineyard at 32 Winds, Followed by Glass of Wine (Weekly, 5:30PM)
• The Raven Players Perform "ScripTease" Reading of Children's Musical "Raggedy Chan" at the Plaza Cinema Center (7PM)

Tuesday, July 18

• Healdsburg Farmers Market on the Plaza (9AM-12:30PM)
• Food Distribution at the Healdsburg Community Center (Weekly, 9:30-10:30AM)
• Local Singer-Songwriter Jacob Philip Benning Performs at the Luther Burbank Center (5:30-7:30PM)
• Tuesdays in the Plaza, Featuring Live Music by World Fusion / Jazz Band DGIIN (6PM)
• Healdsburg Prune Packers Play Home Game Vs. Lincoln Potters at Rec Park (6PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company "Trail Sisters" Host Magnolia Vineyard Loop Run, Ending at the Elephant in the Room Pub (6PM)
• The Bollywood Bluesman Aki Kumar Performs at the Elephant in the Room (7:30-10:30PM)

From my notebook:

• A "mechanical failure of the filtration system" in the Healdsburg public pool shut it down on Friday morning, right at the onset of this major weekend heat wave. However, within 24 hours, it had been repaired — so the pool is back open today as a refuge from the heat. "Huge thanks to the Healdsburg Unified School District team for working extra hard to get the repairs made," the city's Community Services department posted on Facebook yesterday. Officials say "recreational swimming is 1:00 p.m.-4 p.m. daily, and every Saturday and Sunday we feature our ‘Dollar Days Program’ where families pay only $1 per person for up to 5 family members." (Healdsburg Community Services via Facebook)
• Eighty-six acres of grass covering the Lake Sonoma dam was burned Friday morning in a fire supervised by Cal Fire, the Northern Sonoma County Fire District and the Army Corps of Engineers. They did it "in order to maintain structural integrity and assist with completing [the dam's] yearly inspection," according to Cal Fire. (CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit via Facebook)
• A neighbor on Brown Street is asking drivers to "PLEASE SLOW DOWN." She says: "We have had a neighborhood cat and dog hit and killed this past month. Brown is a very narrow street with lots of construction going on and please be aware of our pets because next time it could be one of our children. Both fatality's were hit and run while making the situation worse." (Nextdoor)
• And over on Borel Road, another neighbor says that "two peacocks just showed up" on her doorstep last night. "They keep doing laps around the house and looking inside like they want to come in and watch TV," she says. "We put out water for them. Anyone missing their peacocks? :) Do we have wild peacocks around here? One of them is eyeing me through the glass door and asking to come in. These guys are not afraid of people." (Nextdoor)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Featured events:

• Petaluma Music Festival (July 29)
• Add your event

Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door! I'll be back soon with 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.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Healdsburg Patch newsletter? Contact me at [email protected]