Hey, babes. I’m down south in the divisive land of Los Angeles right now, missing my small-town bubble. I actually lived here for years on and off as a 20- and 30-something, in an act of rebellion against everyone in Healdsburg who told me L.A. was evil growing up. And within the last two days, I already ran into Molly Shannon at a Korean spa and Miley Cyrus at a sushi restaurant, because life in L.A. is a sitcom! So, yeah… I’m back here on the breeze of defiance this week, braving big Botox culture for the chance to hang with my three best friends from college and see Rosalia in concert tomorrow night. (This is bound to be a religious experience for us.) Then, for the Fourth of July, I’m headed to an Ohio River “regatta” in a different friend’s hometown on the Kentucky/Indiana border. Which means I’m counting on y’all to make this another Fourth to remember in Healdsburg! Here’s some of what you’ll be working with, as explored in this week’s event log:

But first, I’ve got a pretty major Healdsburg news snippet to share. Troubadour Bread & Bistro off the northwest corner of the plaza, which operates as a semi-casual sandwich shop by day and an uber-fancy French restaurant called Le Dîner by night, just earned itself a coveted Michelin star after four years in business — making it the second Healdsburg restaurant to wear a star these days, along with the world-famous SingleThread a couple blocks east. (That one actually has THREE stars, lest we forget it. And a few other local spots USED to have stars — like Barndiva and the Madrona Manor and Cyrus when it lived here — but SingleThread and now Troubadour are the only two Healdsburg restaurants with current star status, in my understanding. And Cyrus still has a star, but it moved to Geyserville!)

Anyway, as you may know, Troubadour is run by the same couple behind Healdsburg’s buzziest bakery, Quail & Condor — Melissa Yanc and Sean McGaughey, both alums of the esteemed SingleThread kitchen. This is their first Michelin star. “There was a point where I think I blacked out,” Melissa tells SF Gate about getting the call. And her husband Sean says: “The coolest part is that we kind of did it in our own little DIY punk rock way. We’re selling sandwiches in the daytime and kind of paying the bills however we can, all to have this fun dinner experience that we care about. And no investors. It’s all us.”

Hey, you! Don’t hog all this abundance for yourself. Send the event log around to your friends and neighbors and relatives, so they can subscribe and reap the benefits, too. Because life in Healdsburg is way more fun when our entire community is in the loop. 📬

This first little stretch of July is shaping up to be another freakishly idyllic summer week in Healdsburg, with not-too-high highs in the 80s and a slight breeze in places to keep things sweet and sensual. Really, it’s hard to imagine a more ideal atmospheric outlook for Independence Day, which graciously falls on a Saturday this year. This is river/picnic/parade/baseball/barbecue/firework weather, folks! (Do be mindful of where the sparks land, though, because — as Northern Sonoma County Fire District Chief Marshall Turbeville told the Press Democrat, for a story called “Firefighters prepare for an earlier, hotter fire season in the North Bay” — “I don’t think people are sensing the urgency yet. We’ve gone several years without a catastrophic fire, and some may have forgotten the urgency. Preparation must happen before a fire starts.”) OK, I’ll stop harshing your holiday buzz now. Here’s our official government weather forecast for the week ahead!

Oh and if you’re seeing some smoke or haze overhead during these otherwise perfect sunny days, it could either be coming from the recent 100-acre “Head Fire” over in Napa County (which is now under control, as of Tuesday morning) or the 20-acre prescribed burn that Cal Fire and the Healdsburg Fire Department plan to stage tomorrow, right here in town, starting at 8:30am. They’ll be burning in the foothills above the Villa Commons, just east of Sunnyvale Drive and north of March Avenue. “The burn will treat about 20 acres to clear dead grass and brush, reduce wildfire fuel, and strengthen the buffer protecting nearby homes,” local fire officials say. “Crews and engines will be on scene the entire time. Smoke will be visible throughout the day and may settle in low-lying areas in the evening.”