Valley People

HIS MANY FRIENDS in The Valley are saddened by the passing of Chad Ewing, 24, of Philo. Chad was a sixth generation native of the Anderson Valley and served in the Army. Family and friends will gather to remember Chad, time and place to be announced.

WE RECEIVED SEVERAL responses to our item last week about where local Deputy Craig Walker stands on the seniority list. The list we have shows Walker seventh from the bottom. It is from March of last year, and changes have occurred since then. There are other factors in play here besides numeric seniority, but as best we can determine, Walker is indeed about six or seven cuts from the bottom, although that may not mean that he will be the sixth or seventh patrol deputy to be laid off if it comes to it. Walker himself simply says that he’s “in limbo” because there are too many subjective factors involved in deputy layoffs to know for sure.

ANOTHER RESPONSE came from Supervisor Dan Hamburg who told us, “In no way was I ‘persuaded’ by Supervisor McCowen with respect to the necessity of MCSO cuts. In my opinion, neither was Supervisor Brown. There was simply no reason to bring the matter to a vote once three board members had made clear their unwillingness to move forward on the item.” (I.e., not cutting the Sheriff’s staff just yet.)

AND, JUST IN from Terry Ryder: “Craig's still in jeopardy. There has been some confusion and much discussion about where our deputy Craig Walker falls on the civil service list. The AV Community Action Coalition was working with the information that he was third from the bottom. Several people informed us that he was 8th or 9th. We found that although he is technically 8th or 9th the list is not a cut and dried proposition. There are 7 names below Craig, but it is our understanding that one of those people has left his job, two were technically laid off but actually went to work under grant money in Covelo and two more of the 8 have prior credit working in the jail so they have “bumping rights.” This put Craig back in the worrying zone of around 3rd from the bottom. This is not the time to relax and think he is not in jeopardy. We need to stay vigilant and right on top of the agendas for the Board of Supervisors meetings.”

FREE to a good home a 1930's upright piano. Needs tuning, and you've got to pick it up at storage in Ukiah. 895-3561.

LORETTA HOUCK, co-proprietor of Laughing Dog Books in Boonville writes: “Coming to Laughing Dog Books, Saturday, March 12, 1-3pm, Fort Bragg author Ginny Rorby. She'll be reading from her book ‘Outside of a Horse,’ about a Fort Bragg girl dealing with the after effects of her father's tour in Iraq. Ginny will also discuss her latest, ‘Lost in a River of Grass,’ a story of two teenagers stranded in the Everglades. We will also have limited copies available of ‘Dolphin Sky,’ the story of a 12-year-old girl who struggles with dyslexia and helps save dolphins. PS. This just in: didn't think I would receive them, but another of Ginny's books, 'Hurt Go Happy' is in. The story of a deaf girl who has been denied sign language. Then she meets a doctor who works with chimpanzees and everything changes. Wheeee!”

ALEXANDER COCKBURN was in Anderson Valley last week. Over lunch at the always excellent Mosswood Market, The Major and Cockburn couldn't help but notice an older couple take an AVA off the rack, younger couples tending to be oblivious of the print medium. Cockburn, always curious about the AVA demographic, asked the man buying the paper, “What do you like about it?” The gentleman replied, “Oh, we always buy it when we’re in town. We really like that guy Cock-Burn. He always makes us think.” “You mean 'Co-Burn'?” The Major corrected with a showy verbal emphasis on the glottal stop k in  the correct pronunciation of Cockburn. “Oh, yes. Sorry. I guess so,” the freshly instructed fellow replied. “And this is him,” ungrammatically declared the Major, neatly canceling his authority as a linguist as he gestured proprietarily at Cockburn. The delighted man introduced himself and shook the famous columnist's hand, explaining that he was a retired UC Davis professor who had some property in Anderson Valley and was on his way to it for a weekend visit, a visit perhaps made memorable by his encounter at Mosswood.

CORRECTION: Lesley A. Osman, MA, MFT, is the counselor occupying the nifty little structure to the rear of the Farrer Building downtown Boonville. Ms. Osman, who can be reached at 707 272-3902, is available in Boonville on Wednesdays and “some Fridays.” She is also qualified to accept specified insurance coverages.

THERE’S A NEW TASTING ROOM in town: Philo Ridge Winery Tasting Room is now ensconced at Tom Town, central Boonville. Jill Derwinski had suggested to Fred Buonnaro and Heather McKelvey that they bring their fine wine down out of the hills of Nash Mill Road to better share the bounty. Decorated by Suzan Topales — ‘Sewing Suzan’ — the room is delightfully done up in canary yellow, turquoise-blue, and pink flamingoes! inspiring Mrs. Derwinski to exclaim, “This is not going to be your regular tasting room. This is going to be fun!” Mr. Derwinski of course is famous for his metal work, especially his steel guitars — the shiny instruments were hanging on the walls of the tasting room and I was invited to play one. Slugs — oops — tastings of wine were offered to soften me up and how could I resist? Welcome, Philo Ridge Winery! (— Bruce McEwen)

WHILE we're on the subject of beauty, the mesmerizingly vivid paintings of Healdsburg artist Jerry Anderson are one more reason to stop in at Mosswood Market.