THE EDITOR is away from his desk on medical leave of the non-serious but mildly debilitating type he describes as “old guy stuff.” He worries that he’ll be behind on his correspondence but vows “to get caught up as soon as I get back to Boonville.”
PART-TIME Navarro resident (and AVA contributor) Darwin Bond-Graham was quoted in a recent AP Wire story about the Obama administration’s proposed conversion of three Nuclear Weapons labs into “national parks” — Los Alamos (New Mexico), Hanford (Washington) and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Manhattan Project sites, said a Park Service spokesman, “are significant parts of our national cultural history. And before they get bulldozed over [sic], we are in favor of preserving these places so future generations can study these events, for good or bad.” “Absolutely disgusting,” responded Bond-Graham in an email. “From a fiscally conservative perspective surely in this ‘time of belt-tightening’ the Feds shouldn't waste one cent on crap like this. If the nuclear weaponeers want to do it with all private money, well good for them and their sickened and misguided souls. But not one federal or state cent!”
NOW THAT the Sheriff’s budget situation is more or less stabilized, mostly via attrition, it’s time to put pressure on the Sheriff to provide Anderson Valley resident deputy Craig Walker the K-9 unit that the Unity Club raised money for. The Department is down to three patrol dogs — “Dutch” out of Willits doing most of the patrol dog work. Deputy Walker could use a canine helper here in The Valley.
DEPUTY SQUIRES remains off duty on medical leave due mostly to a shoulder injury but, as always, the legendary Boonville lawman remains active as the go-to guy for intelligence of the criminal type.
THE SIMPLE LIVING FAIR, was a big success by all accounts and doubly confirmed by the large number of vehicles in town Saturday and Sunday. The crowd seemed bigger on Saturday than on Sunday. “Lots of leather,” cryptically remarked one young attendee in describing the crowd. No arrests and the only music emanating from the Fairgrounds was the occasional distant thump of a bongo.
THE GUERERRO TIRE SHOP case got sadder last week when it was revealed that the 43-year-old Santa Rosa man found murdered in the Guererro-sponsored marijuana garden near the Napa-Sonoma county line left behind a wife and three children in Santa Rosa. The second man found dead in the garden has still not been identified.
WILFREDO RONALDO RIVAS-VELASQUEZ, a Salvadoran who’d served in that country’s army, had left his family's home on June 17 for a job tending the Napa County grow, but when he failed to return home his daughter called the Santa Rosa police. She knew the general area her father was working in and was also aware of the dangerous nature of the work. She’d grown worried when her father, always the faithful family man, did not return home. It was the daughter’s alarmed call that set in motion the investigation by the Napa County Sheriff’s Department that ultimately led to the arrest of Carlos Guererro of Boonville. Guererro, however, is not believed to be involved in the deaths of the two men killed in the remote garden.
CARLOS PEREZ, 21, is being sought as the killer. He’s described by Napa County Sheriff’s detective Chris Carlisle “as a resident of the area who is about 5’9” and 175 pounds who walks with a pronounced limp and has sores on his arms and legs and a prominent scar on his right ankle.” Perez seems to have also been working at the murder site but the precise relationships of all the men involved, including Boonville’s Guererro, are not known.
JAY WESTON, writing for the Huffington Post last week lamented about local boy Zack Anderson’s film that “’Will’ is wonderful movie you may never see.” Although ‘Will’ will soon be shown at English theaters, and Anderson and his co-writer and the film’s director, Ellen Perry, are still negotiating with American distributors. The soccer-based movie starring famed British actor Bob Hoskins, has not yet been released in American theaters. Weston describes Ellen Perry as “a huge talent; this is her first dramatic feature to direct, but I now have seen her two well-received documentaries, including The Fall of Fujimori, which opened at Sundance and was nominated for an Emmy and also Best Screenplay by the Writer's Guild (with Zack also receiving a nomination as co-writer), and her first documentary, the amazing Great Wall Across the Yangzte.”
GREENLEAF BURNS told Jimmy Humble at the Boonville Fairgrounds that he was a third generation hippie and yes, Greenleaf was his real name. Third generation hippie. The shaggy beasts of the class of 67 have certainly proved fecund, haven’t they?
DON’T MISS the Disc Golf tournament at the Anderson Valley Brewery this weekend. Some of the world champs based in Santa Cruz and including Valerie Jenkins and Nate Doss told this reporter they just may stop by to sign your putter. Or your disc.
OLIVIA ALLEN is getting rave reviews for her performance in the Ukiah High School production of the Tony Award winning musical ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.’ This is the last weekend to see her perform, so get you thither to 1041 Low Gap Road in Ukiah.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Monika Fuchs and Beverly Bennett of Philo — 27 glorious years together.
THE ART AND MUSIC CAMP at River’s Bend Retreat Center, 18450 Rays Road, Philo (formerly Wellspring), runs from July 31st to August 7th.
NEXT TIME you check your mail at the Boonville Post Office, check out the native plants in front of the Missouri House next door. Linda McElwee of the Land Trust has replaced all the invasive species with native specimens.
MONTE HULBERT, The Valley’s Mountain Man, was doing his shopping at the Boonville Market early Monday morning. Market proprietor Ruben Thomasson says Monte got himself 86’d from Lemons’ Market in Philo for hugging — without permission — Erica Lemons on the store’s front porch. Can hardly blame Mountain Man, commented a couple of bystanders, who said they’d risk an 86 to hug the attractive matron.
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