Valley People

CHRISTINE CLARK remains at Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits where she is fighting off a persistent infection. An absolutely crucial Valley Person with many years of ambulance service and other good works too numerous to list, Christine is grateful for the many wishes of good will and speedy recovery she has received.

BOB SITES is resting at his Yorkville home after what turned out to be a perilous stay at the VA Hospital in San Francisco. Bob and his faithful companion Terry Ryder had set out for the City and what they'd assumed would be a routine gall stone medical process. The routine procedure developed complications and resulted in a week-long hospitalization for the unfortunate Mr. Sites fortunate, though, in his companion who stayed with him throughout his ordeal.

THERE MIGHT BE a local connection to the big Dos Rios pot bust last week that saw 13 people arrested on pot cultivation and sale charges when their illegal water diversion out of the lower stretch of the Middle Fork of the Eel River was spotted by Fish and Game. Most of the people arrested appear to be pot trimmers, here for the season. But two of the lead suspects, the Depesa Brothers, surfer dudes Jeremiah and Golden Depesa of Oceanside, are known to Mountain View Road residents. Most of the other people arrested with the Depesas are also from Southern California.

SPEAKING OF DOPE, Napa County cops busted a grow on Butts Canyon Road where they found 35 marijuana trees, none of them under 9 feet tall and 5 feet around at the base. “There was so much bud on their branches,” one of the cops said, “that the limbs were propped up with poles like you see in old apple orchards.” A few years ago, there were reports of dwarf pot plants that produced more than five pounds of bud per plant.

IF THERE'S ONE THING we all have in common in the Anderson Valley it's our constant struggles with our water systems. On Sunday, October 23rd, at Jug Handle Creek Farm (visible from Highway One near Caspar), a group of bona fide experts will present a workshop on storm management and rain water harvest systems. These authorities include Bruce Broderick of Being Water LLC; Abby Stockwell of County Planning and Building; Joe Scriven of the Mendocino Resource Conservation District; Terri Jo Barber, manager of Fort Bragg's ingenious water projects; Helen Chalfin, manager of Jug Handle's native plant nursery.

STEVE SPARKS WRITES: “Anderson Valley 'Good Food Lovers' and 'Friends of the Seniors.' The fourth and final 'Guest Chef Dinner' of 2011 will be taking place at the Senior Center on Friday, October 28th. These have been very popular and seats are limited. This month's Guest Chef is Fal Allen, the General Manager of the A.V. Brewery who, in fine Oktoberfest tradition, will be serving locally “grown” Wild boar (pig) and herb sausages, served on a bed of beer-steeped sauerkraut with a side of traditional German-style warm potato salad (with bacon and onions) and an apple (locally grown) & walnut salad. Desert will be traditional German apple, cherry and plumb strudel. Anderson Valley Beers will be on draft (Poleeko Pale Ale & Boont Amber) and local wines also available. The doors open at 6.30pm. Dinner will be served at 7pm and seating will be limited to sixty guests at $25 per head. Last month this event once again sold out and tickets are selling quickly so either let me now by e-mail, or get your tickets from the Senior Center (Tuesday or Thursday lunch times) or Laughing Dog Books in Boonville. Kind regards, Steve (not a senior but thinking it's quite good to be one in Anderson Valley. PS. Despite the German Ocktoberfest theme, the wearing of lederhosen is not compulsory.”

AFTER ALMOST TWO YEARS of local fund-raising resulting in some$13,000 donated to the Sheriff’s Office for a K-9 unit, aka police dog, for resident deputy Craig Walker, Deputy Walker’s four-footed unit, “Bullet,” a Belgian Shepard (Malinois, technically) arrived in Anderson Valley to meet his new handler, the aforementioned Deputy Walker. Many weeks of on-the-job training remain before “Bullet,” who’s about a year and a half old, gets his K-9 badge. According to Wikipedia, “the Malinois is bred primarily as a working dog for personal protection, detection, police work, search and rescue, and sport work. Well-raised and trained Malinois are usually active, friendly, protective, and hard-working. Some may be excessively exuberant or playful, especially when young. They can be destructive or develop neurotic behaviors if not provided enough stimulation and exercise. These are large, strong dogs that require consistent obedience training, and enjoy being challenged with new tasks. They are known as being very easy to obedience train, due to their high drive for rewards.”

DEPUTY WALKER is looking forward to upwards of ten years of dedicated service from “Bullet,” who, from our first impression, meets the Wiki-description of the breed quite well.

SALAD UNIVERSITY is holding Fall classes to highlight the abundance of healthful herbs, flowers, and greens as the rainy season returns. Learn the secrets of Floodgate Farm's salad mix from Bill Taylor, Jaye Moscariello. Come to the coast Sunday October 23 from 2 to 5 PM in Elk (6141 S. Highway 1) or to Boonville Fairgrounds Parking Lot at 1 PM on Sunday Nov. 13 for carpooling to a nearby garden. Wendy Blankenheim will also be coteaching the Boonville class. Each class includes tasting and discussing each plant, and ends with a salad, green smoothie, kimchi, and small meal to which potluck contributions are welcome. If you need more info Bill or Jaye can be reached at 707-877-1668 or edibleland@earthlink.net .

THE HAZ MOBILE, courtesy of Mike Sweeney, Mendocino County's lead garbage bureaucrat and former direct action communist, will be at the Boonville Fairgrounds parking lot this weekend where you can off-load this or that toxic substance at no charge. Sweeney, incidentally, is easily the most interesting man in Mendocino County and, if he ever goes national, might plausibly become Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World. “His motto is safety second, just after his job; his charm is so contagious it captured the Press Democrat's Ukiah bureau; he can speak Chairman Mao in French; and he can cure narcolepsy simply by exclaiming, 'Who Bombed My Ex-Wife?; Stay gullible, my friends.”

YOUR KID will surely benefit from Coach Miles' Little Bounce Basketball Clinic on Saturday, October 22nd in the Boonville gym. Coach Miles is a truly excellent teacher with whom your budding athlete will learn the fundamentals of the game and have a great time doing it. Boys and girls, ages 3-7, 9am to 12:30. Boys and girls ages 8-15, 1pm to 5:30pm. Only $25! Walk-ups welcome. Info atr 707- 812 0369.

NICE ALTERMAN, you might say, is the Marti Bradford of the County School Board. Nice has represented the 5th District on the County Board forever, just as Marti has forever represented JR Collins on the Boonville School Board. But forever ends this year for Nice and may end for Marti as well if she loses next month's election. With Nice retired, the 5th District seat on the County Board will be open. Interested? A couple of hundred bucks for the once-a-month meetings, all be them tedious affairs with Superintendent Tichinin talking dumb and crazy all day. And you get plus lavish health bennies for you and your loved ones, making a seat on the County Board a sinecure well worth even enduring a monthly dose of Tichinin-ism. Info at the Mendocino County Office of Education, Talmage.

MEMO TO DAVE BLACKSHER, the KZYX news guy. I only listen the front part of the week, but I assume the format is same-same every night. I've got a couple of suggestions: (1) Introducing the news with a heroin tune — Kinda Blue by Miles Davis — is, well, bizarre, not that bizarre doesn't often visit Mendocino County Public Radio. The first time I heard your theme music I thought it was somehow 3am and I was out of Old Grandad. But the sun was still on my tomatoes and my chickens were still running around out in the yard. Dude! Pick up the tempo! (2) Not to be too much of a fuddy duddy about it, but when you're interviewing local officials they should be addressed by title, as in Captain Smallcomb; Sheriff Allman; Ms. Angelo; Comrade Hamburg, and so on. Addressing Smallcomb as 'Kurt,' Allman as 'Tom,' Angelo as 'Carmel' etc. is not only overly familiar and unbecoming of a news guy, it can be confusing. You're not chatting with an old pal, you're talking to a specific person with a specific public function for a specific reason. And a reputable reporter should keep all these people at a good arm's distance. Get chummy with them and you're not inclined to rip them when they have it coming, not that KZYX is ever likely to rip anyone in a position of authority. Otherwise, kiddo, you're doing fine.

PROHIBITION, the one we didn't learn from, lasted in this country from 1920 until 1933. It was stoutly but narrowly resisted by the incorporated areas of Mendocino County but prevailed in the County at large, winning overall by a small margin. Ukiah, for instance, voted to remain wet by a mere 16 votes while Point Arena was so frightened at the mere prospect of no booze it incorporated itself before the election, confident that its electorate would vote to go on drinking. Which Point Arena did. Fort Bragg voted to remain wet, although the vote there was also close. One doesn't need to be particularly imaginative to understand the sentiment against drink. With no social welfare net beyond a few private charities, and male bread winners in large national numbers cashing their meager weekly pay at the corner gin mill, women and children were at the mercy of the bottle.