TOM TOWEY has relayed the sad news that Todd ”Cappy” Capazelo passed away last week. A long-time resident of Boonville, Todd had been fighting cancer. An unfailingly pleasant man who knew everything there was to know about football, and a formidable quarterback in his youth, Todd was a popular assistant at Anderson Valley High School under several head coaches.
THE LAST post I saw from Paul McCarthy on his essential MendocinoSportsPlus website was this one from last week: "Dump Truck rollover into Hwy 128 ditch. The Anderson Valley Fire Department & ground ambulance have been dispatched. They're having a hard time trying to locate this incident. At 1:30 pm, the response was canceled - unable to locate. UPDATE Now (1:30 pm) they are saying the incident was located 'just west of the Navarro Store'. First responders were re-committed to the incident — now located near mile marker 13.88. It was reported to be a three-axle dump truck and will need a heavy-duty tow truck to respond.” Maybe ten minutes later we heard the medi-chopper overhead, always a dread sound meaning serious injury.
AV FIRE CHIEF Andres Avila, who is still on strike team assignment on the fire line in Northeast Mendo, fleshed out the details: “I was told that the dispatch was at the intersection of Hwy 128 and Philo-Greenwood Rd. Units could not locate it at the given location and started up Greenwood Rd and both directions on the Highway. After stopping an eastbound vehicle units found that the accident was west of Navarro. They found a dump truck overturned with asphalt spilled all over the highway. The patient (driver) was transported by AV Ambulance to the Boonville airport to be transferred to the trauma center in Santa Rosa. Caltrans and CHP remained on scene for traffic control.”
BIG SAVE for local guy Taylor Balson the other morning. The young Boonville man spotted a toddler, still in pajamas, toddling as fast as it could toward town, and toddling dangerously close to the pavement of 128. Scooping the runaway up, Taylor knocked on doors until he knocked on the correct one where a relieved mom re-asserted her authority over her little runaway.
INSTANT NOSTALGIA: The carefully kept beds of zinnias and marigolds at the Boonville Fairgrounds, planted as always and as if the plague hadn't knocked out this year's Fair, an annual event that doubles as a kind of county-wide reunion where we see people we haven't seen during the twelve months prior, and one more local event gone missing.
ASKED how cyber-learning was going in Boonville, high school principal Jim Snyder responded: “It's going quite well, actually. There are of course glitches and hiccups, mostly in terms of internet connectivity, but the vast majority of students are able to connect and participate in school virtually. The district has given out about 250 internet hotspots to students to assist with internet connections. For those who do not have adequate internet access, we are able to deliver instruction and assignments to them in paper form, or through digital files delivered via USB drives.”
THE THREAT of an early rain Friday had pot gardeners extremely nervous, as did the light drizzle of the previous Wednesday. I'm told the bud is ready, but there's a dearth of trimmers, the most experienced of whom can demand forty dollars a whatever, hour? Pound? Ask your next door neighbor. Google Earth reveals the Anderson Valley, from Yorkville to Navarro, as a sea of telltale green. Growers are anticipating up to $2,000 a pound.
JANESE JUNE has returned to her home on Ornbaun Road, Boonville, after suffering through an emergency surgery and convalescence in Ukiah. Mrs. June has in her possession a safely stored archive of historical items collected by her late husband, Jack June, much of it rare and directly pertinent to the history of Mendocino County. I bring it up in the remote hope of exploring it some time, and further hope it finds an eventual home at either our Anderson Valley museum or the recently expanded Held-Poage in Ukiah.
BILL KIMBERLIN: “My book comes out in paperback tomorrow. If you like my writing, take a look, as it would help me with my publisher. It is a memoir and not about Star Wars. There is a chapter on Boonville and my life in general. Lots of stories. Thank you for any support.”
INTRIGUING SAMPLE PARAGRAPH: “Just before moving to the Valley, for my high school years, I knew this girl named Janet Rigsbee. We went to school together. She was very easy on the eyes. I didn't hear about her again until I left the Valley for college. She now had a new name. It was Janet Planet and she was with Van Morrison. Van Morrison wrote several songs about her, but my favorite is "Brown Eyed Girl".
KATY TAHJA wrote last week: “P.S. It was sad to see a dead bear in the road across from the Little Red Schoolhouse in the westbound lane Saturday morning. Remember wildlife may be coming down for what water there is in the Navarro River. Drive Carefully.”
THE UNFORTUNATE BEAST wasn't a bear; he was a giant boar struck by a pick-up hauling a trailer. Ricky Adams has pictures of the pig's mangled remains. “And that pick-up looked pretty bad, too,” Ricky reports.
EARLY MORNING Boonville consists of four persons — Ricky Adams waiting for a cup of coffee at the Redwood Drive-in; Pilar Echeverria and her genius baker Noella Sanchez at Mosswood; and me. As a former logger, Ricky's up early every morning. As are Craig Titus, Eddie Slotte, Charlie Hiatt, Eddie Pardini. Pilar serves the lucky early morning through traffic with Noella's unmatched baked goods and coffee to go. Me, a lifelong early riser no matter how late the previous night's merriment is up with the chickens, too.
WE all get regular reminders that we live in a rural area. I got one just the other morning on upper Lambert Lane. Out for some early morning aerobics I apparently startled a skunk doing whatever a skunk might be doing in the middle of a pre-dawn lonely road. But instead of scurrying off into the underbrush as a fox surely would (a raccoon might stand and fight) this skunk starts running along directly in front of me. I stopped, he stopped. I took two steps and stopped. He shuffled forward and stopped. We proceeded in this stagger-step dance for some fifty yards! Human insolence is one thing, but when you're messed with by a member of the animal kingdom… He finally veered off and I moved on unmolested by man or beast.
AV HEALTH CENTER Announces $1 Million Dollar Federal Grant
Boonville — September 15, 2020 Today the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced that they have awarded $79 million in construction and other capital support to 165 health centers in disaster prone areas in the U.S. The awards called the Capital Assistance for Disaster Response and Recovery Efforts (CADRE) aim to ensure access to healthcare and increase health center capacity to serve their communities after disasters.
Anderson Valley Health Center (AVHC) is proud to have received the maximum award of $1 million dollars to renovate the existing health center to improve disaster readiness and ensure our full range of services remain available through a crisis with a particular emphasis on mental health.
AVHC is one of a few critical disaster resources during a crisis in Anderson Valley and is a first stop for community members seeking assistance. AVHC has been planning for a larger remodel for over 3 years and has plans to add over 5,000 square feet of new office space, a behavioral health reception area, a new teen clinic, acupuncture and specialty service rooms, telehealth exam rooms, and more.
AVHC plans to install an additional solar array that will continue to highlight our commitment to combating climate change and to being the first LEED certified health center in California.
AVHC is proud to receive this award and grateful to our staff and community for the role they play in supporting AVHC’s services. We will continue to serve you well.
For a list of award recipients, visit https://bphc.hrsa.gov/program-opportunities/cadre/fy2020-awards.
SAMPLE BALLOTS go out on September 24th. If you do not get a sample ballot by early next week, call the Elections Office (234-6819) to verify that you are registered and that they have your correct address. If you want to track your ballot, you can register at the following site: wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov (Kathleen McKenna, Boonville precinct volunteer)
ONLY ONE FARMERS MARKET LEFT in the season! Friday from 4-6 at Disco Ranch for the Boonville Farmers' Market. Stock up on local organic olive oil, and meat and enjoy the flavors of summer produce. We're a small group but have a lot to offer! mushrooms, eggs, greens, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, cukes and more! EBT and credit cards accepted. Interested in managing the market next year? Let's talk! (Lama aforestperson@gmail.com)
PRIMO BOONVILLE HAY FOR SALE! The Boonville Airport has approximately 500 bales of grass hay for sale! Help support the Boonville Airport. Asking $7.10 per bale but quantity discounts are available. Please contact the Airport Manager, Kirk Wilder, at (707) 895-2949.
AMBULANCE CALLS have been down in the last couple of months perhaps related to reduced tourism in the area. Fewer calls creates some concern about the Ambulance budget. CSD General Manager and Ambulance Manager later reported however that lower ambulance revenues for a month or two are not considered a problem and should average out over time.
THAT PURLOINED REDWOOD. Dennis Tuttle, busily re-doing the Navarro Ice House, accidentally cut down an older redwood that turned out to have been growing on CSD property. The CSD harrumphed and demanded compensation. Mr. Tuttle had milled the tree into redwood boards he’d planned to use in his rehab of the Ice House, but turned the matter over to his insurance company, which agreed to pay $3,000 and no more than that, even though the tree was estimated by more objective evaluators as worth about $7,500. Instead of going through the hassle of pursuing the matter in court, CSD trustee Larry Mailliard, taking the initiative and possession of the milled lumber, intends to turn it over to Philo firefighter Olie Erickson who will turn the wood into picnic tables and benches to be auctioned off as a fire department benefit sometime between now and Thanksgiving.
THE INLAND Mendocino Democratic Mobile Headquarters, aka Joe Louis Wildman, Mendo king of the middle-of-the-road extremists, visited “Anderson Valley, specifically downtown Boonville near the Boonville Hotel, on Wednesday, September 23 beginning at 2 pm.” (Which was today, if you read Boonville’s beloved weekly on its publication day.) “Biden/Harris campaign material, handouts about ballot propositions and local races will be available. Not registered to vote yet? Mobile HQ volunteers will happily sign you up. They'll have Census information on hand as well. This year, due to Covid, the IMDC revised their normal practice of opening a Ukiah campaign headquarters. Instead, the organization is sending its “Mobile HQ,” an appropriately emblazoned van, around Inland Mendocino County, following an ambitious itinerary that includes several dozen stops at a wide range of locales. The journey began on Labor Day and will continue until Election Day. Additional upcoming scheduled stops include Ukiah on Saturday, September 26 (the Farmer’s Market at 9 am and State & Perkins at 2 pm) and Redwood Valley on Sunday, September 27 (RV Farmer’s Market at 9 am and Lions Park at 2 pm). There is a return Boonville visit currently scheduled for Sunday, October 18. The schedule is subject to change, as weather and air-quality conditions dictate. For information and/or date confirmation, please visit the Inland Mendocino Democratic Club website, at https://mendodems.org/WP/, or call (707) 367-0910. “ (Jerry Karp)
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