Valley People

THE PTA EMBEZZLEMENT CASE remains under investigation. Prevalent rumors in rumor-rich Anderson Valley say it's over, that no money is missing, but as of Tuesday morning the Sheriff's Department was still assessing the matter.

THE COMMUNITY is also buzzing about a student expulsion hearing before the school board, which was scheduled for next Monday evening, the 27th but has been put over until early March. The parents of the targeted student have not only lawyered up, they've demanded an open hearing, which is their legal right. And students are circulating a petition in favor of the alleged assailant, a popular young man with no history of violence or bullying.

SAVE HENDY WOODS! State Senator Noreen Evans has gotten the California Department of Parks and Recreation to convene public workshops across the state to find local partners to help keep parks open. DPR will present a “How To” explanation for all parties interested in forming partnerships for operating a state park. The workshops in our region will be held as follows: February 23 – Fort Bragg: 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the CV Starr Community Center, 300 South Lincoln Street, Conference Room 3. February 24 – Santa Rosa: 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Julliard Park, Church of One Tree Community Center, 492 Sonoma Avenue. These workshops will concentrate on the process for entering into partnership agreements for keeping parks open and will not be taking testimony on why certain parks were chosen for closure. If you are interested in receiving future updates on the status of state park closures.

THE HAZMOBILE household hazardous waste collection team will return to the Boonville fairgrounds parking lot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Friday and Saturday, February 24 & 25. Toxic items like paint, antifreeze, pesticides, herbicides, pool chemicals, gasoline, solvents, acids, bases, toxic cleaners, auto and household batteries, medications, and fluorescent light tubes are accepted by the HazMobile. Explosives and road flares are excluded. Motor oil, computer monitors and televisions can be recycled at the Boonville Transfer Station, Mountain View Road, open Tuesday-Wednesday 9-4 and Saturday-Sunday 9-4.

THAT TALL (6'9"), fit-looking gent in town last week was football Hall of Famer Bob St. Clair, the great 49er tackle from 1953 to 1963. St. Clair stopped in at the Buckhorn where he chatted with an old friend, Todd Capazulo, and signed a menu. As a 49er, St. Clair, now in his eighth decade, was famous for eating his steaks raw. We haven't heard what or in what condition he ate at the Buckhorn. For many years, St. Clair owned a liquor store at 24th and Sanchez in the Noe Valley of San Francisco. He also served as mayor of Daly City and a San Mateo County supervisor.

NADIA BERRIGAN WRITES: “Everyone enjoys the 'letter' that I wrote to the editor in you paper, but I must retract the statement that I wrote it! It was a forwarded email. I just thought you would enjoy seeing that email, but in no way, shape or form, did I write the beautiful paragraphs. Being of good conscience and with the necessity of setting a good example, I must admit that to sign my name to the forwarded email would be plagiarism, which is strictly prohibited in our educational community. So, please insert this statement into your next paper. PS Did you see the picture? A picture is sometimes worth a thousand words!”

WE DID SEE the photo, Ms. Berrigan, and here it is for everyone to see. Truth to tell, it looks photo-shopped. The proportions seem way off. Anyway, thank you for the clarification.

TRIVIA IMPRESARIO STEVE SPARKS reminds us that “the 4th Thursday of the month is this week (23rd) and after the week off your brains are no doubt bursting at the seams as the General Knowledge and Trivia Quiz approaches. As usual it will once again take place at Lauren's Restaurant in Boonville. The festivities begin at 7pm and A.V. Ambulance staff will be on hand just next door if it all gets too much for you following the two week hiatus... Please try to remain calm...Look forward to seeing you...”

MR. S. ALSO SERVES as the Senior Center's Bingo impresario where, last Tuesday night, Jared Titus not only prepared a excellent meal but also called the numbers in Steve's absence. The food was delicious, the crowd lively, and Carolyn Short seemed to win every other round.

23 PEOPLE have enrolled in Kathy Cox's Spanish classes for Anderson Valley Adults at the AV High School. Beginner Classes will be held on Mondays at 5:45pm and intermediate student classes on Wednesdays at 6pm. $150.00 is the cost for the 15-week program which is aimed at conversational fluency. Interested? Call Kathy at 895-3955. Classes are sponsored by the AV Adult School.

JIM YOUNG tells us that there's a three-way tie for the small school hoops championship with Mendocino, coached by Young, tied with Point Arena and Laytonville for first place, meaning all three teams will move on into the Division-6 playoffs. Among this season's girls' teams, Covelo and Point Arena tied for the league title, and will move on into the D-6 play-offs.

JARED HUFFMAN, candidate for Congress, appeared at the Boonville Fire House Saturday morning. The turnout was light, but the few people who did show up got plenty of face time with the guy. Huffman, of Marin County, has been endorsed by Mike Thompson and Wes Chesbro, and presently sits as an Assemblyman. He's considered the lead candidate in the race for the freshly reconfigured 2nd Congressional District, reconfigured out of the former 1st Congressional District to include Marin.

THE VIVID ABSTRACTS of Healdsburg artist Jerry Anderson are presently on display at Mosswood Market. Ordinarily, I'm not much for abstracts, but I like these for their lively color, and so might you.

THE PEOPLE DILIGENTLY working to bring broadband to the entire county have either forgotten or never knew that when the transoceanic cable line companies were digging up half the roads around here in the mid-1990s to install the thing, disrupting traffic for a year and wrecking miles of local road, if the supervisors hadn't been asleep we could have tapped the cable for broadband then. Instead, we got nothing but permanently damaged roads and an eventual settlement for not near enough money from the people responsible.

A MARIN COUNTY WOMAN named Eladia Laines owns the long-abandoned Palace Hotel, wasting away in the middle of Ukiah for going on three decades. Ukiah doesn't know what the heck to do about its ancient, crumbling bulk, but doesn't want to get stuck with the large expense of demolishing it. Ms. Laines had bought the property up at auction for less than $200,000. A series of thieves and cocaine dealers had consecutively owned it prior to her. They stripped the building of its fixtures and one of them made off with the old painting of Black Bart that had hung over the elegant old bar for a hundred years. Last week, Ms. Laines, who is rumored to have turned down an offer to buy the Palace for a cool mil only four years ago, appeared before the Ukiah City Council. She said she wasn't responsible for the deteriorated condition of the once grand hotel, that a team of young women had been seen on the roof cutting their way into the building with chainsaws. It was these mysterious Amazons who'd wrecked the place. Ms. Laines went on to say that it was obvious the City of Ukiah was letting other vandals in, and doggone it that just isn't fair. The upshot? The City of Ukiah is somehow going to have to abate the property, a process likely to be complicated by the fact that it's owned by a crazy person.

BOONVILLE'S very own, highly abatable property at Haehl Street and 128 is owned by a haughty fellow named Glen Ricard of Little River and Mendocino. Ricard may not be nuts but, like Ms. Laines and her decaying Palace Hotel, he's content to sit on a major eyesore cum fire hazard in our town while he turns down offers to buy and rehab the property. Our community services district should have moved on Ricard years ago, but like Ms. Laines, he just keeps on getting away with maintaining a clear and present structural hazard to the community.

JOHN LEWALLEN, independent candidate for US Congress in California’s new Northcoast Second Congressional District, cordially invites the public to his formal Declaration of Candidacy on Thursday, February 23, at 1pm, at the Mendocino County Elections Department on Low Gap Road in Ukiah. Lewallen, 69, a long-time resident of the Anderson Valley, lives in Philo. He owns and operates the Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company with his wife, Barbara. Lewallen is campaigning to support local livelihoods and a healthy environment, promises to promote public health and to “end suicidal military spending, and end the prohibition of cannabis to develop a world-class cannabis products industry.” For more information, visit the website www.johnlewallenforcongress.org.

DIAPERS are now available at the Anderson Valley Family Resource Center, which is located at the Anderson Valley Elementary School. The Mendocino Diaper Depot, a project of the Children’s Action Committee of Mendocino County, will provide diapers for children newborn to six, but sizes may be limited. “We know, especially around the beginning of the month, how tight funds can be for families,” Ashley Bergen, Children’s Action Committee coordinator said. “Our goal with the emergency sites is to help those who run out of diapers before payday and have to choose between buying diapers or food or paying other bills.”

ALL ROADS LEAD to Boonville. President Obama visited the San Francisco home of Nicola Miner and Robert Mailer Anderson last Thursday night for a campaign fundraising dinner. Robert, a nephew of AVA editor Bruce Anderson and his wife Ling, is a graduate of Anderson Valley High School. Robert and Nicola maintain a ranch in the hills six miles east of Boonville. Ling Anderson attended the San Francisco event where, gathered privately with the Anderson family as the President arrived, she greeted the President in Malay, and the President answered in Malay. Mrs. Anderson said the President's Malay is quite good. Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia where Malay, or a version of it, is the lingua franca. Mrs. Anderson is from East Malaysia, which shares a border, languages and many cultural similarities with Indonesia. Nicola Miner and Mrs. Anderson were both hugged by the President and “he pecked us on the cheek,” Mrs. Anderson said. “One of the highlights of the evening for me and my family,” Robert said Friday, “was the Reverend Al Green giving my daughter Frances a big hug after singing 'Let's Stay Together.' Another was Booker T playing my favorite tune of his (he just won his fourth Grammy and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) 'Time is Tight' with Charlie Musselwhite and Les Claypool during soundcheck. They played the classic 'Green Onions' as the President came into the room after my introduction.” The President shot a few hoops with Robert, whose indoor gym is painted in Panther brown and gold, and the President autographed two basketballs, one of which, Robert says, will eventually appear in the high school's trophy case.