ASHLEY JONES has died. The long-time resident of the Anderson Valley had moved to Alameda to be closer to family where he passed last week. A full obituary to follow.
A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT about a mile up Peachland Road from Highway 128 filled the 9pm Thursday dark with sirens and, soon, medi-vac helicopters. Three persons, two in their 80s, and a much younger man, were traveling eastbound up Peachland in a vehicle first described as a red Subaru but turned out to be a blue pick-up when the driver, subsequently identified as 81-year-old, Alvin Carrell of Boonville, failed to negotiate a bend in the road about a mile up Peachland, his pick-up plunging some 80 feet down a steep hillside.
THE EXTRICATION of the injured persons, two of them badly injured, all of them conscious but pinned in the crushed pick-up, which had landed upside down, was a complicated process involving several emergency services units led by the Anderson Valley Fire Department.
THE THREE persons trapped in the wreckage had to be cut free. During the lengthy extraction, the wreckage had begun to slip farther down the hill, necessitating a hurry-up stabilization of the vehicle.
EMERGENCY services people were on-site until midnight. Two of the injured parties, were medi-vacced to Santa Rosa, the third injured person and driver, Mr. Carrell, was taken to Ukiah Adventist by ambulance and soon booked into the County Jail by the CHP for driving under the influence.
AV FIRE saw the Peachland accident this way: "Last Thursday night, Anderson Valley Fire Department responded to a vehicle over the embankment with several challenges: multiple patients, entrapment, low-angle rescue, limited space for response vehicles, vehicle stabilization, low attendance by more experienced responders, additional calls in the district, and region-wide air-ambulance coordination. This was the first complex incident for some of our newer folks and a high demand incident for our group leaders. Almost 20 AVFD first responders, plus a Cal Fire engine, arrived from all over Anderson Valley to get the job done. It took a team."
BOB MAKI, for years the Anderson Valley’s go-to guy for vehicular breakdowns at his Philo-based Starr Automotive, has sold his business, which is now called Smith Automotive. It was the Smiths — skilled and friendly young guys — who deftly handled the difficult job of hauling the crushed Peachland truck out of the gully where it had landed.
AV GRANGE DAVID NORFLEET MEMORIAL PANCAKE BREAKFAST, SUNDAY OCT. 10,,8:30-11:00
The Grange Pancake Breakfast was one of David’s favorite doings. He would be in the Grange at 6:30am doing prep and whipping up a batch of his secret pancake mix. Luckily he bequeathed the recipe to the Grange, so in his honor we will be serving breakfast socially distanced and as much masked as you can be. David helped so many different folks during his long tenure in the Valley. We want you all to feel welcome to the breakfast. There is no official service planned but we sure hope people will share some of the many “remember the time” stories. We are charging our usual fee for the breakfast. It’s been a challenge keeping the doors open during the pandemic. You might even want to join the Grange so that you can be part of this community space when things open up. See you there! PS. On the day before the Grange Pancake Breakfast, the brewery is organizing another get together to honor David. That’s Sat. Oct. 9 from 2-5:30. Come to both. Norfleet would like that. (Captain Rainbow)
COVID TESTING ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We have several new, active COVID cases in our community, please get tested regardless of your vaccine status.
The County is now testing here on MONDAYS from 2-5pm at the fairgrounds (no more Fridays). https://lhi.care/covidtesting
The AV Clinic is testing on WEDNESDAYS from 9-10:30am at the Senior Center. https://home.color.com/covid/sign-up/start?partner=cdph632
Yes it’s two different one-time registration sign ups.
AV BOOSTER CLINIC
AVHC will be holding a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster clinic on Wednesday October 6th from 2:30-5 at Anderson Valley High School. If you received your second dose Pfizer vaccine from us from January- April 8th, and are eligible please come to Anderson Valley High School for a drive thru clinic. See CDC recommendations below. You must bring your vaccine card and have received your second dose Pfizer more than 6 months ago. Thanks!
- People 65+ years old
- People 18-64 with underlying medical conditions
- People 18-64 who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupation or institutional setting.
Contact the AV Health Center for more info: 895-3477
BENEFIT FOR RAQUEL FLORES
Please join us next weekend, Saturday October 9th from 11am until the food runs out! And Sunday October 10th 9am and on! We will be selling food to go, Tacos, Carnitas, Pozole, Birria, Menudo and more!! The menus will be different both days! We are fundraising to raise money for a local community member who was recently diagnosed with cancer!
Raquel is a loving wife and mother of 4 who needs our help!
Any questions feel free to contact me or Estela Espinoza who’s information is on the flier!
If you cannot attend but would like to make a donation please let me know! Thank you all!
Estela Espinoza, 489-0160
A THOUSAND barn sales later, the new St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church has begun to rise on the site set aside for it many years ago on a modest parcel between Highway 128 and Anderson Valley Way. I wish the late Eva Holcomb was here to see the beginning of the construction. No one was more devoted to raising the money for the new church, but it's been years of selfless effort by lots of people, not all of them Catholics.
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR ARTHUR FOLZ:
Tuesday night's Volleyball Game Results: The Anderson Valley Panthers are on fire! Both our JV and Varsity teams swept the Laytonville Warriors bringing us to a 4-0 record this season. Our varsity girls will be playing against Mendocino this Friday at home. The game starts at 4:00 p.m.
The AVHS boys soccer game won their first game at home today against Credo 6-1. Sophomore Eric Perez scored the first goal early in the first half followed by two consecutive goals from junior Stephen Torales. Junior Juan Luis Orozco scored the third goal before the end of the first half. Randal Ferreyra scored two goals in the second half while Credo was able to sneak one by our keeper, junior Jose Pereda.
Friday's Sports Results:
Boys Soccer: The Panthers beat visiting team Calistoga 4-0 in a surprising upset. I thought that Calistoga was going to be a tough match given past history, but that was not the case. The Panthers scored twice in the first half with sophomore Roberto Bucio scoring the first goal followed by a goal scored by sophomore Eric Perez. In the second half, junior Stephen Torales scored our third goal and Roberto Bucio scored our final fourth goal. It was an exciting game. Our next soccer game will be here at our home field next Friday, October 8, against Tech.
Volleyball: Over in the gym, we hosted Mendocino for a varsity only game (there was a scheduling conflict with Mendocino earlier, so they already played their junior varsity team and lost that game). Mendocino has proven to be the toughest competition thus far in our league. Though the Panthers fought hard, we lost all three sets by 23, 21, and 11 points. No doubt these girls are ready to get back at Mendocino when they host us on October 12. The Panthers will play next week at our home gym against Round Valley.
Football: Coach John Toohey’s AV Panthers outscored a scrappy Tomales eight-man football squad Saturday night 36-28 in their season opening non-conference game.
NOEL MANNERS WRITES: "The old postcard of horse riders in Hendy Woods brought memories of when I worked as a teenage 'wrangler' at Highland Ranch. In the 1970’s. I was fortunate to lead up to 20 persons horseback each Sunday for a ride in Big Hendy Grove, always stopping for a break near the river. The hermit, Petrov, lived in a redwood tree goosepen on the periphery of the grove. One day while on a solo ride, he came up to me and was very upset and angry. Leading my horse, I followed him to where his 'house' had been and was recently logged. He was so upset that he was gesturing that he wanted my rifle which I politely refused. Later, I came back with another wrangler and helped him resettle his belongings in the same goosepen, which was now a stump."
JUST DOWN the street, the Flynn Creek Circus has pitched a tent at the Boonville Brewery, under whose big top the now venerable Circus will delight the young and the young at heart. Boonville, Mendocino County's most happening community!
HAZMOBILE available to pick up your toxic stuff on Saturday, October 16, 9:00 AM at the Fairgrounds parking lot, Boonville.
THE ANDERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY LIBRARY will reopen on TUESDAY, Oct. 12, from 1-4pm at the Boonville Fairgrounds Home Arts Building. Regular Hours: 1-4pm Tuesdays; 12:30-2:30pm Saturdays.
BUT, BUT, BUT, MADAM. A woman called this morning to snarl that Clow Ridge was not named after Norman Clow. “Get yer facts straight,” she demanded. Click. Fond as I am of ol' Norm, it's beyond my authority to name a chunk of the Coast Range after him, which I didn't do in the first place. There's a slew of Clows, past and present and, obviously, Clow Ridge was named after the first Clow to claim it, run sheep on it, gaze at it with proprietary pride. That man was, I believe, at least three generations of Clows prior to Norman.
MASTER CRAFTSMAN DAVID DART, OF PHILO, with his latest thing of beauty
HAZMOBILE available to pick up your toxic stuff on Saturday, October 16, 9:00 AM at the Fairgrounds parking lot, Boonville.
CAPTAIN RAINBOW WRITES: The Coho Salmon float in the Fair parade was NOT paper mache as reported, but a huge hand painted parachute. One of the judges noted that when she laid her eggs right in front of the judges.
A LOCAL WRITES: “There isn’t anything wrong with these [Amazon] auctions, quite the opposite. Instead of throwing lost or returned items in the waste dumps, they are resold. Of course it goes without saying that our USPS system, which Amazon uses to get packages to us, and to UPS, is lousy. Heads up; prices are going up and shipping times are going to be longer.”
YUP. And the Post Office has warned its captive customers that first class mail will be 3-5 days slower. Delivery of the Boonville weekly, always a low priority with the Postal Service once it leaves the tender ministrations of Colette Hanns and Ann Carr here in Boomsville, can't be much slower despite our paying a small fortune in 2nd class postage.
AS ERNEST HEMINGWAY famously said about going broke, “Gradually, then suddenly,” things get worse around the edges then suddenly collapse the whole.
TOOK A TRIP over the hill today (Monday) to get glasses at CostCo, and took a trip back over the hill to Boonville without the glasses. At CostCo, we were deep in the new glasses process when the nice lady took a close look at the date on my last prescription and said, “Sorry, we can't do this. This one's too old. You have to get an eye exam first. It's the law.”
I ALREADY use those drug store glasses for reading, and I can see, with the least expensive frames they've got, the whole package is around $150. I don't need new glasses that bad. Or at all.
WHEN SOMEONE says to me, “It's the law,” I automatically consider ways around it. I'm an American. It's the way we think. And we like to imagine it's this thinking that keeps us free, as we sign up for life mortgages, car payments, usurious credit cards, television, NPR.
THIS PARTICULAR LAW requiring fresh eye exams is clearly something cooked up by optometrists to ensure repeat business. The nice CostCo lady said their CostCo optometrist was booked up for a month, as were, she said, “all the optometrists in town,” town being Ukiah.
I THOUGHT BACK to my old optometrist on S. Dora, Dr. Brown. Pleasant old guy. I always seemed to unnerve him somehow because, I suppose, I was getting a lot of bad press back in the day when there was a press, routinely being portrayed as the Beast of Boonville, a new breed of rural maniac. Brown got me in and outtathere fast.
THINKING FARTHER BACK I remember as a kid seeing all the way to Sacramento from Mount Tamalpais, and even as a college baseball player I could still see the ball well enough to occasionally be called upon to pinch hit. I don't remember ever getting a hit at the college level but I was always flattered to be summoned to the plate.
IN SARAWAK, Borneo, there was a harmless young man who walked around talking to himself. He was said to have been driven crazy by reading too much. He wore glasses and had been sent off to England for university-level study but had come home in a permanently altered state. Reading is certainly one way to insanity as the internet anti-vaxxers and Trumpers prove in their idiot millions every day. I've always read a lot, and still do. Squinting at print for 70 years probably did my eyes in.
BACK IN BOONVILLE, I told my colleague, The Major, about my futile trip to CostCo. “I'll just alter the date on your prescription. They'll never know,” he said. Interesting how many people these days, all of us beset by a zillion rules, instinctively think of ways around the petty ones, especially the self-interested “laws” like the one devised by optometrists in league with our eminently bribe-able elected reps who together cooked this one up.
I DISMISSED The Major’s suggestion to change the date on my last eye exam only because I didn't want to put the nice lady at CostCo on the spot, not because I'm opposed to petty fraud in principle.
AS AN OLD PERSON, I'm constantly trying to spare myself tedium beyond the daily, unavoidable tediums like filling out forms, Press Democrat editorials, 49er and Giants games unless they're recorded without commercials, anything having to do with Building 7 or the Grassy Knoll. I thought I could walk into CostCo and walk out with a date to pick up a new pair of glasses. No way I'm doing an eye exam or anything else that takes more than a few minutes. I've had nightmares about being lost in that vast CostCo space, the checkout guy at the door saying, “Sorry. Your card has expired. You'll be with us forever.”
JEFF BURROUGHS, Since I don't get poison oak I can go out and take pictures that nobody else can.
You have to admire the USPS’s current business model. A bit like the expert who knows more and more about less and less until he/she knows everything about nothing, the post office will charge more and more money for less and less service until it charges huge amounts of money for no service at all. It is sad to watch our dynamic, powerful country evolve towards third-world status in the delivery of letters, parcels, newspapers and – yes – election ballots.
Editor says: “I’m constantly trying to spare myself tedium… anything having to do with [World Trade Center] Building 7….”
You imply you’ve repeatedly debunked the evidence that WTC-7 was an obviously controlled demolition — as though we’re talking about Flat Earth UFO Sasquatch.
That’s a cowardly cop-out, hardly befitting an old-school just-the-facts-ma’am gumshoe like you.
Controlled demolition? Definitely Sasquatch territory. If there’s ever a national misinformation contest, my money’s on you, Mr. K.
Bruce, I really want to think you’re better than the MSM.
I’d post PLENTY of scientific/forensic evidence WTC-7 was a controlled demo — IN ONE LINK! — but you’d censor it. Right?
Yes.
Bruce:
A Google search will only provide the official (NIST) government version of 9-11 (curiously, the same government you’re otherwise so quick to doubt).
:-)
For the rest of the story, use a neutral search engine (like DuckDuckGo) & keywords:
— [ WTC-7 controlled demolition video ]
How about it, Bruce — will you allow this brief, very occasional, civil, rational comment?
No.
Bruce:
What the government wants us to believe about 9-11 is good enough for you, case closed!
You act like you’ve allowed serious debates about 9-11 to permeate your publication until all counter-evidence has been thoroughly refuted & you’re fed-up talking about it.
I’ve read the AVA for DECADES (routinely buying the print edition in Felton, CA when I couldn’t find it elsewhere).
But I admit, I never saw any of the 9-11 debates you so graciously hosted. Could you link me to one (JUST ONE) of them?
Thanks in advance.
The “evidence” you cite was a video, along with a narrator, some technical diagrams, etc., put up on the internet, wasn’t it? And looking at the video, you go, wow, dude, obvious demo! — like all too obvious, huh.”
Well, how about that WWI movie made recently where all those horses are machinegunned, blown to smithereens and otherwise mangled and slaughtered; and, yet, in the credits we are assured no horse was even so much as scratched or lamed during the filming.
Mansplain that one, Kittle, and while you’re at it tie a yellow ribbon around a popcorn fart.
…Pat Kittle ain’t answered me yet, but I can hear him gagging on an anti-Semitic spoon, about a hundred floors above me, in the WTC#7 :-{
You think I “ain’t answered” you.
I answered you civilly twice, but both responses were censored.
Dang, she’s right, the dark truth is revealed. Clow Ridge wasn’t named for me. It’s almost unbearable. Neither was Clow Mountain, which is what you see from Philo. Much to my disappointment, it was christened with those cartographic appellations after the patriarchs acquired the acreage over several years in the 1880s and 90s. By the way, a few hundred acres of Jim’s share of the ranch, out of sight to the southwest down to Indian Creek below Peachland, is still in the hands of his sons, my two cousins who reside in AV.