ANDERSON VALLEY has a new landscaping service in the person of Jose Almeida of the eponymous Almeida’s Landscaping. With a complete range of tools and equipment at the ready, the Philo-based landscaper can be reached at 707-353-0216.
THAT FIRE Saturday occurred about a half-mile up Mountain View Road. It burned up debris, tires, some briars, and a portion of a green house. Fire chief Avila explained that “the quarter acre escaped fire was the result of an unattended burn pile.”
AV TRAFFIC SAFETY UPDATE. The informal group of locals who have been looking at ways to improve traffic safety in downtown Boonville and Philo delivered an update to the Community Services District Board last Wednesday night. The safety investigators are looking at three short-term fixes for Boonville: Rumble strips at both ends of town with accompanying signs reminding drivers to slow down; re-striping of the three or four downtown blocks to park parallel like the rest of town; and a request to the Sheriff to expedite the procurement and installation of “Flock” (trademark) traffic cameras, which could be used to identify reckless drivers.
IN PHILO, the people who previously organized to try to get Caltrans to keep the 30mph speed limit in town are hoping to get Caltrans to re-evaluate the speed limit yet again. In both towns there’s also talk about asking Caltrans to revisit the number and location of crosswalks. A press release will be issued soon to notify locals of the next traffic safety group’s meeting, probably in Philo in March. Early indications are that Caltrans welcomes these relatively modest change proposals. To join the group, email CSD Board Chair Val Hanelt at valhanelt@me.com.
CAN DOWNTOWN BOONVILLE BE BEAUTIFIED? Caltrans has notified the Community Services District of the availability of grant funds for just that. If the combination of the words “Caltrans” and “Beautification” sounds like an oxymoron, you might be surprised to know that several locals have proposed interesting ideas for the $200k grant application. On the list of possibilities are: two or three “parklets” of the type that have sprung up along city streets since the onset of covid, thus converting parts of the shoulder in the downtown area into miniature “parks” with tables and chairs and shade, etc.; “maintenance free” sculpture and statuary, bike lanes, etc. Locals are preparing an application on a very short deadline. If the grant is awarded, there will be more time to work out details.
KZYX IS LEAVING PHILO for a new Ukiah headquarters and has asked the Community Services District Board to allow them to park their mobile studio/trailer in the space on the Philo fire station. KZYX General Manager Marty Durlin told the CSD Board last Wednesday night that KZYX plans to move their base of operations to a site in downtown Ukiah by early 2023 and abandon their lease on the converted house in Philo where the radio station has operated since the late 80s. The CSD Board was generally amenable to the idea, but wanted to make sure it didn’t cost the district any money. The subject will be on next month’s CSD Board agenda for more formal discussion. (Mark Scaramella)
ANDERSON VALLEY HEALTH CENTER: We have rapid Covid-19 take at-home tests. We would like to distribute some to families and businesses in our community. Please contact Leah or Fabi at the clinic to arrange for pickup of your free test. And we have rapid testing. We would like to distribute some to families and businesses in our community. Contact Leah or Fabi at the clinic to coordinate for your free trial.
THE PEACHLAND ROAD REPAIR PROJECT to temporarily repair the washout damage from the December 2016/January 2017 rains was Mendo Transportation Department’s Howard Dashiell’s report to the Supervisors at the time. Dashiell said the project had been suspended as his crews had to attend to a fire emergency, but they were soon back on the interim repair and finished it before winter of 2018 was over. The long-term repair project has now finally been put out to bid some four years later and bids will be reviewed and a contractor selected next month. Work is expected to start later this year. (Mark Scaramella)
ENROLLMENT IN ALL THE COUNTY'S SCHOOLS is down. The schools have also faced troubling staff shortages, mostly wrought by covid. Potter Valley is paying substitute teachers $200 a day. All you need is a. college diploma and a reasonably wholesome background as verified by your local police agency. Here in Anderson Valley the sub rate was just raised to $180 for certificated people and, reports Superintendent Simson, “We are in need of more. We have a few trusted faithfuls who always come through for us, but never enough. We also will have a couple of full-time general education positions open next year, so we encourage applicants to apply.”
ANDERSON VALLEY’S SCHOOL HOUSE BLUES: Our school district is looking at a $400k-plus deficit with enrollment down from 650 a decade ago to 450 today. And the physical plants at both the elementary and the high school sites are badly in need of repair. Funding, as our formidably informed Superintendent Simson explains, is complicated: “I am sure you know this, and we may have talked about it already, but the way our budget is funded is via Local Control Funding Formula or LCSF. What that means is that the funds that are received are very targeted for specific uses. I don’t just get the cash and can spend it where I wish we could most affect student achievement and engagement. It has to be spent in targeted programs such as after school programs or services for homeless or foster youth, among many other categories. It’s a very complicated budget process. We held an engagement process earlier this year to explain the budget. Someday, my dream is the state will pare down the bureaucracy and hand us a pot of money and say, “Go do the best you can for kids— and we would see amazingly, magical results across the state, I think."
TWO ONE-YEAR OLD MALE GOATS are in need of re-homing asap due to mountain lion predation in their neighborhood. The first goat is 50% Boer & 50% La Mancha, The other is 100% Boer. Neither are wethered. Can go together or separately. Located near Navarro. If you can help, please call or text Bob: 510-691-4560
JEFF BURROUGHS: Remember back in the day when we had winter rains and winter snow in AV ? Here is what it looked like about 47 years ago on Ornbaun Road.
PAUL STOVER: A favorite memory of mine is from 50 years ago, many of us high schoolers jumping in miscellaneous cars, leaving the high school and heading up Peachland road to Octopus hill / Tarwater hill to play in the snow. I can feel the cold on my face and the joy and excitement in all the kids that day. I also remember on another occasion, kids driving from the high school up the Ukiah road and filling their pickup beds with snow, bringing the snow back and having snow ball fights in the school parking lot. I’ll never forget the time when one of the students threw a snow ball at our principal Mell Baker. There was only about five feet between them when this student threw hard and hit Mr. Baker directly and squarely in the ear. To our proud Principles credit, Mel courageously proclaimed that he was okay and that everything was all right while he was “ digging” the snow out of his ear canal with his little finger… l remember in 1973/74 during our Christmas break it rained for 3 weeks straight, continuously nonstop. Those were the “good ol days”, back then, when it really used to rain.
A RANCHO NAVARRO RESIDENT called Friday morning to tell us he was present when the contingent of deputies arrived at the birthday party he was attending after a neighbor reported hearing gunshots in the area. The caller said a total of six cops arrived, four via Highway 128 and two the back way out of Orr Springs Road. “They were great,” said the caller, who added upon arrival the deputies quickly realized that the “gunshots” were “bottle rockets” that the partiers had fired off in celebration of a one-year old’s first birthday. The caller said that the deputies reminded the partiers that fireworks are illegal, politely asked them to stop without issuing citations, and rode off into the night like so many Lone Rangers.
A SMALL FARM SOUTH OF BOONVILLE. The Petit Teton Monthly Farm Report - January 2022. Spring is blooming everywhere on the farm...stone fruits, daffodils, narcissus, roses, collards, kale, broccoli, rosemary, iris, wasabi (yes they are surviving!), ceanothus—and all are buzzing with bees. The huge Thundercloud plum at 501 has already finished flowering and is setting its maroon leaves. Animals are all acting a bit frantic - baby yak is cavorting, birds are looking for nest sites, a screaming pair of red shoulders flew over our lunch site and a deafening silence ensued in bird world as the chickens ran for cover and the wild birds turned into statues, the blue birds have returned to their usual hole in a telephone pole in the lower field and are busy stuffing it with dried grasses, chickens have started laying a lot, and even the ducks have produced an egg or two, the first time since quitting 3 or 4 months ago. Meanwhile we still have frost nearly every morning, some of it heavy, and day times are bordering on hot. It’s nail biter season...will the flowers survive to become fruits??
And speaking of survival...one evening recently Pito, our German/Husky mix, picked a fight with a raccoon that had made the mistake of wandering into our front garden. Instead of letting the raccoon climb the fence to escape, Pito bit a hold of him and dragged him into a fist bite. When Juan and Cam ran out to call him off, they found the critters rolled in a snarling ball with the raccoon trying desperately to escape to the fence. Pito finally let it climb over and is not much worse for the encounter although the small wounds on his face are still visible. But oh, what a dangerous thing to do! Raccoons are not known for their timidity in a fight (this one will probably stay out of our garden in future) and Pito could have been badly mauled. It is good to know that he will protect us, and a relief that no doctor visit was required. Rafa, our younger German/Mallinois mix, stood back and took notes and with just a snarl and a glance from his killer wolf eyes, will be ready to fill Pito’s paws once he’s gone.
Best wishes for a beautiful spring…
Nikki Auschnitt & Steve Kreig
MINI-CLEAN UP IN NAVARRO Sunday with Stephanie Barton. Somebody has been dumping bottles for a while. Gamblers activate! We got probably 15 bags half full. (Bottles are heavy!) Please stop littering. It's killing our planet. Now Laurie Copper can go on her walk and not see trash! Thank you for bringing this to our attention!
DEEPENDER Kirk Vodopals neatly sums up the county’s pot regs: The weed whining about Mendo County is ridiculous. The County has spun their wheels for years fiddling with local regulation of the sacred plant that fuels most of the hipneck hill muffins. But who gives a rats ass since there never was any enforcement. I watched for years as all these twits barreled into my neighborhood with their water and soil trucks and ding ding workers speeding around. All of them told me they were permitted. Bullshit. And who cares. They kept pulling their tarps knowing full well that they most likely would never receive a permit. But the permit wasn’t the problem. Most of these twits bought land that barely had enough water to support domestic use. The stupid permit ain’t gonna make it rain. Nor will it bring the price of a pound back up to something akin to the days of old.. you know? New vehicles every three years, extended tropical vacations, throwing cash around like confetti. Go back to Chicago and Argentina (or Lake County) and do your bullshit hustling there. The real Mendo kids might have to throw out their smart pots and tarps and get “back to the land”
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