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Valley People (June 8, 2022)

HELP! This sad story goes back some, but if you have any information concerning it, please let us know. Around midnight Saturday, September 13, 2014, Boonville Fair Weekend, Mr. Ricardo Jimenez was in line at the Pic’N’Pay (since burned down) in downtown Boonville when a fight broke out between a patron and the night clerk at the store. Mr. Jimenez, acting as a peacemaker, attempted to intervene and was clobbered in the forehead by some kind of tool, perhaps a hammer or crowbar. Mr. Jimenez was taken to the Ukiah Hospital by AV Ambulance for treatment and observation for a major head laceration and concussion. A deputy arrived on scene but was stymied in his investigation of the incident because Pic’N’Pay refused to say who the clerk was and refused to provide security video. 

FAST FORWARD to 2022. Mr. Jimenez continues to suffer lingering brain damage and associated pain from the assault. He and Mrs. J are considering a legal case, albeit belatedly, and need to identify those involved. If anyone out there remembers the incident or knows of possible witnesses, Ms. Jimenez would like to hear from them. Also, MCSD detective Luis Espinoza still has a case open, although the statute of limitations has probably lapsed on any criminal charges. The Sheriff’s tip line number is 234-2100. The AVA’s number is 895-3016. Callers can remain anonymous. 

AV COMMUNITY LIBRARY BOOK SALE! $5/bag. Home Arts Building, Fairgrounds, 1-4 Tuesdays, 12:30-2:30 Tuesday. (Last Day: July 27.)

HAVE YOU SEEN the red fire department boxes around AV? Looks like someone in Navarro got curious about what's inside and had a look for themselves. (And then someone else in the Deep End made their opinion about it known!)

Next time, there's no need to break locks - we're glad to tell you what's in there. It's bundles of laminated maps. No gate codes, no sensitive information, no fancy firefighting equipment. Just maps. 

Why maps? In the event of a large-scale fire in AV, most of the firefighters would be from out of the area. These laminated maps would be distributed to resources so that they can locate homes, water sources such as ponds, and safe places for helicopters to land. Because they indicate dead-ends, 4WD-only roads, and topography, the maps are also a resource for firefighters to implement safe firefighting tactics. 

There might be plenty of map info available on-line, but the hard copies are an important redundancy; we all know that mobile service can be unreliable on the best day, let alone during a disaster. 

More boxes are going in soon. If you see us installing them, stop and say hi - we'll tell you all about what's inside. 

(Angela Dewitt, Assistant Chief, AV Fire Department)

SCAPE 128 is looking for landscaping team members. Scape 128 cares for private residences, tasting rooms, and hotels throughout the Anderson Valley and in Elk. This position is based in Boonville with daily travel required in company vehicles. Experience with landscaping is preferred, but not necessary. The applicant must be interested and willing to learn.

This is a full-time, year round position starting immediately. Though, we may be able to accommodate full-time, short term summer employment.

Duties include:

  • Plant installation and soil preparation
  • Plant care, pruning, and hedging
  • Lawn maintenance
  • Irrigation installation and maintenance
  • Brush removal and seasonal cleanup
  • Requirements:
  • On-time and able to start work at 6am during the summer and 7am during the winter
  • Ability to work outside each day
  • Ability to complete physical labor on a daily basis
  • Valid driver's license
  • Interest in working with and being part of a small team
  • Covid-19 vaccination up to date / willingness to follow county Covid-19 protocol
  • 18 years of age or older
  • Must have a bank account for direct deposit
  • Compensation: $17/hour

Sick time and vacation time available. 9 paid holidays a year.

Please contact Lee at Lee@boonvillebarn.com or at 707-845-0406

Scape 128 is managed by Boonville Barn Collective.

I WONDERED if the recent gun tragedies and consequent national anxieties have percolated on down to Boonville, so I asked our school superintendent, Louise Simson, if she’s taken steps to stave off the unthinkable. She has. “We have ALICE Training in place (Active shooter response and prevention protocols), we have a threat assessment scheduled for a walk through with a former police officer to assess areas of security need that was previously scheduled for June 10. We are ordering emergency floor bolt devices for the doors that we will install over the summer that I had in my past district. In the short term, Sheriff’s officers are doing increased walk throughs.”

THE SUPERINTENDENT didn’t say, but I’ve heard from several sources, that hard drugs are circulating in the valley, which they have for years, but lately they been circulating among much younger people, including people of high school age. There’s also gang mopes around, four of whom, all from the Anderson Valley, were arrested two weeks ago for an armed robbery in Cloverdale during which one kid cranked off several rounds at a witness. To the shock and chagrin of high school parents, two of the armed robbers re-appeared in public two days after they were arrested. There’s also a number of underage local youngsters driving without licenses. The CHP has been in town lately early in the morning looking for the unlicensed driving to school.

SHERIFF KENDALL has told us that he’s got recruits in mind for a resident deputy, which we need in the Anderson Valley but haven’t enjoyed since the much missed Deputy Craig Walker and, before him, the legendary Deputy Keith Squires. Both of these lawmen knew exactly who was doing what at all times. The Sheriff has also mentioned that he’s had two offers of deputy housing from two local property owners, which should considerably enhance our chances for a resident deputy soon.

PROM, Superintendent Simson comments: “The kids were so thrilled with the prom last weekend. It was a beautifully done hometown celebration. Coming from larger places where they rent hotels, having a simple dance in the gym was lovely. My son went to a small school where they set up the prom in the rotunda and the teachers cooked and served the dinner, and I thought I’d never see anything like that again. But then I got to Anderson Valley, and here we go. It was really sweet. (And the kids were relatively well behaved last week because nobody wanted to miss the privilege!)”

AVHS Prom, 2022

OUR PACIFIC INTERNET email feed was down all day last Thursday, meaning we didn’t received ANY incoming mail that day or the next, upon which we are dependent for word from the great world beyond.

PEOPLE say to me, “Get out of Pacific. They’re trouble.” I respond that I’ve been with them from their modest beginnings several owners ago, and all the way back to Pacific’s founder, the all-the-way-on-task Jim Persky on whose behalf I entered losing combat with MCN, the wholly subsidized Mendo school district internet service that was undercutting the fledgling local private internet businesses. Unfair on the face of it, but business as usual for the Mendocino school admin of the time and, natch, fully supported by Paul Tichinin, capo di tutti at MCOE, a guy who thinks scruples are the crackers you get with Italian soup. So, yeah, I go back with Pacific and suffer their occasional lapses because I go back with them, not the most logical reason to remain a customer, but as a man of diminished virtues, loyal to a fault. Sort of. Depending. 

PACIFIC WEBMAIL reappeared Friday morning in a deluge of backed up cyber-communications. Then disappeared again for an hour or so, but soon came back again. Maybe crazy people have taken control of the Ukiah-based internet business, and are switching us on and off for the heck of it. Whatever, as the young people say, Pacific has an odd business strategy in never answering their phone, never explaining what the heck is going on. And a bunch of us loyal customers all the way back to the founder, the great Jim Persky!

MARILYN MOTHERBEAR: “The first rosebud took ever so long to open; but then it did. Knowing the sweet scent and tender beauty does not last long, I clipped it, to bring with me for my birthday weekend. In the relatively short drive from Albion to inland climes, it opened to fullness. Sunshine and heat made the rose time fly!! Now it glows with that light and energy.”

PROMPTED by Marilyn Motherbear's adventure with her slow-blooming rose while looking at my blue bud vase with ceramic frog ascending that I bought for a song from Alexis Moyer at her little shop of a thousand pottery delights in Philo, I can say this charming little item has brought years of low intensity delight to me and my missus. It's the little things, isn't it?

THE CITY was totally fogged in this morning when my daughter drove me over the bridge to St. Mary's where I get my bi-annual shots of super glue to my aged knees. We miraculously found a parking spot in front of the splendid St. Ignatius Church at Parker and Fulton. When I'm by myself I like to go in and sit for a while to marinate my skeptic's bulk in the quiet beauty of its interior. Say what you will about the Catholics, they know, or knew, how to do architecture. Lenny Bruce (sic) said they built beautiful churches throughout the world as places the impoverished could get away from their poverty for an hour or so and to intimidate peasants with the pure splendor of the church compared to their starvation-level life conditions. At St. Ignatius, the worshippers are overwhelmingly Filipinos, other Asians, Latins, with a scattering of elderly white people, mostly women. I've never seen a young person inside the place. I think atheists are too harsh on believers. If faith gives them comfort, why try to argue them out of it? As Marx explained “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” (Your smartypants non-believer typically invokes only his last sentence.) Of course the Spanish Republicans had every justified cause to execute priests and burn down churches given the tight affiliation of the Church with the rich and fascism generally. At the same time, many Catholic revolutionaries have been communists. Live with contradictions, I say!

UNITY CLUB OFFICERS 2022-2023

President Mary Ann Grzenda, and new officers Ellen Fontaine and Jean Condon. Thanks to returning Vice Presidents Valerie Jean Muchowski and Grace Espinoza.

GAS PRICES in Ukiah last Wednesday, June 1st were $5.77 at CostCo; $5.99 at Speedway; $6.25 across the street at Chevron. CostCo, where I re-fuel, was 12 cents higher today than it was last Thursday.

TIPTOE TO THE GAS PUMPS

Mr. Gasoline man, please give me some gas
My tank is almost empty, so fill it fast
If you will just fill her up, I promise you this...
I'll put a tulip in your hair and blow you a kiss
Let's tiptoe to the gas pump and fill her up
Give me all you got 'til I scream I've had enough
Everybody clap your hands and sing in harmony
Come tiptoe to the gas pump with me

Put a tiger in my tank, please don't delay
I've been waiting in endless lines since early yesterday
So, Mr. Gasoline man, fill her to the brim
So I'll have enough gas to go through this line again
Let's tiptoe to the gas pump and fill her up
Give me all you got 'til I scream I've had enough
Everybody clap your hands and sing in harmony
Come tiptoe to the gas pump with me

[Kids:] Hey you big oil companies, us kids will like to ask...
When we grow up and learn to drive, what will we use for gas?
[Tiny:] Ha ha...So you say things are shaking up? But only time will tell. 
Why, I've got more oil in my hair than you've got in your wells. 
Hey there Mr. President, things are really tough. 
Speaking for the people, I think we've had enough. 
We're shipping food, but still no crude...I tell you that's not right. 
This flower child has gone hog-wild, I say it's time to fight!

Let's tiptoe to the gas pump and fill her up
Give me all you got 'til I scream I've had enough
Everybody clap your hands and sing in harmony
Come tiptoe to the gas pump with me

[Gas Man:] Yeah man, can I help you man?
[Tiny:] Yes, please. Will you consider taking a ukulele in trade for a gallon of gas?
[Gas Man:] No man.
[Tiny:] Well how 'bout a tulip?
[Gas Man:] I don't think so.
[Tiny:] Well, how about one of my brand new 45 RPM records?
[Gas Man:] Wow man! Say, what's the name of it?

Come tiptoe to the gas pumps, tiptoe to the gas pumps...
Come tiptoe to the gas pumps with me.

— Tiny Tim

AS OF MAY 25, 2022, rainfall totals for the current rain year (in the town of Mendocino) were 27.84 inches or about twelve inches below normal for this time of year. For the May reporting period, the Mendocino Community Services District documented 0.70 inches of rain, while the average for May is 1.41 inches. Although the area has received 70% of normal rainfall, it is not enough after two years of drought to reduce the drought stage, which remains at level 4. (Michelle Blackwell)

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