PG&E WILL TURN OFF the power overnight this Thursday, July 7, 10pm until Friday July 8th, 6am. Perhaps too late for this week’s paper-paper but in case you were wondering….
A FIRE CALL at 4:22 last Monday afternoon reported a roadside blaze about five miles up the Ukiah-Road from Boonville. The precise location was a field on the Miner-Anderson Ranch. The fire was first confined by a passing Orion crew, sub-contracted by PG&E to clear power lines, which happened to spot the blaze as they drove past. A massive turnout of local and CalFire crews ensued. Anderson Valley Fire Chief, Andres Avila said if the Orion crew hadn't caught the fire soon after it broke out, the afternoon winds might have blown up into a major conflagration. The cause is not known, but since it broke out only a few feet from the road, it can be speculated a passing vehicle somehow sparked it in the adjacent dry grass.
AV FIRE DEPARTMENT on the same fire: A roadside start on Hwy 253 last week was kept to less than a quarter acre thanks to quick work from passersby and a rapid response by Cal Fire and AVFD. New Recruit Nick Rhoades got soot on his yellows for the first time.
(SURELY no one, even the most heedless among us, throw their lit cigarette butts out their vehicle windows, do they?)
THE AVA’S STAR LOCAL ROVING REPORTER, Terry Ryder/Sites, reports that she is at home quarantining with covid. She suggests that anyone she has had more than passing contact with during the last few days of June and early July be mindful of the early signs of the disease such as sore throat and fatigue.
THE PLANNING COMMISSION hearing on Mary Zeeble's proposed glamping (“glamorous camping”) permit for more than a hundred campers on Ray's Road, Philo, has been put over until July 28th.
PANCAKE BREAKFAST: The 2nd Sunday in July is already upon us and you know what that means: The AV Grange Monthly Pancake Breakfast, THIS SUNDAY July 10 8:30-11:00. It's becoming a tradition again. Those magic Grange pancakes, gluten free on request, with all the fixins, eggs, bacon, juice, coffee, all for $10 bucks or less. The best deal around. Plus flapjack eating musical ambiance by the Deepend Woogies. Add in your friends and neighbors and we have a recipe for a satisfying Sunday repast. So come on down and enjoy a flippin' good time. (Captain Rainbow)
ELECTION RESULTS:
County Superintendent of Schools
22,248 ballots were submitted in the June 7 primary for a turnout of 42.3%.
In 2018 22,855 votes were cast for a turnout of 48.4%.
In 2018, Michelle Hutchins defeated Bryan Barrett for County Superintendent of Schools by a vote of 9810 to 8929, a difference of 881 votes. 4,116 voters didn’t vote for either candidate (“Undervotes”)
In 2022, Hutchins lost to Nicole Glentzer by 8,686 to 10,769, a difference of 2083 votes, with 2,857 undervotes, i.e. voters who didn’t vote for the MCOE position.
In both races (2018 and 2022), the “undervotes” were substantially more than the difference between the candidates.
Also interesting is that Hutchins actually got almost 1300 votes less in 2022 than she did in 2018 when she ran against her narcoleptic male put up by Ukiah Unified.
In 2018 18% of voters didn’t vote for either MCOE candidate.
In 2022 about 12.5% of voters didn’t vote for either candidate.
It’s guesswork, of course, but it seems that two primary factors worked in the ethically challenged Glentzer’s favor compared to Barrett in 2018. 1. Glentzer is a female. 2. Hutchins didn’t run a particularly effective campaign, choosing to take the high road and run on her record (“experience matters”) while her opponent ran an aggressively negative campaign with patently false claims spread by unfounded slander-gossip among the county’s “educators” about Hutchins, which was particularly effective in Ukiah and Fort Bragg.
Takeaway: If a woman is running against a man in Mendocino County, take the high road and win with most of the “any woman is better than any man” women. But if a woman is running against another woman: go low, hit ‘em hard and make as many false charges as possible, which is what Glentzer did.
Sheriff
In 2018 Tom Allman ran unopposed and got 18,950 of the 22,855. 3905 undervotes didn’t vote for Allman.
In 2022 Kendall got 14,699 of the 17,187 votes for Sheriff (almost 86% of votes for Sheriff.) But 5,123 voters didn’t vote for either Sheriff’s candidate.
Takeaway: Allman is a gifted politician, Kendall is quietly effective. Last minute write-in candidate Trent James garnered a surprisingly large 2,488 votes (almost 15%) especially considering he was a last-minute candidate. He tapped into Mendo’s substantial anti-cop/blue-meany sectors, most of which is in the “liberal” Fifth District, with also a large presence in Fort Bragg. We have yet to hear from candidate James about the results. Will he post another youtube video, despite his recent posts about how he actually expected to win as a write in candidate? Will he continue his attacks on local law enforcement brass? Will he even stay in Mendocino (Compiled by Mark Scaramella)
BOONVILLE AFTER DARK, two comments
1) The dumb dumbs doing all the skid marks and donuts (fresh ones from last night) in the valley also decided to leave a vape pen and at least two other cartridges at the Elementary school parking lot. The disrespect for and in the valley is getting too stupid.
2) Hell, if they can afford the gas good on ’em, country kids have been doing donuts in the Valley for decades, there is very little for young people to do . In the Deep End its way more wild than donuts, I hope they don't keep leaving trash but it really does no harm. As to disrespecting the Valley, that happened when they cut all the timber and squeezed out ranchers to grow froo froo wine.
THE RETURN OF THE BOONVILLE QUIZ
Steve Sparks Writes: It’s Back! Lauren’s at The Buckhorn is happy to announce that after almost two and a half years absence The General Knowledge and Trivia Quiz will return on the 1st and 3rd Thursday off each month. Therefore we shall resume at this venue on Thursday, July 7th at 7pm with the usual mental gymnastics to tease and please you, plus a new feature during the half-time break. Cash prizes and gifts galore! Dinner served and bar open. You know it makes sense. Cheers, The Quizmaster...
ROBBIE LANE: Just had a conversation with Ted Williams, Board of Supervisors representative from District 5. He wants to help me obtain funding for the placement of free-of-charge Narcan vending machines in the Valley.
For those who don’t know, Narcan is an opioid receptor blocker that reverses overdoses from Fentanyl, heroin, morphine, and all forms of opioids.
This is rapidly becoming a problem here, just as it has everywhere in America.
I’m also dealing with the schools, the clinic, the county behavioral health service, the CDC, and various other organizations. We gotta save our kids, and my belief is that we can most effectively do this through education of the young ones. This is where county behavioral health will play a major role.
But, we also have to try and save the one’s already struggling with addiction.
If you yourself are battling this issue, or if you know someone who is, let me know how I can help.
Further, I can’t do this alone. I will if I must, but I can use all the help I can get. Send me a PM, or call me at (707) 489-2915.
Let’s do something positive for our youth. They need it.
JILL DERWINSKI: What a crazy, wonderful couple of days working with these gals! Thank you Felines of Philo (Jenifer Bird), Coast Cat Project (Shelly), Dr. Charlotte Burns (Vet extraordinaire), Anderson Valley Animal Rescue. We were able to trap, spay & neuter, 39 adults, rescue 29 kittens and make a huge impact on an area with a huge feral cat population. We aren't done yet! Please spay and neuter your cats!
SOMEONE, or someones, keeps on breaking the windows of the Philo Grange. Andy Jones, Grange honcho, says it's pure vandalism because there's no sign of break-ins.
WE LIKE SHERIFF KENDALL'S idea of a roving “Sheriff’s services technician,” aka non-uniformed cop, who would rotate among Mendo's far flung schools. Sad that the educational mission has come to metal detectors, dope-sniffing dogs, dope, and cops in the halls even here in the deep outback, but it's only one more sign of the general social implosion we've got going. On the other hand, if metal detectors and hallway police are necessary for an orderly, non-violent educational day, maybe it's time to reconsider the entire effort with a view to downsizing it. (For pure entropy, public ed is, along with the Pentagon, the most entropic.)
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