THE LOTUS HAS RISEN! Bruce Anderson is “doing well” according to family reports, so much so that he demanded we title his status update with the above headline (using a slate and a marker), then got up and took a short stroll around his hospital room. The doctors reported that “there were no surprises” during his successful hours long throat surgery on Thursday. The Editor is not in much pain and expects to be out of the ICU and into a hospital recovery room by Saturday where he will spend the next few days recovering and adjusting to his new circumstances assocated with changes in breathing, swallowing, talking and/or tasting. Since he already has his computer with him we expect the Editor to produce his own account of his hospital experience in the next few days as his condition improves. (—ms)
AN ATHEISTS PRAYER
has been said on the Editor’s behalf.
They are very rare
And thus have extra value.
— Fred Gardner
NICE TO SEE FORMER ANDERSON VALLEY RESIDENT DEPUTY CRAIG WALKER visiting the Valley this weekend. Walker said his time as resident deputy in the Valley was “the best eleven years of my career.” Although major crimes are infrequent in Anderson Valley, we could sure use a deputy like Walker again, even if it meant he/she would be out of the Valley on inland assignment a lot of the time like Walker was. Walker learned the geography and personalities of the Valley and its defendant community very quickly and his preventative approach to crime along with his experience, keen intuition and perceptiveness has had lasting effects despite his absence. Walker is now the only detective in the small Moraga Police Department in the East Bay and said he plans to visit again soon. We are not surprised that he’s moved from patrol to detective based on his demonstrated investigative prowess while a deputy in Mendocino County. Anderson Valley was lucky to have Craig Walker for the time we did. (—ms)
RENEE LEE: Scam Alert! A senior brought a fake letter and check to the Senior Center lunch on Thursday. It appears to be a legitimate check from Publisher’s Clearinghouse stating you won a cash prize and this check is an advance to help you pay for the taxes. But the check will bounce and you’re on the hook for it. They will gain access to your banking information and who knows what else. Don’t fall for it. If it sounds too good to be true, it is!
THE ANDERSON VALLEY SENIOR CENTER is hiring for a cook. It is 14 hours a week job, 5 hours (8-1) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus flexible hours to be worked as need to order/prep/fill reports. Menus are provided. Pay starts at $18.00+ an hour depending on experience. The cook helps supervise the assistant cook and the dishwasher. The cook needs to be organized, work well with others and pass the state required food handlers’ class. The position is open until filled: Contact Renee at 707-895-3609 or avseniorcenter@pacific.net
WHILE DRIVING NORTH on Highway 128 just outside Boonville, a few weeks ago a crow and a little brown bird (starling, sparrow, etc., I don’t really know) took off as usual as I drove by. Just after they both took off the little brown bird immediately hopped onto the back of the crow and rode the crow up to power line height where it jumped off and perched on the power line next to the crow. The crow didn’t seem to mind giving his companion a lift. Has anyone else seen birds giving rides to other birds (other than ordinary motherly flock-tending)? — ms
A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, my brother-in-law and I were hiking along Jimmy Creek (I think) up on Rancho Grande, the former home of Mysteries By Mail six miles out of Boonville up the Ukiah Road. As we trudged along enjoying the quiet splendor of Anderson Creek's remote headwaters, we heard a terrific, watery thrashing a few yards in front of us. Warily drawing closer, darned if it wasn't a splendid steelhead trapped in a rivulet of the creek's diminished but still vigorous flow. I'd guess the fish weighed somewhere between six and eight pounds. Beautiful thing. More surprising, considering that the fish had somehow fought its way all the way up the Navarro from the Pacific and far into the hills above Boonville, the sea-going spawner wasn't at all battered. The whole length of creek teemed with baby steelhead. The stream's fertility reminded both of us that just how little effort we'd have to make to bring The Valley's fish back. Some of them, at least. Salmon are probably gone forever. As for the sole steelhead we saw, I regretted leaving it there for the raccoons or foxes that would be sure to get it, but we were unprepared to protect it or carry it out to return it to the sea. It must have got upstream with the last rains, failing to lay its eggs in time to depart while the water was still up and the flow navigable.
JAIME VASQUEZ, we still remember the kid. He lived near the AVA compound on AV Way at the time. He remains among the permanently missing from Anderson Valley. He is believed to have been murdered. Vasquez was abducted at gunpoint back in 2001, after he and his young wife and the couple's infant son were lured to a secluded site off Ornbaun Road, not far from the Vasquez’ apartment across the creek in Boonville. Vasquez was taken away by four men, two of them armed. He hasn't been seen since. One of the kidnappers was recognized by Mrs. Vasquez. That kidnapper was arrested and was held on charges related to the crime of kidnapping and the lesser crime of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. The suspected kidnapper's identity has never been revealed nor was he formally charged, as detectives pursued his confederates and the truth about the disposition of the missing Vasquez. The suspect's pistol was confiscated by Sheriff's Department detectives when he was taken into custody. This man faced a minimum of 10 years in federal prison.
THE AVA later learned that this man and a second man who fled the area immediately after being questioned by detectives were paid by local drug dealers to abduct Vasquez. The architects of Vasquez's disappearance apparently claimed that Vasquez owed them a large sum of money, rumored to be at least $200,000! Vasquez had moved to Anderson Valley from the Santa Rosa area to work in local vineyards. He was not known to be involved in the drug trade or other criminal conduct, although there is speculation that he had somehow run afoul of Sonoma County drug gangs when he lived there.
TWO LOCAL FAMILIES, widely feared for their ruthlessness by Anderson Valley's large population of Mexican immigrants, were said to dominate a substantial part of this area's thriving methamphetamine trade at the time. Several members of those families are full-time, bi-lingual, bi-national criminals who travel back and forth between Anderson Valley and Mexico, maintaining homes and criminal contacts in both places. The bi-national presence of Anderson Valley's primary drug families has complicated the ongoing investigation of the Vasquez matter, because potential witnesses fear harm to their families, especially their families still in Mexico.
THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT took the case very seriously and had a good idea who took Vasquez, but knowing who did it and making a case against them are two different things. Fear of retaliation kept potential witnesses from talking to investigators. The man being held in the County Jail for his part in the Vasquez abduction refused to identify the persons who paid him to assist with it, probably for fear of what might happen to him too.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES undertook several prolonged helicopter overflights of Anderson Valley in futile efforts to find Vasquez's remains. The case remains unsolved to this day.
CALTRANS VALLEY ROAD WORK
Route 253 (1.7/2.5) – Road stabilization work on Highway 253 near Boonville at Bald Hills Ranch will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect and motorists should anticipate up to 10-minute delays.
Route 253 (15.3/15.5) – Tree work on Highway 253 at Shepherd Lane will occur on Tuesday, March 26. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Motorists should expect up to 5-minute delays. Emergency work on Highway 128 at Barton Gulch near Navarro continues. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Motorists should anticipate up to 10-minute delays.
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