RICK WYANT, formerly of Anderson Valley, lately of Willits, died unexpectedly Tuesday around noon in Willits at the age of 58. Mr. Wyant is survived by his father, Frank Wyant; wife of 41 years, Schevilla Wyant; daughter Jennifer Caudillo and husband Jason Caudillo of Ukiah; son Clint Wyant and wife Billie of Willits; siblings Bryan Wyant, and Renee Lee of Boonville, Cathy Keech of Ukiah. He is also survived by grandchildren Bailey and Isabelle Caudillo of Ukiah and Connor Wyant of Willits. Services pending further notice. Obituary to follow. Our condolences to the Wyant family.
ASH FROM LAKE COUNTY'S RAMPAGING Valley Fire drifted over the Coast Range on Sunday to the Anderson Valley, and on over a few more ridges to the Mendocino Coast. An apprehensive Mendocino County awoke to a burnt orange sun and an overcast sky with the ominous smell of smoke in the air. The Valley Fire's destructiveness is unmatched in NorCal history. A thousand homes have been destroyed, many thousands more imperiled, thousands of people displaced, one person dead.
HERE IN MENDOCINO COUNTY we cast wary eyes at our parched hills and bone-dry forests, hoping that we will continue to be spared a serious blaze as all around us the Northcoast burns.
BOB RIDER is one of the Lake County evacuees who shot video on his phone after he got out. Rider told ABC7 News that he, his wife, three young boys and their dog "ran for our lives" from their home in Hidden Valley Lake. "The sound of this fire was that of a jet plane in flight. You could see fire advancing. It was incredible. We weren't evacuating carefully and cautiously, we were fleeing," he said. Rider says he and his family only had time to grab a couple important items before loading up and leaving. He believes his home and photography business have been destroyed.
ANDERSON VALLEY’S STRIKE TEAM was away fighting the Butte Fire when the horrific Valley Fire kicked off in Lake County.
BUSHAY CAMPGROUNDS at Lake Mendocino has been opened for Lake County refugees. Isis Oasis in Geyserville has opened up its place for the Harbin Hot Spring community members.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, Geyserville residents were closely watching the status of the voracious Valley Fire, which moved into Sonoma County Sunday afternoon and had burned three cooling towers at The Geysers geothermal energy complex, about 20 miles from Geyserville.
OVERCAST AND COOL Tuesday morning, the kind of weather that may help firefighters get in front of the massive fire burning through south Lake County into northern Sonoma and Napa counties.
YEAH, IT WAS HOT LAST WEEK, 101.4 in Boonville at 2pm last Tuesday afternoon. The National Weather Service had issued a heat advisory for NorCal because temperatures were forecast to be as much as 20 degrees above seasonal averages throughout the week. They were.
CLASS ANGLING the Valley Fire. Lake County, once known as the Blue Collar Lake Tahoe, is hardly a bastion of the wealth and privilege now characteristic of, say, the Mendocino Coast, and ridge tops of Mendocino County. Lots of the people burned out in Lake County won't have been insured and won't generally have the re-build options available to the well-heeled among the uprooted.
COUPLA months ago we noted that the wooden cross in front of Boonville's Assembly of God church was strikingly beautiful, and probably much like the rough hewn one Jesus was pilloried on. But to have it anchored in a plastic container was maybe not sacrilegious but the total aesthetic certainly detracted from the gravitas of the whole. Presto magico! The church has since placed the cross in a much more fitting setting, and good on them for doing it.
BOONVILLE FAIR SUNDAY COMMUNITY CHURCH SERVICE. September 20th 2015, 8:30 AM Apple Hall Auditorium, next to the Fair Office. Pastor Dave Kooyers from Valley Bible Fellowship will present: What Is Man That God Cares For Him? Free admission/Everyone Welcome. Please come and worship with us, and then enjoy the Fair for the rest of the day. For additional information please feel free to call Pastor Dave Kooyers (707) 895-2325, or the Fair Office at (707) 895-3011, or visit their website at http://www.mendocountyfair.com/
MEET SHERIFF ALLMAN- Come and show him just how interested this community is in excellent coverage for Anderson Valley. This is also a chance to thank him for the service and protection his department provides us with 24/7. He has generously agreed to meet our community for a face-to-face conversation in the Redwood Grove at the Fair this weekend at 3:30 on Saturday. This is a great opportunity to ask the Sheriff anything you’ve always wanted to know. If you have any questions call 895-3144. (—Terry Ryder)
ANDERSON VALLEY'S indomitable Panthers duly racked up a lopsided win over Point Arena Saturday afternoon, 66-8. It was the first league games for both teams, and one that went only partially celebrated in Boonville because Jared Johnston, a star running back and an absolute defensive brick, suffered a hopefully not season-ending knee injury in a practice before the game. Jared was unable to play against Point Arena or the score might have been 100-8.
ROSS MURRAY TURNS 97. The Elder Home hosted a birthday gathering Saturday for Murray, The Valley's second oldest citizen. Freda Fox, also of Boonville, turned 97 in March.
A BURGLARY of a vacant vacation home way up Nash Mill Road was reported last Tuesday afternoon and Terrie Lynn Rickman of Philo was cited and released on an outstanding drug-related warrant last week.
AV AMBULANCE'S likely and logical merger with the Fire Department has moved closer with Fire Chief Andres Avila's announcement last week that an “exploratory committee” had been set up to consider the inevitable. Avila points out that if the non-profit Ambulance becomes a government entity it could open up new funding streams under Medicare. The exploratory meetings begin this week. For more information contact Chief Avila at 895-2020.
CHIEF AVILA also announced last week that the remarkable senior volunteer firefighter Jim Minton of the Boonville Station has been promoted from Captain to Central Battalion Chief. “The position has been vacant for over a year now since our long standing Battalion Chief Jan Wasson-Smith retired,” said Avila. “Jim is a well-seasoned volunteer and has received support of the promotion from fellow firefighters and Officers throughout the Department.”
KIRA BRENNAN writes from Greece: "The refugees: It's been beyond belief. I was in shock when I got here. It has gotten worse and worse since. We can watch them come from Turkey on big rafts meant for max 12 with up to 60 people on them. They do not know how to drive a boat with an engine. Most do not know how to swim. Often the Engines stop as they are crossing. I believe the distance is 9 kilometers. Sometimes the boats do not make it. Fishing boats help out. Sometimes the coast guard. Mostly it is the children who do not make it. The volunteers from mostly N. European countries are here to help. They meet the boats. Help wet people from the boat. They have food and water. They carry the women with small children into town in private cars. But they are not allowed to use public transport so they walk about 75 kms to Mytilini where they are processed and then on to Athens. It's all a heartbreaking disaster. Yesterday 31 boats arrived. Everyday more and more. Where are all of these people going to go? When they get to Molyvos, no public restrooms etc. There is a militant, outspoken group of people here who would not allow any help for the refugees in this town. They cannot stay at hotels even though they have money. But by and large the poor Greek people are incredibly kind and tolerant. There are a lot of foreigners who live here, which is good. I spend part of each day helping. I meet the boats and help out. Many of the Syrians are very well educated, have resources and have lost everything. There are also many Afghanis and Iraqis. Basically, everyone who can pay the Turkish mafia $1200 in passage (ferry is $5) are coming. It's wild. Mostly, I pick up trash. Hundreds and hundreds walking and in the streets. Means a lot of trash. So this is what I do. It's very little. But it helps. To be clear, when people get here, they are very happy and relieved. They all have phones and are taking pictures furiously. It is absolutely bizarre. It's all surreal. I ride my bike to Yoga against the flow of refugees who have lost their lives and are hoping for a better one. They wave and say HELLO! and I wave and say "Hello, how are you? They laugh, smile and wave. Their chances of a better life will be very minimal. They go from euphoria to being here and free, to the nightmare of processing, and the probable nightmare of refugee camps. It is both heartbreaking and also incredible, the surge of people connected through helping. There is instant community of people who are giving their lives to this effort, and it is amazing. This is my first experience with this and it has been quite an eye opener. The world is changing. I think we will all be in some form of this, needing to share the resources more. Needing to help each other more. I do want to say I think the Greek people are just fantastic. In spite of all of their difficulties, they are just wonderful people. Beyond friendly. It is a very special place. And very very beautiful. — Kira
LAST FRIDAY MORNING I gave my son Paullen a ride to work up Philo/Greenwood Road and he pointed out the algae covering the river below the bridge. It seems weird but I hadn't been down that way since June and he said the stuff had been there all summer and had been keeping the normal crowds of bathers thinned down quite a bit. Looking out over the side of the bridge, the water both upstream and downstream is covered with algae bank to bank. But a little investigation revealed that it wasn't algae at all but rather mosquito fern, one of seven species of aquatic ferns of the genus Azolla. It is not toxic and has several beneficial uses, including as animal feed, mosquito suppressor, a nitrogen base plant for composts and, according to Wikipedia, it played "a significant role in reversing an increase in greenhouse effect that occurred 55 million years ago that caused the region around the north pole to turn into a hot, tropical environment." I wonder if we planted more of the stuff it would help in our current dilemma? Later in the day I went up Mountain View Road to get some drinking water from the spring by Bear Wallow. On the way back I turned onto Airport Drive and was smacked by an expansive view of hundreds of overhead sprinklers watering the vineyard on the southwest side of the airport. I couldn't believe it — it's harvest time, not grow time — yet there they were going full blast on at least 13 acres of grapes. The vineyard is called Helluva Vineyard and according to Mendocino Wine website is owned by Steve Williams and somebody named Dennis Hall. Steve was a good man but has been passed on now for a couple of years. He used to share with me some of the tales of the Indian artifacts he would find on his land — apparently there had been an ancient village site there. Dennis I don't know but he is listed as the contact person for the vineyard with a Philo PO box and a red pointer on the supplied Google map that puts him practically in my backyard. Switching to satellite mode and zooming in it points to the old Ernie Blattner place in Philo that is indicated along with its accompanying marijuana patch and surrounded by five other pot patches. This would be out Blattner Road behind Starr Automotive. I will assume that Google maps is wrong, but it is funny that while looking for a vineyard you stumble on marijuana. The "Aha!" moment of this exploratory venture was the listing on the website of the Vineyard Management as being Vineyard Logistics, the pseudonym for Timothy Mullins and his Balo Vineyards. Mullins, you might recall, built a Class K, non-commercial horse barn on Anderson Valley Way and immediately turned it into Vineyard Logistics in violation of at least two provisions of County Code. Mullins, aka Balo, aka Vineyard Logistics also owns the old Live Oak Building in downtown Boonville has been regularly pumping water out of nearly dry Indian Creek to lubricate his enterprises. I sometimes think there are those who do things for no other reason than to thumb their noses at people like me. — David Severn
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