Valley People (Feb. 8, 2017)

CHLOE GUAZZONE, director of the Anderson Valley Health Center, tells us that Dr. Gary Pace is filling in at the Center while the search continues for a full-time doctor to replace the departed Logan McGhan. Ms. G: “The Board of Directors has formed an ad-hoc search committee who has been getting the word out. They have set a deadline for applications as of April 28^th although we will take as long as we need to find the right candidate. In the interim we have an excellent bilingual provider and former AV resident who has generously offered to fill in as needed on a temporary basis.”

LIZBBY’S opens this Saturday in central Boonville’s old Lodge complex under the auspices of the Gutierrez family. The widely anticipated restaurant and beer and wine bar will serve breakfasts, lunches and dinners every day from 10am to 3pm, then 5pm to 8pm. The Gutierrezes are affiliated with the Favelas of the longtime, and enormously popular, Libby’s restaurant of Philo. The Favelas have retired, leaving their can’t miss recipes to the Guiterrezes.

You've been thinking of Variety Show acts for years and this is the time to bring them to life! What's on your mind, AV? This is your big chance to entertain your friends and neighbors with your surprising skills, unexpected antics, and dazzling wit. The Variety Show is March 3rd and 4th. Call Captain Rainbow at 895-3807 or Angela at 895-3362 and get your fantastic ideas on that stage!

A GROUP DISCUSSION of life and end-of-life. Please join us on Sunday, February 12th at 4:00 p.m. at Lauren’s Restaurant, 14211 Highway 128, Boonville. Group discussion of “The Village Movement” whose principles are simple: instead of leaving their homes for senior housing or assisted living, a group of senior residents in a community form a non-profit membership organization to provide access to services which allow seniors to age in place in their own homes. Can we bring this to Anderson Valley? Please join other members of our community to talk about it. This is our first meeting of the New Year and your input is welcomed.

DEPUTY CRAIG WALKER, Anderson Valley’s popular lawman is pretty much confined to desk duty as he prepares for knee surgery. Deputy Walker was injured grappling with a Ukiah malefactor, and if you don’t think these guys earn every penny of their pay go for a ride with one of them some night for a clear picture of who and what they deal with.

IN THE ANDERSON VALLEY, we count our law enforcement blessings, with the affable Walker succeeding the legendary Deputy Squires, who is also battling physical problems stemming from his long years of physical encounters with people who choose not to go peacefully. Deputy Squires knew The Valley so thoroughly he knew who was doing what without leaving his Boonville home, and his home served as a 24-hour sub-station, in that locals felt free to take their problems straight to the deputy’s front door at all hours. Walker is comparably accessible, being free with his cell phone number, which puts him on round-the-clock duty, too.

SPEAKING of law and order, a belated communique from the Ukiah Police Department: “A Philo man was arrested for allegedly kicking a thrift store employee who reportedly asked him to stop digging through the business’ trash. An officer responded to the Hospice Thrift Store on South State Street around 2 p.m. Jan. 21 when it was reported that a man had assaulted an employee. The employee said the 38-year-old transient, reportedly from Philo, had been digging through the trash outside and making a mess. When the employee asked him to stop and tried to grab a bag out of his hand, the man reportedly kicked the employee. The employee was not injured, but requested that the man be prosecuted for assault. An officer cited and released the suspect.” Bobby Gray was then arrested and booked as “under the influence.” (If Gray’s from Philo he isn’t exactly a transient, but he seems to have been behaving like one. )

JANUARY'S TWO WET FEET —Yorkville recorded an astounding 24.92 inches of rain during the month of January, elevating their season total to 51.96 inches. High Roller precipitation totals over the past four months:

• 24.92" January
• 9.92" December
• 6.76" November
• 10.36" October

NATURE NOTES. Dave Severn writes: Early spring? Amidst this last series of rain storms it sure doesn't seem like spring, but two weeks ago I did see a first pair of mergansers on the River, a jackrabbit on the Shenoa road and pulled the first tick of the year out of my lower back. And then one day last week there was a road maintenance crew out mowing. The River is glorious, gradually changing color from a murky cafe latte to an opaque subtle brownish green to an almost translucent green - and then back again with a new storm. Saturday and Sunday the sight was bordering on surreal as a brilliant, sparkling, almost fluorescent forest green Indian Creek ribboned its way into the opaque olive flow of Rancheria Creek, taking its time to commingle then disperse. Some folks say this is the point the flow becomes the Navarro River. Others say the River starts a quarter mile upstream with the convergence of the very murky Anderson Creek. I call the flow all the way from Yorkville, The River. The few fishermen I've talked with claim there aren't many steelies (certainly not coho) biting, but on the few trips I've made to the mouth there have always been a couple of seals waiting for new arrivals, so the fish must be coming in. I don't think its seasonal, but a mountain lion took a lamb somewhere between Philo and Boonville this past week and the government trapper took the lion. I heard it was pregnant with three babies. Within the past couple of weeks a mountain lion took down a deer in a Philo meadow - no telling if it was the same animal. It’s not the lion but humanity that scares the bejesus out of me.

ANYONE with an existing internet connection and a wireless router but with an office outside the optimal range of the router might want to consider the Linksys 4-port RE6500 Wi-Fi range extender. They’re on significant markdown at Amazon (and other outlets) at the moment. For about $70 bucks you can get much improved connection speeds at a significantly wider connection radius range. We recently installed one for our office and the difference in access and speed has been dramatic. Easy to install and set-up with a handy and helpful website/app. They’re made in Taiwan, but we’re pretty sure Trump will bring the manufacture of these neat little devices back to America real soon.

OUR SUPERVISORS have written the following letter to CalTrans:

On January 24, 2017, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and Caltrans held a noticed public hearing regarding a proposed speed zone change in the Philo area of State Route Highway 128. Several members of the Philo community expressed concerns during the public hearing regarding public safety along State Route Highway 128.

A primary issue of concern was the lack of notice regarding the public hearing provided by Caltrans. Members of the public, the Anderson Valley Community Services District, and the Board of Supervisors expressed concern that the public hearing was noticed in the Ukiah Daily Journal and on the Caltrans Facebook page but not in the local newspaper, the Anderson Valley Advertiser, which is the primary news source for the Philo area. Additionally, the Anderson Valley Community Services District was not formally notified of the public hearing. It is the recommendation of the Board of Supervisors that future public noticing for the Anderson Valley area include notice in the local newspaper and formal notice to the Anderson Valley Community Services District.

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, in recognition of the concerns of the Philo community, requests Caltrans perform the following actions to preserve public safety along state Route Highway 128:

While the board and the public support lowering the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph for the half-mile stretches on either side of the town, neither support increasing the speed limit to 35 mph through the town. The board formally requests that Caltrans retain the 30 mph speed limit in the town of Philo.

The board further requests the Caltrans work with the California Highway Patrol to increase enforcement on State Route Highway 128, particularly in the highway corridors approaching Philo.

Finally, the Board of Supervisors requests that Caltrans implement context-sensitive design in the Philo area to create visual speed reduction cues for drivers.

Thank you for your consideration of this issue.

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors strongly urges the measures outlined in his letter to be taken to preserve the safety of Philo residents and visitors.

A READER WRITES: "I was wondering if you could investigate the high PG&E Bills that have been happening in Anderson Valley over the past two months? I'm talking 40 to 50% when nothing has changed within the household. The list is long."

WE'RE PUTTING it to our readers. But yes, we've noted a severe uptick but attributed it to winter heaters, especially our office heater, a big industrial job that blasts us and our bill outtahere if we leave it on too long.

ANONYMITY GUARANTEED, readers, if you want to share your PG&E woes with the media world.

MYSELF, mention of PG&E and AT&T never fails to make me nostalgic for the days when Homer Mannix ran the Anderson Valley, Fred Medinas was PG&E and John Hulbert was the phone company. The more things change, the more complicated and unworkable they become.

GYPSY JAZZ SWING PARTY AT LAUREN’S!  The Hot Club of Comptche — with Tom Brown on Violin/Cello, Ashley Harvie Vocals, Boonville’s own Pilar Duran on lead guitar, Navarro’s Kirk Vodopals on rhythm guitar and Nick Schwartz on bass — will perform at Lauren’s Restaurant in Boonville on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at a “pre-Valentine Full Moon Dance” starting at 9pm. $10 cover.

THE DENNIS BOARDMAN murder case is in court in Ukiah on the 27th of this month. The popular Fort Bragg and Boonville man was bludgeoned to death by Caleb Silver of Boonville, a young man Boardman had known from birth and had given much help to over the years.

IN ’N OUT of Ukiah’s exciting new In ’N Out: Traffic overloads the turn lanes off North State Street in both directions. Two employees in the crowded parking lot doing nothing but directing traffic. Two or three more employees with headsets taking orders from people in cars in line for the drive-thru. Walking in: crowded, but fast moving order line. No my body my temple types tediously demanding if anything they might consume is GMO or gluten loaded, lying in wait for the unsuspecting hamburger eater. The menu is very simple: burgers (1 or 2 patties), cheese option; fries, shakes, drinks. That’s it. As they say on their website: “…when all you serve is burgers, fries and drinks, doing things the old-fashioned way is the freshest idea of all.” I ordered a basic burger with fries. $4.35. An unremarkable burger. Fries are supposedly fresh cut, but they look and taste like the pre-cut bagged fries that other fast-food chains shove down the American gullet. There’s a small army of mostly white 20-somethings in the kitchen, kinda Mormon-looking, 25-30 of them, all in white outfits with red aprons. No chit-chat. The red and white anthill was a blur of focused activity. Everybody seemed to have one simple task and they did it. No one appeared to be supervising, but unless these people are automatons, someone was. Not much chit-chat at the tables either as Ukiah downed their burgers and fries, a rite of citizenship you might say. Efficient indoor layout with built-in counters and stools. “In-n-out.” Pound down your burger and fries and get out. Or back in line for another round of life-abbreviating nutrition. Throughput is mos def the priority at In-N-Out. I found out from their website that there are a few options that are not clear in the overhead menu at the store, such as the “animal” (look it up) option and grilled onions instead of the regular sweet onion on the burger. Overall, a very basic, no-frills, unpretentious, mechanistic operation producing a decent burger at a low cost. Henry Ford would love it. A friend tells me a similar flurry of interest occurred a few years ago when Jack-in-the-Box opened in Ukiah next door to Walmart. “It’s Ukiah. Doesn’t take much to create excitement,” he said. We’ll see if the early crowds continue.

APPLES AND ORANGES HERE, but I much prefer Lauren’s burgers and beef-cut fries right here in Boonville. They cost about twice as much (plus tip), take a little longer to prepare and deliver, but they’re bigger, fresher and much more satisfying than any chain glob. (Nobody who wants to live past 60 wants any kind of burger with fries very often anyway.) And by walking down the street to Lauren’s, I don’t have to navigate the post-industrial wasteland of Ukiah to get one.

(— ms)