RUBEN THOMMASON of the Anderson Valley Market Thomassons, will soon be back in his Boonville home attended by an in-home care person. A hearing in Superior Court, Ukiah, last Wednesday determined that Mr. Thomasson had sufficiently recovered himself after an early morning episode three weeks ago during which he fired shots at invisible tormentors. Doctors determined that the popular Thomasson was delirious from an infection and has since been restored to non-hallucinatory functioning.
CELEBRATE THE FOURTH of July at the Boonville Fairgrounds from 12-4 on July 4th. Featuring relay games, bouncy house, delicious local food, a kids' parade, chicken clucking contest, cake auction, and the renowned Deep Enders vs. High Rollers tug-of-war. ALL ARE WELCOME! This is a fundraiser for the AVUSD Wellness Committee which promotes healthy food in our schools.
LEMONS MARKET, PHILO, is festooned in red, white and blue, among the most vivid of the patriotic displays in the Anderson Valley, followed closely by Anderson Valley Market and Rossi Hardware, Boonville.
THE BOONVILLE CONTINGENT of the Nationwide March For Families marched from the Fairgrounds to the AVA offices Saturday morning, and for a minute there we thought the Bolsheviki were upon us. But we soon saw the demo was comprised of several dozen Valley people undeterred by the hundred degree heat, all bearing signs demanding that the sanctity of the family, all families, be honored.
WHEN THE MARCHERS returned to the Fairgrounds parking lot on the south end of town, a female Fairgrounds staffer, our very own Permit Patti, told the group that they needed a permit to enter the Fairgrounds parking lot. “No we don’t,” a marcher replied, “this is government public property, this is California State property.” “No, it’s fairgrounds property,” insisted Permit Patti, adding that if the group didn’t leave she’d call the Sheriff, your basic idle threat to this crowd of veteran dissidents, and doubly idle given the patient reasonableness of resident deputy Craig Walker, perhaps the most unlikely cop in America to slap the cuffs on Americans in the act of being Americans.
WAS IT A STROKE? We're hoping that the Chris Skyhawk camp will clarify his medical status, and we further hope that the Hawk returns soon to ride the campaign trail towards the 5th District seat on the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.
BUT THE SCANNER two weeks ago had dispatched emergency services to "a possible ecstasy overdose" at Skyhawk's Albion address on G Road involving a "56-year-old male, possible intentional ecstasy overdose" and that "the patient was suffering stroke-like symptoms on his left side."
IS IT FAIR to report what's heard on the public airwaves via scanners? (Yes.) Are some public people to be protected from full disclosure? (No.) We wish the guy no harm, and hope he's soon returned to full health.
AGEE STRIKES AGAIN. Several years ago here in Boonville, the fill-in boss at the Anderson Valley Health Center, Diane Agee, fired a popular and long-time Health Center employee. Firing the unfortunate woman apparently wasn't enough. Agee, who was and is also the boss at Gualala's Health Center, took the fired Boonville woman's keys and marched her off the premises as if she were a criminal. No reason for the humiliating dismissal was ever made public, if indeed there was a reason. When an angry crowd turned out to demand why the woman had been fired, the Boonville Health Center's supine board of directors simply stared eerily and mutely back at inquiring speakers, as if suddenly zombo-ized.
THE BRUSQUE MARTINET has a new victim, this one in Gualala where she has summarily dismissed the Gualala Health Center's new-ish doctor, leaving him angry and headed for lawyers. "I was fired for no cause," Dr. Fullerton told the ICO, "…dismissed on the spot. I was told to take my things and give them my keys, and they walked me out to the car. I asked what was going on, and they said, ‘This is the way it is,’ no discussion."
AGEE told the ICO "It's in the hands of our attorneys at the moment. So, all I could say is ‘no comment’."
DR. FULLERTON said that unqualified Physician Assistants are doing patient work they aren't qualified to do, an assertion Agee of course denies, but dollars to donuts those Physician Assistants are, like all the rest of the employees at the Gualala facility, totally dependent on and loyal to Agee.
THE SAME humiliating dismissal technique — a kind of Mendo-specific perp walk — is practiced by County CEO Carmel Angelo. The doomed County employee shows up for work, is told to hand over his or her keys, and marched out to the parking lot as if detected in a criminal act.
IT GOT UP TO 103 DEGREES in Boonville a little before 4pm on Saturday, and by Sunday, to the south, as fires raged not all that far to the east, as I drove north out of the mean streets of San Anselmo, the sun rose a smokey orange, like a dusty eclipse as if we might all be eclipsed by fiery events.
KEEP IT CLASSY, BRIAN. Brian Barrett of the Ukiah School District, vanquished by Michelle Hutchins of Boonville in his bid to become County School's boss, has not acknowledged his defeat or expressed congratulations to Mrs. Hutchins. Mrs. H, by way of contrast, has released an appropriately grateful and conciliatory message to local media expressing her hope that the County's collective educational effort, under her leadership, will meet its mounting challenges.
VELMA'S FARM STAND at Filigreen Farm
11750 Anderson Valley Way Boonville 95415
Friday 6/29 10am - 1:30pm
Saturday 6/30 10am -4pm
Sunday 7/1 10am - 4pm
Freshly Picked Blueberries
By the basket or Flat (12 baskets)
Come by and have a taste!
ANDERSON VALLEY RESIDENTS might be pleased to know that a Valley forester named Michael Howell from Philo has taken his seat on the Planning Commission. June 21 was his first meeting and he took a few minutes to introduce himself:
“I have been a resident of Mendocino County now for 40 some years. It seems like a long time but time flies. I have been in the forestry business for that entire time. Ten of those years I was with Masonite. I don't know how many of you remember Masonite. Masonite had a timberlands division based out of Calpella. There was a group of staff foresters and I was one of those. Ten years down the road Louisiana-Pacific gobbled us up and I decided it might be time to go on my own and go into the consulting business. And that's what I did. You know the old saying, things are meant to be. It was a great move for me. Right away I became very busy. And now I'm still in the consulting business. I have a lot of clients who have been with me for 25 or 30 years. I have a great love for this county. I feel very honored that Roger [Krueger, former timber rep] called me and said he was ready to retire and asked me if I would be interested in the forestry position. My first reaction was no, I don't have time to do this stuff. Then I thought, no, I can't say that because I was instrumental in getting Roger on the Planning Commission back when he was on. Because I knew Karen Calvert and Karen came to me and said, I need to retire, who do you think would be good? And Roger’s name was the first one to pop into my mind. So that's kind of a brief summary of what I do and where I came from.”
OUT EARLY this morning for my daily shot of aerobics, I couldn't help but see a gaggle of little kids headed for the Boonville Elementary School. What the heck? Turns out the young un's can get a free breakfast at the school for a pretty good hunk of the summer. Also encountered what I assumed was a dope deal of the early morning type — a cluster of vehicles converging, consulting, exchanging, then speeding away — and recalled a Health Department report I'd read that listed the Anderson Valley as an opioid problem area.
"MAYBERRY LSD": A visitor from Point Arena said this is his title for the Point Arena City Council. I said, "Bingo!"
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