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Anderson Valley Advertiser

Letters (June 18, 2014)

I only met John Sakowicz once. It was sometime after Wall Street and the “investment bankers” had nearly bankrupted the country — and had put the big hurt on my people — and our meeting didn’t go well. It was at KZYX, of all places. I had some biz there and while I was waiting in their waiting room I realized that Sakowicz was next door in the studio wrapping up his radio show. I’d listened to his show before and, since I’ve always admired folks who have a way with numbers, I enjoyed hearing what Sakowicz had to say. Seemed he had Wall Street expertise and finely-tuned administrative skills (life as a spreadsheet) and no doubt the dude likes spouting off and I liked that, too. Also somebody had recently written a Letter to the Editor accusing Sakowicz (the damned carpetbagger) of padding his sparkling resume and that, on balance, increased my sympathy for him. The dude must be making some kind of waves, I figured, and I’ve always been partial to that sort of person. The complacent and the apathetic are too docile to suit my tastes.

Bird’s Eye View (June 18, 2014)

The AV Elementary School Art Show is currently on display at Lauren’s Restaurant in Boonville. Local artist Chris Bing has done a fine job teaching art this past school year and his creative display of the children's work is equally wonderful. The exhibit runs until July 6, so try to get in to see it soon. Birds are flying all around the restaurant!

Fairgrounds Music Fest Returns

The third weekend in June is upon us, and for the past decade in Boonville that means the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival kicks off…

Valley People (June 18, 2014)

THE BOONVILLE GRADUATION drew a large crowd for Anderson Valley, the largest I've seen. Children of Mexican immigrants made up a large majority of the graduates, and the Mexicans turned out in force. The class of 2014 struck me as serious, mature even, especially for high school kids, perhaps because Mexican kids, in the Anderson Valley anyway, are raised in strong, intact families solidly aware of the decadent seductions presented by their adopted country and have worked to inoculate their young against them.

Simpson Lane Chivalry

Bryan Kann was so amped on methamphetamine that it would be whole days and many lost nights before he could sleep. And there was nothing at all to do but bounce endlessly around the house, waiting for whatever tweekers wait for. At 3am, Kann found something to do.

Off the Record (June 18, 2014)

COUNTY CEO Carmel Angelo has included a $45,000 remodeling project at the County Jail in the 2014-15 county budget. The re-do will house a dog…

HumCo Struggles to Maintain Services

Humboldt County is proposing what’s been described as a down-to-the-bone budget with a $2.7 million deficit and unless new revenue sources emerge, the situation will…

Hiking The Yolla Bolly (Part 2)

The whole trek would have proved relatively uneventful except for the last two hundred yards of the trail. I was in the lead of five other backpackers, returning to the trailhead. The hiker behind hollered, “Do you see the car?”

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