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Valley People (June 12, 2019)

PG&E WARNING. The Ukiah area may be without power up to 20 times this summer, with the power out 24-72 hours at a time. This is because of the utility's decision to cut power if conditions look bad for potential wildfires. There is supposed to be a 24 hour notice on NIXLE, so people can get gas, water, food, money and anything else that requires electricity. Better yet, keep your supplies replenished, your gas tank at least half full, and purchase all those things you keep putting off like wind-up/battery operated flashlights, radios and phone chargers, plus some cooking gear that doesn't require electricity. Ukiah provides its own electricity, but could be affected if the whole region/grid is shut down. There is a cooling station planned at Ukiah High School (big) and another at the hospital (small) so go to the high school if you are roasting. 

SAME applies to the Anderson Valley where we were globally warmed to a toasty but bearable 97 degrees on Sunday. When the nearby hounds howled at about 2pm — the neighborhood dogs go off in a pack at the first sound of a siren — we feared a Valley fire, not the traffic accident it turned out to be on 128 on the far, far side of Navarro. 

THE NUMBER of Anderson Valley’s high school graduates this year is 43, a fairly large class by local standards. Scholarships and special recognitions were awarded Tuesday evening, with the full graduation ceremony occurring on Thursday, 7pm.

BECAUSE of graduation week, the school board meeting scheduled for Tuesday 11 June, has been put over until Monday, June 24th’s  budget meeting, with a follow-up session for Thursday, June 27th to wrap up a final number’s crunch.

HENDY WOODS Visitor Center is located in the Wildcat Camp Loop. From May-September it is open most Saturdays and Sundays and other days of the week as volunteers are available. The Visitor Center has natural history displays including skulls and bones of the animals associated with the park. Some very basic necessities are available along with t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, postcards, a variety of other items and ice cream! All proceeds return to the park. The Hendy Woods Community volunteers who staff the Visitor Center will be happy to help you find your way around the park and can suggest activities suitable to your interests both at the park and in Anderson Valley. 

KZYX, via a presser we’ve truncated here, has announced that Ukiah resident Alicia Bales has been hired as the station’s new Program Director, replacing Alice Woelfle, who left the station last month to begin a news internship at KALW in San Francisco. Ms. Bales, who KZYX listeners may remember as Alicia Littletree, produced the bi-weekly program ‘Truth to Power’ on the station from 1997 through 2004. “As a KZYX veteran, Ms. Bales is knowledgeable about the station’s diverse audience and well versed in the station’s programming philosophy and mission. She officially stepped into her new job on June 3.” 

VISIT THREE PRIVATE GARDENS in Anderson Valley on June 15 to Benefit the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program. On Saturday, June 15, the public is invited to three private gardens in Boonville and Yorkville, through the Garden Conservancy Open Days program, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Open Day is rain or shine, and no reservations are required. Admission is $10 per garden; children 12 and under are free. Call 1-888-842-2442, or visit www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days for more information. 

MARGARET ELLIS COMMENTED recently on this 2010 item: "March 2007: George Cameron Hettrick, 57, of Philo. Human remains found on a ranch in Philo in January 2008 and his remains were identified in February 2008. Hettrick, suffering from dementia, wandered away from his care home at the Holmes Ranch, Philo. He died from a combination of exposure and AIDS."

MS. ELLIS’S COMMENT: “Gordon disappeared from my cousin’s house not a care home. He did not die from exposure or HIV. He was murdered. He died from high velocity blunt force trauma to his head. I am his sister and the person who caused this for financial gain is walking free. Read the Coroner’s report and the police reports and interviews, including the search reports. His name was Gordon Cameron Hettrick not George. Thank you.”

GORDON HETTRICK was 57 when he was last seen on the Upper Holmes Ranch late in the afternoon of March 10th, 2007, a Saturday. Ten months later his remains were found off Little Mill Creek, between the Holmes Ranch and Nash Mill. A human skull, some bones and bits of clothing were discovered early Friday afternoon by the owner of the property, Tish McLeran and her husband. Mrs. McLeran said at the time that Hettrick was her cousin, adding, “I’m waiting for the findings of the police before I say anything else because it would be wrong to speculate right now.” Mrs. McLeran emphatically stated her home is not a care home as some neighbors speculated. The Sheriff’s Department, at the time, attributed Hettrick’s death to natural causes via exposure.

BEST SPORTS BET of the year. A Boonville sports guy told us about an acquaintance who put a hundred bucks on the Raptors before the NBA season began. Odds on the Raptors to win it all were then 44-1. Lucky bet? Nope, the guy follows hoops very, very carefully.

CHEAPEST non-reserved seat at the Oakland Coliseum for the Warriors vs. the Raptors goes for $72,000! I remember paying a coupla bucks to see the Warriors when they first came to San Francisco with Wilt Chamberlain.  They played downtown at the Civic Auditorium, since re-named for rock and roll titan, Bill Graham. The where tickets were still affordable up through the 1970s, but then the onslaught of the Golden Horde and prices soared, and the games became a Vegas-like spectacle of high decibel “music,” hoochie koochie dancers, half-time juggling acts, television time-outs, and too many fans who don’t know a basketball from a pineapple. (Excuse me, sir, but are you elderly, a nostalgic old coot? Well, yes, in some matters, I mos def am.)

CALLING ALL MUSICIANS! The Boonville Farmers' Market is looking for folks who are interested in playing at the market. This is a great community event which happens each Friday from 4-7pm at Disco Ranch. Please contact Lama if you're interested at 489-5034.

TODAY! Artist Reception Wednesday 6/12/19, 4 to 6. Come see a new side to our friend Saffron Blue Fraser as she displays in her very first show, the art she has been creating. Showing with Saffron are some of the last works of Malcolm West, curated by Margaret Pickens. Malcolm's art supplies were passed on to Saffron when he died and now a few years later the world has new works of art.

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