CALEB DAIN SILVER, 25, has been arrested in Southern California and extradited to Mendocino County where he is the primary suspect in the murder of Dennis Boardman of Fort Bragg. Silver, who grew up in Boonville, is being held at the County Jail on two felony charges and a misdemeanor charge related to a series of break-ins along the Mendocino Coast and in Lake County. Boardman, who also lived in Boonville for many years, was found bludgeoned to death January 2nd in his Fort Bragg home. Silver, who knew Boardman, had been sought in the Ventura area where Boardman's truck, with its distinctive handcrafted camper, was found within two weeks of the popular Fort Bragg man's death.
ATTN. Out-of-Towners! You are certain to enjoy our annual spring flower show at the Boonville Fairgrounds this Saturday and Sunday. And if all the floral splendor somehow gets your goat, why you can just step off a few feet to the west on the very same premises for our second annual Goat Extravaganza where you'll not only learn everything you need to know about this hardy, versatile beast, your kids can meet them up close and personal. Of all our weekend events here in the spectacular Anderson Valley, these two are among the most interesting for wholesome good fun.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, you gotta rsvp by Thursday (April 21st) to get a seat at the Boonville Hotel for the 2016 Community Grant awardees for the Anderson Valley on the following Thursday, April 28th, 5-6pm, not that you have to be out the door on the stroke of six. "This year's check reception theme is 'Investing in Our Communities.' Info at michelle@communityfound.org
LOCAL non-smoking, non-drug-using elderly couple looking for a quiet place to rent. Gordon (76) drove ambulance for seven years in the Valley. Maire (73) is from Finland where she taught high school art and now shows her paintings locally. Great rental history and excellent credit. 707/684-0735.
AT EASE, POT GROWERS. PG&E plans to conduct more helicopter flyovers this week to search out drought-stricken trees near power lines, mostly to the north of us, but the power diktat specifically cited Yorkville as a location they'd be buzzing.
AVIAN OVERLOAD. Anybody know what might account for the ever-larger number of doves in central Boonville? A doughty creature that even chases off the usually indomitable blue jay, we've got lots of doves in this area of The Valley.
PANTHER BASEBALL. Coach Ryan Jones' rampaging homeboys remain undefeated, taking both ends of a league-opening doubleheader from the Laytonville Warriors last week at the Boonville diamond. The Panthers are now 7-0 on the season.
JARED JOHNSTON threw a brilliant 15-strikeout, 3-hitter at the mystified Laytonville hitters while also going 5 for 5 at the plate, driving in 3 runs. The flame-throwing right-hander got lots of offensive help from Jonas Lane who went 2/3 with a couple of ribbies; ditto for Isak Parra; and Tony Pardini who was 2/4 with an rbi and a run scored.
TONY PARDINI took the hill for the second game of the twin bill, shutting down Laytonville on 6 hits for a tidy 3-1 victory. JT Carlin was 2/2; Jared Johnston 1/2, with a rbi and a run scored, while Pardini helped himself to his win with a hit and a run batted in.
PHIL JERGENSON stopped in last week, his visit again reminding me that this County, for the pure ingenuity of so many of its residents, has got to be one of the cleverest places on earth. Mr. J is based in Willits, and has lived in the Willits area for many years. He often works with his equivalently talented brother, Richard. Phil, Richard and Wilma Keppel, the last a professional welder but a professional welder who has made an art form out of the craft. Phil gave me a useful book this gifted trio has assembled. It's called, "How to Build With Grid Beam — a fast, easy and affordable system for constructing almost anything." Which is not hype. This is a valuable how-to book with easy to understand directions for building stuff out of almost anything. Philo also gifted me with a Mendo Pipe, "hand made with solar power." I've been gazing at this amazing brass-bowled artifact for a week now, feeling much like the mystified apes in Kubrick's Space Odyssey. Not being a smoker myself but thinking of becoming one simply to fire one up in this intriguing pipe unlike any pipe ever, this thing is the perfect stocking stuffer for the tokers on your Christmas list. You can find these remarkable people and their array of inventions at MendoMountain.com
DONNA PIERSON-PUGH reports that "the fourth and sixth grade Eco-Patrol at the Anderson Valley Elementary School will be doing a garbage audit on Weds. May 4 at 2:00 to analyze the solid waste, recycling and compost to see how well we are separating our garbage and to come up with plans to improve and reduce the garbage produced. We are looking for supportive adults that can help teams of 2 elementary students with the process of separating (with gloves!) the different waste containers and analyzing how much is produce of each type of waste. There will be some AVHS teens helping with the process. If this is an activity that you would be willing to help with, either the sorting or the analysis and recommendations for improvement, please let me know. (895-3496 ext 519)
AVA CONTRIBUTOR KATY TAHJA knows there are many Earth Day events being offered around the county but she invites readers to learn more about Measure V on the June ballot by coming to the Caspar Community Center Friday April 22 between 4:30 and 10p.m. She will speak about her reactions to losing 20 acres of timber on her home ranch as wildfire spread towards thousands of acres of standing dead trees on surrounding commercial timberlands. Suggestions for making homes fire safe are also part of her talk as she came damn close to losing her house along with the timber that went up in flames in 2012. There will be other speakers, music and food to make it a fun evening. Katy Tahja will also be happy to come and talk to groups/clubs/etc. about Measure V. She’s in the phone book.
LIBRARY LINES: The Anderson Valley library will be open Saturday April 23, from 12-4pm, for our $4 a bag book sale. Please bring your own bag. We have been getting a lot of donated books, so we have a great selection. Come on down and get some great books, visit the Wild Flower Show in June Hall, and attend the Goat Festival happening that day. Something for everyone to enjoy! Thank you.
Liz Dusenberry, Boonville
MENTAL HEALTH'S ROAD SHOW comes to Boonville.
“Greetings to Anderson Valley from the ‘Traveling Mendocino County Mental Health Board.’ We are now known as the Behavioral Health Advisory Board. Our April 20th Regular Meeting will be held in your area for the first time in many years. You are cordially invited to attend our meeting and address our Board on issues and concerns regarding the delivery of County Mental Health services to your local population. A whirlwind of activity, changes and transition has enveloped our county in the last few months. We will be sharing our concerns and understanding and listening to yours related to mental health issues. We will be meeting just 1.3 miles north of town on 128 at the Red Museum Property 12340 Highway 128 @10:00 AM on April 20th. Our Agenda is posted at the meeting site.
Hope to see you there.
John Wetzler, Board Chair
(The link that Mr. Wechsler provides has a typo in it, and after the typo (a missing “_”) was finally fixed we went to the Mental Health Board webpage where there’s supposed to be an agenda for April 20:
http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/hhsa/mh_board.htm
But of course, the April 20 meeting date has no agenda attached!)
* * *
ED NOTE: Well, John, 10am on a weekday is not exactly conducive to a public meeting if you want to hear from the public. But we send along our perspective in lieu of our scintillating physical presence. Which is, Sheriff Allman's plan is the only hope for an effective Mental Health strategy for Mendocino County. If we continue to limp along with the partially privatized, chaotic, mercenary, and relentlessly cruel non-system we now suffer Mendocino County's mentally ill will continue to be viewed merely as funding units and remain untreated, unprotected.
HERE'S A PERFECT EXAMPLE of what Mendocino County is getting for their $20 million annual mental health dollars. A Ukiah cop told us that he and his partner had taken an obviously suicidal young man to the Ukiah Valley Medical Center’s Emergency Room early on a weekday morning. “On the one hand, whoever’s in charge of that now, they responded pretty fast. But it was clear that they wanted to dispatch the person out of the ER as quickly as possible.”
“No insurance?” the Major asked.
“I guess not,” laughed the cop. “Anyway, we had spoken to the kid’s family and he was definitely 5150 and his intentions were clear. He needed to be looked at. So we argued with the mental health person and finally they agreed with the 5150 and took him in. But I don’t think he was in there very long.”
DAYLA HEPTING WRITES: "I have spent the last two years in a battle on facebook with a bunch of Trump loving, fascist, racist, homophobic, evangelical Christians. I have tried to be civil in spite of their rage and spitefulness towards me. Tear off the mask of Christianity and you find a seething spew of hate and intolerance. Most of my enemies are my relatives. But they finally pushed me too far yesterday. I read a post from the Bible based on the sons of Cain. The poster said the doomed sons in this day and age are liberals and other undesirables. That pissed me off and I became no longer civil. I told them their Christianity was disgusting. I do not believe in God. Never have. Never will. So they all came unglued. Spewing hate for me and my California values. They told me to go back to California where I belonged. My parting shot was "Fuck off, you redneck bastards. I'm done." And that is the end of it. I am coming back to Anderson Valley. I am done with Montana. There is a civil war brewing in the heartland and I am tired of being the lone Indian — Assiniboine — fighting the whole fucking Calvary. I'm done. I am going home. I want to live in the Anderson Valley. I will arrive next spring. June 2017. I need that much time to get my affairs in order. Well now I am in script. Oh well. I don't mind. I will be looking for senior housing when I get there."
TWELFTH ANNUAL Goldeneye Winemaker Dinner
Saturday, June 18th, 2016, 5:30 to 9:30 PM. Goldeneye Winery, Philo: Please join us for an evening of artfully prepared food and wine as we continue to celebrate the work done through the Cancer Resource Centers. The event begins at 5:30 PM with a reception featuring Goldeneye choice wines, followed by dinner at 6:30 PM, served under a temperate summer sky. Come experience the craftsmanship of Goldeneye wines paired with the culinary delights of Guest Chef, Shannon Hughes. Purchasing Tickets (limited seating/reservations required) Tickets are $150 per person Info at : 707-937-3833. All proceeds from this event benefit the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County.
THE DANES ARE COMING! READ CAREFULLY. THESE PEOPLE MAY SOON BE RUNNING OUR AMBULANCES. LifeStar Response of New Jersey is being sued on behalf of the federal government for "systematically falsifying patient and physician records to lock in millions of dollars of unjustified Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, according to a whistleblower lawsuit recently unsealed in federal court." (NJ.com)
"Centerra Services International Inc., formerly known as Wackenhut Services LLC, agreed to pay $7.4 million to resolve allegations that Wackenhut violated the False Claims Act by double billing and inflating labor costs under contract for firefighting and fire protection services in Iraq." (FCPA Blog)
On the opendemocracy.org website under a headline that reads "Concealment and trickery — that's G4S children's homes" an article begins: "The world's biggest security company hides its identity in applications to convert houses into children's homes in England. See also: G4S guard fatally restrains 15 year old - gets promoted."
Another website called PRWatch has an article titled, "Violence, Abuse, and Death at For-Profit Prisons: A GEO Group Rap Sheet." GEO Group is another Wackenhut derivative and "is the world's leading provider of correctional, detention, and community reentry services". Here are two of many story heads from the article" "Jury awards over $40 million to inmate killed in beating." " State of Texas fines company $625,000 and terminates $12 million contract for mismanagement of jail; 12 Employees charged with sexual assault."
So what's this got to do with Mendocino? Well, all of these companies and many, many more are buy-outs, mergers and re-named entities associated with a Danish outfit called Group 4 Falck represented locally by Falck Northern California as Verihealth.
VeriHealth under Falck leadership has invaded Ukiah and released a can of worms into our Emergency Medical Response system to gain lucrative contracts at the Sonoma Raceway and with higher profit-margin inner facility-transfers.
In response, the Mendocino Board of Supervisors has initiated an attempt to establish an EOA or Exclusive Operating Area, but it’s likely that the move is too little too late. Money wins - always does and Falck's pockets are as deep as "The largest in the world" and their ethics sink all the way to Hades.
(David Severn, repeated from last week with corrections.)
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