Community RELIGION sports digest Saturday Faith community news ...................................Page 3 .............Page 6 June 23, 2007 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Sunday: Clouds give way to sunshine 7 58551 69301 0 Monday: Mostly sunny 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 14 pages, Volume 149 Number 75 email: [email protected] UKIAH CITY COUNCIL State takes City OKs Heads of state aim at ag test bores Anti-war protesters deliver message in a new way preserve for water funding sources Governor suggests cutting By KATIE MINTZ out Williamson Act The Daily Journal county reimbursements With the concern that Ukiah’s current water supply may not be The Daily Journal able to meet peak demands due to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal pumping constraints at the city’s to eliminate reimbursements to California dated wells and Russian River sur- counties for participation in the Williamson face water collector, it’s clear new Act could have significant lasting impacts sources are needed. But as much as on the ongoing efforts to preserve farmland the city needs water, it must also be and open space in Mendocino County. mindful of its budget, the City “The Williamson Act has proven to be Council says. one of the most significant conservation On Wednesday, the Ukiah City programs in state history,” Mendocino Council voted unanimously to pur- County Chief Executive Officer Al sue preliminary test bores at Ukiah Beltrami said. “To eliminate a component Redevelopment Agency land near of the program, which would make it fis- the airport and in the Brush Street cally impossible for many counties to con- Triangle to determine if groundwa- tinue participation, is not sound public pol- ter is present before proceeding to icy.” drill costly test wells. To place land in agricultural preserve Staff had recommended that the under the Williamson Act, a property council proceed immediately with owner enters into a voluntary contract with drilling test wells, which would local government. In return for agreeing to provide more detailed information not develop the land for a minimum of 10 about soil layers, water composi- years, the property owner receives a tax tion and potential pumping capaci- break. The state then reimburses participat- ty, at the price of about $30,000 ing local governments with a portion of the each. property tax revenue they would receive if “Staff is trying to keep the the land was not part of the program. expenses down and build on infor- When Schwarzenegger presented a mation that we’ve already paid for, revised version of the proposed state bud- which was the initial well-siting get for the 2007-2008 fiscal year in May, study,” Water Utilities Project however, it was missing the $39 million the Engineer Ann Burck explained. state provides to local governments partic- The study, completed by envi- ipating in such conservation. ronmental consulting firm Brown For Mendocino County, which currently and Caldwell in October for about has 487,463 acres in agricultural preserve $90,000, identified the nine most under the act, the cut could mean a loss of feasible city-owned properties to approximately $600,000 in revenues in the locate a well, including the RDA next fiscal year. property. Because the city does not Since its inception in the mid-1960s, own land in the Brush Street more than 16.5 million acres of farm and Triangle, it was not included. ranch land, including nearly 6 million acres However, due to its location of California’s prime farmland, have MacLeod Pappidas/The Daily Journal enrolled in the Williamson Act program. In between two creeks, it’s believed Papier-mache heads bearing the likeness of Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice and to be a desirable well location. A Mendocino County, 34,550 of prime farm- George Bush add a new face to the weekly war protest outside the Mendocino land are enrolled. property owner has indicated a County Courthouse. The heads were rented from a Seattle activist group. willingness to allow the city to drill While agricultural preservation is a pri- there as well. ority of Mendocino County, Beltrami said a “There’s every reason to cut might mean the county Board of believe, and no reason not to believe, that we’re not going to See WILLIAMSON, Page 14 find water there,” Burck said. But Councilman Doug Crane disagreed. Willits names “We have every hope that there’s water in all places the con- sultant said, but I submit that we school hires really don’t know that,” he said. “We hope for it, but we don’t The Willits News know.” WILLITS -- The Willits Unified School Councilman John McCowen District has hired three new administrators. also did not see spending $30,000 Olga O’Neill, a veteran teacher with 18 per test well before completing a years experience teaching in district preliminary boring operation as a schools, has been hired as assistant princi- money-saving measure. The test pal at Baechtel Grove Middle School. bores would cost about $4,000 Catharine Scott, who worked for the dis- trict for the past two years as principal of each, he said. (Clockwise, from above): The “We’re only sure we’re not the district’s small schools, is the district’s papier-mache head of Dick new assistant superintendent. adding additional expense if we’re Cheney rests on the courthouse sure that we’ll find water in the And in a surprise move, Tawny lawn while its bearer takes a Fernandez, formerly assistant principal at quantity we’re looking for. break. Trudy Morgan whose son, Otherwise, we may be avoiding Baechtel Grove Middle School, has been Matthew Miller, recently graduat- hired as principal of the Willits Unified expense,” McCowen said. ed from Marine boot camp, Since the project began, the City School District’s small schools. demonstrates against the Iraq Fernandez had agreed to take a job as Council has been wary about war. Besides a sign, war pro- incurring extra costs. principal of Fort Bragg Middle School, but tester Anthony Esserman-Mel- changed her mind. At the council’s last meeting, ville holds a donation cup solic- June 6, it put off making a decision “I was given an opportunity here that iting donations to help defray was too good to pass up,” Fernandez said, on a request for an additional the cost of the heads. $58,000 to be paid to Brown and “that was able to keep me here in Willits, Caldwell to look into the feasibili- which is where my heart is.” The new administrators will begin work See CITY, Page 14 July 1. Weather observation system on coast to aid CALSTAR The Daily Journal flights declined by CALSTAR unknown weather conditions,” said flight requests that are currently routes and maintaining the safety of An Automated Weather Observing because of unknown weather condi- CALSTAR 4 Program manager declined.” The AWOS will provide patients and crew. This is the first System recently installed at the tions. Deborah Pardee. “The AWOS accurate weather reporting of current installation of such a system on the Mendocino Coast District Hospital is “Our crews turned down flights enables our crews to accurately conditions and give pilots a minute- expected to reduce the number of due to the safety concerns of assess conditions and respond to to-minute update for planning flight See CALSTAR, Page 14 2 – SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2007 DAILY DIGEST Editor: Jody Martinez, 468-3517 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] any reductions in U.S. forces but said such rede- Friday, ending a two-week mission to deliver an POLICE REPORTS ployments may be feasible by spring. There are cur- addition to the international space station and bring The following were The world briefly rently 156,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. a crew member home from the outpost. compiled from reports Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon from his Atlantis crossed the Pacific and glided to a stop at prepared by the Ukiah headquarters outside Baghdad, Odierno gave an 12:49 p.m. on a runway at Edwards Air Force Base Police Department. To update on the U.S. offensives under way in Diyala in California. NASA managers had hoped to land the anonymously report Army officer says Guantanamo province northeast of Baghdad and in areas south shuttle in Florida, but bad weather forced them to crime information, call panels relied on vague and and west of the capital. He said U.S. and Iraqi troops abandon that plan. 463-6205. have made important progress. “I think if everything “Welcome back,” Mission Control told Atlantis. ARREST -- David incomplete intelligence goes the way it’s going now, there’s a potential that “Congratulations on a great mission.” Controllers Samuel Halstad, 31, of SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An Army offi- by the spring we will be able to reduce forces, and praised the crew for providing a “stepping stone to Ukiah, was arrested on sus- cer with a key role in the U.S. military hearings at Iraq security forces could take over,” Odierno said. the rest of NASA’s exploration plan.” picion of driving under the Guantanamo Bay says they relied on vague and “It could happen sooner than that. I don’t know.” Atlantis’ return from NASA’s first manned flight influence in the 100 block incomplete intelligence and were pressured to of the year was marked by its trademark twin sonic of North State Street at declare detainees “enemy combatants,” often with- Key U.S. allies explore seeking booms that were heard from San Diego to Los 9:42 p.m.