Warriors Weekend FORUM end Hornets’ entertainment Our readers write winning streak .............Page 6 ..............Page 3 ...................................Page 4 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Tomorrow: Cloudy, showers; H 49º L 31º 7 58551 69301 0 THURSDAY Jan. 31, 2008 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 16 pages, Volume 149 Number 297 email: [email protected] Orchard falls to farming economics By K.C. MEADOWS “All farming’s tough,” he said, and because pears are being imported cheap- The Daily Journal added that these days, “it’s not what you er. And, like many other economic sec- Local residents who drive in the grow, it’s what you sell.” tors, consolidation is happening among Perkins Street corridor have been won- Pears are not garnering the kinds of the fruit buyers, giving them a much dering why a huge pear orchard by the prices needed to pay for the pruning, more powerful position from which to Russian River has been torn out. pest control, picking and other orchard dictate prices to the growers. The answer is simple: Pears aren’t activities. “It’s a commodity,” Thomas stated paying. Plus, said Thomas, lots of pear buyers bluntly, not wishing, he said, to sound as The owner of the 56 acres of pears, - the supermarkets and others - are get- John Thomas, a member of the well- ting their pears offshore. See PEARS, Page 15 known Thomas family of pear growers, Just 10 years ago, Thomas said, you said Wednesday he could no longer could still make a pear orchard work afford to keep the orchard going. between selling fresh pears - “which MacLeod Pappidas/The Daily Journal His dad planted the pears in 1960, have to be perfect looking” - and the less Uprooted pear trees sit ready for and John Thomas has been managing perfect pears for juice, baby food, disposal in an orchard on the that orchard since 1979 but has recently canned fruit or dried fruit. All those south side of Perkins Street, east been struggling to make it pay. markets are down, he said, largely of the Russian River. WINTER ECOLOGY IN MENDOCINO COUNTY MURDER CASE IN COURT Detectives take stand at boy’s hearing By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal A witness to the crime told police he saw Marcos Escareno fire one round into a mini- van driven by Enoch Cruz on the night Cruz was killed, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Detective Jason Caudillo testified Wednesday. Escareno, 15, is charged with murder in the shooting death of Cruz, 22, who was found dead in a minivan on Garcia Court in Manchester on Feb. 6, 2007. Escareno was 14 years old at the time of his arrest but is being tried as an adult. Caudillo testified that he and former Sheriff’s Detective Robert Crabb interviewed Andrew Reynolds, 14, of Manchester, who told them he witnessed part of the shooting. Reynolds was at the Cobarrobia home on Garcia Court the night of the shooting and spent some of the evening with Escareno. Caudillo said Reynolds told him Escareno came over to the house and was helping Reynolds with his homework when Escareno received a call on his cell phone. Escareno left, and shortly thereafter, Reynolds heard Escareno in the street “shout- ing like he was fighting with someone,” MacLeod Pappidas/The Daily Journal Caudillo said. Jim Xeroganes, director of agriculture at Mendocino College, digs up the rhizomes of a California fuschia Tuesday. Most of the plant’s winter activity is underground, where it takes advantage of an abundant seasonal water supply. See COURT, Page 15 Plant kingdom may Medical pot seem to be sleeping, tax to remain Board of Equalization clarifies but take a close look that medical marijuana is not By ZACK SAMPSEL exempt from state sales tax The Daily Journal By ROB BURGESS n the surface, winter in Mendocino County seems The Daily Journal like a wet, soggy affair with little plant and insect The sales tax applied to medical marijuana activity, but, according to Jim Xeroganes, director dispensaries throughout California will con- of agriculture at Mendocino College, there’s a lot tinue, contrary to previous reports, according more going on below the surface you may never to Betty Yee, chairwoman and 1st District member of the California Board of Osee. Xeroganes stands in front of the blooming flower of a Equalization. The study of Winter Ecology is the exploration of organisms’ Fremont silk tassel. Hummingbirds and insects are natural processes and phenomena in winter environments. In In the original article that appeared Jan. 19 pollinating the plant now so that it can send its seeds in The Ukiah Daily Journal, a representative some regions, winter is the principal architect of life and habitat. out in the spring. For higher elevations and latitudes, winter can be the season of from the California State Board of chilling energy deficits that demand the most conservative Equalization who gave only her first name, adaptations in plants and animals. Mendocino County’s winter only the fruiting body of the organism, and their true purpose is Sarah, was quoted as saying the sales tax that weather is a mix between cold temperatures and wet days, served below the soil line where the roots helps to cycle dispensaries are currently subject to would which creates specific adaptations and preparations from plants nutrients. Many insects like beetles and the True Bug protect soon change. and animals alike. themselves against the cold by drying out their cells, which “It was a mistake on our end,” said Yee. “A lot of people look at winter and say it’s barren, but the increases water levels throughout the rest of their body. In Yee said to be considered for exemption truth is, there’s a lot going on near the soil,” Xeroganes addition to the drying, some insects also bury themselves below from state sales tax, a drug must pass a series explained while touring the college’s garden. “Every time you the soil line and go dormant, all of which keeps the winter cycle of three tests. go out you learn something more as you look closer.” going. “The first is that it has to be dispensed by As trees shed their leaves in preparation for winter, the Trees, mushrooms and insects aren’t the only organisms that commonly known to be available to use for benefit is two-fold. Not only do the trees no longer have to collect nutrients and remain active during the winter. Xeroganes treatment of a disease or ailment,” she said. gather extra food in their leaves to grow and maintain, but the explained that many native plants, like the California Fuschia, “This traditionally means it has to be fallen leaves become mulch and keep the ground humid. Manzanitas and Fremont silk-tassel are working a double duty approved by FDA, but not always. The second “As trees go dormant you can’t really see what goes on throughout the season. Most of these plants and others build up is that it has to be prescribed by a physician. below the ground,” Xeroganes said. “The leaves act as mulch, sugar levels through photosynthesis during the fall, which helps The third part is that it has to be dispensed by which then becomes a home for mushrooms.” a licensed pharmacist. This last one is where Xeroganes said the mushrooms you see above the ground are See ECOLOGY, Page 15 we’ve run into some debate.” See MARIJUANA, Page 15 2 – THURSDAY, JAN. 31, 2008 DAILY DIGEST Editor: Jody Martinez, 468-3517 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] FUNERAL NOTICES DEATH NOTICES [\ During her youthful Cathy also leaves her parents Erich & • Robert L. Cake, 85, died Saturday Jan. 26, 2008. days, Cathy enjoyed rid- behind three nieces, a Katharina Pletsch and her Cremation and private burial services are under the direction of ing her horse along the nephew, a half-sister, brother Heinz J. the Eversole Mortuary. Sonoma County a step-son and four grand- Pletsch. coastline or in the hills. At children. A visitation will be held one time, Cathy A Memorial Service will on Thursday, January POLICE REPORTS •In Wednesday’s Page 1 hitchhiked across Canada be held on Sunday, 31, 2008 from 5-8 PM at article “Gunfire leads to two with friends and February 3, 2008 at 2 PM the Eversole Mortu- The following were arrests” Amanda Ashby was active in social causes. at The Eversole ary, a funeral service will compiled from reports should not have been listed as She also raised Mortuary in Ukiah. The be held on Friday, prepared by the Ukiah having been arrested on suspi- goats, spun her own wool family would like to February 1, 2008 at 2:00 Police Department. To cion of child endangerment. and raised chick- thank Phoenix Hospice for PM at the Eversole anonymously report Charges of child endanger- ens. Animals were always a their excellent care Mortuary officiated by crime information, call ment have been forwarded to big part of her and the staff at Oak Manor Pastor David Donnell. 463-6205. the Mendocino County Dis- life. She trained one of her School for their Arrangements are under ARREST -- Joshua Tyler trict Attorney’s Office, but she golden retrievers unwavering support the direction of the Viayra, 20, of Ukiah, was has not been arrested. to be a therapy dog with through this difficult time. Eversole Mortuary arrested on suspicion of dri- CATHERINE BOWEN The Ukiah Daily Journal Family, friends and stu- her younger stu- Donations may be made to 462-2206 ving under the influence in the [\ 600 block of South Orchard reserves this space to correct dents lost a special dents.