Community REMINISCE sports digest SUNDAY Elusive Images photo contest ..........Page A-8 April 9, 2006 ................................Page A-3 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper .......Page A-2 Monday: Showers Tuesday: Windy with rain $1 tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 56 pages, Volume 147 Number 365 email: [email protected] FOCUS ON FILM ‘All I know – and all I want – is the title of National Sign Dancing Champion.’ JUSTIN KESTER, Little Caesar’s sign dancer who flies to Las Vegas Tuesday to compete for the title SHELBY WHITE ‘Shaker boarder’ on mission By LAURA CLARK The Daily Journal hree months ago, Justin Kester was T bored and out of ‘Take the Lead’ work; now he wants to be the best Little Caesar’s sign dancer in the country. a dance movie After just a few short months dancing on Ukiah’s North State Street with a message corner, Kester was discov- Based on a true story, this new release is ered via videotape by about a group of misfit teenagers who over- Little Caesar’s corporate. come the hardships of their lives and con- “Every year Little quer the dance floor with the help of an Caesar’s holds a nation- amazing dance instructor named Pierre wide search for the best Dulane. sign dancer in America. “Take the Lead,” directed by Liz Each Little Caesar’s sends Friedlander and starring Antonio Banderas in videos of their sign (“The Legend of Zorro”), Alfre Woodard dancers, and a panel of (“Desperate Housewives” series) and Rob judges takes the three Brown (“Coach Carter”) is a drama filled finalists from America and with great music, phenomenal dancing and all of us go down to Las lots of good examples of the life lessons Vegas and pretty much just many teens face today. dance it out for the Pierre Dulane (Banderas) is a former pro- judges,” the 20-year-old fessional dancer and wonderful dance Kester said, noting he flies instructor who owns his own dance studio in out Tuesday to Las Vegas, New York. One night as he’s riding his bike where he’ll be put up at the home from his studio he spots Rock (Brown) Rio All Suites Hotel, cour- smashing up a car while two of his buddies tesy of Little Caesar’s. stand aside and taunt him to continue swing- “I am dancing against ing. When Dulane goes to investigate, Rock last year’s national cham- Isaac Eckel/The Daily Journal runs away. pion, so it’s going to be (Above) Justin Kester juggles his Little The next day Dulane schedules a meeting quite an undertaking,” Caesar’s sign on the corner of North State with the principal (Woodard) of the New Kester said. Street and Ford Road at the beginning of his York public school Rock attends to talk to “We like to have fun four-hour shift. (Right) Kester demonstrates her about what he witnessed. When Dulane and the ‘shaker boarder’ his sign dancing technique on Thursday. speaks to her about this event she is enraged competition is a fun way Kester flies to Las Vegas Tuesday to compete that her car has been vandalized, but dis- for the title of National Sign Dancing See DANCER, Page A-14 Champion. See FILM, Page A-15 CDF updates city on Air Attack Base THE CHILD CARE CHALLENGE By SETH FREEDLAND fighting response. The overhaul would The Daily Journal also allow for newer planes with quieter The Ukiah City Council held a joint engines. CCPC working to CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS meeting with the Airport Commission The Ukiah Planning Commission will before its Wednesday meeting, in order to hear a similar presentation on Wednesday. The Daily Journal allow the California Department of The City Council had previously endorsed improve local care This week’s Ukiah City Council Forestry and Fire Protection to present its the move. By LAURA CLARK meeting included the following latest update on the ongoing Air Attack CDF has determined that an The Daily Journal ‘One of the most significant items: Base project. Environmental Impact Report must be Child care continues to findings is the importance of • The council unanimously CDF hopes to relocate the existing Air prepared for its project because of new be a challenge in Mendo- approved a letter of support for the Attack Base, from its current west-central structures, including a 150-square-foot cino County, especially for having a well-trained child Ukiah Valley Smart Growth coali- Ukiah Municipal Airport location, to a hazardous materials building, a fire retar- families with the lowest tion in its pursuit of a grant to allow nine-acre parcel at the southeast corner of dant mixing and storage facility and new income levels, according to care provider workforce.’ it to participate in collaborative the airport. Such a move, officials say, water, sewer and electrical lines. the most recent Child Care planning efforts involving the city would allow for a facility update, includ- New sidewalks, with a driveway inter- Needs Assessment and and Mendocino County. ing security issues, as well as making the secting Airport Road on the east side of the Strategic Plan. ANNE ROSENTHOL • Councilmembers approved a existing base site available for additional project area, would be added, along with The Mendocino County Child Care Planning Council manager transportation firm to complete an airport-related development. new landscaping, fencing and asphalt. Child Care Planning update of the city’s speed zone sur- The new base will be able to load four The years-old project has suffered some Council, which authored the Educational Standards -- firefighting planes at once, rather than setbacks in the past, but Airport document, also found there and AB212 funding from See COUNCIL, Page A-14 two, and will incorporate other changes are not enough spaces for the CDE, have helped to that officials say will greatly improve fire- See AIR ATTACK, Page A-15 infants and toddlers to be increase training levels and served, and that after school competencies of child care programs for children 6 to providers, she said. 12 years of age represent the The program, a collabo- Pot advocates, officials must see eye-to-eye highest need, particularly on rative effort between state This past Wednesday, about 40 residents gathered at the the coast. FIRST 5, FIRST 5 Ukiah Brewing Company to kick off the formation of a Medical There are also many fam- Mendocino, and the CCPC Marijuana Advisory Board. ilies in the county that don’t is a tiered system of reim- The development may come as a surprise to City Council MATTER OF FACT qualify for subsidized pro- bursement for center based enthusiasts who recall the council roundly rejecting a similar grams, yet can’t afford and family child care creation months ago. The Citizens Advisory Board concept was unsubsidized care, CCPC providers who complete discussed but never adopted by councilmembers -- despite Manager Anne Rosenthol annual requirements such as strong recommendations from various officials, most notably SETH said. college coursework, profes- Planning Commissioner Judy Pruden. FREEDLAND “One of the most signifi- sional development training The CAB was proposed as an “educational component” of cant findings is the impor- hours, the acquisition of a the marijuana cultivation ordinance as a means to moderate dis- tance of having a well- child development permit putes between patients and neighbors. The board saw some trained child care provider from the Child Develop- communal support -- including from the Ukiah Daily Journal’s and city officials. Despite reasoned concerns of the costs and workforce,” she said -- ment Training Consortium editorial page -- but councilmembers put the kibosh on the personal safety with moving all pot-growing indoors, advocates hence the reason for pro- and/or a college degree, notion by passing the ordinance without the CAB on Feb. 15. did not respond in the Feb. 4 public comment period to con- grams like CARES. Rosenthol said, noting that Problems stemmed, as they seemed to do frequently, from CARES -- Comprehen- faulty communication from pro-medical marijuana advocates See FREEDLAND, Page A-15 sive Approaches to Raising See CHILD, Page A-14 ANNIVERSARY SALE OUR BEST OF THE 509 S. State St. • Ukiah SALE YEAR! 462-7305 A-2 – SUNDAY, APRIL 9, 2006 DAILY DIGEST Editor: Jody Martinez, 468-3517 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] FUNERAL NOTICES The world briefly [\ There she rose to the posi- California State License tion of Vice President and [\ number 4 and was certified District Manager of the BETTIE by the American Dental Santa Monica Residential GOODMAN-MALAMUTH Assistant’s Association. Car bomb kills 6 near Shiite shrine; Appraisal District. She was Bettie Goodman- Bettie was both Instructor official says Iraq in ‘undeclared civil war’ forced to stop working Malamuth passed away at and Program Director or because of her illness in home in Santa Rosa on Department Head of Dental BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A car bomb killed six people 2005. April 1, 2006 after a long Assisting at San Jose City Saturday near a Shiite shrine south of Baghdad, and the death She loved singing and battle with Cancer. She was College (1961-1966), City toll from the deadliest attack of the year rose to nearly 90. A music and was an active 73. Beloved wife of Charles College of San Francisco senior official warned Iraq was in an “undeclared civil war” member of the Santa Goodman-Malamuth, loving (1966-1982) and Santa Rosa that can be curbed only by a strong government and greater Monica chapter of Sweet step-mother to three daugh- Junior College (1982-1993). powers for security services.