Community The Commerce ARRESTED TWICE sports digest File Boy briefly escapes custody .............Page 6 ..............Page 3 .....................................Page 1 INSIDE Mendocino County’s Obituaries The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Tomorrow: Clouds followed by sunshine 7 58551 69301 0 WEDNESDAY Aug. 1, 2007 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 16 pages, Volume 149 Number 114 email: [email protected] Fight described in shooting case near Potter Valley By BEN BROWN emergency room. Skylar. with Syfert but said he had not been The Daily Journal Gloria Connolly testified Tuesday As they were leaving Syfert’s flirting. Caleb Flitcroft was involved in a MURDER TRIAL that she had attended Brittany’s home that night, Gloria said Flitcroft As they were leaving, Gloria said fight the minutes before he shot his birthday party with her then- followed them out. Flitcroft grabbed Flores by the shirt, girlfriend, Brittany Syfert, at her Flitcroft is on trial for first-degree boyfriend Jesse Connolly (they are “He had been acting strangely at which point Jesse hit him. birthday party on Nov. 12, 2005, near murder for the death of Syfert, who married now), her cousin Rudy towards Jesse,” she said. Potter Valley. was shot five times and died in the Flores and a friend she identified as Gloria said Jesse had been talking See TRIAL, Page 2 Hopland boy accidentally RAISED TO LEAD shoots himself Thought gun was not loaded By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal A 17-year-old Hopland boy was in serious condition in a Sonoma County hospital Tuesday after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head Monday night in what the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is calling an accidental shooting. Sheriff’s deputies were called to the home The boy -- whose in the 13000 block of name was not Nokomis Road at 6:30 Guide dogs get p.m. Monday on reports released -- had been of a self-inflicted gun- showing off for a a start right here shot wound. group of four Sheriff’s Lt. Kurt By ZACK SAMPSEL Smallcomb said the boy juveniles when he The Daily Journal -- whose name was not put the barrel of a Throughout Ukiah, families, parents and released -- had been students are getting involved in training showing off for a group .38 caliber handgun some very special dogs. As part of the local of four juveniles when against his cheek 4-H guide dog-training program, he put the barrel of a .38 Pathfinders, local families and students are caliber handgun against and pulled the given the opportunity to train guide dogs for his cheek and pulled the trigger. He apparently the blind as part of a nationwide program, trigger. appropriately named Guide Dogs for the The boy apparently had assumed the Blind. had assumed the hand- handgun was GDFTB is a nonprofit, charitable organi- gun was unloaded, but zation providing guide dogs -- at no charge - Smallcomb said the gun unloaded, but the - throughout the United States and Canada. had one round in it. The gun had one With two training facilities along the West bullet passed through the round in it. Coast, one in San Rafael and the other in boy’s cheek and into his Boring, Ore., GDFTB has graduated more brain. than 10,000 guide dogs. “It looks like an avoidable situation,” Nancy Steiner is the leader of Pathfinders Smallcomb said. in Ukiah and has been involved with training The boy was transported by REACH air guide dogs since 1999. Pathfinders is a local ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital nonprofit group helping people and families for treatment. Smallcomb said he is in serious condition and may not survive. See GUIDE, Page 16 Smallcomb said the handgun belongs to the boy, although California law does not allow MacLeod Pappidas/The Daily Journal anyone under the age of 18 years old to legally German shepherd pup Marlene own a firearm. practices “puppy handling” with her The boy’s parents were in the house when raiser Michael Turano. The tech- the shooting occurred, but were not in the room nique will help the 4-year-old’s with him. Smallcomb said the Sheriff’s Office future sight-deprived master to does not anticipate filing charges in this case. check her body for tick or other ail- Ben Brown can be reached at [email protected]. ments. Teen escapes on way to jail 17-year-old flees squad car, but is later tracked down The Daily Journal A 17-year-old boy who was arrested for giv- ing false identification to a police officer escaped custody briefly Sunday night before being rearrested and booked into Mendocino County Juvenile Hall. According to reports from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, the boy was inside a vehicle in the 100 block of Laws Avenue at 7 p.m. Sunday, when deputies approached him. The boy allegedly gave a false name to deputies, but Deputy Don Scott, who had In January, “Hawaii,” a black lab, grad- In May, the Johnson family presented, “Potter,” a German shepherd, was arrived to assist, recognized the boy and arrest- uated as a guide dog and is now living in “Truckee,” a yellow Lab, to his new part- presented by the Steiner family to Roberto ed him on suspicion of giving a false name to a Southern California guiding her blind part- ner, Cristina Wheeler, a college student liv- Herrera of Austin, Texas, where he is pro- police officer and on an outstanding juvenile ner, Vivian Younger, a rehabilitation spe- ing in Texas. He is providing her with viding increased mobility for Roberto as warrant, according to sheriff’s reports. cialist. “Hawaii” was raised by Anne increased mobility, independence and com- well as companionship. Roberto lost his While en route to juvenile hall, the boy Molgaard and Michael Kisslinger and their panionship. Truckee was raised as a 4-H guide dog to old age and was thrilled with escaped from a sheriff’s vehicle near the inter- two children, Zane and Aleyna. Hawaii was project by Chayton and Chesney Johnson, Potter after waiting three years for anoth- section of North Bush Street and Low Gap a happy and enthusiastic puppy and attend- with help from the entire family. He attend- er German shepherd. He said they bond- Road. The boy ran north and ducked into a ed many events as well as worked with her ed many 4-H meetings and swim meets, as ed immediately during their three-week house on Magnolia Street. family. Vivian has been blind since age 2, well as camping trips and other local stay on campus for team training. With the help of officers from the Ukiah and Hawaii guides her across eight lanes of events. He was well-loved and socialized in Police Department, sheriff’s deputies found traffic on her way to work. preparation for his future guide work. Photos submitted by Nancy Steiner and rearrested the boy on suspicion of escape in addition to the other charges. He was booked into juvenile hall. 2 – WEDNESDAY, AUG. 1, 2007 DAILY DIGEST Jody Martinez, 468-3517 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] FUNERAL NOTICES [\ eldest child of Clarence Frannie have three chil- moved the family first to Paul and Frannie’s dining Ukiah Women’s Golf Club. Francis Gibson and Cora dren and many grand- Davis, and then later room table. She was especially proud Rosetta Morris children. She is survived to Stockholm, Sweden and Frannie also had a of having played on the Gibson. She had three by her husband Utrecht, The passion for genealogy. winning team for the 2006 brothers, Marvin Everet Paul, their daughter Paige Netherlands. She and Paul She traced her family Women’s Redwood Empire Gibson (deceased), Gilbert Marie Poulos and later moved to history to the pilgrims Niners (9 hole) Association Lee Gibson and James her husband John Woolley Gainesville, Florida where arriving on the Mayflower President’s Cup Team. Dalton Gibson. Frannie of Potter Valley Paul became the in 1620. She became a life- A loving wife, mother spent much of her child- and their children George Chairman of the long member of the General and friend, a woman of hood with her paternal and Nora Woolley. Department of Veterinary Society of Mayflower great wit and humor, a grandparents in Potter She is also survived by Radiology and Frannie Descendants, the Society of writer, historian and Valley, California, their son Geoffrey achieved her dream of Mayflower Descendants of golfer: Frannie’s life ful- where she graduated from Paul Poulos and his wife obtaining a college degree. California, the filled her dreams and High School in 1955. Jodi of Granite Bay, She graduated Redwood Empire Society of brought joy to her hus- On December 28, 2005, California, and their chil- from the University of Mayflower Descendants, band, her children, she and her hus- dren Natalie, Jordan Florida in 1983 with a and The Pilgrim John grandchildren and her band, Dr. Paul W. Poulos, and William. Frannie is B.A. in English Literature. Howland Society. many friends. She is, Jr. celebrated their also survived by her Through her warm and She shared and will always be, 50th wedding anniversary son Gregory William Poulos caring presence and that passion with her greatly missed. with friends and and his wife Cynthia of San her wit and humor, Frannie grandchildren who she Frannie died from family. It was a celebration Rafael and their children had a way of making enrolled in the General Pancreatic cancer. She of a full and happy life and Claire and Grayson Poulos. friends and gathering peo- Society of Mayflower asked that in lieu of flow- FRANCES MARIE a marriage that had thrived Frannie and Paul raised ple together wherever she Descendants.