NEWSBOY variety show

City council | Extra! | AC/DC | Rail trail | Herbert Hoover

1st Day of Spring: 9 more days

Mother Nature has already been waking up for the past 30 days or so.

Spring lasts from March 20 to June 21 when Summer begins. 

It’s only March and the weather sure is nice, and for gardener’s this will soon raise the question of when will the last frost be? 

Anybody with a green thumb will be deciding for themselves if trying to beat Jack Frost is worth it or not.

It has been said by Willits old timers that you can plant when the snow melts on Sanhedrin–but we do not have the climate for that anymore. 

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Friday, March 11, 2022

NEWSBOY contents 

• Post-meeting: Willits

• Election year

• Around town

• Art + Culture: AC/DC in Russia

• Railroad trail coverage

• Presidential quote

Willits

Post-meeting

Willits city council met Wednesday night, holding session for about an hour. 

Council member’s approved a proposal from City Manager Brian Bender to create a new position of assistant city manager. 

“We need to start projecting the organization forward,” said Bender.

The new position separates a combined job of deputy city manager and the city clerk’s duties. 

“I do not want us to get too top-heavy…once you have added a position you are committed to it,” council member Madge Strong said.

Water issues, a flavored cigarette policy and budget related items should be coming to the council over the next several months. 

City manager Bender shared some of what the community can soon expect:

• A policy for the Park Well (by the old ball fields) is in the works. (Expect the policy to limit hours at the fill station.)

• An operational plan for the city’s groundwater system (a work in progress) is expected April 13. 

• Trout Unlimited’s interest in buying city water to support fish is also on the horizon. 

A renovation of City Hall begins later this year. 

City Hall budgeted $80,000 in the city’s budget, Bender said. 

Bender said the winning bid came in at $29,700—well below an estimated cost of $50,000.

A tarp can be seen on the roof at City Hall, a clue that the roof was leaking earlier this winter. 

City Hall plans to fix the roof before a solar array is installed.

The solar array is paid for with grant money.

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Election year

This fall, two seats on the Willits City Council are up for grabs. 

Council seats for a Nov. 8 election belong to Council member Larry Stanske and Vice Mayor Greta Kanne. 

Willits City Council is a five-member council that meets bi-monthly. 

Present roster: Mayor Saprina Rodriguez, Vice Mayor Kanne, Council members Madge Strong, Stranske and Gerardo Gonzalez. 

To be eligible to run for City Council, a candidate must be a registered voter within the City of Willits at the time nomination papers are issued by the Deputy City Manager/City Clerk, be a U.S. Citizens, age 18 or older, a resident of the City of Willits residing within the City limits, and not convicted of designated crimes as specified in the Constitution and laws of the state. —City of Willits

NEWSBOY looks forward to hearing the ideas and discussions around any community member’s city council candidacy.

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Around town

Vice Mayor Greta Kanne was taking names of people interested in picking up garbage earlier this week. 

If you use Facebook, Kanne’s call to action can be found in the “Willits Fan Page Community” group.

The vice mayor’s post is “pinned” to the top of the page, it will be easy to find if you are inside the book. 

For those who do not know, Willits Fan Page Community is a 12,000 member group on the Facebook social media platform.

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Art + Culture

MUSIC: AC/DC was there

NEWSBOY readers may already know about my interest in AC/DC’s music. If the music doesn’t suit you, that’s okay.

The point here is to study the band’s bond to humanity and the places they have performed. 

I have written before about the band’s global appeal and some of the places that they played.

In AC/DC you have a band that played behind the Berlin Wall and also in Russia when the USSR collapsed. 

The terrible affairs in Ukraine bring this to mind—

AC/DC’s show at Tushino Airfield in 1991 is a sight to see in photos and videos.

An absolute sea of people! Some estimated that more than 1 million Russians were present for that concert.