Petaluma National Little League One Win Away From US Championship Game

What an incredible journey it has been for these thirteen 11-12 year old’s from Petaluma, California (the town where I was born that I called home until I was 23).

Never before has a team from Petaluma ever made it to the Little League World Series. Heck, no team from Sonoma County has made it. But here is this scrappy team that is currently one win away from making the United States Championship Game.

Hats off to the boys from Petaluma. Good luck in your game against San Antonio, Texas tonight in Williamsport! We’re proud of you no matter what and my kids and I will make the two hour drive up next Sunday to watch your homecoming parade through town!

Quick Update…

So, my brother was sent home to Hidden Valley Lake from the hospital yesterday.

He’s going to need 9 months of rehab but he is doing much better.

He can stand using a walker and can make his way to the bathroom with assistance. For the most part, though, he is on bed rest for the next 3 months.

The difficult part right now is that he’s being cared for by my mother who is on permanent disability with a back injury and my stepfather who has a heart condition.

My goal is to visit as often as I can but things are at least looking good right now!

Another Update…

Sitting at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, awaiting my brother’s surgery tonight. He’ll go in about 7:45 p.m. (PT) and it should be over by 11 p.m.

They’re going to do the hip and pelvis tonight and hopefully remove a bone fragment for the cyatic (spelling?) nerve.

That’s the update for now

David Letterman’s Secret Bedroom

According to the New York Daily News, David Letterman kept a secret bedroom atop the Ed Sullivan Theater that he used for his romantic rendezvous with his favorite flings.

From the article:

A Letterman show source dished that he kept a secret bedroom above his set in the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. “He doesn’t have to come out,” a staffer said. “He has a suite upstairs.”

An ex-”Late Show” staffer said Letterman kept a room insiders dubbed “the bunker” that was open only to his favorite young female underlings.

Letterman, 62, admitted on the air Thursday that he had had several affairs, apparently while dating longtime love Regina Lasko, who he married in March. The two have a son, Harry, 5.

A longtime assistant said he had the ability to cast a spell on the ladies.

Also today in the same article, one of Letterman’s former flings became known to the world.

From the article:

An ex-”Late Show” intern unmasked herself Saturday as one of David Letterman‘s former flings – and sources revealed the randy funnyman keeps a bachelor pad atop the Ed Sullivan Theater.

“I was madly in love with him at the time,” said Holly Hester. “I would have married him. He was hilarious.”

The NYU alum, who it appears went on to become a top Hollywood producer, told TMZ.com that the relationship started in the early ’90s when Letterman called and asked her on a date to the movies.

A year-long, secret romance ensued, she said, until the funnyman called it off because of their age difference.

Outside what is believed to be Hester’s country home in Sebastopol, Calif. – in ritzy Sonoma County – a middle-aged man lashed out at a Daily News reporter last night. “Get the f— out of here. We’re being offered a lot of money for this s—,” he said.

$15 Million Pot Bust in Petaluma

Ahhh…the town I grew up in for my first 24 years is back in the news again!

According to Sge. Chris Bertoli of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, narcotics agents arrested two Mexican nationals during a marijuana garden eradication effort east of Petaluma yesterday afternoon.

This was a $15 million bust! Guess they still grow a lot more than grapes in Sonoma and Napa counties!

From KTVU:

One suspect escaped, Bertoli said. The other two men were booked into the Sonoma County jail for cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a firearm while committing a felony.

One of the suspects might be charged in connection with fighting a police dog used in the arrests, Bertoli said.

The sheriff’s department found 5,000 mature plants ready for harvest in several gardens.

Bertoli estimated the processed pot from the plants is worth $15 million. Two to three pounds of processed marijuana were also found at the campsite in the Stage Gulch Road and state Highway 116 area that also contains vineyards, Bertoli said.

One of the suspects told the sheriff’s department he had been at the site since April, Bertoli said.

Weekly Vigil Held for Missing Caylee Anthony

Approximately 30 people bowed their heads in prayer Sunday outside the home of missing 3-year-old Caylee Anthony. The Anthony family held their weekly vigil yesterday, which had been canceled last week after scuffles between family members and protesters.

I want to emphasize something which has not been said during the entire time I have been covering the disappearance of Caylee Anthony. My hometown is Petaluma, California, a small town of 55,000 in the North Bay Area. On October 1, 1993, Polly Klaas was kidnapped from her home in Petaluma. She was in my little brother’s class. For weeks, my family and I, like much of the town of Petaluma, participated in helping out in anyway that I could to find her.

In the wake of the murder, Polly’s father, Marc Klaas, became a child advocate and established the KlaasKids Foundation. He has made himself available to parents of kidnapped children, and has appeared frequently on shows such as Larry King Live, CNN Headline News, and Nancy Grace. Although I may not be a fan of Mr. Klaas personally, he has done a lot to help the families of missing children since the disappearance and murder of his daughter.

Cases like the story of Caylee Anthony stick in my mind and I’m always hopeful of a happy ending. But, I have seen first hand that this isn’t always the case. I’ll continue to pray for the safe return of Caylee, but have the understanding that this may or may not happen.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

They sang, prayed and asked God to help the Anthony family endure hostility from others and the sadness of not knowing Caylee’s whereabouts. The toddler has been missing since June and her mother, Casey Anthony, is a person of interest in the case.

“We know you are out there somewhere. Caylee, wherever you are, we promise you will be back in our arms real soon,” Cindy Anthony said.

A handful of protesters held signs across the street and taunted the supporters.

“She’s dead, Cindy, give her justice,” one shouted.

The protesters also called for Casey Anthony, 22, to emerge from the house. But there was no sign of her during the 45-minute gathering.

The child’s grandfather pledged to keep the peace from now on.

“I will not lash out at them anymore; I’m done with that,” said George Anthony. “I will tell them over there, ‘God bless you.’ “

Casey Anthony says she left her daughter in the care of a baby sitter. She has been charged with child neglect and check fraud.

Bill Melendez, Peanuts Animator and Voice of Snoopy, Dies at 91

Bill Melendez, the animator who gave life to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and numerous other “Peanuts” characters in  movies and television specials, died today at the age of 91. Being from Sonoma County, California, I, like many others grew up with the Peanuts gang. Charles Schultz was from Santa Rosa, a neighbor to my hometown of Petaluma. I feel as though a part of me died today as well, with the loss of Bill Melendez.

Credit: AP Photo/Nick Ut

From the Associated Press:

Melendez’s nearly seven decades as a professional animator began in 1938 when he was hired by Walt Disney Studios and worked on Mickey Mouse cartoons and classic animated features such as “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia.”

He went on to animate TV specials such as “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and was the voice of Snoopy, who never spoke intelligible words but issued expressive howls, sighs and sobs.

Melendez took part in a strike that led to the unionization of Disney artists in 1941, and later moved to Warner Bros., where he worked on Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck shorts.

Melendez met “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz in 1959 while creating Ford Motor Co. TV commercials featuring Peanuts characters.

The two became friends and Melendez became the only person Schulz authorized to animate his characters.

Melendez founded his own production company in 1964 and with his partner Lee Mendelson went on to produce, direct or animate some 70 “Peanuts” TV specials, four movies and hundreds of commercials.

The first special was 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The show reportedly worried CBS because it broke so much new ground for a cartoon: It lacked a laugh track, used real children as voice actors, had a jazz score and included a scene in which Linus recited lines from the New Testament.

However, the show was a ratings success and has gone on to become a Christmastime perennial.