Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 1

Ukiah Daily Sports Potter Valley clinches title Page A-9 Donrey Media Group 32 pages, Volume 138 Number 280 $1 tax included Sunday, March 2,1997 I AftOBST NEWSPAPER THE SEARCH FOR AMELIA EARHART Archaeologist joins in 60-year mystery I (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a series of three articles concerning the mysterious disappearance of famed American aviatrix Amelia Earhart in July 1937, and the Niku III expedition mounted by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery to find the answer to the 60-year-old riddle. Redwood Valley archaeologist Jeffrey Hamilton is aiding the expedition in the search.) By DAN McKEE The Daily Journal ikumaroro Island lies sweltering in the Central Pacific sun. No one lives here. People tried once, but gave up and left. Now the coral atoll, the exposed rim of an ancient is home to mice and sand crabs.

Fish swim in the warm lagoon waters, but they offer no hope of sustenance. Except for a few weeks of the year, they are poisonous if eaten. Nikumaroro's only water comes from the rains that accompany the brutal winter gales that send waves washing over portions of the island. Nikumaroro is not a paradise; it is a hell. Yet recently, a marine research vessel sailed from Suva Bay in Fiji for the Central Pacific Republic of Kiribati.

And on Feb. 20, a 20-person scientific party left Sail Diego to catch up ship. Their destination: Niku- maroro, in Kiribati's Phoenix Group of islands. There is no wealth on Nikumaroro: not the tons of bat guano C.A. Hamilton Co.

of New London, hoped to find when it claimed the island in 1856; not the mineral wealth a party of Geomarex Corp. geologists hoped to discover during a 1978 survey. Even the United States Air Force found tiny Nikumaroro unsuitable for a biological weapons testing site in 1975. What Nikumaroro may hold, and what eight years and more than $1 million in research has yet to provide is the key to a 60-year-old mystery: what happened to famous American aviatrix Amelia Earhart. Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, during Earhart's second'- world flight attempt.

Their bod-' ies, and the wreckage of 'Earhart's Lockheed 10E Electra, have never been found, 4 Jane FreemanfTho Dally Journal Redwood Valley archaeologist Jeffrey Hamilton at his home running TIGHAR's Amelia Earhart program on his computer. Hamilton will remain In touch with the Niku III expedition on Nikumaroro using both satellite telephone and cyberspace. Over the decades, Earhart's disappearance has become one of the 20th century's greatest riddles. Many answers have been proposed, from the patriotically sublime to the patently ridiculous: Earhart's plane ran out of gas, crashed, and sank into the oblivion of the deep Pacific; Earhart and Noonan were spies for the United States government sent to photograph newly constructed Japanese military complexes in the Marshall See MYSTERY, Page A-6 A woman at home in the skies By DAN McKEE The Daily Journal A melia Earhart disappeared in the Central Pacific oh July 2, 1937. She died doing what she loved most flying attempting to circumnavigate the globe.

It was to be her last record-setting flight, the triumphant conclusion to a nine-year career that had thrust her from obscurity into worldwide notoriety. Before taking off, the 39-year-old flier told reporters she felt she had only "one good flight left in her, and this is it." Born in Atchison, in 1898, Earhart became interested in aviation While Serving as a nurse in a The Earhart collection of Jeffrey Hamilton Canadian hospital during World War Amelia Earhart circa 1923. The young woman was just making her mark in aviation, becoming See EARHART, Page A-12 one of a small handful of woman fliers. Arsonist ignites 4 fires in minutes By DAN McKEE The Daily Journal COVELO An arsonist caused more than $100,000 in fire damage to homes and travel trailers on Mina Road at Eberly Flats Saturday afternoon. Flames consumed a travel trailer, two structures and a 35- foot to 40-foot motor home, said Capt.

Brian Kornegay of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The arsonist attempted to fire a second travel trailer, said, but failed. Engines and firefighters from the Covelo, Laytonville and Little Lake fire departments responded to the 2:56 p.m. alarm. "All the fires started at about the same time," Kornegay said Saturday night.

"The arsonist apparently went from one structure to another over a couple of miles, setting fires." Kornegay said the firebug apparently lit crumpled newspaper to ignite the blazes. Three fire engines and a water tender from the Covelo Volunteer Fire Department were joined by two engines from the Laytonville Fire Department, one engine from Willits and a CDF battalion chief to douse the flames. "It took about two hours to bring the entire incident under control," Kornegay said. See ARSON, Page A-6 Counseling offered to fire survivors The Daily journal Senior Peer Counselors have begun weekly meetings for survivors of the Autumn Leaves fire. These groups meet Mondays at 10 a.m., Thursdays at 2 p.m.

and Saturdays at 3 p.m. Senior Peer Counselors, all trained volunteers, have been on the scene at the senior housing complex, offering individual counseling as tenants reacted to the trauma that uprooted their lives. Any Autumn Leavqs tenant and family are invited to participate in these group discussions held in the community room. Questions may be directed to the program director, Dana Smith, at 463-6588. Arbor Day tree giveaway planned Georgia Pacific Tree Distribution site photo by Barton Sutton, from Georgia-Pacific, holds a bag of rid- iwood tree seedlings like the 500 the company will give on Friday, the day California celebrates the tree- planting holiday Arbor Day.

By LEEANN LAMBERT The Daily Journal Georgia-Pacific will be giving away 500 redwood seedlings to commemorate California's Arbor Day and the famous Santa Rosa horti- culturalist Luther Burbank's birthday on March 7. Arbor Day was instituted by Julius Sterling Morton, the former Secretary of Agriculture for Grover Cleveland's administration, who wanted to promote tree planting across the nation and especially in the Great Plains states where there are fewer trees, Nebraska was the first state to celebrate Arbor Day in 1872, and that year more than 1 million trees were planted in the state. In 1939, the National Arbor Day Committee tried to sponsor legislation to make the last Friday of April a national Arbor Day holiday. And while many states adopted this date, Arbor Day is celebrated across the nation from January to May, and in Hawaii and Puerto Rico it is observed in November. HOLLOW TREi PR, California first celebrated Arbor Day in 1886, but in 1906 the California Federation of Women's Clubs suggested the state honor Burbank by adopting his birthday as the state holiday, according to a book about Burbank written by Peter Dreyer.

Three years later in 1909, Gov. James N. Gillett signed a bill that made March 7, Burbank's birthday, the State Bird and Arbor Day. Known around the world for his passion and ability to grow bigger and better plants, fruits, flowers and trees, Burbank was Santa Rosa's First Citizen up until his death in 1926. At his 76th birthday and Arbor Day celebration, Burbank delighted an auditorium full of school children by "ignoring the platform stairs and hopping from the stage to the floor," states Ken Dally Journal graphic by Suzanne Hernandez an( a( Kr a book OH the hor- ticulturalist, "Luther Burbank: The Wizard and the Man." In the book, the authors quote from an account by biographer Wilbur Hall, who interviewed Burbank a year later about his physical abilities.

"Folks wonder how I've kept so young," said Burbank according to Hall. "I'm almost 77, and I can still go over a gate or run a foot race or kick the FREE TREES FROM GP See ARBOR DAY, Page A-12 Classifieds B-6 Color Comics Comics B-4 Crossword B-5 Features B-5 Forum A-4 Government A-6 Health B-2 Jumble B-6 Lottery A-12 Obituaries A-12 On TV Inside Sports A-9 Summary, Summary, world Technology B-1 TV listings B-5 Weather A-12 Journal phones Main numbers Circulation Number 468-3533 Classified Number 468-3535, 468-3536 The Daily Journal is printed on at least 25 percent recycled newsprint. Low rub ink is also used. Complete the loop and recycle your newspaper..