Smith: Sebastopol family solves mystery that had them by the nose

Too bad we couldn't see the looks on the faces of Sebastopol sisters and roommates Kate and Dylan Heller.

Kate, who's 15, and 13-year-old Dylan were grossed out as they informed their father, Eddie, of a stench in their bedroom.

Eddie ventured in. Eww, yeah!

Eddie searched for the source of the olfactory wretchedness. He moved the beds and other furniture, peeked into the forced-air duct.

Nothing. Suspecting there was a dead something somewhere, he phoned builder friend Mark Johnson to plead for help.

Mark came over, donned a headlamp and descended into the crawl space below the floor. Finding no deceased critter, he opened up the ductwork. Nothing rotting inside.

Mark climbed out and suggested a rat might have died inside the bedroom wall. He asked Eddie, shall I used my Sawzall to cut a hole in the drywall so we can take a look?

A simple question, but not an easy one to answer. At last Eddie answered, go for it.

Mark sliced a square hole just above the floor. Several narrowed eyes peered in, dreading what they might behold.

Nothing unusual.

Three days later, the by then transcendent stench had Eddie wondering if the house would have to be demolished.

Returning to the girls' unihabitable room, he spied something on the middle shelf of the nightstand. What's inside this half of an egg carton?

Oh, nothing, just the raw eggs that Dylan decorated for Easter in her class at Sebastopol Independent Charter School - 13 weeks ago.

…

VIN SCULLY will be in good company today when the freshly retired, 67-year announcer for the Brooklyn and then Los Angeles Dodgers is inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals at the Baseball Reliquary.

Scully's fellow honorees are the hilarious Baseball Hall of Famer and Milwaukee Brewers announcer Bob Uecker and Charlie Brown, the sport's losingest but most beloved two-dimensional pitcher.

Several relatives and friends of “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz, who lived and drew in Santa Rosa for decades prior to his death there in 2000, will be at the induction ceremony this afternoon in Pasadena.

…

SANTA ROSA PLAZA must be making money hand over fist despite the general decline in brick-and-mortar retailing.

Too much business would seem the only justification for the mall to eliminate its 90 free minutes of parking and begin charging the instant a car enters a parking garage.

Now, shoppers whose cars are in a garage for between one second and two hours will pay $1. Longer stays bring fees up to a maximum of $9.

The mall gives you two ways to park for free: spend at least $200, or be in and out during the lunch hour.

…

“STORM CENTER,” starring Bette Davis and Brian Keith, was filmed in Santa Rosa in the mid-1950s and created a stir, not for its cinematic value so much as for being the first movie to risk being perceived as pro-communist by openly taking on McCarthyism and blacklisting, book-banning and censorship.

It's coming at to the Roxy 14 at 6 p.m. Tuesday for the latest movie night of the Historical Society of Santa Rosa. Admission is a mere five bucks.

Chris Smith is at 707-521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.