A READER POINTS to the relevant Brown Act law and wonders why the Supervisors don’t bother to report out of closed session in the legally mandated manner. We wonder too. We also wonder why closed session discussions aren’t described in at least a cursory manner so the public has some idea what the County leadership is discussing. (Hint: They don’t report because they don’t have to; that’s at least part of the reason.)

ACCORDING TO THE OCTOBER 8, 2013 AGENDA (the last meeting before County Counsel Tom Parker announced on October 16 that the Board had voted in closed session to release “a limited number of unredacted County records” related to the marijuana cultivation program to the feds), the October 8 closed session agenda items were:

“(a) Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 – Conference with Labor Negotiator — Agency Negotiators: Carmel J. Angelo, Kyle Knopp, Tammi Weselsky, Juanie Cranmer, and Donna Williamson; Employee Organization(s): All

“(b) Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(4) — Conference with Legal Counsel – Initiation of Litigation: One Case

“(c) Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2) – Conference with Legal Counsel — Anticipated Litigation: Significant Exposure to Litigation-One Case” . . .

PRESUMABLY the federal subpoena question was item (c), but we don’t know because the agenda is intentionally misleading.

GOVERNMENT CODE 54957.1. (a) “The legislative body of any local agency shall publicly report any action taken in closed session and the vote or abstention of every member present thereon, as follows: (2) Approval given to its legal counsel to defend, or seek or refrain from seeking appellate review or relief, or to enter as an amicus curiae in any form of litigation as the result of a consultation under Section 54956.9 shall be reported in open session.”

THE MINUTES OF THE OCT. 8 meeting (the last one before the October 16 press release by County Counsel Tom Parker) are still not posted or published as of October 26. Parker’s Oct. 16 press release announcing the cave-in to the feds doesn’t even say at which meeting the Board voted to turn over the records to the feds.

A REVIEW OF THE VIDEO for the October 8 Board meeting shows that Supervisor Hamburg “reported” almost nothing out of closed session with almost no one in the room besides the Board and minimum staff. All Hamburg said was: “The Board met in closed session with its attorney and other members of staff and we gave direction to staff on several items that are on the agenda for all to see.”

SO, EVEN THOUGH HAMBURG gratuitously added the words “for all to see,” the agenda didn’t say what they discussed, the individual votes were NOT REPORTED as is legally required, nor was the nature of the direction to staff reported. It wasn’t until October 16 that Parker reluctantly released the nature of the vote in a self-serving press release.

We should know, and the Board is legally required to announce, for instance, how each supervisor voted on the decision to cooperate with federal subpoena for the County’s marijuana program records, although we’ve learned in a roundabout way that erstwhile Fight The Feds stalwarts Hamburg and Pinches voted to cooperate and McCowen voted to resist because he said he was opposed to the release during the recent KZYX fundraiser. How Brown and Gjerde voted is not known because the Supervisors have not lawfully reported out of closed session like they’re legally required to.

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IS HAMBURG LOSING IT?

by Bruce McEwen

Hamburg

Fifth District Supervisor Dan Hamburg paid me a huge compliment in open court last Friday. I was idling in the courtroom waiting for my colleague Will Parrish’s case to be called when our illustrious supervisor came in and took a seat nearby. Then his gorgeous daughter Laura arrived and took the seat between myself and her father. Matthew Hamburg, the supervisor’s troubled son, was on the day’s docket. Tiffany Revelle of the Ukiah Daily Journal was there covering the story. I wasn’t about to compete with her, since her story would be in print by the weekend, long before my deadline. However, I was taking notes, since a certain Mr. Rupp, the roving whack-off artist I wrote about this week, was in court with his mother and little sister, and Rupp’s is a case I’ve been able to scoop the dailies on. My notes, then, had nothing to do with Hamburg, and so what if they had? But all of a sudden Supervisor Hamburg reached across his daughter and began to shake me very warmly by the arm — my hands being busy in note taking — and saying, “Sick, man! You are so fucking sick!” And clapping me amiably, I thought at first, on the shoulder and back. Now, “sick” is the new slang for cool, as I well know from my years on the streets with the avant garde, so I was sensible of being complimented, but it being during an open court hearing — involving the Supervisor’s son as it happened — I felt a bit overwhelmed, awkward, even, with the Hon. John Behnke looking on. I blushed and nodded acknowledgment of the praise from his eminence. But the Supe became warmer and warmer in his shaking, and louder and louder in his barely hushed praise, clapping me on the back as though I was choking on a gobbet of meat, and with so much attention being drawn to myself, I began to blush and smile with embarrassment — although I was keenly sensible of what a great and high-placed compliment I was being treated to… “You fucking suck,” he actually shouted: delivering himself of the best praise I’ve heard in months — well, at least since DA Eyster said “fuck you, McEwen, fuck you…” when I passed Mendocino County’s lead law enforcement officer in the hall recently and had complimented him on his spiffy tie. But Hamburg’s congratulations had escalated to assault territory. You’d have thought the judge would have said something, but this Hamburg character seems above all reprimand in Mendocino County. Laura Hamburg then pushed her father back down in his seat, flushing crimson herself. Later, after Supe Hamburg left, Laura apologized to me on her father’s behalf, and this put me at a loss: Why would she feel a need to apologize for her Pops having paid me such a high compliment?

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FBI TO LAUNCH INVESTIGATION as it emerges cops shot 13-year-old boy carrying toy rifle only 10 seconds after first spotting him.

Andy Lopez

The FBI is investigating of the fatal Santa Rosa shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy after it emerged that the deputy took no more than 10 seconds to open fire on the boy last Tuesday after spotting him with an unmarked toy pellet gun. Lopez’s death has inspired mass protest demonstrations in Santa Rosa, with another planned for Wednesday, and has become a national story.

A timeline released Thursday by the Santa Rosa police shows that only 10 seconds passed from the moment that the deputy and his partner called dispatch to report a suspicious person to the moment they called back to say shots had been fired.

FBI spokesman Paul Lee said he did not know why his agency decided to get involved or whether local authorities had requested its help. City police and the Sonoma County district attorney’s office are also investigating.

The deputies, who have not been identified, have been placed on paid administrative leave. Assistant Sheriff Lorenzo Duenas told the Press Democrat that the deputy who shot the teen is a 24-year veteran and his partner, who did not fire his weapon, is a new hire but has more than a decade of police experience with another agency.

Santa Rosa police Lieutenant Paul Henry told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that the deputy who opened fire later told investigators he believed his life as well his partner’s was in jeopardy. The deputy said the teen didn’t comply with commands to drop the gun and was turning toward the deputies while raising the barrel of his plastic toy gun, an exact replica of a real weapon.

The Santa Rosa Police Department said two deputies in a squad car encountered the hoodie-wearing Lopez just after 3:14pm. Witnesses say at least one of the deputies took cover behind an open front door of the cruiser, and one yelled twice “drop the gun.” Ten seconds after their initial report to dispatch, one of the officers called in “shots have been fired.” Sixteen seconds later, the deputies were calling for medical help. Cruz was later pronounced dead at the scene.

The Sonoma County coroner said he found seven “apparent entry wounds,” two of them fatal.

Ethan Oliver, who lives across the street, told KTVU.com that the deputies continued to shoot at the boy, even after he had fallen to the ground. Oliver said he went outside after hearing two gunshots and by that time Lopez was already on the ground. “Then the cops went at it again and unloaded like six to seven shots,” he said. When asked if he meant that the deputy shot Lopez while he was on the ground, Oliver said, “Yeah. Exactly what I saw.”

Authorities haven’t responded to his claims, but it raises the possibility that Lopez was still alive when he hit the ground after the first two shots were fired.

During a news conference on Wednesday, authorities displayed a real assault weapon and the pellet gun — which resembled an AK-47 with a black magazine and brown butt — to demonstrate how difficult it is to tell them apart.

Federal law requires replica guns to have an orange tip, but Lopez’s toy rifle didn’t have one.

Police also revealed that Lopez had his back to the deputies, so they didn’t realize he was so young. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and shorts. They claim Lopez was about 20 to 30 feet from them when he turned with the barrel of the gun pointing toward them and they opened fire because they feared for their lives. “The deputy then fired several rounds from his service weapon at the subject,” said Santa Rosa Police Lt. Paul Henry, “striking him at least one time. The subject immediately fell to the ground.” “The deputy’s mindset was that he was fearful that he was going to be shot.”

The Santa Rosa and Petaluma police departments will join with the District Attorney’s office in the investigation of the shooting while the two deputies are on administrative leave. In a statement, Sheriff Steve Freitas said the shooting was a “tragedy” and that he would do everything he could to ensure the investigation was thorough and transparent. “The public expects that the investigation will be thorough and transparent. As sheriff, I will do all in my power to see that expectation is satisfied,” he said. “My hope is that we can work with the community to help prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future.”

Some legislators have sought to impose restrictions on replica guns in an effort to make sure police don’t mistake them for real ones. California law requires “imitation weapons” to look like playthings by being brightly colored or transparent, but a state senator’s proposal in 2011 to extend that requirement to air guns failed after manufacturers and retailers opposed it.

Rodrigo Lopez, the boy’s father, told The Press Democrat that the last time he saw his son was on Tuesday morning as he was leaving for work. “I told him what I tell him every day,” he said in Spanish. “Behave yourself.”

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IT COULD HAPPEN HERE!

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MGM’S NEW MOVIE — It’s in theaters all over America right now! Admission is free for all who are on welfare, receive food stamps, or are on fraudulent disability. Free popcorn, candy and snacks are also furnished.

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HUMBOLDT COUNTY PURSUES NEW OUTDOOR POT RULES

By Daniel Mintz

Following direction from the HumCo Board of Supervisors, Humboldt County will develop an outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance that will prohibit grows on parcels that are smaller than a half-acre.

Described at the Oct. 22 HumCo supervisors meeting, the proposed ordinance will allow no more than five mature plants on parcels ranging from a half-acre to five acres. It sets a maximum 50-square-feet plant canopy area, a 20-foot setback from neighboring residences and a 600-foot setback from schools, school bus stops, parks, religious places and Native American cultural sites.

The proposal has emerged almost two years after the county adopted an indoor growing ordinance. The latest proposal seeks to set up a civil enforcement structure in response to complaints about the impacts — primarily related to aroma — of outdoor grows.

County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes explained that the outdoor cultivation piece will actually be an amendment to the county’s zoning ordinance and will go before the Planning Commission for approval before supervisors take it up.

If approved, it will be a complaint-driven, civil code enforcement process, said Smith-Hanes.

Board Chairman Ryan Sundberg has repeatedly said that Willow Creek, which is in his district, is one of the county’s marijuana-growing hubs and residents there have been continually complaining about the dank fragrance of fresh-growing buds during the summer and early fall seasons.

One Willow Creek resident, E.B. Duggan, told supervisors that there’s a generation gap in effect. Many growers are young and some “intimidate” older residents, he continued, although he said it’s not as much of an issue for him personally due to the number of shotguns he owns.

The intimidation factor was also alluded to by Eureka resident John Chiv, who asked if complaints against neighboring growers can be filed anonymously.

Deputy County Counsel said that as with all code enforcement complaints, names will be asked for and kept on record but nothing short of a court order would bring them into daylight.

The proposal is being advanced by the board’s Medical Marijuana Subcommittee, which is made up of Smith-Hanes, Supervisor Mark Lovelace and Sundberg.

Lovelace noted the small audience turnout and said it demonstrates that the county has “gotten beyond the hysteria” over marijuana and its regulation. But Supervisor Rex Bohn said the issue is still running hot in the areas where it’s most relevant.

He said 120 people were at a meeting Sundberg organized in Willow Creek and “they were fired up.”

Bohn described the proposed ordinance framework as “a big step in making the residential areas for these people a little more bearable.”

Humboldt County has yet to start work on regulating medical marijuana distribution. Lovelace said the outdoor proposal is narrowly-focused but future work will address larger issues.

“This is the smallest level that is allowable, without a permit and without registration,” he continued. “Still ahead of us is going to be those other issues, the large ones that are so complicated by the federal position on things.”

The board unanimously voted to authorize development of an ordinance amendment based on the proposal.

Southern Humboldt is another marijuana-growing area, one whose culture differs from Willow Creek’s. But Supervisor Estelle Fennell was absent due to illness, making it the second meeting she’s missed.

In a statement read by Sundberg, she said she’s recovering and will be back at work as soon as possible.

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“LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE VERY RICH. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand.” — ‘The Rich Boy,’ F. Scott Fitzgerald

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THIRTEEN DEFENDANTS IN UKIAH COURT ON ABALONE CHARGES

By TIFFANY REVELLE

The courtroom on the topmost floor of the Mendocino County Superior Court’s Ukiah courthouse was nearly full Friday morning with 13 defendants in an abalone poaching case, their friends and family members and the attorneys who would represent them.

Of the 13 Bay Area men, all are charged with felony conspiracy; 10 face misdemeanor charges of illegally taking abalone; five face misdemeanor charges of taking abalone for commercial purposes; and two are charged with felony perjury.

They are all accused of conspiring together, “and with another person and/or persons whose identity is unknown” to illegally harvest abalone from Mendocino County coastal waters between April 1 and Aug. 11, according to the complaint filed against them by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.

A Vietnamese interpreter spoke to the whole audience in Dept. H, translating Judge Richard Henderson’s opening statement that he intended to go through the list and ensure everyone had an attorney.

As Henderson called each man’s name, the defendant would rise and approach the opening between the gallery and the attorneys’ tables before the judge’s bench and stand within earshot of the interpreter. The judge would first ask if the defendant had an attorney.

Most of the men had either applied to or been in touch with the Mendocino County Public Defender’s Office for representation. Public defenders were appointed, and Henderson additionally appointed some otherwise private attorneys to represent those who were still in need of a lawyer.

Without exception, each defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 60 days of entering a plea and filed a waiver to allow his attorney to appear on his behalf for procedural court dates, as travel was deemed an issue for the Bay Area residents.

Of the attorneys appointed and/or previously hired to represent the 13 men, about half were present in court Friday. To keep the case moving through court, those attorneys who were present stood in temporarily for those who were absent to enter the defendants’ pleas and file their waivers.

Henderson set a preliminary hearing in January for all 13 defendants to give all of the attorneys time to review the evidence against their clients. The preliminary hearing is expected to take two to three days.

According to the DA’s Office’s complaint, groupings of four to eight of the accused men made four different trips from Oakland to Mendocino County to harvest abalone. Three men had an altered abalone certificate on an April 25 trip, and one man hid three abalone, according to the complaint.

On a May 17 trip, the complaint alleges, one man in a group of five had a detached abalone top.

One of eight men on a June 15 trip allegedly took more than the legal limit of abalone, and another man allegedly had four, according to the complaint.

Facing charges of taking abalone for commercial purposes, illegal taking of abalone and conspiracy are Khoa Dang Nguyen, Toi Van Nguyen, Duoc Van Nguyen, Dung Tri Bui and Hai Van Ha.

Khoa Dang Nguyen also faces a charge of perjury for allegedly having an altered abalone certificate.

Chinh Quan Le faces charges of illegal taking of abalone, perjury and conspiracy.

Facing charges of illegal taking of abalone and conspiracy are Andy Phan, Charlie Le, Chuyen Bui and Diep Nguyen. Nhan Le, Be Van Truong and Khoa Ngoc Nguyen each face a conspiracy charge.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

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YOUR SIGNATURE COULD FREE SARA

Dear AVA: There’s a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing it.

Click here to sign Carrie’s petition, “Governor Brown: Please free human trafficking victim Sara Kruzan:”

https://www.change.org/petitions/governor-brown-please-free-human-trafficking-victim-sara-kruzan?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=38725&alert_id=SLpvOltisR_obcZYJULTZ

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STUDENT DISPLAY WARNS OF ESTUARY’S DEMISE UNDER BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

by Dan Bacher

The celebration of the Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos) in Mexico and the U.S. is held every November 1 to honor the dead – and to point out, in a creative way, the current social, political and cultural struggles of the living.

It is in this tradition that students from grades four through eight at Stockton’s Kohl Open School have created a “Dia de Los Muertos” (Day of the Dead) altar (“ofrendas”) to honor the life of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta – and caution of its possible demise if the proposed diversion tunnels planned under the Bay Delta “Conservation” Plan are built and water is diverted under, rather than through the Delta. The altar is on display at the Mexican Heritage Center in Stockton.

A replica of La Llorona is placed in the center of this altar, or ofrenda, because her legend is a cautionary tale. La Llorona, in a fit of rage, turned against her children, threw them in the river, and the children disappeared down-stream, according to Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta.

When the Llorona realized what she had done, she reached out her arms to her children, but it was too late — the children were gone. La Llorona walks up and down the banks of the river crying, “Where are my children?” .

“We must heed the warnings and not become the Llorona,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “We cannot throw the fresh water of the rivers away from the Delta. If we do, the Delta will become a salty cesspool and we will not be able to reach out and restore the damage we have done. We will be walking down the salty banks of the rivers looking for the native birds, fish, plants, and crops, crying, ‘Where is the Delta?’”

Barrigan-Parrilla noted that the ofrenda has traditional elements, but the elements relate to the Delta:

“The Llorona is created out of flowerpots, which represent over a half million acres of rich fertile soils in the Delta used for growing a wide range of vegetables, grains, and fruit crops,” she said. “Instead of the traditional Marigolds, there are flowerpots filled with crops that are grown in the Delta and the flowerpots are painted with skulls. Also, there are baskets filled with fruits grown in the Delta to represent Earth.”

“The tablecloth is blue (representing the water) with fish prints. The Delta’s longfin smelt, salmon, and striped bass will be adversely affected by reduced freshwater flows and saltwater intrusion, so, the prints appear to be fading away,” Barrigan-Parrilla noted.

There are two “Retablos” (the tri-folds) which depict the animals and vegetation which will be adversely affected by the diversion tunnels.

Ice Candles (fire) with holes symbolize the hollow space the tunnels will leave in the Delta estuary.

On the river (table cloth) there are wire skeletons portraying recreational activities that occur in the Delta such as fishing, skiing, and boating.

Typically, the salt on the ofrenda represents life. “However, in this case, the salt represents the intrusion of seawater into the Delta, which will eventually cause the death of the Delta,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.

The “papel picado” (perforated paper) represents the wind and is attached to the hem of the tablecloth. “We used black, purple, and white. Black represents death, purple stands for grief, and white symbolizes the hope that the tunnels will not be built and that the Delta estuary will be saved,” she stated.

“The giant fish is pleading for its life asking us to Save the Delta — Stop the Tunnels!” she concluded.

In my opinion, this “Dia de Los Muertos” display is one of the most creative ways yet used to depict what will happen to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta if Governor Jerry Brown’s peripheral tunnels are constructed. Kudos to the students at Stockton’s Kohl Open School and Restore the Delta for coming up with this superb display!

For more information, go to: http://www.restorethedelta.org

In other Delta news, state officials announced that the release of BDCP environmental documents for public reviews, originally scheduled for mid-November, will be delayed until mid-December.

The recent federal government shutdown prevented the federal agencies that need to review the plan’s environmental documents from doing so.

“When you’re not making progress because the federal government has shut down, it adds to the length of time it takes to get the plan to the various milestones and that costs money,” Nancy Vogel with the California Department of Water Resources told Capital Public Radio. (http://www.capradio.org/articles/2013/10/23/federal-shutdown-delays-release-of-bay-delta-conservation-plan/)

The construction of Governor Jerry Brown’s peripheral tunnels would hasten the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as imperil salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers. It will take vast quantities of fertile Delta farmland out of agricultural production, under the guise of “habitat restoration,” to facilitate the diversion of massive quantities of water to irrigate corporate mega-farms on toxic, drainage impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

Photo: Governor Jerry Brown drinks water and breathes air just like the rest of us, but his horrible environmental policies sabotage laws protecting the water and air. Photo by Dan Bacher.

BERT SCHLOSSER

has died.

The long-time

Mendocino County defense attorney

was found in the kitchen

of his home Saturday

by his wife Deborah.

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JULIAN VILLALPANDO, 8, and his mother, Esmeralda Villalpando, 38,  suffered major injuries Saturday afternoon when Mrs. Villapando’s eastbound Acura Integra left Highway 20 on a sharp turn and slammed into a redwood. Mother and child had to be extracted, with some difficulty, by firefighters and a passerby. The boy was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Oakland with life-threatening injuries; his mother was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with moderate injuries. “Both victims were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash,” the CHP said.

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MENDO UNDERWHELMED BY OBAMACARE APPLICATIONS

CEO Report, October 21, 2013: “The  County’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) has continued to work diligently to process all health insurance applications through the Affordable Care Act, and specifically through Covered California’s insurance marketplace. So far, call centers for Mendocino County residents have logged 11 calls. There have been 36 contacts with the public where information or forms were provided, but no activity was initiated on Covered California’s online system known as the California Healthcare, Eligibility, Enrollment and Retention System (CalHEERS) — which is the enrollment system. There have been two cases where information or forms were provided in addition to initiating activity with those applicants into the CalHEERS system. So we really don’t have a lot of activity right now.”

Supervisor John Pinches commented: “After three weeks of the California Covered insurance which is commonly called Obamacare and after the last three weeks of it being in the national news about the shutdown and everything, it’s kind of really shocking to me that we’ve only received 11 calls on this Covered California and ‘no activity.’ I guess that means that not one person has signed up so far in Mendocino County.”

CEO Angelo: “No.”

Board Chair Dan Hamburg: “I don’t know what that means at all.”

Angelo: “It basically refers to giving out information which we anticipated — part of our goal in working with the state is to provide as much information and education to the public and here you can see that there’s not a lot of interest or we are still not getting the word out as to who to call, where to call, what to do.”

Hamburg: “Also they could be getting information from other sources besides the County.”

Angelo: “Yes, they could be.”

Hamburg: “There’s hundreds and hundreds of people going to private healthcare consultants like the one I know in Gualala, Ignacio Health Services, they’re handling hundreds and hundreds of applications under the Act so the County is not the only source of information on the Affordable Care Act. And I don’t like the Affordable Care Act, Johnny. I’m not defending the Act. I’m just saying that this is not a number that shows what the activity is in people signing up.”

Pinches: “That brings up my next question. If there’s all these hundreds of places where they can go…”

Hamburg: “I didn’t say there’s hundreds of places.”

Pinches: “Well, all these other places, so why is the County doing all this?”

Supervisor Dan Gjerde: “The County is enrolling people in Medi-Cal and, say at the Coast Clinics or other groups like that, the Clinics and even some private health insurance carriers — in Fort Bragg for example I know there’s one insurance sales agent who is trained and can enroll people in the Affordable Care Act, so I think that’s what Supervisor Hamburg is talking about. There are a number of people throughout the County that are actually enrolling people in the Affordable Care Act insurance and guiding them through to pick out the correct insurance for them. But the County is responsible for enrolling people in Medi-Cal.”

Brown: “And if they do not get enrolled it becomes a cost to us.”

Angelo: “And really when we began talking about the Affordable Care Act we were looking at the impact on Health and Human Services and our staff and we’ve actually been staffing up for the Affordable Care Act so this just speaks to workload basically as well as what’s happening in the Agency. And certainly we could get a report maybe from the Agency at first quarter.”

Pinches: “We’ve been staffing up for it but we’ve only had eleven calls?”

Angelo: (Smiles; shakes head) “They’re coming, Johnny.” (Laughs).

Hamburg: “Yeah. They will. But I think what Supervisor Brown raises is an interesting point. We were anticipating as many as 5,000 new Medi-Cal recipients as a result of the ACA and how are we going to find all those people? Or are we waiting for them to find us? I’m sure we’re doing some outreach, but there’s a lot of people out there who we’ve anticipated will be in Medi-Cal.”

Angelo: “That may be a question that could be better answered by the Department, but there are a lot of activities out there. Our goal is education and information. We do anticipate that there still will be a few thousand people who will not be enrolled and what we’re doing to mitigate that I can’t really answer that today but I can get that answer for you.”

Brown: “It would probably be a good idea since our board meetings are broadcasted, I believe we should have an update and an informational session at an upcoming board meeting to help get the word out.”

Hamburg: “Sure. We’ll arrange that. We’ll do that.”

Angelo: “We can do that before the end of the calendar year.”

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY: “PG&E is spending tens of thousands of dollars hiring PR firms to plant the lie: ‘Solar is unfair to the rest of us.’ It’s not true. 1. For about $11,000 you can have a 16-panel system. (Meaning, you don’t have to be rich.) 2. PG&E’s current gripe is net metering, where it credits homeowners with the retail value of the electricity. PG&E says that the solar homeowner isn’t paying their fair share of the grid. Actually, they are, since PG&E sells that extra daytime production to the house next door, and charges that neighbor the complete transmission and distribution fee for the kilowatt-hours that traveled 50 feet. So PG&E’s still doing fine. And making money from the solar company with extra production.”

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STOP THE PRESSES! This headline appeared in Friday’s edition of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat: “Sonoma Man found with meth in Lake County.”

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RANDOM THOUGHTS: As all you sports fans know, the 49ers played in London Sunday — “London, England,” as we were constantly reminded by announcers Heckle and Jeckle just in case we thought the game was being played in London, Baluchistan. The respective renditions of national anthems was the second reminder that the game was being played in England. The guy who sang it for US got off a jazzy version common now at the ballpark. Any time now I expect to hear “the guest artist” insert “Ooooo baby baby ooooo” right about at “the rockets red glare.” By way of contrast, the Brits gave us an opera singer who belted out a stirring God Save The Queen with the passionate brio a national song ought to get, especially our national song when it’s being sung fer furriners. It was an uninteresting game, so I’d tuned out by half time which, I’m sure, was the usual oooo baby baby oooo extravaganza.

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GYPSIES. They’re much in the news in a context that again reminds us how close we are to full return to the tom-toms and rattling of chicken bones to whammy our enemies. A little blonde girl, about 4, was removed by authorities from a Gypsy family living in Greece because, it was blandly stated, no possible spin of the genetic wheel could possibly land a white child with dark parents.  It turns out the Greek Gypsies purchased the child from her Romanian mother who, it also developed, was unable to provide for her. Two fair-skinned children in Ireland were grabbed from their Gypsy parents for DNA tests that established the children were indeed the children of their parents. The media hummed for a week with stories pegged to the medieval and, apparently, still prevalent myth that Gypsies steal babies.

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AS A KID of twenty or so, I rented a room in a grungy sro hotel at 5th and Brannan. Gypsies rented the ground floor. They called me “Boss” and were always trying to sell me stuff, including car transmissions that they had laying around their store front and said were “brand new.” At night, their wives and daughters sold corsages down at Fisherman’s Wharf. By day the older women told fortunes. I had to go to an encyclopedia to get a handle on who they were, and right about that time I heard the pioneer comic Lenny Bruce tell a joke about a census taker that went something like this: The census guy knocks on the door. He starts through his list of questions beginning with race. “We are gypsies,” the respondent says. “Bullshit,” the census taker exclaims. “There’s no such thing. I’ll put you down as Hawaiians.”

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WHY OBAMACARE WILL FAIL

by Dr. Margaret Flowers

In what is perhaps the greatest corporate scam ever, not only did the health insurance corporations write the federal health law, called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to enhance their profits, but now they also have the government and non-profit groups doing the work of marketing their shoddy products. The foundation of the ACA, the mandate that uninsured individuals purchase private insurance if they do not qualify for public insurance, begins in 2014 and the state health insurance exchanges where people can purchase that insurance opened on October 1. A new non-profit organization called Enroll America was created to organize and train grassroots activists to seek out the uninsured (they even provide maps) and assist them in using the exchanges.

Billions of public dollars and tremendous efforts are being spent to create new health insurance markets, advertise them, subsidize their products and actively solicit buyers for them. But the United States, as the only industrialized nation to use a market-based health care system, has already proven over the past 40 years, that this system doesn’t work. It is the most expensive, leaves the most out and leads to poor health outcomes. It means that people only receive the health care they can afford, not what they need.

Market competition does not improve health outcomes because it consists of health insurance corporations competing for profit by selling policies to those who are the healthiest and denying and restricting payment for care. And regulation of insurers doesn’t work either. Although rules in the ACA give the appearance of changing insurance company behavior, insurers are already working around them.

Defense of the ACA ignores the long history of private insurance influence and domination and is based on the hope that this time things will be different. But the ACA has not changed the fact that private insurance companies view their plans as products and have no more allegiance to human health than does Big Energy which will stop at nothing to drill, frack and blow-up the planet for profits.

Experience at the state level with previous similar reforms and a look at current health trends show that the ACA will leave tens of millions without insurance, will increase the percentage of people who are underinsured, will increase financial barriers to necessary care and will further privatize health care. Cutting out the multitudes of insurers and creating a single publicly-financed universal health care system, Medicare for all, is the only way to solve our health care crisis.

The ACA Fails to Solve Our Health Care Crisis

• The ACA leaves tens of millions without coverage. There are currently 48 million uninsured people in the US. At its best, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the ACA will leave 31 million people without health insurance when it is completely rolled out. And even that estimate may be too low. Experience at the state level showed that none of the similar plans hailed as comprehensive met their coverage goals before they failed due to costs. Without effective cost controls, care remains unaffordable.

• The ACA lowers the bar on what is considered to be acceptable insurance coverage. Plans sold through the new health insurance exchanges will pay for as little as 60 to 70 percent of covered services and carry high out-of-pocket costs. Because subsidies towards the purchase of insurance are inadequate, most people who are currently uninsured will be forced into the low coverage plans.

• The ACA continues the problem of financial barriers to care. Considering that 76 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck without significant savings, the money simply isn’t there to pay the out-of-pocket costs for visits to the doctor, tests or prescriptions. A health survey by the Commonwealth Fund last year found that 80 million people reported not getting care due to cost, 75 million were having difficulty paying medical bills and 4 million (over 2 years) went into bankruptcy as a result.

• The ACA will circumvent the requirement to cover people with pre-existing conditions. One way that insurance companies are doing this is by restricting their networks to avoid places where sick people go such as large medical centers and public hospitals and by limiting the number of providers. This will push people to use out-of-network providers and bear more or all of the cost. Another method will be to raise premiums or stop selling insurance plans in areas where they do not make a profit. Insurers can’t charge more for policies because of pre-existing conditions, but they can charge more based on age and location.

• The ACA allows insurers to receive waivers from provisions in the law. Since the ACA was passed in 2010, insurers and others have received thousands of waivers from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to exempt them from requirements. One of the most recent was to waive the cap on out-of-pocket spending because insurers claimed that their computer systems were not ready to handle the caps.  We will watch and see what insurers do over the coming years. We can expect them to justify charging higher premiums and to push for lower levels of coverage or fewer required services. And we can expect that HHS and state insurance commissioners will be compliant, as they have been.

• The ACA moves our health system towards greater privatization. The ACA lacks provisions to stop the consolidation of ownership of health facilities by large for-profit entities, something that large insurers are doing more. It also cuts funding to safety net hospitals and shifts those funds to subsidize private insurance. In Massachusetts where a similar health law was passed in 2006, the need for safety net programs has not fallen as people, even with insurance, face financial barriers to necessary care.

• Under the ACA, public insurances are being privatized. More states are moving their Medicaid patients into managed care organizations (MCOs). MCOS are for-profit administrators that compete with each other to cover the healthiest patients and are incentivized to cut care. Currently 75 percent of Medicaid patients are in MCOs and that number is expected to increase further under the ACA. And one of the early goals of the ACA was to cut back on Medicare Advantage plans which are essentially private insurance plans paid for through Medicare. The Advantage plans primarily insure the healthiest seniors and cost more than traditional Medicare. Instead of cutting back, the Obama Administration boosted payment to the Advantage plans. And enrollment in the plans has increased by 30 percent since 2010.

Not the reform we need

Looking at the ACA from a distance, it is difficult to see it as anything more than a law designed by and for the health industries that profit from the current health system. The regulations can be circumvented or waived. The insurers can continue to find innovative ways to avoid the sick and paying for care. And overall the system is becoming more privatized, which is the opposite direction from the real solution, Medicare for all.

The United States is already spending more per person each year on health care than any other industrialized nation. We are spending enough to provide lifelong high-quality comprehensive care to every person living in the US. If we see the US market-based health care system as an experiment, it has failed and should be ended for ethical reasons.

If we move immediately to a publicly-funded national Medicare for all, there would be no need for insurance exchanges and the massive increase in bureaucracy that goes with them. Every person would be in the health system. Any person who sought care would be covered without requirements for payment before care. Medicare for all is the most effective, most efficient and fastest way to create a health care system that is about health rather than profit. It is also the most just.

We cannot cross our fingers and hope that the ACA ‘works.’ That attitude means hundreds of thousands will suffer and die from preventable causes and millions of families each year will continue to go bankrupt because of medical illness and costs. The moral imperative is to realize that health care never has been and never will be a commodity and to stop treating it as such by taking it out of the marketplace altogether. We need Medicare for all now.

(Dr. Margaret Flowers serves as Secretary of Health in the General Welfare Branch of the Green Shadow Cabinet of the United States.)

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FEDS CHARGE FORMER MLPA INITIATIVE SCIENCE OFFICIAL WITH CONSPIRACY TO EMBEZZLE

by Dan Bacher

The US Attorney on October 11 formally charged biologist http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/10/25/1382714465380/Rafiq-ur-Rehman.jpgof Eureka with “conspiracy to commit embezzlement and theft from an Indian Tribal Organization,” the Yurok Tribe.

LeValley

LeValley, of Mad River Biologists, served as Co-Chair of the Science Advisory Team for the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative on the North Coast during much of the time that the alleged embezzlement occurred.

Federal prosecutors charged LeValley with conspiring with former Yurok Tribe forestry director Roland Raymond to submit false invoices to the tribe for spotted owl surveys and other work that was never done. The invoices totaled nearly $1 million, according to federal documents.

Raymond pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to embezzle from an Indian Tribe and will be sentenced on November 5.

William Kimball, LeValley’s lawyer, declined comment to the Eureka Times-Standard, Associated press and other publications.

In the scandal that has rocked the North Coast, Del Norte District Attorney Jon Alexander on February 23, 2012 arrested LeValley, and fellow Mad River biologist Sean McAllister on $1 million warrants accusing them of burglary, embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The Del Norte County District Attorney alleged that the two well-known biologists participated in an elaborate embezzlement scheme headed by Raymond that bilked the tribe out of $900,000 that was supposed to fund spotted owl research.

However, the District Attorney later dropped the charges to allow federal authorities to pursue the charges against Raymond and LeValley. Federal charges against McAllister haven’t been filed yet  – and it remains unclear if they will.

The document recently filed by federal authorities details how the alleged conspiracy proceeded. The link to the indictment is available at: http://noyonews.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/U.S._v._Ron_LeValley_As_Filed.pdf According to the document, “Beginning on a date unknown, but no later than 2007,” Raymond told LeValley he wanted to pay him, other Mad River Biologists employees, and some tribal forestry and fire crew employees a bonus. Raymond suggested LeValley submit an inflated invoice to the Yurok Tribe for an additional amount to cover the bonuses.

”LeValley agreed to this arrangement, and caused such an invoice to be prepared and submitted to the Yurok Tribe, ” the document states.

At the end of October 2008, Raymond obtained tribal approved for $98,000 worth of Endangered Species Act (ESA) surveys to be conducted by Mad River Biologists.

Raymond told LeValley that the tribe did not have money to pay for fire prevention and other forestry work – and asked him to begin regularly submitting false invoices for work his company hadn’t performed, according to the document.

LeValley allegedly funneled the money back to Raymond, less a percentage. This was identified in other court documents as 20 percent, according to the Eureka Times-Standard. (http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_24368336/local-biologist-charged-embezzlement-federal-prosecutors-charge-ron)

During 2009 and 2010, as a result of the economic downturn, the price of timber fell significantly and timber harvesting declined dramatically. “The Yurok Tribe did not harvest much timber during those years and had little need for biological assessments,” the document states.

Nonetheless, Mad River Biologists nonetheless billed the tribe for approximately $852,000 worth of surveys. LeValley funneled at least $540,000 of this money back to Raymond, keeping the balance to pay his company’s operations.

These expenses included his salary, “not less than $47,000 in total 2009 compensation” and “not less than $9,800 in total 2010 compensation,” the document claims.

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PLEASE TELL ME, MR PRESIDENT, WHY A US DRONE ASSASSINATED MY MOTHER

ur Rehman

by Rafiq ur Rehman

Momina Bibi was a 67-year-old grandmother and midwife from Waziristan. Yet President Obama tells us drones target terrorists

The last time I saw my mother, Momina Bibi, was the evening before Eid al-Adha. She was preparing my children’s clothing and showing them how to make sewaiyaan, a traditional sweet made of milk. She always used to say: the joy of Eid is the excitement it brings to the children.

Last year, she never had that experience. The next day, 24 October 2012, she was dead, killed by a US drone that rained fire down upon her as she tended her garden.

Nobody has ever told me why my mother was targeted that day. The media reported that the attack was on a car, but there is no road alongside my mother’s house. Several reported the attack was on a house. But the missiles hit a nearby field, not a house. All reported that five militants were killed. Only one person was killed — a 67-year-old grandmother of nine.

My three children — 13-year-old Zubair, nine-year-old Nabila and five-year-old Asma — were playing nearby when their grandmother was killed. All of them were injured and rushed to hospitals. Were these children the “militants” the news reports spoke of? Or perhaps, it was my brother’s children? They, too, were there. They are aged three, seven, 12, 14, 15 and 17 years old. The eldest four had just returned from a day at school, not long before the missile struck.

But the United States and its citizens probably do not know this. No one ever asked us who was killed or injured that day. Not the United States or my own government. Nobody has come to investigate nor has anyone been held accountable. Quite simply, nobody seems to care.

I care, though. And so does my family and my community. We want to understand why a 67-year-old grandmother posed a threat to one of the most powerful countries in the world. We want to understand how nine children, some playing in the field, some just returned from school, could possibly have threatened the safety of those living a continent and an ocean away.

Most importantly, we want to understand why President Obama, when asked whom drones are killing, says they are killing terrorists. My mother was not a terrorist. My children are not terrorists. Nobody in our family is a terrorist.

My mother was a midwife, the only midwife in our village. She delivered hundreds of babies in our community. Now families have no one to help them.

And my father? He is a retired school principal. He spent his life educating children, something that my community needs far more than bombs. Bombs create only hatred in the hearts of people. And that hatred and anger breeds more terrorism. But education — education can help a country prosper.

I, too, am a teacher. I was teaching in my local primary school on the day my mother was killed. I came home to find not the joys of Eid, but my children in the hospital and a coffin containing only pieces of my mother.

Our family has not been the same since that drone strike. Our home has turned into hell. The small children scream in the night and cannot sleep. They cry until dawn.

Several of the children have had to have multiple surgeries. This has cost money we no longer have, since the missiles also killed our livestock. We have been forced to borrow from friends; money we cannot repay. We then use the money to pay a doctor, a doctor who removes from the children’s bodies the metal gifts the US gave them that day.

Drone strikes are not like other battles where innocent people are accidentally killed. Drone strikes target people before they kill them. The United States decides to kill someone, a person they only know from a video. A person who is not given a chance to say — I am not a terrorist. The US chose to kill my mother.

Several US congressmen invited me to come to Washington, DC to share my story with members of Congress. I hope by telling my story, America may finally begin to understand the true impact of its drone program and who is on the other end of drone strikes.

I want Americans to know about my mother. And I hope, maybe, I might get an answer to just one question: why?

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SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, OCTOBER 31, 1938

“Hysteria among radio listeners throughout the nation and actual panicky evacuations resulted from a radio broadcast describing a fictitious visitation of strange men from Mars. The broadcast by the Columbia Broadcast System was an adaptation by Orson Welles of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” in which meteors and gas from Mars menace the Earth. New York police were unable to contact the CBS studios by telephone, so swamped was its switchboard, and a radio car was sent there for information. Many New Yorkers seized personal effects and raced from their apartments heading for the wide-open spaces. Five boys at Brevard (N.C.) fainted and panic gripped the campus with many students fighting for telephones to inform their parents to come and get them. A message from Providence, R.I., said: ‘Weeping and hysterical women swamped the switchboard for details of the massacre and destruction at New York and officials of the electric company received scores of calls urging them to turn off all the lights so that the city would be safe from the enemy.’ The phones of newspapers and police stations throughout the San Francisco Bay Region rang almost constantly between 5pm and 6pm. The callers were frantic, indignant or disgusted. They had turned their radios to station KSFO in the course of casual program hunting and were shocked out of their senses to hear that an overwhelming force had invaded New York and was threatening to move westward.”

FISH LOBOTOMIES

Dear Bruce (and don’t knick away my very friendly salutation),

The Open Lines guy was suspended for letting an F-bomb incident pass without correction. That’s not paranoia, it’s routine. Training and a seven-second delay device should improve the conversation. We’re looking forward to your calls.

Host: You’re on the air with Open Lines.

Bruce: This is Bruce.

Host: Bruce?

Bruce: Bruce. Am I on the air?

Host: Not Bruce Anderson!

Bruce: Not Bruce Anderson?

Host: Well Bruce, you usually stiff us and fail to appear after we’ve set you up for a show, and then you complain that you’ve been banned. Remember the Redwood Summer demonstrations, when you requested airtime with “Alexander Cockburn”? And the real AC wasn’t available? You’d anticipated rejection, so you could proceed to complain about suppression of free speech. But Bruce, recall that you had to back out, clumsily, when your proposal was accepted and promos were broadcast. Embarrassing! You had no show to provide. Nor did AC weigh in. So, throwing up dust, you contrived the excuse that an obscure button-pusher assigned to engineer the broadcast was a threat to you and “Alexander Cockburn,” and you were pulling out, not at all forfeiting absurdly. That’s still very funny. Inadvertent farce continues to redeem you. So, are you nursing an animus? You’ve got three minutes. Have you a message for Open Lines?

Bruce: Hmm? I was waiting my turn. Why yes, in my engagingly cordial tones — disarming, even — I want to contribute a joke. A joke, mind you. No recklessness nor malice at all. I’ll read it from my AVA of September 11, 2013, page 6. “ATTENTION TWEEKERS! Coate’s in Australia. We don’t know where he lives, but we know that you have the time, and, ah, the energy to find out. Go for it!”

Host: That’s the joke?

Bruce: I knew you’d enjoy it.

Host: Subtle.

Bruce: To continue in my preferred breezy manner, and in my own fine phrasing from a later issue of the AVA, “My remarks were obviously intended as humor.”

Host: Frankly, Bruce, sometimes we’re not the best judges of our own humor. Years ago the owner of KMFB made programming changes and provoked a volatile listener who had it known that he was driving around with a loaded shotgun. It wasn’t altogether funny then, but it’s funny now. Certainly your joke will continue to ripen.

[SOUND. Dial tone. Up and out. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.]

Host: I guess we lost that caller. Next call…

Yours,

Gordy Black, Mendocino

PS: Lead sardines outlast poissons solubles, non?

ED REPLY: Permit me to count your gifts: Total recall, a French phrase, a cravat, deep sea dialogue, and a loaded shotgun in your car? Anything else I missed in this latest communication? Me? Complain that I’m banned at KZYX? That’s like complaining about being banned from Megan’s List. The rest of what you allege here, Gordo, is the usual skewed nonsense you’ve dredged up for years now, and not worth my acute powers of deconstruction since you’re the only one who thinks this stuff is important. (“Acute powers” is intended ironically here Lord Liner Notes just so…) If you think it’s reasonable that McKenty, with seven years as a station volunteer, is offed because some nut called in an F-Bomb, say so. What was McKenty supposed to do, an on-air act of contrition? Run to Mommy? Close down the mike? Call the cops? Of course this is the same “free speech” Mendo radio station whose cringing programmer’s handbook says on-air drones are supposed to cut callers off when they “get into dangerous territory.” Who determines “dangerous territory”? Aigner? Coate? Stalin’s Ghost? McKenty was non-personed by the creep crew because they don’t approve of his affiliation with station reformers. That’s what you’re defending here, Gordy, you, you, you… you goosestepper, you. By the way, speaking of lead sardines, another time I saw this news clip of thousands of stoner look-alikes waving their forefingers stageward, in unison, at some really bad music, probably a Grateful Dead concert where “oneness” is thereby achieved, right? “Looks like they cloned Gordy Black,” I commented to my wife. She said, “The Monterey sardine?” I said, “I think so. But I don’t think they do lobotomies on fish.”

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EVAN DICK of Fort Bragg writes the Fort Bragg City Council, the Fort Bragg Advocate and the AVA: “I am concerned about a rumor I heard regarding the possibility of a Walmart coming into the Fort Bragg-Mendocino area. Has there been a discussion, or have city officials been approached by anyone regarding the establishment of a Walmart in the Coastal Mendocino County? I would appreciate your prompt attention in written response to this inquiry.”

WE CONTACTED 4th District supervisor Dan Gjerde. Gjerde replied, “To start, Fort Bragg is at the end of a cul-de-sac, so to speak, as far as deliveries go. So the Walmart delivery truck, now arriving in Ukiah from Walmart’s I-5 warehouse, would need to haul over to Fort Bragg, unload, and head back over Highway 20. That’s a logistical possibility, but why would Walmart bother? With a store in Ukiah, Walmart is already capturing customers from all over Mendocino County. Also, when adopting the Fort Bragg Local Coastal Plan, the community made it clear they did not want to see big stores west of Highway One. So the Coastal Plan limits the size of retail stores to less than half the size of Harvest Market, if constructed west of Main Street. As a result, if Walmart wanted to open a store in Fort Bragg, it would need to assemble a number of parcels on the east side of Main Street, between Noyo and Pudding Creek, just as Safeway did. In that location, Walmart or any company would be permitted to open a store as large as the Fort Bragg Safeway, 50,000 square feet. But that’s slightly less than half the size of the Ukiah Walmart. Before Walmart could receive its permit, however, it would need to reimburse the City for its cost to create an independent financial analysis to show the economic impacts of their proposed box store. The analysis, required of any proposed big box store, would be public information prior to the planning commission or city council would vote on a design review permit. To sum, it would be legal for Walmart to build one of its smaller, downtown stores on the East side of Main Street in Fort Bragg. But first they would need to assemble a number of parcels, reimburse the City for an economic impact analysis, and win community support for a scaled-down store. Given that a new store would curtail sales in their Ukiah store and generate uncertain revenues, why would Walmart roll the dice?”

THE RUMOR of a big box store for Fort Bragg that Mr. Dick refers to may have been the Dollar Tree Store proposed for Dominic Affinito’s big box structure on South Franklin. Formerly a big income earner for Affinito when Mendocino County housed its social services apparatus in it at exorbitant $26,000 a month rent to the County, the 11,000 square foot structure has recently been hollowed out as if in site prep for a Dollar Tree Store, a Fortune 500 corporation synonymous with health and safety violations wherever their nationwide chain of stores have been permitted. They don’t buy in to their host communities; they lease existing space. Much of the stuff for sale at a Dollar Tree Store costs more than a dollar and is imported from places where consumer health and safety concerns are not primary export considerations. This store would be bad for Fort Bragg, especially plunked down in the Coastal Zone trumpeted by the Coast’s thriving tourist industry. Dollar Tree Stores have been bad neighbors wherever they’ve gotten a foothold. It’s up to Fort Bragg’s Planning Commission and City Council to stop them. Petitions against this latest menace to the Mendocino Coast are already circulating.

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BE A SLAM JUDGE

Dear Poets and faithful supporters of poetry,

Now in our 14th year of High School slams, the Mendocino County branch of California Poets In the Schools (with the generous support of MCOE, participating teachers, students, the Arena Theater and Matheson Performing Arts Center) are going to host two more this year! And since the slam season is approaching, it is that time when I write to you and ask if you will judge one of our upcoming 2014 HS poetry slams.

I am looking for two sets of judges — one set (preferably four judges) for the coast poetry slam/Poetry Out Loud finals in Point Arena, and another set (3-4 judges) for the Countywide event in Mendocino.

1) The Coast Slam/Poetry Out Loud County Finals will take place on Tuesday, February 4, 2014 at the Arena Theater in downtown Point Arena. The California Arts Council/NEA/CPITS sponsored Mendocino County Finals for Poetry Out Loud, the national youth poetry recitation contest will begin at 3:30 with four schools participating. The Coast HS slam will immediately follow.

2) The Countywide Slam will take place on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 from 4-7:30pm at the Matheson Performing Arts Center on the Mendocino High School Campus. Five to six schools will participate.

Please email me if you have questions or to say “yes, I would love to judge!” And then let me know which slam you would like to help out with. And if you can’t do it (actually, even if you can), please pass this email on to others you think might be willing to help us out.

Thank you and here’s to another fabulous season of youth expression!

Blake More

Mendocino County CPITS area coordinator

blake@snakelyone.com / 707/884-9189

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THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR THE FORT BRAGG MILL SITE

by Franklin Graham

For the last dozen years, the Fort Bragg Mill site has been little more than 415 acres of “off limits” shoreline on the town’s western face. Every 4th of July, one can enjoy one evening of fireworks arcing over the Noyo Headlands. For the rest of the year, it is just that now barren stretch of deserted property one sees out of the corner of one’s eye as he or she drives by. One result of “planning fatigue”, as one former participant of the Noyo Headlands Unified Design Group put it, is that “some people have even given up commenting on what might become of the site.” As for the current owners, Charles and David Koch (more about them later), it is but a “nonperforming asset.” A mill that once employed 2,000 locals would never make payroll again. However, there are developments that will substantially affect the dispo­sition of the mill site.

But what has the situation been like since the mill fully shut down in 2002? Ask anyone who had worked at the Mill what it felt like when the plant was closed. “It felt like a kick to the gut,” one retired worker said. A longtime Fort Bragg merchant says it was like a death in the family. At the time of shutting down the plant, as re­ported in the Los Angeles Times (Justin Pritchard, Sep­tember 1, 2002), the paid workforce was only about 100 workers. That does not sound like much. But even at a drastically reduced level, the mill still accounted for about $31 million in economic benefit to the immediate area, according to a Fort Bragg banker, Tom Becker. Clearly, the reign of King Timber was over. It had been over for some time. Fort Bragg, by all accounts a once a prosperous union, “blue-collar town”, had become a place where those who grew up in the area could not afford to stay. Indeed, since 2000, the city of Fort Bragg’s population has increased less than 4percent, to just shy of 7300 residents, far below the population increases for California as a whole. Without some major economic development, the growth in population would remain anemic.

Like so many historic industrial sites in America, the story of the rise and fall of the Fort Bragg Mill is a record of expropriation, exploitation, and exportation of resources and profits. That is not to say that there were no benefits for those who worked at the plant and raised their families in Mendocino County. There certainly were benefits. Mendocino and Fort Bragg residents could make a good living wage, raise their families, and have a sense of community. But beneath that tranquil state, the long-term effects of the present state of decay were gath­ering momentum. King Timber’s exploitation of the for­est resources would deal a major blow to the economic health and future prospects of Fort Bragg and Mendocino County.

History as Precedent

The record of expropriation and exploitation is at least as old as the early 19^th Century Russian fur trade settlements, such as Fort Ross. Once they had fairly effectively driven the sea otter (the first local resource to be depleted) to near extinction, they withdrew. Except for the decimated sea otter population, however, the Rus­sians left little by way of permanent impact on the region. The real and sustained advance of “Manifest Destiny” soon followed with the arrival of land hungry American settlers. In order to contain and pacify the Native American peoples of the immediate area, a 25,000 acre Indian Reservation was established in 1856 that extended from the Noyo harbor to Ten Mile River. A military post was established the following year (1857) within the boundaries of the reservation on land for the ostensible purpose of protecting the Native Americans from the settlers and to “maintain” order. The military post site was to become the city of Fort Bragg. At the time, given the sometimes chaotic rush for land on frontiers, few saw the economic potential of the reserva­tion land. At least one would-be timber baron, a Mr. McPherson, did see the potential for exploiting the red­wood forests and the available anchorages of Soldier Bay and Noyo Harbor for shipment. He was granted a mill site inside the newly established Indian Reservation in 1856. So much for the rights granted to the displaced Native Americans. And so too was the beginning of a 150 year depletion of the major natural resource of the region — -timber. Further embedding the long cycle of expropriation and exploitation, once the military post was abandoned, the remaining 300 or so Native Ameri­cans, by this time reduced in numbers by disease and subject to outright exploitation and violence, were forci­bly marched to Round Valley. One can only guess what life might have been like for the Native Americans at Noyo had they not been forcibly removed. However, powerful economic forces were in play and the land, their land, was too precious to leave in their hands. Can it be acknowledged, when the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is written and submitted, that the expropriation and exploitation of the once reservation land in the 1860s was a key factor in lead up to the pre­sent issues of what is to become of the Fort Bragg Mill Site.

Fast forward to 1885. Charles Russell Johnson, future Lumber Baron of Mendocino, buys into a Mill Creek operation that was to become Union Lumber. Within four years (1889), the Town of Fort Bragg was incorporated, with Mr. Johnson as the first mayor. Building lots of 100’ by 150’ could be had for $100 by the mill workers. America was entering the ‘Gilded Age’. There was no thought that the environment, the forests especially, could not withstand the endless cycles of expropriation, exploitation and extraction. For the next 100 or so years, it could truly be said that Fort Bragg was a company town. So long as the ancient giant redwood and Douglass fir trees could be hauled to the mill, there was a healthy workforce to sustain the local economy. By 1969, however, the mill was no longer under the control of the Johnson family. Union Lumber Company was sold to Boise Cascade. The advent of the timber and lumber industry’s collapse was about to become manifest. The age of corporate mergers and con­solidation has also in full flower.

Just four years after purchase of the Union Lumber Company, Boise Cascade was sold to Georgia Pacific in 1973. For the next two decades, Georgia Pacific strug­gled to make a profit at its Fort Bragg Mill. The year 1994, according to the company, was the only year it made a profit. Georgia Pacific blamed a number of fac­tors for this reversal of fortune. It was the dwindling supply of large trees to mill, as if the trees themselves could simply decide to bulk themselves up to satisfy the supply demands of the mill. It was depressed prices, as if the markets were conspiring to undercut their dollar growth projections. It was the onerous burden of gov­ernment regulations. It was synthetics, i.e. plastic com­posite decking. It was the union based wage structure. For an industry that had spawned up to 900 mills between 1852 and 1996 in Mendocino County alone, the term collapse certainly applies. By 2001 only 10 mills continued to operate in the county. Today, it is even less than 10 and they rely upon a supply of logs the majority of which hardly exceed 16 inches in diameter. At the end of this 150 year period of exploitation of the forest, what remains of a timber and lumber industry in Mendocino County is largely in the hands of small land owners, Mendocino Redwood Company, and private non-profits, such as the Redwood Forests Forever Initiative at Usal Forest. The phrase “sustainable practices” is now the stated goal of what remains of the industry.

With the acquisition of Georgia Pacific (December, 2005) by Koch Industries, a privately held conglomerate (84% owned by David and Charles Koch) the stage has been set for the ultimate disposition of the Fort Bragg Mill Site. Georgia Pacific, headquartered in Atlanta Georgia, does business in 27 states. Its products are found in almost every kitchen and bathroom in America. We know Georgia Pacific by brand name products made at its pulp mills throughout the south — -think “Angel Soft” and “Quilted Northern” toilet tissues, “Mardi Gras” and “Sparkle” paper towels, “Soft and Gentle,” “So Dry,” “Dixie” paper plates, and “Vanity Fair” napkins. Today, managing 175 million acres of forest, much of it single crop soft pine suitable for pulp mills, Georgia Pacific’s sales reportedly exceed $24 billion. To insure that they remain free of “interference” to their interests, the Koch brothers have spent at least $75,000,000 lob­bying for free market capitalism, opposing low carbon fuel initiatives, denying Global Warming, and supporting a far right conservative agenda and candidates like Scott Walker (Wisconsin). In short, Koch Industries, and its subsidiary Georgia Pacific, is a force not to be taken lightly. They are, admittedly, a profit oriented multina­tional conglomerate and have every right to promote their businesses and advocate policies they deem benefi­cial to their business plan and profit objectives.

The Present Status of Planning

Where does all this lead with respect to Georgia Pa­cific’s (GP) activity and ownership of the Fort Bragg Mill site? To date, the company has spent in excess of $34 million on cleanup remediation to remove toxic haz­ards on the 415 acre parcel. The total cleanup cost con­tinues to mount. To possibly limit its cost of remediation on November 11, 2012, Georgia Pacific sued Office Max (which had acquired Boise Cascade) which in turn sued the City of Fort Bragg to recover what it terms as “response costs.” The allegation is that storm runoff from Fort Bragg’s downtown district has contributed to the polluting of the site. Since the City of Fort Bragg does not have deep pockets, which municipality these days does, the suit is both a distraction for the city and could retard the settlement of outstanding issues in resolving the is disposition of the site?

The City of Fort Bragg has achieved some progress in developing the site. To date, according to 4^th Supervi­sor Dan Gjerde, the City of Fort Bragg has acquired “just under100 of the 415 acres. The city’s property (is) largely for bluff top trail and parkland, including the connecting of McKirricher State Park to the north with Soldier Bay and Noyo to the south. About 12 acres has been identified for the future Noyo Center for Science and Education.” There also seems to be a general under­standing that the Mill Pond portion of the property, 35 acres in extent, will revert to open land and riparian cor­ridor once the dam is removed and the toxic issues are dealt with. The city may also acquire some additional parkland, a “Mini Central Park” as Mr. Gjerde calls it. When all is said and done, however, Georgia Pacific will still control/own about 270 acres for private develop­ment.

What might this blend of public/private space look like when the proposed “build-out” date is reached in 2030? To begin with, the City has taken on the responsi­bility of developing most, if not all, of the park-like fea­tures of the site. The Coastal Conservancy and State Park Proposition 84 funds are to be used to develop the coastal trail. The remaining 270 acres will be left to the private owners to develop. Georgia Pacific may sell the property to private investors (For tax purposes the County lists the value at a little over $39,000,000. Whether it is GP or another investment group, it is almost certain that the plan will be to build “high end” residences for retirees or second home owners. The city has insists that vacation homes are not permitted within city limits. The high end market profile, as evidenced in the site plan, envisions 520 residential units on small, medium, and large parcels) 450 hotel rooms, and com­mercial/industrial space. A private, for-profit venture almost certainly implies a push for upscale amenities (boutique hotel, chi-chi retail outlets, and eco-tourist related venues?) Again, the city has given guidance that a golf course is not desirable. If such a scenario were to become end result, an all-but-exclusive “compound” for the well-to-do could become a reality, at the expense of local real estate, retail, and needs interests of the com­munity at-large. Yes, the trails and parklands will indeed be open to the public. But if history is any guide, the more common pattern is for the up-scale part of town to become more like a preserve for the privileged, while the ordinary citizen is left to feel somewhat alienated from the common space.

There are other factors to consider as well in the ulti­mate planning and formation of agreements to “build-out” the Mill Site. Government services will be burdened by the influx of new residents and visitors. The increased costs of police, fire protection, potable water, sewage, waste water, road improvements, and the like are not spelled out in detail in the site plan. Indeed, perhaps they cannot be given definite form at this stage. But at some point, the citizens of the city will have to face such con­sequences. Additionally, the site plan does not provide comment about the need for affordable housing for local residents. Nor does the plan articulate what kind of jobs is implied for the 777 additional workers. Is the addi­tional workforce to be well-paid light industrial, technol­ogy and renewable energy related, and such? Or, is it the case that what is likely to be the reality is more low-wage, low-skilled service-sector jobs — -hotel clerks and maids, retail clerks, landscape services, fix-it people, short-order cooks, and the like? All these concerns are briefly noted in the draft Environmental Impact Report. The terminology “potential high impact” keeps coming up in the document. The Notice of Preparation of a draft EIR also gives notice of the potential for retail busi­nesses and hotels in the core of Fort Bragg to lose busi­ness to a new private development at the Mill Site. Men­docino County is well aware of the concerns other area towns have had to face (Ukiah and Willits for example) when outside business enterprises are attracted to the periphery of the core business area.

The Near-term Prospects

The Noyo Headlands Unified Design Group plan has effectively been shelved. The City Site Plan continues to be revised and clarified, especially as land for parks and trails is resolved, the Mill Pond toxic issues are dealt with, and light industrial enterprises express interest in the site, such as Mendocino Brewing Company’s plan to utilize part of Drying Shed #4 progresses.

But in the end the fate of this prime real estate, which has been the subject of so much exploitation and extrac­tion of profit over at least 150 years, will be the profit motive of private developers. The City of Fort Bragg acknowledged this explicitly in 2004 by resolution (Resolution #2733-2004). This city council document states, in part, “whereas, the City recognizes that Georgia Pacific has the right to sell the Mill Site to any interested buyer without any input from or consideration to the City, its citizens or other interested parties…” As for Georgia Pacific, it has formally withdrawn from the joint planning process.

Some will say that the ultimate leverage that citizens have to influence the outcome hinges on two things, water and the California Coastal Commission. Water availability will be part of the final EIR. The City insists that Georgia Pacific must rely on its own water rights and storage for the plan to move forward. Having this stated, what then is the meaning of the language in the 2004 resolution that “adequate supplies of potable water will be available to serve long-term build-out of the Mill Site.”? This includes sewage and waste water treatment. It is reasonable to believe that water will become an issue at some point in the negotiations to develop the Mill site.

The final barrier that private developers may face is the re-zoning of the property. One result of the creation of Sea Ranch, an exclusive enclave for the rich on the coast, was the creation of the California Coastal Com­mission. Most landowners with property on the sea side of Highway 1 have chaffed over the years at the stringent regulations, if not outright denial of development, imposed by the Commission. The Commission has indeed tended to serve the interests of the general public over private, for-profit ventures. The thesis that we began with was one of expropriation, exploitation, and exportation. As such, the Fort Bragg Mill Site deserves a chance to end this cycle of short-sightedness. The prop­erty could be developed with more attention to the real and expressed needs of the citizens of the town and county, avoiding the pitfalls of expropriation by outside interests for whom the prime objective, the only impor­tant objective, is profit. That can be accomplished, in part, by the Site Plan and the EIR report with completed, giving more attention to the unanticipated consequences that could entail. The potential deterioration of the local merchant and hotel trade core of the city is one such pos­sible consequence. The added tax and fee burden on city and county taxpayers and rate payers for new infrastruc­ture and services is another. The change in “qualify of life” factors, congestion, noise, a whole host of impacts needs more attention. Marie Jones, Community Devel­opment Director, points out that the City General Plan requires a new development to be revenue neutral. Indeed the city itself may well be able to avoid paying for new infrastructure and the like. That being said, added costs to residences and businesses will no doubt be incurred as a natural outcome of growth of infra­structure.

One thing that can definitely serve to insure the best possible outcome for the Fort Bragg Mill Site is the active participation on the part of more ordinary citizens, the very people who are recognized as “stakeholders”. The City of Fort Bragg has indeed been open about the planning process. Anyone can attend city council meet­ings, scoping sessions, planning sessions, and presenta­tions of both the Specific Plan and the environmental impact report (EIR) meetings. Open governance is the key to effectively influencing the process of planning and disposition of the Mill Site. My own current experi­ence in reaching out to Dan Gjerde, 4^th District Supervi­sor, and Marie Jones, Fort Bragg Community Develop­ment Director has been most encouraging, especially since my knowledge at the outset was, and remains, lim­ited. I thank them.

The day is not that far off when Georgia Pacific, ala Koch Industries, makes a business decision to resolve the status of its “nonperforming asset”. How interested the private developer is in breaking the 150 year long cycle of expropriation, exploitation will be put to the test. The often conflicting motivations of profit over the needs of the local citizens may be the key to either a good or poor outcome. In order to develop the Mill Site to its full potential deep pockets will be required. The interests of the people who live in Fort Bragg and Mendocino also need to be a good part of the equation. That is where citizen participation enters the picture. If it matters to you, then you need to become involved. Finally, Georgia Pacific and Office Max could begin to re-engage by dropping the City from the lawsuit and for Georgia Pacific to re-enter the planning process with the City and its citizens. Neither step is an impediment to Georgia Pacific achieving its goals as the primary owner of the property acreage in question. ¥¥

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THE HOMESTRETCH! Today and tomorrow are the last two days in AV Foodshed Group’s C’mon Home to Eat in October celebration! Did you meet your challenge of eating as locally as you could? We want to hear the trials, tribulations, and pleasures of your experience—please send them to avfoodshed@mendocinolocalfood.org. The Dark Carnival on October 31st at The Shed behind Paysanne will have local food and beverage choices. There will be a C’mon Home to Eat in October in 2014, but why not continue your local food focus all year? A start on Saturday, November 2nd will be the Chestnut Gathering at the Zeni Ranch, not only with chestnuts roasted on a open fire, but an extensive local food potluck. Thursday, November 14th will be a hands-on fermentation workshop as a prelude to the quarterly AV Foodshed local potluck. And Sunday December 8th will be the Holiday Community Dinner at the Grange with local turkeys, meat, and potatoes—you can bring the local side dishes. Check in on the www.mendocinolocalfood.org website for more events and the AVA every other week for the Connecting With Local Food series.

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“A NEW YORK TIMES SURVEY indicates that one-in-three millennials watch mostly online video and no broadcast TV. Meanwhile, in a video by a man-in-the-street interviewer, students at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, near Washington DC, were unable to recognize the names of Vladimir Putin and John Kerry, but they gave detailed explanations on how to twerk.” — Paul Krassner

Diane Zucker

DIANE ZUCKER has died. A long time resident of Ukiah, and before Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Diane was perhaps best known as a member of the Mendocino County School Board, serving for many years as a trustee. She passed away on Monday morning, the 28th of October, in San Francisco. Diane had been hospitalized at the California Pacific Medical Center for nearly a month, and had never recovered from a complicated surgery to remove a stomach tumor. Diane was placed in intensive care Sunday after developing breathing difficulties. She lapsed into a coma, her heart stopped and doctors were unable to revive her.

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A 12-YEAR EMPLOYEE of the Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op has been fired for “insubordination,” but neither he nor the vague entities who canned him can say precisely what his “insubordination” consisted of. The now unemployed married father of a young daughter was also subjected to a denial of his unemployment benefits claim by the store, but he appealed and won his appeal. At least one member of the co-op’s board of directors, a founding member, is fighting mad and will make the young man’s dismissal number one on the next meeting agenda.

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LIFE WITH THE HUMP: “On October 14th at about 7:00pm,” the press release begins, “Ukiah Police responded to the WalMart parking lot at 1155 Airport Park Boulevard…” where TravisHumphrey, aka The Hump, and several of his leisure class comrades had gathered for

Travis Humphrey

cocktails and loud group discussion, so loud it alarmed WalMart shoppers. The Hump, noting the officer’s arrival, raised his beer can in greeting. The Hump had been prohibited from being on WalMart property but that ban had expired along with The Hump’s previous probation. The Hump triumphantly informed the officer he could not be arrested for being on the WalMart property and commenced yah-yahing the cop, who immediately deduced that Hump was so drunk he was unable to care for himself. “That’s all for you today, Mr. Humphrey,” the officer said taking out his cuffs. Hump, natch, began fighting the cop “but was taken into custody after a brief struggle” and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest. Six days later, on October 20th at 12:55pm, the Ukiah police were summoned to the Tractor Supply Company at 1248 Airport Park Boulevard where The Hump had slipped on a new pair of boots valued at $180, urinated on the floor, and sauntered on out the door. He was soon spotted in the 700 block of Talmage Road and arrested for shoplifting and indecent exposure. The Hump is 23 years old. Ukiah can look forward to another 30 years with this guy.

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ANDERSON VALLEY’S latest legal crop? “boonville piment d’ville, a sweet, spicy, basque red chile, sown, grown & harvested by locals, Mendocino County, fall 2013 crop.” The peppers, not grown anywhere else in the United States, as Johnny Schmitt tells me, were planted at the old Stella Cadente property not even a mile from the Farrer Building, central Boonville. And just to the rear of the Farrer Building early Tuesday afternoon, in a very busy tin shed, a three person crew was grinding and packaging chili powder, ten tons of it from a bonanza second year crop. The ever-enterprising Schmitt now faces the formidable task of marketing the stuff which, of course, shouldn’t be too difficult because this magically enhancing substance is much sought after by knowledgeable cooks.

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WHO IS ERICK GELHAUS?

Dear Editor:

Enclosed, please find my research from an “Intelius Background Check” on Sonoma County deputy, Erick Gelhaus, who shot 13-year old Andy Lopez seven times, killing him, on October 22, 2013. Gelhaus was deliberate. He fired eight times in 26 seconds. Twenty-six seconds — that’s an eternity in the split-second world of law enforcement.

Trigger-happy?

You decide. The kid was holding a toy replica of a gun.

Did Gelhaus know better? Was Gelhaus an experienced cop?

You decide. Gelhaus was a 23-year veteran of Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, and he was a SWAT team leader, a senior firearms instructor, and a bunch of other things. He was also a combat war vet. He served in Iraq as an infantry squad leader.

The FBI is now investigating the shooting, because neither the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office nor the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office can be trusted by many members of the public to conduct an impartial investigation.

The family of Andy Lopez and much of the local Latino community have cried out for justice.

If guilty, Erick Gelhaus should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As a law enforcement officer sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States, this is a greater demand for justice put upon Erick Gelhaus than for ordinary citizens.

Adding the facts that Gelhaus was also a SWAT team member and wrote for SWAT Magazine, was also training instructor at the Gunsite Academy in Sonoma County, and that he demonstrated products for Aimpoint Red Dot Sights, Blue Force Gear, and other vendors of the deadly tools of the trade for law enforcement, there may no excuse for this killing. Gelhaus was not just an ordinary citizen, he was not just an ordinary cop… He was a lot more. He should have known better.

No Justice. No Peace.

John Sakowicz, Ukiah

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A CROWD ESTIMATED at upwards of 2000 people marched peacefully through downtown Santa Rosa Tuesday to protest the shooting death of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a sheriff’s deputy. Security was tight around the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department offices on Ventura Avenue not far from Santa Rosa Junior College. Metal barricades were manned by police from several jurisdictions. The Sheriff has said Erik Gelhaus, the deputy who shot the youngster, has received death threats. The rally in front of the Sheriff’s office lasted into the evening as demonstrators came and went. Lopez was shot and killed a week ago today (Tuesday) as he walked along Moorland Avenue in southwest Santa Rosa carrying a BB gun

designed to look like a high-powered assault rifle.

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DOUBLE HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION UPDATE

ON OCTOBER 17, 2013 at 2:35pm, Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 31000 block of Highway 20, Fort Bragg, for a report of a suspicious vehicle parked in the area. Upon their arrival, Sheriff’s deputies located a mini-van parked near the area of the “bark dump”. The van was parked in a manner which prevented it from being seen from Highway 20. Deputies checked the interior of the van and discovered a deceased female in the front driver seat and a deceased male in the front passenger seat. Both victims appeared to have suffered wounds to the head. The exact cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy. Preliminary investigation indicates that the victims may not be Mendocino County residents. The female victim has been identified, but sheriff’s detectives are still attempting to locate her next of kin. The male victim has yet to be positively identified. Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office “tip line” at (707) 234-2100.

ON OCTOBER 19, 2013 Sheriff’s Detectives identified the female victim as being Cindy Bao Feng Chen (38-years-old) from San Francisco, California. Sheriff’s Detectives are still in the process of attempting to identify the male victim and the case is still being actively investigated. Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office “tip line” at (707) 234-2100.

ON OCTOBER 22, 2013 Sheriff’s Detectives identified the male victim as being Jim Tat Kong (51-years-old) from San Pablo, California. The case is still being actively investigated by Sheriff’s Detectives and anyone with information pertaining to the investigation is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office “tip line” at (707) 234-2100.

ON OCTOBER 18, 2013 forensic autopsies were performed on Jim Tat Kong and Cindy Bao Feng Chen in connection with the active homicide investigation. The preliminary results of the autopsies showed both died as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head. At this time toxicology and blood alcohol analysis is pending. The case is still being actively investigated by Sheriff’s Detectives and anyone with information pertaining to the investigation is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office “tip line” at (707) 234-2100. (Sheriff’s Press Releases)

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GERMINATION OF A DREAM

by Andy Balestracci

A long lost envelope of tomato seeds received from relatives in Italy haunts me to this day. My memory of it was of two varieties of saved local tomato varieties neatly folded and labeled from the home garden of my grandfather’s cousin in northern Italy. They sat in a file drawer in my father’s office for many years, long after their viability to germinate had waned and before my seed saving addiction had become my opiate of choice. But the ghost of those lost varieties — their sun ripened flavor, fresh from the summer gardens in the town of Barbarasco — and that those farmers valued them enough to grow and save for perhaps generations are lost now. Unfortunately similar stories are being repeated now at an alarming rate. This ten thousand year human experi­ment of agriculture and its subsequent proliferation of genetic food plant diversity have, in the last hundred years of industrialization, seen a rapid decline. There are a multitude of factors. One of the primary causes is due to narrow global commercial interests feeding the grow­ing urban centers being populated by more of the human family moving off rural lands. The saving of seed varie­ties is a tenuous thread that can be lost within a decade — the outside viability of most food seeds.

The idea for Diaspora Seeds as a local producer and seller of heirloom vegetable, herb, and flower seeds is to provide a bulwark against that shortsighted and heedless loss. I think everyone can appreciate the spontaneous smile that you get when eating a freshly harvested tomato, kale, or beans out of your garden — the taste, the nutrition, and the primal satisfaction of growing your own food. Linda and I have, for the last twenty years, been searching out seeds that are perhaps a bit obscure or in a precarious situation as only a few older farmers are growing a variety out. Obscurity and fragility are not reasons to think that these heritage seed gems are worthless. Rather the opposite — many times the only fact that these seed varieties are still hanging on is that they are incredibly drought hardy, delicious, highly produc­tive, or disease and pest resistant. The idea that all of us are part of the human diaspora — from the Greek meaning a scattering of seeds — and the plant seed heritage we carry is cause for great optimism. In the midst of this massive movement of peoples and seed there has never been a more productive time worldwide for all of us to find and grow these varieties that are suited to our cli­mate, dietary needs, and local food security issues.

Twenty four years ago while living in Nepal, a sojourn that started as an academic year in Tibetan Studies and morphed into three years of observing and traveling the myriad bioregions and communities from the lowland jungle of the Terai, the 6,000 ft. high rice paddies of the Kathmandu valley to the hardy 11,000 ft. barley fields of the high Himalaya of Dolpo. My eyes were opened to the power of seed diversity. Such an assortment of climates and food existed all within the fifty-mile width of the country. For all of the challenges that exist there — high population growth pushing at environmental limits — it was heavy reinforcement for the idea that the best place to look for food sustainability is in the relatively intact rural communities of the world. The collective trial and error of 1,000 summers of decisions by farmers’ intimate eco-literacy of place, based on nutrition, production, or resiliency — not patentability nor the ability to ship a tomato a continent away.

A few years later, back in the States and living in Tucson, I walked into a demonstration garden run by Native Seeds/SEARCH, a non-profit involved in the preservation of Native Southwestern food crops. The garden curator was a young woman with an easy smile and a passionate seed saving, uber hipster. We planted a small plot of Gila River Sweet Corn that day. I was hooked — for heirloom seeds and Linda. We’re celebrat­ing twenty years together this year. I went on to work for the organization restoring an old adobe building, the Sylvester House, that became their new seed storage and processing site. Some folks might be impressed by monumental architecture or great art, but for me it was the awe I felt walking the rows of floor to ceiling shelves of labeled heirloom seed jars in their seed bank. Potluck lunches there were legendary, like Tepary bean stews homeopathically spiced with native perennial chiltepin hot peppers and baked Tohono O’odham H:al Squash. Linda and I were gratefully invited to a number of Native American and Hispanic farmers’ fields and homes that really stretched our conceptions about what agriculture is supposed to look like. Healthy abundant crops of tepary beans grow from the isolated summer monsoon rain runoff channeled off seasonally dry arroyos in Mayo Indian communities near Sonora, Mexico. The improbable dry-farmed corn and squash fields grow in what looks like infertile and parched southwestern desert sand at Hotevilla and Oraibi on the Hopi Reservation with a variety of corn, Hopi Pink, that is seeded 10 inches below the surface to make optimal use of subsurface soil moisture.

In 1997 we made it out to a very different climate as farm apprentices at Green Gulch Farm in foggy Muir Beach, California. If an apprenticeship was ever a cruci­ble for a steep learning curve, Green Gulch was it for us. Besides being one of the oldest certified organic farms in California it is also a Japanese Zen Buddhist Practice Center. What this translated into as a daily schedule was rise and shine at 4:30am for the start of two 40-minute zazen sitting meditations, then out to the fields at 6:30 a.m. for harvest of the six acres planted in cool weather annual crops like lettuce, chard, potatoes, garlic, and beets for market. Then the rest of the workday, evening zazen and … gratefully bed. Something resonated and we stayed 4 years between Green Gulch Farm and a sister community, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, in the Ventana Wilderness Area in Monterrey County, which included a stint as a baker for me and kitchen manager for Linda.

In the spring of 2000 we got an itch to get back out in the world to carry forward what we had learned. Through an acquaintance at San Francisco Zen Center we heard of an opportunity at a property newly purchased by Melody and Paul Haller in Philo. In April we were hired as Landscape and Garden Managers and moved onto the 160-acre Shenoa Resort property outside of Philo. Little did we know at the time what a blessing it was to be transplanted into that Eden. Linda and I had been fairly nomadic up until that time but it was that first year we realized we had found a valley and community to call home.

The intervening years saw us move on from Shenoa to produce food at the Boonville Hotel garden. I then became the cheesemaker at the Elk Creamery, the first certified organic goat dairy in California and a few years later the Director of Operations at Thanksgiving Coffee.

After so many years of seed saving efforts overtaking shelves and the rooms of our home, we felt besides hosting the annual seed exchange at the Mendocino Permaculture Seed & Scion Exchange, we needed to reach a larger audience to carry forward these seeds. We started Diaspora Seeds this past winter, which began with a modest selection of approximately 30 varieties of seed, 95% of which we grew ourselves with organic methods and all produced locally in Mendocino County. All our seeds are open pollinated which means you can grow the plant let it go to seed, and then plant that seed the following year. Many are rare heirloom varieties from around the world. This summer’s harvest will nearly double our offerings and we’re busy harvesting, cleaning seed, and making the new labels. The seeds are available on our website at www.diasporaseeds.com and a number of local businesses now carry our seeds. We’re excited about the response we have received from the community and beyond and are looking to expand our acreage this winter and spring. We have also been in conversation with other farmers interested in growing seed for us as well — all towards a strong effort to strengthen our food choices and abilities. Happy growing! ¥¥

(This article is #9 in the Connecting With Local Food series brought to you by AV Foodshed Group. To read past articles, go to www.mendocinolocalfood.org. Next week the Zeni Ranch will be featured as a prelude to the 32nd annual Chestnut Gathering and local food potluck on November 2, 2013.)

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SALMON FILM FESTIVAL, Nov. 8 — Nov. 10th in

Portuguese Hall, Ft. Bragg. Here’s what we’re doing new this year:

• Cartoon hour on Saturday and Sunday from 10-11 am (vintage Disney, ocean acidification, farmed fish…)

• Free showing of Salmon on the Yemen on Friday at 8pm

• Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu on Saturday at 5pm

• Theatre Troupe on Sunday at 3 pm

Plus a ton of other things. Check out our website at www.salmonfilmfestival.org

Any questions? Call me!

Jeanine Pfeiffer, Festival Coordinator: 707.969.7490

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THE CORPORATE STATE OF SURVEILLANCE

By Ralph Nader

America was founded on the ideals of personal liberty, freedom and democracy. Unfortunately, mass spying, surveillance and the unending collection of personal data threaten to undermine civil liberties and our privacy rights. What started as a necessary means of reconnaissance and intelligence gathering during World War II has escalated into an out-of-control snoop state where entities both governmental and commercial are desperate for as much data as they can grab. We find ourselves in the midst of an all-out invasion on what’s-none-of-their-business and its coming from both government and corporate sources. Snooping and data collection have become big business. Nothing is out of their bounds anymore.

The Patriot Act-enabled National Security Agency (NSA) certainly blazed one trail. The disclosures provided by Edward Snowden has brought into light the worst fears that critics of the overwrought Patriot Act expressed back in 2001. The national security state has given a blank check to the paranoid intelligence community to gather data on nearly everyone. Internet and telephone communications of millions of American citizens and millions more citizens and leaders of other countries. Even friendly ones such as Germany, France and Brazil have been surveillance targets –over 30 foreign leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff have reportedly been targeted by this dragnet style data-collecting. More blatantly, covert devices were reportedly placed in European Union offices and earlier by Hillary Clinton’s State Department on the United Nations to eavesdrop on diplomats. World leaders are not pleased, to put it mildly.

Many Americans are not pleased either. And while most of the recent public outrage in the U.S. has been directed at instances of government snooping, giant private corporations are equally as guilty of the troubling invasion of peoples’ selves. Companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook blatantly collect and commercialize personal data — often covering their tracks with complicated fine-print user agreement contracts that most people, whose property it is, “agree” to without any consideration. Clicking “I agree” on an expansive, non-negotiable user agreement for a website or a software program is, to most people, just another mindless click of the mouse in the signup process.

These “take-it-or-leave-it” contracts leave the consumer with little power to protect their own interest. (See here for our extensive work on this issue. Also, visit “Terms of Service; Didn’t Read” for a valuable resource that summarizes and reviews online contracts so that users can have a better understanding of what they are agreeing to.)

Just last week, news broke that Google plans to roll out a new advertising feature called “Shared Endorsements.” This policy allows Google the right to create user endorsements in online advertisements. So, if a Googler happens to share their preference for a particular product online, his or her endorsement might end up featured in an ad without any notice or compensation. Of course, users are welcome to “opt-out” of this program — but how many millions will remain ignorant of the fact that they unwillingly opted-in by clicking their consent to contract terms they did not bother to read out of habit. (Google’s official statement claims the move is to “ensure that your recommendations reach the people you care about.”)

Opting-out should be the default option for all these types of agreements.

School children are also being targeted by mass data collectors. InBloom, a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, offers a database solution for student records between grades K-12. In theory, this service is supposed to make it easier for teachers to utilize emerging educational products and tools. But in practice, many parents are concerned about how this data will be used — in one instance, for example, student social security numbers were uploaded to the service. One parent told the New York Times:

It’s a new experiment in centralizing massive metadata on children to share with vendors… and then the vendors will profit by marketing their learning products, their apps, their curriculum materials, their video games, back to our kids.

Facebook poses another data mining risk for young children. Although Facebook does not currently allow children younger than 13 to join — the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act prevents the online collection of data of children without parental permission — reportedly more than five million underage children use the social media website anyway. This exposes them (and their personal information) to thousands of advertisers that use Facebook to collect marketing data and promote their products. See the Center for Digital Democracy’s recent report “Five Reasons Why Facebook is Not Suitable For Children Under 13.” Notably, Facebook recently changed their privacy policy to allow teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 to opt-in to sharing their postings with the entire world, as opposed to just their “friend network.”

The insatiable appetite for data is reaching beyond the digital realm, as well.

The Washington Post recently reported that Mondelez International, the company behind snack brands like Chips Ahoy and Ritz, has plans to deploy electronic camera sensors in snack food shelves to collect shopper data. These “smart shelves” can scan and save a customer’s facial structure, age, weight and even detect if they picked something up off the shelf. The device can then use that gathered data to target the consumers with “personalized ads.” For example, at the checkout line, a video screen might offer you 10 percent off the box of cookies you picked up but ultimately chose not to purchase. The Post reports: “The company expects the shelf to help funnel more of the right products to the right consumers, and even convince undecideds to commit to an impulse buy.”

The smart shelf builds on the Microsoft “Kinect” camera technology, which has the ability to scan and remember faces, detect movement and even read heart beats. Microsoft developed the Kinect camera as a video game control device for the home. In light of Microsoft’s reported connection to the NSA PRISM data gathering program, why would anyone willingly bring such a sophisticated spy cam into their living room?

Along the same lines, certain retailers are using smart phones to track the movement of customers in their store to gather information on what products they look at and for how long — similar to how Amazon tracks online shopper habits so it can direct them to other products that algorithms determine they might be interested in. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called on the Federal Trade Commission to regulate this disturbing practice. He recently announced a deal with eight analytic companies to institute a “code of conduct” for utilizing this seemingly Orwellian technology. Sen. Schumer told the Associated Press: “When you go into your store for your Christmas shopping, there’ll be a sign out there that says that you’re being tracked and if you don’t want to be, you can very simply opt out.” The details on how exactly one opts-out of this invasive technology, short of leaving their cell phone at home, is not yet clear.

With all these instances of Big Brother encroachment, one might want to opt out of the digital world entirely, and avoid supermarkets and retail chains that spy on customers. Unfortunately, that is becoming more and more difficult in an increasingly technology-obsessed world.

It’s time for citizens to stand up and demand their right to privacy, which is a personal property. Mass surveillance and rampant data collection are not acceptable and should not be the status quo. Recall that there was once a time when the federal government could defend our nation without limitless access to computer records, emails, online search histories and wiretapping phone calls without open judicial authorization. Businesses could be successful without tracking and saving your shopping habits and student records were not commodities to be traded away. Why do they now do what they do? Because they can.

Remember, what you allow to be taken from you by the private companies can also end up in the files of government agencies.

This Saturday, a coalition of groups including the ACLU, Public Citizen, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the Libertarian Party and many more are gathering on the National Mall to protest mass surveillance by the National Security Agency. This is a positive first step in letting our elected officials know that ceasing the collection of private personal information about you is important and mass surveillance should be prohibited. Visit here for more information about this weekend’s rally. Join the movement to end these burgeoning, tyranny-building abuses by runaway federal agencies.

(Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion, published by AK Press. Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition.)

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BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN DOCUMENT RELEASE DELAYED TO DEC. 13

by Dan Bacher

It’s official now — Bay Delta Conservation Plan officials announced yesterday that the release of the peripheral tunnel plan documents have been postponed until December 13, 2013.

The announcement takes place as state officials are amping up their campaign to convince the public of the “need” to build the twin tunnels by spending taxpayer dollars on high powered public relations firms and setting up Astroturf organization.

According to yesterday’s announcement, “As a joint effort of state and federal agencies preparing the BDCP, the recent shutdown of the federal government and associated staff furloughs have delayed the development, review, and ultimately the release of the Public Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and Environmental Impact Report/ Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS). The Public Draft BDCP and EIR/EIS are now scheduled for release on December 13, 2013 for 120 days of formal review.”

During the formal public review period running from December 13, 2013 to April 14, 2014, the public, agencies, and other interested parties will be able to access copies of the document online, in repositories throughout the state, and request copies for review.

“The State and Federal lead agencies also will hold a series of public meetings during January and February 2014 to provide information about the project and accept formal comments. Formal written comments on the Public Review Draft BDCP and EIR/EIS will be accepted during the official comment period and all significant environmental issues raised in comments received during the public review period will be addressed in the Final EIR/EIS. Details on how to provide comments will be available in December,” according to BDCP officials.

The end of the announcement claims, “No final decisions have been made regarding going forward with the BDCP or in selecting an alternative; those decisions will only occur after completion of the EIR/EIS processes.”

Actually, this is a false statement since BDCP officials, since the beginning of the process, have decided that a peripheral canal or tunnels is the “solution” to the “coequal goals” of “water supply reliability” and “ecosystem restoration,” instead of evaluating other alternatives, including the Environmental Water Caucus Reduced Exports Plan.

On the same day the delay was announced, Restore the Delta called upon the State of California to cease funding multiple public relations firms around the state to sell the Governor Jerry Brown’s peripheral tunnels to export massive quantities of Delta water to corporate agribusiness interests.

“It is outrageous that taxpayers are paying for a statewide propaganda campaign for these unnecessary tunnels,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “These front groups have not disclosed that funding when pumping the tunnels. It’s unacceptable, especially since the State has said it has not yet chosen a preferred alternative.”

She asked, “How many firms and groups are being paid to pump this project? Has the Southern California Water Committee disclosed that the State is paying it to promote this project?”

The State has not disclosed its contracts with “community groups,” including the Southern California Water Committee, nor disclosed that PR firms, including Katz & Associates (San Diego) and Milagro Strategy Group (LA), are being paid to push the tunnels, according to Barrigan-Parrilla.

The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) reported to its BDCP committee on October 22 that they are working with a statewide network of State- paid Public Relations firms to sell the tunnels.

“The governor stacked the Resources Agency, and Department of Water Resources with dozens of flacks. Now they’re spending our tax funds to spread disinformation throughout the state through paid front groups and PR firms,” she said.

The tunnel plan is a badly-conceived Nineteenth Century “solution” to Twenty-First Century problems that will cost Californians an estimated $54.1 billion.

The construction of Governor Jerry Brown’s peripheral tunnels would hasten the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as imperil salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers. It will take vast quantities of fertile Delta farmland out of agricultural production, under the guise of “habitat restoration,” to facilitate the diversion of massive quantities of water to irrigate corporate mega-farms on toxic, drainage impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

The report on the statewide propaganda campaign and the named firms can be viewed here (minute 34): http://mwdh2o.granicus.com/ MediaPlayer.php?view_id=12&clip_id=3325

For more information about Restore the Delta, go to http:// www.restorethedelta.org

For more information about the BDCP and the Environmental Review process, please visit: http://www.BayDeltaConservationPlan.com

WE ALL KNOW that among us walk the credulous. But credulity is one thing, lunacy another. 5th District supervisor, Dan Hamburg, a former Congressman, has crossed the line. He thinks 9-11 was an inside job although there is not a shred of credible evidence to so much as suggest 9-11 was anything but what it obviously was — a conspiracy mounted by medieval Muslims to kill a lot of Americans on American soil. Italian filmmaker Massimo Mazzucco’s “September 11 and the New Pearl Harbor,” is a five-hour long repackaging of all the alleged problems with the official version of events surrounding the Twin Towers collapse on September 11, 2001.

Supervisor Hamburg recently made this statement on the MCN Listserve:

“I’m on record re 9/11. ‘The New Pearl Harbor’ by Massimo Mazzucco, merely provides further confirmation that 9/11 was a shameless and unspeakably evil hoax perpetrated on the American people and the world. Perhaps most interesting in the Mazzucco documentary is the technical information that explains why the two hijacked planes couldn’t have been flown into the WTC buildings at the speed they were traveling. Turns out that when a plane is flying near the ground it must drastically reduce speed or it starts to come apart because of increased air resistance. The planes that hit those buildings were replacements. Quotes from aeronautical engineers at Boeing seal the deal here. Part of the horror of this scam is that they offloaded passengers and forced them to “call home” on their cell phones and read prepared statements. That’s how we got the fiction behind “Let’s roll”. (Latest ‘Loose Change’ [an earlier conspiracy film] reports that Cleveland Airport was evacuated that morning due to ‘terrorist threats’ and that the news media reported that Flight 93 landed there and offloaded passengers to a cleared building.) At the end of one of the recorded cellphone calls (which, you recall, could not have been made from the hijacked plane’s reported altitude), a flight attendant whispers ‘it’s a frame.’ The cabal didn’t notice this. The financial report is devastating. Turns out part of the motive was 220 billion in bogus Russian bonds. Web savvy people have written several articles about YouTube suddenly zeroing out viewing statistics on controversial 911 videos. And the one on ‘911 & Operation Northwoods’ has just plain old disappeared. Dan”

SO, THE HIJACKED victims are what? Hidden away somewhere? Were they allowed to call home then herded back on board the hijacked planes to die in the collision with the Twin Towers? Can anyone possibly believe this evil nonsense? Well, yes, our 5th District Supervisor.

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A SKELETON IN SNEAKERS: ONE YEAR AFTER

by Kym Kemp (Courtesy, LostCoastOutpost.com)

On the eve of the eve of Halloween (October 29th, 2012) just one year ago, a local man and his daughter kayaked to their favorite mushrooming spot on the Eel River just south of the Humboldt County line. As his daughter played, the man noticed something odd. For years there had been the pale crescent of one sneaker tip protruding up from the ground in this area but the man and his family had ignored it. Unfortunately, trash is not a rare occurrence by the riverside. This time though, the man uneasily noted the presence of a second sneaker tip slightly lower than the first but lined up with it as though someone were laying under the soil. The idea of a body being buried there crawled up his spine and chilled him.

Using a stick, the man began excavating the shoes. Mostly, he was convinced he was just removing some trash but a part of him worried… A worry that solidified into a dark truth as he dug out a shoe with a sock still in it full of bones.

His wife described the situation in a story from the LoCO last year.

“When my husband pulled the shoe out,” explained the wife who prefers the family remain anonymous, “he thought it had roots grown into it and had to really pull. At that point the foot came off the leg-bone…” The husband dumped out the shoe discovering both a sock and foot bones. “…[He] was just freaked out and full of disbelief. He was focused on the bones in the shoe, the sock, could they really be from a skeleton. There was still dirt in the hole around.” This hid the leg-bone from his sight. He and his wife discovered that fact when they returned later.

Once he found the bones, they were put in an empty bag he had with him,” explained the wife. “…When I went back with him to confirm [around dusk], we brought a little shovel and dug out a little more until we could see the [leg-bone]. It was only a round little end…but it was obviously a bone leading up the leg …[and we] could see there was a leg-bone going up inside what looked like denim pants. That is what confirmed to us we really were seeing a human body and it was time to call the police about it.”

First, the couple tried to reconstruct the scene a bit for a photo to show what they had seen to the police. “We placed the sneaker back in place to take that first picture. I turned it sideways to show the type of sneaker to take the second one [see below],” described the wife.

Shoes in original position, pants

After spending a restless night, early on the day before Halloween, the wife phoned law enforcement. “I called in to the sheriff switchboard at 6:59 but they never called back and only showed up a few hours later. He seemed suspicious that it might be a Halloween joke….first thing we did was give him the bones….and show him the pictures. He totally believed us at that point…”

The body was excavated, removed, examined, and catalogued.

The clothing items found were a t-shirt, pants and, of course, the shoes. There was also a pocketknife found.

The shirt says, “Before I started working here, I drank, smoked, and used foul language for no reason at all. Thanks to this job, I now have a reason”

Later, in March of this year, the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office put out a press release:

On 03-11-2013 Sheriff’s Detectives received a report from the CSU-Chico Human Identification Laboratory in regards to the analysis of the human remains found on 10-30-2012 in Piercy, California.

The results of the analysis showed that the human remains are believed to be that of a white male adult, approximately 25-45 years of age with a height between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet 5 inches tall.

Sheriff’s Detectives have enlisted the assistance of the California Department of Justice in recovering DNA from a bone to help establish a DNA profile for the remains.

Sheriff’s Detectives hope to enter this DNA profile into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and use the DNA profile to compare against Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office active missing persons cases.

As of publishing time, LoCO hasn’t heard back from the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office as to the latest information but we understand that DNA analysis is still being completed and the remains have yet to be identified.

Previously:

Body Found Near Piercy by Local Family

Skeleton in Sneakers Excavated on Halloween Day

Skeleton in Sneakers Belonged to Tall, White Man

Clothing Items on the Skeleton Found at Halloween

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UKIAH’S ONLY HOMELESS SHELTER, the Buddy Eller Center, has lost a big hunk of federal funding because, according to Tiffany Revelle’s story in today’s Ukiah Daily Journal, the shelter “no longer provides services for those with mental illnesses, making Ukiah’s shelter less competitive in a world where it needed more of an edge — not less of one — to vie nationally for a shrinking pot of federal dollars.”

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JUST IN FROM THE CAFFREY CAMPAIGN

Happy Halloween — Please appreciate the fact that one month has elapsed in my participation with the Caffrey for Congress campaign headquartered in Garberville, CA. Somehow, we survived, and a couple from Salt Lake City has arrived, one of whom is now campaign manager, while his partner is working in the local Chinese restaurant. Today, I received my new CalFresh card for Humboldt county, and my intake interview with social services is Friday. Otherwise, I am sleeping on the campaign office floor downstairs, cooking for us all upstairs in Andy’s appartment, and attending weekly gatherings in the downstairs space, where videos are being shown in regard to global climate destabilization, anti-GMO, and pro-legalization of marijuana topics. And then occasionally, when the crowd is smaller, we break out the beer and rock videos! At least this political campaign to represent District 2 in California is honest, on point, and has a spiritual basis. Meanwhile, I am open to new opportunity, and ale rt all that I am still willing to return to Washington D.C. for intense spiritual direct action; if this interests you, I now ask you to contact me…let’s get me set up in the district with suitable housing, and then let us respond effectively to the stupidity in the national capital. If not now, when? If not us, who? What the fuck are we waiting for? Call me at 707-923-2114, Craig Louis Stehr

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WANGDOODLE BLUES

by Bruce McEwen

“Did the defendant ejaculate?”

“He said he didn’t. He said it was his first time masturbating in public, and he became nervous and was unable to ejaculate.”

Cory Rupp, 20, of Ukiah, was on trial for lewd and lascivious acts in public, specifically whacking off in broad daylight in the driveway of Julia Carrera’s home in Ukiah.

(Mendo pot people will remember Ms. Carrera as the County’s third-party marijuana inspector under Mendo’s now-defunct marijuana permit program.)

Ms. Carrera’s friend, Alyra Slocum, a well-known Ukiah singer-songwriter, had arrived at Ms. Carrera’s home, noting that Mr. Whackoffski was, uh, pleasuring himself virtually in Ms. Carrera’s front yard. The two women locked themselves in the house where they quickly decided to call the police to report a young man pacing up and down the sidewalk, whacking away, perhaps having been further aroused, nay transported, by the arrival of the comely Ms. Slocum.

“He must have had a lot of practice, to be able to do it while walking down the street,” Ms. Carrera would testify. “Alyra arrived and I said, ‘Get in here,’ and I pulled her into the house and locked the door.”

She had a point. Mobile masturbation would seem to be fairly rare. If the kid had also been chewing gum we’d have a real prodigy on our hands. [sic]

What did the pud-pulling pedestrian have to say in his defense: “I was off my meds.”

Charles Oshinuga from the Office of the Public Defender was assigned to Rupp’s case, and since he is the newest lawyer in the Public Defender’s stable, it seems reasonable to assume that none of the other public defenders were vying to defend the libidinous lad.

Oshinuga is also a very good basketball player, having won a 3-on-3 championship for UC Davis with two other law students in a statewide tournament at UCLA in 2011. Oshinuga’s boss, Linda Thompson, may have figured, “This case cries out for an athletic defense.”

The matter was heard as a bench trial (in front of a judge), as opposed to a jury trial. Oshinuga had only legalities to worry about, not the added burden of weeding out female jurors genetically predisposed to castration for male sex crimes.

The young attorney began his cross-examination of Ms. Carrera with a merry, “Good morning, Ms. Carrera! How ya doin’ today?”

“I’m creeped-out,” the vic bluntly replied.

Oshinuga cut to the chase.

“You don’t remember the specific time when you first saw Mr. Rupp in your driveway, isn’t that correct …what you told the officer?”

“It was daytime,” Ms. Carrera snapped, obviously still offended at the memory of unrestrained male sexuality in her driveway.

“Well,” Oshinuga persisted, “was it before noon, afternoon — what?”

“Before,” Carrera said.

“And you asked my client to leave?”

“Wull, yeah…” with an implied, “Duh. You don’t think I invited him in for coffee, do you?”

“Then you remained inside?”

“Of course I stayed inside — what do you think I was gonna do?”

Oshinuga ignored the “Well, duh” implications of Ms. Carrera’s replies. “So you were looking out the window?”

“Yeah.”

“And he was still in the driveway?”

“Not then.”

“You told the officer that he was still in the driveway. Did you see his penis?”

“Not all of it — he had it covered with his hand, going up and down.”

“And he was looking around aimlessly…?”

“No! I didn’t say ‘aimlessly’! He was looking at my house! He was across the street by then, and he was looking at my house — and jacking off!”

“Did my client, at any time, say anything?”

“He was jacking off in front of my house! Why would I care anything about what he had to say?”

“So you don’t recall my client saying anything. Did he make any gestures?”

“Gestures? Gestures? Why are you asking me about gestures? I don’t care about gestures!”

“So he didn’t make any gestures?”

“Gestures?”

“Gestures — Did he make any gestures?”

“What are you trying to do? He was jacking off”—

Just then the court reporter threw up her hands in frustration and said, “Stop! You are both talking over each other and I can’t keep up. I don’t even know where we are, now.”

Judge John Behnke admonished both lawyer and witness to slow down. (No one said to the court reporter, “I believe the last statement by the witness was ‘jacking off’.”)

Ms. Carrera had been flaring her nostrils and walling her eyes like an elk cornered by wolf. She was incredulous. It hadn’t even been lunch time and she’d had a major perv in her driveway waving his weenie and whinnying like a horse and now she’s in court and this Oshinuga guy is asking every dumb question imaginable.

On his part, Oshinuga — wisely, I think — hadn’t come anywhere near the witness stand, choosing instead to remain behind the defense table. But it was crucial that he ask these questions because the second, most damning element of the charge was whether or not his client was attempting to draw attention to himself — or had simply, all of an instant, become so overwhelmed with the splendors of Ukiah’s fall fecundity that he just had to contribute his seed to next year’s bounty.

In a world of misunderstanding there are always other possibilities.

Oshinuga resumed his interrogation of an increasingly hostile witness.

“So it is true that my client never spoke to you or made any gestures?”

“When you say ‘gestures’ I tend to think of, you know, flipping someone off, that kind of thing… So I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Fair enough. But he wasn’t pointing to himself, or anything like that was he?”

“How could he? He was too busy jacking off!”

“Is it true he never said anything?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Is there a lawn?”

Again, Ms. Carrera reacted as though Oshinuga was deliberately trying her patience.

“What has that got to do with some jerk jacking off in my driveway? It’s the neighbor’s lawn, anyway. Why?”

“Is there a fence?”

“Huh? Are you serious? A fence? Yeah, sure. There’s a little ornamental picket fence, so what?”

“And a tree?”

Ms. Carrera was terminally exasperated.

“Okay, yeah, there’s a tree, and you know what? It wouldn’t have surprised me at this point if ‘your client’ had climbed the tree and hung from a branch by his tail, jacking off the whole time!”

“Was the tree between my client and the street?”

“Phew,” the witness exhaled, her lower lip jutting so that a few wisps of hair on her forehead wafted momentarily aloft. “Lemme think. Was he hiding behind the tree? I really don’t think so. He was across the street jacking off and looking at my house.”

“How far was that?”

“I dunno, maybe 30 feet…”

“Then how do you know he was looking at your house?”

“He was looking at my house!”

“You could see his eyes at that distance?”

“Yes!”

“Did he make eye contact with you?”

“He made eye contact with me!”

“Then what did he do?”

“He wiped his hand on his shirt and walked on down the street towards the golf course.”

“Nothing further. Thank you, Ms. Carrera.”

The DA’s sex crimes prosecutor is Heidi Larson. She has a pretty heavy docket, an unrelievedly sordid caseload it is, too, although you’d never know it because most people, even reporters, can’t sit through endless child abuse and rape cases without going vigilante. Ms. Larson prosecutes the worst creeps imaginable. She called the next witness, Alyra Slocum.

The fact that both the victim-witnesses were attractive women will do little to exonerate the wandering onanist, Corey Rupp. The fact that Ms. Slocum’s arrived on the scene when Mr. Rupp already had his passions in hand, so to speak, could, I suppose, in some wild stretch of indulgent speculation, be construed as understandable, because of her (Ms. Slocum’s) understated and yet undeniable charm. Where Ms. Carerra had, uh, aroused Mr. Rupp’s passions, the sight of Ms. Slocum pulling into Carerra’s driveway propelled Rupp into full-on dropped-pants ecstasy.

Ms. Larson doesn’t blush at the facts of life, no matter how bizarre. The prosecutor repeated the facts for the new witness, Ms. Slocum.

“On or about August 8th, sometime around 11 o’clock in the morning, you arrived at 801 Maple Avenue in your silver Jeep Liberty. Your friend, Ms. Carrera, rushed you inside, saying something to the effect that there was someone creepy out there, and you told the officers that you later saw him standing by your car… We know all this, but can you tell me what you saw the defendant doing?”

Ms. Slocum went red as the proverbial beet. She tried to speak, but her voice squeaked and cracked. She tried again. This time we heard a few strained words, to the effect: “I saw him standing by my car. He was touching himself. He wore a black hoody and dark pants, but, wull, his pants were down and his hands were on his private parts.”

Ms. Larson demanded full candor.

“Touching himself,” she recited contemptuously. “His hands on his private parts…[ha!]” The prosecutor paced a few steps in front of the witness, then stopped and rocked on her heels, her hands clasped behind her back. “Do you mean his penis?”

“Yes,” Slocum whispered, her eyes dropping demurely, her ears glowing dangerously near the temperature of combustion. Maidenly modesty in a time of universal decadence! It was, in a way, kinda life-affirming in a porn-drenched time.

Larson persisted.

“So you actually saw his penis?”

“Umhum,” the witness whimpered.

“Is that a ‘yes’?”

Ms. Slocum looked like she might bolt from the room.

“I couldn’t particularly see anything,” she stammered hurriedly. “And, honestly, I wasn’t trying to look at it. But it was just like really blatant.”

“How did you feel?”

“Ummm… uncomfortable, disturbed.”

“Nothing further.”

Public Defender Oshinuga whispered with his client, Mr. Grandly Inappropriate. At last the defender of the defenseless beamed his winning smile and introduced himself to the reluctant witness.

“How’d ye do, Ms. Slocum. Pleasant autumn day, isn’t it?”

“Ummhum.”

Well, it was a nice day until I arrived in this place where it’s all pervs and penises.

“When you first saw my client, how far away were you?”

“Maybe 25 feet.”

“Did he say anything?”

“No.”

“Did he make any gestures?”

“No.”

“So you were unsure whether he was looking towards you two ladies, weren’t you?”

“I couldn’t see well enough to tell if he was looking at the house.”

“Nothing further.”

Ms. Larson called Sergeant Cedric Crook of the Ukiah Police Department Crook had been the patrol sergeant that hot, libidinous August day. Crook, like all cops, is a PhD in aberrant behavior. He calmly recited his stark version of events.

“It was 9:50-something. Officer Schapmire had the suspect in custody and he [the suspect] first told me he had been ‘trying to go pee and was only shaking his penis’ when he got aroused by the presence of a female and started jacking off. He later admitted to pulling down his pants and jacking off. He said a female in a silver Jeep Liberty had arrived.”

“Did Mr. Rupp tell you whether or not he ejaculated?”

“He said he did not. He said he got nervous. He said he’d never done it before.”

“He said he’d never done what before?”

“He said he’d never jacked off in public before.”

“Did he admit he’d lied about having to urinate?”

“He did, yes.”

“That’s all I have,” Larson said.

Oshinuga asked the officer, “What time did you say it was when you arrived?”

“Around 10am.”

“So he would have been seen by the first female before that time?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Did he tell you where the first female went?”

“He said he wasn’t positive, but he thought she’d gone into the residence.”

“Isn’t it true that he said he wasn’t masturbating when he first saw the female exit the silver Jeep Liberty?”

“That’s when he first said he got aroused.”

“So, the masturbation could have occurred after the women had gone inside the residence?”

“It could have.”

“In your report you said he thought she saw him ‘jerking off.’ Now, were those his words or yours?”

“I don’t understand.”

“You said he said he thought she saw him jerking off, but did you say, ‘Did she see you jerking off’ and he said, ‘Yes’, or did he say he thought she saw him jerking off?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I mean, Did he just say ‘Yes’ to your questions or did he make the statements about his having thought she saw him jacking off?”

“I don’t recall.”

“So when you say he admitted he was aroused, that was in response to a question of yours?”

“I don’t remember whether it was something he said or a question of mine he answered.”

“So those are not words out of his mouth?”

“Most likely anything he said were his responses to my questions.”

“So you don’t know if he said he thought she saw him or merely said ‘yes’ to your question?”

“Correct. It could have been what he said or an answer to a question.”

“Nothing further.”

Ms. Larson called Officer Tyler Schapmire.

“Where were you on the morning of August 8th at about 10 o’clock?”

“I was dispatched to an address on Cypress Avenue.”

Larson suggested Officer Schapmire check his report. He did so and admitted his mistake, “I was dispatched to the 800 block of Maple Avenue.”

“You just had the wrong tree,” Judge Behnke quipped.

Schapmire blushed.

“What did you find on Maple Avenue, Officer Schapmire?”

“The defendant, Corey Rupp, with his pants down.”

“What did he tell you he was doing?”

“He said he’d been urinating and was just shaking it off. Then Sergeant Crook arrived and I went to talk to the two females. When I got back Sergeant Crook informed me that Rupp had admitted to masturbating. He said he lived on Cypress Avenue and had left the house after an argument with family members. He admitted that his penis was exposed and that he had been masturbating in public.”

“Did you ask him whether any of the females had seen him?”

“I don’t believe I clarified that with him.”

Oshinuga asked, “Did Ms. Carrera specify where she first saw my client?”

“She said she first saw him on the sidewalk by her driveway.”

“Did she say he was looking at her?”

“She never told me specifically that she saw him look at them.”

“Nothing further.”

“The People rest,” Larson said.

Oshinuga put his hapless client on the stand.

“How ya doin’?”

“Good.”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you have a fight that day?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“About 3:30 in the morning.”

“What did you do?”

“I left the house and started walking.”

“Are you on any medications?”

“Yes. Welbutrin and Abilify.”

“Did you take ‘em that morning?”

“No, I didn’t get a chance to.”

“How long was it before you started masturbating?”

“About seven hours.”

“Did you see anyone?”

“No.”

“Did you hear anything?”

“Yes, a voice saying ‘What are you doing?’ and telling me to leave.”

“What did you do?”

“I left, then came back. The only person I saw was the one in the Jeep.”

“Nothing further.”

“Left and came back?” There may be stalking implications here, and public masturbation, like many ostensibly harmless sexual behaviors, can be the opening act to much more dire crimes.

Ms. Larson declined to cross.

Judge Behnke asked for closing arguments. Larson reserved hers.

Oshinuga summed up: “My position is that my client wasn’t directing any public attention to his genitals; he was behind a tree, so he couldn’t be seen from the street; and, secondly, he didn’t see anyone or do anything to draw attention to himself. When Ms. Carrera spoke to him he left. The second time she saw him he was 25 to 30 feet away, and Ms. Slocum said she was unsure whether he was looking at them or trying to draw attention to himself. So it is defense’s position that the second element of the charge hasn’t been proved.”

Ms. Larson told it from The People’s perspective: “The defendant admits to exposing himself in public and admits to masturbating. He admits to leaving and then returning to the area. There’s case law that asserts the other person doesn’t have to see his genitals to prove intent. In this case he was clearly aware that others were present — he was facing the house masturbating when he knew people were in it.”

Judge Behnke took a ten-minute recess to read some law. When he returned he said, “The defendant did expose his private parts in a public place, and in the purview of the statute — Ms. Carrera was in the area and told him to leave and when Ms. Slocum arrives, he returns and repeats the conduct — we have lewd conduct in their presence. It seems to me this is a situation where the defendant was acting with lewd intent, so I do find him guilty.”

Sentencing was set for November 25th.

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NOW IS THE TIME TO FILM AT FUKUSHIMA

by Harvey Wasserman

Where is Robert Stone?

We are in desperate need of documentary filmmakers at Fukushima.

The Japanese government is about to pass a national censorship law clearly meant to make it impossible to know what’s going on there.

Massive quantities of radioactive water have been flowing through the site since the 3/11/11 earthquake/tsunami.

At thousand flimsy tanks hold still more thousands of tons of radioactive water which would pour into the Pacific should they collapse.

An earthquake and two typhoons have have just hit there, flushing still more radioactive water into the sea.

The corrupt and incompetent Tokyo Electric Power Company will soon try moving 400 tons of supremely radioactive rods from a damaged Unit Four fuel pool, an operation that could easily end in global catastrophe. The rods contain 14,000 times as much radioactive cesium as was released at the bombing of Hiroshima.

Nobody knows the exact location of the melted cores from Units One, Two and Three or whether they are still fissioning.

Reuters and others report criminal involvement, slashed wages, inhuman working conditions, serious shortages and lack of training in what has become an extremely dangerous labor crisis.

Intensely radioactive hotspots have turned up throughout Japan, including some that threaten human life in Tokyo and make cast a pall on the upcoming Olympics.

At least one report indicates a massive dead zone in the Pacific apparently caused by radiation pouring in from the site. Tuna contaminated with radiation from Fukushima have been caught off the California coast, and there are widespread reports other marine life disappearing throughout the Pacific.

With the information flow from Fukushima apparently about to go dark, the presence of independent media and researchers has become more critical than ever.

Petitions with more than 140,000 signatures asking for a global takeover of the Fukushima site will be delivered to the United Nations November 7. The ask is for a transnational team of world’s best scientists and engineers to guarantee that all necessary resources are available to deal with this crisis.

Robert Stone has made a high budget dis-infomercial sponsored by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen, whose cohort Bill Gates has bet heavily on new nukes. Called “Pandora’s Promise,” Stone’s promoters have refused to send us a review copy. We’re told it mocks industry opponents without actually interviewing them, while downplaying the killing power of atomic radiation. It’s scheduled to air on CNN without a balancing point of view.

A trip to Fukushima might change Stone’s mind. He’s worked in the past with Michael Moore, one of our greatest investigative documentarians. Using Michael’s aggressive techniques, we want him to bring back critical information that could make a difference.

At very least we desperately need to know more about the11,000 intensely radioactive fuel rods on site, the three missing reactor cores, the proposed bring-down of the Unit Four fuel rods, the potential for still more explosions, the labor crisis, the unending flow of potentially lethal radiation into the biosphere, and much more.

The fate of the Earth may now hang at the mercy of a widely distrusted corporation and far-right government intent on blacking out that site.

Dr. James Hanson, an important climate scientist, has expressed his support for atomic energy, and would make a fitting co-worker on this trip.

Along the way, Mr. Stone, you might check out Japan’s massive new offshore wind turbines whose promise is to replace all the reactors this disaster has forced shut.

But as a hired industry gun, you need above all to tell us what’s happening at Fukushima…before the lights go out.

Our future could well depend on how honestly you undertake this critical task. Please report back as soon as possible.

(Harvey Wasserman edits Nuke Free. He is author of Solartopia! Our Green-Powered Earth and hosts the “Solartopia Green Power & Wellness Show” at PM.)

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ANDERSON VALLY TRAIL PLANNING

Dear Anderson Valley Community Members and Organizations:

What is your vision for a bicycle and pedestrian trail through Anderson Valley?

Please help spread the word about the upcoming Valley Trail Planning Events November 12 & 14. (See the announcement below). *Share widely with your social networks, friends, neighbors, and with your community organizations.* By encouraging people to attend, you can help make sure the Valley Trail Plan is a community-based plan and that local voices are heard. If your organization would like to offer information about the trail or other community initiatives at the November 14 workshop, please contact me to make arrangements. I am the contact for workshop organizing. Looking Forward! Alison Alison Pernell Project Manager Local Government Commission http://www.lgc.org apernell@lgc.org

Help the Valley Trail project take the next step! Your input is needed at a series of community planning events November 12 and 14, to design a bicycle and pedestrian trail along the Highway 128 corridor. The corridor extends from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line near Cloverdale to the Highway 128/1 junction in Mendocino County, a distance of approximately 51 miles. Community input will help identify a range of improvements along the corridor. Help identify community preferences for trail design and alignment through the communities of Yorkville, Boonville, Philo and Navarro, as well as points in between. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate and exchange ideas. All events will be offered in Spanish and English. Participate in a *Walking Assessment *of downtown Boonville on Tuesday, November 12 (3:30 – 5:00pm). Meet in front of the Boonville General Store, 14077 A Highway 128. During the walking assessment, participants will evaluate pedestrian and bicycle safety in downtown Boonville and discuss options for trail design. (Please wear comfortable shoes.) A free *Bus Tour* will be conducted Thursday, November 14 (10:45 am – 2:00 pm) to visit potential trail routes along the Highway 128 corridor. Meet at 10:45 am at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, 17700 Highway 253, Boonville, to load the bus. Snacks will be provided; bring a bag lunch. This will be an opportunity to discuss trail alignment and to evaluate opportunities and constraints along the corridor. A *Community Workshop* will be conducted Thursday, November 14 (5:00 – 8:00 pm) at the Anderson Valley Fair Grounds Dining Hall, Boonville. Free food will be provided by Boont Berry Farm beginning at 5:00 pm. Following a presentation on trails, participants will have a chance to become “community designers” as they create and share their own designs for the trail. Last year, the Valley Trail Coalition worked with the Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG) to successfully submit a grant application to Caltrans to fund a feasibility study and design for the trail. The community planning events, and the resulting study and designs are funded through Caltrans’ Community-Based Transportation Planning Grant funds, and a local match from MCOG. The community planning events are organized by the non-profit Local Government Commission, in coordination with Alta Planning and Design. For more information, visit www.valleytrail.org or www.mendocinocog.org/reports_projects-SR128Trail.htm.

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EEL RIVER RECOVERY PROJECT RETREAT and Volunteer Celebration Dinner November 10 – Beginnings in Briceland

The Eel River Recovery Project (ERRP) will hold its third annual retreat and its first Volunteer Celebration Dinner on Sunday, November 10 at the Beginnings Octagon in Briceland. The group was formed in 2011 due to citizen concern about toxic algae, loss of stream flow and diminishing water quality, and future survival of salmon runs. ERRP is about solving problems not advocacy and the action agenda for 2014 will be set at the meeting.

Those most actively involved in ERRP will meet at 9 AM over coffee and bagels for a business meeting and strategic planning session that will run through noon. The public is invited to come for lunch at noon and to attend following presentations about 2013 accomplishments and 2014 plans from 1-5 PM. UC Berkeley doctoral candidate Keith Bouma-Gregson will recap what was learned about toxic blue-green algae or cyanobacteria throughout the Eel River watershed. Education Coordinator Sal Steinberg is leading a Van Duzen River public school project in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service that is teaching 500 students about the river and he show pictures and movies of activities. Jeff Hedin and Bruce Hillbach-Barger are co-leads for the ERRP Wilderness Committee and they will talk about clean up of large industrial marijuana grow this fall and the prospects for expanding Wilderness. Fish monitoring and water temperature/flow 2013 studies will be recapped by ERRP Volunteer Coordinator Pat Higgins.

The purpose of the presentations is to report findings and progress to the public, to explain how people can get involved in 2014 projects, and to scope the community as to whether there are other areas of need for ERRP attention. If there is an unaddressed problem and ideas for solutions, it could become part of the ERRP 2014 Action Plan that is the product that will come out of the retreat. The 2012 and 2013 Action Plans were similarly produced in retreat and are available on the ERRP website (www.eelriverrecovery.org).

A Volunteer Celebration Dinner will be held at the end of the day from 5 PM – 7 PM. The main course will be albacore with vegetarian options available and beer and wine will be available. The Beginnings Octagon is 5.8 miles west of Redway just off the Briceland-Thorn Road on Cemetery Road. Call 707 223-7200 to volunteer to help with the retreat or if you have questions or see our website or the ERRP Face Book page for further information.

Patrick Higgins

Eel River Recovery Project Volunteer Coordinator

791 Eighth Street, Suite A

Arcata, CA 95521

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ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, John Sakowicz and “All About Money” returns to KZYX with a special edition show about JP Morgan’s $13 billion deal with the feds to settle the bank’s widespread mortgage fraud scandal that helped bring down Wall Street and the global economy seven years ago. Is $13 billion enough? Professor Bill Black is our guest. Black is an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A former bank regulator who led investigations of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, He is the author of the book The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One . Black was also featured in Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story. This is Black’s third appearance on our show here at KZYX. We hope to also have Bob Scheer, editor at TruthDig.com, call into the show.

* * *

WILLIAM K. BLACK is an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A former bank regulator who led investigations of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, He is the author of the book The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One . He just wrote the piece ” Will the JPMorgan Chase Settlement be Fair to the Public? ” for CNN.com. The piece states: “If the reports of a proposed $13 billion settlement between the Justice Department and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are correct, the public and the company’s shareholders will not see justice done. “While the tentative deal is being portrayed as a larger settlement, it really represents the company coming forward with an additional $9 billion. The other $4 billion represents loan workouts that JPMorgan would do anyway to reduce its losses on mortgages that would otherwise cause it greater losses through foreclosure. … “A settlement of this kind would release JPMorgan and its officers from civil and criminal liability for a wide range of alleged frauds. Many of these alleged frauds added to the profits of JPMorgan and the companies it acquired. The shareholders should not be enriched by fraud. “Where officers’ frauds created profits that enriched the shareholders, JPMorgan should fire such officers, and the Justice Department should prosecute and recover any fraud proceeds. JPMorgan should pay the damages it caused to others through fraud. In cases where a firm’s senior officers engage in a wide range of frauds, the courts should award punitive damages against the officers and the firm. “The problem in terms of justice is when the frauds created fictional profits that enriched corporate officers through unjust bonuses but also created real losses that were booked by the company years later. The shareholders suffer twice from such frauds — they paid the unjust bonuses and then have to bear the losses.”

ROBERT SCHEER: Editor of TruthDig.com, Scheer just wrote the piece ” What Fine? Why JPMorgan Is Laughing All the Way to the Bank ,” which states: “The point of accountability for the bank’s failing is crucial because [JPMorgan head Jamie] Dimon has been a leading opponent of tougher banking regulations since before even the 2008 crisis. In the 1990s, Dimon had worked with Sanford I. Weill of Citigroup in gutting the sensible restraints of the Glass-Steagall law, and once those restrictions on too-big-to-fail banks were removed, Dimon built JPMorgan Chase into what is now the biggest U.S. financial institution by assets. Dimon has been an outspoken opponent of even minor attempts to stiffen such regulations during the hearings on the Dodd-Frank legislation. “Dimon denounced the tepid efforts of his old Chicago buddy-turned-president to bring a modicum of oversight to the financial industry and pointedly soured on the Democrats in the last election. This despite the fact that Obama had appointed former JPMorgan executive William Daley to be his chief of staff and that then-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had more frequent contact with Dimon than with any other financial industry executive.” Scheer’s books include The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street.

THE PHOTOGRAPH by Steve Ebarhard of Will Parrish being arrested at the Willits bypass protest last month (which accompanies Bruce McEwen’s excellent coverage of Parrish’s court case) is a very good example of what news photography should be: Right up close and personal. Mendo hasn’t’ seen photography like that since the great Evan Johnson’s fine photography from the early 90s. A suitable caption for Eberhard’s photo could be: “Will Parrish arrested for resisting arrest from the prone position.”

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A READER WRITES: I just read CEO Carmel Angelo’s and the Board of Supervisors’ ignorant remarks regarding the County’s implemention of Obamacare. Supervisor Pinches was quoted asking, “We’ve been staffing up for it but we’ve only had eleven calls?”

The County has NOT been “staffing up” for Obamacare — just the opposite, in fact. The County has only recently begun to REPLACE the workers who were lost since the hiring freeze that began in 2009 after the Great Recession. CEO Angelo and the Board enforced a strict hiring freeze on all county positions, even positions that are fully funded by state and federal funds, not the County’s precarious General Fund. (A policy that effectively amounted to throwing money which could have provided some local jobs and helped the local economy back at the feds AND which would have provided important welfare services and support that the residents of this very poor county need.) Clearly, no matter what people might think of Obamacare, there will be a significant increase in Medi-Cal workload beginning on January 2014 when Obamacare really kicks in, and, thanks to Angelo and the Board, the County only has a couple dozen experienced and overloaded workers to deal with them. (It will be months if not more before the new replacement hires have anywhere near the necessary level of understanding of the new, complicated Obamacare rules.) If Angelo and the Board members had even a modest understanding of the effects of their ill-conceived and counterproductive across-the-board hiring freeze, they’d never let a remark like Pinches “staffing up” go unquestioned.

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WHEN LAST WE VISITED the Board of Supervisors decision to turn over “unredacted” marijuana cultivation records in response to their second subpoena, we noted that there was an apparent Brown Act violation because they didn’t report the vote of the individual board members out of closed session on October 8 when, again apparently, they voted to turn over the records. Toward the end of the October 8 board meeting video Supervisor Hamburg “reported” almost nothing out of closed session with almost no one in the room besides the Board and minimum staff. All Hamburg said was: “The Board met in closed session with its attorney and other members of staff and we gave direction to staff on several items that are on the agenda for all to see.” So, even though Hamburg gratuitously added the words “for all to see,” the agenda didn’t say what they discussed, the individual votes were NOT REPORTED as is legally required, nor was the nature of the direction to staff reported. It wasn’t until October 16 that Parker reluctantly released the nature of the vote in his self-serving press release without even mentioning when the Board voted to turn over the records to the feds.

Finally, on October 31, more than three weeks after the meeting, the Board got around to posting the minutes of that October 8 meeting:

“Agenda Item No. 9c – Pursuant To Government Code Section 54956.9(D)(2) – Conference With Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation: Significant Exposure To Litigation – One Case

“Agenda Item No. 9 – Report Out Of Closed Session. Presenter: Chair Hamburg. Board Action: IN regards to items 9(a) – 9(d), direction was given to staff.”

SO THE OCT. 8 MINUTES CONFIRM the obvious Brown Act Violation. (Government Code 54957.1. (a) “The legislative body of any local agency shall publicly report any action taken in closed session and the vote or abstention of every member present thereon, as follows: (2) Approval given to its legal counsel to defend, or seek or refrain from seeking appellate review or relief, or to enter as an amicus curiae in any form of litigation as the result of a consultation under Section 54956.9 shall be reported in open session.”

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FROM KZYX GENERAL MANAGER JOHN COATE’S New Blog on KZYX.org, “A Day In The Life #1”—

“10:30AM: Ron Hoffar is playing ‘Twilight Zone’ by the Manhattan Transfer, one of my favorite records.

David has gone down to Boonville to bring the ABC license to the Dark Carnival, which starts at 5 PM tonight.

Now Ron is playing Diana Krall singing ‘Ding Dong The Witch is Dead.’ Wow.”

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DIFFERENT COLORS MADE OF TEARS

Lou Reed

By Kim Nicolini

IT WOULD BE ERRONEOUS to assume, particularly at this stage of history, to assume that all music is intended to be pleasant. A reflection of the times, as Hollywood movie producers say. Lou Reed and many such others connected with people for whatever reasons. There was a woman in Sausalito known as Sherry Bummer whose life was one disaster after another, She listened to the horrible screaming of Led Zeppelin, and when asked how she could stand it, responded “Because that’s how I feel.” (Jeff Costello)

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SACRAMENTO SHOOTING BY DEPUTY DA STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION

By Tiffany Revelle

Sacramento police have not filed charges against Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Damon Gardner, who reportedly shot and wounded another man during an early-morning fight Oct. 17 outside a Sacramento hotel, according to authorities.

Gardner, 38, is on unpaid administrative leave while the Sacramento Police Department investigates the incident and the Mendocino County DA’s Office conducts an internal affairs investigation.

“It’s still an ongoing investigation,” said SPD spokesman officer Doug Morse. “We have not completed it yet, and we have not submitted it to the District Attorney’s Office.”

The Sacramento District Attorney’s Office confirmed Wednesday that it had not yet received any information on the case from the SPD.

“It’s just the nature of the investigation,” Morse said of the length of time it has taken so far, calling the time frame “extremely typical” for this type of case.

Morse said part of the department’s investigation is Gardner’s license to carry a concealed weapon, and a term it carries that the license isn’t valid if the carrier is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“We have information to believe alcohol was involved with all parties,” Morse said.

No arrests have been made in the incident, according to the SPD, which began when Gardner, 38, and a female friend were walking and met two men outside a hotel on 15th and L streets near the state capitol at 12:24 a.m. Oct. 17.

Words were exchanged and the fight became physical, Morse reported previously. Gardner and one of the men were grappling on the ground when Gardner drew his 0.38-caliber Ruger pistol, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office reported the day after the incident.

Gardner fired once and hit the other man’s upper body, and told police he did so in self-defense, Morse stated previously.

Gardner had been out of the office on medical leave since mid-August, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office, and was in Sacramento on personal business. Gardner has worked for the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office for seven years.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

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THE COMPLAINT DESK

Jeff Costello Writes: “Okay, it’s Thursday the 31st and I still haven’t received the Oct. 23 issue. But the junk mail arrives right on time. That’s where their bread and butter is since the internet killed personal letters.”

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MAN SAYS SONOMA DEPUTY WHO SHOT BOY POINTED GUN AT HIM DURING TRAFFIC STOP

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/10/31/man-says-sonoma-deputy-who-shot-boy-pointed-gun-at-him-during-traffic-stop/#.UnLRx19btiI.email

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TENSION STRIKES CAFFREY CAMPAIGN

Warmest spiritual greetings, One month ago, my friend Andy Caffrey asked me to come to Garberville, CA to help him with his campaign for congress to represent district 2. I henceforth lent him $300 from my monthly $359 social security retirement check, and then fundraised an additional $300 from a mutual friend in Berkeley, (and later lent him another $80). This money secured the rental of a space below his apartment, which was rented for the purpose of establishing a Caffrey for Congress campaign headquarters office. During the past month, I have been useful in a number of ways. In addition to cooking for us in the upstairs apartment, beginning with breakfast, I have provided food for potlucks downstairs on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, plus brunch food for a “Thank Jah It’s Friday Listening Lounge”, which continues as a social event into the evening. Yesterday, he expressed displeasure that I had told others that I have taken rest on the office floor at night; Andy says that he does not wish his landlady to know of this, because it might jeopardize his lease agreement. In addition, he said that he would prefer it if local people did not know that I receive CalFresh benefits, because they would be prejudiced against me for not having more materially. I responded that in recent decades I performed unpaid 23 years of service with Catholic Worker, have been active extensively in peace & justice campaigns, as well as having cultivated a legitimate spiritual life. I informed Andy Caffrey that it is insane to me that I would essentially have to hide from public view, due to having minimal material resources in America. I am presently paying cash for dental work, feeding myself at the Mateel Center free lunch and eating canned goods furnished by the Garberville Presbyterian church. I have today requested immediate emergency full social service benefits for my personal comfort and well being. I deserve this! Thank you very much for appreciating me, Craig Louis Stehr

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ROVER’S LUMBAGO MEDS

Two veterinarians and an MIT entrepreneur are selling pet health supplements made from the second most common active ingredient in marijuana, cannabidiol (CBD), they announced Monday. Dogs or cats would take Canna-Pet — which won’t get pets high — to help during treatment of arthritis, diabetes, digestive issues, chronic pain, cancer, and those receiving palliative care. Animal studies find CBD has antitumor effects, anti-inflammatory effects, stimulates and regulates appetite, and modulates pain. Canna-Pet is selling the product directly and says it’s completely legal, because they get their CBD from industrial hemp, the sale of which is also legal in the US. Canna-Pet is 17 years in development, with five years of clinical trials, and is available over the counter in doses customized to each pet, the Seattle company states. The company claim vets observe animals on CBD show “Improved vitality and overall health. Reduction in aggression and anxiety. Reduction of arthritic pain and digestive issues (IBD, diarrhea and constipation), reduction in nausea and improved appetite, improved quality of life, outstanding for palliative care.” Animal owners open and sprinkle Canna-Pet caplets into food once or twice a day, at a cost of $1-$2 per day. The Canna-Cat or Canna-Canine Palliative Care Pack runs $60 for 60 doses, or a one-month supply — determined by your animal’s weight and other factors. Animal owners across the country are discovering that cannabis can be an appropriate treatment for pets, just like humans.

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OBAMACARE: THE BIGGEST INSURANCE SCAM IN HISTORY

By Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called “Obamacare,” may be the biggest insurance scam in history. The industries that profit from our current health care system wrote the legislation, heavily influenced the regulations and have received waivers exempting them from provisions in the law. This has all been done to protect and enhance their profits.

In the meantime, the health care crisis continues. Fewer people, even those with health insurance, can afford the health care they need because of out-of-pocket costs. The ACA continues that trend by pushing skimpy health plans with low coverage and restricted networks.

This is what happens in a market-based system of health care. People get only the amount of health care they can afford, rather than what they need. The ACA takes our failed market-based system to a whole new level by forcing the uninsured to purchase private health plans and using the government to sell and subsidize them.

Sadly, most Americans are being manipulated into supporting the ACA and do not even know they are being bamboozled. That is how scams work. Even after the con is completed, victims do not know they have been manipulated and ripped off. They may even feel good about being scammed, thinking they made a deal when they really had their bank accounts picked. But it is the insurance companies that are the realizing windfall profits from the Obamacare con even as it falters.

The mass media is focused on the technical problems with getting the insurance exchanges up and running. These problems result from the complexity of the law and outsourcing of services to corporations that are often more costly and less effective than government. In comparison, in 1965 when Medicare started, everyone 65 and over was enrolled within six months – using index cards.

If all US residents were in one plan, Medicare for all, rather than the ACA’s tiered system that institutionalizes the class divides in the United States, not only would the health system be fairer and improve health outcomes, but it would be less bureaucratic, less costly and easier to implement. The Medicare-for-all approach considers health care to be a public good, something that all people need, like schools, roads and fire departments.

Rather than being distracted by the problems of the exchanges, the more pressing issue is whether we want to continue using a market-based approach to health care or whether we want to join the other industrialized nations in treating health care as a public good. This conversation is difficult to have in the current environment of falsehoods, exaggerations and misleading statements coming from both partisan directions, echoed by their media supporters and nonprofit organizations.

Of course, the Republicans attack Obamacare for partisan reasons. And they are often blatantly dishonest in their criticism. Their foundational claim, calling Obamacare socialized medicine, is the opposite of reality. And, the Obama administration and its allies in the nonprofit world also have their fair share of falsehoods about the ACA. We will describe these farther below.

A Primed Public

In reality, the US health care system is the worst of the wealthy nations. We spend the most per person, have the lowest percentage of our population covered and have poor health outcomes. Forty-five thousand adults die each year merely because they do not have insurance, and 84,000 Americans die each year of preventable illnesses that would not die in the French, Japanese or Australian health systems.

Even those with insurance find it to be inadequate when they get seriously ill. Medical costs and illness are the greatest reasons for bankruptcy, and insurance does not prevent financial ruin. Every family is touched by the failures of US health care.

The Institute of Medicine issued a report in 2013, US Health in International Perspective, that documents the failure of the US health care system. In summary: “Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, ‘peer’ countries.”

The health care crisis had grown to such proportions that by the 2008 election it could not be ignored. It was a major topic of the presidential campaigns. The health industries knew this and invested heavily in the candidates. Candidate Barack Obama overwhelmingly received more in donations from health care-related industries than any of the other candidates.

The public was ready for health care reform. Knowing that the majority of the public supports a Medicare-for-all system, it was going to take serious planning to silence that majority and enact a law that protected the interests of the health industries.

Obamacare: The Insurance Scam

A scam is a fraudulent operation designed to make money. A scam unfolds over time with a team of swindlers seeking to rob the victim without the victim ever knowing they have been scammed.

In Confessions of a Confidence Man, Edward H. Smith lists the “six definite steps or stages of growth in every finely balanced and well-conceived confidence game.” Let’s go through these six steps and see how the process of selling the ACA to the public fits.

1. Develop the Foundation

The foundation of a scam is the preparation done ahead of time to set up the scheme. In the case of the ACA, the foundation began with the health law passed by Massachusetts in 2006. The template was created by Stephen Butler of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The law was passed under a Republican governor, Mitt Romney.

The next task was to sell this idea to Democrats. The Robert Wood Johnson foundation gave a major assist when it made large grants to state health reform groups in 2008 to promote Massachusetts-style reform in their states, called the “public-private partnership” model.

To further sell the ACA, Roger Hickey, a longtime Medicare-for-all advocate of the Campaign for America’s Future (closely allied with the Democratic Party), took an idea from Jacob Hacker to create a new public insurance modeled after Medicare to ‘compete’ with private insurance. Hickey sold the model to progressive groups, and Hacker’s proposal was used by the Obama campaign.

In July, 2008, Hickey and others rallied progressive groups to create a new coalition, Health Care for America Now, which received tens of millions of dollars to build grass-roots support for the ACA. The name was similar enough to the longtime Medicare-for-all organization, Healthcare-Now, to cause confusion.

2. The Approach

The approach is the way that the con artist gets in touch with the victim. The vehicle for the ACA con was the tech-savvy political campaign of Barack Obama. The candidate promised hope and change. Obama, who had supported single payer before running for president, was able to point to all of the problems in the US health care system and excite people with the potential of a new leader who understood the crisis and would fix it.

After his election, the campaign organized Health Care House Parties in December 2008. People were encouraged to invite friends and neighbors to their homes, and the Obama transition team provided the materials. The booklet that was used was tightly scripted to build support for the ACA rather than actually elicit citizen input on what kind of health system was desired.

3. The Buildup

In this stage, the victim is excited about the prospect and is filled with anticipation so their judgment is warped and caution is thrown away, setting them up to fall for the scam.

Throughout the winter and spring of 2009, the Obama administration gave the appearance of bringing all of the “stakeholders” together to work for health reform. The president held a White House Health Summit in March 2009, which included representatives from health insurance corporations, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. The only groups that were not included, until there was a threat of protest, were those who advocate for Medicare for all. The single-payer advocates did not speak, but the insurance spokesperson opened and closed the White House summit.

Throughout the spring, the president and allies reassured the public that if they liked their health insurance, they could keep it; that insurance would be made more affordable (not that health care would be more affordable); and that reform would aim for universal coverage.

4. The Convincer

The convincer for many who supported real health reform was “the Public Option.” The idea was that the law would force the uninsured to purchase insurance but would include the choice of a public health insurance plan. The public was told that this option would be more cost-effective than private insurance and, thus, less expensive, which would make it more attractive.

Many were convinced that a public option would become a Medicare-for-all system, that it was a “back door” to single payer. They were told that going straight to a single-payer health care system would be too difficult and that the public option was a first step. Health Care for America Now organized grass-roots groups to put their energy into fighting for a public option, and many responded.

There was real animosity directed toward those who pointed out that from a policy standpoint a public option made no sense. It was simply adding another insurance plan to an already-complex and expensive system of hundreds of insurances and that, as had occurred time and again at the state level, it would attract those with the greatest health needs and as a result would ultimately fail because of high costs.

What most people did not understand at that point was that the public option was not only a non-solution to the health care crisis but that it was not even destined to be in the final legislation. Senator Max Baucus reported in March 2009 that it was a “bargaining chip” to get health insurers to accept regulations. Glenn Greenwald exposed this more fully when the Democratic leadership in the Senate actively worked to keep the public option from being included in the Senate health bill. The public option was just part of the con.

5. The Hurrah

The Hurrah phase of a con involves some sort of crisis that must be overcome. This phase started in August 2009, when the Tea Party, backed by Americans for Prosperity (a Koch brothers front group), came out very aggressively against the ACA at local town halls. They called it “government-run” and opposed its fictional “Death Panels.” This served to energize the progressive groups to rally around the president and come out strongly in favor of the law. Rallies in favor of health reform were organized across the country.

Health reform advocates were activated further to support the law as the House and Senate struggled to come to consensus. As more aspects of the law that were important to health reform supporters were jettisoned, such as coverage for immigrants and inclusion of reproductive services, and the public option was whittled down to nothing, support for the law became a partisan statement of support for President Obama.

Members of Congress who supported the Medicare-for-all approach told us that they were going to “hold their nose and vote for it.” Progressive groups and media feared that if the health bill did not become law, it would ruin the Democrats’ chance to hold a majority in Congress in the midterm elections and would destroy the president’s chance to be re-elected.

6. The In-And-In

The purpose of the final phase of the con is to make sure the victims do not realize they’ve been conned.

Obama signed the ACA on March 23, 2010. Immediately the marketing began. The three words we heard the most to describe it were universal, affordable and guaranteed. Of course, the ACA is none of those. But members told us personally that if they told the truth, they wouldn’t be re-elected.

Progressive groups started the work of explaining the advantages of the new health law to the public. The few positive aspects of the law were promoted without explaining the big picture. Overall, the ACA is similar to other neoliberal economic policies; it defunds and destroys our public health insurances and further privatizes health care.

The end goal of the ACA con, to make sure people do not realize they have been conned, is ongoing. As we will see below, salespeople, often the same nonprofits who pushed the ACA, are getting big money to sell insurance with Madison Avenue marketing manipulation tactics.

At the same time, leading single-payer advocacy groups fear further marginalization in their communities and so are afraid to tell the truth about Obamacare. The public has been so hoodwinked by the partisan debate between Republicans and Democrats, based on misinformation from both sides, that single-payer advocates are afraid if they tell the truth, their allies, many whom are Democrats, will push them away. So the truth has few emissaries, while the well-funded deceivers continue the ACA con.

The Con Continues: The Product

A fundamental problem with the ACA is that it is based on continuing our complicated private health insurance or market-based system. Despite their advertising slogans, private insurers primarily exist to create profit for their investors or, in the case of “nonprofit insurers,” to pay exorbitant salaries to their executives. They care about health as much as Big Oil cares about the environment.

Health insurers make their profits from charging the highest premiums they can and by restricting and denying payment for care. They want to take in as much money as they can, while paying out as little on health care as possible. They have many tools with which to do this, and they’ve successfully skirted regulations for decades. When they can’t make a profit, they simply pull that product from the shelf and create new products.

The public has been led to believe that the ACA has changed the behavior of health insurers. In this section we briefly explain some major areas of concern and why many of the promises of the ACA are false.

More-expensive insurance premiums: A major promise was that people could keep their insurance if they liked it, but many are finding that this isn’t working out. Kaiser Health News reported last week: “Health plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, frustrating some consumers who want to keep what they have and forcing others to buy more costly policies.” The Society of Actuaries released a report in March 2013 that showed insurance pools are set to see an average increase of 32 percent in underlying claims costs by 2017.

The Charlotte Observer reported: “Across North Carolina, thousands of people have been shocked in recent weeks to find out their health insurance plans will be canceled at the end of the year – and premiums for comparable coverage could increase sharply.”

The increase in premiums will force more people to use the state health insurance exchanges, where prices are supposed to be more affordable, but even that is not a solution. Russell Mokhiber of Single Payer Action describes the dilemma he faces in West Virginia. Mokhiber received a notice that his current insurance expires January 1, 2014. If he wants to keep his plan, it will cost twice as much. In his state only one insurance company, Highmark, will be listed on the exchange. He called Highmark to find out what his choices were and got bad news: “The skimpiest plan is going to cost me more than I’m paying now and have a higher deductible and out-of-pocket costs.”

There are reports of increased premiums from across the country. One reason for the increase in cost is, as USA Today reports: “About a third of insurance companies opted out of participating in the exchanges in states where they were already doing business, according to a recent report by McKinsey & Co. About half of states … will see a ‘material decline’ in competitors.”

Decreased coverage: The ACA will increase the number of people who have inadequate insurance that requires high out-of-pocket costs and does not cover all necessary services. The ACA significantly lowers what is considered to be adequate insurance coverage through its system of tiers. The insurance exchanges offer four levels of coverage, with the least-expensive plans paying for 70 percent and 60 percent of covered services.

These plans include high co-pays and deductibles that are barriers to care – especially when 76 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And insurers are restricting coverage further by limiting their networks so they do not include major medical centers or adequate numbers of health professionals.

It is important to highlight that insurers pay only for covered services because people don’t usually understand that they will have to pay for uncovered and out-of-network services themselves. The use of out-of-network services is often involuntary and occurs without being known at the time of care, especially in emergency situations.

The New York Times reports: “Most of the 15 exchanges run by states and the District of Columbia do not have provider directories or search tools on their Web sites – at least not yet – so customers cannot easily check which doctors and hospitals are included in a particular plan’s network.”

People are likely to choose the least-expensive plans without fully understanding that a serious accident or illness could bankrupt them even though they have insurance. And the race to the bottom in coverage will affect everyone. It is already estimated that 44 percent of large employer-based plans will be high-deductible plans by 2014.

Tricks to mistreat those with pre-existing illness: One of the great selling points of the ACA con is that those with pre-existing illnesses will not be denied coverage. This is true, but insurers have many ways to avoid the ill. The ACA was written by an insurance company executive from Wellpoint, Liz Fowler, who went on to be hired by Obama’s HHS to implement the law and now works for a pharmaceutical giant. So, all along the way, the insurance companies had someone protecting their interests.

One way to avoid the sick was mentioned above: excluding hospitals where people with serious health problems go, like major medical centers. Another way is by providing poor service to people who have a lot of claims so they change insurers. And a third has to do with the fact that insurance companies are allowed to charge more in geographical areas where health costs are higher. If a plan in a particular area is not making enough profit, the insurance company can simply stop selling in that area.

Insurance companies also can charge three times as much based on age. Because most pre-existing illness comes with age, this greatly undermines the protection of those with pre-existing illness. Insurance companies are excellent at gaming laws and regulations, so we can expect more creative avoidance of people who actually need health care.

Almost no reduction in youths without insurance: One of the highly touted claims of the ACA con was that youths would be covered on their parents’ insurance until they are 26 years old. While this is true, the percentage of 19- to 26-year-olds without insurance has merely fallen from 48 to 41. Why? Most parents cannot afford the increased premiums that are required when more family members are covered. As a result this promise has been one of little value, except to the wealthy – and to those selling the Obamacare con.

No cap on out-of-pocket spending: One of the selling points of the ACA con was that it would limit how much people pay out of pocket for health care. Of the thousands of waivers granted by HHS, one was the limit on out-of-pocket spending. The insurance companies claimed that their computers were not set up to handle this change. HHS took this absurd rationale seriously and gave them a waiver on this important provision.

The Con Continues: The Dealers

The most egregious aspect of the ACA is the individual mandate that those without health insurance who do not qualify for public insurance such as Medicaid must purchase private insurance or pay a penalty for being uninsured. The public is being led to believe that the solution to the health care crisis is to increase the number of people who have insurance. This ignores the fact that having insurance does not mean that patients will have access to or will be able to afford the health care they need.

The ACA required states to create new marketplaces for insurance called exchanges or else the federal government would create the exchange. In essence, the federal government is using billions of public dollars to finance the exchanges, hire people to sell insurance and subsidize the purchases. Imagine what a benefit it would be if those billions of dollars were used instead to hire health providers and pay for actual care.

The federal government plays a big role in running 26 of the state health exchanges but is funding all of them. The annual cost of operating the exchanges will be $15 million to several hundred million per state. In the end, consumers will pay the cost through monthly surcharges tacked on to their premiums.

Part of the federal spending will be on “navigators” and “assisters,” people whose job it is to help people buy insurance. The Obama administration announced in 2013 that it would be directing $200 million to states, private groups and local health centers so that they can hire workers, called navigators, to sell insurance to Americans.

How are navigators paid? A House Committee on Oversight and Reform issued a report on September 13, 2013, that examined how navigators will be paid. One problem is that many are paid based on the number of people they enroll. Obviously this could lead navigators and assisters to not merely “facilitate” enrollment but to persuade people to enroll. And navigators are not required to disclose this incentive.

This payment structure is just one problem, the House report summarizes, warning of scammers:

“… the training to be Navigators and Assisters will last only five to 20 hours and there is no requirement for a background check of Navigators and Assisters who will have access to highly sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and income for everyone in an applicant’s household. Given the stories about how scammers are gearing up to take advantage of the tremendous confusion caused by ObamaCare, Americans are at an increased risk of being the victim of fraud and identify theft because of the Administration’s poor development of its outreach programs.”

The official navigators and assisters are only one part of the continued conning of America. The groups that advocated for Obamacare have evolved into Enroll America. The group (whose logo is incredibly similar to insurance giant Wellpoint) not only includes advocacy organizations but also interests that profit from the market-based US health care system, e.g. insurance companies, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. The president of Enroll America, Anne Filipic, served in the Obama White House, the HHS, the Democratic National Committee and in Obama’s 2008 campaign.

Information on the budget of Enroll America has been vague. In June Reuters reported: “In a conference call with reporters, Filipic declined to answer repeated requests for details on the group’s budget. In January Congressional Quarterly reported they were eyeing a $100 million budget and quoted founder Ron Pollack, who led an NGO that lobbied for Obamacare, saying: “We keep on saying it’s got to be in the significant tens of millions of dollars, and hopefully we reach another digit.” Reuters reported that the cost of the public outreach campaign would range into the tens of millions of dollars, with “at least seven figures” going to paid advertising. In a press release they described the advertising campaign:

“Enroll America plans to organize a massive public education/advertising campaign about coverage eligibility and the ways people can enroll in coverage. We expect to involve well-known athletes and celebrities in the campaign. The advertising campaign will be segmented so that it effectively reaches different demographic groups, such as young adults, people in communities of color, low- and moderate-income families, etc. Depending on the availability of resources, we may be able to tailor ads to specific states.”

The campaign is expected to spend tens of millions of dollars on polling, focus groups, paid advertising and running its operations with a staff of a few hundred people. Americans will be subjected to all of the tools of Madison Avenue marketing through Enroll America along with sales by navigators, assisters and the insurance industry.

How is Enroll America raising money? Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius has been one of the fundraisers for the organization. According to the New York Times, her fundraising has caused a political uproar, with some Republicans claiming it was illegal and two House committees investigating the activity. They report: “Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming and Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia, both Republicans, said Ms. Sebelius appeared to be ‘shaking down’ businesses and other potential donors.” The Hill echoed this, reporting that insurance companies felt like they were being pressured by the administration to donate to Enroll America. One concern is that HHS has a lot of power over insurers as the agency can delay or deny approval of their health-insurance plans for federally approved exchanges.

Sebelius is seeking funds from groups like Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and H&R Block. And the Hill noted “Obama himself made a vague but personal appeal for a close partnership with insurers, which some in the industry saw as a precursor to direct fundraising pitches.” In April 2013, “Obama reportedly sat in for an hour-long meeting he was initially not scheduled to attend and told insurance executives that the White House and the industry were now “joined at the hip” trying to make the healthcare law work.”

Americans want health care, so why do they have to spend so much money to convince people to buy ACA insurance? The American people will be subjected to a sophisticated, echo chamber of marketing to sell them flawed insurance that provides insufficient coverage, huge out-of-pocket costs and limited networks of health professionals and hospitals.

Understand the Con, End It and Replace It

The ACA con is part of a broader con Americans and people around the world are having inflicted on them, the false idea that privatization is a better way to provide services than government. Even though there is virtually no evidence to support this claim and there has been a long history with many examples of privatizationcosting more and providing less, this is a centerpiece of neoliberal economics. Politicians like President Obama and the leadership of the corporate duopoly who believe in market solutions are pushing privatization at home and through big-business-rigged trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The fundamental flaw of the ACA is that it entrenches a market-based system that treats health care as a commodity and profit center for Wall Street. The big drivers of the rising cost of health care – insurance, pharmaceuticals and for-profit hospitals – continue. The wealth divide that is a major byproduct of neoliberal economics is institutionalized by law under the ACA. Some, like Senator Ted Cruz, will receive the best health care from their employer, in Cruz’s case his wife’s employer, Goldman Sachs. Others, forced into the individual insurance marketplace, will be divided in four classes based on wealth, and millions will be in Medicaid, the inadequate health plan for the poor. Thus, after a high-stakes partisan battle, we’ve made no progress in confronting the fundamental problems in US health care. Indeed we have made some of them worse.

There was an easier route and a more politically popular route. All that President Obama had to do was to push for what he used to believe in, Medicare for all. By just dropping two words, “over 65,” the United States would not have needed the 2,200-page ACA. Then the country could have worked to gradually improve Medicare so that the United States moved toward the best health care in the world, rather than being mired at the bottom.

To replace Obamacare with the single-payer system, we need to be clear about the shortcomings of the law, especially its fundamental flaw of making a human right, one of many human rights Americans do not realize they have, into a commodity like a cellphone. We need to recognize that ending the corporate domination of health care is part of breaking the domination of big business over the US government and the economy. Health care is at the center of the conflict of our times, the battle between the people and corporate interests, the battle to put people and planet before profits.

To hear Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers interview: The Struggle for Health Care Continues with Guests Sergio Espana and Russell Mokhiber click here.

(Courtesy, Truthout.org where this article first appeared.)

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CONSERVATION LEADER RECEIVES NATIONAL ADVOCACY AWARD

Mendocino’s Ann Cole Recognized for Defending and Promoting Conservation

San Francisco, CA (October 30, 2013) – Ann Cole, Executive Director of the Mendocino Land Trust, received the Advocate of the Year award from the Conservation Lands Foundation. This award is granted for exhibiting outstanding leadership, courage, creativity, and effectiveness in defending, promoting, and expanding the National Conservation Lands. Cole received the award for her exceptional work advocating for the inclusion of the Stornetta Public Lands in the California Coastal National Monument. The award ceremony took place on Saturday, October 26 in Bend, OR.

“I have had the opportunity to walk the Stornetta Public Lands with Ann and her passion for the preservation of this property is admirable,” Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro said. “She understands the importance for strong advocacy and has taken every possible opportunity to talk with community stakeholders about the conservation and the importance of the California Coastal National Monument to our state. It is great to see Ann’s work on behalf of our public lands has been recognized by the Conservation Lands Foundation.”

Under Cole’s leadership, the Mendocino Land Trust endorsed Congressman Jared Huffman’s legislation to include the Stornetta lands in the California Coastal National Monument (CCNM). Currently Cole is leading a coalition of local elected officials, business owners, and community members to advocate for the national monument designation for Stornetta Public Lands.

The existing CCNM is entirely off-shore, protecting 1,100 miles of scenic off-shore sea stacks, rock formations and marine habitat off the California coastline. Protecting Stornetta as part of the monument would add 1,700 acres of land to the CCNM and provide visitors a chance to enjoy an on-shore portion of the monument. In addition to bringing increased attention to the CCNM, this would bring national attention to Mendocino County creating a positive economic impact to the local economy.

“Ann’s energy, experience and leadership have enabled her to play a pivotal role in helping advance the effort to expand the California Coastal National Monument in Mendocino County,” stated Sam Goldman, California State Director with the Conservation Lands Foundation.

In addition to her advocacy on Stornetta, during her tenure at the Mendocino Land Trust, the group has been working to design, plan, and obtain permits to create a new segment of the California Coastal Trail, a trail system that runs the length of the coast.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Cole has had an extensive career in land use law, environmental project management and executive leadership including ten years with the Trust for Public Land, a national conservation organization. She also served on the board of Mendocino County Public Broadcasting and has done work for The Conservation Fund, FIRST 5 Mendocino and Mendocino County Resource Conservation District. Cole became the executive director of the Mendocino Land Trust in March 2013.

The California Coastal National Monument is part of the National Conservation Lands, protected public lands and waterways managed by the BLM. In California, this includes nearly five million areas including national monuments, national conservation areas, wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers and national scenic and historic trails.

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DRAMATIC READING Nov. 10 at Grace Hudson: Frank Lloyd Wright’s process

Building the Pauson House: Dramatic reading brings Frank Lloyd Wright’s process to light

by Roberta Werdinger

On Sunday, Nov. 10, from 2 to 3:30 pm, the Grace Hudson Museum will host a dramatic reading titled “Building the Pauson House,” a theatrical re-creation of the correspondence between Rose Pauson, client, and Frank Lloyd Wright, architect. The reading is free with Museum admission and includes the new exhibition “Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture of the Interior,” which opened on November 2. Actors Stacey Sheldon and Tommy McFadden will read this eventful script, which chronicles the difficulties of building one of Wright’s most creative houses. Relations between the two started out rosy and slowly became strained as Wright’s artistic exuberance began to exceed Pauson’s budget. The story builds to a dramatic outcome unintended by everyone. The introduction will be given by Allan Wright Green, a great-nephew of Rose Pauson (his parents met at her house) and will include rare images of the project. His book, “/Building the Pauson House/,” will be available for purchase and signing in the Museum bookstore. “Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture of the Interior” is an exhibition of high-quality reproduction drawings and photographs of interiors, furnishings and household objects which offer a view into architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s creative conception of the space within his houses. Other upcoming events include a tour by Museum Curator Marvin Schenck on Nov. 12 and a children’s workshop and dance tribute to Isadora Duncan on Nov. 23. The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah and is a part of the City of Ukiah’s Community Services Department. General admission to the Museum is $4, $10 per family, $3 for students and seniors, and free to members or on the first Friday of the month. For more information please go to www.gracehudsonmuseum.org <http://www.gracehudsonmuseum.org/> or call 467-2836.

A DEAD MAN was found in the trash Thursday morning at the transfer station on Taylor Drive, South Ukiah. According to Captain Greg Van Patten of the Sheriff’s Department, the man died from a 40-foot fall while going through the garbage. “They found a flashlight with him, so it appears he was going through the rubbish in the dark,” Van Patten said. He is preliminarily identified as a 47-year-old Hispanic whose car was found nearby.

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WARREN BUFFET, the liberal capitalist, said recently that Breaking Bad was his favorite show. The Wizard of Omaha is about my age. Our formative years, and everyone else’s of our vintage, passed in the predictable stability of postwar America. In the late 1950s, early 60s the social contract began default proceedings and, by the late 1960s, the social-political assumptions shared by most citizens were up for interpretation. I came in way late on Breaking Bad, hadn’t even heard of Mad Men, and just started watching The Sopranos this month. They’re all different of course, but their presumption is the same, and that presumption is that millions of Americans are so accustomed to aberrant behavior that it can be artistically exploited for many millions of dollars.

OF THE THREE SERIES, I think Breaking Bad is the most satisfying. The script and the acting is flawless. As for the criticism that it encourages the tweek life, I’d say that no rational person would choose tweek as a career path, either as user or entrepreneur, after watching it. But there are lots irrational people out there, and there are certainly an increasing number of desperate people out there. Breaking Bad doesn’t romanticize thug life, but when you offer a scene of a storage unit stuffed with cash a lot of people will think, “Well, I think I’ll give it a go. Even if I make manager at CostCo I’m basically screwed over the long haul in this economy.” But it’s mildly shocking that a guy like Warren Buffet completely gets it. One thinks of him, and most tycoons, as so focused on grabbing off fortunes that they’re oblivious to the basic fact of contemporary American life — that it’s coming apart faster and faster which, in a way, is the foundation for Breaking Bad. But if the point of your life is accumulation, and you’re good at it, at least at the more sophisticated levels of understanding like Buffet’s, you don’t want social chaos; it’s bad for business.

THE SOPRANOS, a celebration of Italian gangster life, has great acting and, like Breaking Bad, good writing emphasizing lots of funny stuff. It’s less plausible than Breaking Bad because the people depicted are too stupid, too brutal to last as long as they do. It’s consistently entertaining, though, but utterly false in the ordinary American context.

MAD MEN is about a late fifties ad agency and, like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos, an intelligent soap opera that follows office personnel as they “creatively” devise jingles and slogans to create possession-lust, drink heavily on the job, and romp with their secretaries, all of whom are improbably beautiful; in the fifties, beautiful women were rare; I remember exactly one in my entire high school, none in college. These days, they’re everywhere, and it’s the young men who look goofy and unattractive. Mad Men accurately reflects the casual racism and the equivalently casual assumption that women shouldn’t aspire to anything more than positions subservient to men. The time frame is America on the lip of the great beatnik, then hippie, breakthrough. The lead guy is a go-with-the-flow dude who smokes the first dope, drops the first acid, sit downs at a lunch counter next to a man reading Frank O’Hara poems (which would have been ultra-hip in ’56; even a totally cool guy like me didn’t get into O’Hara until some time in the ’70s), all the while pulling down a lot of money and dressing for success. I think Mad Men gets that time pretty good.

TO SUMMARIZE, CLASS: Although we’re clearly headed for fascism — I predict a more or less benign general along the lines of Zinni, if not Zinni himself — popular art has never been better.

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POTTER VALLEY HARVEST PARTY GOES AWRY

H.Gentry, Vaughan, J.Gentry

On October 29, 2013, at 1:37am Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a residence in the 17000 block of Van Arsdale Road in Potter Valley, for a reported shooting. Harlan Gentry, 24, of Potter Valley, had called the Sheriff’s Office dispatch center and reported he had intentionally shot his friend, William Vaughan, 24, also of Potter Valley, in the leg with a .45 caliber pistol. Upon arriving in the area of the residence Deputies learned Gentry and Vaughan had spent the evening drinking alcohol and shooting firearms at the residence. Gentry and Vaughan got into an argument that led to a physical altercation. During the altercation Gentry forcibly removed Vaughan from the residence. When Vaughan attempted to re-enter Gentry’s residence, Gentry retrieved his .45 caliber pistol from the living room before returning to Vaughan’s location near the rear porch. Gentry shoved Vaughan down onto the ground and then fired a single shot into one of Vaughan’s lower legs. Gentry and another man who was at the residence then placed Vaughan into a pickup truck with the intention of driving him to a hospital. Sheriff’s Deputies and medical personnel intercepted the pickup leaving the residence. Vaughan was flown by air ambulance to a hospital in Santa Rosa, California to be treated for a non-life threatening injury. Gentry was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, being armed in the commission of a felony, possession of marijuana for sale, and cultivation of marijuana. Gentry was transported to the Mendocino County Jail to be held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Sheriff’s Detectives and members of the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team served a search warrant at Gentry’s residence and eradicated a total of 366 growing marijuana plants with 313 of those plants being from an indoor grow operation. There was 70 pounds of processed marijuana bud, 150 pounds of drying marijuana bud, three firearms, and approximately $19,000 in US currency also seized from the location. John Gentry was contacted at the location and was arrested for cultivation and sales of marijuana. John Gentry, 26, also of Potter Valley, was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked to be held in lieu of $15,000.00 bail.

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BOONVILLE CHILIE PEPPERS—

A READER WRITES: Advice for Johnny Schmitt.

Yesterday (Halloween) you wrote about Johnny Schmitt’s need to market sweet red chili peppers. There may be a monumentally wonderful solution. I recently read a piece on the London Independent (URL below) about two ways to promote brown fat, and therefore lose weight. Way number one is to be exposed to bouts of very cold temperatures. The alternative way, infinitely more fun for me, is to eat sweet red chili peppers. Preferably lots of ‘em. If Mr. Schmitt can really get these things to market, the might do very well. I know I’ll buy kilograms. Some asides, do I understand he’s the Prop. of the New Boont Hotel? (And, gee, he hasn’t departed in the middle of the night with the wine cellar in tow and the employees unpaid. What a coup.) And he’s growing the pepper on the old Falling Star property? You know, you turned me on to Stella Cadente years and years ago, and I regularly bought their oils (and had them shipped down here) until the founders retired.

Here’s the URL for the Independent sweet red pepper story…

https://tinyurl.com/mdpsfn6

which is the same as (the interminable)…

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/dont-want-to-put-on-weight-as-you-get-older-just-try-sweet-chili-peppers-and-cold-spells-8894848.html

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AT LEAST SOME RESPECT, PLEASE

Editor,

To Mendocino County CEO Carmel Angelo:

A few months ago, under your direction, the county employees received an email, asking as “What Type of Leadership” do we want. To be clear we have no grudges around the supervisors or managers. We are however, deeply upset with our Board of Supervisors and CEO.

A couple of years ago, county employees had a 10% pay cut imposed upon them. We know you are tired of hearing about restoration of our wages. I would like to point out that in times of difficulty all of us suffer but not everyone. Three out of five Supervisors took pay cuts. However, as CEO you did not offer to take a cut in your salary. The reasoning behind this, as we understand, you already had a 10% cut when you accepted becoming a CEO from HHSA Director. Your salary is 5x more than the ordinary employee. You have a car allowance of $400.00 a month whereas we have to pay our fuel plus mileage reimbursement. You have free health club membership whereas we have to pay ours. You have $50,000 life insurance.

As CEO you did not suffer loss of wages compared to your employees who, in some cases, have lost their homes or are in fear of losing their homes. Further, we have not received a Cost of Living Allowance for seven years. You did not exhibit the decency, compassion and integrity to share the suffering of your fellow employees.

As CEO you had the “brilliant idea” to put hiring freeze on much needed employees. As a result, the county lost 2.5 million dollars. The community does not know that it is the social workers and the eligibility workers who bring money to the county through Federal funds. The county is being paid for every case a social worker or eligibility worker has case managed.

We feel, as CEO you do not have the conscience to look long and hard at how your employees have suffered. We wonder if the Board of Supervisors knew that for the month of September and October, there were 18 employees who left the county yet “there are no changes in services” per John Pinches. They either retired or quit. For the remaining employees, we continue to work; feeling defeated, resigned to our fate and demoralized due to lack of respect. We believe the BOS and CEO do not respect the employees who toil everyday to make a living and provide services to county residents. The morale of your employees is at the lowest in all the years we have worked in this county.

Signed by the following employees:

Alwyn Falkenberg, Judi Butow, Tamara Newell, Shirley Fulks, Tammy Lynch, Scott Angel, Christine Thrilkill, John Nugent, Ana Madrigal-Duran, Joyce Cader, April Lewis, Arno Gassen, Helen Michaels, Olivia Hernandez, Debora Luvisi, Jess Calderon, Terry Manning, Ian Winter, Ernie Nagy, Gail Chilton, Laura, Tammi McKee, Dave Eberly, Danielle Shields, Sharon McCuthcheon, Joy Calvert, Janine Thompson, Lola Trevithick, Jackie Branick, Terry Ramos, Jennifer Neper, Pam Voris, Pamela Scroggins, Faith Walrath, Jerome Nuyery, Steve Gornecz, Marty Baker,Michael Cuppateli, Lynnette Cader, Cathy Lonergan, Kyle Mari O’Brien, Cheri O’Shaughnessy, Cerre Knox, Jesamyn Lowery, Jacqueline Otis, Lynn Edwards, Dalia Perez, Dee Pallesen, Kelly Ford, Anna Midling, Don Crawford.

=============================

FIRST DISTRICT CONGRESSMAN JARED HUFFMAN concluded Dan Rather’s recent show on AXS TV about outlaw marijuana grows on the northcoast with this statement:

“How do you feel about people getting all that marijuana that’s everywhere you turn in this country and has been for years — from an underground economy that includes violent criminal elements, that has no public health controls, no environmental controls, no taxation or regulation of any kind. Can you really justify that status quo? Because that’s a choice. It’s not between some idealized scenario where marijuana just goes away. It’s a choice between a highly dysfunctional policy with all sorts of negative consequences and maybe a more enlightened policy, where we have to accept some tough tradeoffs, but we will find a way to regulate and manage marijuana, as we did with alcohol, when we learn that prohibition lesson.”

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LETTER FROM EDWARD SNOWDEN TO ANGELA MERKEL, German Chancellor:

=============================

FROM THE NOVEMBER 5 Board of Supervisor meeting agenda:

SUMMARY OF REQUEST: Mendocino County Counsel recommends Board consideration of the creation of a Mendocino County Water Issues Ad Hoc Committee pursuant to the Board’s Rules of Procedure No. 31. The scope of the Mendocino County Water Issues Ad Hoc Committee is as follows: The Mendocino County Water Issues Ad Hoc Committee, if created, would review all currently available information regarding the operation and releases of water from Lake Mendocino as well as downriver diversions in Sonoma County. The Ad Hoc would review what information is not immediately publicly available, make recommendations on what further information the Mendocino County Water Agency needs to fully understand the releases and diversions in the Russian River in both Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, and take no further action beyond meeting with Sonoma County officials to request said information.

RECOMMENDED ACTION/MOTION: Form an ad hoc committee composed of two members of the Board, directing said ad hoc committee to define its own scope, composition and timeline related to information on Lake Mendocino water releases and downriver diversions of Russian River water in Sonoma County, returning to the Board with a report and recommendation on how to proceed in accordance with the ad hoc committee’s timeline.

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MASOCHISTS ONLY FROM HERE ON

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013, the Board of Supervisors will consider a “Right To Industry” Ordinance that would effectively tell anybody near any industrial activity in the County to just shut up about it. The proposed ordinance is along the lines of the County’s controversial “right to farm” ordinance from the 1990s which does something like the same thing for people living near farms. Tuesday’s proposal is accompanied by the following fact-free backgrounder which alleges — without a single example — that people who complain about noise, smell glare or other “annoyances” have effectively made Mendo into an industry-free zone, not only scaring away prospective industries, but forcing existing manufacturing facilities to flee Mendo weeping in the streets rather than face “overly burdensome” agreements to “change their operations.”

Unfortunately, the backgrounder, prepared by young County Admin staffer named Brandon Merritt (who also occasionally posts dubious opinions on the AVA’s website under the name “Wraith”) provides no examples of industries or businesses which have been scared away or run-off by neighbor complaints so it’s hard to judge the real necessity of a “right to industry” ordinance. As presented, the backgrounder reads more like a standard Chamber Of Commerce editorial rant full of boogiemen and unsubstantiated claims, than an actual attempt at justification. At the very least such a proposal should only grandfather in industry practices that pre-existed a neighbor moving in next door. Certainly, neighbors should have a right to complain about proposed increases in industrial activity – which we strongly suspect may be an attempt to green-light more wineries in Mendocino County — if the neighbor pre-existed the industrial activity.

* * *

Date: November 5, 2013

To: Honorable Board of Supervisors

From: Brandon Merritt, CEO Administrative Analyst

Subject: Proposed Right to Industry Ordinance

 INTRODUCTION

Before the Board today is a proposed ordinance, known as the “Right to Industry Ordinance.” This proposed ordinance is pursuant to Section 65850(a) of the Government Code, wherein the legislative body of any city or county may adopt ordinances that “regulate the use of … land as between industry, business, residence, open space, including agriculture, recreation, enjoyment of scenic beauty, use of natural resources, and other purposes.”

BACKGROUND

The main purpose of this ordinance is a reflection of historical challenges that manufacturing businesses and related industries have faced in Mendocino County. While engaging in ordinary industrial operations to manufacture and transport their products, these businesses have often borne criticism from local residents or other businesses located adjacent to these industrially zoned districts. These grievances involve accusations that the manufacturers are producing excess noise, smell, light glare, and other “annoyances” that are often the simple consequence of day-to-day industrial operations.

The criticism received by manufacturers located in industrial zones often results in a public nuisance complaint to the County about the annoyances that the resident, or business, perceives from the manufacturer. This in turn results in an investigation by the County and a fine to the manufacturer if the nuisance complaint is validated to be true – the fine being so that the County may recoup its cost of investigating the complaint.

The more damaging outcome of this escalation of tensions between residents and manufacturers is a mediation process that often produces an overly burdensome agreement by the manufacturer to change their operations. In some cases, manufacturers have to uproot their place of business entirely and move to another location that is less disturbing to the local neighbors. In other cases, sound modification devices have had to be installed at a cost borne entirely by the manufacturer and to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. In still other cases, certain manufacturing techniques have had to be eliminated, resulting in a manufacturing process that may be less efficient, less effective and at times less environmentally sound.

The immediate costs of the complaints of residents and other businesses – who chose to locate themselves next to an industrially zoned district – are clear. What was unforeseen by many, and intentionally overlooked by more than a few, has been the long term costs to the economy of Mendocino County. Industrial operations and manufacturers who would like to do business in Mendocino County are often discouraged by local residents who have located themselves near to an industrial zone and who ardently object to any disturbance to their lifestyle. The exact long term costs to the County of this behavior by these residents are unknown. However, an estimate may be arrived at by the hypothetical number of manufacturing jobs, in the dozens if not hundreds, that have been foregone because of a lack of public support for industrial businesses and manufacturers locating themselves in Mendocino County.

SUMMARY OF THE ORDINANCE

The Right to Industry ordinance specifically affects all parcels zoned (or parcels located within 300 feet of them) as the following: Limited Industrial (I-1); Industrial and also known as “Coastal Industrial” (I); General Industrial (I-2); and Pinoleville Industrial (P-1). The ordinance is similar to Mendocino County’s existing Right to Farm ordinance, wherein any resident located on or within 300 feet of the boundary of an agriculturally zoned district waives their right to file a public nuisance complaint about operations within the agricultural district.

The Mendocino County Right to Farm Ordinance waives the right for an adjacent resident to file a public nuisance complaint against a farming operation located on agriculturally zoned land as long as the business in question is operating in accordance with acceptable environmental and regulatory standards. This waiver is achieved by requiring that the resident receive and sign a disclosure document that a “purchaser, lessee or transferee signs evidencing the sale, purchase, transfer, or lease of real property zoned ‘Agricultural Land,’ or is located within 300 feet of such land” (Chapter 10A.13.040(B) of Mendocino County Municipal Code). The entity often involved with producing this disclosure for the buyer or lessee of said real property is the realtor, as most if not all sale or leasing of land or property occurs through these agents.

A second point of disclosure of the Right to Farm ordinance to these residents is through building permits issued through the Mendocino County Planning and Building Services (PBS) Department. Prior to the issuance of these permits, owners of parcels affected by this ordinance (living on or within 300 feet of an agriculturally zoned district) are required to sign a statement acknowledging this fact on forms approved by PBS.

The Right to Industry ordinance would ideally operate the same way as Mendocino County’s existing Right to Farm ordinance, in that residents or businesses moving onto land that is directly adjacent to industrially zoned parcels receive and sign a disclosure. This disclosure is as follows:

The property described herein is zoned as “Industrial Land”, or is located within 300 feet of such land and residents of the property may be subject to inconvenience or discomfort arising from use of machinery, and from the pursuit of industrial operations including, but not limited to, assembly, manufacturing, cutting, drilling, machining, metalworking, milling, punching, “tapping”, soldering, transportation of materials and goods, and welding. All of these activities, and others not mentioned in the non-exclusive preceding list, occasionally generate light glare, dust, smoke, noise and odor, all of which may be experienced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for an extended period of time. Mendocino County has established zoning for industrial land which sets as a priority the industrial use of the lands included therein, and residents of such property, or within 300-feet of the border of zoned areas, should be prepared to accept such inconvenience or discomfort as normal and necessary to industrial operation.

The Board of Supervisors needs to decide how it would like to implement the noticing and signing of this disclosure for the Right to Industry ordinance. The options available are listed next in the “Disclosure Implementation Options” section of this report.

DISCLOSURE IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS

The Board of Supervisors may choose one or more of the following 5 options to implement the disclosure noticing aspect of this ordinance:

1.) The Board of Supervisors can declare a written notice against all parcels affected by this ordinance declaring that owners or residents of those affected parcels waive their right to file a public nuisance complaint about industrial operations occurring on adjacent industrially zoned parcels. The list of these parcels would then be used to create an index in the County Recorder’s Office known as the “Right to Industry”, against which title companies and realtors may search for affected parcels to include in preliminary title reports and Transfer Disclosure Statements (TDS). This written notice is as follows:

Pursuant to Mendocino County Code Chapter 6.35, purchasers of real property located within 300 feet of land or zoning code parcel districts zoned “Industrial Land” by the Mendocino County Zoning Code are or may be subject to the “Mendocino County Right to Industry” ordinance provisions found at Chapter 6.35 of the Mendocino County Code. Landowners adjacent to properties zoned “Industrial Land” may be waiving their right to assert nuisance abatement complaints pursuant to Chapter 6.35 of the Mendocino County Code.

There is some uncertainty about a small possibility of creating a “cloud,” or an irregularity, on the chain of title by creating this index that may negatively affect the ability for a prospective purchaser to obtain a loan from a bank or to sell the property. This merits further discussion by the Board on the risks associated with this option.

2.) The Board of Supervisors can delegate blanket authority to the Planning and Building Services (PBS) Director to implement the provision of disclosures as he or she sees fit to do so. Currently, the preferred method may be to emulate the County’s existing Right to Farm ordinance by providing disclosure notices to owners of these affected parcels during a building permit application, requiring them to sign the notice before being issued the permit, and then filing the notice in PBS records. The exception would be if the resident produces evidence that the disclosure has already been signed.

3.) The Board of Supervisors can require local realtors to update the Mendocino County Recorder’s Office twice a year with copies of their signed disclosures acknowledging the Right to Industry ordinance notice. The Board of Supervisors should keep in mind that the County Recorder may impose a recording fee of $13 per document if she determines the process is in the realtor’s best interests and not the County’s.

4.) The Board of Supervisors can require local realtors to allow the County access to the signed disclosure statements at the County’s request should a dispute arise between a resident the realtor sold to, and who is located adjacent to an industrial zone, and the business involved with the dispute. This option would eliminate any fees imposed on realtors arising from option #3, listed above.

5.) The Board of Supervisors can impose a requirement on local title companies to include this disclosure in the preliminary title reports given to prospective buyers of a property affected by this ordinance. There is some question about the ability of the County to require this, as provided by state law, and needs to be clarified.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The fiscal impact of this ordinance is broken into a summary cost description of each disclosure implementation above in the previous section.

Disclosure Implementation Option #1

If a written notice is declared by the Board of Supervisors against all parcels affected by this ordinance, then staff time will be required to prepare a list of all of those parcels. However, a map of all parcels within a 300- foot radius of the boundary of the County’s industrial zones has been created by the Planning and Building Services GIS Coordinator. This is a clear map that will allow a PBS staffer, or a County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder staffer, to quickly and efficiently create the “Right to Industry” index with the list of parcels to be officially documented online within the County Recorder’s system. The time estimated for this process is 10 hours or less.

Disclosure Implementation Option #2

The costs of this option for Planning and Building Services (PBS) staff to provide the notice and file the signed Right to Industry disclosure documents are limited. This would occur concurrently when residents come in to PBS for a building permit application, and is exactly the same process that is already mandated through the County’s existing Right to Farm ordinance.

Disclosure Implementation Option #3

Additional staff time in the County Recorder’s Office would be required for the twice-yearly mandated recording of signed disclosure statements held by local realtors. This is also estimated to be a limited cost factor, as it would be performed in batches twice a year. However, local realtors may be required to pay $13 per document as a recording fee if the County Recorder determines the recording of these documents is more for the benefit of the realtors than for the County.

Disclosure Implementation Option #4

This disclosure implementation option would have zero cost to the County, as many local realtors currently require their clients to sign disclosure statements anytime that a purchaser or lessee is at risk of being affected by the Right to Farm ordinance. Requiring realtors to allow the County access to those signed disclosure statements would be cost-effective. Realtors would most likely gladly give the County a free copy of these signed statements when requested by the County in the event of a land use dispute.

Disclosure Implementation Option #5

It is estimated that any burdens to title companies from including the disclosure in their preliminary title reports are negated as well. These are functions that are already performed by these companies on a day-to- day basis and whose costs are already factored in. Note: This option would require the adoption of Disclosure Implementation Option #1, as title companies would need an index of parcels to search against in the first place. Title companies already perform searches on a daily basis to search the County Recorder’s online index of parcels and look for any written notices against whatever parcel it is they are searching against. They commonly include their findings from this search in the preliminary title reports to the prospective purchaser. This would not include any cost to the County, beyond the cost of implementing option #1.

CEO RECOMMENDATION

It is the CEO’s Recommendation that the Board consider the merits and drawbacks of this ordinance with the perspective that the Board has previously stated its desire for sustainable economic growth in the County. It is also recommended that the Board discuss the options for implementation of the disclosure statement in a manner that considers costs to itself, to realtors, and to title companies and make a decision on which option(s) they prefer to implement.

RECOMMENDED ACTION/MOTION

Introduce and waive the reading of an Ordinance adding Chapter 6.35, known as the Right to Industry Ordinance, to Title 6 of the Mendocino County Code along with the direction to staff to insert into the ordinance the disclosure noticing option(s) the Board has chosen, and authorize staff to present the Ordinance for adoption subsequent to proper notice.

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ACCOUNTABILITY JOURNALISM

Dear Editor,

For those readers of your paper who are following the NSA saga, they should read the email debate between Glenn Greenwald and Bill Keller, former CEO of the New York Times on the role the mission of journalism in today’s world. In talking about his new media venture with Pierre Omidyar Greenwald said “As for whether our new venture will be ideologically homogenized: the answer is ‘definitely not’. We welcome and want anyone devoted to true adversarial journalism regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum, and have already been speaking with conservatives journalists like that: not the East Coast rendition of ‘conservatives’ such as David Brooks. Our driving theology is accountability journalism grounded in rigorous factual accuracy.” In response to a comment by Keller he said “ My ‘contempt’ is grounded in his years of extreme war cheerleading and veneration of an elite political class that has produced little beyond abject failure and corruption. I don’t see anything moderate about him at all.” As for his comments about Brooks all I can say is Greenwald speaks my mind. There is certainly a need for the type of journalism Greenwald and Omidyar are planning. Hopefully, they can carry it out.

In peace, James G. Updegraff, Sacramento

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CHRISTMAS TREE PERMITS ON SALE FRIDAY

Willows, Calif. — Beginning Friday, November 1, Christmas tree permits will be available from the Mendocino National Forest for the 2013 holiday season. Permits are available for purchase in person or by mail from Mendocino National Forest offices, as well as at area vendors. Vendors are listed below with contact information for the Forest Service. Permits are $10 per tree at Forest Service offices. Customers are advised to call vendors to verify permit price and availability. The permits will be sold at Forest Service offices through Monday, December 23. Trees may be cut and removed any day of the week in authorized areas of the Mendocino National Forest. Please check current Forest fire closure areas in case your annual tree cutting spot is within the closure. There is a limit of one permit per household, with each permit using a valid name and address. Up to four additional permits may be purchased for additional households, using separate names and addresses. Individuals must be 18 or older to purchase a permit. All Christmas tree permit sales are final, with no refunds. Permittees will receive a tree tag and Forest map. To purchase a permit by mail, send a printed name and mailing address for each permit purchased, a daytime telephone number, and a check or money order made out to “USDA Forest Service” for $10 for each permit to either the Willows, Stonyford, Upper Lake or Covelo offices with “Christmas Tree Permit” written on the outside of the envelope. Mail-in requests received after December 14 will not be filled. A form can be found online at www.fs.usda.gov/main/mendocino/passes-permits/forestproducts<http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mendocino/passes-permits/forestproducts> under “Christmas Tree Permits.” If you are planning on cutting a Christmas tree for someone who isn’t present, a Third Party Authorization must be in the possession of the cutter. This form is also available on the Forest website and should be completed prior to leaving for the forest. Permit holders should be aware that federal and state quarantines to prevent the spread of sudden oak death (SOD) are in effect for Lake and Mendocino Counties. Any Christmas tree cut in these counties can only be transported into other SOD quarantine counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Marin, San Francisco, Monterey, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma. All Mendocino National Forest offices will be closed Thursday, November 28 in observance of Thanksgiving. Christmas tree permits can be purchased from the following Forest offices for $10:

Mendocino National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 825 N. Humboldt Ave., Willows, CA 95988, 530-934-3316, Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Stonyford Work Center, 5171 Stonyford-Elk Creek Road, P.O. Box 160, Stonyford, CA, 95979, 530-963-3128, Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 8 a.m.-noon, 1- 4:30 p.m.

Paskenta Work Station, 13280 Paskenta Road, Paskenta, CA 96074, 530-833-5544, Hours: Saturday, December 7 and 14 ONLY 9 a.m.-noon, 12:30-3 p.m.

Covelo Ranger Station, 78150 Covelo Road, Covelo, CA 95428, 707-983-6118, Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-noon, 12:30-4:30 p.m.

Upper Lake Ranger Station, 10025 Elk Mountain Road, Upper Lake, CA 95485, 707-275-2361, Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-noon, 1-4:30 p.m., Christmas tree permits are available from the following vendors. Please call for prices and availability:, Sacramento River Discovery Center, (Only 40 permits available), 1000 Sale Lane, Red Bluff, 530-527-1196, Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Hi-Way Grocery, 160 E. Hwy 20, Upper Lake, 707-275-2380, Hours: Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

M&M Feed and Supply, 74540 Hill Road, Covelo, 707-983-6273, Hours: Monday-Saturday 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Keith’s Family Foods, 76201 Covelo Road, Covelo, 707-983-6633, Hours: Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday 8 a.m.-10 p.m.

Cutting a Christmas tree on the National Forest is a great holiday tradition for many families and also helps with hazardous fuels reduction by removing smaller trees from the Forest. Following are some tips to make your experience more enjoyable. Plan your trip — check the weather, bring plenty of warm clothes, water, emergency food, tire chains, shovel, a saw or axe to cut your tree, and a tarp and rope to bring it home. Make sure you have a full tank of gas when you leave and are prepared for changing conditions in the mountains! Also, let someone know where you are going and when you plan to be back. Keep vehicles on designated roads and be aware of changing weather and road conditions. Wet dirt roads can quickly turn to mud, making it possible to get stuck and causing damage to road, soil and water resources. If there are puddles in the road, mud flipping off the tires or you can see your ruts in the rearview mirror, consider pulling over and taking a hike to look for a tree, or turning around and finding a different area to cut your tree. Cut your tree early in the season before favorite cutting areas can’t be reached because of snow. Make sure you are cutting a tree on approved areas on the Mendocino National Forest and not from other federal, state or private lands. Cut the tree as close as possible to the ground and leave as little of a stump as possible. Attach the permit on the tree where it will be easily visible with the tree packed or tied on your vehicle for transport home. To help keep your tree fresh, cut at least one inch off the base when you get home and stand the tree in a container of water in a cool, shaded area, checking the water level daily.

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THE FOLLOWING TOTAL MESS OF A PRESS RELEASE was sent to us electronically yesterday and we are unable to make much sense of it, but we’re posting it here in raw form 1: so readers can see what we have to work with EVERY DAY, 2. It’s way to much work to put into presentable form, and 3. Because somebody might be interested enough in attending that they can figure it out.

Subject: Closing Soon: Popular Comedy/Drama Time Stands Still!

From:    Mendocino Theatre Company <mtc@mcn.org>

Date:    Fri, November 1, 2013 4:05 pm

To:       <ava@pacific.net>

————————————————————————–

Closing Soon: Popular Comedy/Drama Time Stands Still at theMendocino

Theatre Company

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** Closing Soon!

————————————————————

** Witty and Engaging New Hit Play…

Time

Stands

Still

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The last play of the 2013 Season is closing soon!

Don’t miss out!

Tickets are going quickly for this popular show!

To view the sneak peek trailer, click below:

http://vimeo.com/77170391

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From the writer of Collected Stories comes a touching and realistic story,

delicately reflective of the tumultuous times in which we live. Sarah

Goodwin, an acclaimed photojournalist, returns from a war zone with scars

both physical and emotional. As she struggles to retain a challenging life

of thrilling adventure and hard work, she finds herself presented with the

choice of a more comfortable, conventional life with her loving partner

James.

For those who understand what it means to bring their work home, Time

Stands Still is a deeply explorative human story about finding oneself at

a crossroads, new beginnings, and the differences that give each of our

lives color.

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Time Stands Still features four of the Mendocino Coast’s most

accomplished performers. Beth Richmond plays Photojournalist Sarah Goodwin

with both a dry wit and great emotional sensitivity. Ms. Richmond is

matched in depth and skill by sophisticated actor Joe Preuss as her

patient and conflicted partner James Dodd.

Completing the ensemble are Carter Sears as their pragmatic long-time

friend Richard Ehlrich, suddenly in love with Mandy Bloom, his much

younger and clumsily optimistic girlfriend played by Felicia Freitas.

Time Stands Still plays FOR ONLY SEVEN MORE PERFORMANCES at the Mendocino

Theatre Company at 45200 Little Lake St. in Mendocino from November 1st,

2nd, 7th, 8th, and 9th at 8:00 p.m., and November 3rd and 10th 2:00 p.m.

Time Stands Still is a widely acclaimed and intelligent play, known for

its witty dialogue and razor-sharp balance between comedy and drama.

TICKETS ARE GOING FAST!

For tickets or more information, please contact the Mendocino Theatre

Company Box Office at 707-937-4477, or go to MendocinoTheatre.org

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The Mendocino Theatre Company is proud to feature photography by Larry

Wagner of Wagner Photo Art

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CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS!

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http://theava.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/WS501631.mp3

FORTUNA POLICE arrested a marijuana guy driving a Toyota and pulling a trailer on Halloween. The stop inspired the following exchange on Lost Coast Outpost:

“Anybody driving a Toyota truck that is towing is a dope grower. People that work for a living and need to tow don’t even consider using a girl’s truck to do it with.
 These silly dope growers profile themselves with Toyotas, stickers on the back glass, smelly pit bulls in the cab, sunglasses on the back of a tap-out hat, and clean carharts on.”

That remark elicited this response:

“Other silly dope growers wear wranglers, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and drive a flatbed diesel truck. Some wear nice clothes because they work a 9-5 job and drive an Acura. Some drive diesel trucks with headache racks and wear all sorts of different clothes. Some look just like loggers with their cut-off-sleeve shirts and drive toyotas or nissan trucks with dog kennels in the back for bear hunting. Some wear different uniforms and drive government cars. Some wear uniforms and drive company cars. Some dress like grandparents and drive nice cars. Anybody towing a trailer is a dope grower. Anyone seen outside of work on a weekday afternoon is a dope grower. Anyone with short hair is a dope grower.”

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A COUNTY PRESS RELEASE announcing Tuesday’s discussions at this week’s meeting of the Supervisors, said the Supervisors will discuss assurances to new businesses that local nimbys won’t get in their way. “Manufacturers and other industries are ‘often’ discouraged from establishing operations in Mendocino County ‘by local residents who have located themselves near to an industrial zone and who ardently object to any disturbance to their lifestyle,’ according to the staff report.” Dear County Government: Please give us so much as a single name of a single business that was scared off Mendocino County because of neighbor complaints.

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IN OTHER SUPERVISOR BUSINESS, “the board will consider appointing two of its members to an ad-hoc committee that would be tasked with reviewing all currently available information regarding the operation and releases of water from Lake Mendocino as well as downriver diversions in Sonoma County. The ad hoc would look at information that isn’t immediately publicly available and make recommendations “on what information the Mendocino County Water Agency needs to fully understand the releases and diversions in the Russian River in both Mendocino and Sonoma counties, and take no further action beyond meeting with Sonoma County officials to request said information.”

WE NOMINATE SUPERVISORS PINCHES AND GJERDE. Pinches because he knows as much about how the wildly unfair-to-Mendocino County water releases are, and Supervisor Gjerde because he represents the district least affected by inland water policies. Gjerde is also thorough and fair. Supervisors McCowen and Brown, and we’re speculating here, are reluctant to take on existing water arrangements because their districts are home to major users who, essentially, have enjoyed virtually free water for a hundred years. Supervisor Hamburg is too busy investigating why Building 7 collapsed to look into water policy.

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IT’S ESTIMATED that the latest cuts to the Food Stamp Program, now called Calfresh in California, will cost the average family $36 worth of food a month, or about six meals a month. Republicans, of course, have always claimed that the program was rife with the undeserving, and name a Republican who’s ever missed a meal and we’ll get the Mendocino Democratic Central Committee to take you to lunch with Wes Chesbro. Which is both a cheap shot and an expensive one since Democrats largely went along with cuts to the Food Stamp Program as they gear up to “compromise” with Republicans to cut Social Security and Medicare. Fact is, the largest bloc of food stamp recipients are children, but in the bipartisan war being waged on the poor, children are just more collateral damage. At last count, Mendocino County had about 10,000 people, or 12% of its total nearly 90,000 population, receiving food stamps. The available data does not say how many of those 10,000 are children. According to those same statistics, the 10,000 food stamp recipients are only about half of the approximately 20,000 living in family with less than 125% of the federal poverty level of annual income.

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SPEAKING of the war on the poor, Ukiah’s only homeless shelter, the Buddy Eller Center, has lost a big hunk of federal funding because, according to Tiffany Revelle’s story in today’s Ukiah Daily Journal, the shelter “no longer provides services for those with mental illnesses, making Ukiah’s shelter less competitive in a world where it needed more of an edge — not less of one — to vie nationally for a shrinking pot of federal dollars.”

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ADVICE FOR TRIMMERS

A READER WRITES: I’ve been trimming for an old retired couple for about 25 years. They lent me out to a new group where I saw the following announcement on the wall. “If you own and use a cellphone, please leave it at home or disconnect the battery before driving here. If you cannot remove your battery and refrain from cellphone usage while en route, and while working here, we cannot hire you. Never take an active cellphone on your person or in your belongings, to the patch, or trim sites. Taking an active cell phone with you to a work site is like wearing a FED-sponsored GPS, tracking your route. Always remove your cellphone battery while working for us. Please also leave your cars at home; carpool or get a drop-off to work. Have someone drop you off and pick you up at designated pre-arranged times. We work from 10-2pm. When the Sheriffs cruise our neighborhood for the DEA, we don’t want our scene seen in cyberspace. Please, for prompt payment, don’t be sloppy with the confidentiality of our livelihood. Please refrain from discussion of the nature of our business outside of work, or that you are privately paid to work for us. That extra $5 of your hourly pay is for your silence! Thank you.” That’s that WWII mentality for you. A little more careful. And don’t hang out and blab at the coffeehouses!

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DINNER & DANCE. Friday Night, November 15 in Upper Lake   at the Odd Fellows Hall, 9480 Main St.,  6:30-11pm.  The ‘B’ Side Blues Band with Dave Broida on harp (sweet, funky, sweaty), Lionheart (Rock and roll/Afro Latin/world beat), and Jeff Curtis  (Acoustic Americana/exotica/blues)  Suggested donation: $10 for dinner and dance. Benefits the IOOF Scholarship Fund. For Information 671-34-3465 or 972-1983

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RE-GROOVING

Let’s Make Progress with My Situation.

Warmest spiritual greetings, At the moment I am at the Garberville, CA library’s public computer. I’ve been assisting Earth First!er Andy Caffrey for a month in his campaign for the district 2 congressional seat; which includes lending money (which he is now repaying), cooking for us and for three potluck events weekly, being involved in the downstairs space which is the campaign headquarters office, and countless other details. At this point I have given all that I have, and am looking to move on to my next highest good. One woman whom I interact online with in Washington DC today asked me to stop sending her the same message over and over again…she suggests that I essentially regroove my life to get out of the poverty-activist-without- necessary-solidarity-from-others who wants to be back in Washington DC on a permanent basis, and who has no housing in the District of Columbia, due to a couple of reasons, all of which are difficult to accept. So therefore, I am sending out a new message. I want you to do whatever you can to assist me in moving on to my next highest good! I am doing all that I can do now. Whereas you must certainly be able to positively influence this situation of mine in postmodern America, I am asking you to do so. Thank you very much for allowing me to ask you for this, when so much more is possible.  — Love and peace, Craig Louis Stehr

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LOU REED & THAT JUNKIE LIFE

The Spike in Our Veins

by Kim Nicolini

I was five years old when Velvet Underground & Nico was released in 1967, so it wasn’t really high on my rotation or my radar. As a matter of fact, the only thing I knew of Lou Reed prior to the early 1990s when I discovered Velvet Ground & Nico was his infamous song “Walk on the Wild Side.”

As a girl who spent her teen years on the streets, ran with androgynous queers, queens and other sexual misfits, and displaced my own sexuality onto drugs and punk rock, I thought “Walk on the Wild Side” was an anthem of my rebellious spirit that bucked against all systems, screamed for freedom, and flipped a big middle finger to anyone who wanted to put me in a box. That song, Lou Reed, and the Velvet Underground were proto-punk and changed the sound and face of rock forever. Though I didn’t know much about them, they certainly influenced my life on many levels whether I knew it or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KaWSOlASWc

Other than my love for “Walk On the Wild Side” and Velvet Underground & Nico, I’m no expert on Lou Reed, and I’m not going to pretend to be. What I can tell you is that when I discovered the album Velvet Underground & Nico in my early 30s, I completely fell in love with it. It became a kind of soundtrack to my life. It put sound and voice to my own life experiences even if my experiences were worlds removed from Andy Warhol’s Factory where the album was produced. To this day, it is high on my list of the Best Albums of All Time. In fact, I would say my top favorite albums are: 1) The Who Quadrophenia; 2) Joy Division Closer; 3) Joy Division Unknown Pleasures; and 4) Velvet Underground & Nico.

What all these albums share in common is that they bring me inside myself to a place free from the suffocating pressures of “normal” society. They lead me to the depths of my interior self, free from external pressures. This is a place where we often look to drugs and alcohol to take us, but for me, these four albums allow me transcendence without drugs to get me there. The music itself becomes the drug.

Quadrophenia brings me back to my working class home in Pacifica, California, where I found solace and escape at the cold foggy seaside. The noise of childhood was woven into The Who’s lyrics and music that thrummed with experiential reality put into a single piece of music art. The Joy Division albums have the same effect. They distill experience (bodily and emotional) into a multi-layered sound where music, poetry, and rebellion collide and produce music that simultaneously opens a door inside myself and outside of myself. Clearly the sound and sentiment of Joy Division were influenced by Velvet Underground. All of these albums beautifully mesh the interior and the exterior. The sound of the music leads us to a place that blurs the division between reality and dream while the lyrics are poetry carved out of the material of real life.

I’m not here to give you a history lesson on Velvet Underground or tell you about all the bands their sound influenced (e.g., the heroin-driven “shoe gazing” rock of the 1990s or New York-based art rock like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo).

What I can tell you is that I immediately fell in love with the album because of 1) its addictively seductive sound; 2) its ability to capture a cohesive experiential moment in a multi-track LP; 3) its poetic lyrics that capture both the literal reality of life on the streets and the abstract sensation of getting high; 4) finally, and most importantly, because it is the album above all other albums that most effectively captures life on the streets and, more specifically, the life of a heroin addict. It’s like the music equivalent to the film Panic In Needle Park (1972) which so perfectly captures the ups and downs of the life of the junkie. On the VU album, the layered sound of the music and the poetic lyrics capture so perfectly what it feels like to live the life of a dope addict — the dream, the drug, the space of being propelled into a numbed nothingness that heroin delivers.

I will state straight out and without apology that I know first-hand the life of the street junkie. I spent a good chunk of my teenage years putting a needle in my arm and hunting for my next fix. I can say, as any living former junkie can tell you, that shooting heroin feels like nothing else. You never stop wanting it, no matter how many years of sobriety you have under your belt. Heroin is the Great Seductress. Once she has you in her clutches, it is almost impossible to let go. It feels so damn good that all you want is more, more, and then more, and you’ll do anything to get it. Heroin is the “Femme Fatale” of all drugs. She gets you in her grip, lures you into her bed, covers you with a blanket of dark kisses that lead you into the darkness of oblivion, and then she keeps you groveling for more.

Here she comes, you better watch your step
. She’s going to break your heart in two, it’s true. 
It’s not hard to realize. 
Just look into her false colored eyes
. She builds you up to just put you down, what a clown.

I will pull no punches here when I say what I’m about to say about Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. The more conscious I became of class, the less enamored I became of the whole idea of Andy Warhol’s Factory. In my early years, I totally fetishized it. Imagine the glitter-glam world of art films, art bands, false eyelashes, and endless dope floating in silver balloons. I thought if I could ever go anywhere in the past, it would be a party at The Factory.

But now, after years of understanding the nuances of class and, in particular, class divisions within the art scene, I can say that if I went to a party at Andy Warhol’s factory, I’d probably be pretty miserable. What The Factory produced was a lot of elitist art snobs. It was a very elite insulated culture created by artist insiders wearing the guise of outsiders.

Period.

Lou Reed liked to play off his sexuality as being “bisexual” or “homosexual,” but the truth of the matter is that Lou Reed was straight as a ruler. He used “alternative sexuality” as a marketing scheme. His true lover was his drugs, but that can be said about any junkie, so this is no condemnation of Lou Reed. The only “lay” the junkie wants is the one with a needle in his or her arm. Lou Reed may have been hanging out with queers and trannies, but when it came time to getting penetrated, he was getting it on with the needle. That’s largely why he was still alive to produce art in the 80s and 90s when the queer art world was dying off from AIDS.

But this doesn’t mean that Lou Reed was not a ground-breaking artist. This is just a sign of the times when sexual identity was often manipulated and exploited for art and profit (see David Bowie and the New York Dolls for examples). So let me cast no stones here.

This brings me to why I love Velvet Underground & Nico so much even though it was produced by a very elite school of artists from which I would have felt completely excluded and alienated.

The needle is a great class leveler. Regardless of where you come from and where you are, when you put that needle in your arm, every junkie is the same. Whether shooting up in a back room at Andy Warhol’s Factory or a skid row hotel, the feeling of the drug is absolutely the same and universal. That feeling and the experiences that accompany it are what this album captures so completely through poetic lyrics and beautifully crafted sound. The album is like a Romantic ode to heroin carved out of poetry and layers of sound. Transpose Samuel Coleridge to late 1960s New York, and he could have written the lyrics.

The Wikipedia entry on the LP describes it as an album with “a focus on controversial subject matter expressed in many of its songs including drug abuse, prostitution, sadism and masochism and sexual deviancy.”

Sure, on the surface, you can give the album this read. The content is all there. But, if you listen to the album from the perspective of a junkie, the entire album is about the experience of being a heroin addict. The drug is the sex, the perversion, the deviancy. The prostitution is double-edged. Every junkie is a prostitute to the drug, and the drug often leads to prostitution for its acquisition. Velvet Underground & Nico is above all else an epic album about the heroin lifestyle and all it encompasses on a sensory and experiential level.

No doubt, Lou Reed’s iconic song “Heroin” completely embodies the experience of shooting dope. The sound of the music perfectly mimics the feel of heroin coursing through your veins, from the first shot to the rush to the lull into nothingness. I can get high just listening to its build, its ebb and flows. I feel the “spike” go into my vein. I feel the rush go through my body. Even today, over 30 years after I last put a needle in my vein, I can still feel high listening to that song.

Heroin, be the death of me
. Heroin, it’s my wife and it’s my life
. Because a mainer to my vein. 
Leads to a center in my head. 
And then I’m better off than dead. 
Because when the smack begins to flow, 
I really don’t care anymore.

But this isn’t the only song about using heroin on the album. Every single track captures the junkie lifestyle on some level, even when you think it’s Velvet Underground Lite or playing on sexual perversion.

Take “Venus In Furs.” I think this might be the most accurate song about being a junkie on the album. In fact, the title of my drawing of Lou Reed is taken from lyrics to this song.

Different Colors Made of Tears

The song title refers to the sado-masochistic novel written by Sacher-Masoch, from whom the term masochism was derived. On the surface, the song may seem like a simple parable of sexual perversion (a sexual slave being dominated by his lover), but the truth is that the mistress in this song is a drug not a human, and the slave is the junkie held in her clutches. (“Heroin — It’s my wife and it’s my life.”)

I am tired, I am weary. 
I could sleep for a thousand years
. A thousand dreams that would awake me. 
Different colors made of tears.

Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather. Shiny leather in the dark
. Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
. Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart.

Heroin, above all drugs, delivers the opiated dream, the life of sleep. You tie off your arm with the leather belt and get kissed by a tongue of thongs. You “dream the sleep of a thousand years,” and you become a slave to the only thing you desire. The next high. The next spike. The belt strapped around your arm while you let your alluring mistress take over your body. Heroin is the great dominatrix, the lover you will give anything for. And you consummate that love with a belt and a needle.

Heroin is the great “Femme Fatale” – the ultimate tease who will keep you begging for more and “break your heart in two” with her “false colored eyes.” She is your mistress, and you are her slave. And it feels good to give over to her so completely. If you are entirely enslaved to the drug, the rest of the world no longer matters. You can lose yourself “in a thousand dreams” until you run out, and you’re left high and dry. Until you’re “out on the streets again” selling your body and soul for your next high…

There she goes again
. She’s out on the streets again
. She’s down on her knees, my friend
. But you know she’ll never ask you please again … Now take a look, there’s no tears in her eyes. 
Like a bird, you know she will fly, fly, fly away
. See her walking on down the street…

…or standing on the corner “waiting for the man”…

I’m waiting for my man
. Twenty-six dollars in my hand
. Up to Lexington, 125. 
Feeling sick and dirty, more dead than alive.

Shooting heroin is all about being dead and alive at the same time. It’s about flirting with the dark side and pushing the envelope while you push in the needle. And the sound and the lyrics of this album beautifully and perfectly capture that place between life and death, where you ride the limbo land of heroin’s dark waves, and everything you do is centered on keeping the waves coming. The risk is part of the thrill — knowing that you are pushing right to the brink of death and that the danger of falling over the edge and never coming back is real. Because death is part of life for the junkie like in “Run Run Run”:

Seasick Sarah had a golden nose
. Hobnail boots wrapped around her toes
. When she turned blue, all the angels screamed
 They didn’t know, they couldn’t make the scene.

Even songs that seem bright and light like “Sunday Morning” are actually dark dreams of what could be and isn’t because everything is shrouded in the lows of the high. Junkies aren’t always passed out with needles in their arms. There are always these moments of euphoria where everything seems absolutely perfect. The glimpses of hope that at the end there really is a rainbow, but inevitably the clouds come back and the rain comes down.

Sunday morning rain is falling. 
Steal some covers, share some skin
. And clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable.

What this album does so beautifully is seduce us just like a drug. The way Warhol pushed the levels to the max causing the layers of sound to blur and warp perfectly captures getting high, and the music becomes its own drug. The sound, the lyrics, the play between sex, dreams, and the reality of the street life all combine to a sensory experience that seduces us into feeling high. The music becomes the great seductress. The album is our mistress as we listen to over and over want more and more. The thrum of guitar and bass mesh like blood coursing through our veins.

The entire album – every track, every lyric, every sound embodies the life of the junkie, and that life is pretty much the same no matter who or where you are. It involves highs and lows, prostitution and desperation, sex displaced onto needles, and needles penetrating you like sex. It is living death and dreams layered on dreams. It is the great escape even when you have to go through hell to get there. You will sell your body. You will sell your soul, just to feel that spike in your vein and that rush of escape.

Lou Reed knew that feeling, that life, and he put it into lyrics with poetic brilliance.

Even after 30 years of sobriety, the feelings of getting high on heroin — the warm burn of the first shot, the rush as the drugs go to my brain and heart — are still real when I listen to this album. I can’t listen to “Heroin” without unconsciously scratching the veins on my inner arm or feeling a wave of nausea.

What’s interesting is that the album was created within an elite environment, but the aesthetics and poetics of the music transcend class. The overall “feel” of the songs is one that any junkie can relate to. The needle is the great leveler, and interestingly being a junkie transcends class on an experiential level. We’re all the same with the spike in our vein.

So now, 46 years after the album came out and 30 years drug-free in my life, I can still listen to the album and feel “high.” The music itself has becomes my drug even in my sobriety. I play the album and feel my body chemistry change just by immersing myself in the sound of the music. Couple the way the music feels with where I “go” when I’m making art, and the high I experience is undeniably one of the best highs of my life, especially because I am sober, and everything I do and feel is coming straight from me and not induced by synthetic external chemicals. I’m mainlining my own internal “art chemistry” combined with the sensory experience of the music. It’s a kind of Art Speedball. I don’t need to go “meet the man” to get what I need to get high. I get it from within myself with the soundtrack of Velvet Underground giving me a boost to push me through to the other side.

I listened to the entire Velvet Underground & Nico LP multiple times while drawing my tribute portrait of Lou Reed. And between the music and channeling my own “art chemistry” into the drawing, I was as high as I’ve ever been. I felt myself on the streets. I felt myself sitting in a hotel room priming the syringe for a fix. Yet, I also felt the euphoria of being alive and sober now. I was completely immersed in the present and rocking my sobriety hard as I vigorously scratched away at my drawing. The only thing I was “shooting” was a lot of black ink out of pens onto a big old piece of paper.

Interestingly, Lou Reed was sober just about the same amount of time I have been when he died this past Sunday. Yet, he never stopped channeling what he put into his music back in 1967. He just learned that you can tap the vein without the drug. I tap the vein every time I pick up a Cheap Ass Ballpoint Pen and put it to paper. I tapped the vein when I drew Lou Reed. I am tapping the vein right now as I write this. I am my own mirror:

I’ll be your mirror. 
Reflect what you are, in case you don’t know. 
I’ll be the wind, the rain and the sunset
. The light on your door to show that you’re home.

When you think the night has seen your mind. 
That inside you’re twisted and unkind. 
Let me stand to show that you are blind
. Please put down your hands, 
‘Cause I see you.

Sadly, it is the “source” of this great album that ultimately did Lou Reed in when his drug and alcohol abuse killed his liver. He got sober. He learned how to mainline life, but it was too late. I’ve been lucky. I kicked heroin cold. I kicked alcohol. I learned how to get high on life, love, art and the thrill of my own survival rather than the flirtation with my own death.

Here’s to Lou’s legend and to many more years of mainlining life for this old girl. Here’s to you Lou Reed for giving me a place in music to understand my years on the streets and my years as a drug addict. Here’s to Lou Reed for giving me a soundtrack to understand my past while also transcending it in the present. It’s funny to think that Lou Reed and I shared experiences since we came from such different worlds, but the world of the junkie is the world of the junkie. Thankfully, I have discovered a clean and clear place within myself where I can channel my own chemistry into a sober high that is far better than anything I shot into my vein for a twenty dollar bill that cost so much more than the numbers printed on that green piece of paper. Here’s to celebrating life in the wake of Lou’s death.

(Kim Nicolini is an artist, poet and cultural critic living in Tucson, Arizona. Her writing has appeared in Bad Subjects, Punk Planet, Souciant, La Furia Umana, and The Berkeley Poetry Review. She recently published her first book, Mapping the Inside Out, in conjunction with a solo gallery show by the same name. She can be reached at knicolini@gmail.com.)

ADVICE FOR TRIMMERS

A READER WRITES: I’ve been trimming for an old retired couple for about 25 years. They lent me out to a new group where I saw the following announcement on the wall. “If you own and use a cellphone, please leave it at home or disconnect the battery before driving here. If you cannot remove your battery and refrain from cellphone usage while en route, and while working here, we cannot hire you. Never take an active cellphone on your person or in your belongings, to the patch, or trim sites. Taking an active cell phone with you to a work site is like wearing a FED-sponsored GPS, tracking your route. Always remove your cellphone battery while working for us. Please also leave your cars at home; carpool or get a drop-off to work. Have someone drop you off and pick you up at designated pre-arranged times. We work from 10-2pm. When the Sheriffs cruise our neighborhood for the DEA, we don’t want our scene seen in cyberspace. Please, for prompt payment, don’t be sloppy with the confidentiality of our livelihood. Please refrain from discussion of the nature of our business outside of work, or that you are privately paid to work for us. That extra $5 of your hourly pay is for your silence! Thank you.” That’s that WWII mentality for you. A little more careful. And don’t hang out and blab at the coffeehouses!

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WATER BOND CAMPAIGNER REVEALS MEASURE WOULD LOSE ‘PRETTY DRAMATICALLY’

by Dan Bacher

Joe Caves, a “campaign manager” for three successful water bonds, told attendees at a dinner of the Southern California Water Committee (SCWC) on October 24 that the bond that is currently on the 2014 ballot would lose “pretty dramatically.”

The legislature doesn’t have a very good record of passing successful water bonds, according to Caves. (http://mavensnotebook.com/2013/10/30/policy-politics-public-opinion-what-does-it-take-to-craft-and-pass-a-successful-water-bond/#more-8819)

“The one passed in 2009 was the first one they even managed to get a 2/3rds vote on since 2000,” said Caves. “And that one was constructed in a way necessary to put legislative compromises together, but also created elements of it that created opposition to the bond.”

“The polling that we did after that bond passed was such that it started out with so much baggage, it was so large, and the opposition was so significant that all of our polling showed it going down in 2010. It showed the same thing in 2012, and it’s showing today that the bond that’s on the 2014 ballot would go down pretty dramatically,” he explained.

“The Delta opposition to the current BDCP is great enough in the Delta communities that particularly in the Bay Area and Northern California, it tends to translate into this north-south water grab issue that fundamentally doomed the peripheral canal back in 1982,” said Caves. “All of our polling indicates that if that’s the message that Northern California has and if there are credible messengers pushing that, it’s very easy to defeat a bond, any bond.”

Responding to Cave’s comments, Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Governor Jerry Brown’s peripheral tunnels that would drain the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and doom Central Valley salmon and other Pacific fisheries, called on the governor to abandon his proposed tunnels.

“Voters are not going to stick ourselves with a $7 billion bill to mitigate damage from the proposed water export tunnels,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “The tunnels can’t go forward without a certain source of funding to mitigate its disastrous effects.”

“If voters won’t approve that funding, and water-takers won’t pay for the damage they’ll do, then it’s time to abandon this unworkable project. What now, Governor Brown? How are you going to spin the tunnels going forward?” she asked.

Tunnel opponents say the BDCP is a badly-conceived Nineteenth Century “solution” to Twenty-First Century problems that will cost Californians an estimated $54.1 billion.

The construction of the peripheral tunnels would hasten the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as imperil salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers. It will take vast quantities of fertile Delta farmland out of agricultural production, under the guise of “habitat restoration,” to facilitate the diversion of massive quantities of water to irrigate corporate mega-farms on toxic, drainage impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, according to tunnel opponents.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan officials announced on Monday that the release of the BCCP documents, originally slated for release in mid-November 2013, has been delayed to December 13, 2013, the result of the federal shutdown. (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/10/29/18745610.php)

Southern California Water Committee (SCWC) Background: According to the Committee’s website, http://www.socalwater.org, “The Southern California Water Committee (SCWC) — established in 1984 — is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public education partnership dedicated to informing Southern Californians about our water needs and our state’s water resources. Through measured advocacy, SCWC works to ensure the health and reliability of Southern California’s water supply.” The group is “being paid by the Brown Administration to push its tunnels,” reported Restore the Delta.

For more information and action alerts, go to: http://www.restorethedelta.org

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IN CASE YOU FORGOT: Clocks are (were) set back one hour at 2am Sunday morning.

ON OCTOBER 12, 2013, KZYX GENERAL MANGER JOHN COATE wrote on his KZYX.org blog that when (if?) the Open Lines program comes back, “maybe we should rename the show ‘How Do You Know?’ so that all the assertions that get made might be backed up with some evidence.”

WHICH isn’t a bad idea, Johnny babe, and certainly doable. You could open up the phones every day for an hour or so with exactly that challenge — How Do You Know? Yeah, buster, how the hell do you know? How do we know you’re not trying to sell us some bad dope here?

ON OCTOBER 8, COATE WROTE: “We have eleven hours of local public affairs programming every week.” Oh really? How Do You Know, Coate?

THE KZYX roster of “public affairs” programs includes exactly zilch about purely local public affairs. Sakowicz is almost always about big picture financial stuff with guests from outside Mendocino County. Women’s Voices is a very subtle, highly sophisticated comedy show, but men aren’t allowed to laugh. Jeff Blankfort’s and Joy LeClaire’s hours feature guests and topics about the great world outside Mendocino County. Wildloak Living is a trilling promo about the lady host’s soporific friends. Corporations & Democracy is strictly big think. Mind, Body Health isn’t about public affairs, the peculiar Ukiah healer just talks about random medical neuroses few people relate to. Mr. Kisslinger, husband of Anne Molgaard of the First Five scamarama, is kinda local but he’s a natch-born nuzzlebum who simply lobs softballs at random local bureaucrats. He’ll have his wife on any time now. “The Ecology Hour” is mostly tinfoil hat updates. Point & Click has nothing to do with public affairs. We haven’t heard Ms. Werdinger’s “Maps & Legends” show. We think she’s a peach, though. Pride Radio is a canned show about far away gay issues, and Open Lines, the only opportunity for any old person to call in and talk about any old thing, local or not, is gone.

THERE’S NO REGULAR discussion of local news or issues. Nothing about the Board of Supervisors. Poor old Paul Lambert doesn’t even have time to read the Sheriff’s press releases. He gets to tell us what the weather is like in Lakeport and Laytonville but that’s about as topical as he’s allowed to get.

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ON NOVEMBER 2, 2013, at 5:08am the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a report of several gunshots and a woman yelling in the 30000 block of Simpson Lane in Fort Bragg. As Deputies were responding to the scene a caller reported to the Sheriff’s Office dispatch center that a vehicle was seen leaving the immediate area. Prior to the arrival of Deputies the Fort Bragg Police Department was dispatched to the Mendocino Coast District Hospital because a person with a gunshot wound(s) had arrived at the hospital. Deputies responded to the hospital and learned the person, a 42-year-old male, was associated with the reported shooting on Simpson Lane. Sheriff’s Detectives were summoned to the hospital to conduct further investigations into the incident. Upon arrival Sheriff’s Detectives contacted an adult female who had witnessed the shooting.

Humecky

The adult female stated she had been physically assaulted by her boyfriend, Joel David Humecky, during the earlier morning hours. After the assault the adult female reported the incident to the 42-year-old male, as the pair was friends. The 42-year-old male drove to a piece of property in the 30000 block of Simpson Lane where the adult female and Humecky were residing inside of a vehicle. When the 42-year-old male arrived he contacted the adult female who was alone inside of the vehicle. A short time later Humecky, who had left the area on foot after the earlier domestic violence incident, appeared near the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, Humecky shot the 42-year-old male several times with a handgun before fleeing the area on foot. The adult female transported the 42-year-old male to the hospital where he was later transported via air ambulance to a Santa Rosa area hospital with life-threatening injuries. Later that day at approximately 11:29am Sheriff’s Detectives located Humecky at an apartment complex on Walnut Street in the city of Fort Bragg. Humecky was arrested for attempted murder and for domestic violence battery. Humecky was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $250,000 bail. The identity of the adult female is being withheld as a victim of domestic violence. The case is still being actively investigated by Sheriff’s Detectives and anyone with information pertaining to the investigation is urged to call the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Tip-Line at 707-234-2100. (Sheriff’s Department Press Release)

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OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: A visualization of drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004

http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/

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WILLIAM BERT SCHLOSSER, 59, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at his Ukiah home on Saturday, October 26, 2013. Bert was born in Oregon on December 26, 1953 and grew up in Simi Valley, California. He attended Moorpark Junior College and was a member of the team that won first place in the National Debate Tournament of 1978. Bert had a gift for the spoken word and the courtroom was his favorite stage. He was so proud of his son William for pursuing his passion for drama and following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Bert’s dad, who was Dean of Theater Arts at Cal State Northridge. As a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Bert was extremely proud of his daughter Eve’s decision to also be a “Banana Slug”. Eve shares her father’s love for mathematics even though Bert knew he didn’t have anywhere near her talent for numbers. Bert attended law school in Santa Barbara, California where he officially began his legal career in 1984. Initially, he set up private practice as a criminal defense attorney in Santa Barbara where trials were few and far between. When an opportunity came up in the Public Defender Office for Santa Barbara County, Bert’s talents were realized and he was now in the right venue. His legacy as a trial attorney had begun. For the past 25 years, Bert has served as Deputy Public Defender and Alternate Defender for Mendocino County where his trial record is daunting. Above all, Bert Schlosser was a tireless and passionate advocate for the legal rights of the legal rights of accused. Bert is survived by his wife Deborah (aka Wally), and his children, William, 22 and Eve, 20, who brought him more joy than he ever expected. He is also survived by his mother Dorothy Jean Schlosser of Simi Valley, California, brother Wade, sister-in-law Debra and niece Alyssa Schlosser of Westlake Village, California, and sister Perri Schlosser. He was preceded in death by his father William Edwin Schlosser. His beloved dog Pepper misses him deeply. Bert had many, many friends both old and new. Each and every one of Bert’s friends were very important to him. He truly loved them all. Services will be held Saturday, November 9, 2013 at Eversole Mortuary at 10:30 a.m. with a reception immediately following at the Elk’s Lodge, Hastings Road, Ukiah.

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THE CLOVERDALE ARTS ALLIANCE INVITES YOU TO ATTEND THE DISCOVERING ART, art appreciation class this Tuesday (Nov 5, 2013) from 7 PM to 8:30 PM at the Cloverdale Arts Alliance (204 N Cloverdale Blvd., Cloverdale, CA). This evening’s lecture topics in the program “American Art Masterpieces” are: Federal American Portraiture This lecture ends the study of early American portraits by looking at portraits of the Founding Fathers, like Gilbert Stuart’s iconic George Washington portraits, and other works by G.W. Peale of Thomas Jefferson, Dolly Madison, etc. Early Landscapes and Historical Paintings We will examine history paintings by Benjamin West, John Vanderlyn, Rembrandt Peale, as well as romantic landscapes and thunderstorms, and depictions of classical myths (a la Poussin). American painters studied in Europe at this time, and were fascinated by French and Italian art movements. They returned to America, influenced by the art movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism, and created their American interpretation of these influences.

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WHIMSEY IN CLOVERDALE? Who would have thought… “The Listener,” a nine-foot green sculpture celebrating the ample version of the female form, now sits on Cloverdale Boulevard in the middle of town. Will the Jolly Green Giant soon join her?

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DAY OF THE DEAD remembers all the family and friends who have gone before, complete with the visuals reminding us that even the most joyous occasions — weddings, the births of children, youthful vigor — are fleeting. To remind us exactly how fleeting, Mexican artists present these occasions in skeletal tableaus. “You’re living it up now, big boy, but sure as hell you’re headed for the boneyard.” I’ve got a skeleton figurine in an A’s baseball uniform with a bat in his hands, which, every time my eyes fall upon it, takes me back to when I was young and invincible. Having just come off Halloween with its packs of sugar driven children, and more than a few adults, jogging through the streets to amass shopping bags stuffed with Tootsie Rolls (didn’t they used to be bigger?), has no meaning at all beyond the usual one of costumed consumption. Gringos might want to put on Bocelli’s Con de Partiro and think back on who is gone.

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THE PLANET may be dying, but it’s been a good year for salmon, with the winter run on the Sacramento estimated double last year’s numbers, which weren’t all that great but better than they have been. Pretty good catches out of Fort Bragg, too.

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LADY BERTRAM did not like at all to have her husband leave her; but she was not disturbed by any alarm for his safety, or solicitude for his comfort, being one of those persons who think nothing can be dangerous or difficult, or fatiguing to anyone but themselves.

— Lady Bertram, Mansfield Park, Jane Austen

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WHAT ARE THE ODDS, PARANOIDS?

If you are not exhausted by or indifferent to the endless revelations about the NSA — another week, another code name, another program to vacuum up and analyze the world’s communications — then you’ve probably long since drawn a single general conclusion: we’re all being watched, all the time. You may also think this is something we sort of knew anyway. Perhaps you see ubiquitous spying as a function of the post-9/11 authoritarian state, which gathers knowledge by any means possible in order to consolidate its control, and which sees us all as potential suspects. Or perhaps you think that if the state is going to have a chance of keeping us safe from bad guys it obviously has to have the latitude to look for them: it isn’t interested in your research into 13th-century frescoes or cheap tights, but it needs to monitor all internet activity so that it can detect that rare occasion when someone searches for the materials to make hexamethylene triperoxide diamine bombs. The trouble with both these responses is that they’re answers to a selfish question: are the spies doing what they’re doing because they’re interested in us? Civil libertarians say yes, and that the monitoring must stop; security advocates say no, not if we aren’t doing anything bad. The paranoid reaction — that if I use the word “bomb” in an email to my aunt from the vicinity of a Bali nightclub then I may find black-suited agents descending on my hotel room — is just an extreme version of the narcissistic fallacy that someone is trying to see into my brain. There are seven billion people on the planet, and nearly seven billion mobile phones; six billion emails are sent every hour; 1.2 petabytes of data travel across the internet every minute, the equivalent of two thousand years’ worth of music playing continuously, the contents of 2.2 billion books. Even if they don’t get everything — the NSA claims, with loving wording, to “touch” just 1.6% of global internet traffic, or about 35 million books’ worth of data a minute — the spooks have an awful lot more to be getting on with than worrying about you. And that’s just the internet. That the NSA — along with the rest of the Five Eyes, the signals intelligence agencies of the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — has for the past 60 or so years sought to monitor as many of the world’s communications as it has been technically possible for it to access is widely accepted. In response to Edward Snowden’s leaks, the NSA put out a statement in August to expand on the public description of its mission, defining signals intelligence (SIGINT) — its primary job — as “the production of foreign intelligence through the collection, processing and analysis of communications or other data, passed or accessible by radio, wire or other electromagnetic means.” “’Communications or other data” that is “passed” by “electromagnetic means”; that’s anything emitted or received by a phone, computer, fax, radio, guidance system or satellite, or data that travels along any kind of cable, whether dedicated to voice signals or internet payloads or banking transactions or supposedly secure diplomatic, government and military communications. It’s anything with a pulse. Asked last month by a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee whether there was a limit to the records NSA could collect, Keith Alexander, the agency’s director, said: “There is no upper limit.” He was talking about the phone records of Americans, but since those explicitly fall outside the NSA’s foreign intelligence remit, and since many had thought that systematically collecting them was illegal, it went without saying that there was no limit to its ambition or ability to monitor anything else either. So the question has to be not so much “Is Big Brother watching.” but “How in hell can it cope?”

— Daniel Soar

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STATEMENT OF THE DAY: I don’t even go to the doctor anymore. From now on, if I get hurt I’m going to the vet. The vet is better than the doctor on so many levels. First of all, a vet never refers you to another vet. Doctors specialize. They have a limited scope of expertise. “I do internal medicine,” or, “I fix bones,” or “I only do ear, nose, and throat.” The vets don’t care what SPECIES you are! Anything that comes in the door. He doesn’t care if it’s a pit bull, a kitten, or a goldfish! He is just, “Lay that stuff on the table. I don’t care. I don’t care! You got a sick parakeet? I’m ready to go. I do birds. I don’t care.” And a vet always gives you options. When you go to a vet, they will be very clear: “Look, this surgery will be very expensive, it’s very complicated, there’s plenty of risk, I’m not sure it will work. If you want, I could just kill you.” With a vet, that’s always on the table. “We have the van out back. I can put your ass to sleep and cart you off to wherever you want to go. It only costs $50. It does not cause your family any grief or anything. We can take care of this right now.” I’m not saying it’s the best option, I’m just saying I like knowing that option is on the table. — Alonzo Bodden

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FAVORABLE RESULTS IN EARLY CRAB TESTS

by Daniel Mintz

The state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) reports that Dungeness crab in two out of three tested ports in the northern region have met the shell-to-meat ratio needed to open the commercial crabbing season on Dec. 1.

The DFW’s first round of crab tests were in the Fort Bragg, Eureka and Crescent City port areas and only Eureka fell below the 25% meat yield standard.

Trinidad has yet to be tested and Eureka was “a little low” and will be re-tested on Nov. 12, said Pete Kalvass, of the DFW’s Eureka office. Trinidad will also be tested then, and if both meet the standard, the commercial season will open on schedule.

The recreational crabbing season started just after midnight on Saturday. The DFW only tracks commercial crab landings, which account for over 90% of the total take.

The last two commercial seasons have been robust, with almost 17 million pounds landed in the region last year and 16 million pounds the year before.

The ten-year average for the region is about 10 million pounds, indicating a recent crab population spike cycle. Kalvass said another strong season is expected this year, based on the above-average landing totals for the least two years.

But as longtime crabbers know, boom times are cyclical. “You do have highs and lows that last a couple of years each,” Kalvass said. Based on the pre-season tests, however, a third year of strong commercial crabbing is forecasted.

How sport crabbers will fare is hard to say, Kalvass continued, as the testing spots are offshore, in deep water areas where only commercial crabbers drop their pots.

The last Dungeness crab season started late in the northern region, on Jan. 15, due to the Trinidad area’s slower maturation rate. The season was extended a month, to August 15, because of the delayed start.

All four of the region’s port areas need to reach the meat yield standard before the commercial season’s opening can be approved. The first round of pre-season tests shows promise, as Crescent City doesn’t often meet the standard this early.

And there’s plenty of time for the crabs to get bigger.

“There’s a whole month for the crab to continue to put on weight before the commercial season opens, and they can put on as much as a half a% per week under really good conditions,” said Kalvass. “So the indications are that the crab this year are well ahead of last year’s and the previous year in terms of filling in the meat yield and those crab that are out there, that both commercial and sport and fishermen catch, should be in pretty good shape compared to previous years.”

The recreational size minimum for Dungeness crabs is five and three-quarters inches, measured across the shell. Both males and females can be taken.

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DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: “I quit changing clocks a few years back. Too much effort for what is nothing but somewhat subtle authoritarianism by the government (look, we can even make those idiots change their clocks for no really good reason). I don’t believe the “energy saving” stats, either. As reported, they’re just too precise to be anything more than part of a bad joke, or an exercise in just how to control people. It’s easier just to add an hour during that period of supposed daylight saving. People are such sheep. I’ve been against daylight saving since Nixon imposed it full time during the first “energy crisis.” There was a cartoon then, by Oliphant if I recall correctly. The cartoon showed a guy in bed with a blanket that was too short, so he pulled it up, only to expose his feet. Can’t remember the caption, but the cartoon, depicting the stupidity, made me howl with laughter.” — Harvey Reading

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THE CROOKS BROS

by Chili Bill Eichinger

The dissimilarity between the Crooks brothers was, how you say, inversely proportional to the similarity of the Baldwin brothers. I’m tempted to used the Jekyll/Hyde allusion, but methinks I did that in some other bit of rambling. Perhaps an even better reference is The Thing With Two Heads, a classic piece of trash featuring Ray Milland and Rosy Grier as the star(s); hell, I’ll toss in The Manster too, a wonderful low budget B&W Japanese/American collaboration that features a guy who… well, you should just rent it, trust me.

I met John Crooks in the heyday of the dance club circuit, when we went to places like The Loft, The Sky-Hop, The Sock-Hop and Uncle Tom’s. These were temples of teen stupidity, where the basic premise was to scope out girls, maybe even dance with them, and then eventually get drunk and scrape your knuckles across some poor bastard’s teeth. You only had to be 18 to drink 3.2 beer in Kansas, but most of us had fake IDs that said we were 21, so we’d get into the joints in KCMO too, where they had hard liquor and one could get righteously twisted before swinging a hunk of rebar at a fellow twistee out in the parking lot. But I digress.

John was kind of a loner, even though he seemed to be on good terms with all of the Italians, which was an important factor in preventing serious altercations. He was a tall, very Italian-looking fellow himself and always stood ramrod straight, his classic black pompadour held in place with Alberto VO-5, the choice of juvenile delinquents everywhere. Like the rest of the hip and cool, he usually wore Italian knit pullovers and Sansabelt pants, finished with the latest stylish pointy-toed shoes and black socks, preferably silk ribbed “thick-and-thins” as we called them. And he had a cool ’51 Chevy two-door fastback, stock but cherryed out.

John never had any problem getting the ladies to dance, as he had a disarming smile and a smooth line of patter, as opposed to a lot of the Neanderthals who lurked around the edges. No doubt the girls also admired his rather healthy package, enhanced by money well spent on alterations. But the bizarre aspect of his physique was a rather protruding set of buttocks. We’re talking almost steatopygian here — get out your dictionary for that one. Before you get the wrong idea, you have to believe me when I say everybody looked at this guy’s ass. I’d hear sweet young things standing next to me talk about it in dulcet, somewhat lascivious tones. I’m sure the cops probably looked at him with suspicions of their own. And of course there were the detractors, who just called him “Bubble Butt.”

Now you stand John Crooks up next to his brother, George, and you would say, no way that’s his brother. George Crooks was the victim of a horrible fucking by Fate. Whatever the physical cause was I never knew, because I didn’t think John wanted to talk about it, and I was too damned scared to even think about asking George. His spine was permanently bent in a kind of sideways curve, and he was unable to swivel his head, which was cocked slightly to one side like a puzzled dog. To top it off, part of one jaw was missing. When you looked at him it was like being in the Funhouse Hall of Mirrors, but it wasn’t one bit funny.

George didn’t have too many friends, and those he did have were just as unhappy with their lot in life. They were all in and out of jail frequently, drunk most of the time and looking for a way to end up back in jail. High school dropouts to a man, they supported themselves by working on cars and stealing anything that wasn’t nailed down. They didn’t give a shit about anything or anybody, and would fight at the drop of a hat. I never heard anybody bragging about duking it out with that bunch, even the crazy Irish bastards that I hung with on occasion.

George had himself a beautiful ’56 Buick Roadmaster, painted white over fire engine red. This was the crew’s primary cruising vehicle. It was widely rumored that George kept a sawed-off 12 gauge in it. On a beautiful, warm, Easter Sunday in the early 60s, George and his playmates were allegedly gadding about, enjoying the scenery in a part of town they would never be able to live in, Mission Hills. There were a number of lawn parties in progress, the family members having attended church and Sunday dinner somewhere, and now settled in for the egg hunts and ice cream and cake. As our boys passed one house, George noticed that some lucky child had received a big fat white bunny which was cavorting about the well-tended lawn, much to the delight of all. The Buick rolled along about a half block, came to an abrupt halt and then roared back in reverse. When it stopped, George came up with the sawed-off and scattered that rabbit all over the place, then laid rubber for about two blocks, laughing maniacally.

Or so they say.

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THE DEVIL IN THE LANDSCAPE

by Bruce Patterson

It is better to be a part of a great whole than to be the whole of a small part. — Fredrick Douglass, 1886

In his book Names on the Land, a historical account of place-naming in the United States (1947), G.R. Stewart notes the absence of places named after God or Jesus, the Virgin, Prophets or Angels. Back in pioneering days, you see, folks were God-Fearing and they didn’t want to blaspheme. Yet that didn’t keep them from naming plenty of places after shrewd old glinty-eyed Mr. Scratch: Devil’s Den, Devil’s Tower and Devil’s Golf Course just three of a very long list. The old-timers also went crazy naming places after “hell,” “Hell’s Hole” being my favorite.

Then there was “Colter’s Hell,” the area known today as Yellowstone. Pvt. John Colter was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1806, during their return trip down the Missouri River, they met a pair of American early bird fur trappers paddling a canoe upstream. The two parties camped together and exchanged stories over a campfire. The next morning Private Colter asked Lewis and Clark (they shared com­mand) if he could be honorably discharged from the army so he could join the trappers, return to the moun­tains and try his luck. Since Colter had been exemplary in the performance of his duties, Lewis and Clark gladly granted him his wish. They even allowed him to keep his weapons and gear and to take whatever equipment, powder and supplies he might need in exchange for a signed IOU promising to repay the government if and when he returned to Saint Louis and civilization.

Four years later John Colter did reappear (alone) and he was full of tall tales. The most famous being that he’d made a roughly 500 mile solo winter trek through the mountains west of Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin (true), and that along the way he’d discovered a place of fire and brimstone; of roaring towers of scalding water and boiling pots of mud, of steaming blood-red caldrons and sulfurous fogs. Since there were those who believed the upper chambers of Satan’s Kingdom reached to the ground underfoot, and because virtually no one believed this raggedy, wild-eyed and furry fellah who claimed to have discovered such a place (since he’d “gone Indian,” it’s highly unlikely that Colter himself saw it that way), for decades the blank spot on the map was known derisively as Colter’s Hell.

The decision to name the Snake River Canyon “Hell’s Canyon” has always struck me as especially ludicrous. Given the canyon’s grand scale and undeni­able beauty, the tag seems downright deranged. Turns out, at least according to legend, the canyon was named by Northern Pacific Railroad surveyors who, in the 1860s, after what must have been Herculean efforts, had to report to their superiors back east that building a rail­road along the river was not just infeasible but hand-on-the-Bible impossible. So you can imagine the surveyor’s shame. It must have been hell.

As always when questing strangers settle in a strange land, their place-naming reveals their cultural biases. Here is this immense, inaccessible gash in the earth, this roadblock to progress—let’s call it Hell’s Canyon. The name resonates with people and it sticks. It not only sticks but causes nearby landmarks to get named in the same Halloween spirit. Hence the roof of Hell’s Canyon comes to us as Seven Devils Mountains. Up there stands a He and She Devil, a Devil’s Throne and Tooth. There’s the Goblin (evil spirit), the Twin Imps (Devil’s children) and the Ogre (a cruel and hideous giant). There’s also a Tower of Babel (apt, I’d submit), a Mount Baal (a short­ening of the Hebrew Baal-zebub: “Lord of Flies”) and Mt. Belial (New Testament for Satan).

Here’s a kicker: just a whisker north of the Seven Devils is the grassy crown of a hogback called Heaven’s Gate. It’s called Heaven’s Gate because, situated high above the Snake and Salmon River defiles, the panorama to be had from up there is heavenly. Here’s another kicker: as if to refute the elaborate display of human pre­posterousness across the way, on the Oregon side runs a watercourse called Crazyman Creek.

Murderer’s Draw, Massacre Ridge, Skeleton Can­yon, Starvation Gulch, Skull Butte, Death Valley, Tomb­stone, River of No Return, Stinkwater, Badwater and Deadman’s Creek. Out West so many places are expressions of old-timey pee-your-pants tricker-treater superstition that — at least outside of modern ski resorts, sardine can trailer parks, shiny-new corporate subdivisions and monumental shopping malls — you’ll rarely find inspiring place names. Inspiring place names are so rare that when they do strike your ears they tend to grate on your nerves. For example, very early in the 19^th Century some visionary American missionaries anointed three of Oregon’s volcanoes sisters named Faith, Hope and Chastity. The tags so aggravated the folks living down below that they re-named the peaks Three Sisters (North, South and Middle). And, since the area now had peaks officially called Sisters, why not give them a neighbor named Little Brother? Why not add a Wife, Husband, Brother-in-law and Bachelor? If, at the start of the Automobile Era, you’re a sand-lapper living down in the nearby desert and you wish to grow your roadside livery stable and pit stop into a proper town having a school, a church and a post office, you name it Brothers and hope it’ll work its mojo. At least to a degree, people name places the way lottery junkies pick numbers.

About 25 miles south of here is a wilderness area called The Badlands. Now at one time or another I’ve hiked through plenty of badlands, including the namesake ones up there in South Dakota (figures “the whites,” in exchange for the fabulously rich Black Hills, would “give” the Indians the badlands and then take them back). Anyway, having hiked some in these here badlands down the road, I can testify they’re nothing like any badlands I’ve ever seen. It’s mostly an old and rather handsome juniper forest, for Christ’s sake. Most of the 30,000 acres were rich in native bunch grasses until over-grazing during the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries allowed the junipers, sage and rabbitbush to take over. Today it’s a wilderness only in the sense that it’s pro­tected from cars and motorcycles, cattle, stock horses, chainsaws, weed-whackers and leaf blowers, and I’m all for that. It’s an interesting place, too, what with its lava formations, ancient twisted “scrub cedars” (the pioneers mistook junipers for cedars) and rim-rocked dry gulches. It’s also very quiet, “private” and full of birds, lizards and cute little chipmunk-looking ground squirrels (I’ve taken a shine to the magpies, too, the goofy fuckers). The sandy soils, flattish and relatively open ground also make the area an ideal place for tender-footed and high strung horses and their riders, and they come from near and far. But badlands it ain’t. It occurs to me that we’ve sunk pretty low when those individuals or com­mittees naming wilderness areas think like real estate boosters.

Speaking of telling tall tales, the earliest of the West’s real estate boosters were those selling stocks in mining claims. Since the investors were in the cities back east, and the mines were in the sticks out west, these guys got to give their imaginations free rein. A partial list of their more creative offerings as assembled by Mr. Stewart: Sheba, Branch Mint, Golconda, Bonanza, Golden Reward, King of the West, Sultan, Empire and King Solomon.

One thing interesting about Oregon’s collection of place names is how there’s virtually nothing even hinting at the West’s rich Hispanic heritage, especially as in California and New Mexico. But in the Pacific North­west (folks hereabouts brag about living halfway between the Equator and the North Pole), arroyos, bajadas, playas, chaparral and the like ain’t anywhere to be found. I doubt you’ll find even a handful of “Haci­enda Motels” in the entire three-state region.

What has surprised me the most during our travels is how many textbook mesas there are dotting the land­scape. Sometimes I think I’m motoring through a John Ford Western movie and Monument Valley’s just around the bend. But they’re called “rimrocks” around here and I don’t believe you’ll find the word “mesa” written any­where on an Oregon state map. This even though it was California and Nevada Buckaroos who came and created eastern Oregon’s cowboy culture, themselves carrying on the traditions of the Californio vaqueros who’d learned their husbandry and horsemanship—and rode horses—that came to Spain from Arabia by way of the Moors (an Arab/Berber mix) beginning about 1,300 years ago. In a region where the rotting outlines of back­country boom, bust and gone towns are seen as historical icons, it’s strange to overlook the far deeper and more interesting stuff. Then again, maybe the lack of hindsight is simply an expression of regionalism and ethnocentric­ity—a sort of communal Freudian slip.

Looking west from our kitchen window I see the southeast corner of the almost perfectly round mesa that overlooks the town. Ochoco State Scenic Viewpoint, the juniper-covered tabletop is called. Up there’s a large paved parking lot, a small picnic area, a nice network of very short foot trails and, of course, a hand made, gov­ernment built lava rock and mortar wall lining the rim to keep the little ones, the clumsy and the flighty from fal­ling off the cliff and tumbling down the talus slope. Around town the spot is known simply as the bluff. The mesa can properly be called a bluff, too, even though the uppermost western bluff (the east one has mostly washed away through this stretch) is at least 60 miles long and much higher, which makes the bluff/mesa into just a pimple. Still, over the course of I can’t say how many scores of millions of years, today’s Crooked River, its tributaries and ancestors made the bluff into what it is.

Imagine a vast area of ocean bottom uplifted, dried-out and buckled. Imagine it getting buried under layers and layers of lava in places three miles deep. Since water plus time is more powerful than rock, imagine most of the lava ground into soil, washed away or left standing as hard-headed remnants. That’s what geologists see when they stand atop the bluff.

Trish and I go up there sometimes to catch a sundown or to watch a parade of lightning-throwing thunderheads drifting northward on the eastern horizon. The Ochoco Mountains begin a tad west of due north at Grizzly Mountain (5,635ft.) and curl around to the southeast. Due east stretches the valley, canyon and headwaters of Ochoco Creek and, topping the skyline about 30 miles away, stands a flat-topped mountain that appears as finely cut and water-level as the deck of an aircraft car­rier. While its perfect mesa shape caught my eye last winter when I first noticed it peeking through the clouds, I didn’t think much more about it till spring.

Sprawled in the tabletop mountain’s eastern shadow is a place called Big Summit Prairie. After the snow was gone Trish, Jeff and myself drove up there to see the 150-year-old ranches, the wildflowers and butterflies. On the highway up just shy of the prairie on the divide between the headwaters of Ochoco Creek and the Crooked River, we saw a sign for the trailhead to the top of a “Lookout Mt.” (6,936). I stopped to read the sign and realized the trail led to the flattop I’d seen from the bluff. Since the sign said the loop trail to the summit and back is only seven miles and a 1,200-foot ascent, I added the hike to my list of things to do.

Roughly a mile high and ringed with mountains, Big Summit Prairie is like a lost world. It’s like an oasis of pastoral peace and serenity hidden in the woods. One of the oldest continuously settled areas in all of eastern Oregon, it’s a place onto itself conveniently located on the way to nowhere (although the picnic table full of folks living out in Izee and Supley might rightly object to that characterization). The backroads around here are so empty that folks driving pickups and cars often wave as they pass each other. But up there in Big Summit Prairie the ranchers stretch their necks at you as if wondering how you’d found them and how long you intend to stay.

Now all across America where ever there are moun­tains are there are ones called “lookout.” In the USA, Lookout Mountains are about as common as fleas on a sheep dog in spring, or about as hackneyed as hackneyed gets. Seeing how during the 20^th Century the Forest Service erected and then mothballed hundreds of Fire Lookouts across the land, and taking into account the influence of Forest Service personnel within the USGS when it came to producing the nation’s topographical maps, it makes sense that mountains would get named after tiny, temporary human dwellings instead of the other way around. Anyway, when we did get atop of the flat-topped mountain called Lookout, and having enough of the pagan in me to want to show some respect, in my mind I renamed it Big Summit Mesa.

About four miles stem-to-stern and two miles wide, the tabletop is shaped like an elaborate puzzle piece resting flat on a wrinkled blanket. Surely, I think when we’ve reached the summit at the sight of the long-gone fire lookout, I’m standing on the surface of that ancient lake of solidified lava; surely this is an island left behind by that vanished sea; surely this is ancient and sacred ground. Beginning in the late 19^th Century, herders came up from Bridge Creek drainage and grazed their sheep up here during late summer, as did the cattleman who’d come before. But all signs of their wanderings have been erased by the wind. One of the West’s bloodiest “range wars” was fought around here and the skirmishes went on for decades. I wondered if up here there’d been bloodshed and, since such wars were fought more for pride than for profit, I supposed it was possible.

From up there on those sky-scrapping flatlands any­thing approaching a panoramic view is impossible, of course, and so as a “lookout” the summit was very sec­ond rate. Still I did get an eyeful of the spacious view from the mesa’s southwestern lip and, even though I tried, I couldn’t see anything I could mistake for the Devil, his Kin, Slaves or Works anywhere. Nothing inspired fear. ¥¥

Audet & Jordan

WHERE’S GOLDILOCKS? Ms. Jacqueline Audet was last seen in June of this year when she and her road dog (traveling companion), Donald Jordan were arrested for drunk in public. Jordan is twice Ms. Audet’s age and not a guy most parents would like to see their daughter bring home. “Mom, Dad. I’d like you to meet my fiancé and road dog, Don.” Mom keels over in dead faint, Dad runs for his gun. Anyway, Mendocino County’s most intriguing couple told people they, and their giant white beast dog, were headed outtahere, and it seems they went. But where? We began following Ms. Audet’s frequent encounters with law enforcement, most of them with the Fort Bragg Police Department who, it must be said, often saved the girl from herself. She was very young, 19, when we first saw her in the booking log; 23 now, and seemed terribly vulnerable to adopt the street as her life path. We soon learned that Goldie had also been noted by many shocked Mendo people who also worried about her. She of course resented the attention, especially the references to her as Goldilocks, and asked us all to butt out in a letter from the County Jail. Maybe, by some miracle, Goldie has pulled herself together. No news could be good news, but it’s unlikely in her case. But if you’ve seen Ms. Audet, who seemed so thoroughly Mendo, we’d like to know.

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THE SHEEP DOG TRIALS this weekend at the UC Extension grounds in Hopland are expected to draw as many as 140 dogs, testimony, Kevin Owens tells us, to the growing popularity of the sport. Owens’ dogs will of course be competing in contests “a little bit different than the ones we’re used to here in Boonville,” he says, with the sheep some 500 yards distant when the dogs dash out to round them up and bring them back to their handlers. Contests begin Friday and run through Monday.

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RECOMMENDED VIEWING: “Let The Fire Burn,” a documentary film about the famous, and infamously grotesque, MOVE event in 1985 Philadelphia. A small group of mostly black cultists led by a charismatic “Christian” preacher calling himself John Africa were given a row house by a wacky white liberal in a black workingclass neighborhood smack dab in the center of the city of brotherly love. The group’s guiding principles were pegged to natural living and a hostility for modern technology.

A rural setting — Mendocino County would have worked nicely for them — but there they were in the middle of big city urban where they were soon blaring round-the-clock loudspeaker denunciations of their black neighbors and the “white mofo-ing power structure.” MOVE got close to nature by tearing up sidewalks and walking around nude. The neighbors of course wanted them out. Philly, at the time, was led by a set of cartoon-quality villains who included a policeman become mayor named Rizzo, soon succeeded by a vacillating black mayor named Goode, and a variety of incompetents in the power slots at the police and fire commissions. With this cast of characters in place it was only a matter of time before people got killed. MOVE wouldn’t move off outraging everyone they came in contact with except distant libs so the police eventually devised a two-pound bomb composed of chemicals impervious to water which they dropped by helicopter on MOVE’s house, which was home to numerous children and adults. The bomb ignited the whole neighborhood with the loss of more than 80 homes, five MOVE children dead, six adult MOVEs dead. A white cop saved one child from the inferno. One of his colleagues soon wrote “Nigger Lover” on his locker at the station house, giving us all a pretty clear of the prevailing civic vibe. The film is entirely taken from news footage, and the whole of it a reminder, if one is needed, that we are citizens of a helluva crazy country.

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HILLARY CLINTON is the Democrats’ choice to succeed Obama as President. What kind of President will she be? Mrs. Clinton is speaking to the National Association of Realtors at the Moscone Center in SF this Saturday, some 22,000 of them. No press of any kind is allowed, but the realtors will undoubtedly cell phone photograph Hill’s clichés and upload them and her on YouTube. That night, Big Lib is throwing Hillary a fundraiser at San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom, a “Millennial Network” event to benefit the Clinton Foundation. Ticket prices range from $150 to $5,000, and this event is also closed to the media.

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THE WINTER WAS OVER, for it was now April, and had any tillage been intended it would have been commenced — even in Ireland. It was the beginning of April, but the weather was still stormy and cold, and the east wind, which as a rule, strikes Ireland with but a light hand, was blowing sharply. On a sudden a squall of rain came on — one of those spring squalls which are so piercingly cold, but which are sure to pass by rapidly, if the wayfarer will have patience to wait for them. Herbert, remembering his former discomfiture, resolved that he would have such patience, and dismounting from his horse at a cabin on the roadside, entered it himself, and led his horse in after him. In England no one would think of taking his steed into a poor man’s cottage, and would have hardly put his beast into a cottager’s shed without leave asked and granted; but people are more intimate with each other and take greater liberties in Ireland. It is no uncommon thing on a wet hunting-day to see a cabin packed with horses, and the children moving about among them almost as unconcernedly as though the animals were pigs. But then the Irish horse are so well mannered and good-natured.

— Anthony Trollope, 1847; from “Castle Richmond”

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ON OCTOBER 26, 2013 around 11pm Mendocino County Deputies responded to an agency assistance call from Law Enforcement Officers of the US Forest Service (USFS). LEO’s reported they had attempted to stop two vehicles leaving the Mendocino National Forest, the occupants of which were suspected to be involved in the cultivation of marijuana on forest lands. As the LEO’s initiated two separate traffic stops, one driver and one passenger from each vehicle, jumped out of the vehicles as they were still moving. Both vehicles crashed with the suspects fleeing from officers into the woods. The four suspects were described as being Hispanic males. Officers searched the area but the suspects were not located. In one of the crashed vehicles LEO’s located in excess of 40 pounds of processed marijuana.

ON OCTOBER 31, 2013 around 9:55am a family member of Artemio Garcia Chavez, a 24 year old male, from Eureka CA contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office to report he’d been in one of the involved vehicles related to this incident and had fled from LEO’s. His family has not heard from him since 10/26/2013. One of the other involved suspects later told family members that Artemio called him approximately 3 hours after they fled to say he was “up on the hill and had sprained his ankle” but it was unknown exactly where he was when he called. According to the family member the three other suspects were accounted for but were not interested in coming forward to assist law enforcement with information related to this missing person’s case. Mendocino County Deputies, family members, other residents of this area, USFS Fire crews, USFS LEO’s and Mendocino County Search and Rescue Volunteers responded to the area where Artemio fled from the vehicle and conducted a search of the surrounding area but Artemio was not located. His whereabouts are unknown at this time. Artemio is 24 years old, is 5’07″ tall, weighing 190 pounds, with black short shaven hair, and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a gray hooded sweatshirt. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is requesting anyone who has information related to this missing person’s case contact the Mendocino County Tip Line at (707)234-2100.

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ON NOVEMBER 2, 2013 at about 6:19pm, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies received a radio call for service of a reported assault with a vehicle in the 17900 block of North Highway 1 in Fort Bragg. It was also reported that the female victim had sustained injury and emergency medical personnel were responding. Deputies arrived on scene at approximately 1821 hours and located the victim seated in a vehicle parked at 17875 North Highway 1. Upon contact with the victim, Deputies observed that she had a laceration type injury to her right knee that was approximately 4 inches in length. The victim told Deputies that she had tripped and fell, and the fall caused the injury to her knee.

Villalpando

Deputies spoke to the suspect Moises Villalpando, 27, of Fort Bragg, who was also present on scene. The suspect told deputies that he was attempting to leave the location when the victim, who did not want him to leave, grabbed ahold of the vehicle. The suspect said he attempted to drive away, while the victim continued to hold onto the vehicle, and the victim fell and sustained the injury to her knee. Deputies learned the victim and suspect were also invovled in a cohabitating/dating relationship. Deputies contacted the reporting person who told deputies the victim and suspect were engaged in a verbal argument. The reporting person said the suspect made an attempt to leave the location while the victim was attempting to enter the vehicle and the victim was ran over at that time. Based on evidence at the scene and the statement obtained from the witness, Deputies arrested the suspect for assault with a deadly weapon and domestic battery. Incident to that arrest and during a search of the suspect’s person, Deputies located 0.5 grams of a white powdery type substance that later field-tested presumptive positive for cocaine. The suspect was also found to be on active Post Release Community Supervision and was ultimately transported to the Mendocino County Jail and booked on the listed charges with no bail.

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DEAR ANDERSON VALLEY FOLKS

This is to inform you of an event taking place this coming weekend in Boonville – the Veterans Day Service of Remembrance. I am not a military man but both of my grandfathers fought in the trenches of World War One and my interest in history and the ordeals and suffering faced by soldiers in battle stems from many hours spent in the company of my grandfathers as a child, teenager, and young man. Remembrance Day services (as they are called in the U.K.) are very significant events back there and so for the past five years I have organized a similar such gathering here in Anderson Valley. On Sunday, November 10th at 10.30am, in cooperation with the local branch of the American Legion, we shall be presenting what is hopefully considered to be an important event here in the Valley – one that commemorates those who have died or were killed while serving their country, and to thank our Veterans and those who are currently serving in the military. This event will take place at the Remembrance Wall at the Evergreen Cemetery on Anderson Valley Way, lasting for perhaps forty-five minutes. It will not be excessively political or militaristic, nor is it of an overtly religious nature, although I hope it addresses these areas in a respectful way. Most importantly by far, those in attendance will be given the opportunity to show their support and appreciation for loved ones who have passed, to those who are still with us who have given so much in the past, and to those who continue to do so. Hopefully we can get a good turnout which would be greatly appreciated by many. — Kind regards, Steve Sparks.

PS. In the event of rain, the service will be moved to the Veterans Hall/Senior Center in Boonville — notices will be posted at the cemetery if this is the case.

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FERMENTATION FEST — Fermentation is a skill used around the world for preserving food. It is basically the transformation of food by various bacteria, fungi and enzymes they produce into a healthful form that renders the food more digestible and full of healthful benefits. On Sunday November 17, the Anderson Valley Foodshed Group is hosting a Fermentation Party. This is a perfect time of year to think about fermentation because it is a good way to preserve many vegetables that are in abundance at this time. If you are already making sauerkraut, kimchee, or any of the various other fermented vegetables, please come with your expertise to share. If you have never fermented, then be prepared to learn a skill that will greatly benefit you and your family. We will begin the Fermentation Fest at about 3:00. If you would like to go home from the event with a jar of fermenting kraut, please bring a wide-mouth pint jar with lid and some vegetables from your garden or organic vegetables from the store. Any vegetable can be shredded or chopped up and fermented. It’s a good way to use up the last of the produce from your summer garden. (Tomatoes don’t do well.) Bring what you have. We’ll be doing lots of shredding, chopping and slicing. Bring your own knife if you’d like. Herbs and spices for flavoring are nice, too. We will also be Celebrating Abundance, so, if you have too much of anything in your garden or orchard, please bring it to share. You might go home with someone else’s abundance. The produce that isn’t snatched up will go to the AV Food Bank. (If there is any food item you would like to bring specifically for the Food Bank, please do so. The following Tuesday is their Thanksgiving food distribution.) The Apple Press will be there if you have apples you would like to press into juice. When we are finished preparing the ferment (about six), we will all share another delicious Anderson Valley Local Food Potluck. Fermenters are asked to bring krauts for tasting. Also, don’t forget to BYO (bring your own dishes) and a serving utensil for your potluck dish. You will also have the opportunity to learn about how you can connect with AV Foodshed Group projects. We have lots of dreams for our local foodshed. We hope you will want to be more involved with making Our Local Food Dreams Come True. We will also be having a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to Aquarelle Café and Wine Bar, which was donated by Petit Teton Farm. See you at the AV Solar Grange in Philo on Sunday November 17. 3:00ish for Fermentation 6:00ish for the Local Food Potluck

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SALLY JEWELL, US Secretary of the Interior and fracking advocate, is supposed to visit Point Arena this Friday for a photo op celebrating the Stornetta Public Lands acquisition now managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Arrival time and venue to be announced.

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ANDERSON VALLEY TRAIL PLANNING

Dear Anderson Valley Community Members and Organizations:

What is your vision for a bicycle and pedestrian trail through Anderson Valley?

Please help spread the word about the upcoming Valley Trail Planning Events November 12 & 14. (See the announcement below). *Share widely with your social networks, friends, neighbors, and with your community organizations.* By encouraging people to attend, you can help make sure the Valley Trail Plan is a community-based plan and that local voices are heard. If your organization would like to offer information about the trail or other community initiatives at the November 14 workshop, please contact me to make arrangements. I am the contact for workshop organizing. Looking Forward! Alison Alison Pernell Project Manager Local Government Commission http://www.lgc.org apernell@lgc.org

Help the Valley Trail project take the next step! Your input is needed at a series of community planning events November 12 and 14, to design a bicycle and pedestrian trail along the Highway 128 corridor. The corridor extends from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line near Cloverdale to the Highway 128/1 junction in Mendocino County, a distance of approximately 51 miles. Community input will help identify a range of improvements along the corridor. Help identify community preferences for trail design and alignment through the communities of Yorkville, Boonville, Philo and Navarro, as well as points in between. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate and exchange ideas. All events will be offered in Spanish and English. Participate in a *Walking Assessment *of downtown Boonville on Tuesday, November 12 (3:30 – 5:00pm). Meet in front of the Boonville General Store, 14077 A Highway 128. During the walking assessment, participants will evaluate pedestrian and bicycle safety in downtown Boonville and discuss options for trail design. (Please wear comfortable shoes.) A free *Bus Tour* will be conducted Thursday, November 14 (10:45 am – 2:00 pm) to visit potential trail routes along the Highway 128 corridor. Meet at 10:45 am at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, 17700 Highway 253, Boonville, to load the bus. Snacks will be provided; bring a bag lunch. This will be an opportunity to discuss trail alignment and to evaluate opportunities and constraints along the corridor. A *Community Workshop* will be conducted Thursday, November 14 (5:00 – 8:00 pm) at the Anderson Valley Fair Grounds Dining Hall, Boonville. Free food will be provided by Boont Berry Farm beginning at 5:00 pm. Following a presentation on trails, participants will have a chance to become “community designers” as they create and share their own designs for the trail. Last year, the Valley Trail Coalition worked with the Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG) to successfully submit a grant application to Caltrans to fund a feasibility study and design for the trail. The community planning events, and the resulting study and designs are funded through Caltrans’ Community-Based Transportation Planning Grant funds, and a local match from MCOG. The community planning events are organized by the non-profit Local Government Commission, in coordination with Alta Planning and Design. For more information, visit www.valleytrail.org or www.mendocinocog.org/reports_projects-SR128Trail.htm.

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TWO STICKS & A BOWL

by Chili Bill Eichinger

Is there an American household where the name Chun King isn’t recognized? It’s been so long since I personally looked for this erstwhile staple that the answer could very well be “yes”. As a child in the 50’s it was customary to have this culinary delight at least once a week. And since it was a simple matter of opening two cans, heating up the gelatinous glop in a pan and the noodles in the oven, any kid could feed him or herself in a case of dire necessity. The biggest hurdle was getting the soy sauce out of the cabinet; the dinette sets in those days had chairs that were a little unstable.

That concoction of mystery meat, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, celery and cornstarch was my introduction to “Chinese food”. As a teen in Kansas City, I graduated to the next level by frequenting the only Chinese restaurant in town, the fabulous House of Toy. Here you got all the standard dishes designed for white folks: Almond Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pam, Sweet and Sour Pork, Shrimp Fried Rice, etc., etc. This was truly an exotic experience for all of us “corn bred, corn fed” types. Not to mention the fact that this was the only place you saw a Chinese face, unless you were going to UMKC and happened to run into a foreign exchange student from the Biology Dept. When I returned to K.C. in 1977, after a seven-year hiatus, I was amazed to find a slew of Chinese restaurants in the phone book, as well as an Oriental grocery store! I went to a place that advertised itself as being a Hunan-Szechuan style eatery, ready to expose it for the sham that I thought it would surely be. Was I in for a big surprise—the food was not only the real deal, but the chef came out and demonstrated how to make hand-pulled noodles, which elicited a flood of oohs and ahhs. “Well, KC,” I said to myself, “you’ve certainly come of age.”

In my early days in SF I came to appreciate one of the most redeeming values of Chinese food— it’s CHEAP!! Those of us who weren’t bicycle messengers needed something besides burritos to live on, and fried rice was the answer. Before its demise a few years back, the Yee Jun restaurant was the oldest existing Chinese joint in SF; in its heyday it was a true hippy haven. A giant bowl of fried rice was 75 cents, and often the one meal of the day for some folks. In addition, this place had the funk; marble top tables, cool wood booths that looked like they could, at any moment, revolve into the wall and be replaced by an empty duplicate, the previous occupants waking up far out at sea. The waiters were all at least ninety years old and said little, other than “you ready order?” The one exception was this geezer who called everyone “John”. I would always say my name wasn’t John, to which he would always say “OK, John, what you want?” Later on, in a book on the history of the Chinese in California, I discovered that Caucasians used the pejorative term “John” to denote Chinese men.This guy was just getting his kicks! The owners also seemed to get a kick out of their clientele, and paid homage by decorating the beautiful wrought iron cashier’s cage with little signs that said “RIGHT ON” and “FAR OUT” and, of course “GROOVY”.

The terms “Cantonese”, “Mandarin”, “Peking Style” etc., had no meaning for me then. It was only after I’d gotten settled in and made some friends at a local bar that I got exposed to variations on the theme. There was a fellow named Ed who not only loved Chinese food but spoke Mandarin as well. He took a bunch of us folks to a little place called Ya Su Yuan that served spicy, Northern style dishes. It was an epiphany! From that night on I went there every weekend and tried as many new dishes as possible. I even got one of the waiters to give me an old, somewhat tattered menu that I had translated into Chinese so that I could order the dishes properly no matter what restaurant I was visiting.

The bubble burst one evening when I noticed that the food at Ya Su Yuan wasn’t up to snuff. I commented to the waiter, who told me that the chef had quit to open his own restaurant, but he didn’t know where. I nearly had a breakdown on the spot, but managed to recover back at the bar, where Ed and I commiserated over several pints of beer. For the next couple of weeks I wandered around Chinatown in a fog, looking in windows for a sign, a familiar face, any clue that would help me find a replacement. And then one day on Jackson Street, in the midst of twenty other eateries, I looked at the menu in the window of a place called Hui Bing Low. It looked amazingly like the menu at Ya Su Yuan; there was the little pig icon next to “Pork Dishes” and ditto the cow next to “Beef Dishes”. The selections were the same!! I ran inside and anxiously asked the waiter where the chef was from; he said Taiwan. I said, no, what restaurant? Oh, he used to work one block over on Pacific Street. Yahoo!! It was my main man! I sat down and ordered two of my favorite dishes; they tasted better than ever. The waiter introduced himself as Paul and told me that the chef was in fact his father. I tried to explain how relieved I was to find him, but I think it went over his head. No matter—it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Things got even better when Steve Chin became a waiter there. Steve was Mongolian by heritage, raised in Japan and educated in Manhattan Kansas! He was a real live wire, a hustler and a go-getter. Anything that wasn’t on the menu that I wanted to try, no problem, Steve put it on the table. I started to have banquets there, gathering ten or so people together and saying hey, it’s ten bucks a head plus beer and the tip, and we eat whatever comes out the gate. People were a little less picky and a little more adventuresome in those days, so this plan was easy to carry out. On one occasion, before the regular dishes started to appear, Steve brought out a small plate containing strips of some unidentifiable substance. He wouldn’t say what it was until everyone had had a piece; it was a little chewy and tasted like soy sauce and sesame. He finally told us it was pig’s ear. There were a couple of groans, but nothing left on the plate. It was the custom of the cooks to keep a whole pig’s head in a bucket of soy sauce and spices. Whenever they needed a quick snack they could just run over to the fridge and slice off a chunk of head to chew on while flailing away at the wok. Yummy nums! Today, I can find pig’s ear on the menu at a number of restaurants in the city and I usually have some for old times sake.

I became a bit of a food snob (still am, in a way), showing disdain for the blandness of Cantonese food, an error that has been corrected in recent years. I couldn’t get it hot enough, no matter what adjective I used. I never got around to drawing a flaming ass on a napkin to get the point across, but I doubt that would’ve helped anyway. I got my comeuppance one night at the original Hunan restaurant on Kearny St. I sat at the counter and ordered a chicken dish from the waiter; I said to make it extra hot. The cooks were all women that night, one of them a big gal, working right in front of me. I saw her reading my order and I swear to God she mumbled something like ‘extra hot—sheeit!’ When the dish came I could see that I was in trouble—it was covered in dried red chile flakes. I had at it and in a few minutes the sweat was rolling down the back of my head like a waterfall. I kept thinking about the old moose turd pie joke—“It’s good though, real good”. At one point, the woman turned around and saw it was me eating her little joke; the look of contempt on her face made me feel special. At the register, she gave me another parting shot. I looked her dead in the eye and said, “That was pretty good, but it could have been a little spicier!” I bolted and ran to Vesuvio’s, where I ordered two of the coldest beers in the house.

There were two exceptions to the spicy rule. Late at night, after the bars closed, there were no Peking style restaurants open, so we had to settle for Cantonese. At the place of choice, Sai Yon, we had the added attraction of “cold tea”, which was beer served in a teapot. Our waiters, Wing and Albert, knew which side their won ton was buttered on and kept the suds flowing. They also told us which vegetables were the freshest, what fish was special that day, etc. This was in that era when you could barely get a Chinese waiter to give you the time of day. And they liked to have their bit of fun now and then, such as the time Albert sternly advised us that there was no cold tea. We were like a bunch of little boys who’d just been told that there would be no chocolate milk after nap time. We glumly ordered and Albert put some teacups on the table and ceremoniously poured for us. He then went off to huddle with Wing in a nearby corner. Everyone had a sip of their tea and gasped—it was Scotch! The conspirators were sheepishly laughing into their hands, trying not to look at us.

My other exception involved roast pork. A number of Cantonese cafes offered “American food”, which meant you got some kind of meat, a green vegetable and rice; a full plate of food for a decent price. Wooey Louie Gooey (not Donald Duck’s Chinese nephews), had the best roast pork I’ve ever eaten in my life, bar none. And they made brown gravy that I would eat poured over cheap white bread, if that’s all there was. The pork was chopped off a big roast as needed, piled on a plate with boiled cabbage and a huge mound of steamed rice. I would always politely ask for extra gravy on the rice, and I got it, because they could tell I was sincere in my love for gravy.

One thing I’ve developed over the years is a basic litmus test for new restaurants, if I’m dining alone. If it’s a Mandarin, Hunan, Szechuan or Peking style cuisine, I always order a dish called Ma Po Do Fu, which is known in English as Spicy Bean Curd or any number of variations on that name. It is perhaps one of the most famous of all Szechuan dishes and I’ve had it fixed in countless ways; I also have what is supposed to be an authentic recipe. For me, I prefer ground pork over beef, but it has to be fresh; I’ve had some so-called ground pork that made me wonder if I was going to live through the night. Another variable is the type of bean curd used; I like the soft Japanese style, which I think has the best flavor, but is also more fragile and less resilient to stir-frying. There can never be too much garlic or hot pepper, and a bit of black bean paste and ginger is OK as well. Scallions are in the original recipe, but you don’t see them all the time. Some chefs like to add peas and even a little mushroom and I really like that. The main thing is getting the ratio of meat to curd just right, the right consistency to the sauce and throwing in that little dash of sesame oil at the end. If I deem that the chef has done a good job on this one dish, I’ll probably come and try some of his other dishes.

If I’m in a Cantonese place, I get a variation of the above called Beef and Bean Curd. This is your high protein meal; I usually have it over rice on the Lunch Special. This isn’t a complicated dish, but it can be seriously ruined. Some cooks have a heavy hand with the cornstarch, resulting in a sauce that clings to your fork and can be strung out like chewing gum. Very unappetizing. The beef can have a gray color and a really soft texture, like it’s been sitting in a marinade that has too much baking soda. And the bean curd can be past its prime, showing a mottled appearance and a having a chewy texture.

Again, the crucial things are meat-to-curd ratio, sauce flavor and consistency, and freshness. In some of your better places, they throw in some black mushrooms, which puts this dish over the top.

There have been, and still are, some downsides to eating Chinese food. The negative attitude of waiters in the old days could be daunting. Asking about anything written in Chinese, whether it be on the menu or on the wall, would bring a response like “you don’t want try” or “you don’t like”. The only way to get to try these items was to go with a Chinese person. Another stupefying incident involved my asking for beef and asparagus. The menu had “Beef and Broccoli” and “Pork and Asparagus” listed, so I thought, hey, shouldn’t be any problem here. When I ordered, the waiter simply said, “Sorry, not on the menu”. I pointed out the other two dishes, and then he got a little huffy. “Not on menu!” I simply got up and left. Today there are more women waiting tables, and they are definitely friendlier and more helpful. I can ask about a dish that goes by my table and even get the Chinese name for it. At a now defunct place that was a favorite, I asked about a dish that I thought was chicken, since I could make out the character for “chicken” in last place. The waitress giggled and said it wasn’t chicken, it was frog! She explained that the preceding character, combined with the last one, equaled “frog”. Sure enough, when I looked it up in my little book of food characters, it meant “field” or “rice paddy”. So a frog is a “rice paddy chicken”!

Another irksome, but necessary, innovation in Chinese (and other Asian) restaurants was the demise of re-usable wooden chopsticks. This came about after the Health Dept. decided to outlaw the use of anything made of wood, citing a bacteria problem, which is an unfortunate reality. Some restaurants went to the washable plastic sticks, which are the right length but difficult to use on certain dishes with a slippery surface. Other establish-ments chose the throwaway wooden style, which have better gripping quality but are too short for my taste.

A sidebar to this chopstick subject: it drives me mad to watch someone, who’s obviously inept at their usage, sit there and make a mess when they could be eating along with the rest of us. There’s no shame in using a fork! And if you insist on sticks, don’t blame me when all the food’s gone and you’re still hungry. If you observe Chinese people eating, you’ll notice everyone has a little bowl in which the rice is placed. You use your chopsticks to retrieve food from the sundry plates of food on the table. You keep the bit of food over or in the small bowl as you bring it back to the area over your plate, so it doesn’t drip all over the place. You can use the chopsticks as a shovel to get food from the bowl into your cakehole. It’s all simple and logical; try it some time.

Probably the most bizarre dining experience I can remember occurred at a restaurant called Soon Lee, out near the end of Church Street in Noe Valley. This place was designed for white people who were just too lazy to go anywhere else. I was alone and decided to try some Szechuan chicken dish that sounded good in theory. It turned out to be one of those dishes where they compensate for the lack of meat by adding a pound of onions and bell pepper. Well at least I was getting my vegetables. I was picking around the plate when I stumbled onto something that wasn’t quite identifiable. I held it up in the air in my chopsticks, turning it every which way. I finally discerned a little head and part of a tail, but no feet. It was a salamander, about four inches long! I immediately got the waiter’s attention and asked if this was going to cost me extra. He looked like he was going to have to change his shorts. “You get something else, you no pay, you no pay!!” I declined the different dish but took him up on the “no pay” offer. I went back to this place after it changed owners; hard to believe, but it was worse. The food was like something that would come out of a bag marked “Open Here—Pour in Trough—Add Water”.

A couple of years ago I was sitting in the Rat and Raven bar with some of my home fries on Friday afternoon. At some point following the ingestion of several glasses of high quality bourbon, I declared that I was going to eat at every Chinese restaurant in San Francisco. This was met with a few ‘uh huhs’and one or two ‘sures’. As of this writing, your faithful servant has been to over one hundred purveyors of Lean, Mean, Eastern Cuisine, aided and abetted by Mr. Charles Hardy, who will eat just about anything that isn’t marked “Not For Human Consumption”. I may have to amend the declaration to “every address that serves Chinese food”, since they tend to come and go. How much longer it will take is anybody’s guess, since there are some places you just have to go back to once in awhile. I can’t wait to get to the point where I narrow it down to the Top Five, or the Top Ten, or Best Shanghainese, etc.; where I can say “please don’t cook the food in a gallon of peanut oil—I’m a heart patient” and they’ll take me seriously. At some point, when time and money make it feasible, I’m going to learn to speak, read and write Chinese. Everyone insists that I learn to speak Mandarin, the most widely spoken language in the world—except in San Francisco, where most Chinese speak Cantonese, and one dialect in particular. By learning the language, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind what I mean when I say “no salt, no MSG”.

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‘GO EAST OLD FRIEND; GO EAST…”

by William J. Hughes

The battle of Gettysburg. Only 150 years ago, humans still in chains, Lee took his army of Northern Virginia into the north, the Union, Pennsylvannia.

I have to go. Maybe it’s Trayvon Martin and all that can still go wrong. Or surely it’s the Vietnam dollar settlement I just got from the VA. Gotta go. Can go.

So, while I’m back east, the Baltimore Basilica, Annapolis and the Naval Academy for their exhibit on our naval war of 1812. If you are an historian of any kind it is a must. On to Charlottesville, VA for some family, then way up into West Virginia for a killed comrade in Vietnam and some family around DC. Virginia and my Long Island home to address some old friends and assess what Hurricane Sandy did to my little East Rockaway.

Out of Sacto and into Dulles is easily managed. As the jet descends into our national capital all sorts of mixed feelings about our nation’s capital, but I’m here to honor the brave Union soldiers who stood up at Gettysburg to save not just our democracy but democracy itself. Look up Lincoln’s first inaugural address. You’ll understand. I’ve swung up and down with the Lincoln man. All in with Abe, then why didn’t he prevent the war somehow, then all in again with his defense of democracy, the only one of its kind, for the rest of mankind, the democracy “of the people, by the people and for the people…” All the people…

Rental car the size of a BIC, all of us people still in love with our gasoline, trying to reduce the use with my BIC.

100°, heavy humidity. Welcome to the east in July.

Ever taste the traffic around DC? LA’s older brother, half-witted brother. It’s a grind going around to get north to north to Frederick, Maryland, the route a lot of the Rebs took to Gettysburg and Antietam earlier on in the slaughter.

Barbara Fritchie? “Who touches a hair on your gray head/dies like a dog/march on he said…” from Whittier’s poem of the Rebs passing through Yankee-ish Frederick, Civil War Maryland like a Civil War Balkans, bonding the two worlds of north and south, slave and free. Ms Fritchie and her like hanging out the Stars & Stripes as the Stars & Bars marched through town. Thus the poem. And here is where Lee forgot his special order. Tipping off the Yanks to his advance on Sharpsburg, ending in the one-day grand prize total of 23,000 casualties between the two armies.

Old Frederick is just that, brick and board, row house like, scrunched together narrow, church steeples, on the route of too many armies.

I’m in Motel 6, too many people over too long a time, shabby exterior, clean enough interior, thirty miles from Gettysburg.

Route 15 north in the morning. Trayvon Martin after the battle of Gettysburg. What we won, what we lost, but Route 15 is too gorgeous, too gentle to linger on the bad, gentle Appalachians in the distance, big farms big barns, big Greek column silos, back east bucolic; Lee’s got 75,000 heading north into Pennsylvania. Meade has 90,000 looking for Lee.

Jeb Stuart of the Reb cavalry is off on his own, the Union forces in between him and who he’s supposed to be spotting for, Lee and his army. The armies are going to find themselves by chance but not before I have a big buckle busting breakfast in Gettysburg.

Gettysburg has been overrun over the years by T-shirts, ghost tours and wax presidents. My version of a trooper’s biscuit and water breakfast would feed two platoons of troopers full to the belly. Time to thank the blue-bellies and regale the Rebs, again.

Stifling heat, like July 1863, not many folks around at 10am. Must be the heat.

Cool and calm in the very ample Visitors Center. I’ll do the movie and the cyclorama. Cyclorama? I’ll tell you after the film.

The film is Morgan Freeman, of course, narrating and Sam Waterston as Lincoln. It’s the events leading up to and including the three days of Gettysburg. Lee’s on a roll at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. If he can get a victory in the north, well, African-American ancestors spend a lot more time in chains.

Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln was fine and here Sam Waterston really gets that high-pitched voice of Lincoln. It all makes you weep. Even after all this here there’s still two years of it to go.

So, the cyclorama, a separate theatre, a 360° wall painting of Pickett’s charge, narrated and lit up as the events unfold. It’s all rather stunning, a French artist, Paul Dominique Philippoteaux, and his enormous painting, produced in France from notes and sketches of the battle veterans who were there. How could they have done all this to each other? To me the painting depiction seems too disjointed, units all over the place, fragmented when my image of it is a solid line of Yanks that the Rebs crash up against and flame out.

Today is my birthday, July 19^th, hot and muggy. Onto the battlefield auto tour which is free. See, our National Parks are our pride.

It’s going to be tough just getting out of the air-conditioned car. Poor baby. I’m here for all the young baby teenage Americans who died beside me in Vietnam. I’m here guys, to pay my respects.

Tour buses and some visitors actually on bicycles in this heat. Beats on foot with musket and cannon.

Some green, somewhat burnt-over fields of Pennsylvania. McPherson’s Ridge first up.

Buford’s mounted Yanks are out nosing around the Rebs, who’ve been hidden behind the Blue Ridge, some of them have units advancing towards Gettysburg (looking for shoes as the story goes).

Buford’s way outnumbered but he’s got to dismount and deliver. Hold this line until Reynolds and his infantry can come up and join him.

Buford’s men have Spencer repeating rifles so they can pour in more fire than the massed musket Rebs, the Yanks standing and retreating until Reynolds and the Iron Brigade can join in the fight, the two armies blind to each other, stumbling in, Lee pissed off because he chose to choose the fighting ground, green fields and split rail fences, Rebs comin’ on, Yanks falling back, the two great armies, whether they wanted to or not, now committed, Day 1 a slaughterhouse of accident and courage, Reynolds killed, the Yanks pushed back through Gettysburg, the sunset the only respite.

Visitors in and out of their cars, kids on cannons, church steeples in the near distance, an eternal light peace memorial of a permanent strength in a perfect place for it.

Day 2 of the horror begins with the big armies moving, jockeying, fighting for position, lines being drawn, the Yanks taking up the higher ground on Culp’s Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and the Round Tops.

Longstreet tells Lee, begs Lee, not to do this. But Bob Lee knows best having kicked much Yankee ass in Virginia.

But the Yanks give as good as they get on the flanks. Major General Sickle of the Yanks does his own thing and moves his regiment forward from the Yank lines to what he considers a better position. Nope. The Rebs come from the wheat field, the peach orchard, and hack Sickle’s regiment to hell before they stumble back to their lines, while on Little Round Top Joshua Chamberlain of the 20^th Maine, linguistic professor at Bowdoin College in Maine, stout Unionist, his unit out of ammo, Texans and Alabamans ready to crack his unit, flank the Yanks and possibly armistice the war, when Chamberlain orders his men to stand up, fix bayonets and charge.

The Rebs run, the Union preserved, other bodies stacked in the rocks of the Devil’s Den and at the base of Culp’s Hill on the right flank.

Day 3, July 3, and Lee still ain’t convinced. Longstreet still is. Don’t do it, General. But Bob knows best: I’ll use Pickett’s fresh troops to crack em open in the middle with Jeb Stuart from the rear eatin’ up their retreat.

Pickett’s charge. Into the valley of death. No one comes out whole and in the rear, George fuckin’ Armstrong Custer and his Michigan cavalry, Custer out front, where else, blow Jeb Stuart apart, Custer another hero of Gettysburg.

It’s a quiet cruise through the whole business, statues, cannons, fences and form fields, the Round Tops all gnarly and bouldery, solemnity, statue of Lee, strange, degrading.

It’s an honor for me on this 150. You men who gave everything. “Four score and seven years ago…” perhaps the finest speech in history completes the day.

Done, the day still young enough to continue on to Baltimore, all of it around here so close, Philadelphia, D.C., Baltimore, green hills and farms and barns giving way to I-95s and 295s and bridges and harbor tunnels and tolls, civilization after the silence of a battlefield, Baltimore made of bricks and church steeples, narrow streets, Ft. McHenry and the harbor, rainbow painted iron bridges, busy, busy, busy, thunder showers back east booming, hot and humid, searching unknowingly for the Baltimore Basilica from a PBS presentation. Latrobe, the architect of the nation’s capital, his signature basilica, Catholic, subdued, with a Wright light like his Unitarian in Oak Park, the basilica much in the same way of a Wright New England meeting Hall.

Grinding around streets never meant for cars, i.e., Boston, looking for the basilica, a cab driver helping out in accented English, finally a cop parked at the curb in one of our still all black neighborhoods. He gets me pointed and around two corners and there it is, our nation’s first basilica in Maryland, Land of Mary.

How to describe the basilica? Front porch like a White House, building itself like a Greek temple, two steeples like Russian Orthodox and a dome like Istanbul. Got it? Hope so.

Quiet as a church, empty, soothing, not unadorned but not crushingly so, soothing colors, a Jeffersonian dome, easy on your own home.

I feel blessed, blessed. My prior schoolboy Catholic life. If I’d had this? No, nature itself intervened, but in here I hear nothing but meditations. Maryland, Land of Mary. Church pews like a New England meeting house, like the “one or two if”…in Boston, the altar almost afloat in the cream colors, two sermon mounts like hollowed out chess bishops.

$3.00 to light a candle. I put in $1.00. Forgive me first off for this. “Better to light a candle and still hate all the darkness…”

There’s a blood red cardinal’s hat, round as a picadors, with long heavy tassels like a Spanish Pontiff’s hanging from the ceiling. Something dashing about it.

The crypt, below the altar, a brick catacomb with a religious icons and vestments exhibit. Cool, art wise and the weather outside.

Leveled off, able and willing to claw my way out of the city and further south out of Baltimore and Edgar Allan Poe’s place, which I missed, with enough old city black poverty on the way out to make up for it and on to Annapolis and the W1812 at the Naval Academy.

Something, something south to Annapolis. “A global force for good…?” Certainly in 1812, captured British battle flags from captured British ships of battle.

Green country highway, finally, after fighting with I-95 south.

I’ve been a lot to West Point as a boy, stunning setting above the Hudson River, march of the amazing soldier toys. Did a lot of time aboard ships in my Marine Corps Navy. Can be groovier than ground forces.

Into Annapolis, across the Severn River. Annapolis like Ben Franklin’s Hamptons, cobblestoned and compact, the continental navy does Sag Harbor on Long Island.

Slowly circling around the state’s capital, then and now. Wow, quietly around the quiet streets, getting the lay of the landlubber motel hunter.

Sun setting, hot, got to get in off the street, Super 8 on the edge of the woods up the road. Don’t want cash! What?! But will.

Burgers, sorry. No local cuisine. If you know me you know I’ve dined at the French Laundry but on the road under a motel roof, greasy, part 12 at least.

I can hardly sleep, knowing those captured British flags are out there. Our continental navy and our 1812 fleet. The British are the Roman Empire and we are from Connecticut and we kick their ass at sea, twice, John Paul Jones, our Bonhomme Richard against their Serapis off the coast of Madagascar! Our USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” in 1812 against their Java off the coast of Brazil! And we made them lower their colors.

Breakfast coffee in a tea shop like café along the Annapolis cobblestones. Free breakfast, if you can call a plastic wrapped donut, thin OJ and brown water coffee at the Super 8.

The 1812 exhibit is inside Gate #3 of the Naval Academy of 1785.

10 o’clock quiet on a Saturday morning, young naval MP on guard at the turn of the century gate. He’s all in a strange bluish camouflage. He does my driver’s license ID joking that I don’t have a beard in my photo. 9/11 stuff. He’s originally from Africa. His accent makes me ask. How many Americans in an African navy? What a country.

I’m in. Where is everybody, meaning the midshipman brigade? The campus is solemn, Athenian. A global force for good? For who? Who’s navy can contest us? Who on land will ever see us?

A gift shop? Sure enough, for the Naval Museum inside the Roman block of a building. Like ships, at sea, at war? Yes, yes, minus.

Those ships under sail? Would you? Could you? The British have 400 ships in New York harbor to kick off 1777, ready to rub us out. “Don’t give up the ship…” “I’ve not yet begun to fight…” and we did, putting to sea against Kings and Queens and monarchs. Here in this museum, the charts, the re-enactments, the broadsides, the giving way, the giving quarter, bravery, creating a country.

Ship models behind glass. You could sail these. I go through it all as far as TR’s “Great White Fleet,” odd cruel, Jules Verne like.

Now for the main hall, Mahan Hall, all Romanesque and square-jawed.

In the grand entrance hall, on the walls, behind glass, captured battle flags of our Spanish and British wars. I’m in awe, Union Jacks and Castilian colors. No matter how you may feel about how we created our U.S. selves, again, would you have gone down to the sea in wooden ships to take on the Brits? For me, I doubt it, but here it is, four score and six original frigates ago these Colonials did.

W1812. Who knows? Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans after peace was declared perhaps but, convincing the British empire once again that we are a nation now, one to be reckoned with, on lakes, on bays, on seas, the HMS Macedonia’s replicated masthead in our museum. Two captured cannons of the HMS Cyane, paintings and simulations, us being North Vietnam and the Brits being the U.S. You may have the guns but we got the guts, and my brother runs the tours at Monticello, VA and Thomas Jefferson, so let’s throw in the American Navy and the Barbary pirates of Tripoli for good measure. “A global force for good…” perhaps, and good for us.

Here’s a young female naval ensign officer. I ask her if she goes by midshipwoman. “No, we’re all midshipmen.”

Women in combat. Don’t get me started. How about nobody in combat?!

Down to the sea in ships. Compared to our drones and our aircraft carriers of today this was hook on, hold fast and blow up at extremely close quarters. Know why Marines are called “leathernecks?” High leather collars to prevent saber cuts. Much prefer a drone attack to Marines in the rigging firing muskets.

Silence on campus. Up above the long lawns, gathered around the famous Tecumseh statue, some of the brigade of young officer candidates in formation. I salute their forbears for bearing up under the guns of that “evil empire”!

The morning brings a respite from war. Any drive in Virginia is beautiful, if you forget that former Senator George Allen an the current VAAG Cuccinelli would slap us all in chains, again.

Charlottesville is familiar, where my family resides, 30 miles outside Nellysford, up against the Blue Ridge. 30 miles to just about everything but no way my brother and sister-in-law were going to retire in death camp Florida when you can have golf and swim and et al right here in Wintergreen, surrounded now by upscale brew pubs and Shenandoah National Park with some resort of resorts, Greenbrier, WVA, thrown in.

Parked for a few days of brew beer, golf, hearty home dinners, thunder and lightning thunderstorms up in the Blue Ridge on the Skyline in Shenandoah Park, shopping at an historic log cabin from the Appalachia that some folks lived in up to 1935! How do you judge the age of a log cabin? By the width of the logs. First come, first cut down the big trees and on down.

No Monticello itself on this trip but my brother drips with it, “the” man of all seasons of America, but Jefferson didn’t, or did he, invent large screen HDTV, front and center and my brother’s modern board cabin.

One of our conversations turned to Ogdensburg, New York, where Fredric Remington had his studio. I’ve been, drunk on his work.

My brother tells me of a Headless Horseman statue he saw in Middleburg, VA. One of a kind? Remington like. Hmmm.

But I have an appointment in Beech Bottom, WVA. I’ve had it since a December day in 1967 Vietnam. Joe Craft, 18 years old, blown up by a land mine booby-trap right in front of me. His grave, Beech Bottom, WVA, finally.

You think Virginia is beautiful? Try the West version. No, we don’t want to be in the Confederacy, so West VA. Look up some counties in Louisiana that said no to the Rebs. We ain’t got no slaves, why fight when our land sustains?

Way up in the green mountains of WVA, eventually above Charleston along beside the big brown of the Ohio River, heading for broken down Wheeling, Bethlehem, steel-less, coal company — less, and yet, up ahead, storm cloud steam from a nuke plant, then another, then another gargantuan, then Beech Bottom hardly noticed.

Turn around to it on Route 2, Beech Bottom about a mile long, that’s all.

It’s late in the warm sunny day. The brick village hall right off the two lanes is closed for the day. There’s a monument stone in front. Joe Craft’s name is on it. So, tomorrow. So, tonight in bricktown Wheeling in a $69 something beside the brown Ohio.

In the morning there’s a real ham&egger across the street. Wheeling is reeling according to the friendly owner who inherited from his father who… He runs down Wheeling’s ills. It ain’t Detroit, yet, but…

There’s an iron bridge across the Ohio that a steam train would feel most comfortable on, my little rental in its place.

Beech Bottom, nuclear plant right across the river, open for business, not exactly brand new. My business here is respect.

There’s gentleman in the village hall who knew Joe. He says the town of not very many never recovered. How could it? This gentleman directs me up to the hilltop cemetery, a bit up and out of the little town.

It’s a country cemetery minus the weathered headstones, two gentlemen tending the grounds. I inquire of Joe’s grave but they can’t be sure. OK, sure.

I didn’t bring flowers. I brought marijuana. Shoulda been there Joe. I sprinkle some in the air.

That done, home to Charlottesville by way of Morgantown. Poor Joe. Poor everyone involved with LBJ and Nixon.

Quiet night in the woods with the family. They’re off in the morning to Myrtle Beach, miniature golf capital of the South, for more family. I’m off in the morning to my adopted family in Oakton, VA, suburb of DC.

Route 11 north along the Shenandoah valley where Civil War armies marched up and down, breathtaking valley of abundance, up to Winchester for a day and night, brand new Motel 6, and a drive along Route 50 to Middleburg, VA like a Ralph Lauren polo wardrobe come to life, and Middleburg itself like a horse-jumping inland empire of the Hamptons.

A Visitors Center like a colonial’s snuff box. Yes, we have the Sporting Museum, meaning horses.

Up on a green hill, looking almost brand new Tom Jeff brick.

Entrance fee so no, only here for the Ichabod statue which is down in the cottage-like whitewashed library.

Nobody around, looking around. Ah-ha, there it is, on a table in a side-bar reading room, the library immaculate, not a single homeless person. Sorry to say, it’s a relief.

Ichabod’s on the run, skinny dude, holding on to a skinny Rocket for dear life, the dark and always terrifying headless horseman right on his tail, the Prussian ghost or Brom Bones in disguise, you decide, pumpkin head raised, the two of them pounding along in place. Not a Remington, how could it be, but near enough, near enough.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is part of me, part of all of us with a Rip Van on the side. For another day to come.

Today with Oakton’s Long Island friends. Tried for the Quantico Marine base and some Semper Fi history but got stuck in traffic and around here it can choke you to death.

Oakton, VA is slumber suburbia, quiet and leafy, well to do if you are doing well enough, somewhat well below that 1%.

Comfortable with a big steak dinner to celebrate some us and some us birthdays. Not like an old shoe or a slipper, more like a comfortable shirt, minus the tie, the vest, the jacket and shorts for slacks. Yakkity-yak — do talk back.

Saturday lolling with a most pleasant surprise: Wolf Trap Farm Park, National Park For The Performing Arts. Don’t that sound nice. A musical tribute to Ansel Adams and more. There’s going to be some recited Lincoln. My friends had to think of me because of Gettysburg.

Looling in the community pool, humid thunder clouds a gray cover.

Dinner, in a local mini-mall Greek cafeteria like, is moussaka, the Greek lasagna, with ethnic pride.

Pride, American pride made into music, Wolf Trap nestled in a Virginia hollow, classy and comfortable, Aaron Copeland, Dave Brubeck and son, Ansel Adams, John Williams, George Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lincoln. It’s all so appropriate as to where I’ve been it had to be. My hosts, as I’ve said had to agree.

Those announcement brass sounds that only mean Aaron Copeland and his tribute to the Common Man. Man alive, bursting with American pride. Then some Gershwin’s American In Paris, sweet, noisy, busy, our American from Brooklyn. Then John Williams from Lincoln with speeches by Virginia Senator Mark Warren. “Four score and…” I was just there. American pride in the air.

Clouds over Yosemite Valley. Ansel Adams projected on a big screen. Dave Brubeck and his son wrote an ode to that American Adams. Dig it, realize, recognize it. We done good here in the states. The National Symphony from D.C. is doing real good supplying the music for all of it.

Some woman other than Barbra Streisand comes out to sing “The Way We Were.” Bravo!

It all ends with an audience sing along of one of our “fruit plains or purple mountains…” A little dorky after all the masters, the orchestra maestro unknown to me. He ain’t Lenny, meaning Bernstein, so who could he be?

George Mason. Know him? His historic home. My hosts, Jan and Mike wonder if I’d be interested. A resounding huzzah from me and we are off to a big Greek diner for a big breakfast before a heavy day of touring, learning, knowing.

A diner back east, the servers are nuns and the short order chef the priest, our young tennis pro looking blonde server from Ukraine. The boys at Gettysburg did good. She’s here as a living proof.

More living proof, then, with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Gunston Hall, home of George Mason. You may have heard of his university in Virginia but how about him? One of our revolutionary big shots left off the rolls, left off the signing of the Constitution.

He wouldn’t sign. Why? Let’s take a tour of the house and find out.

His estate is a Masterpiece Theatre set piece, long lawns and avenues between trees, a split and polish Visitors Center and good shady walk up to his Hall, small by Mount Vernon and Monticello standards but a very landed gentleman in a Ben Franklin block of a house.

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit…” Tom Jeff lifted those lines from George Mason’s Virginian Declaration of Rights. George Mason and George Washington petitioned George III to lay off. Courage.

Squire Mason looked like a typical portrait of that time, sort of chubby, ruddy, wigged up, sort of dull looking, but he was anything but, one of those gentlemen who wrote and wrote, had a dozen kids thousand of acres of tobacco, a founding father who was dismissed by the big shots because no Bill of Rights in original Constitution, nothing concerning slaves, of which he was guilty of, too much centralized power and at least 14 more complaints and in Washington’s case, Mason didn’t serve in combat. So, John Hancock he wasn’t and yet he was.

His home sits above the Potomac where cargo ships could dock. You can see a piece of the big river from his back door. Mount Vernon is down the block.

Mason’s home was colonial comfort, fine china, fine silver, fine dining, slaves to do the bidding.

We’re basically alone, adding to the living history of it. He practically owned Tidewater Virginia and Maryland with some Delaware thrown it. Now the estate is about 500 acres of park interpretation. What a discovery, my host Jan a school librarian preparing a pamphlet on George Mason.

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit…” George Mason would be proud of our morning’s Ukrainian.

Dinner with another Long Island friend, female type, no fences to mend, long divorced, long living with same guy, my long longing for her but still stuck to each other, Jerry and Elaine without the priors, some more Greek in Arlington, VA, a tribute to the common denominator of friends through it all.

Through it all I’ve separated myself from a lot of friends. Politics, mine, and unfortunately, theirs: handguns, racial remarks, homophobia, flags in cars, supporting the draft, voting for Palin — stuff like that.

I’m headed to Long Island to open up one of those fences I built. I’m guilty of wanting the world a certain way, my way. I guess I’ve made some sow ears from former silk purses, so home to check out Hurricane Sandy’s damage and undo some of my damage. My god-daughter got caught up in my misgivings. Fortunately for me these folks are not even forgiving, they were, are, open arms always.

To get to Long Island from around D.C. stay off I-95 at all cost. Head north again on Route 15 through Gettysburg to Harrisonburg, swooping along through bounty’s farmland, always green, always 65-70mph, gas at $3.79, 287 to 78, turn right out of Pennsylvania for New Jersey. Jet travel and car travel, anywhere is possible.

Jersey is Garden State until the outer-skirts of Staten Island. The roads get ornery, crowded, squeezed, tolls that take your toll.

It’s all worth it as the tall towers of the Verrazano Bridge appear up ahead. We all love the Golden Gate but this, like an Olympic female broad jumper in full extension across the Henry Hudson narrows.

And behold, Oz, off to your left, Manhattan Island, Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, et al., the chessboard of Manhattan, and the new World Trade Center tower not half as intrusive as the Twin Towers.

The broad jumper lands you on Long Island and the Belt Parkway, bumping and undulating, the rescued and restored Parachute Jump on Coney Island an Eiffel Tower of the beachfront.

Salt marshes, sea birds, Kennedy Airport, Sunrise Hiway, home, Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, open house.

And my friends open up Long Island, the beaches, some of the finest, the diners, the delicatessens, potato salad and macaroni salad, chapels of it.

Night one in a local Italian restaurant howling over Larry David. Long Island, sarcasm is language and an Italian meal with Italians by Italians. Manga like a motherfucker.

Oh, how young we were, softball until it came out of our ears, the Fillmore East, sports until we nosebleed from it all. Good to be home.

Home here, Rockville Centre, middle upper-scale Christian/Catholic, beautiful leafy neighborhoods, suffered terribly from 9/11: stockbrokers, firemen, cops in towers. I knew them all if not by name. There are tribes here and I was of those bands, having been a Nassau County cop here and for a brief time a stockbroker, our stories of each other here spilling out, spilling over the rim of laughter, Joe and me and Lori.

Joe and me head for Long Beach, East Rockaway, the roads so familiar I almost weep. How many years away. Too many to count.

Summer life here was Huck and Tom and beautiful Beckys, drinking by fourteen (18 was legal then), wild, not so many apartment houses to service Manhattan yet.

East Rockaway, just after Sandy

Hurricane Sandy covered these roads in boats from the nearby marinas and now the marinas have been refilled, Peter’s Clam Bar on its channel as it always was, on over the bridge over Reynolds Channel with our history of heading out to the open sea for blue fishing, drinking and puking.

Long Beach, a city, with a city smell, urban, saltwater scent and some decay, days of jumping the boardwalk without paying, Ferris wheel, miniature golf, good use of youth.

Malibu Beach Club, family lockers and rows of black boiler-pot-BBQ grills like alien landings on the beach sand behind the low sand dunes.

Lifeguard stands that have always stood, big ships out at sea waiting to come on into Hudson’s harbor, warm sun, warm sand, beach chairs, Joe and my life shared, waist deep in the surf, Tuesday. We’ll take it.

Taking our time, home for me to East Rockaway, my high school back in play after bad Sandy, still small, still brick, still quaint, be still my Huckleberry heart.

My streets, my creeks, my canals were bounced around but all seems calm, all the boats moored to their docks, Swift Creek gleaming, in between its deep green reeds, Hewlett Beach still very informal on formal Hewlett Bay.

T-shirts, shorts, sandals, service. A diner on Long Island, chicken salad on rye with gigantic coke, senior citizen Jewish. Ahhh, so frickin’ authentic.

Authentic Italians, Joe and Lori in Italy, Lori compiling a family history dating from 1593. Show me, show me, any history, any history.

Now get this” one of their tours of Italy was Frank Sinatraed: four times somewhere in Italy with a Frank in a Pompeii finale. Frank could have stopped the lava and ash with just a wink of his blue eyes — or with his mob connections of course.

Family. My god-daughter’s four-year old daughter has a, wait for it, lacrosse clinic.

Pretty little Nicole carries a pink lacrosse stick. Now you know you’re on Long Island, where lacrosse is not exactly king but surely a member of the royal court.

Young parents today: soccer camp, surfing camp, basketball camp, Nike gear head to toe, one little girl here on the manicured fields of Hampstead Lake State Park all in Ralph Lauren, high school lacrosse stars too cool for school in charge, sweet as can be, older age kids all in lacrosse protection like little Star Was soldiers.

My god-daughter Melissa, named for the beautiful Allman Brothers song, is a beauty I haven’t seen in many, many years. My sins are well known but I’m welcomed home. And we ain’t done yet, another grand kid, Joseph, in little kid co-ed hoops camp, a mishmash of shouts and encouragement from adults. Me too.

We dine on pasta and meatballs at home. Italian food wins all food wars. For my junior college graduation Lori’s gift to me was home made lasagna. I’m as comfortable as a clam in clam sauce.

Another day at the beach, Long Beach again to see how the rebuilding of the boardwalk is going, gray and rain expected, wind blowing, jetties as old as Hadrian’s Wall, brand new boards in place, bicyclists and pedestrians, high rise apartments, all the amusement park attractions all swept away, but all our memories remain, hot dogs, shooting galleries, summer sunsets and Labor Day like a feast day.

Feast, backyard BBQ with the whole family, for me, beautiful Joanna and Melissa and their beautiful children and son Jackie and his beautiful son Jake. I am privileged to be among them. I’m from California. I am an exotic to them, still with a local accent.

My next locale is Manhattan, for the MET, for Brady photos of the Civil War and Winslow Homer the same.

People love giving directions, especially when Google can do it literally door to door.

“The many roads I’ve covered/the many trails I’ve burned…” so familiar, so rewarding to be on them as the stock-chart skyline of Manhattan rises up beyond the ornate Queensborough Bridge, now know as the Ed Koch, former Manhattan mayor, bridge. No one calls it that of course, always the Queensborough or the 59^th Street to all of us still. Even our Triborough is now RFK. Nope, never, going over the Queensborough like a couple of Queen crowns fused together, honking and squeezing on, over the East River, Kramer swimming along (see Seinfeld) Roosevelt Island, the UN slab, 60^th St. to Madison to 81^st to 5^th to parking under the MET, cabs like swarming bees, trucks, limos parked where they sort of please, gone under and inside our Louvre.

Mobbed, European mobbed; lots of us too but languages, languages. George Mason would be proud.

The MET was always too much so I head through the Roman columns and the Greek heads to the rather odd entrance to the Civil War, through some antique Asian stuff, to a canvas camp tent recreation like Brady in the field.

Somber, not a lot of laughs or smiling faces, black and white silver like, death with destruction; Lincoln, Lee, soldiers posing in studios for almost yearbook settings, impossible to realize what is to come. First photos from the front. Gulp. Some so famous, the dead horses of Fredericksburg, the bloated corpses of Gettysburg, the burnt out shell of Richmond, the Confederate dead on Mary’s Heights, the ramparts of Atlanta, Fort Sumter, a family photo album of us at each other’s throat.

The bombastic canvas of American places of Frederic Church ease the pain. The soothing yet serious Winslow Homers ease you into and out of the pain, a pride in each of his paintings regardless the situation.

Google maps get you out of any situation you’re not so familiar with. North to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hallow, the Headless Horseman, Rip Van Winkle. Our literature begins, with an emphasis on our Washington Irving begat Mark Twain.

Rain hard. Good, Sleepy Hollowish, memories of Disney’s cartoon of it, with Bing Crosby voiceover. It scared me then and still does.

Grinding past the George Washington bridge traffic. As I always tell folks, like everyone who knows NY only as Manhattan, once you cross the GW you in Washington Irving country. And, again, where was Woodstock?

Slowly the city slips away, not too far away the Hudson River shows its real self, wide and handsome with signs for the Tappan Zee Bridge, meaning Dutch, meaning you’re in the ghosts of it.

It’s pretty swanky up here, small river townie and tonie, busier than I thought, always with the idea that those Dutch bowlers with their kegs of ale are still nearby. Henry Hudson’s crew.

But a bit more subdued as you enter Sleepy Hollow, an actual real place and mythical, a “duende” in Spanish place, across the Headless Horseman bridge, above the weathered headstone cemetery where Washington Irving is, born 1783, never dead, named for you who.

Boo! The Headless Prussian is here where Irving heard the Dutch tales from his Mr. Knickerbocker.

There’s an historic estate, there’s an historic stone Dutch church. There’s a gift shop attached to the historic estate besides its millpond, everything soaking wet with atmosphere.

Copies of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Rip Van Winkle awake.

Two lane green on past Sleep Hollow Golf club behind its pompous entrance, open, empty, luxury, clubhouse on a hill like a chunk of Versailles, so exclusive maybe the members aren’t even allowed. A very neat eat-off-it course, rainy day empty; the horseman would have a field day.

Now for Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s home. $12 to see Washington Irving’s rather lush estate. So I watch the film in a barn like theatre. This dude was rich, with talent and coin, selling Jack London volumes of his books, his American books, with a dose of his diplomatic time in Spain, a well traveled gentleman who lives on in all us Americans.

I’ll be forever in my brother’s debt for bringing up Ichabod and the one who rides headless through all time.

Time to start heading home to California so slowly back to Long Island for one last night of home with a cruise over the Throgs Neck Bridge, another beauty setting with New England to the left, far off Manhattan to the right and a stop in a deli in Cedarhurst of the Five Towns, like the Seven Cities of predominantly Jewish gold. I can say that: as Lenny Bruce said, “if you’re from the five boroughs and you’re not Jewish, you are… but if you’re Jewish and from Ithaca, you’re not…” I include Long Island in that.

One last night in Oakton, VA for an Italian restaurant and a lump of lasagna. How fitting.

The flight home is drudgery of course, but not the soldiers of Gettysburg.

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ANYBODY OUT THERE? I Am Available for Divine Anarchy in Washington D.C. after November 12th Please appreciate the fact that my new California social services medical plan is paying for my dental work over the next week, and therefore I will remain in Garberville, CA through November 12th. After that, I am available for going on the road, and particularly for divine anarchy in Washington D.C. As you by now must have understood, I cannot begin to relate to the lack of cooperation/solidarity on the United States political left wing, and cannot begin to comprehend why I am not receiving anything at all from anybody in Washington D.C. for me to be there participating. Given the critical situation of global climate destabilization and other ecological problems, and the general failure of materialism, it is unbelievable to me that I am not being heard, in regard to my insistence that we bring in the spiritual aspect immediately; in addition to the marches, demonstrations, protests, and direct action. I am ready to leave California and return to Washington D.C. to live there on a permanent basis! I am requesting cooperation/solidarity from others to do this. I am sitting here at a computer in Garberville, CA paying by the hour to send out messages such as this. Is anybody still home in postmodern America? Craig Louis Stehr Nota bene: I ask you to view the website of Andy Caffrey, who is running for congress in California’s second congressional district, at www.caffreyforcongress.org — Craig Louis Stehr, craigstehr@hushmail.com

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SONG OF THE DRONE WARRIORS

We are the ones

We have the magic thumbs

Opposable! Opposable!

We have all the fun

With our skillful thumbs

Opposable! Opposable!

We are the ones

With the surgical thumbs

Opposable! Opposable!

We zap the raghead bums

With our unmanned guns

Opposable! Opposable!

Raghead grannies and raghead sons

Raghead goalies and raghead mums

Opposable! Opposable!

We are the thumbs

That trigger missiles from the sun

Opposable! Opposable!

From Arizona thumbs

To Affi-Paki imams

Opposable! Opposable!

We are the secret thumbs

Denied by everyone who’s anyone

Opposable! Opposable!

We are killing Islam

With our Godly thumbs!

Opposable! Opposable!

Our most imperial thumbs

Turn you villages to crumbs!

— Bill Hatch, 2013

THE MAMMOTH CASINO at Rohnert Park opened Tuesday. A joyous mob massed outside ran through the opening day doors to sit at 3,000 slot and video poker machines, blackjack tables and a variety of card games.

THE $800 million Graton Resort & Casino is owned by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. The casino’s general manager, Joe Hasson, told AP, “We’ve built it for convenience, access and accessibility, and then we’ve added quality to a level the market has not seen before.”

CALIFORNIA is home to more than 60 Native American casinos that produced about $6.9 billion in revenue in 2011, according to a recent report about the industry by economist Alan Meister.

RIVER ROCK CASINO, 30 miles to the north, also draws heavily on Bay Area gamblers. It is likely to be negatively affected by this huge casino in Rohnert Park less than an hour from the Bay Area’s six million people. Mendocino County’s casinos seem to draw, and depend on, a mostly local clientele.

THE 340,000-square-foot Rohnert Park casino, apart from its slots and card tables, will feature four full-service restaurants, nine “casual dining options” and three bars. About 2,000 people will be employed full-time. The whole show is managed by Las Vegas-based Station Casinos.

THERE ARE 1,300 people enrolled with the Graton Rancheria tribe. Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo tribes had their federal recognition restored by an act of Congress in 2000. They signed a gambling compact with the state last year and successfully fought off a lawsuit by opponents who argued that a road-widening project was not exempt from state requirements for an environmental study and would endanger the threatened California tiger salamander. Casino critics, more generally, raise concerns about gambling addictions and, at Rohnert Park, traffic problems.

THE GRATON TRIBE will contribute $25 million to Sonoma County parks and open space and has agreed not to develop a casino on any other land it acquires in Marin or Sonoma counties, said Gret Sarris, tribal council chairman. Sarris is also a well-known writer.

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IT CAME AT THAT TIME to be the duty of a certain public officer to inquire into a charge made against a seemingly respectable man in the far west of Ireland, purporting that he had appropriated to his own use a sum of twelve pounds sent to him for the relief of the poor of his parish. It had been sent by three English maiden ladies to the relieving officer of the parish of Kilcoutymorrow, and had come to his hands, he then filling that position. He, so the charge said — and unfortunately said so with only too much truth — had put the twelve pounds into his own private pocket. The officer’s duty in the matter took him to the chairman of the Relief Committee, a staunch old Roman Catholic gentleman nearly 80 years of age, with a hoary head and white beard, and a Milesian name that had come down to him through centuries of Catholic ancestors — a man urbane in his manner, of the old school, an Irishman such as one does meet still here and there through the country, but now not so often — one who above all things was true to the old religion. Then the officer of the government told his story to the old Irish gentleman — with many words, for there were all manner of small collateral proofs, to all of which the old Irish gentleman listened with a courtesy and patience which were admirable. And when the officer of the government had done, the old Irish gentleman thus replied:

“My neighbour Hobbs” — such was the culprit’s name — “has undoubtedly done this thing. He has certainly spent upon his own uses the generous offering made to our poor parish by those noble-minded ladies, the three Miss Walkers. But he has acted with perfect honesty in the matter.”

“What!” said the government officer, “robbing the poor, and at such a time as this!””

“No robbery at all, dear sir,” said the good old Irish gentleman, with the blandest of all possible smiles; “the excellent Miss Walkers sent their money for the Protestant poor of the parish of Kilcoutymorrow, and Mr. Hobbs is the only Protestant within it.” And from the twinkle in the old man’s eye, it was clear to see that his triumph consisted in this — that not only had he but one Protestant in the parish, but that Protestant should have learned so little from his religion.

— Anthony Trollope, 1847; from “Castle Richmond”

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DEAR PACIFIC SEABIRDS GROUP BOARD,

Is Pacific Seabirds Group a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation?

The Spring 2010 newsletter claims it is:

http://www.pacificseabirdgroup.org/publications/PacificSeabirds/VOL_37_1.pdf

: page 1, paragraph 2.

However, Pacific Seabirds Group isn’t listed at the State Registry of Charitable Trusts:

http://rct.doj.ca.gov/MyLicenseVerification/ : go to fourth bullet and click the link titled “here to search for a Organization.”

Also, any notice of exemption as such is missing from your Articles of Incorporation:

http://pacificseabirdgroup.org/downloads/PSG_AOI.pdf

According to the Packard Foundation, they donated $50,000 to your organization in 2010:

http://www.packard.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2010-Statement-29.pdf :

page 540, last line.

That donation was reportedly sent to P.O. Box 324 in Little River, CA.

However only last tax return I can find for your organization is for 2001:

https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2003_08_EO/91-0977708_990_200209.pdf

The California Secretary of State has your organization registered as a for-profit corporation:

http://kepler.sos.ca.gov

Is the Packard Foundation aware of this?

— Scott Peterson, Mendocino

PS. Dear Pacific Seabirds Group Board,

I finally found your 501(c)(3) registration in Hawaii. So that’s okay.

I’m still a little confused about the $50,000 contribution from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation in 2010.

According to your audited 2011 tax return, it never received that money.

But the Packard Foundation reports making it.

http://rct.doj.ca.gov/MyLicenseVerification/ : go to fourth bullet and click the link titled “here to search for a Organization.” Then enter “The David and Lucile Packard Foundation” in the organization field, select CA in the State field, and hit the search button. That should return a link to that Foundation’s records.

The third item from the bottom of the group titled “Related Documents” is titled “IRS Form 990-PF 2010.” Hit that link, and you’ll get the Packard Foundation’s 2010 tax return. At the bottom of page 540, you’ll see the entry for “Pacific Seabird Group” and the $50,000 donation. This is under Statement 29 titled, “Grants and Contributions Paid During the Year.”

Now let’s go look at your tax returns.

http://rct.doj.ca.gov/MyLicenseVerification/ :

go to fourth bullet and click the link titled “here to search for a Organization.” Then enter “The Pacific Seabird Group” in the organization field, select HI in the State field, and hit the search button again. That should return a link to your organization’s records.

Using the same procedure, find your tax return for 2011. At the top of page six is a schedule of grants and contributions received for the same time period. But the $50,000 from the Packard Foundation isn’t there.

I hope you can find that missing money.

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PUBLIC SQUALOR

by Bruce Patterson

“And sadly enough, Capital is so fluid that a threat to any investment seems to be a threat to all investments. Therefore newspapers that represent sizable investments are tempted to shy off and shiver when in Congress… or City Hall… a man or a group threatens an investment in any kind of patent medi­cine, in any kind of holding company, misbranded food, railroad security, good or bad. It is no longer the advertiser who puts on the pressure. It is not even the boss who begins to quake. It is the whole middle and upper structure of society.”

— William Allen White, 1938

* * *

There’s something the Piped Pipers forgot to tell us as they lured us toward of our own private con­sumer Nirvanas. Since there is nothing under the sun more pathetic than a solitary individual, to make the individual the beginning and end of all things is to abolish the concept by denying its essential nature. When individuals are so atomized that truth becomes whatever some fool, demagogue, lobbyist, gangster or political party wishes to make it; when marriages, families, and communities cannot be held together and nobody can stay put, or stop the ground from shifting under their feet, or raise a voice when wronged, what is left but fear and appetite? People nowadays have no say because, beyond their willingness to militantly defend what they perceive as their own private interests, they have nothing to say. “We” no longer has meaning because it doesn’t include us.

So it makes sense that the Federales should have more power in determining the fate of Anderson Valley than the people living here do. I’m not talking about the Big Picture, either. Although it is worth noting that living in the belly of a global empire ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. What I’m talking about is our utter helplessness right here and right now. For starters, take a look at that long-faced wooden fire­trap defiling downtown Boonville. Drive through Boonville and you can’t miss it. For over a quarter of a century I’ve watched that slum rotting into the sidewalk Over the years Bruce, Mark and others have repeatedly complained about it in print. Yet still it remains. Since the derelict building is not just a foul eyesore but also a clear and present danger to the public—a virtual Molotov cocktail set to be thrown at the crowd of nearby wood framed houses and the people living within—the owner of that property should be considered Boonville’s Public Enemy Number One. He’s also Boonville’s most prominent and influential citizen since northbound tourists, who are often in a buying mood, just love getting welcomed to our fair metropolis by having that slimy slumlord mooning them with his rat infested garbage pit. Makes the tourists want to stop in Boonville and buy lunch.

So, what is this, Chicago? Whose palms are get­ting greased? How much money does it cost per month or year to earn the right to pose a lethal threat to sleeping children? Or maybe the slumlord gets away with it for religious reasons. If there are no human rights beyond property rights, then there is no community to consider. So the CSD, the fire chief, sheriff, building inspector, DA, Grand Jury, the Chamber of Commerce, the Grape Growers, the neighbors and passersby—everybody knows the slumlord has money and so he’s protected by God.

Now that Highway 128 through Boonville has been transformed from a backcountry road into a buzzing tourist corridor, low long will it before a child gets squished by a car speeding through town? How easy would it be to set “pedestrian crossing” signs into the center lines of Boonville’s crosswalks? How much money would it cost to install flashing yellow lights and digital speedometers like they have in Philo and other towns getting overrun with speeding traffic? It’d cost about as much as one square thumb of new highway bridge or one square rod of freshly planted grapes. Yet don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen.

Boonville wishes to become a tourist destination and yet anytime a tourist stops the first thing he or she is confronted with is doors with signs announc­ing, “No Public Restrooms.” And if the tourist asks the retail clerk where he or she might find one, as often as not they’re told there are none. This even though there are spacious public restrooms right there in the fairgrounds. There’s even a marquee that could be used to advertise “free public restrooms.” Now what cheaper and better way is there to throw out the welcome mat? The answer is that there is none.

If you were a community organizer arriving in a new town, the first thing you’d do was find out who has the money. Once you’d ascertained that then you’d know who was calling the shots and who you needed to deal with. Yet, in Boonville, even the mer­chants are helpless. To get access to the public restrooms they’re paying for they’d have to file the equivalent of an Environmental Impact Report. They’d probably have to hire lawyers and consult­ants, take out insurance, get bonded, piss in a bottle and Lord knows what else. So the merchants throw up their hands and they tack up their signs. Like with being forced by the Federales to maintain and account for saucers with shifting piles of worthless pennies, shooing away squirming, knock-kneed little girls is just another cost of doing business. It sure beats having to contend with what could be the Chinese Communist Party under Kafka.

When putting two and two together becomes an obstacle course; when removing a fly from your hair becomes a marathon; when getting any type of accounting is like pulling teeth out of a chicken, it’s worth wondering how folks came to be so helpless. Is it possible that when you lose your sense of The Commons you lose your common sense? Must mole­hills always become mountains and mountains mole­hills? The fundamental issue in Anderson Valley is the health of the creeks but, like with the rest of the natural environment, or “we,” the creeks have no chips in the game. So to speak of who is getting the water, how much, what for and at what cost is taboo. The water is public property that is being diverted to lawful private use and that’s final. While it would cost a pittance to restore the salmon and steelhead to their rightful places in the local creeks, nobody can bring themselves to even think about it seeing all of the unpleasantness it would cause. Yet, looked at from a positive standpoint, maybe our children hav­ing to grow up along depleted, poisoned, sterile creeks will be good for them. Like us, they won’t know what they’re missing. There are no Environ­mental Impact Reports for souls.

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IF YOU CAN’T LICK ’EM, CLICK ’EM

by W.E. Reinka

My yearning adolescent eyes kept returning to the catalogs smudged page showing the Pflueger bait casting reel. The reels shiny green casing matched the shiny green northern pike I anticipated reeling in with its precision gears and the green stamps it would take to own it.

Bless my mother, she was ready to sacrifice her own dreams of a yellow Melmac serving platter or harvest gold electric can opener by relinquishing the family trading stamps to me. Unfortunately, Mother’s supermarket offered Gold Bond stamps, not S&H Green.

Then I learned a woman across town dealt in stamps. A cagey broker, she set the rate of exchange at three Gold Bond books for two S&H. I rode the 14 blocks to her kitchen headquarters on my bike. We made the exchange. A trip to the S&H Redemption Store transformed the ethereal Pflueger reel into reality.

Mention S&H Green Stamps (or Gold Bond, Tru-Value, Blue Chip or Plaid Stamps) to anyone who remembers the 1950s and 60s and you’re bound to get a story like mine. The trading stamp boom hit its peak in the years after World War II when retail outlets — mostly grocery stores and gas stations — built customer loyalty on giveaways.

Dreaming of four-slot toasters, collectors would lick stamps and paste them into bulky books. Back in 1964, S&H Green Stamps printed three times as many stamps as the US Post Office. The S&H catalog became the largest single publication in the US. Communities even pooled stamps for civic projects such as a new school bus.

Then came the 1970s oil embargo. Gasoline prices soared. Sometimes we could only buy gas on odd or even days. Meantime, supermarkets, under pressure from discount chains, had to cut costs. Trading stamps took a licking.

But they never died. S&H Green Stamps still main­tains six redemption stores in outposts like Jefferson, Texas, and Hazard, Kentucky. Equally far-flung truck stops from Watertown, New York to Broken Bow, Nebraska, still display the tiny green S&H sign, hoping to attract big rigs that fill up with hundreds of dollars of diesel.

In 1999, Walter Beinecke, the great-grandson of Thomas Sperry (the S in Sperry & Hutchinson, or S&H) revived the ailing operation as S&H greenpoints. Available primarily from a half dozen grocery chains scattered around the country, shoppers generally earn 10 points for every dollar’s worth of purchases. Greenpoints work like stamps without all the slobber. As with frequent flyer miles, computers track everything. Instead of turning in books at redemption centers, customers click on merchandise at the greenpoints website, paying only ship­ping and handling.

The most popular catalog item is the large George Foreman Grill which runs 40,800 points or a little more than $4,000 worth of groceries, less than a year’s shopping for most folks. The cheapest item in the catalog, a silver-plated photo album, will set you back just 1,000 greenpoints, while the most expensive, a 36 Panasonic picture-in-picture TV set, runs 1,026,000 greenpoints.

The privately-held corporation remains mum on whether three million users in eleven states yield a profit, but they hint that more grocery chains, users and states will soon be added to the growing greenpoints family.

Meantime, if you find any Green Stamps behind the kitchen drawer, they’re still good. Call S&H customer care at (800) 435-5674 and they’ll explain how to convert stamps to points so that you, too, can click, not lick, your way to free merchandise.

CALTRANS claims that Will Parrish, all by himself, has cost the Willits Bypass project $500,000. DA Eyster seems to think the claim is reasonable, and is vowing to repeat-prosecute Parrish until he gets a conviction. How exactly the half-mil figure was arrived at remains a mystery, but it seems to come from press release claims by Caltrans’ Eureka-based media man, Phil Frisbie, meaning it was plucked from mid-air or the darker regions of Frisbie’s anatomy.

EYSTER’S prosecution of the AVA’s ace environmental reporter is complicated by statements from Bypass contractors that they simply worked around the Bypass protests, did other stuff while the CHP’s over-large contingent of highly paid traffic cops — their ridiculous overreaction also called for by their Sacramento bosses and Caltrans itself — plucked some anthromorphs out of their tree sits and pried Parrish off a piece of equipment he’d locked himself to. The CHP has spent a lot of money on 50 guys standing around all summer cracking hippie jokes, but this whole show was kicked off while Bypass lawsuits were pending and Caltrans was ignoring existing law. We look forward to seeing Eyster’s witness list. Frisbie on the stand? That should be a real hoot.

NOT LONG AGO, the Little Hoover Commission study concluded that Caltrans was the most administratively top-heavy organization in California governmemt, which is quite a statement considering that the state government payroll is rife with people whose contribution to the public good is, to say the least, opaque.

BIG ORANGE’S gratuitous violation of registered archeological sites in the Bypass construction zone even roused Congressman Huffman to write a letter of “concern” to CalTrans’ boss Malcolm Dougherty.

THE NATIONAL CONGRESS of American Indians went further; they want to suspend federal funds for the Bypass.

IN REPLY, the ineffable Frisbie told Linda Williams of the Willits News, “We are focused on identifying and correcting any organizational inefficiencies contributed to the inadvertent impact to the cultural site. CalTrans will be presenting its findings to the Sherwood Valley Rancheria in a meeting in early December. CalTrans has met with tribal leadership twice since mid September to address concerns and to see what is possible to make things right,” Frisbie said.

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SUPERVISOR JOHN PINCHES couldn’t even get a second for his motion to set up an ad hoc committee to examine the water exportation question, the long and the short of which is that Sonoma County sells Mendocino County water for millions of dollars and Mendocino County gets a giant mud puddle at Lake Mendocino most summers. All Pinches wanted was a green light to see if Mendocino County might at least make a few bucks out of an historically skewed deal that goes back to the middle 1950s. That deal gave Sonoma County almost all the water stored behind Coyote Dam in Lake Mendocino. (They put up most of the money to build it.) The deal was later amended to say that if Sonoma County sold any of Mendo’s scant allocation, Mendo would be compensated.

NEVER HAPPENED. Sonoma County’s water agency, at huge profit, has sold water downstream to Marin and its own customers for years; Mendocino County hasn’t gotten a dime out of it. We’re trying to find out why Pinches’ colleagues aren’t interested in pursuing the matter. Stay tuned.

PRELIMINARILY, it’s clear that the inland supervisors don’t want to disturb the inland morass of water districts, all of them in seeming competition for a resource they know is seriously overdrawn and, of course, dependent on a precarious early 20th century diversion at Potter Valley where a hand dug, mile long tunnel supported by ancient redwood beams carries water from the Eel River through Potter Valley (where that community’s noble sons of the soil have enjoyed free water for more than a hundred years) to Lake Mendocino where it’s stored for Sonoma County. Some of the water, of course, supplies the Russian River which, before 1950s Lake Mendocino, was dry above Healdsburg during the summer months.

THIS PRECARIOUS water delivery “system” has fueled suburban growth from Ukiah to Sausalito, but it leaves so little for Mendo that Redwood Valley, for instance, is maxed out, and the water districts up and down the Russian River from Redwood Valley to Hopland jealously guard their allocations. As does the huge influx of wine grape growers. The wine people have put another large demand on the Russian River’s overdrawn waters.

PINCHES is really up against an entrenched, mutually jealous, water apparatus that works for its shortsighted beneficiaries but is not viable over the long haul. Or viable only until the next big earthquake takes out the diversion tunnel at Potter Valley.

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COLORADO VOTERS have approved a 25% tax on newly legal recreational marijuana to fund school construction. Opponents argued the tax rate would benefit black market sales. Meanwhile, residents of Portland, Maine, declared victory on a measure to legalize possession of recreational amounts of marijuana.

SAN FRANCISCO VOTERS wisely voted down a millionaire’s waterfront condo project, correctly seeing it as a stalking horse for a basketball pavilion the Warriors want to build on the water near the Giants ballpark. Frisco’s voters also narrowly passed a measure aimed at keeping the bums out of Golden Gate Park at night.

LONG-TIME POINT ARENA SCHOOL REFORM ADVOCATE SUSAN RUSH was once again turned down for the Arena School Board by south coast voters, getting about 10% (sixth) of the vote in an election that saw an incumbent, Leslie Bates, and three other people with school connections Bob Shimon, Vikki Robinson and Cindy Cione, take the four seats that were up for election. Incumbent Angela Marquez came in fifth, losing her seat. “Once again, I did not make the grade to be put on the board,” said Rush, “but Vikki Robinson did. I am happy because she and I are similar thinkers and I think she will be great.”

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THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT rains of the season could arrive Monday or Tuesday. “It’s too early to tell specific details about how much rain we’ll get. But it certainly looks like rain is on the way,” said meteorologist Austin Cross of the National Weather Service. The precipitation is expected to come with a low pressure system moving toward California from the Gulf of Alaska, Cross said.

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ON NOVEMBER 6, 2013 at 1:46pm Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a rural piece of private property located in the 300 block of MacMillan Drive in Hopland, California. Upon arrival Deputies contacted an adult female who said she had been walking her dog on the property. The adult female reported she found a deceased person in a brushy area while on the walk and contacted the Sheriff’s Office as a result. Upon conducting scene investigations the deceased person was identified as being Casimir Janusz, who was reported as being a missing person to the Ukiah Police Department on October 16. Janusz was believed to have gone missing in the same area and several law enforcement initiated searches after his disappearance focused on terrain approximately a quarter mile away from where his body was ultimately found. An autopsy has been scheduled for November 7 as part of the coroner’s investigation, but initial scene information suggests Janusz died as the result of suicide with a firearm. (Sheriff’s Department Press Release)

Janusz

BACKGROUND: Casimir George Janusz, 36, of Hopland had been sought for questioning in the death of his five-month-old son. Janusz brought the unconscious infant to the Ukiah Valley Medical Center’s emergency ward about 9:30 Wednesday morning where the baby died. Police said the infant presented no visible injuries. The cause of death, dependent in this case on toxicology reports, is pending. Janusz disappeared while his son was being examined. His vehicle was soon located on his family’s ranch at Hopland, but there was no sign of Janusz. A large-scale police search for him was conducted in the area of family property in Hopland.

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ON NOVEMBER 5, 2013, at about 10am, Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Officer were detailed to the Howard Memorial Hospital regarding an accidental gunshot wound. Upon arrival deputies spoke with the victim of the shooting and learned he had accidentally shot himself in the hand with a friend’s handgun at his friends residence while they prepared to go target shooting. The victim advised deputies of the location he had been at when the incident occurred and advised it was the home of Ralph Rumble, 38 of Willits.

Rumble

Deputies responded to the location where they contacted Rumble. Rumble advised the victim’s statements were correct and further advised the firearm was belonged to him (Rumble). Rumble gave consent for deputies to retrieve the firearm from his residence, located in the residence was a .380 caliber hand gun and a 7.62 caliber rifle. Rumble advised both firearms belonged to him and that he had recently purchased them from a friend. Rumble is prohibited from possessing firearms and was subsequently arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on charges of 29805 PC. Rumble is held on $25,000 bail.

(Sheriff’s Department Press Release)

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ON OCTOBER 26, 2013 at about 11pm Mendocino County Deputies responded to an agency assistance call from Law Enforcement Officers of the United States Forest Service. The officers reported they had attempted to stop two vehicles leaving the Mendocino National Forest, the occupants of which were suspected to be involved in the cultivation of marijuana on forest lands. As the officers initiated two separate traffic stops, one driver and one passenger from each vehicle, jumped out of the vehicles as they were still moving. Both vehicles crashed with the suspects fleeing from officers into the woods. The four suspects were described as being Hispanic males. Officers searched the area but the suspects were not located. In one of the crashed vehicles officers located in excess of 40 pounds of processed marijuana. On 10/31/2013 around 9:55am a family member of Artemio Garcia Chavez, a 24 year old male, from Eureka, California, contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office to report he’d been in one of the involved vehicles related to this incident and had fled from the officers. His family has not heard from him since 10/26/2013. One of the other involved suspects later told family members that Artemio called him approximately three hours after they fled to say he was “up on the hill and had sprained his ankle” but it was unknown exactly where he was when he called. According to the family member the three other suspects were accounted for but were not interested in coming forward to assist law enforcement with information related to this missing person’s case. Mendocino County Deputies, family members, other residents of this area, USFS Fire crews, USFS officers and Mendocino County Search and Rescue Volunteers responded to the area where Artemio fled from the vehicle and conducted a search of the surrounding area but Artemio was not located. His whereabouts are unknown at this time. Artemio is 24 years old, is 5’07” tall, weighing 190 pounds, with black short shaven hair, and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a gray hooded sweatshirt. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is requesting anyone who has information related to this missing person’s case contact the Mendocino County Tip Line at (707)234-2100.

UPDATE: On November 5, 2013, at around 10:20am the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a family member of the missing person. He advised the family had posted a $20,000 reward for information leading to the location of the missing person and posted flyers in the Covelo area. Within a short period of time they were contacted by an undisclosed person who told them Artemio was at a known location nearby. The family was taken to the location where they confirmed Artemio was alive and well. The family member did not have any further details about where Artemio had been nor the person who had picked up Artemio and allowed him to stay with them until he was found by family members.

(Sheriff’s Department Press Release)

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DEAR EDITOR:

As the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination nears I wonder how our nation has fared since those idealistic times. On many fronts, like civil rights, women and gay rights and the environment, much has indeed been accomplished. However, on the economic front, America has gone backwards. The gap between the rich and average citizen has vastly widened, most paychecks and the middle class have shrunk, and young people have dimmer prospects than their parents. Pessimism and extremism grows since our economy and government no longer serve average Americans. How did this regression come about? The 1960s civil rights, anti-war, counter-culture, environmental, women’s and gay movements scared the ruling class. It responded with the 1972 Powell Memo, which Bill Moyers labeled, “A Call-to-Arms for Corporations” to regain national dominance by funding an unprecedented propaganda campaign to win back Americans’ allegiance to “free-market” capitalism. Corporate profits poured into conservative think tanks, PR firms, lobbyists and the mass media, all to convince citizens that government, taxes and unions were bad; unregulated capitalism, privatization and globalization were good. This corporate sell-job worked! Well-funded Rightwing groups, playing on people’s ignorance and fears, have rolled back American progress. In JFK’s day CEO salaries were 20 times average wages; today they are 200 times. Then the rich were taxed up to 91% of income; it’s only 39% today. And many of the giant corporations pay no tax at all! The rich fund the Tea Party to wage a cultural war that obscures their class war. It’s one they’ve been winning for the past 40 years, reversing the gains average Americans had made between 1930 and 1970. The fat cats will continue buying politicians, slanting the media and looting our economy until enough Americans ACT to reverse this disastrous trend.

Tom Wodetzki, Albion

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MENDO DA FILLS VACANCIES

Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster has announced the hiring of a former deputy district attorney and two new prosecutors to fill existing staff vacancies. Eyster also promoted a veteran staff member to serve as the supervising DA investigator. Eyster said the new hires and promotion are needed because budgetary constraints at the county level are keeping the office from hiring additional staff to meet current caseload demands. “We need these positions filled just to keep pace,” said Eyster.

Davenport

Returning to the office is former prosecutor Kevin Davenport, who has been practicing law in Portland, Oregon, since 2006. Davenport previously worked for the office during the administration of former DA Norman Vroman. Eyster said Davenport has joined Deputy DA Tim Stoen in the Fort Bragg office on the Mendocino Coast, and has already prosecuted and won a felony jury trial since his return. “I feel fortunate to be able to rehire a deputy with Kevin’s skill set and overall knowledge of Mendocino County, a proven attorney who was desirous of returning to the quality of life we all enjoy here in Mendocino County,” Eyster said.

Abramson, Boyd

DA Eyster said the two new deputy district attorneys are Jessica Abramson, a Sonoma County native, and Jeffrey Boyd, a former Riverside County resident. Eyster said Abramson and Boyd are both assigned to the office’s misdemeanor trial team. Abramson is a 2011 graduate of the Chapman University School of Law. She is a 2007 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles. She was valedictorian at Healdsburg High School, where she graduated with honors. Before coming to Mendocino County to work as a prosecutor, Abramson was a supervising law clerk for the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. She also previously worked in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office during law school, where she was assigned to the office’s gang unit. As noted on the office’s web site, Abramson was successful in convincing a jury to return a guilty verdict in her first jury trial as a prosecutor. New prosecutor Boyd is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law, where he was on the Dean’s List. He graduated with his undergraduate degree in 2004 from the University of California, San Diego. Boyd worked as a volunteer attorney in the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office before accepting employment with the Mendocino DA’s office. Prior to that, Boyd was in the private practice of law for firms in Riverside and San Diego. He also was a certified law clerk during law school for the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. Eyster said Abramson and Boyd are welcome additions to the office. “Jessica and Jeff are both as smart as a whip, and both have already demonstrated a good work ethic. I’m glad they accepted my offers of employment and that we have them on board,” said Eyster.

Bailey

Eyster’s new supervising DA investigator is Kevin Bailey, a veteran law enforcement investigator and top aide to Chief Investigator Tim Kiely. “I selected Kevin based on a competitive process, where his training, experience and common sense seemed to best match up with my expectations and need for effective leadership, strong work ethic, professionalism and result-oriented investigations,” said Eyster. Eyster said Bailey’s experience reflects “…traits that ultimately help all of us help victims, and traits that bring honor and respect to what we do – and do well – day in and day out.”

(District Attorney’s Press Release)

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THE SOOTHING WATERS OF DIRTY SOX

AVA,

I’d like to add a name and location to Bruce Patterson’s list of names in the October 23 AVA: Dirty Socks Spring in Southern Owens Valley and on the south side of the mostly dry Owens Lake. As one bathes in the therapeutic waters of the spring the logic of the name becomes apparent.

— Harold Ericsson, Harbor City

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WHAT A RURAL GROW LOOKS LIKE

Two Arrested, Eight Trimmers Released at the Scene of Marijuana Grow Op Out Hwy 36

Andrew Goff Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office press release: On 11-5-2013, at approximately 1:00 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, Humboldt County Drug Task Force Agents and California Fish and Wildlife Officers served a Humboldt County Superior Court Search warrant on a parcel of property near the Burr Valley Road, Highway 36 intersection, Dinsmore. At the this location the officers detained Ronald Mattson, 47 years old and his wife, Angela Mattson, 42 years old. The officers searched the property and located approximately 78 pounds of marijuana bud packaged for sale, 293 pounds of drying marijuana, two handguns, three shotguns, four rifles, scales and packaging material, along with money orders and a thousand dollars in five dollar bills. While at this location the officers located trails and a road that led to two other adjacent parcels. A second Humboldt County Superior Court Search Warrant was obtained for those parcels and officers located and detained four men and four women. While speaking with the men and women, officers learned they were trimming for the Mattsons. Officers searched the property and located 101 marijuana plants growing outside, ranging from four feet to eight feet tall, all budding. Officers also located approximately 25 pounds of marijuana bud, 106 pounds of drying marijuana and 127 pounds of loose marijuana, along with over $2,000 in cash. After interviewing the trimmers, they were released at the scene. The Mattsons were both arrested and transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility where they were booked for cultivation of marijuana, transportation of marijuana for sale and being armed in the commission of a felony. Their bail was set at $50,000.00. They both posted bail. Anyone with information for the Sheriffs Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriffs Office at 707-445-7251 or the HumCo Sheriffs Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.

(Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Press Release; Courtesy, LostCoastOutpost.com)

Grow Site pics, with Ronald & Angela Mattson

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AV FIREFIGHTHERS TOY DRIVE

Hello Neighbors:

It’s that time…the AV Firefighters Association will be handing out toys at the Food Bank on December 17th. We need your help! Please drop off a toy(s) or a small donation at the firehouse in Boonville. We need gifts for both male/female ages 1-12 years old. Let’s make everyone’s Christmas a little brighter this year. All That Good Stuff will again be offering a 10% discount for gifts purchased there. Be sure to mention that the toys are for the Toy Drive to get your discount. They will also be available to help you pick out that special gift. If you’re looking for a place to make a local donation we’re sure the Food Bank would be very happy to receive some help.

Thanks, Judy Long and Sarah McCarter, AV Volunteer Firefighters Association, Boonville

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ADOPT A WINDOW PROJECT DINNER AND SILENT AUCTION

A benefit for Project Sanctuary

On Saturday, November 16, at the First Baptist Church in Ukiah (300 W. Smith Street) from 5-7pm, join Project Sanctuary and Lia Patterson, local ReMax/Full Spectrum real estate agent, for a fundraising dinner and silent auction to raise the remainder of the funds needed to complete the Adopt A Window project. Guests will enjoy live music with local musician Les Boek, a tri-tip dinner provided by the Forks Market in Calpella, along with side dishes and dessert, and silent auction items from businesses such as Mendocino Bounty, the Golf Course, Grace’s, Shoefly, and more. Proceeds benefit the Adopt A Window project, supporting the ongoing efforts to improve and maintain Project Sanctuary’s 100 year-old transitional safe house, open to women and children victims of domestic violence abuse throughout the county.

Adopt A Window, a project envisioned by Patterson as part of her participation in Leadership Mendocino, a local leadership and professional development program, had an original goal of replacing the windows in Project Sanctuary’s transitional house. This house, donated to Project Sanctuary, is extremely old and requires constant maintenance. The previous windows were single-pane, contributing to costly heating and cooling bills. Project Sanctuary needed to make several repairs to this building that has housed up to five families at a time, but lacked the necessary financial resources. The intent was to replace the old windows with new, double-paned, enery efficient ones that would save the organization upwards of $3,000 annually.

Through community donations from the Ukiah Co-Op and local businesses and inviduals, Patterson raised $6,000 for the Adopt A Window project. On Saturday, October 26, with the help of Mendocino College Sustainable Technology students and three contractors, 16 out of 20 windows were installed. The rest of the windows are on order and the project will be completed as soon as they arrive.

However, when the contractors were inspecting the house, they noticed that its roof was falling apart and lacking gutters. Patterson and Project Sanctuary are now trying to raise another $5,000 to start a fund for home improvements that could go toward large unexpected costs such as these, as Project Sanctuary doesn’t currently have a budget for facility maintenance.

Project Sanctuary is the local resource center for county-wide survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and has both an emergency shelter and a transition house for women and their children fleeing domestic violence. Other services include crisis counseling, survivor support groups, rape crisis advocacy, assistance in obtaining restraining orders, teen support groups, and education sessions in our schools to help kids make healthy choices. All of these services are free of charge, and crisis assistance is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Tickets for the Adopt A Window Project fundraising dinner and silent auction are $25 for one or two for $40, and can be purchased at Mendocino Book Company or Project Sanctuary. Proceeds will have a direct impact on Project’s Sanctuary’s mission to end domestic violence and sexual abuse and will help keep the victims in our community safe and protected. For more information contact Lia Patterson, liap@comcast.net or 707 391-5420.

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SECRETARY FRACKER VISITS PA

Good Morning All.

Jewell

We are expecting a visit/meeting here in Point Arena by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior Sally Jewell, this Friday at 2:00 p.m., November 8, 2013 regarding the Stornetta Public Lands. This is very exciting news, and a significant step in the process of securing our coastline’s National Monument recognition!! On Friday Secretary Jewell is expected to meet with stakeholders and members of the public to hear about the community’s vision for the continued protection of Point Arena Stornetta Public Lands, a significant and scenic area along the Mendocino coastline in Northern California. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the area provides many opportunities for outdoor recreation and important wildlife habitat. For More Information regarding the Stornetta Public Lands — please follow the link below to the U.S. Dept. of Interior’s website — and see the new webcam page for this beautiful Point Arena treasure!!

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ukiah/stornetta.html If you wish to attend please arrive around 1:30 p.m. to check in — the event will start at 2:00 p.m. It will take place at 24000 Highway One, Point Arena* — if the weather is wonderful, we may all walk out back on the bluffs. [[ *note this address is also known as 451 School Street; and serves as the Point Arena Justice Center; Point Arena City Hall; the Coastal Senior Center; M.C. Sheriff Sub-Station; and is the Mendocino County Veterans Hall and most recently, BLM Gateway!! — yep, it's a busy place ]] Thank you — Ms. Alexander Hunter M. Alexander City Administrator/City Clerk

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BIG BROTHER’S LOYAL SISTER: HOW DIANNE FEINSTEIN IS BETRAYING CIVIL LIBERTIES

by Norman Solomon

Ever since the first big revelations about the National Security Agency five months ago, Dianne Feinstein has been in overdrive to defend the surveillance state. As chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she generates an abundance of fog, weasel words, anti-whistleblower slander and bogus notions of reform — while methodically stabbing civil liberties in the back.

Feinstein

Feinstein’s powerful service to Big Brother, reaching new heights in recent months, is just getting started. She’s hard at work to muddy all the waters of public discourse she can — striving to protect the NSA from real legislative remedies while serving as a key political enabler for President Obama’s shameless abuse of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

Last Sunday, on CBS, when Feinstein told “Face the Nation” viewers that Edward Snowden has done “enormous disservice to our country,” it was one of her more restrained smears. In June, when Snowden first went public as a whistleblower, Feinstein quickly declared that he had committed “an act of treason.” Since then, she has refused to tone down the claim. “I stand by it,” she told The Hill on Oct. 29.

Days ago, taking it from the top of the NSA’s main talking points, Feinstein led off a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed piece with 9/11 fear-mongering. “The Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the United States was highly organized and sophisticated and designed to strike at the heart of the American economy and government,” she wrote, and quickly added: “We know that terrorists remain determined to kill Americans and our allies.” From there, Senator Feinstein praised the NSA’s “call-records program” and then insisted: “This is not a surveillance program.” (Paging Mr. Orwell.)

Feinstein’s essay — touting her new bill, the “FISA Improvements Act,” which she just pushed through the Senate Intelligence Committee — claimed that the legislation will “bridge the gap between preventing terrorism and protecting civil liberties.”

But as Electronic Frontier Foundation activist Trevor Timm writes, the bill actually “codifies some of the NSA’s worst practices, would be a huge setback for everyone’s privacy, and it would permanently entrench the NSA’s collection of every phone record held by U.S. telecoms.” California’s senior senator is good at tactical maneuvers that blow media smoke.

In late October — while continuing to defend the NSA’s planetary dragnet on emails and phone calls — Feinstein voiced concern “that certain surveillance activities have been in effect for more than a decade and that the Senate Intelligence Committee wasn’t satisfactorily informed.” Spinning the myth that congressional oversight of the NSA really exists, she added: “Therefore, our oversight needs to be strengthened and increased.”

As usual, Feinstein’s verbal gymnastics were in sync with choreography from the Obama White House. The “certain surveillance activities” that she has begun to criticize are the NSA’s efforts targeting the phones of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other allied foreign leaders. Feinstein mildly chided Obama for ostensibly not being aware of the eavesdropping on Merkel’s cell phone (“That is a big problem”), but she was merely snipping at a few threads of the NSA’s vast global spying — while, like the administration as a whole, reaffirming support for the vast fabric of the agency’s surveillance programs.

The White House is now signaling policy changes in response to the uproar about monitoring Merkel’s phone, the New York Times reported on Nov. 5, but “President Obama and his top advisers have concluded that there is no workable alternative to the bulk collection of huge quantities of ‘metadata,’ including records of all telephone calls made inside the United States.”

Feinstein is on the same page: eager to fine tune and continue mass surveillance. With fanfare that foreshadows a drawn-out onslaught of hype, Feinstein has announced that the Senate Intelligence Committee will hold hearings on NSA surveillance. “Her committee is now making preparations for a major investigative undertaking, which is expected to take at least several months,” the Wall Street Journal reports. When the show is over, “The report that results from the probe will be classified.”

With Dianne Feinstein’s hand on the gavel, you can expect plenty of fake inquiries to pantomime actual oversight. She has shown a clear commitment to deep-sixing vital information about the surveillance state, in a never-ending quest for the uninformed consent of the governed. “From out of the gate, we know that her entire approach is to make those hearings into a tragic farce,” I said during an interview on C-SPAN Radio last week. “Her entire approach to this issue has been to do damage control for the NSA…. She is an apologist and a flack for the surveillance state, she is aligned with the Obama White House with that agenda, and we at the grassroots must push back against that kind of a politics.”

(Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” Information about the documentary based on the book is at www.WarMadeEasyTheMovie.org<http://www.warmadeeasythemovie.org/>).

THE DAY of the Kennedy Assassination, I was a temporary English teacher at San Luis Obispo Junior High School.

After high school, I’d done a tour in the Marines, picked up college classes at City College when I got out, then went to school at Cal Poly for two years on a baseball-basketball arrangement that gave me room, board and a job in the college library stacking books, meaning I could hide out the whole shift and read whatever I wanted. I wasn’t quite good enough to play basketball at the college level but I could still play baseball although I’d stopped working on my game in my last year of high school. Cal Poly then being a technical school, and me not being interested in engineering or technology, I took all the liberal arts classes they had and transferred to SF State where, I was informed by letter, I graduated a few months later with a degree in English and history. My younger brother and I had previously gotten involved with the Congress On Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) and had been soldiers in the city’s first civil rights demonstrations at the Palace Hotel, which would have been circa 1961 or ’62. I remember hitchhiking up 101 from San Luis to take part in the demos. A cousin of ours was also involved as was my girlfriend at the time. I played baseball on weekends, basketball on playgrounds around the city, worked minimum wage jobs and spent the rest of the time reading and arguing, both pastimes now considered passe if not positively outre. We rented two bedroom apartments for $75 a month (or less) in the Haight before the hippies, in the Castro before the gays, in the Mission before it was heavily Latin. Inspired by some of the beatnik lit, I hitchhiked up and down the Big Sur coast. On one trip a friend and I were picked up by the head monk at New Camaldoli where an order of monks, Benedictines, was building a retreat. The monks had taken vows of silence. Only the head guy talked. My pal and I stayed there for a couple of weeks toting lumber and delivering meals to the monks’ cabins, or cells as they called them. I had no money, my life’s unvarying theme, and after the Benedictine interlude I hitched on down to San Luis where I got the job at the junior high through the unemployment office. I replaced a woman on the edge of retirement who’d cracked up in one of her classes. When the fire department broke down the door she was dancing naked on her desk and swigging from a bottle of whiskey. That episode always translated to me as “the Times They Are A Changin’” in that unruly classrooms, before the 60s, were rare. I had no competition for the job, so the principal hired me, telling me, in so many words, that his primary concern was order, that what I did inside the classroom was up to me. In other words, “Keep the little bastards from roaming the halls.” The little bastards were supposedly arranged according to ability, with a theoretical dumbbell class, in reality delinquents and delinquent-symps, three or four classes of middle ability, and one class of alleged smart kids. I told them stories and conducted group discussions, and we got on with a minimum of mutual rancor.

Kennedy was shot about three weeks after I got the job. The principal announced the Kennedy shooting over the intercom, telling everyone to go home “and pray for the President.” I shared an old house on Islay Street with some jock friends; we watched the live feeds for a week, and a couple of us were watching the day Oswald was shot in the basement of the Dallas Police Station. Another friend of mine got a visit from the FBI because someone had reported him for saying of the assassination, “Who gives a shit?” The totality of these events was the most surreal of my life until 9-11. I liked Kennedy or, rather, I liked what I saw of him on television. I was opposed to Vietnam from the day the war started. I was still in the Marine Reserves and was vaguely worried about getting called back up. I was also a staunch anti-imperialist off my associations with the communists and radlibs I met through Frisco’s civil rights events, those affiliations and the great journalism breaking out everywhere, San Francisco especially. The city now seems almost unrecognizable, and intellectually so blanded down that rural Mendocino County is more interesting.

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BROTHERS … You now have your wings …

May you fly together always.

Carter Haze Wilson

March 22, 2005 – October 2013

Fortuna, California

Silas Sage Wilson

Nov. 21, 2006 – October 2013

Silver City, New Mexico

You didn’t see one without the other…

They were living the dream, having the honor of living at Camp 19 (McGuire Ranch on Highway 20): Tree forts, fields, ponds, animals, paradise for boys.

Carter attended Dana Gray Elementary School and Silas was a first grader at Redwood Elementary School. They were happy, they loved the outdoors, they saw the beauty of the earth and loved spending time camping with the family.

Carter’s favorite thing to do was to watch the “Titanic” and he was intrigued with the Golden Gate Bridge. He would spend hours listening about how they were built. His interest in how things worked and how they were put together were passions of his. But more important than that was his love of his family. It was vital to him to see that his Mom and Dad were happy.

Silas had the love for art. He loved to spend the day drawing and creating. He loved to secretly dance behind peoples’ backs. His mission in life was to put a smile on everyone’s face and that he did!

They both loved music and loved to sing together.

Their favorite movies were “The Sandlot” and “The Goonies” which they watched day after day for months straight.

Both boys had a special place in their hearts for Grandma Karan and Grandma Cookie. Their best friend forever was Papa Ray who spent days teaching them to appreciate the beauty of this earth, to love one another, to live life, and to value education. Not a day will ever go by that the family will not stop and smile thinking about how these two angels blessed us in our lives.

They are survived by their father, Zach Wilson (Alison); mother, Heather Perkins (Evan Trumper); grandparents, Raymond and Karan Perkins, Cookie and Randy Imperiale; great-grandparents, Ron and Diane Paoli, Jerry and Jeanette Perkins; aunts and uncles, Jayme Johnson, April and Nick Wood, Nicole Shane Spencer; along with numerous great aunts and uncles and cousins.

It takes a village and that they had.

The family would love to thank this community for all the love and support it has provided through this difficult time. The love here on the Coast has been unbelievable.

The community is invited to a celebration of life to be held this Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, at 1 p.m. at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Join us in embracing the spirit of Carter and Silas and releasing them to the heavens.

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ALAN FERGUSON died suddenly at his home on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, of heart failure. His local business, Braggadoon Signs and Graphics, was his joy and passion, and the culmination of his life’s work as a professional photographer and graphic designer.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 45 years, Elizabeth; two daughters, Lanette Kathleen of Pleasanton and Lesa Anne of Newhall, Calif.; and three granddaughters.

Come join us in a celebration of Alan’s life at David’s Deli in the Boatyard Shopping Center on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013 from 4 to 7 p.m.

Special thanks to the Rotary Club of Fort Bragg and the Mendocino Coast community. Memorial donations can be sent to the Fort Bragg Volunteer Fire Department.

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HAMBURG FLIP-OUT RECONSIDERED.

DUE TO the days-long lag time between Board of Supervisors meetings and the posting of the videos of the meetings, we only just had a chance to review the Mendocino Town Plan meeting in Mendocino where, some said, Supervisor Dan Hamburg, went off unfairly on the Planning and Building staff and his fellow Supes. Hamburg’s beef? The Planning Department back in 2006 should have implemented the Special Resource Conservation Area (SCRA) designation for the Town of Mendocino, a designation which would allow town residents to appeal local planning decisions to the Coastal Commission. Hamburg had several official documents showing that direction was given to Planning staff in 2006, yet the SCRA designation was never officially made under Coastal Act. After the meeting where he was accused of a psychotic break, Hamburg’s critics said he was outtaline for loudly complaining about the SCRA foul-up in 2006, and for being unfair to the current planning staff who weren’t involved back in 2006.

BUT APART FROM THE PROS & CONS of the SCRA designation, Hamburg had a point; we think he was justifiably upset that clear direction back in 2006 from the Board wasn’t complied with. “What does this mean if we make a decision today,” Hamburg legitimately asked, “and nothing is done?” After Hamburg’s complaint other Board members softened the blow by pointing out that maybe the direction wasn’t so clear, and the current staff wasn’t responsible for any oversight by the 2006 vintage planning staff, and the whole hothouse-tinged dispute, such as it was, seemed to have smoothed out. CEO Carmel Angelo assured Hamburg that whatever direction today’s Board gives staff would be implemented. But Hamburg had a right to complain about the ball being dropped and to demand that staff follow directions. Now all he has to do is take a similar level of interest in all the other things County staff fails to do.

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WILLITS WOMAN WHO ADMITTED KILLING BOYFRIEND LOSES PAROLE BID

A Willits woman has lost her bid for state prison parole in the 1997 murder of her then boyfriend. Alissa Moore must serve at least another five years in prison before being eligible for a new parole hearing, state parole authorities decided last week at the Central California Woman’s Facility in Chowchilla. Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Boyd appeared at Moore’s hearing and argued against her release. District Attorney David Eyster applauded the state board’s decision, citing the planning Moore put into the execution-style killing of Paul Rodriguez in a rural area on the Mendocino Coast. Moore admitted to killing Rodriguez on April 21, 1997 after devising a plan to lure him to an isolated spot on the coast. Moore directed friends to drive a vehicle to the rural location and make it appear their car had broken down. Moore later admitted that after arriving at the site she retrieved a loaded shotgun from a nearby trailer and shot Rodriguez while he was inspecting the vehicle. Moore then directed two other people to load Rodriguez’ body into the vehicle, and dump it at a spot about three miles inland from the murder site. Moore’s after-the-fact assertions that Rodriguez had been abusive to her during their relationship were investigated but the state Board of Parole Hearings found such assertions could not be substantiated.

(District Attorney Press Release)

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THOSE OF YOU trying to keep abreast of economics, and the whole show is poised to go ka-blooey, check this out from Taibbie:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/chase-isnt-the-only-bank-in-trouble-20131105

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SENTENCING POSTPONED in Yurok embezzlement case at tribe’s request

By Thadeus Greenson

Updated: 11/06/2013 03:32:50 PM PST

The federal sentencing of a former Yurok Tribe forestry director was postponed Tuesday at the request of the tribe, which wants to file a victim impact statement in the nearly $1 million embezzlement case.

Raymond

Roland Raymond, 50, was due to be sentenced in a federal courthouse in San Francisco. He faces a maximum of 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to a single count of conspiring to embezzle funds from an Indian tribal organization. The Yurok Tribe submitted a request to the court on Monday afternoon asking to postpone the sentencing to allow it to submit the victim impact statement and organize a delegation of the tribal council to be present.

United States District Judge William Alsup granted the request Tuesday, and has rescheduled Raymond’s sentencing for Nov. 15.

Yurok Tribe Executive Director Troy Fletcher said the tribe didn’t weigh in on Raymond’s sentencing earlier because it was unaware a hearing had been scheduled.

”We weren’t even notified of the sentencing, and didn’t find out about it until we read about it in the Times-Standard,” Fletcher said, noting that he found the information in an Oct. 23 article. “We feel like the U.S. Attorney’s Office should have done more to consult with us as the victims of the crime, which would include notification of hearings like this.”

Raymond was remanded into federal custody last week after failing a drug test and violating the terms of his home confinement, according to court documents.

With his guilty plea, Raymond admitted to working with a local company, Mad River Biologists, to use an elaborate scheme of fake invoices, false purchase requests and electronic bank transfers to embezzle more than $870,000 in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe during a three-year period of wildlife preservation studies. According to court documents, Raymond stole the funds to support gambling and drug addictions.

Mad River Biologists founder Ron LeValley has also been charged with conspiring to embezzle from an Indian tribal organization and has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege LeValley submitted the false invoices to the tribe, accepted payments for services never rendered and then redirected the funds back to Raymond, less a 20 percent fee taken off the top.

Free after posting a $50,000 appearance bond, LaValley is due back in court Dec. 3 for what court records list as a “potential” change of plea hearing.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is arguing that Raymond should be sentenced to 20 months in federal prison, saying his cooperation with federal investigators warrants shaving 10 months from the 30-month sentence recommended by the federal probation department. Raymond’s attorney Randall Davis agreed with the 20-month sentence, but argued his client should be given credit for time already served behind bars and in home confinement, and should only serve an additional seven months in federal prison.

Fletcher said the tribal council takes Raymond’s case very seriously and wants to see justice served, but declined to comment specifically on what the tribe’s victim impact statement will include, saying tribal attorney Charles Henry will probably craft a draft statement that would then be reviewed and approved by the entire tribal council.

(Courtesy, the Eureka Times Standard)

post with pic from Advocate

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TODAY IS THE 96TH anniversary of the Russian Revolution. If Minor’s drawing confuses you it means that the revolutionaries were funded by capitalists who hoped to get lucrative concessions from Lenin’s new government. The revolution, by the way, was carried off without the insurgents firing a shot.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Whoever gossips to you, will gossip about you. — Spanish proverb

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FOOD SAFETY LETTER WRITING

On Thursday Nov 7 at the Philo Grange there will be a potluck at 6:00 followed at 7:00 by a presentation about the Food Safety Modernization Act and letter writing. This is especially important if you are interested in this issue and were not able to make it to the Willits event (below.) Will the Food Safety Modernization Act Affect You and Your Farming Operation? If you are unsure of the answer to this question, please plan on attending the panel discussion on the proposed rules and requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act. It is being held at the Little Lake Grange, 291 School Street, on Tuesday November 5th at 7pm. Comments on the proposed rules close on November 15 and it is critically important that the Food and Drug Administration gets accurate, first-hand information about how their proposed rules may affect operations of farms in Mendocino County. Panelists will discuss: a summary of the regulation, potential impacts to local agricultural operations, current exemptions, relation to organic producers and upcoming comment opportunities. Panelists will include: Chuck Morse, Mendocino County Agricultural Commissioner; Devon Jones, Executive Director Mendocino County Farm Bureau; Doug Mosel, Mendocino Grain Project; Cliff Paulin, North Coast Regional Food System Coordinator; Scott Cratty, General Manager Mendocino County Farmers Market Association. This event is event is being sponsored by the Mendocino County Farm Bureau, the Mendocino County Farmers Market Association and the Little Lake Grange.

For more information, please contact: Scott Cratty, 707-462-7377 or

cratty@comcast.net

For additional information on the regulation, please visit:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm334114.htm#summary

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HEADS UP, ANDERSON VALLEY!

Route 1 (40.9/41.3) — Pavement repairs from 0.6 mile to 1.0 mile north of the junction of Routes 1/128 will continue on Thursday, November 14. Work hours are 7AM to 5PM, weekdays. One-way traffic control will be in effect. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays. Contractor: Granite Construction of Ukiah. (Caltrans Press Notice)

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THE STATE STOLE MY TRUCK

By “Forest Queen”

Part One: Is There an Emergency Officer?

Saturday July 27th, 2013. I’ve been pissed for 13 days –can’t be healthy. The STATE, as in C.H.P’s, stole my truck. It’s out in the hot sun of Laytonville. I asked the correct questions – Is there an emergency officer? Do you acknowledge that I’m traveling and not driving commercially for profit? Did you witness me committing a crime? To this he replied “yes, speeding.” I talk common law, THEY only talk in Corp. Commercial speak.

It was 100+ degrees, took two and a half hours, as I refused to exit my truck. My cat travels with me, no container box, he was panting like a dog. After officer friendly communicated on his radio he came to my window to ask my name. I had already permitted him to write down the VIN#. He had written ‘sovereign’ on the little notepad he held. Three more patrol cars came when I said that they’d have to impound with me in my truck. The officer drove me and my cat back to Willits to my friend’s home. A 20+ min. trip – unless you’re in a patrol car. When I was in the patrol car the doors were locked and the four impersonators of public servants searched my truck. I said that I did NOT consent to a search of my personal property, to which the officer said, “We just took inventory, because of the impound.”

I’m so sick to death of liars. Took me three days to type my Notice and Demand – delivered to the arresting officer, Sheriff Downey & Sheriff Allman. The officer is out of the Garberville CHP office. So far he’s been Noticed of: Warring against the Constitution, Fraudulent conveyance of language to extort the wealth and rights of one of the people, Warrant-less seizure, Failure of substantive due process, Involvement with prior knowledge, and pre-meditated fraudulent gross negligence, Impersonating a public servant, and Armed robbery.

“Personal involvement in deprivation of constitutional rights is prerequisite to award damages, but defendant may be personally involved in constitutional deprivation by direct participation, failure to remedy wrongs after learning about it, creation of a policy or custom under which unconstitutional practices occur or gross negligence in managing subordinates who cause violation.” Gallegos v Haggerty (1938).

First and foremost, before anything applies, did STATE acquire standing to punish by proving on the record that a regulatable activity, over which the STATE had enforcement authority, was actually being engaged in by me, and that my truck was being USED as a “motor vehicle” for that purpose? If the car/truck/van is not being used for Commercial purposes, then its seizure was illegal because the lawful authority for it was applicable only to those “motor vehicles” that ARE being USED FOR COMMERCE.

“If the State converts a right into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right with impunity.” Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham Aabama.

“Any restraint, however slight, upon another’s liberty to come and go as one pleases, constitutes an arrest.” Sweetnam v. W.F. Woolworth Co. Ariz.

This position does not hang precariously upon only a few cases, but has been proclaimed by an impressive array of cases ranging from the state courts to the federal courts.

The very concept of “Public Policy” and its inherent usurpation of power from the sovereign people is so addictive and has become so wildly accepted by bureaucrats in all levels of government that they act as if they are the masters of the people.

No other judicial establishment in recorded history has vested a titled nobility such prerogatives extorted from the submissive and unified masses. No other system has so methodically held the people in ignorance to facilitate their exploitation and continued subjection to arbitrary power. Under no other law has despotism so perfected and matured its illegitimate fruit.

I live my life according to the law of the land, and I DAMNED WELL DEMAND the same of my public servants.

Part 2: Dealing with the Uninformed:

Monday August 5, 2013 – 9:30 a.m.

I’ll skip the DMV episode. I speak in common sense, common law – THEY speak in Corporate Code Enforcement – incapable of thinking outside of their fraud and theft of the people “job description” box.

In the Court File Clerk’s area, with two witnesses in tow, I asked the guy behind the glass how to go about seeing a judge. He asked if I had a pending case. No, I don’t. Then he said I could not speak with a judge. He asked what it is pertaining to. I told him armed robbery -transportation theft from the (e)lderly. (His end of the ‘speaker’ communication was breaking up). He kept repeating his learned mantra: “Get a lawyer” and something about Probate. Every time I corrected him that it is about transportation theft, he repeated his same old programming that’s killing the planet lawyer/probate jive.

With Mandatory Judicial Notice in hand, witnessed by three living souls, three of us proceeded to the Sheriff’s Dept. counter – also behind glass. Since this lady didn’t leave her chair to “see if the Sheriff was in” I determined that he truly wasn’t there. She had no idea when he would return, and no he doesn’t have an appointment book. She would be glad to take a note. No thanks. I asked her if the only way to get to meet with a magistrate was to be apprehended? She thought it wasn’t a good idea and “No” it would not guarantee my objective.

Upstairs to the Court Clerk’s office door – this lady repeated the same monologue about seeing a judge. To which I ran by her my theory of being apprehended in order to see a judge. She laughed, and told me that that would not necessarily get my desired result.

Next:
What we thought was a Bailiff, as we got closer was a Deputy at the other end of that same floor. I asked him the possibility of seeing a judge, or does that require being apprehended? He directed me to the Bailiff’s Room and told me to just knock on the door. A young man dressed in a suit, lawyer ?, was sitting to the right of the Deputy. He told me that if I managed to get arrested that I would probably spend 72 hrs. in solitary confinement (the jail is full), and then be released. Yikes!

Upon a Bailiff answering my knock at the door, I went through my same story and question about being apprehended to see a judge. “Not a chance.”

Ahh, Sheriff Downey is going into the Bailiff’s Room. I asked him what about conversing with a judge, that I am under duress and (e)lderly, ten miles from any food store, and no way to get wood to heat my home. And, “Didn’t you read my letter and attached Notice that I left for you two weeks ago?” That clicked, he punted, threw up his hands and directed me to the Mt. Sanhedrin (universal consent) Court in Mendo. Constitutional Sheriff my snow white bottom. He took the oath to uphold the law of the land, the Constitution. It’s either Constitution, or For Profit Commerce PERIOD.

Hind sight – I shoulda give him a swift kick in the shin. I’m sure that would have gained my entrance into the Syndicated Corruption pool. However, I’m not willing to be in solitary confinement for 72 hrs. and then released by a PIG (PERSONS In Government) who illegally step into the judicial branch and sign a release as: “Matrix II.”

My mentor emailed me before I went up to Eureka and asked if I was just going up there to “shoot the breeze” with a judge. Later, I replied that I didn’t even get a sniff of a breeze with a judge.

Part three: The Lying Liars Who Lie About The Lying:

Monday Aug. 26, 2013

Lie # 9 – “Traffic” Administration room didn’t open until 8:30 (since last Nov.). The Code Enforcer wrote 8:00 on C.H.P’s “Adopted” Traffic Citation form.

Lie #10 – Suspended D/L. When anyone’s State issued (owned) D/L EXPIRES, it would be impossible to be on the FREEways or “Highway” Robbery of 101, with a “Suspended” Commercial DRIVER’s License.

Not being in possession of any I dent a fiction and knowing that the Commercial Administration process requires notarized documents, I ventured into Garberville’s D.M.V – at 1:15 (closes for one and a forth hours for lunch). As I approached the door a lady was just behind me. A sign posted on the door said to take a number and be seated. I looked at her and asked if we would be told to do just that and we gave a knowing smile to one another. We were the only ones in there, with two female counter clerks ready behind the counter. Sure enough! The first counter clerk on our right told us to each take a number. I asked if I should be seated first (only to get right back up and approach the counter). She said no we didn’t have to sit, just take a number. As I filled in the fields on the (A)pplication, NOT Contract as there’s only my sign of nature (signature) – in THREE places! There’s no meeting of the minds, let alone the autograph of the STATE who is offering the (A)pplication. She printed out a record of past FTA’s – and sueprise, sueprise, Mendo. was NOT on the paper – hence, no “Suspended” D/L. – A third lady, to my left, was asking about why she hadn’t received her D/L in the mail yet. Great.

The edifice of fraud is crumbling before our very eyes.

Earlier same day – After two office stops on the second floor of the Mt. Sanhedrin building, I was sent to “Court” room G (Godzilla I figured). The whore judge in this room was handing out penance (O)rders to the tune(s) of $800 to $1,400!! She asked if the ones who remained were here for Walk-In Court. I stood and was motioned front and center. (I have two witnesses with me). Wearing a white skirt (always bring light into the dark) and a med. blue long-sleeved cotton sweater that has UNSLAVED printed in white two inch high letters across the chest, I began with:
“For and on the record – and continued with what I posted in here last week. i read through the first page – ending with –what rights will be made available to the Accused and what rights will be denied – and the de facto judge started banging her little hammer like a third grader, shouting “I have jurisdiction over You!” To which I firmly stated, “I do Not consent, You do NOT have jurisdiction over the Accused!!!” As usual, I had hit a nerve – and the Bailiff started walking towards me and reaching for the cuffs. Judgie wudgie asked how did I want to plead? “I do NOT plead to Courts of Contract.” She continued, all I heard was September 11 as the Bailiff (on queue to distract) started talking to me also. I marked his paper “offer to Contract” with my usual For: ALL CAPS NAME (i’m signing For the Strawman), followed by three dots (under duress and forced under threat to comply).

Lie # – I’ve lost count in “this State” (of mind) – Bailiff told me that what the robed Pirate was saying was being printed and I would get a copy. Later upon looking at the “(O)rders, it was only three copies of the same world-of-fiction’s Citation.
i’m posting this in here in detail for (E)ntertainment purposes ONLY. The irrelevant facts have no bearing. I’m there for one purpose, and one purpose only, to challenge jurisdiction (Due process). When fact and fiction come face to face, the truth can NOT be heard – literally, and god forbid the remaining two thirds full of the room should hear truth. Remember, Lady Justice wears a blindfold.

Part four: In the Arm Pit of the Country’s So-called Courts:

Wednesday September 11, 2013

Different black-robed Banker, no surprise there. This one repeated no less than three times, that, “California is a sovereign State.” Again I refer to George Carlin who stated the obvious: – “How much longer do they think they can go on lying to us?”

Sovereign is a “people” term – NOTHING to do with land. The Constitution is the law of the land.

I could only stare at the Banker. He even threatened having me cuffed – get this – for chewing gum! Honestly, how embarrassing would that be, when any of the other female prisoners asked me why I’m in there, and I’d answer – “for chewing gum.” Too embarrassing, I opted to spit it out – Knowing that I’d be slipping back into 3-D’s jurisdiction by obeying a command from a Banker.

When I said that I had not received Due Process (as it no longer exists), the Banker threatened me with a Bench Warrant! (This guy was even more off the hook than Banker #1 – if that’s possible). Next, and meaning they’ve run out of ideas – the Banker would have me declared nuts if I didn’t accept a Public Pretender!!! JEEEZ US.

STATE INC.’S are merely marauding bands, violently appropriating land (and other) resources that they have no labor title to. The land question remains, its’ importance brought to the forefront whenever we’re shown the utter chaos that the “order” of the STATE actually produces.

It’s a matter of course that the STATE’S gangs holding us captive should demand our loyalty, and no less surprising that most have come to genuinely identify with their respective captors.

How pissed, indeed!, should all of us be at the history of political conquests that gave us the distribution of land (and other resources) we have today?

Part five: In the City of the Damned . . . Bring it On, I Will Not Comply!

Thursday October 3rd, 2013

The level of fraud is impressive. Same Banker as Round One, third persecutor, third Case # (?). D.A. ass’t didn’t have my file (yeah, right) and left to go get it. Banker exited room. I approached a guy wearing a blue short-sleeved, unbuttoned shirt, supposedly the Bailiff, and handed him my original Affidavit and asked him to give it to the Court Clerk. He looked confused, walked it over to her, and returned it to me. (Conclusion – the offices are all vacant). Persecutor returns. I asked to see his BAR card, which he produced, then he followed me back to my seat by my friends. He was asking about “Driving.” I corrected him, “travel.” He said “Drive.” I said “travel.” “Drive.” “travel.” “Drive.” “travel” “Drive.” “travel.” This went on six to eight times, he finally conceded and returned to his chair. Banker returns. Persecutor whines about the “Defendant” – which I loudly corrected by saying “co-plaintiff” – asking him to see his BAR card. “Good morning your honor” as I again handed my Affidavit to the Bailiff(?), with a nod from the Banker, the Court Clerk handed it to her. Banker asks if this is about challenging her jurisdiction? “Yes, same as the Aug. and Sept. meetings.” (first one w/out an identification, I had three friends whom I’ve known forever witness my signature –Common Law, second round I submitted a copy that got “Lodged.” This time, I gave up my original). Then, and this was a real stretch, she asked if I was the same ‘person’ whose last NAME (30 years ago!) was ——-. (I wouldn’t contract with her by ‘giving’ her my name). I said that that was irrelevant to the case now before the court. “On and for the record, I am here in the flesh speaking for the living ______, family of _____, hereinafter co-plaintiff by Special Appearance ONLY” when the Banker interrupted my freedom of speech and says that the Court Reporter can’t get all that I’m saying – lies, lies, and more lies. I asked if she was stating that I am a slave? She said no, I didn’t (past tense) say that you were a slave. I asked for evidence for the claim. She referred to the lame-ass citation that I and Officer ____signed. I asked her if she really thought that an ALL BLOCK CAPITAL NAME printed like a second grader with For: in front was my signature? And that Officer _____is too incompetent to make a legal decision for me. She said that he is competent. I said that the court is assuming facts not in evidence and so far I haven’t seen a valid claim/legal charging instrument. We continued to talk over one another – round and round. I asked her if she is a Public Servant? She arrogantly said, “I am employed by the STATE of CA.” I asked if she had taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, that it seems as if I’m being punished for my belief in the law of the land. (I know, I know, NEVER mention the Constitution in an inferior STATE courtroom). It was mostly a shouting match. She said that all she could do is reduce this to an infraction. I said, that is not true, it can be dismissed without prejudice (this was on the top right corner of my Affidavit). Well, she wasn’t going to do that, and could I be ready for try all by Mon? (LOL, a Bench trial). “No. Co-plaintiff demands a jury trial – of her peers.” (you can see how impossible this would be, AS IF there are 12 living souls in Mendo. who think as I do). She was saying the word January, when I abruptly, and determinedly, turned and walked away, looked at my friends and loudly said, “let’s go, we’re outta here.” The pretend Bailiff came running after us out in the hall and asked if I didn’t want the “Minutes.” We kept walking, I said “NO!” There was about 20 sheeple in the room for this ACT III smoke and mirrors show.

I’m so done with STATE employees posing as Public Servants. These inferior courts lack jurisdiction to allow a foreign government operating on American soil – Trespassers and Traitors! And yes, my truck is still there after three months. If this bullshit charade being played on the people to extort rights and money by misconveyance of our language, and wearing their color of law costumes, continues – who’s fault is it? Mendo’s website has 60 days in advance slave NAMES listed to “appear” in their pit of vipers.

Part 6:The people vs the STATE INC.(fact vs FICTION)

Thursday October 31

Upon arriving in Garberville i had Jim Lamport make three copies for me of the “So Ordered” Mendocino County So Ordered Dismissed, Trial Dates Vacated, document. Off to the STATE (CHP) office in Redway, with witness in tow. A gal comes to the counter window and opens it. The only other person on the other side of the glass is a female standing back afar. Let me say here that, a contract is a meeting of the minds and performance. I handed her a copy of the Dismissed case docket and told her that i was going to get my truck from impound at the tow agency, and would she please confirm this to him if he telephones? She agreed = meeting of the minds. I offered, she accepted. Seriously, it didn’t occur to me to ass KING permission. I’m public; she’s servant –correct?

Just before arriving at the “tow agency,” I telephoned my girlfriend who was nearby to come and meet me there, that I had received the Dismissal Order yesterday. We get there when she does. Tow guy comes out, and I hand him his copy of the Dismissed doc., and say, happily, that I’ve come to get my truck. (Our first two meetings he “wished me luck”). He is saying something in reference to $, when I remind him that my last sentence to him the first time we met was that, he is liable if the charges don’t stick -and that during our second encounter that I had referred him to the Notices he had received, (signed signature in hand), that states that you can’t lose something you never had $, and that he is in possession of stolen property. “You can’t not know something once you know It.” I even showed him my original Purchase receipt from the dealer who I bought my truck from, and did he see his name on it? I again showed him the STATE “tow agency” form that has NO SIGNATURES on it, and the “Traffic”(Commerce) citation that only has one signature –the arresting STATE Officer’s.

He privately contracted with the PUBLIC STATE –not me. How can his contract include me???? Private Public Partnership (PPP) is a frowned-upon conflict of interest that is not for the benefit of the people, and tramples on the Constitution, and in amendment, the Bill of Rights -that on paper, protects those rights.

I had also asked him, during one of my past visits, that would it be okay if I stole his truck? Would he mind? -seeing that we hardly know each other, and i don’t have his signature selling, giving, or lending it to me.

I asked him to please telephone the STATE office in Redway. He telephones a STATE Dispatcher, talks to her for a while, and then she asks to speak with me. My first words were, “Are you in Redway?” She replied, “No.” Then she asked me if I got a signed ‘Release” when i left a copy of the Dismissed doc. in Redway. Like all-of-a-sudden signatures actually have value –humph. She then turns the telephone conversation over to Major _____. I MEAN, how many Military Titles of Nobility/Labels are there in the STATE C.H.P? He rambles on the same old programming, in the crypt, ad nauseous mantra about D/L, Registration blah, blah, blah. Back talking with the Dispatcher, in ending our chat, she says that she’ll get back to me -She does –She Dispatches some 104’s.

Prior to their speedy arrival, I was using my girlfriend’s telephone in trying to connect with Redway – I listened to the menu merry-go-round madness, including an Insurance sales blurb, and wasn’t able to speak with a warm body. True to the day that it was, Halloween, the 104’s arrived in their usual “Color of Law” costumes. The first one to arrive looks to be 24 years of age. I flash on the 24 year-old rookie-in-training who just recently fired seven shots at a 13-year-old boy in Sonoma County and killed him.

My girlfriend must exit -it’s that time of year. The second 104 arrives, he’s the first-in-line thug thief who illegally and unlawfully stole my truck in July. I didn’t recognize him -I seldom remember STATE persons. A Corpse just doesn’t have much worth to me. He’s short, bald, wearing shades . . . cute in a wolf’s clothing way.

With the tow guy, James (my witness), two STATE Code Enforcement Agents, and myself, circled . . . the first 104 to arrive starts on his schpeal about STATE Codes. I ask for his oath, as I’m writing down his NAME. No reply. i show him the Dismissed doc. from the COUNTY of Mendocino. He says that until I REGISter my truck and get a (Commercial) Driver’s License, and (I)nsurance that my truck isn’t gong anywhere. I said, “Let’s suppose that i get my truck and I’m traveling up 101 and get motioned roadside. Do you think that a STATE Code Enforcer is going to waste his time going through this whole charade again?” He just went into his programmed mantra about D/L, Registration, and Insurance. I agreed –meeting of the minds, and turned to walk. At this point, let’s face it; Registration and a License could be obtained. Then, “Tow Guy” who has said nothing up until then, mentions his $. 104 says, “Oh yes, and his storage fees.” Do I smell a Breach of Contract? I turn back around. Now, the bald headed 104 speaks and tells me that we have to get off of the property, and for me to telephone a “Supervisor” GOOD GRIEF! –yet another titled fly in the ointment. Are these DiCK wavers authority fixated, or what? If the tow guy would have said for me to leave his property, I could heed, but a STATE hired thug? Na.

The first 104 getting more vicious by the minute, snarls and says, “If we have to come back out here we won’t be as nice as we are now.” James, who has only been witnessing for me, speaks up and tells the 104, that he just crossed the line in threatening his friend, and he won’t tolerate it. At this point, I’m not going to place any one of us in harm’s way. I look at James and say, “Let’s go.”

At least three times when the youngest 104 was talking loudly over me, I told them that he was. Only to hear, “Yeah, that’s right.” I asked him to allow me to speak without his interference, that the only reason we’re having this confrontation at all is because “you two have the clubs and the guns.”

As James says, “It’s hard to convince someone whose livelihood is based on not understanding.”

HEADLINE in Friday’s Press Democrat read “In need of rain, lots of it.” The “story” was accompanied by a photo of a drained, mudflat called Lake Mendocino. The story should be called, “In Need of a Sensible and Fair Water Policy for the Northcoast” but the only elected person talking water and sensible in the same context is John Pinches of Mendocino County. Pinches points out that while Lake Mendo is empty, nearby Lake Sonoma is nearly full and most of Lake Sonoma’s water fell to the earth in Mendocino County. All answers flow (sic) from this fact of Northcoast life.

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THE DEAD DUMPSTER DIVER found at the Solid Waste Systems transfer station at South Ukiah has been identified as David Escobedo, 47, of Ukiah. A worker found Escobedo’s body on Halloween morning at the company’s Ukiah yard. He is believed to fallen 40 feet from the top of a garbage heap on a loading platform where he was apparently going through the piled refuse in the dark on the morning of October 31, according to the Sheriff’s Office. A driver backing up one of the company’s garbage trucks to load garbage for hauling later found Escobedo’s body. His car was parked nearby.

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HALLOWEEN IN UKIAH

Editor,

“Oh come on honey; let’s go. In all of these years we’ve never gone.” My wife relented and off we went to Ukiah’s Pumpkinfest for the very first time. We were lucky and found a parking spot on State Street across from Alex Thomas Park. Our excitement waned as we exited our car and were overwhelmed with the odor of burning marijuana. Then we were struck with the horrendous sound of numerous cars crashing and someone screaming in pain. But we soon realized it was really a live band with someone attempting to sing.

We chose to flee north on School Street with hopes that the distance would free us from the THC in the air and the alleged band. It partially worked, but the continual sound of crashing cars stayed with us. As we old folks worked our way north, we encountered beer guzzling moms and dads holding the hands of their little ones attempting to enjoy the many booths.

As we came upon one corner there was a drunken man yelling at his better half as she tried to shrink from our sight and the sight of others. As he spit out his profanities, he swung his beer bottle in the air as if directing an orchestra. Some of his beer came out of his bottle and rained down my wife’s neck.

We hurried eastbound, weaving through the throng of tattooed and pierced members of the crowd in hopes of escaping this event. As we got to State Street and headed south, it was like a breath of fresh air. The zoo seemed to know its confines and stayed on School Street. We knew we were close to our car because the burning weed and the crashing cars became ever more caustic to our senses. As we took refuge inside our car and I sped off northbound, my senses picked up one more assault — that was my wife’s glare burning into the side of my head. It cost me an early supper at the Broiler, but she forgave me.

Robert Schuster, Redwood Valley

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SUPERVISORS CONSIDER PACE; COMMUNITY INPUT NEEDED

On Tuesday, November 12 at 3pm, Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will again consider the possibility of bringing the PACE-like clean energy finance program to Mendocino County. A full report and presentation is epected from the two-member Board of Supervisor’s Ad Hoc Committee charged with researching PACE possibilities (Supervisors McCowen and Hamburg). The Board will take public comment of up to 3 minutes each person, before deciding whether to move forward towards estaablishing a PACE-like program. A key issue is whether residential property loans will be included in the local program, or just commercial loans, as some have proposed. Property Assessed Clean Energy (or PACE) financing has worked in other areas, including Sonoma County, to create new opportunities for financing that make it possible for property owners to undertake energy and water conservation improvements. The PACE program was made possible through State legislation allowing this type of financing. In Sonoma County, more than 2,000 PACE-funded projects have been completed, most of them for residential housing. According to the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program: PACE provides “an opportunity for property owners to finance energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy generation improvements through a voluntary assessment. These assessments will be attached to the property, not the owner, and will be paid back through the property tax system over time, making the program not only energy efficient but also affordable.” Mendocino Solar Service appreciates and supports the efforts of local alternative energy advocates to promote the PACE program. We recognize that it is important to tailor any PACE program to our local needs, and to help address any confusion or concern about how this type of financing works. We encourage local residents to share their support for programs like PACE with the Board of Supervisors in advance of — or at — their November 12 meeting. Contact information for your local supervisor is online at this link. Attending the meeting in person will provide the opportunity for public testimony directly to the Board. The item is scheduled for 3pm; it cannot be considered before 3pm, but could come up later depending on the Board agenda. (Mendocino Solar Press Release)

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NORTH OF THE GOLDEN GATE

Dave Helvarg is the author of a number of books, the most recent The Golden Shore: California’s Love Affair with the Sea, a fascinating account of Helvarg’s travels from one end of California’s coast to the other, with a focus on how crucial the health and welfare of Califor­nia’s coast is to not only Californians but the rest of the country and the world. Some readers will remember Helvarg from his work on KQED’s documentary film by Steve Talbot called Who Bombed Judi Bari. There’s a chapter in Golden Shore devoted to redwood country, which is where we began our conversation.

* * *

HELVARG: I was just up in Mendocino for a weekend. I was struck by how few log trucks I saw, and amazed at how fast the area has gone from logging to marijuana. It’s a great irony of geography that there are 2.5 million people in five Northcoast counties — Sonoma, Marin, Mendo, Humboldt, Del Norte, but in Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte less than a million, but all five of the lightly populated counties in one con­gressional district. North of Santa Rosa, it’s always been a kind of frontier; the Gold Rush, timber, farming, fishing. Not until the 1920s was there a road up through Mendocino County to Humboldt County. And it’s always been resource dependent, a rainforest with cold, wet and foggy wet weather much of the year. The transformations of the Northcoast have come fast; the transforma­tions up and down the coast of California have been fast. Considering that California is the most populous state in the nation yet there are so few people on the North Coast. You can’t really count the Bay Area as part of NorCal. Nobody cares what happens north of Golden Gate Bridge except the people who live there. The biggest coastal city from SF to Portland is Eureka with maybe 28,000 people. And Arcata. That whole area of Humboldt County is about 70,000 people if you push it. Pot became an industry that supplanted timber, so in a way north of Sonoma County is still a rural ag economy, as is Sonoma County if you count grapes.

AVA: Back to the landers began a major transforma­tion of forgotten NorCal.

HELVARG: But just before the back to the landers came the second home developments. Developers had lots of Shelter Cove-like visions, and at Shelter Cove itself we have 4500 lots on slopes with mudslides every winter. The vision was something like Sea Ranch replicated 25 times up the coast. More than 20 ranches had been bought up, and as it was we got Irish Beach some inland second home developments.

AVA: They didn’t consider distances did they? That’s why coastal development sort of petered out at Sea Ranch, right?

HELVARG: Sea Ranch inspired the Coastal Act ini­tiative. But the plan was much more grandiose. It was to widen Route 1 to four lanes, put lateral roads connecting to 101 every 20 miles all the way up the coast. And powering the whole thing would be a string of nukes with dams on all the rivers. The Marin supervisors were excited about the creation of Point Reyes as a national park the area would draw 150,000 people into the gateway communities where they would build shopping malls and sewage plants.

AVA: You point out how crazy it could have gotten. But the hustlers like the ones who built at Shelter Cove didn’t really understand how far off the beaten path it was.

HELVARG: They understood that but they would sell it anyway, and they would just treat it like swampland in Florida. They had DC-3s flying in buyers from Los Angeles because they did not want the buyers to see the 12 hour road trek that getting to Shelter Cover requires from LA. In 1971, one of those planes crashed on takeoff and one of the potential buyers was killed along with the crew. That kind of put the squelch on coast development and also helped inspire the Coastal Commission. Now Shelter Cove is a beautiful, funky lit­tle backwater, so it didn’t turn out all bad. As an aside here, nobody knows that just north of Crescent City at Lake Earl there’s the largest coastal estuary south of Alaska. That was another place where developers planned to put in 5000 units right on top of the estuary. And they didn’t include plans for sewer lines or anything in the way of basic infrastructure, but they were selling 5,000 units up there. To them, this kind of progress was God. The harbormaster at Crescent City, by the way, told me that when you get north of Cape Mendocino, it’s not Northern California, it’s Baja Oregon.

AVA: What do you think of the Coastal Commission’s present functioning? It seems like the Coastal Act is being chipped away at in Mendocino County. People wind up building these ghastly ocean view homes out of all proportion to human need and their natural sur­roundings. How do they do it?

HELVARG: It’s the constant pressure. Peter Douglas, who just died, got our Benchley award. (Helvarg is a principal organizer of the Blue Frontier Campaign, which presents an annual recognition of people struggling “to protect our ocean, our coasts and the communities that depend on them.”) He said the Coast is never saved, it’s always being saved. He set up a system that is hard for any governor to kill off. Pete Wilson certainly tried. But it has been chipped away at, as you say, over the years. The Coastal Commission has one third fewer staff today than they had in 1980. They’ve gone from 240 to 180 people. They don’t have full-time people in Men­docino or Humboldt out on the ground to make sure that people don’t break the law. Peter Douglas said that although California desired the best coastal protection in the world, you set up a regulatory agency and it’s captured by the people being regulated within seven years. But the Coastal Commission has done a lot better over the 30-plus years of its existence. How has it done it? Peter said it was transparency. The public comes to us and demands that we do these things and with fewer resources we are still constantly pushed by the public to do the right thing. And there were two parts to the Coastal initiative; one was to protect the coast from unsound development but the more important priority was public access.

AVA: Public access was a huge issue at Sea Ranch.

HELVARG: People wanted to retain access and Sea Ranch wanted to prevent public access. Peter’s [Douglas] boss back then went up there with him right after Peter got out of law school and they looked at all these beautiful houses and beautiful ocean views. But you couldn’t see the ocean unless you owned one of the houses. Still today the Coastal Commission does not have the resources they deserve and they don’t have the reach that they need up into the watersheds and out offshore. But California as a whole is still the best model for ocean protection, for coastline protection. But we are not near where we need to be. But we are the best model out there. Without the Coastal Commission it would all be Sea Ranch north and nukes and everything else. PG&E, you will recall, planned to build an atomic park on Bodega Head. The next nuke power plant up the coast was going to be at Point Arena. And then one in Humboldt.

AVA: They did the one in Humboldt near Eureka.

HELVARG: They will be decommissioning that for the rest of our lifetimes. We had eight active reactors. Now we are down to two. So, as a society in California, we chose not to do any more oil and gas development, and not to go nuke. I did a piece recently in the LA Times castigating California for not being in the lead on offshore clean energy. Floating, wind, wave and tidal energy. Maine has just launched a wind turbine for deep water. They did it with a combination of university research and development and federal money, the kind of thing California used to be famous for.

AVA: Like Gavin Newsom wanted near the Golden Gate?

HELVARG: I think Newsom wanted some kind of tidal energy system. Maine’s is actually more practical because it’s wind energy. I think California is exploring that now. Part of it is the legacy of the famous Santa Barbara oil spill. People just don’t want any offshore development. Part of it is that PG&E screwed up. Surprise, surprise. They took $6 million in state money to look at wave energy in Mendocino and Humboldt. Then they spent all the money without putting anything in the water. And when they ran out of our money they walked away saying that the technology was not assured yet. So the Department of Energy is hesitant to give any more money to California because they got burned by PG&E. In my last interview with Peter Douglas he said we will now be discussing Green energy, desalinization, climate adaptation. These are things that will be fought for the rest of this century not, hopefully, more crazy develop­ment schemes. But everybody wants an exception. Everybody wants to build a their own ocean view mansion such as the ones you mentioned along Mendocino County’s shoreline.

AVA: The economy going permanently in the tank might stop a lot of the chipping away at the Coastal Act.

HELVARG: I was pretty impressed recently driving up to Fort Bragg and seeing how little it has changed. Didn’t they abandon the timber mill about 20 years ago? There’s still nothing there but a fence line.

AVA: The Koch Bros bought G-P. They’re the owners now. Incidentally, we have an advertiser selling iodine tablets ahead of the Fukushima disaster.

HELVARG: All bullshit. Fukushima is still way below the levels of nuclear testing we had in the 60s and 70s. There are so many reasons not to eat tuna — mercury levels, it’s an endangered species to name two. Radiation scares people, but it’s acidification of the seas that should scare us, carbon, not uranium.

AVA: Many people commenting on technical issues flunked high school chemistry and physics. In Mendo, the tinfoil hat people stopped eating fish the day after Fukushima.

HELVARG: They can eat the native fish, the ones not out in the ocean. Sardines are coming back. Stripers, oysters. There’s still a small sardine industry. Over the last few years there have been comebacks in herring and sardines in Monterey. I was just down there. There must have been 50 young male otters near Moss Landing. When you see a large number of otters hanging out — I have a chapter in the book called Return of the Beast. If you make right choices like banning gill nets and you shrink the bottom-trawling fleet and have federal acts like the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the state laws like the White Shark Protection Act, things start coming back. There is such a resilient ocean between the California current and the upwellings. So things can come back incredibly fast. We did a pretty effective job of wiping out the first otters, then the whales, and we went after the elephant seals for oil. And yet the otters are coming back, as are the California sea lions. There’s a beach down near Hearst Castle where the first returned elephant seals holed up. It was 1992 we saw the first breeding pair. Last year 17,000 returned.

AVA: Your opinion of the commercial oyster inholding at Drakes Bay in Marin?

HELVARG: Purdue, the guy who bought it, knew that it was set to revert to a park, a wilderness designation in 2014. The guy had a contract, and he recognized — he tried to game the system and get it on his side. The plan was always to phase out that inholding and return Drakes Bay to designated wilderness. So to me it’s not like growing oysters as part of the slow food movement. He tried to weasel out on an issue that shouldn’t have been — so we will get Hog Island oysters instead of Drakes Bay oysters. The fact is that it is national park land and look who his friends were in the end? The Pacific Legal Foundation. When I was down in San Diego talking about my book, the first question was about the children’s pool, which is where these harbor seals have hauled up in this little cove where children swim in La Jolla. That’s been a ten-year battle. If the basis of your battle is kids versus harbor seals you’re in pretty good shape. This original Drake’s Bay plan was to sell off half of what was to become a Point Reyes National Seashore set aside for development for 50,000 housing units in there. The estuary plan included a hotel, a heliport, a marina, and a canal out to the ocean. In Bolinas! At the estuary there. Progress was stopped. What you have now is seals on the mud flats and egrets nesting in the trees and open space for everyone to enjoy.

AVA: You just have to marvel at the mentality that could envision 50,000 housing units at Bolinas as a good thing.

HELVARG: Californians have always had this sense of entitlement for the beach and the ocean. We all think it belongs to us. That’s why there are so many different interests in recreation and surfing and the Navy ports and the fishermen. You don’t have any single industry or special interest dominating the coast. The coastal ocean is in decline but not as bad as places like Louisiana where oil and gas rules, or in England where the politi­cians think they own the coast. There is no cod on Cape Cod anymore. Even Florida, which you might think would be more like us, the modern history really started with all the real estate scams in the 1920s literally selling swamp land that became the soul of the real estate industry. Whereas the blue interests set the tone here. We have these long drawn out fights like the last decade fighting over the marine protected areas, the MLPA fights. But in the end we have come to something like the Coastal Commission which is — the MLPAs are pretty much like putting our world-class state park system into the water column. That’s my prediction. I just bought a T-shirt at the Fort Bragg recreational fishing store. The guy was snarling about the protected areas. But 10 years from now all these people who are angry are going to say, oh yes — I was part of that, I was involved in it. The Channel Islands have been protected for seven years and we have already seen this incredible comeback in the Channel Islands protected areas. I was just diving down in Mexico and there is a 25 square mile reserve started by the local fishermen. A family I know there, 30 years ago they were a fishing family, but they were running out of fish and they had to go up the Pacific Coast to catch lobster. A university professor came down from La Paz and showed them the deteriorated condition of the reef and made a map and got the fisherman and his family some snorkels to see the reef. Raul, one of the brothers, was the first one certified as a diver. And now the whole family makes more money on diving and kayaking and Coast tourism than they ever made from fishing. And since they have protected the area, they have seen in 10 years a 450% increase in the number and size of fish. This place is the most spectacular that’s been recorded on the West Coast. We will see a doubling in 10 years, I predict. At least.

AVA: Indians are still gill netting on the Klamath and here in Mendocino County on the Garcia.

HELVARG: It has some effect. They have fish managers in the tribes but it’s still… I think what everybody is hoping for is that there will be an agreement to take down the dams and that will open up a lot more area for the fish and fish habitat and grow the fish population back up on the Klamath. Salmon are a huge issue. If we do this new peripheral canal — it’s already hard for the fish and the salmon in the Delta and we still have dams — it will be very bad for the fish. We are the most populous state in the nation, but the fact that I can go out this weekend and maybe catch a salmon, even a hatchery salmon, is pretty impressive. On the other hand, it’s nowhere near what the Europeans have been able to maintain. Buy, read the book, the Age of Sail, where a Spanish explorer comes in to the Monterey Bay and starts complaining about the stench of all the whales. Even by the 1830s Richard Henry Dana is complaining on the first day about not finding any whales, but then on the third day they were bored with all the whales.

AVA: Big River at Mendocino looks to be in far better shape now that it’s part of the state-protected system. It’s tidal quite a ways up, five or six miles, easy up and back if you go with the flow.

HELVARG: I’ll put Big River on my do list for the next time I’m up there. Nice thing about writing this book is there are so many things I haven’t done that I want to go back to. Point Sur Lighthouse back in Monterey where you come out of Big Sur, for instance. The first time I saw it while working on the book it was like this play model town on top of this giant rock, this volcanic uprising. On weekends, people can climb up the rock and tour the lighthouse. This was where that dirigi­ble went down in the 1930s in a storm. Later in the 1990s, David Packard sent one of his research vessels with a remote operating vehicle and they found the dirigible on the bottom of the ocean. It was like a floating aircraft carrier. It had a hook. It would drop biplanes. They would fly off the dirigible. They would fly back and hook up to the dirigible in the air. You have sunken treasure, Spanish galleons up and down the coast. We have an incredible maritime history.

AVA: You’ve got to see the middens on the Lost Coast. They’re huge, and they’re a huge lesson in historical perspective considering that it took the Indians thousands of years to amass them, and that history for us on this part of the coast only started about 400 years ago.

HELVARG: There’s one not far my house in Richmond at Emeryville; it was about 60 feet high and 300 feet long, but in the 1900s it was covered with an amusement park. Then it was an industrial zone and then a Superfund site. We are not too respectful of local history. Last weekend my friend and I went in some tandem kayaks down to our swamp and there was a little midden there. We pulled a bunch of Styrofoam floats out of it. That’s the only way you can get there, kayaks. We are still dumping plastic off our shores. And we still over-fish in many places. The ocean is becoming warmer and more acidic so there is less dissolved oxygen. There are great wildlife migrations as deepwater fish populations come to the surface at night. And they are vulnerable to night predators. Some of them are being pushed up closer to the surface where there is more oxygen. The Monterey Bay scientists and researchers say that there is an expanding low oxygen zone that stresses the fish. John McCosker is one of the shark scientists. His quote is that the return of the white shark is the sign of a healthy ecosystem, but it’s a problem for “recreational water users.” (Laughs) It’s kind of like a quote I used to attribute to Edward Abbey, we don’t know for sure it’s from him, but there is a great quote which says if there is not something bigger and meaner than you out there it’s not really wilderness. I interviewed one of the guys who got chomped down at Marina Beach near San Simeon; his doctors say he is the luckiest unlucky guy. He got bit on the arm and a leg and the neck about 1/4 inch from his carotid artery. Four years earlier his buddy got bit on the same beach. It’s hard to consider surfers as a species of marine mammal. I have a whole chapter on surfing. Jack London introduced it to California. I surfed for nine years back in my younger days. There wasn’t much surfing on the East Coast when I grew up. Years later, I talked with the brothers who took some insulation out of the back of a refrigerator and made the first neoprene wetsuit. Northern California had to wait for the technology for wetsuits so that you could actually get in the water and start surfing and paddling. There was always a handful of surfers in Santa Cruz.

AVA: Now they surf out of Fort Bragg. And there’s this great surf spot on Lost Coast. I thought I was hallucinating when, a few years ago, I was slogging down the beach at Lost Coast with friends, and here comes this kid from the Shelter Cove end with a surf board on his back! He was about 10 miles out from Shelter Cove. There’s an intriguing house out there right on the beach, an in-holding, that is of course rumored to be dope-connected. There isn’t much in Humboldt County that isn’t rumored to be dope-connected anymore.

HELVARG: “Diesel pot growers.” In the 90s we were talking about the hipnecks. Long hair and the fond­ness for pot, but otherwise they had the consumer culture and all the “cool” attitudes and muscles that go with it. In Garberville there were all these beautiful young girls with dreadlocks. 25 years later it’s a very different drug scene. In 25 years we’ll be reading books about how Humboldt has become the Napa Valley of marijuana. But where there are hard drugs there are hard people. And bad feelings. Homeless people come up from the city thinking they can get jobs as garden tenders or trimmers. Not happening. In Humboldt County I saw a truck with a bumper sticker that said, ‘Save Humboldt — keep pot illegal.’ That’s a comment on the current state of the economy. I don’t know many people my age who even smoke dope. A doctor told me that one of the signs of aging is that you go from recreational drugs to medicinal drugs. So now I’m drinking and taking aspirin. Baby aspirin. My nephew’s generation all smoke pot. I’m surprised. When I was around 20 and realized that we were not going to have a revolution in this country, at least we will get the 18-year-olds to vote and get marijuana legalized. And here we are 20 years later… In the last chapter of the book called Rising Tides, I write about how not all that long ago the Farallon Islands were part of San Francisco’s land mass. Everything changes. And changes fast, even geologically. But everything seems to start in California. The barbecue model where postwar California started barbecuing in backyards? 20 years later every other American was barbecuing. In May we organized our sport and blue fishing summit and gave out awards. There were meetings with Senators, Con­gresspeople and long discussions of Marine protection legislation. The next day there was sort of an evaluation meeting. I liked it all, but I said what we were doing here is practicing on how to build a constituency for that glo­rious day when we have a functioning government to actually get something done. ¥¥

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WE SHOULD VALUE OLD THINGS because they are old — their oldness and their fragility is part of what they have to say. They hold the record of the time in which they were printed, and the record of the years that have passed between that time and now.

— Nicholson Baker, The Way the World Works

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A STATE CAPITOL AWASH IN OIL MONEY

Big Oil treated legislators to $13,000 dinner before fracking bill vote 

By Dan Bacher

The oil industry, the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento, dumped millions of dollars into its successful lobbying efforts to eviscerate an already weak fracking bill, Senator Fran Pavley’s Senate Bill 4, at the end of the Legislative Session.

Chevron, the Western States Petroleum Association and Area Energy LLC spent the most money lobbying legislators in the third quarter of 2013, according to California Secretary of State documents.

Chevron spent $1,696,477, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) spent $1,269,478 and Aera Energy LLC spent $1,015,534. That’s a total of $3,981,489 just between July 1 and September 30, 2013. In the first three quarters of 2013, WSPA alone spent a total of $3,578,266 on lobbying legislators. (http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Lobbying/Employers/Detail.aspx?id=1147195&session=2013&view=activity)

In a classic example of the “pay to play” and “wine and dine” corruption that infests California politics, nearly $13,000 of the Western States Petroleum Association’s third quarter spending went toward hosting a dinner for 12 lawmakers and two staff members in September.

According to Lauren Rosenhall of the Sacramento Bee, the dinner took place at “one of Sacramento’s poshest venues: The Kitchen, known for its interactive dining experience where guests sit in the kitchen as cooks share details of the five-course meal. Moderate Democrats seemed to be the target audience for the treat: Assembly members Adam Gray, Henry Perea and Cheryl Brown attended, as did Sens. Norma Torres, Ron Calderon and Lou Correa.” (http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/11/oil-industry-treated-legislators-to-13k-dinner-as-fracking-bill-loomed.html)

The dinner was held on September 4, as Senate Bill 4 was awaiting a vote on the Assembly floor. The oil industry the next day added amendments that further weakened the already weak legislation opposed by a broad coalition of over 100 conservation, environmental justice and consumer groups, including Food and Water Watch, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Credo Campaign and California Water Impact Network (C-WIN).

These amendments including the following:

• Language added to the bill specifies that “no additional review or mitigation shall be required” if the supervisor of the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources “determines” that the proposed fracking activities have met the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. (http://www.sandiegolovesgreen.com/activists-urge-senator-pavley-to-withdraw- dangerous-fracking-bill/)

“This provision could be used by DOGGR to bypass CEQA’s bedrock environmental review and mitigation requirements,” according to a statement from the anti-fracking groups. “This language could also prevent air and water boards, local land use jurisdictions and other agencies from carrying out their own CEQA reviews of fracking.”

• In addition, under existing law, the governor and DOGGR can deny approvals for wells that involve fracking or place a partial or complete moratorium on fracking. The new language states that DOGGR “shall allow” fracking to take place until regulations are finalized in 2015, provided that certain conditions are met.

“This could be interpreted to require every fracked well to be approved between now and 2015, with environmental review conducted only after the fact, and could be used to block the Governor or DOGGR from issuing a moratorium on fracking prior to 2015,” the groups stated.

At the last minute, the League of Conservation Voters, NRDC and two other Senate Bill 4 backers withdrew their support for the legislation. However, the bill, having been given “green cover” by these NGOs, passed through the Legislature a week after the dinner.

Governor Jerry Brown, a strong supporter of the expansion of fracking in California, then signed the legislation on September 20.

“For Perea, Correa, Calderon and Torres, the September dinner was not the first time they’d been treated to The Kitchen by the oil industry. They were among 11 legislators who attended a Western States Petroleum Association dinner there last year, valued at nearly $11,000,” Rosenthall noted.

Oil lobby has spent over $45.4 million since 2009

Prior to the latest Secretary of State filing, a report released by the American Lung Association revealed that the oil industry lobby, the biggest corporate lobby in California, has spent $45.4 million in the state since 2009. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) alone has spent over $20 million since 2009. (http://blog.center4tobaccopolicy.org/oil-lobbying-in-california)

Oil and gas companies spend more than $100 million a year to buy access to lawmakers in Washington and Sacramento, according to Stop Fooling California, an online and social media public education and awareness campaign that highlights oil companies’ efforts to mislead and confuse Californians.

In addition, Robert Gammon, East Bay Express reporter, revealed that before Governor Jerry Brown signed Senator Fran Pavley’s Senate Bill 4, Brown accepted at least $2.49 million in financial donations over the past several years from oil and natural gas interests, according to public records on file with the Secretary of State’s Office and the California Fair Political Practices Commission. (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/fracking-jerry-brown/Content?oid=3726533)

The oil industry not only exerts influence by direct contributions to political campaigns, but by getting its lobbyists and representatives on key panels like the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force. (http://www.elkgrovenews.net/2013/10/oil-lobby-has-spent-over-45-million-in.html, http://topics.sacbee.com/Marine+Protected+Areas/)

In one of biggest environmental scandals of the past decade, Reheis-Boyd served as chair of the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create alleged “marine protected areas” in Southern California. She also served on the North Coast, North Central Coast and Central Coast task forces from 2004 to 2011, from the beginning of the process to the end of the process. (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/brtf_bios_sc.asp)

The MLPA Initiative process overseen by Reheis-Boyd and other ocean industrialists created fake “marine protected areas” that fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, wind and wave energy projects and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering.

State officials and representatives of corporate “environmental” NGOs embraced and greenwashed the “leadership” of Reheis-Boyd and other corporate operatives who served on the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces to create “marine protected areas” that fail to actually protect the ocean. By backing her leadership as a “marine guardian,” they helped to increase the already powerful influence of the Western States Petroleum Association and the oil industry.

The California Coastal Commission and other state officials acted “surprised” when FOIA documents and an Associated Press investigation revealed that Southern California coastal waters have been fracked repeatedly, over 200 times according to the latest data. Yet independent investigative reporters like David Gurney and myself warned, again and again, that this would happen when an oil industry lobbyist was in charge of marine “protection.”

There’s no doubt that the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron and other oil companies use every avenue they can to dominate environmental policy in California, including lobbying legislators, contributing heavily to election campaigns, serving on state regulatory panels, and wining and dining politicians. Until we get the big corporate money out of politics, California will continue to be awash in a sea of oil money.

For more information about the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, go to: http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-five-inconvenient-truths-about-the-mlpa-initiative/

For an depth look at the state of fracking in California, read Glen Martin’s article, “All Fracked Up,” in California Lawyer Magazine: http://www.callawyer.com/clstory.cfm?eid=931856&wteid=931856_All_Fracked_Up

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SALMON FILM FESTIVAL IN FORT BRAGG THIS VETERAN’S DAY WEEKEND

Saturday evening’s keynote speaker, Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemen Wintu, a strong environmental advocate, will describe her tribe’s efforts to restore Chinook salmon to ancestral lands and waters The third annual Salmon Film Festival, sponsored by the Salmon Restoration Association, takes place Friday, November 8th, through Sunday, Nov. 10th in Portuguese Hall, 822 Stewart Street. The Salmon Film Festival features underwater footage, animation, and documentaries on salmon restoration, culture, and ecology. Over thirty short and feature-length films show community-based restoration projects and dam removals, Native American connections to salmon, the dangers of farmed salmon, and beautiful footage of salmon ecosystems throughout the Pacific Northwest. New to the festival this year is a special cartoon hour on Saturday and Sunday from 10-11am. Short films including vintage Disney, salmon life cycles set to music, and animations depicting ocean acidification and fish farming will delight and educate both younger and older viewers. Filmmakers, educators, scientists, practitioners, and local experts will accompany the films and lead the audience in question and answer sessions. The Water Underground, a salmon advocacy theatrical troupe, will perform on Sunday at 3:00 pm. Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetables, Harvest Market, and Thanksgiving Coffee will feature salmon-themed goodies, and Gallery Bookshop of Mendocino will sell salmon-focused books. The festival keynote speaker, Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemen Wintu, and a strong environmental advocate, will describe her tribe’s efforts to restore Chinook salmon to ancestral lands and waters on Saturday at 5:00pm. The Winnemem Wintu are a traditional salmon tribe from Mt. Shasta who practice their culture and religion within their ancestral territory of the McCloud River watershed. The tribe lost most of their tribal lands, their McCloud River salmon and many of their sacred sites when the Shasta Dam was built in 1943 and flooded 26 miles of the McCloud. Today, the tribe is still fighting a Bureau of Reclamation proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet, which would submerge more sacred sites and severely damage the surrounding ecology. Chief Sisk will introduce the documentary Dancing Salmon Home, winner of Best Documentary award from the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. The film depicts efforts by the Winnemen Wintu to restore native Chinook, who were transported around the world as hatchery eggs and survived and thrived in New Zealand waters. Filmmaker Will Doolittle will accompany the Chief during her presentation. The festival provides educational outreach to Mendocino coastal and inland communities by demonstrating the connections between reviving native salmon populations and revitalizing ecosystems, food webs, and local and traditional communities whose cultures and economies are closely tied to salmon. The festival website, http://salmonfilmfestival.org/, (with streaming video links to most of the films) attracts thousands of viewers annually, allowing the festival to serve a continuous, year-round educational purpose. The 2013 Salmon Film Festival is sponsored by the Salmon Restoration Association to support local salmon education and restoration programs. The Association’s fundraiser, barbeque, billed as the World’s Largest Salmon Barbeque, feeds thousands of salmon fans on July 4th weekend who flock to south Noyo Harbor. Festival seating will be limited, so attendees are encouraged to reserve a spot early! A small donation is requested. Advance reservations are available on Brown Paper Tickets and tickets and passes can also be purchased at the door. Restore the Delta is a 15,000-member grassroots organization committed to making the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable to benefit all of California. Restore the Delta works to improve water quality so that fisheries and farming can thrive together again in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

www.restorethedelta.org

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A FAVOR FOR LOCAL REPUBS

Editor,

Would you please print the Meeting Notice below in the your newspaper published during the week of November 11, 2013. Many thanks, — Stan Anderson Chair, Mendocino County Republican Central Committee

* * *

REPUBLICANS TO MEET IN WILLITS. The Mendocino County Republican Central Committee will meet Saturday, November 16, 2013, 10am-noon at Lumberjacks Restaurant, 1700 S. Main Street, Willits, CA 95490. For further information contact: Stan Anderson, 707-321-2592.

GODDAM RIGHT, STAN! We’re delighted to announce this event. Well, it’s not quite an event, is it? It’s more like a small group of crackpots sitting around misunderstanding everything. But look at the other side around here — a bunch of jive up-from-hippie so-called liberals! Hell, they’re less reality-based than, Stan. Ever think about joining forces? Why not? You’ve got more in common than you know. The only real diff is they smoke the bazooka, you don’t. And they don’t eat French fries. They’ll do Velveeta if you’ll do mogambo.

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YOU DON’T SAY, LADIES

Mendocino County Health & Human Services Agency

Healthy People, Healthy Communities; Stacey Cryer, Director

Contact: Dora Briley /Kristina Grogan

Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency Communication Coordinators

Phone: (707) 463-7885 / (707) 467-5816

Email: brileyd@co.mendocino.ca.us / grogank@co.mendocino.ca.us

Mental Health Services in Mendocino County

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors approved the award of two contracts for mental health services on May 21, 2013 following an extensive Request For Proposal (RFP) process. Children’s mental health services were contracted to Redwood Quality Management Company (RQMC) and adult mental health services were contracted to the Ortner Management Group (OMG). Both contracts were effective July 1, 2013 and the transition of services began.

In July of this year as the transition of services moved forward, the mental health services crisis line began being answered by the contractors effective July 15, 2013. The number remains the same as it always has been, the number has not changed. The roll over of the line from the County to the contractors went smoothly and was seamless to the public. All calls are tracked and follow up is managed daily.

Mental health services have not been reduced. Crisis, care management, medication support and Wellness Center services continue to be provided. During the transition services have actually been enhanced. For example, for the first time in many years we have 24/7, 365 days access to psychiatrists. Our goal is to have better services tomorrow than we have today and we are on our way to accomplishing that goal.

A Suicide Prevention Project has also been implemented recently. It is a collaboration with the North Bay Suicide Prevention Project. This project is yet another example of enhanced services to our communities and it has been a subject of press releases this past year.

It is both unfortunate and frustrating that reports continue to circulate in the local media of allegations of poor mental health services, particularly on the coast, with some critics claiming that mental health services have been eliminated. The following list of mental health services currently provided in coastal Mendocino County has been compiled in an effort to set the record straight. Services are provided by the County, RQMC, OMG and various sub-contractors, some of whom have been providing similar services for years.

It is especially unfortunate that some individuals choose to discuss knowledge of very particular cases, something that providers can not respond to out of courtesy to the families involved and due to strict confidentiality laws and HIPAA requirements. No story is one-dimensional. Often there are many, many facets to consider. Certainly they are not to be played out in the pages of any local media outlet. To do so is to risk victimizing the patient, their family and friends. It also undermines the efforts of many very dedicated public servants and private providers. Reports are often not accurate, not fully told and serve to do more harm than good.

We invite anyone interested in becoming involved to attend the monthly Mental Health Board meetings. They occur the third Wednesday of each month at various locations. When in Ukiah, the time is 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. When on the road, the time is 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Mental Health Board is an advisory body to the Board of Supervisors and the Mental Health Services Director on matters concerning mental health in Mendocino County. The Mental Health Board is mandated by State law and consists of fifteen board member positions and one County Supervisor. The public is invited to attend and there are currently openings on the board. For more information please visit http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/hhsa/mh_board.htm

Mental health services currently provided in coastal Mendocino County include the following:

Hospitality Wellness Center 747 S. Franklin St. Fort Bragg, Ca. 707-962-3039 Services: Care Management Crisis Services — 1-800-555-5906 Assessment and Referral Wellness Drop-in Center Mental Health Social Rehabilitation Wellness Center/Co-Located Access Center

County Mental Health Clinic 790 S. Franklin St. Fort Bragg, Ca. 707-964-4747 Services: Medication Support Services 24/7, 365 days availability of psychiatrist consultation

Hospitality Center 237 N. McPherson Fort Bragg, Ca. 707-961-0172 (Hospitality Center is the resource center for adults suffering from a chronic and persistent mental health challenge and homelessness) Services: Temporary Respite Housing Homeless Outreach Services Senior Peer Counseling 490 Harold St. Fort Bragg, Ca. 707-964-0443 (The Senior Peer Counseling Program utilizes the skills and life experiences of older adults to provide emotional support to their peers in need. The program provides seniors (60 and older) with the opportunity to talk to someone their age that has experienced similar life changes and can understand their concerns.) Services: Senior Counseling Home Assessments Case Management Referrals to community providers

Redwood Children’s Services Behavioral Health Services 32670 Highway 20 Fort Bragg, Ca. 707-961-0308 (Services provided in Fort Bragg, Point Arena and local coastal schools) Services: Assessment — specialty mental health services, CANS, Bio-Psychosocial, motivational interviewing Plan Development — specialty mental health services, treatment planning Collateral — specialty mental health services Rehabilitation — specialty mental health services Therapy — family, group and individual; dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy Case Management — targeted case management Crisis Intervention — Signs of Safety

Services Provided in Consumer’s Home and School (Manchester, Mendocino, Gualala, Pt. Arena, Albion) Services: Therapeutic Behavioral Services — specialty mental health services

(Fort Bragg) Services: Parent Child Interaction Therapy — evidence based practice Access — children and youth access center — walk-in, urgent care, crisis after care

(Access Center and in Community as needed)

Services: Prevention — early intervention support services

Anderson Valley School District 12300 Anderson Valley Way Boonville, Ca. (Boonville through Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)) Services: Prevention Collaboration Project — prevention and early intervention services to students at Anderson Valley schools Young Mom’s Group — group for young mothers (under age 18) to learn parenting skills, hear from guest speakers, presentations, etc.

Action Network 39144 Ocean Dr. Suite 3 & 4 Gualala, Ca. And 200 Main St. Point Arena, Ca. (Gualala and Point Arena through MHSA) Services: Parent Education and Support — classes, groups and individual counseling sessions; information, assistance and home visits Triple P: Positive Parenting Program — Weekly program offered to enhance the knowledge, skills and confidence of parents Family Support — intervention network of integrated services and resources Case Management — referral assistance, application assistance, transportation, linkage Family Resource Center — drop-in centers providing available resources and assistance for families Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention — treatment and avoidance of reoccurring child abuse and neglect Psycho-social Education

Mendocino County Youth Project Point Arena School District (Point Arena) Services: Destigmatism — awareness, outreach, education School-based Screening and Prevention Services — screening, assessment and identification Family Support Services — parenting programs, ASQ education Peer Counseling — co-facilitate groups

(Fort Bragg, Mendocino and Point Arena) Services: Mental Health Education, Destigmatization and Peer Support Program — provide prevention and early intervention to students Breaking the Silence — interactive education curriculum module

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LISTEN UP, POST MODERN AMERICA!

The Caffrey for Congress headquarters office at 446 Maple Ln. in Garberville, CA hosts a video night on Thursdays, (potluck at 6PM and videos at 7PM). Last night was featured the critically important documentary “Chasing Ice,” about Jim Balog’s team and their photographing the receding glaciers, inarguable proof of global warming. Very dramatic footage is produced by running the timed photographs in a sequential manner, which shows the glacial ice retreat, plus much much more. This is a must see documentary. Meanwhile, I continue to send out messages to no avail to the New York City-Washington D.C. powerstrip to say that I am available after November 12th. Postmodern America is not responding, despite my obvious value on the frontlines of radical environmentalism and peace & justice. I guess that I could move on, and just be an enlightened spiritual figure now…like in India where I saw yogis sitting by the side of the road in samadhi next to the small shrines which they attended. Feel free to respond to this email, forward this out to your friends, or do anything that will be more than the nothing whatsoever which has become the usual response I receive from the postmodern American phenomena. I will spend my time chanting OM, because there is nothing any further that I can do in the futility of getting solidarity, to remain frontline participating in the USA.

— Craig Louis Stehr

WILL PARRISH’S TRIAL has been put over until January 27th because attorneys have not reviewed what Parrish’s attorney, Omar Figueroa, describes as “voluminous” California Highway Patrol and Caltrans documents related to Parrish’s several arrests at the Willits Bypass. The trial had been scheduled to start next week, on November 12th. Multiple pre-trial hearings are summarized in Bruce McEwen’s latest AVA piece “Half A Mil & You’re Free To Go.”

Neely/Backup lockdown, September 2013
photo courtesy SaveLittleLakeValley.org

Lucy Neely and Peggy Backup had a pre-trial hearing last Friday (November 8th) and “Earthworm” and “Feather” have a hearing on Tuesday, November 12th at 8:30am in relation to their infraction charges for their first of two lock-downs.

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RUTH KOZUSYN, 84, of Willits, is one tough old bird. Back in March of 2011, when she was a mere 81, she was mugged in the parking lot of Willits’ Evergreen Shopping Center. In that one “a man with a hooded sweatshirt grabbed her purse by the strap and yanked it off her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. Ms. Kozusyn received a minor cut and scrape to her elbow from the fall but did not require hospitalization.” The scumdog who’d attacked Ms. K, a state pen parolee named Mullen from Lakeport, was caught when he was photographed using Ms. K’s stolen credit cards.

RIGHT ABOUT HERE you might be thinking, “Poor old Ruth might be a lot safer if she had a family member looking out for her.” But in the country where one in four children lives in poverty, and the great bipartisan political apparatus agrees to cut food stamps while it debates an all-out attack on benefits for the elderly, a growing number of old people live in conditions as inimical to their well-being as the dependent young.

Kozusyn

MS. K apparently now lives with her son Kevin Jay Kozusyn, 57. She still drives, however, and last week the old lady drove sonny boy to the Ukiah WalMart. Why he isn’t driving her and doing the shopping is not known, but it seems Ms. K, in a now familiar American role reversal, is her son’s caretaker.

SO THERE THEY ARE in the great expanse of the WalMart parking lot. It’s 4:25 in the afternoon when the Ukiah Police receive a report that a man, soon identified as Kevin Kozusyn, has yanked a handful of his mother’s hair so hard the old lady had let out a piercing shriek, shocking Mrs. K’s fellow WalMart shoppers.

DUTIFUL SON duly explained to the police that he was angry because Mom had been inside WalMart for four hours. It didn’t seem to have occurred to the lad that if he’d gone inside to help Mom their shopping expedition might have been accelerated. The rest of us wonder how safe the old lady can be living in private with an heir who feels free to assault her in public.

KOZUSYN was arrested and booked on charges of elder abuse. Mom presumably drove home to Willits. How her son got home from the County Jail in Ukiah is not known. Most of us hope Mom didn’t drive him.

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Jewell

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Sally Jewell appeared Friday at the Stornetta Public Lands at Point Arena, and later attended a public hearing where hundreds of residents showed up, mostly to voice support for adding the lands to the protected area. The Obama administration is determining whether to add the 1,600-acre tract to the California Coastal National Monument. The coastal monument presently consists of small rock islands and reefs off California’s coast. The Stornetta Public Lands would be the first land-based addition to the monument, and add 10 miles to the California Coastal Trail. Local Democrats were present of course, and after the event Congressman Huffman said he was optimistic that the Stornetta Lands would become federally protected.

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THE FOLLOWING IS A TEST. The Chronicle’s website posts a lot of these truncated and, as we see here, ungrammatical “news” stories, all of them followed by the warning not to repro without permission. Why? Writing this bad, this scant, is hardly worth protecting:

“A body was found floating in the San Francisco Bay near McCovey Cove on Saturday morning, according to fire officials.

“A passerby was walking their dog near Pier 48 around 8:10 a.m. when they spotted a bloated body in the water and asked someone to call 911, fire officials said.

“Police were responding to the scene and an investigation was underway.

“Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. — Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.”

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A STORY in the current New Yorker called “Anti-Semite and Jew” tells us that resurgent Humgarian fascists operate a website out of Healdsburg. The story doesn’t name the man who runs the site, identifying him only as a “Hungarian-American with extreme-right views.”

KURUC.INFO features a column called Gypsycrime and another column called Jewcrime “accompanied by a caricature of a hook-nosed man, his face spread onto a lampshade” which “sneered at the ‘myth’ of Auschwitz.”

Varga

WIHTOUT MUCH EFFORT WE FOUND THAT HIS NAME IS BELA VARGA, a wine guy who, until recently, owned a beautique spice and wine shop in Healdsburg: “A Hungarian winemaker living in California has been identified by a Hungarian whistleblower website as the owner of the far-right news site kuruc.info, according to an article posted on atlatszo.hu on Tuesday. “Bela Varga, a resident of Healdsburg, California, is the real owner of kuruc.info,” the article said. Since it went online in 2006, kuruc.info has been using Domains by Proxy, an internet company providing anonymous domain services to hide data on its ownership. Recently the data has been revealed, for reasons yet unknown, atlatszo.hu said. In July, Prime Minister Viktor Orban had asked US Congressmen to “assist in terminating the anti-Semitic provocations in Hungary supported from the United States,” in response to a letter in which the Congressmen complained to Orban about anti-Semitism in Hungary. Orban was referring to the fact that kuruc.info is operated from a US server. Hungarian authorities had asked US assistance in 2008 to take legal steps against kuruc.info, but citing US laws, the authorities had refused to disclose personal data on the website’s owners. Budapest Police told MTI it would provide details on the case later.”

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FENNELL, THREE OTHER HUMCO RESIDENTS RECOVER FROM E.COLI INFECTIONS

By Daniel Mintz

Humboldt County Supervisor Estelle Fennell is out of the hospital and has said she’ll be “back to work soon” after being infected with a strain of E.coli bacteria that also afflicted three other county residents.

A Nov. 5 press release announced Fennell’s hospital release and that she’s paying attention to the needs of her district. “I still have some steps to take on the road to full recovery but I want my constituents to know that I am in daily contact with my staff and colleagues and that your calls and emails will continue to be answered and issues in our district addressed,” Fennell said in the release.

The first signs of Fennell’s illness were publicly apparent — when county supervisors got flu shots at the dais during their Oct. 8 meeting, Fennell said she was just beginning to show what she thought were cold symptoms.

She wasn’t at the next week’s meeting due to the E.coli infection and, like the other three residents who were infected, she was hospitalized. In the press release, Fennell said an “unexpected complication” occurred while in the hospital, prolonging her stay.

A Nov. 6 press release from Humboldt County’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) explained the context of Fennell’s illness — she’s one of four residents who’ve been infected with a “genetically-linked” strain of E.coli since July.

While the department has been able to confirm that all four residents were infected by the same strain, the source of the infections hasn’t been identified and is still being investigated.

E.coli live in the lower intestines of animals, including humans, with most strains being relatively harmless. But some strains cause intense symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea and vomiting.

The DHHS press release states that “three of the Humboldt County cases progressed to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious complication of E. coli infection characterized by kidney failure.”

In the release, DHHS Public Health Nurse Eric Gordon said that after the initial infection in July, another emerged in August, occurrences that weren’t considered unusual.

But when two more infections, including Fennell’s, emerged in October, there was concern. “The state genetically linked all four of these cases,” Gordon said in the release. “They determined that the cases were caused by a very specific strain of E. coli that hadn’t been seen anywhere else in California. This means the same organism was causing illness in all four of these people from Humboldt County.”

In an interview, Gordon said two of the people who became ill live in Southern Humboldt and the other two live in the northern part of the county. The press release states that “all of the patients have been interviewed to find out what they had eaten and where they had eaten prior to getting sick.”

But links between them have yet to be established. “We just don’t have enough information to show any commonalities at this point,” Gordon said.

Like Fennell, the other three affected residents were hospitalized but have been released and are doing well now.

Gordon said the strain involved in the infections has been seen before in California, in 2006. But it’s not currently being detected anywhere else in the state, and “that tells us that it’s something unique and it’s something that’s local,” he continued.

He said Humboldt usually sees five to seven E.coli cases per year. Symptoms surface from one to 10 days after exposure, which is typically from “something you ate, something you bought at a store or maybe from a restaurant worker who didn’t wash his hands and contaminated some food,” Gordon said in the release.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), infections occur when tiny amounts of fecal matter are consumed, which happens “more often than we would like to think about.”

The CDC website states that E.coli can be consumed through “swallowing lake water while swimming, touching the environment in petting zoos and other animal exhibits, and by eating food prepared by people who did not wash their hands well after using the toilet.”

The CDC advises that “one of best ways to protect yourself against E. coli infections is to practice proper hygiene, such as washing your hands thoroughly after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before preparing or eating food.”

More CDC advice: cook meats thoroughly, avoid consuming raw milk and other unpasteurized products and thoroughly wash your hands and anything else that comes in contact with raw meat.

The DHHS’s public health branch has done outreach to local health care providers, asking them to be aware of E.coli infection symptoms. “The thought behind that is if we identify more cases, we’ll have more people to interview, which increases the chances of us finding the smoking gun,” Gordon said in the release.

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CONSPIRACY STUFF

By Thomas Cahill

TO: Jill Abramson, Executive Editor, The New York Times, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018,

Dear Ms. Abramson,

The corporate dictatorship must be pleased with your recent article in the “Sunday Book Review” (NY Times, Oct. 22/13) attempting to shore-up the long-crumbling Warren Commission report of 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating Pres. John Kennedy.

Your corporate benefactors must be delighted that you completely ignored the more recent finding of the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1979 that there was a “probable conspiracy” but that the trail to the killers of JFK is too cold. In other words the cold-blooded murder of a sitting president is a “cold case,” unworthy on which to spend any more time or taxes.

Just as “forty-million Frenchmen can’t be wrong,” forty-thousand books about JFK as you noted — most probably disagreeing with the Warren Commission — can’t be that far off the mark. They can’t all be the “unhinged musings” (your term) of us “conspiracists” (Kate Zernike’s term, NY Times, 4/30/11). Your publication has never lost an opportunity to denigrate us “conspiracy nuts” who believe conspiracy is synonymous with politics.

As Gore Vidal wrote in “Dreaming War” (2002), “Apparently ‘conspiracy stuff’ is now shorthand for unspeakable truth.”

A growing number of people throughout the world believe the JFK’s assassination was a coup d’etat by the US “military/industrial complex” (that includes the vast intelligence community) that Pres. Eisenhower warned of in his farewell speech only two years before the public execution of the “radical from Massachusetts.” This coup was unlike the unsuccessful attempt by similar-minded corporatists to violently overthrow the administration of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt in 1934 that was foiled by a whistleblower — USMC Gen. Smedley Butler who the conspirators foolishly tried to recruit not knowing or ignoring the fact the General publicly-supported demands of the “Bonus Army” two years earlier.

”If you can get away with killing a president, you can get away with anything,” said former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura not long ago. To prove the Governor correct, one need only look closely at history-changing events since 1963 from the highly-divisive Vietnam War right up to the equally controversial attack on 9/11 and its aftermath and on to the biggest rip-off in world history — the so-called “Wall Street Meltdown.”

— Tom Cahill Landsthul, Germany

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MY JOB was to lie very gently to these trusting, sleepy, easily wounded students, over and over again, by saying in all sorts of different ways that their poems were interesting and powerful and sharply etched and nicely turned and worth giving collective thought to. Which they were unfortunately not.

— Nicholson Baker, The Anthologist

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FEDERAL LAWSUIT CHARGES SHERIFF¹S DEPUTY UNCONSTITUTIONALLY KILLED ANDY LOPEZ

By Shepherd Bliss

The October 22 killing here of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a hail of bullets from sheriff¹s deputy Erick Gelhaus has resulted in daily peaceful marches, prayer vigils and speaking events honoring Lopez and calling for justice, as thousands in the northern California community continue to mourn and express outrage.

The killing has also this week led to a federal civil rights lawsuit being filed on behalf of the Lopez family. “There is a practice of using deadly force and covering it up by investigations that are superficial,” attorney Arnoldo Casillas said at a November 4 press conference in San Francisco, according to the daily Press Democrat. Casillas, who filed the suit, contends that the killing was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which limits police authority.

Casillas interviewed witnesses who dispute law enforcement claims about the shooting. He asserts that the first shot was fired within three seconds of Gelhaus¹s command to Lopez to drop what the sheriff’s deputy claims he thought was a real gun. Seven bullets hit Lopez. One pierced his heart; at least one him him in the buttocks. Non-lethal alternatives were possible.

The second deputy traveling with Gelhaus did not fire a single shot — and did not even have time to step out of the vehicle before the boy’s body lay fatally shot on the street.

Last year, Casillas won a $24 million dollar settlement for the family of a Los Angeles boy who was shot once and paralyzed by police while playing with an airsoft BB gun, similar to the one that Lopez was carrying to return to a friend when he was killed.

In a 2007 killing of African-American high school student Jeremiah Chass in the nearby town of Sebastopol, the Sheriff¹s Office was compelled to pay a $1.75 million dollar settlement to the family. In both cases, investigations by outside police departments concluded that the cops were merely following protocol — which too often seems to be “shoot first, ask questions later.”

But what is officially reported and what actually happens on the street may differ. That’s why having next-door-neighbor law enforcement agencies investigate the killings is starting to look more and more like damage control than independent or objective reviews. More bluntly: are they amounting to cover-up investigations by law enforcement departments tasked with investigating each other?

In the meantime, members of the Lopez family recently began speaking up.

Andy¹s 17-year-old brother released a statement on November 5, part of which follows: “My name is Anthony Rodrigo Lopez and I am the brother of Andy Lopez. My brother was carrying a toy gun in broad daylight and was shot to death right down the street from our house. This sheriff, Erick Gelhaus, is supposed to be an expert in guns. This was not a mistake for him. He knew what he was doing. Andy was just a kid going to play with friends. I miss my brother.”

“We want an honest investigation,” said the boys’ father, Rodrigo Lopez, at a recent press conference. He and Andy¹s mother, Sujey, attended a rally this week, and have been present at different public events honoring their son.

The Sonoma County public has actively criticized the Sheriff¹s Office’s actions, slamming its excessive use of deadly force. Deputy Gelhaus is one of the office¹s trainers and has published many articles and online comments in SWAT magazine advocating the use of deadly force. The community is calling for a civilian review board to conduct an independent investigation.

The incident shattered an already poor relationship between the Latino community and law enforcement in this city of 160,000, located one hour north of San Francisco. It has also ruptured the image of quiet Sonoma County as a peaceful place to visit and buy wine. Not least, it has deepened the lack of trust in local leadership by the growing Latino population, which already represents one-fourth of the Santa Rosa population.

As people have gathered in recent days, many Latinos told stories of abuse at the hands of law enforcement, especially the Sheriff¹s Department. Signs like “Sheriff Wanted 4 Murder” appear on fences and at marches. Such incidents have the additional impact of making community policing more difficult for other law enforcement officers who are less trigger-happy.

Some police departments, such as the one in Sebastopol, do community policing and have not been noted for killing residents.

On Tuesday, hundreds of activists attended three separate events miles away from one another: a rally outside District Attorney Jill Ravitch¹s office in Santa Rosa, a meeting of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, and a teach-in at Sonoma State University in the nearby city of Rohnert Park.

The “Jailhouse 4 Gelhaus” march went from downtown Santa Rosa to the DA¹s office. “Killer cops off our streets,” chanted the marchers, as hundreds of protestors gathered outside and a delegation met with the DA.

As in the past two weeks, the peaceful demonstrators were again met by cops clad in riot gear.

Activists demanded that the DA convene a grand jury and charge Gelhaus for the unlawful killing, something Ravitch said she is unauthorized to do until she reviews further information from police. “Nobody will have the wool pulled over their eyes. There won¹t be a whitewash,” vowed activist Jonathan Melrod.

“One thing that came of that meeting is [that] what the DA plans to do will be based on criminal evidence gathered by the Santa Rosa Police Department,” Melrod added the following day. “That is like the fox guarding the chicken coop. So we will gather evidence from witnesses and people who have had previous contact with Gelhaus — and we will present [that] overwhelming weight of evidence to compel an indictment of Gelhaus.”

District Attorney Ravitch has reportedly not gone into the Latino neighborhood where Lopez was killed to listen to members of the community, and has repeated her refusal to fire, arrest, charge or prosecute the deputy. She said she intends to take 90 days to review the information — a period deemed too long by an impatient Santa Rosa community that is now raising calls for a “People’s Tribunal” to mete out justice.

Earlier on November 5, activists attended the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting, whose members had been on a gag order not to speak about the killing by the board’s attorney and city manager.

One person in attendance, Alfredo Sanchez, compared the Lopez killing to a recent incident that took place in the wealthy area of Fountaingrove, where police engaged a gun-wielding resident in an 11-hour standoff and eventually took him into custody unarmed. Compare that to the few seconds Gelhaus gave the unarmed boy before executing him.

The cops “seem to act as predators to the people they are meant to protect and serve,” said Jose Casaneda of nearby Windsor.

“As a mother,” Supervisor Susan Gorin said to her constituents, with tears coming down her face, “I want to wrap my arms around the Lopez family.”

In addition, both of the area’s public colleges — Sonoma State University and the Santa Rosa Junior College — hosted teach-ins that were open to the public and invited people to discuss the shooting.

In response to Deputy Gelhaus’s claims that the 5’3″, 140-pound Lopez was a “threat,” SSU sociology professor Noel Byrne wrote to the faculty: “Like beauty, ‘threat’ is in the eyes of the other.”

“The Andy Lopez tragedy is intimately implicated with the militarization of this nation’s police — a kind of militarization that encompasses not only the implements of death but also states of mind on the part of that militarized force,” Byrne added in an interview.

“The culture of this militarized force promotes a perceptual framework akin to that of an occupying force. Most of the general public is seen as like the populations of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan during wartime: anyone and everyone is regarded as a potential threat, regardless of age, ethnicity and appearance.”

At the overflow, standing-room-only gathering of around 150 students, faculty and staff at SSU, Chicano and Latino Studies professor Ron Lopez commented, “Kids do not have appropriate places to play in southwest Sonoma County,” a theme people in the community have echoed repeatedly since the killing.

During the panel and discussion, a large screen conveyed photos of the community’s response to the Lopez killing, and connected it to the shooting of African Americans Oscar Grant in nearby Oakland, and Trayvon Martin in Florida.

“There are not even sidewalks in parts of this area. These are forgotten people, seen as ‘the enemy.’ He fired too fast, too many times. May Andy¹s parents find some solace,” Dr. Lopez added. “May the community be awakened. You have a social responsibility to take action to prevent these things from happening.”

“This is a window of opportunity,” noted political science professor Cynthia Boaz, who referred to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his message of non-violence. “It can go two ways: people can organize, or they can perpetuate the existing conflicts.”

A National Day of Protest was held Saturday, November 9, Veterans Day, at Julliard Park in Santa Rosa. Solidarity protests were set for many other venues across the nation.

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HAS IT HIT YET?

Did the Asteroid Make Contact Yet?

I am sending this email to you because I have been unsuccessful with getting any cooperation, to return to the New York City-Washington DC powerstrip, to be active with radical environmental and peace & justice frontline participatory dissent against the mindless consumer trance of postmodern American society. Whereas I am still in Garberville, assisting Andy Caffrey in his bid for the District 2 congressional seat (www.caffreyforcongress.org), I have no way of assessing what is going on outside of the Southern Humboldt bioregion. So I wonder if the asteroid has made contact with the planet earth. I wonder if that is why I am receiving no worthwhile responses to my networking emails. Otherwise, I am ready as ever for more frontline radical environmental and peace & justice frontline dissent against the mindless consumer trance of postmodern American society. Feel free to reply to this email in an intelligent, positive manner. That means that you would offer me a place to go to in order to be involved where you are. Unless of course the asteroid has made contact, — Craig Louis Stehr. Please forward this out to your NYC-DC friends as soon as possible. Telephone messages: 707-923-2114. Email: craigstehr@hushmail.com. Blog: http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com. Snail mail: P.O. Box 324, Redway, CA 95560

RECOMMENDED VIEWING only for people who will enjoy two hours of unrelieved, and unrelievedly graphic, beatings, lynchings, rapes, and murders which, as most of us already know, was slavery in America.

12 Years A Slave is based on the autobiography of Solomon Northrup, a free man kidnapped in upstate New York and literally sold down the river to the slave markets of New Orleans, winding up the property of a psychotic plantation owner who bears a striking physical and psychological resemblance to Mike Sweeney of Mendocino Solid Waste Management.

Sweeney, Fassbender

The mention of Sweeney in the context of a reel short movie review may seem gratuitous, but I couldn’t help but be struck by the likeness of our Ukiah homeboy and the plantation psycho as I sat through this very odd film with its stilted dialogue — like a class in English language diction — and departures into caricature. At one point, for instance, Northrup encounters a group of Indians, Seminoles presumably, and pauses to listen to their music. His first owner is a liberal, relatively speaking of course, but the kind of guy Mendolib will relate to. He doesn’t really want to separate a woman from her family or sell Northrup to Sweeney but, natch, the system is the system and business is business. There’s another scene where mourners belt out a graveside lament so perfectly I assumed they were professional singers, which they probably are. The acting is very good, but overall I wouldn’t recommend it except for 14 and 15-year-olds as an antidote to the Color Purple pap they otherwise get in the public schools.

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ACCORDING to the National Weather Service we might be headed for the driest winter ever. Monday’s “storm” apparently doesn’t contain water. Or much water. Predictions are for sprinkles. The state’s reservoirs are all well below their normal carrying capacity, according to Arthur Hinojosa, the chief of hydrology and flood operations for the California Department of Water Resources. “Generally speaking, it has been dry across the state, and it has been remarkably dry where the population centers are and where the bulk of the water storage is,” Hinojosa said. “Most operators plan on multiyear dry years, but nobody plans on as dry as we’ve seen.”

NO RAIN is also extending the fire season. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to 6,439 fires this year, almost 2,000 more fires than during an average year, said Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson. That doesn’t include fires on federal land like the Rim Fire, which burned 400 square miles in and around the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park. “We’ve seen about a 39 percent increase in activity compared to an average year,” Hutchinson said. “There have been more fires and more frequent fires, which is due to the lack of rainfall and the dryness. We also saw a significant number of fires statewide in higher elevation timber stands, which you normally don’t see. That’s because of the lack of snowfall.” We’re not done yet,” she said. “There are still areas of the state that are very dry, so we’re really not going to be able to take a deep breath until we have a significant amount of moisture.”

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FAIR’S FAIR

Dear Mr. Chris Smith, Press Democrat columnist,

Regarding your most recent column in the Press Democrat about the new huge tribal casino in Rohnert Park: So, life won’t be the same after Tuesday, eh? You correctly point out that the gigantic casino “…bears scant resemblance to what many Californians envisioned…” But your “Californians” are neither the first nor the second set of Californians to be surprised by scant resemblance to what they envisioned. After the current “Californians” had rid themselves of their immediate predecessor “Californians” (Hispanics who at least had somewhere to retreat, both physically and culturally) they turned their attention to the Native Californians and launched what is arguably one of the most brutal and for practical purposes most effective genocides in modern history. This was instigated, conducted, encouraged and tolerated by the vast majority of the new local society in this region. Attempted intervention by slightly more moderate European-Americans, in the form of the federal government and the US Army, failed miserably. Nowhere in North America was anything more horrific carried out against native peoples. The native people here in Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake and Humboldt counties, including women and children, were murdered, raped, enslaved and otherwise brutalized in large numbers, over a long period, and these crimes were never publicized let alone punished and even today are only barely acknowledged. Even when attempts were made to “reserve” decent usable places for the natives, the land was soon blatantly stolen (the flat, fertile ocean terrace upon which Fort Bragg sits being a prime example). The native people were left with what were considered worthless remote steep hillsides and swamps, and when even those were consumed by the greed of the invaders many of them were literally herded into the toxic cauldron of Round Valley (Covelo), conveniently vacant because the original inhabitants had been massacred earlier, where to this day many enjoy life as experienced in, say, Bangladesh.

A few years ago the Alexander Valley princes of Sonoma County’s wine royalty put up a shrill and protracted bleating about the then-proposed Dry Creek Pomo’s River Rock Casino. They just couldn’t stand the fact that they might have to share the almighty tourist dollar with these poor benighted folks who, bludgeoned into an impoverished and poisoned stupor, were barely clinging to life on the near-vertical cliffs of their pathetic “rancheria.” To the great surprise of many on both sides of the issues, federal laws and treaties trumped fermented grape juice and the Pomo prevailed. Every time I pass River Rock Casino while heading up or down 101 its butt-ugly parking structure looming over the delicate little wineries of Alexander Valley makes me smile. Now and then I make the climb up the ludicrously steep road and have a little go at the tables and machines, usually losing maybe a hundred or so, which I consider a kind of rent for the property I own and live upon here on the north coast.

Apologists argue that the atrocities committed were in a different time, and that it’s not fair to hold the perpetrators to today’s standards, and so on. Bullshit. Even the U.S. Army, hardly a friend of native Americans, concluded that it was the Indians who needed protection from the settlers in Northern California, not the other way around. The wholesale crimes committed were just as foul and evil then as they would be today. Those who committed these heinous crimes (or supported/condoned them) got away with them for the simple reason that they arrived hereabouts before the physical rule of law had been established. These crimes fester, and will continue to fester, as they’re just too negative and uncomfortable to talk about. (It was interesting that a couple of days ago in a brief TV interview one of the major Native American operators at the new casino (I didn’t catch his name or title) said that some of the protests are personally hurtful to him, but that when he reflects on what his ancestors endured – he used the terms “rape and murder” – it isn’t so bad.)

If modern California society had at any time during the past one hundred years or so taken an honest look from any sort of decent moral or ethical perspective at what had been done to the original Californians, pure shame would have dictated the establishment of genuine and effective (and yes, expensive) policies of restitution, reconstruction, preservation, integration, education and so on. (The same can be said of course about many other places, but that’s beside the point here.) Instead we got Ishi and the BLM and shootouts in Covelo, grinding poverty, terrible physical and mental health problems, and on and on. Had there been anything resembling justice there would be no need today for desperate grandiose schemes, such as building monster casinos. But as it is, this is simply the chickens coming home to roost. Modern California has chosen to live in the shadows of these horrible crimes, and if some traffic jams on 101 are the only payback, well, consider that very, very lucky and don’t snivel. And if the tribes capture the last loose dollar wafting over the Wine Country and the Redwood Empire and the Emerald Triangle, good for them!

Apologies for the length of the above, for the lack of citations (I’m short of time here) and for the anonymity. (I live in the region and there are old families hereabouts who emphatically do not appreciate the crimes of their settler ancestors being held to light. Look into the fate of the suppressed book Genocide and Vendetta for more on that – the Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Genocide-Vendetta-The-Round-Valley-Wars/547666888581660>https://www.facebook.com/pages/Genocide-Vendetta-The-Round-Valley-Wars/547666888581660 is a good place to start, and, by the way, note who some of the the “Likes” there are from.)

And I wish you were right about nothing being the same after Tuesday.

Best Regards,

Theo Hengst (a pen name)

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CANDACE GITTINS, 69, of Fort Bragg was driving east Tuesday on I-80 in Nevada, 38 miles west of Elko, when she swerved into a construction zone, killing two road workers and injuring two others. Neither Mrs. Gittens nor her husband, Dallas Gittins, 75, were injured. Charges may be pending.

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ONE FREAKIN PASSWORD

From: Webmaster

To: User

Subject: Fwd: New Password

Attempting to Set A New Password:

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Website: No, you must get a new one.

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KENNEDY’S WITHDRAWAL PLANS

To the Editor of the New York Times:

In her essay on John F. Kennedy, Jill Abramson states: “The belief that he would have limited the American presence in Vietnam is rooted as much in the romance of ‘what might have been’ as in the documented record.”

The record shows that on Oct. 2 and 5, 1963, President Kennedy issued a formal decision to withdraw American forces from Vietnam. I documented this ten years ago in Boston Review and Salon, and in 2007 in The New York Review of Books.

The relevant documents include records of the Secretary of Defense conference in Honolulu in May 1963; tapes and transcripts of the decision meetings in the White House; and a memorandum from Gen. Maxwell Taylor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Oct. 4, 1963, which states: “All planning will be directed towards preparing RVN forces for the withdrawal of all US special assistance units and personnel by the end of calendar year 1965.”

James K. Galbraith, Austin, Texas, professor of government at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin

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IS SONOMA COUNTY STEALING MENDO WATER?

by Mark Scaramella

Supervisor John Pinches’ proposal for the Board of Supervisors to form an “ad-hoc committee” to look into Russian River water rights got off to a stumbling beginning last Tuesday when the titular sponsor of the idea — County Counsel Tom Parker — couldn’t find his own paperwork.

Parker opened the discussion by asking the board “to consider forming an ad hoc committee composed of two members of the board, directing that an ad hoc committee to work out certain items relating to water issues — and let me find the exact language —”

The County’s lawyer began flipping through a thick binder, then he shifted to a different binder, flipping its pages.

Parker: “Excuse me. I’m sorry.”

Pinches (waving a piece of paper): “Is this what you’re looking for, the recommended action?”

Parker: “Yes.”

Pinches: “Do you want me to read it?”

Parker: “It has the scope. I’m looking.”

Pinches: “Okay.”

Parker: “I can’t find the scope.”

Pinches: “The formation of an ad hoc committee composed of two members of the board, directing said ad hoc committee to define its own scope, composition and timeline related to information on Lake Mendocino water leases and downriver diversions of the Russian River water in Lake Mendocino, and Sonoma County, returning to the board with a report and recommendation on how to proceed in accordance with the ad hoc committee’s timeline.”

Parker: “Yes. That’s the summary of the request. It’s important in the view of my office, important I think for the board to consider creating an ad hoc to get more information on this issue and allow the board to make as fully informed as possible any decisions they may choose to make.”

Pinches sat back, quietly fuming that his proposal he’d labored so long to assemble, had been fumbled by Parker.

Supervisor Carre Brown: “I don’t think it’s any surprise to any of you that I cannot support the formation of an ad hoc. I really feel it’s a waste of time and resources for supervisors and staff of both counties. I believe the County of Mendocino really has no standing on these issues although they can discuss them. There are so many documents and actions since the very beginning and some of those that have been discussed are D-1610, what happened to D-1030. That was never brought up in any information I believe. Other documents should be brought up. Maybe some of our partners will do that today. Discussions need to be held and a complete reading of such documents — written response 7315, written response 7430, and written response 86-9 of the State Water Resources Control Board and that is very documented, a detailed document, to each of the points raised by the Russian River Flood Control and a petition was presented to the State Water Board for reconsideration of D-1610. The County of Mendocino, I really feel and this will be a repeat of what I have said before, money and time is better spent on other initiatives and I did list a number to all of you that are important to all of you. They protect Mendocino County interests but other entities really do have the standing. I could go over the list. I have eight of them listed. I will put that aside until further discussion. But I think a simple letter to the Sonoma County Water Agency board of directors by Supervisor Pinches asking the questions that he feels are unanswered is all that is needed at this time.

Lee Howard (Chairman of the Board of the Russian River Flood Control District): “There’s probably been enough said and done on this to go a long ways. … If you have to form an ad hoc, go ahead. I think County Counsel has already done a mis-service already by not studying the issues. Decisions 1610 and D-1030, Decisions 7430, 86-9 and 7915 are all very relevant to this issue and probably answer a lot of questions. You don’t need an ad hoc to do it.”

Howard said he recalled that in 2002 a committee to look into it was formed with a specialized attorney who concluded “there wasn’t a lot you had to say on the issue to start with. Also there is a letter from Mr. Neary and Mr. Carter which I think are quite overstated in their takes on this thing. Mr. Neary’s letter said that the Flood Control District has not done a very good job and hasn’t represented the County very well. The Flood Control District doesn’t represent the County, we represent the Flood Control District area. Period. And if you look at the cost of water today that some of our customers have, it’s probably some of the cheapest water in California. Plain and simple. There’s been a lot of written responses. The Flood Control District has challenged a lot of the state stuff in the decisions that I just listed. I would hope that before you sit here and start a committee to tip at windmills that you study these issues pretty much completely and exhaust those before you start spending time and energy and money out there fighting something that isn’t there to fight. All of us would like more money from somebody, there’s no doubt about that. I just think that right now poking at Sonoma County isn’t going to help that issue. Sonoma County has worked with us and is working with us on issues to try to get through some very difficult positions that we are at today.”

It’s obvious that Mr. Howard is happy with the current arrangements because his customers, his constituents, are getting cheap — if not totally free when they just pump it out of the River for grapes — water, however much it may be. Howard didn’t dispute the claim that Russian River Flood Control doesn’t represent Mendocino County, they only represent themselves. Which is exactly why Pinches raised the issue.

Redwood Valley Water District Manager Bill Koehler agreed with Mr. Howard. “Virtually every question that Mr. Neary and Mr. Carter raised are mirrored in those documents.”

Pinches: “I don’t know what anybody would be afraid of. Lee, on one hand you said that you encourage us to go ahead and look into it. But on the other hand you say, Don’t form an ad hoc committee. So I don’t know exactly — looking into it means looking into it. It does not mean closing the binder and forgetting about it. As I pointed out to my colleagues in closed session there are a couple of inconsistencies, glaring inconsistencies, in Decision 1610 that I think need to be further analyzed and reviewed by this ad hoc committee. Once we get into the committee work then we can look at the whole issue. It’s not going to go further unless it’s necessary. We are not hiring an attorney at this time. We are not spending any money. It will be the effort of two board members who want to volunteer themselves to do it and it will take some staff time. We spend a lot of staff time on just about everything else. My position is, what do we have to lose? I’m not out to poke a stick in the eye of Sonoma County or the Sonoma County Water Agency. That’s not the intent. There are some issues that have never been addressed. I’ve heard ever since I got involved in politics, Well, we are going to review Decision 1610 and whatnot. But it never happens. You have three parties in Decision 1610 — the State Water Resources Control Board, Sonoma County and Mendocino County. Everybody knows that Sonoma County doesn’t want to change anything because they like it just the way it is. Nothing is going to come from the State. So if it doesn’t come from us— and I totally disagree Carre [Supervisor Brown] with your idea that Mendocino County has no standing. Here we are just the other day we spent $15,000 to join a Russian River Water Association group and now you’re telling me we don’t have any standing when it comes to water in the Russian River? I think that’s totally wrong, frankly. What do we have to lose? Here we have a Lake out here that’s down to mud, and we have one in Sonoma County that has 45,000 mile square miles of Mendocino County watershed behind it and it is virtually almost full. What do we have to lose by forming an ad hoc committee to look into all these issues? I would like to think that all the water districts in Mendocino County and all the water purveyors and all the water recipients in Mendocino County would encourage this review. If at some point in time I’m convinced and everybody, or a judge or the people or the ad hoc committee, can say Pinches, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about — then I guess at some point in time I will have to accept that. But I’m not willing to accept that at this time because I think there are issues that I brought out. I brought them out in closed session — there’s issues dealing with 1610 that the County needs to remind Sonoma County Water Agency that they need to do. I just think it’s time. Everybody realizes that the water situation here in Mendocino County is drastic. It’s drastic! We have property owners out in the Redwood Valley area that have owned and paid taxes on property for decades and they can’t get a water hook-up. Did you see the headlines in the Press Democrat yesterday in Sonoma County? They call it the Godzilla — the big casino that it has opened up in Rohnert Park. Do you know who supplies Rohnert Park with water? The Sonoma County Water Agency. It doesn’t matter if the agreement is right or wrong, we are not being treated equitably in this process and it is time to review it. Decision 1610 was in 1985 or 86. It has never been reviewed. Frankly, water rights and water flows can be changed. They are meant to be changed. They are not cast in stone.”

Brown: “With all due respect to Supervisor Pinches, the Russian River Watershed Association, what we are paying for is a storm water ordinance countywide educational program on that. That is something –”

Pinches: “Yeah, but if we didn’t have standing why would we even be involved in it?”

Brown, somewhat startled at Pinches response: “Just because the name is not the fact that they don’t provide educational component that we are required to do. It’s not just the Russian River.”

Pinches: “I make the motion to take the recommended action.”

Supervisor Dan Hamburg: “It’s important if we are talking about forming an ad hoc that we know who the members of the ad hoc are going to be and I’m not clear on that.”

Pinches: “I’m certainly willing to serve on it.”

Hamburg: “Okay. Is there another board member willing to serve on an ad hoc?”

Supervisor Dan Gjerde: “I don’t see what’s the harm in creating the ad hoc.”

Hamburg: “So you are saying yes?”

Gjerde: “No. No. But I’m not the right person to do it.” (Laughs.)

Hamburg: “Well, you are a County Supervisor.”

Gjerde: “My district does not include the Russian River and I’m not familiar with the specific issues. I really think it needs to be someone who has more familiarity with the issues and represents the Russian River.”

Hamburg: “But if we don’t have a second supervisor who meets those criteria, are you willing to serve on the ad hoc?”

Gjerde: “I don’t think I would have much to contribute to it.”

Hamburg: “So you are saying no?”

Gjerde: “Yes, I’m saying no.”

Hamburg: “You’re saying no. Is there another member of the Board who is willing to serve on the ad hoc committee? … I don’t hear anyone who is willing to serve on the ad hoc. So I don’t know how we form an ad hoc committee without two members. Personally, I’m fine with doing the ad hoc. I know it will take some staff time. I am sympathetic to the issues supervisor Pinches is raising. There are two issues he raised that seem particularly germane to me. But I don’t know these issues the way, most certainly not the way Supervisor Brown does or probably as much as Supervisor Pinches even. But the issue of gaging Dry Creek and the fact that the staff member who did the research for Supervisor Pinches could not find information that Decision 1610 requires to be furnished to the public and that information was not available — now I could be wrong about that, but that’s what I read in the staff report. And the second issue that Supervisor Pinches brought up to me that seemed pretty interesting was the issue of the watershed. The fact that so much of the watershed that creates Lake Sonoma is in Mendocino County. I didn’t see anything that explained why Mendocino County doesn’t have some rights to water that falls on the earth in Mendocino County and then drains down into Lake Sonoma. Lee [Howard] is out there smiling at me like I should know better but I don’t. I’m enough of a babe in the woods on these issues that I think, yes, let’s go find out some more information and I thought at the end, what can it hurt? But I feel like I have too much on my plate to really dive into this myself and I don’t see any other supervisors willing to. I think it’s clear that Supervisor Brown is not willing to do it. That kind of leaves supervisor McCowen.”

McCowen: “I think we all understand this and I’ve read a lot about it and we’ve all seen the material. I certainly share a lot of the concerns that Supervisor Pinches expresses about Mendocino not getting our fair share of Mendocino County water, stated in a nutshell. But it’s also a situation that we did to ourselves by people 60 years ago not having the foresight to secure the water right to water that would be impounded. So I think a close reading of a number of these decisions does answer some of the questions that have been raised. Working to identify the remaining questions for which I think we are legitimately entitled to answers, putting that in a letter as suggested by Supervisor Brown would be a good preliminary first step. I also think there is currently a pretty critical process going on with the Flood Control District seeking to gain a license for the 8,000 acre feet of water that Mendocino County entities are entitled to out of Lake Mendocino. I know they’ve been involved in that process diligently for two or three years. I think there is some hope that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Going and asking a bunch of questions and reopening a bunch of questions that have already been answered at this particular time probably is not helpful. On balance I think it’s preferable to follow the course of action suggested by Supervisor Brown. That’s what I would support.”

Pinches: “I would like to remind you, Supervisor, that the Sonoma County Water Agency is the official protester of the water rights application by the Russian River Flood Control District. So as far as working together, if they wanted to work together why are they an official protester and have been for several years now of that water right application? I think it’s very inconsistent. If this Board doesn’t want to move forward with an ad hoc committee, it’s not going to deter me from what I am going to do. I will say that. And I will say that after this meeting at least I can say and go on record that I tried to make some equity in his whole situation, all the way back to water rights in the 60s or the 50s when Lake Mendocino was built to the mid-80s when Lake Sonoma came into the system. Situations and usage change, flows change and everything. All I’m trying to do is create a positive, more equitable effect for Mendocino County. I am determined in my efforts and just because I cannot get a partner on this Board to move forward with this, I am still going to proceed with this issue because I have the rest of my lifetime to work on it.”

Hamburg: “The motion fails for lack of a second.”

McCowen: “Being an upstream partner with Sonoma County Water Agency which controls the majority of the water has certainly been at best a very mixed blessing. They do regularly protest and then there is a list of issues that need to be worked through. I think the Flood Control District is currently pursuing that. But we should bear in mind that Sonoma County Water Agency has also taken actions that are very beneficial and you need go no further than Redwood Valley to identify that. So it’s been a mixed blessing.”

Pinches: “Sounds to me like Sonoma County is drinking Mendocino County water, but Mendocino County is drinking Sonoma County’s Kool-Aid.”

Nobody laughed.

Sean White, General Manager of the Russian River Flood Control District: “Supervisor Pinches is right in that they did protest our application for an additional 6,000 acre feet. But so did about seven or eight other parties. Pretty much anybody that files for any sort of water right in this basin, you are going to get a standard laundry list of parties that protest everything. Locally, the city of Ukiah is also protesting that same application. And similarly Russian River Flood Control District has a long history of doing the same thing. It’s not always adversarial but it can be a perfunctory step in ensuring that you have standing in future hearings. So even if you know you have a resolvable issue it makes you an official party to those negotiations. Many people do it just for standing.”

Brown: “Please explain the 6,000 acre-feet versus the 8,000.”

White: “Sometime ago our board anticipated the need for additional water so we applied for an additional 6,000 acre feet out of Lake Mendocino about 10 years ago. That was basically a filing on water that was sort of set aside initially for northern Sonoma County and was later reserved for the potential future needs in Mendocino County, so that is what they filed on. The Flood Control District now holds rights to 8,000 acre feet in Lake Mendocino. We are in the process of going to license on that. We are in the final phases of that now. We are hoping we have our license by New Year’s Day. And we will be done.”

Brown: “What about the gage? Supervisor Pinches had a concern about a requirement in Decision 1610 that requires Sonoma County Water Agency to have gages to judge the amount of water coming at the confluence of Dry Creek. Can you give us any information on that?”

White: “This river has a lot of gages compared to other rivers. The Army Corps does operate a gage each on both the tributaries that the dams release water into. There’s one on Dry Creek and there’s one on the east fork as well. A lot of the gages in the system don’t end up on more common, more frequently accessed websites. Most citizens such as myself when I go fishing will look at one called CDAC which is managed by the California Department of Water. That’s probably the most popular gage site because the Water Department has done a good job of making it pretty easy to look at and it’s searchable. The Army Corps outlet gages are not on CDAC and they are not on the USGS either. And the Army Corps of Engineers website is difficult to work with and navigate around. But the releases are there both daily and I think they do a 15 minute interval as well. Supervisor Pinches is right that people have been talking about reopening Decision 1610 forever. But that has happened. Sonoma County Water Agency filed a change petition to reopen 1610 about three years ago. That was one of the reasonable and prudent alternatives mandated in the deal. They had to reopen it. So that is in effect. The other thing they have to do is file a change petition every year—”

Mr. White is essentially arguing that Sonoma County’s legally mandated reviews are somehow relevant to Supervisor Pinches attempt to see if Mendo is treated equitably. Obviously, Sonoma County isn’t going to reopen allocations that they already benefit from.

Pinches: “You say they filed a reopening of it, but has it ever…? What’s been done —”

Brown: “… a biological opinion.”

White: “Yes. You can’t blame Sonoma County Water Agency for that. Basically many people protested that filing so the state board is dealing with all the protests that came out of that. But flows do change and that was really one of the main outcomes of the petition for change. Releases from Lake Mendocino will be forever lower as a result of those reductions. That’s what they filed for in the petition and they have to file for them every year until that petition is improved. So through that review the releases from Lake Mendocino have already been reduced. There are some very positive changes for Lake Mendocino in the works that will be coming out of that process.”

Again, none of this addresses Pinches question: Is the current arrangement fair to Mendocino County?

Pinches: “How do you explain basically ignoring the County of Origin water protection of the 45 square miles of Mendocino County watershed behind Lake Sonoma?”

White: “I don’t think I ignore it. The State Board did not ignore that either. If you read both D-1030 and D-1610 there is a long discussion about County of Origin and County of Origin rights.”

Pinches: “But weren’t they really talking about the County of Origin rights behind Lake Mendocino?”

White: “No. D-1610 covers both projects. That’s why D-1610 came out. That was because Lake Sonoma was coming online. And we did get a fairly significant caveat that is often overlooked — the water from Lake Mendocino which is generally classified as Post-1949 water, basically water that is a result of the infrastructure that was created then, even though we applied at the same time, there are many applications that were joint or filed as companions, Mendocino County was granted seniority and priority for all pre-49 rights so we actually did receive a significant benefit there because of County of Origin and that’s why we were granted seniority. So at the end of the day our 8000 acre feet, even though we are a minor partner, has priority in Mendocino over Sonoma County.”

Pinches: “It takes priority but I don’t see where we recognized the water from the Mendocino watershed behind Lake Sonoma.”

White: “Right. Because we didn’t pay for the project and we didn’t file on the rights. There was no way for us. And obviously I was popping wheelies on the Schwinn when that happened. [Laughs.] I was a little kid. But you can only blame our predecessors. We did not want to financially participate and it was basically up to this County two times in a row to pony up the cash to become a full partner and the County basically didn’t do it.”

Pinches: “That was Lake Mendocino. But in Sonoma County it was Corps of Engineers that built the project and they never have to pay back until the use of water down to that level.”

White: “That’s not actually true. The Army Corps of Engineers owns both projects and every Corps of Engineers project has a local sponsor and here, only after, if you go back and read the historical documents that have to do with our license, really only after Sonoma County came back basically begging us, saying basically, ‘Man, you are going to regret this.’ [Laughs] did the County even come back and buy the small pro-rata share that we did eventually buy.”

* * *

Summary: Supervisor Pinches, who has studied the subject at length, thinks Mendo’s being shortchanged, both for water and money, and there are specific aspects of the arrangement that need to be looked into to see if Mendo can do better.

Lake Mendocino

Supervisor Brown, whose most prominent constituents benefit from the current muddled arrangement and don’t want anyone rifling through their paperwork, is against even looking into the question.

Supervisors Gjerde and Hamburg agree that there are some issues that deserve analysis from an independent Mendo-angle, but they themselves won’t do it.

And Supervisor McCowen thinks writing a letter to the Sonoma Water Agency asking them to deal with Mendo’s questions is all that’s necessary — which means no independent review.

Remember: It’s well documented that Sonoma County is selling huge amounts of valuable Mendo water to their own water districts and to Marin County which they — like the Russian River Flood Control District — obtain on the cheap.

Yet, despite of all this potential to not only explore whether Mendo has a right to more of Mendo’s water than at present, but also an opportunity to see if Mendo could at least get some of the revenue Sonoma County is generating with Mendo water — despite all that, four of the five people who are supposed to represent Mendocino County, and who are in charge of making sure Mendo’s precarious budget is balanced, have no interest in looking into substantial new water or water revenues, choosing instead to offer lame excuses for doing nothing.

These four Supervisors who don’t even want to look into the matter are the same people who laugh at the supervisors of yesteryear who shortsightedly gave away Mendo’s water and rights to Sonoma County — the only exception being my uncle, Joe Scaramella, who similarly failed to convince his colleagues back then to participate in the building of Coyote Dam.

The upshot? Existing inland Mendo water right holders want no change; Mendocino County will continue to provide free water to Sonoma County; Lake Mendocino will continue to dry up in the increasing number of dry years brought to us by climate change; Lake Sonoma will remain full year round.

Lake Sonoma

FOLLOW THIS FINGER, DEPUTY

by Bruce McEwen

“Need for Speed,” the infantile flick filmed in Anderson Valley and other Mendo locales last spring, drew small crowds of onlookers wowed by the automotive stunts Hollywood enacted on our outback roads, none of them designed for high speed chases. The movie isn’t out yet, but Aaron Long initiated a high-speed, non-sanctioned chase of his own in late September when he was chased by Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Wells, an old schoolmate.

It was quite a pursuit, and one that should raise some serious policy discussions among County law enforcement. The present police policy is chase ‘em down, a policy that may be as dangerous as the high speed antics of the fools the police pursuing them. But chase ‘em down when you’re driving your own wheels off-duty?

Whatever, as the young people say. When Deputy Wells, off duty and driving his own truck, finally caught up with Long, he arrested his former classmate and charged him with felony assault with a deadly weapon — a vehicle.

The Prelim was last Wednesday.

Aaron Long

Long’s weaponized vehicle was a blue 1986 Nissan 280 ZX, a speedy little sports car.

Deputy Wells was off duty, driving his 2013 Chevy crew-cab 4×4. Wells said he’d just merged on to Highway 101 at the northbound Talmage Street freeway entrance when he spotted Long in the blue Z-car.

“I recognized Aaron, and he presented his middle finger to me.”

DA David Eyster asked for a less formal clarification.

“Do you mean he flipped you off?”

“Yes. He flipped me off.”

“Then what did he do?”

“He was in the number one lane and he eased over into my lane.”

“What did you do?”

“I moved onto the shoulder of the road over the rumble strip.”

“Then what happened?”

“Aaron moved into the number two lane, cut in front of me and put on his brakes, giving me the finger again, through the sunroof.”

“How far into your lane did he come?”

“About a foot. Had I not braked, I’d have slammed into the back of him.”

“What was the defendant trying to do?”

Andrew Higgins of the Office of the Public Defender objected.

DA Eyster rephrased:

“In your opinion, what was the defendant trying to do?”

“He was trying to get me to go off the road.”

“What would you estimate his speed at?”

“Approximately 90 MPH, but he would slow down and then wave at me through the sunroof to follow him and then speed up again.”

“Did you call dispatch for help?”

“Yes.”

“Where did this all end?”

“On Lees Road in Redwood Valley.”

“You followed him that far?”

“I couldn’t keep up, but he kept motioning for me to come up or follow him. He kept weaving through traffic, we went through Calpella, and he kept motioning through the sunroof, suggesting I follow him. He got off on East Road, ran the stop sign, cutting the corners, and turned northbound on East Road. He went by the Little Lake Market and the Animal Control Officer was there with his overhead lights flashing, but he ignored that. [The dogcatcher drives a Ford F-250 with a big steel box of cages mounted on it, not exactly built for hot pursuit.] He then went past the theater at School Way, passing cars on the right shoulder, and turned west on School Way. He passed more vehicles by crossing the double yellow line. At this point, I lost sight of him. When I finally caught up again I saw Deputy [Frank] Rakes [the bailiff who was on duty in this courtroom during the hearing] in his 1965 Mustang, pulling into the intersection.”

“Was there a collision?”

“No. Aaron locked up his brakes and screeched to a stop in a cloud of smoke, then went down Road N; he then took Laughlin Way, northbound, then he slowed and went on Lees Road a short way before turning into a driveway.”

Public defender Higgins: “How long were you on Highway 101 before you saw my client, Mr. Long?”

“I’d just gotten on; less than five seconds.”

“And how long was the total pursuit?”

“About 10 miles.”

“Did you exceed the speed limit also?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go around cars?”

“Yes.”

“When you saw the animal control officer with his emergency lights on, did you let him lead the chase?”

“He couldn’t have kept up.”

“You felt the gestures were directed at you?”

“I’ve known Aaron for years. He’d slow down, then motion for me to follow. I told dispatch I couldn’t keep up.”

“Did you have the option of backing off?”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t choose to do so?”

“No.”

“So you were going around vehicles, over the speed limit, in pursuit — were you on your cellphone while you were in pursuit?”

“Yes.”

Higgins summed up his defense: “Your honor, all we have is testimony that my client eased into somebody else’s lane — a reckless driving charge, maybe, but certainly not a felony level assault with a deadly weapon.”

Judge Ann Moorman had a different view.

“The witness recognized the driver of the Nissan,” she said, “and gave his opinion that the defendant was trying to run him off the road.”

“His opinion is irrelevant,” Higgins said. “The word he used was ‘eased’ into the other lane.”

“I’ll have to check that,” Moorman conceded. “But this is not misdemeanor conduct, moving around like that in multi-ton vehicles at high speeds; I’m not inclined to reduce it to a misdemeanor.”

“His [Long’s] criminal record,” Eyster added, “would prevent any reduction in charges, anyway. I have his rap sheet right here, if the court would like to see it.”

“I don’t need to see it,” Moorman said. “Moving around like that on the freeway is enough for me. I’m holding him to answer.”

At this point, Eyster threw in a violation of proba¬tion, and the bells of doom began to toll for Mr. Long’s driving privileges. “Need For Speed” will be playing the Ukiah Theater around Christmas. Long might be out of jail by then. Maybe he’ll settle for the fantasy version of his own need for speed.

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KEEGAN CASE UPDATE:

Three Years On: Applause, Frustration & Hope

Tuesday, November 11, the third anniversary of Susan Keegan’s murder, offers us a chance to express both admiration and indignation about how this case has been handled. The contours of Susan’s death are well known to readers of this blog. Less certain is when the long-delayed prosecution will get underway.

Family and friends are still pleading, scolding, hollering, and weeping as they struggle to push the Mendocino County District Attorney’s office to pursue justice. We believe our frustration at the endless delays is more than justified. But we also want to take a moment to offer praise where praise is due.

Shortly after taking office a few months after Susan died, DA David Eyster was handed a file about her case by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office — a file filled with holes, errors, and sloppy police work. Laid before him was a botched investigation.

The mistakes had begun within hours of Susan’s death. “The home should have been declared a crime scene that morning,” one investigator told us.

The Keegans, in better days

But Peter Keegan, Susan’s physician/husband, had fast-talked Sgt. Scott Poma, at best an indifferent police officer, into believing a story that defied credibility — that Susan, an engaged writer, reader, actor, and budding artist, was disguising a lethal substance abuse problem. No facts supported his claim, but the Harvard-educated physician was authoritative, and the cops walked away from the scene with far less evidence than they should have collected.

Next, the autopsy was put in the hands of Jason Trent, MD, a medical examiner whose questionable competence has been an open secret in Mendocino County. Trent twice recanted his testimony in an unrelated homicide case, saying, “that’s what I swore to, that’s what I signed, but I was wrong.” So unskilled was the medical examiner that at least one attorney told us she often went outside the county to have her evidence analyzed. Trent’s contract with the Sheriff’s Office was finally severed this summer, almost a year before it was due to expire, but not before his grossly inadequate examination of Susan Keegan’s body.

Faced with such clumsy police work, the DA must surely have been tempted to walk away from the case. Instead, his office looked hard at it, and saw enough to investigate further.

Slowly, Eyster’s team took steps to recover some of the evidence that had been lost. Investigators twice sought and executed warrants to search the Keegan house. They consulted with experts and listened to others who could speak knowledgeably about various aspects of the case, and ultimately learned enough to convince them, and indeed the entire law enforcement community of Mendocino County, that Susan’s life had been stolen from her.

In August 2012, they acted on that knowledge by changing her death certificate to read “homicide.”

For the determination all of that took, we are grateful. And yet, as the Anderson Valley Advertiser, a steadfast ally in the effort to give voice to Susan’s story, has quipped, “this isn’t the Kennedy assassination.” Why the continuing delay in making an arrest and bringing the case to trial? There is a single suspect in the case, a man who has reportedly refused to speak to authorities, even to proclaim his innocence.

The initial slipshod investigation has not made things easy for prosecutors, who understandably prefer guaranteed convictions. But there is enough evidence to persuade every experienced cop and investigator who has looked at it. Put that evidence before a jury of the suspect’s peers. Let the community understand what happened. Let the system work.

Susan was cheated — of books she would have read and foreign capitals she dreamed of visiting, of wisdom she sought and kindness she would have offered. Of the grandchildren she yearned to nurture. She did nothing to earn her terrible fate.

The friends and family of the Justice4Susan Committee, and the many community members who tell us they support our goals, feel a powerful obligation to advance the cause of justice in Susan’s name. Let us hope that the officials sworn to protect the people of Ukiah feel that same obligation — and fulfill it.

http://justice4susan.com

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MENDOCINO COUNTY MEDPOT RULING MAY SET NEW PRECEDENT

Evidence of meth thrown out

by Tiffany Revelle

In what could be a significant ruling for medical marijuana defense, a Mendocino County Superior Court judge last Friday granted a motion to throw out evidence from a vehicle search done because the driver admitted to having the drug and a county-issued card identifying him as a medical marijuana patient.

Judge Ann Moorman ruled in favor of Mendocino County Deputy Public Defender Eric Rennert’s motion to suppress the evidence used to charge his client, Kevin R. Hawkins, 55, of Cloverdale, with possessing methamphetamine when a Ukiah Police Department officer pulled Hawkins over on South State Street and searched his vehicle.

The officer had no reason to believe the search would turn up evidence of a crime, so proper grounds hadn’t been established for the search, Moorman ruled.

“The question is, does admission of the presence of marijuana alone, with a valid recommendation, provide law enforcement with probable cause to search,” Rennert said.

The ruling is significant, he said, because no case law currently exists regarding that question.

Hawkins was pulled over by a UPD officer at 3:50 a.m. April 18 for a traffic violation and produced a valid driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance, according to Rennert. While the officer was checking the documents, he asked Hawkins “if he had anything illegal in his vehicle,” according to the officer’s testimony, quoted in Moorman’s ruling.

“The officer testified that he had not seen any contraband or other evidence of illegality to explain the inquiry,” according to Moorman’s order to grant the defense’s motion. “The officer also testified that he did not smell anything such as an odor of marijuana.”

The smell of marijuana from inside a vehicle is enough to establish probable cause for a search, Moorman asserts in her ruling, citing a 2007 case where the state Court of Appeal ruled that an officer had probable cause to search a vehicle after smelling the drug, seeing a second bag in the car after the driver showed him one containing a small amount, and believing the driver would drive away after having smoked marijuana.

Hawkins told the officer who stopped him that he had less than an ounce of marijuana in the car with him, and showed him a Proposition 215 card (Compassionate Use Act of 1996) issued by the county of Mendocino.

The officer told Hawkins “that the practice had changed in that the County no longer issued such cards,” according to the ruling, to which Hawkins said he got the card in 2000 from the county Department of Public health with his doctor’s help.

It had no expiration date because Hawkins obtained it for “a chronic and terminal condition,” according to Moorman’s order. The court found the card valid.

The officer opted to search the car anyway “because he (Hawkins) told me he had marijuana in the car,’“ according to testimony quoted in Moorman’s ruling.

“This Court is not suggesting that the presentation of the 215 card was a means of immunization from the search,” Moorman wrote. “But, the totality of the circumstances included a voluntary statement coupled with the county issued card AND a complete absence of odor or impaired driving, or evidence of a larger amount of marijuana in the car.” (The emphasis is Moorman’s.)

The Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office has two weeks to appeal the ruling. If an appeal is filed, the case would go before the state Court of Appeals.

Rennert said if that happens, the ruling would be published as case law that can be used as precedent for similar court decisions statewide, becoming the first of its kind.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal.)

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GREENPEACE’S Rainbow Warrior tied up at Pier 15 Friday where it will remain through November 19th for public tours, art shows, films, panel discussions and live music. Up to 900 people a day are expected to visit the boat, made famous by a 1985 incident off the coast of New Zealand when the French bombed — and sank — its predecessor, the first Rainbow Warrior, during a nuclear weapons protest. The new Rainbow Warrior (actually, the third overall) is a $33 million, custom-built sailboat outfitted with a helipad, and unique A-frame masts that give the boat stability and allow it to derive 90% of its power from the wind. It’s designed to accommodate up to 32 crewmembers as they circle the globe blocking oil tankers, protesting deforestation and taking up other environmental crusades.

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Washburne

SEVERAL READERS have asked about Flynn Washburne, the talented writer from Mendocino County who is currently a resident of the state pen at Tehachapi. Flynn pulled a few armed-with-a-toy-gun robberies, one at the Bank of America in Ukiah, another we know of at a bookstore in Fort Bragg, the first armed robbery of a bookstore in Mendocino County history, maybe American history. But we knew then that Flynn was a literary guy. He was writing his autobiography for us when he suddenly wasn’t. Lots of things can happen in prison, few of them good. Way back Dannie Martin, another talented prison writer, so annoyed the authorities they gave him “bus therapy,” meaning they put him on an unending prison bus tour of America chained and shackled. I believe that practice has been ended, but some of us need reminding that for all the hype about being the most advanced country in the world, America is also the most primitive country in the world. We hope Flynn is well and will soon resume writing.

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SHERIFF TOM ALLMAN, in civvies, popped into Lauren’s last Thursday night to play Trivia, joining Muriel Ellis’s team to help Muriel and Co. finish a strong second to Vinegar Ridge (aka “The Ancient Geeks”). Allman jovially introduced himself to his teammates who promptly reciprocated by naming the team “The Inmates.” The Sheriff, who is something of a celebrity tuba player in local beer-barrel polka circles, also made inquiries of local artist and musician Nadia Berrigan about sitting in with Bob Ayres’ Big Band which, as we know, is in serious need of some baritone ooomph. Boonville! Mendocino County’s most happening community!

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ABOVE ALL, this big nation has failed to reckon the central quandary of our time: the fatal hypertrophy of finance. This ghastly engine of rackets and swindles is the enlarged heart of a dying body politic, and all we know how to do is feed it more monetary Cheez Doodles. This has been going on far longer than the doctors and the witch doctors thought possible, and there is a foolish hope among the credulous that the larger organism of the economy must therefore be immortal. But the reality-based minority stoically awaits the final congestive infarction. — James Kunstler

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I WAS PAINFULLY TIMID, and while still young the idea of Hell took a fearful hold on me. One night I thought I was irretrievably damned and cried myself to sleep in vain yet terrified efforts to form a conception of eternal pain. In the morning I renewed my lamentations and my mother was sent for. She comforted me with the assurance that the Holy Ghost was convicting me of sin and thus preparing me for ultimate salvation. This was a new idea and I rather approved. — Synge

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LEGACY OF WORKING LANDS:

Workshop For Farm and Ranch Families

Anderson Valley Land Trust is hosting a workshop on succession planning for farm and ranch families on Friday, November 22, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Anderson Valley Grange in Philo.

Succession planning is the process of mapping the transition of the family farm or ranch business, land, and assets from one generation to the next. When it comes to passing on the family farm or ranch, a simple will or estate plan cannot fully cover the intricacies of the transition.

According to California FarmLink, 70% of U.S. farmland is going to change hands in the next 20 years; 70% of farmers have no will and 75% of farmers have no named successor. In California there are 9 California farmers over age 65 for every farmer under age 35. These facts underscore the importance of estate and succession planning to keep farm and ranch lands in production and to preserve the agricultural heritage of communities like Anderson Valley.

Workshop presentations will provide information on how to decide who will run the farm or ranch in 5, 10, 20 or more years. Experts from Mendocino County and around Northern California will provide key information and tools to help farm and ranch families address this question and plan for their land’s continued production in the future. Topics will include: successful business transfers; how to develop the next generation’s management capacity while protecting the current generation’s interests; tools to keep harmony in the family through this difficult process; estate planning; and avoiding unnecessary transfer taxes (income, gift and estate).

All generations are encouraged to attend. Lunch, workshop materials, and one copy of California FarmLink’s Farm Succession Guidebook per family are included in the workshop cost of $25 each for the first two family members and $15 for each additional member. Workshop participants will be eligible for a low-cost, private consultation with an attorney and/or CPA at a future date.

Pre-registration is required by November 18th. Call Shelly at 707-895-3150 or send an email with names of all family members who will attend and one contact phone number or email address to info@andersonvalleylandtrust.org <mailto:info@andersonvalleylandtrust.org> . More information is available at www.andersonvalleylandtrust.org <http://www.andersonvalleylandtrust.org> .

This workshop is presented by California FarmLink and is part of the Anderson Valley Land Trust’s Legacy of Working Lands. The project is funded, in part, by a grant from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County with additional support from the Savings Bank of Mendocino County, East Bay Community Foundation, Navarro River Resource Center, California Rangeland Trust, Anderson Valley Grange, and Mendocino Land Trust.

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THE KENNEDY MOMENT

by Jeff Costello

“…I realized what makes our generation unique, what defines us apart from those who came before the hopeful winter of 1961, and those who came after the murderous spring of 1968. We are the first generation that learned from experience, in our innocent twenties, that things were not really getting better, that we shall not overcome. We felt, by the time we reached thirty, that we had already glimpsed the most compassionate leaders our nation could produce, and they had been assassinated. And from this time forward, things would get worse: out best political leaders were part of memory now…” — Jack Newfield, Robert Kennedy: A Memoir

Anyone old enough remembers the moment JFK was killed in Dallas.

I was a junior in high school, 16 years old, walking in the hall on a rest room break, or “going to the basement” as the euphemism went at Farmington High School in Connecticut. Farmington was still a puritanical, culturally constipated New England town where such basic functions as relieving oneself were just not mentioned. The lower-class section of town, literally the “other side of the tracks,” was called Unionville although it was – and I suppose still is – officially in the town of Farmington. In 1964, Unionville still had an operating 19th century textile mill.

Four miles east, at the other end of town, across the river, is the village of Farmington Center, the home of Miss Porter’s School for Girls – est. 1843 – where daughters of the upper-upper classes are sent to train as proper wives for their future power broker husbands. One graduate of Miss Porter’s was Jacqueline Bouvier, future wife of John F. Kennedy. If you’ve ever seen the video of Jackie showing off the White House dishes and furniture, and noticed her stilted mannerisms, these were learned at Miss Porter’s.

It was 1:30 PM Eastern time when I encountered The Penguin, a short, fat, nerdy kid who always wore a dark suit or sport jacket, white shirt and tie, and vest.

“The president has been shot in Texas,” he said. I was not interested in politics but had a vague hearsay-generated impression that JFK was some kind of good guy. I didn’t believe The Penguin. I was back in class when the principal came over the P.A. and made the announcement. The last president to be assassinated was McKinley in 1901, and there was no seeming protocol for understanding this. Nobody knew what to say, although some girls were crying, and we were let out of school early.

Soon came the official story, a lone nut communist who had been in Russia was the culprit. It was less than ten years after McCarthy, the Cold War was in flower, and communism was the ultimate evil.

I watched on TV when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot to death in the police station by a sleazy night club owner called Jack Ruby. It was all very clean, cut-and-dry, end of story. So we were told. But I’ve never quite understood the obstinacy, the utter verve over the years, of the conspiracy deniers. Don’t we have enough evidence enough these days that the official story is always bullshit?

As Jack Newfield pointed out, the subsequent murders of RFK and Martin Luther King eliminated the only public figures able to transmit any hopeful, relatively anti-establishment message. No one else has appeared to take their place. The lesson has been learned.

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POINT ARENA’S POPCORN GOATS

by Debra Keipp

The deed on the two acre meadow along Point Arena Creek said the narrow strip of ag land on the canyon floor was a brush-free fire corridor for the City limits. Even so, it was densely saturated with poison oak, hemlock and coyote bush by the time I owned it. The crumbling limestone cliffs served as home base for federally protected Mountain Beaver Territory. I needed a few goats to eat down the undesirable vegetation. The idea of grazers sounded organic and pastoral.

When I couldn’t find rental goats, Hawaiian Tina gave me her two goats for free. Tina worked in the snack booth at Arena Theater. Every night after closing down the movies, she’d take home the leftover theater popcorn to feed her goats. They loved popcorn best, as table scraps go. When they moved to my place, inside the City limits just down the street and around the corner from Arena Theater, those goats could smell the popcorn waft down the Main Street wind corridor. It became impossible to keep them home on nights when they could smell popcorn. By morning they’d be gone. And, every time they escaped, I could find them at the theater looking for Tina to serve up their popcorn.

Having goats was a lot like having parrots. Parrots look at you as their dilating pupils telescope, examining you, their quarry. Sometimes birds bite, like goats when they head-butt. The weird-looking pupils in the eyes of these two goats, a Nubian male and an Alpine female, sized up what use they could make of me. The male liked to urinate on his head (the Brut of billy goat cologne) to smell more attractive to the female and to try to bring her much sooner into estrus (female mating season), which is essential to goat mating. Billy goats are reeking, smelly beasts.

The Nubian male had downward sagging ears and horns; the Alpine female had upward pointed ears and horns. Either direction their horns pointed. I was screwed but didn’t know it yet.

Eventually I could see that the perimeter of the meadow they’d defoliated was bordered with square, framed pig wire. Once they finished most of the vegetation inside the meadow, they eyeballed the cliffs outside the fence line. One or the other of the goats would push into the pig wire fencing until their horns snagged a few wire squares. Then they’d both pull until they’d flattened the fence and could walk right over it and escape.

It was at this point in our collective learning curve, that I became a regular early morning acquaintance of Bill Hay who owns Point Arena Water Works. In fact, at the time, Bill Hay could probably innocently enough identify every pair of pajamas I owned. Because several mornings after the goats had been working pre-dawn on demilitarizing the fence, they’d excuse themselves from the meadow, silently walk under my bedroom window up to the Arena Theater on Main Street, and park themselves next to the theater’s kiosk and wait for popcorn to happen. Sometimes it appeared they’d been there overnight. Bill Hay was often the first one to drive through town in the morning before any of the coffee shops opened. He’d see my goats clownin’ around the theater kiosk, drop by the house around 6 or 6:30 and dryly inform me, “Your goats are in front of the theater again.”

I’d dress for the Main Street goat round-up, which always gave the coffee drinkers a bit of amusement. The amount of poop at the Theater’s front entrance told me how long they’d been staking out the popcorn stand. They’d let me catch them. In fact, often they came enthusiastically running and vaulting toward me, excited to see me. Constantly too affectionate, the male routinely head-butted and rubbed me with his stinking yellow-stained noggin all the way home. The female was more reluctant to leave the theater.She bleated all the way home, probably complaining she hadn’t had popcorn since moving to my place.

I had developed a tolerance for the goats, lightened by the comedy of their strange ways. Even the frustration of my damaged fences was remedied by a bit of electric fence rope lining the inside of what remained of the pig wire. When I was just getting the hang of the goats; they were getting out less and less by the time the nanny became pregnant. The Alpine eventually gave birth to a beautiful female resembling her sire, the Nubian. Little Periwinkle’s life was short, though, as one of the dirty tricks used by virile billy goats is to kill the offspring, thus sending the nanny promptly back into estrus – a “refreshed” mating season immediately following birth. I had separated him and her after Periwinkle’s birth, but ruthless and relentles he broke into their nursing pen and killed their kid. I hated him for it.

After burying Little Periwinkle, I went to the bar at Arena Cove and sat offended at how cruel nature was. I was done with goats. Did anyone want a goat? How about two goats? An extremely tame, popcorn-loving pair, perhaps? We discussed ways to castrate goats, goat meat vs. goat cheese and milk, goat grazing vs. a Weed Eater, and folks shared a few goat stories, but no amount of commiseration made me want to keep them.

A few weeks later, I noticed silence coming from the meadow where the goats lived. No bleating. I could see they were gone. Absolutely vanished into thin air. No blood, bones, tracks, smell… nothing. I asked around. No one had seen them. I walked the perimeter of the property and searched the 200 acre pasture above the mountain beaver colony. I never found them, or any trace of them. Not even any poop in front of the theater, which would always be their first stop when they got loolse. This made me wonder if their disappearance was voluntary. I soon concluded it must have involved some human intervention.

After a month or so, I dismantled the gate, their shelter (goats hate the rain and getting wet) and all their climbing structures and goat stuppas. It was a relief not to have goats any more, but the mystery of their disappearance lingered.

One morning about four months later, I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom, getting ready for the day, when I thought I heard the first bleat. I continued with what I was doing, thinking the Mexican family next door must be getting ready for another back yard goat slaughter. I brought a cup of coffee from the kitchen to my back bedroom, which sat over a two car garage, which also had some historical significance as the first indoor grow room in Point Arena way back in 1974. I could hear a goat bleating directly under me, inside my open basement garage. I went to the upstairs basement door located across from my washer and dryer in the upstairs hallway of my home.

I prepared to stick my head down the steps to see what was up when, the minute I opened the basement door, I was met by the billy goat. He was thrilled to see me, launching himself up the last three steps of the threshold like a spring loaded jack in the box. As I stepped out of his way, he broadsided the washer and dryer, horns and hooves flailing on the slick linoleum as he continued bashing into the metal appliances trying to regain his footing. He sounded like a thunder storm. God created goats for the clusterfuck. And there was the nanny fast on his rump. She heaved over his sprawled body and made a beeline for the kitchen, smelling breakfast. Needless to say, they let themselves in… and were happy to see me after their mysterious “vacation”.

I was unprepared for the return of the goats. I had since taken apart their habitat in the meadow. I’d used the gate for another section of the property, and was quite over them by then. My heart just wasn’t into messing with them any more. I called Mark Biaggi, who had a herd of grazer goats and asked him if he wanted them for free. He came with his two small children to take them. His little girl was about five at the time, and she took one look at the billy goat and said, “Look Daddy, he looks just like Tank!”. I asked if he’d be using the male for breeding. He said, no, he’d be fixing him. He said only kept one male per herd. I asked him if he’d use anesthesia. He said no. I grimaced, then rationalized my reaction to his looming pain as payback for what he’d done to Little Periwinkle.

Three years later, once again at Arena Cove, someone inquired if I had ever found out what happened to my “gallivanting goats”. I informed him I never knew the circumstances of the missing goats.

He told me that a certain fun-loving redhead had heard me bitching about the goats the night the Nubian killed Little Periwinkle in the nursing pen when I’d been at Arena Cove complaining about the evil mating practices of goats. She’d kidnapped the goats for whatever use she had in mind. What she planned to do with them remained a mystery. She and her sisters were easy on animals and have a family horse who’s pushing forty. But, after a few months, she no longer wanted them and had brought them back.

AS OF TUESDAY, November 12, the print edition of 8 November had still not reached San Francisco.

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Dr. & Mrs. Keegan

IT’S THE THIRD anniversary of Susan Keegan’s murder. Her husband, Dr. Peter Keegan, says his wife of 30 years died, drunk and stoned, in a bathroom fall. That’s possible, one has to suppose, but Mrs. Keegan’s death certificate says “Homicide,” not “Accidental.” Mrs. Keegan’s death certificate says “Homicide” because, obviously, the only other person home at the time, her husband, bludgeoned her to death.

SO WHY HASN’T Dr. Keegan been arrested? Because, if you are a wealthy, well-connected person with the means to hire an ace defense attorney like Keith Faulder, you can get away with murder in Mendocino County. If Joe Tweek’s wife was found dead in Mr. Tweek’s bathroom under circumstances identical to those of Mrs. Keegan, he’d have been Inmate Tweek two years ago.

DA EYSTER persuaded the supervisors to hire a special prosecutor, Paul Sequeira, to take on the tough cases. But these tough guys between them haven’t taken on a tough case yet, not one. There’s no excuse for not prosecuting Dr. Peter Keegan for the murder of Susan Keegan. None.

OF COURSE there’s plenty of prosecutor time to pursue Will Parrish, and any other Willits Bypass protesters who wander into the DA’s skewed viewshed.

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THE STORY OF ‘ST. MARTIN OF THE BRIDGE’

Excerpt from Redleg Boogie Blues

by Jeff Costello

He was the only person I ever knew who went around calling everyone “brother” and really meant it. “Brother” Martin had all the characteristics of a religious pilgrim without belonging to any order or discipline, a “seeker” in the true sense. The problem was, he wasn’t finding the answers and it frustrated him. Eventually, Brother Martin tried more and stronger drugs, including PCP — commonly known as rhinoceros tranquilizer — apparently to no avail. As his behavior became more and more unorthodox, people said he was crazy, and Brother Martin went on the Sausalito waterfront’s growing list of tolerated borderline or outright lunatics.

But like any “crazy” or “psychotic” person, Martin had some clear insights into many human problems and contradictions. A gentle man, he sincerely wondered about the institution of marriage. His own wife had driven him away by having overt affairs with a number of different men. Rather than curse her or them, Martin stood back and examined the wisdom of rigid lifetime commitment, and not surprisingly found it lacking. Brother Martin was also troubled by money, and how it took over people’s lives. When I discussed these matters with him, he didn’t seem crazy at all.

The band was playing one night at Saul Rouda’s movie studio at the old Bob’s Boatyard by the Napa Street Pier. It was a typical Redlegs party, with everybody dancing and drunk or high on something, and utterly unpredictable. The first surprise that night was the arrival of June Pointer, who asked to sing with the band.

“What do you want to sing?” I asked her, having never heard a single Pointer Sisters record.

“Wang Dang Doodle.” She was tipping and teetering, and sort of giggling. This wasn’t the first party she’s been to that night. “ How’s it go?”

“You know, Wang Dang Doodle…”

I didn’t know. I looked the bass player and drummer, they didn’t know. Joe, leader of the band was out somewhere, but was I sure he didn’t know. So she just started singing. We found the key and faked it. Years later I heard the record and laughed because it only had one chord, so I figure it must have been all right.

After June dissolved into the crowd, we began another song and Brother Martin appeared in front of the band. He had an intense look in his eye, and he was staring right at me. As the band played on, he kept the intense eye-to-eye contact going and reached into his pocket. First, he pulled out a twenty dollar bill. Next, a Bic lighter. I was getting interested now.

“Go ahead, I yelled over the music. “Go for it.”

Martin shook his head.

“Do it, Martin! Burn it up!”

He shook his head again, but kept holding out the money and lighter. I pointed at myself and he nodded. He wanted me to do it. First, he gave me the bill, indicating that I could just keep it if I wanted, but something felt important about this, something bigger than a mere twenty dollars. But why didn’t he just burn the twenty himself? Martin held out the lighter. I turned to the others and motioned them to keep playing.

With the bill in my left hand, the lighter in my right, the bass and drums churning away and Brother Martin standing there like a mad soothsayer, I lit the money and held it until only a burning corner remained in my hand. It fell to the floor, I stomped it out and that was it.

Or was it? Brother Martin continued to suffer under the strain of day-to-day mundane life, finding nothing to encourage his quest for meaning. Less than a year after the money burning incident he jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge, going down in the records as number six hundred thirty-something.

It wasn’t long after Martin’s death that I started getting strange phone calls from back east. The calls came in at the stern apartment of the Oakland, which was odd in itself. The place was occupied at the time by Jack Hurley. Jack had authored his own deck of tarot cards, and he and his wife, Rae, were into some occult and esoteric activities that would have been cause for much suspicion outside the waterfront, or a lynching outside of California. Hurley had predicted some sort of major event in my life. It was never made clear how or why the calls came to his place.

The first call was from Bob Shearer, who had been the singer in my first rock and roll band back in Unionville, Connecticut. He told me a detective was looking for me. The search had started at my ten-year high school reunion. No one there had known where I was, but my former classmates suggested the detective look up Shearer.

Shearer suggested I call a certain reporter from the Hartford Courant, who was also involved in the search, but he also advised me to be careful if I was involved with drugs or any other illegal activities. Which of course I was. So I told him to give Hurley’s number to the reporter and she could call me if it was that big a deal.

The reporter called the next day. She was very excited and admitted that getting me on the phone meant a scoop for her. I was the object of a national search. She wouldn’t give me all the details, but did tell me my grandmother had died and left me a sizable inheritance. I authorized her to give the phone number to the detective who called almost immediately. He drilled me with questions about my personal life and got some long-lost relatives in on a conference call. When the relatives were satisfied with who I was, the detective told me the amount of the inheritance was $20,000.

Somewhere between the time of the phone calls and the arrival of the check, I was struck with a vision of Brother Martin and the $20 bill. No one in the pragmatic world of scientific cause-and-effect would swallow this for a second, but there are times when you know something intuitively. And what I knew at that moment was that I had been given a twenty dollar bill by a “crazy” man who had clear and disturbing visions, I had burned the bill ceremoniously at his insistence, he had committed suicide in the most grandiose manner possible, dying in the water on which my home floated, and shortly thereafter I had received messages, at the home of a known psychic, telling me I had inherited twenty thousand dollars. As for the inheritance itself, I’ll just say that it came at the worst possible time, and I made no sound investments.

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THE UKIAH POLICE DEPARTMENT reports that last week that the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force arrest two Florida men believed to have been shipping marijuana to their home state for the past two months while living in a Ukiah motel. The UPD supported the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force as it served a search warrant Nov. 6 at a hotel room occupied by Herman E. Battle, 41, of Florida, after Ukiah officers spotted him driving in the city and performed a high-risk traffic stop, according to the UPD. Officers arrested Battle and his passenger Audrey L. Rollins, 34, also of Florida, and detained them while the investigation continued. The officers found items used for packing and shipping marijuana inside the vehicle, according to the UPD. The following search of Battle’s hotel room produced a small amount of marijuana, more packaging materials, “substances commonly used to mask the odor of marijuana,” cell phones and ammunition among Battle’s possessions, according to the UPD. Battle was known to have “an extensive violent criminal history,” and authorities believe he is involved in gang activity. A convicted felon, Battle was not allowed to have firearms or ammunition, the UPD stated. The investigation led authorities to a Ukiah home, where investigators found evidence of marijuana cultivation. Serving a search warrant later that day, authorities found more than 40 pounds of processed marijuana in one-pound packages, 30 growing marijuana plants, about five ounces of the drug Ecstasy, two guns and items used to process, package and ship marijuana, according to the UPD. Investigators determined Battle and Rollins had been bringing marijuana to the home and packaging it for about two months, according to Capt. Justin Wyatt of the UPD, and that they had repeatedly shipped packages of marijuana of various sizes out of state. “This investigation was extensive and labor intensive, and required the assistance of the three Ukiah patrol officers throughout a large part of the day,” the UPD stated in a press release, adding that the officers “were simultaneously responsible for all police calls received during that time.” Also aiding the MMCTF in the investigation were agents were officers with the Mendocino County Probation Department and agents with the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team (COMMET). “This case is yet another example of the criminal activity the local illicit marijuana trade has produced, the manpower demands placed upon local law enforcement in dealing with it and the serious and violent criminals from out of state that remain in our community for extended periods of time committing serious criminal activity,” the UPD stated. Battle was arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, being a felon in possession of ammunition and conspiracy, and Rollins was arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and conspiracy.

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THE DYNASTIC HILLARY BANDWAGON: BAD FOR AMERICA

By Ralph Nader

The Hillary Clinton for President in 2016 bandwagon has started very early and with a purpose. The idea is to get large numbers of endorsers, so that no Democratic Primary competitors dare make a move. These supporters include Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), financier George Soros and Ready for Hillary, a super PAC mobilizing with great specificity (already in Iowa).

Given this early bird launch, it is important to raise the pressing question:

Does the future of our country benefit from Hillary, another Clinton, another politician almost indistinguishable from Barack Obama’s militaristic, corporatist policies garnished by big money donors from Wall Street and other plutocratic canyons?

There is no doubt the Clintons are syrupy political charmers, beguiling many naïve Democrats who have long been vulnerable to a practiced set of comforting words or phrases camouflaging contrary deeds.

Everybody knows that Hillary is for women, children and education. She says so every day. But Democrats and others can’t get the Clintons even to support a $10.50 federal minimum wage that would almost equal the 1968 minimum wage, inflation-adjusted, and would raise the wages of 30 million workers mired in the gap between the present minimum wage of $7.25 and $10.50 an hour. It just so happens that almost two-thirds of these Americans are women, many of them single moms struggling to support their impoverished children. Nearly a million of these workers labor for Walmart, on whose Board of Directors Hillary Clinton once sat. Words hide the deeds.

As a Senator on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hillary had to start proving that women, just like the macho men, can be belligerent and never see a weapons system and its use that they didn’t like. Never did she demonstrate any ongoing interest in debloating the massive, wasteful, duplicative military budget so as to free up big monies for domestic public works programs or other necessities.

As Senator she also admitted that she didn’t have time to read a critical National Intelligence Estimate Report, which had caveats that might have dissuaded her from voting with George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003. War-mongering and wars of Empire never bothered her then or now. Just a few weeks ago, she was photographed giving the recidivist war criminal, Republican Henry Kissinger, a big, smiling hug at a public event. It’s all part of the bi-partisan image she is cultivating under the opportunistic banner of “cooperation.” (For more information, read the New York Times’ Collateral Damage and Nixon and Kissinger’s Forgotten Shame, or Seymour Hersh’s The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House.)

As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton accelerated the Department’s militarization, belting far more war-like, threatening assertions toward governments of developing countries than did the Secretaries of Defense. She loved to give speeches on “force projection,” the latest synonym for “the Empire,” and “the pivot” toward East Asia and against the asserted looming threat of China. Taking due note, the Chinese generals demanded larger budgets.

The Secretary of State’s highest duty is diplomacy. Not for her. Despite her heavy travelling, she made little or no effort to get the government to sign onto the numerous international treaties which already had over a hundred nations as signatories. These include stronger climate change agreements and, as Human Rights Watch reports, unratified treaties “relating to children, women, persons with disabilities, torture, enforced disappearance and the use of anti-personal landmines and cluster munitions.” These tasks bore her.

Much more exciting was military action. Against the wishes of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, she pulled Barack Obama into the Libyan war. There were consequences. Libya is now in militia chaos, having spilled over into Mali, but without Gaddafi, its overthrown dictator who had disarmed and was making peace with western nations and oil companies.
As a Yale Law School graduate, she was not in the least bothered that the attack on Libya occurred without any Congressional declaration, authorization or appropriation of funds – a classic Madisonian definition of impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors.

Like Bill Clinton, she is an unabashed cheerleader for corporate globalization under NAFTA, the World Trade Organization and the proposed sovereignty-stripping, anti-worker Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement. Secretary of State Clinton, in the words of trade expert Jamie Love, “put the hammer to India when the government took steps to grant compulsory licenses on cancer drug patents.”

Even regarding the easy clampdown on waste and fraud, Hillary Clinton fired Peter Van Buren, a 24-year-Foreign Service Officer, who exposed such waste and mismanagement by corporate contractors in Iraq. (For more information, see http://wemeantwell.com/).
Foreshadowing this season’s headlines, former Secretary of State Clinton ordered U.S. officials to spy on top UN diplomats including Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, and those from the United Kingdom. She ordered her emissaries around the world to obtain DNA data, iris scans and fingerprints along with credit card and frequent flier numbers. Not only was this a clear violation of the 1946 UN convention, but after admitting what happened she didn’t even make a public apology to the affected parties.

Under her watch, the advice and status of the Department’s foreign service officers and aid workers were marginalized in favor of the militarists – and not only in Iraq.
Many Wall Streeters like Hillary Clinton. Expecting their ample contributions, and socializing with their business barons, it is not surprising that Hillary Clinton avoids going after the crooked casino capitalism that collapsed the economy, drained investors, pensions, jobs and taxpayer bailouts. Hillary Clinton is a far cry from the stalwart Senator Elizabeth Warren on this towering pattern of unaccountable corporate abuse.

The surreal world of Hillary Clinton is giving $200,000 speeches, collecting prestigious awards she does not deserve, including one from the American Bar Association, and basking in the glory of her admirers while appropriately blasting the Republicans for their “War on Women” – the safe refrain of her forthcoming campaign.
It is true that the Republican madheads make it easy for any Democratic candidate to judge themselves by the cruel, rabid, ravaging Republicans. But, is that the kind of choice our country deserves?

A Clinton Coronation two years or more before the 2016 elections will stifle any broader choice of competitive primary candidates and more important a more progressive agenda supported by a majority of the American people.

Full Medicare for all, cracking down on corporate abuses, a fairer tax system, a broad public works program, a living wage, access to justice and citizen empowerment, clean election practices, and pulling back on the expensive, boomeranging Empire to come home to America’s necessities and legitimate hopes are some examples of what the people want.

Maybe the sugarcoating is starting to wear. Columnist Frank Bruni, writing in the New York Times (Hillary in 2016? Not so Fast), reports her polls are starting to slump. Apparently, as Bruni suggests, she’s being seen as part of the old Washington crowd that voters are souring on.

As I wrote to Hillary Clinton in early summer 2008, when calls were made by Obama partisans for her to drop out, no one should be told not to run. That’s everyone’s First Amendment right. However, not voting for her is the prudent decision.

(Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion, published by AK Press. Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition.)

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WHEN I WAS ABOUT FOURTEEN I obtained a book of Darwin’s. It opened in my hands at a passage where he asks how can we explain the similarity between a man’s hand and a bird’s or a bat’s wings except by evolution. I flung the book aside and rushed out into the open air — it was summer and we were in the country — the sky seemed to have lost its blue and the grass its green. I lay down and writhed in an agony of doubt…Incest and parricide were but a consequence of the idea that possessed me…Soon afterwards I turned my attention to works of Christian evidence, reading them at first with pleasure, soon with doubt, and at last in some cases with derision. — Synge

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OPEN WIDE

Editor,

As regards District Attorney Jill Ravitch, she was okay at first. A criminal lawyer. She busted Sonoma Sheriff sticking a listening bug in attorney-client visiting room inside Sonoma County jail. She cried her head off. I said good girl. Then Caroline Fowler, Sonoma County Counsel, shut attorney Ravitch up. The next thing we heard was that Sheriff Cogbill et al were endorsing Ravitch for District Attorney. I said no, you don’t. I drove around town telling people to vote no for Jill Ravitch. Today she will take your babies away. Vote no for Ravitch. Today she’ll take your ninos away. Vote no for Ravitch. Today she’ll take your bambinos away. So she lost. Holy S___, did I cause one hell of a mess. Ravitch got sent to Ukiah by Fowler. Bob Fowler et al, Sheriff Cogbill quit. All hell broke loose. I was hidden in Napa for a 594 PC vandalism charge then held in solitary so Ms. Ravitch could run for District Attorney for the second time. So in her champagne wine campaign she was able to secure her job. As District Attorney I heard nothing but good news about Ms. Shanahan and hope she puts Ms. Split Tongue District Attorney Ravitch out on her bum. Mr. DA Eyster is a Sonoma resident. Eyster didn’t want District Attorney Ravitch in his office. Fowler shut him up too. Ms. Fowler — she cannot shut me up as I have nothing to hide. No skeletons in my closet unlike all her constituents. Ms. Fowler is the head of the heads with the final say. As you can see she put Steve Freitas in office as County Sheriff of Sonoma. The truth is the truth and that’s the truth.

Dean Stevens

Ukiah

PS. Duncan James, attorney at everything. He was district attorney from 1969-1979. Attorney James put puppet Eyster in office and if Bob Fowler and Carolyn Fowler tell Duncam James to shut DA Eyster up, then Eyster shuts his mouth. “The power,” “the power.” Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And it did. Sand castles crumble to the sea eventually — Jimi Hendrix. Raging against the machine.

PPS. Governor Jerry Brown’s realignment of prisoners to jail program must go. Judge Behnke’s court ordered me to undergo involuntary psychiatric medication. Two jail cops held me down while Dr. Robert Hurley injected psychiatric meds in my bum and put me in the rubber room. I feel as if I’m in the USSR. Ho-Lee Fuk. It’s a police state. Even the probation officers are packing heat (guns). Under Governor Brown’s new realignment program now I’m declared mentally ill by cops, and probation can kill me and justify it by saying, well he was mentally ill and on probation for vandalism. Is this America? No, it’s a police state like the USSR. Even the District Attorney is pistol packing. Even 13 year old kids are shot on sight. Soon if not already the only job in America will be in law enforcement and the cops will have to arrest themselves and their kids because all of us will be in prison. A federal court judge has ordered Governor Brown to release thousands of inmates but he realigned us to jail and out-of-state prisons. But Eyster alone has put at least 75 years worth of inmates in prison in the last 10 months. How can Governor Brown shift all the prison overcrowding prisoners onto an already overcrowded jail and court system? And the taxpayers. The jail and prison conditions were just as deplorable and overcrowded. Now it’s so bad Sheriff Allman wants three new jail units. Why not declare eminent domain and build a prison in the old courthouse in downtown Ukiah? This realignment program has screwed up everything. For every action there is a reaction and soon Judge Moorman, Behnke and Mayfield will all have guns under their robes. We could put a big fence around California. We taxpayers must repeal this realignment system or we won’t have a jail or money to pay taxes unless you become a cop. You only need a GED anyway. Tell all the kids, because all our money will be spent on housing and medical care for a vandal in the County jail. I know a Mendocino County taxpayer with a mentally ill family member is not getting mental health treatment. But I sure the hell am, by force. Plus I have the jail’s wellness program. All you have to do is have your mentally ill sons or daughters cut down a tree like George Washington or break a window like me. All I have is a f-in vandalism charge. Ten-month solitary confinement. The jail puts us in solitary confinement saying we are a danger to ourselves and others, or they say it’s to protect us from harm and everything goes and we have no rights. Public Defender Linda Thompson doesn’t even bring us to court but I get mental health treatment, dental, medical, food and shelter although I don’t want or need it. Again it’s all for free to me but not the taxpayers. They pay it all. Let me explain this as best I can. Governor Brown is a lawyer and so are all or most of the powers that be. Noreen Evans is a lawyer. And if it wasn’t for the prisons and crime all the bar members would be in the food stamp line. Lawyers become supervisors, judges, district attorneys, senators… Lawmakers like Governor Brown and Goldstein and Congressmess. It’s all lawyers, by lawyers for lawyers. Death row cases get appealed for 40 years while the taxpayers get the bill. Three strikers get appealed for however much time the person gets. The three strikes law was made up by lawyers in Santa Rosa using Richard Allen Davis and he got death, not life. Do you see what’s going on or am I the only one? The rich do not pay taxes. Nevada is a tax-free zone. So get your Congress to petition the rich to pay taxes, then this fleecing of America will stop or slow down. If Nevada state paid taxes it would put us all in the black. So no more emergency laws enacted. We had the bad Act called the Habitual Act Life in Prison for habitual criminals. We had capital punishment and we could give you from one year to a hundred years in prison. That’s without the Three Strikes law. So it’s an emergency, we must appeal three strikes put a stop to it and to the fleecing of us all by the lawyers for the lawyers and the 1% by the 1% for them. To harm one is to harm all. So harm none and do thy will. Peace to all. Raging against the machine.

Attached: Inmate Grievance Form. Name: Dean Stevens. Location: Dentist Office. July 27, 2013 (on or about) at 9am.

Grievance: Dental malpractice. Temporary dentist on Saturday, July 27, 2013, stated he was not an oral surgeon and could not perform the proper dental treatment I needed. He then used the diamond tipped drill to grind my back right molar tooth down and number 13 upper right down on the left side. The CFMG nurse stated she was a dental assistant, false representation. The dentist was hired by CFMG also stated she, the nurse, was a trained dental assistant, misstating the fact that she was just a nurse. As deputy Page clearly stated, she was just a nurse and Officer Leon stated practice makes perfect. When I said that she, the nurse, did not know what she was doing nor was the dentist trained in oral surgery, clearly medical malpractice. She also took two x-rays. She is not an x-ray technician.

Level 1 response, Corrections Corporal: You are mistaken. The nurse is a licensed nurse who has been trained to assist the dentist. Her training is above and beyond that of a dental assistant. The dentist does not perform oral surgery here at the Mendocino County Jail. There has been no misrepresentation here. It was the deputies who did not know the training background of said nurse. Nor was there a misrepresentation of said dentist. He was acting under the scope of his training. As you wrote, he told you he was not an oral surgeon and he did not perform such. — Corrections Sergeant Knapp.

Inmate: Next level, please.

Resolution: The dentist is licensed by the state and operates under the guidelines set forth by his licensing. The dental assistant is a licensed vocational nurse trained to assist with dental treatments under the guidance and direction of the dentist. — Lt. Bodnar.

Inmate: The dentist ground down my teeth and I was in pain. It was unreal. The door to the dentist’s office is open to the elements and the nurses hair was sucked up the air hose. Correction Officer Page and Correction Officer Leon said she was not a dental assistant. Next level, please.

Resolution: Your grievance is noted. Above responses are sufficient. Captain Tim Pearce.

Response: It’s not sufficient and you know there are no more levels to appeal. The dentist is not trained in oral surgery and the nurse was not a dental assistant. Sufficient, you say.

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THE 2013 EMERALD CUP

Who Grows the Finest Outdoor Organic Cannabis In The Land?

by Emily Hobelmann

Legalizing cannabis for medicinal use in 1996 was the right thing for Californians to do. If Californians hadn’t stepped up, cannabis might still be in the Dark Ages. I won’t waste words defending that statement, I’ll just point to the following evidence: California is home to The Emerald Cup — “The World’s Longest Running Outdoor Organic Cannabis Competition.”

Fuckin’ A right it is.

It’s the 10th anniversary of The Emerald Cup this year. What a time for California’s outdoor organic cannabis farmers to be out-and-proud! And while many still regard indoor cannabis as superior, the outdoor-is-superior camp is growing larger all the time because sunshine, fresh air and sustainable, organic farming practices make for the best cannabis. It’s true: Bomb outdoor cannabis tastes better than indoor and it’s got a way better vibe.

The Emerald Cup is a cultivation competition to determine who grows the finest organic sun-grown can­nabis flowers in the land and who makes the best cold-water concentrates. (That’s cold-water hash as opposed to “super-concentrates” — solvent- or butane-derived hash.) This is a serious competition. There are a lot of highly skilled pot farmers out there. People loooove growing weed and some people are damn good at it. This is a call to California’s badass and legit organic medical pot farmers: It’s time to show off your bomb weed off to the world.

That’s right! The Emerald Cup is accepting entries until Dec. 1 for its cannabis flowers and cold-water hash competitions. There are entry drop off locations as far south as Torrance, as far north as Eureka and as far east as Sacramento. That’s, like, the entire state! This makes me wonder — will Emerald Triangle growers prevail at this 10th Anniversary Emerald Cup?

Well, we’ll find out at the main event on Dec. 14-15 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. But get this: Main event attendees with valid medical marijuana recommendations get to sample some of the Emerald Cup entries, so if you can make it, you might get a chance to sample some of the best organic outdoor medicinal cannabis in California! That alone is worth the trip south to Santa Rosa.

Cannabis flowers are judged on taste, smell, looks and high. Emerald Cup creator-producer-mastermind Tim Blake tells me that the scoring system is “weighted to the high, but all the other characteristics have to come in to play.” Make sure the flowers you bring in look good. If you plan to enter the competition, go through your pounds and find prime nugs. (Three ounces of sun-grown, organic cannabis is the amount required for entry into the flowers competition.)

Hash entries are judged on appearance, texture, how they burn and, of course, on the high. All of the hash and flowers entries will be tested for THC, THCA, CBD, CBDA and CBN compounds and the top 20 flowers and top 10 hash entries will be full-spectrum tested for cannabinoids, chemical residues and molds. Results of potency testing and pesticide/fungicide screenings will be available for all to see at the main event.

There are 10 judges for the flowers competition, including buyers from major dispensaries — we’re talk­ing like Harborside-major — and our own local experts Kevin Jodrey, the cultivation director of medical marijuana dispensary Garberville Grass, and Pearl Moon of The Bud Sisters and 707 Cannabis College fame. There are four judges for the hash competition (disclaimer!) including myself.

A word on the hash competition: Last year’s Emerald Cup only had 10 cold-water concentrate entries in con­trast to 40 “super concentrate” entries. (Super-concentrates are also known as “dabs.”) In lieu of the contro­versy around dabs, this year, the Emerald Cup is forgoing the super-concentrate contests. From the concentrates contest info page:

Due to the processing methods and limited informa­tion about how super concentrates affect health, we will discontinue the super concentrate contest. We welcome discussion about this topic at the event during the Dabs feature panel. Thank you for your understanding.

It’s true that there isn’t a super concentrates contest this year, but don’t fret. Blake says: “Nikka T — he’s an incredible hash-maker, and [Cup-winner] Taylor and some of the very best will be there, so we’ll have some great hash. I really hope many people enter.” If you’re still up on making the bomb coldwater hash, it is now time to represent.

This 10th anniversary Emerald Cup features a Breeder’s Cup too. “This year, if you bred the seed that you grew and you grew the seed yourself,” Blake says, “then you automatically get entered into the Breeder’s Cup.” He adds that there are “so many breeders coming in with new strains now — not just OG and Sour D and Chem Dog… This year there’s ‘Sherbert’ coming out. Two years ago it was the ‘Cookies’ — now there’s four kinds of Cookies.” (That’s Cookies as in the “Girl Scout Cookies” strain.)

Blake name-drops a strain called “Cherry Cola,” and he predicts that in the face of legalization, weed is going to become “strain-driven and brand-driven over the next few years.” He points to a boom in seed companies and to the popularity of feminized seeds in Europe. I wonder, is growing clones, like growing indoor, becoming less trendy? This question will surely be discussed at The Emerald Cup main event: There are expert panels on breeding and genetics plus workshops on trends in genetics and cloning.

There is also photography contest at The Emerald Cup. Anyone can enter by bringing prints of their epic cannabis photos to the main event, and Cup attendees choose the winner. Get more info about entering the photography contest and the flowers and hash contests, plus info on the main event panels, workshops and music at The Emerald Cup web site.

This is the first year the Emerald Cup is being held outside of the Emerald Triangle, and Blake says he’s feelin’ good about the move because by bringing it to Sonoma “we’re bringing the flowers and the products from up here down to a much larger audience… Now we can show off what’s being grown in the up here in these mountains to the whole world.”

This is a chance to prove there are farmers that grow high-quality organic cannabis in sustainable ways. “It’s not just a bunch of people in the mountains just sucking up the water and growing ‘chemy’ bud,” Blake says. (“Chemy” is slang for bud laden with chemicals — pesticides, fungicides.)

“Let’s show the other side.” ¥¥

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CRITICAL THINKING AT ITS BEST!

Woman: Do you drink beer?

Man: Yes

Woman: How many beers a day?

Man: Usually about 3

Woman: How much do you pay per beer?

Man: $5.00 which includes a tip

(This is where it gets scary !)

Woman: And how long have you been drinking?

Man: About 20 years, I suppose

Woman: So a beer costs $5 and you have 3 beers a day which puts your spending each month at $450. In one year, it would be approximately $5,400 — correct?

Man: Correct

Woman: If in 1 year you spend $5400, not accounting for inflation, the past 20 years puts your spending at $108,000, correct?

Man: Correct

Woman: Do you know that if you didn’t drink so much beer, that money could have been put in a step-up interest savings account and after accounting for compound interest for the past 20 years, you could have now bought a Ferrari?

Man: Do you drink beer?

Woman: No.

Man: Where’s your Ferrari?

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JODI TODD, LOCAL DENTAL HYGIENIST, REACHES OUT TO OUR COMMUNITY

Mendocino County Dental Hygienist, Jodi Todd, RDH will be graduating from UOP, School of Dentistry in December with an additional license, Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice. What is an RDHAP? An RDHAP has specialized training and an additional license that allows them to have their own independent business and work in settings other than a dental office and without the supervision of a dentist. The RDHAP was created to deliver quality preventive dental hygiene services to those who don’t have easy access to a traditional dental office. They can open their own office, provide service in schools, institutions, residence, and skilled nursing facilities, special needs and private homes of homebound persons.

How will Jodi Todd, RDHAP, be of value to our community? As of today, there is no known RDHAP in our area providing these services. Jodi Todd, RDHAP, will be the link between residential home administration and staff, families and community dental providers, and, she will be the conduit between the dentist and the consumer.

Some of the services that Jodi Todd, RDHAP will be able to provide are:

Oral Evaluations (including oral cancer screenings)

Oral Care Plans

Customized direct care staff in-service training for providing resident oral care.

In- residence and bed-side dental hygiene may include:

Oral Prophylaxis (cleaning of debris, bacteria and deposits above the gumline)

Non-Surgical periodontal therapies (scaling and root planning below the gumline which may require topical anesthetic)

Therapies for dry mouth

Fluoride treatments

Denture and partial cleanings

Strategies for prevention of cavities and gum disease.

Jodi Todd has over 22 years of experience in the Dental Field. With Dentistry being a passion of hers, she is excited to be able to provide care in a customized fashion and meet a need not being met in our community. To contact Jodi Todd, RDH call 707-272-4426 or email joditoddrdhap@gmail.com.

NOTHING BUT CLEAR, DRY WEATHER in the foreseeable forecast for northern California. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency, the West Coast stands to be in drought conditions for the rest of the month and lots of people are starting to wonder if water rationing will be required if the predicted low winter rainfall persists.

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RHONEY STANLEY, ARE YOU OUT THERE?

Hello.. This may be so random, but I figured I would give a try.. I am enquiring about Rhoney Stanley’s Book.. I am trying to email her as to Reaquire one of The Bears Grateful Dead belt buckles.. She signed my book and I am unable to contact her as to order one of his silver $1500 buckles.. Mine was stollen and i am trying every avenue I know to contact her .. I know she would love to see one and I would love to buy one.. Again. random, Ava thank you, for your time to read this. My name is Persefoni I love In Charleston SC and frequent your area of the world often.. Just thought I would throw my line out there..  Take care.. persefoni misoyianis <persefoni09@gmail.com>

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FINDING FAULT EVERYWHERE HE LOOKED

‘A Colossal Wreck’ — Alexander Cockburn’s Take on America

by Dwight Garner

The radical Irish-American journalist Alexander Cockburn — he called himself Marxish, not Marxist — liked to bomb around America’s blue highways in large, decrepit cars, preferably convertibles, faxing in and later emailing his rowdy political columns (for The Nation, The Village Voice and elsewhere) from the road.

In “A Colossal Wreck: A Road Trip Through Political Scandal, Corruption and American Culture,” we witness Mr. Cockburn, who died last year at 71, collect traffic ticket after traffic ticket with resigned sang-froid.

“His ferrety little eyes swivel around the back of the station wagon,” he wrote about a patrolman, “linger on some cactuses I’ve picked up in a nursery in Truth or Consequences, linger further on my Coleman ice chest and then come back to my car papers. Either this is a training session for Ferret Eyes or a pretext stop to see if I’m carrying drugs.”

“A Colossal Wreck” is an acerbic new compendium of Mr. Cockburn’s work from the past two decades, and the volume he was completing at the time of his death. It’s an untidy book — it mixes published and unpublished material in a series of journal-like entries — that captures an untidy mind. It’s alive on every page, this thing; its feisty sentences wriggle.

It’s worth lingering on Mr. Cockburn’s Kerouac-ian impulses (“I love scrubby old state highways, warm with commercial life”), because out in the middle of America was where he seemed happiest. From his mobile war rooms, he kept an eye on his adopted country. A class warrior, he kept closer watch through his windscreen on unchecked corporate power.

He was able to shift effortlessly from the personal to the political. Noticing that American radio has gone to hell, for example, he reminds us why.

“Since the 1996 Telecommunications ‘Reform’ Act, conceived in darkness and signed in stealth, the situation has got even worse,” he wrote in an entry from 2001. “Twenty, 30 years ago, broadcasters could own only a dozen stations nationwide and no more than two in any single market. Today the company Clear Channel alone owns more than 800 stations pumping out identical muck in all states.”

Those who have followed the career of Mr. Cockburn (it is pronounced CO-burn) will find his usual obsessions here. He loathed the Clintons, finding Hillary “the candidate for corporate power at home, and empire abroad.” He tangled often with Christopher Hitchens, whom he considered a hack writer, a warmonger and a tattler. “The surest way to get a secret into mass circulation is to tell it to Hitchens, swearing him to silence as one does so.”

He banged away relentlessly against what he called “the criminal tendencies of the executive class,” writing in 2002: “The finest schools in America produced a criminal elite that stole the store in less than a decade. Was it all the fault of Ayn Rand, of Carter and Kennedy, of the Chicago School, of Hollywood, of God’s demise? You’d think there’s at least a Time cover in it.”

He considered the establishment media, including The New York Times, to be apologists for the status quo. Noting in 1996 that newspapers tend to adore free trade, he wrote: “The day that column-writing is subcontracted to high school students in Guatemala, I expect to see a turnaround on the trade issue among the opinion-forming classes.”

He added: “Free trade is a class issue. The better-off like it. Their stocks go up as the outsourcing company heading south lays off its work force. The worse-off see the jobs disappear.”

Mr. Cockburn was prescient. He saw Wall Street’s 2008 collapse coming from a mile away, with the partial overturning in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial and investment banking. He nailed Barack Obama from quite far off, too. He observed during the 2008 campaign: “I don’t think Obama is a real fighter. He’s too pretty, and he doesn’t want to get his looks messed up.”

Mr. Cockburn ended up on the unexpected side of some issues. He liked gun shows, for example, because “they are anti-government, genuinely populist and lots of fun.” (He was a gun owner; he describes shooting, hanging, plucking and consuming a wild turkey at Thanksgiving.)

In response to a school shooting in 2007, he argued that “appropriately screened” teachers should carry weapons. He admired the Tea Party’s zeal, even if he disagreed with most of its ideas. He wished America’s socialists had as much brio.

Collections of political essays, even those presented in offbeat form, as is this one, tend to date quickly. “A Colossal Wreck” will have a long life among those who care about the crackling deployment of the English language, partly because Mr. Cockburn had such a wide-ranging mind. He was interested in everything.

This book contains vivid writing about food, art, orgasms, Halloween costumes, blues singers, tear-jerking movies, surprise parties and dozens of other things. Mr. Cockburn was a fan of British obituaries, noting that in America “jaunty frankness about the departed one is not tolerated.”

This book is filled with jaunty little obits. Upon the death of Tim Russert, for example, Mr. Cockburn wrote: “He could be a sharp questioner, but not when it really counted and when courage was required.”

There are many other free-range put-downs. The former Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, he says, “would drill through his mother if he thought there was oil in substrates below her coffin.”

My favorite parts of “A Colossal Wreck” are Mr. Cockburn’s catapult volleys against the nanny state and the culture of therapy. “It was when the Challenger blew up on national television in 1986 that the idea of counseling children in the wake of such disasters seems to have caught on,” he wrote, adding: “In my experience kids are pretty realistic and most times enjoy a good disaster. They can take it.”

There’s a witty section in which he worries aloud in a grocery store that soon it will be mandatory to wear a helmet during sex. “And mandatory kneepads against carpet burn,” a woman behind the counter adds.

Mr. Cockburn opposed euphemism and coddling of every sort. His book is a stay against boredom.

(Courtesy, the New York Times)

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STATEMENT OF THE DAY: In these northern climes, this turning into the year’s final quarter feels written in the blood, or at least into the legacy code of culture. The leaves skitter across the streets in an early twilight, chill winds daunt man and dog, the landscape buttons itself up for the long sleep, and human activity moves indoors — including the arduous festivities around the spooky solstice. We take the comfort that we can in all that. But a strange torpor of event attends this year’s turning. In the year’s final happenings, nothing seems to happen, and what little does happen seems not to matter. The world sits with frayed nerves and hears a distant noise, which is the cosmic screw of history turning. The nation gets over everything without resolving anything — fiscal cliffs, debt ceilings, health care implosions, domestic spying outrages, taper talk jukes, banking turpitudes, the Syria bluster, the Iran nuke deal fake-out. It’s dangerous to live as though there was no such thing as consequence. Societies have a way of reaching a consensus about something without ever stating it outright. The American public has silently agreed to sit on its hands through one more Christmas and after that things shake loose. — James Kunstler

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JEFF COSTELLO WRITES (from Denver): Keep it illegal, it was more fun that way. The old bald guys with ponytails are 50 years too late with long hair as a statement, as well as the notion that pot makes them hip and groovy. There’s a paralegal with a big law firm here with a big pot grow in her basement. This is probably also true of many petty bureaucrats in city gov. Everything is topsy-turvy, it’s the squares and rednecks with long hair and weed, and they remain squares and rednecks. On the Big Island in the early 80s I watched marijuana growing change from part-time activity for a few hippies and locals, to a deadly-serious business with guys patrolling their driveways with big guns and bad attitudes. Big money rolled in and with it came cocaine and later meth, people buying big ostentatious vehicles and other high-profile consumer items.  I have a picture somewhere of me with a guy who later was killed in a pot deal. Yep, peace love and brown rice.

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PRIVATIZE EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE?

by Dan Bacher

I wrote this song, “Privatize Everything,” back in 2000. The song was meant as political satire, but unfortunately, many of these lyrics have already become reality in recent years, as evidenced by the federal “catch shares” program, the state’s fake “marine protected areas,” the Obama administration’s tentative approval of Frankenfish and the state-federal Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the twin tunnels.

Catch Shares — The oceans are being privatized under the Obama administration’s “catch shares” program that concentrates ocean fisheries in fewer, increasingly corporate hands.

According to Food and Water Watch, “Catch shares are a system for managing our nation’s fisheries that are causing consolidation in the fishing industry at the expense of the livelihoods of thousands of smaller-scale, traditional fishermen and their communities. Such programs are being heavily touted as a means to promote sustainable fishing, but a closer look reveals they do not have a positive environmental record. Catch shares can incentivize the use of larger-scale boats, more damaging gear and wasteful fishing practices that hurt fish populations and the habitats on which they depend.”

Fake Marine Protected Areas — Ocean conservation management has been privatized under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative’s creation of so-called marine protected areas in California that fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture, wind and wave energy project and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering.

Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force that imposed the so-called “marine protected areas” that went into effect in Southern California waters on January 1, 2012. The initiative was funded privately by the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation in an unaccountable and corrupt “public-private partnership” with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Frankenfish Approval — Monsanto and Obama’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are leading the charge to privatize the food supply and life itself by fast-tracking the approval of genetically engineered foods. The Food and Drug Administration is currently rushing the approval of genetically engineered salmon, “Frankenfish,” for human consumption in spite of the tremendous risk these fish pose to imperiled salmon populations and public health.

Peripheral Tunnels Plan — The water in Central Valley rivers and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is being privatized though the Obama and Brown administration Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels, designed to increase water exports to corporate agribusiness interests, including Beverly Hills billionaire Stewart Resnick and the Westlands Water District, developers and oil companies. Resnick and others are notorious for making millions in profits selling back subsidized water to the public in a water marketing scheme.

Habitat “restoration” and infrastructure “improvements” to greenwash this corporate water grab will be funded by the taxpayers through a water bond. In essence, public water agencies are using public water and money to enrich corporations in a dangerous alliance between big corporate interests and big government.

When you add the current campaign to privatize the prisons, public education, health services, military operations and public services in the U.S. and around the world, it is so clear that the Wall Street 1 percent and corporate leaders, in collaboration with corrupt government officials, are indeed well on their way to “privatizing everything.”

To save the country and the planet, everybody who cares about democracy, human rights and the environment must resist and stop the insane plan to “privatize everything!”

Take Action: To resist the privatizers, help to stop the Corporate Water Grab in California by opposing the peripheral tunnels. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is bad for four reasons:

(1) The construction of the $54.1 billion peripheral tunnels would sink California’s budget.

(2) It will establish corporate control of water. Corporate agribusiness giants would get more taxpayer-subsidized water that they could resell to developers and oil companies for huge private profits.

(3) It is bad for the environment. It will lead to the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail, southern resident killer whales (that feed on salmon) and other imperiled species, as well as threaten the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.

(4) It will raise water rates for Southern California water users. A groundbreaking economic analysis released on August 7, 2012 by Food & Water Watch and the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) reveals that Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) customers could be on the line for $2,003 to $9,182 per customer to pay for the 37-mile Peripheral Tunnels project. To download the report, go to: http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/BayDeltaConveyanceLAEconAnalysis.pdf

Take action now by going to:

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/take-action/in-your-community/western-region/california/stopthecorporatewatergrab/

Privatize Everything in the Universe (by Dan Bacher)

We’ll privatize the water, we’ll privatize the air

We’ll privatize the oceans, we’ll privatize your hair

We’ll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we’ll privatize everything in the universe!

We’ll privatize fish in the sea, we’ll privatize the whales

We’ll privatize sea turtles, we’ll put ‘em up for sale

We’ll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we’ll privatize everything in the universe!

We’ll privatize the corn and wheat, we’ll privatize all seeds

We’ll privatize all life forms, we’ll privatize all weeds

We’ll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we’ll privatize everything in the universe!

We’ll privatize the prisons, we’ll privatize the schools

We’ll privatize the highways, we’ll privatize car pools

We’ll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we’ll privatize everything in the universe!

We’ll privatize your secret thoughts, we’ll privatize your genes

We’ll privatize your emotions, we’ll privatize your schemes

We’ll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we’ll privatize everything in the universe!

We’ll privatize the sun so bright, we’ll privatize the moon

We’ll privatize the Galaxy, we need more living room

We’ll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we’ll privatize everything in the universe!

We’ll privatize religion, we’ll privatize all souls

Instead of God, we’ll appoint, One Big, Bad CEO!

We’ll privatize the world as we sing this verse, we’ll privatize everything in the universe!

RICHARD PETERSEN

Richard James Petersen, 71, of Ukiah, California died on September 23, 2013, of pancreatic cancer. A memorial will be held on Saturday, November 23, at the Mendo-Lake Clubhouse, in Ukiah, starting at 1pm. Beer and Barbeque will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to bring other dishes. Attendees may also bring a softball-sized or smaller rock to be included in Richard’s memorial cairn. Call Petersen Law Office for info at 468-5184.

Mr. Petersen was born in Fort Bragg on September 30, 1941, the fifth of six sons. He graduated from Fort Bragg High School and continued on through law school at Boalt Hall at U.C. Berkeley. He was admitted to the bar in 1967. He became well known for the criminal defense work he did all over Northern California up until 2011.

Mr. Petersen is survived by two brothers, Robert and Allen, as well as his three sons, Justin, Jacob and Brandon and six grandchildren.

Mr. Petersen loved packing mules into wilderness areas all over the Western United States for hunting, fishing and rock collecting with his family and friends.

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RUMORS. One blowing through the County Admin Building is that County Counsel Tom Parker is on his way out the door. Admin had wanted Doug Losak in the job but Losak’s minor brush with the law last year when he was the subject of a late night stop and a tiny bit of pot and a gun in a locked case was found in his vehicle. Somehow, in the county where drugs and guns are not only prevalent but revered, and intoxicants are the two primary cash crops, Losak is considered to represent an ongoing conflict of interest.

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JIM TAT KONG and Cindy Bao Feng Chen were shot to death in an execution-style shooting last month just off Highway 20 near Fort Bragg. The murders are being investigated by both local police and the feds, the latter’s involvement pegged to an apparent assumption the killings may be related to organized crime. Jim Tat Kong was a resident of the East Bay, Cindy Bao Feng Chen lived in San Francisco where she owned an impressive array of real estate.

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THE POPULAR Ukiah restaurants called Café Walter and Ruen Tong, both on North State Street, are unlikely to survive more than $1.9 million in fines for wage theft from 47 workers over three years. Co-owners, Yaowapha Ritdet and Steve Walter were charged with the thefts by the State Labor Commission. Employees at the two restaurants regularly worked at least 11.5 hours a day, six or seven days a week with no meal breaks, according to a press release issued Thursday by the State Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. The restaurants did not pay minimum wage or overtime, in violation of the law. Additionally, some of the workers were forced to sign time cards stating they had only worked between five and six hours each day. Others were paid in cash with no information on the total hours worked, rate of pay or deductions provided.

THE INVESTIGATION, conducted by state and federal labor regulators, examined employment practices at the two restaurants from June 19, 2010 through June 15, 2013. The 47 workers are due $1,086,436 in unpaid minimum wages, $376,640 in unpaid overtime and $153,582 for no meal period premiums, according to a state department of labor relations press release. In addition, a total of $189,250 in civil penalties were assessed for wage violations.

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OBAMA ANNOUNCED THURSDAY that he is changing his healthcare law to give insurance companies the option to keep offering consumers plans that would otherwise be canceled. The administrative changes are good for just one year, though senior administration officials said they could be extended if problems with the law persist. The President acknowledged that “we fumbled the rollout of this health care law” and pledged to””just keep on chipping away at this until the job is done.” It’s unclear what the impact of Thursday’s changes will be for the millions of people who have already had their plans canceled. While officials said insurance companies will now be able to offer those people the option to renew their old plans, but companies are not required to take that step. The main industry trade group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, said Obama’s offer comes too late and could lead to higher premiums, since companies already have set 2014 rates based on the assumption that many people with individual coverage will shift over to the new markets created under Obama’s law.

Karen Ignagni, president of the industry group, didn’t speculate on whether companies would extend coverage for those threatened with cancellation, but warned in a statement that “changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the law could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers.”

Insurance companies will be required to inform consumers who want to keep canceled plans about the protections that are not included under those plans. Customers will also be notified that new options are available offering more coverage and in some cases, tax credits to cover higher premiums. Under Obama’s plan, insurance companies would not be allowed to sell coverage deemed subpar under the law to new customers.

Only last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told a Senate panel she doubted that retroactively permitting insurers to sell canceled policies “can work very well since companies are now in the market with an array of new plans. Many have actually added consumer protections in the last three-and-a-half years.”

OF COURSE no one is fired for the ObamaCare debacle, which also of course is a conceptual debacle because the insurance industry wrote ObamaCare. But at a minimum you’d think that Sebelius would get the sack.

OBAMA, looked at from the AVA’s outback rook about as far from the power levers as it’s possible to get, remains a mystery. We can’t decide if he’s simply weak, or the victim of ongoing betrayals by the people around him, or he’s just another hollow man along the lines of Bill Clinton, Gavin Newsom, and any number of the shiny-teeth ciphers occupying public office, a Chesbro-Huffman kinda guy who wants to be President simply to ride around in limos and Air Force One without doing anything at all except call up drone murders of Arab grandmothers. With Obama, it’s one catastrophe after another, and he smiles on through like some guy walking into a Christmas party.

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STATEMENT OF THE DAY (by Clay Johnson, former Obama innovation expert who founded the company that built Obama’s 2008 campaign site; and CEO of Department of Better Technology. Also the author of The Information Diet: The Case for Conscious Consumption), describing the Congressional Obamacare hearing exchanges between congresspersons and Obamacare’s contracted techno-staffers: “From watching the hearing [on October 24], from a technologist point of view, both the questions from Congress were sort of absurd and not particularly helpful, and the answers from the contractors were also just demonstrably ignorant of the technology that they were managing. And so, you have these bizarre exchanges where, you know, a member of Congress is asking the vice president of CGI Federal about code inside of the website that isn’t even being displayed and isn’t even relevant to the user, and the VP of CGI Federal not even recognizing that it’s not displayed and not even relevant to the user. It was this really baffling set of exchanges. It’s like watching my one-year-old argue with my cat.”

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CHUCK MORSE, Mendocino County’s Agricultural Commissioner, says a Light Brown Apple Moth was trapped last month in a Ukiah neighborhood. The critter attacks a variety of fruit trees and can be harmful to grapes.

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OBAMACARE — “Taking a Failed Market System to a Whole New Level” — on KZYX, Friday, November 15 @ 9 AM

“All About Money” returns to KZYX on Friday, November 15, at 9 AM with a special edition show, “Obamacare: Taking a Failed Market System to a Whole New Level,” with guests Margaret Flowers, MD, and attorney Kevin Keese.

Coincidentally, Dr. Flowers will be featured after our show on “Bill Moyers Journal,” on PBS, on Friday night, November 15.

KZYX broadcasts are heard live at 88.1, 90.7, and 91.5 FM in the Counties of Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, and Sonoma in northern California. They also stream live from the web at www.kzyx.org. The listener call-in number iis: (707) 895-2448.

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MENDOCINO COUNTY CUTS ITS AG PRESERVE CONTRACTS

Move will mean slightly more property taxes for county coffers

By TIFFANY REVELLE

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a measure that will cut the property tax break owners of agricultural land get as part of agricultural preserve agreements they have with the county under the Williamson Act.

The act requires that the land stay in agricultural production for a certain length of time — usually 10 years, according to Mendocino County Assessor-Recorder Sue Ranochak — in exchange for a lower property tax bill.

Having in recent years lost the state funding that compensated the county for its loss of property tax revenue, the board on Tuesday adopted the provisions of Assembly Bill 1265, which allows the county to temporarily shorten the 10-year Williamson Act contracts by one year.

The move will mean the county will collect more property taxes in that year.

The bill lets counties implement new Williamson Act contracts with landowners that run for 10 percent less time in exchange for the property owner getting 10 percent less tax relief. Ranochak said the upshot is that the county temporarily shortens the contract for one year in order to calculate a special assessment that will show up on each property owner’s property tax bill.

“This does not affect the term of the contracts,” Ranochak explained. “For one year, (the landowner) would pay the difference between what (s/he) would have normally paid and what the Prop. 13 amount would have been.”

Proposition 13, passed in 1978, reduced property tax and limited the increase of assessed property value to no more than 2 percent annually.

Ranochak said the county currently holds fewer than 1,700 Williamson Act contracts after audits in recent years were done to see how many of the contract-holders were actually keeping their land in agricultural production. The act the board took Tuesday will affect roughly 1,400 landowners, according to Ranochak.

The average bill that will show up on those landowners’ property bills is about $200, according to Ranochak, who added that the bills range from less than a dollar to $1,700.

The measure passed 3-0, with 3rd District Supervisor John Pinches and 1st District Supervisor Carre Brown abstaining.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

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BOYFIGHT II: The Rise of McGuire!

By Hank Sims (Courtesy, LostCoastOutpost.com)

When we last checked in with next year’s state senate race, it was Chris L. versus Eric L. for the title of Second District’s Sassiest Candidate.

But hey, here comes 34-year-old Sonoma County Supervisor Mike McGuire! If early polls leaked accidentally a-purpose to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat are anything to go by, the Healdsburg dreamboat is currently mopping the floor with the Angel-Faced Arcatan and the Natty Novato-ite!

McGuire’s platform, as we see, is not markedly different from the other two contenders. All three stand as strong advocates for:

• Dark sports jacket.

• Blue and white patterned shirt.

• No tie.

• Teeth for days.

So why is McGuire getting all the love? Well, despite Chris Lehman’s early shock-and-awe charm offensive — he stepped out early with an endorsement from Senate Majority Leader Darryl Steinberg — he has been unable to corral the totality of the North Coast Democratic political machine. Rep. Jared “The Silver Fox” Huffman recently threw down for McGuire, as has Rep. Mike Thompson and former Rep. Lynn Woolsey.

The leaked poll obtained by the PD, and the responses thereto, give a hint of the boyfight to come. Novato City Councilman Eric Lucan is slagged off as a sure loser. Arcata’s Chris Lehman is taunted as a Sacramento insider and a sleazy moneyboy. Overall, the poll shows McGuire currently standing with 30 percent of the vote, Lehmann with four and Lucan with three, though rival camps say the questions were leading and slanted and unfair.

Hoo, baby! It’s gonna be quite a spectacle! And we haven’t even talked about another potential candidate, the right-leaning wrestling star Gabe Tuft, of Cotati, who keeps flirting with stepping into the ring and showing the Demo boys what’s what! Check this out!

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WHITE HOUSE DRUG POLICY DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES DESIGNATION OF 12 COUNTIES IN NINE STATES AS HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREAS

The White House

Office of the National Drug Control Policy

For Immediate Release

November 14, 2013

12 Additional Counties will Receive Additional Support from Federal Program Designed to Disrupt Drug Trafficking through Coordinated, “Smart on Crime” Approaches to Enforcement

(Washington, D.C.) –Today, Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced the designation of 12 additional counties in California, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs). The designation will enable the 12 counties to receive Federal resources to further the coordination and development of drug control efforts among Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers. It also will allow local agencies to benefit from ongoing HIDTA coordinated initiatives working to reduce drug use and its consequences across the United States.

The newly designated counties are:

Humboldt County in California, as part of the Northern California HIDTA.

Cecil and Frederick Counties in Maryland, as part of the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA.

Forrest County in Mississippi, as part of the Gulf Coast HIDTA.

Rockingham County in North Carolina, as part of the Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTA.

Williams County in North Dakota, as part of the Midwest HIDTA.

Florence and Horry Counties in South Carolina, as part of the Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTA.

Bradley County in Tennessee, as part of the Appalachia HIDTA.

Dickenson County in Virginia, as part of the Appalachia HIDTA; and Roanoke County, as part of the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA.

Wyoming County in West Virginia, as part of the Appalachia HIDTA.

Created by Congress in 1988, the HIDTA program serves as a catalyst for coordination among Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug trafficking regions of the United States. Law enforcement organizations working within HIDTAs assess drug-trafficking problems and design specific initiatives to decrease the production, transportation, distribution, and, chronic use of drugs and money laundering. There are currently 28 HIDTAs located in 46 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

“Drug trafficking and production place a tremendous burden on our communities,” said Kerlikowske. “As the Obama Administration continues to bolster drug prevention, access to treatment, and other evidence-based public health approaches to drug policy, today’s announcement demonstrates our continued commitment to expanding ‘smart on crime’ programs that protect communities from drug-related harm. By designating these new counties, we will enhance the ability of Federal, state, and local authorities to coordinate drug enforcement operations, share intelligence, and adopt state-of-the-art technology to improve public health and safety.”

In addition to designating 12 new counties, ONDCP also announced nearly $3 million in discretionary funding to 21 HIDTAs to enhance targeted enforcement and drug prevention efforts nationwide. This includes $660,000 in support of the new counties designated as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. The discretionary funds will support strategic priorities based on the unique threats in each HIDTA, including prescription drug abuse and synthetic drugs.

In April, the Obama Administration released a science-based drug policy that addresses the national drug challenge as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue. The 2013 National Drug Control Strategy is built upon the latest scientific research demonstrating that addiction is a chronic disease of the brain that can be successfully prevented and treated, and from which one can recover. The Strategy directs Federal agencies to expand community-based efforts to prevent drug use before it begins, empower healthcare workers to intervene early at the first signs of a substance use disorder, expand access to treatment for those who need it, support the millions of Americans in recovery, and expand “smart on crime” approaches to drug enforcement.

More information on the Office of National Drug Control Policy available here. More information on the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program available here.

Here’s the HIDTA map for 2011 before the 12 additional counties were added.

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PIANOS AT PLAY:

Ukiah Symphony joins with star pianists for seasonal sounds

The 34th season of the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra continues its successful run into the holiday season on the weekend of December 7 and 8 with “Sounds of the Season,” a varied musical offering featuring the accomplished pianists Elena Casanova and Elizabeth MacDougall. Conducted by Symphony musical director Les Pfutzenreuter, the performances take place at the Mendocino College Center Theatre on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, December 8 at 3:00 pm. The program will meld a spirit of lightness and play with the deep professionalism and talent of the two featured performers to create a spirited entry into the holiday season.

Featuring music from different eras and countries, the program is unified by an uplifting theme, which makes it especially appropriate for children. It begins with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 10 in E-flat major in three movements (Opus 365), which Elizabeth MacDougall describes as “quintessential Mozart.” The concerto features two fairly even piano parts, beautifully integrating the two “voices” of the instruments. The result is simple, clear and beautiful, with the broad appeal that has made Mozart so beloved through the ages.

Saint-Saёns’ “Carnival of the Animals” continues the program’s musical offerings. A product of the Romantic period of classical music (1815-1910), this 14-part piece features music with different instruments representing different animals, including the kangaroo, swan, elephant and tortoise. This technique entertains while it teaches children about the individual instruments that make up an orchestra. This piece is a favorite of the Ukiah Symphony, which performs it in concerts for local school children to introduce them to classical music.

Also featured in “Sounds of the Season” is Russian Christmas music by the 20th century composer Alfred Reed, and a Canadian Brass Christmas, arranged by Luther Henderson and Calvin Custer. The program concludes with a rousing Christmas sing-along.

Mendocino County concert-goers already know how lucky they are to have pianists Elena Casanova and Elizabeth MacDougall in their midst. Both soloists in their own right, they have played with each other and with the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra many times. Hailing from Havana, Cuba, Elena Casanova is conversant with Cuban as well as European classical music, is a well-known guest performer with Northern California symphonies, and is President of the Board of the Ukiah Community Concert Association, among other nonprofit associations. Elizabeth MacDougall, an active local performer, teaches piano at Mendocino College and privately in Ukiah. Recently, she has added solo cocktail piano music to her wide classical music repertoire.

Tickets for “Sounds of the Season” are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $5 for youth 18 and under, and are on sale at the Mendocino Book Company at 102 South School St. in Ukiah or at Mail Center, Etc. at 207A North Cloverdale Blvd. in Cloverdale, or online at www.ukiahsymphony.org. Concertgoers can also buy a season ticket for $68, which includes admission to this and the following two concerts of the Ukiah Symphony’s 2013-14 season. Still to come is “Sound the Trumpet,” featuring former San Francisco Symphony principal trumpeter Glenn Fischthal, and a “very Russian” Shostakovich concert featuring pianist Aaron Ames.

“Sounds of the Season” is made possible by support from Realty World/Selzer Realty, Savings Bank of Mendocino County, Daubeneck Insurance Service and Brian Hanson, M.D. For more information, call the Ukiah Symphony Box Office at 462-0236 or email lespfutz@gmail.com.