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Mendocino County Today: December 1, 2013

COSTCO IN UKIAH? It's staggering towards construction, maybe by 2015. Big cities build ballparks for billionaires, Ukiah spends tax money on a private corporation, lots of tax money. As a reader put it, “The estimated cost to Ukiah is $4 million-plus for the interchange improvements. But it is hard to believe that Costco would come in without insisting that Ukiah also rebuild Airport Park Boulevard from Talmage to Commerce where subsurface drainage (from west to east) has compromised the road base leading to pavement failure and a humpty-bumpty ride over what should be a flat surface. Ukiah sued the developer, claiming he built the road to a substandard condition, but he argued that he built it to city specs and the city accepted it into the public road system. The judge ruled for the developer. That was going on 15 years ago and the city has done little more than slap fresh asphalt into the worst of the pot holes.”

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THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE said Friday that conditions in the Pacific will bring a slight chance of sneaker waves to northwest California beaches into Sunday, adding a reminder to beach goers to never turn their backs on the ocean.


THE NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) said a cold front will move into the area on Monday evening with a slight chance of rain and snow. Snow levels will fall Monday night and drop to around 2,000 feet on Tuesday, bringing a possibility for snow showers over the ridges and major mountain passes. Much colder temperatures are expected Tuesday through at least Thursday as cold and frigid weather conditions set in.

“Snow levels should remain high Monday and fall Monday night. Snow showers seem likely but that will depend on how quickly the cold air gets here and how unstable it is behind the front.

“Long term (Tuesday through Friday) — One thing looks certain next week. It will get colder. There is still some uncertainty on how cold it will get though and how much shower activity there will be in the cold air mass Tue through Wed. All the global models show the cold pool over the Pacific Northwest with westerly onshore flow and strong cold air advection across northwest California on Tuesday. This should support at least scattered shower activity with snow showers as low as 1500-2000 feet and perhaps small hail showers in the low top convection along the northcoast. Even into Wednesday there may still be lingering higher elevation snow showers as the trough digs into the region from the north or northeast. Cold air will continue to dig southward into the forecast area on Wednesday. We are not sure on how far south the cold air will sink or if the Mendocino coast will see freezing temperatures. Another reinforcing shot is coming in toward the end of the week which would make this more likely. It looks like temperatures will remain well below normal through the end of the week. There is still a very slight possibility for isolated snow showers over the higher elevations on Thursday and Friday as a couple impulses in northerly and northeasterly flow drop down on the backside of the trough. Overall it looks dry and cold for at least a week. And there will be a dramatic decrease in temperatures next week.”

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MARIJUANA'S RISK TO DRIVERS DEBATED

By Dan Freedman

As California marijuana advocates ponder a renewed push to legalize marijuana for adults, law enforcement officials and traffic safety experts are warning of a side effect of states allowing the drug for medical or recreational use: the danger caused by people driving while high.

Research is incomplete on how much marijuana it takes to impair driving. But Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said being even a little intoxicated on marijuana is unacceptable.

"Smoking marijuana has a very negative effect on your ability to operate a motor vehicle," Kerlikowske said. "It's quite dangerous to you, your passengers and others on the road."

Marijuana advocates acknowledge that driving under the influence of cannabis is ill-advised. But they argue that law enforcement's concern is overblown, and point to a 2012 study that concluded the auto accident risk posed by marijuana is on par with antihistamines and penicillin.

The debate over marijuana and highway safety is set against the backdrop of last year's decision by Washington state and Colorado voters to legalize marijuana for personal use, as well as the passage of medical marijuana laws in California and 19 other states. Californians rejected full legalization in 2010, but advocates buoyed by polls showing increasing public acceptance of recreational use by adults hope to return to the ballot next year or 2016.

Law enforcement officials say that while traffic fatalities in Colorado decreased 16% from 2006 to 2011, deaths involving drivers testing positive for just marijuana increased 114% during the same period.

And in Washington, according to Chuck Hayes of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, tests confirming the presence in drivers of THC — marijuana's active ingredient — have made up 42% of the state's toxicology lab caseload this year, an increase from 26% last year.

"I'm not sure the public really understands the danger of it," said Hayes, a retired Oregon State Police captain who trains police officers to be drug-recognition experts. "A lot of education needs to be done in this area."

But those favoring marijuana legalization for medical or recreational uses insist the greater danger comes from one-size-fits-all state laws that target anyone behind the wheel with traces of THC in their system, or peg violations to a particular THC blood-test threshold.

Such laws, they say, are a particular danger to medical marijuana users because THC lingers in blood and urine for days after consumption. These "zero tolerance" laws are on the books in 14 states.

"The data doesn't support the disproportionate policy response that law enforcement is asking for," said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML — the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "We're not having a public outcry saying we need a serious crackdown for antihistamine and penicillin."

Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief, called advocates' assertion that medical marijuana patients are unfairly affected by impaired-driving laws "a bit of a red herring."

"It's pretty obvious you're getting stopped for a reason — bad driving," he said. "In the real world, those arguments go up in smoke."

California's law forces prosecutors seeking a DUI conviction for marijuana to prove that a driver was impaired because of ingesting the drug, not just that a driver took it.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2007 National Roadside Survey of nearly 10,000 drivers nationwide found 11.3% tested positive for illegal drugs. The most popular: marijuana, at 8.6%.

A similar survey of 1,300 California drivers pulled over last year on Friday and Saturday nights found that more tested positive for drugs than for alcohol, and that the most prevalent drug detected was marijuana.

(Courtesy, the Associated Press)

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ON-LINE READERS RESPOND:

• The Police Chiefs Association are lying by omission. Toxicology tests only measure the presence of metabolized residue of THC, which can be detectable for up to 30 days, not active THC. It is meaningless when it comes to documenting impairment. Testing positive for THC only means that you smoked it within a 30 day period.

"Testing positive" for illegal drug metabolites in the blood does NOT equal "impairment". The language of this article counts on the reader equating the two. So does law enforcement that cannot accept the end of the Drug War, as it means their budgets WILL get cut, when the property confiscation money they now count on from pot busts runs dry.

As long as Law Enforcement continues to promote junk science about cannabis as "education," we need to disregard what they have to say about it. We should also be encouraging their retirement if they continue to disregard the will of the people.

We, the people, are speaking up and the Government officials better get with the program. But, as long as the PCO can count on lots of Federal cash flowing in to fund their Walter Middy, Drug Soldier dress up play-acting, you can count on them pimping the Drug Warrior Party Line about pot.

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• As someone who has smoked it since the 60s to date, I’m going to say that MJ is not safe for driving. If you're stoned enough to feel stoned, that's too stoned to drive. I believe you drive slower, but better response time is ridiculous. That being said, I agree that cellphones are a threat, but far greater? Come on. Texting yes, talking no. Now, comparing MJ to alcohol. No question alcohol is a far greater danger. The bottom line is, there are things that are more dangerous, but, MJ is not safe.

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DEFENSE OF NECESSITY

by Bruce McEwen

In the predawn hours of Monday September 16th of this environmentally catastrophic year, Peggy Backup, 64, of Willits, a former plant pathology researcher at UC Davis, and Lucy Neely, 27, an organic gardener from Ukiah, pulled on their knit watch caps, zipped up their camo hoodies and set out to stop the Willits Bypass. The intrepid pair carried two-foot lengths of five-inch steel pipe with chain and locks welded inside.

BackupNeelyThe two women hurried their equipment through the cold dark morning, careful to keep the chains and pipes from alerting the heavily armed CHP officers guarding the tax-funded destruction wrought by Caltrans at Wil­lits. They crept up to a long row of monster-sized belly-dump trucks parked along the shoulder of US Highway 101. Working quickly and quietly, their fingers numb from handling the cold steel, they inserted their hands and forearms into the steel pipes and locked themselves to the mighty earthmovers. The keys to the locks had been discarded; there was no turning back. Backup and Neely would have to be cut from the heavy equipment with acetylene torches or diamond-tooth saws.

Backup and Neely were the very picture of commit­ment.

Their commitment renders the Mendocino County DA the very picture of apoplexy.

The Willits Bypass demonstrations seem to have driven him to max-out prosecutions.

When the cold grey light of day dawned, the drivers of the big belly-dumps arrived, unaware they were in mixed company. As they proceeded with the pre-work inspections of their vehicles, they discovered the two activists and, reportedly, silenced the early morning songbirds with shouts long, loud and profane.

The trucks were being used to haul massive payloads of contaminated soil from a defunct mill site to refill a six-mile swath of clear-cut roadbed CalTrans had punched through Little Lake Valley, scraping tons of rich topsoil off as they went.

BackupArrestedBig Orange's destructive path included the site of an ancient Pomo village, and the County would eventually cancel the permit for Caltrans to haul in the poisonous soil from the old LP mill site. But in the meantime something had to be done, and Backup and Neely, in the name of the laws Caltrans was ignoring, stepped into the breech.

This is the new, kinder and gentler activism against the greed and stupidity of modern American industry. In Edward Abbey’s day, George Hayduke would have fun­neled emery powder into the crank cases and watched through binoculars in the Canyonlands of southern Utah as the big diesel engines burned up in the distance.

But environmental activism has changed since the Monkey Wrench Gang days of straight up industrial sabotage; these days, serious people put their bodies in the gears of the big machines.

A letter had arrived from the Corps of Engineers con­demning CalTrans for its failure to comply with the Mitigation and Monitoring Plan the Bypass permit was contingent on. Eureka-based Charlie Fielder, CalTrans District 1 Director, and his feckless flunky, Phil Frisbie, were ordered to the San Francisco District Corps of Engineers office where they were presumably asked why they were so flagrantly violating the agreement not to bulldoze the Mitigation and Monitoring Plan. That was back on September 6th.

Ten days later, the protesters determined that the Army lacked the will or the firepower to rein in Cal­Trans, so they took things into their own hands.

Dittoheads will howl that any interference with indus­try sacrifices jobs — much needed jobs, for chrissake! — ignoring the fact that the great industrialists they defend exported all the good, steady, well-paid jobs long ago to countries where the minimum wage is a bingo marker, and the workday ends whenever the boss says it ends.

The charges Backup and Neely face fall under the heading of Section 555 of the Penal Code, misdemeanor trespassing. It wouldn’t add up to much if Backup and Neely pled out — no jail time and only moderate fines, but DA Eyster wants extortionate amounts of restitution — payable to Caltrans, in the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Former DA Meredith Lintott charged pot trimmers with felony cultivation and possession for sale, as if the poor wights had any claim to the weed they worked on; DA Eyster piles on restitution fines so outrageous that the dissolute bigshots at CalTrans Eureka vinyl HQ high-five each other.

Ms. Backup isn't backing up and Ms. Neely isn't kneeling. They've retained Ed Denson of Redway and Philip DeJong of Ukiah to defend them.

The prosecutor assigned to the case is newbie Deputy DA Jessica Abramson. She advised the court her office was keeping its options open. The DA might amend the charges if The Boss comes to his senses.

DeJong made a motion to continue the trial hearing for his client, Peggy Backup. DeJong and Denson were confident that the prosecutor would not be able to prove that the trucks were on posted property, as described in Penal Code 554 and 554.1.

But:

“Our concern is that at some point close to trial or at trial the prosecutor will attempt to amend the complaint to a charge of PC 602(k) which prohibits entering any lands whether unenclosed by fence, for the purpose of injuring any lawful business or occupation carried on by the owner of the land, the owner’s agent, or by the per­son in lawful possession.”

In his brief, Mr. DeJong emphasized the phrase any lawful business, pointing out that the Willits Bypass project has not been conducted in compliance with per­mits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to federal environmental regulation, a fact announced by the Corps itself.

DeJong also said that CalTrans had despoiled an archeological site, burying it beneath contaminated soil. So, there were two major violations of the state agency’s permits. The two defendants were simply trying to pre­vent further law-breaking by Caltrans.

“It is the defense’s position that if this turns into a prosecution under PC 602(k), the question of whether CalTrans was acting lawfully will be at issue. Obviously, the defense is not prepared to begin, at present, a case with respect to that issue. All we have at this point is access to a number of news sources and a copy of the violation letter sent to CalTrans. A great deal of work needs to be done to transform this information into admissible evidence. If we can settle that, the complaint will proceed as presently charged, the defense will not need a continuance.”

Judge John Behnke denied the motion to continue, without prejudice, he said, until and unless the DA amended the complaint at which time he would grant it. The judge then ordered the attorneys to set a date to sit down like reasonable adults and discuss the issue before he would hear any more. December 3rd was the agreed upon date for said conference.

I followed Mr. DeJong to his office on Main Street where the gracious attorney supplied me with a copy of his eloquent brief and the letter from the Corps of Engi­neers.

The list of violations enumerated by the Corps was long and detailed. And damning. Caltrans was bulldoz­ing the law along with Willits wetlands. “Federal law,” DeJong said, “trumps state and local legislation; and that’s where this case is headed.”

But if you lose at the local level?

“I don’t think any sane judge would grant these ridiculous restitution fines.”

Mr. DeJong could be right. But DA Eyster's Ahab-like pursuit of Will Parrish for an “offense” identical to that committed by Backup and Neely, continues. In the matter of the People vs. Parrish, however, the judge ruled that the DA’s Great White tendencies were his own affair, and the courts had no business dictating the terms of pursuit to him.

More of the protesters will be going through the courts in coming weeks, and if the DA treats them all with the same heavy-handed policy — exorbitant resti­tution, stay-away orders, search & seizure clauses, etc. — he will have effectively rescinded their First Amend­ment rights and silenced CalTrans’ lead critics.

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ELIZABETH WARREN: THE CONTENDER

by Joan Vennochi

Senator Elizabeth Warren, the champion of Main Street versus Wall Street, just got another boost to the presidential campaign she said she isn't running. It lies in the $13 billion deal that JP Morgan Chase reached with the US Justice Department. The settlement, which ends the government's probe into the bank's risky mortgage business, reportedly represents the largest amount a single company has ever committed to pay Uncle Sam. That's significant — but so is the bank's unusual admission that it failed to disclose the risks of buying its mortgage securities.

Warren was a force in both aspects of JP Morgan's day of reckoning. After the economic collapse of 2008 — and before her election as senator — Warren led the charge for Wall Street accountability while overseeing the government response to the banking crisis. As senator from Massachusetts, she continues to push for down-in-the-weeds results and isn't shy about acknowledging her role in achieving them. In September, Warren told The Daily Beast that her lobbying of Mary Jo White, the newly installed chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, played a key role in getting government regulators to require more companies to admit wrongdoing, not just pay fines — which is what happened in JP Morgan's case.

The JP Morgan headlines play out as the stock market surges and unemployment ticks up. The gap between America's rich and poor is growing bigger. The divide creates an opening for a Democrat who speaks to the shrinking middle class, as well as to those already squeezed out of it.

ElizabethWarrenWarren could be that candidate, if she chooses. The buzz about a White House run got louder after The New Republic's Noam Scheiber cast her as Hillary Clinton's "nightmare" populist opponent. As she completes her first year in office, Warren and various representatives insist she isn't running for president. But denials won't stop the pundits, or former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, from putting her in the 2016 mix. Frank told the Globe that if Clinton doesn't run, Warren is a strong contender.

And she is, with or without Clinton in the race.

Warren's rhetoric and record give her credibility and a passionate constituency. She doesn't just talk about taking on Wall Street, she does it. And as she does it, she has the presence and social media savvy to turn a speech into a YouTube sensation. In 2008, the now-disgraced presidential candidate John Edwards recognized the liberal appeal of highlighting "the two Americas." Today, the contrast between those two nations is ever starker, making the theme even more attractive. Put in the hands of an accomplished advocate like Warren, this platform creates a high degree of political karma — the kind that Barack Obama, another freshman senator turned unexpectedly strong presidential contender, would appreciate. And Warren is willing to take him on, too.

She criticized President Obama's compromise plan for lowering student loan interest rates, arguing that it isn't right for the federal government to make money off of college kids. She lost the battle and vote, but was right on principle. Warren was one of the first Democrats to call out Obama for the disasterous rollout of the Affordable Care Act. While supporting the product, she stated the obvious: the administration "dropped the ball" on implementation.

She also played a major role in breaking up Obama's bromance with Larry Summers, zooming in on the former Treasury secretary's Wall Street ties and letting the White House know she would work actively to derail his candidacy. As a result, Janet Yellen, not Summers, is Obama's choice to become the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. But Warren's support for Yellen didn't stop her from asking Yellen at her confirmation hearing whether the Fed is devoting enough resources to regulating the largest banks.

And she isn't entirely satisfied with the $13 billion deal with JP Morgan, because of the possibility that $9 billion of it may be tax deductible. She opposes the tax deduction and she and four other senators co-signed a letter asking the Department of Justice to clarify what will happen.

Her willingness to speak the truth about Wall Street and the White House is one source of her power. Her ability to create change is another reason to believe in her.

(Courtesy, the Boston Globe.)

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STATE WILL HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ON EIR FOR FRACKING BILL

by Dan Bacher

The California Department of Conservation (DOC) will hold five scoping meetings throughout the state in December and January on the scope and content of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for statewide "well stimulation activities," including hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and acidizing.

The EIR is mandated by SB 4, dubbed the "green light to fracking" bill by conservation, consumer and environmental justice groups. Over 100 organizations, including the California Water Impact Network (C- WIN), Food and Water Watch, CREDO Action and the Center for Biological Diversity, opposed the legislation because it will result in the expansion of the environmentally destructive practice of fracking in oil and gas production in California.

The potential contamination of groundwater supplies and streams by expanded fracking and acidizing operations poses a huge threat to salmon, steelhead and other fish populations and human health throughout the state.

Once in draft form, the EIR will be circulated for specific comments on its analysis and conclusions, according to DOC. The revised schedule of dates and other details about the scoping meetings follows.

Oakland, 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, December 10, Oakland Convention Center, 550 10th St..

Sacramento, 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, December 11, Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, 828 I Street.

Bakersfield, 4 to 8 p.m., Thursday, December 12, Kern County Library Beale Memorial Auditorium, 701 Truxtun Avenue

Ventura, 4 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, January 8, Ventura College Performing Arts Center, 4700 Loma Vista Road.

Long Beach, 4 to 8 p.m., Thursday, January 9, Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Boulevard.

The Department has also sent out public notice of proposed regulations for the use of well stimulation in oil and gas production. The public notice begins the formal rulemaking process and marks the beginning of a 60-day public comment period.

The agency claims the regulations, which are to go into effect on January 1, 2015, are "designed to protect health, safety, and the environment, and supplement existing strong well construction standards. They address a comprehensive list of issues, including testing, monitoring, public notice, and permitting."

DOC also said it will have emergency regulations in place by January 1, 2014 to "ensure that the major requirements of SB 4 are addressed in the interim." For more information, please visit http:// www.conservation.ca.gov.

Comments regarding the proposed regulations will be taken at five public hearings around the state:

Sacramento -- January 6, Sierra Room, California Environmental Protection Agency Building, 10th & I streets, 3-7 p.m.

Long Beach -- January 6, California State University-Long Beach auditorium, 1212 Bellflower Boulevard, 3-7 p.m.

Bakersfield -- January 8, Kern County Administrative Center, first floor board chambers, 1115 Truxtun Avenue, 3-7 p.m.

Salinas -- January 8, National Steinbeck Center, One Main Street, 3-7 p.m.

Santa Maria -- January 13, Santa Barbara County supervisors hearing room, 511 East Lakeside Parkway, 3-7 p.m.

Governor Jerry Brown, a big supporter of the expansion of fracking in California, signed the widely-contested legislation on September 20. The already weak legislation was eviscerated at the last minute with oil industry-friendly amendments under pressure by the Western States Petroleum Association and oil companies.

You know that this legislation won't protect the land, water, fish, wildlife and people of California from the expansion of fracking in California when a big oil lobbyist praises the draft regulations.

Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and former Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create alleged "marine protected areas" in Southern California, said she was "pleased" that the Department of Conservation and the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources have been able to "promptly release" draft hydraulic fracturing regulations.

"Governor Brown signed SB 4 less than two months ago, and the state has worked expeditiously to implement this new comprehensive law," gushed Reheis-Boyd. "These regulations are extensive but strike the right balance that will result in an environmental platform which will ensure that the potential energy resources contained in the Monterey Shale formation can be responsibly developed."

Then in her latest blog on the WSPA website, she further praised the legislation, along with lauding Senator Fran Pavley and Governor Jerry Brown for their "environmental leadership."

"This September, California adopted the nation’s strictest regulations for the oil extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing," Reheis-Boyd claimed. "The landmark bill, SB 4, was authored by one of our state’s preeminent environmental leaders, Senator Fran Pavley, and signed by Jerry Brown, one of the nation’s greenest governors."

In contrast, the Center for Biological Diversity said the regulations fall "far short" of protecting California’s air, water, communities and climate from fracking, a "dangerously polluting" practice that involves blasting chemical-laden water into the earth to fracture rock formations.

“Gov. Brown’s fracking regulations would leave California’s environment and public health horribly exposed to fracking pollution,” said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. “These rules mostly take the narrowest, most oil industry- friendly approach to fracking that’s possible under state law. They will permit fracking to spread across the state, endangering our air, water, communities and climate. The only safe way forward for California is a halt to this inherently dangerous process.”

The pollution resulting from fracking threatens already contaminated groundwater and surface water supplies in the Central Valley and coastal areas — and much of the water to be used to expand fracking is expected to come from the Delta via the proposed twin tunnels.

Caleen Sisk, Chief of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, a key leader in the fight to stop the raising of Shasta Dam and the construction of the peripheral tunnels and to restore winter run chinook salmon to the McCloud River above Shasta Dam, urges people to support a ban on fracking in California.

"California's new draft fracking rules Are BAD," she said. "Tell Governor Brown that weak regulations won't cut it. We need a ban!"

"Regulations don't make fracking any safer — no water for fracking at the expense of the Tribal ceremonies and salmon habitat," Sisk stated.

Sisk, Food and Water Watch, and anti-fracking activists are urging people to submit public comments on the draft rules. To take action, go to the Food and Water Watch website: https://secure3.convio.net/ fww/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1010

Brown's support of expanded fracking in California occurs as the Governor continues and expands the worst environmental policies of the Schwarzenegger administration. Brown is rushing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan BDCP to build the peripheral tunnels, has presided over record fish kills and water exports at the Delta pumps and completed the creation of a statewide network of so-called "marine protected areas" under Schwarzenegger's widely-contested Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative in December 2012.

The construction of the peripheral tunnels will hasten the extinction of Central Valley Chinook salmon and steelhead, Delta smelt, longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as threaten the steelhead and salmon populations of the Trinity and Klamath rivers.

For more information on Jerry Brown's abysmal environmental record, go to: http://www.alternet.org/environment/governor-jerry-browns-10- worst-environmental-policies

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SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF FORT BRAGG GIVING TREE/WREATH PROGRAM — OFFERS A HELPING HAND DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Soroptimist International of Fort Bragg (SIFB) is requesting a helping hand for the holidays, through their Giving Tree and Giving Wreath programs, now in place at two locations in Fort Bragg. The wreath and tree hold tags with more than 80 gift requests from Project Sanctuary, Safe Passage, Redwood Coast Senior Center, Mendocino Coast Hospitality House, and Second Chance Rescue. The tree and wreath will remain up until December 16.

The Giving Tree is set up at Mendo-Lake Credit Union’s new location at 120 North Franklin Street (formerly the Fort Bragg Community Federal Credit Union). The Giving Wreath is located at the Fort Bragg Branch of Savings Bank of Mendocino County at 480 South Franklin Street.

Please help make this year’s drive successful. Stop by either location and take a tag or two. Tell your family members, co-workers, and friends to take a gift tag. The gift tags offer a chance to donate anonymously to those who are in need and who might not otherwise receive a gift during the holiday season.

Return your newly purchased gift (unopened and in a gift bag), along with its tag, to the location you picked up the tag and the gifts will be distributed by SIFB before the holidays. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Contact: Liz Petersen, liz@revupcreativemedia.com

7 Comments

  1. izzy December 1, 2013

    People have been driving drunk and stoned as long as there have been automobiles. It’s not a good idea, and neither are phone conversations. Whatever carnage it might cause is already happening. The question is how to determine if a driver is actually under the influence. Blood tests are not conclusive.

  2. Harvey Reading December 1, 2013

    Settlements with banks (with no tax exemptions) are fine, but criminal charges against their officers need to be filed as well, with their assets seized, and eventually confiscated and sold. Theoe uppity assholes need to really pay, personally, and for a good long time, just like people who rob liquor stores do.

    I sure hope that Warren runs. She needs to get out of the cesspool of the senate before it taints her. She would mop the floor with billary’s war-criminal, lying, ecksepshunal ass.

  3. peachland's finest December 1, 2013

    Re: driving while high… I think it’s subjective and individual, at least if we’re talking about adults. I have no problem driving 128 or 253 after smoking my medicine, but I know that if I’ve smoked anything at all that day, I don’t belong on the 101 near Geyserville where the vista goes off into the distance and the cannabis-induced vertigo sets in – something that happens to me but not necessarily to someone else.

    I think talking on the phone makes one ‘telepresent’ in a way that is dangerous. It’s different from something like listening to the radio; your attention goes into the conversation in a way that distracts from the focus you need to stay safe while driving.

    If I recall correctly, I read in the AVA that there’s only been one arrest for driving under the influence of mj in the history of the county.

    I suppose it’s not going to matter once google puts in place the driverless car and eventually human driving gets outlawed…. :)

    • subscriber@www.theava.com December 2, 2013

      I think there was a Cheech and Chong movie where they are stoned and stopped by a cop for driving five miles an hour. I’ve beenstoned on pot while driving, but I don’t remember anything about it one way or another. I have an objection to GPS units on the dashboard, the driver, stoned or not, is watching TV while driving. And if you can’t find where you’re going without such a device, you shouldn’t be driving a car anyway.

      • Pete December 2, 2013

        Well, my son, you are old school around here. My teacher played Cheech and Chong records for us in the 3rd grade (before the movies), we laughed our buts off at the silliness, no harm done:-)

        GPS, now that’s another thing…

  4. subscriber@www.theava.com December 3, 2013

    Yeah dad, I am old school and that’s fine by me. So old, I still think 3rd grade was for um, learning stuff… I don’t suppose they play George Carlin or Richard Pryor records in school these says. That would be educational. Teacher was a stoner, eh?

    • Pete December 3, 2013

      Son, you got to listen.Cheech and Chong led to Richard Proyer and Eddie Murphy… and you are right, it was very educational

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