- Channeling Hemingway
- The $50 Solution
- Ineffective Assistance
- Library Ripped Off Again?
- Customer Service
- A Little Less Guilty
- More Money, More Isolation
- Sensible Gun Control?
- We'll Pass It Along, Gordy
- Dog Killed Needlessly
- Hack & Talk
- Much Worse Than A ‘Nuisance’
CHANNELING HEMINGWAY
Editor,
In the past 50 years many newspapers and magazines have held contests where they encourage their readers to send them writing which imitates and is in the style of Ernest Hemingway. Writing that should be clean as the proverbial hound's tooth and as Dorothy Parker has said "Prose that has been stripped down to firm young bones." Many professional writers have tried and many have failed. It looks easy, but it isn't. The AVA Editor's entry (AVA 10/7) concerning looking for the Italian at the County Education office in Talmage — which I thought was quite good — is an example of what we're looking for here.
My weak attempt:
Salvador Nava Corona has been working in agriculture in the Alexander Valley for two years, but has never found a steady job nor adequate housing, so when his cousin in Oregon informed him that he had found him a permanent job with living quarters in the Willamette Valley, he put his wife Estela and 2-1/2-year-old Luis with his puppy Miguelito in the 1997 for Fordito and headed north. Not sure if they had enough money for gas, they planned to sleep in the car.
Coming up the hill out of Ukiah the Fordito began balking and hissing. They were able to coast into WIllits, black smoke was pouring out from underneath the car. Salvador learned that employees at the Chevron station spoke Spanish and he had gone there to try to find someone to help him with the Fordito Pobrecito. After giving instructions to Luis to remain in the car, Estela had gone to the convenience store next to the post office to buy some food. A little girl came along and asked Luis if she could play with the puppy, Miguelito. When Estela returned with several bags of chips and four cans of soda, Luis was gone. Not knowing what to do, Salvador and Estela walked around downtown Willits calling for Luis.
Soon police and firemen were driving around the streets of Willits looking for a small boy and a small dog. Estela told the police that Luis was attracted to streams and other bodies of water. He liked to play in the water. Were there streams running through Willits? Yes, there are four creeks in town, but as it was growing dark it would have to wait for daylight to look at them.
The next morning ultraconservative Mayor Buttram asked Tom Woodshed, a recently elected public official who was endorsed by Republicans funded by Republicans and voted for by Republicans to organize a search party for Willits and Broaddus Creeks along the north side of town. He asked the heiress to the Harrah fortune, Margie Hankey, who had once run in the Republican primary for the state senate with the motto "The right candidate," to lead a search of Haehl and Baechtel creeks on the south side of town.
When Tom Woodshed was finally ready to start he met David and Ellen Drell and a group of friends from the Willits Environmental Center who had been out on Tom's assigned creeks since daylight looking for Luis. Margie Hankey was still on the phone looking for the appropriate clothing to wear during the search when Luis and the little dog were discovered fast asleep on the cushioned pews of St. Anthony's Catholic Church.
Ralph Bostrom, Willits
PS. All those who vote for Bernie Sanders in the primary elections will be automatic enrollees in a new organization named The Birthday Party. The headquarters will be in Hales Grove and will have 435 chapters. It will be a party similar to the Americans for Democratic Action and the Tea Party. It will attempt to influence the Democratic party from the progressive left.
PPS. Cynical? Who? Me? The Republican Party, on orders from Wall Street, will fight to their last drop of blood against any change to the decimal system.
THE $50 SOLUTION
Editor,
I have been advocating a limit of campaign donations of $50 by anyone including unions, individuals and companies. To repeat: ANYONE, for campaign contributions.
Most of the time when people think of the millions of dollars contributed they laugh and tell me I have pipe dreams. Let me explain the logic of my $50 limit. We have a population of some 300 million people. I am sure that there are at least ten million Democrats and ten million Republicans who would put up $50 and not expect to get a special perk as our big contributors want for their donations. Ten million times $50 is $500 million. That's enough to make a sensible campaign.
First we have to make it illegal for political advertising on TV and radio, and then limit the time for campaigning to two or three months — no more. The present time for campaigning has become ridiculous. During that time they can have as many debates as money will buy.
Family and health are number one and two in a person's working life. Then comes one's job and how to keep it. It doesn't matter if it's a congressman or a shortstop for the Yankees. They will do anything to keep or improve their job. These huge sums of money candidates get from so many sources make it impossible to pay back in legislation.
The main thing we have to do is take the big money out of campaigning. When the President of the United States goes around in his two super jets raising campaign funds and even does it openly something has to be done. A $50 limit.
We have lost our sense of right and wrong.
Emil Rossi
Boonville
INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE
Editor,
District Attorney David Eyster responded to this writer on a Willits News comment thread, but the entire discussion appears to have been taken down. Figures. Kudos to the AVA for not ducking tough issues and being a worthy First Amendment forum.
The substance of District Attorney Eyster's comments was that the kid could have faced 89 to life if he hadn't gotten death so 71 was a fair deal. But in reality a distinction without a difference, and that he disclosed all discovery to the Public Defender.
The issue here mostly is not the District Attorney's conduct, however, but that of the defense attorney. How could she have possibly evaluated all that material, done her own investigation and conducted serious negotiations in such a short period (45 days) in a double murder case? I don't think so.
The issue that does implicate the District Attorney is the interview with Dr. Apostle as in his report he states it was conducted on July 20, the day after the crime, at the request of District Attorney investigator Andy Alvarado. Competency evaluations are ordered by the court, not carried out ex-parte by the DA. That this could not have been ordered by the court is evidenced by the fact that his first appearance was not until July 21 when counsel was appointed. So in essence, Barton, a naive 19-year-old, was being interviewed by an agent of the District Attorney without counsel present under misleading circumstances. So a Miranda warning was required and if charges had had been filed with the clerk then, notwithstanding Miranda, counsel is required to be present per Massiah v. US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massiah_v._United_States
Joseph Hansen
Redwood Valley
LIBRARY RIPPED OFF AGAIN?
To the Editor:
The new Bookmobile, bought with grant money from the Department of Agriculture (which means the County put out no money for its purchase) is being billed to the Library... as if it had been paid for by the County. Got that? Every day, in every way, someone at the County is figuring out how to steal the funds that local taxpayers wanted specifically to go to libraries in this county. I, for one, want to know who is responsible. This is really a theft of public funds (library dedicated funds ) hiding behind the equally odious mask of “ creative accounting”; and further, raises questions about the legal issues of charging the Library for a purchase that you made with grant funds, which on it’s surface seems fraudulent. It is little wonder that this administration and board has credibility issues and that cynicism among the local electorate is the norm. This kind of behavior must stop.
L. Gail Dammuller
Ukiah
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Editor,
Thank you. Your "Honor" is showing.
I wrote to you yesterday about an AVA account issue. Which was entirely my fault for not keeping track of. You not only took care of my request you also promptly refunded my money. This refund was not part of my request but an honorable business act by you and/or your staff. In today's world this act is unheard of. As a life long resident of Mendocino County I will do my best to recommend your paper if and when the opportunity arises. Good business should be applauded. Thank you again.
Very Respectfully,
Michael Tobin
Willits
A LITTLE LESS GUILTY
Dear Editor:
As much as we support local businesses, many of us purchase stuff from Amazon. It provides goods not easily available locally or as economically. We learned something recently that leaves us with less of a guilty feeling when we order from the giant. Amazon Smile is a great way to support charitable organizations. For every purchase you make, this arm of Amazon donates 1/2% (0.5%) of the sale amount to the group of your choice. If you click on Anderson Valley, you’ll find a list of every registered 501c(3) group in our area. You choose which group you’d like to support. We chose the Anderson Valley Health Center. You must make sure the group has set up an account with Amazon Smile; Chloe Guazzone, the executive director of AVHC, assures us it’s an easy process. Here is the website: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2347424
Every time we log onto Amazon, it prompts us to go to Amazon Smile to make sure a portion of the purchase goes to the Health Center. If not, just go to the Amazon Smile website and log in as you would for Amazon. All items from Amazon qualify.
Every little bit helps.
Sincerely,
Alice and Ric Bonner
Boonville
MORE MONEY, MORE ISOLATION
Editor
In James Kunstler's article "Bang, You're Dead" (Oct. 14), he mentions that "the physical setting of American life composed of a failing suburban sprawl pattern for daily life — the perfect set-up for making community impossible — obliterates the secondary layer of socialization beyond the family."
This reminded me of the neighborhood where I grew up in the conservative affluent East Bay suburb of Orinda. Our house was on a cul-de-sac comprised of five widely spaced single family detached homes (the suburban ideal).
By the third grade I realized there were no boys in my larger neighborhood I liked enough to play with, so I had to entertain myself, i.e., basically play ball games by myself outside the house or on the cul-de-sac. Maybe the saddest lonely "play" activity I resorted to as a kid was when I was a high school freshman (too young to escape the neighborhood by car, no driver’s license yet) and I played frisbee golf by myself around my house and neighborhood. I'm almost totally averse to playing any sort of games, indoor or outdoor, as an adult because I consider them frivolous distractions from more important pursuits.
Escaping the neighborhood by bicycle was not an option because we were at the top of a steep hill and a ride downhill would have been dangerous and uphill a grueling ride. It was a car suburb (what else?) and there was only so much chaffeuring my mother was willing to do.
People in affluent suburbs usually leave their neighborhoods by car to find community. One almost never sees activity outside houses in an affluent neighborhood.
Anyway, my unhealthy habit of social isolation as an adult had its foundation in growing up in forced isolation in the "privileged" setting of Orinda.
Keith Bramstedt
San Anselmo
SENSIBLE GUN CONTROL?
Dear Editor:
There is a lot of discussion going on about the numerous mass killings at schools and work sites with the NRA and the "gun crazies" resisting any type of sensible gun control. Their response that guns do not kill people - that people do is ludicrous. We have a serious health problem in this country, namely the thousands of deaths and injuries resulting from intentional and accidental shootings. Among all the industrialized countries we have by far the largest number of deaths by guns. In the last few years we have seen a rapid increase in mass killers by mentally ill persons with assault weapons. There is no earthly reason why anyone should be able to buy assault weapons. They should be banned.
I recognize owning these types of weapons for some men asserts their manliness with its phallic symbolism. I do wonder if these macho gun owners sleep with their weapons. I have no problem with appropriate guns for sports hunting although killing Bambi doesn't do it for me. Clearly, there must 100% registration on the sale of guns with no exceptions for gun shows or personal sales. Further gun manufacturers and gun shows should not be protected from lawsuits. As for allowing people to carry holstered guns like some gunslinger on the streets of Dodge City that represents the absurdity going on in some states. I wonder if these people realize how silly they look.
I would finished by noting over the years in writing about gun control I have received about 20 anonymous letters with comments like "you better watch your back" and other such silly threats. Every time I get such a letter I think, "Your honor, I rest my case."
In peace and love,
Jim Updegraff
Sacramento
WE'LL PASS IT ALONG, GORDY
Editor,
Given trustee Sako's attempts to wreck KZYX by attacking the FCC license, he should downplay his position on the County Employees Retirement Board to avoid panic.
Gordon Black
Mendocino
DOG KILLED NEEDLESSLY
To the Editor:
I still can’t believe it. It just don’t seem right. On July 27, I went to one of my favorite restaurants El Azteca. I had lunch, and a drink. When I came out of the restaurant I felt the effects of the drink and decided to take a nap in my car with Sammy, my beloved dog faithfully by my side. I guess at some point, at some time, somebody tried to wake me up and were unsuccessful. 911 was called and the fire department and the sheriff’s office, highway patrol all responded. The fire department was I guess, able to get me out of my car without my dog objecting. I was put on the gurney and loaded up into the ambulance and transported to UVMC. When being pulled out of the ambulance, I woke up. I asked, “Where’s my dog?” Not getting an answer, I started throwing things that were within my reach. I believed that’s when I was sedated I believe I was sedated for a period from July 27, 2015 to Aug. 12, 2015, because I have very little memory of anything that occurred during that period. But, at one time I recalled somebody showing me a picture of my car upside down at a loading dock. I started believing that I had been in an accident. I later found out, the photo had been photo shopped. But, what happened to Sammy? Well, let me tell you, Sammy was left in my car til someone called 911 and informed that I had been taken to the hospital but my dog was still in my car. At that time somebody actually came to the hospital and got my keys to my car and proceeded to “Secure the vehicle,” rolling the windows up and locking the doors, with Sammy still in my car. This was last July, 3 months ago. It was about 100 degrees at this day and I’m sure it was about the same the next day. I have no idea how hot it was in my car, Sammy was in the car for 2 days, I was told that Animal Control was called and then Animal Control assured somebody that they would be out in the morning. Well, they never came out and then after 2 days in my hot car, Sammy perished. Sammy was a unique dog. He was Jack Russell Terrier, and beagle mix. He was the smartest dog I’ve ever owned and I’ve owned several. I owned Sammy since he was 6 weeks old. We had been through a lot during his short 7 years with me. He was my purpose in living as he was diabetic. I had been dealing with that since he was about 1 1/2 years of age. Everybody loved Sammy. He didn’t bark unnecessarily in fact the only time you knew he was there, is when somebody knocked at the door, and he would let out a yodel that hounds make. I never had to raise my voice at him, I spoke to him just as if I was talking to you. He knew everything I was saying to him and he went along with everything I threw at him, even the shots I have to give him at every meal. He just knew that what I was doing needles helped him, and made him feel better. H never complained or shied away from me when that came up. He was truly my companion dog. Loyal to the end.
I miss Sammy so much, his death has left me lonely, empty and without purpose in life as I got Sammy to help me through a rough time I was going through after my son, Darren committed suicide and yes, Sammy did help me through it. Now I’m back dealing with the suicide and now the murder of Sammy. It’s almost too much for me to swallow especially since it did not have to happen. I don’t know why animal control was not called as soon as it was noticed that there was a dog in the car. If I had locked him in the car and caused his death, I would still be in jail but they didn’t call and by the time animal control responded, it was too late, as he, if not dead at that time, he died shortly after they arrived because Yokayo vet was called and was told they were bringing him in. Sammy never made it to Yokayo vet. A friend of mine was able to retrieve Sammy’s body and had cremated for me. Sammy is still with me just as before but, now he’s in a little blue box in my back pack and every time I go looking through my pack and run into the blue box, I choke up a bit.
Sammy did not have to die like that, I knew already his life was going to be cut short because of the diabetes, but I had no idea that he would be killed by a professional who was derelict in his duties. I don’t have any idea who exactly dropped the ball here but when asked for a police report, or incident report from every agency involved, they have no actual report of this happening. It’s like Sammy never existed but as soon as I can find a lawyer to take this case I’m going to make sure that Sammy’s death is vindicated and Sammy and I get an apology and whomever was involved is dealt with. Sammy did nothing to deserve what happened. Imagine how confused he must have been as the temperature rose to be unbearable. It saddens me immensely as I’m writing this down, 1 1/2 months after the murder of Sammy. I was at Redwood Cove Convalescent Hospital for 23 days. I guess after a month it was expected of me to get over it but I haven’t. No I’m never going. Maybe other dogs I’ve had I would have but Sammy’s whole purpose on this earth was to help me through a bad period I was going through. He did his job but he wasn’t done. Now I miss them both. Like I said I’ll never get over his murder nor am I going to get over my son’s death. Sammy was that one of a kind dog that every dog lover dreams of having. I had that dog, and then, he was killed needlessly.
Glenn Clutts
Ukiah
HACK & TALK
Dear colleagues, friends and neighbors in Mendocino County,
In recent months a public conversation was begun by a group of local residents regarding the practice of treating tan oak in the forest. The treatment of tan oak occurs throughout Mendocino County to restore the redwood and Douglas fir trees across public and private land. Our company, Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC) has been treating tan oak in the forest since we acquired the forestlands in 1998.
Earlier this year this group of residents came before the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to request the county consider imposing a voluntary moratorium on the treatment of tan oaks. The request and reasons for the moratorium were discussed vigorously and publicly. County supervisors voted against the moratorium idea and instead supported with specific funding a community driven effort to explore the issue in the form of a working group.
More recently a petition has been created for an initiative restricting the treatment of tan oak. The stated reason for the initiative is to reduce fire danger. As you will read in this series of letters, current tan oak treatment is crucial to restoring the extraordinary public and private forests in our county.
We are treating tan oak — it is working and it is safe.
Harvest practices over many decades predating the formation of Mendocino Redwood Company in 1998 left the forest with an imbalance of tree species. Tens of thousands of acres of once healthy redwood and Douglas fir trees were left untreated after harvest, allowing the landscape to become dominated by tan oak.
Beginning in 1998 when MRC was established we spent several years on a variety of methods to treat tan oaks (including an ill-fated and expensive effort to make tan oak flooring). After much effort we concluded the most effective way to bring back a healthy conifer forest in our lifetime was to treat tan oak selectively, carefully, in the woods, literally tree by tree.
Over 16 years we have surveyed for dominant tan oak stands on 65,000 acres, treating tan oak trees when necessary, carefully, by hand, one tree at a time.
We have probably treated more than a million tan oaks individually by hand tree by tree. Sounds like a lot, and it is. We have done this to promote a healthy growth of more than 14 million redwood and Douglas fir trees.
Our inventory of redwood and Douglas fir trees has increased over 1 billion board feet (after deducting for harvests) since we began operations. For more information on the activities on the forest please see this link to our website:
www.mrc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MRC_Data-Sheet_July-2015.pdf
If left untreated tan oak will continue to overwhelm the forest to the detriment of restoring the redwood and Douglas fir forest in a timeframe that matters to those of us alive today.
We want all citizens to be heard.
To ensure public concerns around this issue are heard we joined and participate in the Mendocino County Fire Safety Working Group. This working group was established and funded by County Board of Supervisors to review and update countywide fire safety plans including the questions around treating tan oak. The process is now underway, the working group is open to anyone wishing to participate. We encourage every interested citizen, student, retiree, employee and public officials to participate in this process. Rather then signing a petition, the better way is participating in the open and transparent process recently established and funded by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.
The working group will improve forest health.
With broad community participation the working group can develop real and useful answers to fire safety questions rather than passing new rules, regulations and restrictions. There is a better way to grow a healthy forest than more regulations, laws and restrictions.
MRC is making a major and permanent commitment to this process on a variety of fronts:
All voices should be heard. That's why we join and participate in the Mendocino County Fire Safety Working Group. You should too. The County wants the working group to be successful in addressing questions of fire safety and has allocated $25,000 to the effort. MRC and others have offered staff time and resources as well.
MRC is regulated by seven state and federal agencies. Additionally, MRC subjects itself to third-party review and verification of forest practices under the Forest Stewardship Council guidelines and has done so consistently since 2000. MRC has internal policies to encourage fire safety. These include things we have done for over a decade such as: partnering with communities to place dedicated firewater tanks, improve egress for remote neighbors and contribute to the equipment purchases of local volunteer fire districts; working in Sacramento to encourage investment in Mendocino County infrastructure; donations of time, equipment and money to volunteer fire departments including a $5000 donation to the Albion Fire Department toward a new engine recently).
Calfire, a Lead Agency on forest regulations, independently reviews and verifies all timber harvest plans (THPs). THPs are considered a California Environmental Quality Act equivalent environmental review document. Among many things, Calfire reviews THPs for fire safety and insists on mitigations where appropriate.
MRC has strengthened practices to improve coordinating with local fire districts, fire experts, climate experts and Calfire on pilot projects for fuels hazard reduction and additional road access in the remote parts of the county.
Our commitment and our approach to treating tan oak have been careful, focused and successful.
Our next letter to the community will talk about the programs and projects MRC has undertaken to manage other important aspects of forest restoration.
We work to be transparent and publish enormous amounts of information including details of our forest practices on our website. We have a publicly stated long-standing policy of taking anyone anywhere on the property to see our practices firsthand. For some who may find visiting our forest challenging we will provide assistance. We also post video of activities and forest science work at: http://www.mrc.com/about-us/forestry-videos/. And you can follow our activities on facebook (Mendocino Redwood Forestry), and twitter (@MendoForestry)
We welcome the opportunity to discuss how we manage our lands in Mendocino County. If you have any questions about this letter or the company please call me personally at the number below. If you would like a tour of the property, please call 707-463-5113.
Sincerely,
Bob Mertz, chief executive
707-467-3385
MUCH WORSE THAN A ‘NUISANCE’
Dear AVA,
I understand that the legislature has tied our hands with regard to not being able to regulate herbicides and pesticides.
However, instead of just being limited to declaring standing dead trees a public nuisance, I believe that counties could declare them a severe fire hazard given the drought and recent events in Lake County. There is also in my humble opinion the option of declaring the runoff polluting to drinking water or a health hazard. Finally, as you mentioned there is additionally the flooding which they should be held accountable for.
Perhaps we could enlist the help of the National Resource Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund bringing legal action against MRC and HRC on behalf of the citizens. They should have time as the Shell Gas Corp. gave up plans to exercise their search and destroy mission in the Arctic after they filed suit against them.
The danger from fire is greater than ever with all those standing dead trees, throughout the county our forests look like giant matchsticks ready to ignite a massive catastrophe.
I also believe that the planned ballot initiative needs stronger wording because "public nuisance" really doesn't convey the magnitude of the destruction that these actions will cause.
Thank you for your fine newspaper.
Best Wishes,
Hillary Beckington
Little River
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