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Mendocino County Today: Friday, Jan. 13, 2017

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HIGHWAY 128 WAS RE-OPENED at 5:15pm Thursday night.

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TAKE A LOOK OUTSIDE TONIGHT: FULL 'WOLF' MOON

The moon phase went from "Waxing Gibbous" to FULL" @ 3:35 am this morning and it is supposed to "rise" tonight @ 5:55 pm - a bit later for us because of the coastal range though. We can't see it yet and it's 6:18 pm.

PHOTO — Courtesy of the Old Farmers Almanac.

(Courtesy, MendocinoSportsPlus)

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ON JANUARY 12, 2017, at approximately 8:19 AM, the California Highway Patrol received a report of a traffic collision on US-101 in Mendocino County, near milepost marker 57.00 involving a vehicle which had run off the highway and was in Outlet Creek. One of the vehicle’s occupants had made their way to the roadway and had waved down a passing motorist. It was soon discovered the collision had occurred at approximately 7:30 PM the night before, and one additional occupant was said to be involved, and possibly still inside the vehicle.

The vehicle was almost fully submerged in the swift moving current of Outlet Creek, approximately 300 feet from the shore, and was not visible from the highway. Little Lake Volunteer Fire Department Swift Water Rescue Team responded to the scene. A rescue swimmer was able to make it to the vehicle and confirmed there was a second occupant, the driver of the vehicle still inside. The driver was extricated and pronounced deceased at the scene. Swift Water Rescue was then able to attach a tow truck cable to the submerged vehicle, and the vehicle was recovered from Outlet Creek.

The passenger, Natalie Griffith, had spent most of the night stranded on a tree in the river after climbing out of the submerged vehicle. Upon first light, she swam to shore and climbed up the embankment to the highway where she obtained assistance from the passing motorist. The passenger was transported by ambulance to Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits for treatment of minor injuries and exposure.

This collision remains under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

(CHP Press Release)

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A READER COMMENTS: I was traveling the same route in a Honda Civic just hours before and most people were driving way way way too fast. There was water everywhere, we kept hydroplaining. Cars were just flying past me at fast speeds. Big pick-up trucks were showing off their big tires power washing little cars all over the place. Slow down please when its wet.

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GIVE US SHELTER

Alexis & Adam Lyon

4 kids

Looking in Anderson Valley

3 bedroom, but will work with 2 bedroom

Needed ASAP

email:

alexisaduckett@gmail.com

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FUNDRAISER FOR PANCHITO

Hoping you had a great time during the holidays! I'm trying to do a fundraiser for my brother in law who has a brain tumor and going under treatments pretty soon. It's gonna be on the 28th and it's food and dance! This is what I posted in Facebook!

On Saturday, January 28 we will have a fundraiser for Carlos Ojeda (Panchito) at the Grange! Food will start from 3 to 6 and dance from 7 to 12!!! Come and have fun and enjoy good food!!! Start your new year the right way!!! Please share this post to all you can!!!

— Claudia Jimenez

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AFTER ONLY 157 YEARS, Mendocino County begins the process of maybe managing itself.

From CEO Carmel Angelo’s CEO Report for January 10, 2017:

“Leadership: The Mendocino County Executive Leadership Team (MCELT), which is comprised of 21 key leaders throughout the County organization, met on Friday, January 6, 2017 to continue the work of leadership. The meeting was attended by Supervisor McCowen who spoke to the group to acknowledge the importance of the work being done by the team. During the meeting, MCELT members identified and agreed to focus on four short term and three long term goals over the next twelve months. Goals include work in the following areas: Use of metrics…”

AT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING last Tuesday, CEO Angelo briefly explained: “One of our goals is metrics. We’d actually like to measure — you know the phrase ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure.’ And we have that throughout our system. So we’d like to have performance measures and some outcome measures for our departments. Each team member committed to focusing on at least one of the identified goals. Members of the County’s Expanded Leadership Team will have an opportunity to become involved as work teams are formed for each goal.”

LET’S SEE IF WE GET THIS STRAIGHT:

ONE OF MS. ANGELO and her oversized leadership team’s “leadership goals” is “metrics.” Without metrics — i.e., performance and outcome measurements — “you can’t manage” the organization. And it’s worse than we thought, “We have that throughout our system.” I.e., there are no metrics, and therefore no management “throughout our system.”

OBVIOUSLY this management vacuum includes the CEO herself because management of a large organization is not a “goal” but a basic requirement. Notice also that Ms. Angelo did not apply any metrics to her own goal: By what date will the “metrics” be in place? Who specifically is responsible for developing the metrics? When will the Board of Supervisors get a look at the new “metrics”?

LONG-TIME READERS will recall that we’ve been harping about this for more than 20 years. Mendo doesn’t even do the most basic monthly departmental reporting. The Supervisors never ask about it. Nobody wants to know how what budget and staff status is, nobody wants explanations of variations, nobody’s interested in the status of special capital projects, or whether deadlines are being met, nobody keeps track of assignments or due dates, nobody comes before the Board regularly (with the conspicuous exception of Transportation Director Howard Deshield who does a comprehensive monthly report albeit without budget and staffing status)…

WE KNOW, for example, that the Planning Department is very badly staffed both in numbers and experience, that workload is expected to ramp up with the new pot rules, and that outside contractors and/or extra help are either being considered or have been hired. But we don’t know how it’s going, what the budget implications are, what the workload is, what the backlog is, etc. In fact, nobody cares and nobody knows.

OR TAKE MENTAL HEALTH. What’s the new staffing level in light of the modifications made to the contract after the switch from Ortner to Redwood Quality? Many functions formerly in Ortner’s contract were brought back in house, so how many new slots were created? How many are filled? What’s the backlog in cases and hiring? How does workload breakdown between Coast and Inland?

WE COULD GO ON AND ON.

INSTEAD, we get a vague “leadership goal” about “metrics” which is an admission that The Good Ship Mendo is rudderless, floating aimlessly in the doldrums, hoping that they’re not headed for an iceberg.

AT LAST TUESDAY’S BOARD MEETING where CEO Angelo startlingly confessed to the non-management, the Board spent most of the day talking about proclamations, inconsequential changes to their own Board rules, rearranging or re-affirming committee assignments, and “supervisors reports.” The Board didn’t ask a single thing about the new “metrics” goal or when they’d be in place.

IN FACT, METRICS SIMPLY WON’T HAPPEN. It was only mentioned as a buzzword. But nobody in official Mendo really wants to know the status of anything because 1. It’s bad. And 2. If they knew they might have to do something about it.

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IN HIS SUPERVISORS REPORT, newly seated Board Chair John McCowen updated his colleagues on the status of the stalled negotiations with Solid Waste of Willits which have gone unresolved for about a year now while Mendo carps about how SWOW owner Jerry Ward calculates his profit margin and issues Sweeney-inspired ultimatums designed to punish a good and reliable service provider.

MCCOWEN said he and fellow Solid Waste ad hoc committee member Dan Hamburg had met with SWOW again, and again made no progress except to set another meeting date where they will attempt to figure out how to calculate Ward’s profit margin and how much, if any, new money he should get.

WE’VE MENTIONED IT BEFORE, but it deserves repeating: Mendo’s hard-ball approach to contract negotiations with Ward and his problem-free trash hauling operation is in stark contrast to the lob-ball approach taken to Ortner Management Group which was allowed to drag on for over three years with ridiculous and well-documented excess profits and minimal service delivery before something was done — and then only when the Sheriff and all the inland medicos demanded a change.

MCCOWEN: “It remains to be seen whether we will have a meeting of the minds. But the goal is to come back to the Board at the January 24 meeting with recommendations. We are hopeful that we will be able to do that.”

MCCOWEN SMILED cautiously at his colleagues Dan Gjerde and Carre Brown in hopes that they wouldn’t ask any pesky questions like, “Why is this taking so long?” or, “Why do we need an ad hoc committee? Isn’t our overpaid trash czar supposed to handle stuff like this?”

IT WORKED. Gjerde and Brown didn’t say a word.

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ANIMAL SHELTER UPDATE

On December 30, 2016, the Animal Shelter dog kennel areas were placed in a quarantine status due to a dog testing positive for Parvo. The outbreak was traced to a total of 29 dogs that were picked up from three properties in the Covelo area by the Sheriff’s Office’s Animal Control Unit and brought to the shelter on December 21, 2016. Currently the Animal Shelter is open to the public for citizens to adopt cats, look for lost & found cats and purchase pet licenses. The Animal Shelter is expected to open the dog kennel areas on January 18, 2017, if no more cases of Parvo surface. The Animal Shelter staff has been conducting very thorough, detailed and extensive cleanings of the dog kennel areas on a daily basis to prevent the spread of the Parvo disease. All dogs in the dog kennel areas have been vaccinated accordingly. The Shelter staff is also working with the Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Unit to update cleaning protocols in their vehicles. The Animal Shelter currently has a list of approximately 25 dogs that are eligible to depart the facility for a rescue organization or partnering animal shelter prior to the end of quarantine. The dogs fit a health criteria of having previous documented parvo vaccinations, the dogs are of adult status, a high titer test result and a good bath-shampooing are done on the dog prior to departing the Animal Shelter. For the month of December 2016 the Animal Shelter adopted out 78 cats & 47 dogs, returned 43 dogs & 4 cats to their owners and transferred out 41 cats & 28 dogs to community partners & rescue organizations. A big part of the adoptions for the month of December 2016 was the holiday-adoption event the shelter held on December 15th through December 17th. 47 cats & 9 dogs found homes for the holidays.

Mendocino County CEO Carmel Angelo, January 10, 2017

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LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Spot's a pretty good dude. Doesn't talk much, but he's always got my back.”

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LAYTONVILLE’S SHAMROCK RANCH SELLS FOR $20.5 MILLION

by Jennifer Poole

The 17,000-acre Shamrock Ranch in Laytonville has been sold for $20.5 million to a conservation group, say Realtors Kevin Sullivan of Ukiah and Jim Redd of Eureka, who work together on large North Coast property sales as “The Ranch Agents.” With the sale to a conservation group, Sullivan said: “Hopefully the ranch is going to stay just the way it is.”

The sale of the spectacular property – known around the world as a “sportsman’s paradise” – was finalized early this year, after being on the market for about four years. Those driving Highway 101 through Laytonville see the beautiful “Shamrock Ranch” gate to the ranch on the east side of Highway 101 south of town.

Shamrock Ranch is a working ranch, with a full cattle and cattle operation, a “flourishing hunting business,” 25 acres of “profitable vineyards” with Pinot Noir, Syrah and Zinfandel grapes, “first-rate equestrian facilities suitable for breeders,” multiple homes, including a seven-bedroom Mediterranean-style villa, abundant water, a rock quarry, two miles of Eel River frontage, and a private airstrip.

The Ranch Agents web page for the ranch, https://ranchagent.com/ranch/world-famous-shamrock-ranch, also says the ranch is renowned for its wildlife habitat management, which includes a resident Tule elk herd. “Since 2006, the bull count has more than tripled, and trophy level bulls of this rarer species have been consistently harvested each year.”

The Ranch Agents specialize in bigger, ranch and country properties in Mendocino and Humboldt counties, although there’s very few ranch properties left that are even a fraction of the size of the Shamrock Ranch. “They’re like dinosaurs,” Sullivan said. “Over the last 20-30 years, people have been forced pretty much to sell stuff and cut it up. It’s expensive to keep [the big ranches in one piece]; you don’t make a lot of money out of ranches, but they cost a lot of money to keep them up. And you’ve got to pay the fiddler,” i.e., the county property taxes.

Without the Williamson Act, which offers agricultural and open space land property owners tax relief in exchange for an agreement not to convert the land to more urban uses, it would be even harder for big ranch owners to keep the land in one piece, instead of subdividing into smaller parcels, Sullivan said.

To see a video showing the beauty and detailing the amenities of the property, visit https://ranchagent.com/ranch/world-famous-shamrock-ranch and check out other “dream” country property listings from the main page. Contact Sullivan at Kevin Sullivan Realty, at 707-489-4610 or Redd at Four Star Realty, at 707-496-3022.

(Courtesy, Willits Weekly)

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DEAR NEW KZYX HONCHO

Letter to new general manager at KZYX.

(Reading time: 5 min.)

To: GM@kzyx.org

Hello, shiny new manager, fifth one in two years, but who's counting?

I'm Marco McClean. I've applied over and over. I've patiently jumped through all the hoops again and again. I've been ignored by the hierarchy there, and when I finally complained about being ignored I was treated like a bug. I have the skills, the dedication, the following and audience from print publications and on other radio stations, and from my teevee show and the grownups that I taught when they were little at the Mendocino Community School and the Albion Whale School in the 1980s, the theater companies I've worked for, etc… And, from any objective point of view, the people who run KZYX have no right to stand between me and my medium. I deserve to use the three frequencies MCPB squats on, just as much as if not more than anyone there deserves it. I am exactly the sort of person KZYX should have been actively recruiting all along, rather than being maliciously turfed out 27 years ago and even more maliciously shut out ever since, where genially-stoned-sounding sycophantic slackers who mumble the station ID and press a button to play a random-sounding playlist get ushered in past me and stay for fricking ever.

I have built whole radio stations from parts. I have worked in commercial and noncommercial radio. I have a long record of local media accomplishments (including twenty years of my current show, Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio, where I have never missed an airdate). And I'm writing today mostly because I want a grievance addressed and made right; I've been blackballed from KZYX from just after its inception in 1989 to the present day. Will you look into that, please? And kick whoever you have to kick in the ass, to get my show scheduled on KZYX at long last? Because I have been waiting, lately, literally for FIVE YEARS for action on this. If I had planted a tree every day for those five years, that would be about as many trees as KZYX has paying members. But, instead of planting trees, in addition to juggling several part-time jobs I have put twenty-plus hours of concentrated prep every week into each one of my weekly six-to-eight-hour shows, where I read on the air local writing and stories and articles from the web and from books and magazines, and I play old music and old-time radio drama and ephemeral films from my collection and new music that catches my ear. It's science and poetry and music and art and politics and health and public announcements and a swap shop and more, and it's more diverse and information-intensive and educational than any show anywhere. Compare it to a cross between BBC Radio 4, Travis T. Hipp, Jurgen Gothe, Jean Shepherd, and Firesign Theater.

Get on it. And get back to me with your progress. You should find a stack of applications and resumes and material from me there, as well as material in my favor from others I've worked for and helped. And if you don't find it, that's part of what I need you to get to the bottom of. I'm copying this to the kzyx-talk listserv to make sure you see it (I hope you're subscribed to that), because a few months ago I was told by the chirpy new program director that everything I sent to previous program directors had been going directly into the trash without being read. Also you should know - probably nobody there will tell you - that Stuart Campbell was filtering what got to the board and dealing with the board's email account as his own playground since he was board president and that continued when he was named manager, and he probably still has the keys to the entire system; he shouldn't - you need to change all the passwords; put it on your list of things to do. And I asked the program director for the names of members of the committee that decides who's on the air and who's not, because I'd heard it was chaired by Stuart Campbell (!), and that information was not made available. On the website the programming committee members are listed as Jane Futcher, Mary Aigner and Tim Bray. Jane Futcher isn't even on the board anymore, so. And if it's right about Mary and Tim - the idea of Mary Aigner and Tim Bray standing in judgment over me, or anyone, is an outrage. Who is really on that committee, and how often and when do they meet, and where, so I can invite people to show up and watch?

Speaking of the KZYX website, read it sometime. Important information is effectively hidden, and where it's not hidden it's out of date or obfuscated. And there's no contact info for the individual boardmembers nor for you, and there's no web forum so listeners and airpeople and boardmembers and staff can communicate on issues where everyone can see the same durable information. Fixing that and setting that up would be the work of fifteen minutes for your webmaster. If you have no webmaster, spend an hour taking a tutorial and learn to do it yourself. Just get the keys away from whoever lies to you that it's too hard. Meg Courtney nixed the idea of real, open communication by saying, "No! That would be a free for all."

Also just a half-dozen people in the office, including you, are together being paid a quarter of a million dollars a year while none of the local airpeople are paid at all, not even the ones who work hard at it, and that's clearly an injustice. And it's hard to enjoy what there is to enjoy about supposedly noncommercial KZYX when listeners are constantly bombarded with requests for money, and with advertisements for fundraising events that claim "all proceeds go to KZYX" when that is always a big fat lie. All proceeds in fact go to the bank accounts of the handful of people in the office. The annual tax-derived $120,000 to $190,000 CPB grant easily pays to keep and operate the station. You'll find that out when you look at the books. (In contrast KNYO's entire budget, including main studio, performance space, electricity, fees and paperwork, phone, internet, everything, comes to $10,000 to $12,000 a year, and Bob Young by himself manages everything you and all the people in your office are responsible for, but in a lazy afternoon per month, and he isn't paid. He does it because he loves radio. Talk to him; maybe come up with a few improvements and simplify the way things are done at KZYX. I'm sure you'll find a way to free up enough money to get the worthy airpeople properly paid.

These are only a few of the things you can easily and quickly deal with in your position. And you should do them now because, you know, if not now, when?

You'll find airchecks of hundreds of my radio shows from KMFB and then KNYO and KMEC at my weblog, so you can hear what my show sounds like. Pick something there and skim it.

Really, on KKUP in 1985 I had my radio kids at the Whale School on the air live through the phone for weekly radio drama shows three days after I contacted the station. At KMFB my show was on the air within a week of my contacting manager Bob Woelfel, and the underwriting I brought in paid for my airtime from the first day and throughout the almost fifteen years I was there. My show has always paid for itself. At KNYO, same story. At KMEC it took a little longer because Ed Nieves had to make a few telephone calls, edit the schedule page and move some shows around to make room, but they were courteous, enthusiastic, fast and real. Over the years people I encouraged got shows on all the radio stations I ever had anything to do with. In my newspapers in the 1980s and 1990s I gave a regular column to everyone who sent in their story on time, whether they were on their meds or off. My public access teevee show welcomed everyone who walked in the door and signed up on show nights, no matter what they smelled like or wanted to do with the camera. Every time I do my current show (KNYO/KMEC) in Fort Bragg the door is open and people can come in off the street and sit down at a microphone. I show up early, fully prepared, I do my superlative show, I fix anything that's broken that I know how to fix, I tidy up the studio behind me, normalize the board, and I leave. I solve problems and provide equipment for the station. I bring in underwriters. I am deserving of airtime.

Every radio station, commercial or noncommercial, that I have ever been part of has been more free and open and honest and transparent and welcoming of constructive dissent in its operation and decision-making process and finances than KZYX has.

Think of expediting scheduling my show on KZYX as an opportunity for you to address an unconscionably delayed repair ticket. I know you just got there, but everyone before you just got there once, too, and they, like you, accepted a princely salary equal to 1,200 yearly $50 memberships, but they faked their way through the job, accomplished nothing and fled.

Be different. Be better than them. I know you can do it.

Marco McClean

memo@mcn.org

http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

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(Ed note: Unless the new manager at KZYX has been handed the station's ancient enemies list, it really is outrageous that Marco, a County old timer, continues to be non-personed, having first been blackballed by KZYX's mercenary founding father, Sean Donovan, twenty years ago. Marco offers a lively, often funny, mostly locally-based radio program. Much of the station's present programming, especially the locally-generated talk programming, is generated by newcomers and relative newcomers. And much of it is simply awful. To keep Marco out, the station's tiny cadre of "toxic personalities," in the apt description of a recently departed staffer, ignores his applications without even the courtesy of a reply, let alone a reason for shutting him out. From what we hear at Boonville's beloved weekly, the new manager is a decent person (as was his predecessor) with real media bona fides. We hope he at last gives Marco a break, or at least a fair hearing.)

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FORMER 3RD DISTRICT SUPERVISOR, TOM WOODHOUSE, has established a Go Fund Me donor site at https://www.gofundme.com/vx-helping-tom

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CATCH OF THE DAY, January 12, 2017

Barajas, Barry, Clearwater, Currier

ZACHARY BARAJAS, Ukiah. Rape.

WILLIAM BARRY, Ukiah. Drunk in public. (Frequent Flyer)

SAMAYA CLEARWATER, Willits. Domestic assault, battery of peace officer, probation revocation.

EMMETT CURRIER, Probation revocation.

Hewitt, Lopes, Lopez

NOEL HEWITT, Fort Bragg. Domestic assault.

ANTHONY LOPES SR., Willits. Drunk in public, probation revocation.

CHANDRA LOPEZ, Covelo. Drunk in public, resisting.

Lynch, McCartney,Montalvo, Rios

FALON LYNCH, Willits. Probation revocation.

KYLE MCCARTNEY, Willits. Under influence, possession of smoking/injecting device, probation revocation.

DANIEL MONTALVO, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

NATHAN RIOS JR., Ukiah. Failure to appear.

Schneider, Wake, Williams

NATALIE SCHNEIDER, Lakeport/Ukiah. Fugitive from justice.

TASHA WAKE, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

BRYAN WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Under influence, probation revocation.

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OBAMA & SINGLE PAYER

by Russell Mokhiber

In his farewell address, President Obama bluntly laid down a challenge – “If anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we’ve made to our health care system – that covers as many people at less cost – I will publicly support it.”

There is such a plan. Not only does it cover as many people as Obamacare, it covers everyone. And at less cost than Obamacare.

Everybody in. Nobody out.

And Obama did publicly support it. Before he turned against it.

That plan was put together more than fifty years ago – it’s called single payer.

And we as a country implemented it for people of a certain age – it’s called Medicare.

The single payer Medicare for All bill has been languishing in Congress for decades – it’s called HR 676.

It will again be introduced into the new Congress sometime over the next couple of weeks.

And before Obama was against single payer, Obama was for it.

In 2003, as a state Senator in Illinois, Obama publicly supported single payer.

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program,” Obama said at the time. “I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that’s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.”

Which of course the Democrats did.

And then Obama let the insurance industry write Obamacare and push single payer off the table.

(Russell Mokhiber is the editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter. Courtesy, CounterPunch.org.)

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ONE OF OURS OR ONE OF THEIRS?

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KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!: a presentation about Immigrant Rights Tuesday, Jan. 17th, 6 pm

Attorney, Antoinette Gonzalez, about immigration rights & how best to prepare & protect undocumented individuals. She will also share information about potential immigration remedies & about “What’s Next? - Proposed Immigration Relief.” Antoinette Gonzalez is a California licensed attorney & a solo practitioner that enjoys legal advocacy in immigration and nationality law. She is currently a Board Member of the Northern CA Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

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FAMILY RESOURCE FAIR, Thursday, Jan. 19th 5-7 pm. Who are the helpers in your neighborhood? Do you know what local resources are available for your family? Come meet the rockstars from California Mentor, Bikers Against Child Abuse, North Coast Opportunities, Lilliput Children’s Services, Mendo Baby, and many more organizations. Learn about who they are, what they do, how you can get help, or how to get involved. Refreshments will be served. Whether you’ve already started a family, are planning on starting one, or want to support others, you’re not alone. We’re here for you!

(www.mendolibrary.org)

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GRAFT & CORROBORATION

If you think planting locally adapted seeds and personally grafted fruit trees is a fitting activity for early 2017, mark Mendocino Permaculture’s 34th Annual Winter Abundance Workshop on Saturday February 4, 2017 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — rain or shine — at the Boonville Fairgrounds as high priority your calendar.

There are free workshops on how to:

choose the right scion wood (a piece of wood from a tree you know has delicious fruit) from a tree that is adapted to your micro climate;

graft or propagate trees, vines, or shrubs with instruction and hands-on workshops;

save your own seeds; and

plan for a market garden or your own home self-sufficiency.

You will be able to buy fruit tree rootstock, pick out the scion wood of your choice, and graft your own tree (or an orchard!) for only a few dollars a tree. There will also be tables for the seed, vine, and cutting exchange, so bring your favorite saved seeds and cuttings and take home new ones others can recommend.

An example of what you might find to propagate besides fruit trees and seeds is Glenora — a gem of a grape in our climate zone. It’s a wonderful fresh-eating grape. The taste and texture are unique – not too strong, not too mild, not too soft, not too anything — just right for high consumption. The deep black skin is rich in phenolic antioxidants, yet mild in taste. Glenora grapes hang ripe for many weeks without deteriorating in quality, and they make excellent raisins and juice. Glenora is an original experimental “American hybrid” grape, made in the 1940s of Ontario X Black Kishmish, at the (Geneva) New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.

Food and beverages will be available for sale at least through lunch time. The full class schedule, how to cut scions to bring to share, preparation of plants to bring, and rootstocks that will be available is at www.avfoodshed.com. There will be tree, plant, and winter farmers' market vendors at the event. Please note that the Fairgrounds does not allow dogs.

This workshop is co-sponsored by Anderson Valley Adult School and Anderson Valley Foodshed with help from the Master Gardener program of U.C. Cooperative Extension. It is a free public event conceived by Mendocino Permaculture and it has evolved over 34 years with a lot of help from our friends. Our costs are compensated by rootstock sales and donations. There is no charge for admission, classes, seeds, cuttings, or scion wood.

We appreciate additional volunteers for several aspects of the event. If you would like to volunteer to help or need more information, please call Barbara/Rob 895-3897, Richard 459-5926, or Mark 463-8672.

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SAN LUIS DELTA-MENDOTA WATER AUTHORITY WILL CONSIDER SPENDING ANOTHER $4 MILLION ON DELTA TUNNELS

by Dan Bacher

The San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority will today consider a resolution to dump another $4 million into the California WaterFix, Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan, at their board meeting. as revealed in the meeting agenda.

The agenda and comments can be found at the SLDMWA website. The PDFs can be also found also at the Restore the Delta website.

The resolution is agenda item #6:

Board to Consider Adopting Resolution Making Findings Under California Environmental Quality Act, Authorizing Execution of the Affirmation and Amendment to the Agreement for Funding Between the Department of Water Resources and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority for the Costs of Environmental Analysis, Planning and Design of Delta Conservation Measures, Including Delta Conveyance Options, and Authorizing Actions Related Thereto,Peltier

The resolution says the additional money needed for California WaterFix planning was the result of a request by the California Department of Resources.

“Whereas, as of December 20, 2016, DWR has informed the Water Authority that, to complete the DHCCP Planning Phase, it will require more than $240 Million and has asked the Water Authority to make an additional contribute of money toward the DHCCP Planning,” it states.

The resolution said the “amount of proceeds and net investment earnings the Water Authority had not expended was $4,256,566; that amount is subject to future interest earnings, and gains or losses incurred before shares are drawn.”

On March 10 , 2016, the Securities and Change Commission (SEC) charged Westlands, California’s largest agricultural water district, with “misleading investors about its financial condition as it issued a $77 million bond offering" according to a statement from the Commission. You can read the complete story about the SEC investigation at: www.dailykos.com/

The authority was placed on negative credit watch as a result of the Westlands Water District engaging in “a little Enron accounting.”

In a statement, Restore the Delta noted, “While their credit rating was raised at the end of 2016, the California Department of Water Resources is asking San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority and the Bureau of Reclamation for a contribution that may exceed the Federal share for planning costs for continuing with CA WaterFix. (Click here for resolution).

Pending Federal and State audits are currentlly examining how Westlands Water District, a San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority member, advanced payments that were applied to planning costs for the Delta Tunnels in return for water payment credits, even though documents filed for the Federal Assistance Agreement indicate that Federal and State contractors were to pay for an even 50-50 split for planning costs, the group said.

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, RTD’s Executive Director, expressed her concerns over today's pending vote:

“Existing memorandums of understanding between State and Federal Contractors require a 50-50 split for the costs, and Federal Assistance Agreements require the State of California to fund the planning effort by at least 50 percent. he San Luis Delta-Mendota resolution seems to be ignoring these requirements, which ironically is the type of contract violation that Westlandssues government agencies over after contracts are executed. Even more troubling, the resolution does not say where the additional funding for planning is coming from.

“Metropolitan Water District’s Jeff Kightlinger has repeatedly told his board that MWD will not be making further contributions until the project is approved. Santa Clara Valley Water District has temporarily suspended its CA WaterFix planning work group. Is the Department of Water Resources contributing the additional millions required to move forward with Delta Tunnels planning? What would be the source for that funding? California taxpayers? How will the additional millions be used? For marketing campaigns to convince Californians that they need the tunnels, when they don’t?

“Testimony by project opponents at the State Water Resources Control Board clearly indicates that Delta water users will be greatly harmed by the Delta Tunnels, from individual landowners to the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on the Delta for multiple domestic uses of water. The State has failed to show no injury to Delta water users, and the impacts to water quality from salinity to toxic algal blooms cannot be mitigated. Continuing to throw good ratepayer and taxpayer money after bad is insane, especially when we consider that hundreds of local water projects need to be set in place to collect heavy rainwater from storm events like the one we are experiencing, instead of financing one project to convey melted snowpack when snowpack will be available with less and less frequency.”

* * *

POST NASAL DRIP

Editor,

Re, Snot Therapy.

I don’t know who sits there and comes up with these fictitious aliases but I think thanstead [sic] of them focusing on a scale of rating nasal drip you should go set the standard for spelling the word about wrong. You had nearly a whole column droning on over me but you still somehow topped the last paragraph with a blemish! How hard is it to make a simple legible response? Clearly you woke up Jan 04, 17 and used the wrong nasal spray with your coffee. Go back to the city, flatlander.

Jewel Dyer, A#20550

Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Corrections Division

(Mendocino County Jail)

951 Low Gap Road, Ukiah, CA 95482

* * *

CLARIFICATION

Bushels of Bliss for the Boontling Greeley Sheet

Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra (from Rig Veda 7.59.12)

Om Try-Ambakam Yajaamahe

Sugandhim Pusstti-Vardhanam

Urvaarukam-Iva Bhandanaan

Mrtyor-Mukssiiya Maa-[A]mrtaat

1: Om, We worship the Three-Eyed One (Lord Shiva),

2: Who is fragrant (spiritual essence) and who nourishes all beings.

3: May he sever our bondage of samsara (worldly life), like a cucumber (severed from the bondage of its creeper),...

4: ...and thus liberate us from the fear of death, by making us realize that we were never separated from our immortal nature.

 

22 Comments

  1. BB Grace January 13, 2017

    I’m seeing a stark contrast in left/right media. At this point right wing media is exclusive establishing a parallel reality. For example, left wing MSM headlines on Google News concern Israelis found and struck a weapons shipment from Iran to Hezbollah in rural Syria (no deaths).

    ON the right, the bombing matches headlines I had to search to find something on the left, because I know many of you are incapable of reading right wing/ Alt, whatever you want to call it, so here’s a left wing Indy media that you can feel safe and trust:

    Israel is the legal occupant of the West Bank, says the Court!
    Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2bd_1484312355#buB5Td1t6HDPj5d2.99

    On the right we have detailed information about this International Court of Appeals verdict I’m happy to share as I’m all for freedom of information.

    • Harvey Reading January 13, 2017

      As nearly as I can tell, that opinion is worth about as much as an opinion from one of our federal appellate courts on international matters. Neither has international jurisdiction.

      • BB Grace January 13, 2017

        There were no opinions offered Mr. Reading; Just the appeal results are important being the pending the Paris Summit on the 19th.

        • Harvey Reading January 13, 2017

          It was nothing more than opinion. A judgement on international matters is not within the purview of that court. The clowns were simply letting their racist opinion be known for publicity purposes, which is highly inappropriate behavior, but not surprising, given that it is a French court. In other words, the frog court was acting out a frog stunt, in line with other frog discrimination against Muslims. France has about as much real effect on world politics as the U.K., which is to say, practically none. Both are U.S. puppets, and have been since the second war.

          • BB Grace January 13, 2017

            It is an opinion of the Appeals Court of Versailles Mr. Reading, not to be confused with media opinion, which employs slang and insults rather than fact. A court opinion becomes a fact. MSM opinion does not.

  2. Harvey Reading January 13, 2017

    Re: A READER COMMENTS (about idiots driving too fast for conditions):

    Apparently it’s the same everywhere. Here in WY, it seems that snow and ice on the road are the signal for idiots to speed up and tailgate in the winter. In the summer, the (very) occasional heavy rain associated with a thunderstorm causes the same stupid response. What I do is to find somewhere to pull off until the idiots have moved on. Occasionally I will see one of them off to the side of the road, in the ditch, and I just drive on, albeit with a big smile on my face.

  3. Harvey Reading January 13, 2017

    Re: OBAMA & SINGLE PAYER

    Simply in keeping with the rest of Mr. Hope and Change’s so-called ‘legacy’.

  4. sohumlily January 13, 2017

    Fuck Israel.

    • Bruce Anderson January 13, 2017

      That should be “Bleep Israel.” Please, Sohum.

      Thanks to the Democrats, and now Trump, the two-state solution is off the table.

      • sohumlily January 13, 2017

        How’s this?

        F*** Israel

        ‘Bleep’ just can’t express it with the right nuance.

        • Bruce Anderson January 13, 2017

          Perfect.

    • LouisBedrock January 13, 2017

      Qué se vaya a la mierda Israel, la puta que le parió, y la profundamente ignorante y estúpida gente que lo apoya con necios argumentos como los de la vieja retrasada que empezó esta conversación.

      • LouisBedrock January 13, 2017

        Forgive me–just expressing my exasperation with Zionist stupidity.

        Since 1955 there have been 77 United Nations resolutions condemning Israel—most of them supported by every country in the world except the United States and the Marshall Islands. Zionists like BB Grace poo poo these resolutions as manifestations of anti-Semitism.

        However some obscure court in France with no importance and no relevance issues an idiotic edict proclaiming that Zionists are the legal occupants of Palestine, and these dimwitted Zealots boast to the world that Israel’s existence as an apartheid state had been vindicated.

        The issue is moot. Palestine is occupied by Zionists and more than three billion dollars in our taxes support this appalling little concentration camp in the Middle East.

        South Africa was brought to heal by popular outrage and political and economic pressures. The same will happen to Israel.

        Are you outraged that your taxes support Israel?
        Do something:

        https://bdsmovement.net

        • BB Grace January 14, 2017

          I don’t reject UN resolutions against Israel as being anti-Semitic Mr. Bedrock.

          “Anti-Semitic” and terms like “kike”, “Heb”, are part of the WWI & II era; Remnants of Holocaust survivors experience and not applicable to Israel since ’67 War, by my research.

          Weir’s book, “If Americans Knew” is a popular book in the alt-right having made several rounds in debates through Obama years to the point of being a gateway book for voting for Trump. The debates on the right continue in relation to Trump’s appointments. I see censorship on the left, and that was my point yesterday. I found out that it’s because the left intend to eliminate Trump and his appointments, not work with them, so it’s not censorship, it’s genuine lack of interest.

          There are 201 UN resolutions against Israel since 1955; 226 listed on Wiki (incomplete list). How many Resolutions against the USA? China? England? Russia? None. North Korea has 14. Syria 17, 5 just this year.

          I’d rather my taxes didn’t support the UN.

          • LouisBedrock January 14, 2017

            The tar baby must always have the last word, mustn’t she?

            This comment is typical BB Grace: unsubstantiated declarations, ad hominem attack, non-sequiturs, and incoherent nonsense.

            “‘Anti-Semitic’ and terms like ‘kike’, ‘Heb’, are part of the WWI & II era; Remnants of Holocaust survivors experience and not applicable to Israel since ’67 War, by my research.”

            Huh? By “your research”? Would you care to share some of your sources? This is nonsensical and irrelevant.

            2. “Weir’s book, “If Americans Knew” is a popular book in the alt-right having made several rounds in debates through Obama years to the point of being a gateway book for voting for Trump.”

            Did you make this up yourself or do you employ a copywriter?
            You seem to see the Alt right as responsible for everything from climate change to bad breath. The only criticism of Weir I’ve encountered is from The Anti-Defamation League, which is composed mostly of Zionist alte kakers like you. Weir is respected by such organizations and publications as Fair and Accuracy In Media, CounterPunch, The Socialist Worker, and The New York Times. Even the lowly Wikepedia—from which you obtain so much of your “research” data, gives her a fair shake.

            3. “The debates on the right continue in relation to Trump’s appointments. I see censorship on the left, and that was my point yesterday. I found out that it’s because the left intend to eliminate Trump and his appointments, not work with them, so it’s not censorship, it’s genuine lack of interest.”

            I’m a translator, but I find this indecipherable.

            4. “There are 201 UN resolutions against Israel since 1955; 226 listed on Wiki (incomplete list). How many Resolutions against the USA? China? England? Russia? None. North Korea has 14. Syria 17, 5 just this year.

            I’d rather my taxes didn’t support the UN.”

            Wiki is not a serious source of information for anyone with an education beyond the fifth grad.

            http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/01/27/rogue-state-israeli-violations-of-u-n-security-council-resolutions/

            http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stat/un.html

            The article in the “ifamericans new” site was quoting Paul Findley’s book DELIBERATE DECEPTIONS (1998, pages 192-4) and covered the period of 1955 to 1992. Thus my figure of 77 was an understatement.

            I’d rather my subscription payment to the AVA didn’t support your idiotic comments.

            • BB Grace January 14, 2017

              Mr. Bedrock, I’ll respond to your questions with respect how important the last word is to you.

              1. Wiki is a resource, though I don’t always agree with Wiki, it serves as a common reference.

              2. The peace movement has been under attack a long time. I worked with many Jews in the past so it was pretty remarkable after 9/11 when A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition got exclusive contract to lead the peace movement and slowly but surely eliminated Jews and continue to target Jews as Medea Benjamin is now under attack by Alison Weir’s group: https://richardedmondson.net/2016/12/16/running-from-the-truth-code-pink-excludes-alison-weir-from-event/

              3. I believe you Mr. Bedrock. It’s the effect of being a subject to censorship.

              4. The article you provided is from 2010 Mr. Bedrock; Which is pretty old to be considered a relevant reference.

              You would rather your subscription payment to the AVA didn’t support my idiotic comments.

              I remain in appreciation to the AVA for the opportunity to share my observations while enjoying all the comments. I thought I might bring some diversity of thought to the AVA as I don’t feel the need or will to attack or offend readers. Now that it has been brought to my awareness that my comments are not appreciated, I apologize in further appreciation of the reality check.

              Sincerely

  5. Jim Updegraff January 13, 2017

    BBGrace: Israel is a theocratic apartheid country and the West Bank is illegally occupied. You spout the usual Zionist crap about a right of return.

    • BB Grace January 13, 2017

      What I did, Mr. Updegraff, is provide an example of the differences I’m witnessing between information feeds on the right and left using an example from the left that is a known anti-Zionist feed, for your comfort.

      I have not made an opinion of the Court finding.

    • LouisBedrock January 13, 2017

      Remember Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, Jim.

  6. Jim Updegraff January 13, 2017

    In regard to the airstrike in Syria that may come to an end since Russia is providing Hezbollah with anti-aircraft missiles. they already have anti-ship missiles.

    • BB Grace January 13, 2017

      The strike was ground to ground Mr. Updegraff.

      I have no investment or stake in the future of the ME so I don’t have a side. I have interests in political science and philosophy which Palestine has a long complicated history worth study as it eliminates anger and fear while abetting peace and understanding.

  7. John Fremont January 13, 2017

    Immigrant Rights Tuesday, Jan. 17th, 6 pm

    FAMILY RESOURCE FAIR, Thursday, Jan. 19th 5-7 pm.

    Um, where?

    Try this: Birthday celebration, Monday, Jan. 16th from 11 am to mid-afternoon at Trinity Lutheran Church, E. Redwood St., Fort Bragg. Come honor Dr. King, march around town, enjoy lunch (I recommend my clam chowder), a panel discussion, hot entertainment, old and new friends… Did I mention the clam chowder?

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