MCT: Friday, June 28, 2019

• Second Debate
• GOP
• Warming Trend
• Hospital Budget
• Philo Firehouse
• Boonville Anthem
• Homeless Gone
• Silicon Warriors
• Fort Bragg
• Sex Scene
• Rebuild America
• Crafts Fair
• Quilt Show
• Boontling Faves
• Duff Home
• Vaughn Bonus
• MTA Driver
• MCOE News
• Meet Betsy
• Sidewalk Vending
• Public Pay
• Ring Cycle
• Book Sale
• PV Coalition
• Chinatown Ladies
• Real Activists
• Problems Solved
• ISIS Cheney
• NSS Tix
• Boonville Market
• Urban Greenhouse
• Yesterday's Catch
• Self Education
• RFK
• Old Men
• PA Visions
• Ideation
• Rome-mance
• Pure Mendocino
• Found Object

FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE SECOND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Kamala Harris makes a decisive intervention, Joe Biden stumbles and the generation gap yawns

by Ed Pilkington

It was the second and last night of Democratic presidential debates in Miami, and sparks were flying. Here are the five big takeaways:

Joe Biden takes incoming fire

It was always going to be the big question of the night: how would the former vice-president and current comfortable frontrunner fare once he finally got in front of the television cameras flanked by rivals, some decades his junior?

Until Thursday night, Biden had been in a state of virtual self-imposed purdah, keeping public exposure to a minimum. But there was nowhere to hide under those brutal TV lights, and at the end of two hours Biden came off stage looking decidedly more worn than when he entered it.

He began sure-footedly enough. His opening words were “Donald Trump” – a pointed reminder that Biden’s main claim to the nomination is his conviction that he is the candidate to unseat the US president. “Donald Trump thinks Wall Street built America. Ordinary working-people Americans built America,” he said.

But then it started slipping. That carefully arranged mannequin of dependable Joe Biden, the politician who gets the job done, the friend and deputy to Barack Obama, started sliding.

Biden came across as diffident, tentatively raising a finger when he wanted to speak – a manner that had even the NBC News hosts baffled. He spoke most passionately about what he had done in the past, rather than what he dreamed of doing in the future.

Asked to state the one big reform he would push in his first term as president, he replied: “The first thing I would do is defeat Donald Trump.”

An older guy who doesn’t get the question, let alone answer it. At worst, Biden started to look the one thing that he must avoid to retain his frontrunner status: like a man watching the world spin beyond his control.

Kamala Harris seizes the day

If Biden looked rattled, he had Kamala Harris to thank. From the start of the debate, she had the feel of a politician who had fire in her belly and wind in her sails.

It’s been a while coming. The US senator from California has struggled to articulate her vision, and has been criticized for her record as California’s former top prosecutor.

But on Thursday she turned that around, transforming her law enforcement credentials from a vulnerability into a weapon. “America does not want to witness a food fight, it wants to know how to put food on the table” she admonished the other nine candidates on stage like naughty children as they squabbled.

Then came the one-liner that will probably go down in the annals of presidential debates alongside “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy”.

She already had Biden against the ropes over his recent statements about the “civility” of having worked productively in the US Senate with notorious racial segregationists. They got things done together, Biden had argued, including in opposing federal bussing of children to desegregate schools.

“I do not believe you are a racist,” Harris opened while addressing the former vice-president. You knew from the chill that crossed Biden’s face that history was in the making.

“It’s personal, it was hurtful, to hear you talk about the reputations of two US senators who built their careers on segregation,” she continued. Biden stiffened.

And then the killer lines: “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate their public school and she was bussed to school every day. That little girl was me.”

We’ll have to wait to learn whether the exchange was the beginning of the end for Joe Biden’s presidential hopes. But we already know that this is the beginning of the beginning for Kamala Harris.

The great generational divide

There are exactly 40 years separating the youngest candidate on stage – Pete Buttigieg, aged 37, and Bernie Sanders, aged 77. And it showed.

Much as they tried to project their experience and strength, Biden and Sanders found it difficult to hold the line. Eric Swalwell, a congressman from California, 38, broke the taboo subject by announcing it was time to “pass the torch”. “I’m still holding on to that torch”, Biden replied.

Buttigieg alluded to the generational issue more subtly – as Buttigieg tends to do, asking viewers to “help me deliver that new generation to Washington before it’s too late”.

A good night for …

Kamala Harris, obviously.

Pete Buttigieg. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana was challenged over his handling of the recent fatal shooting in his town of a black man by a white policeman who had his body camera turned off. He weathered the storm.

Buttigieg admitted that South Bend’s police force remains disproportionally white “because I couldn’t get it done”.

He added: “I am determined to bring about a day when a white person and a black person driving a vehicle feels the exact same thing when they see a policeman – a feeling of safety not fear.”

Gun violence as a debating issue. Swalwell said he would ban and then buy back every assault weapon in America; Buttigieg, leaning on his status as the only war veteran on stage, said that guns were “tearing us apart”; Harris promised to take executive action to ban the importation of assault rifles.

A bad night for …

Joe Biden, obviously.

Bernie Sanders, who looked as though he were stuck in the same old groove.

Those also-rans. There have been plenty of moments over these past two nights when nobody seemed to be able to remember why certain individuals were even on stage. Were they gate-crashers?

That thought came forcefully on Thursday night with the two jokers in the pack – Andrew Yang, a former tech entrepreneur, and Marianne Williamson, a bestselling author of self-help healing books (typical title: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever). What was Williamson doing talking about love being the way to defeat Trump?

(theguardian.com)

MILD AND MOSTLY DRY conditions are expected today, but a warming trend will begin and continue across interior areas through the next week. A weak shower with an isolated lightning strike or two will be possible near northeastern Trinity county and the Yolla Bolly mountains. (National Weather Service)

INTERIM COAST HOSPITAL CEO Wayne Allen told the Hospital Board on Tuesday that without major cuts in spending and possible elimination of hospital services, the budget he prepared “would lead to a bankruptcy filing.”

Again.

Insurance costs are up, the electronic bill and records system is said to cost about $1.4 million (but might be negotiated down somewhat — although they still don’t have a fully working system yet), and covering payroll in upcoming months will be increasingly problematic.

Possible affiliation (i.e., buyout) is also under discussion with two chains — a central California doctors group and the Adventists) expressing interest, but nothing firm and no particulars so far.

For the first time in our memory, the hospital departments have been asked to prepare individual budgets instead of having them assigned by the Finance Officer or CEO. Suffice to say, they’re not ready and won’t be any time soon. And whatever they come up with will probably be more than the Hospital can offer. Plus some departments are very involved with and dependent on other departments, so they’ll have to make assumptions that will probably be dubious.

(Mark Scaramella)

BRADY, REGINE AND MORGAN of AVFD, along with several friends and family worked all day on cleaning and restoring our Philo fire house! Both Brady and Regine will be responding out of this station to better serve the Philo area. Don Gowan has long been responding alone from this station and the new energy from these two is going to be a great benefit to Philo and Anderson Valley as a whole!

(AV Fire Department Facebook post)

BOONVILLE ANTHEM

It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,

A beautiful day for a neighbor,

Would you be mine?

Could you be mine?

It’s a neighborly day in this beautywood,

A neighborly day for a beauty,

Would you be mine?

Could you be mine?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,

I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let’s make the most of this beautiful day,

Since we’re together, we might as well say,

Would you be mine?

Could you be mine?

Won’t you be my neighbor?

Won’t you please,

Won’t you please,

Please won’t you be my neighbor?

AIRPORT BLVD, UKIAH, BEFORE & AFTER THE HOMELESS CAMP CLEAN-UP

"YOU CAN GO LOOK at the Golden State Warriors," he said on the syndicated radio show, Breakfast Club, this week. "When I first got there, we were kind of up and coming. And I always say we priced our real fans out. Now, you look at it, who's our fanbase? Silicon Valley, the richest community in the world." (Tom Tolbert, on the Warriors move to SF)

FORT BRAGG FROM THE MILL SITE

SEX INCLUSION

Dear Editor,

RE your comment questioning the inclusion of the sex scene in your nephew's film: In a recent issue of The Atlantic, in a very long and detailed article on the sex lives of Millenials ("What's Causing the Sex Recession? Sex On the Decline: Why are Young People Having Less Sex?" by Caroline Kitchener, 11/14/18) it stated that many of them confess to learning "how to have sex" from porn films on-line… most of which depict sex as an aggressive and fairly violent act on the part of the male. YUCK!!

The sex scene in Robert Mailer Anderson's new film "Windows On The World" shows how sex can be a tender, caring and sensual act, and in that respect, as a teaching aid for young people, I applaud its inclusion in the film!

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, by the way, and hope to see it again. It's really an important story to tell, and I hope it gets wide circulation.

Nancy MacLeod

Philo

4TH OF JULY ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR IN MENDOCINO

On Thursday, July 4th the Rotary Park Arts & Crafts Fair will take place in Mendocino from 10am to 4pm. Formerly known as the Mendocino Street Fair and taking place on Heider Field near the post office, it now has a new name and location. Rotary Park is located on Main Street at Lansing near the route of the 4th of July parade which begins at noon. This is year 19 for the fair. Local and regional artisans will exhibit their work in a variety of mediums. Admission is free. The event is organized by committed volunteers. Money raised from booth fees benefits the Mendocino Rotary Foundation. A big thanks to them for letting us use the park.

Information at: mendocinostreetfairs@yahoo.com

THE 23RD ANNUAL FORT BRAGG QUILT SHOW will be held on Saturday, June 29th

ROUT THE KIMMIE IN THE BOAT

by Jeffery Gleaves

Between 1880 and 1920, the residents of a relatively isolated Northern California town called Boonville spoke a secret language. Boontling, as the locals called it, was an elaborate jargon developed either by the men working the hop fields who wished to keep their conversations private, or by women who wanted to gossip unobtrusively about a young lady who had found herself kaishbook (pregnant). Whatever its origins, the language soon spread through the small community, who used it to confuse outsiders. The lexicon included phonologically changed words borrowed from regional Appalachian dialect, Spanish, and the local Pomo Indian language; it later expanded to include invented figures of speech, nouns turned into verbs, onomatopoeia, and other neologisms.

In 1971, Charles C. Adams, who was widely recognized as an authority on the dialect, published Boontling: An American Lingo, a linguistic and historical study on the slang, which came complete with a dictionary. Here are a few of our favorites:

almittey: n. A burp, esp. a loud one; one who burps loudly. {This was the name of a local woman who distinguished herself for her habitual noisy belching.}

apple-head: n. A girl, esp. one’s girl friend. {This is rooted in an incident in which someone used the term derisively to refers to a Boonter’s girl friend who allegedly had a noticeably small head.}

backdated chuck: n. A backward, ill-informed person—naive and stupid {A combination of backdated (outmoded, behind-the-times) and chuck (a dull person).}

bahl: mod. Good; of excellent quality. One of the most commonly used Boontling words. {An old Boonter of Scotch ancestry is said to have made a judgment of high quality in any product by saying, “That’s bahl.” Some informants say the base is “ball” (though all agree the pronunciation was, and should be the “broad a” {ah}) and that the allusion was to Ball Band shoes originally}

barl: v. To shoot a gun. Also occurs as keebarl. {Informants insist that this is imitative of the sound of a rifle report.}

barney: v. To embrace or hug; to kiss; to “smooch.” {An affectionate Boonter named Barney addressed women he knew with such names as “darling‘” and often kissed them in greeting them and in saying goodbye.}

bat: v. To masturbate. {Possibly back formation from batter (bachelor), based on an assumption about males living in solitude.}

beljeek: n. A rabbit; esp. a black-tailed jack rabbit. {Phonemic reshaping (including coalescence) of a combination of Belgian (Belgian hare) and jack(jack rabbit).}

blooch: v. To chatter aimlessly. {Phonemic reshaping of blue jay, probably through intermediate form blooje.}

boo: n. Potato. {Borrowed from Pomo Indian bu.} Example: The dehigged kimmie gormed boos ’n weel bomtooks: The poor man ate potatoes and wild grapes

breggo: n. A sheep. {Borrowed from Spanish borrego, which specifically refers to a yearling lamb, one not two years old.}

briney: n. The ocean; the coastal area.

briney glimmer: n. A lighthouse on the coast. {Combination of briney(ocean, coast) and glimmer (lantern).}

buckey walter: n. A pay telephone {Combination of buckey (nickel) and “Walter.” A man named Walter Levi owned the first phone in the valley; as a result walter levi is a telephone. Early pay phone required only a nickel.}

burlap: v. To have sexual intercourse; to engage another in intercourse. {Anecdotal. A young Boonter is said to have surprised a store clerk having intercourse with a girl lying on a bale of burlap bags in the storeroom. He emerged exclaiming to his companions, “They’re burlapin’ in there.”}

charl: v. To milk a cow. {Probably imitative of the sound of a jet of milk from a hand-milked cow striking the bottom of an empty or nearly empty bucket. Perhaps related to dialectal char “chore.”}

chimpmunk: v. To hoard; to store up. {Allusion to the habit of the rodent named to store food for winter.}

cock: v.t. To become angry. {Some informants relate this to the cocking of a gun and to the belligerent behavior of male fowl. Probably related to the dialectal verb meaning “to fight, wrangle, quarrel.”}

cock a fister on.: v. To get into a fight; to start a fight. {Unusual combination of merged verb cock on (see cock) and fister (a fist-fight).}

deeblin’-’n-deetlin’: n. A work session in which lambs are castrated and have their tail docked {Combination of sound-alike phonemically reshaped line terms for de-balling and de-tailing.}

deek: v. To look; to examine (esp. with on).

doolsey: n. Candy; sweets; sugar. {Borrowed from Spanish dulce, perhaps indirectly through Pomo Indian.}

doolsey boo: n. Sweet potato {Combination of doolsey (sweet) and boo(potato) See both components.}

ear-settin’: n. A scolding; a reprimand. {An adaption of the expression “to set an ear,” the lingo verb for “scold.” It is an allusion to the method of punishing sheep dogs for misconduct by twisting their ears. The transference to verbal assault on the ears is an interesting figurative shift.}

eeble: v.t. To scrutinize; to look over thoroughly; to look at. {Functional shift of the noun eeble, like the conversion of English eyeball.}

fence-jumpin’: n. Adultery; acts of marital infidelity. {Allusion to one’s leaving his own pasture to graze somewhere else.}

fratty shams: n. Grapevines. {Combination of fratty (wine) and shams(brush).}

ganno: n. An apple of any variety; specially a small red apple of inferior overall quality, but suitable for drying. {Said to be Spanish, but this has not been verified. Professional pomologists say strain names are almost impossible to trace.}

golden eagles: n. Women’s garments, esp. panties {Golden Eagle was a popular brand of flour; the sacks were often used for making clothing, esp. underclothing. Other brand-name sacks were used, too.}

gorm: v. To eat.

hair buryin’: n. A shivaree. {An allusion to the pubic area and the sexual aspects of the wedding night.}

harp: v. To talk; esp. to talk Boontling.

heefus: n. and mod. A person who does not act responsibly; characterized by incompetence. {Phonemically reshaped half-ass, related as a modifier to half-assed.}

kaishbook: mod. Pregnant. {Pomo Indian.}

kilockety: v. To travel by train. {Imitative of the sounds of metal wheels on rails.}

kiloppety: v. To travel by horse-drawn vehicle or on horseback. {Imitative of the sound of shod hooves on a roadway.}

kimmie; kimmey: n. A man; a male visitor. {Combination of the phonemically altered form of come and noun suffix-y. Local informants suggest that the base word was noun come-along—a term for any man passing a home of homestead. The probable base is Scotch kimmer, a form of comer.} This is one of the most common lingo words.

mate gormin’: n. The practice of oral-genital contacts, either cunnilingusor fellatio. {Combination of mate (pudendum) and gormin’ (eating).}

moldunes: n. Female breasts, esp. very large. {One local moldune (large woman) had noteworthy mammary development.}

rookyto: n. A California valley quail. {Imitative of one of the calls made by this bird.}

rout the kimmie in the boat: An expression meaning to get a female pregnant.

squirrel-ribby: mod. Of or pertaining to the erect phallus. {Analogy between veins on referent and rib ridges on a squirrel’s body.}

taigey: mod. Manic; severally emotionally disturbed. {A man nicknamed Taig (short for tiger) had to be committed because he became wildly irrational.}

wess: v. To fib; to exaggerate. {A Boonter named Wes often “stretched” the truth, esp. in telling stories.}

(Jeffery Gleaves is digital manager of The Paris Review.)

THE WILLIAM WALLACH DUFF HOME, Whose Residents, Per Local Lore, Were Instrumental In Developing Boontling.

(via MendocinoSportsPlus)

VAUGHN CASHES IN

by Tyler Tate

Maria Carrillo graduate gets hefty signing bonus in White Sox deal

Andrew Vaughn has the big bucks. Now he can get himself ready for the big leagues. Vaughn, the Maria Carrillo High grad who was the No. 3 overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft earlier this month, agreed to a $7.221 million signing bonus Wednesday, according to numerous reports. The Chicago White Sox have yet to confirm the reports, so it is yet unknown where in the team’s system Vaughn will begin his professional career. Vaughn’s bonus set a White Sox franchise record for the largest bonus given to a draftee. It exceeded the $6.582 million bonus the Sox gave left-hander Carlos Rodon in 2014 after he, too, was the No. 3 pick overall. Vaughn, a 6-foot, 215-pound first baseman, played three seasons at Cal, batting .374 with 15 home runs, 50 RBIs and 50 runs scored in his junior year after winning the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur player as a sophomore. In 2019, he led Cal to its first NCAA tournament bid since 2015. Vaughn is a 2016 graduate of Maria Carrillo and is the highest- drafted player in Cal history. Vaughn is the highest draft pick ever from Sonoma County, surpassing current Cubs pitcher Brandon Morrow, a Rancho Cotate grad who was selected No. 5 overall in 2006, also out of Cal.

(AP)

MTA DRIVER IS HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD HISTORIAN

JIM CROWHURST is one of MTA's newer Dial-A-Ride drivers. A Redwood Valley resident, he's a valued historian of track and field stats and race results for high schools in 4 counties, including Mendocino. He has records from the 1890s to the present!

MCOE NEWS

Everything is fine. I just returned from a Quarterly Meeting of all the County Superintendents where [State Superintendent] Tony Thurmond presented his platform and shared his experiences of his first few months in office. He took the time to meet with the Small County Caucus (a group of 14 County Superintendents representing less than 1% of the State's student population) where he listened to each of us present the challenges rural California faces in educating its children. He spent an hour with us.

In addition, we spent significant time working with the PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education) from Stanford giving input toward the 10 year study, Getting Down to Facts II: Current Conditions and Paths Forward for California Schools. http://www.gettingdowntofacts.com

We responded to two questions for the researchers and they were: (1) Research indicates that there is a mind shift required from compliance to capacity building and an alignment toward shared responsibility for improved student outcomes as the ultimate goal. Do you agree or disagree with this premise?; and (2) If Districts are the unit of change, how should COE's be organized to serve each district's needs? How are you enacting these shifts in your county, if at all? Across the State, County Superintendents agreed with question one and all counties reported to be in different phases of reorganization to better align to California's new system of support.

At the conclusion of this school year, MCOE is transitioning to a new team of leaders. Staring July 1, there will be: A new Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Kim Kern; A new Director of SELPA (Special Education Local Plan Area), Gina Danner; A new Director of Alternative Programs, Tauney Rodriquez; and A new Director of Continuous Improvement will be hired after we hold interviews July 1. MCOE has been focused on transitioning these new leaders into their positions so that services to our students and school districts is uninterrupted.

Happy summer!

Michelle Hutchins, County Superintendent

SIDEWALK VENDING FOR FORT BRAGG

CITY OF FORT BRAGG

416 NORTH FRANKLIN STREET

MEMORANDUM

June 27, 2019

Downtown Business Owners

Hello Business Owners,

This short memo is to let you know about the City’s new outside display permitting process for existing downtown businesses and new State law mandating that local jurisdictions allow sidewalk vending on public sidewalks.

Outdoor Displays for Downtown Business Owners. The City of Fort Bragg has recently adopted a free over-the-counter permit so that downtown business owners may display merchandise on the sidewalk in front of their businesses, as a way to encourage foot traffic and hopefully increase sales. Community Development Department staff can review the simple one-page permit application and approve it the same day. There are only a few requirements, including keeping at least four feet of sidewalk clear to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The outdoor display permit does not apply to food or beverage service businesses, as these businesses are further regulated by Environmental Health. Please stop by or email us for a copy of the one-page outdoor display application. If you have questions about this program, please email mjones@fortbragg.com.

Sidewalk Vending. The State of California recently legalized sidewalk vending on sidewalks throughout California. SB 946, limits local jurisdictions’ ability to regulate these activities. Within those parameters, the City has implemented a permitting process for people who don’t have a physical business location in Fort Bragg and want to vend their merchandise from public sidewalks. Sidewalk vendors will be required to get an encroachment permit from the City, prove that they have $1 million in liability insurance and pay a business license fee. This sidewalk vending permit does not apply to food or beverage preparation service businesses, as these businesses are regulated by Environmental Health similar to the City’s Mobile Vending Permits. If you have questions about this program, please email coneal@fortbragg.com.

PUBLIC PAY: HOW MUCH DO THEY MAKE?

The State Controller’s Office has released public pay data for some 2 million positions in California for 2018. The database contains pay information for employees of California counties, cities, special districts, state offices, superior courts, colleges, and K-12 schools.

“My public pay database is a transparency tool to help Californians do their own analyses of government spending,” State Controller Betty Yee said in a statement. “The website provides a better understanding of how taxpayer dollars are spent, which can help keep citizens informed and leaders accountable.

View the database at https://publicpay.ca.gov

---

Mark Scaramella Notes:

It’s not clear how they calculated these numbers, but a little comparative math for Mendo and nearby counties (excluding Humboldt which, oddly, isn’t in their list, nor is San Francisco…) shows:

Mendo’s 1422 (for 2018) employees (higher than more recent local estimates) translates to about $52k per year average base salary and $1225 in total average wage and benefit cost per county resident.

Sonoma County: $70k average base salary and $964 wage and benefit cost per county resident.

Yuba County: $56k average base salary and $885 wage and benefit cost per county resident.

Lake County: $38k average base salary and $887 wage and benefit cost per county resident.

Nevada County: $58k average base salary and $850 wage and benefit cost per county resident.

And just for info purposes:

Los Angeles County: $82k average base salary and $897 wage and benefit cost per county resident.

Overall this partial comparison implies that Mendo’s benefits are comparably higher than other counties while base salaries are comparable to other rural counties, but not to more urban counties.

THE ABSOLUTE GREATEST BOOK DEAL GOING

LIZ DUSENBERRY: "The A.V. Library continues the $5 a bag book sale until July 30th. Please bring your own bag. We are NOT accepting anymore book donations. Our last open day will be July 30th and we will reopen in October.

So come on in and stock up on your summer reading. We also have a lot of good books for check out. Family membership is $3 a year.

Our hours are Tuesday 1-4 and Saturday 12:30-2:30." (Boonville Fairgrounds)

HUMBOLDT COUNTY JOINS NORTH COAST COALITION Seeking to Take Over the Potter Valley Project, Which Diverts Water from the Eel River

(LostCoastOutpost)

The following press release was issued by Craig Tucker, a private consultant who works with Humboldt County on river-related matters:

On Friday, June 28th, a diverse partnership between a conservation organization and several public agencies will file a joint Notice of Intent (NOI) with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stating that they plan to apply for a permit to take over operations of the Potter Valley Project (Project).

California Trout (CalTrout), Mendocino Inland Water and Power Commission, Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) and the County of Humboldt are working together to set a path forward for the Project that will meet the needs of water users throughout the region while improving conditions for native species in the Eel River watershed. The move comes after PG&E announced in January that it would not seek a new license for continued operation of the Project.

The NOI highlights the goals of the Potter Valley Project ad hoc committee, convened by Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), and includes restoration of fisheries and a dependable supply of water in both the Eel and Russian River basins. One key tenet of the filing is that it includes a plan to create a new regional entity that could assume operations of the Project once a new license is granted.

“I am glad to see this major step toward a broad coalition pursuing a two-basin solution, consistent with the co-equal goals and principles we have developed through my Potter Valley Project ad hoc group,” said Rep. Huffman. “This is the type of multi-stakeholder collaboration that I have been advocating for these past two years, and I remain committed to working with stakeholders in both basins to seize this historic opportunity to modify the Potter Valley Project to provide fish passage and habitat solutions while also ensuring greater certainty and reliability for regional water supplies.”

Since 2018, Congressman Huffman has led an effort to identify a two-basin solution that would dictate future operations of the Project. Rep. Huffman’s effort included forming an ad hoc committee made up of local and regional stakeholders. The NOI that will be filed tomorrow signals a start to the process of filing a joint application to take over operations of the Project under the principles defined through the ad hoc committee’s work.

The Project is a hydroelectric facility that, in addition to generating a small amount of electricity, delivers water from the Eel River basin into the Russian River basin. It is currently owned and operated by PG&E, which announced in January 2019 that it would not seek a new hydroelectric license from FERC for the Project. The main facilities are two dams on the Eel River, a diversion tunnel and a hydroelectric plant.

On March 1, 2019, FERC issued a Notice Soliciting Applications for any party interested in filing an application for a new license for the Project after PG&E declined to apply to renew its license. The deadline for filing an application (NOI) is July 1st, 2019.

Sonoma County Supervisor and Sonoma Water Director James Gore said, “Submitting a Notice of Intent with our Planning Agreement partners on the Potter Valley Project is the best option toward a two-basin solution that ensures water supply reliability, continues and protects critical habitat and fisheries restoration, provides some certainty in the FERC process, and continues the collaborative process given all of the diverse interests in the region.”

The four project partners are working within a Project Planning Agreement which details the funding, studies and legislative action required to move forward with a joint NOI, including:

The Planning Agreement: All four entities have signed onto the Project Planning Agreement.

The Notice of Intent will be conditioned upon the completion of a Feasibility Study, including the creation of a regional entity, which will ultimately become the license applicant. All four entities will contribute $100,000 each toward funding the Feasibility Study. The Planning Agreement does not commit any entity to acquire or hold the license.

“CalTrout is committed to ensuring that future operations of the Potter Valley Project create the conditions under which native Eel River steelhead and salmon can thrive in the context of a two-basin solution,” said California Trout Executive Director Curtis Knight. “The Eel River was once an incredibly productive watershed, and it holds tremendous promise for returning salmon and steelhead to abundance. Our objective is to identify a long-term, sustainable and realistic plan for the future of the Project.”

Janet Pauli, chair of the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, said “The Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission is pleased to be a partner with CalTrout, Sonoma Water and Humboldt County in a process that will result in a new license for the Potter Valley Project. Completion of the NOI underscores our commitment to work together to undertake a feasibility study that will outline a licensing proposal. The co-equal goals of securing water supply reliability and comprehensive fishery restoration in both the Eel and Russian Rivers are the driving force behind this unique regional collaboration. I am confident that, by working with our partners, we will succeed in attaining both of these important goals.”

Humboldt County Supervisor Estelle Fennell was similarly pleased. “We believe that we can find a win-win solution where we advance Eel River fisheries restoration to the benefit of Humboldt’s Tribal, sport, and commercial fishermen while being sensitive to the water supply needs of communities in Humboldt as well as our neighbors to the south,” said Supervisor Fennell.

For more information about the Potter Valley Project and Congressman Huffman’s ad hoc committee working toward a two-basin solution, please visit http://pottervalleyproject.org.

(Courtesy/Via LostCoastOutpost.com)

REAL ACTIVISTS

Editor,

Maybe you have seen this if you read Econews from Arcata. These people featured are the real movers and shakers and doers and changers — not like so many who just go to a rally and then call themselves “activists.” I have little patience with their overblown egos and sense of accomplishment. So if you want to feature real activists in the AVA, have at it.

Louise Mariana

Mendocino

www.yournec.org

https://www.yournec.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/JunJul2019-All-2.pdf

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A READER WRITES:

All your problems solved:

Check: ( ) when Elvis returns; ( ) With Jesus in the driver’s seat; ( ) With miracles; ( ) With meditation; ( ) With medication; ( ) With more tattoos.

NOT SO SIMPLE TIX ON SALE

Smaller & At Groundswell south of Boonville this year.

For 2019, the Not So Simple Living Fair has metamorphosed into the Not So Simple Small is Beautiful Gathering. This well loved offering of workshops and demonstrations celebrating rural living and homesteading skills will be held on July 26 -28 at the Groundswell Community Retreat Center in Yorkville. Groundswell is a small, beautiful, shaded space that implements many of the rural living skills that are the foundation of the event..

Even though our small organizing committee has scaled down the event… in some ways we are offering more. We're excited to partner with our friends at Groundswell. The land has rustic cabins and tent camping with plenty of areas for workshops scattered throughout the woods. All around a central kitchen, dining hall, and campfire where there will be Hosted Campfire Conversations. There is access to Rancheria Creek, a hot tub available, and locally sourced community meals provided by Groundswell's culinary team. Plus, Saturday night will be an Acoustic Band Scramble. So bring your musical instruments!

The theme this year, E.F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful Theory of Economics advocates for the use of appropriate technologies as if people and the planet mattered. This concept blends with the Not So Simple vision because the rural living skills/technologies offered by our presenters encourage self reliant livelihoods in harmony with the land where we live and work, our communities, our bio-regions and beyond.

Jim Tarbell will give the Key Note address. Jim is the founder of the Grassroots Institute whose mission is to give communities skills to strengthen self governance and control corporate power. He is an early advocate of Building the Economy for Our Common Good in Mendocino County. Jim and dozens of workshop participants have spent the past two years putting together the Map of the Economy for the Common Good. He will speak about the vision and purpose of the map and how participants in the Not So Simple Gathering can all be part of it.

A limited number of tickets are now on sale. To buy tickets, see the schedule of workshops, and learn more about the gathering visit…http://notsosimple.info/ or call 707-895-3243

BOONVILLE FARMERS' MARKET now accepts EBT! Plus, when you use your CalFresh (foodstamps) at the market, we match you up to $30 in free tokens to spend on produce. The Market is every Friday from 4-7 in the parking lot of Disco Ranch in downtown Boonville. All fresh, organic, locally grown produce, mushrooms, meat and eggs, plus lots of other goodies! Come see what summer has to offer!

This Friday we will be enjoying live music by Mary and Albert. There will be a kid's activity from 4:30-5:30. Hope to see you there!

Hay for Sale

Boontberry Farms has high-quality grass hay for sale.

Please contact Justin if interested: 684-0602

URBAN GREENHOUSE

inhabitat.com/americas-first-urban-agrihood-feeds-2000-households-for-free/

CATCH OF THE DAY, JUNE 27, 2019

ROBERT CAMPBELL, Ukiah. Battery on peace officer, parole violation.

JOSE CEJA-LOPEZ, Ukiah. DUI, domestic abuse, suspended license (for refusing chem test), failure to appear, probation revocation.

ELIAS ENGLISH, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

SHAWN FENTON, Whitethorn/Ukiah. Reckless driving, controlled substance.

JIMMY HENDRY, Willits. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun.

PATRICK HEPPE, Fort Bragg. County parole violation.

JAMES MILLER, Ukiah. Controlled substance for sale, probation revocation.

ANDREW MOEN, Willits. DUI.

MIGUEL PANIAGUA-HERNANDEZ, Ukiah. Ammo possession by prohibited person.

IVORY PINOLA, Mendocino/Hopland. Failure to appear.

PEDRO REYNAGA, Calpella. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

JORGE SEGURA-JIMENEZ, Willits. Probation revocation.

LEONARD WILLIAMS SR., Covelo. Stolen property, forged registration, paraphernalia, failure to appear, probation revocation.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

This was a good lesson for you at a young age: every adult is out to screw you into debt servitude any way they can. All the nonsense that adults care for you and want you to do well should be out the window now. You (and your friends) are on your own.

This doesn’t help the debt situation. From what I know, Env Science is a worthless degree. But, did you take Stats classes, math classes, any hard science? These could be worthwhile, if you move into a field like data science. That takes no schooling or tuition, and you can build a portfolio by taking 30 hour courses on Udemy for $11. And you learn the same stuff as you would in a lame college course. The Same Stuff.

Or, is a trade open to you? I talked to an electrician and he said kids get paid to apprentice, and just go to a union hall and ask a lot of questions – maybe that could be a fit.

One last note: a friend had a math and stats background from college, but was making peanuts, literally, working at an “environmentally-caring” company. I spent 2 years teaching her databases and data science (python, pandas, sql server, power bi, access), and she literally doubled her salary in one jump. She showed off her portfolio of work and there was a bidding war for her skills, and she ended up working for an enormous, major company. I would get digital books for her on sale at places like PacktPub or Manning or Apress. Video courses at udemy and Lynda (never pay more that $12 for those video courses).

Total cost to more than double her income? Maybe $300 for books and video courses. Plus a lot of hard work. But now she has a chance for a life. And don’t forget the torrent networks. Every textbook and solution manual is on there.

ROBERT KENNEDY AT RALLY on Olvera St., Los Angeles, CA, March 24, 1968.

SOMETIMES I IMAGINE THEM (readers of his column) as sullen fleshy inarticulate men, stockbrokers, sellers of goods, living in thirty-year-old detached houses among the golf courses of Outer London, husbands of aging and bitter wives they first seduced to Artie Shaw's 'Begin the Beguine' or the Squadronaires' 'The Nearness of You'; fathers of cold-eyed lascivious daughters on the pill…. and cannabis-smoking jeans-and-bearded Stuart-haired sons whose oriental contempt for 'bread' is equaled only by their insatiable demand for it… men who first coronary is coming like Christmas; who drift, loaded helplessly with commitments and obligations and necessary observances, into the darkening avenues of age and incapacity, deserted by everything that once made life sweet. These I have tried to remind of the excitement of jazz, and tell where it may still be found.

— Philip Larkin, Letters Home

ENVISIONING THE VISION

Final Parks, Trails & Open Space Meeting

What's Your Vision for Parks in Point Arena?

Our final Parks, Trails & Open Space community meeting will provide the results of our community-wide survey. Please join us and share your ideas for the Downtown Park and Arena Cove. Your input is vital as the city creates a Parks, Trails & Open Space Plan, which will guide the City's efforts to obtain funding for park improvements.

Final Parks, Trails & Open Space Community Meetings

Saturday June 29 -- 3-5pm

Point Arena City Hall/Veteran's Building

451 School Street

Point Arena

IDEATION!

"Fantastic production -- a must-see!"

Audiences love Aaron Loeb's comic thriller ‘Ideation,’ now playing on the Mendocino Theatre Company stage! A few of our favorite comments:

"Great opening night performance!"

"We talked about the play all the way home!"

"Great set, great acting, great directing and a story line that will have you talking about it for days."

"Way better than Netflix!"

"Watch it unfold - surprise - and laughs!"

Aaron Loeb's comic thriller IDEATION, directed by Bob Cohen, runs weekends through July 14. There will be a talkback with the director and actors on Friday, July 5th. For tickets and information, go to

http://mendocinotheatre.org/single-tickets/

or phone 707-937-4477.

"I WENT ON A TOUR of Italy when I was younger, and when I saw The Coliseum in Rome, I said to myself: 'It doesn't look like I imagined.' A stranger standing next to me thought I was talking to him. We got married exactly one year later."

PURE MENDOCINO TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE

August 24, 2019

Pure Mendocino is a celebration benefiting the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County, held at Paul Dolan's beautiful Dark Horse Ranch, above the Talmage Bench. Enjoy a Mendocino County summer evening, a locally sourced, organic, gourmet meal, and world-class Mendocino County wines, all included in the ticket price. Dance under the stars to The Back Porch Project, bid on art and experiences at the silent auction, and know that 100% of funds raised stay in Mendocino County, assisting local cancer patients. For information regarding this year's menu and sponsors, see -

http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CancerResourceCenter/fc772db3b8/c8bebd9577/2f038f3b01

puremendocino.org.

Individual Ticket Price: $135

Pure Heart Sponsor, table for 10: $1500

Pure Mendo Sponsor, table for 8: $1250

To purchase by phone, call (707) 937-3833

Or, mail check to:

510 Cypress St., Suite B-200

Fort Bragg, CA 95437

FOUND OBJECT