MCT: Wednesday, July 3, 2019

• Good Morning
• Elk BBQ
• Railroad History
• Tammy Mass-Conflict?
• Geezer Fest
• Dimmick Recognition
• Covelo Arson
• Suggestion
• FB Highlights
• Interest Free
• Ed Notes
• Tree Cooling
• John Lanigan
• Exciting Covelo
• Olivia 103
• Kamala's Ancestry
• Yesterday's Catch
• Capone Interview
• $22/Hour
• New Guv
• Big Web
• Inland Dems
• Fire-Safe Radio
• Boring
• Acupuncturist Housing
• Sex Positive
• Mendo Fourth
• Reinvented Toilets
• War Glories
• Nepotism Barbie
• False Flags
• Move Along

ELK FIRE TO HOST 15TH ANNUAL BBQ

The Elk Volunteer Fire Department invites you to its 15th Annual Summer BBQ to be held Saturday, July 27, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Greenwood Community Center on Highway 1 in downtown Elk.

Once again, department members and friends are preparing to serve up grilled tri-tip, smoked chicken and portabella mushroom entrees, along with beans, garden salad, bread, homemade dessert and coffee. Enjoy all you can eat for a donation of $20 for adults and $10 for kids 7-12 (6 and under free). And, as always, Elk’s Famous Margaritas will be available, along with beer, wine and soft drinks.

Emergency vehicles and equipment will be on display at the BBQ. Kids can meet Smokey the Bear and play in the portable pond. Weather permitting, you can inspect CalStar and/or REACH helicopters and greet their crews. And throughout the day, music by Wild Elk will keep things festive.

This year, Phoenix Fire Defense will be on hand to inspect, recharge and demonstrate proper use of your personal fire extinguishers. In addition, emergency and wildfire preparedness resources, including information on 911 address signs, will be available.

There will be a raffle featuring items donated by local inns, merchants and community members. Raffle tickets are a bargain at $2 each or 6 for $10 and are available now at the Elk Store, Matson Mercantile and the Elk Garage, Queenie’s Roadhouse Café, and at the BBQ. You don’t need to be present to win.

Serving the community and providing mutual aid to Anderson Valley for 63 years, the EVFD has a small but dedicated roster of 20 volunteers, 4 of whom are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). The department maintains a fleet of 7 firefighting vehicles of mixed type and an ambulance located at 3 stations spread out over a large, 55 square-mile service district.

As the department’s only fundraiser, the annual BBQ generates critical funds to maintain the department’s facilities, vehicles and equipment. Last year’s donations helped fund the expansion of the firehouse on Greenwood Ridge.

Please come out and support the volunteers who help you in emergencies. But kindly leave the dogs at home.

Cindy Johnson, for the Elk Volunteer Fire Dept

AV HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING to feature talk on the Albion Branch, the railroad that ran in our Valley 100 years ago

Free event Sunday, July 21 at 1:00 pm at the AV History Museum

The Anderson Valley Historical Society invites one and all to our annual Membership Meeting in the Rose Room on the grounds of the AV History Museum at the Little Red School House. This free event will take place on Sunday, July 21, starting at 1:00 pm.

The event will feature a lively talk, with photos, about the history of the Albion Branch of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, presented by AVHS Board Vice President Marvin Schenck, with additional oral history from Schoolhouse Museum docent Bill Seekins.

The rail line once ran northwest from Anderson Valley to Albion on the coast, and there were grander plans to build the route southeast to Healdsburg, to be part of a railway line stretching from San Francisco to Oregon. Though the Albion Branch was never connected to the mainline of the Northwestern Pacific, it was vital economic driver and transportation link for the early prosperity of Anderson Valley.

Marvin will narrate the history of the railroad and its cargoes, complete with images of Wendling, the large sawmill and lumber town that once stood where Highway 128 bends by the Navarro Store. Bill will contribute tales of the Deep End logging spurs, including the story of the runaway train wreck in the hills up Nash Mill Road.

Marvin, the retired curator of the Grace Hudson Museum, has been researching the Albion Branch and the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, and collecting photos, for twenty years. Bill is a longtime AV History Museum supporter and is extremely knowledgeable about the history of our valley.

As always, we’ll welcome memories, comments and questions from the audience. Our Annual Membership Meetings always turn into fun, interactive round-table get-togethers. We’ll have finger food and drinks on hand. All ages welcome. And, as we said above, it’s a free event. See you there! For more information, please call 895-9020.

Jerry Karp

Boonville

MOSS-CHANDLER'S CONFLICTS ALLEGED

Editor,

Several of us concerned citizens of Mendocino County felt obligated to express concerns over the potential conflicts of interest Ms. Tammy Moss-Chandler has created for our county. Ms. Moss-Chandler has hired several friends as consultants. It is our understanding that she did not follow the County process for contracting with individuals which require competitive procurement through solicitation of bids when sole-source procurement is deemed necessary. What appears to be even more of a travesty is that these individuals are being paid double to triple the amount of county staff. Where is the union which is entrusted to protect its workers? From what we can determine, Ms. Moss-Chandler has personal relationships with at least five of the consultants she has contracted with. We are asking our Board of Supervisors to correct this conflict of interest and to require Ms. Moss-Chandler to follow county policy.

We also are hearing through information shared at public meetings that Ms. Moss-Chandler has agreed to contract with Partnership Health Plan of California to administer Alcohol and Other Drug Programs (AODP) without a request for proposals (RFP) or bid process. We have heard she is on the Partnership Health Plan of California Board which creates the appearance of a conflict of interest. Why would Redwood Quality Management Company be required to go through an RFP process and not Partnership when they would be doing about the same activities for the County?

Another example of a potential conflict of interest: Ms. Moss-Chandler supposedly hired a close friend into a top position above other qualified candidates without conducting interviews. As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer the County must adhere to EEO standards as a requirement for receiving state and federal funding. Yet it appears these requirements do not apply to Ms. Moss-Chandler. It is disheartening that our County’s Executive Officer Angelo is complacent and being supportive of these actions that create a conflict of interest.

When will something be done?

More to come.

Concerned Mendo Citizens

Ukiah

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MOSS-CHANDLER RESPONDS

Dear Editor,

I take very seriously my responsibility to ensure that the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) operates within state and local requirements, while striving to provide high quality services for the residents of Mendocino County. Through nearly two decades of experience overseeing California county health and social service programs, I have many colleagues regionally and across the state who have expertise in County Health and Human Services. I have undoubtedly used my knowledge of and professional relationships with various experts in order to identify and hire appropriate expertise for the benefit of Mendocino County.

The fact that I know a number of qualified individuals who are willing to provide expertise and services to Mendocino County does not create a conflict of interest. With over 20 years of experience in the field, it is expected that I will leverage my experience and professional relationships on the county's behalf. I am confident that I have followed the county's conflict of interest code, worked closely with SEIU to make sure we are not utilizing consultants in lieu of county employees, and follow County Policy #1: Purchasing, leasing and contracting policies and procedures.

It is true that I have held a number of regional and statewide leadership and board positions as an executive in county government and that one of the positions I currently fill is as a Board member of Partnership Health Plan of California (PHC). PHC is Mendocino County’s Medi-Cal managed care plan, operating as a County Organized Health System in partnership with 13 other California counties. As an appointee of the Board of Supervisors, I have continued to work on Mendocino County’s behalf to explore how to participate in the Medi-Cal 2020 waiver program known as the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS). The way that PHC is organizing this system with their PHC counties would significantly increase funding for and delivery of substance use treatment services in Mendocino County, contingent upon approval by the California Department of Health Care Services. The HHSA advisory Board and the Board of Supervisors have been apprised of this potential opportunity, and the Board of Supervisors will ultimately make the decision about participation in this Medi-Cal waiver opportunity.

In closing, I am confident that HHSA has followed the County’s Civil Service rules as well as EEO standards and requirements in its hiring decisions. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the inquiries you received.

Sincerely,

Tammy Moss Chandler, MPH, MBA

Director, Mendocino County Health and Human Services agency

Ukiah

AVA CONTRIBUTOR KATY TAHJA reports that the Kate Wolf Music Festival, also known as “Geezer Fest,” presented another great weekend of music with Mother Nature contributing lovely weather. Two bands worthy of note were Old Blind Dogs and Blind Boys of Alabama. If you think including bagpipe music in folksongs sounds like cruel and unusual punishment you haven’t heard Old Blind Dogs…with strings, drums, vocals and yep, a bagpiper.

They produced amazing foot stomping music and listeners discovered how GOOD bagpipes can sound. The Blind Boys of Alabama took “Amazing Grace” lyrics and sang it to the music of “House of the Rising Sun” and it was great. If you want to hear great music and discover new talent and don’t want to drive to the Bay Area to do it, plan on going to the Kate Wolf Music Festival next year with about 4,000 other music lovers at Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville.

WELL DESERVED AWARD FOR WORK AT DIMMICK STATE PARK

From Mendocino State Parks (last Friday at the Grand "Re-opening" of Paul Dimmick State Park on Hwy 128): "Emily Tecchio Field Representative for Assembly member Jim Wood presented a certificate of recognition to the Anderson Valley Service Learning Club.

Accepting the certificate from Assembly member Jim Wood and Senator Mike McGuire is Noor Dawood a faculty member in Anderson Valley who leads the team.

COVELO ARSON

On July 1, 2019 at about 6:35 PM Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to the 23300 block of Henderson Rd in Covelo, for a reported fire that was suspected to be arson. Deputies responded to the location and contacted personnel from Cal-Fire and Covelo Fire. Deputies were advised that there was possibly a person(s) that witnessed how the fire started. Deputies contacted the witness who identified Laurie Hayes, 48, of Covelo as lighting an object on fire.

Hayes was seen throwing the object over a wooden fence. The witness told deputies that within seconds of the object being thrown over the fence large flames could be seen coming from the yard. Covelo Fire personnel told deputies that approximately 1 acre of tall dry grass burned along with 4 abandon vehicles, one (1) uninhabited travel trailer and a 50 foot area of wood fence line. There were structures on the property which were uninhabited and not damaged. A deputy located Hayes walking in the area of Crawford Road and Henderson Road, very close to the scene of the fire, at which time Hayes was detained. MCSO dispatch advised Hayes was on summary probation out of Mendocino County. Following a detailed investigation, with assistance from a Cal Fire Prevention Officer, Hayes was placed under arrest without incident for Arson, and Violation of Probation. Hayes was then transported to the Mendocino County Jail where she was to be held in lieu of $30,000 bail. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank Covelo Fire, Cal Fire Covelo, and the Cal Fire Prevention unit for their assistance with this investigation.

WE FOUND THESE ITEMS in the minutes of the Fort Bragg City Council meeting of Monday, June 24, 2019 to be noteworthy:

Item 6. Disclosure Of Ex Parte Communications On Agenda Items

“Councilmember Peters disclosed that he spoke to two members of the cannabis community about Item 8A. Mayor Lee disclosed that he had exchanged text messages with Jon McColley regarding a presentation for Item 8A. He noted that because he is giving Mr. McColley additional time to make a presentation, public comment on 8A will be extended to five minutes per speaker. Vice Mayor Norvell disclosed that he had a couple of brief conversations with Mr. McColley.”

Later: “Jon McColley of Root One Botanicals gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Council regarding his project application. Kris Harris of Lit House also spoke. They both responded to questions from Council.”

Holy smoke! Can you imagine what the Supervisors minutes would look like if they "disclosed" their casual conversations?

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When the subject of the Skunk Train track rehab grant application came up we noticed this item from public expression:

“Amy Wynn expressed excitement about the possibility of having a freight connection here.”

“Excitement” about freight? What freight is shipped into or out of Fort Bragg?

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And Item 8C: “Receive Report and Provide Direction to Staff Regarding City Loan of $250,000 From the City's Housing Trust Fund for the Proposed Affordable Senior, Multi-Family and Permanent Supportive Housing Project to be Located at 441 South Street.” (Approved unanimously.)

IF FORT BRAGG can do it, why can’t the County with its much bigger investment pool?

(Mark Scaramella)

ED NOTES

A READER COMMENTED: "Mendocino County uses Zillow to base property values on which anyone in real estate knows that Zillow falsely inflates values by upwards of 50%. They set the tax rates based on Zillow rates so all residents who own properties should be asking for a reassessment based on an actual REAL appraisal!!!"

FOUR EXCLAMATIONS? Dude, calm down. We were pretty sure that Zillow is not a factor in Mendo property assessments, but to be certain we called the Assessor's office, an agency of local government we've always found to respond promptly and courteously to questions. The Assessor herself, Katrina Bartlomei, assured us that "98 percent of the time we base our assessments on what you purchase your house for. We do look at Zillow from time to time to see what was on the property before and what's on there now, but we don't base anything on Zillow." She said anyone with questions about assessments is welcome to come in to her office for one on one tutorials.

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INTERESTING (AND TELLING) story wafted in this morning from cyber-space that described an American caravan to Canada to buy insulin. In Canada, where insulin was first invented, a vial costs about $27, in the US, a vial goes for at least $350. Diabetes sufferes want legislative change. Trump has promised to cut drug prices, but as we know he's long on promises short on delivery.

REMINDS me of an old guy I met in Fort Bragg years ago. He took prescription drug orders from a bunch of Coast people suffering from one thing or another, drove to Mexico to buy the medicine at a fraction of the cost here, and saved lots of people on fixed incomes lottsa money.

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ON THE SUBJECT of our fearless leader, he said today he's thinking of using the Army to clean up the streets of American cities beset by the unhoused and the unhinged. According to official statistics, about 550,000 of our fellow citizens are living on the streets, which seems like a low ball figure but that's what the number supposedly is. "Police officers are getting sick just by walking the beat," Trump claimed. "We cannot ruin our cities. And you have people that work in those cities. They work in office buildings and to get into the building, they have to walk through a scene that nobody would have believed possible three years ago… We have to take the people, and we have to do something. When we have leaders of the world coming in to see the president of the United States and they're riding down a highway, they can't be looking at that. They can't be looking at scenes like you see in Los Angeles and San Francisco… So we're looking at it very seriously. We may intercede. We may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up."

WELL, DON, you might begin the clean-up by agitating for the re-introduction of a national hospital program we had in this country before Republicans of the Reagan type dismantled them. Homelessness is, however, a civic disgrace. You're right about that, O Orange One. Right here in Mendocino County, according to a County-paid investigation that the County promptly ignored, the Marbut Report, there are about 350 homeless individuals — max — adrift in Mendocino County, and that number may be high and includes transients or the recreationally homeless who pass through here and linger because of the array of freebies they get in Ukiah and Fort Bragg. (Willits doesn't have many homeless people because the city basically offers a sandwich and a See ya.) A number of the homeless are drug and/or alcohol dependent. More than a few of the homeless are crazy by any standard and are periodically housed at the County Jail. But the total number of free range dependents is small enough to be accommodated, one would think, and of that number a much smaller population could be housed if there were a serious, unromantic effort to do that. For instance, instead of investing County money with distant money markets, a portion could be committed to public housing in Ukiah and Fort Bragg. Or a couple of trailer parks, as Supervisor Pinches has suggested. Really, if all our drunks, drug heads, and 5150s were suddenly unhoused, of our 90,000 people a solid ten thou, perhaps more, would be on the streets.

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THE ANNUAL GAY celebrations always remind me of my late mother's take on the movement. One afternoon we were watching the evening news, probably ABC, which she preferred "because I like the weather people," when visuals suddenly appeared of two women getting married at City Hall in San Francisco. "O my god!" she suddenly yelled, "turn that off, quick!" Never one to thwart the old girl, I was halfway out of my chair when she said, "Oh, nevermind. It's probably a good thing homely people find each other."

MIGUEL LANIGAN of Clearlake Oaks writes:

I sent this out to my Facebook/friends page.

Today, I memorialize a true American hero, my father, General John Ralph Lanigan, a combat officer who lead Marines on five island campaigns in WWII: Saipan, Tinian, Roi, Numar and Iwo Jima. On Iwo Jima, he was awarded the second highest medal our nation awards Marines: the Navy Cross, with a “V" for valor under fire. Were it not for my father, the iconic Flag Raising at Mount Suribachi photo would never be. Joe Rosenthal, the photographer who took it, got a tip from my dad that there was to be a flag raising on Suribachi and the rest is history. After the war, Rosenthal had my mother and father as his guest in San Francisco, where he gave them what dad called "The cook's tour." They remained friends for the rest of their lives.

DEEP, DEEP IN MENDO'S OUTLAW OUTBACK

On June 30, 2019 around 6:37 PM the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) received several 911 calls from the Hulls Valley Area, north of the town of Covelo. The callers began to relate that a possible shooting had occurred in the area and one Hispanic male may have been shot. A second caller related the shooting victim was trying to flag down cars in the area. The victim was eventually able to get a ride where he was met by an ambulance from Covelo Fire. Emergency Medical Service personnel confirmed the victim had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and transported him to a safe landing zone where he was transferred to an air ambulance and flown directly to a trauma center where he underwent immediate surgery. MCSO later confirmed the victim had suffered significant trauma from multiple bullet wounds to his chest and arm. He was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for recovery. MCSO Patrol Deputies responded to the Hulls Valley area and found where the victim had attempted to flag down a vehicle. They located a blood trail and followed that trail back to a gated driveway nearby. As they were nearing the gate another Hispanic male, Salvador Torres-Rubio (21 years of age out of Santa Rosa), approached carrying two large bags of marijuana.

Torres-Rubio was detained and observed to be possibly under the influence of a controlled substance. Torres-Rubio related to the deputies there were other persons in the area who were armed and might shoot at responding officers. Torres-Rubio also indicated there might be a second person on the property who had been shot and was deceased. Deputies then initiated a callout of the Mendocino County Inter-agency SWAT Team while MCSO Detectives completed a search warrant for the residence and property. Using the SWAT Team, the residence and property were searched but no other persons were found on the property. The property was approximately 30 acres and covered with heavy brush and timber. Sheriff's Deputies did locate numerous greenhouses used to cultivate marijuana. Deputies waited until daylight and initiated a more detailed search of the property for another shooting victim but did not locate any injured or deceased persons. Deputies did not see any clear indicators that a second person had been shot. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Marijuana Unit responded to the location and determined the growing operation was not permitted at the State or County level. Deputies eradicated 1286 marijuana plants in various stages of growth. The plants ranged from 3 feet to 5 feet in height. The case is currently under investigation. Salvador Torres-Rubio was arrested on an arrest warrant issued by the Superior Court in the County of Sonoma. The warrant listed charges of Sexual Battery and Violation of Probation. He was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on a "no bail" status pursuant to the warrant. The extent of Torres-Rubio's involvement in either the growing operation or the shooting is still under investigation. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is requesting anyone with information regarding this incident to contact the Sheriff's Detective Unit, via WeTip (800)782-7463 or the MCSO Communications Center at (707)463-4086.

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND serving the troops at the Hollywood Canteen during WWII. She turned 103 on Tuesday.

FRED GARDNER REMEMBERS:

After we moved from SF to Alameda, one day at work I was extolling the town to Kamala Harris. "It's cheaper, it's warmer, it's friendlier, homeless people are few and far between, it's an island so no big trucks rumbling through town…" She cut me off: "Everybody in my circle knew to steer clear of Alameda. When I was a teenager we got invited to a party there and the police let us know we weren't welcome." I recalled this reading Ali Alexander's put-down of Kamala that has gotten millions of views: “Her family does not descend from American slaves. Not even post-slavery blacks. She’s Jamaican and Indian." Which made no difference to the Alameda PD.

CATCH OF THE DAY, JULY 2, 2019

RICARDO DEMELLO, Cherry Valley/Ukiah. DUI-alcohol&drugs.

DAVID FITCH, Fort Bragg. Domestic abuse, false imprisonment, probation revocation.

RONAL MAGANA, UKIAH. Three or more acts of sex with child under 14 not less than three months, lewd-lascivious acts upon child under 14, sexual penetration with foreign object while victim incapable of consent, kidnapping or other forcible detention of another person, witness intimidation.

WILLIAM MARSHAL, Willits. Protective order violation, probation revocation.

DAVID PASHIA, Willits. Sale of tobacco to minor, disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

PATRICK REDMILL, Ukiah. Battery.

SALVADOR TORRES-RUBIO, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

INTERVIEW WITH THE GODFATHER

by Charles McCabe (San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 1972)

I saw The Godfather the other night and my mind began to run back to Claude Cockburn, the British journalist, and his famous unpublished interview with Al Capone at the peak of the gangsters power, of Capone's views on the Mafia and his own contributions to capitalism, freedom and the American way.

Cockburn, who now lives in County Cork, Ireland, on the estuary of the Blackpool River, was an American correspondent for the Times of London in the 1920s. He sought from his home office permission to cover the shooting of Jake Lingle in broad daylight. Lingle was a crooked Chicago Tribune reporter who often acted as liaison between the Chicago cops and the Capone mob.

The Times thought the murder assignment over, and replied with a cable that has become something of a classic in journalism. "By all means," it said, "Cockburn, Chicagoward. Welcome stories ex-Chicago not unduly emphasizing crime."

With this equivocal mandate, the young reporter sought and got an appointment for an interview with the great man at his Lexington Hotel headquarters. Present at the interview besides Cockburn and Capone was a machine gun pointed at the transom of the door behind Capone's desk manned by a young fellow named Machine Gun Jack McGurn.

"Listen," Capone said, waving his pudgy hand at Cockburn, "don't get the idea I'm one of these god damn radicals. Don't get the idea that I'm knocking the American system. This American system of ours," he began to shout, "call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you like, gives to each and every one of us a great opportunity, if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it."

The masterful gangster continued with strictures against socialism and anarchism. He praised individualism, freedom, private enterprise and the pioneer spirit. He pointed out that Bolshevism was at our gates, that we can't afford to let it in, that we have to organize ourselves against it and put our shoulders together and hold fast.

"My rackets," he repeated several times, "are run on strictly American lines, and they're going to stay that way." He noted, as he had to other reporters, "Public service is my motto. I've always regarded it as a public benefaction if people were given decent liquor and square games."

About his rackets "staying that way," that turned out to be a reference to the Mafia. Although Capone was a Neapolitan from Brooklyn, he had recently been named president of the Unione Siciliano. For the methods of this mafia offshoot, Capone, the organization man, had nothing but deep contempt. The Union was "lousy with black-hand stuff," Capone complained.

"Can you imagine," he said, "people going in for what they call these blood feuds — some guy's grandfather was killed by some other guy's grandfather, and this guy thinks that’s good enough reason to kill the other?"

This, to Capone, was profoundly un-businesslike. Almost in a class with Bolshevism knocking at the gates. Very bad.

Cockburn did not cable the interview. A month or so later he met in New York, John Walter, one of the minority stockholders of the Times. Cockburn told him the Capone story, to his listener’s rapt and amused attention. Walter asked Cockburn why he had not written the interview up for the Times.

Cockburn replied that when he assembled his notes and got before a typewriter he saw immediately that what Capone had been saying to him was exactly the sort of stuff the Times editorial writers were pushing day in and day out for their British constituency. He had no doubt, he said, that is London editors would not like to be reminded that their social views were eye-to-eye with that of the foremost gangster in America. Capone, as it happened, got much of his light and leading on political and social questions from the fervently jingo editorials of William Randolph Hearst.

Walter assessed the situation in a moment of wry reflection. He agreed that Claude Cockburn had indeed done the right thing by forgetting the story.

IS GAVIN NEWSOM JUST A SLICKER VERSION OF JERRY BROWN ON THE ENVIRONMENT?

by Dan Bacher

Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday reappointed three of Governor Jerry Brown’s most controversial, least popular and most environmentally questionable appointees – Karla Nemeth, Cindy Messer and Chuck Bonham – after in February refusing to reappoint Brown’s best appointee, Felicia Marcus, as Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board.

He reappointed these three officials in spite of growing opposition to their reappointment by fishermen, conservationists and environmental justice advocates. He reappointed Nemeth as Department of Water Resources (DWR) Director, Messer as DWR Chief Deputy Director and Bonham as California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director.

The Governor’s Office stated, “Governor Gavin Newsom today announced several appointments, including the reappointment of several of the state’s top water policy officials at the California Department of Water Resources and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which are critical to build the Administration’s water resilience portfolio in the coming months, as directed by the Governor’s executive order, and to advance Voluntary Agreements regarding water management for the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems.”

Fishermen, Tribal leaders, conservationists and environmental justice advocates must wake up and see what Newsom is really doing. I have been a voice in the wilderness on Newsom’s questionable appointments and actions to date – and other people must pull the blinders off their eyes and understand that Newsom is just a slicker version of Governor Jerry Brown.

Under Newson, Nemeth, Messer and Bonham, the environmentally destructive Delta Tunnel is still on the table as part of Newsom’s “water portfolio.” It is only the twin tunnels that the Governor has abandoned.

Newsom is promoting the “voluntary agreements” on the San Joaquin River that will result in much less water than the increased flows that would be provided for salmon, steelhead and other fish by the State Water Resources Control Board’s decision in December 2018.

And the Delta smelt continues to move closer and closer to extinction, with zero smelt reported in the CDFW’s fall 2018 midwater trawl survey, This is the first time this has ever happened in the history of the survey, not a good sign for the future of the smelt, an indicator species that is only found in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River

In addition, the expansion of oil and gas drilling in California continues under Newsom. And California continues to promote oil industry-written cap-and-trade (carbon trading) policies that attack Indigenous Communities and ravage the earth.

We need change, not more of the same old Big Oil, Big Ag and Big “Green” environmental policies of Jerry Brown.

The reappointment of Nemeth, Messer and Bonham takes place in an administration that has gone to great lengths to appease corporate agribusiness interests in the San Joaquin Valley. On February 12, California Governor Gavin Newson announced the appointment of William Lyons, 68, of Modesto, to serve in a new position — the Agriculture Liaison in the Office of the Governor.

Lyons, a San Joaquin Valley grower who has opposed increased San Joaquin River flows, has been chief executive officer of Lyons Investments Management, LLC since 1976. He previously served as Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture from 1999 to 2004.

It is no surprise that Big Ag was a major contributor to Newsom’s 2018 campaign. Newsom received a total of $637,398 in campaign contributions from agribusiness, including a total of $116,800 from Beverly Hills agribusiness tycoons Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the largest orchard fruit growers in the world and owners of The Wonderful Company.

Could those contributions have influenced Newsom’s decisions to not reappoint Felicia Marcus as Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, to appoint Mike Lyons as the new “Agricultural Liaison” to the Governor’s Office, to reappoint the agribusiness-controlled Nemeth, Messer and Bonham, to go ahead with a one Delta Tunnel plan and to back the voluntary agreements promoted by Lyons and other agribusiness leaders? For more information, go here.

With the latest appointments, it’s clear that nothing has really changed under Newsom. As The Who said so well, “Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss.” I evaluate politicians on their actual policies and actions – and the corporate money behind them – not the pretty words that they tell the media and the gullible public.

If people want Newsom to do the right thing, they need to start confronting and challenging him, like the courageous María Xiomára Dorsey of Idle No More SF Bay did last weekend in questioning his support of environmentally unjust carbon trading policies while Newsom was walking to and from a conference in San Francisco. We need more people like Maria to show courage – and far less NGO representatives collaborating with the Governor and his staff so they can get a “seat at the table.”

You can get a “seat at the table” and still be on the menu in the corrupt world of California politics.

Here are the bios of Nemeth, Messer and Bonham:

Karla Nemeth, 48, of Sacramento, has been reappointed director of the California Department of Water Resources, where she has served since 2018. Nemeth was deputy secretary for water policy at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2014 to 2018. She was Bay Delta Conservation Plan program manager at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2009 to 2014, environmental and public affairs director for Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Zone 7 from 2005 to 2009 and was community affairs manager at Jones & Stokes from 2003 to 2005.

Nemeth was a legislative assistant at AESOP Enterprise from 2001 to 2003 and legislative assistant and program manager for Kings County from 1998 to 2000. Nemeth earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Washington. Nemeth was confirmed by the California State Senate as director of the Department of Water Resources in 2018 and the compensation is $202,384. Nemeth is a Democrat.

Cindy Messer, 50, of Sacramento, has been reappointed chief deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources, where she has served since 2017. Messer was assistant chief deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources from 2016 to 2017, deputy executive officer of planning at the Delta Stewardship Council from 2012 to 2016 and assistant executive officer of the San Joaquin Delta Conservancy in Sacramento from 2010 to 2012.

Messer was senior environmental scientist and specialist for the Division of Environmental Services at the California Department of Water Resources from 2009 to 2010 and an environmental program manager from 2008 to 2009. She was senior environmental scientist and supervisor at the Department of Water Resources from 2005 to 2008 and Range A-C environmental scientist for the Water Resources Department from 1999 to 2005. Messer earned a Master of Science degree in conservation biology from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and compensation is $176,244. Messer is a Democrat.

Charlton “Chuck” Bonham, 51, of Berkeley, has been reappointed director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, where he has served since 2011. Bonham was the California director and senior attorney for Trout Unlimited from 2000 to 2010, governing board member of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy from 2010 to 2011 and an instructor at the Nantahala Outdoor Center from 1994 to 1997.

He served as small business development agent in Senegal for the U.S. Peace Corps from 1991 to 1993. Bonham earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. Bonham was confirmed by the California State Senate as director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2012 and the compensation is $189,090. Bonham is registered without party preference.

Valerie Termini, 43, of Davis, has also been appointed chief deputy director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Termini has been executive director of the California Fish and Game Commission since 2016 and acting chief deputy director at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife since 2018. She was fisheries policy director for the California Ocean Protection Council from 2007 to 2016.

Termini earned a Master of Arts degree in international environmental policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $151,608. Termini is a Democrat.

(Dan Bacher is an environmental journalist in Sacramento. He can be reached at: Dan Bacher danielbacher@fishsniffer.com.)

BELA LUGOSI & CARROLL BORLAND in the 1935 Tod Browning film ‘Mark of the Vampire.’

INLAND MENDOCINO DEMOCRATIC CLUB MEETING on July 11th at Yokayo Bowling Alley

The Inland Mendocino Democratic Club will hold our next meeting Thursday, July 11th at 5:30 pm at Yokayo Bowling Alley, 1401 North State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482. Let’s all join together to make our county an oasis of Justice and Peace. Together, in coalition, we can take progressive action and protect our county from the conservative nightmare. Come lend a hand. All are welcome.

See us on Facebook and at http://inlandmendodems.org

KZYX IS PUTTING A CALL OUT for volunteers to help create a fire safe defensible space around the Philo studio. See details below and please join us if you can!

On July 11th and 12th from 7AM to 11AM KZYX is having a work party with The Anderson Valley Fire Safe Council, and a crew from The Land Wellness and Retreat Center in Philo.

Please bring work clothes, closed toed shoes, pruners or loppers, and your weedwhacker if you have them (no chainsaws, please). Or just bring yourself and we will put you to work.

KZYX is an vital resource for information in our community during emergencies. We are in need of brush clearing and tree limbing in order to keep the property and buildings as safe as possible. We need your help!

We will have cold drinks and some snacks. Come for part of the time or the whole time.

9300 Highway 128 in Philo. For more information or to RSVP, please email Membership@KZYX.org or call Renee at 707 895-2324. Thanks in advance!

BURTON!

Hello all. I moved from Boonville in 2010, and I am now a Licensed Acupuncturist and would like to return to the area. I am open to living in other parts of the county that are within a reasonable drive to Boont if it's for a good living situation. Please message me if you have such a place or can steer me toward one, or if you'd like to know more about acupuncture.

https://www.facebook.com/burton.segall

MENDOCINO COAST CLINICS WELCOMES DR. BARBARA KILIAN AND OPEN DOOR CARE

Fort Bragg, CA — Working in partnership with its newest physician, Dr. Barbara Kilian, Mendocino Coast Clinics (MCC) is starting a new service called “Open Door” to reach out to the LGBTQ and sex positive community. Dr. Kilian is spearheading the effort, which will open starting one day a week in July.

“Many people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and sex positive community face discrimination in many areas of their lives, including healthcare,” she said. Sex positive is a term used to describe a tolerant or progressive attitude towards sex and sexuality, one that does not discriminate against non-traditional relationships and behaviors such as open relationships, kink, fetishes, and erotic practices or role-playing involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism. Also, some people are asexual.

Dr. Kilian explained that people in these minority groups (LGBTQ/sex positive/asexual) who need healthcare are in an even more vulnerable position than most people who need healthcare because they fear they will be judged or face prejudice. When people feel uncomfortable or embarrassed in a healthcare setting, they may not be forthcoming about their symptoms or concerns; some choose to forego care altogether to avoid this situation.

“This is especially dangerous for LGBTQ teens who have a higher-than-average suicide rate,” Dr. Kilian said. “And I know trans people who say they would rather die—literally—than go to a hospital emergency department and be treated as ‘less than.’” She says all people deserve a safe place to receive healthcare, and she intends to create just such a place on the Mendocino Coast.

Open Door @ MCC will be centered around sexual health, but it will also be a place where people in LGBTQ and sex positive people can come to be referred for other types of medical and behavioral health care. “We’ll be a safe place to start and either we’ll be equipped to provide the care directly or we’ll refer patients to providers who have been vetted, who we know are welcoming and well-versed in LGBTQ and sex positive issues,” she said. For example, Dr. Kilian plans to offer the initial screening for gender reassignment surgery. If patients decide to pursue surgery, Dr. Kilian will refer them to a transgender-friendly doctor. If a teen patient comes in and needs gynecological care, Dr. Kilian will work with Blue Door @ MCC to make sure the teen feels safe and comfortable with their medical provider.

Before moving to Fort Bragg, Dr. Kilian worked as an emergency room doctor and ran a small sex positive practice in San Francisco. Open Door @ MCC will begin seeing patients one day a week beginning in July and will expand its hours as the demand for services grows. For more information, call (707) 964-1251 and ask for Dr. Kilian.

MCC is a local, non-profit, federally qualified health center offering medical, dental and behavioral health care to people in the coastal communities of Mendocino County.

CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY AT THE KELLEY HOUSE!

Come to the Kelley House Lawn on Main Street in Mendocino

10:30AM — 3:00PM

FREE ADMISSION

BBQ bash with burgers, hot dogs and veggie fare

Watch the Parade right across from the Judges Viewing Stand

Dance to the music of The Mixed Nuts, a unique blend of Latin, calypso, jazz and swing, brought to you by Old Gold

Enjoy beer, wine, margaritas and more….

Thank you to our generous sponsors! Beer courtesy of North Coast Brewing Company, wine compliments of Pacific Star Winery, Navarro Vineyards & Winery, Toulouse Vineyards & Winery, Lula Cellars, and Husch Vineyards & Winery.

Harvest Market, Safeway, Noyo Ice and Highway 20 Feed also support our community event.

All proceeds benefit the non-profit Kelley House Museum.

For more information, call 937-5791 or visit kelleyhousemuseum.org.

NEW TOILETS COULD SOLVE A GLOBAL PROBLEM

More than half the world’s population lacks safe sanitation. Toilets that operate without running water might help.

A toilet is like a “super vaccine,” says Doulaye Kone of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “It kills disease where it is produced.” Traditional sanitation systems are costly to build and maintain, so the foundation’s Reinvented Toilet initiative is helping to develop alternatives such as the toilets seen here. Safe and inexpensive to operate, these commodes can function without running water and, in some cases, electricity. They’re also sustainable, eliminating pathogens while recovering nutrients and energy.

nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/07/new-toilets-could-solve-global-sanitation-problem/

IT IS WONDERFUL with what coolness and indifference the greater part of mankind see war commenced. Those that hear of it at a distance, or read of it in books, but have never presented its evils to their minds, consider it as little more than a splendid game, a proclamation -- an army, a battle, and a triumph. Some, indeed, must perish in the most successful field, but they die upon the bed of honour, "resign their lives amidst the joys of conquest, and, filled with England's glory, smile in death." The life of the modern soldier is ill represented by heroic fiction. War has means of destruction more formidable than the cannon and the sword. Of the thousands and ten thousands that perished in our late contests with France and Spain, a very small part ever felt the stroke of an enemy; the rest languished in tents and ships, amidst damps and putrefaction; pale, torpid, spiritless and helpless; gasping and groaning, unpitied among men made obdurate by long continuance of hopeless misery; and were, at last, whelmed in pits or heaved into the ocean, without notice and without remembrance. By incommodious encampments and unwholesome stations, where courage is useless and enterprise impracticable, fleets are silently dispeopled and armies sluggishly melted away.

—Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1771; from "Thoughts on the Late Transactions Respecting Falkland's Islands"

UNWANTED IVANKA: Daddy Will You Buy Me A Pony or Country?

https://www.commondreams.org/further/2019/07/01/unwanted-ivanka-daddy-will-you-buy-me-pony-or-country

HEROES AND PATRIOTS RETURNS Thursday, July 11, 9-10 A.M pst On KMUD Community Radio. Dr. Francis Boyle And Trita Parsi Will Continue The Discussion On False Flags, Trump's Foreign Policy And Related National Security Matters.

We Are Pleased To Bring You Our Latest Archived Program With Guests: Dr. Theodore Postal And Richard Silverstein.

Thank You For Supporting Our Efforts. May You And Yours Have A Wonderful And Safe Fourth Of July!

John And Mary

MAN ADMITS TO DUMPING WATER ON HOMELESS WOMAN FROM SAN FRANCISCO ROOFTOP

(Don) Soker was responding to a barrage of questions from fellow artists who were outraged at his behavior. He commented again a short time later:

“I think I have stirred up the biggest hornet’s nest in SF. The confrontation between the hypocritical, fascist, former liberal gentrifiers against the people who failed to make money, and I don’t mean the homeless.”

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/06/28/man-admits-dumping-water-homeless-woman-san-francisco-rooftop/