MCT: Thursday, July 11, 2019

• Abundant Sunshine
• Home Invasion
• Charlie Barra
• Aaron Kules
• Look-A-Likes
• PG&E Unsatisfactory
• SF Woolworth's
• Wildfire Safety
• Hendy Hiring
• Fuel Bed
• Defensible Space
• Too Far
• Ed Notes
• National Guard
• Yesterday's Catch
• Lillian Ross
• Henry Miller
• Route 66
• Drunk Driving
• Bygone Days
• Natural Law
• SubGenius
• Trump Poll
• Poisoning Farallones
• Oligarch 23

ABUNDANT SUNSHINE will aid in a warming trend across inland areas through Saturday. Meanwhile, the coast will be seasonably cool due to marine cloudiness. Otherwise, dry weather is expected during the next seven days. (National Weather Service)

LOW GAP HOME INVASION

(Mendocino County Sheriff's Office press release)

Victim(s):
Adult Male (25 year-old from Ukiah, CA)

Adult Male (Unknown age and city of residency) 

Suspect(s):
Shane Waier (25 year-old male from Capitola, CA)

Azuriah Paul (24 year-old male from Sebastopol, CA)

Nathan Kurtz (24 year-old male from Petaluma, CA) 

Written By:
Sgt Luis M Espinoza #1228 

Synopsis: On 07-09-2019 at about 9:05 pm, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a person reporting they had just been robbed at gunpoint at their residence located in the 17000 block of Low Gap Road in Ukiah, California. 

It was also reported, six white male adults, some wearing masks, and clothing identifying them as "security", restrained at least two people at the location during the reported home invasion robbery.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies responded from multiple areas throughout the county converging on the remote location looking for the involved suspects. 

It was reported to Sheriff's Office dispatch that the suspects had stolen one of the victim's vehicles and left the location westbound on Low Gap Road. 

While units were responding to the location to ascertain what had occurred (about thirty minutes after the call took place), a Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputy and Sergeant were traveling westbound on Orr Springs Road.

During this time they were passed by the victim's vehicle and a second vehicle following closely behind in the area of the Orr Hot Springs Resort.  The two vehicles took off at a high rate of speed eastbound towards the city of Ukiah. 

California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officers and City of Ukiah Police (UPD) Officers had staged near the intersection of Orr Springs Road and North State Street to assist the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.  No pursuit was initiated as Sheriff's Office personnel had lost sight of the suspect vehicles.  

At about 10:05 PM, the stolen vehicle was observed by staged law enforcement units and a traffic enforcement stop was initiated by CHP and UPD officers at the intersection of North State Street and Orr Springs Road. 

The driver of the vehicle fled on foot and ran down hill to Masonite Road and crossed over to the Highway 101 Freeway.  The driver was not located during the initial search. 

Simultaneous to the traffic enforcement stop of the stolen vehicle; the second vehicle, a 2019 Jeep Compass, identified by Sheriff's Deputies as being related to this incident, was observed turning northbound onto North State Street. 

A high-risk stop was initiated by CHP and Sheriff's Office personnel at the intersection of North State Street and Kunzler Ranch road where two suspects were detained.  The two suspects were identified as Azuriah Paul and Shane Waier. 

Evidence directly related to the robbery was located in the two stopped vehicles. 

Sheriff's Deputies at the scene of the reported robbery determined that on 07-09-2019 at around 8:30 PM, the two victims were confronted by armed suspects in the driveway of their residence. 

Some of the suspects were wearing masks and at least one suspect was wearing a vest identifying the person as "security". 

One victim was struck by a firearm while attempting to verbally calm the situation.  The injured victim and the other victim where then restrained by "zipties" and "duct tape" inside and outside the residence. 

Both victims were moved by force throughout the property and forced at gun point to open a safe at the location. 

The suspects took multiple items from the residence to include currency, cellular telephones, harvested marijuana and one of the victim's vehicle.  The incident last approximately 30 minutes and as the suspects were leaving, one victim was able to escape the "zipties" and notified the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office of the incident.  

Following the conclusion of the initial investigation, Sheriff's Deputies along with allied agencies continued to search the area of North State Street for the outstanding driver of the stolen vehicle. 

On 07-10-2019 at about 2:25 AM, a Sheriff's Deputy was patrolling the area of North State Street and Empire Drive when he observed a white male adult who matched the description of the outstanding involved suspect in the parking lot of the Shell Gas Station (1301 North State Street).  

The suspect, later identified as Nathan Kurtz, was contacted and detained.  Kurtz was subsequently identified as being a suspect in the robbery and was arrested.

At this time, Azuriah Paul, Shane Waier and Nathan Kurtz have been arrested for the following charges: 213  PC - Robbery in Concert; 209 (b)(1) PC - Kidnapping during commission of Robbery; 12022 (a)(1) PC - Armed in the Commission of a Felony; 236 PC - False Imprisonment; 459/460 (a) PC - First Degree Burglary; and 10851 VC - Theft of Vehicle. 

All three suspects were booked into the Mendocino County Jail where they were to be held in lieu of $275,000.00 bail.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office would like to thank the officers from the Ukiah Police Department and California Highway Patrol (Ukiah Office) for their assistance in this investigation. 

It is unknown if there were additional vehicles associated with this investigation.  Additionally, there is potential for evidence related to this investigation to have been discarded on Orr Springs Road. 

Investigators determined the robbery location was not a licensed cannabis operation. 

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information related to additional suspect(s) and vehicle(s) or with information concerning suspicious items along Orr Springs Road to contact us on our non-emergency dispatch line 707-463-4086 or the Sheriff's Office Tip-Line at 707-234-2100. 

Persons wishing to remain anonymous can also contact the WeTip Anonymous Crime Reporting Hotline at 800-782-7463.

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CHARLIE BARRA, 92

1926-2019 — Ukiah, CA

Fondly referred to as Mendocino County's "godfather of grape growing", Charles L. Barra was born December 12, 1926 in Calpella, CA to first generation Italian immigrants Antonio Barra and Maria Rovera. As a young boy working alongside his grandfather and father in the rich, Redvine soils of Redwood Valley, Charlie learned the ins and outs of farming wine grapes in Mendocino County. These formative years would serve as the foundation for 73 years of grape harvests, over 40 years as a passionate advocate for the California North Coast Grape Growers Alliance, and more than 20 years in public service.

Charlie's love for, and dedication to, Mendocino County was unwavering. A true steward of the land, Charlie was forever searching for ways to improve agricultural practices, as well as ensure that grape growers like himself were being fairly compensated (and recognized) for the quality fruit being grown in Mendocino County. As a founding member and president of the North Coast Grape Growers Alliance, Charlie lobbied for a variety of grower causes, including varietal percentage change in wines from 51% to 75%, the first appellation designation in the U.S, and for pricing regulations that said a grower and winery had to agree on prices before grapes were crushed.

Further cementing his iconic role in the North Coast wine business, Charlie worked with the board of directors of the California North Coast Grape Growers Alliance to form a limited partnership of investors, who proceeded to purchase the renowned Souverain Winery in Sonoma County (now known as the Francis Ford Coppola Winery) in 1977. Charlie, along with three other wine industry veterans (Eugene Cuneo, John Batto and Leroy Chandler) were the chief architects behind the purchase of the property and the Souverain wine brand. Ownership of this entity remained in place until it was sold to Beringer in 1985.

Charlie's commitment and devotion to his community went beyond just agriculture. From the early 60's to the late 70's, he was involved in a variety of public service positions including being an active member of the Mendocino County Planning Commission, as well as being appointed to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors by Governor Ronald Regan. The results of his work to create the St. Mary's School Foundation, and his 21-year tenure as president are still visible today.

While his quick wit, twinkling eyes and impish grin will certainly be missed by all who knew and loved him, his legacy and inspiration will live on in the lives of so many he touched along his amazing journey through 92 years of life.

Charlie passed away peacefully at his home in Ukiah on Saturday, June 29th. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Martha Barra, daughter Antoinette Barra, and Martha's children Shelley Maly and Shawn Harmon, as well as four grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Charlie's name to the St. Mary's School Foundation, Charles L. Barra Endowment.

A service for Charlie will be held on July 24, 2019 at 3:00 pm at Eversole Mortuary in Ukiah, CA.

PEDESTRIAN KILLED ON HWY 1 IDENTIFIED

Deceased Was Aaron Kules, Age 46

The Mendocino Sheriff / Coroner released the name of the pedestrian struck & killed on Sunday - it was 5'8", 175-pound Aaron Kules of Fort Bragg.

Mr. Kules had made a couple appearances in the Mendocino County Jail booking log - once on February 6, 2019 for "Petty Theft" and again in June of 2018 for "Failure to Appear."

MSP did see a notation on the petty theft charge stating, "These charges were dropped or not adjudicated guilty."

This was the CHP press release on the incident:

"On Sunday, July 7, at approximately 12:40 am, CHP responded to a vehicle vs. pedestrian traffic collision on SR-1, south of Ocean Drive.

During the initial investigation, it was determined that the pedestrian was crossing SR-1 traveling from the east to the west, and proceeded into the path of a 2005 Toyota Tacoma which was traveling southbound at an undetermined speed on SR-1.

The vehicle collided with the pedestrian head-on, causing fatal injuries to the pedestrian and no injuries to the driver of the Toyota.

Involvement of alcohol as a factor in this collision is still under investigation."

(via MSP)

ADD LOOK-A-LIKES

MENDO v. PG&E

by Mark Scaramella

“I’m the decider,” George W. Bush famously said when defending the indefensible Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who had lost the support of several top generals. In that case, George W. was correct — he really was the person who decided if Rumseld would stay on as Defense Secretary.

But when PG&E flak-catcher Matthew Pender declared on Tuesday, “I’m the decision-maker,” when pressed by Supervisor Ted Williams to set up their “community resource centers” within two hours of a PG&E power shut off, Pender laughed and waffled, saying he couldn’t guarantee it.

That exchange nicely captured the dynamic in the Supes Chambers: PG&E sent up a young guy with the impressive sounding title of “Director, Community Wildfire Safety Program Program Management Office” who obviously was only there to insulate the real big shots at PG&E from a barrage of pointed questions from the Supervisors.

Years ago in the Air Force, when we were told to address our questions to a contractor rep with the title of “director” or “manager,” we always knew that any “manager” or “director” who had no actual employees besides a secretary was mainly a pr intermediary with no real authority to commit anything and no real control over the operation. They were just there to make the customer (the Air Force in that case) feel like they had someone to talk to.

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Poor Mr. Pender had hardly begun his presentation running down PG&Es numbers of weather stations, observation cameras, and the miles of transmission line “hardening,” when Supervisor Ted Williams asked how many were in Mendocino County.

Pender said he thought there might be 20 weather stations and no cameras in Mendocino County. Williams wanted to know where the weather stations were. Pender didn’t know. Williams asked how many cameras were planned for Mendo. Pender didn’t know, but none were in the pipeline at present. Referring to Pender’s claim that PG&E would have 90% of their lines covered by cameras, Williams asked how they’d get to that percentage without significant coverage in Mendocino County. Pender didn’t know.

“Looking at the map,” said Williams, “we have the most impact, and yet no cameras, no hardened lines, minimal weather stations. … And yet you have no plan to add resiliency and safety in this area. It is alarming.”

Mr. Pender had several catch phrases which he deployed repeatedly: “I get it,” “This is a serious issue,” “We’re not taking this lightly.” And perhaps most frequent and most irritating was his tendency to end his answers with “…right?” To which one woman in the audience later replied, “Whenever Mr. Pender said ‘right?’ I immediately thought, ‘wrong’.”

Williams got some cheers from the audience when he asked, “For years PG&E has priortized shareholder profits over safety. Now you’re shutting us off and letting us absorb the risk. How long do you plan to shift the risk to the public, to us? Months? Years?”

Pender said there was no sunset date and the weather is worse these days, adding, “No matter how hardened the system is there are still conditions that could require this. As our system is improved the threshholds may increase and the risk would drop.”

Williams asked Pender why PG&E doesn’t install equipment that can detect a failure when a line drops to the ground?

Pender replied that “Electricity moves at the speed of light.”

Williams: “No, lines drop by gravity, technology that controls it is at speed of light.”

Pender replied, “Australia has that capability and we are exploring it — right?”

Then it was Supervisor McCowen’s turn.

McCowen: “The Unilateral way that PG&E is doing this leads to a cynical interpretation. At what point did the inconveniences of rural life factor in? Avoiding your responsibility for safety [due to secondary affects on rural communities] will result in death and loss of property. Public agencies are scrambling to address what you have caused. When did this factor in? There is an overwhelming risk to life and property [with shut offs that last up to five days or more].”

McCowen pointed out that with lots of people buying generators there’s a big risk of misinstallation, fuel storage problems, dangerous locations, etc.

Pender said that was “a fair point,” adding that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) had “thoroughly discussed” allowing local agencies to veto shut offs. “But the PUC said no. They are PG&E’s lines. The risk of our lines starting a fire outweighs the secondary risks. We understand the secondary impacts. But individuals have to take their own steps.”

Supervisor John Haschak wanted to know more about how shutoffs on trunk lines might affect Mendo, asking, “At what point are we affected by Vacaville?”

Pender could only offer generalities, pointing out that distribution lines serve smaller areas but transmission (or trunk) lines serve larger areas and PG&E has different threshholds for shutoffs in different situations and areas. In some cases if one line into Mendo is cut off, it’s possible that a line coming in from the opposite side might compensate and cover much of the area that was first cut off. “It’s complicated,” insisted Pender.

Supervisor Carre Brown wanted to know about advance notice of shutoffs. Pendar said they would “not always” give 48 hours notice, sometimes there are “really sharp” [i.e., very short] notifications.”

Brown asked if PG&E had learned from their earlier shutoffs in the north bay area. Pendar insisted they had, but didn’t offer any specifics about what they had learned.

Williams returned to point out that Mendo is a poor county, yet now PG&E is adding another expense costing potentially hundreds of thousands of unbudgeted dollars for generators, electrical system modifications, overtime, who knows what else? “Is PG&E willing to reimburse us [the County] for actual costs?”

Pender said there might be some grant programs available, but “I can’t say.”

Williams: “Will you help us with the grants? People could die. We could use help in outreach, help with emergencies. This is a gloomy story and you are offering no resources.”

Pender: “We will help you contact grant resources. I don’t know the details. This is a new threat. PG&E is just one potential source of fire.”

Yes, but PG&E is the only source of “safety” shut-offs.

“What are you willing to do to tangibly to assist then?” continued Williams. “What about cooling centers? Recharging wheelchairs.”

Pender said they are “filling out” their plan for community resource centers, but no dates or locations were mentioned. But people still need to be prepared.

Williams: “Yes, but what tangible things are you doing for Mendocino County? Maps? Locations? Stocking of supplies and equipment?”

Pender said he had no maps because the shut-offs depend on circumstances. “Not all of Mendo would be impacted the same,” said Pender, so resource centers would be “only where needed.”

Williams pointed out that most emergency medical people are volunteers and they are not prepared to carry much emergency oxygen around for people with difficulty breathing stemming from extended outages. “You’ve offered some generic slides,” said Williams, “but no Mendocino County specifics, no financial information. it’s all very vague, yet power could be off for days.”

“We are trying to prepare people for this,” explained Pendar. “Things have changed over time. We all need to be ready for new conditions. We are trying to change people’s mindset.”

“So all we get is a mindset change?” asked Williams.

McCowen decried PG&E’s refusal to listen to feedback, adding that they had done “no planning for the secondary aspects [generators, fuel storage, health and safety…]. You caused this, and you are throwing the impact on us.”

“We get it,” said Pender again. “It would have been nice to have more time. The heat [that Pender was getting from the public and the board] is warranted, it’s a serious issue.”

Supervisor Carre Brown was annoyed too: “This is just thrown on us. We are responsible for the health and safety of County residents. But as a company you don’t care, neither do your stockholders.”

“I get it,” repeated Pender. “There are serious consequences on people who are affected.”

Brown continued: “The attitude of PG&E is not satisfactory. It is being thrown at us. You’re telling us it’s our problem when bad things might happen. It’s really unfair.”

Haschak agreed: “PG&E decides [to shut us off] all by yourself. You care more about stockholders than the public welfare. I’m skeptical of the goodwill of PG&E.”

Pender said he hoped to get their “community resource centers” set up and running in 24 hours or less, adding that PG&E “plans for sooner.”

Williams: “24 hours? Why so long. We, the government, can do better than that. We had emergency centers set up in less than four hours when the fires hit this County. Why can’t you, private industry [do at least that well]?”

CEO Carmel Angelo announced that when her office set-up the presentation they had asked PG&E for “decision-makers.” “Where are they?” Angelo asked, adding, “They need to come back for answers to Mendocino specific questions.”

Pender replied, “I am the decision maker.”

“OK,” said Williams, “then decide on two hours.”

Pender thought that was funny and giggled a little, adding that he “can’t guarantee that.”

McCowen returned to the secondary risk problem: “Lots of people are buying generators and there’s a risk of poor fuel storage and misinstallations. You have no plan, you don’t care.”

Pender: “People can go to PG&E.com for safety sheets, diagrams, buying guides. We have asked customers to tell us where their generators are.”

McCowen: “Half the people won’t even get on your website.”

Williams wanted to know exactly how PG&E would notify government agencies and the public of pending shut-offs. Pender said they had set up a robo-call system.

Williams: “Robo calls?”

Pender: “Yes.”

Williams: “How do we get assurance that these calls are going to the right place?”

Pender: “We also notify 911 dispatch.”

Williams, using emergency services language from his days as a fire chief and first responder replied, “I want to know you called and that the CEO replied, ‘Copy’.”

Pender wouldn’t even guarantee person to person notifications to key county officials other than the robo-calls which, he said, would go to county official phone numbers first, then to customers who have signed up for notifications.

CEO Angelo followed up about a second presentation with, hopefully, PG&E providing more about their plans for Mendocino County and more specific answers. Angelo asked Pender’s associate Ms. Allison Talbott of PG&E’s Eureka office (who hadn’t participated in the exchanges with Pender) when PG&E could come back.

Ms. Talbott said she’d check her calendar.

PS. At the end of the discussion, the PG&E reps said they were going over to speak to Mendo’s Emergency Services coordinator Rick Ehlert about plans, locations and notifications. But on Wednesday, a couple of people who were at that meeting told us that PG&E had offered no additional information and could not promise anything more than robo-call notifications.

PPS. Later in the day on Tuesday Supervisor Williams posted the following comment on the Fifth District Facebook page:

“Pacific Gas & Electric presented their ‘Community Wildfire Safety Program’ to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors today. Unsatisfied by their lack of full answers and dismayed by their unwillingness to partner with us on solutions, I suggested they return when better prepared. I’m thankful for the support of my colleagues in voicing a united message. More than an inconvenience, execution of this plan without further coordination could be fatal for our most vulnerable residents.”

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER Shopping At This Woolworth's Store Back In The Old Days In Downtown San Francisco?

WILDFIRE SAFETY OPEN HOUSE WILLITS

Given the continued and growing threat of extreme weather and wildfire, and as an additional precautionary measure, we are enhancing and expanding our Community Wildfire Safety Program (CWSP) to further reduce wildfire risks and help keep our customers and the communities we serve safe.

Join us at a regional open house to learn more about wildfire safety and emergency preparedness. You can drop in any time between 6 and 8 p.m. to meet with PG&E representatives, ask questions and share feedback.

Wildfire Safety Open House

July 18, 2019, 6 - 8 p.m.

Willits Community Center

111 East Commercial Street

Willits, CA 94590

Topics will include:

• Expansion of the Public Safety Power Shutoff program

• Accelerated safety inspections of electric infrastructure

• Hardening the electric system for the future by replacing equipment and installing stronger and more resilient poles and covered power lines

Webinars will also be available for those who are unable to attend this event in person. To see our webinar schedule, as well as dates for future open houses, visit pge.com/wildfiresafety.

We hope to see you there.

SPEAKING FROM A FIRST-HAND PERSPECTIVE, my own patch of forest – bordering MRC timber land – has been piling up the fuel bed for 40+ years, with disastrous potential a mere spark away. The same appears to be true for the larger situation as far as the eye can see. The precociousness of youth and a more friendly climate regime made it seem like a good idea back then. Trump thinks we can just rake all the stuff up; who knows what the confusing state and local regs are supposed to accomplish. The ‘inconvenient truth’ is a lot of development is in places that are destined to burn at some point. Defensible space? Six lanes of freeway didn’t stop it in Santa Rosa.

— Izzy (On-line comment)

LARGE NUMBERS OF RURAL PROPERTIES IN SONOMA COUNTY VIOLATE FIRE SAFETY RULES

Large numbers of rural properties in Sonoma County are in violation of a county ordinance designed to reduce the risk of wildfires, officials said Tuesday, angering county supervisors who say it’s time for residents to take personal responsibility for protecting their homes.

pressdemocrat.com/news/9779600-181/large-numbers-of-rural-properties

ED NOTES

THOSE GRUMBLES you're hearing from every corner of the county arise from the disappearance of Pacific.net from cyber-space. It's raising hell with us, and must be hurting them a lot worse. We're unable to receive incoming email going on three full days now. You'd think there'd be some way for the Ukiah-based business to inform their customers of what's going on and how long we'd be off-line, but Pacific isn't even answering its phones, probably because they quickly got tired of people screaming at them. We've been with them from the beginning, and intend to stick with them, but jeez.

FROM THE PACIFIC.NET WEBSITE: "We are currently experiencing issues with our @pacific.net email. We are activly [sic] working on a resolution, but we currently do not have an estimated time of repair."

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MY FRIEND BOB FOWLER is just back from Scotland (My people! My people!) where he'd gone to watch a niece graduate from college in Glasgow. "It's the plane over and back that's uncomfortable to the point of pain," Bob said. "Packed in so tight I had to get up every few hours to keep from cramping, but once we got there we had a great time."

He brought back a late June issue of The Scotland Times, a much less solemn mix of stories and photos than would ever appear in the New York Times. Readers get a pretty girl on the front page along with stories about Boris Johnson's plan to cut immigration by pegging it to a point system; a story about how Brit scientists are closing in on a cure for cervical cancer and, an odd piece announcing, "It's fine if my children are gay, says William," aka Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Inside we get young women in bikinis and a story about "hen parties" called "Proseco, naked butlers, and hot tubs on wheels," opposed on the facing page by a disappointed hen who says, "It was a drunken Lord of the Flies, Never Again." Two stories that may resonate with Americans are, "340,000 flee knife crime and high property prices" plus a sad piece called "Boy, 14, found his father dying after stabbing on train." Boris Johnson is likely to be Britain's next prime minister. He's often compared to Trump, but the resemblance ends at their mutual buffoonery. Johnson's a lot smarter and, in clips I've seen of him, often very funny, but Trump-like in policy positions.

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WE FOUND A SECOND DOCTOR? "Anderson Valley Health Center needs a home to rent! We are looking for a place near town and where pets are OK. We have a doctor coming with her dog in August! Thanks everyone for getting the word out."

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THE GOOD NEWS: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is defying Nancy Pelosi's call to stop the tweets and will not be changing her social media habits after the speaker delivered a harsh tongue-lashing to her Democratic lawmakers in the Capitol Wednesday morning, warning them to stop tweeting about their colleagues. ‘No,’ the freshman Democrat said with a big grin to DailyMail.com when asked if she'd be changing her Twitter habits after Pelosi's lecture. She then went on to the House floor to vote."

BLESS AOC ALL HER DAYS. It's about time the Democratic worm began to turn, and the people doing the turning are a handful of young women unlikely, as Bernie shamefully did for Hillary last election, to stand for the inevitable Biden nomination. As a cringing registered Democrat most of my life, with a few departures for Peace and Freedom and the Green Party, I'm actually looking forward for once to the Democratic convention when the big split in the party really manifests itself. The AOC-Warren-Bernie wing of the party reflects the true interests of many more Americans than the Biden-Pelosi-Trumpers do, for a political fact.

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JOHN SAKOWICZ WRITES:

FYI this message below was circulated to the Climate Action Mendocino working group before yesterday's meeting. It was forwarded to me by a concerned citizen. It raises serious questions.

First question: Should a member of the Board of Supervisors be lobbying for an agenda item before a scheduled and properly noticed meeting? And is it a Brown Act violation?

At best, lobbying by a member of the Board of Supervisors seems highly inappropriate.

Second question: Should correspondence by a member of the Board of Supervisors to any private third-party, lobbying for an agenda item, be made available for public inspection?

It's my understanding that all supporting documentation should be available for public review in the office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

Third question: If a violation has occurred, is it a violation of the Ethics Commission Regulations or Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code? And who reports it?

I'm copying Chair Brown on this email.

Thank you.

John Sakowicz

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Unfortunately many of us are unable to attend. If you can possibly get to this meeting to support a Mendocino County Climate Action Advisory Committee please do your best to attend. Thanks so much. It's an important step in our move toward climate action county-wide.

Here is the note from John McCowen:

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Hi, Everyone,

Regret the late notice, but just wanted to make sure you were aware that the Board of Supervisors will consider adoption of a resolution to form the Mendocino County Climate Action Advisory Committee (MCCAAC) at our meeting on July 9. The item is 6b on the agenda and should come up at approximately 10:30 depending on how quickly earlier items go. As you know, the need for the MCCAAC has been derided by some, while others have used it as an opportunity to make false and self-serving allegations. Please consider attending to show support for the resolution.

To recount the history, despite "fake news" that has been circulated, this item has nothing to do with staffing or creating a staff position for the Committee. On March 19 the Board unanimously endorsed in concept a proposal from the Climate Action Start-up Group to form a MCCAAC; on April 16 the Board heard a proposal from the same group on the structure and formation of the MCCAAC and unanimously directed staff to return with a resolution adopting the proposed structure and formation; on May 7 the Board considered a resolution creating the MCCAAC but declined to approve it because it did not clearly incorporate the proposal that had been presented on April 16. The revised resolution incorporates by reference the proposal presented on April 16. Again, this item does not, and never did, have anything to do with how the committee is to be staffed.

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ED NOTE; McCowen's reference to "fake news" is, of course, aimed at the mighty AVA. McCowen doesn't communicate with us these days other than an "off the record" phone call wherein he tells us how wrong we are about this or that action of his, which he wouldn't dare put on the record, as in this instance where he straight-up lies about his lobbying effort on behalf of his non-paying tenants at the Potemkin organization at 106 W. Standley, especially his dual tenant, Alicia Little Tree Bales. (McCowen's Earth First! moniker is that hippie standby, "River.") McCowen had hoped to water the tree, so to speak, by sneaking this absolutely fraudulent Climate Change scam by on the consent calendar. It included a highly paid position for, he hoped, Ms. Tree, who then complained she'd been threatened by Sako and e-mailed me that she was reporting me to Google and the police! (No, Tree, no, not that!) The complaints about McCowen's gift of public funds to the gang of unemployables clustered at the MEC were loud enough from us and the Ukiah Daily Journal that McCowen's palsy-walsy ploy was downsized to seven grand for fraudulent purposes yet to be determined. If the County Counsel doesn't recognize a conflict of interest this plain she ought to be fired, and McCowen un-elected.

PS. Here is the chart McCowen had prepared when the CAAC proposal first appeared on the agenda:

And here is how Ellen Drell proposed the committee operate. (No one objected to this silly chart.)

HUMCO SHERIFF ON NATIONAL GUARD POT RAIDS

The National Guard is here on my request…the helicopter that was being flown had my deputy sheriffs on it and they were scouting out public lands, private land, illegal marijuana grows. The National Guard has been requested…I want to assure people they are working for me and they’re at my direction and we are working together to try and bring the illicit cannabis industry into compliance with the state law. So I want to assure people that the National Guard isn’t here working independently that they are working under my purview. So we are going to be working with them for the next several months…

So the Sheriff’s Office plan to hold people accountable for all the environmental crimes and the other crimes associated with the illicit cannabis industry…

I want you to know that we are targeting those that are outside the permit process…So, if you are outside the permit process, that you have a target that is going to be on your marijuana grow.

The people that are permitted…you are not in our cross-hairs…It is those people that are outside the permit process that should know that we are coming.

I want to remind everyone that we are a complaint driven department. When you have a complaint about an illegal marijuana garden you need to call us…

[W]e are receiving a lot of tips actually from licensed marijuana cultivators…I appreciate the partnership we have with the legal growing community…We are there to protect them and their interests as well….

Marijuana continues to be a real driver of crime here in the county… That’s why it continues to be a priority for the Sheriff’s Office and this county. If you are not already there, please get a permit and go legal.

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ON-LINE COMMENTS

(1) Did he actually say, “[W]e are receiving a lot of tips actually from licensed marijuana cultivators…I appreciate the partnership we have with the legal growing community…We are there to protect them and their interests as well….”?

Yeah. Divide and conquer.

Those with permits should not oppose those without. (Environmental criminals may be the exception).

I have a permit.

I don’t care if people grow black market. That’s their decision.

And for God’s sake (and for that of our community), don’t rat out your neighbors on private land. Maybe if they are ravaging the land, maybe.

Rather be in league with illegal growers than with the cops.

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(2) Newsflash, the price of outdoor is up to $1500 that means you now only have to grow 1/3 of what you were previously growing to make the same amount, continued enforcement has also risen the price of Indoor weed. This is a good thing for locals. People in Humboldt were making a great living off of indoor weed until too much outdoor was produced and plummeted the prices. I know about 9 people right now who are firing up their indoors and selling lbs for $2500 again!

CATCH OF THE DAY, JULY 10, 2019

JAVIER GARIBAY, Lancaster/Willits. Burglary tools, unauthorized entry into building, paraphernalia, appropriation of another’s property without trying to return it, resisting.

ANTONIA GONZALEZ, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JOSEPH HOLLIS, Fort Bragg. Domestic abuse.

AZURIAH PAUL, Forestville/Ukiah. Kidnapping, robbery, false imprisonment, use of firearm for felony, burglary, taking vehicle without owner’s consent.

CLINTON SALLEE, Fort Bragg. Under influence, paraphernalia, suspended license (for DUI), failure to appear, probation revocation.

RHONDA SANDERS, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear, resisting, probation revocation.

ROBERT THURMAN, Mendocino. Controlled substance for sale, paraphernalia, failure to appear.

CASEY WALLACE, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Controlled substance, petty theft, smuggling booze or drugs into jail.

NOT ENOUGH DELILAHS

by Andrew O’Hagan

I’ve never met anybody who hated as many people as Lillian Ross did. She would count their names off on her fingers, regularly within spitting distance of them, and her voice wasn’t quiet and she wasn’t shy. Bending back each digit and making a face, she’d offer a defining word after each name:

Gloria Steinem – phoney

Janet Malcolm – pretentious

Renata Adler – crackpot

Susan Sontag – nobody

Nora Ephron – liar

Other hand:

Kenneth Tynan – creep

Truman Capote – leech

George Plimpton – slick

Tom Wolfe – talentless

Philip Roth – jerk

It was a mercy she only had two hands. To be fair, there were some men she liked. They tended to be showbusiness people. She liked Robin Williams, Charlie Chaplin, Tommy Lee Jones and Al Pacino. She also liked Salinger. (‘Jerry’ had been a friend since the 1950s and Lillian could sometimes sound like a female Holden Caulfield, railing against the phonies.) She got a fine awareness of “the penalties of making it” from Salinger and quoted from a letter he wrote to her in the 1960s, summing up the horror. “I don’t mean just the pretty obvious penalties, I mean the ones that are just about unnoticeable and that do really lasting damage, the kind the world doesn’t even think of as damage.” Like Salinger, she mainly disliked other writers for being vain and puffed up. She thought all intellectuals were bullshitters. She didn’t like suck-ups or girls who got above themselves. She didn’t like people who thought they were closer to William Shawn [at the New Yorker] than she was.

We were friends for a few years – you could say I was briefly her lapdog – and saw each other every time I came to New York. She had written me a number of very nice letters and given me signed copies of her books. She wanted to warn me off “all those magazines full of phonies who are going to try to use you up and kill your talent and make you write bullshit.” I was delighted to be liked by her. She had written some of my favorite pieces of journalism and there were things I could learn from her. There were others who’d walked in my shoes, but that was fine. She liked boys who were nice to their mothers. And I liked old ladies who’d led interesting lives.

One night in January 2002, she took me and some friends to see Saturday Night Live. (She’d been working on a New Yorker profile of the producer, Lorne Michaels, for thirty years.) It was the night Monica Lewinsky was doing a special guest appearance. What I remember most about Lillian that night is that she didn’t take any notes from the moment we arrived at the studio until the moment we left. She didn’t use a tape recorder. (Edmund Wilson said she was ‘the girl with a tape recorder in her head’.) We watched the live recording from Lorne Michaels’s office, and she went in and out of people’s dressing rooms and availed herself of the catering, but there were no interviews, and she only smiled when called a “legend” by some of the people wandering in and out, including Chevy Chase, who spoke to her as if she were Mark Twain or the Statue of Liberty. Michaels made a huge fuss of her, too, and she was, in truth, the stellar opposite of the unobtrusive, silent reporter who keeps her distance and haunts the blind spots. At the party afterwards, at Barolo on West Broadway, she sat surrounded by Lewinsky and the other stars and didn’t ask any questions. She ate her supper and remarked at one point that the new pop star Ricky Martin looked like a fake. A director who was with us had been the subject of two of her pieces for “Talk of the Town.” He later told me he realized at the party that Lillian didn’t think of him as a friend. “In a perfectly nice way,” he said, “I had only been a story to her.”

She was the sort of person who rated the people from her past so highly that all living people faced a struggle from the start. If you were lucky enough to say something funny, she’d smile for a second and then tell you Thurber would have made it funnier. If – heaven forfend – you tried to pinpoint a social nuance, she would look at you somewhat pityingly before telling you that her friend Joseph Mitchell could have made poetry out of it. She hated the New York Review of Books with a vengeance, resenting its “assumption of power” and its “critical faculties,” and she told me there was no real writing in it and I should stop associating “with people like that.”

She argued, not convincingly, that pieces which did not appear in the New Yorker probably had something wrong with them. It would be natural to think Lillian just felt left out of the senior common room, where someone like Janet Malcolm – respected and published across the campus – appeared to have bigger subjects. But these writers weren’t better than her, they were simply other writers. “Other voices, other rooms,” I said.

“Oh, don’t quote that baloney book at me,” she said. “Capote spent the whole of the 1950s collaring me to ‘pick my brains,’ as he called it.”

(London Review of Books)

123 YEARS AGO TODAY, July 10, 1896, our IBEW founder Henry Miller succumbed to injuries due to a fall from electrocution. The IBEW recognizes this great Journeyman Lineman for his vision and determination to found this great union.

His dream was:

To organize all workers in the entire electrical industry in the United States and Canada, including all those in public utilities and electrical manufacturing, into local unions,

To promote reasonable methods of work,

To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry,

To settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (if possible),

To assist each other in sickness or distress,

To secure employment,

To reduce the hours of daily labor,

To secure adequate pay for our work,

To seek a higher and higher standard of living,

To seek security for the individual,

And by legal and proper means to elevate the moral, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship.

Thank you Henry Miller

January 5th, 1858 — July 10th, 1896

MSP SAW THIS POST to the coast social media page "Fort Bragg California Current Events ~ An open discussion." It was written by Cayla MacKenzie Murphy:

"Okay, so here is my bit… Some of you may know already what happened on Sunday afternoon July 7th. For those of you who don't, I'm sharing in hopes that it helps someone else - not to gain sympathy but to bring awareness.

My mother, my four-month-old daughter, and I had just gotten back to the car after walking around downtown Fort Bragg and enjoying our time together as she was visiting from my home state of Washington.

She had driven us to town in my car and had parked on South Main Street in front of Eggheads Restaurant. I had the keys in my purse, unlocked the doors and took my daughter out of her wrap and took her around to the drivers side rear door where her car seat was (I know the passenger rear is considered ‘safer’ but shouldn't excuse the circumstances).

I opened the door and started buckling my baby in my mom had sat in the front passenger seat at this time. Suddenly, I heard and felt some sort of impact - this is where everything is a blur because I tensed, filled with adrenaline and fear.

Trying to figure out if someone hit my mirror, the back or my door. Ultimately, I finally turned to look and my door was bent back.

A young woman came rushing up saying, did she just hit your car? She almost just hit us when we were crossing the street.

That's when I looked up and saw the van. I stood there in complete shock. When it was realized she was not going to stop and pull over to get information, the other young woman on the sidewalk was saying ‘take a picture of the license plate.’

All during this time, my mom went down the sidewalk towards the stoplight the lady was at. A gentleman in the vehicle in front of her got out of his car and was telling her to stop and pull over and told the car behind her vehicle to block her in. He said not to go and that the police were being called - all while my Mother was saying you just hit a ladies car while she was putting her baby into her car seat. All the while, another woman came and asked did they just hit your car because they hit my car too. She then proceeded to go around the parked cars through the stoplight. There was another courageous driver who witnessed what had happened and followed her.

Still shaken and shocked, I called 911 when it was clear she was not stopping and thanks to the quick thinking of witnesses we had her plates and vehicle description. As well as the car who was following her. I was told to stay put and the police were going to try to stop the vehicle before they came to our location.

I stood there in bewilderment for quite some time trying to piece things together.

This person almost hit two young ladies and three children in a crosswalk at the point where they were crossing and she stopped in the middle - the pedestrians had to walk around her - she then hit a parked vehicle and proceeded to hit my car door, evade those trying to get her to stop, and continue to run.

Waiting for more information as my mom held my daughter trying to calm me down, the couple who followed her came back around and said the Police got her on the next block or so over. My mom said do you want to go see if you can find them and I said yes.

I walked around the area and did not see anything - so where does my mind go in this time to all the ‘could haves.’

If I had just walked around the side of the car… if my Mom decided to drive us home and went to the driver's side. If she hit mere inches closer to me. If I was finished buckling Eleanor in and got into the driver seat. If she didn't stop when the young ladies and kids were crossing the street. I was upset and angry.

I'm still upset and angry.”

She was drunk. She fled the scene. She was cited and released.

I think it's going to take time to heal and not think of the 'what ifs.' It is extremely hard especially when you think of those who were not so 'lucky.'

Do not CHOOSE to drink and then CHOOSE to drive. I say this a choice because I am not against alcohol. Anyone who is close to me knows that I enjoy it RESPONSIBLY.

Drinking and driving is having no regard for every single human you drive past. The pedestrians, parked vehicles, others on the road in vehicles, bicyclists, and passengers.

There are so many alternatives. Call a friend, walk home, call a rideshare or cab, stop drinking, get a hotel room, anything that can be done to sober up.

DO NOT GET INTO YOUR VEHICLE AND DRIVE.

Your choices branch out and hurt more people than you know and you cannot blame the anger that is felt, but is it heard?"

(via MendocinoSportsPlus)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Last Friday, July 5, here in Vegas, I was lounging on the couch watching the Rockies-Dbacks game when it started shaking back and forth. Initially, fearing that an unseen poltergeist was on the loose, I was relieved to see the dining room light fixture swaying, and realized it was an earthquake. The epicenter was 150 miles away in Ridgecrest, CA and the quake measured 7.1. with the tremor lasting over thirty seconds. A bit unnerving to say the least

The moral of the story being that Mother Nature is still in charge, always has been and always will be. Her rules and laws can’t be ignored without peril. For instance Newton’s Third Law of Motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In otherwords, what goes up has to go down. This law applies to economics as well. At some point, something is going to give just like seismic faults volcanoes, economic expansions.

Our political class has no clue how to solve the various problems inherent to our way of life. Most are lawyers, who know how to argue but…Like loyalist soldiers playing poker with hyper-inflated, stolen, currency which will soon to be rendered worthless when the rebels usurp control over their banana republic, they are deterined to enrich themselves before it is too late. How do we recover from the $7 trillion wasted in Bush’s illegal wars, $29 trillion wasted in Obama’s TBTF bank bailout and $21+ trillion in dark money passed through DOD? The politicos know the gig is up. The future of America has been sacrificed for the creature comforts of today. We are a captive state under the thumb of the globalists.

Gnashing our teeth over what politicos or central bankers promise, say or do is as useless as thinking mortal man can stop a volcanic eruption, an earthquake, an ice age or solar flare (or the failure of a fiat world reserve currency).

OFFICIAL 2020 TRUMP VS DEMOCRAT POLL

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/landing/2020-trump-vs-dem-poll

POISONING THE FARALLONES

Editor:

The Devil’s Teeth (a name given to the Farallones by early sailors) might have a few cavities, but to drop 1.5 tons of rat poison pellets from a helicopter is ludicrous (“Poison weighed for Farallones,” Monday). I remember the cartoon from the 1950s “Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks.” Mr. Jinks the cat would always say, “I hate those meeces to pieces,” but I doubt even Mr. Jinks would go to these extremes.

The federal government, with the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, could put this plan into action by 2020. I highly doubt this will happen, but there have been many other projects involving the federal government that I thought would never have happened.

The last big calamity involving poison in California that I recall was up at Lake Davis in Plumas County. The state tried to exterminate the invasive northern pike. Unfortunately, the fish survived and they poisoned the trout and the drinking water.

If we leave the islands alone, maybe in 1,000 years things will get worked out without our interventions.

Ken Solbakken

Santa Rosa

KNOW YOUR OLIGARCHS (#23)