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MCT: Monday, September 30, 2019

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A LIGHT RAIN pattered Anderson Valley Sunday accompanied by cooler than average temps. Lower than average temps will continue for the rest of the week with highs slowly rising to the mid-80s inland by next weekend. Light to minimal winds.


A COUPLE LINGERING SHOWERS are possible this morning, otherwise clearing skies and drying conditions are expected. Afternoon temperatures will be unseasonably cool and widespread frost is possible away from the coast tonight. Temperatures are expected to gradually warm through Wednesday. Mainly dry conditions are expected through the week.

LATE NIGHT TEMPERATURES will rapidly fall into the 30’s…dropping to the upper 20’s in the coldest inland valleys. Areas of frost are likely overnight. Cover or move sensitive plants inside to protect them from frost damage. Also, do not forget about your pets, make sure to provide adequate shelter for them. For details on your location visit www.weather.gov/eka.

(National Weather Service)

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ADVENTISTS MAKE THEIR MOVE

by Malcolm Macdonald

The Mendocino Coast Healthcare District edges closer to affiliation with Adventist Healthcare. Negotiations are ongoing, but the Coast hospital released a “Fact Sheet” Wednesday, September 25, detailing many of the terms of a potential 30-year lease agreement (with potential five year opt outs) in which local taxpayers and voters would retain control of the healthcare district and its property while Adventist Health would take charge of running all aspects of the Coast hospital, its clinic, home health, and its ambulance service.

Under this structure the current Board of Directors of the Mendocino Coast Healthcare District will remain intact; however a new “community” board will be formed with members appointed by Adventist Health. Most likely it will consist of eleven members, including three members from Adventist Health, one member from the existing board, the hospital's chief of staff, and six representatives from the local community, who will be selected by Adventist.

According to the Fact Sheet, affiliation will provide more resources “to recruit and retain staff as well as bolster departments that currently have unmet needs such as new equipment and upgrading existing facilities.” Adventist is likely to pour as much as $8-10 million dollars into capital maintenance projects as part of an affiliation agreement.

Readers will recall that when a request for proposal was sent out by the Coast Hospital District last spring, Adventist Health's response was deemed the only acceptable one by an ad hoc committee made up of two hospital board members and the interim chief executive officer (CEO). The hospital's chief of staff, Fort Bragg's city manager, and at least one other individual have been added to this committee since that time, though the full board of directors of the hospital has seemingly never voted on the additions.

As has been documented before, Adventist is not a newcomer to affiliating or acquiring financially distressed hospitals. In recent years it has gone through similar procedures with facilities in Marysville, Lodi, Tulare and Tehachapi. The Fact Sheet material claims that these hospitals have seen “significant improvements in patient and employee satisfaction. These areas have seen growth of services and financial prosperity as a result of affiliation with a larger system.”

Much of the Fact Sheet is presented in a question and answer format, such as “How will the decision be made?”

The responding answer: “The District Board is negotiating with Adventist to develop mutually agreed upon terms. If this is successful, then those terms will be presented as ballot measure language by November 26, 2019, for voting on March 3, 2020, by the registered voters in the Health Care District. A vote of greater than 50% will allow the affiliation to occur.”

Thanks to an error-filled editorial run by the coastal newspaper in late June, misconceptions have abounded about the parcel tax money collected by the hospital district as a result of the passage of Measure C in 2018. According to that June 27th editorial, “If the hospital affiliates, that $1.4 million a year from local property owners will very likely go straight into the revenue stream of whatever company takes over the facility…”

The Fact Sheet responds to that error. “The District currently raises approximately $1.6M per year through Measure C. This money will not be affected by the affiliation. The money will remain under the control of the District and will be spent locally following the stipulations stated in the ballot language of Measure C. The Measure C oversight board will also remain in effect.”

Readers and local radio listeners may be interested to know that on June 28, the day after the coastal newspaper editorial went public, KOZT radio DJ Kate Hayes compounded the falsehood by reading that portion of the erroneous editorial, more or less verbatim, on air, apparently having made no effort to verify its validity.

The Fact Sheet states that the present collective bargaining agreement will be accepted by Adventist. In answer to the direct query, “Will some staff be laid off?,” the response was, “It is expected that the clinical areas will maintain the current staffing with some even experiencing an increase. However, it is likely some positions will be centralized. Affected employees will be given an opportunity to move into other available positions and receive re-training.” That's polite language for some employees may have to take jobs in other Adventist facilities away from the coast, and, yes, some people will lose their jobs. How many remains to be seen.

Questions about clinics and what will happen if a doctor chooses to leave rather than work for Adventist were answered this way in the Fact Sheet: “All clinics will be maintained throughout the affiliation. If a provider (physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant) chooses not to remain in their current position, then an interim provider will be brought in to ensure uninterrupted patient care until a permanent replacement can be hired.”

Which leads to the politically tinged questions about abortion and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals. The Fact Sheet states, “While Adventist Health does not allow elective abortions to be performed in its facilities, it does allow counseling around such options to be given to a woman by her provider, who would then make an appropriate referral out of the system for such services if the woman chooses an abortion. This is similar to what happens now. Currently, about one elective abortion is performed here [at the Coast hospital] every five years. There are no restrictions placed on performing a therapeutic abortion in an Adventist facility. So, in the case of a woman undergoing chemotherapy or similar situations where there would be a medical indication for terminating a pregnancy, this is fully allowed.

“While the Seventh Day Adventist Church has a stand opposing same sex marriage, it is important to know that Adventist Health is associated with but not run by the Church. State and federal law prohibits an employer and a health care provider from discriminating against patients or employees based on sexual preferences.”

The medical definition of therapeutic abortion is, “An abortion induced when pregnancy constitutes a threat to the physical or mental health of the mother.” Of course, interpretations of that statement can be broadened or adhered to in the strictest of interpretations.

The response to the specific subject of women's reproductive health was handled in this manner within the Fact Sheet, “Adventist Health does not place any restrictions on family planning discussions between a patient and her provider. This includes discussing such options as birth control, IUDs and elective abortions. There is no restriction on birth control (including IUDs) which can be placed in the clinics.”

Leaving that aside, perhaps more importantly, look to future agendas of the coast hospital's planning committee for discussion about the formation of a women's health center that would avoid competing with existing hospital services, but plug holes where services are not fully materializing.

The work of that planning committee may take on a more and more important role in light of the obfuscations on abortion rights and the omission of any direct Q&A in the Fact Sheet on the subject of obstetrics (OB)/labor and delivery. Of course, another hard reality remains the ever dwindling number of deliveries at Mendocino Coast District Hospital. After the first two months of this fiscal year that number had barely eked into double digits. Maintaining physicians and nurses for this service has become a financial drain on the hospital that nears two million dollars per year.

The economic elephant in the operating room remains the required seismic upgrade of the hospital by 2030. The Fact Sheet responds with, “Bringing our existing [nearly 50-year old] building to code will cost at least $24M. In which case, we are still left with an old building that lacks modern health care innovations. Building a new hospital will cost around four times that; however, it will be much more attractive, both physically and functionally. The role of Adventist in helping meet this requirement is a key part of the ongoing negotiation.”

That last sentence is the financial understatement of this and the upcoming decade.

Public forums to address questions surrounding the potential affiliation are scheduled for Elk on October 7, 6 pm, at the Greenwood Community Center; Albion on October 8, 6 pm, at the Pacific Union College Field Station; Fort Bragg on October 14, 1 pm, at the Senior Center; Comptche during the evening of October 14, 6 pm, at Chapel of the Redwoods; Mendocino on October 16, 6 pm, at the Hill House; Fort Bragg on October 21, 6 pm, at Town Hall; Fort Bragg again on October 24, 6 pm, at Cotton Auditorium. A forum in Westport is planned, but exact date and time is yet to be determined.

(More on hospital affiliation at malcolmmacdonaldoutlawford.com.)

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THANKSGIVING COFFEE COMPANY ON THE DOCKS, 1984

(via Dick Whetstone, Fort Bragg)

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POWER SHUTOFFS ARE PART OF OUR NEW NORMAL

(Ukiah Daily Journal Editor’s note: The following editorial comes from our sister newspaper The Chico Enterprise Record.)

We now have a couple of cases under our belt where power was turned off to ease the potential for wildfire, so we can ask what we’ve learned from the experience.

PG&E shut off power to 27,500 customers in Northern California on Monday evening and then again to 48,200 early Wednesday morning.

First and foremost, we didn’t have any fires caused by power line failures. There was the potential. If was very dry and very windy, conditions that have resulted in catastrophe in the past.

That is why PG&E was directed by the state to come up with the shutdown program. De-energizing lines with the potential to cause fire reduces the possibility of fire.

This still seems like the kind of thing that happens in third world countries, but there are some unique conditions in California. There are mountains and forests that power lines need to cross, a sketchy business at its best. There are vast distances to cover — nearly 2,800 miles of line were shut down on Wednesday morning for example. And it will always be hot and windy here.

We’re glad to hear PG&E has a long-term plan to harden its system against the threat posed by the climate. You could argue it should have been done long ago. But we also don’t think it’s possible to eliminate the threat.

The rains stop here for at least five months every year. By the time fall comes, everything is ready to burn. It doesn’t take much — a wayward golf swing started a fire this week, after all. And we have power lines carrying thousands of watts of electricity hanging over that tinderbox throughout the state.

It seems that the power shutoffs for public safety are likely to be part of our new normal. We’ve had a couple of tastes of it now, and hopefully we’ve learned what it’s like, and learned that yes, we do have to prepare and be ready.

Be sure to sign up to be notified when the power is going out at www.pge.com.

There are still kinks to work out. We’re pretty sure notifying people at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday that their power was going to be turned off at 2:30 the following morning is not the best practice. People need a bit more timely notice.

Still, we’re glad PG&E worked to restore power as quickly as possible. The early indications were that once power was shut off, it would be out for several days due to the need to inspect the de-energized lines. The utility seems to be sorting out that part of the business.

We’re all still in a learning process on this. And it’s really important we take the learning seriously.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

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THE ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE

The AV Village’s long calendar of local events for moms and pops and other age-challenged valley-ites (and others, of course) can be seen at: andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events

Or by contacting coordinator Anica Williams at: andersonvalleyvillage@gmail.com, 707-684-9829

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“BOOGIE, BREWS & BBQ”

Plowshares’ fall fundraising event for Meals-on-Wheels.

Saturday, October 5th from 5pm-9pm at Barra of Mendocino.

Grab some friends and come boogie down with The Funky Dozen, drink brews & wines and feast on amazing BBQ entrees provided by the grill masters at Savings Bank of Mendocino, plus desserts!

The “BBB” event is dedicated to support our Meals-on-Wheels program, which delivers 140 daily free, hot, freshly prepared meals to the homes of disabled, homebound seniors. A year ago we obtained equipment that allows us to freeze and deliver meals for weekends as well – so we are now providing meals to these seniors seven days a week, for a total of over 50,000 a year!

And the value of Meals-on-Wheels goes far beyond the nutritious food we supply. Daily visits from our friendly volunteers are sometimes the only human contact the seniors receive during the day. Some of them have told us, “You’re the reason I get up and get dressed each morning!” or “I don’t know how I’d get by without your help!”

Plowshares does not charge for this service and relies on community support to keep this program going. A $75 all-inclusive ticket will do just that! Plus gives you, live music, dancing, all –you-can-handle BBQ & Drinks, great company, and a raffle for a variety of enticing items! The “BBB” event promises to be an exciting evening to remember.

Tickets are on-sale now at Plowshares, Mendocino Book Company or at: www.plowsharesfeeds.org/boogie-brews-bbq

If you’re interested in sponsoring this event or for more information contact Michelle at 707-462-8582.

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DST LAW DELAYED FOR NO GOOD REASON

by Jim Shields

In case you were wondering what ever happened to Proposition 7, the 2018 initiative that created Daylight Savings Time forever, the answer is you’ll have to keep changing your clock until the state legislature gets around to passing the required law to enable permanent springing ahead.

Back in November of 2018, 60 percent of the voters approved repealing the old 1949 law that required changing clocks twice a year.

Assemblyman Kansen Chu introduce a bill following approval of Proposition 7, that paved the way for permanent DST. However, this spring Chu withdrew his bill saying he wanted more time to check with his constituents and get more feedback from them.

What?

The voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, so what the hell is he talking about?

The DST enabling law is required in order to get final federal authorization.

In a series of tweets, Chu said, “My main goal will always be to stop the practice of switching back and forth, and I am dedicated to make this a reality. As this is an issue that impacts all Californians, I want to take the next few months to ask my constituents their thoughts on permanent daylight saving time vs. permanent standard time.”

Chu promised the legislation will be re-introduced in January.

“It’s important to me that my constituents are heard and putting a pause on moving the bill will give me the opportunity to do more outreach,” Chu tweeted.

One of his constituents tweeted back to Chu, “The proposition already passed for year-round daylight savings time. This does not have to be re-visited. Your constituents don’t need to be asked again. Voters approved the proposition (60% in favor).”

Another voter weighed in with a suggestion, “We need to go to one time but should be year-round standard time, not daylight savings. Otherwise it will be so dark for so long on winter mornings for workers and students driving/walking/taking transit. Having a bit lighter in the winter in the evening won’t help … when it is colder, people will just want to get home. They aren’t going to go out and about. While it might not stay quite as light as long in summer, it gets to the point it is still light after 9:00 p.m.”

“I want to clarify that AB 7 is not dead and will be moving forward in January. My main goal will always be to stop the practice of switching back and forth, and I am dedicated to make this a reality,” Chu’s Chief of Staff Annie Pham said in a statement from the assemblyman. “As this is an issue that impacts all Californians, I want to take the next few months to ask my constituents their thoughts on permanent daylight saving time vs. permanent standard time. It is important to me that my constituents are heard, and putting a pause on moving the bill will give me the opportunity to do more outreach.”

Daylight saving time started on March 10 this year. It ends on Nov. 3, when people will once again have to fall back an hour. The next daylight saving time period starts on March 8, 2020 and lasts until Nov. 1.

Alaska, Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that don’t observe daylight saving time.

“This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect,” the bill’s language reads.

A lot of folks have long complained that the annual time-changing routine switching the clocks causes internal body clocks to go haywire. Studies have found that clock changing may be a health concern, citing rising anxiety issues, workplace accidents, heart attacks, strokes, etc.

I’m quite skeptical of such claims.

And, there is another factor to consider.

As pointed out in a recent story, the federal government already moved to make Daylight Savings Time last longer as the intent was to have people out and about for the better part of the afternoon into evening. So energy efficiency has became a factor.

I’m sure there are all sorts of other reasons supporting the switch to DST, but in the last analysis there’s only one that truly counts.

The voters approved a ballot measure mandating politicians to carry forward the enabling legislation establishing permanent Daylight Savings Time.

They need to do their job and get it done.

(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, and is also the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org.)

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DISMANTLING A BRONTOSAURUS after the New York World's Fair, 1965.

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SUSPECTED STALKER HIDES IN CORN MAZE IN PETALUMA

A Petaluma man suspected of stalking a woman and breaking the conditions of his restraining order was arrested Saturday morning, following a two-hour search after he darted across Highway 101 into the Petaluma Pumpkin Patch corn maze, police said.

pressdemocrat.com/news/10112360-181/petaluma-stalking-suspect-arrested-after

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WHY NO TRIAL RUN?

(Tommy Wayne Kramer, Mendocino County must read columnist, found only in the Ukiah Daily Journal)

Months ago a local writer named D.E. (Rick) Johnson wrote a letter that was printed in the Daily Journal in which he put forth a few commonsense points about the proposed shrinking of State Street.

The crux was that the city should approach so drastic a makeover with caution. The city should subject the plan to a trial run by placing cones and bales of hay along the proposed route whereby officials and average citizens would be able to evaluate the changes to State Street before those changes become irrevocable.

Since his letter appeared I have had a dozen or more people echo Johnson’s remarks, in their own words of course, and perhaps without ever having read his thoughts and observations. It all seems so obvious.

But our leaders have never offered so much as a terse reply, let along a thoughtful and appreciative response. There is no sign the city is taking anyone’s opinions into account, at least not the opinions of mere citizens.

Opinions? Thanks, but the City of Ukiah hires consultants for opinions. And besides, what do citizens know about traffic on State Street anyway?

I’m no consultant and I don’t think I’ve given as much thought to this as Mr. Johnson but I’m with him and so are a lot of other people. The city should get out the hay bales and the traffic cones and run some experiments, work out some kinks, indulge the taxpayers, give lip service to citizen input and then, of course, do whatever the consultants say to do.

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SADDEST NEWS OF THE DAY

We have 2x12 currently uncut, hard maple bowling lanes cut in 78” sections that have been covered by laminate lanes (also available) pricing varies. Come by Sunday if you are interested. Please help us spread the word! We also have other great items for sale #yokayobowlingcenter

LIQUIDATION

Yokayo Bowling Center

1401 N. State Street

Ukiah, CA

Everything Must Go… NOW!!!

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SUSTAINABLE POISONING

Editor,

It is appalling that the Sonoma Winegrowers are being allowed to use the term “sustainable” to describe their agricultural practices (“Sustainable growth plan,” Sept. 13).

It is also disturbing that the article failed to investigate any controversy surrounding the term due to third party organizations — largely made up of wine growers — overseeing this certification. Green washing and the use of pesticides were barely mentioned.

In 2017, these “sustainable” wineries used 74,000 pounds of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup, which has been found to be a probable human carcinogen, on their soil. Glyphosate is just one of the many synthetic pesticides, fungicides, insecticides and herbicides that “sustainable” agribusiness use repeatedly on their vineyards, which surround many of our schools and homes.

As a county whose cancer rates are going up, we should be very worried about this. Sustainability denotes concern about ecosystems, community health, pollutants and climate longevity. However, these agribusinesses use substances that disrupt ecosystems, pollute water sources and soil, kill insects, birds and animals and threaten our health.

How is it OK that a green Sustainable Sonoma sign hangs feet from a red Stop — Commercial Vineyard Agricultural Chemicals In Use sign across from my child’s school?

Jennifer Jaffe

Sebastopol

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ED NOTES

GROUPS of anti-vaxxers comparing their dangerous ignorance to the civil rights movement is simply more evidence that we live in combined a-historical and hysterical times. For pure disproportion this particular comparison wins the blue ribbon. Civil rights soldiers risked their lives. Anti-vaxxers risk the lives of others, particularly children, their own included.

I remember when Judi Bari wanted to call Redwood Summer, “Mississippi Summer in the Redwoods.” Fortunately, the late Bari, although often wildly disproportionate on a personal level, immediately understood that Redwood Summer and Mississippi Summer bore no relation in terms of personal danger quotient, not to say that the comparison was breathtakingly insulting to the soldiers of Mississippi Summer.

YES! The current rise in measles cases more than warrants SB 276, the newly-signed law designed to rein in unscrupulous doctors who have been granting medical exemptions to vaccinations for dubious reasons. According to the CDC, measles cases have skyrocketed this year with (as of June 30) over 2,900 confirmed cases and 36,000 suspected cases in the US. The number of cases jumped 300% in the first three months of the year compared with 2018.


FROM LAST WEEK'S ICO in a story on failing school attendance by W.W. Keller: "The problem of chronic absenteeism is particularly acute in rural areas, and Mendonomma is no exception, where many people live at or near the poverty level and population is spread out geographically." Complicated question, for sure, but the assumption that poverty is high on the list of causes, implies that Native Americans and Mexicans, who the school district dare not identify by ethnicity but depend on for funding, aren't educationally ambitious for their children. Later in the article a school administrator says the school buses in the Point Arena area lack drivers, forcing school principals to drive the school buses and vans which, some of the time, "are so full that they reach capacity and have to leave students standing at the curbside." Which, one would think, is unacceptable if it happens even once. This may be unfair to the old boy, but PA's superintendent of schools, Warren Galletti, being paid at nearly triple the rate of a beginning teacher, maybe oughta visit the homes of the chronically absent students to find out why they are so often among the missing.


A SECOND interesting ICO story by W.W. Keller begins, "Anna Dobbins, a Point Arena City Councilmember, said she was walking along the bank of the Garcia River on Sept. 7 at about 11:30am when she was challenged by a person (sic) who said he was a member of a hunt club that leases land from Mendocino Redwood Company, the property owner…"

MS. DOBBINS pointed out that navigable rivers are legally open to Americans up to their highest floodplain mark, i.e., basically the river banks, and that hunters or anybody else shouldn't be shooting in areas of the river where people might be walking. The hunter's version of the encounter was that he was merely concerned with Ms. Dobbins' safety. I've been challenged several times by property owners when they discovered me hiking along Anderson Valley's waterways that ran through their land, but only once was the alleged property owner rudely aggressive about my presence, and that happened when a woman roared up behind me as I boldly strode across the then-new single lane bridge across the Navarro at the west end of Rays Road. "This is private property! Get off immediately!" I was mid-span with my outta control dog, Roscoe. "I'll jump if you promise to take care of my dog." She gave me a giant harrumph and drove on, too fast for conditions, as I recall. The Anderson Valley, by then, had already been fenced off by big piles of money whose vaults were someplace else, and if it wasn't the moneybags or their serfs patrolling their undeserved acres, it was armed dope growers, and if the dope growers told you to leave it was always a good idea not to argue.

THE ONLY menacing encounter I've had while out a' walkin occurred one afternoon on a dusty road serving a Boonville area called Deer Meadows. I liked it because it climbs steeply for max aerobic satisfaction, and I say "liked" because I gave it up not for the incident I will describe, but because I got tired of eating its dust when traffic up it became too frequent. So, I'm walking along minding my own business, as the perp community habitually say to the cops, when a pick-up with a Mexican guy behind the wheel pulls alongside of me and stays alongside of me as I walk on. I recognized the guy but didn't know his name. I'd seen him around, and I was pretty sure my nephew had given his daughter a college scholarship when she graduated from Boonville High School. Now here he was death-glaring me, me a liberal all my days! I kept walking and he kept pace beside me in his truck, staring at me. I deployed my best Spanish? "What's the problemo?" He said something like, "You be careful." Which sounded like your basic threat, and so it being broad daylight and me with a stout walking staff, I boldly came back with, "Maybe you better be careful." He kept abreast of me for another lengthy stretch of dust, all the while muttering what I assumed were curses and threats. Finally, he turned around and drove off. Subsequently, I'd see him around town, but he seemed not to recognize me, so I'm assuming he had me mixed up with some other aged gringo who'd done him wrong. Now, fer shure Boonville's beloved weekly does tend to make many gavachos and gavach-ettes angry, but the newspaper is not anything like a factor in the immigrant community, and yours truly assumes he enjoys a non-hostile relationship with that community which, truth be told, often seems to confuse me with the aforementioned benevolent nephew. (I'm the Anderson without the money.) I'm glad that encounter didn't come to ultra-vi. I could see the jubilant headline in the Press Democrat: "Boonvile Editor Clubs Innocent Immigrant In Unprovoked Attack."


NOTICED THIS FACEBOOK LAMENT from a Boonville person: "After the recent paving along Highway 128, our driveway now has a significant drop with no transition. I looked up the California guidelines for paving and on page 200-32 of the link below states:

‘Driveways connecting to State highways shall be paved a minimum of 20 feet from the edge of shoulder or to the edge of State right of way, whichever is less to minimize or eliminate gravel from being scattered on the highway and to provide a paved surface for vehicles and bicycles to accelerate and merge. Where larger design vehicles are using the driveway (e.g., dump trucks, flat bed trucks, moving vans, etc.), extend paving so the drive wheels will be on a paved surface when accelerating onto the roadway. For paving at crossings with Class I bikeways (Bike Paths), see Index 1003.1(6)

205.5 Financial Responsibility

Reconstructing or relocating any access openings, private road connections, or driveways required by revisions to the State highway facility should be done at State expense by the State or its agents.’

Does anyone else have this issue? We plan to submit a request to have it fixed."

PRETTY SURE that Big Orange will get to it, but until they do the inconvenience is indeed inconvenient. Odd that CalTrans doesn't get it all done at the same time.


THE JIVE DEMOCRATS have spent the last three years impeaching Trump, and now they've "launched an official impeachment inquiry," which will bring us up to election time when the Democrats will have hoped to have damaged Trump enough for a Democrat, probably Warren, to beat him. Trump's a shoo-in. Everyday people look at the Democrats and see a freak show, and that grab bag, over-large group of candidates as some kind of weird practical joke. (Uh, check that; I see it going this way, but I'm not what you'd call an enthusiastic Democrat. I'm all in for Bernie, but there's no way he's going to get the nomination, especially given Democrat funders who see him as a kind of latter day Lenin. And there Bernie will be up on the stage with Warren and all the other candidates who screwed him, raising the winner's hand in solidarity with corruption as usual, just like he did when the party's funders screwed him over for Hillary, the only Democrat who could lose to Trump. And Trump will be re-elected. Trump hasn't done anything any other world leader doesn't do routinely — Let's Make A Deal. And Biden, under Obama, acted similarly:

In 2016, and with the support of other world leaders, Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion of U.S. aid unless Ukraine’s leaders fired the country’s top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, for being too soft on corruption…—which they did.

Before Shokin was fired, he had been conducting an investigation of Burisma, and Hunter Biden allegedly was a subject. But the investigation had been inactive for over a year by the time Joe Biden pushed for Shokin’s ouster.


ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS now have Shelter In Place drills, explaining them to little kids in ways that don't frighten them, at least that's the way the educational brain trust justifies instilling a sense of overall menace in the small fry. I remember being ordered to crawl under my desk in the third grade or so, probably regarding the exercise as just more inexplicable thing you had to do because the authority told you to. Years later, when Norman Mailer got arrested for refusing to take shelter during a bomb drill in New York, I, and everyone I knew, applauded. Anyway, my granddaughter, age 6, told me that her first grade class had, that very day, practiced sheltering in place. "If a deer gets sick on the playground or there are dead squirrels we lock the doors and hide," she explained. Reluctant to argue with a six-year-old, I wondered at the peril presented by a dead squirrel, but it's interesting that The Menace has moved from The Bomb, specifically, as wielded by The International Communist Conspiracy, to Everything, from psychotic gunmen to rabid wildlife.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

Abreu, Brock, Ellison

SUMMERR ABREU, Fort Bragg/Ukiah. Controlled substance for sale, brandishing deadly weapon not a gun in threatening manner, entering closed disaster area.

VINCENT BROCK, Calpella. Battery, interfering with police communications.

TERRY ELLISON, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

Ferrell, Gordon-Dick, Gutierrez

LEE FERRELL, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

SOLOMON GORDON-DICK, Redwood Valley. DUI.

ELIANA GUTIERREZ, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-lodging without owner’s consent, resisting.

Hanes, Jim, Marrs, Piceno

TYLER HANES, Hopland. DUI, paraphernalia.

PEARLIE JIM, Covelo. DUI.

JULIE MARRS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

SOPHIA PICENO, Talmage. Refuse disposal in state waters.

Rojas, Salisbury, Sema

GABRIEL ROJAS, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

LISA SALISBURY, Fort Bragg. DUI.

TONIKALI SEMA, Covelo. Domestic abuse.

Thomas, Vincent, White

DARELL THOMAS, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

SKYLAR VINCENT, Willits. Loaded handgun-not registered owner, controlled substance with loaded firearm, under influence in possession of weapon, controlled substance, paraphernalia.

RUSSELL WHITE, Willits. DUI.

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BOCHY RETIRES

‘You’ll Never Have To Buy A Beer In This Town Again’: A Goodbye Letter To Bochy

sfgate.com/giants/article/bruce-bochy-goodbye-letter-fan-giants-sf-14470745.php

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AN OLDER WOMAN gets pulled over for speeding…

Older Woman: Is there a problem, officer?

Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding.

Older Woman: Oh, I see.

Officer: Can I see your license please?

Older Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one.

Officer: Don't have one?

Older Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.

Officer: I see… Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.

Older Woman: I can't do that.

Officer: Why not?

Older Woman: I stole this car.

Officer: Stole it?

Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.

Officer: You what?

Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see.

The officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes five police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please!

The woman steps out of her vehicle.

Older Woman: Is there a problem sir?

Officer 2: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.

Older Woman: Murdered the owner?

Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car.

The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.

Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?

Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers.

The officer is stunned.

Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license.

The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer. The officer examines the license. He looks quite puzzled.

Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.

Older Woman: Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.

* * *

* * *

A MODEST REQUEST…

MSP saw this posted to the MCNlistserv Sunday @ 8:37 am:

"For your consideration this year, when you are deciding what local charity you will support:

This is the fundraising campaign for Winter Housing For a single father and child: gf.me/u/vp2gq8

This is a legitimate member of our community. I don't know this man personally but I've seen him hitchhike to work every day!! Working to keep his child fed, clothed and in school.

He's not asking much to put his family into a better situation, if several dozen people give the cost of a cup of coffee these days (!!) I gave 50 bucks and I'll do without a few splurges: I had a nice warm bed last night and I'll stay warm and dry this winter. I hope this man raising his son and working hard to keep his family clean fed and warm can do the same.

Thank you for your consideration.

Peace Love & Light,

Keri Ann Bourne"

https://www.gofundme.com/f/tinyhome4evan

(via MendocinoSportsPlus)

* * *

BASIC CIVICS

Courts can’t be of help

Far away from the people.

So best keep them close.

— Jim Luther

* * *

Coit Tower Murals - City Life by Victor Arnautoff

* * *

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Editor,

They don't call it California's death row anymore. They call it the Trump Penthouse Row. They don't call it the Golden State anymore either. They call it the shitty state because of what's going on in LA and San Francisco and Santa Rosa and Ukiah and moving steadily into Mendocino; it's already in Fort Bragg, for sure. The whole state will be covered with homeless people, people who don't want to work, illegal immigrants squatting, getting welfare and medical and all that stuff thanks to Newsom.

The mayors of San Francisco and Oakland and Los Angeles say that President Trump is trying to get even with them. Newsom says that, too. They don't believe there is a mess in those cities because they don't walk the streets and don't know what's going on. They have their limos they drive around in, maybe even toll roads so citizens cannot get at them, they are hated so much.

Take Adam Schiff for example, the rep from LA who is leading the charge to get the president impeached. These people are only after Mr. Trump to hide how bad Biden and his son did in the Ukraine. They are trying to impeach President Trump to throw the spotlight off of Biden. It's sick and getting sicker.

If the Democrats try to impeach President Trump they will start a civil war because most of the American people disapprove of what they are doing. If they are successful God only help you Democrats because two thirds of the United States will come down on you people and you will be running for your lives. I'm sure of it, just like I was sure that President Trump would be elected. You Democrats will be run out of the country.

God bless Donald Trump for four more years

Jerry Philbrick

Comptche

* * *

* * *

Z.Z.’S SLEEP-AWAY CAMP FOR DISORDERED DREAMERS.

"Why don’t we get the joyful portents, I want to know." –Elijah

The recording of last night's (2019-09-27) Labor Day Weekend Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show on KNYO-LP Fort Bragg and KMEC-LP Ukiah is available by one or two clicks, depending on whether you want to listen to it now or download it and keep it for later and, speaking of which, it's right here: https://tinyurl.com/KNYO-MOTA-0352

No-one showed up to talk or play, and Alex didn’t call —I hope he’s all right; he broke his leg last week, remember— and I read pretty fast, so I used up the material I brought by around three or so, made use of some leftover stuff from weeks before, read a story in the New Yorker that the AVA recommended highly, and rightly so, it turned out. I read a story from a book I found in my box, by Karen Russel, that now I remember Alice Einhorn loaned me years ago, oops. The book: /St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised By Wolves/; the story, the title of this post. After that, a set of music on the subject of dreams sweet and not, and then an old radio show about a nightmare science experiment gone horribly wrong, involving hubris, of course, and the resulting giant intelligent/malevolent uncontrollable spider monster addicted to drugs and bent on carnage, a lesson to us all.

Besides all that, at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you can find a fresh batch of dozens of links to not necessarily radio-useful but nonetheless worthwhile educational items I set aside for you while gathering the show together. Such as:

Breathe. You are alive.

"Of course you will, SAL. All intelligent creatures dream."

https://www.neatorama.com/2019/09/26/What-This-Octopus-Change-Color-as-She-Sleeps-Is-She-Dreaming/

Awww. (You might have to click the sound on.)

https://tinyurl.com/EndOfHowdyDoody

And Porcapizza’s latest.

theawesomer.com/porcapizza-foxy-lady/471217/

—Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

* * *

FOUND OBJECT

23 Comments

  1. Lee Edmundson September 30, 2019

    Dear Jerry Philbrick,

    Please, Medications! Metamucil! Meditation.

    THEY are not out to GET you.
    They already have you.
    They are the little voices you have yakking at you constantly in your head.

    Gavin Newsom? Democrats? Politics? Aging?

    Nothing to be done here except rant?

    “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.

    Yoga. Massage Therapy.

    A hit off a pipe and a shot of good whiskey.

    Relax, Jerry. It’s all being taken care of, and your rantings will not change it.

    Relax. Breathe easy. Enjoy. The universe unfolds as it should. And will. Despite your best efforts. Or mine.

    Relax, Jerry, Relax and enjoy your life to the fullest in its Golden Years.

    Relax. Breathe. Toke. Drink. Meds. Metamucil, Jerry,

    Now be quiet and rest yourself.

    • Michael Koepf September 30, 2019

      In my troubled imagination, I imagine Jerry Philbrick walking into a bar packed with lofty liberals, soft shell socialists, and militant, Mendo mama’s boys. Philbrick buys a drink. He tells him exactly what he thinks. The patrons are enraged. Tears come to their eyes as they run away to tell their wives, thinking as they flee: “Holy Commie God! doesn’t everyone think like me?”
      God bless, Jerry Philbrick.

  2. James Marmon September 30, 2019

    RE: FAKE AVA NEWS

    “Before Shokin was fired, he had been conducting an investigation of Burisma, and Hunter Biden allegedly was a subject. But the investigation had been inactive for over a year by the time Joe Biden pushed for Shokin’s ouster.”

    Rudy Giuliani: Trump Is Being “Framed,” This Document Shows Ukrainian Prosecutor Saying Under Oath He Was Fired For Investigating Hunter Biden

    “Sunday on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani produced a copy of a sworn witness statement from the Ukrainian prosecutor at the center of this week’s impeachment inquiry: Viktor Shokin. Shokin claims that he was forced out of office as Ukraine’s top prosecutor because he was leading a “wide-ranging corruption probe” into an energy company that was paying Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, $50,000 per month to sit on its board.”

    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/09/29/rudy_giuliani_trump_is_being_framed_this_document_shows_ukrainian_prosecutor_under_oath_saying_he_was_fired_for_investigating_hunter_biden.html

    Shokin Statement

    https://www.scribd.com/document/427618359/Shokin-Statement

    James Marmon
    Patriot

    • Bruce Anderson September 30, 2019

      Trump obviously held up military aid to the reform Ukraine government to get damaging info on Biden, also a crook. At the time the under-armed Ukranians were trying to hold off Trump’s pals, the Rooskies. Should Trump be impeached? He wouldn’t have been elected in the first place but for Democrat corruption. And now we have the CIA and the NSA magically become Democratic good guys as the Democrats cherry pick whistleblowers while supporting the prosecutions of Manning, Assange, Snowden. Best case scenario? The whole gang — Trump, Schiff, Guliani, Pelosi — are permanently removed from public life. Thanks for listening, James.

      Bruce Anderson, patriot

      • Lazarus September 30, 2019

        They all played the quid pro quo game, Reagan, Daddy Bush, Clinton, W, and even Mr. Clean… Obama.
        Trumps just exploiting the system. I’ve been in business my entire life, you give, you get, big fucking deal! Biden and the kid are dirty, China with Whitey’s kid? please, a billion bucks sure, it’s all strictly legit…say the Dims, I mean the Dems.
        Throw them all out, vote that Marianne Williamson chick, at least she’s entertaining, or better yet Tulsi Gabbard, she actually has a military background and is smart.
        As always,
        Laz

  3. Harvey Reading September 30, 2019

    THE JIVE DEMOCRATS

    Aint that the truth. This time, the scumbag will get a majority of the popular vote, too.

  4. Harvey Reading September 30, 2019

    AN OLDER WOMAN gets pulled over for speeding…

    Not bad for conservative humor.

  5. Pat Kittle September 30, 2019

    Regarding…

    “It is appalling that the Sonoma Winegrowers are being allowed to use the term “sustainable” to describe their agricultural practices (“Sustainable growth plan,” Sept. 13).”

    “Sustainable growth” is my #1 favorite oxymoron! — along with “smart growth,” “controlled growth,” “slow growth,” “managed growth,” and all the other euphemisms for cancer.
    :-)

    A radio show host once asked me “Is there ANY growth you would be OK with”?

    “A growth in our ability to appreciate what we already have,” I replied.

  6. Louis Bedrock September 30, 2019

    Vaccines: What you don’t know can hurt you.

    1. “The precise level of vaccination coverage necessary to achieve herd immunity depends on the disease and is difficult to determine empirically,  but the imprecise theory of herd immunity guides national immunization programs.”

    2. Some children are permanently disabled or die from their vaccine exposures.  A broad spectrum of suspected and confirmed adverse vaccine events has grown in the decades from the beginning of mass vaccination. Although the percentage of those who experience adverse reactions to vaccines is believed to be small,  thousands have been compensated for injury, and vaccine adverse events are almost certainly underreported.  In total, over 600,000 people in the United States have filed vaccine adverse event reports since 1990. Furthermore, people receive little warning of the risks of vaccination because of minimal information requirements under the Vaccine Act.

    3. Between 1980 and 1986, people who claimed vaccine injury brought over three billion dollars of damages claims to U.S. civil courts against vaccine manufacturers.  Although some vaccine-injured plaintiffs’ claims were successful, most went uncompensated because of the difficulty of proving causation in the tort system. Many potential plaintiffs could not afford representation to bring their claims

    4. Congress passed the Vaccine Act in October 1986, after four years of deliberations, to balance the goals of victim injury compensation, stable vaccine supply, and the creation of safer vaccines. 

    5. The Vaccine Act’s drafters considered the creation of The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program among the Vaccine Act’s most significant components. The NVICP was intended to “provide reimbursement for a wide range of medical and rehabilitative care for those injured by any vaccine designated by . . . [ACIP] for ‘routine administration to children.’” The NVICP was a reaction to the twin threats of litigation against vaccine manufacturers and grossly insufficient compensation to victims that together risked the vaccine program’s viability.

    6. NVICP proceedings are exceptionally hostile and frequently take many years. Engstrom cites an example of when it took twelve years, from 1998 until 2010, for the NVICP simply to deny compensation.  Furthermore, the rigid three-year statute of limitations likely excludes many legitimate cases of vaccine injury. The Table was drafted when it was believed that almost all vaccine injuries occurred within hours or days of vaccination.  That injury occurs so quickly is no longer the view of many physicians and scientists. Some disabilities that may be related to vaccination occur years after the event, and HHS has acknowledged this in some cases.  While many lawmakers have proposed a longer statute of limitations, the current three-year window continues in force.

    http://law.emory.edu/elj/content/volume-67/issue-3/articles/liability-vaccine-injury-united-european-world.html

    • Louis Bedrock September 30, 2019

      Note: The Vaccine Act of 1986 prevents injured parties from suing vaccine manufacturers. It’s The Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act for Big Pharma.

    • Michael Koepf September 30, 2019

      “A large body of evidence supports the safety of vaccines, and multiple studies and scientific reviews have found no association between vaccination and deaths except in rare cases.” National Institutes of Health. The “rare case” note often refers to accident, and illnesses unrelated to recently administered vaccines. Louis Bedrock, your post is misleading and dangerous. Please return to attacking me; leave the children alone.

  7. Alma de Paredes September 30, 2019

    Mr. Philbrick, two thirds of the American population disapprove of the current occupant of the White House. As far as a civil war, only in your fevered imagination and that of a minute sliver of the American population who relish bloodshed.

  8. Alma de Paredes September 30, 2019

    Also, your beloved tweeted a call for a civil war if he is impeached. Who the F does that? He is not above the law: 18 USC 2383 “Whoever incites… any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States… shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

    Please “…authority of the United States…” Not the authority of the president.

  9. Randy Burke September 30, 2019

    Found object: “where’s Donnie boy.”

  10. Lazarus September 30, 2019

    FOUND OBJECT

    Now that an interesting vest.

    As always,
    Laz

  11. Louis Bedrock September 30, 2019

    On the basis of the known evidence, knowledgable and informed people have concluded that 9/11 was an inside job organized by Vice President Dick Cheney, his stable of neoconservatives, and Israel for the purpose of reconstructing the Middle East in Israel’s interest and enriching the US military/security complex in the process.

    —Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

    https://www.globalresearch.ca/911-after-18-years-hard-evidence-cannot-prevail-over-a-transparent-official-lie/5688559

    • Michael Koepf September 30, 2019

      Holy Cow! This guy, Lois Bedrock, is further gone than I thought.

    • Pat Kittle October 1, 2019

      Louis,

      Thank you for saying what most people who know are afraid to say:

      ISRAEL DID 9-11:
      — [ https://www.bollyn.com/home/ ]

      Hard to think of anything that more urgently needs to be said.

      • Louis Bedrock October 1, 2019

        Thank you, Pat.
        I agree whole heartedly with you about Israel.
        Since my family is Jewish, pinheads like dummkopf cannot call me an “antisemite”–I’m a “self-hating Jew”.

        One request: In your comments, I’d appreciate if you used the word “Zionists” instead of Jews. Not all Jews are Zionists.

      • Louis Bedrock October 1, 2019

        The whole 911 official conspiracy story is loony. The information about hijackers with boxcutters comes to us from cell phone calls that could not have been made since the altitude of the planes was beyond the range of existing cell phone technology.

        Anyone who looks at video of the buildings disintegrating must see that the buildings are exploding, not “collapsing”.

        And Secretary of Transportation, Norman Minetta’s testimony makes it clear that Cheney gave a stand down order to prevent the shootdown of what ever the f*** hit the Pentagon. Check it out—it’s available on YouTube.

        And, besides the U.S. military industrial complex, who (which little theocracy) benefitted most from the destruction of Iraq and Syria?

  12. Eric Sunswheat September 30, 2019

    Claverie is part of a scientific team that determined it’s possible to revive 30,000-year-old viruses trapped in the permafrost. His work is centered on viruses that infect amoebas, not humans. But there’s no reason why a flu virus, smallpox, or some long-lost human infection couldn’t be revived the same way. These microbes are like time travelers — and they could thrive waking up in an age when humans have lost an immune defense against them.

    https://www.vox.com/2017/9/6/16062174/permafrost-melting?_gl=1*wew9q5*

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