HE’S NOT A CREEP
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Tanner Furia-Miller. I have been on the 101 Kids Water Ski Club since I was eight years old. I am now 17. Every summer Rick would gather us up and take us on camping trips. Before he would do so, he would make sure he had permission from the parents. Sometimes the parents would even come camping, or just spend the day with us. We would have a great time and make great bonds with one another. Rick being accused of child molesting is bogus. Rick is like family. He has never touched me or any of the other girls in ways that would make us uncomfortable. He never touched our “private parts” or asked us to touch his.
Looking from the outside in, I can see how a 60-some odd year old man with a group of girls may seem taboo, but that's why we encourage people to ask questions and gather information about us. When we would camp, Rick would have his own tent.
The girl who is accusing Rick of these accusations lied the whole time she was on the trip. She lied about her birthday, her age, and more. Her parents were camping with us and so was her brother. She was never alone with Rick. When I caught the little girl lying I told her I was going to tell her parents, and I did so. Her parents just told her “It's okay” and did not despise her for lying. I felt like they were encouraging her lying. She is a known liar and after that trip she never really came again.
Rick would take us on trips to Santa Rosa. He would take us to the mall, or ice skating. We never had to touch him or kiss him or say anything to have him take us. Rick is a good man and for him to do something productive with us made him feel great. His wife Debbie even came a few times.
One major reason we have this team is to keep us out of trouble. A lot of us girls have some difficulties in our life. Rick took us in and gave us a childhood. Some of our parents couldn't buy us clothes or take us out to do stuff, so he would. Rick wasn't being a “creep” he was helping us out and our parents.
Rick teaching us how to do sports on the water made me and the other girls feel great about ourselves. When we would learn a new trick, or get up on skis or a kneeboard for the first time, that's all we would talk about. The ski team gave us so much confidence in ourselves. We built new friendships and made new bonds. Being on the ski team has made SUCH an impact on my life. I would be devastated if it were to just disappear, all because of an accusation with NO proof.
Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? Rick has spent time in jail already with no proof he has done anything wrong. He is still innocent. The system has taken him away from us, from his family, and from his horses. What has he done wrong?! He has done nothing but help us girls out and make our life easier, along with our parents.
In case anyone is wondering, we did have boys on the team a while ago. The boys caused a distraction and a lot of drama. Their hormones were causing a problem. Therefore, there are no more boys allowed anymore. Every once in a while Rick will allow a boy to come on a trip or so, but the boy would end up causing problems for everyone. Having it just girls, I beileve, made it ten times funner.
Rick is innocent, I know it. If I have to, I will stand up in court and fight for his freedom, that he should STILL have considering there is no proof he is guilty. I am proof that he is innocent. I am not going to allow this system to put Rick in jail for something he did not do.
Sincerely,
Tanner Furia-Miller
Ukiah
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PASS THE TRUST ACT
Dear Editor,
No one should be penalized for reporting a crime or calling the police for help.
But when Isaura Garcia, a 20-year-old living in Los Angeles, called 911, asking for protection from her abusive boyfriend, the police questioned her about her immigration status, then arrested her and sent her fingerprints to immigration authorities. While no charges were filed against Isaura, she found herself in deportation proceedings.
Please speak up to defend the rights and the safety of all Californians, including Isaura: urge CA Assembly Members to pass the TRUST Act.
Under a program called “Secure Communities” (S-Comm), the fingerprints of every person booked into local police custody in California are shared electronically with federal immigration authorities — no matter whether they are charged with any wrongdoing.
The California Assembly is scheduled to vote tomorrow, Thursday, May 26th on a bill that would allow counties to opt out of S-Comm Act Now!
S-Comm relies on an error-ridden database, and encourages the police to engage in racial profiling. And it makes our communities less safe by penalizing innocent people for reporting a crime, or calling the police for help.
Though S-Comm is said to have been designed to catch serious criminals, four out of five people who have been deported under S-Comm had no convictions or were accused only of minor offenses, such as driving without a license.
Many elected officials and chiefs of police in California oppose the idea that police officers should act as immigration agents. The TRUST Act (AB 1081) would allow local law enforcement to focus on serious criminals while protecting crime victims and witnesses.
Tell your Assembly Member to pass the TRUST Act (AB 1081) and keep our communities safe.
Sincerely,
Julia Harumi Massm Staff Attorney
ACLU of Northern California
San Francisco
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HASTA LA VISTA, BABY
Editor,
Right on.
A love child, indeed!
So the Terminator goes down in flames. Finally he’s exposed as the phony jerk that we all knew he was — and embarrassing the Kennedys in the process!
He couldn’t have done a more appropriate finish to his shitty career than this disaster.
Hasta la vista, asshole nazi! Now you’re terminated — once and for all!
Don O’Malley
Trinidad
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NOT IN MY NAME
Editor,
We have felt the Gut-Heaving Nausea and Shame that reacts when President Obama, who lusts for his presidential popularity that bounces with headlined premeditated murder.
We are told that the Navy Seals blew Osama bin Laden’s brains in direct sight of his daughter. We listen to his all-familiar Bush 43rd tone-deaf morality as if he could sour his stomach. We reach for his bottle of Maalox and stretch the TV volume knob as we hear the horror of drone strikes against the poor people.
Robert Gates trumpets that 104 tomahawk missiles pulverize defenseless civilians in Tripoli while we demand that Gaddafy protects the civilian population with the hollow-righteousness of UN Resolution #1973.
The US lusts for murder of Gaddafy and repeatedly washes Obama's bloody hands now that he has demonstrated his remorseless guts and attacks Yemen holy-man Anwar Awlaki and decimates Muamar Gaddafy's grandchildren and his sons.
The recent fawning over Bibi Netanyahu in the Oval Office while Obama is humiliated over the silliness of his concessions as he does his “oh so clever and diplomatic” Israeli two-step. Bibi looks and explains that there will be no settlements, and backs Obama into the corner.
The US Congress leaps to his feet like Jack-in-the-Box interrupting 29 times (more than Obama's record for the State-of-the- Union) in ecstatic applause.
The Presidency refuses to enforce the War Powers Act and insists upon the Imperial Presidency, regardless of Obama's promise.
In his “kiss and make up” speech to AIPAC , Obama once again reiterated his commitment to Israel and boasted about all the money we’re shoveling over there so Bibi Netanyahu can finance “settlements “ and keep the Palestinians in subjugation. US “aid “ built the wall that separates the Israeli green belt from the great prison-house of the occupied territories, and which makes permanent a land grab on a vast scale .
Our anguish, our embarrassment, and our disappointment that we watch President Obama, that we plant our feet and speak loudly: “NOT IN OUR NAME!
Jim Houle
Redwood Valley
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THE FINAL SPECIES
Editor,
As a confirmed Frisco coyote tracker, you should enjoy the enclosed Audubon article on wild urban coyotes — not to be confused with wild urban cougars who prey on vulnerable young males in local bars.
The coyote is an amazing animal. In the final days there will be four remaining species duking it out to see who reigns supreme — humans, coyotes, Norway rats, and cockroaches.
My money’s on El Coyote.
Cheers,
Don Morris
Skunktown/Willits
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A BROADBAND RESOLUTION
Editor,
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a Resolution on May 24 brought forward by the Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County. This Resolution is a giant step forward in guaranteeing universal and affordable broadband services for the population of Mendocino County, its residences and businesses, to promote economic viability, ensure health and public safety, and provide access to educational opportunities. An estimated 53% of the residents are still on dial up.
The Supervisors acknowledge that Internet connectivity is essential in sustaining our local economy, and growing it. Approximately 80% of the businesses in the County are small; many run from homes. With access per President Obama’s mandate, they can flourish and more can start up. New Internet dependent business owners can be attracted to live and work in paradise.
During the presentation to the Board by Alliance member, Brian Churm of Potter Valley, it was made clear that the definition of “broadband” has changed. It is more than just the way to access the Internet and the Web. Television, radio and telephone service are now being delivered over broadband. Fire, police, and EMT use broadband to connect in the field. Broadband is the means of transporting information quickly from one point to another — the information highway. Churm said, “Much of the County is not even on the highway, but stuck at the on ramp.”
More and more real life applications require broadband access to the Internet. Emergency services and rural medicine cannot survive without it. Rural residents will be able to connect to doctors and hospitals digitally without leaving home. Education needs broadband to allow students to do their homework in a digital world. Federal employment taxes now can only be paid online. The true cost of an “internet commute” when one needs to drive to a “hot spot” can reduce a person’s pay by 10% to 30%. For more information, go to the Mendocino Coast Broadband Alliance (MCBA) website http://mendocinobroadband.wordpress.com/ to view the May 24, 2011 Supervisors presentation.
A significant point made is that action is already underway by big telecommunications lobbyists in Washington, D.C. to abandon the policy of Universal Telephone Service for dial-tone. It is almost a certainty that dial-tone — and therefore, dial-up Internet access will be cut eventually. Everything is moving to broadband. The Broadband Alliance will be working on the strategy to adequately serve at least 75% of the County residences and businesses in five years, with the rest to come shortly thereafter.
The bottom line of the presentation is that “broadband in Mendocino County will not happen unless the community takes action to make it happen.” The Supervisors took that action by signing the Resolution. The new Broadband Alliance includes three community-oriented organizations in addition to the County — Community Foundation, Economic Development and Financing Corporation, and MCBA. It invites people county-wide to be part of the project — email sfreriks@mcn.org . Working together, it will happen!
Shirley Freriks
Albion
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SPORTS NOTES
Editor,
El pero, el pero, el pero. The dog. What's your beef? Dinner. Barato escoba. Cheap groom. Desaparcer los nijos. Disappear children. El burro. The donkey. She's got high hopes. She's got high hopes. She's got high apple pie in the sky hopes. So when you're down and blue all you have to do is put your hands together and clap. Whoops, there goes another rubber tree. Whoops, there goes another rubber tree. Whoops, there goes another rubber tree plant.
A woman is taken. “Tota mulier in utero.” “Woman is a womb.” We are exhorted to be feminine, but femininity is in danger. I was a tomboy. I ran the 440. I swam the butterfly. I broke the state record for running broad jump in Bowie, Maryland. These days I wear skirts, write and read without judo. Is femininity a Platonic essence? Philosophy, yes, but is Eros answered? I would practice left jabs. Be a man. As St. Thomas said, and “in perfect man,” be a man, an “incidental” being. What would you like for breakfast? Isn't God male?
Slaves were not allowed to blow horns or beat drums in early plantation America. No intoxicants. No movement from the master’s premises without a letter pass. Each plantation employed a professional whipper — a “slave breaker.” The black church on each plantation became the one place slaves could express dissatisfaction through stories and song. Gospel music began as black slave American religious singing spirituals. The American Negro found pleasure singing while at work. “This old hammer killed John Henry, but this old hammer won't kill me.” They sang to ease their tasks. These plantation songs were destined to survive the chain gang. Consolation songs accompanied the African custom of sitting up at night and singing over the dead. From plantation dances which accompanied plantation songs emerged the Negro minstrel show. Early American singing slaves, singing their sorrow was so much better than those who went on a hunger strike, were force-fed, by means of a “mouth-opener” containing live coals. Hot potatoes.
In 1958 the population of Alaska — all natives included — was the same as the population of Sacramento. And today, after building the trans-Alaska pipeline for the supposed oil based bonanza, there are fewer people in Alaska than in San Jose. The paradox of Alaska is it is as small as it is large — an immense landscape with so few people, we call it the frontier.
In 1980, there were 400,000 people in Alaska, half of whom lived in or around Anchorage. Alaska is one-fifth as large as the contiguous 48 states. This “frozen waste” is green half the year. In the 1960s the natives of Alaska: Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts proferred the point that their immemorial occupancy gave them a special claim to Alaskan land. They engaged attorneys and found sympathy in the federal courts and at the highest levels of the Department of Interior. The result was handsome government compensations. An Alaska of 60,000 natives settled for $1 billion and 40 million acres of land. Elbow room in Alaska! Skoal. (I am referring to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.)
In 2010 113,553 people — a record — slept in New York City's “homeless” shelters, including 50,000 children. Oh woe is me, but no one is “homeless,” some of us do not have a permanent address. Many of us have money for rent with no rentals available but each of us sleeps somewhere and where we sleep is “home,” but sometimes not sweet, when instead of in bed you crash in your Mercedes.
Farina Bangladesh cries out, “a bed for everyone!” Then she bangs her dish, “and a roof to keep out the rain.”
Renter with subsidy,
Diana Vance
Mendocino
PS. Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico have been washing up dead by the dozens, a year after the biggest oil spill in United States history, April 20, 2010.
PPS. 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. Boomers, we get blamed for the stock market collapse.
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DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?
Dear Editor,
How important is the AVA? Important enough to have a dream about it! Or maybe even an anxious little nightmare. Here's how it unfolded: All of us old coots need a little medical care now and then, so I went to see a new doctor who authorized some extensive tests, such as a jftopmhged, a bromdrftural, and a klimver^&*age, which gobbledygook is at least as intelligible as the half-dozen names of the tests he muttered.
Come the day of the tests, I arrived at the hospital early, but discovered to my horror that I had forgotten my copy of the AVA, you know, to help fill in those many minutes of just sitting and waiting. As I stood in a steamy abyss of disappointment in myself, I noticed that I was 20 minutes early, and it was only a 10 minute ride back to the house, so I elected to chance it, because being a minute late would be a lot better than being cooped up for who-knows-how-long without intellectual sustenance, and who in their right mind would expect to find sustenance in those dog-eared rags that are put out for popular consumption in every waiting room in the land?
So, I went outside to look for my car, and was greeted by the spectacle of so many security operatives swarming around that you'd think the arrival of the Queen herself was imminent. I looked around the corner and noticed that my dear old Mercedes was GONE! I asked a policeman if they had towed many cars away, and he denied any towing operation, so again I was left wondering what to do, because time was flying, and I wasn't sure if the policeman was lying, or if I had forgotten where I'd parked the lovely Greta (my car).
The next steps in the drama are fuzzy, but the dream picked up again with a bunch of us packed in a combination elevator-dressing room(!) on our way up to our respective destinations, when a lady asked all the gentlemen to turn their backs as she prepared to change into her hospital attire. But, I remember not being worried about being distractible, as my copy of the AVA was in my hands, and I was deeply immersed in it. So, the dream had a happy ending after all.
Ken Ellis
New Bedford, Massachusetts
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MITIGATING GRAPES
Hello all,
I am sending this notice along with my River Center hat on to let you know about this stream bio-engineering workshop coming up. You can come for any part or the whole enchilada. This is a great opportunity to see some really impressive bio-engineering work that Ridge to River has done on Denmark Creek, and also get your hands involved in doing some stream work. For more information you can call Teri Jo Barber and/or Anna Birkas — Ridge to River Incorporated at (707) 357-0857.
thanks much, hope to see you there!
Bioengineering Workshop & Denmark Creek Restoration Tour, Anderson Valley, Sunday June 5, 2011, 10am to 3pm. Site Tour 10:00 to 11:00 Willow mattress, landslide stabilization, native material revetment. Workshop 11:30 to 3pm. Willow Wall installation and artistic stream handiwork.
Denmark Creek ecological restoration was conducted in 2008 and 2009 to minimize delivery of streambank sediments and improve salmonid habitat. Using native willow, redwood logs, boulders, and brush, Ridge to River’s naturalized installations exhibit a balance between structural integrity and live ecology. A diverse assemblage of willow structures will be shown streamside, in a landslide setting, and upslope. During the workshop several techniques will be introduced and practiced with materials including rocks, brush, and live native willow.
Landowners — imagine what you can do to improve watershed health on your property
Land stewards — help preserve Navarro River habitat with hands on work
Watershed Professionals — learn fine balance of rock, wood, and plants in riparian restoration.
Bring: favorite hand tool, gloves, drinking water, lunch
Instructors: Teri Jo Barber and Anna Birkas — Ridge to River Incorporated (707) 357-0857
Where: 0.25 miles east of Anderson Valley Philo Grange on Hwy 128 MM 24.77 Park in field
The project sponsored by Ridge to River Inc., Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, California State Water Resources Control Board, Navarro River Resource Center, and the Anderson Valley Nursery.
Best fishes,
Linda McElwee
Boonville
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DANCE FOR DOUG
Dear Editor,
Seven cracked ribs & a broken pelvis won't slow this boy down!
We are pleased to announce that there will be a Dance for
Douglas Roycroft on Saturday, June 11 from 7pm-midnight at the Caspar Community Center. ($10 to $15 at the door.)
There will be dancing to the music of the Swingin' Boonville Big Band, and the Mendonesians as well as music by David Brown and Douglas himself on guitar!
Snacks, desserts and drinks, including beer and wine, will be
available.
Doug sustained major injuries, including broken pelvis and 7
ribs in a car accident and is now well enough to not only attend his evening but also play us a few songs.
We hope you can join us in giving Doug a big, warm Community Embrace.
If you are unable to attend, donations can be made to Doug Roycroft Benefit Account
at any branch of Savings Bank of Mendocino County.
To volunteer your help, please call 964-7673 or 937-3177.
Linda Leitner & Lynn Kiesewetter
For Friends of Doug Roycroft
Fort Bragg
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TRAIN RIDE TO A CURE
Editor,
A very dear friend and dedicated member of the Fort Bragg community is organizing the Second Annual Skunk Train fundraiser to support the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. Many of you know and remember Vern Piver as a Fort Bragg basketball coach, referee, and friend.
You are all invited to join Vern and Betty Piver and many friends and family members on a benefit Skunk Train ride on Sunday, June 26, beginning at 11am at the Skunk Depot in Fort Bragg. The train will travel to Northspur where there will be a delicious barbecue lunch, no host bar pouring Mendocino brews and wines, an auction and a raffle.
All money raised will go to the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society.
Vern is a survivor of lymphoma and has this past week learned his cancer has returned. We can support his fundraising effort by buying tickets to have a great day in the redwoods.
Tickets are $70 for adults and $40 for children ages 2-12.
You can contact us (tootall@mcn.org or 707/964-7123) and we will either mail or personally deliver tickets to you, or you can call us for information about the trip.
If anyone would like to donate items for auction or raffle, it would be so much appreciated.
Get a group of friends together and have a fun and rewarding day with a caring group of people.
Thanks so much and we hope to see you on the train.
Ed & Carolyn Storts-Jones
Fort Bragg
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PEEVED AT PEET’S
To the Editor:
Peet's at Peet's or Peet's at Zach's? The Peet's Corporation has asked the Ukiah City Council not to ban it from our downtown. The choice could not be clearer. We have access to Peet's fresh-brewed coffees at Schat's Bakery downtown, owned by Zachery Schat and his family. Now the Peet's Corporation, traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange, wants the right to move into our downtown.
There is only one difference between the two companies: who takes the profits. Each business will have a store, employees, pay sales tax, etc. But the Peet's corporation will take the profits for stockholders and distribute them all over the world to who knows who, who knows where. Schat's Bakery, a local neighborhood business owned and operated by the 5th generation of a Dutch baking family, will keep the profits here in our community to keep circulating and building our local economy.
I've heard rumors that our City Council is leaning towards allowing chains and franchises into our downtown because the “local merchants want it.” But, wait. This is a democracy. Who decides? Our small number of downtown merchants or our large number of citizens who live and work and vote and shop here?
Let your voice be heard.
Dave Smith
Ukiah
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REMEMBERING GIL SCOTT-HERON
Gil Scott Heron
Editor,
in the end
he
was
so
thin
all
that
was
left
was
his smile.
Fred Gardner
Alameda
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KEEP CODY
Dear Editors,
I cheer the addition of Cody Hoover to the paper. The field of hitchhiking court reporter was much too fertile to leave to Bruce McEwen alone.
It’s refreshing to read a courtroom report that is every bit as colorful, digressive, and lifelike, yet all without compulsive assessments of the attractiveness or femininity of every woman who was in the room. And while I’ve developed a fondness for the, the, the unrestrained quality of McEwen’s writing, Hoover’s equable, maliceless prose gives the impression of having undergone revisions — and variety is the spice of life.
Hoover’s pieces show a respect for others that is not even feigned. And finally, he may possess that rarest of writerly assets: the ability to convey to his readers information about something other than himself. I hope you’ll keep him.
Wolfgang Rougle
Cottonwood
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I MEAN…
Editor,
Under a special mandate from the Obama administration, the United Nations World Food Program recently conducted a massive worldwide telephone survey. The question was put to millions of people: “Please tell us your honest opinion about solutions to food shortages in the rest of the world.”
The survey was a massive failure.
In South America nobody knew what “please” meant. In Eastern Europe nobody knew what “honest” meant. In China nobody knew what “opinion” meant. In the Middle East nobody knew what “solutions” meant. In Western Europe nobody knew what “shortages” meant. In Africa nobody knew what “food” meant. In the USA nobody knew what “the rest of the world” meant.
And in Australia and Canada, everybody simply hung up as soon as they heard the East Indian accent.
Name Withheld
Cotati
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TAPS
Editor,
Hello, My name is Michael Nelson and I am 18 years old. I am married to Eros, 48 years old. We have been married since September 14th 2010. So here it is. I am a bit mentally unstable and have some episodes. The police were involved on a few occasions and my wife recorded the incident. They are now trying to charge her with felony wiretapping. They have been hassling her for quite some time. The police were to be there for a civil standby because I was trying to grab all my belongings and I kicked in the door to our cabin to grab the grow light off our plants. The police made rude comments to my wife, let me go, and are now trying to charge her with this ridiculous felony charge of wiretapping after asking for their help.
Is this legal?
Michael Nelson
Fort Bragg
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HOW TO SAVE HENDY
Editor,
There is a very simple way to keep all of our state parks open and have enough funding to properly maintain all facilities: Buy an annual state parks pass.
Instead of spending money on political campaigns to raise taxes, every person who voted for the state parks bond needs to buy an annual pass.
4,190,793 California voters voted “yes” on Proposition 21 in last year's election. Multiply that by $125, and our state parks system would gain $523,849,125, money that goes directly into the state parks coffers and cannot be reallocated or moved to other state agencies or to the general fund. Each and every dollar stays with our state parks.
Buy your pass today; it's the only surefire way to preserve and protect our valuable cultural and natural resources.
Dan Young
Aptos
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DARFUR PENPAL
Hi boys,
I wish to know you the more.
I do believe that we both have to be open-hearten and sincere so as to know each other well. I really want to builds strong foundation of relationship with you.
It takes faith, trust and communication to make the relationship strong. So please dear, let me tell you more about myself. My name is Miss Suzann Philip, single and never married. I am from Darfur, Sudan in Africa, but presently residing in (UNHCR) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Dakar Senegal as result of the war that is going on in my country Sudan.
My late father Engineer Joseph Philip is the owner of (Jose Minerals Limited) in Darfur, a city in Sudan my country. Also my late father was the deputy majority leader of the parliament before the rebels attacked our house one early morning and killed him with my mother in cold blood. It's only me that is alive now. I managed to make my way to a neighboring country Senegal with the help of United Nations peace keeping force where I am living now as a refugee.
Meanwhile, I am writing to you now in a Reverend father's computer. I would like to know more about you. Your likes and dislikes, your hobbies and what you are doing presently. Attached here is my picture, I will be hoping to hear from you and please send me one of your picture. In my next mail I have my privacy to tell you and I believe God will help us to achieve our goals.
yours respectfully one,
Miss Suzann Philip
ssuzannbaby@yahoo.com
Darfur
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