MCT: Thursday, December 5, 2019

• Approaching Front
• Bill Sterling
• Roof Fire
• Duane Missing
• Adventist Skeptics
• Abortion Service
• No Quiz
• Birding
• Brewery Sale
• Francisco Mayhem
• Siddhartha Claus
• Ed Notes
• Less Buggy
• Shelter Funding
• Volunteer Training
• AV Village
• Trading Time
• Eel Canyon
• Yesterday's Catch
• Bargain Books
• Saying Cheese
• Throat Scratch
• Census Jobs
• Warm Thoughts
• Bulldozing Hebron
• Gutless Sanders
• Trumpslide
• Airphones
• Huff-o-Gram
• Recommendation
• 5G
• Edmund Wilson
• Marijuana Reform
• Found Object

CLOUDY BUT MILD CONDITIONS today will precede an approaching front, which will bring periods of rain and gusty winds to northwest California beginning on Friday. Low pressure will result in numerous showers, some with heavy downpours and gusty winds, persisting through Saturday. Drier weather could return as early as Sunday, and continue through Monday or Tuesday. (National Weather Service)

THIS APPROACHING FRONT may drop substantial rain, something along the lines of five inches over Friday/Saturday. If the sandbar holds at the mouth of the Navarro, this could be enough river rise to lap over Highway 128 near the Highway 1 bridge, potentially closing 128.

WILLIAM 'BILL' STERLING, 80, died suddenly at his home on Salmela Road, Navarro. Mr. Sterling, a retired attorney, was a popular member of the Anderson Valley community, perhaps best known for his work as a volunteer teacher at Anderson Valley High School.

STRUCTURE FIRE IN DOWNTOWN BOONVILLE. A little after 9pm Wednesday night, a fire broke out at a residence near AVA headquarters. Smoke and flames appeared to be coming out of a chimney at an older home two doors northwest of AVA offices on Highway 128. AV Fire Department firefighters appeared to have contained the fire to the chimney/attic/roof area of the home and extinguished the blaze after cutting away sections of the building for access and exposure. The area was cleared and most units were released a little after midnight.

FORT BRAGG MISSING PERSON: DUANE LAWRENCE

On March 28, 2019, the Fort Bragg Police Department was notified that Duane Lawrence had not been in contact with family members since January 29, 2019. As of November 26, 2019, Duane Lawrence has not been located and is still listed as a missing person in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Below is a summary of the investigation up to this point:

Lawrence’s last contact with family was on January 29, 2019, via cellphone. During that conversation, Lawrence stated he was at the Dollar Tree store in Fort Bragg, CA.

Lawrence last accessed his known bank account on January 29, 2019 at Safeway in Fort Bragg, CA prior to the last known call to his family.

Prior to his last contact, Lawrence had been classified as transient since approximately November of 2018. From November to January, it is believed that Lawrence stayed with friends or camped around the Fort Bragg area.

Lawrence’s bicycle was found by a family member near the dumpsters at the Paul Bunyan Thrift Store (350 S. Main Street). The family member secured the bicycle intending on returning it to Lawrence when he was contacted. During the investigation, Officers and family members received third-hand information that Lawrence may have been contacted near or sleeping in the dumpsters at the Paul Bunyan Thrift Store near the time of his disappearance. This information could not be verified due to the inability to identify the individual who allegedly contacted Lawrence at the location.

According to friends in contact with Lawrence prior to his disappearance, his health was declining and he may have had difficulty walking. At least one individual familiar with Lawrence described his mental state as declining.

A search of Lawrence’s cellphone confirmed that he was in the area of the Dollar Tree when he last contacted his family on January 29, 2019. Lawrence’s cellphone continued to be used for both texts and calls through January 30, 2019. The cellphone was last used on January 30, 2019 at 10:06 p.m. It is believed that final call was Lawrence attempting to contact a local homeless/transient friend. That individual has been contacted and they indicated they do not recall seeing Lawrence around the time of his disappearance. Cell tower location data related to that phone call and several calls prior to it showed that the calls were possibly made somewhere northwest of the 200 Block of Walnut Street in Fort Bragg. This could have placed the cell phone in the general area of the Paul Bunyan Thrift Store.

Lawrence’s cellphone also attempted contact with (707) 800-3093 and (707) 595- 2241 on January 30, 2019. It is believed that the two numbers are associated with the same individual. Any information related to the owner(s) of the above phone numbers may be forwarded to Sergeant O’Neal at the contact information below.

Duane Lawrence is approximately 5’09” tall and he weighed approximately 180 pounds when he went missing. Duane has brown hair and blue eyes and commonly maintained a full-beard prior to his disappearance. Duane has a tattoo of a dragon near his right shoulder.

Anyone with information related to this investigation should contact Sergeant O’Neal at (707) 961-2800 ext. 120 or by e-mail at toneal@fortbragg.com. Anonymous tips may be left on the anonymous Crime Tip Hotline at (707) 961-3049.

MARCO ON COAST HOSPITAL MEASURE:

Re: Kathy Wylie’s recommendation to vote yes on that ridiculously broadly worded hospital issue.

How likely is it that the giant financial corporation taking over the Coast Hospital is doing all of this out of the goodness of its warm corporate heart? I’m afraid that all the money going into the actual hospital from this deal is just to prime the pump of medical money coming from the government and coming out of the area and going to the corporation. I’m afraid that, just like every other corporate takeover situation we know of /ever/, the money going away will be real money, or as real as money can be, anyway, and the money going in, to “save the hospital” as they seem to imply they’re all about doing, will be fairy gold. If you don’t know what that is, look it up: fairy gold, what the fairies give you in return for what they want, that makes you so happy because it will solve all your problems and you’ll never want for anything again. Piles and stacks of gold. And then the sun comes up and it all turns back into leaves and rubbish and mud and dogshit in mounds on the ground and in your pockets, and you’re right back where you were, except without whatever substance you had, and the fairies are gone, off to trick someone else who never had a grandmother who told them the stories nor warned them about dealing with magical financial fairies.

Marco McClean

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MICHAEL TURNER ALSO COMMENTS:

I’m sure a lot of people have anecdotal evidence and will attest to the ‘great care’ delivered by Adventist Health. I disagree. Having worked with them for seventeen years I would suggest as their motto: “Not The Best, Not The Worst”. But aside from quality the issue before the voters is an economic one. The ballot may be correct when it says “no additional taxes”, but the voter needs more information to assess the real costs. Adventist isn’t going to volunteer the fact that their prices are much higher than the competition to the south. They’re not going to talk about medical bankruptcy rates, nor the high “retail” rate paid by the uninsured patients vs. those with insurance. If this country was moving toward a single payer system Adventist’s aggressive financial policy would be tempered by regulation. But we’re not. There are going to be more uninsured patients, not fewer, in the immediate future, and Adventist’s “non-profit” profiteering is going to ultimately hurt the community.

ABORTION ON THE MENDOCINO COAST

Abortion Again Available on the Coast

The Mendocino Coast Reproductive Access Group’s work to restore abortion services to the Coast has finally paid off: women can again get abortions locally.

For the past five years (after the Women’s Health Center closed), women have unfortunately had to make at least two trips to Ukiah or Santa Rosa to have their abortions.

The religious and political beliefs of past Coast Hospital (MCDH) administrators led to a years-long blocking of abortions by hospital-affiliated physicians. But the the current administration just changed the hospital’s position after the ACLU advised them that California law required MCDH to allow abortions. And so, providers at its affiliate, the North Coast Family Health Center (NCFHC), are now able to offer the “abortion pill” -- one of the two medically-approved methods for abortions.

The “pill” (Mifepristone) was originally approved by the FDA in 2000. It has been used safely by millions of women, has a 97% effectiveness rate, and can be taken during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy by most women. Typically a woman takes it in her doctor’s office, with a follow-up pill and second doctor visit shortly after to confirm the pregnancy’s termination. The cost (of the pills, medical tests, and doctor fees) is approximately $400 and is covered by Medi-Cal and most private insurance plans. Financial assistance is available.

At this point, only the abortion pill is available locally; after 10 weeks, women will still need to go to Santa Rosa for a “surgical” abortion.

Any woman wishing an abortion (or additional information) should call the NCFHC (at 961-4631) and ask the Triage Nurse to schedule an appointment. Privacy and confidentiality are completely assured and counseling services are available.

Although no woman ever ‘wants’ an abortion per se, women have had them throughout the ages for a wide variety of reasons, including pregnancy problems and health issues, birth control failure, fetal abnormalities, inability to afford a(nother) child, rape and incest, negative effects on life/family/career, and the understandable emotional difficulty of giving one’s own child up for adoption.

Having an abortion is a controversial subject and, of course, a very difficult decision. When unintended/unwanted pregnancies occur, that critical “who should decide” decision must always be made by the woman herself — the one closest to the situation. No one else — and certainly not the government — should ever try to force their religious, personal, or political beliefs on her and/or prevent her from freely making that important decision.

We’re grateful that 90% of all abortions do occur in the first three months of pregnancy — which the abortion pill can usually cover. The overwhelming majority of women who’ve had abortions are grateful for not having to bring a child into the world they weren’t ready or able to adequately care for.

The future of abortion care on the Coast is unfortunately up in the air. The likely take-over of MCDH by the Adventists, a conservative religious institution that prohibits abortions in all of its other hospitals, is troubling. The Reproductive Access Group will be doing everything possible to help persuade them continue our newly-reinstituted abortion services. The Coast’s vocal support for this will be critical.

Submitted by Rick Childs, ally, friend, and supporter of the women at the Reproductive Access Group

rick@mcn.org

NO BOONVILLE QUIZ THIS WEEK as it’s the 1st Thursday of the month. We shall return for the final two Quizzes of 2019 on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays: December 12th and 26th — yes, a special Holiday Quiz on Boxing Day. Cheers, Steve Sparks, Quiz Master

HEALDSBURG BREWER/CONSULTANT BUYS AV BREWING

A Healdsburg home brewer and winery consultant announced Wednesday that his family is acquiring Boonville’s Anderson Valley Brewing Co., one of the pioneers of the California craft beer sector.

The Mendocino County brewery is well-regarded for its ales, but has been overshadowed in recent years as younger consumers moved toward more hoppy beers.

Kevin McGee, an attorney who once served as legal counsel to Jackson Family Wines under the late Jess Jackson, along with his family bought the 31-year-old brewery from Trey White. The price tag was not disclosed. The roughly 50 Anderson Valley employees will be retained, including brewmaster Fal Allen.

“They are one of the pioneers. … The quality of the beers they have been making is world class,” McGee said. “It’s about the idea that we can be part of the culture of the brewery and organization.”

After leaving Jackson Family Wines in 2012, McGee has worked as a consultant to various wineries and CEO for a winery investment firm. He also is known locally for being the proprietor of Healdsburg Beer Co., a passion project of his in which since 2007 he has produced small batch cask ales from a home brewing system that were available at a few taprooms.

“He’s just a really thoughtful, humble and very intelligent person who also has that scientist/artist background,” said Tom McCormick, executive director of the California Craft Beer Association, of McGee.

McCormick said he remembers McGee when he first started his home brewing operation and he would strap kegs to the front seat of his Subaru as he made his deliveries to local pubs.

In his new role, McGee will be president and chief executive officer of Anderson Valley Brewery but leave the brewing to Allen and his staff. His father, Michael McGee Sr., will be chairman of the brewing company, which is among the 100 largest independent breweries in the United States. Its beers are sold in 33 states.

In a statement, White said he found “the perfect steward to lead the company forward. Kevin’s combination of business acumen and passion for quality beer make him ideally suited for the role.”

White had acquired the brewery in April 2010 and turned it into one of the first sizable craft breweries in the country that packaged some beers in aluminium cans — a trend that now has become ubiquitous in the sector as younger consumers have gravitated to cans over bottles.

The Boonville brewery began in 1988 as a small 10-barrel brewhouse located in the lower level its first brewpub, the former Buckhorn Saloon, founded by David Norfleet and Kim and Ken Allen. In 1996, construction started at its current brewery and taproom complex on 26 acres at the corner of Highways 128 and 253. The site features a bucolic beer garden with views of the Anderson Valley, as well as an 18-hole disc golf course in the town of about 1,000 residents.

Anderson Valley has a wide range of beers, but is known among many beer aficionados for its Boont Amber Ale, a copper-colored beer that features the sweetness of caramel flavors. Yet amber beers have faded in popularity among beer drinkers in recent years. It also has had recent success with its gose style, a sour unfiltered wheat beer popular during the summer.

(Courtesy, Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

FRANCISCO’S TERRIBLE ASSAULT

Assault With a Deadly Weapon, False Imprisonment, Domestic Violence and others

200 Block of N. Franklin Street

Name Withheld (17 year old female of Fort Bragg)

On December 3, 2019 at approximately 3:46pm, Officers from the Fort Bragg Police Department were dispatched to Purity Market for a report of a female at the location advising she had been assaulted by her boyfriend. Officers arrived and located the suspect, who was identified as Francisco Martinez-Rodriguez, 19, of Fort Bragg.

Officers also located the victim who was hiding in the back of the store with staff.

The victim had serious trauma and bruising on and about her face. The victim also had fresh lacerations and minor stab wounds to different parts of her body. The victim relayed to Officers that she had been physically assaulted by Martinez-Rodriguez multiple times over the course of two weeks while being held against her will. During that time Martinez-Rodriguez repeatedly stabbed the victim and forced her to cut herself as punishment.

Officers took Martinez-Rodriguez into custody without incident and he was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he is currently being held on charges of Torture, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Kidnapping, Mayhem, False Imprisonment, and Domestic Violence. The victim was transported via ambulance to the Mendocino Coast District Hospital where she was treated for her injuries and released to her mother.

The Fort Bragg Police Department is actively investigating to determine whether any other parties had any knowledge of, or involvement in the above events.

If you have information related to this investigation please contact Officer T. Smith at (707) 961-2800 ext. 169 or tsmith@fortbragg.com. Anonymous tips may be left on the Crime Tip Hotline at (707) 961-3049. Questions regarding this press release may be forwarded to Officer Awad at (707) 961-2800 ext. 180 or e-mailed to cawad@fortbragg.com.

ED NOTES

LISTENING to the impeachment hearings off and on this morning… Well, if anyone can make Republicans look smart and on-task it's the Democrat impeachers. We're deep into overkill here. Yes, obviously Trump tried to trade Americano armaments to the Ukranians for dirt on Joe Biden, a dumb thing to do out front since Biden's sportin' life son, sitting on a Ukranian power company board already had revealed the marauding Biden family as the sleazeballs they are known to be. As if the hours of repetition of this one fact has not made the point, we get a gaggle of lawyers in to also testify that Trump committed an impeachable offense to take to the Senate where impeachment is already a dead letter. As the first lawyer came on — from Harvard, natch, that presumed last word in rectitude — you could hear television sets and radios snapping off all over the country. But for the masochistic few who'd stayed to listen, we got three hours of tiresome lectures on the meaning of 18th century language as written in the Constitution by the founding aristos, who would have hanged everyone in the room if they sat in for five minutes of this posturing nonsense. If the point of these impeachment hearings is to SO discredit Trump that a Democrat can beat him in the next election, it's not working, at least from the Boonville perspective, and speaking as probably the only person who heard or saw a lot of it today. First off, and I know this is superficial but we live in superficial times, none of these people present, uh, what might be called fetching visuals. And when they talk they look and sound like… Well, more evidence that we're doomed. PS. ABC Television hauled out David Muir, of all people, to "analyze" today's hearings. I guess we can expect Scott Simon tomorrow. PPS. The Stanford lawyer got all fake-huffy to say she'd spent the long Thanksgiving weekend prepping before her big day before the impeachers, studying so hard she has "like a turkey leg that came in the mail." Such sacrifice! Such austerity!

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WHY should innocent I apologize for Post Office dereliction? I shouldn't have to but the complaints about service arrive in my e-mail. And by phone. Not my fault papers arrive in the condition pictured here, not my fault that subscribers get two consecutive issues at once three weeks after the first edition is printed, not my fault that the more distant subscribers can get their papers months late, hell, in several cases, a year late.

EVERY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON we faithfully haul our outgoing papers to the Boonville Post Office where Jan The Mail Lady picks them up Wednesday afternoon and drives them to Cloverdale. Very late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, a southbound mail truck hauls our bags of timeless information, biting wit, creative lit, memoirs, errant opinion, vicious personal attacks, random insults, obituaries, and legal notices to Post Office Central in Oakland. From Oakland, papers destined for the Northcoast are hauled back north to their myriad destinations between Eureka and Cloverdale. All this travel means… Well, it means logistic errors, lots of them. How could anybody at a Post Office anywhere deliver a newspaper cut in half like the one we exhibit here? Huh, huh, huh? Answer me! Are the postal goblins messing with Boonville's beloved weekly or what?

YEARS AGO I tried complaining about missing papers. I even sued the P.O. in small claims court when they managed to lose a large swathe of an entire edition. They sent two guys up from wherever to present a very sophisticated argument — tough shit. Not our fault. The judge took two weeks to tell me I lost via a form letter with the loser's box checked.

ANOTHER TIME a whole bag of papers intended for Frisco, mailed in June of '94 arrived in The City in June of '95. After spending about an hour on the phone getting the Post Office person supposedly responsible for deliveries, I politely stated the prob. Or tried to, because a few words in she snapped at me, "Don't raise your voice to me! I don't like your tone, mister." I swear to you I had not raised my voice or otherwise so much as implied disrespect. I was obviously dealing with a mental case but a mental case in charge. This nut could destroy my business! I had visions of my newspaper getting sent out to Guam, arriving back on the West Coast smelling of sea salt and coconuts. "I'm very sorry to have offended you, ma'am. I certainly didn't intend to." I tried to sound absolutely abject. I knew to mess with these people was asking for even more interrupted deliveries. Silence on the other end, a long silence. "I'll look into it," she said and hung up. Nothing changed. Deliveries are still hit or miss. If Jan The Mail Lady ran the postal system, all mail everywhere would get delivered on time, but the wrong people seem to be in charge everywhere these days and, as the young people say, it is what it is.

FORT BRAGG TO LOAN $25k TO HOSPITALITY CENTER TO OPEN WINTER SHELTER

Limited Term Permit and Consider Adoption of City Council Resolution Approving a Short-term Bridge Loan to Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center for Initial Opening and Operations of Winter Shelter and Authorizing City Manager to Execute Loan Agreement and Promissory Note

“A contract between Mendocino County and MCHC is tentatively scheduled for approval by the County Board of Supervisors on December 10, 2019 in the amount of approximately $66,516. If approved, the funding will support the Winter Shelter for approximately 90 days. In order for the Winter Shelter to open by December 15, MCHC must expend funds in advance of receiving the County’s financial support. MCHC is a nonprofit organization which, like most nonprofits, struggles to support ongoing operations and has very limited cash reserves that can be used to prefund programs. The MCHC Board has requested a short-term bridge loan from the City to provide the cash necessary to set up and operate the Winter Shelter prior to receiving the County funds, which is expected to take 30-45 days.”

cityfortbragg.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4272518&GUID=FDA97E6A-3F06-4260-B62E-57DB0038ABFF

ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE

December 2019

We are a locally inspired and managed non-profit organization. Our mission is to help older adults remain active, connected, and independent in the place they call home while enhancing the quality of life in our community. See what's new in the valley. AV Village Update Happy Holidays! We currently have 54 members and 33 trained volunteers ready to lend a hand. Thank you!

AV Village Monthly Gatherings & Volunteer Training

See these AV Village and other local events listed on the Events Calendar on our website:

https://gmail.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=cea1e601922fa82e47579cc80&id=0d7350d2a5&e=358077c1c9

AV Village Monthly Gatherings:

For this month’s gathering we are changing things up a bit - new date (not the second Sunday), new time and new location (not Lauren's) details as follows: "AV Village Holiday Party" on Sunday December 15^th at 5 pm on. It’s a House Party, hosted by Philip Thomas, to celebrate the Holidays — all are welcome and refreshments provided. Details and directions will be shared in our email invitations or by calling Anica, our Coordinator (707-684-9829). Next month’s gathering will be Sunday January 12th and will look at Disaster Preparedness and Emergencies! There will also be a Volunteer Training that same day (3 - 4 pm) at Lauren’s.

PHILO IN THE NEWS

America’s Craziest Garage Sale Is On The Radio

“Dateline PHILO, Calif…”

Headline: “Internet Didn’t Kill Radio Star” and a subhead “Show offering RVs, piglets endures in e-commerce era.”

It’s by Sara Randazzo and it’s all about radio station KZYX’s Trading Time program, an hour a week, during which listeners call in offering things for sale or requesting items someone in the listening audience might have and are willing to part with.

Doug Reed and Renee Wilson get quoted and photo’d, and longtime UDJ letter writer Gene Hoggren (95 years old) gets mentioned for all the stuff he’s sold through the program.

wsj.com/articles/a-garage-sale-radio-show-endures-in-the-age-of-amazon-with-piglets-castanets-old-rvs-11575388149

DEEP IN THE EEL RIVER CANYON

The Grand Canyon of the Eel River, from Dos Rios to the Humboldt Redwoods, is the most rugged landscape within the 196-mile Eel River system. [Photo provided by The Wildlands Conservancy, photo credit to staff]

The Wildlands Conservancy has launched a two-phase acquisition to preserve the historic Dean Witter Lone Pine Ranch, a 30,000-acre property that includes 20 miles of the “Grand Canyon” of the National Wild and Scenic Eel River.

The property includes fantastic geology, a major carbon sequestration opportunity with 86 million board feet of fir, pine and oaks, a herd of Roosevelt elk, and significant wetlands. The Wildlands Conservancy used private donations to purchase 3,000 acres of the Lone Pine fronting 3.5 miles of the Eel River. This acquisition secured a two-year option to purchase the remaining 27,000 acres for $25 million.

“This is a rare opportunity to preserve some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the country,” says David Myers, The Wildlands Conservancy’s executive director, “We hope donors will consider the Grand Canyon of the Eel River as a legacy project to protect a national park quality landscape, writing a new chapter of American conservation history.”

The Lone Pine acquisition is part of The Wildlands Conservancy’s Eel River Emerald Necklace conservation project, which links a system of preserves spanning the Grand Canyon of the Eel to the estuary. The Lone Pine is a day’s paddling journey downstream from The Wildlands Conservancy’s Spyrock Preserve, which has five miles of frontage on the Eel. It’s 80 miles upstream from The Wildland Conservancy’s Eel River Estuary Preserve on the Pacific Ocean.

“This historic conservation purchase will ensure permanent protection for one of the most wild and scenic river stretches in the western United States,” said Peter Galvin, co-founder and director of programs for the Center for Biological Diversity. “The ‘Grand Canyon of the Eel River’ is home to dozens of endangered species and rare wildlife. The Wildlands Conservancy’s heroic and visionary efforts to restore the Eel River and California’s wildlands will be appreciated by generations to come.”

A new law championed by Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) will create the Great Redwoods Trail, following the route of the abandoned Northwestern Pacific Railroad and linking these preserves for world-class paddling and bicycling.

“This is a huge win for everyone,” says Sen. McGuire, “TWC’s purchase will help create entry to the 300-mile Great Redwood Trial as it expands into the Eel River Canyon and allows access to the river. This part of the Eel is one of the most spectacular areas in California and this project takes us one step closer to preserving it for all time.

”The Wildlands Conservancy owns and operates California’s largest nonprofit nature preserve system, including the 93,000-acre Wind Wolves Preserve in Kern County, the largest nonprofit preserve in the west. Open to the public free of charge, these preserves offer free hiking, camping, and access to nature. The Wildlands Conservancy recently led the campaign to have land it donated to the U.S. Interior Department designated as the 1.6 million-acre Mojave Trails National Monument, the largest national monument in the lower 48 states. Now growing faster than the California State Park System, The Wildlands Conservancy acquired four nature preserves over the past year.

These include Santa Margarita River Trails Preserve along five miles of oak-shaded trails next to the Santa Margarita River in San Diego County; a mile of majestic coastline and redwood forest at Seawood Cape Preserve in Humboldt County; and a mile of the West Walker River at Aspen Glen Reserve in Mono County.

More information is available at wildlandsconservancy.org.

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ERNIE BRANSCOMB REMEMBERS: I used to do the refrigeration work on the main house. At one time the south end was used as the ranch cook house. You are right, that ranch is real treasure. If the main house is still intact, it could be considered to be one of the best museums that I have ever seen. Every pond has pond turtles in them. As you know, the Horse Ranch part has a spring that runs enough water to run a generator. It is a major cattle producing ranch.

California has a poor reputation for maintaining their parks. I am seriously concerned about what will become of this once very productive ranch if it becomes a conservancy. My family once owned the headwaters of the South Fork of the Eel River, now the Angelo preserve in Branscomb. It is a fabulous place, but it has been returned to nature and is a huge expense that generates NO income that I know of. Vehicles are not allowed.

To follow this way of thinking, what will happen when they decide to turn the great Sacramento Valley into a preserve, and return it to a wilderness area. Don’t say it can’t happen, they are already removing the water project dams, and they have a plan to remove the Hetch Hetchy dam that San Francisco uses for water.

I would be nice if we could return everything back to nature, but first people are going to have to stop making babies.

CATCH OF THE DAY, December 4, 2019

ALBERTO ALDACO, Fort Bragg. DUI.

NICHOLE BIRDSALL, Ukiah. Vandalism, disorderly conduct-alcohol.

LANCE LUND, Eureka/Willits. DUI, hit and run resultingin death or injury.

AMANDA MAYER, Gualala. DUI, probation revocation.

CHRISTINA MORROW, Redwood Valley. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, probation revocation.

ALEXIS NAVARATTE, Ukiah. DUI causing bodily injury, domestic abuse.

CHERRI ROBERTS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent Flyer)

JAVIER SANCHEZ-ASCENCIO, Fort Bragg. Taking vehicle without owner’s consent, stolen property, resisting.

FRANCISCO SANCHEZ-GOMEZ, Fort Bragg. Taking vehicle without owner’s consent, stolen property.

MONICA SAVIDAN, Ukiah. Domestic battery, probation revocation.

ANTIONE WEBB, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

GREEN APPLE BOOKS & MUSIC

We just unloaded about 3,800 pounds of bargain books. We hope you show up this holiday season!

I’VE NEVER MASTERED THE ART of smiling for a photo. Like many English people above a certain age, my parents had been brought up to believe that it was, if not quite bad manners, then certainly a little vulgar to smile open-mouthed, revealing any teeth. In a well-meaning way, they passed this rule on to me and my sister. As a result, my camera smile was an odd, forced thing. I worked very hard at it, turning up the corners of my mouth as far as I could over my hidden teeth and gums, but when I looked at the photos in our family albums, I felt I had only succeeded in looking weird. The photo smile I had been taught did not read as happiness to me. The smiles inside my head were the big-toothed beaming grins of 1980s adverts and American sitcoms. But I seldom dared experiment with such a flashy look in front of the camera.

In our age of selfies, no one could pretend that the camera never lies. It is capable of obfuscating and deceiving every bit as much as the people who compose, take and edit the photos. But that is not to say that the camera’s lies tell us nothing. The composition of a family snapshot can be deeply revealing. Who stages the shots and what will the backdrop be? Where do the family members stand? Who is included and who is not? Who gets to decide what happiness looks like?

— Bee Wilson

CENSUS BUREAU SEARCHING FOR 5,000 WORKERS IN BAY AREA

by Yousef Baig

Need a temporary job to help pay off holiday bills? The U.S. Census Bureau has lots — a half-million across the United States, to be exact.

The federal agency is now ramping up hiring for the 2020 census next spring, attempting to find 5,000 temp workers in the Bay Area to help conduct the once-a-decade count of every person living in America.

The bureau is optimistic that competitive wages — $21 an hour in Sonoma County and up to $30 in other parts of the Bay Area — along with flexible hours and a sense of civic duty will help it recruit a diverse local workforce, agency spokesman Joshua Green said.

An accurate count is critical. Billions of dollars in federal funding are divvied up among states, counties and cities on the basis of their populations, impacting funding for roads, schools, emergency services and other public programs, Green said. The count also influences political representation, yielding data used to reapportion seats in the House of Representatives evenly among the 50 states on the basis of their population.

California — the most populous state in the nation — has much to lose if its population is undercounted. In 2016, it received approximately $115 billion in federal funding distributed, in part, on the basis of population, according to the George Washington Institute of Public Policy.

“It’s not a boring job,” Green said. “You’re literally counting people who are going to get that money back in terms of federal funding. It’s a collective effort that does get real benefits.”

Workers need to be at least 18, authorized to work in the United States and will have to pass a background check and get fingerprinted. But, Green said, “anyone can do this job as long as you’re reliable and want to help.”

The bureau is looking for people willing to work both full-time and part-time, with a number of the hours in the evening and on weekends when people are most likely to be at home. Speaking multiple languages is also a plus. The jobs generally last six to eight weeks, although the timeframe varies. Some people might be selected by December or January and asked to start as early as February, with others starting in the spring and summer.

The bulk of the work is done in the field between May and July after the Census Bureau has collected survey responses and identified households that require follow-up interviews, according to the bureau.

That is when census workers knock on doors and ask questions about the composition of a household, typically on nights and weekends when people are home, Green said.

The bureau is attempting to recruit Bay Area workers in a drum-tight labor market. Unemployment stood at 2.3% in Sonoma County in October, near its lowest level in more than three decades.

“It’s a challenge,” Green said. “We just have to keep getting the message out. We hire straight from the community, and we want people from all walks of life to work where they live.”

Recruiting census workers who reflect their communities is a key tactic to increase participation in the census and improve the accuracy of the count, said Nicollette Weinzveg, health program officer for United Way of the Wine Country, which dispersed $286,000 in state grant funds to nonprofits working on census outreach across the North Coast.

Communities with large numbers of immigrants or lower-income residents are more difficult to count accurately.

Residents may be wary of sharing information about their household with the federal government, or may not have the means to participate as the census shifts toward online surveys, according to the Census Bureau.

It identified parts of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Healdsburg as undercounted areas, as well as large swaths of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties.

State and local governments lose out on $20,000 annually for every person who does not get counted, according to the Census Bureau. Over 40% of Sonoma County’s budget came from state or federal sources last year.

Having reputable census workers who are familiar with residents in an area helps avoid undercounts that leave communities short on federal aid, Weinzveg said.

“We want to engage these trusted messengers that people know so there’s not an unwillingness to work with an enumerator (when they knock on your door),” she said.

Apply online at 2020census.gov/jobs.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

PAUL MCCARTHY: Sending warm thoughts to all my snowbound friends & family back in New Hampshire…

ISRAEL APPROVES NEW SETTLEMENT, ORDERS HEBRON MARKET BULLDOZED

Israel has approved a new settlement on the site of a Palestinian market in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, prompting anger from Palestinians who blame a recent shift in US policy.

apple.news/AchvEW1DGTAWyZQ7sT9ALEg

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

It is too late for Sanders.

He sold his soul and the souls of his supporters to the DNC and to the totally corrupted Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016.

In order to run as a Democrat he has already made his dirty deal to support the nominee regardless of who it might be, including Hillary Clinton.

Sanders, in the end, has no guts to stand by the courage of his convictions. He is just another politician like all the others who “go along to get along.”

THE LOOMING LANDSLIDE

Editor:

We've had almost four years of unfulfilled Christmas wishes so longed for by the sour-grapes losers of the 2016 election.

The endless letters that pour into The Press Democrat wanting anyone but Donald Trump in the White House are exhausting and fruitless and critical without any justification except hate and contempt.

The coming landslide for Trump won’t grant your wish for Christmas 2020, either. However, it will give satisfaction to the millions of voters who back a politician who actually does what he says.

Hopefully then, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and the golden retriever can get back to doing what they do best, absolutely nothing. Exempt the golden retriever; he could care less anyway. Just give him a bone. It will be more than the Democrats can deliver.

Michael S. George

Santa Rosa

THANKS FOR SHARING, HUFF, NOW GO BACK TO SLEEP

We have offered Trump many opportunities to prove his innocence of soliciting foreign interference, but he has stonewalled and obstructed every step of the way. That won’t stop us from defending the Constitution. We must continue our work to ensure NO ONE is above the law. #DefendOurDemocracy

OUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS, TOO?

Hi,

If you own a property in Mendocino County and have not paid the land taxes yet you might want to answer the survey included in the envelope. You are being asked what internet you have, what cell phone coverage, and who your cell phone carrier is.

On Oct. 28 during the PSPS 57% of towers were out in Marin County, 27% in Sonoma and 19% in Napa County. Mendocino County also had similar problems. It is time to focus on landlines, hard wiring our devices, and promoting fiber optic infrastructure. None of the insurance companies will cover any damage or illness caused by electromagnetic radiation and there is zero clarity as to what entity will bear legal responsibility for damage to life, limb and property arising from exposure to 5G, whether ground - or space-based.

Let the County know that you do not support 5G (if that is the case) as we need to protect people, plants & animals from this electronic weapons technology. The patents are held by defense contractors, not telecommunications companies. Thousands of international scientists and public health experts are demanding a moratorium on the deployment of 5G. No scientific evidence exists to support any claim of 5G safety. In addition to land based 5G SpaceX, OneWeb, Telesat, Amazon, Facebook, Roscosmos, Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, Lynk, and Loon are planning to launch, or are already launching 5G satellites into low orbit around the Earth.

Radio frequency radiation is the first pollutant in history that is being deliberately spread over every square inch of the Earth, with the goal of leaving no place unpolluted.

Mendocino County adopted the Precautionary Principle on June 27, 2006.

mendocinocounty.org/home/showdocument?id=1926

A READER COMMENTS:

Re: Edmund Wilson

I picked up To the Finland Station on your recommendation. Thank you very much. Am 125 pages in and the book is amazing. Why did I never learn anything about Michelet or Gracchus LeBabeuf in school? Was Lenin as unpleasant as Wilson claims? Probably so, but I still value him. Too bad Wilson is dead. It would have been worth a couple of hundred dollars to take the SOB to the old Russian Tea Room and buy him dinner for the pleasure of listening to him for a few hours.

neh.gov/humanities/2008/novemberdecember/feature/who-was-edmund-wilson

THE ‘MORE’ ACT

On November 20th, 2019, with a bipartisan vote of 24-10, the MORE Act was approved in the Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-10] introduced the MORE Act on July 23rd, 2019.

The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act (HR 3884 / S. 2227) is bipartisan legislation that removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, thus decriminalizing the substance at the federal level and enabling states to set their own policies.

The Act would also make several other important changes. For example, it permits physicians affiliated with the Veterans Administration to make medical marijuana recommendations to qualifying veterans who reside in legal states and it incentivizes states to move ahead with expungement policies that will end the stigma and lost opportunities suffered by those with past, low-level cannabis convictions. If approved, the MORE Act also allows the Small Business Administration to support entrepreneurs and businesses as they seek to gain a foothold in this emerging industry.

The MORE Act is the most comprehensive marijuana reform bill ever introduced in the US Congress. Crafted by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (NY) and carried in the Senate by Sen. Kamala Harris (CA), the bill is backed by a broad coalition of civil rights, criminal justice, drug policy, and immigration groups.

For a complete description of the bill, see: congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3884

FOUND OBJECT