MCT: Monday, January 20, 2020

• Cold Front
• Marie Found
• MLK Family
• Coast OB
• Errant Escape
• Niners/Chiefs
• River Extraction
• Desertion/Suicide
• SF 1935
• Walking Wounded
• Merge Plea
• AV Village
• Bungalow Beales
• Grain Project
• Werewolf Stories
• Assignment Ukiah
• There's Bud
• Cannabis Control
• Kent State
• Ishmael Interview
• Yesterday's Catch
• New Depression
• Narcissism Treatment
• Liberal Wackos
• Immutable Things
• Income Inequality
• Starr Turn
• Found Object

A COLD FRONT will bring widespread rain and high elevation snow tonight and Tuesday. Episodes of light rainfall will be possible through the weekend, mainly north of Cape Mendocino. (NWS)

MISSING GIRL FOUND OK

Marie Blake’s mother Kimberly Schaal posted Sunday morning: “Marie has been LOCATED! Someone alerted me to an address where they believed she was a little before 10pm. I drove by the house and could see that there were teenagers there. I then contacted the MCSO and deputies arrived very quickly to find Marie. I was able to pick her up and we are now home. Thank you to everyone for helping me locate my daughter. We have a long road of healing ahead of us, but tonight I will rest much easier knowing that my child is safe.”

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND HIS FAMILY.

THE HIGH COST OF LABOR & DELIVERY

by Malcolm Macdonald

On January 23, the Mendocino Coast District Hospital (MCDH) Board of Directors will hold a special meeting. It will entail a period for comments from the community, three minutes per speaker, followed by a “Study Session regarding the Future of OB Services on the Mendocino Coast.” That item is listed as “Information,” meaning no action will be taken at this particular meeting.

On January 3, Drs. Robin Serrahn and Zoe Berna hosted a full house at Fort Bragg's Town Hall at which citizens vented their thoughts on the possible closure of the Labor and Delivery Department, also called obstetrics or OB. Dr. Serrahn and Dr. Berna are part of the Medical Executive Committee (MEC) at MCDH. The Chief of Staff and head of MEC is Dr. William Miller. Early in January, Dr. Miller circulated a lengthy letter to the hospital's medical staff. Nearly four pages of the typewritten letter were devoted to the subject of labor and delivery (L&D).

Dr. Miller stated, “First of all, no one on the medical staff wants to close L&D or any other service at our hospital. Second, the medical staff is not driving the issue, the hospital's financial situation is. Third, that financial situation is becoming dire, regardless of claims to the contrary…

“Last month, the hospital was put on notice by several of our vendors that they will not be sending us more medical supplies (such as sterile gloves, needles, syringes, bandages and the like) unless we get current with what we owe them, and that is a sign that we are at risk of closing. Additionally, we have again drawn down our savings reserve to pay current bills, reducing the reserve to $3 million. This is another clear indicator that our financial situation is dire… Companies of our size are considered insolvent if they have less than 3 months operating cash at a minimum. We now have under one month.”

Dr. Miller went on to say, “It is the responsibility of the Board of Directors and Administration to address this challenge in the best way possible. Our role as a medical staff is a supporting role…” He goes on to cite interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wayne Allen's estimate that closing L&D could save $2.1 million.

Continuing in that vein, Dr. Miller stated, “If the Board decides to close L&D, then the medical staff will work with nursing and administration to develop a transition plan as well as to develop policies around the alternative model of care, that being stabilization and transfer, which will address issues such as emergency c-sections, etc.”

Miller didn't mention the total length of time it would take to close L&D (OB). Presumably, we're talking months. He also didn't mention the possibility of Adventist Health (AH) making available an obstetrician for the coast hospital, possibly even before the public votes on affiliation. If L&D closes on the coast, obviously the closest option for hospital births would then be Ukiah. An additional obstetrician on the coast would enhance prenatal care, and an AH obstetrician should help smooth the transition to an AH facility in Ukiah. AH may also make additional family medicine practitioners available to the coast in the near future if the need and support warrants it.

Miller's letter also noted that the idea of closing L&D is not a new issue as some defenders, at all costs, would present the matter. The concept was formally vetted in a lengthy Ad hoc committee format three years ago. Dr. Miller also addressed another question that has come up for years in light of L&D continuing to lose millions of dollars annually. That question goes along the lines, why isn't the MCDH Board and/or its administration looking at closing other departments that lose money on a regular basis?

Miller responded to that query: “The emergency room [ER or Emergency Department] loses money in almost every hospital and ours is no exception. The ER sees as many patients in two days as L&D does in one year. Oh, and by the way, if we close the ER then we lose our license, the hospital closes and so does L&D…”

Another frequent comment: “What about in-patient services, every hospital loses on that department.”

Miller's reply: “[Y]ou can't have a hospital if you don't have any hospital beds. So again, there goes the license and L&D closes anyway.”

Miller continued with the refrain of OB defenders, that MCDH's clinic, North Coast Family Health Center (NCFHC), has net losses roughly equal to L&D. Miller correctly pointed out that NCFHC has tens of thousands of patient visits annually, which makes it a crucial feeder for other services at the hospital which do turn a profit. In addition, Miller noted, much of the so-called loss at the clinic comes in surgeons' salaries. Those surgeons make a large amount of money in the hospital's operating room, so that those clinic “losses” turn into money makers on the hospital's ledger.

Miller's letter also alluded to a bottom line fact. MCDH is now the largest employer on the Mendocino Coast. It infuses approximately $25 million into the local economy annually when measured only in simple salary dollars. The ripple effect of that payroll expands its effect.

Chief of Staff Miller's conclusion can be summed up in these five bullet points: “1. The medical staff is not driving closing L&D, finances are. 2. The medical staff is not demanding that L&D be closed, but we do expect the [MCDH] Board to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility to maintain a financially viable hospital. 3. The medical staff awaits the decision of the Board as to what direction it is going to take. If that direction is to close L&D, then we will work with nursing and administration to develop a transition plan and necessary policies around a new model of care that involves stabilization and transfer. 4. This is about keeping the hospital open and if you lose that, L&D not only closes anyway but you have a worse situation with no ER to perform stabilization and transfer of women in labor. 5. This is a tough position for the Board to be in and community members need to show their support to help the Board make such a difficult, but necessary decision.”

Background information on affiliation, finances, and other MCDH issues reside in the AVA online archives and at malcolmmacdonaldoutlawford.com

ANYONE HAPPEN TO KNOW the owner of the pictured vehicle?

White Ford Escape, license plate 7JFK110. Sometime last night, the driver miscalculated the curve and went off Holmes Ranch Road, taking out our fence. We would like to speak to the owner about removing their vehicle, and repairing our fence. Thanks!

(Blind facebook post; no further info — Ed)

MOSTERT LIFTS 49ERS TO SUPER BOWL WITH 37-20 WIN VS PACKERS

Raheem Mostert rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns to make quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo mostly a spectator, Nick Bosa harassed Aaron Rodgers from the start and the 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers 37-20 for the NFC championship on Sunday. The 49ers (15-3) advanced to their first Super Bowl in seven years and will play the Kansas City Chiefs in two weeks in Miami for the championship. (NBC Sports)

NAVARRO RIVER 'CAR RECOVERED' PHOTO

Mendocino 5th District Supervisor Ted Williams posted a Sunday morning photo of the "recovery" of a car that went into the Navarro River Friday night. The driver was uninjured.

According to the scanner, CalFire dispatch was notified that the vehicle was recovered @ 10:13 am.

REEVES CANYON SUICIDE

On Sunday, January 19, 2020 at 7:30 AM, Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office were detailed to assist the United States Air Force in the 8000 block of Reeves Canyon Road in Redwood Valley. Deputies contacted Air Force Special Agents from the Office of Special Investigations stationed at Beale Air Force Base near Marysville. Deputies learned an Air Force service member (32 year-old male) had been the subject of a court-martial on January 17, 2020 at the Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prior to being sentenced, that same day, the service member absconded from the court proceedings. Based upon the desertion, an arrest warrant was issued for the service member.

On January 18, 2020 at approximately 4:00 PM an officer from the California Highway Patrol attempted a traffic stop on the wanted service member's 2018 Jeep Wrangler south of Ukiah. This attempted traffic stop resulted in a vehicular pursuit northbound on Highway 101 until the Jeep Wrangler turned onto Reeves Canyon Road, subsequently eluding apprehension. The Air Force Special Agents were notified of the attempted apprehension and responded to Reeves Canyon Road where they conducted overnight surveillance of the roadway at the intersection of Highway 101.

Once daylight arose on January 19, 2020, the Air Force Special Agents began a search of Reeves Canyon Road in an attempt to locate the Jeep Wrangler. This resulted in the discovery of the Jeep Wrangler parked on a secluded fire trail road in the 8000 block of Reeves Canyon Road (approximately 8 miles from intersection of Highway 101). At this point, Deputies began to develop a plan to approach the Jeep Wrangler. During this planning process, the Deputies learned the wanted service member had communicated suicidal statements with a friend after his desertion. Because of the potentially dangerous circumstances, Deputies asked for the assistance of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) which is used in connection with Search & Rescue operations. The UAV was deployed and conducted an aerial viewing of the Jeep Wrangler but the operator was unable to see (with attached video transmitting camera) inside the vehicle as its windows were foggy. The UAV had to return to the staging area because the UAV's battery was almost exhausted.

A short time later the UAV was redeployed and a further viewing of the Jeep Wrangler was conducted. This time there was an object, similar to a person, noted inside the vehicle. Sometime thereafter a single shot from a firearm was heard in the immediate area and the UAV had to return to the staging area because the UAV's battery was almost exhausted. Based upon this new information, the Mendocino County Multi-Agency SWAT Team was requested.

On January 19, 2020 at approximately 1:30 PM the Multi-Agency SWAT Team used the CRV (Citizen Rescue Vehicle) to approach the Jeep Wrangler. During this time, the wanted service member was located deceased approximately 30 yards away from the vehicle in an elevated position on the hillside adjacent to the vehicle. Initial scene investigation suggested the wanted service member had committed suicide by use of a high powered rifle.

At this time the wanted service member is not being publicly identified pending notification of next of kin. A forensic autopsy is scheduled for January 22, 2020 and there is no official manner or cause of death pending the results of the forensic autopsy. All inquires in regards to the wanted service member are being referred to the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations Public Affairs Officer Linda Card at 1-877-246-1453 or 571-305-8010.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance during this incident: Mendocino County Search & Rescue, CalFire, Department of Fish & Wildlife, Ukiah Police Department, Willits Police Department, Fort Bragg Police Department, Medstar Ambulance, Redwood Valley Fire Department and Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

---

UPDATE:

On 01-20-2020 the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Division was able to contact the wanted service member's legal next of kin and notify them of the his death.

The wanted service member's identity is releasable to the public and he has been identified as Kevin A. Larson (34 year-old male from Las Vegas, Nevada).

(Mendocino County Sheriff's Office)

CASTRO AND MARKET STREET IN 1935

WALKING WOUNDED WALKS ON: The Anderson Valley Fire Department & ambulance, as well as air ambulance CalStar 4, were dispatched to an incident/accident near Yorkville where a report had been made that a red pickup had careened off Highway 128. When first responders arrived, there were no patients at the scene. At 3:02 pm, a first responder said, “We located the patient, there is one, not three patients. He is walking wounded and wants to decline medical treatment."

ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE WEEKLY UPDATE

This Calendar of events for the next two weeks lists items that are hosted by The Anderson Valley Village as well as events in our community at large. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us:

Anica Williams, 707-684-9829, andersonvalleyvillage@gmail.com

andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events

GRAIN PROJECT FINDS NEW OWNER

Willits Woman Taking Reins From Doug Mosel

by Justine Frederiksen

In a warehouse north of Ukiah Thursday afternoon, two farmers were experimenting with a 100-year-old piece of equipment.

“We’re trying to separate millet seeds from mustard seeds,” said Doug Mosel, founder of the Mendocino Grain Project, as thousands of seeds rolled down the curves of a double spiral separator, creating a noise that Mosel said reminds him of a “giant rain stick.”

“The grain is coming down and getting spread out, but the cool part is that it’s flying around these spirals, and things that are round (such as the mustard seeds) will spin faster and fly off the edges of these internal spirals,” said Rachel Britten, who will be working closely with Mosel over the next growing season as she prepares to take over the Grain Project.

“I’m excited, yet also terrified,” admitted Britten of her decision to keep the project alive after the 76-year-old Mosel fully retires. “But I just turned 33 a few days ago, so this is a good birthday present — a new life mission.

“And what we’re doing right here, thinking creatively about helping a farmer who approached Doug about separating his grains, is another reason why I was attracted to this project,” said Britten, who admitted that she could not take over the business if Mosel had not agreed to walk her though a season of planting, harvesting and processing.

Because while Britten has a lot of experience with farming and describes herself as an enthusiastic “soil nerd,” she does not have the wealth of knowledge and experience that Mosel has, particularly when it comes to the equipment needed to grow and process grain.

“Sitting on my uncle’s lap while he drove the combine didn’t teach me how to run it,” Britten said, describing just some of her childhood memories in Iowa. “But it did teach me that I love farming.”

As a native Nebraskan, Mosel also grew up in a Midwestern farming community, and this shared history has helped shape an easy rapport with Britten.

“Did I tell you my farmer bumper sticker joke yet?” Mosel asks. “It might be one you haven’t heard yet.”

“Just one I haven’t heard yet, Doug?! We’ve got a whole year to go!” Britten says with her easy laugh.

‘She has the passion and ideas’

After studying agricultural science at Evergreen State College in Washington State, Britten worked on farms near Port Townsend before coming to Mendocino County to work with local gardening pioneer John Jeavons.

Jeavons stresses soil vitality and maximizing the life-sustaining potential of your garden. For instance, if you are growing food to sustain life, a row of grain provides far more calories than a row of lettuce. Also, Britten said, grains don’t strip the soil of nutrients every season like nitrogen-hungry vegetables do.

“A rye plant, with its extensive root system, traps carbon and nitrogen and keeps it in the soil, plus all those roots add organic material,” said Britten, who not only wants to continue growing the grains Mosel already does, but suggested adding legumes as yet another source of protein and calories.

But before she can help ensure the food security of her community, Britten needs to ensure the future of the Grain Project. And while she still has plenty to learn about how to use a combine, Mosel said he is encouraged by Britten’s dedication and ideas.

For example, she suggested connecting the grain-processing machines inside the project’s warehouse so they “communicate with each other and can complete many processes without such intense human involvement,” said Britten, explaining that those changes will allow the facility to process more grain and serve more farmers.

“Which I hope encourages more people to grow grains, because a big obstacle is not being able to invest in all the equipment needed to clean and process the grain,” she said, adding that yet another reason she wanted to take over the Grain Project is because of all of the relationships Mosel has cultivated with local farmers, bakers and other food producers not only in Mendocino County, but in Humboldt, Lake, Marin and Sonoma counties. “Doug has done a great job educating people about the importance of local grain production.”

As for how others can help support her efforts to take over the Grain Project, Britten said she was “still looking for investors,” and that people can contact her at 707-841-1256.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal.)

ASSIGNMENT: UKIAH - WHICH WAY TO THE WELFARE OFFICE?

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

California can’t manage its homeless, can’t build freeways and can’t educate its children, but has at least found a way to screw up its workforce.

Starting Jan. 1, small-time part-time workers like Uber drivers and newspaper writers have a choice of either A) having their jobs and hours reduced, or B) moving to France.

The law, AB-5, is designed to protect unions in California, who contribute all their political money to Democrats, and thus Democrats are obligated to bend over backwards (or forwards, whatever the unions say) in payment.

The new law, halfway baked, poorly analyzed and badly flawed, puts me and other Daily Journal writers and columnists out of work after 35 stories a year.

Would your elected rep, Jairhead Huffman (D-UNIONS) please explain how this helps whom, starting with low income workers, average citizens and the economy?

Mitey Mites

Did you know the very best, Number One and undefeated football team in the entire nation is Ukiah’s very own?

Please raise your hand if you’re aware of this mighty triumph on the gridiron, or more accurately Mitey Mite triumph, because the Ukiah Mitey Mite football team took on all comers and walked off the field unbeaten in a series of December games played in Canton, Ohio. Note: Canton is home to the NFL Hall of Fame.

There was an evening of pizza at City Hall following their incredible feat but the story has sunk from sight. Other than a story by David Taxis in the Daily Journal sports section, recognition has been nonexistent.

Where is the parade? Where is the banner across State Street? Where is the city proclamation honoring them? Number One in the nation and all Ukiah can do is yawn.

Council rep Maureen Mulheren was the lone city official I saw at the modest, under-attended Welcome Home Champs! event.

Hats (and helmets) off to Mo, and a roar of thundering cheers for the players who represented Ukiah in the national championships!

You kids did your hometown proud.

Another Mystery

Whatever happened to Calistoga Water?

Skating Rink

The city puts up a temporary skating rink in the winter, but must the experience include the relentless thudding and shrieking of rock n roll as a nonstop soundtrack?

Why are six year olds subjected to deafening music while trying to concentrate on the hard business of learning to ice skate?

How can they communicate with each other, or a parent, or a proficient skater, while being battered by 97 decibels of Ozzy Osbourne, the Eagles and Mariah Carey?

Also, let’s do downtown merchants a favor next year and put the rink somewhere else. Bringing would-be shoppers to School Street is hard enough without the sudden appearance of a forced, awkward detour and the removal of all those parking spaces. Plus loud, bad music.

Why not put the rink on the front lawn at City Hall?

What Next?!?

Departing Safeway the other day I walked past those little tables set aside for the Starbucks crowd, when what to my wondering eyes should offend but three or four rough-looking fellows slouching low and drinking beer out of big bottles.

They did not appear to be Eagle Scouts, nor did they appear to be sober.

We all hope this is not a trend that continues or (eek!) escalates. Sullen drunks inside a grocery store can only end in one way, and that’s the removal of the tables and chairs near the front (eastern) doorway.

Is It Just Ukiah?

I’m peeved at Gillette in part because it charges 10 cents for a razor kit but then charges $40 for a few replacement blades, and also because its advertising blames boys for being males and males for being toxic. So I use Harry’s blades and shavers.

But there’s a problem. Despite ads from the Harry shaving company advising people to buy their product at Walmart, you can’t buy Harry’s equipment at the Walmart here in Ukiah.

I asked Why, and a nice Walmart lady said they quit carrying Harry’s products because they were subject to extreme rates of shoplifting. She suggested I visit other Walmarts which continue to stock Harry’s goods.

Is it possible Ukiah is not just home to the finest football team in the land but is also Numbah One in shoplifting? Are there more thieves per capita here than across the land?

Not too many years ago Ukiah was named Best Small Town in California; is this the direction progress is taking us?

(Tom Hine and TWK, his imaginary playmate and the character who gets the blame for all the stuff appearing in the Assignment: Ukiah column, live in Ukiah.)

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

TAXES & TWEETS

by Jim Shields

Last week we reviewed a novel proposal by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) to replace existing pot taxes with a single tax based on the THC strength in cannabis products. The LAO’s potency-based tax recommendation was met with mostly positive comments from the cannabis industry.

Perhaps tipping his hand at favoring the LAO’s proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom talked this week about a new tax he’s proposing on vaping. Guess what? The vaping tax is also potency based as it would charge $2 for every 40 milligrams of nicotine. He says the proposal would generate tens of millions of dollars, aimed at combating the dramatic rise in vaping among teenagers, which Newsom says deeply concerns him as a parent.

Remaining on the marijuana front, Lori Ajax, Chief of the Bureau of Cannabis Control, announced on Jan. 10 that Newsom has decided to consolidate the three licensing entities — the Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Public Health — into a single Department of Cannabis Control by July 2021.

Ajax said in a statement the upcoming consolidation is “an effort to improve access to licensing and simplify regulatory oversight of commercial cannabis activity. Establishment of a standalone department with an enforcement arm will centralize and align critical areas to build a successful legal cannabis market, by creating a single point of contact for cannabis licensees and local governments.”

Currently, the Bureau of Cannabis Control oversees retailers, distributors and testing labs; the Department of Food and Agriculture deals with pot farmers; and the Department of Public Health is responsible for product manufacturers. By the summer of 2021 when the three agencies are folded into the new Department of Cannabis Control, all the different entities in the marijuana industry will have a one-stop shop to conduct their business instead of having to interact with multiple state bureaucracies as is the case now.

According to Ajax, “The (Newsom) Administration will provide more details on this proposal in spring 2020.”

Clearly, Newsom’s restructuring plan is also in line with his commitment to eliminate — as much as it is possible to do so — a thriving black market, which continues to siphon off untaxed pot revenue leaving large holes in state budget’s line items for pot income.

What does the pot industry think of Newsom’s plan?

“This next year is going to be very critical in seeing how quickly we can course correct and how quickly we can start to see the impacts of these changes,” said Josh Drayton, spokesman for California Cannabis Industry Association. “We have to see who survives.”

Cannabis industry consultant Jackie McGowan said, “While consolidation would be welcomed by many in the industry, if this new integrated agency were to follow the existing guidelines of the enforcement arm of the Bureau of Cannabis Control, then we will likely see more raid-like inspections throughout the entire supply chain. If the new agency were to follow the lead of the Department of Food and Agriculture, then we will likely see a much less aggressive approach toward regulating this plant.”

By the way, in his proposed budget Newsom set a 15% increase to marijuana tax revenue, from $479 million this fiscal year to $550 million in the 2020-21 year.

His proposed budget estimates $332.8 million will be available for the following purposes in 2020-21:

• Education, prevention, and treatment of youth substance use disorders and school retention—$199.7 million.

• Clean-up, remediation, and enforcement of environmental impacts created by illegal cannabis cultivation—$66.6 million.

• Public safety-related activities—$66.6 million.

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Trump’s tweet sets record?

Believe it or not there are some folks who like the man who many Americans love to hate: President Donald Trump.

Trump sent a tweet on Sunday Jan. 12 expressing solidarity with the Iranian people and issued a further warning to the Fundamentalist Muslim regime not to kill protesters again. The message evidently struck a positive chord with those out in Tehran streets demonstrating against the authoritarian Ruling Council.

“To the brave and suffering Iranian people: I have stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my government will continue to stand with you,” Trump tweeted in Farsi. “We are following your protests closely. Your courage is inspiring.”

In a second tweet, Trump said, “To the leaders of Iran — DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!”

The tweet eventually amassed over 367,000 likes, with further tweets also reaching huge numbers.

According to Saeed Ghasseminejad, a senior adviser and financial economist at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Trump’s tweet smashed a record and displayed “a strong show of support by Iranians for Trump’s Iran policy.”

The undisputed fact is that Gen. Qassim Soleimani, who was killed in an airstrike approved by Trump at Baghdad’s international airport two weeks ago, was the enemy of not just Israel, but also the Iranian people. It was Soleimani’s strategy to shut down the internet in Iran and then shoot all the citizen protesters seeking freedom from the autocrats on the ruling council. Iran, more than any other Muslim country, has encircled Israel with surrogate terrorists forces, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, with the vowed objective to annihilate the Jewish people.

Abbas Milani, an Iranian adjunct professor in the Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at Stanford University provided the most insightful comments on the situation, he said, “Soleimani was different things to different people. To regime zealots, he embodied dogmatic dedication to Shiism and to fighting the U.S. and Israel. To regime critics, he was a pillar of oppression at home and threats and attacks on dissidents abroad. To many who lost loved ones in peaceful demonstrations two months, two years and 10 years ago he was a blunt instrument of oppression.”

(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.)

WRITING FOR A GLOBAL AUDIENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH POET ISHMAEL REED

Ishmael Reed is one of the most significant literary figures of our time. He has published more than 30 books of poetry, prose, essays, and plays as well as penned hundreds of lyrics for musicians ranging from Taj Mahal to Macy Gray.

publicbooks.org/writing-for-a-global-audience-an-interview-with-poet-ishmael-reed/

CATCH OF THE DAY, January 19, 2020

ISAURO CABADA-BELTRAN, Ukiah. DUI.

AUSTIN CAMPBELL, Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Ukiah. DUI.

TRACY CANNON-SEARS, Kelseyville/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

HENRY CISNEROS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting.

JACOB CURTIS, Gualala. DUI-drugs&alcohol.

HUGO DOMINGUEZ, Patterson/Ukiah. Rape with victim prevented from resisting by any intoxicating or anesthetic substance or controlled substance, unlawful sexual intercourse with minor who is more than three years younger than perpetrator.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting, probation revocation.

MIGUEL GUEVARA, Ukiah. Attempted murder, assault with deadly weapon not a gun, brandishing, under influence in possession of weapon, controlled substance while armed with loaded firearm, vehicle theft.

JUSTIN HIETALA, Blue Lake/Ukiah. Battery, vandalism, resisting, probation revocation.

HENRY HOPPER, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

VALARIE ILAR-PARRISH, Ukiah. Resisting.

ADAM LAFLIN, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

MARIO LOPEZ, Oceanside/Hopland. Sale-transporation-furnish organic drug.

JESSICA MEYER, Lakeport/Ukiah. Contributing to delinquency of minor, allowing unlicensed driver, child endangerment, false info to peace officer.

WILLIAM OWENS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

KEVIN VASQUEZ, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Homelessness: We are in new territory here; as more people give constructive input, better solutions will evolve. All of this is very new. We haven't experienced this level of homelessness since the Great Depression. We're in an economic system of great income inequality combined with a failing social safety net. We have working people paying a higher percentage of their income to taxes than people who live off investments. We have our state and local taxes being consumed by creating this hopscotch social safety net of temporary shelters and temporary hires while our schools, roads, libraries and parks go underfunded. We're in a moment of great social immobility where if you're born poor, you're likely to stay poor. So we're going to have to put our minds together to figure this out. Homelessness is not going to get better - many seniors do not have ample savings for retirement, 30% of Americans don't have $500 for an emergency and many people become bankrupt and lose everything if they have a major medical crisis.

COMIC BOOKS

Editor,

Governor Newsom is at it again down by Livermore proposing to buy a big ranch for $20 million and turn it into a park and keep the public out instead of fixing our highways, or helping the homeless. He can't even control or manage our cities, let alone spend $20 million on another unnecessary thing like the train to nowhere and the other crap that Jerry Brown thought up. How can we have a character like that running our country?

The liberal wacko far left anti-American Democrats have had 24 years to worm their way into our society, the media, politics, and schools. That's why they are so crazy and wild to get Trump out of office. They know he will expose all the corruption. In his next four years Trump will bring things into focus and will leave a lot of people flat on their backs. Just wait. What I predicted five years ago has happened and this will happen too.

God bless Donald Trump for four more years.

Jerry Philbrick

Comptche

PS. To Mr. Rob M. of Covelo. Thank you for the offer. I do read a lot of books — comic books. I see you in there all the time. Every page. Thanks again.

PPS. The filthy Democrats are blocking people who try to turn in their petitions to get Gavin Newsom recalled. My wife tried to send in a petition and she was forced to call a woman in San Diego who we never heard of before and have a letter sent back to her. They are making it almost impossible for people to send in their petitions. So a lot of us believe that Gavin Newsom never won the election at all. He needs to be recalled. And if it's not this time there is another one right behind it. So sad.

PPPS. Mary Nichols of the Air Resources Board has put about 10,000 people out of business in northern and eastern California and lots of other places. To her and the Liberal Democrats who support her and these rotten scams like climate change and global warming and the Air Resources Board: it's all a giant hoax! It’s costing us millions and billions and trillions of dollars! It would be very strange if next summer we had 10,000 lightning strikes all around California, especially in Sacramento, one for every business they ruined or family they put out of business.

PPPPS. That famous movie star Alec Baldwin is a complete jerk. You can take his words and…

DOING A SHOW is not unlike bringing up a child. The child develops a life of its own. The parents do their best but certain things remain immutable, and the child is what he is.

— Cole Porter

KENNETH STARR is the former independent counsel who uncovered a lot of details around Lewinsky and Clinton’s affair, put them in a 435-page report that led to Clinton’s impeachment, and then became a Fox News host who opposes impeaching Trump for attempting to bribe a foreign power into helping him cheat in the 2020 election.

In defending Trump on TV this time around, Starr has argued against the “evils of impeachment,” saying “impeachment has become a terrible, terrible thorn in the side of the American democracy and the conduct of American government since Watergate.”

In between being really pro-impeachment and really anti-impeachment, Starr spent some time as the president of Baylor University, a job he lost after a report demonstrated that his administration showed a “fundamental failure” in responding to sexual assaults, including an epidemic of cases involving players on the school’s football team.

Presumably, Trump hired him for his gravitas and to lend historical perspective to the case, but it also could be because he just has a thing for defending sexual predators…

(www.slate.com.)

FOUND OBJECT