MCT: Saturday, April 4, 2020

• Cold Rain
• Frost Fans
• Soccer Star
• Homeless Plan
• Kelseyville Geysers
• Allman v Aldrich
• Doohan Duration
• Epidemic
• Vacant Land
• Setting Sun
• LakeCo Miracle
• Ed Notes
• Lumber Mill
• Ted Talk
• Redwood Summer
• Too Cavalier
• Hunter Hoarder
• Elenah Elston
• Attempted Murder
• Grand Jurors
• Yesterday's Catch
• Profiteers
• Racketeers
• Seeing Eyes
• Hydroxychloroquine
• Harbor Guard
• Poetry Course
• Seals Stadium
• Boomer Elegy
• Handicap Device
• Spreading Misinformation
• Billionaire Ventilators
• Exercise Bike
• Beating Covid
• Historical Marker
• Socialism Time
• Asset Grab

PRECIPITATION is spreading across the region this morning bringing rainfall across low elevations and locally heavy snow across portions of the interior mountains. Additional showers are expected Sunday resulting in continued snow over the mountains, and possible small hail and thunder along the coast. Drier and warmer weather may develop during mid to late next week. (NWS)

FROST FANS have destroyed the sleep of a thousand Anderson Valley residents for three consecutive nights now. And a thousand people is a conservative estimate. When these appalling annual nuisances kicked off in the spring of 2014 we complained loud and long. A community meeting was convened to stop them, which not only went nowhere but the grape people announced in our faces that their grapes were more important than our sleep, regardless of age or medical condition. So the ava went to court, arguing that frost fans were not covered by right-to-farm legislation because they are freshly introduced. These things aren't roosters, day-time tractors and cows, they're the sound equivalent of giant combat helicopters that can and often do clatter on from midnight to past dawn. That argument was a dead letter in the wine-dominated local courts. And here we are.

THE ARGUMENT that the introduction of massive industrial machines timed to work in the middle of the night didn't go anywhere in this wine-dominated county offices or its courts. We didn’t exactly “lose” because it was clear that nobody at the County level was going to do anything about serial violations of legal regulations of decible levels since the County quickly took the position of the grape growers. So we settled with the three individual neighbors after they upgraded their fans to less noisy models, seeing that neither the courts nor the county cared about anything but the grapes. And pursuing it to a final decision under those odds would have bankrupted us with no real chance of improvement. All we wanted in the court case was a permit process like the one that grape growers said was in place, but was not. Philosophically, frost fans are of a piece with the industrial nature of the chemically-dependent wine business, sold to the gullible public as farming.

LUCINDA ANDERSON, often a resident of Anderson Valley, has been named to NorCal's first team young women's soccer teams. Lucinda is a senior at Marin Academy, San Rafael, daughter of Robert Mailer Anderson and Nicola Miner, niece of ava editor, Bruce Anderson.

MENDO’S FIRST HOMELESS VIRUS PLAN

by Mark Scaramella

A March 31 Memo from Mendocino County Health and Human Services Director Tammy Moss-Chandler was probably supposed to be considered by the Board of Supervisors last Tuesday, although it wasn’t on last Tuesday’s agenda. It is now part of next Tuesday’s (April 7) Board agenda and it, along with some supporting documents, gives an initial overview of Mendo’s approach to handling the County’s homeless population during the virus outbreak.

“People experiencing homelessness are at especially high risk for infection during an outbreak of COVID-19. Mendocino County took early action in an effort to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 among the homeless population and other vulnerable groups.

Supporting Shelter Service Providers to Prevent and Manage the Spread of Infectious Disease for People Experiencing Homelessness in Congregate Settings

In early March, Mendocino County identified all congregate care facilities in the County and reached out to assess the infectious disease prevention plans of each facility. This included an onsite assessment of all three homeless shelters within the County utilizing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) specifically for homeless shelters.

Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center [in Fort Bragg] agreed with very short notice to continue their emergency winter shelter, which was scheduled to close on March 15, 2020. This continuation was requested in order to fully assess the age and health needs of the emergency winter shelter population, but was particularly important to continue with the Shelter-In-Place orders that were implemented beginning March 18, 2020.

Providing in place supports and social distancing practices have required the deployment of new strategies, employee flexibility and service expansion. The County is working with Building Bridges/Redwood Community Services in Ukiah and Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center in Fort Bragg to de-intensify the current homeless shelter system to allow for appropriate social distancing. This includes exploring hotel and motel options for people with specific health risks who can better shelter in place in a non-congregate sheltered setting. This use of hotel and motel rooms provides general risk reduction by decreasing the density of group sheltering, and can also help strengthen supports for people experiencing homelessness who are at increased risk of adverse mental health outcomes.

The County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) has also expanded screening and data tracking protocols for those experiencing homelessness who were associated with HHSA’s specialized programs utilizing local hotels before COVID-19, including programs for families with children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities.”

“Outreach to Unsheltered Populations to Prevent and Manage the Spread of COVID-19

HHSA has coordinated with local Continuum of Care service providers to educate, screen, and assess the needs of unsheltered populations. This includes surveying approximately 50 people who are residing in encampments.

Approximately half those surveyed were not aware of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Shelter in Place orders, and benefited from education on social distancing and the provision of personal hygiene supplies. Approximately 20 people were over the age of 65 or had medical conditions that make them high risk for severe illness from COVID-19. These individuals were offered the option of entering into an appropriate shelter environment to help prevent infection and manage any potential spread of COVID-19. Service providers have triaged participants to determine the most strategic option, whether hotel/motel or congregate shelter environments.

Consistent with CDC recommendations, HHSA is working with high risk individuals who are willing to relocate and shelter in place. The CDC does not recommend clearing or moving encampments, which results in dispersing people throughout the community.

Individuals experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in hotel rooms must sign a service agreement and receive supportive services from Continuum of Care service providers. Individuals who are sheltered in a congregate environment must agree to follow the rules of that shelter, including adjusting to new requirements for social distancing.

The memo concludes with a paragraph describing an “advanced plan” for Isolation and Quarantine (I&Q) sites, ending with, “Additional information about Mendocino County’s interim response plan for isolation and quarantine will be provided (at the Board meeting) by Bekkie Emery (Social Services Manager) and the Office of Emergency Services.”

---

In a separate document: “Mendocino County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Staff have secured various hotel rooms and an alternate site for infected clients ordered by medical professionals to quarantine and/or isolate themselves.”

In Ukiah the EOC says they have “identified 160 rooms (many of them want an indemnification for cleaning & support). And in Fort Bragg they have “identified 94 rooms.”

A subsequent note says, “many of the hotels and transportation partners have asked to remain anonymous.”

An accompanying chart describes which people would be subject to isolation and/or quarantine and the associated staffing to keep them isolated/quarantined.

There’s also a handy flow chart (too busy to reproduce here) that describes the steps from first appearance of symptoms, followed by testing, a quarantine and isolation decision, a request for a facility (hotel/motel), a transportation request, patient delivery to that facility, how they are to be held as needed, and then release after re-test or quarantine complete.

In Ukiah, the Ukiah High School Kitchen has agreed to add a bus route to deliver meals to the hotel rooms where people may be staying. And in Fort Bragg the Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center (aka the old Coast Hotel with kitchen and staff) will cook and deliver food to “pre-identified hotels.”

The plan also mentions other issues such as medications, animals, check-ins, monitoring, law enforcement, and, of course, the as yet undefined “work through ways to cover hotel costs in collaboration with finance.”

WHICH IS ALL WELL AND GOOD for starters, anyway, as far as it goes.

But:

From Moss-Chandler’s memo: “This includes surveying approximately 50 people who are residing in encampments”?

That’s nowhere near the numbers that either Marbut or the County’s much larger “point in time count” says are homeless in Mendocino County.

So, besides the still unclear financing process which we assume the County will somehow figure out how to deal with using emergency funds from the state or feds, the main unnswered question is how do homeless people — many of whom have no idea what’s going on or what’s available or whether they’re sick, or what the symptoms are, or where to go to enter the handy flowchart process — enter the process? Do they just show up sick at emergency rooms? Do they wander in to the existing shelters in Ukiah and Fort Bragg and ask to be tested? Do local cops and deputies pick them up? …

This starting-point question appears to us to be the weakest link in Mendo’s “interim response plan.” Let’s hope by next Tuesday that the County and its “partners” can fill in some of these blanks when the subject is presented to the Supervisors.

ANOTHER OLD POSTCARD - ever heard of this before? From 1907.

(via Marshall Newman)

A COUNTY MATTER?

Agenda Item 9a) (Board of Supervisors Agenda, April 7, 2020):

CLOSED SESSION — 9a) Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a) – Conference with Legal Counsel — Existing Litigation: Thomas Allman v. Adam Aldrich. Mendocino County Superior Court Case No. SCUK-CVPT-20-73829

PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER TO STAY FOR THE DURATION

by Mike A’Dair

Mendocino County Interim Public Health Officer Noemi Doohan said on Wednesday that, although she does plan to take another job in the San Diego area in the future, she is committed to her work here in Mendocino County and will stay with the county until the pandemic is over.

Dr. Doohan plans to take a job as the assistant director at the Scripps Chula Vista Family Medicine Residency Program. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she had planned to take her new position in May. Now, that job is on hold.

“I can’t in good conscience leave Mendocino until this is over,” Doohan told Willits Weekly.

Doohan took the job as interim public health officer last summer. According to Mendocino County Human Resources Director William Schurtz, the county began posting for the position last December. Schurtz said there have been a few applicants, but added that the position of a county public health officer is “a hard-to-fill position. It’s kind of competitive.”

Dr. Doohan said she has enjoyed her work with the county enormously and has been honored to serve as the public health officer.

“It’s a great place to work,” she said. “It’s very fulfilling work. The staff has been very supportive. I’d encourage qualified people to apply.”

(Courtesy, the Willits Weekly)

NEVERTHELESS, many continued hoping that the epidemic would soon die out and they and their families be spared. Thus they felt under no obligation to make any change in their habits as yet. Plague was for them an unwelcome visitant, bound to take its leave one day as unexpectedly as it had come. Alarmed, but far from desperate, they hadn’t yet reached the phase when plague would seem to them the very tissue of their existence; when they forgot the lives that until now it had been given them to lead. In short, they were waiting for the turn of events. — Camus, The Plague

ATTENTION, FORT BRAGG!

Vacant Land, $3,572,000

bloomberg.com/pursuits/property-listings/for-sale-fort-bragg-ca-united-states-vacant-land-10908739

(Photo by Larry Wagner)

NOTE FROM LAKE COUNTY: "Lake County apparently has avoided the contamination. Early on in January, we were notified by the Sheriff’s Office everything would be closed down. The head MD ordered everyone out of the BnB’s, closed the whole town down to only grocery stores and gas stations, shut down the parks, and barricaded the lake entrances. The place is being monitored at all entrances to the county; if someone is not a resident or does not have a good reason to be in the county they are told to leave. The pace is quiet and just fine so far. Perhaps having half of the population in jail has helped."

ED NOTES

LINES TWO BLOCKS long at the Marin branches of the Bank of America. Are we getting a bank run to go with Depression Two? And the Good Earth Market also has a long line out front because the store only admits a few people at a time.

ALL OF US routinely deal with the unhinged these days, the great unhinging having begun with The Summer of Love, 1967, but the fascinating Netflix doc, The Tiger King, even by today's lunatic standards, is a departure. I sat there smacking my head, muttering, "Jesu Cristo what possibly can be next?" And what comes next is even more astonishing.

LOVE. I cringe at any mention of the word that isn't surrounded by irony. The hippies destroyed it conceptually and practically via cynical or just plain dumb overuse. Charlatans of all kinds, especially "liberals," lay it on so often and so thick that it's now an automatic false feeling alert.

YEARS AGO, in a particularly deluded period of my youth, the primary delusion being that delinquent youth would be less delinquent under the redwoods than beneath Oakland and Frisco street lights, me and rover boys were enjoying a hot day swim in a Rancheria pool when several counter-culture babes appeared. "Hi, we saw your pond from the road and here we are." Without further word, they were nude and into the drink. The delinquents stood around salivating at the sudden female flesh, their adolescent fantasies come to life. I said to one of the nymphs, "Uh, really, you're welcome to go for a dip but you've got to cover up." I'll never forget her impromptu tutorial on the beauty of the revealed human body. "Heh, heh," I began with a strangled laugh as I launched into my own impromptu lecture, the gist of which was, "If I wasn't here you and your friends would be gang raped and your throats cut." I didn't put it that harshly, but tried to point out the obvious, obvious to everyone but the more naive flower children, that junior criminals famously lack impulse control, which nude female bodies put to severe tests. Please, for your own safety ladies, get dressed. They did. But it was only one frustrating encounter of many annoying interfaces with those who had, they thought, shucked all convention. Another night I caught a long hair coming out of the Boonville Lodge with a couple of bottles of whiskey for my squad of errant youth. Got him in the act of handing the goods to the kid. I snatched the booze and poured it out. The lead delinquent was damn near in tears, and the contributor stared at me as if I were some kind of rural temperance fanatic. The long-hair whined, "Aw, man, weren't you ever a kid?" Yeah, but I never pounded down a fifth of whisky when I was fifteen, and maybe you'd like to stay up all night with a bunch of drunk teenagers but I'll pass. Ah, those were the days.

THE IRS has announced it will send electronic payments as soon as late next week to more than 115 million Americans as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus law, a week sooner than expected, according to a plan circulated internally Wednesday.

BUT THE $30 MILLION in paper checks for millions of other Americans won't be sent out until April 24 because the government doesn't have their banking information. And some of those checks won't reach people until September, underscoring the reality that many Americans will be waiting five months to receive money. The speed with which the money is disbursed will depend largely on people's method of filing taxes. Electronic payments can be distributed quickly, whereas the IRS must print paper checks and mail them separately. About 8 in 10 taxpayers have signed up for direct deposit payments for their past tax refunds, a number that has grown in recent years. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that these Americans would receive the money within two weeks.

UNION LUMBER COMPANY MILL (later GP), 1950s, now vacant and mostly gone.

SUPERVISOR TED WILLIAMS April 3, 2020 Update

Our county-wide confirmed COVID-19 count remains at 4, due to limited testing, this total holds little significance as an indicator. As an influencer of our daily behavior, it should be thought of as nearly irrelevant. Public Health by design does not provide primary care. Plenty of people with symptoms have been told to self quarantine and attempt to recover. How many had COVID-19? We don’t know. Clinics, hospitals and primary care offices have commercial testing capabilities. Only positive results are reported to public health. We can’t tell you how many tests have been performed. (The State should require labs to report all results, whether positive or negative.) Community spread can start quietly. Whether we have 4 or 400 cases, your precautions today should be the same. On a daily basis, I receive questions about why we aren’t pushing on the state and federal government for more testing support. We are, but we’re not the center of the COVID universe. We’re a rural rounding error on the landscape of a national health crisis. Further, as many as 1 in 5 tests may suffer from false negatives. Methods are improving and wide scale testing is associated with better outcomes, but on an individual level, testing is flawed.

There is evidence throughout California that measures to flatten the curve have been successful. This doesn’t mean we’ll keep COVID-19 out of the county. Flattening the curve is about reducing the peak demand for services. When healthcare is overwhelmed, people can die unnecessarily. Spreading the patients out over time, even where the total patient count will remain the same, is expected to yield fewer fatalities and less suffering. Success in flattening the curve could mean a significant second peak or further pronounced period of limited restrictions. Epidemiologists believe our state's response will create the least impact. I believe they are right, but I can’t completely discount the voices of some residents who believe the long term economic impact must be more carefully balanced with response to the health emergency. Sweden is taking a laissez-faire approach, accepting the possibility of loss of life in building herd immunity. Only time will tell which model is best, but this is one area I believe the Board of Supervisors should be more engaged, because economic destruction is an equal emergency, one that may take years to recover from. The County will have fewer resources than ever with the loss of sales tax, loss of transient occupancy (bed) tax and potentially less in property tax. Our ability to assist business depends entirely on state and federal support — not just support for the economy, but programs with criteria that will address our specific cases. Some businesses will not recover. Many have asked about shifting the property tax deadline. The County collects the property tax, but more than 70% is sent to the state and other agencies. Governor Newsom could change the date, but an alternative funding source for counties would be required. Our county only has weeks of reserve.

Our Public Health Officer has continued to work remotely. It should be no secret that before COVID-19, Dr. Doohan had accepted a new employment opportunity in San Diego. She’s publicly stated that she will stay with us until this health emergency concludes and I have no reason to doubt her commitment. Irrespective of her changing life circumstances, working remotely reduces the risk of an important lead becoming ill during a critical point in time. Another Public Health Officer in California did become infected with COVID-19, highlighting the real world risk. I’ve heard criticism about the frequency of Public Health Officer releases, but having Dr Doohan repeat the same stale information, such as our count and need to wash hands, will receive equal criticism. I fully support her discretion in balancing research, planning and execution with public outreach to maximize outcomes.

The “order” continues to obfuscate. It’s a stack of dense legalese bordering on word salad. More than once, I’ve requested a human readable text akin to an aircraft emergency evacuation laminated sheet, i.e. two columns: allowed and prohibited. The order is not at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors. The sole authority is vested in the Public Health Officer with influence from County Counsel. I trust Dr. Doohan's judgement on the “what” but the messaging could have been polished to mitigate public confusion. I had a gentleman with a broken tooth relay that his dentist was shut down, even for emergencies. The order actually allows emergency care, but in the process of finding a dentist (thanks Jeff) who would assist on short notice, I discovered another dental office had closed. Fishing is considered essential under food production, yet launch facilities have been forced closed. Walking in isolation in public spaces is prohibited, but driving to a packed Walmart is allowed. The order is imperfect and the messaging hasn’t been ideal or even consistent, but time is of the essence and it should be seen as an approximation for the purpose of saving lives. Closing public spaces wasn’t about the practical risk of your walk, but rather a means to address the dangerous influx of naive bay area crowds vacationing in our county. We didn’t want to be the only county in the region with public spaces open — people coming from afar would shop while here. In addressing a once in a hundred year pandemic, execution will not be perfect. In a county that struggles to perform in normal conditions (due to funding, geographic size, demographics), we cannot expect perfection. We do have a team of dedicated employees (our neighbors) working hard to cover all bases. I continue to ask for your support in following the orders and encouraging your social circle to comply.

Our last board meeting was halted mid-meeting due to a staff shortage. In theory, we have redundancy, but with staff working from home as a prudent distancing measure, it wasn’t possible to roll over to the next deputy clerk in the moment. We’ll probably do better next time, should there be a next time. I won’t share personal details about employees no matter how many times asked, but you need not worry. It did puzzle me that the chair elected to terminate our discussion with Senator McGuire. I had several questions from the public to relay and the clerk was not necessary. I’ll forgive him, because this situation is new to us all. One of the difficult aspects of my role is the constant need to straddle the line of supporting colleagues and staff versus forcing transparency for the public. Preserving lives is truly the greatest present priority, but democracy should not unnecessarily pause for months. Staff is working on accommodations for public expression, a key tenet in our model of governance. My insistence has in no doubt added to an already stressful load, but staff has met the moment with a plan for the April 7 meeting. I hope you can be supportive of our trial run as we fine tune, no matter the initial success. Staff has my gratitude for coming through with solutions in challenging times.

As can be expected, our Supervisors fall on a spectrum of engagement during the course of this emergency. The public expects me to track, raise red flags and take responsibility. This doesn’t mean micro-managing staff, which can lead to a net loss in capabilities and execution, but it does mean I should have a written plan in hand, one that I can explain to the public.

Challenge any of the five of us to diagram the current plan and you’ll see a red flag. As an example, today I learned from a vendor that equipment we deemed consequential to saving lives and communicated multiple times as “ordered” was only requested for quote now. There exists potential for sloppy outcomes from dedicated, hard working staff, without fault or lack of competency, when structurally deficient models are in place. With all due respect to my colleagues who may not be aligned at my end of the engagement spectrum, this concerns me greatly. I’m hopeful that by voicing it, we’ll see a realignment of execution. The culpability for overall outcome lies with the Supervisors, not staff. The equipment advertised as most in need for a surge has not actually been ordered by local government.

An area I believe the County is performing well is planning COVID-19 homeless options and securing facilities for overflow, in the case our hospitals are overwhelmed. The focus is primarily on saving lives. Without getting too morbid, addressing problems seen in worst case scenarios elsewhere does demand local government to plan for overwhelm at all stages of lifecycle.

Health and Human Services was not able to share the homeless planning at our last meeting due to the meeting being cut short, but we have another meeting this coming Tuesday (streamed via youtube as always).

The county-wide ventilator count shared two BOS meetings ago was wrong. It seems there might only be 15 units. Whether these units could be split to support multiple patients probably depends on whether the particular models support pressure control or tidal volume control. Mendocino Coast District Hospital did order 4 units, paid for by Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation. They executed quickly. Jason Wells at Adventist told me his facilities also have orders pending. He noted, "Based on the models, and the vast resources of Adventist Health spread across 22 hospitals, I am confident we can meet the demand in Mendocino County if we continue to shelter in place and physical distance.”

Sonoma County contracted Imperial College London to model Sonoma County’s pending surge. I’m taking the report with a grain of salt, having reviewed their earlier global report and assumptions, but it’s the best modeling we have available. Sonoma County’s surge is probably our surge. Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, a role model public servant and communicator, shared some slides. To me, this further indicates business as normal will not resume in eight weeks.

An issue beyond our boundaries, but one that could effect our food supply chain in the mid-term is the lack of migrant workers able to harvest our state’s crops. If anyone has a credible analysis from a reliable (not politically biased) source, please share with me.

FORT BRAGG TIMBER PROTEST-DEMONSTRATION, 1990

PAST TO PRESENT. COME IN PRESENT, PLEASE.

Ted Williams,

‘Exposure’

I’m just back from the weekly shopping at Harvest Market, Fort Bragg. Amazing how many people are unmasked, ungloved or shielded. Where is our Public Health Officer?

Rotation through the market should be clock wise or counter clock wise (my preference - start with the veggies). When going in both directions we are passing shoulder to shoulder.

Shoppers should be reminded to shop not browse. Do Not handle container after container.

Everybody should be wearing gloves and masks.

Too many people of all ages are too cavalier.

Last week an RN wrote the mcn.list.serv that she felt safer in the hospital than at Harvest.

Again I ask: Where is our Public Health Officer?

Norman de Vall ndevall@mcn.org

HE KILLED HER THIS TIME

Updated Press Release:

On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at approximately 8:15 AM Elenah Louise Elston died in an out-of-county hospital in connection with this reported incident.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Division has assumed jurisdiction in determining the cause, manner and classification of her death. A forensic autopsy has been scheduled for Friday, April 3, 2020 as part of the death investigation.

Sheriff's Office Detectives are continuing investigations into this incident and are being assisted by investigators from the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office and cirminialists from the California Department of Justice.

Original Press Release:

On March 30th, at approximately 5:00 PM, Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were summoned to the Emergency Room at Howard memorial Hospital for a reported fall victim that appeared suspicious in nature. Upon arrival, the deputies located the victim, an adult female, age 49 of Willits, who was being treated for major head injuries which left her unconscious and unable to communicate. The deputies knew the female from numerous prior calls for service, which included calls for domestic violence involving the same victim. After learning the victim had severe head injuries that were more consistent with a violence act and not a fall, the deputies responded to the victim's residence to contact her husband.

The deputies contacted the suspect, Tavion Johnson, 21 year old male of Willits, at his residence in the 2600 block of Goose Road. After completing their investigation, which included interviewing Johnson, and inspecting the crime scene, Deputies determined that there had been a violent encounter between Johnson and the victim, who is Johnson's wife. Johnson was ultimately arrested for felony domestic violence, violation of a domestic violence criminal protective order, violation of probation (Of which Johnson was on probation for previous domestic violence arrests) and for causing great bodily injury to the victim during the commission of an act of domestic violence. Johnson was transported and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he is being held without bail.

The victim in this case was transported to an out of county hospital for a higher level of treatment due to the injuries she received during the violent encounter with her husband.

ATTEMPTED MURDER SUSPECT OUT OF JAIL IN LESS THAN 16 HOURS - WITH NO BAIL?

An MSP viewer called our attention to Friday morning's Mendocino Jail "booking log" where a man (from Kentucky) [Terry Smith] was booked Thursday at 3:45 pm for felony "Attempted Murder" and then was released Friday morning @ 7:29 am — bail amount "$0.00."

We'll send an email to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office to see if we can get additional details.

And, as with all information in the sheriff's booking log, those who appear in it are to be presumed innocent unless/until found guilty in a court of law.

(MendocinoSportsPlus)

PLEA FOR VOLUNTEERS for the Mendocino Civil Grand Jury 2020-21

Why you should join the county civil grand jury…

Civil Grand Juries provide an important oversight to local government. The spring deadline for applying is fast approaching: May 3, 2020. You have probably heard of criminal grand juries, which decide whether there is sufficient evidence to charge a person with a crime. However, there is another form of grand jury: The California Penal Code requires that every county annually appoint a civil grand jury (comprised for most counties of 19 residents) to serve for a one-year period beginning each July 1. These civil grand juries are empowered to provide citizen oversight of local government agencies. Why would you want to consider serving on a civil grand jury? You might be influenced by the desire to help ensure that local governments are run more efficiently and ethically. You might have a unique expertise or interest in governmental services dealing with, for example, prisons and law enforcement, fire protection, health care, child abuse, elder abuse, municipal transportation, pensions, water and sewage or special districts.

Most importantly, serving on a civil grand jury will enable you to learn more about the community in which we live while making constructive suggestions to those in authority that will help ensure that our tax dollars are wisely and efficiently spent.

Clearly, there is a need for jurors with diversified interests and skills. If you’re interested, here is what you need to know: •You must be a county resident age 18 or older.

•You must have been a resident of the county for at least one year on July 1 of your service year.

•You should be able to commit up to 20 hours per week during your year of grand jury service.

•You will receive only modest compensation for your efforts.

•You must be comfortable working in a “team” environment.

•You only have the power of public persuasion.

•You must be willing to keep your deliberations secret.

The process to become a civil grand juror for the next jury year, beginning July 1, starts in the spring. Those who have an interest in pursuing an appointment to the Mendocino County Civil Grand Jury (MCCGJ), should go to the appropriate website. Applications are accepted from all qualified citizens and may be downloaded (https://www.mendocinocounty.org/government/grand-jury/about-the-grand-jury).

Applications are reviewed by the Superior Court judge appointed to preside over the Grand Jury, and a drawing is held to pick 19 jurors. Those not selected are placed in a pool of alternates. You are urged to apply as quickly as possible. You may also contact Mendocino County Civil Grand Jury, P.O. Box 939, Ukiah, CA 95482 or call (707) 463-4320. Email: grandjury@mendocinocounty.org

Here are some thoughts from Mendocino County Jurors why they decided to serve:

Donna Worster, in Gualala, said, “Living on the coast I felt that it should have representation in all matters involving our side of the mountain. It has proven to be more of an enlightenment to me than I ever expected. The trip over the hill has never been a burden or a danger and the meetings were always respectful of my travel time. Please help represent the coast area from Rockport to Gualala.”

Willits resident Yvonne Winter said, “I signed up because I was curious how government agencies worked and wanted to get an ‘inside’ view of the mechanism of County administration. I’m glad I did. I’ve learned a lot, most of which I was unaware I’d wanted to know! I’ve also discovered many facets of local rules which need fixing and/or updating and had access to people who are not only interested in doing so, but sincerely dedicated to selflessly pursuing a better Mendocino County for all.” She has served several terms.

Another Willits resident, retired schoolteacher Carly Stewart explained, “I joined without the foggiest notion of what a tour on the MCCGJ would be like. When I filled out my application, I'd never even read a previous Grand Jury report. But I read and followed the Mueller report carefully and became intrigued by how often ‘Grand Jury’ was referred to. Juxtaposed to that time I saw the newspaper request for people to apply to serve on the Grand Jury. I thought, ‘Why not?’ I knew I was going to have a rough year ahead as a health care provider to my loved ones, and I thought serving on the Grand Jury would give me a mental health break with a diverting learning curve. I wasn't wrong. What I hadn't anticipated was the camaraderie and respect that could be developed in the committees.” This is her first year serving on the Grand Jury.

From Ukiah resident Jan Olav comes this explanation, “While we’re all just average, everyday people, as a whole the Grand Jury should be better than average. It should be a well-respected body and the only way to gain that respect is to produce reports that are credible: Thought provoking, informative, have ability to be the instrument for improvement, or they recognize a job well done. So, as trite as it sounds, I joined to make a difference. What I like is the people! The knowledge and experience in that Grand Jury room is amazing!” This is her first year serving on the MCCGJ.

Phyllis Dockins, Ukiah, has served many terms on the MCCGJ and still comes back for more: “My experience with serving on the Grand Jury has been great. As a retired person I have enjoyed my years of service for they have given me the opportunity to continue as a contributing citizen. I have come to appreciate the hard work and dedication I see in others who volunteer. The work is not easy at times, but the satisfaction of being a part of positive changes to local government is worth it.”

Joanie Stevens, another Ukiah resident in her second term as a Juror said, “I'm a very active library user. The two reports (2014 & 2015) the MCCGJ wrote about the Mendocino County library system and the issues with County funding and chargebacks in the budget made a huge positive impact. Since the MCCGJ's actions helped improve the lives of all library patrons, I felt that serving would be one way I could affect positive change for my community. It has been an eye opener for sure!”

Gualala resident Art Juhl, nearing the end of his first term of service on MCCGJ, said, “I was running for County Supervisor and my research showed that financial accounting was not accounted for. In other words, where’s the money? Knowing that an investigation would reveal the answer, the best place to research is in the world of the Grand Jury. I wanted to help ensure that local governments are run more efficiently and ethically.”

Tim Prince, Ukiah resident and past Foreman of MCCGJ had this to say, “Citizenship in a democracy requires the citizens to be involved and INFORMED. Everybody has an opinion; how many citizens have done their homework? Do the citizens understand the human impact, cost, short term and long term, and challenges of implementation of a new program? What is the goal of the program and what are the steps and timelines to achieve the final goal? Serving on the Grand Jury allows Jury members to interview the people responsible, challenge the new program and follow up with recommendations to the leaders involved. The public gets a Grand Jury report, graphics, analysis and recommendations. Being a member of the grand jury offers the opportunity to be informed in depth on local government.”

CATCH OF THE DAY, April 3, 2020

CERVANDO GUTIERREZ-ZARAGOZA, Ukiah. Domestic battry.

JOSEPH HIPES, Willits. Grand theft, stolen property, county parole violation.

NATHAN HOAGLIN, Laytonville. Shooting at inhabited dwelling/vehicle, ammo possession by prohibited person, felon-addict with firearm.

JARED LAMARR, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

JAVIER MADRIGAL-SANCHEZ, Laytonville. Under influence with weapon, felon-addict with weapon, controlled substance while armed with loaded firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person.

JAVIER MENDEZ, Ukiah. Controlled substance, probation revocation.

JARON NUNNEMAKER, Willits. Domestic abuse.

TERRY SMITH, Somerset, Kentucky/Ukiah. Attempted murder.

DEBRA WEBB, Ukiah. Domestic abuse.

THE AUTHORITIES had another cause for anxiety in the difficulty of maintaining the food-supply. Profiteers were taking a hand and purveying at enormous prices essential foodstuffs not available in the shops. The result was that poor families were in great straits, while the rich went short of practically nothing. Thus, whereas plague by its impartial ministrations should have promoted equality among our townsfolk, it now had the opposite effect and, thanks to the habitual conflict of cupidities, exacerbated the sense of injustice rankling in men’s hearts. They were assured, of course, of the inerrable equality of death, but nobody wanted that kind of equality. — Camus, The Plague

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

As it just so happens, I watched Once Upon A Time in Hollywood last night on the TV, a loosely fictional but surprisingly realistic Tarantino take on those times as well. In hindsight, I’d have to agree that the 60’s and 70’s – as groovy as they seemed to be at the time – were almost entirely delusional and set us up for the many ongoing failures we’ve experienced ever since. I wouldn’t forget the insanity of re-inflating the American Exceptionalism myth – largely borne out by the famed Military Industrial Complex – in the wake of Vietnam, which at the time at least, promised to cure us once and for all of our overwhelming preoccupation with all things military and empire. But it didn’t take us more than 15 years or so to get over that little fiasco, which just so happened to coincide with the advent of computerization and the aforementioned financialization of everything. Pretty good racket when you stop to think about it, for as long as it lasts anyway. But those times are over now. What will be next I can only shudder to imagine.

A CURE FOR COVID19?

Dear Editor,

Hydroxychloroquine and azrithomycin have been proven yet again. On 3/31/'20 French microbiologist Didier Raoult published these results (linked) of his second clinical trial of the hydroxychloroquine/azrithomycin treatment for Covid-19 with which he and his team had acheived a 100% cure rate earlier that month. This second, larger trial of 80 infected patients again demonstrated that Dr. Raoult's formulation is a game-changer: losthorizons.com/Newsletter/Covid19/COVID-19HC-A2ndTrial.pdf

In 2006 the effectiveness of chloroquine's inhibition and spread of corona virus was cited in this linked peer-reviewed study published in Virology Journal: virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-422X-2-69

Other recent studies on the drug's effectiveness in treating CV19 is linked here: nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0282-0?fbclid=IwAR2JbbZU_Hl7uLjuOTDhrNnmczzyEFvnIhY8QHv9ghY5fYBvX0IsmnhD07w

and here: wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/17/an-effective-treatment-for-coronavirus-covid-19-has-been-found-in-a-common-anti-malarial-drug/

Doctors in France, Australia, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand and the U.S. have cured thousands of CV19 patients using this drug. But presently as patients without access to this drug die, pensions systems already struggling have crumbled and millions of jobs are toasted while the entire global economic system shuts down as the cure sits in our very midst. I'll retire to bedlam.

Andrew Pursell

Annapolis

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ED NOTE: Here's a decent summary of this alleged "cure" and its related "controversy."

politico.com/news/2020/03/30/in-france-controversial-doctor-stirs-coronavirus-debate-156889

COAST GUARD, NOYO HARBOR

(Photo by Larry Wagner)

ONLINE POETRY COURSE--STARTS APRIL 9

I usually send you notices of events put on by other people, but this is a poetry course I am offering myself, online, of course. Best wishes to you.

—Roberta Werdinger

"Beauty in the Backyard," an online poetry course, will be offered by Roberta Werdinger, Ukiah's Poet Laureate, using the Zoom platform. The course begins Thursday, April 9, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., and will meet for five weeks through May 7. The course is free, with donations going to Writers Read, Ukiah's monthly reading series.

This course is open to anyone, experienced or beginner, who wants to experience poetry. We will engage in discussion, in-class writing exercises, and reading of short poems in each session. (Sharing your writing is always optional.) Topics will include subject matter and exercises related to getting us through these challenging times.

To register, email RWerdinger@pacific.net. You will be provided with a password and a link to the Zoom platform. Zoom is very easy to use and free for users invited to meetings.

OLD SAN FRANCISCO SEALS STADIUM

BOOMER ELEGY

by James Kunstler

History will probably record that America’s Baby Boom generation threw one helluva party; Gen X was left with the sorry task of cleanup crew; and the Millennials ended up squatting in the repossessed haunted party-house when it was all over. On behalf of the Boomers, let me try to explain and apologize.

We came along at the end of history’s earlier biggest trauma, the Second World War, following the hard stumble of the Great Depression — which, by the way, for those of you unsure of chronology, followed the First World War, an epic, purposeless slaughter that utterly demoralized Western civilization. What a set-up for my parents’ generation.

My stepfather, the man who raised me, was an interesting, specimen of that gen. Fresh out of college in Boston, he joined the army, became a lieutenant, and by-and-by found himself trapped in the German offensive through the Ardennes Forest, known as the Battle of the Bulge. Unlike some WW2 vets, he was willing to talk about his experiences. His most vivid memory was the difference between the sound of American and German machine guns. Ours went rat-a-tat-tat, theirs went zzzzzzzap, he said, like you couldn’t even detect the interval between the bullets coming at you. It scared the piss out of his men, not a few of whom were cut to pieces. My stepfather merely caught several chunks of shrapnel in his arm and thigh, and was still on the scene when Germany finally surrendered in May, 1945. He was awarded a silver star for valor, but never bragged on it. (My mother barely participated in my upbringing, but that’s another story.)

He went straight to New York City when it was over. His gen’s victory dance was to get straight to work in the economic bonanza just revving up — because the war had happened elsewhere and all our stuff was intact, ready to re-start, to make and sell anything under the sun to the shattered rest-of-the-world, and lend them money to buy it — quite an opportunity for young men highly disciplined and regimented from their recent travails of war. My stepfather became a classic Mad Man, as in the TV series, working in media, publishing, and PR, a hard-drinking cohort of mostly military vets who would knock down three martinis over lunch with clients (a nearly inconceivable feat, actually, when you think about it), but that showed what the war had done to the soldiers who survived. He died from it at barely sixty, and from smoking two packs of Camel straights a day, another habit of battle.

We Boomer boys had his war as movies and comic books: Sergeant Rock and John Wayne on the beach at Iwo! We had all the fruits of that postwar bonanza. We had Disneyland, the 1964 World’s Fair, the Carousel-of-Progress, and Rock Around the Clock. We eventually had a war of our own, Vietnam, but it was optional for college kids. I declined to go get my ass shot off, of course.

You have no idea what a fantastic bacchanal college was in the 1960s. Let the sunshine in! The great anti-war protests gave us a chance to pretend we were serious, but, believe me, it was much more about finding someone to hook-up with at the teach-ins and the street marches. The birth control pill was a fabulous novelty. We ignored the side-effects — especially the social side effects that led later on to an epidemic of divorces and broken families. When you are a young man, sex is at least half of what you think of minute-by-minute. I was on a campus where all you saw were waves of nubile, joggling breasts coming at you beneath those sheer peasant blouses (which, you understand, suggests that the women were in on it, too, being every bit as incited by their own frisky hormones).

Personally, I was not altogether on board with the hippie program, though I let my hair grow. A lot about it gave me the creeps — the lurid posters of Hindu gods with elephant heads, the dumb-ass “Hey, man,” lingo, the neurotic sharing of everything from clothing to money, the wooly armpits, the ghastly organic cuisine…. I mostly eschewed drugs, never dropped acid, and smoked pot infrequently due to a chastening episode of frightening paranoia early on. Anyway, after Charlie Manson’s caper, the whole thing lost its luster and by the early 1970s there wasn’t much left but sideburns, and by then many of us were in an office of some kind.

Which is probably where things really went off the rails. The Boomers should never have been allowed in those offices, especially the ones within ten miles of Wall Street. That’s where the cleverest among us came up with the signal innovations that have now wrecked the world.

The corona virus is a very bad thing, for sure, but it’s really nothing compared to the deliberate wickedness that engineered the so-called financialized economy — a supernatural matrix of something-for-nothing swindles and frauds that purported to replace actual work that produced things of value. The great lesson of the age was lost: the virtual is not a substitute for the authentic.

And now the Boomer geniuses of finance are scrambling frantically to hurl imaginary money into the black hole they have opened with their own reckless wizardry. But black holes are nothing like ordinary holes. They are unfillable. They just suck everything into a cosmic vacuum that resembles something like death — which, in its implacable mystery, may just be a door to a new disposition of things, the next life, the next reality.

Of course, not all of us Boomers worked on Wall Street or in its annexes, but we did more or less go along with all that wickedness because we never really made any earnest effort to stop it. The Dodd-Frank bill? Don’t make me laugh. Maybe it’s just impossible to apologize for the mess we left behind after the party we enjoyed. I’m not a Christian in any formal sense, but perhaps only that kind of fathomless, unconditional forgiveness might avail. I am sincerely sorry.

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PS: A mighty thanks to all of you on Patreon who have stepped up to support this blog in the most uncertain of times: A Message to You From a Grateful JHK:

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon page.)

74 JOURNALISM PROFESSORS ACCUSE FOX NEWS OF SPREADING CORONAVIRUS MISINFORMATION

"Viewers of Fox News, including the president of the United States, have been regularly subjected to misinformation relayed by the network — false statements downplaying the prevalence of COVID-19 and its harms; misleading recommendations of activities that people should undertake to protect themselves and others, including casual recommendations of untested drugs; false assessments of the value of measures urged upon the public by their elected political leadership and public health authorities," the letter reads.

thehill.com/homenews/media/490776-74-journalism-professors-accuse-fox-news-owners-of-spreading-coronavirus

BILLIONAIRES’ NET WORTHS, measured in the cost of ventilators:

Bezos: 4,784,000 ventilators

Gates: 4,004,000 ventilators

Buffet: 2,860,000 ventilators

Zuckerberg: 2,472,000 ventilators

Bloomberg: 2,344,000 ventilators

Hospitals in the US have a total of 170,000 ventilators. (Source: Public Citizen)

PANDEMICS AND PROFITS — HOW THE COVID-19 EXCEPTIONS PROVE THE RULE

Editor,

Covid-19 is contained in Taiwan and Singapore. There is no “lockdown,” no mass unemployment, no rising death rate. Factories, schools and businesses are open. Contrast this with Europe and the US where the plague of Covid-19 is devastating the lives of millions, with “lockdowns,” unemployment, isolation and death. What explains the differences? Why were the doors to death wide open in Europe and the US, but quickly closed in Taiwan and Singapore?

How did Singapore become the “gold standard of near perfect detection”?

Simply put, they learned from the SARS 2003 epidemic which had killed people and damaged the economy. Their answer was to invest heavily in building health care infrastructure: building 1,000 public health clinics, free aggressive testing and hospitalization, contact tracing, and quarantine with financial support, consistent public education and social distancing. The virus was contained.

cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6914e1.htm

In Taiwan, their first case was detected 1/20/20, the same day as the first case in the US. Due to Taiwan’s “robust public health network” they were able to rapidly prevent transmission, detect and isolate infected people. After the SARS epidemic they improved their infection control within a universal health care system for all citizens. Their hospitals had screening booths and isolation wings with an inventory of negative pressure isolation rooms, Personal Protective Equipment and test kits.

A centralized data base was created with mandatory reporting and quarantine. This allowed for excellent disease surveillance and detection. Temperature check points were set up across the nation combined with consistent public education.

wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0574_article

Sadly these two countries are the exception. Most countries have so far failed to contain Covid-19.

The US and Europe have witnessed decades of cuts to Public Health and Disease Prevention programs demanded by Wall Street, Corporations and Bankers. The drive to privatize healthcare and maximize short term profits has driven this economic process. “Reductions in prevention spending were almost universal.”

ilcuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Public-Health-in-Europe-in-the-Austerity-Years.pdf

The doors to death have deliberately been shredded and left wide open.

The few exceptions seem to prove the rule that Capitalist economies are driven by the drive for short term profits. Such economies are now sacrificing millions of working people on the altar of profits. This catastrophe reveals how urgent it is to build a society motivated by, and dedicated to, the health needs of the people.

Dr. Nayvin Gordon

Oakland

(Dr. Gordon writes about health and politics and can be reached at gordonnayvin@yahoo.com)

I’M NOT RICH. I don’t have sinking investments and nowhere to hide my valuables, my assets, my portfolio. All I have is trees and breeze and fleas and cheese.

I don’t look at the world, at my great city, from a high penthouse. I don’t have a great city, much less a high penthouse I can look down on it from. I can’t see with my own eyes the deserted streets and sidewalks, empty parks and stadiums, the silent airports.

Poor, I, I can’t see any street at all. My house is trees, board fences, a gate—and that’s it. I can’t see the stricken world except in this machine or some other machine—the TV, Ellie’s smartish phone, a captcha or an insta. I don’t do those. I am a luddite and an ancient. I like that outside, where I’m right now headed, everything is busy with spring and cares nothing, not a whit, for plague and doom.

---

Free money? Immediate free assistance? Free & fast medical care? Generous time off work for self and family?

What do you think, trumpists?

Socialism. It is a multi-definition word, sibilant, with its esses and eshes. It sounds soft and inviting, if you choose the more soft and inviting definitions, or like the hissing of a snake (of THE snake) if you don’t.

I recommend the nice version. After centuries of battering by the endless storms of capitalism, it’s past time for us to consider the alternative.

“I work damn hard for my money, and I don’t like giving it away to people who’d sooner lay around and bitch!”

Got it. Boy, do I ever get it. It’s called selfishness. It’s a fundamental difference among people everywhere, the difference between Good King Wenceslas and Rumpelstiltskin, Saint Valentine and Martin Shkreli, Uncle Scrooge, the beanstalk giant, and Santa Claus.

So now we’re in big trouble, everywhere. What do we do? We switch to socialism! Free money, bailouts, tax forgiveness, loan forgiveness and more free money. In the face of death and disease, we’ve swung from one extreme to another.

Everybody’s begging the federal government. The federal government, with its improbable orange, scowling face and obscene little round mouth, is resisting the call, but it’s a big thing, the federal government, and there are too many decent human beings in it to stem the leaks—of information, of assistance, of compassion—of many of the characteristics of the Demon Socialism we have been conditioned to despise. Instead of Every Man For Himself, it’s "cooperate or die", "help each other or go down in frigid isolation."

Socialism. It’s time has come, forcefully. We will generally refuse to acknowledge it, and we will go back to the worn-out system that benefits the greediest, but capitalism has taken a hit, and socialism, it’s turning out, is the hitter.

(Mitch Clogg)

IF THE STIMULUS FUND WAS DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY, every person in the United States would get $30,256