MCT: Tuesday, June 30, 2020

• Breezy Afternoons
• Todd's Point
• FB Budget
• US Banned
• Bean Pre-Trial
• Ed Busch
• Fish Rock
• Beauty Queen
• Island Bridge
• Busy Realtor
• Train Wreck
• Ed Notes
• Symbolic Victories
• CA Propositions
• Lost Coast
• Testing Costs
• Yesterday's Catch
• Facebook Boycott
• Cottonwood Tree
• Covid Precautions
• Kelseyville Junction
• Stupidness
• Derailment Crew
• Johnny's Guns
• Log Boom
• Edgewater Gallery
• Coconut Island
• Comments
• Off My Lawn
• Eminently Impeachable
• Clinton's Contribution
• No Joke
• Found Object

HIGH PRESSURE over the East Pacific will remain mostly in control of our weather through this weekend, with dry conditions expected to prevail across Northwest California. North to northwest breezes will be present each afternoon with near below seasonable temperatures inland and at the coast. Morning stratus and fog will be relatively localized, with mostly sunny and breezy afternoons along the coast. (NWS)

TODD'S POINT

FORT BRAGG'S BUDGET SCENARIOS

After hearing from the public far and wide about whether the town should change its name at its regular meeting last week, the Fort Bragg City Council met Monday night to talk turkey. City government's 2020-21 budgets were on the table — the general fund, redevelopment successor agency budget, and its water and wastewater funds. The General Fund is where all the city's discretionary spending lies — staff salaries, the police department and the like. It is funded largely through sales and bed tax revenues, and so was most vulnerable to the COVID-19 shutdown. According to City Hall documents, general fund revenues will likely fall 45% next fiscal year (starting July 1) and stay depressed at least through 2021. The $20 million-plus spending reduction that results from that will come largely from a drastically cut capital projects budget. Most city departments will take cuts as well and the staff and City Hall hour reductions made two months ago to address immediate financial issues look to remain in place for the forseeable future. This year's budgeting process is very different from past years. Instead of a detailed and comprehensive “city budget,” the council is reviewing rough snapshots of city government's financial position, along with a spending plan, revisable as conditions merit. A big reason for the curtailed process is that city government still does not have hard financial data (tax receipts) for the months starting in March of this year. Tax deadline flexibility granted by the state means many business and property owners haven't been paying taxes or are paying late. In any case, how much will actually be there for cities and counties to spend is unclear. Given that, council members will approve a rough spending plan and wait to see if reality matches the best guesses of city staff. City Finance Director Victor Damiano resigned at the start of the month to take a similar job in Seaside, California. An item to name City Manager Tabatha Miller as City Treasurer is also on Monday's agenda.

(Chris Calder)

ONE GRAPHIC EXPLAINS WHY AMERICANS ARE FACING AN EU TRAVEL BAN

US tourists will be excluded from visiting the European Union after the bloc finalized its list of 15 safe countries for travel to member states on Tuesday.

cnn.com/2020/06/30/europe/european-union-travel-us-graphic-intl/index.html

ALLEGED COAST FATAL HIT & RUN DRIVER IN COURT TUESDAY

The person arrested as the driver in the July, 2019 fatal hit & run collision that took the life of Calum Hunnicutt, age 21, at the intersection of Highway and Little Lake Road in Mendocino (Gina Bean) will be in court Tuesday @ 9:00 am for a “Pre-trial conference.”

MSP has maintained she will seek a plea agreement in an attempt to obtain a one-year sentence in county jail - we'll see.

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CHP PRESS RELEASE DECEMBER 2019

“On July 18, 2019, a hit-and-run traffic collision occurred on Highway 1 at Little Lake Road, resulting in fatal injuries to 21-year-old Calum Pulido [Hunnicutt], from Mendocino County. The suspected driver, 41-year-old Gina Rae Bean, from Mendocino County, was traveling northbound on Highway 1, when she struck Pulido as he was skateboarding westbound on Little Lake Road.

Bean subsequently fled the scene in the suspect vehicle, a 2006 Toyota Tundra. As a result of a quick response and follow-up investigation by the California Highway Patrol, Bean’s Toyota was located at a local auto body shop. Upon locating the Toyota, it was determined that Bean’s boyfriend, 36-year-old Ricky Santos, from Mendocino County, had attempted to repair Bean’s vehicle in an effort to destroy any evidence.

As a result of an ongoing and thorough investigation, the California Highway Patrol submitted multiple charges to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office on Bean, including Felony Hit-and-Run and Vehicular Manslaughter. Multiple charges were also submitted on Santos, including Conspiracy and Destroying or Concealing Evidence. On November 27, 2019, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office issued arrest warrants for both Bean and Santos.

On November 27, 2019, investigators from the California Highway Patrol located Santos and placed him under arrest. With the persistence of the California Highway Patrol investigators pursuing Bean, she turned herself in to the Mendocino County Jail on December 2, 2019. Bean then posted a $50,000 bail and was released on bail.”

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FROM MENDOCINOSPORTSPLUS IN 2019

The following press release was issued by the Ukiah CHP. As with all law enforcement releases, those named therein should be presumed innocent unless/until found guilty in a court of law:

“After a vigorous and thorough investigation by the California Highway Patrol, a case was submitted to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office regarding a hit and run collision on SR-1 at Little Lake Road resulting in the death of Calum Pulido.

The case filed by the California Highway Patrol resulted in two warrants. One warrant was for Gina Bean, the suspected driver in the collision, and the other was for Ricky Santos, who was identified to be a co-conspirator in the concealment and destruction of evidence.

On Wednesday, November 27, 2019at approximately 3:24 pm, Santos was arrested by the California Highway Patrol.

On Monday, December 2nd, 2019, at approximately 4:08 pm, Gina Bean turned herself in to the Mendocino County Jail.”

(MSP NOTE-- According to the information from the Mendocino County Jail log, the suspect bailed out of the Mendocino County Jail after a little more than five hours (5:08) in custody charged with ONE felony: “HIT & RUN RESULTING IN DEATH OR INJURY.” Her bail was $50,000.)

(MendocinoSportsPlus)

ED BUSCH 

Ed Busch passed away on June 17, 2020, at his home surrounded by his family. He was 93 years old. His wife, Marilyn Busch, preceded his death in 2017. Ed is survived by his three children: Son Frank Buschbacher, his children Timothy Buschbacher, Josh Buschbacher, Hans Buschbacher and Erick Buschbacher, daughter-in-law Shelley Buschbacher, his daughter Celeste Busch, her children Crystal Busch and Amber Girard and son Korla Buschbacher, his children Jennifer Garcia, Matthew Buschbacher, Nicole Rios and Zachary Buschbacher, daughter-in-law Marti Buschbacher and fifteen great-grandchildren. His granddaughter Lisa Buschbacher preceded him in death.

Edmund James Buschbacher was born November 22, 1926 in Beulah, North Dakota. He was the son of Frank and Theresa Buschbacher who had immigrated to the United States. Ed had seven brothers and sisters who all preceded him in death: Anna, Frank, Matthew, Gertie, Louie, Sue and Ray. During his childhood his family moved to the strip mine two miles outside of Zap, North Dakota. His father worked as a blacksmith for the coal mines. His parents both passed away at a young age, leaving him orphaned at 14 years old. Ed continued to live in Zap, North Dakota with his brother. Ed was part of the 1941-1942 Zap High School basketball team that took the district championship. During his sophomore year in school, Ed decided he was done with school. Ed left town with a few of his buddies to Portland, Oregon.

Upon arrival in Oregon, jobs were easy to come by as World War II had already started. During the next few years, Ed held a variety of jobs. Ed decided the work he was doing wasn't how he wanted to live. So, Ed went down to the Post Office where the recruiting office was located. Ed had two choices: Navy or Marines. While trying to decide, a Navy officer came out to try and convince him to join the Navy. Ed did not like what he was saying, plus he wasn't fond of the idea of having to swim out in the ocean, so Ed turn and walked into the Marine office.

Ed claimed he was 17 years old, however; he was only 16 years old. Ed's older sister Anna to write a letter saying he was actually 17 so he could join the Marines. Ed was sent to Camp Pendleton for training. He was trained as a machine gunner. Ed landed on the island of Peleliu in the Palau Island on September 15, 1944. Ed was with the U.S. Marines of the 1st Marine Division, as part of the Operation Statement II. Ed and his fellow Marines fought on the island for six days in the Battle of Peleliu. Ed's company was hit with shells and Ed tended to a fellow Marine that was injured. Ed was later praised for the work he had done on his fellow Marine. If it were not for Ed, that man would have lost his leg.

When Ed left the island of Peleliu he was one of 35 men out of the 289 in his company to make it. Ed was sent to Okinawa after the battle of Peleliu. He fought there for a month before he was hit in the ankle by shrapnel and transported to a hospital in Guam. From Guam, Ed was sent to the Philippines. Before Ed could be sent back to fight, the Japanese had surrendered. As a result, Ed was sent to China to accept the surrender of the Japanese army. 

At the end of service, Ed returned home to North Dakota and celebrated the end of the war with his brother Ray and friends. Ed received the following ribbons for his service: Navy and Marine Commendation, Purple Heart, American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon, World War II Victory, China Service, Combat Action, Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation.

Upon returning to North Dakota, Ed went to his hometown of Zap. Ed decided he didn't want to work in the coal mines, so moved to Bismarck. After working a few jobs, Ed found a trade school for electrician in Wilmington, North Dakota. It was a two year program. During this time, Ed met his first wife, Mayme Johnson, and got married by a Justice of the Peace. Once finished with school, they lived in Bismarck and Ed worked as an electrician wiring old farms. In 1951, after a long cold winter, Ed moved his family from Zap, North Dakota to San Bernardino, California.

After a while in San Bernardino, Ed decided to get his contractor's license and open his own shop. His first business was Loma Linda Electric, then switched it years later to Busch Construction & Electric. Ed's second wife Nancy, convinced Ed to shorten his last name from Buschbacher to Busch.

Ed found his way to Ukiah in 1973 and moved his Busch Construction and Electric business to Ukiah. In 1978, Ed married the love of his life, Marilyn Nelson Busch. Ed and Marilyn made a life in the Ukiah Valley. Ed was an active member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a part of the Humane Society, and a ton of other charities and organization. Ed has been known for many years rescuing and feeding feral cats all over the Ukiah Valley as well as getting them spayed or neutered.

During his time as Founder/Owner of Busch Construction and Electric he was a great teacher to his employees. Many have gone on to open their own businesses in the community and have credited Ed with helping start and mentoring them along the way. His work will be forever cemented in the community. Ed's youngest son, Korla Buschbacher, took over his business in 1995 and runs it with his two sons today.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Wednesday, June 24 at 1:00 p.m. at Seventh Day Adventist Church in Ukiah. 1390 Laurel Avenue. The service will also be lived stream: https://www.ukiahsda.com/watchlive/

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Humane Society for Inland Mendocino County in the name of Ed Busch.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Eversole Mortuary.

THE TOWN OF FISH ROCK

ESCAPE FROM TULSA

Dearest Editor,

Thank you for throwing out a partially true statement about my past life for me to correct, as you knew I would.

Everything you mention is fairly accurate — pioneer, hippy, Trotskyist, and the like. But out of the blue comes “beauty queen”, a preposterous claim that stems from me representing Tulsa in the Memphis Cotton Carnival as a teen.

I have no idea how the whole thing happened. My Dad came to me and asked if I'd like to represent Tulsa at the Cotton Carnival. I blithely said ok. I played no special part and had no reason to be there. My assumption is that someone knew my family and extended the invitation and Dad jumped on it, considering it an honor. But I didn't, since I'd done nothing to earn it. 

On arriving in Memphis, I immediately made myself unwelcome with my repeated criticisms of racism as a part of their culture. They eventually got tired of my civil rights point of view and, in no uncertain terms, kicked me out. It was understandable — I'd become disruptive.

I returned to Tulsa unfazed and went on to help integrate Tulsa Oklahoma public lunchrooms in 1960 as a better way of expressing my beliefs.

It came up again last year when I was talking with Kelly House Museum staff. Suddenly, they mentioned that you told them about the Cotton Carnival incident. I explained to them what had happened and they had a good laugh, instantly realizing it was my rebel spirit at odds with southern tradition.

Being a “beauty queen” had nothing to do with anything and you should not be passing on this irrelevant claim, not only because it's not true, but because my life is not based on superficialities like looks as a gauge of accomplishment or character. I hope this clears that up.

Pebbles Trippet

Elk

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ED NOTE: But you'll always be a beauty queen to me, Pebs.

NIGHT LIGHT OF THE NORTH COAST: Bridges of Humboldt County: Cock Robin Island Bridge

by David Wilson

Between Loleta and Ferndale in Humboldt County, and a little to the west, the Eel River broadens and wraps itself around Cock Robin Island before depositing its fresh water into the Pacific Ocean. The island itself contains private property, but connecting it to the mainland on the north side is one of Humboldt’s unique bridges, the publicly accessible Cock Robin Island Bridge.

Cock Robin Island Bridge’s single, narrow lane offers little room to maneuver; it is barely wide enough to accommodate both a car and a pedestrian or bicyclist simultaneously, and feels very close to the river surface — which is particularly broad here — making the journey feel longer than its approximately 750-foot span (as measured on Google Earth). It was a slow drive across at night to take a photograph, with thoughts of the black depths to either side swimming in my mind. I don’t know how deep it really is, but it seemed deep enough. The bridge is both narrower and longer at night.

The Pedrazzini Boat Ramp on the north side of the bridge offers public access to the lower Eel River, with a wide turn-out for vehicles. Though the boat launch was built in the early 2000’s, I’ve found stories of folks fishing off of Cock Robin Island Bridge as far back as 1935 here: http://www.krisweb.com/krishumboldtbay/krisdb/html/krisweb/humbay_historic/eelfish4.htm . I would love to know when the bridge itself was built, but I haven’t come across that information yet.

Illuminated by a waxing crescent moon, Cock Robin Island Bridge crosses the Eel River beneath the glorious night sky. The lights of Ferndale glow as a pot of gold at the end of the Milky Way’s arch, where the core of our galaxy rises above the horizon. The planet Jupiter is the brightest point in the sky, while its sister planet Saturn is the lesser point to Jupiter’s lower left. Out of view to the right is the mouth of the Eel River. Cock Robin Island Road, Ferndale, Humboldt County, California. June 26, 2020 at 11:30 p.m.

A view across Cock Robin Island Bridge from Cock Robin Island. It was an overcast and misty night on the lower Eel River, though the weather report had called for 50% sky cover (my brother Seth and I never found the sky’s clear half). Downstream is to the left. Humboldt County, California, on June 25, 2020, at 11:08 p.m.

(To keep abreast of David Wilson’s most current photography or purchase a print, visit or contact him at his website mindscapefx.com or follow him on Instagram at @david_wilson_mfx , or follow me on Instagram at @david_wilson_mfx and on Twitter @davidwilson_mfx.)

THE FOURTH IS COMING!

by Anne Fashauer

Over the past two weeks I have probably put as many miles on my car as in the last two months. With real estate picking up and two escrows in process I have been heading out daily for showings or inspections. I know I am a home-body and if I didn’t have to leave I wouldn’t. So when I find a day in between a run of trips where I can stay home I relish it. With the Fourth of July coming this week, I’m looking forward to a quiet day enjoying time with my family.

I feel a little like I’m back to the old “normal” with this latest schedule. On days I’m home I’m catching up - deep watering the shade garden and the front yard, running a load of laundry or two, answering phone calls and emails and squeezing in a couple of longer bike rides. It’s hard to take care of the phone calls and emails when I’m in an area without any cell coverage and nearly impossible while driving as the cell coverage comes and goes and I’ll be on the phone one minute and cut off the next.

I’m not complaining, mind you, just explaining what the days are like. It’s nice that we have so much daylight right now. I can get a lot done early in the morning and late in the evening. And with the heat we had a week ago, the early mornings and late evenings were the only comfortable time to be outside. Looking at the agricultural forecast we appear to be in for some nice weather, warm but not hot. Should make for a nice Fourth of July weekend.

What do you have planned for the 4th? We will have our granddaughter visiting again and that will be wonderful. We’ll probably gather outside for a BBQ with our little social group we have here on the ranch. My brother and his family are going camping on some family land nearby. It will probably be quietly nice, which is perfect. I hope you all enjoy the holiday and stay healthy and well!

TRAIN WRECK, UKIAH

ED NOTES

A HEAD-ON crash Sunday afternoon in front of Lemons Market. One person was airlifted outta here. Chief said he didn’t think the airlifted person was a local. The next day a San Francisco man, Thomas Chang, was arrested in Philo for DUI with bodily injury.

DENNIS TUTTLE has agreed to pay $7500 for the redwood tree he cut down last month on the Community Services District’s neighboring property in installments of $312/month for two years. The wrong-wronged tree was felled as part of Tuttle’s rehab of the Navarro Ice House. The CSD Board thanked CSD Director Larry Mailliard for his deft handling of negotiations with Tuttle. The downed tree was on firehouse property owned by the people of Anderson Valley.

A CALLER said he was concerned that Coast law enforcement wasn't masking up, as in this video. Checking around the command structure, masks are definitely supposed to be worn when dealing with the great unwashed and, one would think, each other. The officers pictured here may have been an aberration.

READ SOMEWHERE the opinion comparing US to the break-up of the Soviet Union into more or less independent countries, independent of Moscow that is. The opinion said that America was at the beginning of a similar crack-up, given the irreconcilability of our various population sectors, if you can elevate mutual contempt to a theory of social organization. The crack-up opinion held that the US was basically six countries in one, united only in contempt for the federal government.

TODAY'S plague stats: California currently has 214,415 cases and 5,933 deaths. That’s about 534 cases and 14.8 deaths per 100,000 residents. More than 1,000 inmates at California's San Quentin Prison have tested positive for coronavirus, meaning more than a third of the entire facility's population now have the virus. A Saturday demonstration at the prison's gate wanted to release early elderly prisoners and prisoners with a year or less to serve to spare at least them from infection. Meanwhile, in the county that sometimes knows how, the County of Mendocino, Captain Pearce and Lt. Bednar, have kept the County's defendant class, healthy, if not particularly repentant. 

BETCHA today's headline story in the NYT turns out to be pure bullshit, and one more transparently crude attempt to bring down the Orange Monster, as if his verified crimes shouldn't be enough. This unsubstantiated claim says Trump looked passively on as the Russians paid the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, which the Taliban already does, or tries to do, for free. This story, and they're called stories for a reason, was today's NYT lede. (Lede: newspaper-ese for number one story.)

“THE WHITE MAN will try to satisfy us with symbolic victories rather than economic equity and real justice.”

— Malcolm X

PROPS TO YOU, Californians: A Preview of What’s on Your November Ballot

After a bit of last-minute legislative maneuvering, the list of propositions that California voters will be asked to weigh in on has been — more or less — finalized. 

calmatters.org/explainers/california-november-2020-ballot-propositions-final-list/

LOST COAST

SUPERVISOR WILLIAMS: Mendocino County has a COVID-19 testing predicament. From my fact finding, to reach an appropriate level of testing with collection throughout our regions, the cost will be $500k to $1M per month. State or federal reimbursement appears unlikely. The state has already declined our request for additional testing support. Testing has become an unfunded mandate on local government. Hospitals and clinics could facilitate testing as we've seen elsewhere, but they too are asking how to pay for it. The bottleneck is money, not initiative. Labs charge primary care ~$199 per test. I was in the minority at the recent 4-1 budget approval in part because I believe the budget is misaligned with public expectations (and further because it is balanced by excluding anticipated spending). Testing is the key to saving lives and our local economy. I appreciate the continual flow of requests for increased and distributed testing, but my position remains consistent: I support testing. I'll be eagerly watching to see whether my colleagues consider reopening the budget to facility testing.

DOLORES DUNLAP NOTES: So on top of everything else, people sick or out of work because of the Coronavirus have no Federal or state funding for testing. How in the world are people whose finances are stretched to the limit (AND BEYOND!) supposed to pay for these tests? They won't be able to, of course! That will cause further spread of the virus for everyone! The handling of this crisis by the powers that be is reprehensible!

CATCH OF THE DAY, June 28, 2020

AARON ALARCON, Laytonville. DUI with priors, no license, controlled substance, probation revocation.

JACK ALVAREZ, Ukiah. DUI with blood alcohol over 0.15%, suspended license (for DUI), paraphernalia.

GERALD BRITTON, Covelo. Domestic battery, protective order violation.

THOMAS COOK, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

GARY COSTA, Ukiah. DUI, probation revocation.

JOHN HILL, Mendocino. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

DEVIN JOHNSON, Ukiah. Attempted murder, assault with firearm.

SONIA LAU, Ukiah. Grand theft.

LEINA LEITE, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, parole violation.

HARVEY MCCARTY, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

AUSTIN NEUROTH, Potter Valley. Domestic abuse.

NOEL VILLAPANDO, Fort Bragg. Burglary, grand theft, vandalism.

I QUIT FACEBOOK LAST WEEK. Not because I wanted to join the global boycott of the social media platform going on with its major advertiser. All I ever wanted from Facebook was a daily diet of happy smiling photos. But the sad truth is that as Facebook has grown increasingly aggressive in the way it commercializes itself, so its users have become increasingly aggressive too, especially since two incredibly polarizing events: Donald Trump's election win and the Brexit saga. And the coronavirus pandemic has sent this dynamic off the charts — turning almost everyone I know into angry amateur scientific and medical experts, all espousing their often woefully ill-informed opinions. I had hoped that one of the few good things to emerge from this catastrophic health crisis might be a curb on the “woke” cancel culture that was enveloping every aspect of society before COVID-19 erupted. But then came BLM — and we've quickly morphed into a bunch of snarling, snitching, statue-smashing savages intent on destroying anyone and anything we don't agree with or find “offensive.” More than 160 companies have agreed not to buy ads on Facebook during the month of July. The firms include Unilever, Verizon, Honda, Magnolia Pictures, Levi's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Starbucks. The boycott has already cratered Facebook's stock price and the financial damage may get a lot worse very quickly. There's an inherent deceit at the heart of this boycott: these firms, including Starbucks, all want to massively cut back on their advertising spend anyway due to the crisis. This way, they can claim it is all being done for virtuous reasons, not financial necessity. 

— Piers Morgan

COTTONWOOD

MASK UP, STAND BACK

Editor: 

An astounding 8 of 10 people who have died in the U.S. from COVID-19 are age 65 or older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This statistic is particularly important as California (and the U.S. as a whole) are “opening up” with a relaxation of some of the regulations imposed previously. It seems that many people have taken it a step further by not socially distancing and not wearing masks.

Folks over 65 — and those younger than 65 with significant comorbidities, such as diabetes, obesity, heart or lung disease, etc. — actually have to redouble their social distancing efforts. In short, stay at least 6 feet away from others and minimize the amount of time spent in confined spaces (stores, etc.).

If you have to come within 6 feet of someone, be sure that you and they have masks. If folks aren’t wearing masks, leave the establishment or locale. If you are working in an area in which you are unable to socially distance due to others’ noncompliance with wearing a mask, ask your manager to require masks for entry.

Finally, if you touch a commonly used object (door handles, etc.), wash your hands or use a hand-sanitizer.

Dr. Kevin Costello

Santa Rosa

HOPLAND-KELSEYVILLE TRAIN NOTICE

BETSY CAWN WRITES: Despite the near century of Diagnostic & Statistical Manual interpretation of human behaviors, and thousands of specialized fields of “scientific” studies, I’ve yet to see anyone explain the phenomenon we call “stupid.”

Simultaneously, I’ve witnessed the devolution of American primary education and extreme conformism to minimally defined social systems — job, college, or military service being your approved choices; harnessing the placidly employed distributors of school “services.”

A couple of generations that grew up “believing” what they see on TV, bedazzled by ever more intricate machines (cars, motorcycles, electronics, software, entertainment) and usually feeling proud when they “get rewarded” with momentary exhilaration in the hundred-watt spotlight. Aren’t you wonderful… NEXT!

My neighbor and I were just talking about the strange problem we’re seeing in our corner of Lake County (and of course, all over Farcebook, constantly) of citizens who not only reject the grantedly-grappling public health authorities’ (CDC at the top of the groaning pile) data points — always demanding that instant gratification they’re so accustomed to (my internet speed is annoying?) — but express a form of anger toward the more compliant populace that is out of proportion to either the level of effort or to the “odds-making” calculations of “better safe than sorry.”

People who, I would bet, have never so much as read the U.S. Constitution, wailing about their non-existent “rights” to do what they prefer, and furthermore demean those who do not beg to differ. Vicious, vacuous, glib sentiments of non-compliance “superiority” that smack of the same arrogance at the root of Civil War defeat denial and celebration of heroes whose brutality — whether overseas or the not-at-all sacred “homeland — and the meaningless arguments (using the term as loosely as possible) between George Hollister and Harvey Reading.

“People aren’t stupid. Distracted, but not stupid.” Human ingenuity inborn in all individuals is almost guaranteed — but what it is put to use for, and how misanthropic intentions are tolerated (all the way to the White House) is a poly-sci-fi wonder played out on every form of media that exists today.

Why are belligerent “non-maskers” so angry at us old struggling and very vulnerable people who are not doing anything more than saying, “do what you can — a mask is better than nothing”?

Why do the people of Mendocino County (and Lake County) have so little influence over the long-standing governmental systems — administrative operations and spending decisions lovingly described by Mr. Scaramella and plain as the “nose on your face”? How many years has the subject of “mental health services” (and the surreal organizations in charge of delivering them) been a topic of concern in the AVA? How many groundhog days are there in a year?

Does the failure to grasp the implications of incompetence in delivery of public health and safety services (fire protection/suppression, medical emergency and crisis care, utility lifelines, law enforcement) have anything to do with the people on the outside trying to deal with them in their daily lives? I think the answer is that we are still looking for the Wizard of Oz, because “defunding the administration” is too scary and complicated. Cops and district attorneys are part of a system that is defined by legislation at all levels. You continue to patronize Shraeder’s circus tent but leave the “mess management” cleanup to the line staff and provide only the binary choice of punitive incarceration or medical incarceration, so a facade of taking care of business is substituted for alternative actions (Kemper report). Then the Measure B committee is deployed with absolutely no requirements to perform, sits and bullshits for years, no apparent work done, and it’s no big deal to the Board of Supervisors.

What exactly “is” stupid? And why can’t it be fixed?

About my comments above, I usually refrain from criticizing your Board of Supervisors and public officials, mostly because all I know is what I read in the AVA, or occasional viewing of official meetings. But I do have need to use many of the organizations in Mendocino County that we have cultural connection with (agriculture, water resources, special districts, recreation, and various administrative agencies), and often go to Mendo County websites for better resources than I can find on Lake County equivalents.

And I am harshly critical of the Lake County Board of Supervisors, especially where it comes to the “delivery” of “mental health” services — and the creeping expansion of RCS operations into the county’s Behavioral Health “system of care.” BUT there is no one in the County’s impervious administrative system who will even consider re-organizing priorities such as Black Lives Matter and its world-wide supporters suggest. The municipal government as self-rewarding enterprise (with all those lurking “unfunded pension benefits”) must be quaking in its boots, given the collapse of the entire economy and the mushrooming number of disaffected unemployed who can clearly see the disintegration of “normal” life every day.

In Lake County, the Board of Supervisors’ answer is to redirect attention to the old tar baby “Economic Development” and its fantasy of “rebranding” Lake County (20 years of this nonsense, uncounted millions of wasted dollars) — even deciding that we should no longer mention “disaster recovery” because we have to keep “moving forward.” Seventy-six trombones on order, and meanwhile let’s hum the notes and not worry about that mean old pandemic, eh?

DERAILMENT CREW, CLEONE

GETTING JOHNNY’S GUNS

On June 24, 2020 around 2:00 PM the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force, Mendocino County Probation, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the California National Guard Counter-Drug Task Force Unit/High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) members, and the Round Valley Indian Tribal Police Department served a search warrant in the 77800 Block of Highway 162 in Covelo, related to the illegal cultivation of marijuana.

The warrant was issued for the property based upon probable cause showing the illegal cultivation of commercial marijuana. As officers entered the property suspect Johnny Azbill, 39 year of age, from Covelo fled on foot into a brushy creek bed. 

In doing so a loaded 9MM handgun fell from his waist band. Azbill is a person who is prohibited, due to past convictions, of possessing any types of firearms or ammunition. A search was conducted [but] he could not be located. A search of a nearby vehicle, believed to have been used by Azbill, showed a second loaded .380 caliber handgun.

An adult female and adult male were also detained but found to have no responsibility for the growing operation and were later released.

The investigation found a total of 8353 growing marijuana plants, ranging in height from 1 foot to 6 feet, being grown in several open field locations and in 21 “hoop” style green houses. 

This incident is under investigation and a complaint will be filed with the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office for a review of the listed charges against the listed suspect. Anyone with additional information about this marijuana growing operations is encouraged to contact the MCSO Tip line at 707-234-2100.

HAYRACK BOOM

EDGEWATER GALLERY IN FORT BRAGG REOPENS! 

Event: Edgewater Gallery Reopening

When: Friday, July 3, from 11am to 4pm

Where: 356 North Main Street, Fort Bragg, CA

After 3 ½ months of Sheltering in Place, Edgewater Gallery, one of Mendocino North Coast’s premiere art galleries, is opening it’s doors Friday, July 3^rd. The gallery has been home to dozens of great artists since its founding in 2003. The gallery is open from 11-4, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Focused on the safety of our visitors and Edgewater members staffing the gallery, we are observing the following mandated public health precautions:

• 6’ social distancing maintained
• The wearing of masks
• Using hand sanitizer at door
• Wearing gloves when looking at cards and art in bins
• Sanitizing between customers by staff

A new video tour of the gallery highlights its history, showcasing the artists and their artwork. Check it out at https://youtu.be/jFuTu4/A9cc. 

Visit Edgewater’s website https://www.edgewater-gallery.com to see video tours of each of the artists.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK

[1] Let me clear this up for those who have never grown anything in their lives…

1. Cannabis is an annual crop, as opposed to a perennial crop.

2. It’s almost July which means it’s too late to cultivate this crop for the year effectively. Farmers pay the same cultivation tax for the entire year regardless of what time of year they plant and if it’s the County’s fault it has taken years to get a permit.

3. We are in the middle of a pandemic and economic collapse- “what does that mean??” It means people are REALLY struggling, just like they were in the Great Depression-ever hear of the Great Depression? Before Prop 64 and the abatement program backyard gardeners were not struggling because they had 20 plants and food in their backyards to sustain themselves with (yes along with their “real jobs” your teachers your firefighters, your babysitters, etc. many of whom have no “real jobs” to go to right now). No stimulus or unemployment was needed once upon a time, just humbly growing one’s own organic food and medicine and living simply.

Relying on these failing systems is a death sentence, and many of us rural folks know better. Why is this confusing?

[2] I am not an American. But I have worked with Americans for decades. I like them. They really have a lot of that “can-do” spirit.

So it’s a mystery why their political system is so dysfunctional. Last time around, it was Hillary-Trump. And this time it is Biden-Trump! How can a country with so many capable people end up with having to choose between them?

I am not an American and yet I have a dog in that fight. American socio-politics is now driving the debates in all western countries. Academia and the media everywhere take their marching orders from American campuses and accordingly our media is all BLM and slavery, all the time (shocker: everyone is against slavery and racism!)

Trump really is an incoherent clown, an egomaniac, unfit for the presidency. And yet Biden is a senile doddering fool, and the Democrats are riding a dangerous Cultural Revolution mob. There is no good choice, but Democrats truly scare me. I’ll root for Trump to win, for lack of a better option, but where are all the grown-ups? How come there are no sane candidates?

[3] Over the weekend we heard of the necessity to rename Yale University owing to Elihu’s unfortunate business enterprises. The rest of the Ivy league is sweating bullets.

“Jesus as white European” images are now in the crosshairs.

Will the Mayor of DC protect the National Gallery, Hirschhorn, National Portrait Gallery? Translation: “Tax-supported images of oppression.”

Will the Mayor of Chicago protect the Art Institute?

Is that smoke rising from the left bank the former contents of the Louvre?

Can Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, be far behind?

Someone in Boston please save for me Sargent’s Mrs. Fiske Warren and her daughter Rachel. The absolute embodiment of white privilege.

[4] The mask has been politicized.

Only by the far-right lunatic nut-fudge, knuckle-dragging red-hat-wearing, cave-dwelling troglodytes at the very shallow end of the Republican Party, Trump-cult, gene pool.

Sensible people – including Democrats and moderate Republicans – know that a mask is a huge factor in stopping the spread, and saving lives.

Yes, the curves will continue to rise until the entire world population has herd immunity.

Completely and utterly untrue – many countries in the world, often without the financial or technical resources of America, have kept their numbers extremely low.

Just because America is an abject and total public-health failure under the Trump-Republican regime, doesn’t mean we all are!

IT’S GETTING TENSE OUT THERE

CONGRESS MUST HOLD TRUMP ACCOUNTABLE

by Ralph Nader

Here is an abridged version of a letter sent on June 22, 2020, by me and two constitutional law experts Bruce Fein and Lou Fisher, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerald Nadler, and the Committee’s Vice Chairman, Jamie Raskin. It touches on where Congress has not exercised its constitutional authority to hold Trump accountable under the law.

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Dear Madam Speaker, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Vice Chairman:

Former national security adviser and ultra-hawk John Bolton’s disparagement of the articles of impeachment voted against President Donald Trump as “impeachment malpractice” in The Room Where It Happened may be viewed as a rebuke to Congress for failing to discharge its duty and powers to enforce constitutional observance (e.g., impeachment, stiff fines for flouting congressional subpoenas) that has fortified limitless executive power which Mr. Trump recklessly brandishes daily. Impugning Mr. Bolton’s motives does not impeach his impeachment facts or testimony revealing Mr. Trump’s serial impeachable offenses.

We had urged a broader 12-count article of impeachment indicting the full spectrum of Mr. Trump’s alarming extraconstitutional behavior which Congressman John Larson printed in the Congressional Record – H 12197 on December 18, 2018. Among other things, the proposed article assailed presidential violations of the Declare War Clause, the Treaty Clause, the Appointments Clause, the Take Care Clause, and the Appropriations Clause, in addition to crippling the plenary congressional power of oversight and investigation.

Book excerpts printed in The New York Times reveal credible evidence of several additional impeachable offenses requiring House subpoenas to Mr. Bolton and Mr. Trump to testify in public under oath to unearth the truth. According to Mr. Bolton, President Trump solicited illegal foreign assistance for his 2020 presidential campaign by asking the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, to purchase billions of dollars of wheat and soybeans from American farmers to win their political favor (52 U.S.C. 30121). Mr. Trump asked for that foreign assistance from President Xi in exchange for Mr. Trump’s desisting from sanctions against Chinese officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act because of China’s persecution of Uighurs, which constitutes bribery under 18 U.S.C. 201.

Mr. Trump obstructed justice in interceding to lighten penalties against ZTE for flouting sanctions against North Korea, among other things. These impeachable offenses are probably only the tip of the iceberg.

In our capacity as citizens of the Republic, is it too much to expect the House to enforce constitutional observance though the powers of impeachment, subpoenas, contempt, or otherwise? At a minimum, the House should subpoena Mr. Bolton and Mr. Trump to testify about the foregoing new impeachable offenses and others if they surface in the interim. Mr. Bolton volunteered to testify before the Senate at Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial but was not called. He did not agree to testify before the House during its impeachment investigation because of pending litigation. The House inexplicably neglected to subpoena him. The law and precedent are clear. In conducting an impeachment investigation, the House has a right to every person’s evidence whether of the President, of the incumbent or former White House officials, or others.

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted an article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon for flouting a subpoena. The article would have been approved by the full House absent Mr. Nixon’s resignation precipitated by his anticipated certain conviction in the Senate. (The United States Supreme Court also held that presidential tapes were fair game for the judiciary in the United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974)). President Gerald Ford testified before the House Judiciary Committee about his pardon of Mr. Nixon to dispel suspicion of a quid pro quo for President Nixon’s resignation.

What your stewardship of the Constitution requires is manifest. With dismay, we have witnessed too many Executive Branch and congressional defectors from the Constitution. You should lead them back. Regular constitutional order must be restored, including curing the multiple violations enumerated in our proposed 12-count impeachment article (H 12197).

“We the People of the United States” deserve leadership, not spectatorship. Our constitutional handiwork is in peril.

House hearings are urgent.

(Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!)

BEWARE OF WHAT YOU WISH FOR

by James Kunstler

Apart from the 150 people shot (25 killed) in Chicago, the week after Father’s Day had the quality of a time-out from widespread anarchic violence that the Democratic Party has unleashed upon the nation to distract the public from the party’s lack of a viable election candidate or any credible platform of ideas for managing epic economic contraction. The contraction was already underway before Covid-19 greatly accelerated the damage.

Whipping up a moral frenzy over alleged “systemic racism” adds a nice overlay of psychological damage to a population reeling from economic loss, keeping them enthralled to phantoms, figments, and apparitions while all their familiar arrangements unravel around them. Last week’s pause in the action only portends a resumption of hostilities culminating in July Fourth, when the nation traditionally throws a birthday party for itself. No celebration will be allowed this year. But there may be plenty of marching, moiling, and mayhem.

Wokester Central has already established the story-line that the USA was a criminal enterprise from the start and that it must be smashed to set free the genius energies of Wakanda — currently misdirected in the suicidal gunplay seen in Chicago and other places of concentrated urban poverty. It’s pretty obvious that the uproars of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and its Antifa allies are to some degree centrally organized. They have access to plenty of cash, thanks to funding from George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and an array of showbiz-oriented corporate supporters. You can be sure that there will never be any accounting for it, since that would be labeled “racist.” The news media has shown zero curiosity about how exactly the money is being used — or merely distributed among those in the upper echelons of the hustle.

Based on the emails coming in here, some readers are baffled as to why I call BLM “a hustle.” I define a hustle as an effort to influence other people by dishonest means to give you something. Black America has received a tremendous amount of sympathetic assistance from the rest of the country since the 1960s, when the US government officially acknowledged the raw deal they’d gotten in slavery and Jim Crow segregation and passed landmark legislation to try to correct it. Doing so was a moral necessity when the USA posed as “leader of the free world.”

The effort has continued for decades with less than satisfactory results. A lot of well-intentioned help over the years had unfortunate unintended consequences. Everybody knows that the cash assistance programs created a pernicious culture of government dependence, hindered black family formation, and rendered black men superfluous except in sports and showbiz. Affirmative action in college admissions was undertaken mainly for institutional moral showboating, often with tragic outcomes for young people unprepared to perform there.

A large share of the black demographic remains mired in economic failure. Ending racial segregation was surely a moral imperative, but one tragic byproduct was the destruction of the old mirror economy of black middle-class business and professions. A lot of that was replaced by employment in various public bureaucracies, with jobs ranging from useless to pointless to hopelessly corrupt and inimical to the real common good. The evidence is right there, on-the-ground, in Newark, Baltimore, Philadelphia and many other cities. The rest of the country pretends not to see it because they are ashamed about how things turned out. They are even more desperate to seek phantom explanations and “systemic racism” covers it with elegant simplicity. No need to think further.

I don’t have the exact numbers, but it’s likely that the Covid-19 lockdowns took out disproportionately more jobs held by black Americans in low-paying food prep, hotels, and other service industries. A lot of those businesses will not be coming back to anything like their former levels of activity and employment. Of course, all other racial groups in US are getting battered by job loss, too, but they are expected to find solace in their whiteness, Asian-ness, Hispanic-ness, et cetera.

Pretty clearly, the next move for black America is the demand for cash reparations for all their historical indignities. That’s the hustle-of the-last-resort. One can easily predict the fiasco it will lead to. A Democrat is elected in November and reparations are enacted by congress. They’ll come out with some figure, whatever tortured process it takes. They’ll do it in the same fabled hundred days that they legislate trillions of dollars in other programs aimed at replacing lost private business with government dispensation… of everything… based on… what?

Well, not on the production of anything of value. Really just on more debt. The new crop of political leaders, like the old crop, will overlook the fact that the American economy blew up in 2020 because it had been running on debt, one way or another, for more than a decade, and we actually exceeded our ability to take on new debt. So, when the new administration borrows trillions more from itself, it will finally destroy the dollar. Within a few months, the value of reparations — whether $100,000 or $10 million per individual — will run to zero. The joke will be on everybody. Except guess what. It will be no joke.

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

FOUND OBJECT