THE USUALLY INVISIBLE State Senator, Noreen Evans of Santa Rosa, normally a kind of female Wes Chesbro, has her moments. Her alarmed letter over the looming privatization of state parks, a bunch of them here in Mendocino County, is right on the mark: “It's like they're offering our state parks up for sale to the highest bidder,” the Senator says, and which the state is indeed doing. In state-think, the deal goes like this: a private concessionaire gets whatever he can make from the park, but a community group would get a measly five percent of the take! Evans has introduced SB 974, which would require the Parks Department to conduct a formal review of park closures, and we shall see what we shall see.
MEMO OF THE WEEK.
From the weasel-lipped communiqué below you'd never know that the Boonville PTA has been ripped off for $23,000:
Dear Parents,
It was recently brought to our attention some problems with the finances in the PTAV’s bank account, an account separate from the district’s. PTAV and the district are working with law enforcement to determine who is responsible and to recover the funds. The PTAV Board is being restructured to better achieve the goals of the group. The PTAV’s mission has always been to support its members (parents and teachers) and create a closer relationship between home and school.
The PTAV Board is committed to rebuilding a positive and collaborative relationship with the parents, teachers, and members of the community at large. Please be patient while they work through this restructuring in the next couple of weeks.
The PTAV is a dynamic and active group of parents and school staff who have provided the help and funds to not only maintain, but to expand the programs in our school in the last five years. We are grateful for all the work and support this organization has provided.
Sincerely, JR Collins Superintendent; Donna Pierson-Pugh, Principal; Nicole Mclain, PTAV President
VETERAN conservationist and nationally known bear expert Gary Alt presents a one-hour slide show and talk on Sunday, February 5 at the Grace Hudson Museum. A popular and riveting speaker, Dr. Alt will educate us on the natural history and general ecology of all three of North America's bear species--polar bears, brown bears, and black bears.The presentation is free and starts at 2 pm, with refreshments to follow. Visitors can also discover the Museum’s current exhibit, “Bear in Mind: The Story of the California Grizzly,” which closes on February 12. The Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House, as you absolutely must know by now but in case you don't, is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah. General admission to the Museum is $4, $10 per family, $3 for students and seniors, and free to members or on the first Friday of the month. Give us a growl at 467-2836.
THERE’S A CERTAIN karmic justice in Air Quality District Manager Chris Brown’s imposition of a $123,000 fine on Mendocino County for “failure to conduct (an) asbestos survey prior to renovation of a commercial building” and “failure to properly notify [the Air Quality Management] District” before beginning the November renovation of its former Mental Health building at 860 N. Bush in Ukiah. Because…
BECAUSE MR. BROWN has gained a local reputation for imposing unreasonable requirements and fines on private companies for purely bureaucratic violations unrelated to actual air quality. Now he's suing the County, which not only amounts to one branch of County government suing another, but here's where the karma comes in, the Board of Supervisors also sits as the Air Quality Management District’s Board of Directors and has routinely signed off on Brown's fines on everyone else. Air Quality is a state agency working under the auspices of the County, meaning the County signs off on its pass-through funding. Or doesn't sign off on its pass-through funding, so Brown better watch it. Supervisor Pinches, bless him all his days, recently questioned Brown’s need for a brand new costly hybrid SUV, but most of the time Brown goes unchallenged. With Brown's whacking the County to the tune of $123k over nothing at all, really, a lot of contractors fined by Brown are celebrating that the County is getting a taste of Brown's arbitrary lash.
WE CONTINUE to be amazed whenever anyone expects marijuana laws to be “clarified” by state or federal officials. Late last year, pundits were saying that the State Supreme Court was expected to “clarify” pot laws by agreeing to hear the “Pack” case out of Long Beach where a lower court ruled that local jurisdictions couldn’t “permit” the growing of a federally illegal substance.
THEN last week we saw a headline that read, “Attorney General asks Legislature to clarify pot issues.” Attorney General Kamala Harris has sent letters to the state legislature asking it to “clarify” medical marijuana laws associated with cultivation and distribution, declaring that she has no intention of issuing “nonbinding guidelines.” Good luck in getting the legislature to clarify anything, and look for the pot laws to remain like the old joke about the baseball umpire: “I'll show you the rule as soon as the ink is dry.”
MS. HARRIS told the legislature to review
The state’s pot laws and clarify at least a few
But we know they won’t clarify
Much less demystify.
They simply say to the public: Screw you.
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