Mendocino County Today: July 5, 2012

THE MAN killed early Tuesday morning when a logging truck crashed on Flynn Creek Road near Navarro has been identified as Alan D. Kincheloe, 61, of Fort Bragg. According to CHP spokesman Officer Steve Krul, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported at 6:45am Tuesday that a “fully-loaded” logging truck had overturned on Flynn Creek Road about a mile and a half north of Highway 128 near Navarro. Krul said the investigating officer determined that Kincheloe, driving a 1995 Peterbilt logging truck, lost control of the truck on a curve. It landed on its left side against an embankment. Kincheloe sustained major injuries and died at the scene. The cause of the collision is still under investigation.

ACTING HEAD of the Mendocino County Counsel's office, Doug Losak, 52, was arrested at about 2am Tuesday morning near the intersection of 101 and Lake Mendocino Drive when he was stopped for speeding and because the license plate light was out on his car. The police report said deputies found “three to four ounces of marijuana” and a pistol in a locked box beneath Losak's driver's seat. The gun was registered to Losak who told the arresting officers he was in the process of obtaining a concealed weapons permit. Losak said he was carrying the gun because he'd been threatened. He was cited and ordered to appear in court on “suspicion of possessing marijuana in a moving vehicle, an infraction, and carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor,” according to MCSO spokesman Kurt Smallcomb. As of July 23, Losak is slated to officially become acting County Counsel in place of Jeanine Nadel who has been appointed to the Mendocino County bench.

SOMEONE HAS GONE to a lot of trouble to fake a  letter-to-the-editor having to do with the MacKerricher Dune Rehabilitation Project. Renee Pasquinelli, Sr. Environmental Scientist for State Parks, Mendocino District sent these corrections to Connie Korbell of the Fort Bragg Advocate: “Hello Connie: The California Geologic Survey (CGS) forwarded to me their response (below) to the fraudulent letter to the editor that was printed under the headline entitled ‘Summary conclusions,’ and incorrectly attributed to ‘Tlina L. Bedlossian, California Geologic Survey.’ After rereading some of the letters that I’ve received regarding the MacKerricher Dune Project, I came across a series of letters written by Ed Sander (see attached). The letter printed in the paper, which modified the CGS conclusions and used the same misspelling of the author’s name (Tlina L. Bedlossian, instead of Trinda Bedrossian), is the same letter that Mr. Sander sent to me and cc’d to a number of organizations, including the Advocate.  It appears that the Advocate may have printed Mr. Sander’s letter mistakenly as a letter from California Geologic Survey.  Other information contained in Mr. Sander’s letters are incorrect and taken out of context, including his portrayal of the Howell’s spineflower population. I continue to encourage the public to read the entire environmental document, including appendices, for factual information. Although a new Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration is being prepared and will be circulated, the reports contained in the original document, including the CGS report, are still accurate. Thank you in advance for printing the letter of correction from Dr. John Parrish, State Geologist of California. Regards,Renee.”

AND, THIS LETTER confirming the epistolary attempt to mislead the public about the MacKerricher dunes and Haul Road work: “Editor: The Advocate-News on June 21 ran a letter under the headline Survey conclusions regarding the proposed removal of a haul road at the Inglenook Fen-Ten Mile Dunes Natural Preserve. The letter was attributed to Tlina L. Bedlossion of the California Geological Survey (CGS). There is no employee by that name at CGS. Senior Engineering Geologist Trinda Bedrossian was one of several CGS scientists involved in reviewing and commenting on the California State Parks plan. Neither she nor anyone connected with CGS wrote the letter that appeared. We have attached a PDF of the CGS sand analysis; as you can see, some of the conclusions in the letter you published have been modified and one key conclusion has been left out entirely: Natural coastal dune formation processes are likely to be re-established, including the formation of foredunes perpendicular to the shoreline along the west side of the three main dune lobes. The fraudulent letter submitted to you gives no context to the conclusions presented and is incorrectly being used to argue that, as a result of the project, sand movement will impact private properties on the eastern fringes of the dunes. Additionally, the positioning of the letter between two others from residents opposed to the project would seem to imply that CGS is in opposition to California State Parks proposed project. That is not the case. CGS made some written recommendations and comments to State Parks regarding its proposed plan, but strictly from an impartial, scientific standpoint. CGS requests that you print this letter as soon as possible to notify the public of the fraudulent misrepresentation of CGSs work. — Sincerely, Dr. John Parrish, State Geologist of California, California Geological Survey, Sacramento”

THERE’S “No evidence of mermaids, says US government” according to an actual article by the BBC on July 3, 2012. “There is no evidence that mermaids exist, a US government scientific agency has said,” the article continues with a straight face and a stiff upper lip. “The National Ocean Service made the unusual declaration in response to public inquiries following a TV show on the mythical creatures. It is thought some viewers may have mistaken the program for a documentary. ‘No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found,’ the service wrote in an online post. The National Ocean Service posted an article last week on its educational website, Ocean Facts. Images and tales of mermaids — half-human, half-fish — appear in mythology and art from across the world and through history, from Homer's Odyssey to the oral lore of the Australian aboriginals, the service wrote. The article was written from publicly available sources because ‘we don't have a mermaid science program,’ National Ocean Service spokeswoman Carol Kavanagh told the BBC. She said that at least two people had written to the agency asking about the creatures. The inquiries followed May's broadcast of ‘Mermaids: The Body Found,’ on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet network. The program was a work of fiction but its wink-and-nod format apparently led some viewers to believe it was a science education show, the Discovery Channel has acknowledged.”

OH YEAH? Then what’s this?!