INTERIM COUNTY COUNSEL DOUG LOSAK submitted his resignation to the Board of Supervisors late Monday afternoon. Reliable sources say the Sheriff and District Attorney were prepared to force the issue by declaring a conflict of interest with the County Counsel's office and demanding the County hire outside counsel, at beaucoup bucks, to represent their interests. In the face of the cascading uproar, Losak has decided to step aside. He will be replaced by Terry Gross in the interim top slot. Ms. Gross has long labored in the County Counsel's office. She's smart and articulate and, presumably, seldom if ever careens around the County late at night with a couple of joints and a gun.
ACTING HEAD of the Mendocino County Counsel's office, Doug Losak, 52, was arrested at about 2am last week (July 3rd) near the intersection of 101 and Lake Mendocino Drive where 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,” which turned out to be not anywhere near that much; measured in grams it would make up about two joints. Losak volunteered the information that he also possessed a pistol in a locked box. 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 was slated to become acting County Counsel in place of Jeanine Nadel. Mrs. Nadel has been appointed to the Mendocino County bench.
IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING, the Losak Affair attracted much attention. Outgoing County Counsel Jeanine Nadel and County CEO Carmen Angelo approved a raise for The Midnight Rambler amounting to $3,000 on top of the $143k per year salary paid County Counsel, the $3 thou being for travel, as if $143,000 a year isn't sufficient to cover an occasional overnight away from Ukiah.
THEN SUPERVISORS Hamburg and Pinches, in a positively weird story by Glenda Anderson in Friday's Press Democrat, said Losak's misdemeanor 2am adventures shouldn't be held against him. Hamburg went even further, saying, heck, lots of County officials have run afoul of the law and lots regularly toke the bazooka. Him, for instance. The story suggested that here in Amnesia County, Losak, who probably would have become the County's top legal advisor if he had resigned, was merely in the grand tradition of Mendo's office-holding stoners. Glenda dutifully listed a few of yesteryear's more notable miscreants neglecting, of course, her love interest Mike Sweeney, the County's lead garbage bureaucrat and still the only viable suspect in the car bombing of his ex-wife, the late Judi Bari.
APROPRO of nothing at all, in a Giants game last week Bumgarner, at the plate, growled at the pitcher for throwing too close to him when he squared around to bunt. The next day, Vogelsong threw his bat down and took a fighting step towards the mound when he squared around to bunt and the pitch came too close to him. Not that long ago pitchers were taught to throw at hitters who squared off to bunt before the pitch, the idea being that the hitter would have to put the wood on the ball in self-defense, hence few batters took up a bunting position before the pitch. When did pitchers stop doing that?
I HAVE fond memories of night classes at City College of San Francisco where I took biology and boxing one summer long ago. I hope the school isn't forced to close, but listening to a discussion of that possibility on KQED Radio last week led by a moist fellow named Iverson, it was difficult to figure out why it might close. Iverson constantly repeats statements as if translating for the mentally handicapped, getting in the way of the talk. Which anyway got in the way of itself with a barrage of cliches descended, I guess, from Therapy Land. “We need to be more flexible, creative, embrace change and focus on our incredibly awesome students who deserve a dynamic learning experience if we're to move ahead as the whole college comes together.” At the end of the hour, I still didn't know what exactly the probs were, but I supposed a combination of reduced funding and the usual entrenched boobery have put CCSF's survival in the Maybe box.
TWO FIRES, both of them at the east side of the Mendocino National Forest, have burned some 17,000 acres as of late Tuesday afternoon. Smoke has spread into the Ukiah Valley, and scattered homes and summer camps have been evacuated in the area of Upper Letts Lake and Stonyford. 1,339 firefighters are battling the blazes in mountainous terrain, 90 degree heat and gusting winds.
FROM THE SHERIFF: “On Monday, July 9, at approximately 11:14pm, deputies were dispatched to 31000 block of Highway 20 for a reported robbery that had just occurred. The sole suspect, Jeremiah Eckel, 33, of Fort Bragg, had allegedly fled the location by vehicle. While deputies were responding to the location, they received a separate report of a single vehicle collision in the 31000 block of Turner Road. The vehicle involved in the collision was believed to be the same vehicle involved in the reported robbery. After deputies arrived and contacted the victim, Victor Rugh, 19, of Fort Bragg, they learned that the suspect and victim were recently acquainted. The suspect arrived at the victim's residence and knocked on the door. After the victim answered the door, the suspect reportedly entered and began striking the victim repeatedly in the head with his hands/fists. While the victim was being assaulted, the suspect allegedly told the victim he was going to kill him and demanded the victim's money. The victim surrendered his monies to the suspect and the suspect immediately fled the location by vehicle. The victim had sustained visible moderate injuries to his face/head as a result of the assault. On Tuesday, July 10, at approximately 12:05 a.m., deputies arrived in the area of Turner Road and made immediate contact with the suspect who was standing at his vehicle. Upon contact with the suspect, he allegedly denied any involvement to the events as reported.
THIS JUST IN: “One-Two Punch Productions will exec produce through Sony Pictures Television and Taylor Sheridan will write. Grass Valley is the story of two brothers whose lives and livelihoods are inextricably tied to the marijuana boomtown of Ukiah, California. When the DEA launches an assault on California’s medical marijuana industry they begin at ground zero — Grass Valley. Spera, former Mark Gordon Co TV president, parnered with former Lifetime exec Grasso to launch One-Two Punch about a year ago. The two met while working on Lifetime’s Army Wives, which Spera had developed. Spera served as executive producer on Army Wives and CBS’ Criminal Minds during her tenure at Mark Gordon Co. Before that she spent eight years at Showtime, where she was VP of movies, minis and series. Grasso previously served as SVP of scripted series and current programming at Lifetime; as an executive at The WB, where she bought and developed Everwood, One Tree Hill and Supernatural; as well as at Warner Bros TV, Universal TV and Comedy Central. Spera and Grasso are repped by WME.”
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