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ANOTHER COOL MORNING as persistent high pressure ridging begins to slowly break down. Cloudy weather with higher humidity will begin to evolve over the next 24 hours. (NWS)
136 NEW COVID CASES reported in Mendocino County yesterday afternoon.
STEP RIGHT UP! GET YER COVID TESTS RIGHT HERE
This week Public Health Department of Mendocino County received an additional 67,980 Nucleic Acid Amplification COVID-19 tests (NAAT). These are rapid tests (20 minutes) that are more sensitive than the rapid antigen tests (Binax and iHealth) that are already widely available. These tests are provided by the Federal government because of the rural nature of our communities.
Tests are being distributed to Clinics, Skilled Nursing Facilities, and the Mendocino County Office of Education and can detect the Omicon variant in smaller concentrations, which might be missed by an antigen test.
Additionally: Due to surging Omicron cases, every home in the U.S. is now eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. The first Mendocino County residents received their 4 tests on Tuesday, January 25th. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.
The tests available for order:
• Are rapid antigen at-home tests, not PCR
• Are also referred to as self-tests or over-the-counter (OTC) tests
• Give results within 30 minutes (no lab drop-off required)
To order the tests, please visit: https://www.covidtests.gov/
If you test positive, it is important to isolate for 10 days from the day of the test or the day of your first symptom. You may end isolation after 5 days if you test negative and have no symptoms on the 5th day of isolation.
Call Public Health with any questions or support needed for COVID isolation, at 707- 472-2759. Visit www.mendocinocounty.org/covid19 for more info.
THE PROPOSED ANDERSON VALLEY SCHOOL BOND
In 2010, Anderson Valley approved a $15.25 million school facilities bond by almost 2-1. That project was well managed and funded several badly needed elementary school classrooms, a solar system for the high school, a new roof for the main part of the high school and some locker room improvements — all of which were approved by the School Board and the Oversight committee. All of the above were completed on schedule and on budget.
As best we recall, the other projects that 2010 bond measure was intended for were suspended after Phase 1 when then-Superintendent Michelle Hutchins had a consultant review the financing and determined that they could get a better deal if they discontinued that bond measure and came back with a new one with better terms.
Maybe this proposed bond measure is the result of that. I don’t know.
We are not in a position to evaluate the justification for the new bond other than to say that some aspects of it are generic, not specific enough.
For example: “Renovate, modernize, construct and expand aging and outdated classrooms and school facilities, including furnishings and equipment.”
Too vague.
The other things on the list (below) seem fairly specific but should be spelled out more before the project is undertaken.
There were also a number of specific projects that the 2010 bond measure was supposed to cover and those should be reviewed and updated, costed out, and presented to the public before the bond measure is voted on.
If the project(s) is/are managed as well as the 2010 bond projects were (by Healdsburg project manager Don Alameida) we’d expect that the same successful results would ensue.
In fact, we’d suggest that the Board retain Mr. Alameida for his input on what should be done before the package is presented to the public. (alameida.com)
I think Anderson Valley will probably support the bond measure, especially if costs are pared down to only those projects that are the most necessary and most cost-effective. I have no doubt that there are plenty of options to consider. But we need to know what the additional taxes will be and whether they are still being collected on the first bond. I seem to recall something like $60 per $100k of assessed value was called for in the 2010 bond measure. But I have not seen a final accounting of how that worked out.
Here’s the text of the 2010 ballot bond measure that passed by almost 2-1:
“To acquire, construct, and improve classrooms and facilities, including repairing, upgrading, and modernizing Anderson Valley Elementary, improving student access to modern technology at Anderson Valley Junior Senior High, improving energy efficiency, installing solar panels to reduce energy costs, and qualifying the District for $1.5 million in State aid, shall the Anderson Valley Unified School District be authorized to issue $15,250,000 in bonds at legal interest rates with annual audits, a citizens' oversight committee, and no money for administrator salaries or overhead.”
(Mark Scaramella, former member of the AVUSD Bond Oversight Committee)
* * *
BOND PROJECT LIST
Scope of Projects. Bond proceeds will be expended on the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities of the Anderson Valley Unified School District, including furnish and equipping, and the acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities, and not for any other purpose, including teacher and administrator salaries or other school operating expenses, in compliance with California Constitution Article XIIIA, Section 1(b)(3). This measure authorizes bond projects to be undertaken at all current and future District sites and campuses.
Specific School Facility Project List. The items presented on the following list provide the types of school facilities projects authorized to be financed with voter-approved bond proceeds. Specific examples included on this list are not intended to limit the types of projects described and authorized by this measure. The following types of projects are authorized:
Acquire, install, repair, or replace heating, ventilation and air conditioning and purification systems
Renovate, modernize, construct and expand aging and outdated classrooms and school facilities, including furnishings and equipment
Upgrade, repair, replace, acquire and/or install infrastructure such as electrical, water, gas, plumbing, drainage, septic and telecommunications and other technology systems
Update sites to meet handicap accessibility (ADA) requirements
Construct, furnish and equip a new multi-purpose room at the elementary school including related facilities
Replace or repair roofs, doors, and windows
Improve student and campus safety by acquiring and installing security systems, monitoring systems, communication systems and fire and life safety systems
Refurbish high school gym including flooring and ceiling
Update, modernize, and improve restrooms, food service and cafeteria spaces, kitchens, and other support spaces
Acquire, install, upgrade and/or repair landscaping, lighting, walkways, paths and parking lots including signage
Renovate, upgrade, construct, expand and equip agricultural program facilities and classrooms including indoor and outdoor areas
Each of the bond projects described in this Bond Project List include the costs of furnish and equipping such facilities, and all costs which are incidental but directly related to the types of projects described above.
Examples of incidental costs include, but are not limited to: costs of design, engineering, architect and other professional services, facilities assessments, inspections, site preparation, utilities, landscaping, construction managementandother planning and permitting, legal, accounting and similar costs; all finishing work such as painting, repainting, carpeting and flooring; independent annual financial and performance audits; a customary construction contingency; demolition and disposal of existing structures; the costs of interim housing and storage during construction including relocation and construction costs incurred relating to interim facilities; rental or construction of storage facilities and other space on an interim basis for materials and other equipment and furnishings displaced during construction; costs of relocating facilities and equipment as needed in connection with the projects; interim classrooms and facilities for students, administrators, and school functions, including modular facilities; federal and state-mandated safety upgrades; addressing unforeseen conditions revealed by construction/modernization and other necessary improvements required to comply with existing building codes, including the Field Act; access requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act; costs of the election; project construction oversight, management and administration during the duration of such projects, including by District personnel, and bond issuance costs.
Unforeseen conditions may arise during the course of planning, design and construction resulting in the scope and nature of any of the specific projects described above being altered by the District. In the event that the District determines that a modernization or renovation project is more economical for the District or otherwise in the District’s best interests to be undertaken as new construction, this bond measure authorizes said new construction, including land acquisition, relocation, expansion and construction and/or reconstruction, and all costs relating thereto. In addition, this measure authorizes the acquisition of real property, including necessary rights of ways or other real property interests, required to expand District facilities, to provide access to school or other District facilities, or to provide additional school or related facilities. Further, authorized projects include reimbursements for project costs previously paid and paying and/or prepaying interim financing for the types of projects included on the project list, such as bond anticipation notes. Finally, projects on this list may be undertaken and used as joint use projects with other public agencies.
Approval of the District’s bond measure does not guarantee that all of the identified projects within this Bond Project List will be funded beyond what can be completed with funds generated by this bond measure. The District plans to pursue funds from the State of California, if available, to provide additional funding to complete certain of the identified facilities projects. Many factors which the District cannot predict or control may impact its ability to address each of the projects, including but not limited to construction cost issues, supply chain issues which can cause project delays, labor shortages, and unknown environmental factors or site conditions, among others. The District is unable to anticipate all unforeseen circumstances which may prevent some of the projects listed above from being undertaken or completed.
The order in which projects are listed in the foregoing Bond Project List does not suggest an order of priority. Project prioritization is vested in and will be determined by the District Board of Trustees.
SOCIAL MEDIA BEATINGS, ON-FIELD WINS? JIMMY GAROPPOLO, 49ERS TAKE THAT TRADE
by Ann Killion
The world has made the list and the verdict has been rendered: Of the NFL’s four remaining quarterbacks, Jimmy Garoppolo somehow ranks fifth.
In fact, by making it to the NFL’s final four, Garoppolo may be taking even more — to borrow Nick Bosa’s term — crap than he has all season. If that’s even possible.
A social media war was ignited Wednesday when ESPN’s Mina Kimes became the latest commentator to mock Garoppolo’s performance. Former 49er quarterback Jeff Garcia responded by attacking not Kimes’ opinion but the fact that she was a woman talking about football, in the most sexist example of toxic masculinity since, well, at least Tuesday.
As for Jimmy G.? Insider reports say he shrugged, smiled and went back to the game film of Aaron Donald.
Does he care about the critics? He’s in his second NFC Championship Game in three years. In his two healthy seasons as a starter, the only two that he has been able to start more than six games, he has taken his team to the NFC Championship Game both times.
One more win and he will be in his second Super Bowl. Meaning he will have gotten a team as far as it can go in his only two full seasons as a starter.
And yet the venom continues.
How does Garoppolo handle the slings and arrows aimed his way on social media and talk radio? Does he go full-LeBron James and delete his social media apps? Does he exist in a cone of silence?
“Well, friends and family, they always seem to remind me of those things,” Garoppolo said. “I think just knowing yourself and knowing who you are plays a big part of that. Because if you get lost in it and start believing some of those things, it could take you down the wrong road.
“I think it’s just about knowing yourself as a player, as a person. And as long as these guys in this locker room have faith in me and belief in me, that’s all I really care about.”
And, oh, do they have faith in him. It has been there all season but lately Garoppolo’s teammates have felt the need to voice their belief. Here, on the eve of the 20th game of the season, they’re sick that their leader — and make no mistake, Garoppolo is their leader — is under constant attack.
After the Packers game Sunday, 49ers teammates George Kittle and Bosa lashed back at the anti-Jimmy brigade.
“You can’t say enough about that guy,” Kittle said. “The s— that he takes. People try to pull him down and all he does is try to deliver. He leads this team. He has a sense of calm in the huddle, a sense of calm in the storm.”
Bosa said he was impressed with Garoppolo’s “demeanor, as a leader. A lot of people give him crap for whatever, but he’s as cool and collected as a quarterback as I’ve ever had. He’s a perfect guy to lead us where we need to go.”
Linebacker Fred Warner smiled when asked how the team retains its trust in Garoppolo. Again, the end goal of playing football is the answer.
“We’re able to maintain trust in him because we keep winning,” Warner said. “If you went down the list in order of importance based on position, quarterback is No. 1. A football team’s success is heavily dependent on the quarterback position.
“Jimmy is playing great football. He does exactly what we need him to do. He comes into work every single day and is the exact same person. He’s not on social media looking at what everyone’s tweeting about him. Who knows what he does outside the building but as soon as he comes inside, he’s the exact same person. He always comes to work, trying to get better.”
Wednesday morning, 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel joined in, tweeting, “Kraxy how y’all have so much to say about our quarterback … Check His Win Percentage… Okay I’ll Wait. Pure Winner @JimmyG_10.”
Win percentage? In Green Bay, Garoppolo won his fourth playoff game as a starter (4-1 for an .800 winning percentage) and his 50th overall game as the 49ers’ starter — 35-15, a .700 winning percentage. Throw in his two starts with the Patriots — both wins — and his career winning percentage as a starting quarterback in the NFL is .712.
If Garoppolo advances to another Super Bowl, he will join elite company. Twenty-one quarterbacks have made multiple Super Bowl starts, including 13 Hall of Famers. Nine of those 21 have made exactly two starts: Bart Starr, Len Dawson, Jim Plunkett, Joe Theismann, Brett Favre, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes and Craig Morton.
Only Morton lost both starts, playing for two different teams. (It could be worse; Fran Tarkenton lost three and Jim Kelly lost four without a win.) Dawson, Favre, Theismann, Wilson and Mahomes are 1-1, though Mahomes could earn a third trip to the Super Bowl this weekend.
Getting to the Super Bowl is hard. Maybe 49ers fans were spoiled by all those trips in the dynasty years.
WHERE TO BIKE IN AV
Hi! I moved to Philo about a year ago from Point Arena. I love riding my mountain bike and am looking for places to ride in and above the Anderson Valley. Are all of the dirt roads in the hills private? Would love some suggestions for places to ride. Also wondering who to talk to in order to get permission to ride through Rancho Navarro and on to the Masonite Industrial Road.
Ed note: No permission needed to ride Rancho Navarro, and the short hop of Masonite Road to 128. But the other direction — north — on Masonite Road to Ukiah, MRC would undoubtedly object.
ANDERSON VALLEY UNIFIED WEEKLY UPDATE
Dear Anderson Valley Community,
I am delighted to report that Wednesday's pool testing only identified one positive pool in the Junior-Senior high school and none at the elementary school. We will be rapid testing that positive pool this morning, as well as one class at the elementary that had a positive report outside of the classroom from yesterday. It looks like our wave of positives is on the downward trend and that is very good news.
This week, it was wonderful to welcome back basketball for our students. Behavior and respect at the Junior-Senior high school is improving with the strong enforcement of expectations for respect, dress code, and absolutely zero tolerance for drugs on the property. In-house suspension has also been implemented, which combines academics with meaningful community service, in conjunction with our maintenance department. We are grateful to all of the parents that we have contacted with concerns that have supported our efforts to reshape choices for their students. That school-home partnership is POWERFUL, as students know we work in partnership together. It has been magical to listen to the students play guitar during lunch with the open availability of the music room and the instruments. We have some talented young musicians in this community!
Grades will be released shortly. If your student is not performing at a level that you know they are capable of, reach out to your students’ teacher and have a conversation. We want to foster excellence and collaboration. How can we do that? Make us your partner.
For our parents, please see the attached flyer relating to an on-line FREE class to support parenting. Setting boundaries for teenagers is hard. We have all been there and can relate. Taking advantage of the support classes can be transformational and create a new pathway for excellence as you interact with your teenager.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Take care,
Louise Simson
Superintendent
SUPERVISORS APPROVE $20 MILLION PSYCHIATRIC HEALTH FACILITY (PHF or PUFF)
by Mark Scaramella
On Tuesday, the Supervisors threw up their hands and approved the startlingly overpriced $20 million Psychiatric Health Facility to be located on Whitmore Lane in South Ukiah. The wildly overpriced Sacramento consultant Nacht & Lewis. N&L’s Eric Fadness told the Board that the best option was to tear down the existing structure, once a nursing home, and build a new one on the site.
The site was purchased in 2020 for about $2.3 million using state covid money to house a few quarantined patients for a few months, but the more the County looked at it, the more they saw how run-down the building was and how hard it would be to remodel all or parts of it for a PHF.
More than four years of inaction have gone by since the Measure B half-cent sales tax was passed with very little to show for it. The grossly overpriced “Crisis Residential Treatment” CRT on Orchard Street (Mendo paid about $5 million for a house they could have bought for $1 million) only happened in a relatively timely manner because the California Public Health Department issued an ultimatum that if Mendo didn’t get it built by November 2021 Mendo would lose about a half-mil in state money. (It’s still not open due to contractor licensing questions…) A Redwood Valley training facilty structure was purchased and remodeled for maybe half a mil, but it’s use so far has been limited and has no direct correlation to mental patients Measure B was supposed to help.
It was obvious that Whitmore Lane nursing home rebuild was the only viable option presented to the Board and, after more than four years of delay, the supervisors clearly decided that they didn’t want to wait anymore no matter what the cost.
* * *
Highlights of the N&L Proposal
N&L and the County’s Bay Area mental health service contractor estimated 40 people will be necessary to staff the 16 bed facility over three shifts, seven days a week. (Interestingly, a couple of years ago Consultant Lee Kemper recommended 17 people for a 24/7 facility based on what Kemper said were “current California regulations.”) We have not seen any attempt to reconcile these two distinctly different operations estimates.
Although N&L thought the kitchen and office areas could be salvaged, that’s going to be demolished as well.
N&L thought that any other PHF site would cost more money for land acquisition and might meet neighbor resistance.
N&L estimated that the demolition/rebuild option would take about three years, part of which would allow demolition and design planning to occur in parallel.
To arrive at their nearly $20 million cost, N&L estimated:
$7.2 million for demolition and construction. $1 million for “site work” (apparently for utilities). They then added about $6 million for design, insurance, permits, project oversight, etc. Bringing the cost to about $14 million. Then they added a cost escalator (for inflation) to 2024 at 13.5%, bringing the cost up to $16 million.
And last, N&L added $3.5 million in “soft costs,” including “design/support fees ($1.8 million), construction management at a whopping $1.5 million. and a series of relatively minor bureaucratic requirements adding up to $3.6 million in soft costs.
That added up to the $19.5 million estimate that the Board approved.
The Bay Area mental health services outfit Telecare Corp. told N&L that 39.5 people would be required to staff the facility round the clock. The Board wasn’t provided with anything showing why that number of personnel would be required. In addition, there’s no estimate of the cost for that staffing in the materials provided by N&L. We guess the cost could be in the rough area of $100k per person which would mean around $4 million a year plus more millions for other operations costs.
Mental Health Director Dr. Jenine Miller told the Board that she thought that if the PHF were a “super-PHF” (which can accept Medicare as well as basic Medi-Cal patients and a few private insurance clients) that the insurance for the inmates, er, patients would cover much of the operational cost. Measure B includes a 1/8th cent continuing sales tax increment which is supposed go to PHF operations, but nobody has worked out the operations financing so far.
Suffice it to say that the facility will be costly to staff and operate so that insured patients — including patients from outside Mendocino County — will get priority. Insured patients are the ones who are declared “severely mentally ill” by Camille Schraeder’s mental health staffers so if they play their cards right (and include as many out-of-county insured patients as they can hold) they might make operational costs pencil out.
But if you think that any of this will help Mendo's ever larger population of walking wounded that Measure B was sold to help, you’d be very, very wrong.
LOOKING FOR GARDEN STARTS?
For anyone considering ordering garden starts from me for this spring, here’s a list of plants I’ve grown in the past and will consider growing now.
It things from my garden I propagate for myself and am willing to do for others. I do need to finalize seed orders as soon as possible to ensure having seeds by my projected planting day early next month. Many seeds suppliers get backlogged shortly after February 1st.
Please contact me for more details if you want them - especially on some of the more exotic tomatoes. My complete list with descriptions is too long for the newsletter.
Geoffrey Pomeroy
geoffrey@naturalproductsofboonville.com
707-272-3494
WEST GOBBI STREET - SENIORS MOVE INTO NEW COMPLEX - CITY GRANTS TEMPORARY CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY
by Justine Frederiksen
Residents of a new senior apartment complex were able to move into their new homes recently after construction on the large building next to Rite-Aid on West Gobbi Street was completed last month.
“The building had some minor construction delays, but it was finished in December of last year,” Craig Schlatter, the city’s Community Development Director, told the Ukiah Planning Commission recently.
And while a few touches still needed to be added to the complex, Schlatter said the city’s Building Official did grant “a temporary certificate of occupancy in December, and that enabled the residents to move in. So all that is remaining for the permanent certificate of occupancy is for the owner to install a fire access ladder to the roof, so in the event of a fire they can access the roof; and also some labels for some of the doors related to fire safety.”
When asked this week if those remaining items had been completed, Schlatter said “the city has not yet been contacted by the owner for a re-inspection, so we do not yet know if the items have been completed. The Temporary Certificate of Occupancy is valid until Feb. 1, but can be extended. If there has not been any updates from the owner by 2/1/22, the Building Official will contact the owner to see if an extension is needed.”
The plan to build the 31 “affordable apartments” for seniors was first approved in 2018, then in 2019 the city was awarded more than $5 million in state funding for the project.
“Hopefully that will give (the developers) the added boost they need to complete that project,” Schlatter told the Ukiah Planning Commission at the time.
Schlatter described the proposed complex as a “three-story building with 30 (affordable) apartments for seniors and one manager’s unit,” with all of the units having balconies and patios. He also described the project as “incorporating a variety of energy efficiency and sustainability features, including low impact development, low-water landscaping, LED lighting, and being ‘solar-ready.’”
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
ED NOTES
JUST IN. Anderson Valley boys basketball is playing tonight in the high school gym against Mendocino! JV starts at 5:00, and varsity starts at 6:30. Come support our Panthers in a last-minute reschedule!
KIRA BRENNAN'S stolen trailer would have been returned to her the day it disappeared if Deputy Squires and or Craig Walker were still our resident deputies.
Years ago, a family of thieves arrived at my wife's garage sale, helping themselves to several items that weren't on offer. We knew them only by sight, not by name. I described them and the missing items to Deputy Squires, and that very same afternoon Squires appeared in our driveway. “This your stuff?” Yup.
THE GOOD NEWS. California's Public Utility Commission, as always eager to do the bidding of PG&E has, for once, denied PG&E's attempt to lay extra fees on people with solar routed through PG&E lines. The massive opposition to the proposal clearly defeated it.
BIDEN seemed more on task today than he's seemed lately, as he made a plea in Pittsburgh for infrastructure spending against the backdrop of a freshly collapsed bridge with a bus and some cars hanging from it. Biden's proposals are rationally irrefutable from the Boonville perspective; the prob he has selling them is himself and his Chauncy-like out-of-it-ness. The guy just isn't credible, and that's not considering his rancid political history.
I WATCHED JOE live on CNN where, after a lockjawed lady rushed through a rehash of what we all had just listened to, CNN devoted whole minutes to Biden's new cat.
STEPHEN KING said recently that whenever he sees school board wahoos banning books somewhere, he urges young people to rush to their local public library to read the banned book. Solid advice, certainly, and reminds me of my Marin high school in 1956 where a woman named Ann Smart appeared at all the Marin high schools to demand “communist literature” be removed from school libraries. I dimly recall that Ms. Smart included John Steinbeck's books in her commie quest. At my school, Tamalpais, site of the first and only race riot in Marin County history (1955), the subsequently banned books were kept in a locked cabinet behind the librarian's desk. To read any of them the student was required to have a permission note from home, which I immediately got from my distracted mother. All these years later, I can't remember, specifically, any of the banned books I read, but my general impression was that they were boring as hell, probably because they were over my head. One book I remember from that wacky era was “Peyton Place,” considered hot stuff not only by me but many of my classmates. I doubt it was obtainable from the high school library, but every kid I knew read it.
ALTERNATE REALITIES. Critics of the mighty ava's exhaustive coverage of county government never argue specifics because (1) they're combat-averse and (2) criticism of the CEO and her five captive supervisors is irrefutably accurate, as anyone knows who bothers to tune in their stumbling deliberations. While most other branches of county government go about their work capably and quietly, county leadership is like some kind of weird practical joke, a view, not-so-incidentally, widely shared by county employees. None of the five supervisors have earned re-election. We're withholding judgment on freshly-appointed interim CEO Darcie Antle, not that we're optimistic given her appointment by the present CEO and her five auto-yes votes.
NEIL YOUNG has been a good guy for years, and he'll be beyond the moon hearing he has admirers at the Boonville weekly. Joe Rogan is Limbaugh with tats, a windy fascist bringing US ever closer to the barricades. (Millions of people have three hours a day to listen to this ersatz tough guy?) But. But I think it's unwise to ban Rogan or anybody else, because that's supposed to be the diff between the fascists and us, the free speechers or what's left of us. There are lots of fascist-brains on our side, too. Look no further than the Fort Bragg Name Changers and the “Patriots” of inland Mendo. Both the Name Changers and the “Patriots” aren't about to stop imposing themselves on the rest of us, for a fact, if they get their different ways.
JOHN REDDING, candidate for 5th District supervisor. Anybody as widely denounced as Redding… I well, uh, like, kinda, uh, sorta gravitate to. The blandly irresponsible quintet now functioning as supervisors could use a Redding type, a wild man who wipes the prozac smiles off everyone's get along, go along faces. As Redding must know, the 5th District, ever since the late Ted Galletti, has been in the soft, opportunistic hands of the local the Democratic Party. The last Republican to make a respectable showing in the 5th was Gentleman George Hollister of Comptche.
THE EMERALD CUP, an on-line comment: Why is it even called “The Emerald Cup” if it’s gonna take place in helLA? This is an extreme case of cultural appropriation, and a very sad comment on the demise of the Triangle in the post-”legalization” (actually neoprohibitionist) era… Anyone that didn’t see this coming with the passage of Prop 64 was either purposefully ignorant or blissfully naive.
CATCH OF THE DAY, January 28, 2022
BRYAN COMPTON, Grass Valley/Ukiah. DUI.
SEAN FLINTON, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)
JACINTO FLOTA, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.
DANIEL MILLER, Clearlake/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.
BRIANNA MORRISON, Gualala. DUI.
ERIC OLECIK, Redwood Valley. Domestic battery, violation of protective order.
CASEY RAY, Willits. Pot possession/transportation for sale, probation revocation.
WESLEY SILVA, Willits. Protective order violation, probation revocation.
ESLI TINOCO-ARCHUNDIA, Ukiah. Domestic battery, probation revocation.
SHERRY WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting.
ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
My first concert in my early teens at Winterland in SF cost 2 bucks w/ 35 cents service charge. Lasted from about seven in the evening till 2 am or so. Steve Miller, John Mayall and Bo Diddly, both played twice and then they all jammed together at the end. Then to Munchies for a 35 cent burger and all the soda you can drink for 17 cents. Last concert I went to was Neal Young, a hundred bucks and he barely played for 2 hours. Last concert for me, what a waste. So I’m left wondering, since the music was so much worse, and the only redeeming quality was the short duration, how come it cost so fucking much. Let me see. Oh, right. Pre gold standard / post gold standard. Need I say more. I’m pretty sure that subliminal messaging is very much alive and well in this country of ours, although they were suppose to ban it in the late 50s. LOL. They Live…Only way to explain all the fools. I am beginning to wonder if they have subliminal messaging on the PC. That would really suck. Just like living in a democracy. We never lived in a democracy before, now everything is a “Danger To Our Democracy”. What The Fuck. I always thought we lived in a republic. That’s what it says in our constitution anyway. Silly me.
MANY OF THE SIGNS at RFK’s Spread the Virus rally called for explicit acts of violence, sentiments are more than a little creepy for a march led by someone whose father and uncle were assassinated. In harmony with the Nazi-theme of the festivities, several placards compared Anthony Fauci to Mengele. One referred to him as “Dr. Jeff Mengele.“ (I got a special thrill from that one.) Others labeled Fauci a traitor and called for his execution. One featured a crude drawing of his head and a guillotine, not sure if it was the same one meant for Pence. Another woman held a sign that read: “SHOOT those who try to kidnap & Vaccinate your child–Exodus 21:16–.” The verse from Exodus reads: “16. And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.”
— Jeffrey St. Clair
IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY (cuz I was there) the youth movement of the 1960s was all about freedom to say pretty much anything, except yell “fire” in a crowded theater — based on the idea that ordinary people were equipped to sort out the truth. During the War in Vietnam, we hippies were especially averse to the official lying that emanated from the Department of Defense, the FBI, the CIA, and the White House under both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. We founded “alternative” newspapers in defiance of the establishment’s propaganda. We applauded Daniel Ellsberg’s purloined Pentagon Papers, revealing the mendacity of the war effort. Altogether, this activity made it more difficult for the government to prosecute that war, and to defend the strategy behind it.
— James Kunstler
LOOKOUT JOE
A hip drag queen and
a side-walkin' street wheeler,
Comin' down the avenue.
They're all your friends,
you'll come to love 'em
There's a load of 'em
waitin' for you.
Lookout Joe, you're comin' home.
Old times were good times,
Old times were good times.
Remember Millie
from down in Philly?
She took my brain
and forgot my name.
The woman you were with
was about the same
She took your money and left town.
Lookout Joe, you're comin' home.
Old times were good times,
Old times were good times.
Glory Hallelujah!
Will I lay my burden down?
Singin' on the streets around:
Look at that crazy clown.
Remember Bill from up on the hill?
A Cadillac put a hole in his arm.
But old Bill, he's up there still,
Havin' a ball
rollin' to the bottom.
Lookout Joe, you're comin' home.
Old times were good times,
Old times were good times.
— Neil Young
BETSY CAWN RECOMMENDS:
A review of the book “How the World Really Works,” subtitled “A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present, and Future.” Harsh reality. No sense pretending otherwise.
aier.org/article/how-the-world-really-works/
TASHA ADAMS, the estranged wife of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, posted photos of the escape tunnels Rhodes built in the backyard of their rented house. Her testimony was cited by a federal judge in refusing to grant Rhodes’s bail. Adams wrote on her blog: “Folks if you ever feel tempted to rent a backhoe and dig escape tunnels in the backyard of your rental house, keep in mind it may come back to haunt you if you later attempt to overthrow the US government.”
— Jeffrey St. Clair
STAFF REPORTS!
The Staff Report(s) and Agenda for February 3, 3022 is posted on the department website at:
mendocinocounty.org/government/planning-building-services/meeting-agendas/planning-commission
Please contact staff with any questions.
James F.Feenan
Planning Commission Services Supervisor
Mendocino County Planning & Building Services
My Direct Line: (707) 234-6664
Main Line: (707) 234-6650
JEFF BLANKFORT ON WAR PREP:
It is evident that absolutely NO DISSENT will be allowed in the Democrat Party ranks and it should be equally clear that the only movement against the War Party in the White House will be from Trumpistas whose main goal is to bring down Biden, who was the Obama White House's overseer for Ukraine at the time of the US orchestrated coup.
Democrat members of Congress need to be warned that if they support their party's warmongering, that many of their voters will sit out the upcoming mid-term elections.
“THE FACT OF LIFE--the truth of life--I think is that we are engaged in an act of remaining relevant and afloat. I think the world truly looks upon all of us and asks if we are necessary to the uses and functions of life. There are too many people for too little space; too many needs for too few supplies. I do not look idly upon the term 'survival of the fittest.' This is true in life; it is true in the arts. We must always be asking if we are necessary; if we bring anything to the larger arena in which we are asking to work. There are too many people seeking to engage in this great task. What is tragic is what happens to those who come to realize that opportunities will not arrive; challenges will not be met. A horrible sort of calcification sets in; anger arises. I don't know what the answer to this is, I only know that I have long been aware of this, and I have worked hard to prevent anger from arising in me when I have failed, and I have tried to be helpful to those who find themselves falling away and behind. All of this leads me to say that we are always in the act of discovering who and what we are and if any of it matters. And this examination is a good and necessary thing, and we need to be there for others who are on the same path. There is no easy answer; no solution. It is merely what we must do.”
—John Gielgud/Interview with James Grissom/1991
REPORT: THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY’S JOB CLAIMS ARE ‘WILDLY INACCURATE’
by Dan Bacher
The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento, claims that there are 368,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry in California.
“The oil and gas industry is a vital part of California’s energy mix,” WSPA stated on their website. “As a leading economic force and major employer, we proudly contribute to communities across the state, providing more than 368,000 jobs in CA.” www.wspa.org/…
But a just-released Food & Water Watch analysis counts just 22,000 jobs in the industry in California, based on Department of Labor statistics — and says this total has dropped 40 percent over the past decade.
“Overall, oIl and gas production account for barely one-tenth of 1 percent of all employment in California,” the analysis revealed.
WSPA spent a total of $4,267,181 on lobbying California legislators and officials in 2020 and $8.8 million in 2019 as thousands of oil and gas drilling permits were approved by CalGEM, the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency: www.citywatchla.com/…
The research from the environmental organization Food & Water Watch debunks fossil fuel industry claims about job creation throughout the U.S. showing that “overall employment has suffered even as production has increased.”
“When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced modest plans to phase out permitting for new oil production in California, industry advocates freaked out,” according to the analysis. “The Western States Petroleum Association claimed that the oil industry supports close to 368,000 jobs in the state. That is surprising since, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 22,000 Californians were involved in oil production in 2020, down 40 percent from the industry’s peak in 2012. In the Golden State, oil and gas production accounts for barely one-tenth of 1 percent of all employment.”
The analysis notes that one of the most misleading aspects of industry jobs analysis is the conflation of direct jobs with indirect and induced jobs.
“Direct jobs are positions directly within a given industry. Indirect jobs are those within the supply chain that supports that industry, while induced jobs are positions supported by wages from both direct and indirect jobs. Indirect and induced jobs account for nearly 75 percent of the top-line numbers that some oil and gas companies are referencing. Misattributing these jobs to the oil and gas industry itself distorts the size and scope of the industry’s payroll,” the analysis noted.
As the state continues to suffer from devastating fires and drought and salmon, Delta smelt and other fish species continue on the path to extinction, both the state and federal governments continue to approve oil and gas well permits in California.
And as the LA City Council votes today to ban oil and gas wells, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance reported that Governor Newsom has approved 10,212 oil drilling permits since he assumed office in 2019. The total is nearly identical to the number of permits Governor Jerry Brown approved in his first three years.
According to the latest analysis by FracTracker Alliance of permits approved through December 31, 2021, and posted by Consumer Watchdog at www.Newsomwellwatch.org, the number of permit approvals fell from 2020.
“Nevertheless, Newsom’s number is nipping on the heels of Brown’s 10,268 permits dispensed in his first three years in office. Brown ultimately approved 31,545 wells during his eight years in office,” the groups reported.
More recently, federal data analyzed by the Center for Biological Diversity shows the Biden administration approved 3,557 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in its first year, far outpacing the Trump administration’s first-year total of 2,658.
In California, the Biden administration approved 187 permits — more than twice the 71 drilling permits Trump approved in that state in his first year.
Fossil fuel jobs decrease as oil and gas production increases
The inflated estimates by WSPA are part of a nation-wide campaign by the oil and gas industry to overestimate the number of jobs created by the industry.
For many years, the oil and gas trade association American Petroleum Institute (API) has released “wildly inflated estimates of direct and indirect jobs created by the fracking industry,” ranging from 2.5 million to 11 million, according to the Food and Water Watch analysis.
“But the new analysis – which is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics – shows that the industry employs far fewer workers than it claims: About 541,000 nationwide, or less than 0.4 percent of all jobs,” the group stated.
The group said fossil fuel jobs losses were “particularly striking” in 2020, when oil and gas employment fell by 22 percent.
“Oil and gas production, however, fell by just 3 percent,” the analysis continued. “While the jobs decline is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is part of a larger trend: Total oil and gas employment has fallen 33 percent since 2014. Over the same period, production has risen 32 percent.”
Food & Water Watch Senior Researcher Oakley Shelton-Thomas said, “The oil and gas industry uses promises of employment to gain political leverage, which has impeded the necessary transition to clean, renewable energy.This research shows that the industry’s jobs claims are not only wildly inaccurate, but that they are able to bring more oil and gas out of the ground with fewer workers. When the jobs disappear – especially in bust years like 2020 – workers and frontline communities bear the pain.”
The group also said the gap between industry jobs misinformation and reality was “particularly wide” in two other oil and gas producing states, Pennsylvania and New Mexico.
+ In Pennsylvania, API claimed that a fracking ban would cost over 500,000 jobs. In reality, just under 25,000 workers are employed in the oil and gas industries. Last year, employment in those fields shrank by 20 percent, even though record amounts of gas were produced.
+ The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association claimed that stopping fracking on public lands would cost 60,000 jobs. But total oil and gas employment in the state is only about 20,000 (about 2.6 percent of the workforce), and jobs in the industry declined by about 25 percent in 2020.
Oil production forecasted to reach record high in 2023
The analysis came at a time when oil and gas production is expected to increase across the nation. The federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. oil production will average 12.4 million barrels per day during 2023, surpassing the record high for domestic crude oil production set in 2019 under the Trump administration.
In its January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production will increase for nine consecutive quarters, from the fourth quarter of 2021 through 2023. EIA also expects OPEC to increase its crude oil production to 28.9 million barrels per day in 2023, up from an average of 26.3 million barrels per day in 2021.
“We expect global demand for petroleum products to return to and surpass pre-pandemic levels this year, but crude oil production grows at a faster rate in our forecasts,” said EIA Acting Administrator Steve Nalley. “We expect that as crude oil production increases, inventories will begin to replenish and help push prices lower for gasoline, jet fuel, and other products in the short term.”
The agency also forecasts that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories will reach 465 million barrels at the end of 2023, about 11% more than inventories at the end of 2021.
The entire Short-Term Energy Outlook is available on the EIA website.
(Dan Bacher is an environmental journalist in Sacramento. He can be reached at: Dan Bacher danielbacher@fishsniffer.com.)
MOTA: GOOD NIGHT RADIO live from Franklin St. all night Friday night!
Hi, there.
Marco here. Deadline to email your writing for tonight's (Friday night's) MOTA show is about 6pm. Or send it whenever it's done and I'll read it on the radio next week. Text-only, in the body of an email, please; I'm on dialup today. (Also I'll try to remember to check email sometime during the show, so if something occurs to you and you wanta squirt it in, that might work.
Plus you call during the show and read your work in your own voice. I'll be in the clean, well-lighted back room of KNYO's storefront studio at 325 N. Franklin, where the number is 1-(707) 962-3022. If you swear like a muleteer or a Volga bargeman or any of those guys, please wait until after 10pm, to not agitate the weasels.
Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg as well as anywhere else via http://airtime.knyo.org:8040/128 (That's the regular link to listen to KNYO in real time.)
Any day or night you can go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's MOTA show. By Saturday night the recording of tonight's show will also be there.
Besides all that, there you'll find plenty of arguably educational material to fiddle with until showtime, or any time, such as:
The Whammy Davis Jr. whammy bar.
https://theawesomer.com/the-whammy-caster/655290/
And where to hide things, whether you have something to hide or not.
https://www.neatorama.com/2022/01/27/The-Art-of-Hiding-Things/
— Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com
I first met Ted Galletti while sitting at a poker table in Pete Gianni’s back room in Pt Arena. It was the mid 90’s, I had just moved here from the City and it was the only card game I could find so I was willing to make the long drive down from my place in Cleone once a month. I had no idea he had been a county supervisor, I just knew that he always played AK very strong. Also in the game were local legends Stogie Stornetta and Sonny Suddith… It was a great introduction to the county and some classic old timers.
I’ll always love Neil Young’s music, but I think he’s on the wrong side of history here. This cancel culture crap is working against itself. Trump being banned from the social network is the best thing that happened to his reputation. Joe Rogan is definitely NOT Rush Limbaugh. You would know that if you ever listened to him. I’m not a regular listener, but it’s pretty obvious that his broad appeal stems from his open-mindedness and “average Joe” perspective. But he’s just another celebrity like Neil, Rush, Trump and Eric Clapton. We don’t need to ascribe so much weight to their opinions.
“Trump being banned from the social network is the best thing that happened to his reputation.”
Boy, that’s the truth. Banning the obnoxious diarrhea mouth suddenly makes Trump seem reasonable, which he was compared to the current administration. But the capital riot remains in most people’s memory, and banning the mouth can’t take that vivid memory away.
Neil Young doesn’t care about whether you give weight to his opinion or not. He cares whether his music is helping support misinformation. Since he believes that it is, he is right to pull his music from the source of that misinformation.
NY assumes everyone listening to Spotify is too dumb to figure things out. Sort of like Fauci. So now, like in the case of banned books, anyone who doesn’t know squat about who Joe Rogan is, like me, will go and find out. Joe Rogan benefits.
Are you really that gullible?
Of course he has that right. And I have a right to give a shit less about whats on Spotify. The term “misinformation” is so loaded these days. It is like “fake news” or “conspiracy theory”. I don’t think Rogan should be censored, or Trump. If all these dipshits want to subscribe to their bullshit theories, then, oh well. The cancel culture left is just as stupid as these so-called fascist right-wingers who think that the vaccines were designed to kill us all. I wish there was a vaccination against the twits on both sides, particularly the Mendo Patriot ding dongs
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/28/a-communist-intervention-reflections-on-crisis-revolution-and-personal-responsibility/
US fascism marches on! Wake up, you dullards!
RETRACTION. Contrary to previous comment I made days ago, I strongly support the proposed permanent sales tax for the county library system.
An institution with warts is far superior to no institution at all. The sales tax is absolutely essential to the survival of the libraries; the dedicated property tax alone is woefully inadequate.
The loss of the County Library would be a grievous loss for all residents. Please join me in supporting the proposal. Keep our libraries open.
In the early days all they had to do is buy up all the news papers and they could control the narrative . Then came mass media and they did the same. Now with the internet the control isn’t so easy but they have convinced quite a few people it would be for their own good if they did. In China and some other countries this has largely been accomplished.
Like Ms Bailey, I am severely conflicted. I am a voracious reader who has never met a library he didn’t love. However, library taxes that get diverted short of the library obviously don’t help the library. Measure A funds have been diverted; indeed they may still be diverted even as I write.
I believe that an outside audit of the county budget, including library funding, is sorely needed with the departure of our long-term CEO. Given that accountability, I would campaign fervently for additional funds for our county library. Without that audit and consequent accountability, it’s doubtful that the library will receive its funding.
I will go further than that. I recommend the county’s voters reject any and all tax propositions until we voters are informed of the county’s fiscal status via audit.
“I will go further than that. I recommend the county’s voters reject any and all tax propositions until we voters are informed of the county’s fiscal status via audit.”
I’ve been saying that for years. I agree with every word of your comment. The Supes have not earned the trust of their constituents to do the right thing. And it appears Ms. Bailey may have had her arm twisted (or worse), hence her sudden retraction and reversal.
Mendo already does outside audits, just like most school districts and other special districts. Those kinds of routine audits are basically rubberstamps of transactional activity and basic accounting systems and practices. I have never known those perfunctory audits to produce anything remotely critical of management or departmental operations or expenditures other than maybe better record keeping. In fact, CEO Angelo has done a decent job of making sure there are no irregularities found during those audits to the extent that she has received awards from the auditor. The kind of audit you probably have in mind, something like a forensic audit, an audit that makes bureaucrats rectums tighten up, or an audit that looks critically at whether earmarked funds are spent on what they’re earmarked for, will simply never happen. Besides, they’re after the fact. What we need is competent monthly financial reporting with an independent oversight process (perhaps by th Library advisory board) built in to the ballot measure which requires monthly reviews of revenues and expenditures from the library with authority to nix any quesionable outlays, check by check, payment by payment. Look at the “annual audit” required by Measure B. Four years later and they’ve never even done one and if they do it’s not likely to point out that they wasted $4 million on the Crisis Residential Treatment facility. I think Measure A did help the library, but I’ve never seen a list of things it funded or even a detailed budget report from the Library. Far as I can tell, most of the better stuff from the Library comes from their subordinate relationship with Sonoma County and other interconnected libraries. I’d be for a Library measure if they specify what they want to do with the money and convince me there’s a good chance that the money will be spent on those things and that somebody will actually check to see that it is.
PS. Remember the highly touted 2013 state parks “audit” in the wake of the closure scandal? An audit? Har-de-har!
https://www.theava.com/archives/83360#27
The primary source of funds for the county is “outside money” which means state and federal grants, etc. The retiring CEO has been good at getting a lot of that money, and thus keeping the county afloat. Audit? What is there to audit? And what is the point? All that matters is the money comes in, and there is a profit. It seems, at least, someone should be looking at how this money is being spent, and whether the county citizens are better for it. For instance, how many fires were set last summer as a direct result of our “homeless” policy that makes the county and a lot of other people much money. Of course none of that is going to happen, particularly since no one wants to look at the outside money part of the budget. Like I said, what’s the point?
“Audit? What is there to audit? And what is the point? All that matters is the money comes in, and there is a profit.”:
County tax payers should be able to see where money comes from and where it goes, at least for anything funded by local money. Even “outside money” is usually contingent in some way on local funding. The point is to hold the county accountable and give residents accurate information on how their taxes are spent .
Good luck on that. No one ever reviews the Health and Human Services Department budget. And I suspect this is the case for most counties in California.
That’s different than “what’s the point?”.
There is sarcasm mixed with reality. But ask your supervisor, and see what the answer is.
The larger question about governmental spending accountability is whether elected and appointed officials are spending tax dollars to achieve prioritized public health and safety needs defined in the California Constitution (Article XIII, Section 35) and accurately measuring the effectiveness of organizational decision makers from the CEO on down to line stewards. Key performance measures used in industry to assure effective spending for delivering services meeting customer expectations is a common practice in successful businesses. Small businesses that rely on social engagement to maintain their bottom line are often expected to cater to the wishes of their customer base, which can mean spending more time on “marketing” and “engagement” than on production processes.
In the context of local (county) government, the self-approving “comprehensive annual financial reports,” with their acknowledgement by so-called “independent auditors” reporting only whether the information is properly attributed — not whether it’s valid or meaningful — are used to claim that management (i.e., administration) of fiduciary responsibilities is faultless. In Lake County, the absence of identified funding sources and their obligations, recordation of spending and results accomplished to the satisfaction of the funding agency, and analysis of program accomplishments (or lack thereof) keeps the population of tax payers mystified. The only entities that are endowed with the powers of reviewing governance and financial operations — the Grand Jury and the Local Agency Formation Commission — are held at bay by internal maneuvering of powerful county staff, and very few people seem to grasp the resulting obfuscation that permeates all public meetings of Brown Act governed bodies.
Only in the AVA is there any sign of citizen oversight — requiring detailed attention to tracking processes such as those conducted by the Measure B committee — providing public recognition of government iniquities and delusions of efficiency. Members of the taxpaying public are told that “outside” revenues are the equivalent of “other peoples’ money” but we all pay into those sources, and abdicate our responsibility for effective spending to popularity-driven paid politicians at our own expense. Thanks again, Major.