Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022

High Pressure Ridge | 144 Cases/3 Deaths | Dry Month | Pinoli Service | Mendocino 1888 | Schapmire Exit | Milkweed Seeds | Bragg On | Ban Me | Problematic Board | iRevelation | Seismic Compliance | Jaunty Iceman | Mental Aid | Hippie Ikea | Coach Shanacan't | Segregated Water | Dem Club | 1964 Menu | Missing Found | BOLO Stacey | Police Reports | Yesterday's Catch | Rock Life | Blacklisting | Keeper Cat | Cooperstown Hypocrisy | Bats | Outdoor Stocktonians | Schoolyard Peddler | MCBG News | Real Looker | Museum Exhibit | Class 1935 | Host Nations

A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE off the coast will lead to gusty northerly winds across much of the region over the next few days. Another prolonged period of dry weather is on tap for the foreseeable future. (NWS)

144 NEW COVID CASES and three more deaths (since last Friday) reported in Mendocino County yesterday afternoon.

JANUARY was very dry this year. What little came down, came down during the first week, and since then, nothing. This wet season has been starkly binary thus far, October and December bringing lots of rain, November and January very little.

RAINFALL TOTALS
monthly figures for the 2021-22 rain season (Oct-Oct) thus far:

Boonville (23.08" total)

2021
10.67" Oct
1.99" Nov
9.49" Dec

2022
0.96" Jan

Yorkville (30.92" total)

2021
13.40" Oct
3.4" Nov
12.49" Dec

2022
1.64" Jan

JOHNNIE PINOLI

Graveside services for Johnnie B. Pinoli of Philo will be held on Wednesday, February 2nd, 1:00 pm at Evergreen Cemetery in Boonville. Johnnie passed away at Ukiah Adventist Hospital on January 27th , 2022.

Born May 3, 1928, in San Francisco, California, to John E. and Claudina M. Pinoli.  Johnnie was raised in Anderson Valley on his parents' farm/vineyard at Lazy Creek.  Johnnie's humble upbringing taught him the importance of family, hard-work, and a dash of frugalness.  Johnnie worked in his parents' vineyard as a child and when he was 14, he had a summer job hauling gravel to help resurface sections of State Route 128.  After graduating Anderson Valley High School, at the request of his mother, Johnnie set-off to become a pharmacist.  After a couple short weeks away at college, Johnnie decided to leave school; buy a pair of work boots, and return to Anderson Valley to work in the lumber mills.  Shortly thereafter, Johnnie married the love his life, Thelma Salatena.  Together they made Philo their home and raised their family.  In the 1950's, Johnnie began a career with the Department of Transportation, Division of Highways (CalTrans) until his retirement.  Johnnie could always be counted on to help his family and members of the community.  Johnnie was a loyal friend to the late Stanley Johnson and for many years helped Stanley caretake his ranch in Philo.  Johnnie served his community by volunteering for over twenty years as a firefighter with the Anderson Valley Volunteer Fire Department.

Johnnie was an avid hunter and fisherman.  Some of his fondest memories were hunting trips with his son Robert.  Johnnie was very sentimental and enjoyed telling stories about what he called the "olden days".  Recently, Johnnie was able to relate many of those stories about the "olden days" as he enjoyed a drive through Anderson Valley with his son Robert, grandson's Robert Jason and John in what was his parents 1956 Ford, that John recently restored.  Johnnie will be remembered for his steadfast-no nonsense personality, kindness, loyalty, honesty, and devotion to his family.  

Johnnie is survived by sister Julia Gromo, his daughter Linda Lynch and husband Mike, son Robert Pinoli and wife Cecilia, grandchildren David Lynch and wife Elizabeth, James Lynch and wife Jennifer, Robert Jason Pinoli and husband Mark Mendenhall, John Pinoli and wife Krista, and five great grandchildren. Johnnie was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Thelma, and his parents John E. and Claudina M. Pinoli.

Many thanks to Dr. Mark Apfel, Judy Nelson, Anderson Valley Health Center, Anderson Valley Fire Department and Anderson Valley Ambulance.

Memorial contributions to the Anderson Valley Fire Department and Anderson Valley Ambulance are preferred. P O Box 398 Boonville, CA 95415

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

COUNTY TREASURER TO RETIRE EARLY

AVA News Service

RELIABLE SOURCES say Mendocino County Treasurer-Tax Collector Shari Schapmire will retire in March instead of serving out the remainder of her term in December. This comes in the wake of the Supervisors ill-informed, ill-conceived and hasty decision to combine the Treasurer-Tax Collector and Auditor-Controller into a single elected office.

MS. SCHAPMIRE has been clear that she was not interested in seeking election to the combined position. Having worked for the county for over forty years her retirement was not unexpected. But the Supes decision to combine the two financial offices — which Ms. Schapmire openly opposed — guaranteed she would retire sooner rather than later.

BUT HER EARLY RETIREMENT was unexpected and is most likely a result of the Supes vote to combine the two offices despite a complete lack of analysis of the possible benefits or pitfalls. Ms. Schapmire is well regarded by County employees and the public and is well known as a team player who is always ready to take on new tasks. 

IN THE LAST FEW YEARS the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office absorbed Court Collections (formerly located in the Courthouse), investigated and collected back Transient Occupancy Tax from short term vacation rental scofflaws and took on collection of cannabis application fees and taxes, all without complaint. 

THE TREASURER-TAX COLLECTOR and the Auditor-Controller are also in the midst of a multi-year project to implement a new and improved property system to replace the current antiquated system. The current system, a gift from another county, was outdated when it was acquired.

BUT ONE TASK Ms. Schapmire will have no part of is combining her office with that of the Auditor-Controller. Ms. Schapmire attempted to educate the Supes that there were few, if any, redundancies in the work of the two offices, and therefore no efficiencies to be gained. She also made the point that both department heads were working positions and there was no opportunity to eliminate a highly paid position. (In fact, the Supes increased the pay for the new position by about $50,000 but there’s been no analysis of what the combined office will cost or what staffing will be.)

MS. SCHAPMIRE also went on record describing the numerous risks associated with combining the offices including the risk of destabilizing both. Despite the increased workload of recent years, both small offices are chronically short staffed. In contrast, the Executive Office is brim full with 30 employees, several more than the Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector combined, even if they were at full strength.

IN A CAUTIONARY TALE, Ms. Schapmire also detailed the collapse of the Assessor’s Office when it was combined with the Clerk-Recorder. But all of Ms. Schapmire’s well reasoned and knowledgeable comments were disregarded by the Supes. The Supes (Haschak the exception) also ignored the comments of Interim Auditor-Controller Chemise Cubbison. And county finance veteran Norm Thurston. And Department of Transportation Director Howard Dashiell who made a point of saying he never comments on county political matters. (Ms. Cubbison had previously worked in the Transpo Department.)

THE SUPES (except for Third District Supervisor John Haschak) had their collective minds made up and weren’t listening to anyone. They had no answer to the many objections presented to them. Instead, they offered irrelevant, silly and superficial comments in a feeble effort to justify their pre-decided rash act. 

THE REAL REASON for combining the office had nothing to do with public policy, cost savings or efficiency. The Supes don’t like Chemise Cubbison, the Auditor-Controller heir apparent when the previous incumbent, Lloyd Weer, resigned before the end of his term. The Supes refused to appoint Ms. Cubbison, who has been outspoken and vigilant in insisting that county financial policies be adhered to. Including by the District Attorney and the Supervisors. 

THE SUPES may have been hoping that the experienced and level-headed Ms. Schapmire, despite her earlier reluctance, would be willing to run for the combined position. Or perhaps her assistant, the equally capable and well liked Julie Forrester. They may have calculated that one or the other would run for the combined office, sending Ms. Cubbison into a backwater if she chose to stay with the County.

BUT NOW THAT Ms. Schapmire seems poised to make her early retirement official, it’s increasingly likely that Ms. Cubbison will be elected to the combined position if she chooses to run for it. Only so many people are qualified for the office. Fewer still are interested in running for election. Or have the name recognition to do so. 

MS. FORRESTER would have been a logical successor at Treasurer-Tax Collector and likely would have been willing to seek election. But in the wake of the Supes petty and personalized attack on Ms. Cubbison, and by extension the staff of both offices, it’s not clear who will be willing to stick around. Instead of the Supes freezing out Ms. Cubbison, they are likely in for a double dose. As Ms. Schapmire said to the Board in an effort to warn them, “You might not get who you think you’re going to get.”

FORT BRAGG KEEPS ITS NAME

by Chris Calder

Fort Bragg's name was up for discussion before the city council Jan. 24 as a citizens commission delivered its report - but no recommendation on renaming the town.

Instead, after working for nearly a year and a half, holding 40-plus meetings and reviewing more than 1600 responses from the public, the commission sent six unanimous recommendations to the council, and a handful of others that had majority support, most having to do with increasing awareness of the town's past and strengthening its ties with local Native American tribes.

The commission was created in the summer of 2020, during nationwide protests over police violence in the Black community, to consider whether Fort Bragg should change its name. Braxton Bragg, though a United States general at the time that the outpost, headquarters for the Mendocino Indian Reservation, was named in 1857, had been a Confederate general by the time the town of Fort Bragg was named in 1885.

Some commission members felt strongly about renaming, both ways. Commission member Nicki Caito Urbani said an informal poll showed six of ten commissioners said that they would like to see the name changed “some time in the not too distant future”. But it was generally agreed that the commission did not have the resources to determine what the will of the public really is on the question, and that there would be many practical questions to settle before a decision could be made, whether by initiative or city council decision. Caito Urbani noted that while 14,000 people live in the 95437 zip code, only 7000 live in Fort Bragg. Would only city residents decide? How would a new name be chosen? “How would the voices of all those people be heard?”, she asked.

Commission member Christie Olson Day said responses to the commission's survey, done through local newspapers, city water bills and social media, showed 56 percent support for keeping the name the same, about a third for changing it, and the rest undecided. Olson Day emphasized that the survey was not scientific, but said she felt it gave enough information to show that there are significant numbers of people and strongly held opinions on both sides of the question.

So, instead if the name change question itself, the commission agreed to recommend four overall goals:

- Demonstrate the City’s commitment to being inclusive and welcoming to all people

- Increase knowledge and understanding about Indigenous culture and local history

- Clarify that we do not in any way associate ourselves with the confederate legacy

- Optimize our future as an attractive and prosperous place to live and visit

Toward those ends, commissioners were unanimous about recommending:

- a city policy to prioritize Land Back to local coastal tribes

- an official agreement to work with local coastal tribes along the lines of the agreement made in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in recognition of their sovereignty and continued stewardship of this land.

- the creation of a cultural center to demonstrate, educate, and honor the way of life that existed pre-contact/pre-Fort Bragg and also to honor the many cultures that exist today here in our town and around the globe.

- a local history working group to

- Explore turning the old fort building into a Mendocino Reservation Memorial focused on the Mendocino Reservation and the first peoples on this land

- Make inclusive local history more visible in our streets and at the Guest House Museum - increased signage and plaques teaching about local coastal tribes, the Mendocino Reservation, the formation of our city and the varied communities of immigrants who made it their home. 

- Coordinate community forums on history, identity and name change issues

- Coordinate multicultural events within the city

- Appoint a City Council Ad Hoc Committee to facilitate discussion with the school district and local tribes to support the schools in presenting a more complete and inclusive history of the local area.

- Support an outdoor event to encourage the local arts, sciences, and culture/economy, a North Coast Community Day, to showcase our diverse community and encourage a robust economy.

Commission members stated various reasons for taking the approach they did. Cesar Yanez said “There isn't enough support (for or against a name change)...If we were like a dictatorship where we said 'We're going to change the name regardless of what the community feels,' we're basically just sowing more division.” Yanez recommended that, if the question does come to an initiative, that the city sponsor moderated forums “that encourage listening across differences, like we did on the commission.”

Andy Wellspring, a history teacher at Mendocino High School, spoke out for a name change. He called Braxton Bragg “one of the most despicable figures in all of U.S. history” for his actions commanding artillery against the Seminole nation and Mexico, and as “ top brass” defending slavery in the Civil War.

“Amends need to be made by this town that still bears the same name, Fort Bragg,” Wellspring said. “We cannot simply ignore both these historical facts - the fort and the Bragg. Nor can we ignore the detrimental effects that keeping his name alive has for many Black, Indigenous, and Mexican people, all people really. We have an opportunity and responsibility to change the town's name, to right both of these wrongs, and to write the next chapter in the future of this town, a future with a name that represents what we want to believe is beautiful.”

Commission member Lucy Stanley, a lifelong Fort Bragg and Willits resident and member of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, recalled her great grandmother, Lucy Cooper, who was born on the coast, taken by soldiers to the Round Valley reservation after the Mendocino Reservation was dissolved, and managed to make her way home. Stanley said she does not favor changing the town's name.

“When she (Lucy Cooper) escaped, and was one of the few lucky ones who was able to come back to Fort Bragg, it was the community that aided her,” Stanley said. “She was always thankful for that. She was a basket maker who was very well known in the community and she loved the community. That means a lot to me about Fort Bragg. I don't acknowledge Braxton Bragg. He never came here. I don't acknowledge the name. I think we can still keep it Fort Bragg and maybe have this museum to educate the community.”

Commission member Olson Day noted that the Fort Bragg name was controversial almost from the beginning. One of the commission's discoveries was a plea at the opening of the Civil War from the commander of Fort Humboldt near Eureka, to remove the name of “a traitor” from the Mendocino County outpost. Fort Bragg was decommissioned soon after.

“This will be an issue as long as we choose to keep the name,” Olson Day said.

There was basically no public discussion of the group's recommendations, since they were presented as part of the Mayor's Recognitions section of the agenda, which provides for no public comment, on the understanding that the recommendations will be discussed at a future date. But council members generally welcomed the proposals, while showing no enthusiasm for taking up the name-change question themselves.

Those council members who did express some kind of preference seemed to lean against a change.

“I think changing the name would create a pretty deep wound for a lot of people and a lot of generations. I don't agree that we should do it right now,” said Lindy Peters.

“Changing a name doesn't undo the past. Where we go today is what undoes the past,” said Tess-Albin Smith.

Marcia Rafanan, a Fort Bragg council member as well as a member of the Sherwood Valley tribe, said, “We're known for our hospitality, our beaches, our food, even Highway 20 we're known for. We're not known for Bragg, a murderer… My tribe, the Sherwood Valley people, need to be recognized and acknowledged that we're still here. There are a couple of signs that say where we gathered abalone and mussels. We need to acknowledge we're still here.”

BRIAN SPOONER: “Please ban ‘Rounding Up A Bison’ by Byron Spooner (Andover Street Archives Press, 2021). It has bad words in it!”

PROBLEMATIC HOSPITAL DISTRICT BOARD

by Malcolm Macdonald

Regular readers will have noticed my return to the problematic topic that is the Mendocino Coast Health Care District (MCHCD) in this new year of 2022. Prior to that I hadn't put finger to keyboard on the subject since September 2020. Not only did I stop writing about MCHCD in September 2020, beginning with November of that year I ceased zooming or calling into any meetings associated with MCHCD until August 2021. The reasons are personal and involve more people than myself. 

On August 9^th last year, a few minutes before four in the afternoon, I received a phone call from a member of the MCHCD Board. That director was concerned that the public was being left out of meetings. The board member worried no one from the public had realistically been notified of that evening's meeting and the serious issues on the agenda.

Just before 5 p.m., I successfully maneuvered my desktop here at the ranch through the zoom link the phone caller had provided and there I was with five MCHCD board members. No one else from the public showed. Roll was taken then MCHCD Board chair Jessica Grinberg called for public comment. I spoke to what I had found out, or rather what I could not find out, in the intervening hour. Nowhere on the internet could one find a reference to the meeting. The district's old website (mcdh.org) had seemingly been dormant for a month, the district's Facebook page hadn't been employed since the second week in January. A newer website (mchcd.org) displayed agendas from the first couple of months of 2021, but nothing more recently. I explained this to the board and that physically posting the meeting agenda just inside the hospital's entry door did not pass muster during Covid times when all but patients themselves were being asked to stay away from the hospital. At one point board chair Grinberg inquired of another member, “John, did you post the agenda?” (meaning on a website).

John replied, “I was locked out.” This was John Redding, the board member delegated the previous autumn to spearhead an ad hoc committee to achieve website independence from the old hospital web page (mcdh.org). To his credit, by January 2021 he got the aforementioned mchcd.org up and running. It produced the agendas for January and February and possibly March 2021 then ceased to exist until August 23, 2021.

Board chair Grinberg rightfully called off that August 9^th meeting because of the lack of notice to the public. However, about ten days later I discovered that the MCHCD Board held a meeting on August 12^th; same agenda, a handful of invited guests, and that's it. As if no lesson whatsoever was learned on August 9^th. No posts existed referencing the meeting in any media outlet, including nothing on the internet. All the more jaw dropping, the meeting was held, a closed session matter discussed, and three open session agenda items at least partially addressed, one with action (the potential hiring of district legal counsel), but here's the best part: one of the agenda items involved having officials from Fort Bragg city government present. Astoundingly, no one bothered to inform the City that said August 12^th meeting was taking place!

When I belatedly heard about this mystery meeting, I wrote a lengthy text to the board chair. In the text I began by saying I would offer up some possible solutions to the board's lack of communication with the public, but there would also be some harsh criticism as well. At one juncture in the text, I suggested that due to the lack of realistic communication to the public, everything on that August 12^th agenda needed to be reconsidered in the board's next regular meeting. 

Well, lo and behold, the full agenda from the mystery meeting appeared on the mchcd.org website on time and in it, all the agenda items from August 12^th were up for reconsideration. In the course of the August 26th meeting, with substantial attendance, the decision about legal counsel was reversed and a further agenda item about methods to rectify the lack of communication also received discussion, with many promises to do better.

First, kudos to the MCHCD Board and then chair Grinberg for putting the August 12^th agenda up for a more realistic reconsideration at the end of the month meeting. Eventually, the MCHCD Facebook page was reactivated. Notices of upcoming meetings now appear on the district website, some Facebook pages, and board member Norman deVall has fulfilled his promise to get notices out on the mcn listserv.

In other ways, however, the MCHCD Board hasn't yet been able to live completely up to the promise of that August 26, 2021 meeting. The MCHCD Facebook page posted links to their December board meetings, but failed to continue to do so in January 2022. The board apparently ignored offered assistance for tech issues. In October, John Redding did create an entirely new district website with the elongated title, mchcdorg.com. That was a positive on the surface. The problem there is that Redding alone controls it and at times posts what he wants without approval of the full board. He “grants permission” (his words) to other board members to use it occasionally. 

There are good people on this board. The problems started for them when Adventist Health took over day to day operations of the coast hospital on July 1, 2020. The healthcare district board left themselves with no support staff. By mid-August one board member told me, “I'm burnt out,” from working a regular job all week plus trying to keep a handle on the daily goings on of the district. 

That lack of support staff has burdened the MCHCD board ever since the summer of 2020. They had some sort of administrative assistant for three or four weeks in October of that year, but she resigned in the first days of November 2020. At the December 2020 board elections, Redding sulked after losing the election for board chair. In the next few minutes he refused nomination as Board Secretary and Board Treasurer. Board chair Grinberg was stuck performing the additional duties of Secretary until the end of March 2021 when Redding apparently got over his defeat in December enough to return to his duties as Treasurer. During that double duty time between December 2020 and March 2021, Grinberg did complete minutes for each month's regular board meetings. One caveat: there were at least two special board meetings during that time frame that have no minutes.

Minutes or recordings of meetings are the backbone of special districts like MCHCD. They provide a placeholder where the public can see what items and issues have been approved or rejected by the board of directors. Essentially, without minutes or a complete recording of a board meeting it's as if the meeting never took place. The MCHCD Board still has not completed minutes and/or produced zoom recordings for a dozen or more meetings between September 2020 and the present day. A couple of those sets of minutes were pulled from the next month's agenda then never re-addressed, most have never been produced. 

A step in the right direction occurred around this new year, a handful of zoom recordings were posted for public perusal. On the district's website, two of those zoom recordings have the wrong date attached to them. It is likely not Redding's fault, they probably came to him mislabeled. One of those two is not a board meeting but a recording of a phone conversation from late February 2021 involving two board members, a consultant to the board, and an insurance representative. It is a mildly entertaining twenty minute listen if one is into the finer details of “tail” coverage in an insurance policy. The board members (Jessica Grinberg and Amy McColley) demonstrate a thoroughness in their questioning of the insurance rep.

From November 2020 through to early April 2021, it appears that the MCHCD Board was again without any support staff. They had a seemingly well-liked office manager from April through June 2021, but she left to pursue other opportunities, perhaps the only one of their support staff to leave on positive terms with all five board members. 

The MCHCD Board apparently hired a bookkeeping service in July 2021, though only sketchy records exist to verify the hiring. We can delve into that at another time. The sketchiness involves John Redding.

The MCHCD Board held its regular January 2022 meeting on the 27^th. On the positive side, action items were successfully accomplished. Redding returned to the Treasurer role after his usual pout and sulk at the December 2021 board elections (see last week's report). On the other hand, in front of an audience of forty-forty-five members of the public, two MCHCD Board members spoke out strongly against Redding. One likened his behavior within the board to a bully. 

It is possible that a vote of censure may arise at a special meeting on February 2^nd. We shall see. In January 2017 the district board censured one of its members, by a 4-1 vote, for sending out a closed session email involving a legal case to the general public email list rather than to board members only. Again, see last week's article for some reasons board members might consider a censure vote against John Redding. 

A censure won't change the big picture realities of MCHCD. It is merely a formalized slap on the wrist. Over the remainder of 2022, this five member board faces some potentially momentous decisions about what the future of healthcare will look like on the Mendocino Coast. A good deal of those decisions about a seismic retrofit of the hospital or building a new facility, and how big or small it should be at inception, will depend on positions that Adventist Health takes in the coming months.

SEISMIC REQUIREMENTS REVISITED

Editor,

“The hospital is not seismically compliant,” “we need a seismic compliance plan”, and “what it this the cost of seismic compliance?” This term is bandied about so often that Seismic Compliance has become something of an abstract term, just regulatory requirements that must be met. Let’s revisit why these requirements exist in the first place. 

During the Northridge earthquake of 1994, eight of 91 acute care hospitals (9 percent) in LA county were evacuated. Two suffered structural damage and six cited nonstructural damage such as water damage, loss of electrical power, and severe damage to HVAC and other equipment as the reasons for evacuation. 

Fortunately, there were other hospitals in the area to accept these patients and those hurt in the quake, an option that we on the Coast wouldn’t have. In the aftermath, several hospitals were found to have structural damage and were demolished. 

This led to legislation (Senate Bill 1953) that requires hospitals to be evaluated in terms of a Structural Performance Category (SPC) and Non-structural Performance Category (NPC). Our hospital is, for example, SPC2 and NPC-2 but must be upgraded to the highest level (5). This means strengthening foundations, walls and other structural items and installing pipe and equipment restraints. 

So, why are we doing this? Just to meet some engineering criteria? No, we are doing this to avoid the potentially significant human costs. The risks involved if there is even a moderate earthquake are: significant or fatal injuries to patients and medical staff; evacuation of the hospital at a time when people need it most; and perhaps permanent closure and demolition of our coastal hospital.

Time is short and every day represents a risk to the health of our community. We should be looking for ways to speed up efforts to have a seismically sound hospital, especially if the financially responsible thing to do means building a new hospital. We are in what is called Extra Time in soccer. Only the referee knows how much time is left for when the game will be abruptly ended. 

My opinion.

John Redding

Mendocino

A DELIVERYMAN for the Home Ice Company hauls a 25-pound ice block cleaved from a 100-pound block, Houston, Texas, 1928

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING

MCOE, in partnership with Americorps and Health 360, will be offering an Adult Mental Health First Aid training. This training is made possible through the MHSSA (Mental Health Student Services Act) grant. School district administration and staff, as well as members of the community, are invited to attend at no cost. 

This virtual training will cover mental health first aid for adults and is scheduled for Thursday, February 10, 2022, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. All participants must complete a two-hour, self-paced portion of training before being admitted to the instructor-led portion on February 2, 2022. The training will be conducted via Zoom.

To register for the training, please visit: https://mcoe.k12oms.org/eventdetail.php?id=214061.

For more information about the February 10th training, please view the flyer here. 

COACH SHANACAN’T: FOURTH QUARTER COLLAPSE FITS A PATTERN

by Lindy Peters

Remember Super Bowl LI? Of course you can’t. Why the NFL keeps using the silly Roman Numerals to identify each Super Bowl is beyond me. Let me remind you. That’s the game when the Atlanta Falcons led Tom Brady and his Patriots by a score of 28-9 going in to the 4th quarter. Most folks by then who were watching that game started talking about how good the BBQ wings had been or which was their favorite Super Bowl commercial and maybe asking your buddy to move his car so you can get out of the driveway and go home. This game is over. 

But wait. The Patriots would score 25 unanswered points and go on to stun the Falcons 34-28 in OT. The Atlanta offense slipped into slumber and stopped moving the ball. The rest was vintage Tom Brady. 

Now let’s jump to to Super Bowl LIV, which for the 49er faithful went from LIV to DIE. The death blow was delivered by the Kansas City Chiefs when they trailed 20-10 entering the 4th quarter and then scored 21 unanswered points in the last 15 minutes to win the Super Bowl 31-20. Ouch. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The Niners had the Chiefs on the ropes but just could not get the job finished. No knockout punch.

Ratchet up to last night’s 2022 NFC Championship game. Once again the 49ers would enter the 4th quarter of a big game with a multiple score lead of 17-7 and once again they would watch it evaporate in the final 15 minutes and lose to a very talented Rams team 20-17. No team had ever erased a 10 point 4th quarter lead in an NFC Championship game and come from behind to win according to a graphic posted by the television network. Until last night. 

And what do all three of these monumental collapses have in common? In all three of these games we find current 49er head Coach Kyle Shanahan roaming the sidelines in a headset. He was a flashy offensive coordinator when the Falcons went dormant and tanked in the Super Bowl. He was hired after that game by the 49ers as head coach. Anointed as an offensive guru, he finally started to show promise with a new quarterback named Jimmy G. And yes he got his team in to the Super Bowl in 2019. Even had the lead with about 7 minutes left. But again his offense pulled in to a rest stop and watched the Chiefs speed by as the game’s momentum shifted in the process. And then last night. Surely he has learned by now how to hold a lead and control the ball at the end of a game. Apparently not. 

It wasn’t Jaquist Tartt dropping a sure interception that turned the momentum. No. It was the exact same play that gave the Dallas Cowboys momentum to get right back into the game early in this year's play-offs. 

On a crucial 3rd and 1 late in the game he called the same backfield hand-off to Elijah Mitchell that the Dallas Cowboys had stopped for a 2 yard loss in the first play-off game. Result? A 2 yard loss and a forced punt. Same as what happened in Dallas. The Cowboys ended-up almost winning before they sort of self-destructed. Not LA. When the Rams took over after the punt the momentum was theirs and they seized it along with a victory and a trip to the Super Bowl. 

I know the players play the game. And the Rams definitely deserve all the accolades for their gutsy win. They really do. But Coach Kyle Shanahan is now associated with three of the biggest collapses in NFL post-season history and all in the last 5 years. 

Until he actually wins a championship we might as well call him Coach Shanacan’t. He just can’t close the deal. If it is any consolation to the 49er Faithful just know that we beat both teams in the Super Bowl during the regular season. One of them twice.

(Courtesy, Mendocino News Plus)

COAST DEMOCRATIC CLUB MEETING

Does Our Hospital Have A Future?

Thursday, February 3, 2022, 6-8 Pm On Zoom

A Public Forum: Questions, Answers, Discussion

Moderated By Supervisor Ted Williams

Join Assemblymember Jim Wood, Chair, Assembly Health Committee and Representatives from:

 - Adventist Health

 - Mendocino Coast Clinics

 - Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation

 - Mendocino Coast Healthcare District Board

 - Measure C Oversight Committee

 - Supervisor Dan Gjerde, District 4

Meeting And Chat Will Be Recorded

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7076840646?pwd=Szl1QW8zUGN2dGY2SG9uaVVTWnNRdz09

Meeting ID: 707 684 0646; Passcode: Smile

One tap mobile+16699009128,,7076840646#,,,,878873# US (San Jose)

LOST & FOUND

On Sunday, January 30, 2022 at approximately 5:43 P.M. the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Communications Center was contacted by a member of the Hopland Fire Department regarding a missing person.

Hopland Fire Department had been contacted by the spouse of a 67 year-old male who had failed to return from a hike on their property.

Sheriff's Deputies responded to the scene and contacted the spouse and members of the Hopland Fire Department.

Deputies learned the missing person suffered from multiple health conditions including dementia and had not been seen for approximately one hour.

Deputies, along with Hopland Fire and CalFire personnel conducted a search of the area by foot and vehicle and were initially unable to locate the missing person.

The Mendocino County Search and Rescue Team was also summoned to the location to assist with the search efforts.

The California Highway Patrol was contacted and a request was made for a helicopter to further assist in an aerial search.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter, “H-30” based out of the Napa Air Operations Center agreed to assist and was on scene within approximately 40 minutes of being requested.

Within approximately 10 minutes of H-30 arriving on scene, the flight crew was able to locate the missing person on a remote and rugged area of their property. H-30 crew flight members were able to guide awaiting fire personnel to the location of the missing person.

The missing person was exhausted and disoriented, but otherwise in good health and without injury. The missing person was evaluated by medical personnel and reunited with his family.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office would like to thank the Hopland Fire Department, CalFire, and especially the California Highway Patrol Napa Air Operations Division for their assistance in bringing this search & rescue mission to a successful conclusion.

The Sheriff's Office would also like to thank the Mendocino County Search & Rescue Team. Within 55 minutes of being notified of this incident, 13 members of the volunteer team had assembled, created maps to assist with search assignments, and began responding to the property prior to being notified of the missing person being located.

YOU'VE HEARD OF THE HALF-NELSON…

On Wednesday, January 19, 2022 at 5:15 PM Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a third party report of a domestic violence incident that occurred earlier in the day at a residence at the 23000 block of Greely Street in Covelo.

While Deputies were responding they were informed the suspect in this incident Robert Nelson, 53, of Covelo had a self-induced medical emergency and was currently in his backyard.

Prior to Deputies arriving, medical personnel located Nelson and started transporting him to a local hospital for medical treatment.

Deputies continued their response to the Covelo area in an attempt to contact the victim.

They located a 52 year old female at an undisclosed location in Covelo. Deputies learned the adult female and Nelson were married.

Earlier in the day around 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM she and Nelson became engaged in arguments and Nelson physically assaulted her by putting his hands on her face covering her mouth and nose and attempted to suffocate her. Nelson also grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to the ground where he attempted to suffocate her again using his hands to cover her mouth and nose.

The adult female resisted and Nelson eventually discontinued the assault. The adult female left the location and went to the undisclosed location to get away from Nelson.

Deputies observed a visible injury on the adult female's face.

While Deputies were still talking with the adult female, the ambulance personnel that were transporting Nelson to a local hospital reported he had become combative as the ambulance was traveling on Highway 162 between Covelo and Highway 101.

A Round Valley Tribal Officer had been following the ambulance and was able to detain Nelson in the back of his patrol vehicle.

Deputies responded to the location of the ambulance and the Round Valley Tribal Officer to arrest Nelson. Nelson was not handcuffed in the back of the Tribal Officer’s Patrol vehicle and was threatening to physically assault the Deputies when they opened the door to arrest him.

When Deputies went to arrest Nelson he resisted by physically fighting. Deputies quickly wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him without further incident.

Nelson was transported to a local hospital where a medical clearance was performed. Nelson was subsequently booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

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HEY! THAT LOOKS LIKE MARCELINO 

On Wednesday, January 26, 2022 at approximately 11:03 A.M., Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were patrolling the 1400 block of South State Street (Ukiah) when they observed a person, subsequently identified as Marcelino Anguiano, 42, of Ukiah walking on the street.

Deputies knew Anguiano from prior law enforcement contacts and knew he had multiple active felony arrest warrants. Anguiano was detained and a records check confirmed the existence of four outstanding Mendocino County felony warrants for his arrest.

Anguiano was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $65,000 bail.

CATCH OF THE DAY, January 31, 2022

MARK ANASTASIOU, Fort Bragg. Metal knuckles.

SEAN DELCAMPO, Fort Bragg. More than an ounce of pot, ammo possession by prohibited person, large capacity magazine, probation denial.

ABEL ELIZONDO, Sacramento/Ukiah. Parole violation.

SEAN FLINTON, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)

CARLOS GOMEZ, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

LUIS HERNANDEZ-BERRERA, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

TERRY JOHNSTON, Willits. DUI.

TONY MCELROY, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

JAMES MCGARY, Elk. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

BRANDON SVALESON, Pine City, Minnesota/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

PORFIRIA ZARATE, Windsor. DUI.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

If people jump on board with Neil and Joannie, what will they do when one of myriad of opposition groups out there blacklists every ideological position you can name? Oh, let’s see…..evangelicals are pretty unpopular on the internet… it will get to the point where you can use the word “God” unless, of course, it’s combined with “damned”. 

What about ranchers/farmers/carnivores in general. Uh, how about your classics of literature and film that don’t pass muster (already happening).

History and science are revised to achieve social and political goals and this will surely accelerate when the woke realize that their hostage-taking is working. 

You are not safe from this. 

Everyone must draw a line in the sand.

LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER AND HIS CAT

HYPOCRISY ON PARADE

Editor: 

Major League Baseball is a sport and a business. So why so much sanctimony regarding Barry Bonds (and Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa)?

Bonds was arrogant and surly. So what? If he was in the batter’s box, one stopped what one was doing. He was his era’s best player, and he was great for the business of baseball. However, people who never played the game have decided he’s not worthy of induction to an increasingly inconsistent institution.

Sosa (who compiled Hall of Fame numbers) and Mark McGwire were properly credited for making baseball relevant and exciting again after a rancorous strike in 1994. Their colorful pursuit of the single season home run record constituted must-see television for baseball fans everywhere. Then-Commissioner Bud Selig was a ubiquitous and unabashed cheerleader at the front of their parade, even though it was well known both players were “juiced,” as were so many others during that time.

As the steroid era faded into the past, MLB’s hierarchy and legions of morally outraged fans became eager to knock players suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs off the pedestals they had constructed for them. For his part, Selig is enshrined in Cooperstown. Talk about hypocrisy.

Mark Wardlaw

Santa Rosa

Ed reply: Let the cheaters in the Hall with asterisks beside their crooked names. It used to annoy me no end when all the nouveau baseball fans got to their feet every time Bonds came to bat, oohing and ah-ing when he juiced one out. Nobody rose when Visquel made a truly great play at shortstop. And now they're talking about moving the pitcher's mound back a foot so the muscle boys can hit more homers for people who don't know the diff between a baseball and a football. Oh, and electronic umpires to eliminate balls and strikes mistakes. O well, what with $15 “Gilroy Fries” and corporations buying up whole blocs of tickets, I'm happy to have seen real ballplayers playing the game right while I chomped a fifty cent hot dog.

STOCKTON'S BILL JENNINGS AND DAVE HURLEY INDUCTED INTO CA OUTDOORS HALL OF FAME

by Dan Bacher

Two more Stocktonians recently joined former Stockton Record outdoor writer Peter Ottesen and the late Jay Sorensen, founder of the California Striped Bass Association (CSBA), as members of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame (COHOF). Fisheries protector Bill Jennings entered the Hall of Fame this year, while outdoor writer and educator Dave Hurley joined it last year.

Arriving in California in the early 1980s, Jennings has fought in the fishery permitting processes for nearly four decades. He founded the Delta Angler, a fly fishing store and smoke shop, and quickly became involved in protecting fisheries.

Jennings has written numerous comment letters, protests and petitions and frequently testifies in evidentiary proceedings. He manages an aggressive enforcement campaign that has generated millions of dollars for restoration projects.

Following a massive fish kill, Jennings cofounded the Committee to Save the Mokelumne and served as its Chairman. He has chaired the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) since 1988 and been its Executive Director since 2005.

Between 1995 and 2005 he served as the Deltakeeper. He is a Board Member of the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) and was one of the original founders and Board Member Emeritus of Restore the Delta.

Jennings has received numerous acknowledgments including the International Conservation Award from the Federation of Fly Fishers, the Director's Achievement Award from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Conservation Achievement Award from the California-Nevada Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, the Quality of Life Award from the Land Utilization Alliance, and the Delta Advocate Award from Restore the Delta.

The Outdoor Writers Association of California (OWAC) recognized him as Outdoor Californian of the Year and the Delta Fly Fishers selected him as Fly Fisherman of the Year. His efforts in obtaining an historic cleanup of Penn Mine on the Banks of the Mokelumne River led to awards by California Water Policy IX Conference.

“It’s a great honor to receive this recognition, considering those who have been inducted before me, including Pete Otteson, Jay Sorenson and Dave Hurley. Those are big tracks to follow,” said Jennings.

In addition to Jennings, 2022 COHOF inductees include Bob Simms, host of the KFBK Outdoor Radio Show on Saturday mornings; Greg LeMond, cyclist; Heather Anderson, hiker; and Jessie Benton Fremont, Yosemite protector, posthumous.

Dave Hurley of Stockton, inducted into COHOF in 2021, is a lifelong northern California angler with deep roots in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River. His great grandfather, Guiseppe Busalacchi, was a commercial striped bass, salmon and sturgeon fisherman in the Delta and a partner in the P. Busalacchi and Sons Fish Market in Stockton.

He grew up at the right hand of his grandfather, Frank Busalacchi, who instilled the love of fishing, the outdoors and the California Delta.

“Life is full of surprises, and it is a huge surprise to be included in the same group as famous Californians such as Ansel Adams and John Muir,” said Hurley. “As I see myself, the closest I have come to individuals like this is my final three years in education was teaching at Ansel Adams Elementary School.”

Hurley’s love of the Delta was further enhanced by his close relationship with the late Jay Sorensen. Hurley has been writing stories on outdoor adventures for the past twenty years for a variety of publications including his own Hurley Chronicles. He is a strong advocate for water issues as a board member of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Water4Fish and the California Inland Fisheries Foundation, Inc.

IN BLOOM AT MENDOCINO COAST BOTANICAL GARDENS

Did you know? In 2021 the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden donated 7,922 lbs of fresh organic produce to the Fort Bragg Food Bank. We could not have done this without our hardworking and dedicated volunteers.

In 2022 we look forward to improving our beautiful and productive garden with new varieties as well as some new methods of growing and companion plantings. We will be experimenting with some cool corn and tomato varieties. We look forward to growing and learning alongside the amazing vegetable garden volunteers.

The daffodil project

The daffodils are beginning to show foliage and color at our garden by the sea! Daffodils/ Narcissus (Genus) are spring-flowering perennial plants that grow in small clusters of 10-20 bulbs. These colorful and fragrant plants are in the Amaryllidaceae family.

One of our spring projects will be to identify and map the daffodils growing in the Vegetable Garden. MCBG Horticulturist Wyatt Emig and MCBG Volunteer, Isabel Rucker are taking photographs and location notes for each grouping of bulbs. They will identify their division and narrow in on possible varieties.

When identifying daffodils we use the American Daffodil Society’s website to help figure out the division. All daffodils are placed into a division group. There are 13 descriptive divisions that help us break them down. We can decide their division using the Royal Horticulture Society’s (RHS) daffodil classification system). The classification system looks at the colors of the flowers, the size and shape of the petals, and specific characteristics of the reproductive parts. After the flower is placed in a division they also get a letter that represents the petal (perianth) color. Then there is a second set of letters that describes the colors of the corona (trumpet or cup) the first letter represents the eye-zone of the flower, then the mid-zone, and lastly the edge or rim.

The Vegetable Garden has many of these different divisions. This is a sample of a daffodil in the MCBG Vegetable Garden and the division and color.

This appeal has brought in more than ever! We would like to thank you all for your confidence in and support of the Gardens. We are so close to reaching our goal of $90,000, please consider donating now to help us reach this record-breaking number.

More at: https://www.gardenbythesea.org

THE “WHAT” AND “WHY” OF ART COLLECTING

Exhibit showcases exciting new additions to Grace Hudson

On February 4, from 5 to 8 p.m., Grace Hudson Museum will, as always, celebrate First Friday, as well as the opening of the first new exhibit of the year. “The Art of Collecting: New Additions to the Grace Hudson Museum” focuses on works of art, Pomo baskets, and various historical materials that have been added to the Museum's collections over the past five or so years. In addition to displaying these items — many for the first time — “The Art of Collecting” will explore the what and the why of collecting itself.

A major feature of the show will be 16 Grace Hudson paintings recently given to the Museum by the Palm Springs Art Museum, as well as an uncommon Hudson painting from Grace’s year in Oklahoma (1903) and Grace’s spectacular painting “The Wi-ly,” both purchased at auction through the Museum's Endowment’s Acquisitions Fund.

“The Art of Collecting” will be on display through April 10, 2022. An in-person tour will be featured in March, along with virtual programs, including a talk on the ins and outs of art collecting.

The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 South Main St. in Ukiah. More information is at (707) 467-2836 or online at www.gracehudsonmuseum.org.

TOP COVID HOST NATIONS & HUNTING GROUNDS

country	cases	deaths
United States	74,333,001	884,260
India	41,302,440	495,050
Brazil	25,360,647	627,150