Mendocino County Today: Monday, Feb. 21, 2022

Chance Shower | Camo Guy | Patricia Jelen | Puddle Shrunk | Coon Fight | AV Village | Navarro Cleanup | Angelo Critique | Celebrating Women | Open Positions | Bulk Sale | Dessert First | 1870 Mendocino | Indoor Masking | Talbot Project | Forewarned | Local News | Yesterday's Catch | Covid Carrier | Dixie Madness | No Respect | Whiny Songs | Capitol Prep | Dangerous Nuts | Dog Advice | McBrandons | Wiley Moderator | Mae Lyons | Supe Recall | People Problem | Freuchens | Overheard Women | Shipwreck | Price Hikes | Ukrainian Immigrants | Trucker Tantrum | Reclusive Drinking | Police Reports

BREEZY WINDS will continue through early Monday. Rain and snow for higher elevations will arrive by late Monday morning. Light precipitation will continue into Tuesday followed by cold and clear weather Wednesday through the week. (NWS)

AS OF 2/20/2022, this person has failed to contact the police department to handle a pending complaint. 

We have updated this post to include this photograph captured from the surveillance footage. 

If you know or recognize this person please contact the Fort Bragg Police Department at (707) 964-0200. The investigating officer is Officer Beak, case number FG2200216. 

(FBPD Presser)

WOMAN DIES, 4 OTHERS INJURED IN HEAD-ON CRASH NEAR MENDOCINO COAST

by Matt Pera

A 63-year-old woman was killed and four other people were injured in a head-on crash over the weekend near the Mendocino Coast, authorities said.

The crash happened just before 4 p.m. Saturday on Albion Ridge Road west of Road H, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A man driving east in a 2010 Toyota Rav4 crossed “for unknown reasons” over solid double yellow lines into the westbound lane and crashed head-on into a 2020 Honda Accord, the CHP said in a news release.

The man driving the Toyota, a 24-year-old Albion resident, had minor injuries. He was not taken to a hospital, the CHP said.

The driver of the Honda, a 25-year-old Martinez man, was taken to Mendocino Coast District Hospital with moderate injuries, according to the CHP.

The woman who was killed was a passenger in his car. She was an Albion resident.

The two other passengers in the Honda had major injuries, the CHP said.

One of them, a 28-year-old Martinez man, was taken to Mendocino Coast District Hospital. The other, a 66-year-old Albion woman, was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The CHP said everybody involved in the crash was wearing a seat belt.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the crash but did not believe intoxicated driving was a factor, the CHP said.

Albion Ridge Road was closed for about three hours following the crash.

• * * *

PATRICIA “SIS” JELEN: REMEMBERING VICTIM OF FATAL CRASH NEAR ALBION THIS WEEKEND

As you may know, there was a fatal crash on Albion Ridge Road on Saturday, February 19th around 3:45 pm. The one fatality was my mom, Patricia “Sis” Jelen. This is not a story of how my mom passed, but the kind of person she was and how she should be remembered. She was a genuine and passionate woman who was born and raised in Contra Costa County, she loved, lost, and prospered in California. This included growing up with her cousins and their friends in high school and going to parties with all of the flair of the late 1970s. Including an Afro.

Everyone that I talked to the day after the accident remembers her as a remarkable person; hardworking, loyal, a gracious host and passionate. That passion burned like a wildfire or was the calm in the storm. She would drop anything for her family, both chosen and blood. This included helping her own dad in his last days. She drove four hours at the drop of a hat. Along with helping keep Queenies in Elk running for the past few years alongside her life long friend Lynn Derrick, the legendary Queenie. She had lived on the Mendocino coast off and on in the 80s and we moved here as a family in 2004. Even after family and business struggles, my mom stayed in her adopted home in her beloved California until her last day.

She was a person who spoke her mind, whether or not that was a good idea. This made my mom either your most valued friend or someone you didn’t like. Either way, she was a larger than life person who had an impact on anyone that got to know her. As of now, we don’t have plans for a remembrance service, but it will be later in the spring, one on the Coast and one in her hometown of Martinez. But in the meantime, please remember any good memories you have of Sis. I have been thinking of all of the times we shared as I grew up from trips to the beach, Chinatown and the mundane parts of life like getting ready for school. It’s never the wrong time to tell someone they matter to you, but it can be too late. As my grandpa said, “life is too short to be mad over stupid things.”

(kymkemp.com)

LAKE MENDO REMAINS WAYYYYYYY DOWN

A SMALL FARM SOUTH OF BOONVILLE

Petit Teton Monthly Farm Report - January 2022

Spring is blooming everywhere on the farm...stone fruits, daffodils, narcissus, roses, collards, kale, broccoli, rosemary, iris, wasabi (yes they are surviving!), ceanothus — and all are buzzing with bees. The huge Thundercloud plum at 501 has already finished flowering and is setting its maroon leaves. Animals are all acting a bit frantic - baby yak is cavorting, birds are looking for nest sites, a screaming pair of red shoulders flew over our lunch site and a deafening silence ensued in bird world as the chickens ran for cover and the wild birds turned into statues, the blue birds have returned to their usual hole in a telephone pole in the lower field and are busy stuffing it with dried grasses, chickens have started laying a lot, and even the ducks have produced an egg or two, the first time since quitting 3 or 4 months ago. Meanwhile we still have frost nearly every morning, some of it heavy, and day times are bordering on hot. It’s nail biter season...will the flowers survive to become fruits??

And speaking of survival...one evening recently Pito, our German/Husky mix, picked a fight with a raccoon that had made the mistake of wandering into our front garden. Instead of letting the raccoon climb the fence to escape, Pito bit a hold of him and dragged him into a fist bite. When Juan and Cam ran out to call him off, they found the critters rolled in a snarling ball with the raccoon trying desperately to escape to the fence. Pito finally let it climb over and is not much worse for the encounter although the small wounds on his face are still visible. But oh, what a dangerous thing to do! Raccoons are not known for their timidity in a fight (this one will probably stay out of our garden in future) and Pito could have been badly mauled. It is good to know that he will protect us, and a relief that no doctor visit was required. Rafa, our younger German/Mallinois mix, stood back and took notes and with just a snarl and a glance from his killer wolf eyes, will be ready to fill Pito’s paws once he’s gone.

Best wishes for a beautiful spring…

Nikki Auschnitt & Steve Kreig

PS...Tech guy/son Wynne is teaching us how to size and attach pics. Love the results; hate the learning; can't do the remembering how!!

Photos

ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE: Join us Tomorrow and Thursday for Stress reduction and a Special Medicare presentation

AV Living Well: Techniques for Stress Relief
Six weeks of free workshops - Tuesday 11:45-12:45 on Zoom
https://andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/2184

2/22 Elizabeth J's Stress Relief through Movement and Exercise
Contact Donna: 707 684-0325

AND

Special Medicare presentation: More time to Make changes
Thursday, February 24th, 10-11 am, Online Zoom Seminar

Do you currently have your Medicare through a Medicare managed care "Advantage Plan"? You may not be aware that you have more time to change plans and your Medicare healthcare options. Deadline to make these changes is March 31st. Join us and learn more about your options.

https://andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/2176

MINI-CLEAN UP IN NAVARRO Sunday with Stephanie Barton. 

Somebody has been dumping bottles for a while. Gamblers activate! We got probably 15 bags half full. (Bottles are heavy!) PLEASE STOP LITTERING. It's killing our planet. Now Laurie Copper can go on her walk and not see trash! Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

THE CEO’S RECORD OF MISMANAGEMENT

by Mark Scaramella

Contrary to CEO Carmel Angelo’s claims that criticism of her lushly-compensated performance as Mendocino County CEO for twelve long years had something to do with her gender or management style, our indictment against the outgoing CEO had only to do with managerial shortcomings.

Our main indictment is her failure to properly report on County operations, both budgets and projects. Without proper reporting — which no one in authority has ever really demanded of her — the checks and balances, the course corrections, the avoidance of problems, the focus on service delivery that normally would obtain in a properly managed operation are impossible, consequently Mendocino County has become bogged down by its own inertia.

Our other indictments include personnel mismanagement leading to unnecessary staff turnover, departures and liabilities, lying to and undermining the Sheriff thereby jeopardizing public safety, continuing to keep control of the Board agenda when there was no need, and mostly ignoring board directives.

Mendo has never provided regular, informative departmental status reports to the Board and CEO Angelo’s persistent refusal to provide them — the CEO report is a highly filtered monthly sales pitch — can only be explained by the CEO concealing matters.

Under Angelo, maintaining high vacancy rates and building reserves took priority over departmental staffing and county functioning. Angelo personally decides which personnel vacancies can be filled and when.

CEO Angelo has shown an untoward preference for friends like the Schraeders who receive contract after contract without competitive bidding, doling out large sums of public money to them on the consent calendar with no attempt to develop or consider better or more cost-effective alternatives for parts of that huge contract (upwards of 20 million a year). The CEO has made a number of dubious senior Executive Office hires with no open recruitment or input from the Board of Supervisors.

She has steadfastly refused to stop putting retroactive contracts and pay raises on the consent agenda despite regular requests from the Board to the contrary.

She has shown a pervasive empire building, spendthrift mentality, typified by her approach to Measure B. At a 2019 Measure B committee meeting CEO Angelo said that County construction projects are equivalent to a private citizen contracting for a $50,000 kitchen. Back in April of 2019 Angelo, referring to Measure B construction projects, declared, “This is a major project. Think of all the people that come in and all the people you have involved in something like a $50,000 kitchen. We are talking $30-some million dollars; we are talking three services, one building, two buildings, three buildings — who knows?” Adding, “We want to use as much of this money for services and that’s the right thing to do.” 

In this statement to her fellow Measure B committee members, while claiming that as much Measure B money as possible should go to increased services as the Measure called for, the CEO made it clear that she wanted to lard up the building and construction projects with as much costly and burdensome bureaucracy as possible, leaving as little as possible left for services.

CEO Angelo was good at maintaining and expanding her empire, keeping the Supervisors and the public at a distance, and was much more effective than her predecessor at convincing the Board that things were being effectively managed when they were not.

We were not the only ones pointing out these shortcomings. In 2019 the Grand Jury weighed in on many of these same complaints. CEO Angelo simply brushed the Grand Jury’s findings aside like she has the Supervisors.

Here’s a classic CEO statement, this particular one in response to the Grand Jury finding that Board directives were “not adequately tracked.”

Angelo: “When a directive is issued without a timeframe, the Executive Office verifies if the project/directive is feasible, if resources are available, and if legal barriers exist. Following the analysis of the directive, staff determines if the project can move forward. A priority level and timeframe is then developed by the appropriate department based on available resources and the information is reported out to the Board.”

Translation: The CEO, not the Board, determines which directives are followed and what priority they will be given.

The Grand Jury also found that: “The CEO Report does not include substantive department updates, e.g. new jail addition, Sheriff overtime, BOS directive status, departmental statistics and major road project status.”

The CEO simply disagreed, declaring that her CEO report was fine as is.

The Grand Jury found that: “The Consent Agenda has often included controversial items, e.g. salary increases and cost overruns.” 

CEO Angelo simply denied the obvious: “The criteria for inclusion on the consent calendar is that the item is considered to be routine and non-controversial.”

“Considered” by whom? The CEO, of course.

And our personal favorite. When we asked a few basic questions about departmental budget variances in one of the CEO report’s, CEO Angelo replied that “The very nature of your questions is the reason the County budget team has been hesitant to present a ‘budget to actual’.”

Translation: Don’t ask any questions, and if you do, we'll clam up.

Unfortunately, with the selection of Angelo-loyalist Darcie Antle as “Interim CEO” combined with the weakest, most out-of-touch Board of Supervisors we’ve ever seen (and that’s saying something), there’s no indication that any of this will improve.

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT RECRUITMENT INCENTIVES

Editor,

I wanted to reach out to our communities regarding recruitment of deputies, dispatchers, and professional staff. Currently every law enforcement agency in California is suffering in personnel numbers and Mendocino County is no exception. 

We have a large personnel vacuum created due to several factors, which have put Sheriff’s Offices in a tough position to provide the level of service our communities deserve.

I am currently working towards hiring incentives which will match other agencies within Mendocino County and I believe this will help with recruitment of qualified applicants. 

Hiring incentives are currently being used by other law enforcement agencies in Mendocino County and throughout California, and I believe these incentives would attract qualified candidates to apply with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. 

I am asking the folks in our communities to assist with helping us recruit qualified applicants. We recently hired three local people to send to the police academy, two from the Coast and one from the Covelo area.

The Sheriff’s Office is not just patrol and corrections deputies. We also have need for professional staff such as dispatchers, secretaries, and clerical staff. It is my ambition to hire qualified persons from Mendocino County who will have pride in serving the community where they live. 

We love to hire our local people, and with the tremendous amount of support we constantly receive from our communities I know people coming from outside of our area will be welcomed by our communities as well. 

Mendocino County is a great place to live and to work. Please go to the Mendocino County Sheriff Website at https://mendocinosheriff.org/ and click on the “Jobs” section. 

There you will find links to job descriptions and our Human Resources department where you can apply for open positions. 

Thank you 

Sheriff Matt Kendall

THAT WAS COOL – TO GET SCHOOL LUNCHES, I WASHED THE OTHER KIDS’ TRAYS

by Justine Frederiksen

My mother didn’t allow television or sugar in our home, so other kids’ houses were magical places with Saturday morning cartoons and Skippy peanut butter. I still remember the kitchen where I had my first bowl of Frosted Flakes one morning after a sleepover. And the counter where I first had Skippy peanut butter, served on Ritz crackers at my best friend’s house after school.

After tasting Skippy, I spent lunch hours frowning at my scratchy whole wheat bread dabbed with snot-like “natural” peanut butter and pining for the other kids’ sandwiches made with smooth peanut butter slathered on soft white bread. Until suddenly in the fourth grade, my mother announced my sister and I would be getting hot lunches in the cafeteria.

That was cool.

I was so excited I couldn’t sleep the night before, then spent all morning steeling myself for when I reached the front of the line and the woman taking money shook her head. “Sorry, hon. Your mom called. She changed her mind.”

But the woman taking my money (before I got my free punchcard) didn’t even look at me, so I stepped up to the counter, feeling like Charlie walking into the Chocolate Factory as I watched beautiful mounds of forbidden foods piled onto my tray. When I got the food safely to a table, I nearly had to sit on my hands to keep from rubbing them together as I surveyed my bounty.

In the main section of the tray was a hamburger with a white, fluffy bun that I had only eaten in restaurants, plus some even more exciting French fries to the right. Above the fries were some boring carrot and celery sticks, but in the top left, almost hidden by the bun, was the most exciting thing of all: dessert!

That first one was actually my least favorite, a fruit pie. Thinking it was just a weird-shaped donut, I bit into it eagerly and … Yuck! The outside was good, but the inside dribbled down my face and tasted like warm cocktail syrup. Whenever I saw a pie again, I just carefully nibbled the crust off the edges, making at least one boy run up and ask, eyes shining, “Are you going to eat that?” before he saw the bite marks.

My favorite dessert was definitely the peanut butter bar, a dreamy square of everything that made Skippy great. After I tasted that, I always checked the dessert section first and usually ate it right away, since having an older sister who felt entitled to grab things off my plate taught me to take what I wanted the most first.

My favorite main dish was this crazy mix of tostada and pizza shaped like a Stop sign called a “Fiestada Pizza.” It made no sense, but I found the soft dough topped with sauce, melted cheese and bits of hamburger meat delicious and fun to eat. When I put the monthly lunch calendar on the fridge, I circled each day with Fiestada Pizza to make sure I never missed them. Though of course I never would, because I never missed school.

The magic of those lunches never wore off for me, even when I learned I was eating them because of something called Aid for Families with Dependent Children, the new term for food stamps, and that to keep getting them I would have to work in the cafeteria. Most days, I just presented my monthly punchcard and picked up my tray with no one but the woman who gave me a new card every month knowing I got my lunches for free. But once a month, I had to go behind the counter and spoon up food or wash dishes like the other AFDC kids.

I always asked to wash dishes, because then you worked in a small room near the exit door where hardly any of the other kids noticed you as they hurried out to the playground, instead of facing them as you doled out their food. And I also liked working alone, free to just focus on cleaning the trays, which I actually enjoyed.

My favorite part was rinsing off all the food bits by pulling down the hose hanging from the ceiling and blasting the trays with a jet of hot water, smiling as even the stickiest mess just slid off. Then I’d stack all the trays on their side in a rack, slide the rack into the big, square metal dishwasher and push the big red button to scald them clean.

The tray-washing room was probably a lot like being trapped inside a huge washing machine, but I didn’t mind. All of the noises and actions were a predictable, soothing break from the constant chaos created by crowds of kids, and I found the work satisfying and absorbing.

My job at the cafeteria was the first of many I would have in food service but remained my favorite, because there I never had to interact with customers or co-workers. It was just me and the trays, which I loved pulling warm and clean from the machine to stack into a large pile that always made me smile.

But of course I never told my mother how much I enjoyed washing dishes at school, or that would have become my job at home, too!

MENDOCINO COUNTY— NOW ONE OF ONLY THREE CALIFORNIA COUNTIES TO MAINTAIN THE INDOOR MASKING MANDATE

The State of California’s indoor masking mandate lapsed four days ago. The Center for Disease Control said this last Wednesday as omicron-related cases have declined, guidance on masking will be updated in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, in Mendocino County, the county’s Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren has told residents indoor masking mandates will remain out of concern for the county’s hospital capacity being impacted.

mendofever.com/2022/02/19/mendocino-county-now-one-of-only-three-california-counties-to-maintain-the-indoor-masking-mandate/

“THE MOVEMENT AND THE MADMAN, a work-in-progress by Mr. Steve Talbot, maker of the “Who Bombed Judi Bari?” PBS documentary film:

The "Movement and the Madman” will be the first feature documentary to chronicle the untold story of the mass movement that helped limit and end the long and brutal war in Vietnam, proving that nonviolent protest movements can make a difference.

movementandthemadman.com

ANDERSON VALLEY has a new landscaping service in the person of Jose Almedia of the eponymous Almeida’s Landscaping. With a complete range of tools and equipment at the ready, the Philo-based landscaper can be reached at 707-353-0216.

AV TRAFFIC SAFETY UPDATE. The informal group of locals who have been looking at ways to improve traffic safety in downtown Boonville and Philo delivered an update to the Community Services District Board last Wednesday night. The safety investigators are looking at three short-term fixes for Boonville: Rumble strips at both ends of town with accompanying signs reminding drivers to slow down; re-striping of the three or four downtown blocks to park parallel like the rest of town; and a request to the Sheriff to expedite the procurement and installation of “Flock” (trademark) traffic cameras, which could be used to identify reckless drivers. 

In Philo, the people who previously organized to try to get Caltrans to keep the 30mph speed limit in town are hoping to get Caltrans to re-evaluate the speed limit yet again. In both towns there’s also talk about asking Caltrans to revisit the number and location of crosswalks. A press release will be issued soon to notify locals of the next traffic safety group’s meeting, probably in Philo in March. Early indications are that Caltrans welcomes these relatively modest change proposals. To join the group, email CSD Board Chair Val Hanelt at valhanelt@me.com.

CAN DOWNTOWN BOONVILLE BE BEAUTIFIED? Caltrans has notified the Community Services District of the availability of grant funds for just that. If the combination of the words “Caltrans” and “Beautification” sounds like an oxymoron, you might be surprised to know that several locals have proposed interesting ideas for the $200k grant application. On the list of possibilities are: two or three “parklets” of the type that have sprung up along city streets since the onset of covid, thus converting parts of the shoulder in the downtown area into miniature “parks” with tables and chairs and shade, etc.; “maintenance free” sculpture and statuary, bike lanes, etc. Locals are preparing an application which has a very short deadline. If the grant is awarded, there will be more time to work out details.

KZYX IS LEAVING PHILO and has asked the Community Services District Board to allow them to park their mobile studio/trailer in the space on the Philo fire station. KZYX General Manager Marty Durlin told the CSD Board last Wednesday night that KZYX plans to move their base of operations to a site in downtown Ukiah by early 2023 and abandon their lease on the converted house in Philo where the radio station has operated since the late 80s. The CSD Board was generally amenable to the idea, but wanted to make sure it didn’t cost the district any money. The subject will be on next month’s CSD Board agenda for more formal discussion.

(Mark Scaramella)

CATCH OF THE DAY, February 20, 2022

JESSE BLANTON, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

YECSON DELAHERRAN-RIVERA, Ukiah. Attempt to appropriate stolen property, controlled substance, paraphernalia, forgery or alteration of vehicle registration, failure to appear.

DARRYL DEMPSEY, Fairfield/Willits. Burglary tools, tear gas, loaded handgun not registered owner, felon-addict with firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person.

ERIC GUEVARA, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

EUGENE HARRIS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, failure to appear, probation revocation.

DANIEL NUNEZ-AYALA, Ukiah. Large capacity magazine, ammo possession by prohibited person, probation revocation.

SCOTT SALO, Fort Bragg. Stalking and threatening bodily injury, criminal threats, protective order violation.

SIERRA WILSON, Fort Bragg. Parole violation.

NO GUARANTEES

Editor: 

I forget phone numbers and don’t even try to jump the tennis net anymore. I chop wood and beat back the brambles around our old house along the coast, just south of Trinidad. The prospect of death is not particularly troubling, but I dutifully use a mask, I took the time to get anti-COVID shots, and I will be in line for a second booster.

Vaccination is a safety net, but nothing is 100% certain, except for death and taxes — right? My trusting and fragile 89-year-old younger sister had her vaccinations but died in agony of COVID-19. Her caretaker relative had refused vaccination and tested positive. He had the virus and may also have been exposed to retrograde religiosity and the faux-news freak show.

Who knows what goes in this digitally disintegrated decade? In any event, if you are inclined to be anti-vax: beware. Stock up on guns and toilet paper. You never know when some downwind Democrat is going to sneak up and scare the scat out of you.

John Wiebe

Trinidad

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Mendocino county has made the legal cannabis problems worse not better, they are consistently making more rules as they can’t enforce the ones they already have.

Mendocino County blames the state for the too many regulations, and a “unworkable program” But Mendocino county is still trying to pass more restrictions on legal cannabis cultivation. The newest restrictions talked about were a ban on water Hauling and a ban on cultivation in RR 5 zoning.

How could they even talk about more restrictions when they can’t handle the restrictions they already have?

There is actually no respect for the cannabis industry on a county level. They just thought they could get tax money and that was all they cared for.

The county wasted months trying to jam through a ordinance last year that effectively would have turned the Industry upside down, it was going to push all the cultivation off the family farms and onto AG land.

Now they complain at all the work they did, but they actually just wasted everyone’s time.

HERE THEY COME: The fencing that surrounded the Capitol complex for much of 2021 will be reinstalled next week as Congress prepares to host President Joe Biden for his first State of the Union address on March 1. U.S. Capitol Police are preparing for truckers protesting the mask and vaccine mandates as the 'Freedom Convoy' heads to Washington, D.C. after demonstrating in Canada for weeks and causing major blockades. The protesters were able to block the Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Windsor and Detroit as they expressed their distaste with COVID-19 mandates related to mask wearing and compulsory vaccinations. Organizers say the American truckers' protest, dubbed "The People's Convoy," will depart on Interstate 40 heading east from Barstow on February 23. Truckers headed toward the nation's capital are demanding an end to the Emergency Powers Act concerning the pandemic, and to "restore our nation's constitution." Maureen Steele, the national organizer of the effort, told Newsmax that some 1,000 trucks are expected to start the trip and more will join in as the convoy heads east. — AP

ASSIGNMENT: UKIAH - FIXING THE WORLD (A DOG’S ADVICE)

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

Longtime readers may recall that when the Spousal Unit leaves the house and the dog and I are alone with our brandy, we often have conversations, mostly about me.

Being a journalist I am by nature self-centered and garrulous, always willing to make myself the focus of any discussion, and especially when the only one in the room is the dog. (Our dog, originally named Katrina, is known as Puppy.)

I was all set to tell her about the time I went to Jack’s Goat Farm in Cloverdale, picked her out of a litter and brought her home. Thought she might like to learn about her heritage and ancestors and such.

But no. Instead, Puppy the dog shushed me with the wave of a paw and launched a monologue.

“I’ve got a few things that need to be said,” she announced. “I’m 85 dog-years old, I’m crippled-up and won’t last much longer. I’m not going to listen to another of your gassy fabrications about the time you chased all the cats out of Mendocino County, or invented dog food out in the garage. Bosh and poppycock, and I’ll have no more of it.

She glared at me and resumed: “As you are certainly aware, I have little interest in the affairs of you and your co-humans, but at this point it seems prudent to intervene. You people are making quite the botch of it all, and after discussing it with my friends Boo, Max, Andrew, Haley and Liz, we felt matters must be addressed. I thus offer stern advice about the way of the world at present, and manners in which things might be greatly improved if only humans would learn from dogs.”

“Like sniff each other’s butts when we meet?” I chuckled.

“Brilliant,” responded Puppy. “Perfect. Crude, stupid remarks about butts and poop and such demonstrates the level of sophistication found in you people. ‘Sniff butts, har har har’ is an idiocy all dogs are forced to listen to every day, and it simply reinforces what witless boors most of you are.

“Let me simply say a dog can learn more with a quick inhalation of a canine backside than people learn in weeks of conversation. A single whiff and I can tell where a dog’s from, how far she’s walked today and from what direction, what she had for breakfast, what kind of car she rides about in, and how many children she’s forced to coexist with in a house of how many square feet located in which neighborhood.”

I blinked. Twice.

“All elementary,” Puppy said. “Let’s move on. No telling when ‘She Who Smothers Me with Affection’ will return.

“The world today is rather a mess,” Puppy continued, “and from a dog’s perspective much of it is the result of silly obsessions among humans. Example One: Your greed. Now, my good fellow, we dogs certainly understand squabbling and wrestling over food. Survival and all that.

“But hoarding toys? Owning yachts? Baseball cards? Autographs? You’ll not meet a well-bred dog who engages in such pointless acquisitions. Money of course is the worst, starting with your collective delusion that scraps of green paper have intrinsic value and must be kept in big buildings with locks and vaults.

“Or, in your case, tucked under the mattress. Your money fetish leads straight to such follies as stock markets, and pretending there’s value in useless junk like diamonds, gold or Andy Warhol paintings.

“A dog collecting rocks, metals and gaudy illustrations from labels torn off cans of Purina Chow would be considered mad,” said Puppy. “Not even cats indulge in such insane practices, though I understand magpies and squirrels at times acquire shiny objects for purposes unknown.

“But do humans truly aspire to attain the level of birds and rodents? Another thing: why the obsession with televised sports? Any game other than ‘fetch’ seems unnecessarily complicated. The uniforms are embarrassing, the rivalries absurd.

“And you should abandon this so-called ‘work’ nonsense,” said the dog. “Most of it makes no more sense than digging a hole in the yard and filling it back in, but neglecting to bury a bone.

“The capper is employment. You’ve invented jobs so you can fret and worry, believing that if you toil long and hard enough you’ll obtain more scraps of moneypaper to hide.

“And what’s with all the antagonism and rivalry among you people? What Dalmation resents a Beagle?

“Who’s ever heard of a Collie getting riled up because Chihuahuas moved in down the street? But humans all act like demented Pitt Bulls, growling and snapping at one other.”

With that the dog stopped, tilted her head to the side, alarmed.

“Yikes!” she said. “Her car! I can tell from the engine noises you never bother to have repaired. I suggest you check for a leak in the exhaust manifold, by the way.”

We made quick work of the remaining brandy as the door swept open.

“Honey, I’m home!” cried Trophy the wife.

“Bark bark, arf arf, woof!” replied Puppy the dog.

(Tom Hine frequently writes under the TWK byline, and splits his time between NorCal and NorCaro.)

HATE SPEECH NONSENSE: THE SOLUTION

by Jim Shields

A month ago I wrote a column featuring former County Supervisor John McCowen’s thoughts on retiring CEO Carmel Angelo’s tenure in Mendo County.

As I said then, a number of authoritarian, PC lunatics called McCowen’s insider insights “hate speech.”

Are you kidding me. We’re talking politics here, not all this “woke” crap emanating from neurotic, would-be censors.

At the time, long-time journalist Beth Bosk explained the genesis of the big stink.

“I shared John McCowen’s post to both the Mendocino County 4th & 5th District group sites. It was immediately dumped as ‘hate speech’ by the manager of the 4th District group site … Retelling a personal history that involves criticism of one public official by another is not hate speech, it’s lived history.”

McCowen weighed in at the same time, commenting, “A few days ago the Administrator of the District pages deleted the following comment which was considered to be bullying or hate speech: ‘The mismanagement starts at the top with CEO Angelo who is more concerned with rewarding her friends and punishing her perceived enemies than with managing the county for the benefit of the public.’ If this is hate speech or bullying then either the Administrator lived a very sheltered life or is personal friends with the CEO.”

Believing this tempestuous teapot had been placed back in the cupboard, I was a bit surprised this week to find the kettle was back on the front burner again.

A reader sent me the latest developments on this “only in Mendocino County” kind of numbingly mindless affair.

Evidently, according to a number of folks anyway, the chief censor allegedly repressing/suppressing political dialogue on social media sites corresponding to the five supervisorial districts, is Ms Kathy Wylie, someone I have no personal familiarity with other than she was a 2014 candidate for county school superintendent, served as secretary for last term’s Mendocino County Grand Jury, and is this year’s GJ Forewoman.

So it appears Wylie is someone who is active in both political and civil affairs, and is thought of highly enough by her GJ peers that they selected her as Forewoman. So her background doesn’t square with her foreground, at least as perceived and experienced by those going on the public record recently.

A Laytonville woman emailed me, “These are just some comments about Kathy Wylie censoring and blocking people from Facebook pages represented as being for county residents. I am one of those blocked because I dare say things about Ted. She is … hell bent on controlling information. The fact she chairs the grand jury should be explored and talked about. Someone chairing the grand jury who censors anyone who opposes her. She is apparently a realtor from Anderson Valley.“

Bruce Broderick: “Welcome to the club. I’m banned and blocked. But I’ve just started Mendocino County 4th district From The Coast. No reason to have coastal news coming from a real estate broker in Anderson Valley is there? In any case, I will get the page better populated over the next few days. You are welcome to join and post.”

Beth Bosk: “The content of what I posted: The “ADMINISTRATOR” of this group, KATHY WILEY, who has taken control of all 5 of the Mendocino County Supervisorial District groups, has squelched my participation on the Mendocino County 4th District group (one I rarely comment on) and the Mendocino County 5th District group (where I comment often, but not nearly as often as she does herself) because she doesn’t approve of the way I express my opinions or the opinions themselves. Currently she posted the directive “Admins have limited you to one comment per hour until February 13, 2011” on the Mendocino County 4th District Group site. And a similar one on the 5th. The duration of this abuse of custodianship is lengthened every time I comment … I was carefull, not to comment more than once an hour on this site since the abuse began. . . . Ms. Wiley, who is also the current chair of the Mendocino Grand Jury, has embarked on an unbelievable power grab, and refuses to discuss her rationale for muffling the opinions of group members over the phone. Nor is there any avenue of complaint on the Group Sites. If your participation in the Supervisorial group sites is also being abridged by Ms. Wiley, please let the rest of us know. You can also call me at 937-5703.”

Tom Tetzlaff: “I am not surprised by that. She ruined that place and I left after being censored too. Just because one disagrees with another doesn’t mean we should stop talking to each other and expressing various thought and ideas. That is really the only we move forward.”

Ari Lindgren: “I was blocked from both those pages for telling people about this page.”

Eric Broderick: “Except she controls nearly all of the mendo county district pages and heads the county grand jury.”

Fern Creek: “She’s limited our posting and commenting ability in the 2nd district group. The last time it happened I asked about it so that I can be careful not to break the rules next time. She was vague and said, ‘No personal insults or attacks period.’ I couldn’t think of or find any instance where I attacked anyone. Meanwhile we are frequently attacked by a couple group members which never get addressed by the admin (which is fine with me, I don’t like censorship. Even if it were in ‘my favor.’ This time I’ve asked her similar questions about what I’ve done wrong. She has ignored me.”

Now I have to confess, I avoid social media sites at every turn. I’m just not a good fit for them.

I believe the sites in question are private sector entities, and are not supported by public funds, i.e., tax dollars. If I’m assuming a fact not in evidence, I further assume my many fans will soon disabuse me of that notion.

I’ve always believed that problems just don’t happen, people make them happen. Therefore given that cause-effect human dynamic, all problems are solvable.

Potential solutions are:

1. Contact the owners of the site(s) and demand they change their offensive policies.

2. Contact the owners of the site(s) and demand they change the offensive site administrator.

3. All else fails, find an alternative site(s) and/or start-up a new site(s) that respects the free-flow of political dialogue.

(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, observer@pacific.net, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org.)

EXTREMISTS SEE OPPORTUNITY AS FURY OVER COVID RULES ERUPTS IN RURAL CALIFORNIA

Residents of a California county are mounting an aggressive campaign to oust officials who have supported Covid safety measures and vaccines, the latest example of a growing extremism in local politics fueled by the pandemic.

A group in Nevada county, a rural expanse of about 100,000 people in the Sierra Nevada, is seeking to recall five county supervisors, saying that contact tracing efforts and the promotion of lockdowns and vaccines violate“religious freedoms and individual liberty”.

theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/20/covid-restrictions-extremist-groups-local-politics-rural-california

POGO LIVES

Letter to the Editor

You could still phrase it better, Mr. Anderson. “Stop both” what? “Murder by capitalism” and what else? Felonious direct action by another generation of impassioned eco-fools? Those are two referents. Is that what you mean? You want to stop the capitalists and the anti capitalists?

But sod this pointless quibble. No, I don’t agree that the Earth is being murdered by capitalism. The Earth is being murdered by human beings. Human beings whose essential nature hasn’t changed in a million years, regardless of whatever economic systems they have been hitched to. And what are these systems? Variants of control cycling between doing as you please to doing as the rulers please, back and forth over time. Sod all the long winded professorial huffing and puffing! Screw the vicious scrabbling over the true party line! None of this really matters now.

Human beings are animals and consume their needs from the planet like all other animals. We’ve just evolved, if that’s the word, to have an increasingly broad view of what constitutes needs. There is no such thing as a successful economic system that does not provide for the needs that people perceive are desirable. People are people, and if they prefer to get their shampoo from a capitalist display of a thousand varieties rather than out of a communal vat in a communist drug store, they will not be thwarted forever regardless of all the high minded appeals to delusions of social reconstruction and the ludicrous belief that choosing the latter system/shampoo will “save the Earth”. It’s the totality of consumption that is at issue; the dynamics of mass demand. Will people tolerate their deliberate impoverishment? Not for long by governmental fiat. But all our hands will be forced by nature, when there will be no choice.

The illusion that must be dumped is the fantasy that human beings are perfectible. If only this and if only that, dream the partisans of systems. “If” is the loneliest word in the world! People want what they think they want. Does capitalism manufacture unnecessary needs for profit thereby damaging the ecosystem a little faster than other “social” isms do? Before you answer check out the eco-wreckage in the former socialist world; but if so, only because capitalism is more efficient than the competition in creating and satisfying human wants. Does nature attach greater moral blame to the logging of redwoods in Mendocino than it does to cutting Siberian forests? No. Either way, it’s slow death by a thousand cuts for everyone.

But one generation of excitable morons such as I passeth away and another cometh unto the stage. Naturally the young will be upset when they notice the walls closing in but we’ve seen Malm’s movie before and it doesn’t end well. The most certain path to ecosystem destruction is marked out by the thoroughly self assured out of blind conviction of their rectitude, dreaming of a glorious future that never arrives. So, no doubt a few Exxon board members or whoever will get bumped off and a few self styled revolutionaries will get locked up. Does the Earth care? No. We have 7 billion going on 9 billion people on this planet, most of them already have little to eat and less to do, and the future is inescapably ugly regardless of who is tending the switches. Jesus isn’t coming back, beneficent space aliens won’t appear, the super-rich won’t save anything (sorry, Ralph), social reformers for all their intense sincerity won’t reform much at all and violence no matter how emotionally satisfying will only make everything worse, faster. The anthropocene era will be geologically marked by a thin deposit of industrial junk sandwiched between thousand-foot layers of sandstone. If there’s any way around this, I don’t know what it is. Fortunately I’m just one dumbass, and new minds are born every day, so let’s try to have faith in the future. Any of you pud brains have a better idea? 

Yours, 

Jay Williamson

Santa Rosa

PS: And now for something completely different. It wasn’t Justin Beaver (joke) at the Stupor Bowl, it was Enemanem (joke).

ED REPLY: This pud brain points out that eco-damage is much less severe in the sensibly socialist Scandinavian countries where people have restrained unrestrained capitalism. Capitalism is not inevitable. No human organization is inevitable. If Lenin, for instance, hadn't overthrown the Czar that particular capitalist system would have continued to starve and whip peasants and 10-year-olds would have continued to be sold in the sex markets. America, whose downward spiral is accurately reflected in Super Bowl half-time shows, is clearly headed in that direction but hasn't quite reached true nadir. Here in Liberty Land, capitalism will go through a fascist phase with the return of Trump in 2024 as the natural world continues to choke to death on free enterprise. We will then get a version of Soylent Green unless young eco-Lenins can mount an effective counter-attack. 

WELCOME FROM THE LAND OF THE ICE & SNOW…

Today in History -- On February 20, 1886, 136 years ago during the Victorian Era on Saturday, famous Danish explorer, author, journalist, & anthropologist Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen (1886-1957), better-known as Peter Freuchen, was born at the town of Nykøbing Falster in southern Denmark.

Freuchen is most notable for his role in Arctic exploration, in particular the Thule Expeditions, which were a series of Polar exploration & research expeditions during the early 20th Century.

This famous 1947 photograph, entitled “Peter & Dagmar Freuchen,” depicts the six-foot-seven-inch Danish explorer attired in his polar-bear-fur coat, along with his diminutive third wife, noted “Vogue” magazine fashion illustrator, Dagmar Cohn (1907–1991). The photograph was made by influential American fashion, portrait, & still-life photographer Irving Penn (1917-2009).

THE CONVERSATION HE OVERHEARD as a small boy, between his mother, his aunt, his elder sister and their feminist friends, the way in which, without ever hearing any direct statement to that effect, and without having more than a very dim idea of the relationships between the sexes, he derived a firm impression that women did not like men, that they looked upon them as a sort of large, smelly, and ridiculous animal, who maltreated women in every way, above all by forcing their attentions upon them. It was pressed deep into his consciousness, to remain there until he was about twenty, that sexual intercourse gives pleasure only to the man, not to the woman. — George Orwell

ANALYSIS REVEALS CA INVESTOR OWNED GAS UTILITIES HIKED PANDEMIC RATES AS REVENUE ROSE

by Dan Bacher

SoCalGas saw revenue rise from $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion from 2019 to 2020

Sacramento, CA — California investor-owned gas utilities including SoCalGas — the company responsible for the disastrous 2015 Aliso Canyon Gas Blowout — were charging customers 53.9 percent more even as their companies saw revenue rise, according to a new analysis by environmental watchdog Food & Water Watch.

SoCalGas, PG&E, and San Diego Gas and Electric Company all saw revenue increases in 2020 compared to 2019 (the year before the pandemic hit), the group reported.

“Between 2019 and 2020, SoCalGas saw revenue rise from $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion,” the group stated. “When 2021 numbers are released, the company is expected to come close to $5 billion. While fourth quarter revenue has not been disclosed yet, both SoCalGas and San Diego are predicted to meet or exceed their 2020 revenue in 2021.”

SoCalGas currently faces $10 million in state-sanctioned fines for using customer money to lobby against climate change solutions.

“SoCalGas cannot be trusted to protect its ratepayers or the communities threatened by the buildout of toxic gas infrastructure,” said Food & Water Watch’s California Director Alexandra Nagy. “While SoCalGas’ revenue rose, the company charged customers exponentially higher rates during the pandemic.”

“This is a utility whose record includes the disastrous blowout at Aliso Canyon, myriad methane leaks, and improper use of ratepayer funds. Communities across California deserve equitable access to clean energy. They shouldn’t have to sacrifice their health or savings to pad SoCalGas’ bottom line,” said Nagy.

“We’ve known that SoCalGas will sacrifice communities for profit,” said Liz Campos, member of the Westside Clean Air Coalition and Chair of the Westside Community Council. “We didn’t know that while our neighborhood was being poisoned our rates were skyrocketing not because of inflation but because SoCalGas wanted to increase their profits.”

“This company is emboldened by greed and unmoved by human suffering. We demand that Governor Newsom send SoCalGas a message and shut down the toxic infrastructure in Aliso Canyon, Playa Del Rey and Ventura that is threatening our communities,” Campos concluded.

“TRUCKER TANTRUM”

Editor,

80% of Canadians are vaccinated against COVID-19. Fortunately for them, Canadians aren’t culturally hobbled by a large minority of anti-science, religious fundamentalist flat earthers forcing their foolish faith into law, the way cancel culture conservatives have traditionally attacked American democracy with their nonsense and baseless bigotry.

For the most part, Canadian truckers are lucky enough NOT to have the same well-earned awful reputation that Deep Southern redneck American truckers have here stateside, where being a trucker is generally thought of as your low-IQ racist White Trash man’s way of attempting to commit statutory rape on a daily basis. And don’t even get me started on the Teamsters and their reputation! Anyone find Jimmy Hoffa yet?

Furthermore, a full 90% of Canadian truckers are already vaccinated, but that didn’t prevent a small, far-right faction of fat fascist Canadian trucker twits (who make the late John Candy look svelte by way of comparison) from taking their trucks, Nazi swastikas, and Confederate flags to Ottawa to harass its innocent residents by honking their truck horns all night long like the hate-filled honkies they really are.

No wonder fascist Fox “News” converted their soulless selves into Trucker Tantrum TV for the past several weeks. Not only are 21st Century Fox Republicans irredeemably stupid and racist, they hate Canada! While of course at the same time these right-wing Republitards can’t stop themselves from performing figurative fellatio on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for all the world to see on Fox TV. GOP = Greedy Old Perverts.

P.S. — Donald Trump is going to prison.

Sincerely,

Jake Pickering

Arcata

DEFENSE ARGUMENT

Drink a bit alone
As some of us sometimes do
You’ll know what I mean

Reclusive drinking
By yourself or in a crowd
Can briefly inspire

Thoughts tease then rivet
Then fade before we notice
Too late to recall

Careless waste of time
This must seem to wiser folk
But it works for me

— Jim Luther

INCOMPETENT CARJACK

On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at approximately 4:00 PM, Round Valley Tribal Police (RVTP) advised the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center of a possible carjacking that had occurred near the intersection of Hopper Lane and Whipple Court in Covelo.

RVTP advised the stolen vehicle was a silver sedan and the suspect was possibly Harlan Williams, 27, of Covelo.

While Sheriff's Deputies were responding to Covelo, RVTP advised they had located the stolen vehicle and were attempting to conduct a traffic stop.

A short time later, RVTP stated the vehicle had crashed and the occupants had fled on foot. RVTP detained Bridgette Frank, 32, of Covelo, walking near the vehicle.

Sheriff's Deputies arrived and contacted the victims and eyewitnesses of the incident.

Deputies learned Williams came to a residence on Whipple Court where Frank was located. Williams brandished a firearm inside the residence and discharged one round into the ceiling.

Williams and Frank left the residence and walked to Hopper Lane and Whipple Court. While standing in the street, Williams stopped a silver sedan and pointed the gun at the two people inside, a 26 year old man from Hayward and a 52 year old man from Las Vegas .

Williams told the driver to exit the vehicle and to get on the ground while hitting him once in the head with the firearm. Frank was on the passenger side of the vehicle and took the passenger's cellular phone and the passenger was told to exit the vehicle and to lay down on the ground.

Williams entered the driver's seat and Frank entered the passenger's seat subsequently leaving the location in the sedan.

Tribal Police and Sheriff's Deputies located Williams in the area and he was arrested.

The vehicle was released to the registered owner (victim) and was not damaged in the crash.

Williams and Frank were identified by eyewitnesses as being responsible for the vehicle theft accomplished at gunpoint.

Williams was found to be on county parole (Post Release Community Supervision - PRCS) with numerous terms to include obey all laws.

Williams was arrested for Carjacking, Assault with a Deadly Weapon - Firearm, and Violation of Parole terms. Williams was booked into the Mendocino County Jail to be held in lieu of no bail due to the PRCS violation.

Frank was arrested for Robbery and was booked into the Mendocino County Jail to be held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

========================

THE PRODIGALLY BAD SON

On Thursday, February 10, 2022 at approximately 12:01 PM, Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a disturbance in Hopland.

Deputies contacted an 81 year-old elderly female in the 800 block of Highway 175.

The elderly female stated she was being yelled at and being called names by her son, David Thomsen, 58, of Hopland. 

During the verbal altercation Thomsen flipped a table, which caused glass to break and also broke a laptop. Thomsen had left the residence prior to Deputies arriving.

While on scene, Deputies learned Thomsen was the restrained party in a served criminal protective order, listing the elderly female as the protected party.

The criminal protective order included the term of “peaceful contact only” with the elderly female. Deputies also learned, Thomsen was on formal county probation for elder abuse which also included the terms of “obey all laws” and “peaceful contact” with the elderly female.

During the investigation Deputies located Thomsen in the 900 block of Low Gap Road in Ukiah and placed him under arrest Felony Violation of Probation and Violation of Emergency Protective Order.

Thomsen was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held on a No Bail status.

========================

1300 N. STATE…

On Friday, February 18, 2022 at approximately 5:45 P.M., Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were patrolling the 1300 block of North State Street, Ukiah, when they observed a person, subsequently identified as Tony Maples, 46, of Ukiah, working on a vehicle.

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

Maples was arrested on the felony warrant and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $7,500 bail.

========================

DEMPSEY'S WORK TOOLS

On Friday, February 18, 2022 at about 9:30 PM, a Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputy stopped a vehicle for a vehicle code violation in the 28000 block of North Highway 101 in Willits.

The Deputy contacted the sole occupant and driver, who was identified as Darryl Dempsey, 31, of Fairfield.

The Deputy conducted a records check and found Dempsey was on federal probation and prohibited from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition.

The Deputy noticed Dempsey’s behavior was odd and he was very nervous. The Deputy conducted a search of the vehicle due to probable cause factors and consent.

Inside the vehicle, in reach of Dempsey, was a backpack that was found to contain a loaded semi-automatic handgun.

Also in the backpack, the Deputy located a full ski mask, gloves, a screwdriver, pliers, and a California license plate that did not belong to the vehicle. The Deputy also located bolt cutters, a large sledgehammer and a large box of black garbage bags.

All these items are consistent with items used in burglaries and/or robberies. The firearm was also not registered to Dempsey.

Dempsey was arrested for Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a prohibited person, Carrying a loaded firearm, unlawful possession of tear gas, and Possession of burglary tools.

Dempsey was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $25,000 bail.