Mendocino County Today: Monday, Feb. 28, 2022

Mostly Dry | Geneva | Russian Bombing | Berlin | Stiff Resistance | Prague | Beautifying Boonville | Mendo Poets | Boonville Projects | Milan | Al Testimonial | Ukiah Aerial | Lost Forest | Chicago | Spain Paroled | Affordable Housing | Stehr Hospitalized | Amsterdam | Power Costs | Tbilisi | Enough Dispensaries | Loose Lips | Mural Fever | Yesterday's Catch | Oslo | Crypto Putin | Crisis Response | Two Sides | Athens | Ukraine History | Defense | Slovenian Response | Lisbon | Cold Warring | New York | Nuclear Threat | Not Russia | All Electric | Paris | Growing Old | London | SNL Tribute | Liberace Tells | Red Disease | Copenhagen | Community College | Country Women | You Decide | Madrid | Angelo Legacy | With You | More Censorship | Munich | War Propaganda | St. Petersburg

LIGHT SHOWERS will be possible north of Cape Mendocino through Tuesday, with mostly dry weather elsewhere. Widespread rain will spread southeast across the area from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. Cooler air will spread into the area Wednesday night and Thursday, as precipitation becomes more showery with some mountain snow. (NWS)

KYIV REMAINED UNDER UKRAINIAN CONTROL early Monday despite another night of Russian bombing and attacks, with Putin's forces suffering 'heavy losses', Ukraine's commander said. Colonel General Alexander Syrsky, who is in charge of defending the city, said on Monday morning that 'all attempts' to breach the city failed and that the situation is currently 'under control'. 'We showed that we can protect our home from uninvited guests,' he added. In the early hours, Russia invited all Ukrainian citizens to leave the city via a 'safe' highway - sparking fears that the bombardment could be about to dramatically step up as a huge column of Russian artillery and armour inched closer to the metropolis having been held up by Ukrainian resistance. The cities of Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernihiv were also bombed overnight, with air raid sirens sounding in other areas. Fighting continued in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city located in the east near the border with Russia, which has been the site of the heaviest clashes so far. In the south, Russians reported capturing the port city of Berdiansk with troops and armoured vehicles shown rolling through the centre, and were closing in on the city of Mariupol which was in danger of becoming surrounded. Even as the battle raged, negotiating teams from both Ukraine and Russia met for talks on the Belarus border aimed at ending the fighting. President Volodymyr Zelensky said ahead of the negotiations that he doesn't expect them to succeed, but had sent a delegation 'to show I tried' to end the war. (Daily Mail)

LARGE CITIES TARGETED BY RUSSIA REMAIN IN UKRAINIAN CONTROL DESPITE ONSLAUGHT

by Ted Kemp (Sunday Night)

More than four days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the smaller country’s defenders continue to frustrate Russian attempts on its major cities.

“Russian forces are continuing to advance into Ukraine from multiple axis but are continuing to be met with stiff resistance from the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the U.K. Defense Ministry said.

Ukraine retains control of capital Kyiv and its second-biggest city, Kharkiv, despite heavy fighting, according to the latest intelligence update from the U.K. Defence Ministry.

Alexander Syrsky, the Ukrainian general in command of Kyiv’s defense, said in a Facebook post that the “situation is under control” in the capital.

“All attempts by the Russian Occupation Forces to achieve their goal failed. Convoys of occupiers’ equipment were destroyed,” he said, according to an NBC News translation.

“The enemy suffered significant personnel losses. Russian troops are demoralized and exhausted,” Syrsky said. “We have shown that we know how to protect our home from uninvited guests.”

Individual military accounts are difficult to confirm as much of Ukraine remains inaccessible and the situation on the ground shifts constantly.

Heavy fighting was taking place around Kharkiv, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry, Kharkiv’s regional governor, and Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Ukrainian defenders also maintain their hold on Kherson, a third major city targeted by Moscow planners, a senior U.S. Defense official said Sunday on condition of anonymity.

Russian advances were being slowed by “fuel and logistics shortages, especially in Kharkiv, but also on the advance to Kyiv,” the Defense official said.

Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last week as the UN Security Council met in emergency session to head off war using diplomatic means.

Since then, the United States, European Union and even Germany have committed to new weapons shipments to Ukraine as the country’s defenders have stubbornly held out against the Russian onslaught.

New economic measures against Russia, from Western corporations as well as governments, pile up by the day.

As U.S. intelligence predicted the invasion in the weeks prior to Putin ordering it, the Russian president repeatedly demanded guarantees that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO.

“Mr. Putin says he doesn’t want a strong NATO on his western flank,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a statement from the Pentagon on Sunday night ET. “He’s getting exactly that.”

(CNBC.com)

* * *

Meanwhile: Talks between Ukraine and Russia are due to begin on Monday morning near the Belarus border, reports TASS news agency. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells British Prime Minister Boris Johnson the next 24 hours are “crucial.” Ukraine’s military says Sunday was a “difficult time” for its troops and that Russian forces “continue shelling in almost all directions.” Ukraine’s health ministry says 352 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed since the beginning of Russia’s invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin has put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert. And Kharkiv governor says Ukrainian troops have full control of the city after street fighting with Russian forces. (Al Jazeera Headlines)

BEAUTIFYING BOONVILLE

Editor,

I think one of the best things that could happen to beautify Boonville, would be to plant lots of Redwood trees along 128 to [eventually] hide the hideous CalTrans yard.

I like your idea of converting the top floor of the “Grozny”/old Holiday Inn into a restaurant/night club/music venue! That could be really terrific!

Buy cheap goldfish at the Anderson Valley Farm Supply. If you haven’t been in there lately, check it out. It’s become a really nice place! I go fairly often, get some plants, some cat food, potting soil, beautiful planters, this and that, some goldfish! (The raccoons and snakes make sure I need to buy fish on a fairly regular basis.) Plus, super nice people to help you out! (I also got a fantastic kitten there a year ago. Jennifer does a great job of taming up feral/semi feral kittens.)

Finally, “medical business.” That’s this country's pathetic situation, that people go for making a killing off of people’s health or lack of, rather than being satisfied with “just” making a living. This has, of course, been going on for some time. I had a fantastic doctor in the 70’s, Everts Loomis, who ran an amazing heath/healing center, and charged totally reasonable prices, Friendly Hills Fellowship, in Hemet, CA. He was actively looking for a doctor to take over from him as he got older and older, but all the young doctors he talked to wanted to make a lot of money, not merely a living. So he had to just close his place. Very sad. He helped me, and so many other people who did not have a lot of money, to get well. (I recently looked up his name, and he is now widely thought of as the “father of holistic medicine.”)

Take care, 

Nancy MacLeod

Philo

CALTRANS CLEAN CALIFORNIA PROJECT - Central Boonville Beautification – Clean California is a grant program to clean up the highways. CalTrans has discretionary money and they want to know if we want trees and sculptures in downtown Boonville. April is the deadline for this funding. The requirement is to take on the on-going maintenance. Johnny Schmitt talked about his idea of “parklets,” like Calistoga has recently done. Parklets can add another 6 to 8 feet on the side of the road. It could narrow the highway if we had one parklet on one side and two on the other side. Usually, the parklet is a wooden deck structure. You can use planters and create a zone where people may gather. [Deepend Sculptor Rebecca] Johnson is working with Schmitt on this and feels that art has a broader scope these days and that the parklets could be “sittable” art. Creating places where people who live here or tourists can find a spot for public spaces is Johnson’s vision. Perhaps create a history trail through town. Another idea from Schmitt is to take the empty lots in town and create screens of the outlines of the original buildings and perhaps with murals. [Board Chair Valerie] Hanelt informed the group that Boonville is scheduled for a complete repaving project with bike lanes in 2026. They will coordinate with the projects. Mark Scaramella asked who has liability if something happens to the parklets like someone running into one. Schmitt and Johnson thanked the Board. The subject will be added to next month’s agenda for further discussion.

— AV Community Services District meeting minutes for Wednesday, Feb. 16 Board meeting.

AL NEEDS A PLACE

Dear Community,

You have seen Al Nunez's frequent pleas for a space where he can park his motorhome and live whilst recuperating from old injuries. Recently you may have seen his equipment for sale announcements as he is trying to downsize his footprint to just his motorhome and truck. He is now 62 and his body hurts too much to do all he used to do for a living.

Al has done a few jobs for us on and off over the years. Nobody could do a better job weed whacking than Al--he is a perfectionist and loves carpentry, tinkering with engines, etc. He values his work and I was not able to afford to hire him as much as I would have liked. It pains me that he is desperately searching for a place to park his only belongings: motorhome and truck. He suffers from depression at times and has received help for that. Al is kind, neat and tidy, and he is a proud man. He worries a lot--too much! He would like to do some caregiving or light maintenance in return for a place to live.

Please, dear people, if you have any place suitable for this man to park his motorhome and truck, please get in touch with him at (707) 409-4147. He can pay a small amount of rent. Meanwhile he is waiting for the application window to open for low-cost housing, still under construction. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for your positive thoughts in regard to his situation. 

Lydia

OBSIDIAN, a “Lost Forest” and 1,500 Miles Over Back Roads

by Katy Tahja

Do readers know Oregon has a “Lost Forest”? Excuse me, the state is covered in forest, how could some of it become “lost”? The answer follows as adventures on Oregon’s back roads are shared.

Rockhounding is a great excuse for senior citizens to get outdoors and hit the road. Lots of wide open spaces to drive through in the middle of nowhere to a mineral deposit and social distancing and masks are not required. There’s nobody out there. But after 1,500 miles following back roads on a map there is a delight to be discovered in road and place names and signs.

Many names feature critters. There was Horseshoe Way, Salmon Street, Buzzard’s Roost, Goose Valley, Duck Creek Drive, Sage-Hen Hill Road, Steelhead Court, Jackrabbit Flat, Crane Creek, Fossil Lake, Antelope Valley and Sasquatch Circle. Signs directed drivers to a choice of Still Water Way as opposed to Churning Creek Road, Shady Meadows Lane, and Wonderland Drive. Perhaps Frosty Acres is found down Starvation Flat Road near Poverty Basin. One name that could startle the heck out of the. driver was the turnoff in the Warner Mountains of northeastern California for “Needle Mines.” What? Needles come from factories, not dirt roads in the high desert. But then again, there are obsidian needles, inches long worn weathered volcanic glass slivers, that can be dug out of erupted materials. Those were the needles deserving of a road signs. (By the way, the needles makes great wind chimes.)

Graphic road signs were fun. We saw Mama bears with baby bears on crossings signs along with Big Horn Sheep, Pronghorns, and every variety of cow. “Slow Horses on Roadway” and “Cows on Road Next 50 Miles” were evident. Warning signs in cold areas said “Watch for Ice When Lights Flashing” and “Don’t Pass Snowplow on Right.”

Starting in California for some strange reason hubby and I had never driven up Highway 45 on the west side of the Sacramento River north of highway 20 from Colusa. Doing so we saw signs for business’ we don’t see here near the coast. How about commercial duck plucking? Vector Control for gopher solutions might eliminate the need for Orchard Removal. “Farm to Face” restaurants might get their ingredients from “On the Ranch” meat processing for wild game, cattle, pork, sheep and goats. Instead of Taco Trucks we saw a “East Coast Food” truck offering Philadelphia Cheese Steak sandwiches, chowder, and cream soda. Vineyards and wineries had distillery in their signs now.

Can anyone explain why we saw more huge goat herds than ever before? And what was the never-ending fascination with palm trees in the Central Valley? Lining driveways for a half mile in places were OLD palms, very tall or very fat. We saw more arrays of solar panels than ever before and distribution centers for places like Wal-Mart have wind turbines next to the facility. Many isolated farms in very rural areas had solar panel instillations.

Spring had sprung in the Central Valley with walnut orchards blending into almonds and then olives driving north. Wildflowers were in bloom.The further north traveled the less spring blossoms’ seen. It was still winter in Oregon with ice floes in semi-frozen lakes and stock ponds. Snowy mountain ranges were reflected in high desert shallow lakes. Snow covered the road embankments but highways were dry.

Beautiful country abounds with areas of highway that have no fences along the road. No fences equate with nothing of value to be contained, but the beauty of the natural environment is priceless. This is the kind of area that builds platforms atop utility poles so Bald Eagles, Osprey and hawks have a place to nest. A Bald Eagle flew right along side our car. Also seen were llamas, magpies, wild swans and a dead coyote over a fence.

The rockhounding highlight of the trip was a place along Highway 20 in Oregon between Bend and Burns. A geologic prominence called Glass Buttes is named for the deposits of liquid lava that hardens into glass. Millions of years old there’s about 2,000 feet of it stacked along the road and it produced knapped arrowheads and spearpoints for many native tribes. It comes in a variety of textures and colors reflecting sheens of silver, gold and rainbows within the rock.

Thirty five years ago was the last time we’d visited and, of course, could not find our way to the place where we’d collected football size pieces of obsidian. The land is a maze of dirt tracks covering hundreds of acres and every wide spot offers interesting samples. We drove almost to the top of Big Glass Butte and could see 80 miles west to the Cascades and east to Idaho it seemed. What amazed us were small pieces of the obsidian that looked water smoothed and worn, and we were over 6,000’ in elevation. A lot of geologic uplift happens in central Oregon’s high deserts. We collected obsidian samples for every kid in my grandson’s Comptche School and will share our adventure with them.

And that “Lost Forest”? It’s northeast of Christmas Valley with hundreds of acres of pine and juniper and it is more than 40 miles from the Cascade Mountain forests to the west. It’s protected by the BLM and a camping area for off road recreation areas of sand dunes. It’s next to Fossil Lake, which of course has no water left, but once it did. The dry lake bed is a non-motorized area but you can walk in and sure enough, there are bones in the sand. Bones of what? And how fossilized? We don’t know—but we brought a few tiny bones home—could have been from a robin that died last year, but paleontologists we’re not, just curious rockhounds.

So if travelers ever find themselves in south central Oregon there are mountains of obsidian lots of wide open spaces awaiting the curious. It’s well worth the trip.

SHOULD THIS MAN BE PAROLED?

Denied parole 11 previous times, the 12th parole suitability hearing held Friday, February 25th, ended with a different result for Charles Eugene Spain, age 70, a state prison life inmate currently housed at the California Institution for Men in Chino.

Spain was convicted by jury in 1981 in the Mendocino County Superior Court of unlawful sexual penetration with a foreign object and murder in the second degree of one of his sisters-in-law, Charlotte Verducci, then 34 years of age in 1980 at the time of her passing.

Spain then was sentenced in April 1981 by Judge Timothy O’Brien to 15 years to life in state prison.

As noted in press coverage at the time, Verducci was found wandering along a south county roadway by a motorist the evening of August 2, 1980. The Good Samaritan stopped and gave her a ride to the nearest town, taking her to Hopland where law enforcement was summoned.

On their arrival, deputies saw that the victim was bleeding from her mouth, and her entire back was caked with blood. The victim, however, insisted that she was fine and that nothing untoward or criminal had happened.

Nevertheless, she was rushed to the hospital in Ukiah where it was discovered she had suffered a large puncture wound extending from her vagina into her abdominal cavity. She was also covered with bruises on her face, arm, breast and stomach.

Doctors at the hospital determined that the victim had suffered massive internal injuries and that she had lost more than a gallon of blood after, it was later uncovered by investigators, she had been sexually assaulted by Spain with a small baseball bat.

Surgeons at the Ukiah Valley Medical Center fought for her life but she died from a trauma-induced heart attack the morning after the attack, but not before telling doctors, “He (Spain) shoved a billy club up me.”

In past parole suitability hearings, it was repeatedly found by different parole boards that Verducci was attacked in a “cruel, callous and repulsive manner,” and that Spain continued to lack insight as to why he committed the offense. However, those prior findings have apparently diminished with the passage of time.

As legal background, parole suitability hearings are held to determine if an inmate currently poses an unreasonable risk of danger to society if released from prison. The suitability panel will consider “all relevant, reliable information available to the panel” in determining the inmate’s suitability for parole.

The suitability criteria to be applied to these hearings relies on a number of factors intended to show both suitability and unsuitability for parole. These factors are general guidelines and “the importance attached to any circumstance or combination of circumstances in a particular case is left to the judgment of the panel.”

Evidence tending to show an inmate’s suitability include: (1) lack of a juvenile record, (2) stable social history, (3) signs of remorse, (4) motivation for the crime, (5) lack of criminal history, (6) age, (7) understanding and plans for the future, and institutional behavior.

The panel is required to also consider evidence suggesting unsuitability. The factors of unsuitability include the inmate’s (1) commitment offense, (2) previous record of violence, (3) unstable social history, (4) prior sadistic sexual offenses, (5) psychological factors, including the prisoner’s history of mental problems related to the crime, and (6) institutional misconduct in prison or jail.

Additionally, the California Supreme Court has held that an inmate’s lack of insight is a significant factor in determining whether the inmate is currently unsuitable.

Spain having now been tentatively found “suitable” for parole in the latter years of his life, this decision is now subject to review by the Board of Parole Hearings’ Legal Division and then Governor Newsom before Spain is to be released.

Once a suitability decision is administratively final, generally after the 120-day decision review period, the Governor has statutory authority to review parole suitability decisions.

When an inmate has been convicted of murder, as in this case, the Governor may reverse or modify the Board’s decision without referring it back to the Board for further review.

Given the underlying facts, any interested person who may want to communicate with Governor Newsom in favor of or in opposition to Spain’s proposed release may send respectful correspondence to the Governor at:

Governor Gavin Newsom

1021 O Street, Suite 9000

Sacramento, CA 95814

Letters may also be faxed to the Governor at (916) 558-3160.

Finally, electronic mail is available at https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/.

If this method of e-communication is chosen, on the pull-down box on the destination page entitled “Please choose your subject:”, use the option “Parole – Governors Review.”

The original prosecutor who presented the evidence against Spain to the jury back in the day was Deputy District Attorney Barry Levy. Spain was defended at trial by Public Defender Scott Le Strange.

Representing DA Eyster at Friday’s “virtual” suitability hearing was Deputy District Attorney Luke Oakley.

(DA Presser)

CRAIG STEHR suffered a heart attack on Thursday in his room at the Voll Motel, Ukiah. He was taken to the Adventist Hospital where he received a pacemaker. Craig, in his middle 70s, left an understandably high anxiety message on Saturday saying that the hospital, a for-profit business with a three-hospital monopoly in Mendocino County, wants Craig out before he's fully recovered from his major medical event. The Adventists, self-alleged Christians, want him out because he's indigent, but I think, Craig's not totally indigent with a small social security income which also comes with MediCare, unless for some reason Craig didn't get the application in. Understandably, Craig wants to stay in the hospital until Wednesday when he expects he will be strong enough to care for himself in his room at the Voll. Instead, he's been threatened with eviction and referred to Building Bridges on South State Street where he would get some help, in theory anyway. As of Sunday night we don't know where Craig is, but we've left a message for a County mental health guy to look in on him at the Voll to assess him for permanent housing in Ukiah. 

PG&E WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU

To the Editor:

We are hearing from our customers in the Ukiah area that their PG&E bills are higher than normal. We understand any increase can be challenging. We are taking action and here to help.

Natural gas prices have gone up significantly, about 90 percent higher than last winter in PG&E’s service area. This is happening nationwide, and globally it’s even higher, about 400 percent. PG&E passes through the cost of energy purchases directly to our customers and does not mark-up that cost. What we pay for our customers’ energy supply, both natural gas and electricity, we pass through directly to customers.

Higher natural gas costs combined with lower-than-normal temperatures in some areas are causing folks to crank up their heaters, resulting in an increase in monthly energy bills.

PG&E works to reduce gas price volatility impacts by buying and storing gas when prices are lower for use when prices are higher and maintaining access to lower-cost gas in gas production basins.

Customers can help cut costs, too. More than 70 percent of winter energy costs are from the heating system, water heater, and washer/dryer. A few ways to save:

Set the thermostat at 68 degrees or lower, health permitting, save 2 percent for each degree the thermostat is lowered.

Clean or replace air filters monthly, and keep warm air moving by reversing ceiling fans to force warm air into living spaces.

Set the water heater thermostat to 120 degrees or lower; install low-flow fixtures to use less water (or take shorter showers); wash clothes in cold water.

As the weather warms up, usually during March and April, energy usage and bills should decrease. For more info, visit www.pge.com/winter.

Thank you for your feedback,

Ron Richardson

Ukiah resident and Regional Vice President, PG&E North Coast

NO NEED FOR MORE DISPENSARIES

To the Editor:

I strenuously object to allowing the sale of pot 2 blocks from City Hall, two and a half blocks from a school and a park on the “coveted” west side.

This area is one of the nicer areas, surrounded by handsome, older homes.

This business would be a black eye on any neighborhood.

It is also one block from the seasonal ice rink and the plaza where many Ukiah’s children congregate. Such a business should be located in an industrial area away from children.

Ukiah is trying to upgrade its image to attract tourists by beautifying the downtown. The avenue leading up to the civic center is a lovely landscaped avenue. We don’t need a pot store to detract from it.

If we allow a pot store we may as well move the Forrest Club there. Calling it a “cannabis dispensary” doesn’t change it from a pot selling store.

As the maid in Gone With the Wind said, “You can dress yourselves up in fancy clothes, but you’re still mules in horses harness.”

We already have enough “dispensaries.”

Janet Freeman

Ukiah

BLANK WALLS BETTER THAN MURALS

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

Is mural fever once again sweeping Ukiah? 

Ukiah went a hundred years without murals, and today you can hardly spit without hitting one, hint hint. Having learned nothing from the examples that festoon city exteriors, there is talk of yet another mural, our umpteenth in 15 years. Why now?

Were citizens 100 years ago ignorant of art? Unaware of beauty? Not from the appearance of surviving buildings and homes of that era, which indicate a better looking town than today.

Were city leaders back then shortsighted and disinclined to undertake civic improvements, great and small? Not if we judge by what they left behind: Todd Grove Park, Anton Stadium, our swimming pool complex and well designed streets and boulevards.

So why murals now? Are we afraid to seem judgmental? Do we think we’re empowering children? Or are murals the end product of grant money funding nonprofit agencies that invent feel-good programs fueling the idea that spending money on art results in beauty?

Nothing suggests this latter notion is true. Not a single local mural has improved the blank wall it covers. These ugly, primitive works are a sad series from artists with no skills showcasing naive political views, glued together with stale hippie philosophical residue. 

(Not all murals. Lauren Sinnott’s on Church starting at School Street, is an epic that draws together elements of the past into a cohesive whole, a grand achievement by an artist who deserves to be called one. She’s obviously trained and skilled and earned her way into the select arena of accomplished muralists.) 

But today we’re forever eager to issue paint buckets and brushes to anyone with nothing better to do, then lead them to a blank downtown wall to inflict whatever visual damage they can, which always turns out to be a lot. 

Allowing governing agencies to collect grants and dispense funding for art projects can only lead us to where we are, though it took 100 years to get here.

FRUITS, VEGGIES, PROBLEMS

We all admire the lone fellow who starts at the bottom with nothing but a shovel and a wheelbarrow, works hard until he’s able to afford more tools, a used pickup and a couple employees. Eventually he builds a robust gardening business his children inherit and take to greater heights.

This is America of course, and so the story and dream have been repeated countless times in fields as disparate as construction, clothing, wineries and restaurants. Everyone applauds and roots for the little guy.

And that’s why we’re of two minds when we observe the spread of small fruit & vegetable stands around town. On one hand a popup peddler might be an heroic little guy, (though funding sources for these stands remains a mystery). On the other hand, who is looking out for longstanding merchants trying to make a living under rules and regulations the popup operators ignore?

A block from my house a fellow built a large display on a neighbor’s front lawn. Around town mini-stores sell everything from flowers and candy to teddy bears and items familiar in any gift shop in Ukiah.

But Ukiah shopkeepers are required to pay rent, get taxed, licensed and regulated. Supermarkets like Food For Less depend heavily on sales from produce sections; last week a stand selling fruits and vegetables appeared in the Food For Less parking lot. 

Where do their goods originate? How do they cross the border(s)? When does the FDA inspect food items? Where do the profits go? 

City officials need to talk. The city has to realize that if left unchecked, streetside vendors will multiply, shopkeepers will mutiny, the tax base will dwindle and Ukiah will devolve into an impoverished, third world collection of ragtag rogue operations.

P.J. O’ROURKE

A belated tribute beats none, and I’d regret offering no praise for one of the towering figures in the past 50 years of American writers.

P.J. O’Rourke blazed a path through a sclerotic news landscape beginning in the 1970s as writer and editor of the National Lampoon, and from there never slowed until cancer took him out a couple weeks ago. He was a marvel.

P.J. was born in Toledo and was among the first liberal journalists of our generation to outgrow the mean, pinched world of leftism. He adopted a jovial “pants-down Republican” approach to life and writing; he loved and wrote about fast shiny cars, good aged whiskey, and drugs for fun. He was a brilliant, funny writer, seemingly unable to produce a paragraph free from scalding humor.

P.J. O’Rourke, along with H.L. Mencken, was a major influence in my own modest keyboard undertakings. They defined and expanded what the art of writing on deadline could be.

But it was P.J.’s gentle, savage mockeries of our politicians, plus his cheerfully brutal insights into the follies of American society, that were his literary gift; he passed his gifts along to us. 

(TWK gets the byline, but poor Tom Hine does all the work. They sometimes live in Ukiah, and sometimes get along with each other.)

CATCH OF THE DAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2022

JENNIFER BOWMAN, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, criminal threats, probation revocation.

JESSE DUGGER, Ukiah. Domestic battery, protective order violation, resisting, probation revocation.

BRIDGETTE FRANK, Covelo. Stolen vehicle, conspiracy, offenses while on bail.

REBECCA GILLESPIE, Eureka/Ukiah. Possession-transportation-sale organic/narcotic drug between counties, tear gas, bringing controlled substance into jail, conspiracy.

LUIS GONZALEZ JR., Covelo. Dealer vehicle unable to determine ownership, conspiracy, offenses while on bail.

ERIC HOAGLIN, Covelo. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

LUIS MAGANA-ALVAREZ, Ukiah. Grand theft, failure to appear, resisting, probation revocation.

JASON MILLS, Fort Bragg. Criminal threats, probation revocation.

SANJAY MOHAN, Willits. DUI, probation revocation.

JENNIFER OVERCAST, Roseville/Willits. Failure to appear.

CHRISTINE YEDZINIAK, Fortuna/Ukiah. Possession-transportation-sale organic/narcotic drug between counties, conspiracy.

THIS WEEK, Russia began their invasion of Ukraine. President Putin launched the attack with support from allies like Belarus and Tucker Carlson. Many analysts were surprised Putin went through with the invasion, even though it was obviously going to be a colossal mistake. But he couldn’t back down after all that buildup. Kind of like how NBC still had to go through with airing the Winter Olympics. Experts on Russian politics are saying that economic sanctions in the West will not deter Putin because his money is in nontraditional assets that are difficult to trace. Ugh, so on top of everything else awful about Putin, he’s also into crypto. (Colin Jost, Weekend Update, SNL)

YESTERDAY ANYONE WATCHING EURONEWS (and US media) on one screen and Russian state television on another would have been perplexed by the totally contradictory coverage of both with respect to the fate of the armed detachment of Ukrainian border guards on one island in the southeast of Ukraine. Euronews (And US media) carried the address of President Zelensky awarding posthumous designation as Heroes of Ukraine to the entire detachment, which reportedly resisted the attacking Russian forces and were slaughtered. Meanwhile Russian news showed those same border guards seated at tables and signing sworn statements that they voluntarily lay down their arms and awaited repatriation to their homes and families.

— Gilbert Doctorow

THE OUTCOME OF THE SOVIET RULE IN UKRAINE

Soviet Ukraine was born in late 1917, existed briefly in 1918, and re-emerged in 1919. On 30 December 1922, it joined the USSR as the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, but before that, the communists had clashed for power and territory with, among others, Ukrainian People’s Republic, General Denikin, German-sponsored Second Hetmanate, and again UPR, allied with Poland. Only after the 1921 Treaty of Riga did they consolidate their rule over the bulk of Ukraine – and this part, compared to the regions that ended up within Polish, Czech or Romanian borders, drew the shorter straw. 

Ukraine joined the Soviet Union just as its war communism – extreme centralization of power and total control of production by the state – was making way for Lenin’s New Economic Policy. Seeing how the previous doctrine had ruined the state and, combined with drought, brought about the 1921-1922 famine that killed millions (including hundreds of thousands Ukrainians), the Bolsheviks decided to introduce a temporary measure of free market, at least in agriculture. From 1922, the Soviet republics, Ukraine included, began slow recovery. 

In early and mid-1920s, the communists, trying to strengthen their power, also allowed national aspirations of the Union’s peoples to surface, and even fostered local cultures. At the same time, they were preparing to transform the agricultural economy into an industrialized one. In 1928, Stalin ended NEP with his first five-year plan and speeded up industrialization. Shortly thereafter, in 1929, the countryside was hit with collectivization, which aimed at turning peasants, land owners, into forced laborers of the state, slaving away on their nationalized land.

The whole of USSR saw revolts against the new policy, slaughtering of farm animals and destruction of machines, but the Ukrainian dissent was the most pronounced. Stalin, who remembered the UPR, decided to break this “Ukrainian nationalism” with dekulakization – mass murder and deportation campaign – plus the increase in food quotas to be delivered and confiscation of any surplus. The result was one of the worst famines in the history of mankind, engineered starvation of four to seven milion people on fertile Ukrainian soil, a Soviet plan that crippled Ukrainian peasantry. 

The peasantry were traditionally the base of culture and traditions, both closely linked to religion and the local Orthodox Church – which from early 1930s was hit by severe repressions as well. There was more: parallel to the famine, Ukrainian party leaders, ten years before encouraged by Lenin to promote Ukrainization, were purged, and to sideline the remnants, the capital was moved from Kharkiv to Kiyv. Sovietization replaced Ukrainization: Ukrainian cultural institutions and newspapers were shut down, the language marginalized, the people harassed.

The famine was a major blow aimed to cut Ukrainian national identity at the knees through the decimation of the peasant class, and another one was an attack on intelligentsia, which, in Stalin’s opinion, was leaning too much toward the West: in late 1920s, only 20% of books in Ukraine were translations of Russian writers, while the rest were penned by local authors or translated from western languages. From 1933, places like the Slovo Building in Kharkiv, a haven of Ukrainian intellectual activity, would not be permitted to last and its members to live.

And in this organized assault on the very idea of Ukraine, thousands of leading Ukrainian authors, journalists, artists and educators found themselves persecuted, imprisoned, and, usually executed. A great number ended up in the Solovki camp, but not for long: on 3 November 1937 in Sandarmokh, NKVD officer Matveyev, his only education being two years of elementary school, made poet and translator of Horace Mykola Zerov lie facedown in a shallow grave and shot him in the back of the head, and with him, hundreds of other members of the “Executed Renaissance.” 

Then, the 1937-1938 Great Terror purged the CP(B)U, the communist party, and NKVD members in Ukraine, while famous Order no. 00447 (“Concerning the punishment of former kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements”) gave the security services quotas of people to persecute and execute, and the NKVD troikas a carte blanche to persecute and execute anyone they wanted. Such policy removed yet more thousands of Ukrainians – either from the face of the earth or into Siberian labor camps, and the vast majority were victims of blanket terror, not purges.

After WWII, the reign of Soviet terror returned, first under Khruschev, since 1938 the First Secretary of the CP(B)U, then under Melnikov. Post-war repression campaign was mostly of anticosmopolitan nature because it targeted people suspected of disloyalty or infecting the Soviet society with western influences: real or alleged Nazi collaborators, former POWs and forced laborers. This period also saw a renewed attack on intelligentsia; survivors of the 1930s slaughter, allowed to foster patriotic sentiments in WWII, were in late 1940s accused of “Ukrainian nationalism” and persecuted.

By the time Stalin died in 1953 and Khruschev delivered his “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences” speech in 1956, Ukraine lost yet more hundreds of thousands of people – deported, imprisoned and executed. The Khruschev thaw began the last three and a half decades of Ukraine in the Soviet Union – slow revival of culture and returning Russification, as well as the birth of dissident movements and resulting repressions from Moscow-controlled security apparatus, all this against the background of gradually deteriorating economy. 

After the first three and a half decades, which cut the population of Ukraine by almost a third and its elites by four-fifths – the other three and a half were, at best, only lesser evil. The history of Soviet Ukraine is two evils combined, and that cannot be called the country’s best time.

(Institute of National Remembrance, Poland)

LETTER FROM SLOVENIA

My impression is that Slovenians and almost all Eastern European peoples have turned against Putin.

Russia was historically very important for the Slovenian economy, though even under Tito there was robust trade with the west, particularly Austria (Slovenian ties go way back to the Hapsburg Empire) and Germany. Until the past 30 years, German was the second language here. Though many people still speak it, English has supplanted German since Slovenian independence in 1991. There was also a good degree of freedom of movement for Slovenes in the Tito era. He was born just south of here in Croatia but his mother was a Slovene (mixed marriages are not uncommon in the border areas) so he had a soft spot for Slovenia. More recently, Slovenian manufacturers (which are limited in number but do exist) sold a fairly good amount of their output to Russia. But since joining the EU Slovenia's economy has changed and diversified, with broadening markets for both import and export of goods, and increased tourism from western European countries, particularly Italy. Before Brexit quite a few British lived here in retirement (most have gone back though as they are no longer eligible for EU health insurance which is common to all EU countries).

Re Russians, here's a case in point. I live near a city called Rogaska Slatina, which has been a “thermal spa” center for centuries (the Hapsburgs and Marshall Tito himself used to come here for treatments). During the 1990's and 2000's the business mix grew to rely on many nouveau riche Russians, quite a few of whom bought properties in the surrounding hills (it's a very picturesque area), paying “Russian” (e.g. elevated) prices, not Slovene prices. A few years ago the Russian business dropped off, and since Covid it has pretty much disappeared entirely. Locals don't expect it to come back, yet many of them are glad. When I first visited Slovenia in 2008 the Russians were very visible, and often showy with their new found wealth. There are still some around occasionally but they keep a much lower profile, and frankly seem to be very few in number. My understanding is that Putin himself sent out word a few years ago that such favored Russians should live in Russia - no wonder, they are not very popular anymore abroad, even with money to throw around.

I was very happy to see Victor Orban, Hungary's leader denouncing Putin on local TV. He has generally been favorable to Putin, but that's over now. Hungary has a long memory, especially of the Soviet invasion suppressing Imre Nagy's reforms during the Communist era. Ditto for the leader of the Czech Republic, who was until this invasion generally friendly to Putin; now he's the opposite.

In Slovenia all political parties seem to agree that Putin has to be stopped. From the people I have talked to the population feels the same way. What remains unsaid is that the western border of Ukraine and Hungary is only a day's drive from the eastern border of Slovenia and Hungary. What has been said (see the last sentence in the article linked below), is that Ukraine, like several other new countries (Slovenia is only 31 years old as a country, though centuries old as a cultural and linguistic group) deserves to have inviolable borders and a stable government not driven by a larger bordering expansionist power. As one of the smallest nations in Europe, Slovenians understand this well. They are even sending small contingents of troops to the Baltics, though their military is tiny. Symbolic, but important. 

I do have a sense that these countries like Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary etc. all share a common undercurrent of experience and conviction that Russia, once so powerful as the USSR, should not once again be allowed to lord it over this part of the world. Having been deprived of the power of self-government (however ineffectual or corrupt it may become) until recently, they understand the value of political rights. Fortunately modern information technologies quickly disseminate knowledge (to the detriment of tyrants like Putin) and allow people to make better informed decisions rather than relying on state propaganda (whether doled out by CNN in the USA, or Pravda and RTV in the USSR and Russia). This is one of the very great benefits of social media, maybe one of the few.

Putin can't deny it when all the world sees an ex-actor, Zelensky (sound familiar?) once again become a head of state, and this time on Youtube, taunting a Russian leader, and vowing to continue a free man until his last breath . Come what may. Putin can either make a martyr of him, or will have to continue to have this in his face every day. God bless and protect Mr. Zelensky, his family, the fellow members of his government and all Ukrainians. May they prevail soon, or Putin be overthrown by his own people.

Headlines may soon read:

Ex-Clown brings down Russian Dictator!

Putin may have bitten off more than he can chew this time. This is not Georgia, it could be more like Afghanistan for him, though I pray it is over soon. 

Here is the article on Slovenia's response. Note, Slovenians tend to see their leaders as quite corrupt (many are indeed) but in this case they all seem to be on the same page in condemning Putin and making useful suggestions about having Ukraine join the EU (which would be a boon for them and their neighbors to the west, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia etc. as well as Ukraine).

sloveniatimes.com/slovenia-condemns-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-roundup/

…VLADIMIR PUTIN duly plays his allotted role by denouncing the scheduled deployment of air defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic as unacceptable threats to Russian security. Last year (2007) Putin declared in a press conference that “once the missile defense system is put in place it will work automatically with the entire nuclear capability of the United States. It will be an integral part of the US nuclear capability…. And, for the first time in history–and I want to emphasize this–there will be elements of the US nuclear capability on the European continent. It simply changes the whole configuration of international security…. Of course, we have to respond to that.”

Thus, with much bluster, both sides continue to shovel billions to their respective military-industrial sectors. Missile defense has been a Pentagon boondoggle for more than half a century. Since Ronald Reagan repackaged it in 1983 as the Strategic Defense Initiative, the United States has spent as much as $100 billion, with another $100 billion already pledged for research, operating expenses, etc. between now and 2015.

Why Putin and the Russians don’t simply split their sides with merriment at America’s folly is beyond me. US missile defense systems are not and will never be unacceptable challenges to Russian security, for the same reason that all antimissile systems offer no peril except to the taxpayers financing them. They don’t work because they fail to remove the uncertainty that is the essential ingredient of nuclear deterrence. Despite hundreds of faked tests, the antimissile missiles can in no way be guaranteed to hit their targets. There have been plenty of well-researched exposés attesting to this. But missile defense is now invulnerably lodged in the Pentagon budget. The more the Russians trumpet their supposed fears, the easier it is for Congress to vote the billions.

Back in 1983 my brother Andrew published The Threat, the only accurate assessment of Soviet military strength available at that time. Andrew accurately diagnosed the reality of the military balance between East and West and the decrepit corruption of the Soviet military machine. A prime theme was that threat inflation worked to the advantage of both the US and the SU military-industrial complexes. It was not in the interests of either party to devalue the threat posed by the other.

As regards disastrous and unnecessary military expenditures, the Russians have not yet digested one lesson of the Soviet Union’s downfall: don’t try to compete in an arms race on terms dictated by the other side. There are surely threat assessors in Russia who know well that an antimissile system in Poland (supposedly deployed to counter an Iranian threat that in fact doesn’t exist) alters the balance of deterrence not a jot. The fear of “mutual assured destruction” stems from the fact that in the event of escalation to the level of nuclear war, some of Russia’s ICBMs would get through, no matter how many US missile systems are deployed in Poland, the Czech Republic or the Ukraine. And vice versa.

Just as there will never be anything approaching a defensive missile system guaranteed to intercept all incoming nuclear warheads, so too there will never be a first-strike system guaranteed to destroy Russia or the United States or China before the target country can retaliate. Some sensible Russian should give Putin and the Russian leaders the testimony of Dr. James Schlesinger, former CIA director and then Defense Secretary in the Nixon/Ford years, to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1982. Although in the 1970s Schlesinger had played a major role in evolving the so-called “counterforce” strategy, trying to finesse the implacable logic of “mutual assured destruction,” his 1982 testimony highlighted the all-important role of uncertainty and “the unknown and immeasurable element of the possibility of major technical failure…. The precision that one encounters in paper studies of nuclear exchanges reflects the precision of the assumptions rather than any experience based on approximation-to-real-life test data. Specialists, in their enthusiasm, tend to forget how conjectural the whole process remains…. Happily no one has ever fought a nuclear war. Not only have ICBMs never been tested in flying operational trajectories against operational targets, they have not been tested flying north and this may or may not introduce certain areas of bias in the estimates of accuracy…regarding failure rates…. For leaders, on either side, that may be enticed into considering the utility of a major nuclear strike, I would hope there would always be somebody there under such hypothetical circumstances to remind them of these realities.”

A new new cold war is on the starting blocks, and the initiating party most certainly has been the United States. One can scarcely blame the Russians for their anger at the provocative encirclements of the Clinton and Bush years. But the Russians have good cards in their hands. All the more reason, therefore, that they should dump the bad ones that got them into such trouble twenty years ago.

(Alexander Cockburn, August 2008)

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: Ever since the final days of the Second World War, when mushroom clouds rose above the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, mankind has lived in the shadow of nuclear war. As a schoolboy in the 1980s, I vividly remember the paranoia of the decades that followed. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, I assumed those days were over. But now, with Vladimir Putin's chilling announcement that he is putting Russia's nuclear forces on 'special alert' against the West, we find ourselves once again in a world haunted by nightmares of Armageddon. Should we take Putin's nuclear threat seriously? Shocking as the last few days have been, I struggle to believe he would invite a full-scale war. But nobody who has read about the carnage at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where more than 200,000 civilians are thought to have been killed, can feel remotely complacent.

ALL ELECTRIC?

Editor: 

Many cities are pushing to make all homes 100% electric in the future — a commendable goal for the sake of the climate. However, consider it all as just a quantity of energy, whether it is kilowatt hours or British thermal units. All homes will need at least the same amount of energy whatever happens.

To be 100% electric will mean that the entire domestic underground gas pipe infrastructure system will be abandoned and that amount of energy will need to be delivered by an electric infrastructure, i.e. a huge increase in transmission and distribution lines, plus power stations.

The power stations will probably be powered by natural gas, so they will probably be more efficient, but there will have to be a significant amount of additional power stations to drive the system. So, we would be abandoning an entire gas distribution and network system and replacing it with a system that is not there yet.

Mandating that users convert is approaching the power problem from the wrong end. Power companies need to ensure that they can deliver 100% reliable electricity, and they have not been very successful so far.

Ian Elliott

Sebastopol

LOVELIEST OF TREES

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride 

Wearing white for Eastertide.

. . .

Now, of my threescore years and ten,

Twenty will not come again,

And take from seventy springs a score,

It only leaves me fifty more.

. . .

And since to look at things in bloom

Fifty springs are little room,

About the woodlands I will go 

To see the cherry hung with snow.

— A. E. Housman

---

OWED TO SALMON CREEK

home for years the canyon now

sea shells surf along the shore

folds the deep cling of survival

in its slopes of green serene

. . .

calculate the crossings of the sun

can I add to that but one

I'll put myself where all that lasts

is with me till I let it pass

. . .

I'll put my feet up on the deck rail

after a few pumps with the five-pounders

hail my counselors the standing timber

and settle in the living silence

— Gordon Black

‘SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’ PAYS TRIBUTE TO UKRAINE

This weekend, “Saturday Night Live” faced two questions of significantly different orders of magnitude: Would the show try to find topical humor in the Russian invasion of Ukraine? And, of far less importance to the global order, but still a noteworthy matter within the “S.N.L.” realm: How would it address the return of John Mulaney? To answer the first question, the show avoided an opening comedy sketch altogether and instead began with a performance by Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, which sang the hymn “Prayer for Ukraine.” At the conclusion of the performance, cast members Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong took the stage behind an arrangement of candles which were shown to spell Kyiv.…

nytimes.com/2022/02/27/arts/television/snl-ukraine-john-mulaney.html

AND THEN THERE'S US

And then there's the United States, in which the coronavirus has brought out a whole new range of pathologies going far beyond the purely medical. You might have expected the mRNA vaccines to solve the problem of dealing with a pandemic in a liberal society. Unlike lockdowns and social distancing, vaccines don't require that individuals make sacrifices for the common good. Being vaccinated does reduce your chance of infecting others, but the big reason to take your shots is that they reduce your personal chance of getting severely ill. That is, vaccination is even less problematic than mask-wearing, which is something you do primarily to protect others and only secondarily to protect yourself. Vaccination is something you do mainly out of self-interest.

But anti-vax sentiment, fed by medical disinformation, caused a drastic slowdown in the pace of US vaccinations by June 2021, just in time for the deadly onslaught of the Delta wave. Many Republican politicians and, even more crucially, rightwing media figures fiercely opposed vaccine mandates, then turned to attacks on the science behind the vaccines and the medical experts urging Americans to get their shots. And opposition to vaccines became a badge of conservative political loyalty.

The effect has been dramatic. As of November 2021, 91 percent of Democrats had received at least one shot, versus only 59 percent of Republicans. In vaccine terms, the US is practically two countries: blue states have vaccination rates comparable to Western Europe, while red states lag far behind. So if we're comparing the ability of political systems to cope with a pandemic, it makes an immense difference whether you consider New York or Texas to represent America. 

— Paul Krugman, Covid's Economic Mutations

TIME TO DO BETTER

California’s community college staffing system is broken. It relies heavily on nearly 37,000 part-time instructors to keep the nation’s largest higher-education system running. They make up nearly two-thirds of the teachers, yet they have little to no job security and often have no health coverage, subsist on poverty-level wages and must shuttle between multiple districts to cobble together enough classes to survive.

The stark details of their plight, laid out in a recent series by EdSource investigative reporter Thomas Peele, highlight the need for California policymakers to rethink how the state’s 72 community college districts hire and compensate instructors. And, while they’re at it, state lawmakers should do away with the cushy, sometimes lifetime, health benefits that district trustees receive while their part-time instructors are scrambling to qualify for any coverage.

There was a time when what were then known as junior colleges hired people with full-time day jobs to pass on their crafts by teaching a single class on the side at their local campus. But those days are over.

Of the 930 part-time faculty, what are known as adjunct professors, who responded to an EdSource survey, 53% commute 20 miles or more to teach; 33% teach in at least two districts, frequently on the same day; and only 17% said they taught just one course per semester.

In short, those part-time jobs have become a primary income source for most of the adjunct instructors. Yet they grossed an average of less than $20,000 in each district they worked, according to the 2020 salary data EdSource obtained from 41 of the 72 different districts.

They’re often paid for teaching but not for class preparation or grading. And compensation for office hours is frequently not provided. Meanwhile, they can teach no more than three courses at one district each semester, thereby forcing them to take jobs at multiple districts. Gov. Gavin Newsom last year vetoed legislation that would let them teach more classes at the same campus. It’s time that California stopped treating adjuncts like cheap labor. These are the people we count on to provide critical education to our next generation of workers, many of whom turn to community colleges because of finances or grades to help them transition to four-year colleges.

These instructors, who are critical to a community college system that enrolls about 1.5 million students, deserve a living wage and benefits. Newsom’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year includes $200 million to help districts provide health insurance.

It’s an essential start. But it’s also time for an in-depth review of whether there’s a better way to hire and compensate instructors so they can be treated like the professionals they are.

There’s got to be a better way.

(K.C. Meadows, Editor, Ukiah Daily Journal. Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal.)

PUTIN ON UKRAINE

“Fight or appease me.
Afghanistan or Munich?
NATO, you decide.”

— Jim Luther

CEO: GOODBYE OR GOOD RIDDANCE?

by Jim Shields

If one were to know absolutely nothing about the tenure of soon-to-depart Mendocino County CEO Carmel Angelo, I would tell them to invest the eight minutes it takes to read Mark Scaramella’s piece, “The CEO’s Record Of Mismanagement,” and John Sakowicz’s letter-to-the-editor setting out a chronology of non-existent oversight of CEO acts of commission and omission.

I’d also ask people to spend the two minutes it takes reading my comments concluding this column, and by then you’re sure to be an expert on the topic.

The County Executive Officer is an appointed position that is supposed to be subordinate to the Board of Supervisors since they are the ones responsible for hiring the person to serve in the post. However, in Ms Angelo’s 12 years on the job, it appeared to many that she had flipped the script, and she became the tail that is wagging the dog.

Here are highlights from Scaramella’s recent column, “The CEO’s Record Of Mismanagement” appearing in the Anderson Valley Advertiser.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

In his letter-to-the-editor this week, Ukiah resident John Sakowicz melds the Kathy Wylie “hate speech” controversy with alleged Grand Jury avoidance of numerous acts of commission or omission by Angelo.

“Regarding Jim Shields’ article about how Grand Jury foreman Kathy Wylie calls any criticism of outgoing County CEO Carmel Angelo, ‘hate speech’…I always thought Wylie was in Angelo’s pocket.

“Look at the public record. Wylie always steered grand jury investigations away from Angelo. Nary a single critical grand jury report … on the CEO office and the CEO’s years of bullying the Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff, and county department heads.

“Nary a single critical grand jury report on the county’s mythical financial reserve. The so-called “reserve” was built on the backs of workers who suffered high vacancy rates in their departments. It was built on deferred maintenance of buildings. It was built on a ballooning unfunded county pension liability.

“Nary a single grand jury report on how Angelo privatized mental health services and made Camille Schraeder and her friends at Redwood Community Services rich with no accountability.

“Nary a single report on how Angelo consolidated power at the CEO Office…bringing auditor and treasurer functions, budget, emergency services, risk management, IT, and general services into the CEO’s Office along with the existing human resources and county counsel.

“Nary a single critical report on how Angelo “disappeared” numerous county employees, including department heads, resulting in numerous expensive wrongful termination lawsuits.”

* * *

One interesting aspect of the CEO’s tenure is that the general public probably is more aware of the name and activities of a bureaucrat holding an administrative position than they are of the five elected supervisors who are the CEO’s boss and empowered with final decision authority basically in all matters.

More importantly, a majority of citizens believe the CEO is the real decision-maker in county government. And no, the media has not brainwashed people into reaching that conclusion. Too many folks have expressed that opinion to me while relating a personal experience(s) regarding to actions taken at BOS meetings over the years.

Angelo also generates unvarnished high praise from some of the most popular and respected elected officials in this county.

Two that come immediately to mind are former Sheriff Tom Allman and former Supervisor John Pinches, but there are others for sure.

When Alllman announced his retirement a few years ago, he went out of his way to single out CEO Angelo for praise and her stellar job performance.

In a December 2019 story, the UDJ reported, “Allman’s time as sheriff spans three boards of supervisors and three county CEOs. Allman gives current county CEO Carmel Angelo an A-plus rating. ‘Carmel is a workhorse. If not for her our reserve would not be where it is. She does her job and does it real well,’ Allman said, adding that he either met with or talked to Angelo every single Monday, a communication that helped him keep his department funded and working. He noted that the Hart family investigation cost his department some $40,000 which he didn’t have but which Angelo found for him to continue the work. ‘I can’t name a situation where we haven’t done something because of (a lack of) money,’ he said.”

Pinches, who served on the BOS for a dozen years, told me that Angelo’s hiring was the “best thing to ever happen in Mendocino County” because of her unmatched skills as an administrator and budgeteer.

Pinches, who made his reputation mastering the intricacies of budget deep-diving, explained that most of his colleagues on the Board over the years “didn’t understand and didn’t seem to care much about the budget process. But with Carmel for the first time I had somebody I could work with and make some headway on improving this county’s finances. And keep in mind how the County was close to going over the cliff before she arrived.”

During the 2018 3rd District Supervisors campaign, Pinches was quick to defend the CEO during debates when she came under fire from attendees.

“Carmel Angelo has done more than anybody who was ever been in that position before to put this County on solid ground. She knows the ins and outs of the budget process and does a really good job of managing everything she’s responsible for. People who say she doesn’t, don’t know what they’re talking about or just don’t like her for other reasons.”

So there you have it. You might call it a tale of two CEOs.

Take your pick.

(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 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org.)

HEY! HO! RT & SPUTNIK HAVE GOT TO GO!

RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik News should both be kaput! Contact the US Senate at (202) 224-3121 and the US House of Representatives at (202) 225-3121 and ask for the broadcast licenses of Russian state media psychological warfare outlets RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik News to be revoked immediately. Time to take out the garbage.

It’s bad enough already that America has to deal with the foolish, foreign-owned, fake Fox News network feeding fascist lies and pro-Putin propaganda to its unpatriotic and unrepentantly racist ignoramus viewing audience. So-called Fox “News” is a blight on the body politic, just like the GOP is itself.

With Russia’s murderous and illegal invasion of Ukraine in mind, why in the world would we self-respecting Americans continue to allow the Kremlin-controlled crapfests known as RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik News to continue to purposefully pump dishonest disinformation into our domestic media environment? Let’s deport these lying sacks back to Moscow where their worthless White supremacist soulless selves belong.

RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik News are the media equivalents of Chernobyl - radioactive, toxic, carcinogenic, and under Russian military occupation! Make those phone calls to Congress. Be unafraid and unapologetic in demanding that RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik News go off the air ASAP. Do it today, and contact these Russian tools while you’re at it and let them know what you think of their vocal support for Vladimir Putin:

RT (Russia Today) — feedback@rttv.ru

Sputnik News — feedback@sputniknews.com

Fox News — FoxNationCustomerCare@fox.com

Sincerely,

Jake Pickering

Arcata

WAR PROPAGANDA ABOUT UKRAINE BECOMING MORE MILITARISTIC, AUTHORITARIAN, AND RECKLESS

by Glenn Greenwald

Every useful or pleasing claim about the war, no matter how unverified or subsequently debunked, rapidly spreads, while dissenters are vilified as traitors or Kremlin agents.

greenwald.substack.com/p/war-propaganda-about-ukraine-becoming