WITH THE HAUGHTY high-handedness we've come to expect from them, the judges of the Mendocino County Superior Court, in an unsigned press release, have announced that they're cutting back Ten Mile Court's operating hours in Fort Bragg. Ten Mile, some of us will recall, was sold to us as a major convenience for residents of the Mendocino Coast. No longer would these thousands of Coast residents be required to trek the two-hour roundtrip to Ukiah for justice. It could all be done in the new courthouse in Fort Bragg.
BUT RIGHT AWAY, major cases, as always, were shuffled off to Ukiah, meaning major felonies committed in, say, Westport or Point Arena, continued to be sorted out in Ukiah, necessitating that all the witnesses, all the people summoned for jury duty, everyone interested in the case, had to go to the County seat because, boiled down, it was more convenient for the system that people go to it than it was for justice to go to the people. And to think the Anderson Valley Justice Court tried a murder case as late as 1935 involving a Philo man who fed his inconvenient brother to his hogs. But as of December 31st, in modern Mendo, criminal felony and juvenile matters, matters that require transportation of the alleged perps from the County Jail in Ukiah, will be heard in Ukiah.
WHICH MEANS COAST COPS, not to mention the even more numerous jurors and prospective jurors, will while away the hours far from their work and their homes sitting around in Ukiah for the Black Robes to shuffle justice their way.
AND THAT'S JUST for openers. Ten Mile will be open two less daily hours, from 8:30am to 1pm “for filing of papers, inspection of files and other clerical business. Court sessions will only be held Monday through Wednesday, except for long-cause civil matters that start on a Wednesday, which can continue uninterrupted through Friday of the same week,” according to the Mendocino County Superior Court.
THE COURT'S STATEMENT, issued October 30th, called the “service reduction” temporary, and attributed it to a $768,675 cut in the state's budget for local court systems, a statement that doesn't include the information that the Superior Court is fully expecting enough funding from this broke system to build an unneeded new courthouse in Ukiah, a courthouse insufficient to house much of any civic body but themselves.
THE ALLEGED SOLUTION to the funding shortfall? According to the judges, the solution is passage of Governor Brown's Prop 30, the so-called public education bailout to which partial court funding and funding for state prison inmates re-routed to county jails has been attached.
WORLD SERIES DELIRIUM. I got to Sutter and Kearney last Wednesday just after 9am, one of the million-plus celebrants who would gather for the Giants triumphant parade up Market Street by 11. The crowds were already thick and, on Market, impassable. I worked my way west, up through the Tenderloin and its lost souls that for this one day included many wholesome-looking, unlost nuclear families headed for the parade, Mom and Pop staring straight ahead, trying not to see the human wreckage strewn about them. But little Donnie and Debbie, alarm in their Big Bird young eyes, wondered at all the disarrayed big people they never see in San Anselmo. “Look, mommy, those men are sleeping on the ground with no blankies!” I stopped at Larkin where it dips to Market, and took up a position maybe 50 yards uphill from the Civic Center, as close as I could get to the celebs without bulling my way downhill. I wouldn't be able to see much of anything, but simply being there is more the point of these things than seeing one's heroes close enough to say, “Dude! Way to go!” By October, these guys are more familiar to us than most of our neighbors, and twice as appealing. I was present because I wanted to see what the crowd was like, gage the vibe as we used to say. Well sir, the vibe was vibrant and smelled like marijuana, with young and old alike puffing away among the drunks as strangers chatted with strangers, and the whole mob of us togged out in combinations of orange and black. The visuals were doubly strange, a combination of Halloween and baseball, exemplified for me by an Elvis impersonator draped in Giants beads. Free enterprise had broken out everywhere, but storefront enterprise, especially the jewelry stores around Union Square, was hunkered down. The display cases at DeBeer's on Post were empty in anticipation of smash and grabbers. A formidably large, fit-looking, unsmiling white man, clearly a functioning psycho, was unamused at the happy scene on the street. He looked like he hoped, just hoped, some fool would take him on. He was walking point for DeBeer's International. Low level capitalists were working the crowds, hawking everything from muy autentico orange and black serapes to a Chinese guy selling “Authentic Italian Licorce” for four bucks. It tasted like Authentic Mall Licorce to me, but he was selling lots of it in the shadow of a store announcing “Syrian Handmade Ice Cream and authentic Mediterranean pastries.” That area of Larkin and Golden Gate is headquarters for the state and federal forces of repression. You've got the big federal fortress on Golden Gate between Polk and Larkin across the street from the Hiram W. Johnson State Building where, on its upper floors, you find this region's appellate courts presided over by political appointees who, like their federal brothers and sisters on the other side of Golden Gate, faithfully ratify everything from coerced confessions to high finance swindles. I often pop in to use the facilities adjoining the state courts, marveling at the lush carpets, the marble men's rooms and, to solidify my ongoing fantasy that someday the millions massed below cheering on millionaire ballplayers might instead storm upstairs, helping themselves to the fixtures, the rugs, the big leather chairs, and the bad art, seriously disrupting their majesties' two hour lunches and tennis lessons. Hiram Johnson was a progressive, back when the term meant something, an austere old boy opposed to the rank privilege found today in the building named after him. The parade was running late. The crowd was reduced to cheering empty tour buses as agile young guys swung themselves up onto the landings of an apartment building for primo views. Directly to my front, two young women took big gulps from a fifth of Southern Comfort with chaser swigs from a mammoth bottle of Coca Cola, a combo only a kid could desire then survive. Tuesday night, when the Giants clinched with Sergio Romo buzzing a fastball straight as a string past a surprised Miguel Cabrera, things back in SF had gotten out of hand. The cops raced from mini-mobs doing bad things to majorly mobs doing bad things, like setting fires at intersections, groping women, randomly assaulting passersby, and in one grand piece of vandalism, torching a muni bus and severely beating a young man who boldly reminded the vandals that burning buses was not celebratory. Innocent thousands, though, merely careened drunkenly through the streets shouting their incoherent delight at the four game sweep of Detroit. When Wednesday's parade finally hove into obstructed view, there were encouraging boos at the vehicles containing politicians, enthusiastic shouts for Giants employees, and a real burst of joy at what I assumed was the favorite ballpark vendor of all, the Kettlecorn Man. And there was absolute pandemonium for the ballplayers when they finally hoved into view. I read later that Romo, bless him, a native of Brawley, wore a t-shirt inscribed “I Just Look Illegal,” a rare political statement from a professional jock, almost all of whom are pounded into bland conformity by the interlocked forces of media and big money. David Talbot's excellent book, Season of the Witch, about San Francisco in the fraught and frightening Frisco days beginning with the happy hippie horseshit of the late 1960s that quickly became the heavy drugs and murder cults of the 1970s, says in his book that Bill Walsh's Super Bowl 49ers and the steady Mommy hand of Dianne Feinstein lifted San Francisco from its death malaise. I wondered about that assessment of those times right up until last Wednesday when I saw a million transported baseball fans presided over by the blandly inoffensive, Feinstein-like mayor, Ed Lee, everyone lifted for a few hours from their daily grinds, and absolutely transformed by a baseball team and a politician who doesn't piss them off every time he opens his mouth.
JOIN US Friday, November 16, 2012 To welcome on board our City’s three newly elected Councilmembers and our new City Treasurer! City of Point Arena will host this post-election event “City Hall Open House and Meet & Greet” on Friday, November 16, 2012 from 6pm to 8pm at City Hall (451 School Street, aka Veterans Hall). Enjoy a relaxing evening of socializing, city history & trivia, games, and door prizes! This fun evening complete with live music, appetizers from Point Arena’s best restaurants, and more, is a family event not to be missed! You are encouraged to attend this Open House Event and to meet the Point Arena City Council, as well as the City’s Planning Commissioners, Staff and many of our volunteers. It’s an opportunity, in an informal setting, to personally talk to many of the hardworking men and women who serve the City of Point Arena as City Councilmembers, Planning Commissioners, Committee Members, Volunteers and City Staff. Get to know the people who work year round to ensure the success of our City. Special topics/events include: Information regarding establishing the Stornetta Public Lands as a National Monument. Presentation by potential investors relative to new hotel possibilities (at former Sea Shell Inn sites). For food planning and material preparation RSVP is encouraged (but not required) at City Hall 882-2122 or via email reply. We look forward to seeing you there! — Hunter M. Alexander, Administrator/City Clerk. “Always do right — this will gratify some and astonish the rest.” —Mark Twain. 707 882-2122 Office 707 485-2440 Cell City Hall: 451 School Street, Point Arena Hours: M 9-3 T 9-6 (W Closed) Th 9-3 F 9-3. Mailing: Post Office Box 67, Point Arena CA 95468
WIN A TRIP to Jamaica at this Year’s Emerald Cup (Kym Kemp, Lost Coast Outpost, lostcoastoutpost.com)
Growers, do you think the medical cannabis you tend is the best cannabis in the county, in the region, maybe even in the world? Prove it and win a week long vacation, all expenses paid, in Jamaica. The Emerald Cup, which bills itself as the world’s longest running, outdoor, organic, medical cannabis competition, is accepting entries now. In addition, all entrants will have their strains tested and results provided for THC and cannabinoid levels. When they drop off an entry, they get one ticket for The Cup and a lamination badge as well. Skunk magazine is devoting a follow-up issue highlighting the event. The entry consists of two ounces of medical outdoor cannabis. The drop-off locations are: Area 101 near Laytonville, HPRC (Arcata), Peace in Medicine in Santa Rosa, and Sebastapol.and SPARC (San Francisco). Tickets to the event are also available at various outlets throughout Northern California. People have started dropping off their entries already as the first date to accept entries was November 1st. You have until December 1st to get your entries in. Check the website for drop-off points. Remember, there are also awards for Concentrates, Oil Recognition, Photography, and Thickest Stalk. This year, the event is being held at the Mateel Community Center in Redway. There will be music, Musical Sensation Chali 2na and The House of Vibe All Stars” as well as speakers and panels on subjects of interest to the cannabis community. Rules: 1) Deadlines are definite. There will not be a grace period or late entries. All entries need to be on the premises of the drop-off local by 1pm of the deadline day. Any vehicle, person, or any manner of transportation for the entry not on the premises by the prescribed time will not be allowed to enter. This rule will be enforced. 2) Only two (2) entries per Primary Grower may be entered. Each entry consists of two ounces (56 grams). The Primary Grower is defined as the person who is responsible for tending the garden and has spent at least 75% of the season at that one garden. Not the property manager …but the cultivator shall represent an entry. 3) If a Contestant’s entry wins an award, the Contestant may choose whoever they want to accept their Emerald Cup award on stage if the Contestant chooses not to be seen for any reason. 4) Revealing any information knowingly about their entry by a contestant to a Judge, an acquaintance of a Judge or to their families or friends, is cause for immediate dismissal of entry. 5) The Emerald Cup reserves the right to refuse any entry that doesn’t meet our criteria. Any mold, mildew, or trace of questionable chemicals is cause for immediate dismissal of entry. Any post-harvest additives such as kief or any other substance added to an entry is caused for immediate dismissal. 6) Once an entry is dropped-off, it then becomes the property of The Emerald Cup. It doesn’t matter how good the grower believes their medicine is, beside the lab results, the grower agrees to stand by the verdict of the judges of The Emerald Cup. 7) Only outdoor responsibly grown Medical Cannabis will be accepted by The Emerald Cup. No indoor grown medicine allowed. All cultivators’ entries are expected to be grown with a low-negative impact to the garden and our environment. All Emerald Cup entries should incorporate only organic earth-friendly products and techniques in the cultivation of their medicine. As always, the winners of the Top Three places in all three categories will receive hand-blown glass trophies that go for around a couple of grand each.
DECEMBER 8TH, a Saturday afternoon concert will be held in the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse under a newly painted red roof. Doors open at 3:30 and the concert, "My Grandfather's Fiddle, Stories for the Solstice," begins at 4:00. Concert attendees will park at the bottom of the hill. Fiddler, piper and storyteller, Kevin Carr's one-man musical theater of the imagination blends folklore, true-life adventure, and the rare, soulful sounds of fiddle and pipes into a mesmerizing experience for listeners of all ages. He's played banjo in Latvia, learned to play the bagpipes of a dozen countries and dug deep to find just the right stories to share. Tickets are $15 in advance; call 707/937-6123 or e-mail GiftShop@PointCabrillo.org. Get your tickets early, this concert will sell out quickly!
TO BOLDLY GO: Author Natasha Yim reads from new book for children Sacajawea's pathbreaking journey (by Roberta Werdinger) — On Saturday, Nov. 10, at 1:30pm, playwright and author Natasha Yim will host a special reading for the just-issued children's book “Sacajawea of the Shoshone” at the Grace Hudson Museum. The event is free and will include an illustrated presentation by the author that presents additional information on this remarkable woman’s life. Refreshments will be served, including buffalo summer sausage from nearby J-Bar-S Ranch, and Yim will be signing copies of the newly published volume. Sacajawea (1788-1812) owes her influential place in history to an early tragedy. Around the age of 11, the Shoshone girl was kidnapped by Hidatsa warriors and taken to live in their village 500 miles away in North Dakota. The need to adapt to a totally different language and culture may have served her well when she encountered explorers Lewis and Clark several years later and was enlisted to be their guide as they sojourned West. In addition to interpreting, foraging for food, and providing other essential wilderness living skills, Sacajawea saved important documents and other possessions of expedition members when their boat almost capsized. "I was most surprised, when doing the research, to find out how much Sacajawea contributed to the Lewis and Clark expedition," Yim, a Ukiah resident and mother of three young children, says. "Without her, it may not have been successful. And yet her tribe, the Lemhi-Shoshone, is still fighting for federal recognition." The book, written for ages 9-13, includes luminous illustrations by Albert Nguyen which can be enjoyed by all ages, along with photographs and side bars expanding on Sacajawea's life and times. "Sacajawea of the Shoshone" is part of a series titled "The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses," issued by Goosebottom Books, a small, independent press (www.goosebottombooks.com ). The book has just been selected for the Amelia Bloomer List, an annual list of quality children's books with significant feminist content, awarded by the American Library Association. Natasha Yim is the author of two previous children's books: "Otto's Rainy Day," a Kids' Pick of the Lists selection, and "Cixi, The Dragon Empress." Her short plays have been produced at Mendocino College, as well as in Los Angeles and Brisbane, Australia. Her next book, which will draw on her Chinese heritage, will be titled "Goldy Luck and The Three Pandas." The Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah and is a part of the City of Ukiah 's Community Services Department. The Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am to 4:30 pm and from 12 to 4:30 pm on Sunday. General admission is $4, $10 per family, $3 for students and seniors, and free to members or on the first Friday of the month. For more information please go to www.gracehudsonmuseum.org or call 467-2836.
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