Mendocino County Today: Saturday, April 16, 2022

Cold Tonight | Noel Manners | Fog Memory | Visiting NM | Field Trippers | County Notes | Canine Adoption | AV Soccer | Easter Tableau | Earth Day | DeVall Matchbook | Trail Fund | Lloyd Kelley | JDSF Review | Noyo Consort | Mind Lost | Wildflower Show | Village Excursions | Gridiron Civics | Mandate Delay | Comptche Goddess | Inmate Reading | Book Launch | Egg Stand | Yesterday's Catch | Wind Power | Dope Parking | Ukraine | Middle Aged | Toughen Up | Nod Along | Insults | Homeless Hitler | Comments | Cross Lesson | Pervasive Dishonesty | Retirement Plan | Marco Radio | Orwell Reading

WIDESPREAD RAIN and high mountain snow will come to an end over northwest California by this afternoon. Cold temperatures will then occur Sunday morning, followed by additional periods of rain Monday and Tuesday, and again Wednesday and Thursday.

FREEZE WATCH in effect from late tonight through Sunday morning. (NWS)

RAINFALL LAST NIGHT: Laytonville 1.68" - Leggett 1.56" - Willits 1.20" - Covelo 1.15" - Yorkville 0.76" - Boonville 0.60" - Hopland 0.42"

NOEL MANNERS

Noel Cavendish Manners, age 63, passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends on April 9, 2022 from coronary complications at St. Helena Adventist Hospital. 

Noel grew up in Sacramento and Davis. As an adult he lived in Shelter Cove, Winters and Covelo. He is preceded in death by his parents John and Solveig Manners and is survived by his wife Tuum, former wife Jill, daughter Tara, son Paul and brother Spencer. Noel dearly loved and was loved by his family including his grandchildren Paula, Pamela, Pakapon and Pacifica. 

Noel had a kind and generous heart and a gentle soul. His generosity and kindness are remembered by scores of friends who will miss him. His generosity impacted the lives of many, often very significantly. 

He was a thoughtful business owner whose success allowed him to contribute regularly to dozens of charities. For years he would set up a food station for participants in the annual reenactment of the Trail of Tears into the Round Valley Reservation.

He was a long-time activist protesting to save the old growth redwoods in Headwaters Forest, often hiking into the heart of the forest and camping there with his son. He was a member of the Hemp Industries Association and helped organize the yearly Hemp Festival at the Matteel Community Center. 

Noel loved crossword puzzles, playing his flute, and looking down across his property to Covelo’s Round Valley below. He opened the large pond he built to all who wanted to enjoy a summer swim in a beautiful setting. He travelled often to places like Asia (especially Thailand where his wife and daughter-in-law are from), Latin America and Africa. He hitch-hiked across the US when he was 18. Years later he walked across Mali with two local guides, sleeping under the stars. He loved concerts attending dozens of Grateful Dead concerts and many Reggae On The River festivals.

Noel will be laid to rest at 2:00 PM on April 20th (a date special to him) at Davis Cemetery. A celebration of life event will be held at his Covelo ranch on April 23rd. 

MIKE McPHEE REMEMBERS: I miss our foggy cool mornings.... When I was working in Windsor and leaving ay 4:30am I used to love having fog in the Valley, because that meant the top of the hill on 128 towards Cloverdale would be clear.... it got pretty narley up there a few times with fog so thick in order to see I was standing with the door open and foot on the brake in low gear to see the lines on the road....

TRES AMIGAS DO SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

by Louise Mariana

"It ain't new and it ain't Mexico," so says a popular bumper sticker. Everywhere we three traveled everything we saw was old, very old. Millions and millions of years old. It was an incredibly wonderful week orchestrated by Cecily, the New Mexico native and good friend of Peggy's.

Peggy is my dear friend on and off the tennis court. We two flew to Albuquerque (ABQ) to visit her longtime friend Cecily who lives in ABQ. She is an artist/potter by profession and her lovely home was filled with her unique and imaginative creations. Her husband is a civil rights lawyer and I enjoyed hearing about the clients he is representing. They have two well-behaved dogs and a flock of healthy hens.

On our first day in ABQ we visited what in my opinion is the finest botanical gardens in this country, second only to the one in Scottsdale, Arizona. In recent years the ABQ Gardens have added a zoo, an aquarium, a butterfly pavilion and a dragonfly pond, so they expanded their name and now go buy "biopark." Whatever -- it's a fabulous place to spend a day -- beautiful and educational.

We hit the road the next morning and traveled southeast, first stopping in Roswell, famous because in 1947, townspeople claim an alien vehicle crash-landed in their fair town. The US government picked up the bodies and pieces and whisked them off to Area 51 near Las Vegas, keeping them under lock and key and out of the public eye. Despite that secrecy, though Roswellians are adamant that they had off-the-earth visitors, although some skeptics insist the "visitors" were no more than weather balloons gone awry. The whole town is built upon alien-this and alien-that. There's the Alien Elementary School, the Alien Undertakers, Alien Movers, Alien Bar and Grill, etc. They put Roswell on the map and it is the place for UFOs/Star Trek conventions and an out of this world vacation!

Further down the road was the site of the Carlsbad caverns, a place everyone should visit before s/he dies. 250 million years ago this part of the Southwest was covered by an inland sea. As the sea evaporated, the chemical processes and uplifting created huge underground chambers. Groundwater seeping into the chambers combined with limestone before stalactites and stalagmites which over millennia, drip by drip, have produced beautiful formations, many of which have been subtly illuminated to create a wonderland to stroll through, 75 stories beneath ground level where the temperature is a constant that 56 degrees and the enormity of the chambers is equal to 40 football fields.

White Man discovered the mouth of the cave in the early 1900. The inhabitants were millions of bats, mostly Mexican Free Tails. They still live in the cave and every dusk they disengage themselves from the cave wall and fly out en masse to drink from the Pecos River and then to consume tons of insects before returning to their roots, just before sunrise.

We witnessed this fly out, truly a spectacle of nature. Over one million bats emerged, forming dark ribbons in the sky as they headed to the Pecos River and out of sight. We watched for about an hour until it was too dark to see them, but they were still emerging. Bats have a bad rap, but they shouldn't. They are our friends, providing insect control and pollination. And they are the largest group of mammals on earth, breast-feeding their pups and living in maternal groups in the caves. I, for one, admire and respect them and wish them well in a world that prefers to kill what it doesn't understand.

We saw two herds of pronghorn antelopes on our way to the White Sands National Monument. This expensive area -- 300 square miles -- is the world's largest deposit of gypsum. Like the caverns, the White Sands origins go back in time 250 million years. There was a shallow sea in the area and all the deposits on the seabed were uplifted when the Rocky Mountains were formed. Through a series of chemical reactions, gypsum was formed and after all the water dissolved the white gypsum remained and is now a vast expanse of wavelike dunes, sensuous, graceful, ever changing with the winds. Only a few plants and animals can survive in this harsh environment, but because they have, I marvel at the wonders of adaptation. And equally wondrous is the magic created by chemical reactions.

Gypsum is used to make wallboard and to make casts for broken arms. It is mined from the mountains. The gypsum in these dunes is way too refined to be of any use in a manufacturing process.

As the sun set on the sands, the whiteness turned to pinks and lavender. Peggy had a field day snapping pictures. Thanks to digital photo techniques I would bet she took over 300 pictures, something one wouldn't do with old-fashioned film. I'm awaiting her review and deletions so she can give me copies of her best shots.

Next stop: the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site near the town of Tularosa. These are rock carvings done by Native Americans who lived in the Southwest 1,000 years ago. Many of the 21,000 petroglyphs at this site are very well preserved, giving us moderns an inkling into how early people conceptualized their real and spiritual world and their connection to their environment. It was a gorgeous day, in the low 80s, with a warm breeze, simply perfect weather as we strolled through ancient volcanic rocks decorated by ancient people. Cecily spotted a lizard sunbathing on a rock, unperturbed by us gawking humans. We were able to identify it as a Mojave Black Collared Lizard. It's always a thrill for me to see new species and be able to identify them and learn about their lives. It adds to my awe and reverence for the natural world.

We had a fun side trip to New Mexico's largest pistachio farm, 5500 trees and a gift shop full of every kind of pistachio concoction you could imagine. Pistachios grow on short trees with their nuts encased in a rough, red pod which becomes a tan shell with age, cracks open and falls off the tree. You haven't lived until you've tasted jelly pistachio brittle!

We were nearing the end of our journey. Cecily had been behind the wheel the whole time. She drove over 850 miles. There was just one glitch in an otherwise perfect trip. We had to traverse a mountain range at night and this made her nervous and a bit irritable, plus her recently implanted new hip was bothering her so that by the time we landed at our hotel nerves were frazzled and tempers were short. It was road fatigue, nothing more, and we all recognized it for what it was and got over it. Peggy was the calm, cool mediator for Cecily's and my crankiness. Aside from that brief "uncomfortableness," we really got along splendidly and I have no qualms about traveling with them together again. Cecily was the consummate planner.

Our last day on the road was spent at the Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences. Do you remember the T or C game show in the early 60s? It was hosted by Ralph Edwards. The producers offered any town in the United States $10,000 if it would change its name to T or C. The town of Hot Springs, New Mexico, won the contest and that's their moniker now, although some townsfolk think it's time to go back to the original name.

There is a huge mineral springs aquifer underneath the town. Enterprising people have tapped into it and developed spas and resorts. The riverbed sits right alongside the Rio Grande. What was once a mighty watercourse is now just a trickle of its former self due to three years of severe drought. But Riverbend pumps from the mineral aquifer and fills five pools ranging from 101 to 108 degrees. The grounds and accommodations are artistic and commodious. I loved sitting in the 103 pool overlooking the cafe-au-lait colored Rio Grande which was bordered on one side and by the Turtleback Mountains where the coyotes wonder and howl at 3 AM. It was a thoroughly relaxing and perfect way to wrap up our five days on the road. Thank you, Cecily!

Peggy and I share a space that had been a single bedroom mobile home. The walls had been removed, leaving one huge room with two queen beds, a full bath, and enormous kitchen and dining area. After our lengthy soaks, we popped open some white wine and beer and settled in to learn poker from Peggy. This pro taught us Texas Hold'em, Five Card Draw, Seven Card Stud and something called Spit. We didn't have much change so we improvised. Pistachio shells were worth a dime and red grapes were a quarter. I had beginner's luck, winning two hands with straights. When all was said and done, I had a plate full of food! We had tons of laughs and it was a fabulous way to spend the last night of our girlie road trip.

We took a morning soak and then headed for home. We stopped at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, hoping to see the birds, thousands of them, on their migration south. But due to the extensive drought there were only dry meadows and the birds were scant.

Usually water from main rivers is diverted to become flooded areas (wetlands) to provide habitat for migrating birds. I hope New Mexico will do this in November when hundreds of thousands of Sand Hill Cranes, Snow Geese, and waterfowl will descend on the Bosque looking for rest and fuel before continuing south.

We made it back to ABQ before dark, road weary but full of excitement and intoxicated by everything we saw, learned and experienced. It was a wonderful trip and I was so happy to have shared it with two fine women.

During our many hours in the car we were able to share stories about our lives, backgrounds, families, work and educational experiences. It was a classic case of bonding, friends becoming closer to one another. I look forward to our next road trip!

In the meantime, I will relish the memories and relax with an Alien Ale and use the immortal words of Peggy's grandmother to remember our trip: "I'm still enjoying!"

COUNTY NOTES

by Mark Scaramella

INCREASED MEDI-CAL BENEFITS FOR MENDO

Medi-Cal Older Adult Expansion - AB 133 

On May 1, 2022 Medi-Cal will expand eligibility for full scope Medi-Cal to all individuals aged 50 and over who meet eligibility regardless of citizenship or immigration status. This change will increase access to healthcare for older and disabled people. We anticipate this change will positively affect 402 local individuals currently enrolled in Medi-Cal by increasing benefits. 

The US Census Bureau American Community Survey (2020) reports 36,997 people aged 50 + reside in Mendocino County. EFAS data shows the total number of Mendocino County Medi- Cal recipients age 45+ at 12,096 (full and limited scope combined). While we do not have an accurate estimate on new applicants, we are pleased with this change and look forward to positive effects this will have on our community. 

(CEO report excerpt)

* * *

MEASURE B NEWS: “We now have three full-time crisis workers inland. We continue to recruit for coastal response. Additional funding resources we have received will allow additional teams, which we are also recruiting for.” (April 15 CEO Report)

* * *

SOCIAL SERVICES remains woefully understaffed and the statistics in the CEO report seem to be saying it’s getting worse. 

According to the CEO report’s Social Services report the Social Services vacancy rate is 27% overall. Family and Children’s Services (formerly CPS) has a 32% vacancy rate; Adults and Aging 29% vacancy; Administration 23% vacancy and Employment and Family Services (aka welfare eligibility, including food stamps and Medi-Cal) is at 22% vacancy. They also report 5 new hires (but don’t say since when).

But the vacancy report farther down in the CEO report says that Social Services is running at a 26% vacancy rate with 109 funded positions vacant out of 420. 

We won’t quibble about the minor discrepancy in the rates but the vacancy chart also says that Social Services is losing staff since last July. According to the CEO report chart there were 20 new hires since last July but 46 departures. While much attention is paid to the short staffing at the Sheriff’s Department (as it should be) there ought to be a similar level of attention to staffing and workloads in Social Services. And there should be an examination of why so ,many people are leaving Social Services jobs.

* * *

SUPERVISOR MULHEREN:

“I am embarking on the CSAC Leadership Initiative and last week there was a meeting held in Ukiah about understanding budgets for County Government. The class has people from Lake County and Mendocino County, it was great to be able to meet in person and network. Although they went through the information quickly it was still a valuable exercise. The most important thing to me is that we spend the public’s money wisely and that everything is transparent,” she said without offering any information or transparency about the meeting or the spending.

* * *

IN A RECENT PRESS RELEASE about the Russian River and possible “emergency regulation to curtail water rights,” the State Water Board said they “support a voluntary conservation program that would work in parallel with curtailments.” 

“On June 15, 2021, the State Water Board adopted the emergency regulation, allowing the Board to determine when water is unavailable for diversion at water users’ priority of right and authorizing the Deputy Director to issue curtailment orders requiring recipients to cease diversions. California’s Office of Administrative Law approved the emergency regulation, putting it into effect on July 12, 2021. Curtailment orders were issued to water users in early August as the watershed’s drought conditions worsened and storage levels in Lake Mendocino continued to decline.”

“The Division plans to revise and readopt the emergency regulation in early May to guarantee that it is in place before the 2022 dry season begins.”

These meaningless press releases are meant to pretend that the water board is on top of water conservation and drought mitigation by confusing and obscuring the real issue: grapes. 

First we know that the reason that “storage levels in Lake Mendocino continued to decline” was that outflows during the winter were well above the minimum flows for the fish yet that outflow didn’t make it to the Pacific. Where did it go? Vineyard ponds. 

We also know that grapes are by far the biggest water consumers of Russian River water, yet we never hear the words “grapes” or “vineyards” in the Water Board’s press releases. Instead we hear about water rights, both “junior” and “senior,” and “water right priorities,” and the “rights” of those with more senior rights. Etc. But nothing about actual flow restrictions.

Then to make it worse, the Water Board says they “support a voluntary conservation program.” So the people whose vineyard revenue depends on Russian River water (and who are already quite aware of the drought and are probably already doing what they can to “conserve” without jeopardizing their revenue) are now going to be appealed to to not use any more water out of the goodness of their alcohol-fueled hearts. 

* * *

LAST WEDNESDAY at the Anderson Valley Community Services District budget committee, AV Fire Chief Andres Avila told the committee that the Valley’s volunteer ambulance service is operating on a very tight margin which barely covers its operational costs with no funds available to be set aside for capital equipment (i.e., a new ambulance at some point) or reserves, and thin staffing that is having to cover more shifts without the ability to be supplemented by paid responders. Avila added that Fifth District Supervisor Ted Williams continues to insist that the County has no money to help, turning down AV’s recent request for a $60k ambulance stipend to help close the staffing gap. Williams told Avila that if the Ambulance service needs more funding they should pursue a sales tax ballot measure. Avila said that he would not consider a ballot measure unless and until all other funding options had been pursued and unsuccessful. And those options are being actively explored. The primary funding for local ambulances comes from Medi-Cal (5 cents on the dollar) and Medicare (10 cents on the dollar) and private insurance which typically pays the full dollar of actual cost but only represents a small percentage of ambulance calls. In Anderson Valley the insurance revenues are supplemented by a membership program that locals can join which means members don’t have to pay for their family’s ambulance responses. Because of the tight ambulance budget (and lately high inflation rates), for example, the District/Ambulance service is already considering an increase in ambulance service membership fees. But Avila thinks that an increase membership fees might be undercut by fewer memberships resulting in no net new revenues for the ambulance. 

THE NEXT DAY, we read a Ukiah Daily Journal article about Visit Mendocino County’s latest press release describing how thrilled they are that their promotional budget is up to about $1.9 million, about $600k of which comes directly from that same County General Fund that Williams says can’t afford a $60k ambulance allocation — even when everyone involved knows that “visitors” to Mendocino County are the prime recipients of ambulance services due to their vehicle accidents and other health emergencies. 

THERE IS NO INDEPENDENT INDICATION that Visit Mendocino County’s $1.9 million budget benefits the local tourism industry other than their own self-serving claims that it does. In fact, historically, the local tourist economy is basically nothing more than a reflection of overall economic activity in the County and its ups and downs track closely with sales tax patterns. If Visit Mendocino County and their overlarge staff of wine and cheese and restaurant promoters had any real return on what they get, we would at least see some evidence that their activity is helping the tourist industry during their downturns such as during the covid and drought related dips in the last two years. But we don’t. 

THE COUNTY’S “BED TAX,” aka Transient Occupancy Tax, which imposes 10% on visitor lodging costs, is supposed to be in recognition that the “visitors” are creating a demand for local services (especially ambulance responses) that those visitors require. But the County continues to provide the historic $600k to the people whose primary objective is to increase the need for those services. (Never mind that there’s no evidence that they are successful.)

IN EFFECT, the Williams position is that the County prefers to waste money on ineffectual tourism promotion and expects the locals to pick up the tab for the increased services that come with tourism. 

AV SOCCER RETURNS APRIL 21 

We are excited to start the new After School Program (ASP) Soccer for K - 2nd graders next week! There is still time to Sign-Up!

Dates: April 21 - June 2

Days: Thursdays 4-5pm

Location: Anderson Valley Elementary School (Front Lawn)

Students may ride the ASP bus home at 5pm

This is a Kindergarten-2nd grade soccer program in a supportive environment, focusing on being physically active, teamwork and fundamental soccer skills. 

Equipment: comfortable clothing and shoes for running, a water bottle, and a mask if desired. Cleats and shin guards are not necessary. 

AVES Students: If your student is not currently signed up for ASP but wants to participate they can be enrolled for Thursday practice ONLY - please call Mimi at Anderson Valley Elementary School (AVES) for a form. If your student is already enrolled, please let Mimi know you want them to practice on Thursdays.

Non-AVES Students: If you want to participate or any questions, contact Nat: (707) 354-3330 (speaks English and Spanish)

SHANÉL VALLEY ACADEMY CELEBRATES EARTH DAY at UC Hopland Research and Extension Center

The new Shanél Valley Academy (SVA) elementary school in Hopland will be celebrating Earth Day during a whole school field trip to the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC). Around 100 students from the school will have the chance to learn about the wildlife that share their Hopland home from experts and educators at the 5,358 acre University-owned site.

“We’re excited to partner up with our new neighbors at the Shanél Valley Academy to spend Earth Day together celebrating nature and learning how, where, and when we find animals!” said Hannah Bird, HREC community educator.

Students will have the opportunity to visit stations in different habitats at the site run by scientists and volunteers. Activities will include observing reptiles, amphibians, and scorpions with the California Academy of Sciences Arachnology Lab, learning about bees from the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab, searching for animal signs and tracks with UCANR’s Dr. Jacalyn Beck and learning how to watch and listen for birds with the Peregrine Audubon Society. The event will also be supported by Americorps NCCC and the California Conservation Corps.

The day will begin with a “bioblitz dance” and finish with an opportunity for students to bring together their observations from the day and find out how many different species were discovered during the field trip. Observations will be shared through iNaturalist, a free app, connected to scientific data repositories allowing scientists to find and use this data.

“We are so appreciative of the wonderful team who have come together to share their skills and knowledge with our local students this Earth Day, I cannot wait to see what we will find,” said Bird.

Observations and experiences from the day will be shared on HREC social media platforms and on the iNaturalist app.

FORGING A NEW PATH: Ukiah Valley Trail Group Endowment Fund

by Megan Barber Allende, CEO / President 

One of the greatest assets in our community is the abundant nature outside our front doors, and the network of trails maintained by the Ukiah Valley Trail Group (UVTG) makes accessing our beautiful countryside that much easier. Some know that I had both of my knees replaced during the pandemic, and to spend my recovery time walking the trails was such a blessing. This is why I was so excited when UVTG announced they would be extending the City View trail at Low Gap Park and are launching a fundraising campaign to grow the Ukiah Valley Trail Group Endowment Fund designed to provide support to the organization in perpetuity. 

Established in 2005 by a dedicated group of volunteers, UVTG’s mission is to create and maintain a trail system that will enhance our community’s quality of life and health. “We aim to have a trailhead within 10-minutes of anyone in the Ukiah Valley,” said Neil Davis, UVTG Board Member. “We already have 30-miles of trails, and our goal is to create 100-miles of trails.” But there is a lot that goes into creating a new trail, from coordinating projects with land managers, to recruiting volunteers, and coordinating regular maintenance of existing trails. 

Understanding the value of this volunteer-led resource in our community, the UVTG board established the Ukiah Valley Trail Group Endowment Fund in 2021 to ensure annual funding for the operations of the organization into the future. “I hope to help everyone understand the value of an endowment fund,” said Neil Davis, UVTG Board Member. “By leaving a planned gift to the UVTG Endowment Fund through a will or trust, gifting a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an IRA, or giving appreciated stock, a donor-advised fund grant, or a cash gift, together we could grow the endowment and ensure a robust trail system exists in our community long after the current members are gone.” 

“We know of at least three people planning to leave part of their estate to the UVTG, so we feel this is a good investment in future trail projects,” said Tim Pletcher, UVTG Board Member and Treasurer.” The board believes the presence of this fund will encourage others to consider the UVTG in their estate planning as well. “When you think about it, you realize that with just over $100,000 in the fund, we’d likely receive an annual $4,000 grant which would be significant for us. And,” Pletcher continued, “if one person makes a really significant contribution, it could be a complete game-changer for us.” To earmark a planned gift or appreciated stock for the UVTG Endowment Fund, interested community members can contact our office for stock instructions or to draft a simple planned giving agreement. RMDs, donor-advised fund grants, and cash gifts can be mailed to the office. 

The UVTG hopes to highlight the value of this fund with the launch of the newest trail loop extending off of the City View Trail in Low Gap Park. To celebrate, there will be a grand opening of the trail on May 15th with event sign-in from 10:00 am — 11:30 am, and members of the community are encouraged to walk the trail, stop to talk with board members at learning stations to learn more about UVTG, and consider giving to support their mission. 

Our community is so much richer for the work UVTG has done to preserve, enhance, and establish trails in Mendocino County. In gratitude to UVTG and its dedicated volunteers, my family is thrilled to contribute to the UVTG Endowment Fund to ensure we continue to have such a treasure at our doorstep; we hope you will consider joining us by giving today or in the future. 

To make a contribution: go to their website: www.communityfound.org

The Community Foundation of Mendocino County 204 South Oak Street · Ukiah, CA 95482

SUPERVISOR WILLIAMS: 

Mendocino Board of Supervisors - Tuesday, April 19, 2022 - item 5b

Discussion and Possible Action Including Presentation Regarding Jackson State Demonstration Forest and State Response to the Board of Supervisors Resolution Requesting Scientific Review

(Sponsors: Supervisor Williams and Supervisor Gjerde)

Summary of Request: 

Jessica Morse, Deputy Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency will present State progress on modernization of Jackson Demonstration State Forest in response to the Board of Supervisors adopted resolution requesting Scientific Review.

OPUS CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: Sunday, April 24 at 3 pm, Preston Hall in Mendocino

The Noyo Consort is Don Benham, trombone, and Jason Kirkman, piano. For this performance they are joined by celebrated flutist Mindy Rosenfeld. They will present two or three trio pieces, including a world premiere of a piece written especially for them, as well as duo sonatas by Ewazen and songs by Bernstein and Schwanter.

Tickets may be purchased at BrownPaperTickets.com, Out of this World in Mendocino, at Harvest Market in Fort Bragg or at the door.

symphonyoftheredwoods.org/opus.php

"I PUT MY HEART AND SOUL into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process". 

— Vincent van Gogh

AV VILLAGE EXCURSIONS

After a long 2+ years, we are organizing a wide range of excursions for our members. We’d appreciate prompt feedback from you so we can order tickets and arrange transportation.

2022 Events:

June 2nd-5th Mendocino Film Festival Contact Mary O’Brien, mheobrien@gmail.com (program not set until April; more info to follow)

July 9th-23rd Mendocino Music Festival Contact Mary O’Brien mheobrien@gmail.com, Note: go online mendocinomusicfestival.org to view the wide variety of music, which includes orchestral, Big Band, dance, blues, Jazz, World, Folk, Bluegrass, and Pop. All events begin at 7:30. Proof of vaccination needed.

Wed., August 31, Oklahoma at Golden Gate Theater in SF at 2 pm Contact Mary O’Brien, mheobrien@gmail.com, Note: I’ve booked 20 tickets in the mezzanine, but we can get the group rate of $75 if we have at least 10 people or more going. There are no elevators, but accessible seating is available on first floor for $25. Please don’t send your payment until after Friday, July 15th, as I want to see where COVID is.

September/October Petaluma Arboretum, Contact Ann Wakeman, wakemanf03@yahoo.com

Wed., September 14, To Kill a Mockingbird, Golden Gate Theater - SF at 2 pm Contact Mary O’Brien , mheobrien@gmail.com, Note: Mezzanine seating is $90 if we have 15 theatergoers. I haven’t booked this event yet, so need to know how many of you would be interested. (John Boy from The Waltons is Atticus Finch.)

Wed., November 16, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, Golden Gate Theater- SF at 2 pm Contact Mary O’Brien, mheobrien@gmail.com, Note: I’ve booked 20 mezzannine tickets at $85 each to this riveting story of the Temptations. Accessible seating available on first floor at $35. We need at least 15 to lock in discount rate, but I can get more. Please send payment after Friday, September 16th. There may be a cancellation due to COVID.

Let’s have some fun!

Best,

Mary

STATE DELAYS SCHOOL VACCINE REQUIREMENTS FOR COVID-19

Because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet fully approved the COVID-19 vaccine for children of all ages, the Governor’s Office delayed the COVID-19 school vaccine mandate until the 2023-24 school year. Any new vaccine requirements will only take effect after full FDA approval and no sooner than July 1, 2023.

Mendocino County Superintendent of Schools Michelle Hutchins released the following statement:

”I am thankful for this decision to delay COVID-19 vaccine mandates for all students. Our schools and students benefit when the State gives education leaders time to effectively plan for and implement new COVID-19 prevention measures. We know COVID-19 vaccines prevent serious illness and we continue to strongly encourage eligible school staff, families, and students across Mendocino County to get vaccinated and follow all recommended COVID-19 safety measures. Mendocino County schools will continue to ensure we use the best science, data, and prevention tools available to make our schools as healthy and safe as possible for all.”

To view the California Department of Public Health’s April 14 press release, visit cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR22-073.aspx

(MCOE Presser)

RUNNING OUT OF TIME

Dear People,

Hello. It's James Herriot Jr. from Albion. I'm writing to say hello to my fellow Albionites. I'm currently serving a prison term and I'm reading a lot and working hard to better myself. I so happen to have a book called 'Plains Warrior' Chief Quanah Parker and the Comanches by Albert Marrin. I found it to be very easy to understand with a lot of facts. Seeing and reading about these beautiful people who were run from their home and starved from the land, my heart will always go out to the people. We all have a lot to learn and what we learn we need to apply. We are in times that we all must become together. This is my challenge for us: brainstorm and come up with some ideas, then do it. Don't be lazy. We are running out of time!

The Earth is going to take back what she has given. If we keep raping the land the land will win. We will be gone and earth will still be here. What are you going to do? Right now I'm educating myself so that when I come home I will be able to apply myself. You people are free. As a whole we have a lot to offer. My hat goes off to those who are bringing about change. And even to those who try.

I love you people and I only hope to not be a burden to my people or my Mother Earth.

PS. A shout out to Rex Whipple, a first-class person.

Very Truly Yours,

James Lee Herriot Jr.

Soledad State Prison

GO, NORMA!

‘In Common,’ my doorstop of a novel, has been released into the world. Find out more at Norma Writes: normatalksaboutwriting.wordpress.com/2022/04/15/launched/

EGGSACTLY

Fresh Eggs

We just stocked up our egg stand at 31660 Highway 20! It's about a minute up the road from Harvest and it's a self serve stand in a mini fridge. You will pull in and see a yellow garage, the stand is just on the righthand side of it. When we checked prices recently we realized our eggs cost the same as those in Harvest Market and fresh eggs really do taste better. 6$ for chicken eggs (every color - green, brown, pink, olive, white) 8$ for duck eggs. Bring cash or Venmo @claralaurence please. Thank you so much to everyone who has already come by - the only way to have local food stability is to buy local food! 

Clara Laurence, claralaurence@gmail.com

CATCH OF THE DAY, April 15, 2022

TYLLER BAGLIERE, San Jose/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

NICHOLAS BAKEWELL, Willits. Burglary, controlled substance, conspiracy, failure to appear.

CHARLES GREPPI, Cloverdale/Ukiah. Concealed dirk-dagger.

STEVEN KING, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

RICHELLE NOTMEYER, Fort Bragg. DUI causing bodily injury.

VERONICA OROZCO, Ukiah. Controlled substance for sale, conspiracy.

ARTEMIO ORTEGA-REYES, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, controlled substance, paraphernalia.

MONICA SAVIDAN, Ukiah. Stolen vehicle, under influence, paraphernalia, tear gas, controlled substance for sale.

TOBIAS WOOD, Ukiah. Controlled substance for sale, conspiracy.

WIND SURPASSED NUCLEAR POWER IN THE US FOR THE FIRST TIME ON MARCH 29—AND THEN DID IT AGAIN

On March 29, wind became the second largest source of daily electricity in the US, surpassing coal and nuclear for the first time on record. Just two weeks later, on April 12, wind power beat coal and nuclear again (but still trailing far behind natural gas).

The twin milestones highlight the rise of renewable energy and the fall of coal in the US. The country’s combined wind and solar output doubled in the decade between 2008 and 2018, while coal electricity generation fell by more than half over the same period. Since March 2019, wind and solar output have nearly doubled again, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.…

qz.com/2155659/wind-surpassed-nuclear-power-output-in-the-us-for-the-first-time/

TEN UPDATES ON THE UKRAINE WAR

1. Joe Biden has said he “is ready to go” to the war-hit country, Ukrainian media outlet, the Kyiv Independent, reported, citing a US reporter. Reports on Wednesday said that Washington was preparing to send its “top officials” to the country where Moscow launched an offensive on February 24 and has continued its attacks six weeks later.

2. Loud explosions and air raid sirens kept the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, awake, according to news agency Reuters. Explosions were also heard in the southern city of Kherson, the eastern city of Kharkiv and in western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

3. Envoys of the United States and Russia clashed at the UN over the rising foods prices. Yemen was the worst-hit by wheat price rise and lack of imports from Ukraine, US’s Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a U.N. Security Council meeting. To this, Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky shot back saying, according to AP, “If you really want to help the world avoid a food crisis you should lift the sanctions that you yourselves imposed, your sanctions of choice indeed, and poor countries will immediately feel the difference.”

4. About 5 million people have so far fled the Ukraine war, the UN said on Thursday, according to reports, sparking fresh concerns over the refugee crisis in the country.

5. The latest setbacks could lead Russian president Vladimir Putin to resort to a nuclear weapon, according to US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). "Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons," CIA director William Burns was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

6. A Russian ally has warned, as per multiple reports, the NATO that if Sweden and Finland joined the U.S.-led military alliance then Russia would deploy nuclear weapons.

7. The Ukriane has been unfolding new horrors of war crimes every day it seems. "We are finding terrible things: buried and hidden bodies of people who were tortured and shot, and who died as a result of mortar and artillery fire," said Andriy Nyebytov, head of Kyiv region police, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

8. About 19,800 security personnel from Russia have died in the seven weeks of war, according to Kyiv.

9. In the latest intel updates, the UK's ministry of defence tweeted: "The combination of widespread missile and artillery strikes and efforts to concentrate forces for an offensive represents a reversion to traditional Russian military doctrine."

10. After the Kremlin's failed attempt to get Kyiv, the war is now focused in the eastern region.

TOUGHEN UP, AMERICA

Editor: 

I’m glad news outlets are publishing graphic photos of Russian brutality in Ukraine. We Americans are usually pampered and protected from anything “offensive” and therefore take our well-being for granted.

Fifty-five years ago, I was a combat Marine in Vietnam and witnessed scenes like this. They left searing images I cannot forget, but I learned that civilization is a thin veneer and how “inhumane” ordinary boys can be. To stop the Russians (and survive climate change) we need to toughen up, and these photos help. George F. Kennan taught us long ago that Russia’s leadership (not the people) is paranoid, unsophisticated and knows only force to provide security.

As with Stalin, the world must again draw a hard line to stop Russia’s military expansion and impose harsh unrelenting economic sanctions (and cyber warfare) for the indefinite future. It took more than 40 years for the Soviet Union to finally collapse, and we can do it again — if we are tough enough.

Hugh Helm

Santa Rosa

SOMETIMES it was as if someone else was talking out of him. His voice, which was a good one when it was just being itself, would go up an octave, hit a level and stick there on one didactic note, not for long, but long enough for me to think: hullo, I know this register, and Steff’s got one too. It’s the one you can’t argue with because it just rolls along as if you’re not there, so best nod him along and wait till it’s run its course. 

— John LeCarre, Agent Running in the Field

REPUBLICAN TENNESSEE STATE SENATOR Frank Niceley: “I want to give you a little lesson on homelessness. In 19 and 10, Hitler decided to live on the streets for a while. So for two years, Hitler lived on the streets to practice his oratory and his body language and how to connect with people. And then went on to make it into the history books. So all these people in the homeless camps can come out of this and have a productive life …”

ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE DAY

(1) Beer prices are up — $1 to $2 per 6 pack. Even Miller, that old standby when funds are short, will cost you $7.99 for a Six. Not long ago it would be $5.99, tops (when relatives from Cannes visit, they’ll present us with a few select bottles of Champagne. I reciprocate with cold Millers, “The Champaigne of Bottled Beer”) The good news is Sam Adam’s has held the line on prices. More good news: Narragansett is is once again on the shelves. “Hi neighbor, have a ‘gansett.” That’s a sign for me that things ain’t that bad.

(2) When all the dudes with F150’s see their darlings beached like whales in their driveways (due to fuel costs), AND they can’t buy beer due to costs of hops and all other grains, I predict that will be a similar situation to the psychotics not being able to get their anti-psychotic drugs (90%+ of which are made in China).

(3) Have you noticed ammo is somewhat more plentiful? The ammo drought might be over, for now. Stock up while you can. On the other hand, volumes of Chekhov’s short stories have disappeared from bookstores. When I asked the clerk about it she gave me a funny look. Has Chekhov, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy been pulled from the shelves? It bears further investigation.

LAURA KIPNIS: “Conservatives will tell you that gender comes from nature and sits firmly on top of biological sex; these sexual differences are imagined to be binary. But this binary was always rather imaginary — the incidence of intersex babies was always higher than was generally acknowledged. Doctors made capricious medical decisions and interventions to assign those babies to one sex or the other, precisely because gender ideology dictated that binary gender had to be preserved. (Apparently intersexed babies are as common as red hair.)”

YOU’VE BEEN MISINFORMED

by James Kunstler

Half the nation doesn’t believe anything it is told by those in authority and the other half revels in its reckless abuse of authority….

Isn’t it obvious by now that pervasive dishonesty is the foremost crisis of many crises in Western Civ generally and American life in particular? All our authorities have made themselves false, lying their way into the broad collapse of confidence that drives the nation toward some culminating horror show of strife and loss.

The go-to lever of concerted mind-fuckery has been the term-of-art misinformation, applied especially to things and propositions that are truthful — thereby confounding the public’s ability to discern truth in anything, or to discover how they are being misled in matters of life and death. We’ve allowed the worst in human nature to disgrace ourselves. Satan, Father of Lies, is Western Civ’s paragon of disgrace, and so American life appears more and more Satanic and disgraceful.

All this was epitomized in the operation of Twitter, the cheerful little bluebird of social messaging which evolved in a very few years into an instrument of coercion, punishment, deception, and lying, until it became clear that Twitter’s misinformation was misinformation itself. Half the nation doesn’t believe anything it is told by those in authority and the other half revels in its reckless abuse of authority.

And so, it’s refreshing to see one Elon Musk act to seize control of this Satanic vector of disgrace. Mr. Musk appears motivated to defeat the culture of lying by restoring open debate in the ubiquitous online public arena. It’s a heroic deed. But, you see, it’s not merely Twitter’s management or its biggest shareholders that Mr. Musk is messing with, but malign forces in the US government, which have surreptitiously taken control of Twitter and other social media to work its will on events. If you don’t know that Twitter, Facebook, and Google are proxies serving the US Intel Community, then you have not been paying attention.

Using Twitter to impose that culture of pervasive dishonesty in public chatter is what gave permission for all others to follow the script. Medicine has succeeded completely in disgracing and destroying itself by lying about everything connected to Covid-19, from its origins, to the insanely outlawed treatments for it, to the harmful actions of the vaccines, to the hidden data that might tell us the results of all that lying. Twitter set the tone for that with its censorship policies. Anyone who suggested that lockdowns, masking, remdesivir protocols, and vaccine mandates violated common decency was tossed out of the arena, often with added punishment of losing a career, a professional license, a livelihood, and having to endure the betrayal of colleagues cowed into silence.

Twitter also enabled the suicide of higher education, which has succumbed to a plague of Jacobin craziness that would embarrass the inmates of an old-time locked ward. The failure of authority on campus is cosmic. Can you name a single college president who has raised a voice against such manifest idiocy as men competing in women’s sports, the invention of ersatz fields of study, the re-segregation of dormitories and graduation ceremonies, the shouting down of invited lecturers, the persecution of free-thinking faculty, the kangaroo courts for sex disputes, and a hundred other violations of intellect and decency?

All this coerced insanity has been nurtured by social media’s sly mechanisms for bending narrative into propaganda: their beloved algorithms, all fine-tuned to destroy anything that touches on truth. The result is a country so marinated in falsehood that it can’t construct a coherent consensus of reality, and can’t take coherent actions to avert its own collapse.

Mighty forces are marshalling to prevent Elon Musk from buying up Twitter stock and taking the company private. BlackRock, Vanguard, the prince regent of Saudi Arabia are all principal stockholders in Twitter, with gazillions in capital to theoretically match and overcome Mr. Musk’s moves. Meanwhile, the Tesla boss maintains a prankish self-confidence in this exploit, offering cryptically comic gibes to a news media that is openly vested in opposing him. You have to suppose that he’s gamed out the gamble. He’s looking like someone who has dealt out a hand of cards aiming to shoot-the-moon.

The prospect of an open public arena for ideas is exhilarating all of a sudden, considering how the information-stream got hijacked in service to the wicked. It’s fun to see their tortured casuistry as they plead for “content moderation” — the phrase du jour for censorship, as if it were a good thing rather than the opposite of anything good. This feels like the beginning of something positive after a long siege of political degeneracy. Let the sunshine in to disinfect the arena. Cast the Demons back into darkness. You go, Elon!

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon Page.)

MOTA: Good Night Radio live from Franklin St. all night Friday night!

Marco here. Deadline to email your writing for tonight's (Friday night's) MOTA show is about 5:30pm. Or send it whenever it's done and I'll read it on the radio next week.

Plus you can call during the show and read your work in your own voice. I'll be in the clean, well-lighted back room of KNYO's storefront studio at 325 N. Franklin, where the number is 1-(707) 962-3022. If you swear like The Onion's Joad Cressbeckler, wait until after 10pm, so not to agitate the weasels.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg as well as anywhere else via http://airtime.knyo.org:8040/128 (That's the regular link to listen to KNYO in real time.)

Any day or night you can go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's MOTA show. By Saturday night the recording of tonight's show will also be there.

Besides all that, there you'll find an Oestre basket of colorful fluffy peep-based items to chew properly before swallowing, until showtime, or anytime (they last for years), such as:

A 1973 Turkish Star Trek movie. (73 min.)

https://boingboing.net/2022/04/11/this-star-trek-spolitation-film-from-turkey-is-far-out-1973.html

Alfred Langevin (say long-gay-VONG), the Man Who Could Smoke Through His Eye

https://www.vintag.es/2022/04/alfred-langevin.html

And ZoomWorld.

https://boingboing.net/2022/04/14/this-10-hour-long-version-of-zoomquilt-2-is-endlessly-captivating.html

— Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

GEORGE ORWELL: POLITICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE