Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Warm | Colordrops | Rainfall Totals | Oline Pinoli | AV Charades | Music Exhibit | M Yes | Fire Box | Arson Arrest | Trash News | Kenkoku Maru | James Radio | Regarding Flynn | Landscaping Job | Dearborn Store | Kendall Endorsement | Sharkfins | Sheriff Election | Portuguese Fellows | Kendall Statement | Meiggs Island | Annotating Sako | John Noia | Ed Notes | Paper Art | Yesterday's Catch | Ukraine | Bat Desk | Congress Broken | Ruffus | EBT | Poor Quality | Noyo Headlands | Batter Fidel | Wolf Festival | Mass Shooters | Large Ants | Gun Control | Third Quarter | Weapons Fair

WARM AFTERNOONS will continue through tomorrow for the interior as high pressure shifts over the West Coast. Widespread rain is looking likely this weekend as a large trough approaches. (NWS)

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

Boonville (28.76" total)

2021
10.67" Oct
1.99" Nov
9.49" Dec

2022
0.96" Jan
0.13" Feb
1.15" Mar
3.73" Apr
0.67" May

Yorkville (37.56" total)

2021
13.40" Oct
3.4" Nov
12.49" Dec

2022
1.64" Jan
0.24" Feb
1.44" Mar
4.36" Apr
0.60" May

OLINE PINOLI

Oline Elvera Pinoli, daughter of Arthur “Art” J. Pinoli and Valkyria “Buster” F. (Stormer) Pinoli, age 82 of Philo, CA passed away peacefully at Green Acres Manor in Kenwood CA after a long struggle with memory loss.

Born in 1940, Oline grew up in a family of apple ranchers in pastoral Anderson Valley and graduated high school in 1958. She moved to Santa Rosa to attend secretarial school and met Giovanni Sbragia, whom she was married to from 1961-1981. 

Oline helped run Lee’s Meat Service with her husband, and later owned and operated Plaza Cleaners in Rohnert Park. In the 1990s, she graduated from Empire business school and worked in the health care industry. In 2007, Oline became a Direct Care Volunteer for Memorial Hospice in Sonoma County.

She loved to read books, and always had a smile with a sunny disposition. Oline would sometimes surprise party guests with her ability to play the accordion.

She is survived by her son Stephen (Mallorca) Sbragia, daughter Jennifer (Jesse), Sbragia Pearce, Grandchildren Shawn (Samantha) Sbragia, Aleshia (Jason) Sbragia-Freyer, Huxley Pearce, Lita Pearce, Great Grandchild Charlie Sue Freyer, and brother Wayne J. Pinoli. She was preceded in death by her late sibling Dorothy “Dot” Pinoli Ramirez and beloved son Anthony “Tony” Sbragia.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

AV VILLAGE: WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY

June 1 Charades, the 8th board games, the 15th cards, and the 22nd handcrafts

Anderson Valley Senior Center, 14470 Highway 128, Boonville

Open to all, we will gather every Wednesday from 2-4pm at the senior center. Come down to visit with old friends and new while playing games. There will be a rotation by week of board games, card games, charades and possibly hand/needle work and crafts. On the hand work and crafts week participants will bring their own projects to work on while they visit and learn from other participants. There will be no food or drink provided but everyone may bring their own drink. We'll be taking a poll of participants to find out what kinds of games and activities they would like. Vaccination and masks required.

Contact polarbar@pacific.net or 707-895-3595, 707-972-5620

andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/2363

YES ON M

Please vote “YES” on Measure M to support necessary improvements at Anderson Valley Schools. Our schools are more than 60 years old and the infrastructure needs significant repairs. Your vote matters! Please return your “YES” ballot via mail or drop it off at the ballot box at the Fairgrounds before June 7! We appreciate your support for the kids and staff!

Endorsements confirmed: Donna Pierson Pugh, Retired School Principal; Richard ‘Dick’ Browning, Retired School Administrator and Board Member; Philip Thomas, Retired Teacher and Senior Center Treasurer; Michael ‘Flick’ MacDonald, Retired Teacher and Coach; Jim Boudoures, Philo Saw Works; Pilar Echeverria, Business Owner; Robert Pinoli, AVHS Retired Teacher/Athletic Director; Current Commissioner Coastal Mountain Conference; Melinda Ellis, Business Owner; Ric Bonner, Anderson Valley Health Center Board President; JR Collins, Retired Superintendent; Dr. Leah Collins, Anderson Valley Health Center; Star White, Parent; Kathy Cox, Retired Teacher; Deborah Cahn Bennett and Ted Bennett, Navarro Vineyards/Pennyroyal Farms; Sarah Bennett, Navarro Vineyards/Pennyroyal Farms; Aaron Bennett, Parent Co-Owner Navarro Vineyards/Pennyroyal Farms; Kathleen Bennett, Human Resources Navarro Vineyards/Pennyroyal Farms; Aaron Wellington, Parent; Erika Damian, Parent; Veronica Barragan, Public Employee; Linnea Totten, Retired Teacher; Robert Day Retired Contractor; Emilia Theobald, Teacher; Doug Leach; Bruce and Ling Anderson; Mario Espinoza; Gabriela Henderson; Chrissy deVall; Deanna Branesky; Michael Mannix; Rob Risucci; Mark Reffle; Teresa Markofer; Ana Ramirez; Maria Ramierez; Joshua Treespirit; May Ann Grzenda; Jill Derwinsk; Charlotte Triplett; Guadalupe Espinoza; Ricardo and Francisca Suarez; David Ballantine; Noor Dawood; Ali Cook; Julie Honegger; Keevan Labowitz; Martin Quezada; Leigh Kreienhop; Nat Corey-Moran; Eden Kellner; Chloe Guazzone; Maria Villamor; Ginny Roemer; Ana Maria Guerrero; Erika Echeverria; Moises Perez; Greg Potter; Dawn Emery Ballantine; Sophie Otis; Helen Papke; Mark Scaramella; Wendy Kein; Linda Mendoza; Dan Reed; Evan Marie Petit; Maricela Balandran; Nicholas Benett; Elizabeth Wyant; Elizabeth and Wallen Summers; Cymbre Thomas-Swett; A. Balandran; Anna Farquar; Mary Pat Palmer; Lauren Goldsmith; Marta McKenzie; Clem Donahue; Efrain Garcia; Gabriela Lena Frank; Kelly Griere; Daniel P. Horton; Cloey Bloyd; Scott Zarness; Kevin Jones; Gerald Karp; Captain Rainbow; Torey Douglas; William Ross; Stephanie Tebbutt; Jan Pallazola; Star White; Casey Farber; Rob Goodell; Mary Paffard; Stephanie Gold; Mrs. Nieves; Dawn Trygstad; Jessica Trombley; Jeffrey Pugh; Preston Metter; Caroline Blair; Dennis Johnson; Claire Walker English; Evette La Paille-Thomas; Gwyn Leeman Smith; Ann Gibson; Ann Christen; Francois Christen; Gail Gester; Ron Gester; Sharon Korn.

— MEASURE M COMMITTEE

HAVE YOU SEEN the red fire department boxes around AV? Looks like someone in Navarro got curious about what's inside and had a look for themselves. (And then someone else in the Deep End made their opinion about it known!)

Next time, there's no need to break locks - we're glad to tell you what's in there. It's bundles of laminated maps. No gate codes, no sensitive information, no fancy firefighting equipment. Just maps. 

Why maps? In the event of a large-scale fire in AV, most of the firefighters would be from out of the area. These laminated maps would be distributed to resources so that they can locate homes, water sources such as ponds, and safe places for helicopters to land. Because they indicate dead-ends, 4WD-only roads, and topography, the maps are also a resource for firefighters to implement safe firefighting tactics. 

There might be plenty of map info available on-line, but the hard copies are an important redundancy; we all know that mobile service can be unreliable on the best day, let alone during a disaster. 

More boxes are going in soon. If you see us installing them, stop and say hi - we'll tell you all about what's inside. 

(Angela Dewitt, Assistant Chief, AV Fire Department)

UKIAH WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY STARTING FIRE ALONG HIGHWAY 101 MONDAY

by Justine Frederiksen

A Ukiah woman was arrested by the California Highway Patrol after allegedly using a lighter to start a vegetation fire along Highway 101 near the Raley’s shopping center late Monday morning.

Ukiah Valley Fire Authority Battalion Chief Eric Singleton said crews were dispatched to the Ford Road overpass shortly before 11 a.m. May 30 after multiple callers, including an employee at Big Daddy garden and farm supply on Ford Road, reported seeing a fire in the area, as well as a possible suspect.

Singleton said the female suspect was still on the highway when he arrived on-scene, and “a CHP officer pulled up right after I did.”

According to the CHP, multiple 911 callers described seeing a pedestrian wearing a black jacket who was starting a fire on the center divider just south of North State Street, and a woman on-scene matching that description was detained and found to have a green, butane lighter on her possession.

The suspect, identified as Melissa R. Beck, 42, of Ukiah, was then arrested on suspicion of two arson-related felonies and booked into Mendocino County Jail under $250,000 bail.

“It was 100-percent arson,” Singleton said of Monday’s fire, explaining that while he was hesitant to describe a human-caused fire earlier in May as arson because there did not seem to be malicious intent, he described Monday’s fire as definitely “malicious activity.”

As for the flames, Singleton said they were “moving at a slow rate of speed” and crews were able to knock out the fire after it burned an area of grass about 40-feet by 100-feet in size. He said there was a bit of wind, but luckily the fire “was not spotting,” which he described as much more dangerous fire behavior that is typically seen later in the summer and causes small median fires like Monday’s to quickly grow into larger ones.

“Fire season isn’t coming, it’s here,” he said, adding that he hoped residents will continue to call 911 as soon as they see a fire starting so that crews can respond as quickly as possible.

Cal Fire crews also responded to help douse Monday’s fire.

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

SOLID WASTE OF WILLITS: Attention Anderson Valley — Your residential trash and recycle pick up for this week (May 31-June 3) will be done on Saturday June 4. If you need to dump sooner, please call the offices and have a pass called into the transfer station and you can self haul for free up to the size of your trash cart. Please share this information with your neighbors. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

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SUPERVISOR WILLIAMS: CRV buy back June 13-24 — Waste Management operated CRV Buy Back Center in Fort Bragg will re-open June 13-24. C&S Waste Solutions contract begins July 1, but it could take time for them to ramp up to operate Buy Back? (Thank you David Spaur, FB City Council & WM for the timely solution.)

THE KENKOKU MARU was a 10,900 ton Japanese freighter that meandered off course on her way to San Francisco and beached below Point Arena on April 28, 1951. She spent four weeks on the rocks but was successfully refloated and towed to San Francisco for repairs (courtesy, Kelley House Museum).

JULIE RUMBLE (Coast Chatline): I caught maybe 20 minutes this morning, before having to leave. James said he does NOT support banning the AR 15. Loosely, at one point he shared “when I worked in Covelo a lot of the growers had them.” Hmmm, does this explain the need for a potent military style weapon? James also spoke against the mask mandate? Really? It saved countless lives at the height of the pandemic. Those two positions - Never getting my vote!!

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A READER WRITES: “Trent James, last minute write in candidate for Sheriff, was on KZYX Tuesday morning, but obviously the Deputy had no clue who his listeners were. James was outspoken in his disdain for mask and vaccination mandates. And strongly in favor of average citizens arming themselves with assault weapons. Coast lib loved him as long as he was bashing other, higher ranking cops. But almost immediately the coast list serve was buzzing with woke coasties trashing James for his anti-vax/pro gun positions. Days ago the same people were praising James for “exposing corruption” but the more they learn his true opinions the less they like him. James’s long shot chance at getting elected just got longer.”

LARRY LIVERMORE re Flynn Washburne: 

Has anyone on the AVA's crack reporting team noticed this: https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP89200

If so, any updates? Pretty sad case all around, if you ask me. The guy had some real talent, even if he overused his thesaurus and underused his editing skills.

ED NOTE: As it happens, Flynn today [Tuesday] just posted a peevish comment in response to a critic posted in 2020, what I guess you could call a delayed reaction. The old boy seems to be more or less alive and looking more and more like William S. Burroughs.

Flynn, replying to another commenter: “Hey, dingus, the addition of -ed makes it a verb. To quote your own example, yes, panel is a noun. If you have a paneled room, it is necessary to panel it. Call yourself a teacher? Also, I have never misplaced a comma in my life. You are genuinely stupid.”

LANDSCAPING JOB

Scape 128 is looking for landscaping team members. Scape 128 cares for private residences, tasting rooms, and hotels throughout the Anderson Valley and in Elk. This position is based in Boonville with daily travel required in company vehicles. Experience with landscaping is preferred, but not necessary. The applicant must be interested and willing to learn.

This is a full-time, year round position starting immediately. Though, we may be able to accommodate full-time, short term summer employment.

Duties include:

• Plant installation and soil preparation
• Plant care, pruning, and hedging
• Lawn maintenance
• Irrigation installation and maintenance
• Brush removal and seasonal cleanup
• Requirements:
• On-time and able to start work at 6am during the summer and 7am during the winter
• Ability to work outside each day
• Ability to complete physical labor on a daily basis
• Valid driver's license
• Interest in working with and being part of a small team
• Covid-19 vaccination up to date / willingness to follow county Covid-19 protocol
• 18 years of age or older
• Must have a bank account for direct deposit

Compensation: $17/hour

Sick time and vacation time available. 9 paid holidays a year.

Please contact Lee at Lee@boonvillebarn.com or at 707-845-0406

Scape 128 is managed by Boonville Barn Collective.

THE SHERIFF’S ELECTION

Editor,

In 1991, I was a young deputy in Willits assigned to be a Field Training Officer (FTO) for new deputies. This was a very educational assignment, as it allowed me to help train academy graduates, as well as get to know them. In early 1991, I was assigned to train newly promoted Deputy Matt Kendall (promoted from the jail). We worked in the North County as well as on the Coast. Matt was an energetic and smart young deputy, who listened and learned. Being raised in Covelo and having many family members on the Coast certainly made training him much easier than out of town new-hires.

I have watched Matt’s career for over 30+ years. As Undersheriff, he and I discussed policies, large investigations and family life. I’ve witnessed a young deputy mature into a true and disciplined leader. Matt possesses ethics and he demonstrates leadership everyday. His role as a father, step-father and husband is a true example of a man who understands his responsibilities and his role.

Prior to Matt being selected to be our Sheriff, he and I discussed budgets, personnel and leadership. I would not have recommended him to be my replacement if I was aware of any flaws. As he did as a young deputy, he listened and learned. Since his appointment, Matt has excelled in budget preparation as well as leadership. Suffice it to say, I could not have recommended a better person to be our Sheriff-Coroner.

I voted for Matt because he has proven his ability to lead and improve the Sheriff’s office. Please join me in supporting Matt Kendall as our Sheriff.

Tom Allman Mendocino County Sheriff-Coroner (ret)

Willits

FROM CAKEWALK TO STREETFIGHT

by Andrew Scully

Most years, elections in Mendocino County are pretty staid, predictable affairs. This is true particularly in the nonpartisan races such as supervisor and Sheriff, where there is generally little controversy and low-level temperatures. The 2022 election for Sheriff was shaping up to be just such a sleepwalk, but a funny thing has happened. Matt Kendall, the incumbent Sheriff, appointed to the post in 2019 and until a few months ago an uncontroversial and widely popular figure, now faces a serious, if long-shot opponent. 

Trent James is a renegade ex-Mendocino County deputy sheriff who is mounting a write-in campaign to unseat Kendall and end what he claims is rampant corruption and old-boy cronyism in the sheriff's office. He has jumped into the race with a guerrilla campaign style that has changed the landscape from a ladies tea party to a back-alley knife fight.

James charges Matt Kendall with a failed leadership style, a good-ole-boy, protect-your-friends environment, and a pattern of promoting bad cops into command positions at the Sheriff’s office. In addition to protecting and concealing past criminal behavior, James alleges that these actions by Kendall undermine the credibility of the Sheriff’s command staff among the patrol deputies and the public they serve. This causes poor morale, low staffing levels, low retention rates and a failure to recruit new deputies to meet demand. He charges that Mendocino County patrol deputies –people he served with for six years – are being undermined by their toxic and incompetent commanders.

Sheriff Kendall, in an extensive conversation with the AVA, categorically refused to answer James’ charges; to engage in what he called “any mud-slinging” with Trent James. He said that he remains focused on conducting the people’s business and not political skirmishes. Kendall said his work on the upcoming 2023 Sheriff budget and day to day job issues keep him fully engaged on law enforcement and not politics. He also cited increasing demands on his time due to the disability of the current Undersheriff as a factor in his decision to concentrate on his job responsibilities rather than campaign in response to James.

Trent James served for 6 years with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department, mostly in the Covelo sector, where by all accounts he was an effective lawman in that isolated and challenging place. He became disillusioned with leadership at the sheriff’s office and transferred to Willits PD as a Sergeant. But that job didn’t last long. James says he witnessed variations of the toxic leadership he saw at MCSO, and that caused half the Willits patrol officers to leave.

James left law enforcement in 2021 and subsequently began posting a series of videos to YouTube under the moniker “Confessions of an ex-cop”. That catchy title, along with James punchy delivery, quickly gained him more that 4000 subscribers. He comes across as authentic and genuine. James’ videos present a systematic condemnation of criminal behavior, misconduct, and cover-ups that he says have plagued the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department for years.

Among his specific allegations:

• A criminal investigation involving felony child pornography that centered on the home address of a Mendocino County Sheriff Lieutenant has been delayed and that Kendall has shown favoritism and protected his own. The Lieutenant’s son has been arrested in the case but James claims the commander should have been placed on administrative leave as soon as the investigation began.

• A current Sheriff Lieutenant, now in charge of background investigations of all MCSO applicants, has twice been reprimanded for using excessive force while a Jail sergeant against restrained mentally ill inmates. James says the Sergeant was demoted for a short period as window dressing and then promoted back to Sergeant and then again to lieutenant within the Mendocino sheriff's office where, according to James, he is now in charge of background investigations of new applicants.

• Two separate MCSO Lieutenants prior to their current employment in Mendocino County were terminated from other police agencies for documented rape and statutory rape charges. James alleges that these bad cops were correctly terminated from their prior employment in law enforcement, but never should have been re-hired, much less promoted to command positions within the Sheriff's Department.

• Yet another lieutenant who was terminated from another police agency after being involved in a hit-and-run in a law enforcement vehicle. Again, James charges that this individual was rightfully terminated from the prior department but never should have been rehired as a cop.

In an interview James said that recruitment and retention of new deputies is adversely affected by misconduct and incompetent management at the sheriff's office. These issues in turn diminish law enforcement effectiveness within the county. James pledges to increase outreach and recruitment to minority, female applicants, to personally conduct recruitment tours in order to increase staffing at the sheriff's office. He also wants to increase training opportunities for current deputies.

The election takes place in one week on June 7th. However ballots were mailed to all voters on May 9th and none of those ballots had Trent James name on them. Matt Kendall is listed on the ballot as the only person running for Sheriff, because at the time the ballots were printed Trent James wasn't running. James says he was essentially drafted by people in the county to run who began writing his name in on the ballot and then sending him email pictures of their vote. As people continued writing his name in, he decided to inquire about running as a write-in candidate and found that state and County election rules require write-in candidates to officially register and file signatures with the Registrar in order for the votes to be counted. 

And so in mid-May James decided to begin a GoFundMe campaign during a family visit to the East Coast, and flew back to Mendocino County where he registered as an official write-in candidate with Mendocino County Registrar of Voters Katrina Bartolomie on May 23, the last day before the cutoff. 

In an interview with the AVA Ms. Bartolomie estimated that 30 to 40% of the county's 54,000 registered voters will cast ballots by the June 7th postmark cutoff. She said that in non-partisan races the candidate receiving 50% plus one of the votes will win the election outright on that day.

James faces a steep climb to get the 10,000 or so write-in votes that it will take for him to beat Matt Kendall on June 7. He plans to spend the next week touring the County and working his social media platforms to maximize his vote. Sheriff Kendall said he will be concentrating on pressing staffing and budget issues within his office. He seems fairly confident that voters know who he is, and that his name is the only one printed on the ballot.

SHERIFF KENDALL, last May 25, 2021 when the subject of an audit was put on the Supervisors agenda (which went nowhere, as we noted a few days ago — the Board voted to set up an ad hoc committee which hasn’t met.):

Sheriff’s Presser May 25, 2021:

I’d like to talk with you today about an agenda item coming up in tomorrow’s Mendocino County Board of Supervisors’ meeting. There is a presentation scheduled proposing to audit the Sheriff’s Office Budget. Specifically, Item 6d:

“Discussion and Possible Action Including Acceptance of Presentation by South Coast Organizing for Radical Equity Encouraging Independent Performance and Fiscal Audit of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Including Jail (Sponsor: Supervisor Williams)”

I understand most of you don’t have the time to listen to an entire day of BOS meetings, but most of us do scroll through Facebook and other social media platforms getting bits and pieces of news. I’m writing this post today in hopes that we can separate fact from fiction.

What I’d like to bring to your attention is the misinformation in the South Coast Organizing for Radical Equity (SCORE) documents that will no doubt start spreading online by people who didn’t take time to check the facts. While it appears this is a small group of well-intending community members, I think it’s important that all voices are heard and the truth is disseminated to all. I also think we have taken our eyes away from how we represent and protect the victims of crime.

Let me be perfectly clear that I welcome a fair and honest audit conducted by individuals that understand budgets and don’t have a political bias. I don’t say this to be condescending, but it concerns me that while our budget is a public document on the County of Mendocino website (https://www.mendocinocounty.org/…/39202/637414011645070000) and plainly states our budget from the General Fund has been between $23,282.457 and $24,386,395 from Fiscal Year 17-18 through Fiscal Year 20-21, that SCORE indicated “public protection” has a budget of over $81 Million, which is grossly inaccurate. Combining the Sheriff’s Office Budget with the budgets of the *District Attorney, *Public Defender, *Alternate Defender, *Child Support Services, *Probation, *Agriculture, *Planning and Building Services, *Court Collections, *Grand Jury, *Conflict Defender, *Fire Agency Support, *Disaster Recovery and *Animal Care Services (HHSA) is unacceptably misleading.

Is the intention of the audit to audit each of these departments?

There are a few more areas that have inaccuracies I’d like to shed some light on.

The group known as SCORE, have a graphic on their Facebook page that states “57% of people locked in the Mendocino County Jail have not been convicted.” This seems particularly disingenuous since the average person is very aware that inmates are housed in county jails between the time of their arrest to the time they can either be released on a promise to appear, make bail or go before a judge.

SCORE states we have a daily jail population of 338. Our maximum capacity is 305 and the actual daily jail population number is around 250, which of course changes daily. In fact, we currently have the $0 Bail schedule in which low-level and nonviolent offenders are simply released. If there is an underlying public safety issue, we have the ability to contact a Mendocino County Superior Court Judge and explain the circumstances. The judge makes a decision and sets bail according to their decision.

I also wanted to point out another graphic SCORE posted stating 72% of all arrests we make are for low-level nonviolent offenses. I’m not sure why they choose the date range 2013-2019, but let’s look at what low-level and nonviolent offenses currently mean. Many of these crimes directly affect families and our quality of life. Also many of these arrests especially now are due to arrest warrants which have been issued by a judge. An arrest warrant is a court order for a peace officer to take someone into custody. Again the judge makes that decision.

Often the goal of law enforcement is to deal with problems while they are small and keep them from getting big. It’s like anything else in this world, you pay now or you pay later, however, later always comes with interest.

Auto theft, vandalism, simple assault, narcotic sales, thefts of many types are considered low-level offenses. Why do we deal with these issues? The reason is simple. When a person walks down the street vandalizing cars and we’re called we must take action to stop the behaviors. If we don’t deal with it, a resident will. I can’t count the number of times I have been told “if the deputies won’t deal with this I will”. We can’t have good residents attempting to do the work of law enforcement. It isn’t fair to anyone including the suspect. If one of our residents attempts to stop this activity with no training, I fear the violence could cause the victim to become a focus of enforcement. We can’t allow people to be placed in this situation.

If people don’t want low-level or nonviolent offenses to be crimes, please urge changes within legislation. I have a hard time believing people want their cars to be vandalized or their items stolen from them. I know people who would lose their homes over the theft of $500.00 (which is a misdemeanor in California). It seems when we discuss low-level crimes everyone has forgotten we have victims who didn’t want to be victimized.

We all realize we have a lot of “asks” of public safety. From alert and warning and evacuations for fires, floods and other natural disasters to narcotics and mental health issues. This has been stacked on top of the daily duties peace officers complete. Public safety continues to take these problems on.

For those of you who took the time to get this far into my post, I appreciate your time and welcome your comments. I never want it said that I’m not in touch with the people I serve.

One of my biggest concerns with this request is that the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is being treated as if we are seeing the urban issues that make headlines daily are a problem here. I am meeting with people and groups all over our county and not a single resident has asked for less law enforcement. To the contrary, all have been asking for more. Let’s not forget that Mendocino County is a rural community with different needs and concerns than areas like Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and other large urban areas. And yet today, we are facing 2021 problems with 1970’s personnel numbers.

During this audit, I will ask we also compare the growth in all departments in Mendocino County over the past 50 years and see where public safety comes in. I’m afraid that is the data that isn’t being discussed. As we see more drug abuse, mental health issues, violence, and crime affecting our county let’s begin looking at who is responsible for what, it’s clear law enforcement has taken on roles we were never meant to. I have made it a goal to get back to basics and that will require decisions to be made about who is responsible for their piece of the puzzle. It will take all agencies within the county working together as a team to make a difference.

Mendocino County has been and will continue to be a great place to live and work it’s because we never have the luxury of being divided. We are all seeing division in the national narrative, it is to the point I rarely see the national news and choose to focus on our local news sources. The national narrative has been one of finger-pointing and blame to the point it‘s hurting the people our government is sworn to serve. We simply don’t have enough to go around and in order to get the job done we have to work together and our leaders have to lead in a direction of unity. Being a leader and being a politician are often two completely different things.

Being a leader often causes us to make hard decisions. We can’t forget crime has victims and although many want to forget they exist, we can’t simply turn a blind eye to them. It appears we are focusing on problems that we all agree need to be dealt with, however, often I simply don’t see the victim at the table during these discussions and I believe we are missing the point without them there.

I am constantly meeting with people and groups throughout our county, people who want to make positive improvements and improve the safety for all who live and visit Mendocino County. None of them have asked for less law enforcement to the contrary they have been calling for more.

Thank you,

Sheriff Matt Kendall

ANNOTATING SAKO

To the Editor:

Someone just asked me, what if Trent James doesn't win? People love him, but he's a longshot. He only got on the ballot as a write-in candidate last week.

[Ed. Life will go on. James is a long shot because he didn't sign up to run at the outset. And would have been a longshot anyway because there is no reason to remove Sheriff Kendell because neither the public nor his deputies have any beefs with his administration.]

This was my answer:

Trent has tremendous grassroots support. People are sick and tired of having a corrupt command staff at Sheriff's Office that is a good ole boys club. The cover up scandal of having it take 2.5 years to bring the SAWT [sic] commander's son to justice for child porn, is only the tip of the iceberg. More than two years!

[Ed: We'll find out how much grassroots support James has in a couple of weeks. Corruption at the Sheriff's Office? Name it, and name names. The lengthy outside investigation of child pornography took a long time because cyber-investigations take time by their very complicated nature.]

Here are just a few of the things below the tip of the iceberg.

LT Barney's group sex ring in Covelo with other deputies and their wives, then attempts to blackmail his deputies with sex tapes, needs to be investigated. Deputy Jason Cox sued when he refused to participate, and now his settlement needs to be unsealed.

[Ed: Why? Everyone involved is either dead or retired. I agree that Cox's settlement would make for interesting reading, as would yours when you quit the department and sued the county for, of all things, sexual harassment.]

The investigations into the "alleged suicides" of Deputies Brett White and Eric Gore, both under LT. Barney's command, also need to be reopened.

[Ed: Sad as they were, the two suicides were investigated at the time and found to be unrelated to police matters.]

The unsolved murder of Deputy Bob Davis needs to be solved. It's been a cold case for many years. A prevailing theory is that he was killed by Deputy Jason Craver or LT. Don Miller. Friendly fire? Another cover up?

[Ed. Totally off. Craver and Miller were not involved in Davis's death. He was shot by either friendly fire from fellow deputy Dennis Miller or by Bear Lincoln. Lincoln was acquitted of the crime, and Miller was not forensically implicated. (The Held-Poage Library in Ukiah has the AVA's comprehensive coverage of that event.)]

And 50 years of the Sheriff's Office extorting and terrorizing local cannabis farmers needs to be investigated, as does missing cannabis that was seized in raids but never booked into evidence.

[Ed. You seem to have abundant free time, Sako, go to it. Name one instance of dope-related extortion by local law enforcement, and don’t say Zeke Flatten who was robbed by two cops from Rohnert Park.]

And the finances of the Sheriff's Office must be audited.

[Ed. All county departments are annually audited, including the Sheriff's Department. And there are performance audits, which are rarely done because they are expensive. There isn't hidden money in the Sheriff's budget or misspending. And Kendall is on record as welcoming anybody who wants to look at his budget and spending and talk to him about it. He's accessible.]

That's just a partial list. Just a few things.

Even if Trent doesn't win, there will be a petition to recall Matt Kendall. The reign of terror by local bubbas and rednecks in command positions must end. In the alternative, if the FBI investigates the Sheriff's Office and finds cause to ask a federal court to put a trustee in charge, it could force a special election. Trent will run again, of course.

[Ed: Reign of terror? Should I buy more ammo?]

Rank and file patrol deputies and corrections deputies, whose work ethic and integrity are admirable, must be supported by a change in management. The people of Mendocino County want change.

[Ed: The rank and file is supported and appear happy with their command structure or we would have heard otherwise. The people of Mendocino County are much more worried about fuel and food prices than they are about unfounded charges against the Sheriff's Department by the guy who quit his job at the County Jail and has ever since lied about the reason for his departure.]

John Sakowicz

Ukiah

ED NOTES

TRENT JAMES, the phenomenon. I've watched his videos, I've read comments about him, I listened to his interview this morning with Alicia Bales. My overall impression is that James is a conscientious young guy who should be a cop somewhere, if not Mendo where he seems to have torched all his bridges. When he functioned as a deputy mostly in the badlands of Covelo, his job performance was rated excellent. And he served as a Willits cop, he got himself fired for correctly refusing to build the Willits city treasury by ticketing locals which, in the eyes of his supervisor and former friend, Derek Hendry, himself recently fired by the Willits PD, amounted to insubordination.

JAMES' quixotic write-in run for Sheriff is supported by people who assume that his primary allegation is true — that there are people in the Department's command structure who shouldn't be there, which is true of many local organizations, beginning with the Mendo board of supervisors and, one could say, all the recent presidents of the United States. Trump? Biden? Please.

OVERALL, though, the James interlude has been very unfair to Sheriff Kendall. He's collateral damage here, having had nothing to do with any of the bad stuff James alleges. Kendall is supported by his deputies and jail staff. He's totally accessible to anybody who has a complaint. He's done an excellent job as boss cop and doesn't deserve the in lieu of criticism he's gotten for the alleged sins of other people.

JEEZ. Even the normally sober BBC has reported on the Amber Heard, Johnny Depp case, a pair of high profile head cases whose squalid relationship manages to mortify anybody forced to listen to the sordid details. From the media coverage I'd say that Amber is more the injured party, Depp a total slob capable of anything. But you'd think both of them, even in these shameless times, would have more sense than to reveal the details of their rancid marriage to the millions of voyeurs out there. 

A SLOW news day produced this non-story: “Actor Kirk Cameron blasts America's public schools for becoming breeding grounds for far-left progressive agendas including CRT and gender ideology.”

LIKE ANYBODY CARES what this guy thinks on any subject? It annoys me every morning when Radio Government out of Philo notes the birthday of some obscure celebrity, but here we have major media outlets reporting what some silly ass entertainer thinks about school curricula. Name a public school district anywhere that's teaching “gender ideology”? (Whatever that is.) Critical race theory seems to inflame remedial readers, but it's only some dumbass academic's term for history, facts of, but those facts happen to include 400 years of donated capital accumulation from enslaved black people and the wholesale slaughter of native peoples which, when I was a kid memorizing stuff like Brazil's primary exports, was not mentioned in school rooms anywhere in the country. I honestly don't know why CRT upsets so many of my fellow citizens. It should make them even prouder of our fine, fat country for lasting as long as it has given its grisly beginnings.

PUT IT ON PAPER: New exhibit highlights handmade paper art

Jazz Dudes perform for First Friday

On June 3, from 5 to 8 p.m., the Grace Hudson Museum will be open for First Friday Art Walk, on what should be a lovely late spring evening. The long days make it perfect for a stroll through the Wild Gardens. The Jazz Dudes will perform, featuring Barney McClure and Pierre Archain. Little Bear will delight with his popular table of Native American tools and toys. Light refreshments will be served. Admission is free on this and every First Friday.

First Friday is also a great time to view the Museum's new exhibit, "Pulped Under Pressure: The Art of Handmade Paper," which opened on May 21. "Pulped Under Pressure" showcases exquisitely hand-crafted artworks all made from paper. While aesthetically intriguing and beautiful, they also attempt to explore important social issues of the day, such as environmental crisis and social disparity around the globe. Starting with a foundation of pulp made from natural fibers, the artists in this show employ diverse mediums such as printmaking, letterpress, papercutting, and installation to fashion their works of art.

The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah. For more information visit www.gracehudsonmuseum.org or call (707) 467-2836.

CATCH OF THE DAY, May 31, 2022

MAULANA BODISON, Guernville/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

DARIUS CHATHAM, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

TRISTEN DISOMMA, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

ALEX KADOSHNIKOV, Sacramento/Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ROBERT MCKEE, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

CHAD TURLEY, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

UKRAINE, TUESDAY 31 MAY

As Tuesday draws to a close in Kyiv and in Moscow, here are the key developments of the day:

The Russian ground offensive continued on the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk.Russian forces have seized half the city "in a frenzied push," the mayor told The Associated Press. Local leadership said Russian troops hit a nitric acid tank at one of the city's chemical facilities. Russia's military suggested the Ukrainian forces were to blame, saying that's who still controlled the area during the explosion.

Ukraine's military claimed some gains in its counter-offensive in the southern Kherson area, under Russian control.Russian state media, meanwhile, reported that Kherson was preparing to potentially formally join the Russian Federation. Ukrainian military officials accused enemy forces of cutting the fiber optic connections between Kherson and the rest of Ukraine, disrupting mobile internet for residents. Russia denied this, accusing Ukrainian leadership of undermining alleged local pro-Russian sentiment.

European Union leaders agreed to ban most oil imports from Russia. The move is part of the bloc's newest sanctions package on Moscow, which had been held up by Hungary and other member states that rely heavily on Russian oil. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the embargo would apply to around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of this year. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban forced the EU to accept a ban solely on sea shipments of Russian oil. Pipeline deliveries, which are critical to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, won't be affected by the ban.

Over 3,000 Russian soldiers have been confirmed killed in action in Ukraine, says a new report by the independent Russian website IStories. The report — based on local news coverage, social media postings and confirmations from families of the dead — said it verified a total of 3,043 deaths from the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. The last official numbers published by Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed 1,351 deaths on March 25. Western intelligence services have placed Russian losses between 7,000 and 15,000, even as Ukrainian officials have claimed much higher totals.

Thirty-two media workers have died while covering the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Speaking in his nightly address, the president noted that French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff became the latest victim on Monday, when an armored evacuation vehicle came under enemy fire in the eastern Luhansk region. Media workers killed in the Ukraine war have also included Brent Renaud, Oleksandra Kuvshynova, Vira Hyrych and many others.

ENDLESS FAILURE

Editor: 

Congress continues to fail the American people on so many fronts that it is not hyperbole to say that the political system is broken. The tragic and cynical failure of Congress to enact meaningful gun reform shows how broken the system is. We once had an assault weapons ban, yet Congress, beholden to the National Rifle Association, continues to refuse to do anything to help stop gun violence in this country. We urgently need meaningful gun reform now. How many more children and innocent people need to die before our political leaders act?

Derek Hutchinson

Fort Bragg

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

You know, it always amazes me how so many people who profess to be Christians love to quote the OLD testament, and are so mean spirited and judgmental. Many people who get EBT work full time jobs at places like Walmart, where they get paid wages that can’t support a family. Or they’re disabled. Or old. 

Instead of disparaging the people on EBT, perhaps you could instead look to a government that gives tax breaks to huge corporations, and then allows them to create “jobs” that pay people a minimum wage that in many places hasn’t been raised since 2009. 

If Jesus were alive today and saw the state of his church, he would never stop throwing up.

Gabe Kapler: MLB’s liberal jock in America’s most conservative league

theguardian.com/sport/2022/may/31/gabe-kapler-san-francisco-giants-manager-anthem-protest-gun-violence-baseball

SAVE OUR NOYO HEADLANDS, from the Grass Roots Institute:

Dear concerned coastal resident,

The California Coastal Commission needs to understand the importance of the Noyo Headlands to our community. In July their meeting will be in Fort Bragg. Before the June meeting (please do this now) we are asking that you email the commissioners. Their meeting begins June 8. All the necessary information and addresses are below.

Our overall message is that the Headlands needs a comprehensive plan put together by our community to meet community needs as well as protect the environment. Add your personal concerns and desires for the property. Piecemeal development made for the profit of private investors must not be permitted to erase years of community engagement.

Please send an email to all the commissioners at the addresses below. Remember you must also send the email to the Executivestaff@coastal.ca.gov. A snail mail address is also provided.

Thank you for joining us in this important effort for the future of the coast.

Send your email or letter to all of the Commissioners, the executive staff and cc the Northern Coast District Office.

You can copy all the email addresses in one gulp:

Donne.Brownsey@coastal.ca.gov, Caryl.Hart@coastal.ca.gov, Effie.Turnbull-Sanders@coastal.ca.gov, Sara.Aminzadeh@coastal.ca.gov, Linda.Escalante@coastal.ca.gov, mike.wilson@coastal.ca.gov, Katie.Rice@coastal.ca.gov, Stephen.padilla@coastal.ca.gov, Meagan.Harmon@coastal.ca.gov, Roberto.Uranga@coastal.ca.gov, Carole.Groom@coastal.ca.gov, Executivestaff@coastal.ca.gov

Copy the staff offices and Grassroots Institute: Noyo Headlands 

GRASSROOTS INSTITUTE

North Coast District Office 1385 8th St. #130 Arcata, CA 95521 707-826-8950

CCC Headquarters in San Francisco 455 Market ST., Ste 300 San Francisco, CA 94105 415-904-5202

TALKING POINTS:

1. Fort Bragg’s structurally unsound and toxic collection of mill ponds need to be cleaned up before they contaminate the ocean and all sea life for miles around.

2. Sea Level Rise will destroy the beach berm and undermine the dilapidated dam that contains the toxic millponds. The berm is “just a big pile of junk and debris.” The Department of Dam Safety has warned about the dam for years. The Coastal Commission should list them as sites “Of Concern.” The UC Berkeley Toxic Tides project offers an excellent approach. Read When the Berm Blows by Bill Lemos.

3. We should daylight the creeks to flow into a natural estuary. Environmental restoration in tandem with wise community development will sequester carbon.

4. Georgia-Pacific cannot be allowed to skate away from their clean up responsibilities and leave the poisons to contaminate the Noyo Headlands and then spread the toxins far into to sea?

5. The CCC should take a position on Mendocino Railway’s use of eminent domain to take control of the entire Headlands. We in Fort Bragg oppose this. The local train is an excursion train and not a public utility (used for transport of freight and people, which would exempt them from laws that require public hearings, environmental regulation and permitting.

6. What confidence can our community have that Mendocino Railway will be good stewards of the land? What about permits?

7. Carbon sequestration is an important part of any plan for the Noyo Headlands.

8. Mendocino Railway uses 4 acres for their operations. They could not possibly need over 360 acres for their railway operations. They really want it for real estate development and dollar extraction from our coastal community.

9. The Mendocino Railway land grab flies in the face of Environmental Justice.

10. Our community has spoken clearly that we want daylighted creeks and wildlife corridors. Mendocino Railway would make this impossible with their tracks going out to Glass Beach. Why is Mendocino Railway talking about a trash-burning operation on the Headlands?

CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE & MARCIA BALL TO PERFORM IN LAYTONVILLE

Alligator Records artists Charlie Musselwhite and Marcia Ball will perform live at the Kate Wolf Music Festival in Laytonville on Friday, June 24, 2022.

Mississippi-born, Memphis-raised, Grammy Award-winning music legend Charlie Musselwhite will celebrate the release of his new Alligator Records album, Mississippi Son, on June 3. Musselwhite is renowned worldwide as a master harmonica player, a seasoned, truth-telling vocalist and an original songwriter rooted deep within the blues tradition. As many of his fans know, he’s also a country blues guitarist of great depth, warmth and subtlety. On each of Mississippi Son ‘s 14 songs, including eight powerfully stark originals, Musselwhite’s straight-from-the-soul vocals and deep blues harmonica playing are the perfect foil to his deceptively simple, hypnotic guitar work.

Marcia Ball’s romping Texas boogies, swampy New Orleans ballads and groove-laden Gulf Coast blues have made her a one-of-a-kind favorite with music lovers all over the world. Her latest album, Shine Bright, produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, is full of everything music fans love about Marcia — rollicking two-fisted piano, soulful vocals, a top-shelf band of Texas and Louisiana musicians, and Marcia’s magnificent songwriting.

Concert information is as follows:

Date: Friday, June 24, 2022
Event: Kate Wolf Music Festival
Venue: Black Oak Ranch
Address: US-101
City: Laytonville, CA
Ticket price: $70-$410
Website: www.katewolfmusicfestival.com
*See website for complete festival information

TWO PROFESSORS FOUND WHAT CREATES A MASS SHOOTER. Will Politicians Pay Attention?

Mass shooters overwhelmingly fit a certain profile, say Jillian Peterson and James Densley, which means it’s possible to ID and treat them before they commit violence.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/27/stopping-mass-shooters-q-a-00035762

HOW ABOUT SOME GUN CONTROL AT THE PENTAGON?

by Norman Solomon

The weapons of war that maim and kill—the big ones and the small—let's do something to curb them all.

New outcries for gun control have followed the horrible tragedies of mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo. "Evil came to that elementary school classroom in Texas, to that grocery store in New York, to far too many places where innocents have died," President Biden declared over the weekend during a university commencement address. As he has said, a badly needed step is gun control—which, it's clear from evidence in many countries, would sharply reduce gun-related deaths.

But what about "gun control" at the Pentagon?

The concept of curtailing the U.S. military’s arsenal is such a nonstarter that it doesn’t even get mentioned. Yet the annual number of deadly shootings in the United—19,384 at last count—is comparable to the average yearly number of documented civilian deaths directly caused by the Pentagon's warfare in the last two decades. And such figures on war deaths are underestimates.

From high-tech rifles and automatic weapons to drones, long-range missiles and gravity bombs, the U.S. military's weaponry has inflicted carnage in numerous countries. How many people have been directly killed by the "War on Terror" violence? An average of 45,000 human beings each year—more than two-fifths of them innocent civilians—since the terror war began, as documented by the Costs of War project at Brown University.

The mindset of U.S. mass media and mainstream politics is so militarized that such realities are routinely not accorded a second thought, or even any thought. Meanwhile, the Pentagon budget keeps ballooning year after year, with President Biden now proposing $813 billion for fiscal year 2023. Liberals and others frequently denounce how gun manufacturers are making a killing from sales of handguns and semiautomatic rifles in the United States, while weapons sales to the Pentagon continue to spike upward for corporate war mega-profiteers.

As William Hartung showed in his Profits of War report last fall, "Pentagon spending has totaled over $14 trillion since the start of the war in Afghanistan, with one-third to one-half of the total going to military contractors. A large portion of these contracts—one-quarter to one-third of all Pentagon contracts in recent years—have gone to just five major corporations: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman."

What's more, the United States is the world's leading arms exporter, accounting for 35 percent of total weapons sales—more than Russia and China combined. The U.S. arms exports have huge consequences.

Pointing out that the Saudi-led war and blockade on Yemen "has helped cause the deaths of nearly half a million people," a letter to Congress from 60 organizations in late April said that "the United States must cease supplying weapons, spare parts, maintenance services, and logistical support to Saudi Arabia."

How is it that countless anguished commentators and concerned individuals across the USA can express justified fury at gun marketers and gun-related murders when a mass shooting occurs inside U.S. borders, while remaining silent about the need for meaningful gun control at the Pentagon?

The civilians who have died—and are continuing to die—from use of U.S. military weapons don’t appear on American TV screens. Many lose their lives due to military operations that are unreported by U.S. news media, either because mainline journalists don't bother to cover the story or because those operations are kept secret by the U.S. government. As a practical matter, the actual system treats certain war victims as "unworthy" of notice.

Whatever the causal mix might be—in whatever proportions of conscious or unconscious nationalism, jingoism, chauvinism, racism and flat-out eagerness to believe whatever comforting fairy tale is repeatedly told by media and government officials—the resulting concoction is a dire refusal to acknowledge key realities of U.S. society and foreign policy.

To heighten the routine deception, we've been drilled into calling the nation's military budget a "defense" budget—while Congress devotes half of all discretionary spending to the military, the USA spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined (most of them allies), the Pentagon operates 750 military bases overseas, and the United States is now conducting military operations in 85 countries.

Yes, gun control is a great idea. For the small guns. And the big ones.

HUNDREDS PROTEST, BLOCK ENTRANCES TO NORTH AMERICA’S LARGEST WEAPONS FAIR

OTTAWA — Hundreds of people have blocked access to the opening of CANSEC, North America’s largest weapons and “defense industry” convention at the EY Centre in Ottawa. 40 foot banners saying “Blood On Your Hands,” “Stop Profiting From War,” and “Arms Dealers Not Welcome” obstructed driveways and pedestrian entrances as attendees attempted to register for and enter the convention centre immediately before Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand was slated to give the opening keynote address.…

worldbeyondwar.org/hundreds-protest-block-entrances-to-north-americas-largest-weapons-fair/