Mendocino County Today: February 2, 2013

GLENN HUGHES, 52 of Fort Bragg has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the New Year's Eve 2011 beating death of Jose Madrid, 45. Both men had been staying at the Hidden Pines Campground in Fort Bragg. Hughes faces a maximum sentence of 19 years to life in state prison. Hughes said he had been so drunk he didn't remember anything about the night Madrid was beaten to death. “Total blackout,” Hughes testified. He will be sentenced March 1.

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JUST IN FROM THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: On January 30, 2013 at 10:53am a Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputy was dispatched to the Laytonville High school regarding a missing 14-year-old female juvenile. Once the Deputy located the 14-year-old female juvenile it was learned that in December of 2012, she entered into a dating relationship with Austin Meritt (18-year-old male adult). During the course of this dating relationship the 14-year-old female juvenile and Meritt engaged in sexual acts a number of times between December 2012 and January of 2013. The Deputy conducted further investigations and established probable cause to show Meritt had engaged in sexual acts with the 14-year-old female juvenile. As a result, the Deputy arrested Meritt for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is at least three years younger than the perpetrator. Meritt was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $15,000 bail.

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THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS is holding a “special meeting” on Tuesday with two agenda items. The first is to declare the flooding from a broken pipe at the Dora Street Public/Mental Health building (the old County Hospital) to be an emergency. The second item is a closed session item titled “Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 - Public Employee Performance Evaluation - Air Pollution Control Officer.” Chris Brown who runs the County's Air Quality Management District is the Air Pollution Control Officer. Mr. Brown is known to be out of favor with the Board ever since he slapped them with a $108k fine last year for a minor technical notification oversight during some remodeling/construction at a County building. The fine was referred to the EPA where it was reduced to nothing since the public was never at risk. But the County was out several thousand dollars in unnecessary legal fees. The board annoyed but was it annoyed enough to do more than give him more than a bad performance review? Will have to wait until Tuesday when the Board makes the announcement out of closed session.

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: This NFL season was one of the greatest ever, which makes it all the sadder that it feels like the end of an era. The league has never been more popular, generating $9 billion annually. But the speculation over the impending courtroom battle about what NFL collisions do to players' brains made us all realize that change is definitely coming. Twenty years from now, videos of kids playing high school football are going to look like scenes from old movies of people smoking on airplanes. But it's like global warming: Until the day when your dog catches fires, do you really care? (Matt Taibbi)

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HUMCO LOGGER WRITES: Green Diamond, California Redwood Company, Simpson, they are all the same. Truth is using Redwood around ones home is a bad idea. The new Growth stuff isn't strong by any means, and rots pretty darn fast. They market it for Decks, The old growth at least didn't rot and kept the bugs at bay. To make matters worse the Korbel plant pushes trees through so fast that a good bit of it is waste. They also use the waste to carry off hydraulic spills, instead of disposing of it as the law requires. So while I am against the Government telling a Company they can't make (or harvest) a product, I'll be glad when CRC loses so much money that they can't make a profit. The right way for the Redwood industry to have treated itself would have been to let the trees grow as they did for thousands of years, by letting them take 500 years to mature (instead of the 20-60 years they take now. Then we would have had a long lasting, bug free wood that would have lasted hundreds of years (if taken care of) and looked better (old growth, with the fine grains, look so much better) instead of the 3-5 that most of this new growth crap lasts. Go into the headquarters of CRC and look at the fine example they have set up in the lobby (bet they take it down if they read this) of the old growth tree, beside the new growth tree. Same size (circumference) with large rings on the new growth. This is a prime example of how CRC/ GreenDiamond/ Simpson just doesn't get “it.” They actually brag about how fast they can grow trees now. Put it out front. While not realizing that to an educated consumer that they are showing the fatal flaw in their decisions. Is it any surprise that many of the CRC higher ups are executives from other places that left those places in shambles? As a society we should look at this and realize companies should not hide behind many names. That alone is fishy. We should look at the products we buy and talk to our neighbors, friends, and professionals when making purchases. We should think about who made them, the process used, and the quality we'll get out. It all comes down to realizing we only have so many resources (oil will eventually run out) and when we by cheap products, or poorly made (or harvested) ones we are taking from that “pool” of resources, and we might never be able to give it back. If all of that had been done Korbel, as is, would have never existed. That mill alone could harvest more Redwood than this area could ever provide if Simpson, or the consumer, respected Redwood and only used it when its value was worth taking (old growth, and allowing the new growth to grow like the old growth did, with lots of time). Respect is the one word that really nails it all down. Consumers need to respect the resources/value that make our products (which would eliminate cheap china made crap). Workers need to respect the $$$s companies pay them and the $$$ consumers spend to buy their products (which means they would work an honest day’s work, for an honest day’s wage). Companies need to respect the resources, employees, and consumer (which means they pay an honest days wage, for an honest days work while making a good product using sound environmental practices). The Government should only make sure companies play by those values with as little impact or influence as possible (that means it has to figure out how people can use their greed for the greater cause). We all do our part, and it all comes together. Simpson/ GreenDiamond/ CRC gets an “F” on all counts.

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by Kym Kemp (Courtesy, LostCoastOutpost.com)

People across the country are raw from recent shootings involving schools. Tragic events such as that at Sandy Hook Elementary and the driver killed trying to protect a busload of kids have left a nation of parents and children on edge. That edge got a little sharper for some students and their parents at a tiny school in northern Mendocino recently. On January 23rd, the school went into lockdown mode over an alleged threat from a Humboldt Co. man.

Spy Rock School is a tiny two classroom building located in the hills north of Laytonville. Parent volunteers make hot lunches three days a week and, as there is no bus service, many of the families carpool. The school has an old fashioned charm in spite of the modular type buildings.

The details on the day of the lockdown are hard to pin down. Although the teacher of the school, Tim Henry, was originally willing to explain what happened, he later apologized and said that he could not. Instead, Joan Potter, Superintendent of Laytonville Unified School District, provided a short statement giving the minimal outline of the situation. She said, “There was a phone call to the school that was threatening in nature but not directed at students.” Someone at the school — she declined to say who — called law enforcement.

While the school was waiting for law enforcement, every classroom (there are two) were locked and the gates to the school were also locked. What the children did during the lockdown is not clear but handouts at a 2006 Mendocino School Crisis Response Workshop indicated that the teachers should lock the doors, close the curtains and “have students assume Duck and Cover positions.”

A warrant has just been issued for the man alleged to have made those threats, Kevin Foster, who owns the Fortuna based business, Southern Heat and Service.

The story starts with Foster’s older rescue dog named Bailey. On a weekend in January, Foster who was staying on a piece of land near the home of Tim Henry, the Spy Rock schoolteacher, let his two dogs out to play. Foster by all accounts was very attached to his dogs, particularly Bailey. Stories vary but most of them agree that Bailey apparently entered the propery of Tim Henry. Henry shot Bailey as, according to Lt. Kirk Mason of the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office, “The dog attacked his livestock.”

 

Bailey was wounded. Tim Henry went to where was Foster was staying and brought him to where the animal was lying injured. Foster took Bailey to the vet in Eureka where she died. Foster was devastated.

On Wednesday, the 23rd of January, Foster called the school. Speaking to an unknown party, Foster is alleged to have made some threats. “The crux of the conversation,” according to Lt. Mason, was Foster’s desire to “settle up with Mr. Henry.”

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The school went into lockdown mode. The assumption was that Foster was going to appear at the school immediately. However, after deputies arrived, according to Mason, they made some phone calls and determined that Foster was actually in Humboldt County quite a few miles from Spy Rock school. They then decided, according to Mason, that no one at the school was under immediate threat. However, there was still concern.

That night, according to Mason, “a probable cause warrant was issued for the suspect.” Mendocino Sheriff’s office contacted the Humboldt Co. Sheriff’s office who attempted to locate Foster but were unable to contact him at that time.

A warrant has been issued for Foster by the Mendocino Co. Sheriff.

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UPDATE, 11:55 a.m.: Multiple callers to KHUM tell us that the News Channel 3 van was involved in the accident. Also, they say the traffic backup is mostly cleared now.

UPDATE 10:05 am. 2/1/13: According to Mendocino Sheriff, Sgt. Greg VanPatten, the warrant is for making “terrorist threats” and the precipitating incident occurred on January 19th.

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IT COULD HAPPEN HERE!

Nude activist Trey Allen helps a blind black woman through the front door at San Francisco City Hall as he protests San Francisco's new ban on nudity on February 1, 2013 in San Francisco, California. At least four nude activists were arrested as they protested San Francisco's new ban on nudity in public places. The measure proposed by Supervisor Scott Wiener is being challenged by activists who call the ordinance unfair because it grants exceptions for nudity at permitted public events. (Photo courtesy Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

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FLOOD UPDATE for Mendocino County Health & Human Services Agency Public Health and Behavioral Health & Recovery Services at 1120 S. Dora St. in Ukiah

The Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Behavioral Health & Recovery Services (BHRS) which includes Mental Health (MH) and Alcohol & Other Drugs (AOD) and Public Health offices flooded from a broken water pipe on January 22. This caused extensive damage to the office located at 1120 S. Dora St. in Ukiah. Since January 22, many changes at the office have taken place but services have remained in tact for the community at the 1120 S. Dora St. office. Approximately 25 employees from the affected office site have been temporarily housed at the Yokayo Social Services Office Complex at 727, 737, 747 S. State St. in Ukiah and approximately 3 employees are housed at the WISC office in Willits at 221 S. Lenore St. All employees involved in this situation have been wonderfully helpful and flexible in lending assistance wherever possible and have kept their duties current while in transit during the moves. HHSA employees at the Yokayo complex and at WISC have also worked hard to locate and set up space for their co-workers in need. HHSA staff are to be commended for all of their efforts during this event. HHSA Leadership has been on site at the Dora St. location every day to check on staff and to help wherever needed. Daily updates to employees have been given since the first week of the flood. These updates are posted on site at the Dora St. office, they also go to each HHSA employee via email and the Mendocino County CEO office has created a public page on the HHSA website where all updates and notices can be viewed. The website can be viewed at:

http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/hhsa/dorastreetflood.htm

To date two modular’s have been temporarily installed in the parking lot at 1120 S. Dora St. one to house the Women, Infants & Children’s (WIC) program and the other to house AOD Children’s staff. Belfor, a worldwide leader in disaster recovery and property restoration, was brought on board by the County’s insurance company the first week of the incident to begin the drying and restoration process. An industrial hygienist from Indoor Air Sciences, Environmental Consultants has also been on site to monitor for any hazardous materials that may need mitigation prior to restorative work. Air samples have been taken and conditions monitored to provide safety to on-site employees, construction workers and the public through the operations. The affected portion of the building has been completely sealed off from the rest of the building and drying operations continue. Some restorative work will begin soon and those operations are constantly monitored for safety. All CalOSHA and Air Quality requirements are being followed. HHSA employees attend a check-in meeting every Monday morning at 8 a.m., those are facilitated by HHSA Leadership. Additional meetings with General Services and Contractor staff are held as needed. Restoration work is moving on schedule, however as with any major project unforeseen things can appear and must be dealt with and time lines adjusted. Thank you to all HHSA employees and leadership, the public, our neighbors, County General Services Agency, County Risk Management, County Building and Grounds, County Information Services, County CEO and office, Board of Supervisors, City of Ukiah and every contractor involved in this major restoration project. Dora Briley, Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency Phone: 463-7885 Email: Brileyd@co.mendocino.ca.us

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CAN BIG ORANGE BE STOPPED? By Jennifer Poole

A young woman perched high up in large oak tree marked for “topping” at the south end of the Willits bypass route — and a group of about 60 protesters sup­porting her — apparently stopped plans by Caltrans con­tractors to begin the tree work Monday morning.

A Caltrans truck did come in soon after 9am to put up a “No Trespassing/No Dumping/No Parking” sign near the tree where “Warbler” was sitting, at least 60 feet up .

But, no other signs of Caltrans or contractor personnel were seen anywhere on the route, according to a small group who’d walked the entire corridor from north to south.

“People, we stopped Caltrans today,” a voice rang out. “Let’s stop them tomorrow, too.”

The group, many of them familiar faces from around Willits, signed up to keep vigil on the ground with War­bler through at least February 1. The tree sit is located right where the two northbound lanes of Highway 101 turn into one lane, a bit south of Walker Road, and the giant “No Caltrans Bypass” banner can be seen from the highway.

Warbler, in her mid-20s, has been living and working in Willits on a local farm for the last four years, “and not the kind of farm you think,” a friend said. During a conversation via cellphone, right as the dusk was turning into night, Warbler said: “It’s pretty chilly tonight, with the wind. I’m moving around inside the sleeping bag to keep warm.” But she said she was inspired and excited to see the protesters there to support her, and to hear them express their opposition to “the insanity of the Willits bypass,” to quote the headline of a recent report by AVA reporter Will Parish emphasizing the huge financial and ecological expense of a project which isn’t likely to provide much actual traffic relief to the Willits area.

Redwood Nation Earth First! organizers were at the protest, which was “Earth First! assisted,” one Earth Firster who had done four non-violence trainings before the protest date said. Earth First! was also helping to get news outlets beyond Mendocino County interested in covering the tree-sit, and reported that the Associated Press and the Bay City New wire in the Bay Area were interested. Earth First! also provided some orange “EcoTrans” highway worker safety vests, marked with the Earth First! logo, “No Compromise in the Defense of Mother Earth!.”

But the main organizers are locals who have formed a coalition called Save Our Little Lake Valley (SOLVE). The Willits Environmental Center was not involved in organizing the protest, although some members were there.

At least some of the protesters were prepared to be arrested Monday morning. Last week, a group of people intending to walk the “footprint” of the bypass route, one of several classes organized through the Mendo Free Skool, had a tense confrontation with Caltrans, who called in law enforcement about trespassing and photo­graphed participants’ license plates.

Kirk Mason of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department and Adam Jager of the California Highway Patrol did show up Monday morning, but only gave protesters friendly advice about not standing or parking too close to the freeway and making sure to give access to local people driving in and out on the dirt road. “Watch out for the cars,” Mason said. “We don’t want anyone to be hurt.” Mason emphasized what everybody who lives along and drives that section of Highway 101 knows: that many drivers don’t slow down to 55 mph coming down that hill, which is icy in the morning.

“Don’t call me ‘sheriff’,” joked Mason, after somebody did, “or else Sheriff Allman will think I want his job.” Before walking away, Mason said in a friendly tone: “We’ll leave you people to your vices.” “Keep warm,” Officer Jager chimed in.

“I am pleased it was all peaceful good relations with the sheriffs,” said Sara Grusky, local organizer and contact person for SOLVE, along with another Willits resident, Carol Orton.

“We have had several conversations with Sheriff Tom Allman in the interim [since the “trespassing” incident], and he has stated that this is his jurisdiction and not the highway patrol’s, and that he respected the rights of citizens to do public education tours.

“We were a little taken aback by that incident,” Grusky continued. “It’s a little out of line to have Caltrans photo our license plates.” Grusky said she hoped the conversations with Allman “had something to do with them stepping back, because it has appeared they have stepped back. We are blessed they have been respecting the process of peaceful public protest.”

In addition to several rousing speeches and a ceremony and power song led by a Pomo woman in regalia, one interesting contribution to Monday’s protest was a surprising level of support — beeped horns and thumbs up signs — from drivers of large commercial trucks passing by, including a truck loaded with lumber. Getting the big trucks off Willits’ Main Street is one of the touted benefits of the Willits bypass, even though many of the commercial trucks, those serving local businesses and those heading to Fort Bragg, won’t be using the bypass.

The truckers, one interested party noted, enjoy driving through Willits. “They get bored, and Willits is a change. They get to stop and have a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. They have their hidey holes where they know they can find good parking.” In a commentary published in the Willits News in June 2011, then-Willits mayor Bruce Burton wrote: “Main Street will be enforced as a non-truck route to minimize through commercial traffic,” but it’s unclear what that means or how it would be enforced. Does Burton really mean it will be illegal for truck drivers not making a local delivery or pickup to pull off the freeway to have breakfast or lunch in Willits?

The tree “topping” — which actually means, according to reporter Linda Williams of the Willits News, chopping trees all the way down to 3 or 4 feet tall — is being done to prevent birds from nesting in the trees, so they can be “uprooted” in the spring without violating the Migratory Bird Act. Although no decision has been reached in a lawsuit filed against Caltrans by a coalition of environmental groups, which was joined by the California Farm Bureau due to the loss of prime ag land in Little Lake Valley, the judge has denied a request to stay the removal of the trees until litigation is resolved.

SOLVE is working on putting up a website, but for now, those interested in keeping up with news about the bypass protest can check the Willits Fan Page on Facebook, which has also set up a Willits Bypass Discussion Board at www.facebook.com/groups/willitsbypass. Contact info for SOLVE, including information about how to help “keep our Warbler safe and warm and supported,” Grusky said, is 707-972-6333 (Orton) or 707-216-5549 (Grusky).

For more information go to: http://www.savelittlelakevalley.org/