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Letters (May 11, 2023)

By AVA News Service on May 11, 2023

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WILDFLOWER SHOW 2023: WILDLY SUCCESSFUL

Dear Editor,

We would like to thank everyone who made the 2023 Wildflower Show such a success. We dedicated this Show to Sue Hopkins, who single-handedly ran the Wildflower Show for 12 or so years, with utmost grace and style. We miss her. 

This year’s displays were enhanced by provision of tree cuttings from Scott Hulbert and wild grasses from Bill Harper and Kathy Bailey. We thank our botanists, Jade Paget-Seekins and Heather Morrison, for helping to identify so many of the wildflowers our members collected over the course of three days prior. An invasive plant table with specimens, pictures, and information provided a necessary counterpoint.

Another component for the show was a Lyme disease exhibit presented this year by Beverly Dutra, and in prior years by Sue Davies, a longtime member of Unity Club who recently passed away. We honored Sue with a display and with special plant collections she grew, donated to us by her partner, Bob Karol. 

Our returning vendor, The Sanhedrin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, was there with books and posters to offer and was busier than ever sharing their knowledge with so many people. Susan Macedo was a new vendor for us this year. Her display and sale of all crafts “wildflower” was very popular. Another new vendor, Cindy Morrey, displayed her lovely wildflower photos on Sunday. Lasty, the Galbreath Wildlands Preserve provided an informative poster and brochures about their mission. 

Thank you to Anderson Valley High School’s art department, whose students produced paintings and sculpture for display at the show. The Garden Section of the Club voted on the art and photos and the top three winners received $50 each. 

A big thank you to Deleh Mayne and the Teen Center for the delicious food served in the tearoom. Also, Linnea Totten and Evette LaPaille worked to arrange the students’ visit Monday morning.

Heartfelt thanks to the businesses and people who donated auction gifts. This year we raised more than ever towards scholarships, and other recipients of our charity. 

So, we say a very big and special ‘Thank You!’ to the following, for their support of our community: Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Bee Hunter Wine, Boonville General Store, Dancing Dragonfly, Farmhouse Mercantile, Goldeneye Winery, Gowan's Fruit Stand, Greenwood Ridge Vineyards, Husch Vineyards, LAB - Lauren's at the Buckhorn, Lemon's Market, Lichen Estate, Navarro Vineyards & Winery, Pennyroyal Farm, Roederer Estate, Rossi's Hardware, Sun & Cricket Shop, Wildflower Beading.

Thank you to Becky and the Fairgrounds staff for all their help. Thanks to Robert Rosen, the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, and the AV Methodist Church for allowing us to place our banners, advertising our event, on their respective fences.

Finally, we wish to thank the following people who helped our club members with collections, plant donations, set-up, and/or cleanup: Lynn Halpern, Heather Zischka, Hans Hickenlooper, Rick Bonner, Tom Shaver, Anita Soost, Angela Dewitt, Tom Shaver, Scott Morgan and Tone Taylor. 

We are extending an invitation to community members to join us in next year’s wildflower adventure. We would love additional plant propagators, collectors, and especially those interested in identifying plants. Contributors with new ideas can only help to improve this special event. We want more of our community members to be an integral part, and to help make this show even better. Interested? Please contact Jean at (707) 272-8243.

Anderson Valley Unity Club Garden Section

Jean Condon

Boonville

PS. WILDFLOWER SHOW POSTSCRIPT

The Anderson Valley Unity Club is pleased to announce the winners of the art work submitted to the recent Wildflower Show. $50 prizes were awarded to Chantel Alarcon, Kellie Crisman, and Mario Lara. Other participants from Nate Bubliz's classes at AV Jr/Sr High School included Aster Arbanovella,

Rye Baird-Green, Briana Balandron, Emillia Bennett, Samantha Flores, Gloria Joy Donahue, Ciomara Garcia-Parra, and Miguel Jesus-Hernandez. We congratulate all these talented young artists and appreciate their contributions to the show.

Alice Bonner, Unity Club

Boonville

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WORKING WELL WITH OTHERS WHILE BRINGING COMMON SENSE & FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY TO THE TABLE

Editor,

The coast's Cypress Crisis Respite will open on Monday, May 8, 2023.

A little more than three years ago, on February 3, 2020, Malcolm Macdonald arranged a meeting with respite expert Steve Fields of the Progress Foundation to discuss and assess the needs of the Fort Bragg community. The stakeholder group in attendance included me, Councilmember Morsell-Haye, Supervisor Williams, a Mendocino Coast Health Care District board member, a Measure B board member, and Adventist Health executives. This proved the right combination for the discussion.

After several follow-up conversations we concluded that a four-bed respite would best suit our needs. Then the work began on the fundamental questions of location, cost, funding source, and management. Having spent most of my time on council dealing with the issues that come with homelessness and mental health and having a clear understanding of that we were already dealing with this demographic unsuccessfully state and countywide by throwing more and more money at the issue while watching the problem grow every year, the most important question to me was when.

 The first step was to find a suitable location that would fit best into our community. It had to have the most significant positive impact with the least amount of conflict within its neighborhood. Ultimately, we decided the best spot would be where we started the discussion: the Cypress Street building, which was part of AHʼs lease from the healthcare district. From there, it was a matter of who would run it. It could not be the City as we do not have a health and human service department. Dr. Jenine Miller proved a great asset during the process and agreed that the County should be in charge as this falls into their scope. That concept also allowed for a growing relationship between the City and County. The County folded this facility into its already established contract with RCS (Redwood Community Services). I found the arrangement acceptable as the city was developing a productive relationship with RCS. I then went to work with Adventist Health and RCS to figure out logistics.

Knowing the County had already funded a respite inland for a whopping $4 million in facilities and services, I need to do better for the taxpayers. With Adventist Health already being a key player in the service provider field and, by default, the landing spot for all potential mental health crises, they immediately saw the value in the project. Adventist Health agreed to lease the facility to RCS, thus allowing them to relocate all their adult mental health services into the front of the building and leaving the back end for the four-bed respite. The next step would be the cost. With RCS able to consolidate its offices and willing to pay for the remodel, Adventist Health offering a more than fair lease arrangement, half the battle was already fought and won. An essential aspect of the services was ensuring that nobody was turned away based on insurance or financial means. 

With written support from the community, Senator McGuire, and Assembly Member Wood, I successfully lobbied Measure B and the County Board of Supervisors to subsidize the facility and ensure services for the first four years. We eventually returned with $960,000 of Measure B funds for four years to ensure no one will be left behind.

Fast forward to May 8, 2023, with both excitement and a feeling of accomplishment, I am left to ponder the process. We all know that the wheels of government too often turn slowly. However, it was not just government red tape that got in the way. We got some pushback and quite a bit of criticism from some unlikely players. Players who should have seen the potential benefit to the community but instead seemed to resent others fighting successfully for their community and winning.

My point is that everything in government does not have to be gold-plated and new. Ukiah Valley has a very successful 8-10 bed respite, and the City of Fort Bragg and the coast now will have their own four-bed soon-to-be successful respite. One came with a price tag of roughly $4 million to the taxpayer, the other $960,000. The significant difference in cost came from the hard work and dedication put into this project, utilizing my networking, collaborative and solution-based approach, and, of course, while keeping government bureaucracy and red tape to a minimum. Funding always takes a majority vote for approval, so showing up prepared and with a solid plan can make all the difference in success. Get on the bus or get out of the way. 

Bernie Norvell, Mayor

Fort Bragg

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MISPLACED REGRETS

To the Editor:

One of the great regrets of my life is that I never had the chance to meet Thomas Pynchon back when he was living incognito in the Anderson Valley in 1990.

I was living in Colorado at that time.

The novelist, John Barth, was one of my faculty advisers back when I was in college at Johns Hopkins, and one thing I learned from Jack is that many postmodernist themes and devices have close parallels in recent advances in theoretical physics.

The notions of “many worlds” (Hugh Everett III) and “two time” (Itzhak Bars) are straight out of theoretical physics.

The interwoven pastiches of literary genres in a single work of fiction borrow straight from “quantum entanglement theory”.

The German theoretical physicist, Susan Hossenfelder, writes about invisible narrative voices in “existential physics”.

Her doctoral dissertation, “Schwarze Löcher in Extra-Dimensionen: Eigenschaften und Nachweis” (Extra-Dimensional Black Holes: Properties and Proof) was just the beginning of her exploring concepts of physics and cosmology. Hossenfelder’s work would blow your mind.

Hossenfelder asks: How is the narrator figure and the function of narration — and consciousness itself — transformed in a black hole?

How does a black hole fragment, destroy and reconstitute narrative voices (and consciousness) that transcend familiar first- and third-person perspectives.?

And isn’t that the very same question that innovative authors ask?

And hasn’t the identity of speakers in late modern, avant-garde, and postmodern literature not been adequately discussed from the perspective of theoretical physics.

I think not.

I draw attention to the more unusual practices of developing “unnatural voices” beginning with James Joyce and Virgina Woolf; moving to Jorge Luis Borges, as well as the work of later authors like Samuel Beckett, William S. Burroughs, and Julio Cortáza; and recent postmodernists like John Barth (intertextuality), David Foster Wallace (metafiction), Gabriel García Márquez (historical metafiction), Salman Rushdie (fabulation), John Fowles, William Golding, Gilbert Sorrentino (poioumenon), Robert Coover (temporal distortion), Italo Calvino and Gabriel García Márquez (magical realism).

Pynchon’s own work is an exercise in paranoia — “coincidence or conspiracy – or a cruel joke” (from The Crying of Lot 49).

Patricia Lockwood’s 2021 Booker-shortlisted novel, No One Is Talking About This, is a recent example of a new postmodernist twist — fragmentation, disintegration, and obliteration.

Fragmentation, disintegration, and obliteration purport to depict a metaphysically unfounded, chaotic universe. It can occur in language. Or it can occur in physics.

God, how I wish I had met Pynchon!

John Sakowicz

Ukiah

ED REPLY: Pynchon never lived in Boonville. I thought for a time he lived in Fort Bragg and was writing to the ava as Wanda Tinasky, a purported bag lady who lived under the Pudding Creek Bridge. We were wrong at book length. Tinasky turned out to be an erudite, and ultimately tragic old beatnik named Tom Hawkins who’d gone to extravagant lengths to insinuate himself as Pynchon, right down to an identical typewriter. The late John Ross said he met Pynchon in Trinidad, HumCo, and maybe he did, but who knows? The well-known attribution scholar, Don Foster, irrefutably identified Hawkins as Wanda Tinasky and, incidentally, identified Mike Sweeney as the author of the Lord’s Avenger Letter, hence the man who bombed Judi Bari. I was shocked at the news that Hawkins, so jolly-jolly in his Tinasky persona, bludgeoned his wife to death, mourned over her body for three days, set his Trillum Lane house on fire, then drove himself into the Pacific near Ten Mile. Myself, I’ve never had any desire to meet the authors I admire; after all they are their books, so why risk disillusion?

Our summary of Foster’s Wanda analysis: Looking Back At Wanda

Foster on the Lord’s Avenger Letter: Pen Names, Pyrotechnics, and Paranoia in the Timber Wars

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WHINEY BITCH DEMANDS BIRTHDAY CAKE

Editor,

Happy anniversary.

I hadn't realized it, and I'm fairly sure it slipped your mind, but a few months ago we celebrated our 6-year anniversary!

That's right, hard to believe I know, but I've been writing for that little broadsheet of yours for more than 6 years now Bruce. In that time I published dozens of pieces, some of them quite good, and not only did it we miss our anniversary luncheon and party we missed all our annual evaluations and reviews!

In fact we've never talked really in any detail about my work appearing in your paper, and now I want to.

I have some important work to do and you people can provide some leverage and eyeballs but I need to come to a more formal understanding with you and cut some of the sniping going back and forth.

I have a new piece, an important piece reporting on the situation in Covelo, and I have more to come on that situation and on the county sheriff, auditor, and da. I'm desirous of continuing my relationship with your paper but it has to be on a mutually respectful basis.

If you want to file it into your "whiny bitch-writer" category that's fine Bruce. I really don't care.

But I do care about getting clear with you about a couple things about my work being published in your paper.

I want a better understanding of how and when my work comes into the publishing queue at the Ava.

Since you've never paid me for my work it's not too much to ask for a better understanding of certain details regarding publication. Further, I want to have some compensation agreements worked out at least regards directing traffic to my new website.

So let me know.

Andrew Scully <scullyskate@gmail.com>

Mendocino

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THEN AND NOW

Editor: 

It’s irresponsible for Republicans to not to pay the interest on the national debt that they helped create. Forty years ago, Republicans championed the idea that if you cut taxes on the “makers,” everyone would benefit.

In 1980, the top marginal tax rate for a married couple filing jointly was 70% on income over $215,000. Today it’s 37% on income above $622,000. The capital gains and deprecation rates were also lowered. Before these changes, 60% of the American population was in the middle class, now it’s 51%. Then there were 13 billionaires. Today, there are 614.

In that same time span, the accumulated debt exploded from just under $1 trillion to $31 trillion. Under Bill Clinton, we were paying down the debt, then George W. Bush was elected. He cut taxes again, 9/11 happened, $8.3 trillion got spent invading the wrong country, the banks collapsed and, later, COVID.

Democrats are not above reproach, but Republican plans to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class are cruel, disingenuous and impossible. There is just not enough money there. Increasing revenue from the wealthy has got to be part of the solution.

Tom Pareto

Petaluma

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FRUSTRATED IN PHILO

Editor,

Philo blues…

Went to the Philo post office to see why my mail wasn't appearing in my box at Navarro.

The kind postal worker informed me to contact the Yorkville office since they are handling the Navarro mail now.

I then tried to mail a letter but their system was down.

Walked down the street to Lemons and paid $5 for a single bell pepper and $11.50 for a sandwich.

I realize that most of the clientele who regularly visit the wineries can afford such prices, and probably don’t even bat an eye. But for us working stiffs, this is ridiculous.

I'm 46 years old and these things are turning me into a grumpy old man too early in life. Time to buy a fast pony and a fat hog.

Kirk Vodopals

From the Deep End

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LET'S DO IT AGAIN

Dear Editor 

In regards to our booze boutique run. How many years ago was it now? I can barely remember it. I think we should update it someday.

We’ll have to start out at 10 AM this time because there must be like 40 wineries now and we’re gonna wanna bring a bag lunch. Last time we barely got back just in time to get Rob back to the dishes at the Boonville Hotel. How is Rob? Would we be able to get him back for another spin 30 years later? Sincerely,

Pilar Duran

Boonville

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NOYO SCHOOL HISTORY

Greetings, 

I am working on a history of the name “Noyo School” in Fort Bragg CA and would welcome your comments to provide a more accurate and complete history. The Kelly House Museum website provides three photos of Noyo Schools in 1905, 1925 and a third Noyo School (construction date unknown) was attended by Fort Bragg residents in the first, second and third grade in the early 1950’s. Perhaps both school buildings were in use until the Redwood Elementary School was opened in 1953.

The name Noyo was not used again until the Fort Bragg Continuation School changed the name to Noyo High School in 1992. During the past 20 years, approximately 400 graduates have diplomas from Noyo High School. The school name on their diploma may have meaning to them.

The School Board of Trustees is currently considering changing the name of Noyo High School. The topic will be discussed at the May 11, 2023 board meeting with a presentation from Noyo High School to discuss why a name change is desired. If you have any comments you want to share with them, please email School Superintendent Joseph Aldridge, jaldridge@fbusd.us and Mary Makela, Board President, mmakela@fbusd.us.

Darlene Neal

Fort Bragg

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DROP THE CHARGES

Editor: 

It is time for Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez to dismiss the years-old charges against peaceful activists who exposed animal cruelty at factory farms and rescued animals from neglect and abuse right here in Sonoma County. The city of Sebastopol just passed a resolution supporting these activists, as the cities of Berkeley and San Francisco did previously, which shows that there is widespread support for their actions. As a longtime resident of Sebastopol, I am proud that my city is taking a stand for animal protection.

Animal rights activists play a crucial role in exposing inhumane conditions that are hidden from public view. Thanks to these defendants, I learned that weak and injured animals have been neglected and left to starve inside factory farms in our county. This is unacceptable. These activists are being charged with crimes for simply trying to bring attention to the real crimes: mistreatment of animals.

I urge the district attorney to dismiss the charges against these compassionate individuals and instead focus on holding factory farms accountable. Let us work together to create a more compassionate and just world for all living beings.

Omar Figueroa

Sebastopol

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ELLIE’S OK

Editor,

Message from Mitch, who is in the shop having a repair done. Channeled by Ellie:

Hi, y'all! I'm alive and well and loafing around in the VA hospital in SF after getting my bum leg worked on. VA bureaucracy is abominable, but the medical care is top-drawer. And the food is surprisingly not bad! 

Went down a week ago expecting to just have tests, but they threw a net over me, detained me, and did surgery on my left leg yesterday. They promise I'll be dancing like Fred Astaire in no time. My left leg, anyway, which will be a hell of a spectacle. Gabby Hayes is more like it. Being the Luddite fuddy-duddy that I am, I have no goldarned fancy-schmancy smart phone with which to post updates. But stand by: You'll soon hear the sound of my dancing foot.

Mitch Clogg

Mendocino

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HOSPICE NEEDS HELP

To the Editor:

Hospice of Ukiah is in need of a competent office manager. If you have computer skills, Quickbooks, Excel, Word, WordPress, Publisher and social media skills such as Facebook, tik tok, etc., I’m interested in talking to you. I can train on Quickbooks and office procedures, but need someone with office or managerial experience. This is a part time job that could lead to more hours and responsibility for the right person. Please send full resumes to Hospice of Ukiah, 620 So. Dora St., Ste. 101, Ukiah, or hospiceofukiah@pacific.net. For more information call Janet at (707) 462-4038 any morning Mon — Fri.”

Thank you.

Janet Denninger, Administrator, 

Hospice of Ukiah, Inc.

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MORE MASS SHOOTINGS

Editor,

Mass shootings, and individual shootings in general in our country continue happening each and every day. Over 11,500 people have been shot and killed since the beginning of 2023. 

Late last Friday five persons of the same family in Cleveland, Texas, a farming town 45 miles north of Houston, were shot and killed by their enraged neighbor, Francisco Oropeza, with his assault style AK-15 rifle. The 38-year-old illegal Honduran immigrant was asked to stop shooting in his backyard so a child could sleep. Response by Greg Abbott, Texas governor: “Condolences to their family, $50,000 reward for capture of the shooter,” and callously labeled the dead victims, “illegal immigrants.” 

The Garcia family lived there five years. 

Oropeza is still on the loose. Authorities are asking for the public to help apprehend him. He is considered, “armed and dangerous.” 

So far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), 184 American people are dead by mass shootings. Over the past three years, 2020-2022, in each year more than 600 persons have been murdered. We need a national leader who can cause a true change in our gun laws. 

Frank H. Baumgardner, III

Santa Rosa

PS. Last week it happened again. Saturday’s mass shooting was in the suburb of Allen, Texas, outside of Dallas. Texas is renowned as the Lone Star state; the military weapon assault rifles, the AR-15s or AR-17s were not developed yet when Texas started.

In the shopping mall in Allen the shooter may have got off 40 to 50 founds. Nine persons went to the hospitals. The police have confirmed there were deaths but we do not know how many. Surely there would have been many more had it not for the appearance of an off-duty officer who killed the shooter. 

Shame on you Senator Cruz. Shame on you Gov. Greg Abbott for your callous indifference and slavish dedication to death-by your defiance of your citizens’ will. Words like “thoughts and prayers” ring hollow in your gutless mouths. Your people are calling for assault gun bans, red flag laws and sensible limits on gun ownership. No one will take any guns away.

There is a special corner in Hell reserved for your souls.

Frank H. Baumgardner, III

Santa Rosa

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