A YOUTHFUL MALE VOICE on our Tuesday afternoon hotline told us that Darryl Cherney would be on KZYX at 3pm. My reaction to certain names, Cherney's among them, is a brief moment of groaning despair and, maybe, if it's the end of the workday, a revivifying shot of Maker’s Mark. I tuned in on the off chance it was a call-in but, of course, this subject and most others at free speech radio venues being strictly one-way conversations, it was not to be. And, it seems, this was a music show not a talk program, and here came the minstrel man with a breathless tale suggesting that an FBI bomb expert named Frank Doyle had given a 1990 bomb class to a bunch of cops at the College of the Redwoods then trundled on down to Oakland to blow up Judi Bari. Cherney told the credulous woman hosting the show — the Bari Cult never appears anyplace where they're likely to be questioned — that he had Doyle on tape telling another cop that the Bari bombing was "the final exam" for the class he'd just given up north. That was Cherney's conclusion anyway. But, Cherney said, Doyle had his back turned in the film of the scene so audio forensics would be necessary to definitely attribute the "final exam" remark to him. And since Doyle now worked for the tv show Mythbusters maybe the show would bust Doyle's myth. They might also bust Cherney's myths while they're at it, but I've never seen the show so I don't know what kind of myths they bust.
AS IT HAPPENS, Judi Bari herself played that tape of Doyle for me, if it is Doyle. I remember driving all the way from Boonville to her cabin on String Creek east of Willits because she said she had a big new development in the case. I already knew that things weren't what she was putting out there because, for one thing, a person who'd survived an attempt on her life sure as hell wouldn't be living off in the woods where she could so easily been finished off. Anyway, we walked over to Joanne Moore's house where there was a tape player we could listen to Judi's new development on. The recording was faint but I distinctly heard a male voice say, "This is the final exam." I thought it was cop humor, and I still think that, just as I think it highly unlikely that Doyle would have practiced blowing up cars in Eureka then, a short time later, blown someone up with a car bomb. I mean really. But Cherney, a cash and carry guy all the way, knows that the slo-mo sectors of the "left" will write checks to you if you say the FBI did it.
IN AN ARTICLE Judi wrote about Doyle and his bomb class for my paper, she identified an Oakland cop who'd attended Doyle's class. Apparently Doyle had addressed his little joke to that guy while they were at the scene of the bombing.
ONE MORE TIME: If you think an FBI agent would give a bomb class for a random bunch of cops and young people wanting to become cops then, a week or so later, blow up a well known person in the middle of a major American city and also implicate himself at the scene where any old body could overhear him, get out your checkbook and tell Cherney to fill in the amount.
CHERNEY never mentions that the whole Bari Scam-a-rama could have demanded early on that the feds and/or the Mendo authorities subpoena the dna of likely suspects to compare against the known dna drawn from the confession letter signed by the bomber as The Lord's Avenger. And Cherney never explains why Bari applied for limited immunity from prosecution to the FBI. (They said No.) Or why the Bari family has never demanded resolution of the case. Or why Cherney suggests on the one hand that the FBI committed the crime, but on the other can be trusted to turn over pristine evidence.
THIS THING is a huge fraud, front to back, but Cherney has lived off it all these years and continues to live off it because there's always a fresh new crop of dummies coming along who believe everything he puts out, and speaking of dummies, another young person, this one female, calls up Tuesday and says, "I thought you'd want to know that Darryl Cherney is talking right now to Dennis Bernstein on KPFA." Gog and Magog!
ONE MORE THING: Contrary to Supervisor Hamburg's cretinous remarks on the Bari case, I don't "hate" Mike Sweeney, and I certainly did not "hate" Judi Bari. I have to admire Sweeney for what he's pulled off here; how many ex-husbands can blow up their ex-wives and get away with it? (I don't think, though, that Sweeney acted alone.) And Judi Bari was a good friend of mine. She wrote for my paper and organized Redwood Summer using my paper as her megaphone when no other media would even talk to her unless it was to malign her. (KPFA jumped in right around the time of the bombing, and KZYX had non-personed Bari early on.) When I finally said to Judi (and I'm ashamed to admit I pretty much bought the PC version of events until I met Steve Talbot) I thought she should tell the truth about what happened she never spoke to me again. I think now I was probably the only real friend she had.
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RANDOM OPINION: Ukiah City Councilman Phil Baldwin has been widely denounced for devoting two hours of recent Council time to a resolution opposing US involvement in Syria. The denunciations of Baldwin boiled down to the opinion that big picture political issues are not what city councils are elected to address. Two hours does seem more like a filibuster of the most excruciatingly tedious type, but I agree with Baldwin that discussion of this or that imperial disaster like the one looming in Syria should not be left to the people creating them, the experts. Look where leaving it to them has gotten US. If city councils and boards of supervisors routinely addressed national issues I think we'd be a healthier country for it because it might give pause to career officeholders like our Congressman, Spike Huffman, before he signs off on the next catastrophe. Imperial military adventures do affect us at the micro-level of American life by diverting public money from programs Americans need, even Ukiahan-Americans.
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I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. Robert Ripley, of Ripley's Believe It Or Not, was born and raised in Santa Rosa. A new biography of Ripley says he began life in the Rose City in 1890 when Santa Rosa was "a colorful California whistle-stop.…where folks shot each other over card games, stole horses and robbed banks." Known for "drinking like an acquitted convict," Ripley compensated for "fanged teeth and jug ears by building a gymnast's physique" and "dressing like a paint factory hit by lightening."
SANTA ROSA hasn't changed much. Folks now shoot each other over dope deals, steal cars and there have never been more bank robberies. What has changed is the town's journalism and the people who practice it. They're about as colorful as a sack of marshmallows, and write like it, too.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY: How does the Fed lending trillions of dollars created out of thin air at zero percent interest to banks that then buy federal debt that pays 4 to five percent, money that we taxpayers have removed from our income and property by the IRS, how does that create jobs again?
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BE THERE! Fred Sternkopf and Doug Desmond have revived the What's Afoot Fine Art Gallery in downtown Caspar. In its heyday, the gallery was home to some of the most interesting artists in the country, most of them no longer with us. The opening exhibit under S&D assembled by Sternkopf and Desmond features not only their high-order work, but that of many of our talented friends and neighbors. The new What's Afoot kicks off this Friday, 5-9pm, with a reception open to everyone.
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THE NORTH COAST COMMUNITY needs a fully funded, fully functional 2 year accredited junior college to serve the needs of local citizens to have access to public education at relatively low cost. Graduating high school seniors from Fort Bragg and Mendocino Unified School Districts deserve the option of a proper junior college path to a 4 year education and beyond. Our community is somewhat isolated and needs this fully functional and fully funded junior college. That's why I created a petition to Fort Bragg City Council and Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, which says: ""We, the undersigned citizens, petition the Fort Bragg City Council and the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors demanding that there be a functional and fully funded Community Junior College at the present campus in the city of Fort Bragg which will serve the North Coast community."" Will you sign this petition? Click here:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/the-north-coast-deserves?source=c.em.mt&r_by=7244206
Thanks! — Jessie Lee VanSant
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MENDOCINO GRAND JURY REPORT, May 1, 2013
Cut Backs In Mental Health Services Impacting Law Enforcement
Summary
The Grand Jury (GJ) conducted mandated jail visits (California Penal Code Section 919(b)) as well as visited local law enforcement agencies. The GJ found all facilities to be safe and well functioning within budgetary restrictions. All visited agencies expressed the need for additional staff. There was one issue that came up repeatedly, the impact of 5150 arrests on departmental resources and public safety. A 5150 is an individual displaying high risk behavior posing an imminent safety risk to themselves or others. Every 5150 arrest takes an officer away from patrol duty for hours at a time as they wait for a crisis worker to arrive or until preliminary procedures are complete. The severe cuts to the County's Mental Health (MH) budget have resulted in less staff and resources. As a result, there is one crisis worker on duty for the entire county after hours and on weekends. Crisis workers have the authority to release patients over the objections of police, hospital staff, and psychiatrists. The lack of Mental Health workers is costly to law enforcement and local hospitals as well as to the safety of all citizens. Additionally, there are conflicting opinions on how this County’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) treats dual diagnoses (Co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders).
The GJ is recommending Mental Health administration continue and expand the search for a county psychiatrist for the jail, provide additional crisis workers after hours, and re-examine the 5150 hospitalization and release procedures. Mental Health needs to make funds available to implement a discharge plan to aid the mentally ill released from jail. The medical provider at the jail is currently using a doc-in-a-box (telepsychiatry) in the absence of a psychiatrist. There is a psychiatric nurse on site. The GJ observed and determined the position of the camera was inadequate. Jail administration needs to move the camera closer to achieve personal contact. Telepsychiatry provides prescription service only, no counseling.
Background
The GJ visited law enforcement facilities including mandated jail visits in the County. During site visits to Willits, Fort Bragg, Ukiah Police Departments and Mendocino County Sheriff substation in Fort Bragg, the GJ heard frequent complaints that officers were taken off the street to deal with 5150s, making it difficult to respond to other emergency calls.
Every 5150 arrest takes an officer off patrol as the subject is accompanied to the hospital for processing. The officer must wait at the hospital for a County Mental Health crisis worker to arrive and make an assessment.
Severe cuts to the mental health budget have caused a reduction in services and personnel. This has resulted in an additional burden on law enforcement and the hospitals.
The GJ decided to investigate this problem to see how it is affecting law enforcement and public safety. In addition, the GJ reviewed mental health services and the impact of 5150s on the Mendocino County jail.
Approach
The GJ visited the Fort Bragg, Willits, and Ukiah Police Departments, Fort Bragg sub-station, Mendocino County Jail and interviewed department heads and staff. Supervisory staffs from Mental Health and Ukiah Valley Medical Center (UVMC) were also interviewed.
Documents and reports reviewed included:
• California CSA “White Paper” on Jails and the Mentally Ill
• Mendocino County Jail Incident reports
• Correction Division Policy and Procedures: Rules for Safety Cells
• Police Department Staffing schedules
• Corrections Standards Authority reports
• Mendocino County Jail – Medical Receiving – Screening forms
• California Forensic Medical Group – Nursing Assessment of Psychiatric and Suicidal Inmate form/Triage Assessment form/Sobering-Safety Cell-Restraints Log
• Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Annual Report 2010-2011
• Mendocino County Health and Human Services Budget
Discussion
People exhibiting behavior that is a danger to themselves or others are brought to the hospital under California Code Section 5150. When these individuals are brought in by law enforcement, it takes officers away from other assigned duties. When an individual is under arrest or violent, the officer is required to wait for the County crisis worker. After 6pm and on weekends, there is only one crisis worker on duty for the entire County. Officers can be detained for extended periods of time. In small communities, where only one officer may be on duty, this can leave the streets unprotected for several hours.
Ukiah Valley Medical Center reports one to two 5150 cases in the emergency room daily. Lab work and evaluation is required at the hospital with no guarantee of payment. This can represent an average loss of $4,000 per 5150. Law enforcement officers are required to complete burdensome paperwork. Of the 5150s, less than one third are placed in a mental facility. A crisis worker can release the patient over the recommendation of a psychiatrist, medical physician, or law enforcement officer. However, in order to recommend hospitalization the crisis worker must obtain supervisory approval. Often hospitalization has been recommended by a crisis worker only to be overridden by Mental Health administration. This County does not have a facility to house the mentally ill. Mental Health does not recognize dual diagnoses of substance abuse and mental illness as a mental health emergency. HIPAA (Health Privacy) regulations preclude direct communication between hospital staff and the arresting officer. Hospital staff may only communicate information directly to the medical staff at the jail.
During a visit to the County jail, it was reported close to 20% of all inmates have Mental Health issues. Due to the lack of Mental Health services and facilities in this County, people arrested for behavioral issues end up in jail. There are people in jail who are not accepted by Mental Health facilities, not deemed competent to stand trial, or are waiting for conservatorship status. Reduced resources within the Mental Health department have resulted in reduction of staff and less funds for hospitalization of the mentally ill. At the time of the GJ visit, it was reported there were 254 inmates, of which 46 had mental health issues. One third of these are women. Twelve inmates are acutely mentally ill (half men, half women) and should be hospitalized. This includes one inmate with a misdemeanor waiting months for a Mental Health bed.
The GJ heard testimony at the jail that their biggest issue is mental illness. Since there is no psychiatrist available for the jail, management at the jail insisted that a Mental Health nurse be available to administer drugs and provide some counseling. The medical provider offers telepsychiatry two hours a week. Services consist of diagnoses and prescriptions for medication, no counseling. Telepsychiatry (doc-in-the-box) is an impersonal replacement for a psychiatrist. During a visit to the jail, the GJ participated in an interview with the telepsychiatrist. The placement of the camera focused on the doctor all the way across the room. Repositioning the camera to focus on the doctor’s face would make the experience more personal. This limited service would not work without a psychiatric nurse on staff to provide patient evaluations. Telepsychiatry costs the same as an on-site psychiatrist but does not provide the same level of service. There is no other facility in the County for mentally ill who are acting out. The only place to confine them is jail. Patient inmates are often placed in solitary confinement for their own safety, as well as the safety of others. Jail staff quoted, “solitary confinement in jail is the worst thing we can do to someone…safety cells are a horrible, horrible necessity. There is no other way.”
A senior jail official stated, “We provide more mental health services than the Mental Health Department. We are the end recipient for the people the Mental Health Department no longer serves.” County jail personnel and Mental Health staff are working on the development of a follow-up program for released patients deemed mentally ill.
Law enforcement officers stated they no longer have confidence in statements made by Mental Health. The Willits Police Department refused to sign a MOU with Mental Health due to lack of trust. In an effort to control costs, County administration has decided to contract out Mental Health services in 2013. It is unclear, at this time, what the final contract will include. Since the county has put the Mental Health service contract out for bid, the department is having difficulty replacing staff.
Findings
F1. The Mental Health Department scheduling one crisis worker after hours and weekends is insufficient for Mendocino County.
F2. Crisis workers have conflicting responsibility and authority.
F3. Health and Human Services Agency and Ukiah Valley Medical Center have conflicting views on the procedures for treatment of patients with dual diagnoses.
F4. Mendocino County Jail enlisted the help of Mental Health staff to begin a follow-up program for released patients deemed mentally ill.
F5. The current method of providing psychiatric services needs improvement. Telepsychiatry (doc-in-the-box) is an expensive/poor substitute for the “real thing,” a psychiatrist.
F6. Mental health patients in crisis are costly to area hospitals and law enforcement.
F7. HIPAA regulations prevent mental health communication between law enforcement and medical staff. Hospital staff may only transmit patient information to the medical staff at the jail.
Recommendations
R1. Mental Health provides an additional crisis worker after 6pm and on weekends.
R2. The Health and Human Services Agency re-examine their policies regarding crisis workers making the determination for releasing 5150s when a supervisor’s authorization is required to hospitalize a patient.
R3. Health and Human Services Agency clarify the procedures for treatment of patients with dual diagnoses.
R4. Mental Health funds be used to implement a discharge /follow-up program for mentally ill inmates released from the jail.
R5. The doc-in-the-box camera be repositioned for improved personal interaction.
R6. Mental Health continues the search for a County psychiatrist for the jail.
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LAUREL KRAUSE WRITES:
Still Standing for Kent State Truth & Justice
5/6/13 Laurel Krause, Kent State Truth Tribunal on Kent State in 2013 as Abby Martin Breaks the Set on RTNews http://bit.ly/10HneaG
5/6/13 Pat LaMarche: UN to Review Whether the FBI Killed the Kids at Kent State http://huff.to/ZLbvwp)
In April 2013, the UN Human Rights Committee accepted & posted Kent State Truth Tribunal's questions on Kent State. The United States must take their turn before the High Commissioner of the UN Human Rights Committee in their formal review in October 2013. http://bit.ly/12r6F68
February 2013 ~ To the United Nations: A Plea for Justice at Kent State http://bit.ly/WQpjUP
The F.B.I. CHRISTMAS SURPRISE of 2012 arrived in the contents of the F.B.I.'s Occupy FOIA Papers with explicit FBI commentary on 'suppressed sniper rifles' against Occupy leadership. Interview with Jason Leopold http://bit.ly/RWuIto
RECALL the F.B.I. using the sniper scenario against protesters, crossing the line with murders in 1970. Uncensoring the “unhistory” of the Kent State massacre, while also aiming toward justice & healing. http://bit.ly/RQNUWC
WATCH 9/20/12 Mickey Huff as Abby Martin on 'Breaks the Set' on the Kent State massacre cover-up & more. Starts at 16:00 http://bit.ly/SahdDG
Allison's sister Laurel on the Murders at Kent State Revisited http://bit.ly/JVNtIZ
5/1/12 Kent State Letter to President Obama from Allison's Family http://bit.ly/IEJIWV
WATCH: 4/29/12 Kent State CNN news video. HEAR the Kent State Order to Shoot Firsthand http://bit.ly/IGvDUn
Daily Kos ~ Obama Justice Dept: No Justice for Kent State http://bit.ly/In3Jh3
No More Kent States! http://bit.ly/Jh1Q7T
Peace & Justice,
Laurel Krause, 707-357-2855
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law." — Edward R. Murrow
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