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HOT TEMPERATURES across the interior are expected again today while the coast will continue see seasonably cool temperatures. Temperatures will cool Sunday with highs mainly in the mid to upper 90s. Additional cooling will bring highs in the low to mid 90s on Monday. Highs in the 90s are expected to continue through much of the week. Night and morning clouds are expected at the coast with some afternoon clearing most days. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): For the 3rd day in a row I have 48F under clear skies on the coast. Does that make it a stratus free quo? A look at the satellite shows some tropical high clouds heading our direction from the south otherwise clear skies prevail for the weekend. The NWS has taken much of the wind out of the forecast for now.
PHILLIPS HILL WINERY TO CLOSE AFTER 20 YEARS
PHILO, California – Phillips Hill Winery, an Anderson Valley institution for 20 years, plans to close by the end of the year.
“Though the decision was incredibly difficult, after producing its final 2022 vintage last year, Phillips Hill Winery will close with the completion of its 20th and final season,” said founder Toby Hill.
A native Californian and grandson of a grape grower, Hill earned a BFA from the California College of the Arts – San Francisco. After several years of pursuing the visual arts, he developed a newfound obsession with Pinot Noir. In 1997, he purchased land in the Mendocino Ridge appellation, overlooking the Anderson Valley. Trusting in his sense of balance and composition, and with support from local winemakers, he made his first wine using 2002 Pinot Noir grapes grown on Oppenlander Vineyard, nearby in Mendocino’s Comptche.
Combining old world winemaking practices inspired by Burgundian winemakers with grapes from new world vineyards, Phillips Hill wines are terroir driven and aim to offer a genuine expression of the land.
“Phillips Hill Winery was born out of the natural obsession for any artist to create—my first efforts involved harvesting and nurturing two tons of grapes on the concrete floor of what was initially built as an art studio. Since then, it has evolved into a two-decade expression of our coastal wine region in a bottle,” said Hill. “Our gratitude for the community is tremendous. From the winegrowers, winemakers, Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association, tasting room landlords, and all the customers who enjoyed our wine—we appreciate everyone who supported us along the way.”
When the doors of the Phillips Hill Tasting Room on Highway 128 close, Hill will return his home winery on Greenwood Ridge back to an art studio and begin pursuing his lifelong ambition to be a full-time artist. Phillips Hill partner Natacha Durandet, WSET 3, who has a wealth of worldwide wine knowledge and a lifelong passion for wine, will pursue a new path in the wine industry.
“After twenty seasons of discovery, exploration, passion, and hard work, it is time for us to continue our evolution and embrace new undiscovered territory. We hope our customers continue to support local family-owned wineries and businesses in Anderson Valley,” Hill said.
The 2020, 2021, and 2022 vintages are sold out. A limited selection of wines will be available to purchase at the tasting room or online through the summer at www.phillipshill.com.
For further information: toby@phillipshill.com
* * *
ED NOTE: This closure in Boonville comes on the heels of two other recent valley retail closures: The Company Store restaurant next door to Lemons Market in Philo (formerly Jamie’s Café, formerly Libby’s Restaurant), and the Bewildered Pig restaurant in the deepend. Both outfits were said to be suffering from staffing problems and a decline of business in the wake of covid.
PETIT TETON MONTHLY FARM REPORT - JUNE 2023
Hi everyone...
Summer has finally arrived on the farm so harvesting and canning are ramping up. It's great that the weather has been fairly moderate, without any of the disasters that are happening world wide, so that fruit trees and berries are producing, birds are busy training their fledglings, yaks have enough forage at the moment, the new pond is watering most of our gardens, all critters are in abundance (we've trapped and relocated 125 rats, caught and moved 3 rattlesnakes, trapped and released a fox and two raccoons) and all seems well.
But. But we are conscious that our border fences don't keep out the rest of the world although we try not to talk much about the "dark" things...floods, fires, smoke (right now we're breathing fire haze from Oregon), heat, boiling oceans, algae blooms, wars, etc...you know the list. Naively I suppose, we figure that living by example...farming for ourselves and others, creating a visually beautiful food abundant farm, staying close to home, no airplane travel, recycling everything, learning to do for ourselves, being creative, looking ahead...all and more, will set a good example and a way through the coming chaos.
Although we and the farm are doing well, the earth is not, a fact that has made it hard to write this essay. Much as I'd like to be able to pretend all is well, I am a realist and don't do pretend. We are each of us responsible for what we've wrought and late as it is, it's up to each of us to change our ways, our desires, our "deserves" if we want there to remain abundant life on earth. We are the despoilers, especially those of us in this country.
The following paragraph is written by a farmer in Vermont who is fighting to stop an 85 acre, solar field from being built on unspoiled hard wood forested rolling hills within view of his farm, his B&B business, and across the road from my brother's house who is his partner in the fight. This is prime woodland/farmland in the back country of Vermont. The driver of the project is government, both State and Federal, pushing to put in as much solar as possible in the shortest time possible. The planned array is the creation of a large corporation and will benefit Connecticut, not Vermont, and the mega corporations in need of green washing. Not one of us is against solar, or wind for that matter. But to trade a forest and the life it harbors for a small electrical gain is, well, insane, more so since there are plenty of already spoiled places to put it...rooftops, parking areas, shopping centers, etc.
Jesse McDougall- “I don’t believe the battle to protect our fragile ecosystems from greed, poor thinking, and well-intentioned (but destructive) do-gooding will ever be over. It seems the Western technological way of thinking is always bent on destruction in the name of “progress.” Those of us who are ecologically-minded, and understand our place within a larger world — as opposed to on top of it — carry a heavy burden these days."
Aldo Leopold, a famous early 1900's ecologist, “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise."
I would argue that "well-intentioned (but destructive) do-gooding" is really all about money, and that one doesn't need an "ecological education" as Leopold calls it, to be aware of and react to the destruction going on. One just needs to be tuned in to one's senses and body. To be sensitive is painful and that attribute has forever been mocked and belittled as wimpy and girly. Of course most of the people (in good part, men) who run this world would cringe to think of themselves as either of those.
Neither technology nor religion will save us from Mother Nature so my proposal for at least doing our individual parts, is to go back to William Blake's counsel and see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower. And I add...get to know the populations of the world in your own neighborhood as opposed to flying all over the place looking for....what? The world can be found in each of our own backyards and neighborhoods by just opening ones eyes and heart.
Nikki Auschnitt & Steve Krieg, Boonville
PS. Below is the latest cactus to bloom. The arms are at least 5' tall and we're amazed they've stood through rain and wind for the past several years. This is the first year they've bloomed and Oh My They're Gorgeous. They even have a heavenly scent. They're in the trichocereus family and the rest of the nobs on the arms are ready to bloom any day, so come visit if you want to see them for yourselves.
INTERESTED IN A LOW-IMPACT EXERCISE CLASS? we need to know ASAP
Are you interested in: "Moving to the Groove", a low impact, senior-friendly exercise class set to music. Whether you're sitting or standing, tapping your toes or "sweating to the oldies", let's have some fun while keeping our bodies flexible and strong!
Details TBD depending on the number of participants, etc.
Please contact Margaret Pickens if you are interested in this class or need other information: margway@saber.net
LITTLE RIVER MUSEUM—OLD TRAINS AND TOYS
Little River Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays this summer from 11 to 4. Our feature exhibit this summer is Antique Toys and Trains. The museum is FREE and has a variety of exhibits about Little River, Albion and the coast. See and handle the native wildlife exhibit, listen to the spoken Pomo language, Free Pomo map of local trails, find relatives or tour the Little River Pioneer Cemetery using our map and genealogy information. Discover the Good Templar secret the modest exterior hides. We are in the little white cottage just north of Van Damme beach, 8185 Highway One. Parking across the street.
Ronnie James <ronnie@mcn.org>
ENCOURAGING VIGILANTISM?
Jim Shields:
In last week's Observer, I said the state of California needs to abandon the Pandemic-era failed experiment with emptying its jails via “catch-and-release” policies that allow crooks and criminal misfits to avoid incarceration. Some of these new laws and policies seriously undermine basic public safety ... The only answer is for county officials, mainly the judges, to abandon the policy of emptying the county jail. To hell with the state Legislature and their idiotic laws that give free reign to criminals to carry out even more crimes and anti-social behavior at the expense of public safety.
That column generated many replies and comments, including Sheriff Matt Kendall who pointed out that, “Over the past dozen years, we have seen legislation which removes personal responsibility from people, it’s just that simple. If there is no personal responsibility, then who does the responsibility for behaviors fall to? Laws protect the safety of society and ensure our rights as residents against abuses by other people, by organizations, and by the government itself. Our laws help us to create safer communities. One of the things our laws also do for us is remove the duty to avenge. This duty has been well documented throughout time. Trust me, I have arrived at many a tense situation where one subject was wronged or endangered by another. In many cases all involved parties were happy to see law enforcement arrive before things went too far. I am extremely concerned when the teeth are removed from our laws, and faith on our courts are gone, our residents will grow their teeth back and we will see duty to avenge played out across our nation. We can’t have that.”
Recently in Laytonville, we experienced what Sheriff Kendall was concerned about with the vengeance factor when a few individuals in a crowd roughed up an accused sexual assault suspect. Fortunately, law enforcement arrived on scene and restored order. Anyway check out what people are saying about the "catch and release" problem created by the state Legislature.
COMMENTS ON CRIME & NO PUNISHMENT
Dear Editor,
Finally an editor has made it clear that California needs to abandon the pandemic- era failure. I took on my own initiative to send a post card to the DOJ requesting that the President of our country go publicly and state the pandemic is over with. Speaking of catch and release do you know who else does this technique? The mental health services, you get held not cuddled, given medication, and if you participate with their programs an early release. If I was the editor I’d suggest as many citizen (s) send a postcard to our governor and request either reimbursement for our troubles as to the huge losses we had to go through, body mind and spirit as well as a honorary been there done that COVID-19 pandemic (honorable discharge) for good behavior for every citizen
Sincerely yours
Greg Crawford
Fort Bragg
PS. What is the definition of Covid?
According to my belief Covid-19 was and is bio- warfare even though it's touted as an accidental occurrence. In bio-warfare those involved are in a paramilitary arenas and we should be acknowledged and compensated accordingly. That is why the honorable discharge as well as we should get VA assistance however the governor would have to acknowledge it. On 9/11 people were compensated this was everyone.
A HUGE SURPRISE FOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY!
The Historical Society of Mendocino County would like to give special recognition and acknowledgement of a large donation we received in June. The George and Ruth Bradford Foundation has been a regular donor to the Historical Society for many years.
This year the foundation surprised us with a $10,000 donation! We are thankful that the Foundation recognized the work we do for Mendocino County. When I spoke to Peter Bradford about this donation, he reiterated his support for the work we do in preserving our history for future generations.
Thank you very, very much, George & Ruth, and also all of our supporters.
Tim Buckner Executive Director Historical Society of Mendocino County.
PS. In case you missed it, our YouTube Channel has a great video on how the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake affected Mendocino County, scroll down to view.
This video explores the aftermath of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake on the small towns and population in Mendocino County, California. Julie Bawcom is a retired Engineering Geologist who has lived and worked in Mendocino County for the last 37 years. Julie enjoys exploring it's natural history.
More info or to donate: https://mendocinocountyhistory.org
AT THEIR JUNE 20 Board meeting the Supervisors directed staff to “publish a progress indicator on how many parcels have been assessed, total dollar amount assessed, and staffing levels of appraisers in each Edition of the CEO Report, with a goal of closing the gap and reaching 85 percent (currently at or around 70 percent) over the next 24 months.”
The next CEO report issued after that meeting was this week, almost a month later. At that time we expressed our skepticism that this (or any other monthly report with statistics) would ever happen. Guess what’s NOT in the CEO report for this week? Will the Board even ask about this latest failure to follow their direction? Especially considering that 1) this was a very modest and incomplete target (which didn’t address underassessed parcels, for example), 2) it didn’t include a report on staffing in the Auditor/Tax Collector’s office, and 3) the County claims to be broke largely because they are not collecting property taxes.
(Mark Scaramella)
REDWOOD EMPIRE FAIR TIME IS HERE!
This year’s Redwood Empire Fair theme is “Jungle of Fun.”
Running from Thursday, August 3rd through Sunday, August 6th, the Fair promises great music, animals, thrills and family fun for the young and the young at heart, says Fair CEO Jennifer Seward. In addition, new entertainment and activities promise to amaze and entertain.
Pony rides, a hypnotist, pig races and a karaoke contest are just some of the new features of this year’s fair.
The 4-day annual event opens to the public at 3:00 PM on August 3rd. Pre-sale carnival wristbands are available until Thursday, August 3rd at 2:00 PM. The discounted wristbands are $30 each and are available at Mendo Mill Ukiah, Willits and Fort Bragg, Ukiah Taco Bell, Raley’s, Super Chavez Market, Creative Workshop and JD Redhouse in Willits.
The Fair continues to be committed to supporting 4H, FFA and Independent youth members of the AG community. “Our animal market, breeding, showmanship and Junior Livestock Auction continue to be one of the most successful programs in the state,” Seward notes. This year’s Sheep Showmanship and the Market and Breeding Sheep Show take place on Thursday, August 3rd at 8:00 AM.
The Market and Breeding Swine Show takes place Thursday, August 3rd at 8:00 AM, with Swine Showmanship scheduled for Friday, August 4th at 8:00 AM.
Beef Showmanship, Market and Breeding Beef take place on August 3rd at 5:00 PM. The Dairy Cattle Show starts at 1:00 PM on Friday, August 4th. The Beef Ultrasound Carcass Contest is on August 4th at 1:15 PM.
The Primary Goats and Breeding Goat events take place on Friday, August 4th at 1:30pm, with the Pygmy Goat Show to follow at 2:00 pm. The Round Robin Large Animal Showmanship event also takes place on Friday at 4:00 pm, and the Small Animal Round Robin Showmanship event is scheduled for Friday at 7:00 PM.
Saturday is the Community First Credit Union Ag Day, beginning with the Junior Livestock Auction, starting at 10:30 AM at the Racine Pavilion. To close out the Ag events, the Livestock Awards Ceremony commences Sunday, August 6th at 10:00 am.
Racing enthusiasts should prepare themselves for four nights of free, hair-raising fun. On Thursday, watch motorcycles, side-by-sides, quads and monster trucks beginning at 6:00 pm. Friday night’s favorite Mudd Bogg and Monster Truck fest rolls out at 6:00. Truck and Tractor Pulls will begin competing at 6:00 pm on Saturday evening. Finish out the weekend on a wild note with Boat Races, Junior Mudd Boggs and Jalopies on Sunday evening beginning at 6:00 pm.
Don’t forget to bring dancing shoes and take some time to practice your favorite songs! On Thursday evening, the popular Warehouse 21 will perform two sets: one at 6:00 and one at 9:00. On Friday evening, welcome Waylon and the Wildcats to the Fair for the first time at 6:00 and 9:00.
Come and sing, dance or root for your favorite local karaoke artist at DJ Ken Steely’s Karaoke and Country Dancing at 6:00 and 9:00. For intrepid songsters, there will be a $250 prize awarded to the best karaoke performance.
The legacy of the Ukiah Idol competition continues, and the public is invited to enjoy the show-stopping level of local talent competing for prizes and fame! “Little and Junior Idol” Finals contestants will be competing on Friday, August 4th at 5:00 PM. The
“Grand Finals” will be announced on Sunday at 3:00 PM.
On Opening Day- Thursday, August 3rd, children 6-12 years old and seniors 65 and older are admitted free until 6:00 pm. Children under 5 are always admitted free. Grandstand shows are always included with fair admission. The Redwood Empire Fair opens at 3:00 on Thursday and Friday and at noon on Saturday and Sunday. For more information phone (707) 462-3884, visit the Redwood Empire Fair’s Facebook page or https://www.redwoodempirefair.com/summer-fair.
SUPES TO COMPOUND THEIR ERROR
To the Editor:
I'm writing from a vacation in Europe, but I'm still following county politics. What the hell is this agenda item for next Tuesday, July 25?
4b) Discussion and Possible Action Including Direction to Staff to Develop a Contingency Plan for Creation of Department of Finance Based on Best Practice of Successful Counties
(Sponsors: Supervisor Williams and Supervisor McGourty)
Recommended Action:
Direct Staff to develop a Contingency Plan for creation of Department of Finance based on best practice of successful counties.
* * *
I have questions:
Is the BOS wanting to put this new department under the CEOs office where we've already seen an enormous consolidation of power by Carmel Angelo?
Is this a power grab at the expense of the Treasurer-Auditor?
Is the BOS really wanting to consolidate offices and realign county financial reporting with only seven months before the election?
And considering that our five Supervisors all rather mindlessly and stupidly unanimously endorsed Trevor Mockel -- an unemployed candidate with little work experience living at home -- is this agenda item, if passed, somehow giving Mockel a competitive advantage?
I smell a rat. Am I missing something?
John Sakowicz
Ukiah
Supervisor Ted Williams replies: Item 4b is about the county building the capability to generate its own regular reports, including department reports and budgeted versus actuals, without relying exclusively on the Auditor-Controller's office.
ms notes: …Which is not what the item says at all. Oh well.
ED NOTES
ANDREW LUTSKY: Re Ed Notes … “At no time on the Mendocino Coast were soldiers involved in wholesale murders of the native people. Those atrocities occurred in the Eel River Basin where a year-long assault on native people was funded by the State of California at the urging of Serranus Hastings, chief justice of California’s first supreme court after whom the famous Bay Area law school is named.” I assume Bruce Anderson is referring to the school that was renamed UC Law SF and formerly known as UC Hastings College of the Law. It seems noteworthy that today the school’s ‘Our Mission & History’ web page (https://www.usfca.edu/law) makes absolutely no mention of the school’s founder just one year after the name change went into effect and after 144 years operating under the founder’s name. From what I have read Hastings was a sociopath to whom we and future generations owe absolutely nothing. I support dropping his name, and I also believe we owe it to the future generation to tell his story, not attempt to redact his existence from history in the manner this UC appears to favor.”
I AGREE. I almost regret the obliteration of Hastings. I would have preferred an asterisk comment on Hastings' letterhead denoting his crimes. But considering the performances of many law school graduates, having the name of a killer and thief on their diplomas is probably appropriate.
A READER WRITES: “You are skipping the part where many of the Native people incarcerated on the ‘rez’ were force marched…by white invaders… over the hills from the Ukiah Valley, with what little of their former lives they could carry. Many died along the way. After the ‘rez’ on the Coast was closed and the land parceled off to white ‘settlers,’ what Native people who had not already escaped were again force marched all the way to Round Valley. That history is ugly and needs to be spoken out loud. As for the name change, when and if a broad consensus of the citizens of Fort Bragg (I am a recent arrival) decide that the name needs to be changed, it will. Until then, ego driven agitation only creates backlash.”
NOBODY familiar with the facts would deny that early Mendocino County was a scene of unrelieved atrocity, the worst and most shocking crimes occurring inland where Jarboe's Ranger's were paid per murder by the State of California. Ahem, Boonville's beloved weekly has drawn much attention to these horrors over the years, early on seeming to be one of the few persons who'd read the seminal document, “Genocide and Vendetta,’ never a truer title for a rare book confirming what had previously only been whispered, that the native peoples of inland Mendocino County had been systematically hunted down and killed, many of the atrocities being carried out on the reservations on the Mendocino coast and, later, in Covelo. Defective as he was as a human being, Braxton Bragg had nothing to do with these crimes. As for systemic racism, how about taking on systemic capitalism, the indiscriminate, steadily intensifying, multi-cultural boot-on-the-neck of millions of people of all ethnicities? That's the root of the racism the Name Changers claim to be fighting by their trivial, irrelevant, fundamentally unserious effort to re-write American history, along with the name of Fort Bragg.
PS, a second ahem: Years ago a young man called who identified himself as a Native American. He said he was a law student at Hastings. He asked me if the story in the mighty ava about Hastings was true? I cited chapter and verse. I may be flattering myself, but I think that man's inquiry was the beginning of the end for a UC school of law named after the man who'd set in motion Jarboe's Raiders. In short, Hastings, the chief justice of California's first State Supreme Court, moved in on the Indians at Hidden Valley to establish a horse ranch. (Hidden Valley is tucked away south of Laytonville and a little east of Willits.) Hastings hired a 6'6" psychopath called Texan Boy Hall as his foreman. Hall, predictably, proceeded to wildly mistreat the people who'd lived in the valley since time immemorial and, in retaliation, the Indians killed Hastings' prized brood stallion, which prompted Hastings, on his authority as the state's leading legal man, arranged for Jarboe — later Ukiah's first lawman — to murder all the Indians he and his rangers could find in the entire Eel River Basin. The killing went on for a year.
MIKE GENIELLA: “We are enjoying our first delivery of fresh peaches (Redhavens) from Potter Valley's Langdon Day Farms. Terese and I grew up in peach country in the Sacramento Valley. These peaches are as good as they get. We salute Grace and John March, the third generation to run a Mendocino County family farming operation. Personally, I am happy to help promote their efforts because, folks, I signed up for weekly orders and am near the front of the line!”
THE EDITOR seconds the motion that these Potter Valley peaches are, by far, the best peaches the editor has ever tasted, and he speaks as a lifelong peach lover. He has three struggling peach trees at ava headquarters in Boonville whose yields are pretty tasty, but almost pathetic against these Potter Valley marvels.
THE REDWOOD FAIR honoring Jitu Ishwar at its annual “VIP” dinner last weekend for community service overlooked the grim fact that Ishwar sabbed a stunningly beautiful plan by Minal Shankar to re-create the Palace Hotel in a form that would have been a major gift to the people of Ukiah and Mendocino County.
With Ishwar now driving the Palace bus, if we get anything at all on the Palace site, we're likely to see a Motel Six with a McDonald's franchise in the basement. Ms. Shankar's plans, which I was fortunate to see, were imaginative and doable because she had the resources and the staff to bring them off. She was all set to begin work at the beginning of this summer when this Ishwar guy stepped in to try to shake down Ms. Shankar for a lot more money than his share was worth, causing her to withdraw.
FROM OUTTA THE FOG…
Pint Arena City Council Meeting, July 25, 2023
Mayor Barbara Burkey ~ Vice Mayor Anna Dobbins ~ Jim Koogle, Jeff Hansen ~ Dan Doyle
Agenda - July 25, 2023
Regular Session - 6:00 pm
Council Chambers, 451 School Street
…
Commendation Of Richard Shoemaker Upon His Retirement
Proposal for Mural at Downtown Plaza/City Restrooms
Trash & Recycling Collection Service Contract
Agreement with Coastal Seniors for Veteran’s Building Use
Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Master Fee Schedule
Contract with Ginevra Chandler for Legal Services
Establishment of City Council Finance Oversight Committee
Mendocino County 2023 Affordable Housing Needs Report
Growing Number of Cities Weigh Tribal ‘Land Acknowledgements’
UKIAH CONSTRUCTION UPDATES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 24TH
Next week, most of the work is scheduled to be on the 100 block of Scott Street (between State and School), where the sewer main and laterals are being replaced. During that work, that block will be closed to traffic during the day, open at night. When work is occurring in the intersection of Scott and School Streets (likely beginning Monday, July 24th), there will be adjacent street closures on Scott and School Streets to prevent through traffic, but residents will be allowed to access. No interruptions of sewer service are anticipated.
Depending on the pace of the sewer work, storm drain work along the west side of State Street may also begin on Wednesday or Thursday. During this work, there may be limited driveway closures of one (work) day or less. Impacted properties will be provided individualized notice as much in advance as possible.
Important: Residents who have driveways facing the 100 block of Scott Street will want to move their cars to another block before 7:00 am (on days while sewer work is happening there) to avoid being “trapped” in your driveway during construction hours.
Where will the work occur?
Sewer later work will occur on Scott Street between State and School Streets. Beginning Wednesday or Thursday, storm drain work will begin on the west side of State Street.
What are the construction days/hours?
Construction hours will be Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Will there be dust and noise?
Yes. There will be some dust and fairly significant noise while trenching and breaking up concrete.
Will there be any disruptions to parking access or streets?
Yes. On-street parking in the construction zone will be closed. Access to businesses will be maintained at all times. If there will be any disruption to driveways, advance notice will be provided by the contractors. Through traffic on State Street will be allowed in both directions. The 100 block of Scott Street will be closed Monday-Thursday-ish during construction hours, open at night.
Important Utility Information:
No water, sewer, or electric outages are planned as part of this current phase. Any planned interruptions will come with advance notice of up to 72 hours. However, accidents happen, and if you ever find yourself without any of those utilities, please call the City of Ukiah as soon as possible: Utility Outages (Police Dispatch): 707-463-6262
More information can be found online on the City’s website at ukiahstreetscape.com; plus, follow our Facebook page for updates and project photos at www.facebook.com/UkiahStreetscape/.
Have a great weekend! Photo and bonus info about City Council meetings below.
Thanks,
Shannon Riley, Deputy City Manager, City of Ukiah
An old Coke bottle that was unearthed during excavation on North State Street. We find all kinds of odds and ends when we dig these streets up. Hoped to find some old tunnels downtown around the courthouse during Phase One, but no such luck. Another urban myth debunked!
How to Watch/Participate in City Council Meetings
City Council meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, 6pm at the Ukiah Civic Center (300 Seminary Avenue). Those mee45tings are open to the public, but can also be viewed online.
Public comment is invited for every item, plus on non-agenda items. Can’t make it to the meeting? Send an email!
At www.CityofUkiah.com/meetings you can:
Sign up for email notifications about public meetings and more
Find agendas for City Council and other public meetings, along with all of the supporting information
Watch a meeting live
Watch a recorded meeting that already happened. Bonus: when viewing a recorded meeting, the agenda is visible alongside the video. You can click on the agenda item(s) you’re interested in and jump directly to that part of the video!
Get instructions for how to provide public comment
JEFF GOLL COMMENTS on yesterday's Ed Notes: the MEC should have hired good attorneys to challenge egregious timber harvest plans similar to EPIC being headed by attorneys. Epic though, seems quite satisfied in their status quo, slightly elitist club where they do good work, but within a limited spectrum. Their funding has restrictions that prevent them from being exceptionally effective environmentalists on par with: Rachel Carson, Wendall Berry, Edward Abbey, David Brower, Vandana Shiva etc. Also, Matt Taibbi is on to something about Covid's Origins. Back in March of 2020, on the web, I was able to find a lawyer from U of Illinois Champaign-Urbana who had discovered that patents had been issued on the SARS Covid-19 virus - people cannot patent nature.
CATCH OF THE DAY: Friday, July 21, 2023
JONATHAN CISNEROS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.
KRYS COTE, Upper Lake/Fort Bragg. Domestic battery.
ELIZABETH DOCKINS, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.
JAMES DODD, Willits. Resisting.
EVAN FEEN, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.
ANGELA FREASE, Ukiah. Controlled substance, county parole violation.
DEBBIE MCOSKER, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.
RAKIA MINARD, San Francisco/Ukiah. DUI.
DOMINIC SINGLETON, Redwood Valley. Competency status.
JORGE TAFOYA, Ukiah. Probation revocation.
JASON WALSH, Cotati/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, parole violation.
LAUREN WATT, Makawoa, Hawaii/Ukiah. DUI-alcohol&drugs
GOOD TO GO
Complete Vedas With English Meanings: https://youtu.be/pf5HH-KFpSk
Warmest spiritual greetings,
Following my final appointment with a cardiologist at Adventist Health-Ukiah yesterday, in which I am "good to go", with only general routine testing recommended in September, most prescriptions are now cancelled being no longer needed, and I am free to go where I need to go and do what I need to do on the planet earth.
Contact me if you are serious about doing anything crucial. [Eager to move on from the homeless shelter, and be engaged in spiritually focused direct action.] As ever, not identified with the body and not identified with the mind, Immortal Self I am. OM OM OM
Craig Louis Stehr <craiglouisstehr@gmail.com>
COVID, ISOLATION & LONELINESS: A BRIEF REPORT
by Jonah Raskin
“Are you lonely tonight?” If you are a senior you probably are, according to Carla Perissinotto, a doctor and a professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. Perissinotto specializes in internal medicine, palliative medicine and Geriatrics. Recently, she gave a powerpoint presentation at San Francisco Village, an organization and an extended community for elders that depends on volunteers and donations that has been in existence since 2009 and still growing.
“Four out of five seniors say that they are lonely,” Perissinotto told the in person and online audience that had gathered to hear her talk about COVID, isolation and loneliness.
“More people are now endangered by isolation and loneliness than by COVID,” she added. According to Perissinotto, isolated and lonely seniors are at risk for health decline and death. They have higher rates of insomnia, depression and anxiety than others who are not as old as they are. “Social isolation is as bad for you as smoking cigarettes,” Perissinotto explained.
Isolation and loneliness are not new topics, but they have recently come to the attention of the “health community.” There’s still a great deal to learn. “When I put isolation and loneliness as the cause of death I get push back,” she said. Some of what she had to say went against common perceptions. “Lonely people are married and married people are lonely,” she noted.
Dr. Perissinotto was not all doom and gloom. She urged members of the audience to share their feelings and experiences and not be ashamed of them. “Being lonely is not someone’s fault,” she said. “If you feel left out, that’s isolation.” She urged elders to “individualize your situation and needs, be connected, acknowledge your own importance and seek peer support.”
Some elders have a sense that time is running out and that their biological clocks are ticking louder and faster than ever before. They wonder how they can create networks in the time they have left. It’s important not to feel desperate.
After her talk, members of the audience opened up and talked about themselves, their challenges and opportunities. Perissinotto handed out her card with contact information, and recommended the Surgeon General’s “advisory” that calls attention to the “public health crisis of loneliness, isolation and lack of connection in our country.” Surgeon General’s Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation – PDF. She also recommended a recent New York Times article titled, “Can Medicine Cure the Lonely Mind?” It’s a good question and one that will need to be answered as fully as possible and as soon as possible. After all, lives are at risk.
MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio show is on all night Friday night!
Wiggly deadline to email your writing for Friday night's MOTA show is 6 or 7pm. If you can't make that, send it whenever it's done and I'll read it on the radio next week. There's no pressure on you. I have plenty of material; I'd just like yours, too. Tonight's show might be a little short, maybe a couple of hours short; I'm kinda wiped out from not sleeping right, worrying about things, not to mention spending hours last night repairing my streaming computer. I could have used my backup one and fixed the real one later, but my backup one is back in Fort Bragg, 100 miles away, being KNYO's front-up streaming computer since Li'l Betty failed. I'll do what I can, starting with reading all the local material up before 1am, /then/ read the rest, and see how I feel. Come to think of it, maybe I should have been doing it that way all along anyway.
Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am PST on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg as well as via KNYO.org. Also the schedule is there for KNYO's many other terrific shows.
No new timetable update on the KNYO transmitter-and-antenna move and improvements.
Furthermore, any day or night you can go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's MOTA show. By Saturday night I'll put up the recording of tonight's show. And you'll find plenty of enjoyably educational material to improve your ouvre until showtime, or any time, such as:
Vaguely Frank Sinatra-ish AI creepily sings Creep.
A documentary about making Casablanca. (35 min.)
https://myonebeautifulthing.com/2023/07/19/casablanca-an-unlikely-classic/
And the trailer for a new documentary about musical one-of-a-kind Raymond Scott.
https://boingboing.net/2023/07/19/raymond-scott-docu-come-for-the-music-stay-for-the-tech.html
Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com
CHOMSKY GOES TO THE DENTIST
by Alexander Cockburn
Chomsky went to the dentist, who made his inspection and observed the patient was grinding his teeth. Consultation with Mrs. Chomsky disclosed that teeth-grinding was not taking place during the hours of sleep. When else? They narrowed it down quickly enough to the period each morning when Chomsky was reading the New York Times, unconsciously gnashing his molars at every page.
I asked Chomsky why, with the evidence and experience of a lifetime, he kept hoping against hope that the corporate press, particularly the New York Times, was going to get it right. Reality should long since have conditioned him to keep his jaw muscles relaxed. Chomsky sighed, as if in anticipation of all the stupid perversions of truth he was condemned to keep reading for the rest of his life, jolted each morning into furious bouts of grinding.
People will go to a talk by Chomsky partly just to reassure themselves that they haven’t gone mad; that they are right when they disbelieve what they read in the papers or watch on TV. For hundreds of thousands of people over the years–he must have spoken to more American students than any other person alive–Chomsky has offered the assurance, the intellectual and moral authority that there is another way of looking at things. In this vital function he stands in the same relationship to his audience as did a philosopher he admires greatly, Bertrand Russell. Chomsky’s greatest virtue is that his fundamental message is a simple one. Here’s how he put it in an interview with Fred Gardner in the Anderson Valley Advertiser:
“Any form of authority requires justification; it’s not self-justified. And the justification can rarely be given. Sometimes you can give it. I think you can give an argument that you shouldn’t let a three-year-old run across the street. That’s a form of authority that’s justifiable. But there aren’t many of them, and usually the effort to give justification fails. And when we try to face it, we find that the authority is illegitimate. Any time you find that a form of authority is illegitimate, you ought to challenge it. It’s something that conflicts with human rights and liberties. And that goes on forever. You overcome one thing and discover the next.
“In my view what a popular movement ought to be is just basically libertarian: concerned with forms of oppression, authority and domination, challenging them. Sometimes they’re justifiable under particular conditions, sometimes they’re not. If they are not, try to overcome them.”
(September 3, 1992. This is excerpted from ‘The Golden Age is In Us.’ CounterPunch.org)
JACK TRICE: Jack Trice Stadium
African American players were often forced to endure unusually rough play. One of the best known examples of this, Jack Trice, was the first African American to play football at Iowa State University (then Iowa State College). Trice joined the team in 1923. Iowa State’s first three opponents that year refused to play the game if Trice was on the field and so he sat out these games. Trice’s first game was against the University of Minnesota and he died as a result of injuries sustained in that game. The stadium at Iowa State was named in Trice’s honor in 1997, 74 years after his death.
Trice was born in Hiram, Ohio in 1902, the son of a former slave and Buffalo Soldier, Green Trice. As a child, Trice was active in sports and demonstrated outstanding athletic skills. In 1918, Trice’s mother sent him to Cleveland, Ohio to live with an uncle. Trice attended East Technical High School where he played football. In 1922, Trice followed five of his teammates, as well as his former high school coach, Sam Willaman, to Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa.
While attending Iowa State, Trice participated in track and football (primarily as a tackle). He majored in animal husbandry, with the desire to go to the South after graduation, and use his knowledge to help African-American farmers. His dream job was to eventually teach Southern black farmers about modern farming. In the summer after his freshman year at the age of 20, Trice married Cora Mae Starland, who was only 15. They both found jobs in order to support themselves through school. Trice also was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and initiated through the Alpha Nu chapter (Drake & Iowa State University).
On October 5, 1923, the night before his second college football game, Trice wrote the following in a letter on stationery at a racially segregated hotel in Minneapolis/St. Paul (the letter was later found in Trice's suit just before his funeral): Trice died due to injuries suffered during a college football game against the University of Minnesota on October 6, 1923.
"My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family & self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will. My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part. On all defensive plays I must break through the opponents' line and stop the play in their territory. Beware of mass interference. Fight low, with your eyes open and toward the play. Watch out for crossbucks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good. Jack"
I’M 74. I DON’T KNOW how much longer I’m going to be around here raising hell or doing what I’m doing. But people need to start understanding that the economic gap is crazy. I pay an enormous amount of taxes, and it’s fine because I know I should. But why can’t we get billionaires to pay their fucking taxes? If those motherfuckers paid their taxes we'd solve a whole bunch of shit. And they would still be richer than every motherfucker walking around them.
— Samuel L. Jackson
THE DOWNFALL OF BLOBISM
by James Kunstler
“If it weren’t for double standards, the Democrats would have no standards at all.” — Jeff Childers of the Coffee and Covid blog
You might not know it these lazy, hazy, muggy days of midsummer, but things are getting pretty wildly out-of-hand in our republic. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. blew up the Democratic Party yesterday in the House Subcommittee on Weaponization of Government hearing, acting like a normal human while being set upon by a flock of harpies desperately screeching “Russia, Russia, Russia,” as if that means anything anymore. He branded them as worse than the McCarthyites of the 1950s, rebuked their insane scurrilities supporting censorship, and left them in a state of exhausted disgrace.
It happens that he is running for the nomination of that very party knocking itself out to destroy him. To win that prize he would have to put a thousand top Democrats through some grueling act of repentance and contrition — and then you’ve got to ask yourself: who would even want to win the support of such vile creatures as Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jerrold Nadler, and Adam Schiff, let alone be associated with them in the same club?
Elsewhere around the scene this week, we have the ever more degenerate antics of the FBI on view as whistleblowers pour out of the woodwork disclosing the rot behind Director Chris Wray and his boss AG Merrick Garland. This Deep State Blob of turpitude has been growing and festering with so many overlapping cover-ups that they’ve run out of rugs to sweep their crimes under. The massive moneygrubbing misdeeds of Hillary Clinton from Skolkovo and Uranium One beat a direct path through the Ukraine coup of 2014, to RussiaGate, to the Biden Family’s global influence-peddling operation and every mendacious act in-between including the FISA falsehoods, the J-6 entrapment caper, hundreds of malicious and deceitful prosecutions, the Covid-19 fraud, the censorship and medical tyranny, and God-knows how many ensuing deaths from a poisonous vaccine… and now, a brain-dead government trifling with nuclear war.
And whose brilliant idea was it, anyway, to install this disgusting and incompetent grifter, “Joe Biden,” as our head-of-state? They surely knew well before 2019 that his bag-man son was rooting out bribes in Ukraine, China, and elsewhere, at the same time he was consorting with whores and trafficked children while destroying his brain with crack and downing a fifth of vodka a day. And you’re telling me that the CIA and FBI did not know about any of this, even before October 2019 when Hunter’s laptop stuffed with graphic evidence fell into their hands? If they didn’t know any of this, then what’s the point of having an intel community?
My guess is that it was Barack Obama’s idea to stick “Joe Biden” in the White House in the vain effort to use this captive criminal to stave off any accounting for the aforesaid villainies that occurred during Mr. Obama’s two terms. The mission was originally Hillary Clinton’s — she had plenty at stake herself — but she botched the job in 2016 and allowed the Golden Golem of Greatness to slip into power. It is amazing to look back and see how the mighty Blob congealed after that election — like a giant rogue macrophage — to surround and eliminate Mr. Trump, who apparently did not know for many months what he was up against: the entire permanent bureaucracy. Obviously, the Blob only partly succeeded in deactivating Mr. Trump, who has worked sedulously since 2021 to marshal about half the country militantly against the Blob and Blobism, while he still suffers one rear-guard legal affront after another.
Trouble is, the Blob itself has become an immune disorder for the polity known as the USA, and now threatens to destroy everything the country stands for and all the stuff deployed on the landscape from sea to shining sea, if the hypersonic nukes fly. These are dangerous weeks ahead. The pedal’s on the metal… the rubber’s meeting the road, and we seem to be watching a Thelma and Louise type denouement writ large.
The Blob itself, with the Democratic Party at its nucleus, and evil organelles Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and their like floating in the endoplasmic reticulum, has gone insane trying to protect its Precious, liberalism’s sacred bowling trophy, Barack Obama, from scrutiny. To call Mr. Obama to account, of course, would be viewed as the ultimate act of American “racism,” a place too many will not go. So, he may evade responsibility until he (and the rest of us) are gone and history catches up with him.
But is there any doubt now that “Joe Biden” must go, and as soon as possible? Surely there is enough evidence to mount an impeachment in the House, and rev it up as expeditiously as the Democrats revved up their two Trump impeachments. An impeachment would, of course, force a trial in the Senate. It is probably the one news event that The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN can’t run and hide from — as they have been hiding from this week’s whistleblower hearings and Mr. Kennedy’s sturdy performance against the House censorship activists. In a Senate trial, the rot will finally be laid out before the people to judge, whether the Senate can bring itself to convict “JB” or not. Anyway, it will end this president’s pretense of running for reelection, and on the off-chance he’s convicted, his pardon powers do not extend to that particular extraordinary Senate proceeding. And then we can see about Ms. Harris.
(kunstler.com)
MIKE WILLIAMS: Small Town by John Mellencamp vs Try That in a Small Town by Jason Aldean. Pastoral community values vs macho jingoism.
Jim Breuer trashes the Left-wing press for trying to cancel Jason Aldean
Marmon
The white media wants you to believe any white man with a cowboy hat is racist. My 4 kids are tan from their mother being Native American and Mexican and it’s usually the white liberals giving us strange looks. Go figure
Whole lot of drank by the boat-load (Boat-load)
Whole lot of sticks by the car-load (Brrt)
No serial, chase no barcode (Uh-uh)
Got a serious face, don’t talk, no (Don’t talk)
Cash out, ain’t got no car note (Yeah)
Nigga play, get hit with the Draco (Yeah, brrt)
Never let them know where I stay, no (Yeah)
Try to break in the house, all I know (Ooh)
Burglarizin’, bullets gon’ rip through his body (Fah-fah)
I ain’t kill nobody (Nah), they think I promote violence
I don’t play, but the TEC go, “Grrt” (Grrt)
No, I don’t freeze, on ten, come try me (Yeah)
When I squeeze, I’ma blow off the rip (Bah)
I think that voice come from narcotics (Slime)
-NBA young boy
This is the most popular rapper right now. The kids love him. 10-12 mostly
And we love the 1st amendment..
Jason Aldean, the next big thing, comes on stage just as Toby Kieth, the last big thing, is being shown the door. (The big thing in country music is pornography for the ego, rather than the usual porn for the libido — for those who are unfamiliar with the standards the industry upholds.)
In the vulgar parlance of the industry, it’s called “stroking the the listener’s ego.”
Spot on!
All the videos show criminal acts and the lyrics are advising to not commit these crimes in a small town,whether you like it or not , is irrelevant to me. In order to call this racist, one has to automatically assume that these crimes were committed by black people, only a racist would assume that ! Antifa came to mind, and yes, I’m aware of what happened on those courthouse steps in 1914, but that still begs the question who the racists are.
The lyrics and the videos insinuate the acts of violence were perpetrated by liberals of any and all colors or genders. We get. Us libtards. You don’t have to show videos of Toby Keith partying down home with the rappers. It’s you and Marmon trying to skew it into a false race issue. No doubt it helps distract attention from the real race issues. But nice try, Masterbaiter.
Did you watch the video? It was filmed in front of a well known place where black people were lynched. You think Alldimm didn’t know what he was doing? Racism was not well sugar coated this time.
I admit I didn’t; and further confess I missed the significance of the set. You’re right, there’s no excuse for such a crude insult. I’m very isolated anymore and the only country music I listen to is Mary Tillson’s show The Back Forty on KPFA at 1: pm Sundays.
I don’t listen to this new pop country either. Just fake country pop star garbage music. I like my Willie Nelson, Waylon, and the boys…
New country is like bubble gum music back in the day.
“Mawkish swill,” Grandma Lula called it when she heard country music —back when it was jostling western music out of vogue; then it was called country & western; until, that is, Willie & Waylon came along, booted the western spouse, and took country rock to bed (remember the hippy chick Waylon rode with?) But since Toby Keith had words with Cris Kristopherson it’s been all mawkish swill.
Western music went the way of many abandoned genres, took up with jazz and presto: “cow jazz” was born! Johnny Mercer’s “I’m an old cowhand,” by the Holy Cole Trio would make Lula smile.
Actual videos of what happened, but hey if the shoe fits, roflol. But calling people names negates (Trumps? ) all .
Aldean could have shown videos of cities where college sports or superbowl fans did the same trashing of property after their team won some major title, but chose not too.
As a palate cleanser for all the hateful ugliness in this thread, let’s try something lyrical. I give you “Silver Raven” by Gene Clark:
Have you seen the silver raven?
She has wings and she can fly
Far above the darkened waters
Far above the troubled sky
Have you seen the changing rivers?
Now they wait their turn to die
But they turn their tide upon you
When the sea begins to cry
Have you seen the changing windows
Of the sea beyond the stars?
And the sky beyond the sunbeams
And the world beyond your dreams
Have you seen the old world dying
Which was once what new world seem?
Have you seen the silver raven?
She has wings that barely gleam
They barely gleam, they barely glimmer
As she circles past the sun
And she tries to tell her sister
That her trials have just begun
THE TRUTH
Samuel L. Jackson says it!
As does Jim Shields.
Thanks again for cartoons that made me laugh. And my father-in-law adds: “Harp, the Bennett angel sings!”
Why does the county waste time, money and effort on consolidating departments only to undo the consolidation somewhere down the road. i.e. the great HHSA experiment. What a grand lesson in futility and yet they repeat this error again and again.
The emperor has no clothes!!
They throw distractions to the public to keep us distracted while this craziness continues. (and they count on us taking the distraction bait every time) People, pay attention and keep bringing the leaders back to the issues at hand. Stop getting distracted, make them do the work they are suppose to do!! Continuous public pressure is needed.
Thank you Mark Scaramella, Jim Shields and all the others that tirelessly raise the issues for us.
“Why does the county waste time, money and effort on consolidating departments only to undo the consolidation somewhere down the road. i.e. the great HHSA experiment.”
When I worked for the County for 18 years, I watched the doings of the bureaucracy with increasing skepticism, finally settling into disdain and mistrust. That included the HHSA deal. Most of the direct service staff I worked with came to the same outlook. We wanted to do our assigned work, and also wanted and needed good support by management for that work. Much of the time we just felt messed-with by management, not supported much, road-blocks often put in our way, way too much talk with little real support. It was, as you say, “craziness.”
Bureaucracies manufacture their own little worlds, and those worlds–in their view– take on great importance. It was an education to watch this go on and on…
“Why does the county waste time, money and effort on consolidating departments only to undo the consolidation somewhere down the road. i.e. the great HHSA experiment.”
Was Public Health functioning well under the HHSA super-agency model?
Show me a presentation given to the board and public about the performance of our public health at any time in the past five years. What methodology was used in assessing the performance?
List of failures in Public health:
Carmel Angelo
Tammy Moss Chandler
Anne Molgaard
Noemi “me me” Doohan
Darcie Antle
Look at all that wasted money on Sociopaths. How’s the public health of Mendo doing? Looks like Ukiah is relying on Caltrans to put up Texas border fencing along Hwy 101 to “fix the homeless problem”.
https://www.mendocinocounty.org/departments/public-health/hhsa-advisory-board
I see Darcie Antle cleaning up a monumental mess in a department that operated under a motto of “putting butts in seats”. Darcie isn’t one to accept nonsense, so I imagine there will be a backlash as she implements necessary changes. She’s driven by creating public good, not image.
County government has a poor track record, but if we live under the belief that it is broken AND no changes should be made, what’s the logical conclusion?
Darcie Antle had one of the highest drop out rates for any accounting teacher at Mendo College. That should tell everyone a lot about her skills at cleaning up messes. We all know why she is CEO, because the county’s other problem is Nepotism and bad hiring practices. Wasn’t it you that selected Kirstin Nevendal for Cannabis manager and announced it on the Wednesday before the job application was closed the following Friday? What kind of message does that send to the viable candidates applying for jobs at the county? How did that selection work out by the way?
The only reason we have a CEO position in the county is because the BOS doesn’t seem to be able to do their very simple job of listening to the public’s needs, so you have a great scapegoat… That’s not just my opinion.
From CNN to local SF TV news, sober reporting of next Wednesdays House hearing is occuring.
The significance of the third witness, David Grusch, is huge.
10 am eastern time July 26.
This is just the first of planned series of hearings. The Senate Intel Cmt is planning ones also.
BS. What’s the word from SETI? They are less likely to lie. You are one gullible dreamer.
You seem distressed over this unfolding news, ie stuff actually happening. Strangely, you and actually a few others here, have launched ad hominem put downs, referencing my alleged lack of credibility and mental health. At no point has it appeared that a single commentator has actually addressed the actual news emerging.
Therefore, it would seem between the subtle and frequent cartoonish putdowns of the UFO subject by AVA editors (usually but not always using actual cartoons) and commentator expressions, that this will be a difficult issue for many to face.
Here’s an article by me addressing a key factor for why that is:
https://www.et-cultures.com/post/last-word-addressing-high-strangeness-the-key-barrier-that-suppresses-public-attention
You really should stop defending political games that governments play. And, why the heck don’t you answer my question regarding SETI? As I stated to you recently, I’d be happy to have ET come down and clean up the messes we’ve made, so save your “psycho” games for others.
You would make a very poor psychiatrist, twisting and turning the truth as you do with your fantasies. People realize that you live in a fantasy world and respond to you accordingly. The “stuff actually happening” is your assessment of lies told by politicians and nooze media, kinda like your tale of ET in conference with government leaders over a trade agreement that you foisted on us a while back.
By the way, where’s your answer to my SETI question…? You seem not to want to respond, since any truthful answer would blow up your little dream world.
Any comments on this article?
““Like political scandals and high-waisted jeans, UFOs trend in and out of collective awareness but never fully disappear. Thirty years of polling find that 25%-50% of surveyed Americans believe at least some UFOs are alien spacecraft. Today in the U.S., over 100 million adults think our galactic neighbors pay us visits.”
https://theconversation.com/why-people-tend-to-believe-ufos-are-extraterrestrial-208403
I will be voting for Cornel West in the next presidential election. What do y’all think about that?
Your decision enjoys my complete complicity and highest respect. At times, the threat of the awful Trump monstrosity scares most sane people into voting for the lesser-evil warmonger we have, and it seems so well devised to keep everyone on the two-party line; then again, it’s just too fantastic to be true and I have to pause to wonder how the common clay mortals we know run things could possibly have devised such an elaborate and well-timed conspiracy…?
How do people think Europe got their multi-party systems? If we had a functional democracy not owned by corporations, we would have Universal Heathcare and free college, like EVERY other democracy in the world. Thanks for the support Bruce.
4b
“ms notes: …Which is not what the item says at all. Oh well.”
How do you figure? Actual text of item below. Tell me how this is contrary to building capabilities to generate regular and credible financial reports?
Discussion and Possible Action Including Direction to Staff to Develop a Contingency Plan for Creation of Department of Finance Based on Best Practice of Successful Counties
(Sponsors: Supervisor Williams and Supervisor McGourty)
Given the challenges Mendocino County has encountered in generating reliable financial reports, maintaining fiscal transparency, efficient tax collection, among other responsibilities, there is an urgent need for systemic improvements. Our constituents deserve a higher level of professionalism in the management of their public finances.
In response to these issues, the item directs an action plan:
Benchmarking and Best Practices: We will identify and study proven models of financial management from other counties to understand and emulate their successful strategies.
State and Association Partnerships: Leverage partnerships with state entities and associations like the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC). They will provide valuable resources, expertise, and potential collaboration opportunities.
Staff Development: Begin a comprehensive training and development plan for staff to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out their duties effectively and professionally.
This initiative aims to improve the county’s financial transparency, public trust, and efficiency in our financial operations. We will welcome suggestions and active involvement from all stakeholders to successfully implement these changes.
I would love to just see what each Department’s annual budget has been over the last 10 years. Environmental Health specifically. Is the rumor true that they had $40k of state funds taken out of their department’s account by Carmel around 2019 and dumped into the general fund? Did they ever receive FEMA reimbursement for all the heroic work they did during the Pandemic?
You deserve a full accounting of every dollar.
Thank you. All citizens of Mendocino county do.
RE: Forced land grab and genocide.
Thank you AVA for posting this:
“You are skipping the part where many of the Native people incarcerated on the ‘rez’ were force marched…by white invaders… over the hills from the Ukiah Valley, with what little of their former lives they could carry. Many died along the way. After the ‘rez’ on the Coast was closed and the land parceled off to white ‘settlers,’ what Native people who had not already escaped were again force marched all the way to Round Valley. That history is ugly and needs to be spoken out loud. As for the name change, when and if a broad consensus of the citizens of Fort Bragg (I am a recent arrival) decide that the name needs to be changed, it will. Until then, ego driven agitation only creates backlash.”
#landback <– look it up on your favorite Social Media network
My sentiments precisely. How ‘bout your spread, George? Any genocidal blood on your deed?
Supes to compound their error…
The reason the Board of Supervisors (BOS) is giving for this Department of Finance is to get their reports, but it is also that they do not want this position “elected”, although that is exactly what they did last year. Chamise Cubbison, Auditor/Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (ACTTC), is 7 months into her 4 year elected position and still learning about the Treasurer/Tax Collector (TTC) office. The BOS did this merging of offices without a plan or consulting the TTC. The decades of knowledge that existed in that office all left with the consolidation. One of the main issues with getting reports is the computer program. The information did not cross over correctly from our antiquated system that we had, therefore compounding the problems, which the TTC told the BOS was a major issue, even before the consolidation. Now they want to “Blow up” the department they consolidated before the dust has even settled from the last merging. We have a knowledge crisis in our County. Consolidating more power under the CEO office is not going to fix this. The CEO office is already filling in for more departments than they can handle, Human Resources Director is one example. Where are we going to get people to run this Department of Finance? We cannot even hire people to run other departments including Human Resources. If the BOS really wants to get reports then they should be helping to support the ACTTC that they rushed into this elected position and to actively recruit employees with knowledge of the tax system. Getting reports is not as important as getting the work done. If the work is not getting done then there is nothing to report. You cannot merge your way out of this.
P.S. If Chamise takes a leave of absence the County will be in a serious crisis and by putting something like this on the agenda, 7 months in, just might do it.
The story goes, Lloyd Weer as Auditor-Controller, received communication from the state that our health care fund was too large and to spend it down. Who from the state? Do they typically monitor our accounts and issue advice? Where is the record of this communication? How did the contribution holiday work out for the county’s health plan? When I joined the county, I came to understand there was a $2.5M health care reserve. Now the reserve doesn’t exist. Did it ever? Where’s the accounting, transaction by transaction, of the health care fund?
Chamise Cubbison was Weer’s handpick. He claimed she had all the skills. He left, she took over, the fiscal year ended June 30, county expected books to be closed and a report out around September as usual. Nothing. September, October, November, December … we started to wonder what was going on over there. Why can’t a report be run? Into the new year, we hear $2M, $2.2M, $5.7M, $3.9M, finally, $3.3M. When I asked about the timing of the final report, I was told there wouldn’t be one. Fool me once, either the record keeping is a historic fail, or someone doesn’t want us to see the books. Time will tell…
Last week I asked you to expound on the Mockel debacle, i.e., every member of the BOS simultaneously, unanimously, and enthusiastically endorsing him. You dodged the question by responding with a bunch of political rhetoric.
You have been a Supervisor for about 5 years, more than 3 of which Carmel Angelo was CEO and prior to the ill-advised consolidation. These problems have apparently existed and went unreported for quite a while, certainly during much if not all of Angelo’s reign. In fact, she boasted of a $20 million budget surplus, which, if we are to believe the current figures, was a lie.
So here’s another direct question: Why weren’t you raising these issues and demanding accountability then? Please answer without obfuscation.
Ted rules!
Marmon
Pulling back layers, “I don’t understand” has become “The county is wrong”. What’s changed is more iterations of data seeking, a CEO who is aligned on straightening out financials and board unity.
In case you were tracking, it took months to get cannabis tax revenue data. Hours after it was finally provided, I shared:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hY20JzeRmLd48UebGnVz0cZMgYJC0xVY/view?usp=sharing
4/5/2022 focus on non-assessed houses, Discussion and Possible Action Including Approval of Direction to Staff to Estimate Cost of Contractor to Assist Assessor in Tax Rolls Catch Up and Reserve Necessary Funds from American Recovery Plan Act Allocation (Sponsor: Supervisor Williams)
On reserves, JUNE 8, 2022, Upon motion by Supervisor Mulheren, seconded by Supervisor Haschak, IT IS ORDERED that the Board of Supervisors amends the FY 2 0 2 2 – 2 3 Mendocino County Proposed Budget as follows:
a. release $ 4.5 million from the County’s General Reserve at the close of FY 2021-22 for placement in a new general fund Designated Reserve of $4.5 million for FY 2022-2023 Bond Issuance related projects, including the following projects:
i. Administration Center Roof Upgrades, Phase 3 ii. Agriculture Roof Replacement
iii. Fort Bragg Justice Center HVAC replacement iv. Mendocino County Jail Expansion Project; and
On Mockel, I don’t see political rhetoric in answer. I wasn’t in coordination or communication with the other supervisors.
As Ronald Reagan famously said, “There you go again.”
Carmel Angelo retired on March 19, 2022. I questioned why neither you or any of your colleagues on the BOS raised any of these issues during her reign. Your two citations are dated 4/5/2022 and June 8, 2022, post her retirement.
Nor did I ask if you had communicated with any of your fellow Board members regarding the endorsements of the utterly unqualified Mockel for District 1 Supervisor.
I’ll give you one thing: you’re quite skilled at avoiding uncomfortable questions and making it appear that you are providing a detailed explanation.
It is called gaslighting
To gaslight someone means to manipulate another person into doubting their own perceptions, experiences or understanding of events, according to the American Psychological Association.
Marmon
I have been told that prior to consolidating the treasurer tax collectors office with the auditor controllers office, we had no problems getting financial statements.
So the elected auditor controller retires and his second in command takes over his duties but is not appointed to replace him so doesn’t have the authority to hire people including themselves who are now tasked to do the job of 2 people.
Then the offices are combined leading to the retirement of the treasurer tax collector and her second in command and possibly others in an already understaffed department.
So now one person is expected to do the job of 4 people then is told she is doing a bad job.
So now the BOS is looking to come up with a contingency plan to consolidate all the functions of the now combined office into the executive office. So now the CEO will become the de facto leader of the county with no direct accountability to the constituents as that office is not elected. That seems a circumvention of the democratic process.
There was no over lap in the now combined offices so I don’t see where cost savings would come from. Having separate offices served as a checks and balances.
I have heard some supervisors claim that having these positions be elected isn’t ideal because their is no requirement for competency. I would like to point out that in order to become a supervisor, one only need be elected. There is no requirement for financial literacy or accounting competency so even the ability for the board to be qualified to evaluate the performance of these positions is not guaranteed. The threat of being fired by the board instead of being elected to the office of treasurer tax collector or auditor controller doesn’t insure we will have qualified people running those departments if the board itself is not qualified.
I think the BOS made a mistake combining the offices. When I make a mistake, I admit that I have and apologize. I would suggest the BOS do the same and try to get the treasurer tax collector to return. It is likely that ship has sailed but it is worth the effort.
If we continue on this road of non elected positions running the treasure tax collector and auditor controller departments, I don’t think they should be answering to the CEO’s office, they should answer directly to the board.
We elect supervisors to represent us on the board to run the County. The way we are headed is a system where we will be voting for figureheads to rubber stamp the executive office.
Show me a regular expected-versus-actuals report from before the elected positions were consolidated? Link?
Those reports would need to come from each department. I don’t see how those would be the responsibility of the auditor controller or treasurer tax collector.
There are past budgets on the County’s website that were prepared by the CEO’s office.
https://www.mendocinocounty.org/government/executive-office/past-county-budgets/county-budget-portal
It looks like the formatting changed FY 2016-2017. FY 2015-2016 is formatted how you would like with budgeted and actuals for that year. FY2016-2017 and forward, the new format doesn’t have the current FY budgeted and actual. It doesn’t even say actual, it says estimated for the FY which makes me think they didn’t have the year end totals.
So it looks like things started going off the rails FY 2016-2017.
Why are you against implementing a structure that will be capable of generating regular department and county reports? Isn’t that the first logical step in financial accountability?
Adam, how much money does the county have to its name today and what are the liabilities? Pick any date this year as a point in time. Where can the public see these numbers?
I never said I was against having good financial. I am questioning if consolidation is the way to achieve that. It looks as though we did have the reports formatted in the way that you seek and this was before the offices were consolidated. Consolidated or not, the County still needs the staff and expertise to furnish these reports and consolidation doesn’t guarantee that.
Our current financial reports and adopted budgets don’t give us that information but in the past they did.
Good point Adam. How many departments are missing Directors right now? That’s 1 person doing 5 people’s jobs. Steve Dunicliffe and John Burkes are apparently running half the county departments according to the latest statistics. What are their qualifications exactly?
Zack Hunt. A pro lynching song by Jason Aldean?? Can you even read??
Don’t fret Philbrick, Matt Taibbi’s got your back. Nobody’s gonna cancel the racist prick. But be a sport and tell us who this Zack Hunt is, eh?
Good wishes to Toby Phillips, and the folks involved in The Company Store and the Bewildered Pig. Such closures are difficult for everyone, but especially those involved. May all have great next chapters.
Warmest spiritual greetings,
Enjoying listening to bhajans on YouTube right here and right now on computer #2 at the Ukiah, California Public Library. I’m not voting for any American presidential candidate because there isn’t one whom I understand to have any positive vision for the nation’s future, and even less vision for the planet earth and all sentient beings. Having abandoned this failed civilization, am given over to the Divine Absolute exclusively. Feel free to contact me at Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center at (707) 234-3270, or just send me money to spend on having fun at Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr, or rent a fully subsidized apartment to me and take advantage of my Federal Housing Voucher. Or contact me if you wish to do anything of any importance, at craiglouisstehr@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Jaya Janardhana Krishna Radhika Pathe
Im aware of that history, and yes, handpicked in the last election by this BOS. What choices were there? No one else ran against her on the ballot and no one stepped up from the TTC office, they all left (which is a pattern at the County).
If the BOS thought there were problems before she ran in the election then why was she made the interim? Why wasn’t she replaced then? I can answer that, because we cannot attract qualified people to fill these positions, whether elected or not.
Now the BOS is not happy with the progress in 7 months and want to try a new plan. In reality it will probably take 2 years for Chamise, if she can, to catch up, with the right people, to learn the TTC job. These offices/positions were merged although the BOS says they were not.
You could try talking to the departments yourself, get your own figures, that’s what I would do. How often does the BOS drop by the numerous County Departments? See what their needs are?
We don’t need more departments, we need to focus and the ones we have. You’re a computer guy, Ted, can you help fix the issues with the County computer programs in these offices? Know someone who can? The company that sold this program to us doesn’t know how to fix the issues that are unique to our county, as has been said at several BOS meetings. So what’s the plan there? This is contributing to the hold up of the reports.
I’m curious why this new plan of an unelected Finance Department Director was not the plan before? Why cause all this turmoil if this was the ultimate goal from the beginning? Why consolidate even more departments under the CEO office? This seems fishy to me.
The exact software is working for other counties.
The contract stated the county would be responsible for migrating its data to the schema of the new software. That’s the elected departments. They didn’t do it, we don’t know whether the data had integrity before the migration, switching vendors now would mean data entry since the original time of migration — where is that original data archived? Colossal failure. Utter proof that the way Mendocino County has structured and operated is untenable.
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