Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, August 9, 2023

By AVA News Service on August 9, 2023

INTERIOR TEMPERATURES will be near to slightly below normal through mid week, and then will warm to around normal or above values by late week. In addition, the development of interior mountain thunderstorms appears increasingly probable this Saturday and Sunday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A foggy 54F this Midweekday morning on the coast. Expect clearing skies later as usual. Smaller amounts of fog are forecast over the next few days. We'll see. Early next week might bring us some weather, stay tuned weather fans.

AV FIRE on the local haze/smoke:

Where's the smoke coming from? According to www.airnow.gov fires in Alaska, Canada, Oregon, and the Southwest are contributing to smokey skies all across North America.

We've had a few concerned calls from the Yorkville area, and the Aerial CoOp Patrol went out there for a look. Fortunately, all they saw was drift smoke.

JANICE B. BOYD, 1935-2023

Janice Barbara Boyd was born on August 5th, 1935, in Emmetsburg, Iowa, to Fred and Barbara (Hume) Clasing. She moved with her family to Southern California in 1945 where she graduated from Mar Vista High School and Woodbury College. Jan married Robert Boyd in 1956. As a young couple, they followed the Atlas development circuit at air bases across the country, eventually settling with their two children in Yorkville, Mendocino County, California. Jan went to work at Masonite Lumber Company in Calpella, and then worked twenty years at Fetzer Vineyards in Redwood Valley. Amicably divorced in 1979, Bob and Jan remained good friends, sometimes traveling together in Europe, South America, and Australia.

Retiring from full time work in 1994, Jan moved to Caspar, on the Mendocino Coast, and began working part time for the Fort Bragg Advocate-News. She also volunteered at the senior center, the Grange, and the community center.

Among her passions were her dogs and her bicycle, which she combined on many happy rides with Pepsi companionably riding in her basket or running alongside.

Jan is predeceased by her husband, Bob, her sons, Phillip Boyd of Santa Rosa and James Boyd of Knoxville, Tennessee, and her dog, Pepsi.

She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Stephanie of Knoxville, Tennessee, her grandchildren Blaine Mitchell and Fiona Boyd of Knoxville, Tennessee, Brennen Snodgrass of Winters, California, and Alex Diamond of Napa, California. Also by her grandson Blaine Boyd, and his family, Julie Smart, Chloe Pinter, and Wren Pinter. All of Napa, California. Lastly she is survived by her dog Penny.

AV UNIFIED NEWS

Septic System Funding Comes Through

I get it. I am pushy. But today I received this.

$696,810.00

The State is forwarding to the allocation board for the immediate payment of $696,810 for the elementary septic, which should pay for the whole job. This was a freaking slog, but shows when you get noisy, you get help. More money to come for the high school. This preserves our bond funds for all of our other high facility needs that exceed more than $27 million. I am playing Powerball with HOPE. Next is the high school remodel and the elementary and high school painting and then the elementary kitchen.

I want to call out right now, I had time to do this because of the elementary instructional leadership under Cymbre and the team that let me worry about facilities instead of kids. Thank You Cymbre and elementary staff. Grateful to you. This Is Huge. Septic replacemet, pipe replacement (sinks were draining into cesspools instead of the septic), six modules already painted. We are on our way....

Take care,

Louise Simson, Superintendent

Anderson Valley Unified School District

MARY PAT PALMER: The Elder tree, native, is only 5 years old. I wasn't allowed to bring any plants from my farm in Philo - and there were no plants here - amazing what plants can do in 5 years with water and lots of love.

FORT BRAGG SUPPORTS ITS YOUNG

Editor,

I am writing in response to statements made that perhaps the city, the police department, nor the City Council prioritize in any way our youth. I would like to make a few things very clear. This council, the city, and our police department take the development of our youth, their involvement in our community, their safety, and their success seriously.

Some of the initiatives the City has undertaken in recent years to prioritize youths; include allocating the Transient Occupancy Taxes- Measure AA/AB funds, approved in 2016. A total of $140,000 has been allocated to the Fort Bragg Unified School District over the years to improve the school’s fields which are utilized by the community and the schools for several sports, including soccer. We have purchased a tractor to help facilitate maintenance of the fields, an aerator attachment for the tractor, and funded the rebuild of its water system at Dana Gray, allowing them to properly irrigate the fields. Most recently, the City allocated funds to help refurbish the dilapidated four tennis courts at the middle School. The refurbishing included converting tennis courts into eight Pickleball courts and restoring two tennis courts. The public is allowed to use these courts after School and on weekends or any time school is not in session. The remainder of the time, the schools and the students get to take advantage of these new courts.

For the soccer fields at Bainbridge Park conversation, which began at a council meeting where community members requested that in our grant application process, we change the proposed use of that area to an all-weather soccer field (this is also a water-saving project). This was met by unanimous support from the full council. In 2021, the City applied for California State Parks Program Grant (SPP Prop 68) to enhance Bainbridge Parks benefiting the community and our youths. Improvements to Bainbridge park have been a priority for the City Council for many years, as defined in the Bainbridge Master Plan . Unfortunately, the City was unsuccessful in being awarded the Grant funds but scored very high compared to other applications. Subsequently, the City secured some funding of $177,952 from the Department of Parks & Recreation. Understanding how important the soccer fields would be to our community we proposed a new source of funding to be combined with the grant funds, including funds from the Asset Forfeiture Fund, the General Fund, and Facilities and Maintenance Funds. Much to our disappointment, the bids for the soccer field came in $500,000- $800,000, 2 to 3 times more than the budgeted funds of $250,000. We then made the hard decision to postpone the soccer fields again and allocate the grants received toward replacing all the playground equipment.

The SPP Prop, 68 funding of $2,241,000, was finally awarded in July 2023, and the City Council has directed Staff to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) from qualified firms to rehab and build various new amenities at Bainbridge Park. This includes the construction of two artificial surface soccer fields with lights, a complete renovation of the playground with new equipment, a multi-use pavilion, Camera systems, and Public Art and landscape throughout the park. The entire project is bundled into one RFP to save time and money. The soccer fields will be built, and the youth and the community will benefit tremendously.

Moreover, the Police department holds a strong commitment to our youths as well. Over the last several years, the Chief and his department have committed over $123,000 to our youths in the form of sponsorships. One project that I personally hold dear to my heart is the opioid grant the department received. Under the Chief's direction, these funds were used to build a program to help our community. The program is referred to as "Project Right Now", More specifically, the age groups between 12-24. The department has collaborated with the judicial system, including Judges, the DA office, probation, and the public defender’s office. This program allows our CRU team and success coaches, all of which work out of the police department, to work closely with our youth that have addictions and are going through the courts due to crimes committed. All the departments mentioned above have agreed to allow our team to take part. The team will reach out to our youth while in juvenile hall or jail and help them navigate the struggles of addiction and rehab. More than one with court approval, have been picked up from detention and taken straight to detox and or rehab. The police department is currently in the process of certification with BSA t start a Police Explorer program for youths ages 14-21 and Boy Scouts, which now includes all genders. Project right now also goes to the schools teaching about drug addiction and offering alternatives to a better lifestyle.

Finally, numerous City employees including police officers volunteer their time to coach youth soccer, little league, football, and other youth sports. As I’ve mentioned above, the City Council, the Police Department, and the entire City Government are committed to the safety of and improving the lives of our youths and the community.

It has been my experience that anytime government is part of the process, the obstacles and red tape are high and frequent. The process of getting work done at a governmental level can be confusing and frustrating. Whenever anyone finds themselves not understanding the process, please do not hesitate to reach out to your government. We work for you.

Mayor Bernie Norvell

Fort Bragg

THE SUPERVISORS PAY PANEL

by Mark Scaramella

(Note: I was appointed to the “Supervisors Pay Panel” back in 1998 by then-Supervisors John Pinches. I was the only panel member who didn’t think the Supervisors deserved a pay raise. All the other panels members — Bob Armanino, President of the Savings Bank of Mendocino, Jim Hay, Coast Chamber of Commerce President, outgoing County Assessor Charles Cliburn, Ukiah area grape grower Vicki Crawford and former Fourth District supervisor Ernie Banker — thought some raise was appropriate but none of them thought the Supervisors pay should be doubled from about $32k per year (plus generous benefits) to $64k per year as urged by then Supervisor David Colfax of Boonville.

In the end with Fifth District Supervisor Colfax leading the charge, the Board did double their pay and a few years later they raised it to $85.5k per year and tied future raises to department head salaries — salaries that the Supervisors themselves set creating a very convenient self-interested closed loop. But the arguments I made at the time (below) — which seriously pissed off Supervisor Colfax who made frequent disparaging remarks about my opinion on the subject during his accomplishment-free 12 year tenure — still apply (although, obviously, the numbers have increased since then). Nearing the end of his term, even after getting his big raise Colfax grumpily complained that it was “a crappy salary connected to a not terribly rewarding job,” and complained to then-Supervisor John McCowen that McCowen should “do more work in behalf of advancing the interests of the members of the Board of Supervisors.” Which perfectly captures Colfax’s attitude: The “interests of the members” of the Board of Supervisors were his top priority, not the County.

* * *

June, 1998 — Contrary to some opinion in official Mendo circles, Financial Compensation is not and should not be the reason that individuals choose to run for supervisor. The primary motivation for becoming a supervisorial candidate is (or should be) ideological or as a public service. Although it is a “non-partisan” position, candidates shouldn’t be running for the money, but to contribute to the overall good of the County and/or to affect certain policies that they support or oppose. Individuals who run for supervisor are not professionals, require no special skill, training or experience, and are not “hired” competitively as are judges and top professional staffers. Supervisors do not undergo performance evaluations, and cannot be punished, demoted, laid-off, fired, or furloughed like other employees. Most supervisor time is spent in meetings, reading and travel which they can or cannot do at their own choosing — not in performing specialized tasks. Supervisors have a large administrative structure to turn to for research, analysis, and recommendations, not to mention free public input which they mostly ignore.

To properly represent ordinary citizens, the Supervisors should not be paid substantially more than the ordinary citizen. In Mendocino County in 1998 the average individual wage earner took in about $21.5k without benefits, unless one is a government employee (teachers, public works, social service workers, typically earn more and have a substantial benefits package).

As pointed out by panel member and former Fourth District Supervisor Ernie Banker, the present Supes pay, if measured as a percentage of professional department heads staff (an average of 46.67% in the 15 counties surveyed), the $32k per year base salary is already higher than that of other similar counties at 49.38%)

Former five-term Fifth District Supervisor Joe Scaramella, my uncle, held the view that being a supervisor is a give-back to the community which gave an individual the financial and political standing or opportunity to run for public office through financial or other forms of support.

Applying a typical frequency analysis to income distribution in the County would put the present supervisor’s salary and benefits in the top 15-20%. Raising the salary beyond the cost of living would only further separate the supervisors from the economic conditions under which most County residents live.

No rational basis has been offered to date for raising the Supes salary beyond that of other similar counties (as suggested by Supervisor Peterson and Candidate Colfax). Excluding Sonoma County which is much more populous and predominantly a suburban (mostly non-rural) county, the highest Supervisor salary is Kings County in central California at $49,644. Among rural northern California Counties surveyed, Humboldt pays the highest at $46,177. But both of these salary levels must be viewed as aberrations, since they are almost 3/4 of the average elected official salaries in those counties.

In addition, supervisor compensation should not be viewed as a “reward” for any perceived prior accomplishments since Supervisors can pick and choose their own performance standards. The compensation should be based on an assessment of fair compensation, recognizing that Supervisors, like police, building code enforcers, or planning department senior staffers and others with potential for corruption and graft, should not be undercompensated to a degree which might tempt an incumbent to supplement their income in order to maintain an ordinary middle-class lifestyle.

Increasing the Supervisors’ pay to something like $50,000 a year (assuming benefits are unchanged) would require the Supervisors to take $85,000 in discretionary spending from an already tight discretionary fund balance. If panel members recommend such a pay raise, they are thus obligated to examine last year’s budget process and suggest areas of discretionary funding which can suffer an $85,000 cut.

In light of the fact that the Supervisors can apparently raise their pay incrementally without a referendum or a panel recommendation, the panel should view their role as a check on unaccountable self-raises and recommend the minimum raise feasible. As explained above, I believe that no additional salary increase is justified. In fact, with the above background in mind, it would be a slap in the face to the public and the panel if the Mendocino County Supervisors raised their pay above ordinary cost of living adjustments.

* * *

August, 2023: Looking back, unfortunately, that’s exactly what they did in December of 2017. They didn’t bother to ask the public, the Grand Jury or a pay panel what they thought or recommended.

In fact, that last pay raise to the current $85k was at the initiation of then-CEO Carmel Angelo who agendized the pay raise item out of the blue simply to kiss the Board’s collective behinds for letting her run the County however she saw fit without pesky oversight from the Board. And — surprise! — they approved it 4-1 (Gjerde thought his raise should be a little less). Then, to add outrage to insult, CEO Angelo congratulated the Board for having the “courage” to raise their own salary. At that time the Board consisted of Dan Gjerde, John McCowen, Carre Brown, Dan Hamburg (who took “mental health” leave for the last few months of his tenure), and short-term fill-in Georgeanne Croskey, a Willits veterinarian.

If anyone thinks the Supervisors — especially these Supervisors — deserve or earn the exorbitant pay and benefits they now get — collectively the Board and the CEO, six people, alone cost the county well over $1 million a year in salaries and benefits — they are welcome to explain why.

PS. Funny, when the employees ask for a Cost of Living Raise, the Board always says that each percentage raise costs the County about that same $1 million and golly they don’t have the money.

ED NOTES

UNHAPPY WITH TOMMY WAYNE:

LET’S SEE YOUR ART, TWK

Letter to Editor:

I see the Carolina Carbuncle is back at work, leaking his purulent crap on the Grace Hudson Museum’s exhibit of what Tommy Wayne Kramer/Tom Hine/P.J. O’Rourke-wannabe calls “the Back to the Land fad.” TWK clearly doesn’t know shit about the Back to Landers, a movement he claims was composed of East Coast elites driving 2500 miles to “pretend to be part of a vast agrarian network on a mission to cram love and harmony down the throats of locals.” (These elites — elites are “college educated” — are standard fare in Trumpian rhetoric, shoving them “woke” ideas down the throats of God-fearing ’Mericans.) In TWK’s view, the movement/fad lasted “an entire summer and part of the next winter,” or 5 to 8 months, depending on what they did in that missing autumn, besides “building flimsy shacks, growing stunted crops, and eating brown rice,” failing so ineptly that they soon cut their hair and took showers before “snagging employment sincecures in Mendocino County schools and government offices,” which neatly explains Mendo’s crummy schools and appalling administration.

So after his interminable five paragraph introduction to immigration, though it’s difficult to immigrate to a country you live in — more often called “moving” or “traveling” — and after blaming Mendo’s notorious travails on those educated but faint-hearted Back to Landers, TWK (Tweak as he’s known to both his fans), now turns his alleged attention to his museum visit, where, if only to display his amazing intellectual versatility, he adds “art critic” to his already demonstrated cultural punditry.

Tweak notes that the Hudson exhibit is confined to one small room mostly full of paintings. Here’s the entirety, in all its depth and detail, of his artist judgment: “Some of the paintings are good. But I’d not allow a single one of these Adventures in Painting inside my home, though I might agree to a few nailed on an exterior wall of the garage.”

(The “good ones,” a reader presumes.) “The rest might patch a roof.” And then he adds, parenthetically of course, (“Your tastes may differ.”)

But how would we know? No painting is described, no artist is mentioned. Tweak, like Trump and his Magat allies, is clearly a master of chickenshit criticism: no facts, all judgment.

However, in fairness, there was a rumor that Tweak was going to post photographs of the art work in his house, what his impeccable artistic judgment has led him to grace the very interior of his dwelling with, but the black velvet absorbed the flash and the large, luminous, teary eyes of the children washed all details into oblivion. And oblivion, one hopes, may prove the proper repository of such weak literary efforts like this latest attempt from Tweak.

Jim Dodge

Manila

PS. Maybe those “stunted plants” were actually squat hash plants from the Hindu Kush? That might explain the missing autumn. I have no idea how Tweak judges an accomplishment, since he gives the Back to the Landers an emphatic “zero,” but a horticultural innovation like sinsemilla, and the 40 years of economic survival it provided for the resource-raped northcoast, might be considered as something.

TWK REPLIES: Love this. I couldn’t improve on it if you gave me a dozen paragraphs.

JIM DODGE ADDS: For reasons that elude my technical incompetence, my signature/name kept getting deleted from the missive. Please add my name between the body and PS. This one [above] is decidedly for publication. In fact, if I didn't have to get my ass on the road, I would respond to his craven linking of Jim Jones, Parnell, Tree Frog, etc as deserving of plaques as back-to-landers absent the slightest evidence they were anything other than visitors or residents. Many back-to-landers grew up in the communities they settled. Tweak seems to think any outsider is a back-to-lander. Hey, how could you guys let Jim Jones settle in your county? You even met Tree Frog, right? Why didn't you shoot him?

ED REPLY: I didn't shoot Frog when it was explained to me that he “didn't talk to straight people.” I was so flattered I dropped my gun.

* * *

A BELATED MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Saving Private Ryan’: SPR is a good genre movie, war movie being the genre. The special effects are impressive even pegged to the improbable spectacular events which comprise their whole, just as the movie itself is pegged to a series of improbable events. The thing begins and ends in total mawk, the sound track is an ongoing musical insult as if the audience is too dumb not to understand what’s happening on the screen without the emotional assistance of the tunes. The script is better than most war movies and the cast is good. The visuals are spectacular.

Tom Hanks is very good as the leader of a platoon assigned to find Private Ryan and send him home because his brothers have all been killed. Overall, the movie is a mix of realism and pure fantasy — the usual Spielburg serving, I guess, although I’ve only seen a couple of his movies — ‘The Color Purple’ and ‘Schindler’s List’ — and thought they were uniquely awful. At almost three hours, I wouldn’t want to sit through SPR again.

FROM A RECENT edition of the ICO: “Spirituality Theme of Church Services,” and what’ll they think of next?

103 IN THE SHADE at my place here in Boonville at 3pm Monday. Even the blue jays lined up at the smorgasboard I sponsor for them simply perch, gasping for air. Cloverdale, the PD says, was 113 on Monday. The pattern is usually two very hot days then the fog blankets the Coast, the sea breezes waft up the Valley, and we congratulate ourselves for having had the good sense to live in a place with a perfect climate.

HIKING a stretch of Anderson Creek the other day, I was encouraged at how successful the efforts of several creek-side landowners to shore up the stream’s battered banks have been.

TWO ONGOING arguments of no relevance and less consequence rage here at the AVA. One: Home-schooled children are, for the most part, much better behaved than the prevailing sugar-fueled, phone-addicted, television-raised model, and Two: Are Mendocino County’s business leaders of the Private Industry Council and the Mendocino County Employer’s Council (mostly the same dreary cast of characters) more in the tradition of Babbitt? Or more in the tradition of Snopes’? I think home-school children tend to be less neurotic, much more civilized around adults. The argument typically breaks down into case studies of the, “That little monster? Are you kidding?” As for Babbitt versus Snopes, the consensus here is for Snopes, the argument being that George F, in his way, cared what Zenith looked like because, he reasoned, the way the princes of small town commerce used to reason, civic beauty was good for business. Faulkner’s Snopes are a bunch of low-down, grasping, even murderous thieves and, therefore, the literary forebearers of the kind of people who dominate commerce in Mendocino County and too many of the smaller comunities of the United States these ominous days.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED to convicted cho-mo and drug dealer, Denny Devore Dederick, after he was released from prison back in 1998, even though he did less than two years for abducting a 13-year-old Albion girl, shooting her up with dope, sexually abusing her, then abandoning her in Berkeley. Dederick had used his own daughter to sell drugs at Mendocino High School before he was arrested in Palo Alto when he and another creep appeared at Stanford Hospital clearly intending to kidnap the Albion girl from the hospital’s rehab program to prevent her from testifying against him in Mendocino County. During one court appearance in Mendocino County, an unrepentant Dederick, prior to the arrival of the judge, turned to the Albion victim and her family and fixed them with a death’s head grin for a full five minutes, terrifying his young victim and outraging every adult in the room. This mega-degenerate sold dope to kids on the Mendocino Coast for years before he was finally arrested. He should have gotten a long stretch for kidnap and rape of a child, but thanks to the usual bumbling by what passed for authority in Mendocino County at the time, Dederick basically got off. The family of the victim armed themselves because they no longer trusted the courts to protect them.

WANNA WRITE?

AVA,

My name is Melinda Misuraca and I'm a writer and teacher. I'm writing to you to see if I might publicize in the Anderson Valley Advertiser about a class I'll be teaching this Fall in Booneville. It's a non-credit class open to adults of all ages and is offered through Mendocino College. I would love to get the word out to folks in the area who might be interested. I've attached a flier for more information.

Regards,

Melinda Misuraca

MENDO CODE ENFORCEMENT

During the July 25th, 2023, Board of Supervisors meeting, a Redwood Valley Cannabis Prohibition District was considered. Although the Board denied establishment of the Prohibition District, unanimous direction was provided to the Mendocino County Code Enforcement Division to assign all of its available resources to address illegal cannabis cultivation within the Redwood Valley area. The purpose of this direction was to address cannabis-related nuisances in the area as demonstrated by numerous constituent complaints of nuisance odor and activities.

As a result of the Board’s direction, the Code Enforcement Division has proceeded with identifying multiple properties within Redwood Valley as potential non-permitted cultivation sites, including but not limited to the use of aerial imagery. Code Enforcement will be completing thorough investigations to assess for illegal cannabis cultivation and its related infrastructure. While in the field, Code Enforcement officers will also be actively seeking to identify additional unpermitted cultivation sites to include in this directed effort.

Code Enforcement is seeking voluntary compliance by responsible parties to abate all illegal cannabis cultivation in violation of Mendocino County Code (MCC) Chapter 10A.17 and obtain appropriate building permits to address non-permitted infrastructure associated with cannabis cultivation. If voluntary compliance is not achieved, Code Enforcement will elevate enforcement action on non-compliant sites.

It should be noted that many properties located with Redwood Valley are zoned RR (Rural Residential) 1 (RR1) and do not qualify for cultivation beyond the personal adult use exemption. However, it should also be noted that for the adult use exemption, the use must also be in compliance of MCC section 10A.17.040 to meet all required setbacks.

A copy of the 10A.17 Ordinance can be located at: https://library.municode.com/ca/mendocino_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=MECOCO_TIT10AAG_CH10A.17MECACUOR_S10A.17.040GELICUCA

The Mendocino County community is highly encouraged to review the above noted ordinance to ensure their properties are in compliance.

For any questions or concerns, community members can reach out to the Code Enforcement Division at: (707) 234-6669 or email at: codeenforcement@mendocinocounty.org

* * *

On Line Comments:

[1] Oh boy- This time they are really really going to “go out and get them all”! It must be true because they are announcing it ahead of time and asking you to chop down your own plants, Please! Will they really get them ALL? I guess we will have to wait and see. Meanwhile mega-growers across Mendocino County breathe a sigh of relief because they have just read how all that cannabis eradication funding is about to get used up in Redwood Valley. Not Covelo or anywhere else. I imagine they will be wasting time and money going after little 20 plant patches because they “owe it to this neighborhood to clean it up”. Ha Ha ha! The neighborhood wanted the huge permit pansy farms shut down. Now they get a couple weeks of cops, helicopters, trucks full of dead plants, more cops. And the massive permit farms keep doing what they did to annoy the neighbors. The dysfunctionality of Mendocino County government is again on display for all to see.

[2] The very county that pioneered CANNABIS has destroyed itself. The dollar signs in BOS, management’s eyes evaporated faster than dew drops on a hot tin roof. Those left in the Canna industry with the weight of the regulation world on their shoulders like Atlas. Not everyone uses cannabis. Most industries have caps on production and authorized vendors. The wide open canna playing feild across the state truly screwed the pooch. Regulated by regulators who have no regular knowledge to do the regulating yet, are regulated to regulate regularly!

ON THIS DAY IN MENDOCINO HISTORY…

August 8, 1897 - Sixteen-year-old Florence “Flossie” Corrigan died of tuberculosis at her parents’ home in Albion. Unlike many tuberculosis patients, her illness lasted just a few weeks, and her unexpected death was a sudden and severe blow to her family.

Flossie had just finished her first year at Mendocino High School, and the Beacon said she “was a girl of bright and amiable disposition and excellent intellectual gifts.” Her funeral was described by the Beacon as a very large one, with many high school students and Mendocino residents attending. She was buried in Little River Cemetery, with Reverends J. S. Ross and W. S. Trowbridge officiating.

When the Albion Protestant Church was built a few years later, James S. and Emma Corrigan donated a stained glass window with "Flossie" written on it in memory of their daughter. This church was located on the north side of the current Albion Bridge. The land for the church was donated to the Albion community by the Standish and Hickey Company in 1891, and the church was built about 1903 by local men of the community.

When the approaches to the new bridge over the Albion River were constructed in the 1940s, the church, the recreational hall, and a lumber mill cottage on the north side of the bridge, as well as a barn on the Dolly Brown ranch on the south side, had to be removed. There’s no mention of what happened to Flossie's stained glass window.

77 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK.

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina 48284 from Air Station San Francisco California crashed into Pacific Ocean North of Point Arena, CA Aug 7, 1946. All 6 onboard killed. Date of incident: 7 August 1946

Crash related deaths:

LTJG Ralph W. Butler (CG Aviator #212)

ENS Charles L. Coler (CG Aviator #218)

AMM1 George R. Spalding

AMM1 Warren W. Englehardt

ARM1 Truman M. Mueller

AOM1 Warren Zinkel

Description of the incident: This aircraft crashed at 1430 hours (Pacific Time) into the Pacific Ocean one half mile north of Point Arena, California, with the loss of all six crewmembers, while returning from a routine patrol. The cause of the crash is unknown.

This is a picture of an identical Coast Guard PBY at San Francisco airport taken just a few months after this accident.

GRACE HUDSON MUSEUM:

Join us for our panel “Expression and the Arts in the Back to the Land Movement” on Saturday, August 19 from 2-3:30pm.

Back-to-the-land ideals and values were expressed in many different ways. Hear from J. Holden, who worked with The Mendocino Grapevine newspaper; Bob Dress, who created handcrafted homes; and Laura Hamburg, who will talk about education as a form of art. Learn about local theatre from Kate Magruder, who was integral in founding Ukiah Players Theatre, and Laurel Near, who co-founded SPACE (School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education) and serves today as its executive/artistic director.

This program is included in Museum admission. Admission is always free for Museum Members, Active Military, and Native Americans.

DISHONEST TRAIL DEMS

Editor,

I tend to agree with John Pinches regarding the idea of a way to use the right of way through the Eel River Canyon to allow the public to access this marvelous stretch of almost wilderness in Northern California. But as in all things, what about the details? How can this actually be done? Watching the over ten year process to try to get a three mile bike and pedestrian path constructed right alongside the highway in Round Valley, which is now finally being constructed at a cost of over $3 million, I have serious reservations about what to do about the rail to trail idea. If it cost a million dollars a mile to build a bike trail on flat ground, with no landslides or culverts, one bridge, no tunnels, how can this rail to trail through the Eel River canyon be built for anything less than a billion dollars? The Round Valley trail project was tangled up for years with right of way issues and conflicts, the environmental concerns for wetlands and rare species took time and mitigation expense, lots of clipboards inspecting and reports to be generated, and the actual construction gets delayed because when it rains the dirt might get into the creek. And this is on flat ground. We are talking the Eel River canyon here, landslides all the time, steep cliffs, all kinds of environmental issues. How is this really supposed to get built? I truly suspect this is just one huge billion dollar boondoggle. A good idea in the abstract, and appealing to many people. Yes public access for hiking in the canyon seems great, but I really doubt California can get it done, not in ten years and not for a billion dollars. I really wish the proponents of this project would be straight up about the cost/benefit and not keep promoting the Great Redwood Trail in a manner which is not honest.

Lew Chichester

Covelo

Hiking the Lost Coast, heading towards Shelter Cove, 1980s (Steve Heilig)

CARE RESPONSE UNIT GIVES AID TO FORT BRAGG HOMELESS

by Mary Benjamin

The Fort Bragg City Council and the Fort Bragg Police Department have developed policies to address the issue of homelessness within the city limits. Inspired by the 2018 Homeless Needs Assessment Report given by national researcher Robert Marbut to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, Mayor Bernie Norvell, then a new city council member, began his mission to solve the homeless problem in Fort Bragg.

Downtown businesses had long complained about people sleeping in their doorways at night. Encampments within city limits sprouted and became sanitation hazards, and some homeowners reported finding people sleeping on their front porches who were unwilling to move on. Shopping carts disappeared at alarming rates.

Although the County Supervisors chose not to adopt Marbut’s recommendations, Norvell believed applying Marbut’s ideas could work and be done humanely. The current policy procedures were developed over the course of a few years due to mistakes that required changes when they were found to be ineffective. Mayor Norvell calls this “the very infant stages.”

Mayor Norvell said, “We tried for years to work with a service provider, and it just didn’t work out for several different reasons. So we just started building our own thing.” Looking back he added, “Four or five years ago, we had probably three times as many homeless.” The mayor and the police chief think the city currently has less than 50 people identifiable as homeless.

Mayor Norvell believes that the support of Police Chief Neil Cervenka made a difference. “The Chief came in, and he had a lot broader experience of what works and what doesn’t. He saw his department make mistakes and didn’t duplicate them here.” Norvell added, “He continues to build on it. What we’re doing is working. It’s very humane.”

What Mayor Norvell and Chief Cervenka have designed is an approach that sets limitations upon unsheltered people. The mission guidelines, said Norvell, established the core belief of “zero tolerance for camps. We wouldn’t let people in the downtown be a nuisance.”

Another no-tolerance enforcement was the theft of shopping carts which cost businesses well over $100 each. What initially seemed a minor issue became quite serious when Mayor Norvell and others found 89 shopping carts abandoned in the Hare Creek watershed area.

“Now they use baby strollers,” said Norvell. He continued, “Nobody wants them to be unable to carry their stuff around. It was always about theft.” Chief Cervenka added, “It was about blight, too. They were abandoned everywhere.”

Chief Cervenka has his code enforcement officers meet with business owners to explain the municipal code. All carts should be marked with ID. Otherwise, theft cannot be charged if a person possesses one. Police will inform businesses of found carts and allow the businesses 72 hours to pick them up.

What also developed was a proactive approach by the police department’s Care Response Unit (CRU), dressed in street clothes, to ask, “How can we help you?” Chief Cervenka explained, “The CRU team is there to tell them what they can do to better their situation, get them off the street, get them into rehab.”

There are various options available, such as a bed at the Hospitality House along with meals, substance abuse rehabilitation, and a bus ticket for those who have a reliable person to pick them up. Chief Cervenka said that 30 to 40 people in the past year have successfully been returned to family or friends.

Those who refuse help are informed that they have a specified number of hours to remove all their belongings and find somewhere else to go. According to Mayor Norvell’s philosophy, “If you want to live in a community, you have to abide by its rules.” He noted, “Some people will say we’re just pushing them out of town. But we have got a lot of people into housing and in a much better spot in life.”

By law, no one can be forced into housing or treatment services, even if the person is mentally ill. Mandated services by the court occur only after a person has committed a crime. New subsidized housing units in California may soon be required to offer 24-hour services on-site for those qualifiers who have mental health or substance abuse issues. However, the law does not require those renters to accept the provided services to stay in their units.

Fortunately, the city’s CRU team can ameliorate these restrictions by offering a wrap-around plan to help keep someone seeking help to stay on track. They monitor a client’s progress while rehab services are in progress. They help address housing issues for those coming back after treatment and guide them through what it takes to maintain a stable lifestyle.

Chief Cervenka described the CRU team program. “It’s a whole approach when they’re working with ego development, and they’re working with rehab, and they’re working with permanent, supportive housing. It’s far more successful than a lot of other programs I’ve experienced.”

The Chief has been in talks with UCLA about the success of the CRU team, whose work has cut homeless arrests in Fort Bragg by 47%. He has also been invited to speak to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors about the team. However, there is a looming issue for CRU. “The biggest problem right now,” said Chief Cervenka, “is finding long-term, sustainable funding.”

According to a UCSF report on homelessness released this past June, most homeless in California are individuals and families who have lost their housing due to their inability to pay rent. Rents have increased, and the fewer units available, the more likely that rents will be high. Job loss and increased rent are the main causes of housing loss.

Mayor Norvell sees a critical difference between an unsheltered homeless person refusing services and a woman with children who had ten days’ notice to leave when she could not keep up with a rental increase. He believes it is a disservice by state agencies not to view this family as a different category of homeless who should have different and more immediate options than other groups.

“The state would be better off paying her rent for six to nine months while she gets back on her feet,” he said. “It makes sense to keep her housed rather than allow more homelessness.” This type of homelessness directly results from the state-wide shortage of about 2.5 million housing units. Since the economic crisis in 2008, apartment and home construction has not met the public’s needs.

Fort Bragg’s latest construction of affordable units, The Plateau, remains filled. With the help of local nonprofits such as the Food Bank, donations of pots and pans, bedding, window curtains, and other household items helped give newly housed people a start. Homelessness is everybody’s local problem, stretching across regions and states.

One of Mayor Norvell’s major criticisms of state programs for the homeless is the passive approach. He said, “We’re proactive. We’re addressing people in the street for the most part, not waiting for someone to come in the door.” The state, he noted, relies on people with mental illnesses to seek services.

Mayor Novell continued, “Five years ago, we admitted that it wasn’t working. Today I think you can say that it is. We took the leap, but nobody else has been willing to take it with us.” He added, “If your numbers haven’t changed in seven years, whatever you’re doing isn’t working.”

Chief Cervenka advised, “If it took twenty years for the problem to get so bad, it will take years to fix it. Start small. Start in one neighborhood. Start with a small CRU team in one block of a downtown business district. They make mistakes and learn. Then you hire a few more and spread out.”

He continued, “It will push out those who don’t want help. They’ll keep moving. Our goal is to get to the people who don’t want that situation. They just need a helping hand.” Chief Cervenka noted that some people are embarrassed to ask for help but agree immediately when asked.

Mayor Norvell stressed, “We have a moral obligation to help people, but I have no desire to subsidize poor choices and bad behavior.” Both he and Chief Cervenka remain committed to their program and can point to success with many stories about individuals who took that helping hand.

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

GREAT DAY IN ELK ALMOST HERE

The 47th annual Great Day in Elk will be held on Saturday, August 26, from noon until dusk. The noontime parade will travel through downtown Elk to the Greenwood Community Center for the day’s festivities.

All afternoon there will be game booths with prizes and do-it-yourself crafts projects for children, plus a greased pole with a $100 bill at the top.Watermelon-eating contests, sack races, and an egg toss will be held throughout the day.

This year’s live entertainment features music by BoonFire, beats by DJ Nutrishious, and belly dancing.There will also be a silent auction, a cake auction and a raffle.

Lunch options include tamales and Caesar salad (with or without chicken), hot dogs and focaccia with Moroccan lentil soup, and the Civic Club’s ice cream sundaes topped with fresh berry sauce.Drinks include fresh-pressed Greenwood Ridge apple cider, Elk’s famous margaritas, soft drinks, beer and wine.

Dinner will be served from 4 to 7. Choices are marinated chicken with arugula or summer squash risotto, served with caprese salad and garlic bread.

So, come to the little coastal village of Elk and enjoy a fun-filled family day, while supporting the Greenwood Community Center, five miles south of Highway 128 on Highway 1. Please leave dogs at home.

For more information email Mea Bloyd at meabloyd@gmail.com or visit the Elk community website: www.elkweb.org.

Mannequin, Grace Hudson Museum (Jeff Goll)

CDC SENTENCE REDUCTIONS

Editor,

I am often contacted regarding the outcomes of criminal investigations. Many victims become frustrated when they feel justice wasn’t served. We can all point to an injustice, those are often easy to see, however if we had 10 people who witnessed the same situation and then asked them what would be a just outcome, we would likely receive 10 different answers. Strangely everyone in the room would likely be right, based on their experiences. The real question would be, what does the victim in this particular case think justice is? Where a person stands, is often dependent on where that person is seated, if you’re in the victim’s chair, chances are your view will be different.

Crime victims are rarely compensated for their losses, that’s simply a fact. When someone steals a car and crashes it, the victim isn’t truly compensated through an insurance settlement even if they are ensured for theft. The victim rarely receives compensation from the suspect who rarely has anything to give to the victim. Many times, items stolen are heirlooms, gifts from family or things that have great sentimental value. Victims will never be compensated for this when the items have already been fenced. Often the only compensation our victims receive is knowing the suspect will pay the state for his crimes. Well, we seem to be in a time when the state is no longer collecting those payments or giving dramatic discounts on something that doesn’t truly belong to them.

Our bill of rights is set up to address the needs of the accused. The fourth, fifth and especially the sixth amendment are completely designed to protect the rights of the accused. I agree with this whole heartedly, we have an obligation to ensure those rights, however I am wondering how and when did legislation renounce our obligation to the rights of our victims.

When our judges hand down a sentence whatever it may be, the victims leave the court room and complete a rough math equation in their heads and estimate when the suspect will be released. That’s simply human nature. When the suspect is released after serving less than half the time, they were sentenced to, it causes anger and frustration. These folks feel victimized again and it completely undermines the work of Law enforcement, our District Attorney, Defense and Judges.

How and why is this happening? The state prison system has been calculating credits in some strange fashion that when explained makes no sense. Upon conviction the subject is transported to the California Department of Corrections intake. Somehow these folks at CDC are allowed to change the sentence thus circumventing the orders of our judges.

The changes are based on credits inmates receive while in custody. Many of these credits are calculated at the time they arrive therefore they are entitlements and not earned. Eventually I fear sentences will be so low, and credits so high, by the time an inmate arrives in prison, he may be immediately released with an apology from the state for taking up his time. (that’s a joke, however with the way things are going I wouldn’t say it’s impossible).

Many of my colleagues and I have had several conversations with CDCR officials who have attempted to explain how these reduced sentences are handed out. It always seems to become an exercise in someone attempting to help us outsmart our common sense and basic math skills. A gifted mathematician armed with a calculator and the good old abacus wouldn’t know if he was on foot or horseback trying to follow the logic on these releases. I’m nearly convinced It’s alchemy. I think the confusion is truly a portion of how this is happening. This is an example of how our victims are forgotten. I ask, when did our state forget about the victims of the crimes? When will our victims be treated fairly? When the only compensation they receive is taken, who will compensate them? How long will it be before our victims begin compensating themselves? These are unintended consequences and it’s a question I think we should all be asking.

Thank you

Sheriff Matt Kendall

Ukiah

ROSIE GROVER, FOUR COMMENTS:

Sarah Kennedy Owen:

The last verse of the Phil Ochs song:

“Oh look outside the window

There’s a woman being grabbed

They’ve dragged her to the bushes

And now she’s being stabbed

Maybe we should call the cops

And try to stop the pain

But Monopoly i so much fun

I’d hate to spoil the game.

And I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybody

Outside of a small circle of friends.”

That happened right here in Ukiah in 1985, only it wasn’t a woman, it was a 15-year old girl, Rosie Marie Grover. It happened right under that friendly Foster’s Freeze sign we seem to treasure. How strange, our memories select what they want to select and “de-select” anything disagreeable. In that case, police dispatcher was called by Rosie trying to get a ride home, but that wasn’t policy so she was left to die. And life goes on, right up to the present, with same troubles now as then, in so many ways.

MAZIE MALONE:

Yes that was very sad, I grew up with Rosie, family friends, my dad and her mom dated when they were teenagers. Rosie was also killed on my birthday, in the creek behind my house, very close indeed. There was a creepy man in a brown car hanging out by the dental office, for at least 2 weeks before she was murdered. Never found out if it was him. Sadly her mother Marilyn has lived through the death of 3 of her children. There is a Rosie Grover FB page if you want to stay updated on the murderers possibility of release.

TOM HINE:

Richard Dean Clark was a Vallejo kid trying to keep his head above water here in Ukiah. He met Rosie when she got off the bus; she called CHP from the phone booth in front of House of Garner restaurant on the west side of South State Street at Talmage Road. Female dispatch said we aren’t a taxi service and 15 or 20 minutes later Rosie was dead in a small ravine just south of what is now a franchise pizza place (Mountain Mike’s?) in the House of Garner building. She’d been raped. Ravine is still there. Her body was maybe 50 feet west of the sidewalk.

Clark is still on Death Row and is probably in his late-50s.

By the way, the story on which Phil Ochs based his song (Small Circle of Friends) has been thoroughly debunked as a NYTimes fabriarion. I think reporter Abe Rosenthal, later the Editor and maybe the Publisher, teamed up with his city editor to sensationalize the stabbing death of Kitty Genovese around 1960 or so. The Times acknowledged the inaccuracy 50 or so years later.

Someone ought to do a history of Fake News, the Greatest Stories That Never Were.

ADAM GASKA:

Well, looks like this is where we are going.

Sonoma County Water Agency, Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission and Round Valley Indian Tribes submitted a proposal to assume responsibility and ownership of a portion of the Potter Valley Project. A yet to determined regional entity would be formed to take over the diversion tunnel and modify the diversion structure. Scott Dam and at least a large portion of Cape Horn Dam would be removed.

https://www.sonomawater.org/news/post/17768/

Unfortunately, we are short on time, support and resources to successfully fight for more.

MOCKEL SPEAKS (proving he’s a true Mike McGuire wannabe) (From a MendoFever report about a Great Redwood Trail forum in Hopland):

Trevor Mockel, a candidate in next year’s election for First District Supervisor, remarked:

“I recognize the potential opportunities that the Great Redwood Trail could bring forth. However, I have also been receiving feedback from numerous concerned landowners who are eager to ensure that their voices are heard and their opinions are acknowledged.

As we navigate our way forward with this project, it is imperative that we engage in continued outreach and seek compromise. It should be understood that no single party can expect to attain 100% of their desired outcomes. Nevertheless, the concerns echoed consistently revolve around the crucial matter of safety along the trail for current residents residing along its route.

These workshops will provide a platform for all parties to voice their thoughts, as we work together towards finding viable solutions for the issues that are likely to arise due to the size and nature of this project.”

* * *

ALSO from that report we discover how the trail people will incorporate the seemingly untrailable Eel River Canyon:

“When it comes to maintaining the trail within the Eel River Canyon, the planners recognize the geology of the Eel River Canyon is steep, with unstable hillsides above the river. Cleanup and environmental restoration are needed for old railroad equipment and collapsed railroad tunnels. This section of the trail will be a single-track backcountry trail because of the challenging terrain.”

Translation: They’re not even going to try to “rehab” the canyon section of the old Southern Pacific tracks along the Eel. They’re just going leave it as is and say it’s part of the “trail” as is by simply declaring it “a single-track backcountry trail.” And voila! It’s a Great Redwood Trail!

(Mark Scaramella)

UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL HEADLINE, August 8, 2023:

State of homelessness in Mendocino County: More resources needed to address complex issues

(Translation: …? You guessed it: All we need is a lot more money for us and we’ll fix the homeless problem.)

REDWOOD EMPIRE FAIR LIVESTOCK AUCTION HITS IT OUT OF THE “BULL PEN”

Over 220 exhibitors entered their livestock in this year’s Redwood Empire Fair, tempting buyers with poultry, rabbits, sheep, goats, swine and beef. And according to Fair CEO Jennifer Seward, though the exact totals will be available soon, Fair Staff are confident in reporting that this year’s auction totals broke another record, with sales projected to exceed $1,135,791.00 This figure does not include outright purchases.

This year’s entries totaled 225, compared to last year’s 201. Last year’s total sales were $1,126,603. The divisions of sales are divided into 11 sections- 4H Goat, Hog, Lamb and Steer, FFA Goat, Hog, Lamb and Steer and Market Turkeys, Poultry Meat Pen and Rabbit Meat Pen.

Sales of 4H Market Steer saw a decrease this year- from $253,860.00 in 2022 to $198,316.00. 4H Goat Sales also saw a decrease, with bids in 2022 totaling $27,994.00. Bids in 2023 totaled $17,838.00. But sales of 4H Market Swine increased significantly from $289,178 in 2022 to $328,580.00. Lamb also saw an increase from 2022’s total bids of $46,523.00 to $69,479.00 at Saturday’s auction.

2022’s FFA bids on beef were $238,283.00 beating out this year’s bids of $223,444.00 2022’s goat bidding came to $23,335.00, with Saturday’s bids totaling $21,537.00. Sheep were nearly equal, with 2022’s bids of $41,506.00 nearly matching the 2023 bids of $41, 560.00 FFA Market hogs totaled $172,224.00 in 2022, and $160,637 in 2023.

Bidding on turkeys went up exponentially this year. 2022’s bids totaled $6,300.00, and this year’s bids topped out at $$21,600.00 Poultry bids also increased dramatically, with last year’s bids at $8,100.00 and this year’s at $16,800.00. Finally, rabbits saw a huge increase, with 2022 bids totaling $19,300.00 and this year’s bids “hopping” up to $36,000.00.

Redwood Empire CEO Jennifer Seward lays all the credit for the success of the livestock auction at the feet of two individuals- Stacy Anderson- the Junior Livestock Animal Chairperson, and Mendocino County Fair Livestock Coordinator Jim Brown, who comes over from Boonville every year to lend a hand at Ukiah’s Fair.

“I grew up in 4H,” says Anderson. She currently has two sons, one of whom showed a market steer at this year’s fair. She credits the greater community for the continuous decades of support for the livestock auction. “These animals would normally be receiving something around $1 per pound at the traditional market. Here, they are getting $20-$30 per pound.” She stresses the seriousness of the commitment it takes to raise an animal from babyhood to showing age. “Providing the right food to your animal is very important. It’s a very scientific process- making sure your animal has the appropriate type of food for their growth needs. Kids are responsible for talking to the feed store reps, the feed companies, the breeders and to understand the underlying genetics that their animal has. It’s not just purchasing an animal; They have to understand how important follow-through is.”

The kids make a tremendous amount of sacrifices to participate in the auction. “They’re up at 5:00 AM every day. I’d guess that at the fair, 90% of them are completely detached from social media- there just isn’t time,” she continues. “What our 4H and FFA leaders are teaching is so much more than how to raise an animal: it’s teamwork, community input, developing work ethics and public speaking.”

Kelly Brackett is the Vice-President of the Junior Livestock Animal program. “Our community is so supportive. I cannot overstress this,” she continues. “Our community doesn’t have a whole lot to offer our kids, so things like FFA provide so much for them.”

The impact of programs like this is “huge,” notes Jeremy Donahoo, CEO of Donahoo Inc. He and his partner Stacey purchased about 11 animals at the auction, which they intend to donate to the Deer Association and their 75 employees.

“It’s all about promoting the work ethic for me,” says Jerry. “I like this better than anything.”

“I showed here when I was young,” smiles Stacy Donahoo. “Now it’s my turn to help to support those people who helped me.”

To that end, Anderson notes that she has received several recent inquiries about becoming an adult 4H or FFA leader. “This is exactly what we need,” she says. “These are people who really recognized the benefits of the programs as kids and want to give back as adults.”

She notes it takes a family’s time, dedication and commitment to be a part of the organizations, but that the rewards are well worth the effort.

“The kids learn so many life skills that help them become successful, regardless of where life takes them. And in turn, they become a part of this big, loving family,” she concludes, pointing to the dozens of families and children exiting the animal barns after a successful day at the auction.

THE SOUND WE SEE: A FORT BRAGG CITY SYMPHONY

With support from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, the Larry Spring Museum invites you to join the Echo Park Film Center in creating a film portrait of the place we live. Using Super-8 film and eco-processing, you will create a 24-hour cinematic celebration of Fort Bragg. This program is a mix of workshops, discussions, film shooting, processing, and editing, followed by a premiere with live accompaniment. This program is FREE, ALL AGES, and requires NO previous experience!

Pre-Production: August 26 & 27

Production: August 28- Sept 4

Postproduction: September 5-7

Public Film Premier: September 9!

Email director@larryspringmuseum.org to save your spot!

Anne Maureen McKeating

Executive Director

707 962 3131

CORRECTION: Albion Little River Fire Department always wants and needs donations!

Correction to the recent post by Tom Wodetzki: Yes, the Albion River Fire Department does want and need the donations from CRV buy back.

You can request a check be made out to the Albion Little River Fire Department when you bring your crv containers on Sundays, Mondays or Wednesdays.

I have done this and will get my check to the fire department.

We hope to be able to find/set up a collection system - but until that happy moment arrives, please have your crv checks made out to the fire department.

Thank you for your ongoing contributions.

Sydelle (Coast Chatline)

COUNTY OF MENDOCINO TO HOST COMMUNITY RESILIENCE PUBLIC OUTREACH AND LISTENING SESSION IN HOPLAND

In 2022, the County of Mendocino was awarded a Prepare California “Jumpstart” grant by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CALOES). The grant provides funds to build resiliency in census tracts in Mendocino County designated by CALOES as demonstrating high-hazard exposure and social vulnerability. As part of the grant, the County is hosting a series of public meetings in the identified census tracts that will offer the public an opportunity to communicate their resilience goals to the County. Input provided by these communities will be used to help determine resilience projects for which to pursue grant funding.

In addition to outreach sessions, the County of Mendocino will submit resilience-oriented grant applications, which will directly benefit the vulnerable census tracts, based on the input received during the outreach sessions.

Hopland Meeting

When:

Thursday, August 17th, 2023, from 5:30-7:00 PM

Where:

Hopland Veteran’s Memorial Building

110 Feliz Creek Road, Hopland, CA 95449

Additional public outreach listening sessions will be conducted in the communities of Boonville, Calpella/Redwood Valley, Caspar, Covelo, Ukiah, Willits, and Leggett. Information on the location and dates/times for those meetings will be released when it is available.

For meeting information, please contact Disaster Recovery at: (707) 234-6303 or disasterrecovery@mendocinocounty.org

CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, August 8, 2023

ALEXANDER BARGER, Ukiah. Criminal threats.

OSCAR BERNAL, Ukiah. Domestic abuse, vandalism.

NICHOLAS BRITTON, Ukiah. Harboring wanted felon, controlled substance for sale, ammo possession by prohibited person, conspiracy.

JEFFREY CARVER, Willits. Trespassing, failure to appear.

CAYTLIN COLLICOTT, Willits. Controlled substance for sale, paraphernalia, conspiracy, county parole violation.

NATHAN MORALES, Covelo. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, under influence.

WILLIAM OWENS, Ukiah. Parole violation.

FRANCISCO PEREZ, Boonville. DUI.

ANGEL STANEK, Willits. Burglary.

PHILLIP WINTERS, Mendocino. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, paraphernalia, resisting.

STEVEN ZIMMERMAN, Covelo. Stolen vehicle, probation revocation.

EMERGENCY CLOUD WATCHING

Emergency Spiritual Message

Warmest spiritual greetings,

Please know that I’ve turned down the chance to be considered for a studio apartment located several miles south of Ukiah, California’s Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center. It is so far away from the City of Ukiah, that it would have been necessary to utilize senior services to come and pick up my laundry, because services (as well as the rest of urbanity) would be so far distant. The B2 housing navigator informs me that because I am not willing to consider the place, assuming that I would have been offered a lease, that I am in jeopardy of losing my Federal housing voucher in October. Please note that if the landlady did offer it to me and I took it, I would be sleeping in a small room with a small kitchen, shower, and closet located in the 2200 block of South State Street, without wheels, and only sketchy MTA bus service. The back yard does have a weathered picnic table with a new umbrella, and a BBQ. Lastly, I would be welcome to stand out by the side of the road and enjoy watching the clouds o’er head unlimitedly. I thank confused postmodern America for appreciating my 73 years of sincere citizenship, particularly the past 50 years of frontline radical environmental and peace & justice activism, which includes 23 years of Catholic Worker service to the “poorest of the poor”, all of which was performed unpaid. I am Self-realized as a result. So don’t pity me in this dementia of a society. GOOD LUCK!! OM Shanthi

Craig Louis Stehr

IF EVERY YOUNG MAN IN AMERICA would take up boxing as a pastime we would have better men and better citizens.

— James J Corbett

(Original Caption) 12/13/1922- JIM CORBETT AGAIN IN THE RING... But this time it was for the purpose of refereeing some bouts held in Chicago for a Christmas Fund benefit. "Gentleman Jim" was particularly interested in two young "pugs" who did their stuff in business-like style. The boys are Willie Wargo at right, and Harold Jensen, left, who contested in the tissue-weight class.

MITCH CLOGG:

I, Ellie and a friend watched “Oppenheimer” at the Coast Cinema with four or five other locals last night. Very, very good movie! (We saw “Barbie” a few days ago. It too was excellent, but I’m more of the Oppenheimer generation than the Barbie one.)

I interviewed Robert Oppenheimer’s brother Frank in San Francisco at his home on the famous, scenic Ten Hundred Block of Lombard Street. His livingroom had stunning views of the Bay Area. I watched the seeming toy boats on SF Bay as we talked. Dr. Opp wanted to tell about a plan he had to create a hands-on science exhibition hall, to be called The Exploratorium. It gave me a proprietary feeling to watch it materialize under his guidance. Frank, a onetime card-carrying commie, was a gracious host and interviewee. We didn’t discuss the Marxist parts of his lively past. I was glad to watch the cynical, often detached treatment of all that in the movie and the hideous McCarthyist context it happened in. Joe McCarthy would have been both inspiration and acolyte to Donald Trump. Some splendid American citizens were victimized by that BS, that period when socialist ideals were abruptly replaced by vicious propaganda and narrow-mindedness. We are experiencing the costs of giving free rein to capitalism, the newly dominant organizing principle when the USA was founded, now exhausted and stumbling into a bleak, uncertain future, desperately in need of diversion and new thinking.

Long, leisurely interviews with the famous and infamous are the sometime payoff for reporters. Willy Brown, senator-to-be Barbara Boxer, anthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey, Jane Fonda and ur-anthropologist Margaret Mead come to mind. Before I left Baltimore, I covered Baltimore County (governed separately from the city). My office in the county office building was next to that of the county executive, future vice president and convicted felon Spiro “Ted” Agnew. He spent a lot of time shooting the bull with reporters.

Back to the movie, it seemed faithful to the facts as I remember them. I was six years old when we blew up Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just ahead of my seventh birthday. You can imagine how gripping all that was to a wartime kid. Watching it again as a high-budget, true-to-life Hollywood product felt like watching a documentary. The names and events were all familiar, the production was superb. Tiny, abstract blasts of things and events that influenced the people and their lives are used like blood diamonds by writer-director Christopher Nolan.

In case war, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion aren’t enough 4ya, the movie gives a soupçon of carnal fusion in a bedroom scene unlike any I ever watched on a big screen. Sex over and done with, the partners, still naked, engage in serious conversation about serious business. Because of its novel treatment, it is hysterically funny and ironically serious. There is much irony and much dreadful seriousness in Oppenheimer. It is an epic, but far more thoughtful than typical epics.

LEAVE TREES STANDING

Editor:

Santa Rosa is only miles from the Mendocino National Forest, a refuge that should be protected. The U.S. Forest Service has recently asked for public opinion on how to implement the president’s executive order to protect mature and old-growth trees in national forests to fight climate change. Why? Mature and old-growth trees are the most effective mechanism for removing carbon from the atmosphere.

But the Forest Service continues to chop down the most-effective natural solution to climate change on public lands. These trees take up and store millions of tons of carbon in their trunks, branches and soil, keeping it out of our atmosphere. They continue to work over their lifetimes, as long as hundreds of years.

Yet currently slated to be felled on nearly 370,000 acres are mature and old-growth trees in 22 national forests. We don’t have decades to wait for new trees to grow up and replace the work mature trees do now. Please take action now and tell the Forest Service to immediately suspend all timber sales that propose harvesting mature and old-growth trees.

Janet Doherty

Sacramento

MY FIRST BULLY

I was in 2nd grade. Walked a couple miles to school, best route was straight up East St and then left on Eaton. This route passed the park, but I walked every imaginable route, taking each of the 20 blocks individually and studying the homes and residents.

On this particular autumn day, I convinced my friend Judy to go with me by Lincoln Park. I had a secret that was exploding inside of me. My father, center of our universe had told us they were installing a curly slide in the park today. They Newspaper would show it the following day. I wanted to share it with Judy and be the first two to go down the slide.

She was just as excited as I was, we ran over to the Park and went down screaming with laughter. We climbed and went down again. Only, this time there was a girl standing in front of the bottom when we came down. We looked up, she looked angry. She was tall and probably in High School, but she should have been there since our school got out much earlier. She yelled at us; “Who said you could go down this Slide.”

We looked at her and blushed and muttered. We didn’t know we needed permission.

She yelled again: “What are your names?”

Mary, I said; Judy, she said.

“You two are under arrest.”

We looked at one another and gulped. I felt terrified as I looked at this tall, dark and mean threatening girl.

“March across the street.”

“Walk in front of me and do not look back.”

We did as we were told.

We were petrified.

“Stop.” She would yell and we would obey.

I knew Judy was mad at me, what had I gotten us into, I didn’t know that we needed permission to go on and there would be an adult there.

She marched behind us, yelling “Hup, one , two , three,” and we obeyed. We saw no people or cars passing.

“FREEZE!”

She yelled. And we did. We stood there for about ten minutes. I felt like I was going to pee. I slowly turned around and she was gone.

She’s gone, RUN!, I said screamed to Judy.

We both ran home. We never told a soul; we were afraid we would get in trouble.

Judy avoided me after that.

Emjay Wilson

Ukiah

GIANTS WILL PAY TRIBUTE TO WILLIE MAYS, NEGRO LEAGUES AND RICKWOOD FIELD

by John Shea

“MLB at Rickwood Field: a Tribute to the Negro Leagues” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue like the “Willie Mays Classic.”

But as the great Mays would say, it’s not about honoring him as much as all the Negro Leaguers who came before him and didn’t get a chance to play Major League Baseball because of the color of their skin.

Thursday, officials from MLB, the city of Birmingham, Ala., and Negro Leagues dignitaries gathered at Rickwood Field — the nation’s oldest professional ballpark, built in 1910 — to unveil the name and logo of the event next June 20 that will feature an MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.

Representing the Giants on Thursday in Birmingham were former outfielder Randy Winn and chief diversity officer Roscoe Mapps.

“The way we view the game is, this is an opportunity for us to honor the rich history of our sport, in this case the legacy of the Negro Leagues,” said Jeremiah Yolkut, MLB’s VP of global events. “When you walk into the stadium, you’ll immediately be connected to its history.”

Part of that history involves Mays, who debuted with the legendary Birmingham Black Barons as a 17-year-old high school sophomore in 1948. After replacing injured center fielder Norm Robinson, Mays helped the Black Barons reach the final Negro Leagues World Series. He also played his junior and senior high school years with the Black Barons and was signed by the New York Giants after graduation in 1950, making his MLB debut a year later.

Willie Mays, in the clubhouse of the Minneapolis Millers, 1951. (© Minnesota Historical Society/CORBIS)

Rickwood Field has a special place in Mays’ heart. He played there at a time in his life when he turned from boy to man while hanging out and learning from teammates in their 20s and 30s, nearly all of whom were denied an MLB opportunity because they were Black.

Mays was different because he was so young and so good and came along as some MLB teams were finally willing to integrate after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers. Many of the Black Barons had no other choice but to live vicariously through Mays, and Willie didn’t take that responsibility lightly.

The day MLB announced in December 2020 that Negro Leagues stats would count on the MLB register, I called Willie for his reaction. Not once did he ask what it meant for him or how his stat line would change — his only thought was that his old teammates would be recognized as major-leaguers. He got emotional talking about it.

So if “MLB at Rickwood Field: a Tribute to the Negro Leagues” is OK with Mays, it should be OK with everybody. Forces from all sides wisely thought it was important to include “Rickwood Field” in the title because of its iconic past, and now the trick is getting the old park ready for an MLB game, which is a significant chore.

When I spent a week in Birmingham and nearby Fairfield, where Willie was raised, to research his early years for the book we co-authored (“24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid”), I dropped by Rickwood nearly every day because it was so magical. I stood in the outfield where Mays stood, saw the same backdrop he saw, heard the same roar of the train and looked over my right shoulder at a replica of the same scoreboard. Anytime something at Rickwood needs repair, it’s fixed with 1948 in mind so that it can maintain the look from Mays’ first year with the Black Barons.

I knew if an MLB game were played at Rickwood, major changes would be necessary, and here we are. It’s nowhere close to an MLB-ready facility. In fact, after MLB took over all minor leagues several years ago, the popular Rickwood Classic, an annual game pitting the Double-A Birmingham Barons against a Southern League opponent, came to an end, not only because of the pandemic but because the field and amenities were deemed unsuitable.

The Barons’ home yard is in downtown Birmingham, and the throwback game at Rickwood was wonderful for the community and baseball world. Once Rickwood is revamped for next year’s Giants-Cardinals game, the plan is to resurrect the Rickwood Classic.

First, the overhaul. Friends of Rickwood, which has overseen the facility since 1992, is moving forward to get the structure ready. The nonprofit organization raised $500,000 from the corporate community, and the city committed $2 million. Another $2 million remains to be raised.

According to Gerald Watkins, Friends of Rickwood executive director, MLB will bring in portable clubhouses and temporary lights to supplement the existing lights, plus a modern-day scoreboard to supplement the existing manual board. Other elements will be supplied locally: a new playing surface, expanded dugouts, new bullpens, outfield padding, protective netting and more handicapped spots and camera wells.

“I am as happy as could be about the whole thing,” Watkins said. “We’ve got to make changes, yes, but at the same time, if we don’t make changes, we wouldn’t get this high-profile event. We’re getting great cooperation from the community. The outpouring and excitement has been off the charts.”

Jason Yeadon, MLB’s senior creative director, assured that Rickwood won’t be changed so dramatically that it would lose its old-feel vibes. The game’s logo is black and white with a font that represents Willie’s time and is similar to the one used on the old scoreboard.

“We don’t want to ruin the magic or the eye-catching elements that bring you back in time,” Yeadon said. “Even though we’re making improvements, my job is to make sure it looks visually like you’re at Rickwood Field in that era.”

When Mays played at Rickwood Field, it was owned by the Birmingham Barons, a white team serving as a Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. When the Barons were on the road, the Black Barons played at the facility, and vice versa. Reflecting life in segregated Birmingham, the seats beyond the right-field wall near the corner were occupied by Black fans at Barons games and white fans at Black Barons games.

Dozens of Hall of Famers played at Rickwood, from Ty Cobb to Babe Ruth to Ted Williams, Satchel Paige to Jackie Robinson to Reggie Jackson. But it will be Mays who will be a focus at the game next June, along with his teammate on the 1948 Black Barons, Bill Greason, who’s 98.

When word of the Rickwood Field game first began circulating, it was believed it would be the next Field of Dreams game, but that’s not the case. This has its own brand, title and logo, honoring the heroes of the Negro Leagues and the ballpark that housed so many who were banned from the white game.

“The field was the star of the event,” Winn said after Thursday’s proceedings in Birmingham.

BIDEN UNFIT

Editor:

Yes, let’s get something out in the open. Cognitive and physical abilities vary among 80-year olds. Joe Biden, at 80, is unfit to be president, as is obvious for all to see on a daily basis.

If one watches MSNBC, CNN, ABC or CBS, you will not see it because those networks do not show his verbal gaffes, stumbles or wandering around rooms trying to figure out with whom to shake hands or how to exit. His staff provides cheat sheets for every public outing, puts X’s on the floor where he needs to stand, helps putting on his jacket and gives directions to leave.

In his rare press conferences, he is told on whom to call and what the questions are. He usually ends his answers with “well, anyway,” or “no joke” or, recently, “God save the queen!” Empathy? He showed none for his seventh grandchild, his beloved son Hunter’s daughter — until Maureen Dowd shamed him (“It’s 7 grandkids, Mr. President.").

His entire life he has bragged about his IQ, his standing in law school, his alleged full scholarship, whom he could best in push ups or take behind the barn to beat up. Run, Joe, run.

Linda Davis

Kenwood

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Much of the problem is that, since about 1970, women have had to assume traditional masculine roles, in addition to being mothers and homemakers. They did this primarily because men abdicated from masculine roles and responsibilities. Women HAD to do this. They had to become full-time wage-earners, because Dad took off or did not support the family. And, of course, women’s role as mothers and homemakers has been denigrated since at least 1970–and actually probably since about 1955. I well remember the media back in the 50s referring to women who wanted to marry as “looking for a free meal ticket,” the wife as “a ball and chain,” and housewives being portrayed as eating bon-bons all day. The media actually started working on the men to reject marriage, as well as traditional male responsibilities, way back in the 50s.

Also, as I’ve mentioned before. BOTH men and women need to be chaste before marriage. Unchastity shows contempt for the opposite sex, in both men and women–and contempt for their proper masculine and feminine roles. An unchaste man shows contempt for his mother and sisters, since he feels he can be contemptuous of other people’s mothers and sisters. An unchaste woman shows contempt for her father and brothers, and indicates that she thinks so little of men in general that she has no expectation of finding a virtuous man to marry. I think it is very little acknowledged that women in general are often promiscuous to “get even” with men for being promiscuous; i.e., “I can be just as contemptuous of you as you are of me.”

STATE OF THE NATION:

UKRAINE, TUESDAY, 8TH AUGUST

Western officials describe increasingly "sobering" assessments about Ukrainian forces’ ability to retake significant territory as they face challenges breaking through heavily mined Russian defenses in the east and south.

The assessment comes as Ukraine reels from the latest round of Russian missile attacks. A "double-tap" strike on a residential building in the eastern city of Pokrovsk killed at least seven people and injured dozens others, officials said. Separately, Russian strikes killed at least two civilians in the northeastern Kharkiv region and one in the southern city of Kherson on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy warned that Russia may be left without ships if attacks on Ukrainian ports don’t stop. His remarks come after Kyiv’s sea drones hit a Russian oil tanker and a warship in recent days.

After attending Saudi peace talks on Ukraine, Beijing assured Moscow it remains "impartial" in the war, while also stressing both nations are “reliable good friends."

* * *

Pokrovsk Residents Share Harrowing Accounts Of Deadly Russian Attack

As Ukraine reels from the latest round of Russian missile attacks, residents in the eastern city of Pokrovsk recalled the harrowing experience of a "double-tap" strike Monday that left at least seven people dead and dozens injured.

"I heard a hum. A very, very loud hum. Then the entire building shook and the windows on our balcony blew out. Half an hour later there was a second hit — it was even louder and even scarier," Liudmyla told CNN on Tuesday.

There were several people in the yard and military personnel were telling them to go to take shelter for a possible second attack. Her husband was on the balcony at the time of the blast, she said.

"I heard this growing rumble and I shouted for him to get out of there. But he didn't manage, he just fell to the floor and covered his head with hands. He was literally covered in glass," she said.

The explosion threw Liudmyla into the other room. "You're flying and you don't realize where you are," she said. "I just yelled to my husband to see if he was alive. He responded, I crawled to him and shattered the glass," she said.

"I'd like to say to the Russians: Value the lives. Both your own and ours. And enough of all this, enough. Enough," Liudmyla said.

Another resident, Alla, whose home is also close to the area that was hit, said she and her husband went outside after the first explosion. When they returned to their apartment after the unexpected second explosion, "we saw that there were no windows, no balcony, no electricity. "

She added: "Of course, we were very much scared. We got a terrible stress, because it was very loud. We didn't sleep the whole night. How can one sleep here, when there are no windows?"

(From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Radina Gigova)

24 Comments

George Hollister August 9, 2023

Lew Chichester, from Covelo says it well.

Reply
Rye N Flint August 9, 2023

RE: The Elder tree

A powerful medicine, and tree, revered by both the native people and my European ancestors for it’s healing powers. That was the reason we called our 2018 Earthskills event in Hopland “The Elderflower festival”. Good on you MARY PAT PALMER. The Elder tree in my Mom’s front yard in Sacramento, (also a native volunteer plant) is going on year 3, and it produced it’s first flowers and berries this year. Thanks in part to all the rain. I’m feeling the blessings. I also feel inspired, and we have picked a date for our new Earthskills gathering that we will most likely be held at Tan Oak Park, north of Bell Springs Road, across from the Swim Hole. More details coming in the next month.

We are also NOT going to call it Elderflower Festival because there is already a long standing all women’s gathering in Mendocino with the same name. See the link below. https://elderflower.org

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Rye N Flint August 9, 2023

RE: “The primary motivation for becoming a supervisorial candidate is (or should be) ideological or as a public service.”

Thank you so much for eloquently putting my thoughts to words. Kudos again the AVA !

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Rye N Flint August 9, 2023

RE: LEAVE TREES STANDING

Nope. Wrong. Leave trees on the ground to become food for Fungi. That is how you retain nutrients in the soil, and protect it from erosion. But… Does anyone ever ask a soil scientist? Nope. What policy should be ended is “hack n squirt” and “salvage logging”, and has caused much debate over the years, leading to the creation of the documentary “Pickaxe”.

p.s.- I love the Turkey Tail “polypore” picture in today’s news.

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Craig Stehr August 9, 2023

Wishing everyone a happy morning. Identify with the Immortal Atman. Witness the mental factory. Keep the body clean. Chant OM. Everything else will take care of itself.
Craig Louis Stehr
1045 South State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482
Telephone Messages:(707) 234-3270
Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com
Spiritual Revolution Donations: Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr
August 9th @ 9:45 AM Pacific Time

Reply
- Mazie Malone August 9, 2023
  
  Dude, Craig, lol …I appreciate your posts. Stay positive!
  
  Reply
  - Craig Stehr August 9, 2023
    
    In the midst of the absurdity which frequently characterizes Mendocino County, (see yesterday’s comments in regard to my NOT choosing to move into a small room in the 2200 block of South State Street; one comment being posted by the AVA publisher who ought to know better), I will of course continue identifying with my true nature. This is “positivity”.
    
    Reply
    - Mazie Malone August 9, 2023
      
      As I had no doubt you would!!!❤️
      
      Reply
Bob A. August 9, 2023

I was recently clued-in to the ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) for internet access. If you’re an AT&T internet customer see https://www.att.com/affordable-connectivity-program/, otherwise check with your provider. Enrollment is quick and relatively painless. My household bill for AT&T Internet 25 went from $66/month to $0/month!

This is not an advertisement. It’s for real!

Reply
Mazie Malone August 9, 2023

RE: Fort Braggs Care Response Unit…..Awesome and Kudos for providing this needed service. ……..Taking a new road is great and a learning curve but I always have concerns and questions and some answers..lol So first off statistically speaking 4 or 5 years ago there was approx. 200 homeless people now there are about 50. It is estimated that 30 % of homeless people have a Serious Mental Illness and 50 % have Anosognosia which is a condition of having no insight into your illness besides the problem of addiction that goes hand in hand with these issues. So out of your 50 homeless people 15 of them are too ill to even begin to understand they need treatment. So, saying someone refused treatment may not entirely be accurate at least 15 of them have issues with remembering and comprehension which comes as part of the Serious Mental Illness.
I will just ask some questions.
1. For people given a bus ticket to a loved one, do you follow up? And how many of those people return? It’s not successful if they are homeless and sick somewhere else!
2. What is the specified # of hours when someone “refuses” to move along? And where do they go? Down to the beach? lol
3. A horrible fact is mandated court help does not always occur, as in the case of my loved one, it should have been offered was not, no AOT no Mental Health Court, nada, zip, nothing
4. No one can be forced into treatment but recognizing illness/danger/and worsening psychosis can lead to a 5150 hold that seems in this county to be entirely subjective ya might get some help ya might not!
5. Are these rehab services dual diagnosis? not likely so problem will return.
6. What the hell is Ego Development? What about psychiatric treatment and meds?
7. Does the CRU provide transportation for these people getting treatment to appointments and such? And how long does that last?
8. There is a critical difference between an unsheltered homeless person “refusing.” services and a woman with children who couldn’t afford the rent increase, it is called “Serious Mental Illness & addiction! And of course, it’s much easier to help a person who is not mentally disabled to gain shelter and resources. So, by all means priority should be placed on those easy to serve, but they are not the ones creating damage and crime and deteriorating!
9. Actually, these problems have been increasing for 50 years not 20.
One last thing …..morally speaking……there is a moral obligation to help those in need as long as they are not making poor choices or behaving badly? Only willing to spend our hard-earned tax dollars to subsidize those who we deem as worthy because they are not addicts!

Respectfully,
Mazie M.

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Kirk Vodopals August 9, 2023

Sounds like a lot of “price control” is occurring in Redwood Valley. As I’ve said before, abatement is not the solution. Just the opposite. The County should throw up a few hundred hoop houses a year and assist with price deflation, which is the only long-term solution.

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- peter boudoures August 9, 2023
  
  Obviously you are aware Mendocino county only produces 10% of cannabis flower grown in California. Redwood valley does not set the price. A few hundred hoop houses is less than one farm in Santa Barbara county. I think you were joking but the point is to clean up the garbage scattered around the county.
  
  Reply
  - Kirk Vodopals August 9, 2023
    
    Obviously people will make a mess in order to make a few extra bucks. Whether you’re growing the Devil’s lettuce or running Code Enforcement. Ain’t no one making on making Redwood Valley a bit less of an eyesore…
    
    Reply
Sarah Kennedy Owen August 9, 2023

My comment regarding Rosie Grover’s untimely death mentioned the Foster’s Freeze sign because at the time there was apparently not an accurate description of where the phone call was made, I imagine. It was a long time ago and I can’t remember the article word for word. However, the Foster’s Freeze sign was contiguous with a gas station, and back then all gas stations had phone booths, so I must have mistakenly thought it was there, where Building Bridges is now, still not a stellar part of town and kitty corner across the street from the restaurant. Tom Hines, your memory of the case is remarkable, except it seems unlikely Rosie would have “met” Clark when she got off the bus, as she told the dispatcher she was afraid (of a guy following her?). I think there were a lot of lies coming out of Clark’s mouth.
As for the Phil Ochs song, the story behind it is hardly meaningful, just an example of humanity’s lack of humanity, our inhumanity handed down for so many generations., regardless of up-to-date news stories. Phil Ochs was a great songwriter, and the story was just the inspiration for one of his best songs.

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- Marmon August 9, 2023
  
  The picture of the Frosty (not Foster Freeze) sign the AVA posted on the August 7th was just south of Ellie’s Mutt Hut and a gas station. She might have called from that gas station, but If I recall, she made the call from across street where the bus depot was located then and where Social Services is now. The murderer was hanging out at a cabin in Shady Grove trailer park (778 S. State Street) where my mother was the manager at the time. The cabin was directly behind Spiro’s Gyros & Deli. Her body was found further south in a creek bed down by the Rendezvous Restaurant and near Talmadge Rd.
  
  Marmon
  
  Reply
  - Sarah Kennedy Owen August 9, 2023
    
    I see now. Frosty’s was on the west side of State and Foster’s on the east side. According to one account (UDJ July 18, 2015, Jody Martinez) she called from the Foster’s. A lot of confusion, here! The call could also have been made from the bus depot, as you suggested.
    
    Reply
- Marmon August 9, 2023
  
  I believe the Rendezvous Restaurant is now a Mexican Food place.
  
  Marmon
  
  Reply
  - Marmon August 9, 2023
    
    According to my mom Rosie went to the cabin with the promise she would get a ride home.
    
    Marmon
    
    Reply
  - Marmon August 9, 2023
    
    Remembering Rosie Marie Grover: 1970-1985
    
    https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2015/07/18/remembering-rosie-marie-grover-1970-1985/
    
    Marmon
    
    Reply
Adam Gaska August 9, 2023

I don’t think $90,000 is a crazy salary for a supervisor. Looking at the median wage of other counties and what those counties supervisors make, it looks like county supervisors make 2.5-4.2 times as much as median workers. Mendocino is in the middle at 3.4.

The job of supervisor isn’t an ordinary job. You are on a board that runs an organization with roughly 20 departments, 4 elected offices and approximately 1200 employees. There is some merit to the argument that to get good talent, competitive wages need to be offered.

I agree that those that serve as supervisors, or aspire to serve , should do so with the interests of the public at heart and in mind. There is a mechanism to evaluate supervisors, it is called the ballot. There is a mechanism to fire under performers, it’s called a recall. Unfortunately, the general public doesn’t exercise its duty and power to hold elected officials accountable often enough. The voting public is the hiring committee. If we want better, we need to do a better job not just at voting, but in encouraging those among us who we think would do a good job to run. When they are in office, we need to continue to respect and support them. Being a public official is a hard job, constantly being the target of criticism which too often turns into personal attacks on those holding office. This prevents many qualified people from seeking office.

All that being said, I do think that considering the current financial situation, the current BOS should take a pay cut along with other the other non represented department heads. It looks as though there are 50 something positions that are lumped together with the supervisors. They should cut all those salaries 5-10% until the County is in a position to give the bargaining units currently in contract negotiations the COLA’s they deserve. It looks as though a 10% wage cut across the board would free up roughly a million, enough to give those bargaining units a meager 1% COLA. Supervisors would still have a base salary of $82k along with a more than generous benefits package.

Reply
- Marmon August 9, 2023
  
  Carrie Shattuck said she would take a 50% pay cut if elected.
  
  Marmon
  
  Reply
  - Adam Gaska August 9, 2023
    
    While the willingness to sacrifice is admirable, I wouldn’t solely base my decision on who to vote for on who is willing to do it the cheapest.
    
    Reply
    - Mark Scaramella August 9, 2023
      
      In fairness to Ms. Shattuck, I think the point she was trying to make, as you do as well to a lesser degree, had to do with the Board forcing cuts on the employees while not taking a cut themselves. It was symbolic, not an attempt to sacrifice or be the low-bidder.
      
      Reply
Me August 10, 2023

Louise Simson needs to run for a Board of Supervisor seat! Seriously.

Reply

Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, August 9, 2023

24 Comments

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