Mendocino County Today: Monday, Dec. 4, 2023

Chance Driz | Pelican Bluff | Healthcare Greed | Holiday Bazaar | Night Thieves | School Meeting | Prop Tax | AV Events | No Training | Willits Ranch | County Notes | Froh Show | Ed Notes | Raskin Book | Etiquette Guide | Darkroom Class | Jazz Concert | Chris McGlothlen | Noyo 1919 | Yesterday's Catch | Humboldt Independent | 1930s Abalone | Rate Hike | Miss Healdsburg | Niners Win | Walt Stack | Gray Squirrels | U.S. Healthcare | Got Rizz | This World | Pitcher | Shitweasels | Kissinger Legacy | Walker Hancock | Wandering Jew | Morning After

ADDITIONAL LIGHT TO BRIEF MODERATE RAIN is expected through this evening. A stronger system will move in Tuesday night bringing gusty winds, moderate to heavy rainfall and high elevation snow through Thursday night. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cloudy 54F with .15" rainfall this Monday morning on the coast. A slight chance for a shower today & tomorrow then rain on Wed & Thur. Maybe rain on Sat but it's looking a little drier in the longer forecast.

ADVENTIST CANCELS BLUE SHIELD [MCN-Announce]

This is Mary Kate with the Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation and part of the Adventist Health Community Advisory Board. The below are from my notes and I've tried to be as accurate as I can. I look forward to AH weighing in on the listserv to clarify further.

Despite months of negotiations, Adventist Health and Blue Shield were unable to come to equitable terms for patient care reimbursements.

Blue Shields offer to AH is 40-50% BELOW any other reimbursement terms from other insurers and has been at that lower threshold since 2020. With the escalating costs of healthcare, Blue Shields lack of compromise is disappointing.

Adventist is actively pursuing an equitable contract for their entire system with Blue Shield, bringing the power of 26 markets to the bargaining table.

Continuity of care is an essentiality for all of our community - so a few pieces of information I found reassuring for our staff during this time of continued negotiations:

Any pre authorized care will still be covered as in network for up to 180 days - so scheduled appts, procedures, etc will be covered as in network.

Due to our rural location on the coast and distance to other in network facilities we are eligible for a waiver of the out of network designation when we use our local healthcare and hospital.

More information can be found on the Blue Shield website where there is a brochure and form to apply for a waiver of out of network care.  I've encourage my staff to file this form for all their AH clinicians immediately citing distance to any other network caregivers.

— Mary Kate McKenna

WHY WE NEED A RESIDENT DEPUTY: A Reader Writes: Just a warning: We live over behind Lemon's Market in Philo and two cars pulled in and parked by the old restaurant last night around 3AM and broke into our truck and stole money and paperwork. So just a heads up to everyone in the valley to be aware that people are driving around in the middle of the night looking to steal things. One car pulled in coming from the direction of Navarro and met up with another car pulling in coming from Boonville's direction.

SITE COUNCIL AT AV UNIFIED

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

Many thanks to all of the students and families that have brought a food donation. I know the community truly appreciates your kindness! Join us if you can for our Site Council/CTE meeting on Tuesday at 3:30 in the high school library. Topics include: Construction Update, Test Score Discussions, Chronic Absenteeism, Canned Food Drive, Redwood Classic, the California College Guidance Initiative, some idea sharing for the Community Schools grant, and an update on the CTE and dual enrollment programs. We hope you can come! It will take about one hour. We really need participation!

Sincerely yours,

Louise Simson, Superintendent, AV Unified School District

ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE: List of Events

MIKE GENIELLA (Commenting on Scaramella’s item about the Broiler Steakhouse claim being legitimate training): 

There was no “training” offered at the Broiler dinners, a series of them by the way, not just one. Even the documents submitted by Andrian note two - in 2018 and 2019. The dinners were holiday centric, and spouses, friends etc. were always included at county expense. The dinners featured brief chats by DA Dave and updates from key staffers. There was never “training” involved of any nature.

Ask the sheriff. He attended a few times with his wife.

So, frankly, I was sorry to see credence being given to DA Dave's “training” cover. Also, the Broiler dinners were always held in January to get around the “office party” label.

Lastly, I have requested, and acting Auditor Sara Pierce has agreed, for all disputed expense claims dating to 2011. Let's take a real look.

MARK SCARAMELLA REPLIES: Since Mr. Geniella was there, I defer to his judgment on this question.

JEFF GOLL: Bruce, AVA, good Ed Notes and Matt Taibbi on the class war.  Maureen Dowd writes on Sam Altman and the Sugarcoating of the Apocalypse and suggests that Altman, with that upbeat face, is a danger.  He's not the danger perse, but those who would utilize AI's capabilities for nefarious intent would.  "But do we want someone with a sunny disposition about A.I.?  No. Not when, as Musk warned last Thursday, "The apocalypse could come along at any moment."  What does that even mean?  Are sunny dispositions bad for the apocalypse?  Good for the apocalypse?  Sounds like pretzel logic to me.  Here's a non-apocalyptic photo for the AVA today and enjoy, Jeff

COUNTY NOTES: THE LAST TIME ACROSS-THE-BOARD BUDGET CUTS INCLUDED LAW ENFORCEMENT

by Mark Scaramella

In July of 2010 when the County was facing an estimated $7.5 million General Fund budget deficit in the wake of the “Great Recession,” newly promoted CEO Carmel Angelo had been tasked with balancing the budget by making major cuts in all departments, including law enforcement (“public safety”) because law enforcement (including the jail, DA and Probation) makes up over 60% of the General Fund budget. ($7.5 million in 2010 translates to around $11 million today; Today’s General Fund is approximately $90 million or so.)

At that time the County was in negotiations with their eight bargaining units including the Deputy Sheriff's Association (DSA) and the Public Attorneys. There was a predictable dispute over the size of pay concessions the County's line law enforcement officers would be asked to take as their share of the budget adjustment.

The Supervisors had voted 4-1 to cut the Sheriff's Patrol Unit (roughly half of his approximately $20 million budget at the time) by $2 million the prior month. Sheriff Allman said he was already at minimum staffing for the jail, so the County (i.e., Angelo) was pressuring the DSA to absorb something like $2 million in wage and benefit concessions. Mathematically — and simplistically — that would have been $2 million out of the patrol unit's $10 million budget (around $14 million now), or 20%. If it all came out of layoffs of non-jail personnel, that would be 20% of about 90 total remaining staff, or 18 people, including eleven deputies.

Somehow some budget numbers were leaked out in May of 2010 to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat indicating that the County was asking the DSA for 20-25% across the board pay cuts.

Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen. But the reaction to it certainly did.

In the wake of that leak we were approached by several people in or around law enforcement who reminded us of some background for this dispute.

Law enforcement, by law, cannot strike. Technically, the County can legally impose a “last and final offer” pay cut on the deputies and let the chips fall where they may.

The people who spoke to us said the DSA might be willing to take a 10-12% pay cut in the spirit of sharing the cuts. But no more than that. They added that the County refused to offer anything less than a 15% cut, some of which would involve forcing deputies to pay their full pension cost instead of a fraction of it, as had recently been proposed in Sonoma County. (Sonoma County was suffering similar percentage budget reductions at the time; they are not now because Mendo’s budget problem is of its own making. This means Sonoma County today would be an even more attractive option to many local cops than it was back then.)

Most DSA members were not going to accept the County's 15% or more pay cut offer, and something approaching a “negotiations impasse” was in the cards. If that had happened, the County could impose a sizable pay cut on the DSA and take their chances on what might ensue. (Hint: Not good.)

Possibilities included some kind of a “blue flu” organized but short-term unofficial walk-out. (Although we were told that a lot of deputies don't like that idea because of the poor PR that it generates). More likely, deputies whose pay was cut by 15% or more would not only suffer another blow to their morale, but, of course, they’d start looking for better pay elsewhere.

If pay was reduced to the point that deputies started to quit, Mendo would lose their services with little chance of their being replaced (at reduced salaries).

In addition, Mendo could lose another $150k or more per deputy if (and when) they had to re-recruit and re-train replacements.

Some even speculated that the County fully expected some law enforcement people to quit by forcing unreasonable salary reductions on them. To the bean counters, that would be gravy on top of the pay cuts. Not only would the County get immediate salary savings, but every deputy who quit translates to a deputy that doesn’t have to be laid off. And if they quit, the County doesn’t have to pay unemployment.

In 2010 there was quite a bit of marijuana asset forfeiture money coming in. Upward of $2 million in seized marijuana-related assets was coming into the County/law enforcement coffers each year, less than half of which went to the Sheriff’s department. Some people suggested that asset forfeiture money be used to pay a portion of deputy overtime (to offset their reduced pay) if that overtime was drug-enforcement related and was clearly not part of the “basic operation” of the Sheriff's Department.

But others insisted that using asset forfeiture money for any form of deputy pay was illegal and should not even be brought up in any labor discussions. 

The month before at a Board of Supervisors Budget discussion, then-CEO Angelo reported, “Not including the jail, the Sheriff’s Office patrol unit now has 3 captains, 5 lieutenants, 14 sergeants and 42 filled deputy positions, and about 36 clerical and non-sworn.”

Ms. Angelo's apparent implication was that the Sheriff's patrol division had too much management and supervision. None of the Board members, however, remarked on Ms. Angelo's law enforcement numbers, nor their implication.

The proportion of supervision may seem high, but the Sheriff has an enormous County to cover with only 42 patrol deputies (still the approximate number today). So they need a minimum number of experienced area supervisors and shift supervisors in the outlying areas 24/7, including Covelo, Willits, Laytonville, the South Coast, and Fort Bragg (outside the city limits), plus the 24-hour shift coverage in the Ukiah Valley and surroundings.

CEO Angelo didn’t report the numbers and management ratios in any other County departments even though the Board and Angelo had repeatedly said they need to look at supervisor-to-staff ratios across the board. And no one asked for a report of staffing/supervisor ratios by department, even though they insisted that they be looked time and again.

Further, it looks bad when County management doesn’t have to take comparable size cuts. Three Board members back then voluntarily took 10% cuts, but two Supervisors — David Colfax and Kendall Smith — refused to take even the 10% cuts that their three confederates had taken.

Before highly trained public safety officers are asked to take pay cuts, the Board has to convince their staff at all levels that they have done everything they can to collect all taxes due and have fairly examined and cut other departments, especially management and senior staff. With this current 2023 board, however, they will find it hard to convince anyone that they have done anything like that.

Mendocino County's General Fund revenues are mostly from sales taxes, property taxes and the bed/tourist taxes. Nobody then or now has mentioned tax increases or reviews of lagging tax collection efforts.

The DSA eventually did give up a portion of their pay for one contract period (two years). But, then as now, the problem was only postponed. Inflation continues to cut into the spending value of future revenues, And if the deficit gets any worse, there would be no room for additional cuts.

ED NOTES: EYES ONLY, LOCALS

SUPERINTENDENT SIMSON, having worked funding miracles as she chased down state money for major infrastructure upgrades, laments that Mendo law enforcement doesn't enforce the truancy laws, which is an ongoing problem in the Anderson Valley because too many students simply don't show up regularly. In Calaveras County, the superintendent's previous berth, the sheriff “would arrest parents for absenteeism, and take parents to court and fine them for not getting their kids to school.”

THE SUPERINTENDENT also laments the casual attitude of some parents about drugs, especially marijuana; the loose parents coming up with the ancient false argument that pot is less dangerous and damaging than alcohol. I'm sure a lot of local old timers, like me, can name the depressingly large number of local kids who became clinically schizophrenic because they started smoking pot when they were still children. Today's marijuana is not the ditch weed grandpa smoked. Today's dope is very strong.

SOME YEARS AGO, a writer for Boonville's beloved weekly commented to me, his ostensible boss, “You know, this new dope is great. It knocks me out for four or five hours at a toke.” Dude! I said, we have work to do here. You drop whole paragraphs from your reports. Don't tell me about how great the new dope is. This is a newspaper, not the casbah!

A READER RECOMMENDS: As for hot chocolate, you can make the wonderful Mexican one here as noted previously in your column. Both Abuelita and Ibarra are available in major groceries. Plus, with the latino community around Boonville, are there no Mexican tiendas? You could even buy a molinillo for whipping! 

ED NOTE: Yes, we have a very nice little tienda called Mi Esperanza in downtown Boonville. I'm a-gonna check with them for the real deal choco-ingredients. 

MAJOR KUDOS to Terri Rhoades for pulling off that much appreciated community pozole-fest at the high school, managing the event with her usual aplomb from her wheelchair because she has a broken foot, nonetheless efficiently directing her student crew from the seated position.

ANOTHER REDWOOD CLASSIC hoops tournament has come and gone, and John Toohey, with a big assist from his student tournament director, Lucy Espinoza, got 'er done in fine fashion. There was one oddity in the long weekend of basketball when Willits High School failed to show up for their consolation bracket game. Never had a no-show in more than a half-century of basketball. The Boonville team gallantly took Willits' place.

IT WAS GOOD to see more Northcoast teams in the Redwood Empire's oldest basketball tournament, and gooder yet to see South Fork High School come out on top as the South HumCo team won it all in their first appearance ever in the event. (Special thanks to Ms. Espinoza for getting the results to us in a complete and timely manner, and gratitude to Leilani Bucio for her photographs of the participants.) 

THE STATE is looking at a major budget deficit, and Mendo's school districts, never flush, are worried that they'll be hit with proportionately major funding cuts.

* * *

FROM THE ARCHIVE…

Armed Robbery in Downtown Boonville

Mi Esperanza, a tidy little market at the corner of Haehl Street and Highway 128, was robbed at gunpoint Friday afternoon about two-thirty. Few details are yet known, but first reports say the robber was a youngish white man who fled on foot. 

Several Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the site soon after the robbery, and quickly fanned out to search for the culprit. The store, typically staffed by a pair of pleasant older women, one of whom is the owner, Maria Guadalupe Farias, is known to offer check-cashing, primarily serves the Anderson Valley’s Spanish-speaking community. 

The market is housed on the premises of Jeff and Carolyn Short’s former service station. 

The Sheriff’s Department is said to be looking for a Chilean national who is presumed to have committed the robbery.

The last armed robbery in the Anderson Valley was carried out in 2011 by Oakland thugs who wielded handguns to rob three Anderson Valley men of many pounds of processed marijuana. Ironically, the marijuana robbery was carried out at the same site as Friday’s robbery, although the dope robbery occurred in the site’s former former service bay, not the building which has since become Mi Esperanza (My Hope.) 

The Oakland crew who carried out the marijuana theft are remembered by locals as the “Lights Out Gang” because they were apprehended the same night as they sped southbound on 101, headlights off. The next day, the three men who’d lost their marijuana approached an incredulous Deputy Squires to ask if they could get their marijuana back.

The Mi Esperanza robbery has predictably inspired much comment, which follows:

(1) Interesting, about 1:30 this afternoon there was a young thuggish looking guy on a kid’s bike in the driveway next to the ice cream store… He would not make eye contact, I have never seen him before. Baseball hat on backwards, 20s to 30s. Or maybe he’s just one of our locals I haven’t seen close up.

(2) Many small town markets cash checks for locals. Especially true in areas with farm and ranch labor as many don’t have banking privileges. $20k isn’t much if you are acting as the blue collar bank. Robbery on Friday….. makes perfect sense

(3) They need a drop safe. No business should have more than $500 accessible for situations like this. $500 is enough to satisfy a thief and not too much to lose.

(4) Within the culture having a large sum of cash is not unusual. Store owners, especially remote ones have cash on hand. The unusual part is the lack of security because typically there’s a few people around paying attention. Cameras. If it was honest ignorance may it be a learning moment. Shocking the gullibility. Agreed no drop box super lame. Oh, and I just remembered: A lot of those vineyard workers don’t have identification cards or driver’s licenses that other stores recognize, so they would be unable to cash their checks elsewhere or get a ride to Ukiah, so this robbery puts the whole Mexican community in a big bind. It would be nice to see some of the rich locals step up and help out but more likely it’s the poor who will help the poor and the rich will go blithely on unconscious of these people’s hardships.

(5) Bruce McEwen: I used to shop at the store behind the old gas station quite frequently, and knew the owner and his wife — although, shame on me I can’t recall their names — who both ran the cash register, and there were always vineyard workers coming in to cash their paychecks and send money home to Mexico. There is another Mexican store that does this in Ukiah, on South State Street, and maybe others I haven’t seen. Anyway, it was a pretty close-knit society — like Americans are in other countries — and they all seemed to know one another and kept on friendly terms so there wasn’t any obvious security like you see at Western Union offices in Safeway stores. And as far as I know the charge for check-cashing wasn’t as brutal as the gouging you get at Western Union. On a payday Friday, early in the afternoon, before the workers had come in with their checks, there was probably a lot more cash on hand than would normally be the case, So the robber was probably familiar with the pleasant little store and its proprietors, the big bin of roasted peanuts, fresh local produce, and Mexican staples like tomatillos, cilantro, peppers, beans and rice. Of course they sold the coldest beer in town, too. I can see their smiling faces, the owner’s and the woman’s (who I assume was his wife) in my mind’s eye, but can’t for the life of me remember their first names. If you find out, please tell me, as I’m sure I’ll remember the instant you say say it. He is a tall thin man, very outgoing with a pleasant demeanor and she was of medium height, pretty and pleasant. I recall one vineyard worker introducing a new guy telling the newbie this was the place to cash his check even though he had no ID card. Hell, I had no ID card back then, and it was Ruben and Beryl down the street at the Boonville Market who cashed my checks. Great place and great people! Mi Esperanza is Spanish for “My Hope” and the owner was just that— he had hoped to make a go of it and it was going swell — until this jerk came in and did this to them. All the guys coming in last Friday to cash their checks would now have to go over the hill to Ukiah to cash their checks and send money home, and I hope Mi Esperanza can get back on their feet and get going again. One more thing. I hate to say it but the white community has a nasty habit of dismissing anything like this as proof of “Cartels” moving in and taking over the weed business. There was something of this hinted at in some of the comments, you know, “what were these Mixicans doing with all that money… (must be laundering illegal weed money, huh?)” and that’s why I posted my comment. It seems everyone tends to fall back on this Cartel myth to fix blame on the Mexican-American community, a nasty, knee-jerk habit. California was Mexicans and Native Americans (before J.C. Fremont mapped the trails out here and brought in people like Hastings and Pat Kittle).

* * *

Armed Robbery In Boonville (from the Sheriff’s Department):

On Friday, December 9, 2022 at 2:40 PM Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a reported arm robbery at the Mi Esperanza Market located at 14289 Highway 128 in Boonville, California.

It was reported that a person, possibly an adult male, had entered the business with a handgun and committed an armed robbery of a large amount of money, estimated to be $20,000.00, before leaving the business on foot.

Personnel from the California Highway Patrol and California State Parks arrived approximately 13-minutes after the call had been dispatched to the Deputies. They began a canvas of the immediate area for the suspect which ended unsuccessfully.

Deputies, along with Sheriff’s Detectives, arrived and began investigations into the circumstances of the armed robbery.

Investigators learned the suspect had entered the business at approximately 2:35 PM fully clothed to include a facial covering while an adult female was working alone inside the business.

The suspect was openly holding a handgun downwards near their waistline. The suspect made a hand gesture for the adult female to be silent as he walked behind the counter. The suspect accessed a cash drawer and took a large amount of money thereafter leaving the business on foot.

Sheriff’s Office investigators are actively investigating this armed robbery and have viable leads at this time. To protect the integrity of those leads, no further information is available for public release at this time.

Anyone who believes they have useful information for investigators associated with this incident are asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office Tipline by calling 707-234-2100 or the WeTip Anonymous Crime Reporting Hotline by calling 800-782-7463.

* * *

Update: Boonville Armed Robber Arrested In New York

During the course of this investigation, Matias Tomas Vietto was identified as being the suspect in this case.

Sheriff's Detectives learned Vietto told friends that he was leaving California to return to his country of origin, Argentina. Using this information, Sheriff's Detectives discovered Vietto had an international flight booked from the state of New York to Argentina on the evening of 12-10-2022.

An arrest warrant was obtained for Vietto and New York law enforcement authorities were alerted.

On 12-12-2022 at approximately 9:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time), Vietto was arrested by the New York Police Department attempting to travel to Argentina.

Vietto will be held in New York pending extradition back to Mendocino County.

ETIQUETTE GUIDE, 2023

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

An updated guide to modern manners is overdue, and Mendocino County residents are plainly in need of etiquette instruction for the 21st century.

Gone is the Emily Post era when heads of household needed to contemplate the number of soup spoons to be laid out for expected parties of a dozen or more guests. Also gone are the days when they worried overmuch at the procession and order of dishes to be served.

Squab bladder first, followed by the Baked Tuna Eggs? Which wine(s) with the Frette al Fournier di Hoopla, and which chilled? Must the hostess sit to the right of the most senior Senator on the list of invitees, or the most prominent and worthy member of the clergy?

Are main courses best served on vitreous China or Venetian Porcelain? 

And, depending on seasons, ought there be music by string quartets or a more lively trio of horns? Such complicated questions and protocols no longer apply, and we are freed from the ghosts of practices no longer practical.

Ours is a more freewheeling and unencumbered society where the rules, though perhaps less strict, more flexible and punished less onerously, must still be observed in one manner or another. Or else another. Or some other one.

In reality, rules governing behavior have mostly vanished. Visited a Wal Mart lately?

Let us briefly address the sorts of social faux pas that bedevil our modern incarnation of what was once quaintly regarded as a “Family” but are now more accurately described as a hive or nest.

1) When dining in one’s vehicle, be it pickup truck, van or stolen, it is always best to dispose of leftovers and their packagings by tossing them out passenger side windows. This prevents flying burrito wrappers from covering windshields, potentially resulting in your TransAm getting sideswiped.

It also helps increase trash in and around roadside ditches. Rotting food feeds local squirrels, crows, rats and bums while providing jobs for American cleanup crews patrolling state and local roads.

Do your part to Keep America Beautiful.

2) It’s always smart, and in fact the law in some jurisdictions, to empty your broken refrigerator before abandoning it in the front yard. 

Hosing out leftover, diseased foods helps reveal hidden stashes of dope, or clues to the disappearance of family pets and children.

3) Borrowing car keys to clean your ears? Be sure to wipe excess wax on a shirttail prior to giving them back. It’s the little things that count!

4) It’s highly impolite to throw household trash (beer cans, garbage, tires, old packages) over your fence and into your neighbor’s yard. Instead, take the extra time and effort to carry those items to his trash bin(s).

5) If you live in HUD-approved housing or a Section 8 home, it is never polite to threaten your landlord with physical violence when he or she is attempting to collect rent. But make it clear it’s no one’s business but your own what sort of laboratory you are running in your landlord’s garage.

Check with your (free) Legal Aid Service attorney for guidance.

6) Etiquette isn’t merely knowing proper manners at the Oscars or to whom you should bow at local school board meetings; neighborhood protocols are also important. If your home’s roof is covered in blue plastic tarp, take care to match that color when draping tarp over the boat you leave parked in front of your neighbor’s house for the winter.

7) Whether dining among friends at Plowshares, casual acquaintances along railroad tracks, homeless encampments or prison, it is always rude to gesture at guests with a knife.

8) When flossing teeth in public, whether the opera house, cage fighting tournament or funeral, it is not necessary to offer your floss, regardless how lightly used, to fellow guests. A toothpick (new) is a more thoughtful gesture.

9) Bonus fashion tip: Be sure your ankle bracelet matches your outfit! 

A smart-looking bikini may pair well with a government issue black ankle bracelet, but clash with frilly spring wear. White, ivory or taupe ankle bracelets are always in fashion and ideal for court appearances, AA classes and other rehab-oriented activities.

Consult with your Probation and/or Parole officer(s) regarding color options to complement your wardrobe. And remember: any ankle bracelet looks stunning coupled with lingerie or, for all you guys out there, a leather vest.

10) Don’t wear white after Labor Day, or a mink coat to weekend races at the Ukiah Speedway.

Bon Ami! Ce la Vie! Du jour le Journal!

(TWK wonders: Has great joy swept across Native American reservations since the banishing of sports team names honoring Indians? Has poverty, alcoholism and violence been reduced since Chief Wahoo was fired and the word “Redskins” banished? Wasn’t that the promise? Tom Hine returns next Sunday with more silly questions.)

JAZZ CONCERT IN MENDOCINO

Renowned jazz guitarist John Stowell and international jazz singer David Post perform at Mendocino Community Center, January 13th, 7 pm. Tickets at door, $15-$20 sliding scale.

John Stowell, acclaimed in Guitar Magazine, toured the Soviet Union in '83 with flutist Paul Horn, marking a historic moment in jazz diplomacy. He's recorded extensively with bassist David Friesen and played with jazz legends like Milt Jackson and Art Farmer.

David Post, with a classical choral background, excels in jazz. He studied and performed with greats like Dave Holland and Kenny Wheeler. He toured Russia in 2018 and has contributed to Saint Petersburg's jazz scene since 2008.

Mendocino Community Center: 998 School St, Mendocino, 95460. Limited seating, cash or check only.

JOSEPH SMITH:

I am a missing persons advocate and was wondering if anyone knew anything about this missing persons case from Ukiah in the late 1980s. 

On January 2nd 1988, 16 year old Chris Emery McGlothlen disappeared from outside of Munchies Arcade located on South State Street at 10:30 pm. Friends said they saw her speaking with an unidentified male in a big green car. She never returned home and never told anyone she was going anywhere. 

Police initially classified Chris as a runaway as she had left home in the past. However, in those times she would let friends or her aunt know where she was. This time, she didn’t contact anyone she knew and she wasn’t seen again afterwards. Although officials said they thought she was in the Potter Valley Area. 

On January 5th 1988, police received a witness report from a girl who knew McGlothlen. The girl said she saw Chris at an Albertson’s Grocery Store with two unidentified men. The witness said that Chris seemed friendly with the men. However, Chris’s aunt doubted the report because it came from a girl whom McGlothlen did not get along with. 

That same day, her aunt received two distressing phone calls she believes came from her missing niece. The first call came early in the evening and when she answered, her aunt said it sounded as though people were fighting over the phone. She then got a second call and she heard a voice say “no..no.. don’t” before hearing what sounded like a scuffle then the call hung up. She believes the voice was her niece and that she was trying to reach her family.

Police said they feared she might’ve been abducted and being held. She left her purse and some clothing at a friends house and her aunt say it was odd she did this. I cannot find any more coverage or articles about this case. 

Does anyone in here know if this case was solved and if Chris was ever located? She was a student at South Valley High School. If anyone knows anything please feel free to leave what you know in the comments.

NOYO HAS BRIGHT PROSPECTS (Mendocino Coast Beacon, November 22, 1919)

by Barbara Healy Stickel

Noyo seems to be coming into her own again, after a Rip Van Winkle slumber of thirty years or more. Comparatively few remain who remember the bustling activity of her early days, when A.W. McPherson was the leading lumberman of the coast with headquarters and the mill at Noyo, and Capt. Fred Brown, pioneer logger, had charge of the woods. John Byrnes hotel at Noyo was probably the most popular hostelry on the coast then and a majority of the woodsmen spent their winters there. Those were lively days for this little town.

Now after a long wait of years, the fishing business is causing a renewal of life in this once almost deserted village. Plans are now being laid by the Independent Fish Company for a plant on the south side of the river where they purchased a site for the same. It seems quite possible that sardines, which are quite plentiful off this coast, will be canned here in the future.

The boat-building business has received a strong impetus, there being two boat-building shops there at present.

Hyman Bros. have built eight or nine boats thus far and will shortly begin work on a sixty-foot launch to be used as a supply boat to run between Shelter Cove and Noyo.

E. Karnaiss, who recently established himself in this business on the south side of the river, is busy with a number of orders on hand for launches.

Windlinx Bros., the Fort Bragg hardware firm, are to establish a machine shop to care for the large quantity of work that naturally develops where so many launch engines are in use.

With all these enterprises underway and others developing, Noyo is certainly looking up in the world.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Sunday, December 3, 2023

SERGIO CERVANTES-RODRIGUEZ, Ukiah. False ID, failure to appear.

ROBERT GALLETTI, Ukiah. DUI-alcohol&drugs.

RAMON GARCIA-TAMAYO, Ukiah. DUI, reckless evasion-wrong way driving, vandalism, controlled substance, suspended license, resisting.

SEAN GARVEY, Willits. DUI.

RUSSELL HENRY JR., Reddick, Florida/Ukiah. Marijuana for sale, obstruction of justice.

RONDA MACKEY, Willits. Contributing to delinquency of minor.

DAVID MCCARTY, Redwood Valley. DUI-alcohol&drugs causing bodily injury.

JUSTIN MICHAELS, Ukiah. Grand theft.

GERARD PARKER II, Hidden Valley/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JAMES PORTER, Willits. Contributing to delinquency of minor. 

LINDA VALENTYNE, Willits. Assault with firearm on person, vandalism.

STARTING THE HUMBOLDT INDEPENDENT

by Paul Modic

This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of “The Humboldt Independent” and brings back memories of the summer of ‘97, when a group of us got together to start it.

After the “Redwood Record” went out of business in ‘95 there was heard a murmur in the community about starting another paper, an alternative to Bill Roddy’s weekly “The Southern Humboldt Life and Times.” Karol had told me her friend Jerry was interested and a few weeks later she took me across town to meet him and talk about the idea. He showed me his template of the first page of his dream paper which he called “The Emerald City Gazette.” 

A couple months later I visited Jerry again, we talked more about the paper idea, and a few days later I asked an aspiring writer, my neighbor Rosa, "Hey, you wanna start a weekly newspaper?"

"Yes!" she said.

The first meeting was just before “Reggae on the River” at Tooby Park where six of us sat around the picnic table talking about the idea, including our volunteer lawyer Eric Kirk. We shared our ideas and dreams about what we’d like in the proposed paper, that first meeting the most contentious issue was whether to allow anonymous articles and letters.

I donated $260, the little office in Garberville was rented, and some supplies were purchased. We had a few more weekly meetings at Little Tooby where a lot of time was spent on what the name should be. Driving up to Smith River Karol and I brainstormed possible names for a couple hours and she came up with “The Independent.” It wasn't too repugnant for Rosa or too kitschy for Sylvia, it was a compromise choice. 

We started having weekly editorial meetings, roles emerged, and Jerry became our Editor-in-Chief and leader. Some dropped out of the organizing process, new ones came on board, and we had a lot of columnists but few reporters.

The business aspect of the paper was daunting: who would be responsible? Was it a collective? A partnership? Everyone wanted to do the creative part but no one really wanted to do the business. Jerry plunged ahead building the “Indie” as the editor, writing stories, and co-ordinating everything. 

(It was a good time to start a paper as the first issue covered some hot local stories: the Bear Lincoln trial, the inflammable Health Center/Hospital negotiations, the first publicized Prop 215 garden, and the latest Headwaters rally.) 

Jerry was overwhelmed, the publication deadline passed, and then Karol and Bridgette marched in and pushed it through a week late, which didn’t seem too bad considering the first organizational meeting had been just two months before. 

We wondered if there would even be a second issue.

Congratulations to the Indie, 1750 issues later.

PG&E BILLS TO SOAR NEARLY $400 A YEAR IN 2024 FOR MILLIONS OF CALIFORNIA HOUSEHOLDS

by Julie Johnson

Millions of California households served by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will pay about $384 more in 2024 for utilities to help the company prevent wildfires and meet rising demands for electricity. That amounts to about $32.50 more per month for average residential customers, according to PG&E. 

The California Public Utilities Commission approved the increase Thursday, ending a yearslong debate over how much more PG&E customers must pay to help the embattled utility — which caused a catastrophic explosion in 2010 and major wildfires in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 — modernize its infrastructure, primarily to be more safe. 

The 2024 increase will be followed by a much smaller rise of $4.50 per month in 2025. Average bills are expected to decrease by $8 per month in 2026, the company said. 

The CPUC’s five commissioners voted unanimously to approve the plan, over the objections of PG&E customers who urged them to consider the financial hardship of families struggling to pay utility bills.

“They (PG&E) keep causing disasters, and they keep getting rewarded by state officials,” said a man who identified himself as Jose Lopez, who called into the proceeding from his home in the Central Valley. “Inflation is high, and people are struggling to pay their bills.”

“We can’t afford it anymore,” said a speaker identified as Sue Fox, who urged the commissioners to adopt the proposal with “the faster, cheaper” plan for preventing wildfires. 

Commissioner John Reynolds, who drafted the plan they voted to approve Thursday, said commissioners “struggled mightily with the additional hardship these increases will create for families.” 

“We know this — and yet we know that the grid and the pipelines that serve the same families need upgrades, repairs and reinvention to meet growing demand and to adapt to a changing climate,” Reynolds said. 

Reynolds acknowledged the revenue increase was unprecedented.

“It’s a historic investment,” he said. 

PG&E said in a statement that more than 85% of the increase will go toward projects “to reduce risk in PG&E’s gas and electric operations.” 

“We are committed to being the safe operator that the people of California expect and deserve,” said Patti Poppe, PG&E’s chief executive officer. “We appreciate the Commission for recognizing the important safety and reliability investments we are making on behalf of our customers, including undergrounding power lines to permanently reduce wildfire risk.”

PG&E bills have risen precipitously over the past decade. Average monthly residential bills for electricity and gas combined jumped by $86.51 — from $154.52 in January 2016 to $241.03 in January 2023, according to data from PG&E obtained by the Chronicle. 

The plan establishes PG&E’s budget through 2026 and sets the company’s agenda for key projects like moving power lines underground in communities where the risk for wildfires is high. 

PG&E executives lobbied heavily for the increase, blanketing television networks with commercials promoting the company’s request for vastly more in revenue dollars to put more power lines underground. But commissioners balked at the more than $15 billion the company initially requested — a year-over-year increase of about 25% in revenue, Reynolds said. The CPUC voted to reduce that amount to $13.5 billion.

That includes significant funding to put about 1,230 miles of power lines underground in communities where the risk for wildfires is high. 

“This is the biggest rate case TURN has ever seen,” said Katy Morsony, an assistant managing attorney for The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, an advocacy group for ratepayers. 

The CPUC was considering two internal proposals that both offered less revenue than PG&E had requested, but differed in how much to allow the company to spend installing power lines underground. Ratepayer advocacy groups such as TURN pushed for the commission to promote a far less expensive and faster method by insulating bare wires instead of the laborious process of burying them. The CPUC opted to allow for more buried lines.

“We’re disappointed,” Morosony said. “We need to be choosing only the most affordable and fastest wildfire safety measures to protect customers and their pocketbooks.” 

Reynolds acknowledged the commission is allowing PG&E to spend billions of dollars burying power lines, which the company has never done at the scale or pace approved Thursday. He said that PG&E still needs to regain trust lost from “past failures,” including deadly wildfires blamed on company equipment and mismanagement, and demonstrate it can deliver. 

“My message to PG&E is your work is not done here,” Reynolds said. 

49ERS ROUT EAGLES 42-19 AS BROCK PURDY, DEEBO SAMUEL PUT ON A SHOW

by Eric Branch

PHILADELPHIA — This time, Brock Purdy made the Philadelphia Eagles hurt.

On Sunday, 301 days after the San Francisco 49ers quarterback left Philadelphia with a torn ligament in his right elbow in a crushing playoff loss, he exited the City of Brotherly Love healthy and triumphant.

In a much-anticipated rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game, a 31-7 Eagles’ win, the 49ers gained a measure of revenge with a 42-19 romp that featured a performance by Purdy almost surgical in its precision.

The second-year QB completed 19 of 27 passes for 314 yards with a career-high-tying four touchdown passes, posting a 148.8 passer rating. Purdy’s supporting cast was headlined by wide receiver Deebo Samuel, a target of Philadelphia’s fans after terming cornerback James Bradberry “trash” after last season’s loss.

Samuel had 138 total yards (116 receiving, 22 rushing), and put the Eagles away with a 12-yard scoring run and a 48-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter before adding an exclamation point in the form of a 46-yard scoring grab with just over five minutes left.

After the 49ers’ first two possessions didn’t net a first down, they scored touchdowns on their next six drives before a garbage-time drive with backup QB Sam Darnold ended the streak. The 49ers had 456 total yards and converted 8 of 11 third downs.

After last season’s came with finality, Sunday’s victory provided a far better outlook for the 49ers when it comes to grabbing the NFC’s No. 1 seed and the conference’s lone first-round bye. At 9-3, they are one game behind the Eagles (10-2) with five regular-season games remaining and own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Philadelphia, which next visits Dallas (9-3).

Sunday’s game began ominously for Purdy, whose ulnar collateral ligament was torn in January on a mid-throw hit from Eagles’ pass rusher Haason Reddick on the 49ers’ sixth offensive snap. On Sunday, on the 49ers’ second snap, Reddick dropped Purdy for a sack. It was part of a two-drive opening in which Purdy went 0-for-4, the 49ers generated negative-6 yards and the Eagles led 6-0 early in the second quarter.

However, after Purdy’s first two unsightly drives, his next two marches were impeccable: He completed 9 of 11 passes for 117 yards on touchdown possessions of 85 and 90 yards and the 49ers took a 14-6 lead at halftime.

The Eagles arrived with a 5-0 record when trailing at halftime and had erased 17-7 third-quarter deficits in their previous two games, wins against the Chiefs and Bills.

But the 49ers began the second half by adding on. After receiving the third-quarter kickoff, they needed seven plays and just over three minutes to take a 21-6 lead on Samuel’s scoring run down the right sideline.

And shortly after the 49ers assumed control, linebacker Dre Greenlaw lost control.

Eleven months after 49ers left tackle Trent Williams and Eagles safety K’Von Wallace were ejected near the of the NFC title game, Greenlaw and Philadelphia head of security Dom DiSandro were ejected for a sideline altercation.

After Greenlaw flung wide receiver DeVonta Smith down at the end of a 13-yard reception, DiSandro and Greenlaw began jawing at each other, with DiSandro shoving Greenlaw’s left shoulder. Greenlaw responded by shoving his left index finger at DiSandro, making contact with his upper lip.

The back-and-forth ignited the somnambulant crowd, which erupted, sensing yet another comeback, when QB Jalen Hurts’ 1-yard scoring run trimmed the deficit to 21-13 five plays later.

Their excitement was short-lived. Five plays later, Purdy and Samuel combined on the wideout’s catch-and-run, 48-yard dash up the middle of the field.

The 49ers defense hit a strong note early. The Eagles’ first two possessions, drives of 67 and 53 yards, ended with field goals of 26 and 39 yards from Jake Elliott after they reached the red zone. Before Sunday, Philadelphia had ended 12 straight red-zone possessions with a touchdown.

The 49ers’ offense found its footing on its third drive, which quickly found them facing 2nd-and-15 at their 10-yard line and the crowd roaring early in the second quarter. Purdy repeatedly silenced the din by completing 6 of 7 passes for 70 yards, including three on third down. The 11-play, 85-yard march was capped by Purdy’s 2-yard floater on 3rd-and-goal to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk in the back of the end zone to give the 49ers a 7-6 lead.

Their next drive was more of the same in a second quarter in which the 49ers outgained the Eagles, 173-21. Purdy completed 3 of 4 passes for 47 yards, while Christian McCaffrey had 21 yards on 4 carries, capping the 90-yard march with a 2-yard run.

With the score, McCaffrey joined Lenny Moore and Marshall Faulk as the only players in NFL history to have 50 rushing touchdowns and 25 receiving touchdowns in their career.

THE YEAR CALIFORNIA'S GRAY SQUIRRELS DISAPPEARED

by Katie Dowd

One day, the squirrels of California disappeared.

It happened so quietly that, at first, no one really noticed. But by 1922, Californians were looking around and wondering: Where did all the squirrels go? 

There are few native species quite like the western gray squirrel. With their voluminous tails, curious faces and white bellies, they’ve long been a favorite backyard visitor for Californians (unless, of course, you have a bird feeder in your yard). They were so sought-after that in the early 20th century, they were purchased by the dozens to fill London’s city parks. When a group of Fresno gray squirrels were sent to repopulate Lake Merritt in 1922, it drew a stern warning from the Oakland Post Enquirer.

“The squirrels will be protected by all means available to the city,” the paper wrote, “and a heavy penalty will be imposed on anyone molesting the little animals.”

The reddish, non-native squirrels that may dart across power lines in your neighborhood were likely brought to California in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Unlike them, the gray squirrel prefers foothills and valleys where it feeds on fungi, seeds and nuts. In the Yosemite Valley and slopes alone, 4,000 gray squirrels were counted in 1914. 

Now forgotten, the deadliest epidemic in the modern history of the species began with a few warning signs. The first fatalities were clocked near Georgetown, a mountain town about 15 miles north of Placerville, in 1917. As locals reported finding squirrels flopped down dead under trees and falling into rivers and streams, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, then known as Fish and Game, came to investigate.

They found squirrels suffering various stages of a disease. At first, their heads and necks would take on a mangy appearance. Then, sores peppered their bodies and their fur fell out. Next was death. One dead squirrel was sent to UC Berkeley to figure out what was “killing off great numbers of gray squirrels in the El Dorado National Forest,” the Stockton Record reported in spring 1921.

Meanwhile, the epidemic was spreading. From Placer County, squirrels began dying in Siskiyou and Kern counties. By 1919, the disease was “raging” near Shasta Lake and further north to the McCloud River. Then, it arrived in Yosemite.

There is “deep mourning on the part of kiddies visiting the park this year,” the Sacramento Bee wrote in August 1922. “Their beloved gray squirrels have suddenly become practically extinct.”

The dark days were documented by the Yosemite Nature Notes, a monthly publication put out by the park. As Yosemite rangers went seeking gray squirrels on their walks through the valley, they saw the numbers dwindling. By the end of 1922, they believed “the entire California gray squirrel population was wiped out in one season.” 

After studying the infected squirrels, researchers at UC Berkeley pinpointed what was decimating them: a tiny mite that causes scabies. The mite burrows into the skin, laying eggs and causing irritation and infection. Although rarely fatal on its own, this mite was dispatching the squirrel population. Some of its impact may have been down to timing: Animals with mange lose their fur, which means when snow came to California’s foothills, the squirrels had nothing to keep them warm. In addition, already weakened by scabies, the outbreak was made worse by the scant acorn crop. In 1923, Fish and Game banned hunting tree squirrels for two years, and newspapers reported up to 90% of the gray squirrels in the High Sierra were dead. 

Today, a massive conservation effort would likely take place after such a dramatic culling. But in the 1920s, naturalists mostly hoped for the best. Yosemite Nature Notes said rangers found “only one or two squirrels” for several years after the 1922 epidemic. But by 1931, there were faint signs of life once again. A few squirrel families had settled in near the base of El Capitan and “during the first week of November 1930, a single California gray squirrel was observed in the Lost Arrow region and at Mirror Lake.” The resilient little scavengers had made it through.

Although the state’s native squirrels didn’t go the way of the dodo, they now face a threat of a different kind. If your backyard is dominated by reddish squirrels, you’ve got an invasion of interlopers. Fox and eastern gray squirrels are introduced species and, as Bay Nature notes, are “nearly as ecologically flexible as rats.” That means they don’t mind living in close quarters with humans. Gray squirrels, however, prefer the woodlands and forests of California. As humans continue to encroach on California’s wilderness, their habitat disappears. 

It’s not clear how many Western gray squirrels currently make California their home (the shy species is, for lack of a better term, a bit squirrely). What is known is that they are still relatively rare. So if you see a bushy gray critter munching on an acorn on your next hike, stop and appreciate the sight: It’s one of California’s great survivors.

(SF Chronicle)

GOT RIZZ?

The Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year is “rizz” — a Gen Z slang term derived from “charisma.”

DOSTOEVSKY ON GAZA

Editor,

In “The Stir of Liberation, 1860-1865,” the third installment of his magisterial 5-volume biography of Russian writer Feodor Dostoevsky, Joseph Frank relates an episode from Dostoevsky’s 1863 tour of Italy with Apollinaria Suslova (the account is from Suslova’s diary). In Turin, “As we were having dinner, he said, looking at a little girl who was doing her lessons: ‘Well, imagine, there you have a little girl like her with an old man, and suddenly some Napoleon says, “I want this city destroyed.” It has always been that way in this world’.”

Doug Loranger 

Walnut Creek

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

You referenced the word ‘shitweasel’ above. Just FYI the word shitweasel was invented by Stephen King in one of his novels. He named it for alien invaders which ended up in people’s digestive tracks. They were disgusting.

KISSINGER SHOULD BE REMEMBERED FOR THE SUFFERING HE CAUSED

Ask Brutalized Cambodians What They Think of Kissinger

by Nick Turse

Forty years after the American military attacked them, the people of Tropeang Phlong village in Cambodia were still traumatized.

Beginning around 1969, U.S. helicopters regularly strafed the village, according to survivors. The American choppers used the wind off their blades to blow the thatch roofs off homes, turned their machine guns on those who fled and on men and women working in the rice paddies and fired incendiary rockets that set houses ablaze. Aircraft dropped bombs and gleaming napalm canisters that tumbled end over end and bloomed into fiery explosions.

“My nephew was killed — his stomach was blown out — and my older brother was wounded by an airstrike,” Oun Hean, the village chief, told me when I visited in 2010. “During the attack, they fled to the pagoda, but the Americans dropped a bomb on it.”…

nytimes.com/2023/12/01/opinion/international-world/kissinger-cambodia-war-legacy.html

BELATED BOOK CHAT

AVA,

I hope you haven't slammed the door on late entries to your favorite books sweepstakes.

Let me take advantage of your liberality and offer this short review of The Wandering Jew.

About 15 years ago my wife and I cleaned out the lonely little Brooklyn apartment of her late uncle. Charlie was a nice guy, smart, a little eccentric, who had had a career in the lower ends of the typewriter repair and jewelry and tchotchke trades.

Among his books was a nice old Modern Library hardcover of ‘The Wandering Jew’ (1844) by Eugene Sue (1804-1857). I started reading this monster, 1357 small print pages, last spring — and have just finished. It bowled me over! A wild tale, centered in Paris, but with stops far and wide, including in Java, India, Siberia, Eastern Europe, and even in America's Rocky Mountains. The wandering Jew himself was a humble cobbler who told Christ, carrying the cross and asking to rest for a moment on the bench outside his shop, “Move on.” 

A mistake! 

Not a bad guy, the cobbler, probably just having a bad day. Because of this inhospitable remark, he was condemned to wander the globe indefinitely and was still wandering in 1832, when the story comes to a climax. The wandering Jew is more a presiding spirit than a major player in the plot. Before he was a writer, Eugene Sue had been a physician in the French navy and he has an old salt's common sense, humanity, humor, eye for detail, and flair for story telling. 

He sets forth a nice socialist vision and tosses in a great love story and kick-ass action at every turn. The chapters are short and quite manageable. I recommend writing down names and places on the back of an envelope as you go along. The story will grab you!

My edition, oddly, didn't name the translator from the French, but some research and a couple of tells suggest that it was James Fenimore Cooper, of all people. 

It's a colorful and skilled translation for sure! Fun fact: Eugene V. Debs, most appropriately, was named after our left comrade Eugene Sue. And the V. in Debs' name is for Victor Hugo, another old left comrade.

Steve Elliott

Bridgewater, Massachusetts