Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024

Breezy Rain | Barn | Wild Ride | Digital Design | John Feliz Jr | Vets Dissed | School Board | New Principal | Ed Notes | Professional Caregiver | Old Ukiah | JDSF Meeting | Trinity River | Pink Zone | Whale Run/Walk | Palace Memories | Yesterday's Catch | Not Identified | Ant-Man | Rainbow Gatherings | Crab Honored | Luxury Rentals | Get Involved | Trader Vic's | Ada Beth Kaplan | Johnny Mize | Internal Rage | Finance Them | Money Politics | Pigeon Bling | Nixon's Cat | Boxers 1949 | Global Warming | Curious George

A WEATHER SYSTEM is moving through this morning bringing rain, wind and mountain snow. This will become more showery in the afternoon and evening. Small hail is possible in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. A brief dry period is possible Thursday, then a strong system moves onshore late Friday and Saturday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): 49F under cloudy skies with a breeze whipping this Wednesday morning on the coast. Another .37" of rainfall. Rain today, clear Thursday & most of Friday with a much stronger weather system returning Friday evening. More off & on rain into next week.

MR. BERG’S WILD RIDE

On 1/8/2024, at approximately 2000 hours, Ukiah Police Department (UPD) officers were dispatched to 237 North Orchard Avenue regarding a vehicle that had just been stolen. Upon arrival, UPD officers contacted the owner of the vehicle (78-year-old female of Ukiah). 

The victim stated she was making multiple trips from her vehicle into the Laundromat. During one such trip, the vehicle was taken. UPD officers checked the area and were unable to locate the stolen vehicle at that time. 

The vehicle was added to the Stolen Vehicle System database and information about the stolen vehicle was provided to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the California Highway Patrol (CHP). 

On 01/08/2024, at approximately 2100 hours, the above-mentioned stolen vehicle was captured on UPD’s Flock camera inside the city limits. The stolen vehicle was later observed by a UPD officer traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Highway 101 near North State Street. The UPD officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the stolen vehicle. The subject driving the vehicle failed to yield to the officer and accelerated to speeds over 100 MPH, initiating a vehicle pursuit. 

CHP and MCSO were notified of the pursuit. The UPD officer continued with the stolen vehicle as the vehicle swerved between lanes and continued at a high rate of speed during inclement weather conditions. 

The vehicle took the Calpella off-ramp and continued straight toward the northbound on-ramp to merge back onto HWY 101 at speeds of approximately 50 MPH. The driver did not stop at the stop sign or yield while entering the intersection. The stolen vehicle almost struck the stop sign as it traveled through the intersection. The stolen vehicle lost control and eventually crashed over the embankment to the right of the HWY 101 northbound on-ramp, approximately 10 feet down the embankment causing major damage to the vehicle.

CHP officers, MCSO deputies, and the UPD officer who initiated the pursuit, were able to gain compliance from the driver. He surrendered and was placed into custody without incident. 

The driver was determined to be Robert Berg, 45-year-old male from Ukiah. Records check on Berg revealed he was on PRCS probation out of Lake County, CA. Additionally, Berg was determined to be unlicensed. 

Berg was placed under arrest for the above listed charges, and he was transported to the Mendocino County Jail after being medically cleared. 

CHP on viewed the traffic collision during the pursuit. CHP assisted and conducted the traffic collision portion of the investigation. 

The Ukiah Police Department would like to thank the California Highway Patrol and the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with this investigation. 

As always, our mission at UPD is to make Ukiah as safe a place as possible. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website; http://www.ukiahpolice.com

JOHN FELIZ JR.

Dear Coyote Valley Team Members,

It is with deep sorrow and a heavy heart that we announced the passing of our esteemed Chairman, John Feliz Jr. on January 8, 2024. He served as a beacon of leadership and inspiration for Coyote Valley, guiding us with unparalleled dedication and vision. During his tenure, as Chief and Chairman, he played a pivotal role in shaping the direction and successes of our Tribe. His unwavering commitment to excellence, innovative thinking, and tireless effort have left an indelible mark on all of us.

We extend our deepest condolences to the Chairman’s family during this difficult time and offer our support as they navigate through the loss. John Feliz Jr., will be remembered not only for his professional achievements but also for the warmth, kindness and mentorship he shared with each of us.

May John Feliz Jr. rest in peace, and may we, as a united Tribe and team, carry forward his legacy and continue to strive for the excellence that he exemplified.

Sincerely,

The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians

LAZARUS, Willits (AVA Comment line)

BOS Today: The treatment the Vets received today, or the lack of, is worth a look during the BOS meeting this morning. It begins about 7 minutes in: youtube.com/watch?v=hMPqGSIWJ20

I was impressed with the number of Veterans who showed up and spoke in opposition to their Ukiah Veteran facility being F**ked with by the CEO and Mental Health’s Dr. Miller. Another shameful moment involving the current Board of Supervisors and others from our County Government.

ANDERSON VALLEY JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENT for 2024/25 School Year

The Anderson Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees is delighted to announce the appointment of Kristin Larson Balliet as Principal of the Anderson Valley Junior Senior High School for the 2024/25 school year commencing on July 1, 2024.

Ms. Larson-Balliet brings more  than 18 years of administrative experience in a variety of roles including Principal, Special Education Director, Grant Coordinator and Superintendent. 

Superintendent Louise Simson related she is delighted with the appointment of Ms. Larson Balliet to the Junior/Senior High principalship.  “I had the great pleasure of working with Kristin as a fellow Mendocino County Superintendent when Kristin was Superintendent of Manchester Elementary School District. I found her to be extremely competent, thoughtful, and collaborative.  She is a definite changemaker for all students’ achievement with her knowledge of best instructional leadership practices. I am excited for the staff and the community to work together under her leadership.”

Kristin Larson Balliet shared, “I am thrilled to be joining Anderson Valley Unified School District as the principal of the Junior Senior High School. Having lived in Mendocino county for the past four years, I have been impressed by the district’s leadership and the positive trajectory of AVUSD. The community’s strong support of our schools is evident in the passing of Measure M and in the active engagement of parents in their children’s school experiences. It will be so exciting to work alongside the dedicated staff as we endeavor to expand opportunities and improve outcomes for every student. I look forward to making a positive difference in the lives of students, together!”

Simson stated she will return to full-time Superintendent duties as the district enters a construction cycle including an extensive remodel of the high school science rooms and main library wing funded by Measure M bonds and prepares for construction  of the CALTrans funded $4.8 million community track and field.  The district is also pursuing hardship funding for seismic replacement of the gym and dome buildings. She noted the septic replacement at the elementary site and the extensive transfer line repairs at the Junior/Senior High school, 60 percent funded by the State, were recently completed at the both sites.

“We are entering an exciting phase of visible transformation for this district," noted Simson.  The high school remodel will be completed in December 2024, with the track estimated to break ground in Spring 2025.  The addition of Kristin’s deep instructional expertise and collaborative leadership style will bring transformative instructional achievement to our Junior/Senior High.  The district is fortunate indeed to have such a superb site administrative team of Cymbre-Thomas Swett at  the elementary site and Kristin Larson Balliet at the Junior Senior High School working with our talented site staff.  We are looking forward to amazing growth ahead!”

ED NOTES

THE MERE MENTION of Juan Creek makes me cloud up and rain. Jeff Goll's perfectly evocative photo of that bleak stretch of Highway One north of Westport recalls, in me, the terribly sad murder that took place there in the summer of '87.

“ON AUGUST 1, 1987, the body of Harlan Tod Sutherland, 24, of Berkeley, was found on the beach near Juan Creek, Westport. It was initially thought that Sutherland, who was doing Master’s degree work in Geology, was an accident victim who fell from the cliffs. During the autopsy, however, it was learned that Sutherland had been shot in the head. It was also learned that Sutherland had been the victim of theft of his personal property. 

“Numerous witnesses were interviewed over the years but none supplied any information regarding any suspects in this case. It was later determined that the suspect was possibly one Robert Sutton. Sutton died while in custody in March of 1991 while incarcerated for an unrelated crime. 

"Witnesses were re-interviewed and admitted to knowing that Sutton was responsible for robbing and murdering Sutherland. Based on the witness statements and the totality of the evidence, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office believes Sutton was responsible for the death of Harlan Tod Sutherland.”

SUTHERLAND was a graduate student in geology at U.C. Berkeley. He was exploring rock formations at Juan Creek when Sutton, an ex-con who'd been stealing from campers in the area for some time, shot Sutherland for Sutherland's camera. Because it took a few years to identify Sutton as Sutherland's killer, the victims parents, retired academics, were often in Mendocino County seeking information about their only child's death. A random encounter on the remote beach at Juan Creek meant death for a promising young man, and sorrow beyond sorrow for his parents.

ODD that in lieu of a mugshot, we get the perp's tatted-up arms.

ON THE SUBJECT of End Times candidates, here's an announcement from Rusty Hicks, one of Ariel's opponents — our own Ted Williams is another — for Assembly:

“TODAY THE RUSTY HICKS for Assembly campaign announced a major endorsement from United States Senator Laphonza Butler. She is not only a former labor leader who worked side-by-side with Rusty in the fight for working families, but she now serves as the first openly LGBTQ+ black female US Senator in American history…” 

(Hurry up, please, it won't be long now. The cast for the apocalypse is in place ....) 

ED NOTE. I dunno, Ariel. I guess these family photo mailings are innate to candidacy these days, but I'll bet I'm not the only recipient who groans when I receive one because their intended portrayal of family normalcy barely exists anymore, and your family normalcy with bubbly you, cool dude hubby, your two little yup pups, and the obligatory dog… Well, hell, Ariel, it's all just a little too-too, if you get my drift. I know you hope to succeed Assemblyman Wood, a minor master of inane superficiality second only to State Senator Mike McGuire in all-round vacuity, but Healdsburg seems to provide an endless supply of electoral feebs. Healdsburg, a town overwhelmed by up-market tourism with major developments aimed at the very wealthy at either end of town that will surely destroy what little civic charm remains to a once pretty, coherent little place.

IS TRUMP A FASCIST? 

Say what you will about Hitler and Mussolini, the two fascists who set the standard, they were intelligent and disciplined. Trump is unintelligent and undisciplined, but millions of everyday Joes and Janes delude themselves in thinking he represents their plainly legitimate beefs; Hitler's and Mussolini's followers were similarly deluded. There’s always been a fascist streak in the American population. Hell, you don't think all those slave holders and Indian killers were liberal Democrats, do you? And FDR, not long after our bloody beginnings, rightly regarded Lindbergh as a straight-up Nazi. If Lindy had kept his admiration for Hitler to himself he probably would have been president. He was that popular. Orange Man seems from here more of a crypto-fascist, with all the bad instincts of the real deal but incapable of taking the hardcore goose steppers over the top, although he has managed to set the table for a serious fascist movement, and 2024 will probably be the showdown year when we go one way or the other or, as is more likely, we lurch into absolute chaos after a total clown show of a presidential election.

EXCELLENT REFERENCES

Hi neighbors. Many of you know me, for those who don't, my name is Donalda. I'm a professional caregiver and former CNA, here in the valley. I currently have time available for another client. I do private pay and am IHSS certified. My rate is $25 hourly.

If you have a need feel free to message me. (Facebook)

JDSF RECREATION TASK FORCE - MEETING AND AGENDA

Mendocino County, The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) Recreation Task Force (RTC) will be holding a meeting:

Location: Woodlands Fire Station, Mendocino

Date: January 18, 2024

Start Time: 9:30 am 41722 Little Lake Rd

End Time: 12:30 pm See Map and Driving Directions

1. 9:30 am Introductions

2. 9:45 Recreation Task Force

Meeting Minutes & Action Items

Membership

Future Meeting Scheduling & Agenda Items

3. 10:45 General Recreation Update

4. 11:00 Public Trails, Introducing Draft Unsanctioned Trail Rating Criteria

5. 12:00 pm Discussion & Public Comment

6. 12:30 Adjourn

The public may submit comments in advance via email pertaining to the meeting’s agenda. Please submit public comments to the following email address: JDSF@fire.ca.gov, the subject line must contain “RTF Meeting Comment.” These comments must be submitted by 12:00 pm, January 16, 2024, to be considered at the RTF meeting.

Please note that times for agenda items are approximate. Items may take more or less time or be taken in a different order. The meeting may end early if all agenda items are completed. This meeting may utilize formal public comment periods, focused on agenda items.

Anyone requiring further information about this meeting announcement may contact the Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) by calling (707) 964-5674, or visiting the JDSF office located at 802 North Main Street, Fort Bragg, CA.

Recreation Task Force Meeting- January 18, 2024

Driving directions: to CAL FIRE Woodlands Station, 41722 Little Lake Road, Mendocino, CA. From Highway 1 in Mendocino, drive east on Little Lake Road for approximately 3 miles.

Make a left at the entrance to the CAL FIRE Woodlands Station. Stay left and proceed past the engine bay.

ME? MAXIMIZING ORGASMIC PLEASURE?

Dear Mr. Anderson, 

On behalf of Pink Zones Project of Mendocino County we wish you a happy new year and thank you for your invaluable support. We are extremely grateful to civic, business and community leaders like you who work tirelessly to fulfill our mission: To maximize orgasmic pleasure in our county … and beyond. We hope you will accept this small gift [a pink t-shirt] in recognition of your service. 

As you know our story began early last year when Adventist Health named Ukiah the world's second fully authenticated Pink Zone. The announcement sparked celebrations throughout the valley as if a hot geyser had erupted at the intersection of State Street and Perkins. 

Things really started to flow in the spring when we crowned One Taste the county's first officially designated Pink Service Provider. We are currently working with One Taste officials to plan a dedication ceremony that does not conflict with their members' meditation sessions, which occur spontaneously throughout the day and require 15 minutes of uninterrupted focus. 

Speaking of exciting dedications, we plan to recognize and authenticate additional Pink Service Providers in Mendocino County soon, and we're relying on supporters like you for assistance. Please send us your nominations today! 

We're proud of our work helping people in our community live more vibrant and sensual lives. Thank you for participating in that effort. 

Live better, 

Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan 

Chief Information Officer 

Pink Zones Project of Mendocino County 

PS. A pink zone is a geographic region found to have extremely high incidence of orgasmic pleasure. The world's first Pink Zone is Loma Linda, California, one of the five original Blue Zones unearthed by our founder Dan Buettner in 2010. The auspicious color combination indicated the municipality had achieved unprecedented Lavender Zone status. Experts say Loma Linda's palette may expand again soon should Buettner designate it the world's first known Yellow Zone, a geographic area where humans excel cognitively as measured by IQ intelligence testing. PPS. One Taste is the Philo sexual wellness center. 

ED REPLY: HAH! Good one, though the Adventists are unlikely to be as amused as I am. And thank you for the t-shirt. I will wear it proudly. Nominations? The Board of Supervisors, the CEO's Office and, definitely, DA Eyster.

THE PALACE BAR AND GRILL - A FORMER EMPLOYEE SHARES HER MEMORIES

by Karen Rifkin

It was the summer of 1978 and I got word that Bob Larman, the new chef in town at the soon-to-be-opened Palace Bar & Grill, was looking for a kitchen manager.

I was qualified. The restaurant business was in my blood. As a young girl, I spent many summers in Magda’s kitchen at my aunt and uncle’s place in upstate New York; during college I waitressed at the Concord and Grossinger’s in the Borscht Belt; in the mid 1970s I moved to Ukiah with Round Table Pizza as the assistant manager; and afterward owned my own restaurant just up the street from the Palace Hotel. 

I interviewed with Larman and was hired on the spot for about $550 per month, soon to discover that, within a month, I would be managing the whole kitchen operation at the Palace Bar & Grill, doing the profit and loss analysis — measuring labor and food costs as percentages; ordering large cuts of meat that the kitchen staff would portion for prime rib, sirloin, filet mignon and double cut lamb chops to be fired on the state-of-the-art mesquite grill on the front line; fresh produce; dry goods; frozen food; and non-alcoholic bar supplies with some hiring and firing thrown in. 

Fred Baker, Jr., Dusan Mills and the soon-to-be-famous-restaurateur Pat Kuleto from Ice-A-Boxa Company began the renovation of the Palace Hotel in late 1977. 

Kuleto, the creative force and architectural commander-in-chief behind the restoration, had a vision for the decaying, condemned building and he refurbished her in the grandest style, from top to bottom — including the grape leaves which decorated the etched glass on the carved oak wood, the gold leaf covering the staircase and the hand painted wallpaper — inside and out, seemingly with a limitless budget — actually about $3.2 million which was at the time a whole lot of money. And it showed. 

Restored without blueprints, “Kuleto blended Victorian Ukiah with Mendocino County culture. Décor and design motifs include the county’s Pomo Indian heritage, redwood forests, wine industry and quality craftsmanship.” 

“When visitors check in at the reservation desk in the ornate lobby, they were handed a map to guide them through the one-and-one half acres of restaurant, bar, nightclub, ballroom, gift shop and hallways leading to the 90 hotel rooms and roof gardens.” 

Kuleto with Chef Larman, General Manager Tom Rafter and Manager William Frost hired everybody in town — cooks, wait people, hostesses, seamstresses, artists, laborers, carpenters, fine word workers, etc. According to one newspaper article from the files at the Historical Society of Mendocino County, they hired 150 locals. 

I worked at a small desk in a little room across from the kitchen, down the hallway a bit, and behind me was a walk-in freezer where I would receive all the perishables from the delivery men during the week. I’d never dealt with such large cuts of meat. 

One evening with the dining room starting to fill and the dinner service ready to begin, the coffee machine — one main machine with a number of pots on electric burners in various stages of brewing fresh coffee — stopped working. 

We were selling Thanksgiving Coffee and I had developed a working relationship with Paul Katzeff. I called him and asked him what to do. Right there, for the next 20-25 minutes, with small tools in hand, he talked me through it, over the phone, and I fixed the damn machine in time for the dinner rush. 

The kitchen was gleaming, absolute state-of-the-art, back and front. If I stood in the middle of the line, facing outward toward the counter where the wait people would pick up their food, directly behind me was the deep fat fryer, to my right the mesquite grill and to my left the sauté station with eight large burners on top and an oven below. 

There were times I would have at least six of those burners going at the same time pan frying sole, red snapper, mushrooms and prawns all with clarified butter; calamari with a lemon mustard sauce; a sea sauté with a cream sauce and steak with a black pepper sauce. Further to the left, and a bit separate, was the pantry where all the salads were prepared by one person, even during the busiest of times. 

Just prior to the grand opening on the night of Aug. 12, 1978, an elaborate party was held for the staff, an extensive buffet with a centerpiece of prawns on ice and everything else you could imagine. With liquor flowing freely and the compelling beat of the Stones’ Miss You at top volume, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. What more could you want? 

I worked at the Palace for about three years, on and off, quitting and then getting rehired. I worked my way out of the small office across the hallway into the kitchen and became the sauté cook on the line — a high energy job I was well-suited to. 

We all wore the black-and-white checkered pants, white button-down chef’s coats, white waist aprons and the classic, white toque chef’s hats with a straight-sided base and a floppy, pleated top. 

I learned to defrost packages of frozen calamari in cold water. Prior to that I took a hard lesson from one of the sous chefs who let me know in no uncertain terms that defrosting the sole in hot water would cook it. 

For each calamari, hundreds of them, I severed the tentacles from the body, squeezed out the guts and cut the empty body tube into rounds. Then I breaded, deep fried and sautéed them in a lovely lemon mustard sauce. The tentacles were exquisitely crisp and crunchy. 

The item was called Calamari Lombardi in honor of Marty Lombardi from the Savings Bank, who I assume helped the Palace procure a loan or something like that. 

Some of the pan prepared dishes required finishing off in the oven and I cannot tell you how many times, in the height of the rush, I reached into the oven, barehanded, to grab the handle of the pan. 

After some period of time, it became obvious that business was not going to be what they had hoped for. So, they arranged to bring busloads of people up from SF. We would serve 100 lunches in about an hour and a half. A chef in the middle orchestrating, me on sauté, another cook on broiler and Kathy Shearn in the pantry. 

The pace was so fast, so intense, so crazy, that afterward Shearn and I would collapse, incoherently jabbering and laughing, to relieve the pressure we had just endured. 

Sometime in the early 1980s, Dana Crumb Kaldveer was hired to make desserts. She prepared some at home which meant she took home all the ingredients including 25-pound bags of almonds. One Friday afternoon, after finishing the end of her shift, after she had just completed baking trays of cheesecakes, chocolate cakes with mocha icing and tortes, the chef fired her. 

I don’t remember what precipitated it but knowing Dana, one could only imagine. She acknowledged him, picked up a tray and started for the kitchen door saying, “Don’t send me my check; this is my last paycheck.” 

A struggle ensued and he had enough sense to finally let go of the tray but not without telling her to leave her white chef’s coat behind. She put down the tray, took her coat off, threw it down on the floor and marched down the hallway, tray in hand, in all her zoftig glory, out onto School Street in her blue lace bra, calling out, “I’m gonna’ feed the almonds to my chickens.” 

The place went through so many chefs and managers it was impossible to keep track. One short-lived chef discussed the attributes of Hitler during a staff meeting; Steve the manager wore a necklace that said Superman and when the chef could not be found for lunch service one day, it was discovered she was upstairs visiting with him in one of the newly renovated rooms. 

Jimella, the hotshot chef from Seattle who was going to turn the place around, brought the peanut butter pie recipe to Ukiah; I marketed those pies around town for a number of years after the Palace closed. 

She explained to me that the big, heavy burner tops on the stove needed to be washed in hot soapy water on a regular basis. I resisted but did it. 

She settled in and soon enough, a scandal ensued. I did not see it happen but I know for a fact that her tenure ended the day after she had a pot of soup dumped over her head in the back kitchen. I forgot who came next. 

At some point I became the sous chef working with Chef Samantha Christ who started as a cocktail waitress there. She would stand in the middle of the line captaining us through those hideous lunches, calling out orders to the cook on broiler and to me on sauté, putting the finished dishes up on the counter and calling out names of wait staff to pick up the plates. Those lunches happened pretty regularly until they didn’t. 

I learned to make desserts, sauces from bones. We coordinated large banquets for events in the 300-seat ballroom. We worked long, hard hours, back-to-back shifts. It was an addiction, a real high, especially when the place was on fire with diners. 

There was the narrow, skylit Back Door that Kuleto said changed from its daytime identity as a mellow garden restaurant to its after dark persona as a kind of bordello-nightclub. Old monthly fliers advertise well-loved performers, from near and far: Hansen & Raitt, David LaFlamme, Mixed Nuts, Kate Wolf, Ed Reinhart, Nancy Teeling and Dirty Legs, Gene Parsons, Colonel Wingnuts, Paula Samonte, Mark Ford, Tommy Tutone, Charlie Musselwhite and more. 

On many Sunday mornings, after a long Saturday night shift, I would return to the kitchen to roll out the dough for the brioche, dust it with cinnamon and sugar and bake it to warm perfection, serving it hot from the oven. 

I made the Hollandaise sauce; it was memorable and remarkable, preparing enough for maybe 30-40 servings of eggs Benedict. 

I cracked egg yolks, many of them, into a very large bowl which would go over a simmering pot of water and very, very slowly dribble in the oil, hoping, since food service was about to begin, that it would not break. Then gently whisk in just the right amount of lemon juice and tabasco sauce to taste. Sometimes it broke and I had to start all over again with dozens more egg yolks. 

On those Sunday mornings, I would make breakfast for 16-year-old David Post, outfitted in his Philip Morris-like bellhop outfit, after which he would show the guests to their rooms riding the classic Otis elevator to the upper floors. 

I quit for the last time before the Palace closed its doors in January, 1983, with Kuleto and company packing up and leaving town. Ukiah just couldn’t support the grand dame’s need, after the glow wore off. 

Special thanks to Alyssa Ballard, archivist and historian at the Historical Society of Mendocino County, who shared a couple of very-full file folders of old newspaper clippings with me, some blueprints of the building and some really cool photos of the dining rooms, other interior shots and a few of Pat Kuleto, Mimi McCarthy and even Jimella.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, January 9, 2024

ROBERT BERG, Ukiah. Taking vehicle without owner’s consent, no license, evasion, county parole violation.

AUSTIN CASSON, Pleasanton/Ukiah. DUI, controlled substance.

MICHAEL FREEMAN JR., Covelo. Concealed dirk-dagger.

COREY HEINE, Ukiah. Battery, probation revocation.

DEVAUN JOHNSON, Ukiah. Disobeying court order.

DONOVAN WILLIAMS, Ukiah. County parole violation.

PHILLIP WINTERS, Fort Bragg. Shoplifting, disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs. 

ATTABOY, ATMAN!

Awoke and awake at Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center in sunny Ukiah, California, not identified with the body and not identified with the mind. Immortal Self I am! Just another picture perfect postcard day in wine country. Don’t Worry~Be Happy.

Craig Louis Stehr

RAINBOW GATHERINGS, A BRIEF HISTORY

My first Rainbow Gathering was 1999 Pennsylvania Nationals. My last one was last week for the winter solstice in South Carolina. I participated in all sorts of immersion activities running free food kitchens at gatherings and on the street, learning alternative procurement techniques, living in vehicles of all kinds going all over and doing so many things usually in crews, offering emotional and drug rehab support and transportation services, and so much more then that. 

I raised both my rainbow children on the road for the first half of their lives before we settled in Hawaii, a land of rainbows. Have been to so many gatherings, and they all have uniqueness while also having a shared thread.

Got hooked up to borrow a copy of this ethnography this week. People of the Rainbow, A Nomadic Utopia by Michael Niman. There were a couple parts I had to giggle at due to evolving technology access from “Babalyon” that is now commonplace for most people, and a couple other changes that are slight over the years. It well discusses the national gatherings which some I’ve been to have had easily 10,000 rainbows at. So far there hasn’t been much to share about the tiny regionals that are really the best gatherings out there!

Might be an interesting read for some of y’all. I think it might especially be an interesting read for some of us that gather still as Rainbows to remind us of what are some of the reasons we do. 

Many Blessings and much love!

— Michael Nieman

ASSEMBLYMAN WOOD IN ACTION

Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) introduced AB 1797 to recognize the Dungeness crab – Metacarcinus magister – as California’s official crustacean, coinciding with its Opening Day, January 5. Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) is the principal coauthor and Assembly Members Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) and Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz) are coauthors.

“The Dungeness crab is an iconic crustacean in California and one that has made a significant contribution to the economies of coastal communities in California and to those in the commercial fishing industry,” said Wood.

The industry supports fishing ports and bolsters retail and hospitality businesses, bringing patrons in to restaurants and inns. It is a key delicacy that is often at high demand when Californians ring in the New Year.

“We must recognize, however that the Dungeness crab industry is not without its challenges,” said Wood. “We need to ensure that the fishing industry, the ocean and its inhabitants are all protected.”

Both commercial and recreational fisheries for Dungeness crab exist in California, having slightly different seasons within the two distinct management areas, divided north and south by the Sonoma/Mendocino line.

“Maine has its lobster. Louisiana has its crawfish. Here in the Golden State, we love our Dungeness crab,” said McGuire. “Dungeness crab is one the oldest commercial fisheries in California and the fleet continues to be a driving economic force for coastal communities. I’m grateful to Assemblymember Wood for giving the Dungeness crab a crack at becoming the official crustacean of the Golden State. It’s a well-deserved recognition.”

“Let’s recognize the importance of the Dungeness crab to our state, to the commercial fishing industry and the communities that depend on its health and abundance,” said Wood.

* * *

On Line Comments

[1] Thanks to Jim Wood for this valuable contribution to our State Identity…

[21] Great.

[3] Outstanding. Crabs are bottom feeders that eat their own, how appropriate.

[4] Just like the dems

[5] Keep your magnet’s dry.

[61] Is this a joke?

The state has done it’s best to run the commercial crabbers out of business for many years!

They’ve created this proclamation to cover their butts for past legislation they voted for.

Spare us the icing on the cake and get down to the real business of the state like over spending and over legislating.

[7] How about three Red Abalone, Jimmy?

[8] Assemblyman Jim Wood needs to get a life. I have a large tractor to help pull his head out of his ass.

[9] It should be the Sea Monkey as California’s official crustacean.

ACCOUNTABILITY, LACK OF

Editor: 

On Friday, an anniversary was noted in the paper: the beginning of construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. The fact that the bridge was completed four years later got me wondering what kind of society we’ve become. We’re content with building a “bullet train” that is in its 15th year of construction and nowhere near completion. Is this a reflection of how lazy or stupid our society is? We don’t seem to hold politicians or bureaucrats, whether Democrat or Republican, accountable. We keep voting in the same people who accomplish nothing. Look at who we’ll be choosing between for president, Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They both need to be put out to pasture. This is America, we deserve better, but we’re the only ones who can make that happen. Get involved and vote. Thank God we’re not building that beautiful bridge today. It’d take 50 years to complete and the overruns would be in the billions.

Jim Hickey

Santa Rosa

BILL KIMBERLIN: 

I used to go to Trader Vic's when it was in San Francisco on a little tiny back alley called Cosmo Place, now occupied nearby, with "Le Colonia". I walked in and told them I thought this joint closed 30 years ago. Oh no, they said. The family still owns it and we are in Dubai and many other cities all over the world. 

If you get lucky, order something from their wood fired cook pot and you will never be the same again.

There are also some unusual views here of the City.

DETECTIVES LEARN IDENTITY OF CALIFORNIA WOMAN FOUND HEADLESS, POSED IN FIELD

by Katie Dowd

A California woman found decapitated and posed in a vineyard in 2011 has finally been identified — and detectives say she was never reported missing.

On March 29, 2011, the woman was discovered in a vineyard off Sebastian and Wheeler Ridge roads in Arvin, a rural area off I-5 near the Grapevine. The body was headless, thumbless, drained of blood and posed in an intentionally degrading way. 

“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” a Kern County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told KGET at the time of the discovery. “I’ve seen some pretty gruesome crime scenes and this was just ... it was creepy.”

"Why did they take the time to drain the blood from the body?" he continued. "The crime scene itself was very clean. Honestly, it looked like somebody had taken a mannequin, removed the head of the mannequin and posed it on the dirt road."

Although the woman's DNA was submitted to national databases, and detectives scoured missing person reports, the case went cold. The woman's identity remained a mystery.

In 2020, the Kern County Medical Examiner's Office and the DNA Doe Project teamed up to give the case another try. The Jane Doe shared DNA with the known genetic profiles of several distant cousins, and genetic genealogists had to build a family tree of eight generations to begin to piece together closer blood relations. They discovered the woman was of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, and three of her four grandparents were immigrants.

“Our team worked long and hard for this identification,” DNA Doe Project team leader Missy Koski said in a statement. “Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry is often complicated to unravel. When we brought in an expert in Jewish records and genealogy, that made a huge difference.”

At last, in July 2023, Koski's team believed they found two living family members on the East Coast. When their DNA samples were compared to the Arvin Jane Doe, it was a familial match. 

The woman is Ada Beth Kaplan, who was 64 and living in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, when she was killed. Because of the state of her remains, a cause of death was not found, and detectives believe she was killed somewhere else and then taken to the Arvin site. When sheriff's deputies from Kern County spoke with Kaplan's family, they said she was never reported missing; the sheriff's office did not explain why that was the case.

There is one Ada Beth Kaplan born in 1947 in U.S. census records. The 1950 census shows three-year-old Ada Beth living in the Bronx with her parents, Louis and Mary Kaplan. Louis Kaplan's parents were born in Russia and Poland, and he was working as a shipping clerk.

The investigation is not yet over. With Kaplan's name now public, detectives are seeking new leads. Anyone with information is asked to call the Kern County Sheriff's Office at 661-487-4553.

(SFgate.com)

ON HIS DATE OF HIS BIRTH I remember the Big Cat…

“He was a cigar smoker. The first thing he’d do every morning on the road was light a cigar - oh, swell, John. He’d get up and walk to the window and lift the shade and look out and find a flag. He’d figure out from the direction that flag was blowing the direction of the wind at the ballpark. If the wind would be blowing out, Mize would lie back in bed and puff that cigar and say, ‘Roomie, I’m going to hit one or two today.’ And he would.”

— Bill Rigney (‘We Played The Game’, Peary, p.27)

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

When you are young, taking and making a stand at your peak athleticism to explore a fork in the road makes perfect sense if the status quo and the trajectory thereof are unacceptable.

I believe that some on this board cannot fathom it. They spent the first 60 or 70 years in Rome. Troubles for the people in Judea or Viet Nam were … no biggie. Distant.

I believe that some on this board will never understand the internal rage of a 15 y.o. who sees his favourite big cousin ripped to shreds by a bomb.

FORGET MILLIONAIRES. A FEW BILLIONAIRES ARE NOW STEALING OUR COUNTRY

by Jim Hightower

In the serious business of politics, a little humor can be your best friend.

I saw its impact 30 years ago in Austin when a group of young, irreverent democracy activists decided to try limiting corporations that were drowning our local elections in their special-interest campaign cash. The upstart group named their grassroots effort a name that was a bit whimsical, yet pointed: “Austinites For A Little Less Corruption.”

It caught on. Even though the entire corporate, political, and media establishment united in furious opposition to the reform, 70 percent of voters rather joyously shouted, “YES!”

Now, more than ever, we need to rally grassroots Americans in a high-spirited, openly-rebellious campaign to save our people’s historic democratic values. An autocratic coterie of plutocratic supremists with unlimited corporate funding already dominates our elections, public policy, agenda, and our highest courts. It’s not a secret conspiracy – they’re quite open about it!

But forget the days of million-dollar donors – the arsenal of the systemic corruptors has now been nuclearized. For example, Charles Koch has just injected $5 billion in his 2024 political operation. Tim Dunn, an ultra-right-wing Texas oil baron and extremist GOP sugar daddy has just sold his fracking empire for $12 billion, gaining a new gusher of cash to weaponize his intention to impose laissez-faire rule over America.

It’s hard to visualize how much more anti-democratic firepower one gets by spending billions instead of mere millions. Think of the difference not in terms of dollars, but time. If you have a million seconds, that’s 11 days. But a billion seconds – that’s more than 31 years!

We can have no progress – no democracy – without getting corporate money out of America’s political system. For info and action, go to citizen.org.

NIXON’S WHITE CAT

by Larry Bensky

It was the winter of 1956. The Vice President of the United States, Richard Nixon, was trying to convince voters that he would be a wise choice in the upcoming Presidential primaries.

His advisers had a big problem, however.

How could they help craft a man who was widely called “Tricky Dicky” into a reliable persona?

They decided to divide their efforts into segments.

One part of of the electorate would get personal appearances, press releases, glossy brochures. Another would get different material.

I was targeted as part of a neglected segment. Youth. Specifically, educated youth, who were thought to be opinion leaders. And the places from which those leaders purportedly led included student newspapers.

And so, one fine day I got a Special Delivery letter addressed to the Editor of the Yale Daily News. An exciting invitation to question the Vice President of the United States!

A few days later a follow up phone call came. The opportunity was going to be in upstate New York, at Cornell University. All other Ivy League editors had also been invited to what was supposed to be a no-holds-barred on-stage event. Would I be there, the caller from the White House press room asked?

Hell, yes!

But how to get from New Haven to Ithaca, 250 miles by car at a time when there were no wide, interstate highways?

Trains!

Three of them. New Haven-New York-Albany-Ithaca. Mostly on tracks reserved for freight, while passengers were “sidetracked.” A 12-plus hour odyssey.

I got there the night before the Big Day. In time for us Ivy editors to meet. We discussed what each would ask if called upon. All the questions were good, well-researched, brief.

And so there we were, on stage behind Nixon, who strode out firmly (though clumsily), flashing his silly grin and the “V” for victory sign, a symbol from WW2.

The front rows of the auditorium, where the college Republicans were strategically seated, cheered. Few in the rest of the audience did. And none of us journalists demonstrated emotions, of course.

After some forgettable opening remarks, including thanks to his wife Pat, Nixon called on the first editor.

Before that editor could stand and speak, however, another editor leaped to his feet, and began asking a question. It wasn’t one we had discussed the night before. Nixon took two more, these from people who raised their hands. Then it was over, Nixon and Pat signed autographed pictures, and were gone.

For me, the event had just begun.

I quickly stifled my anger at the editor (Adam Clymer of the Harvard Crimson) who had made us immediately seem like another mob similar to reporters at a White House press briefing, which we definitely weren’t.

In haste, I yelled towards him, something like, “What the fuck did you think you were doing?” And then the post autograph crowd bore us in different directions. He towards a much-praised 40-plus year career as New York Times White House Correspondent and National Affairs Columnist.

Me towards a room where I could use my portable Olivetti typewriter and a phone.

I called the Yale Daily News, with the assistance of operators — long distance calls were an adventure then, no dialing, no area codes.

And I dictated to a rewrite man something like:

“By Lawrence M. Bensky

Managing Editor

ITHACA N.Y. — Vice President Richard Nixon brought his Presidential campaign to the Cornell campus today…”

And I went on to as many of Nixon’s words, and to the Cornell campus atmosphere as I could fit into the time and space I had available.

By the time I got back to New Haven two days later the article had appeared. One sentence in it was, “Nixon praised his white cat for his success in politics.”

My phone rang off the proverbial hook. So did Nixon’s, I was told. Everyone wanted to know the same thing: what’s that about a cat? What’s its name ? Was it a stray adopted from a shelter?

In fact, what happened was that my rewrite man had misunderstood me. I had said “wife Pat,” he had heard “white cat.”

The sleepy backwater New Haven office of the then (as now) venerable Associated Press routinely sent out Yale Daily News stories with wider implications. They had sent out this one.

(Larry Bensky can be reached at: Lbensky@igc.org.)

THE NUMBERS ARE IN, and scientists can now confirm what month after month of extraordinary heat worldwide began signaling long ago. Last year was Earth’s warmest by far in a century and a half.

Global temperatures started blowing past records midyear and didn’t stop. First, June was the planet’s warmest June on record. Then, July was the warmest July. And so on, all the way through December.

Averaged across last year, temperatures worldwide were 1.48 degrees Celsius, or 2.66 Fahrenheit, higher than they were in the second half of the 19th century, the European Union climate monitor announced on Tuesday. That is warmer by a sizable margin than 2016, the previous hottest year.

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AMERICA’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS fell 1.9 percent in 2023, in large part because the burning of coal to produce electricity plummeted to its lowest level in half a century, according to estimates published on Wednesday by the Rhodium Group, a nonpartisan research firm.

The drop means that United States emissions have now fallen roughly 17.2 percent since 2005. There was a huge, anomalous dip in planet-warming pollution at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when large segments of the economy shut down, followed by a sharp rebound in the following two years once activity resumed. But over the longer term, America’s emissions have been trending downward as power plants and cars have gotten cleaner.

Still, the decline in emissions to date hasn’t been nearly steep enough to meet the nation’s goals for trying to slow global warming. President Biden wants to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. To hit that goal, annual emissions would have to fall more than three times as fast for the rest of the decade as they did last year, the report found.

(New York Times)