- Where Are The Eagles?
- Don’t Need No Steenking Permits
- Fort Bragg City Council Recommendations
- Ukiah Football
- Extra Cautious
- The Trump Effect
- Salting A Wound
- Harris Approves Violence Abroad
- Good Ol' Redi Kilowatt
- Getting Away With It
- The Golden Age
- Even By Democrat Standards
WHERE ARE THE EAGLES?
Editor:
I’m not sure if this is the correct forum for this question, but, traveling over Highway 253 to Ukiah, Golden Eagle sightings, were not regular but also not uncommon. I have not seen a single one for several years now. I'm curious: what others are experiencing here? I have a bad feeling that too many vineyards are taking habitat away, or else I’ve been unlucky. But given my last name I sorta doubt that! I invite people to share any sightings, thoughts on the issue, either here or you can email me directly hawkwork@mcn.org
Thank you
Chris Skyhawk
Fort Bragg
DON’T NEED NO STEENKING PERMITS
Editor,
Chris Hart writes in letter to Marianne McGee as published in AVA, 9/25:
“As For the Willits issue, there is a lot more do that story, but I’ll say this. He (the owner) contested it and he won. That is how the system works.”
I am wondering if the SKUNK TRAIN reimbursed the owner of the Willits property for his legal expenses when Hart says the property owner won the suit, that's how the law works. So the law works that the train was able to try to take the land and the owner had to go thru the legal system spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to win.
It is pretty clear why the city is working to avoid a similar situation when the Skunk Train has made it clear that they don’t have to get permits and don’t have to follow city regulations because they are a Railroad which exempts them fron city regulations.
Elizabeth Swenson
Fort Bragg
FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS
Editor,
Ideally, our City Council should represent a wide range of viewpoints, so that everyone in Fort Bragg can feel like their needs are being heard and they are part of our community. With a five-person council, that's a tall order. Two seats are up for this election.
Lindy Peters, who sometimes takes positions I disagree with, has been on the Council for over 20 years. He carries the institutional memory, which will be important for the future. His answers to questions at the Candidates Forum were clear, concise and fact-filled. He also has taken a strong position of holding Mendocino Railway and its owners, the Harts, accountable, opposing their claim they are above state and local laws because they own a (tourist excursion) railroad.
Bethany Brewer is a newcomer to politics, as are the other three candidates, but not to the workings of the City. Bethany brings the perspective of someone who has had to work herself up from homelessness. As the invasion of wealth driven by climate change forces more long-time residents out of their homes, her perspective will be important over the next four years.
Mel Salizar is also a newcomer. Much as I would really like to have her Hispanic voice on the council, representing the 40+% of Fort Bragg residents of Hispanic origin, it was clear to me from the candidates night that she hasn't done her homework. Mel needs to get involved in City meetings and activities, learn the issues and history, and come back in two years.
That leaves Scott Hockett and Ryan Bushnell. Scott owns, by his count, five businesses and has been very active in the North Harbor and planning for the Blue Economy, all good things, although I wonder if he will have the time needed to devote to Council business. Ryan is a truck driver, heavy equipment operator and union man. He knows the "ground" truth of infrastructure and working for a wage. Again good things. Both spoke about "putting the swords down" and expanding economic opportunities so that young people could stay in Fort Bragg, philosophically important but short on specifics.
What gives me concern for both Scott and Ryan is their participation in the "Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg," funded by most accounts, by the train guys, though they'll not likely admit it. The train guys clearly want Lindy out of their way and have great financial motivation to seat a council who would abandon the legal challenges to their claims of being above state and local accountability. Watching the train guys in action, their lack of credibility, their refusal to participate as equals under the law and their lack of concern for the well-being of the people of Fort Bragg, I seriously don't want anyone who is in their pockets on the Council.
I'll be voting for Lindy Peters and Bethany Brewer for Fort Bragg City Council this November.
Jade Tippett
Fort Bragg
UKIAH FOOTBALL
Editor,
The most exciting game of Week 5 happened in Mendocino County, where Ukiah nearly knocked off North Bay powerhouse San Marin in a hard-fought 38-31 loss. The Mustangs scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the game — the go-ahead score coming with three minutes left — to complete the rally from an early 15-point deficit.
After its rough season-opening loss to Rancho Cotate, Ukiah has started to round into form over the last few weeks, picking up a big win over Dublin (38-7) and a very quality road win at Chico (28-21) before this week’s down-to-the wire battle with San Marin, which won consecutive state titles in 2021 and 2022 and is ranked as a top-10 team in the North Coast Section this year.
Despite the loss, the Wildcats have made improvements week after week and showed Friday that they have the firepower to keep up with one of the top teams in the section. At 2-2, there’s obviously room to grow, but the Wildcats have played a tough nonleague schedule and will have one final test next week against a Carlmont team that can put up points in bunches.
Ukiah was always slated to be one of the top teams in the REC-Bay this year and has shown the last few weeks why it should be considered as such. The league title will very likely come down once again to the Oct. 25 meeting with St. Vincent.
Gus Morris
Ukiah
EXTRA CAUTIOUS
Editor,
Thank you for running my Letter to the Editor! I know it was more of a cathartic personal essay, but I wanted to reach out to people in the country apparatus, that I interacted with during my campaign. I’m pleased how many people track (although not nearly enough) County affairs through the AVA, so thanks for the opportunity, and I certainly don’t mind bothering that sociopath Williams, and if I can help anyone be a little extra cautious in their affairs with him, then I’ve done a service.
Well, it certainly was not my intention to become some sort of modern day contemplative mystic living in a trailer in Fort Bragg. But as the country song says, “If you wanna hear someone laughs, tell God your plans.” I think I aced that one! Anyway just wanted to express some gratitude, I appreciate you both, and carry on!
Chris Skyhawk
Fort Bragg
THE TRUMP EFFECT
To the Editor:
Springfield, Ohio, is a case study in the Trump Effect. It clearly shows what happens before and after Donald Trump involves himself in a community.
Before, people went about their daily lives dealing with the normal ups and downs of modern living. After, the community has faced multiple bomb scares, school closings, militia marches, heightened fears, increased uncertainty and new divisions. This is the Trump Effect.
We have already seen it destroy long-held friendships, turn family holidays into shouting matches, increase mistrust, severely divide our nation and just generally make people more angry.
So, remember Springfield, and hope that Mr. Trump doesn’t set his sights on your community.
John Palme
Walnut Creek
SALTING A WOUND
Editor,
After stealing our history to feed his greed. After thumbing his nose at some of the most loyal fans in the world. After running a franchise into the ground by constantly trading All Stars and maintaining the lowest payroll in MLB. After laying off a thousand workers. After lying to us that he wanted to build a new stadium in precisely the worst place to build a new stadium. After causing the city of Oakland to spend hundreds of city employee’s work hours to try and make it work. After always intending to move to Las Vegas, John Fisher has the audacity and insensitivity to take out a full-page ad (Sunday 9.22) on the back page of the sport section saying: “Thank you Oakland.”
This Oaklander responds: You are NOT welcome, John Fisher. Take your organization and puppy dog president and get out of town ASAP. Good riddance, you are a persona non grata here!
Jim Prchlik
Oakland
ED NOTE: And while you're leaving Oakland, Fisher, leave Mendocino County, too, but leave your thousands of acres of trees here as permanent forest.
HARRIS APPROVES VIOLENCE ABROAD
Editor,
In a recent Bay Area news item on the attempted attack on Donald Trump, Kamala Harris was quoted saying, “Violence has no place in America.”
Of course not. We’re focused on the violence we support outside our borders — Israel’s horrific campaign agaisnt the millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
We supply over 69% of the military equipment used. A minimof of 41,000 Gazans have been killed plus thousands more wounded, lives ruined.
A current poster with a picture of Harris states, “If you’ve been working ‘around the clock’ for 10 months for a cease-fire you’re bad at your job.”
Let’s fire her.
Jayne Thomas
Berkeley
GOOD OL' REDI KILOWATT
Editor:
As PG&E raises my rates every other day I am also being hammered with their self-aggrandizing television commercials. This is as ridiculous as when we had to watch “got milk” ads on TV. We all know about milk, and we all know we have no choice about where our power comes from. My research suggests PG&E is spending $6 million on ads this year. I know that is a mere drop in the bucket to its total budget, but how do regulators allow this company to get away with constant rate hikes and making us, their customers, pay for advertising about the company we know so well?
Eddie Flayer
Santa Rosa
GETTING AWAY WITH IT
Editor:
How does PG&E get away with it? PG&E’s long neglect of infrastructure created a situation where we had terrible fires with loss of homes and loss of life. Then PG&E declared bankruptcy so it wouldn’t have to pay for its neglect of infrastructure. Then PG&E decided that it needed to raise rates for the people who pay for its services, so that it could begin to recover some of the money it through its negligence. And the California Public Utilities Commission went along with it, as it always does. That’s how you commit a crime and then profit from it. It’s time to break up the monopoly of PG&E and start getting some decent treatment. I speak as an enraged taxpayer.
Connie Kellogg
Sebastopol
THE GOLDEN AGE
Editor:
I’m old enough to remember being part of CBS News, then the crown jewel of broadcast journalism. Back in the 1960s and 70s, when facts mattered, there were laws. Each of the three major networks was limited to six TV stations in the major markets, and only if they didn’t own a newspaper in the same market. The networks were required to air a finite percentage of public programming, and if they did not, they could lose the cash cow local stations. The threat was real; it happened.
The result was a golden age of television journalism. Words like facts and truth meant something, and for decades, the public was served by some of America’s best journalists and documentary filmmakers. As Peter Coyote wrote in a letter to the Chronicle recently, the airwaves belonged to the public, and the business of news was a serious business for all three networks. They competed for talent and stories, and when you tuned in you were rewarded with facts and went to bed a more informed citizen.
Ah, dear reader, such was the past. Today, after watching a stream of overcaffeinated, overopinionated and overpaid celebrities hype the day’s events, I, for one, am afraid of going to sleep.
Robert Markowitz
Healdsburg
EVEN BY DEMOCRAT STANDARDS…
Editor:
Just look at Adam Schiff’s record as a Congress member and one must conclude he is not qualified to be a U.S. senator from our great state. On March 22, 2017, Schiff claimed “there was more than circumstantial evidence now that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia.” He lied. On June 21, 2023, the House of Representatives censured Schiff on House Resolution 521, which called for an investigation into his “falsehoods, misrepresentations and abuse of sensitive information about the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and first impeachment of President Trump.” This, along with other positions, such as Benghazi and Iraq, should be enough for voters not to cast their ballot for this fraud.
Fred Levin
Santa Rosa
Regarding Jade’s City Council recommendations.
I take no issue with Jade making his choices for which candidates he plans to support. He explains his reasoning. However, his false and nearly defamatory statements about Scott and Ryan allegedly being in the pockets of the Skunk Train simply because they were endorsed by a community group called the Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg is ridiculous. I am appalled that a former educator would resort to spreading false rumors to try to bolster his preferred candidates, although that happened during the last city council election too. Ryan also got endorsed by the City employees’ union, does that put him in the pocket of the city employees? Of course not. The Alliance is not funded at all and has no money to donate to any candidates. Both Scott and Ryan have disclosed they haven’t received or even been offered any campaign contributions contributions from the Skunk Train or its officers like the Hart brothers. The Alliance itself isn’t controlled by or directly affiliated with the Skunk Train, although Cris Hart, who lives here is one of its many local members and he hired a consultant to help with the Alliance’s website, etc. Scott and Ryan, like all the candidates, should be judged based on their experience and positions, not false rumors about imagined back room deals. Jade has lost all credibility, in my opinion.
Re Skunk Permits
This has been reported on elsewhere but part of the Skunk Train losing the eminent domain case in Willits included the court ordering them to reimburse the property owner for his legal expenses, including all the attorneys fees. Moreover, the Skunk Train has never claimed they were exempt from any and all permits for projects on the Mill Site. In fact, they already applied for a Coastal Development Permit for work related to the central Mill pond area. That permit review is controlled by the City of Fort Bragg and will involve a full Environmental Impact Report. I am not sure where all this false information is coming from.