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Letters 12/7/2024


PALACIAL HISTORY IN UKIAH

Hello Local History Buffs,

Here are the details of our quarterly history talk, coming up on Sunday, December 8, at 1:00 pm. The guest speaker is going to be Karen Rifkin, a local journalist who recently published a history of Ukiah's historic Palace Hotel. Karen will discuss the process of researching and self-publishing the story of the Palace, where she once worked as the kitchen manager. With any luck, she'll also season her talk with some of the spicier stories that came from her research.

Karen moved to Ukiah almost 50 years ago where she raised a family while working in several different careers, from baking to teaching English and history to middle school students. She began submitting stories to the Ukiah Daily Journal in 2008, launching her career as a journalist and photographer.

In July 2023, the Historical Society unveiled our new research room, where Karen Rifkin eagerly stepped forward as one of our inaugural docents. During her time exploring our collection, she came across the Palace Hotel (Ukiah) archival collection, an exciting find, given her past experience as the kitchen manager, line cook, and sous chef at the Palace Bar & Grill. Discoveries like an original menu and a newspaper article celebrating the restaurant's grand opening stirred many memories.

In the winter of 2023, Karen wrote a feature article for the Ukiah Daily Journal about her time at the Palace Hotel. “The story unexpectedly touched a communal nerve,” writes Karen, and launched her on a series of stories about the lengthy history of the place. Karen soon became a weekly guest at the Toney Archive of the Historical Society, poring over files, memorabilia, photos, and newspaper articles, until the critical mass of all that information inspired her to write a book.

Karen recently held a book release event at the Archive and pavilion, which attracted about 100 people. It was a cold November day, but people stayed for hours to buy books, share stories of the Palace, and enjoy a lovely buffet. Our archivist, Alyssa Ballard, even put together a pop-up exhibition of Palace photos and artifacts.

Come and join us at Bromley Hall, First Presbyterian Church of Ukiah across the street from the Historical Society, on the corner of Perkins and Dora Streets to hear the story behind the stories. The $10.00 price of admission gets you an afternoon sweet treat and beverages to enjoy. For reservations, please call us at 707-462-6969, email us at info@mendocinocountyhistory.org, or reserve on our website:

mendocinocountyhistory.org.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you,

Tim Buckner

E.D. Historical Society of Mendocino County

Ukiah


UKIAH HIGH FOOTBALL SET TO REPEAT

Editor,

One of the more surprising results in the region last week was Ukiah’s 28-25 loss to Redwood (Larkspur) in the Division 4 semifinals. In a complete slopfest on Ukiah’s grass field-turned-mud pit, the Giants capitalized on a late special-teams mistake by the Wildcats for a game-winning touchdown with under a minute to play.

The Giants started the year 3-4, which included a 24-6 loss to Rancho Cotate, a team that beat Ukiah 40-22 in the first week of the season. Now, Redwood will be playing in its first section title game in school history.

It’s a disappointing season-ending loss for the top-seeded Wildcats, who appeared poised to make their return to an NCS title game for the first time since 1999.

Ukiah is set to graduate 18 seniors, including two-way star Omaurie Phillips-Porter, but had a number of young players contributed this season. There’s no reason the Wildcats shouldn’t have a good chance to make it far in the postseason again next year.

Gus Morris

Ukiah


ALL THEY HAVE

Editor:

Do I agree with homeless sweeps? No. Do I think it’s wrong? Yes. Why do I think it’s wrong? If one lives on the street there is a good reason. Rent hikes. Lack of affordable housing.

Normal functioning people can and do live on the streets or in their cars. No longer is it those who are addicted to drugs or inflicted with mental illness. How long one stays on the streets depends on outside factors. I have talked with many people who help run homeless shelters, including Building Bridges in Ukiah. Everyone basically says it’s lack of affordable housing. Constant rejections don’t help either. Those making $16 an hour face extreme housing rejection.

Being homeless on the streets or living out of your car is not easy. A bright flashlight and a cop knocking loudly on the window, firmly telling one to move. Where to next? A shelter is no way to live either. It changes a person. Drugs are rampant within the homeless community.

I implore those doing homeless sweeps to take a minute to think about what they are doing. Those little possessions getting tossed out are of value to someone. It is all they have. Give them a chance to grab what they really need.

N. M. Sartain

Willits


SAVE THE WATERTOWER

Editor,

An application has been submitted to the Mendocino Historic Review Board to demolish the water tower as a third attempt to disregard the important landmarks of Mendocino, this time with a plan to replace it with stairs. It is curious that anyone would want to demolish a water tower in Mendocino. This shows a real lack of understanding of what Mendocino means to locals and visitors alike and a disregard for the historic nature that makes our town so unique as a water tower was originally built at the turn of the century for the Mendosa’s market. In 1976, Barry Cusick purchased the water tower, which was painstakingly moved to its current location on Main Street and put back together with all of the same historic parts. This water tower is part of the storied fabric of our town, it is what tourists come to see and locals live to enjoy on a daily basis. This particular water tower is one of the last large remaining water towers left on Main Street in the village. This water tower is part of the unique skyline of Mendocino, a part of the historic fabric of our town. The Mendocino and Headlands Historic District is a nationally recognized and locally protected historic district. The Mendocino Historic Review Board will be hearing the issue, and will be reviewing public comments. Show your support in person by attending the site view at the water tower (next to Flow Restaurant) on Monday, December 2, at 4:00 pm. The regular meeting will reconvene at the Mendocino Community Center at 6 pm.

Send your comment letters to: pbscommissions@mendocinocounty.gov and reference MHRB application 2024-0009.

Be there, show your support of this historic water tower!

Deirdre Lamb

Mendocino


STOP EXPLOITING HOTEL WORKERS

Editor,

The strike by hotel workers in San Francisco highlights a stark and disgraceful truth: Billionaire greed deepens while workers struggle to survive.

These hotel housekeepers, cooks and bellhops are not asking for luxuries — they are demanding fair wages and humane workloads. They often sacrifice their health for their job. These workers are being exploited, but at what cost?

While hotels boast about their ability to “operate and take care of guests” during the strike, they are dismissing the humanity of the people who keep their businesses running. Arresting striking workers as happened in October only exacerbates injustice, punishing those who dare to demand dignity and fair treatment.

It’s time to hold billion-dollar hotel corporations and billionaires accountable for exploitative practices that enrich the few.

Jules Pizano

San Francisco


BLAMING SOLAR

Editor:

California’s three investor-owned utilities claim the successful rooftop solar industry shifts the cost of energy to those without rooftop solar. They released a study claiming rooftop solar has cost ratepayers $8.5 billion this year.

Using that figure, which they call a “cost shift,” utilities justified rolling back the net metering programs that pay customers for excess energy their systems produce. Policymakers including Gov. Gavin Newsom are using that figure as a reason to erode the economies of rooftop solar across the board.

An independent study shows the opposite — that California’s 17 gigawatts of rooftop solar have saved us about $2.3 billion on our bills, reduced pressure on the grid, freed up energy capabilities for all of us and prevented the need for more power plants.

This “cost shift” notion is crazy. Why should solar users be penalized for using less energy? Should we be penalized if we increase the insulation in our homes or buy energy-efficient appliances? Should we pay grocery stores when we grow vegetables in our backyards?

Rooftop solar is clean energy, which climate change demands. Solar installation creates well-paying blue-collar jobs. Working class people can see lower energy costs over time.

Our utility bills are high for one simple reason. The utilities spend too much.

Jane Bender

Santa Rosa


PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Letter to the Editor:

I listen to both left and right longform podcasts. Anyone who gets their news only from cable TV is really missing out. Here are links to a couple of pods I recently enjoyed. These links are copied from the Apple podcast app. If they don’t open for you, try searching for the name of the podcast and guest, and you should find it in a compatible format for your phone or computer. You can also search for them on YouTube.

I listen to the Sean Ryan show when he has guests with foreign policy experience. This episode is a good view of what is going on in China from guest Erik Bethel, former director at the World Bank.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shawn-ryan-show/id1492492083?i=1000676482474

Here is a Podcast and Chill episode from South Africa, a long conversation with Elon Musk’s father Errol Musk. Fascinating glimpse of life in South Africa, and the Musk family, all from Errol’s point of view, of course.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-and-chill-with-macg/id1455343618?i=1000676953842

Monica Huettl

Redwood Valley


OUT YOU GO, PETE

Editor:

Adultery is defined as “ voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse.” It is widely recognized that Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee to become Secretary Of Defense, is an adulterer. Under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, adultery is considered a serious offense in the military, and service members can face severe consequences, including dishonorable discharge and imprisonment, if found guilty.

An adulterer as the head of the Department of Defense? Go figure …

Rex Morgan

Santa Rosa


OFF-PATH BIKES HARMING NATURE, RUINING LANDSCAPE

Editor,

For those interested in maintaining the beauty of our hills and landscape on Mount Tamalpais, I ask that you take a close look at the damage that bikes have inflicted on Blackie’s Pasture and the trail that leads to Tiburon.

Recently, I saw deep bike-tire slices and new bike trails throughout all the surrounding hills. I’m worried that there is no one to stop this destruction. I hope the Tiburon Parks Maintenance Division can do more to stop this.

In many places across Marin, I have experienced bikers roaring around, seemingly going wherever they want. It appears some have little regard for safety, speed, nature, pedestrians, children or dogs. I have seen the landscape damaged. I know many are just “kids being kids,” but they do this at high speeds, some on what appear to be “electric motorcycles.”

Please don’t let our local or visiting mountain bikers destroy our amazing Mt. Tam hiking trails and magnificent landscapes. I have seen too many of today’s cyclists not staying on paths, creating their own shortcuts and damaging the natural flow of nature.

Sandra Macleod White

San Rafael


HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?

Editor:

The news that more than half of students are failing mathematics and English is beyond comprehension. How is it possible that California, the fifth-largest economy, is failing in education? It can’t be money. Over 40% of the California budget goes to education. It can’t be class size, at an average of 25 students per class. Compare that to Japan’s (first in mathematics) average of 38 students per class.

It’s not salaries. Per the California Board of Education, the average teacher’s salary is $95,000, and that does not include $30,000 in benefits. That’s for 180 days of work vs. a regular job’s 250 days of work. The Press Democrat’s article says, “Only 18.4% of the district’s students were absent for more than 10% of school last year.” As if that’s a good statistic? Nearly 1 in 5 students missing 10% of their school days should not be classified as “only.”

Parents’ odds of their children getting a sufficient education is less than 50%. This failure is incomprehensible. More money, smaller class sizes, better salaries won’t fix it. We have those. We need an entire cultural change that allows teachers to teach and students to succeed. I’m wondering how we can address this.

Paul Franceschini

Petaluma

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