Off the Record 3/11/2026

MENDOLOCAL.NEWS AND THE U.S. POST OFFICE IN THE VILLAGE OF MENDOCINO

Donation letters returned to sender

by Elise Cox

I want to thank everyone who responded to my call for help funding our operational expenses for 2026. I know there are many worthy causes asking for donations, and it is deeply gratifying to see how many people in our community value and support local reporting.

This week, however, several supporters contacted me after receiving “Return to Sender” notices — even though they had addressed their envelopes correctly. If you were one of them, I hope you’ll consider resending your contribution.

Here’s what happened.

On Sunday, February 21, I went to pick up our February mail, which included responses to the fundraising campaign announced on February 1. When I arrived, I discovered that our post office box key no longer worked. Mendo Local Public Media formally incorporated in late August, and I believed the box was paid through the end of February.

We had not received any renewal notice from the post office, despite providing multiple methods of contact when we registered the box. I also acknowledge that I failed to add the renewal date to my calendar.

I returned the next day to clarify the situation and learned that the Mendocino post office does not send renewal reminders. Instead, it follows a U.S. Postal Service policy under which renewal dates are calculated from the first day of the month — even if a box is rented mid-month, as ours was on August 14. Under that policy, our renewal date was January 30, approximately five and a half months after we opened the box and rented it for six months.

At the counter, a clerk informed us that the box was overdue and advised us to return the following day with both keys to complete the renewal.

However, before we returned with the paperwork and keys on February 24, the contents of the box — including donation letters — appear to have been removed and returned to senders.

When we visited the post office again on Saturday, February 28, we spoke with the same clerk and asked when the letters had been returned. She first said they were sent back on February 10 or 11 — roughly ten days after the renewal date. When we noted that our rental period would have extended through February 13 based on our August 14 start date, she later stated the mail had been sent to Sacramento on February 14, which was a Saturday.

When we asked why the post office had not attempted to contact Mendo Local Public Media using the email address provided on our registration form, the clerk said she manages approximately 1,800 boxes and could not email customers individually. She then threatened to call the sheriff and did so.

The interaction felt like an unusual and disproportionate response to a calm inquiry about returned mail.

I am sharing this account, along with a recording of the exchange, in case others have had similar experiences at the Mendocino Village Post Office and would like to share them.

And again, if your donation was returned, please know how much your support means — and that we would be grateful if you chose to resend it.

The address for us is:

(Mendolocal.news)

Mark Scaramella Notes: A version of this happened to us a few years ago. But in our case the mail was simply held and a notice put in our box to pay the overdue amount at which point the accumulated undelivered mail was released. What happened to Ms. Cox seems like the worst possible option since it involves much more post office handling, loss of mail, increased hassle and unnecessary delay.

TIDBIT FROM THE PAST

contributed by Katy Tahja

When traveling circus troupes came through Mendocino County in the old days often the animals were de-fanged. They still looked scary to the public, and sounded fierce, but they were safer to be around. Once a circus coming over the Cloverdale/Boonville Road (Highway 128) had an old grizzly bear in a caged wagon. Coming up the dirt trail in the opposite direction was Mr. Omar Robinson and Mr. Estell driving 200 pigs to market in Cloverdale. The two parties met at a turn in the road and the bear growled from his cage and 200 pigs took off in 200 directions to escape the imagined predator. It took two weeks to retrieve all the frightened pigs.

MARIJUANA GROWERS I knew started a health clinic, a credit union, a radio station, multiple environmental organizations, were Little League coaches and grocery store clerks. I even know one who publishes your news. There are bad actors in every job including cops and preachers. But, in my experience, marijuana growers I know are generally good folks–outlaws and criminals are not necessarily the same thing.

— Kym Kemp (Redheaded Blackbelt)

MAZIE MALONE:

I enjoyed the article on tipping. Around 1992, 1993. I worked for tips at Konocti Harbor Inn in Lake County. At that time minimum wage was $4.25 per hour. It was a union job, the plumbers union. I remember they paid us an extra $.25 every day we worked for a clean uniform. It was fun, but I was quite young. I met a lot of people. But working for tips sucks. It’s hard work and basically you have to kiss ass if you wanna earn that tip and some people are utter jerks.

In those days they had a lot of once famous musical guests perform there. Eddie Money came there every year. He was a smoker. When he performed there, he always had a big group of people with him — his wife, his kids, the nanny, and the band and some friends. Because he was a “rockstar” he was allowed to sit in the non-smoking section and smoke cigarettes to his heart’s content. While all the other guests had to choke down their food with his nasty ass cigarette smoke wafting through the air.

One time the band Loverboy played there. This was the early 90s so these bands were already no longer relevant. The restaurant stopped serving breakfast at noon and my friend Wanda got the pleasure of waiting on the band. However, the lead singer, Mike Reno. mosied on down to the restaurant after noon. He sat down with his other bandmates. My friend poured him a cup of coffee and then he decided he wanted to order breakfast. She had to explain to him they were no longer serving breakfast because it was after noon. That mofo got mad & threw his hot coffee on her! What a guy.

They were very busy when they had musical acts on the weekends so they did a lot of buffets for dinner and breakfast. I do not like buffets to this day because of it. One time a guy found a fly in his scrambled eggs that he got from the breakfast buffet. It was gross and he was extremely upset. But also people go up to buffets and scoop up food. You know after they scratch their face or wipe their kid’s nose without washing their hands and then they pick up the spoons and touch everything. No thanks.

The most I ever made in tips was $130 in an eight hour day. That was because the band New Kids On The Block was playing. We must’ve had every teenager and their family from Sonoma, Lake and Mendo county come to see the famous boy band.

The good thing about working there was not the tips, it was getting to see quite a few free concerts. The worst one was listening to David Crosby and believe it or not the best concert I saw there was Air Supply. Ha ha. They even had Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Airplane… Fun times, except for working your ass off to get a good tip to make ends meet.

The best tip I have ever received was $15,000, definitely not from waitressing. lol. My paying job is Caregiving and I took care of a gentleman for 10+ years and when he passed his family gifted me for my care and dedication.

There is a love-hate relationship with tipping. However, I tip good unless the service is bad.

LEW CHICHESTER (Covelo):

The top photo in Wednesday’s Mendocino County Today is of Yvonne Niesen and Lindon Duke, taken on Round Valley History Day last year at the Methodist Church in downtown Covelo. Yvonne and I were in the Legion Hall for the monthly pancake breakfast just the weekend before Yvonne and Gary Niesen went off the side of the Covelo Road into the Eel River. Neither of them survived. The Niesens were my nearby neighbors, with a tidy ranch in the valley and a fair amount of grazing land in the hills. Yvonne had lived in that same ranch house all her life. Both Gary and Yvonne were straight up good people and we will miss them.

IS MENDO FINALLY GETTING AROUND TO TRYING TO TRYING TO MAKE GOOD ON MEASURE B MANDATES AFTER ONLY NINE YEARS?

SHERIFF MATT KENDALL:

Monday 03/01/2026 marked the 46 year anniversary of Steven Stayner and Timmy White’s escape from their kidnapper Kenneth Parnell.

These children had been abducted and later hidden in Parnell’s home in Mendocino County. Parnell kept Stayner for seven years before kidnapping a second child, 5-year-old Timmy White. Ultimately Steven escaped with this child and contacted law enforcement. I was 10 years old when this crime was reported. Although at 10 years old I lacked the depth of understanding of the gravity this event held, I clearly remember it shocked everyone in the county including my parents who had five juvenile children at the time. Parnell was a monster who ruined lives.

Parnell was later convicted of kidnapping charges and served 5 years of a 7 year sentence.

Several years later when he was in his 70’s he attempted to purchase a child by offering money to one of his care givers hoping to entice her into kidnapping a 4 year old boy. Luckily the care giver brought this to the attention of the police after Parnell had paid her 100 dollars for the child’s birth certificate proving to him, she had one to kidnap. Mr. Parnell received a 25 year sentence for this crime and eventually died in prison without victimizing more children.

Around 2018 California put in place a law which allowed for elderly persons age 60 and up to receive early release. This law had nothing to do with public safety and simply was a tool to reduce prison populations.

California’s elderly parole law allows violent criminals, including child rapists and murderers serving life sentences, to be released early from prison. It was established as part of a wave of criminal justice reforms state lawmakers and the governor made after the United States Supreme Court put California on notice in 2011 for its overcrowded prisons.

Since then, state leaders have been approving various law changes to decrease the state’s prison population.

California’s elderly parole program was first established through a panel of judges in 2014 and put into law in 2018. At first, it allowed some criminals with long sentences to be eligible for parole if they were at least 60 years old and served a minimum of 25 years in prison. In 2020, California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed to lower the age to 50 and required number of years behind bars to 20.

Last month, David Allen Funston, a 64-year-old man convicted of kidnapping and molesting children in 1995 and 1996, was granted parole under California’s elderly parole program. This man kidnapped and molested 7 children in the Sacramento area, luring them into his vehicle with toys and candy.

Thank goodness I still have the cognitive ability to see when things simply make no sense and don’t promote safety in the public. If these things seemed like good ideas to me I would know the stress had been too much. So the real question is, are you questioning the cognitive ability of the folks dreaming up this legislation?

ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK

[1] ON LINE COMMENTS RE: IRAN:

Officials are already starting to prepare the American people for a prolonged war. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton just said the operation against Iran will last weeks, not days. And we know all too well how fast weeks can turn into years when it comes to Middle East wars.

Even voices within the intelligence and defense community have raised concerns about the justification for the strikes. Some lawmakers, after classified briefings, have said they saw no evidence of an imminent threat to the United States that would necessitate immediate military action.

And let’s be clear: that doesn’t make Iran a benign actor. The regime’s record is well known. The Iranian people themselves have suffered under it for decades.

But acknowledging that reality doesn’t answer the question of whether this path leads to stability, or deeper chaos. And right now, chaos is spreading.

Missiles are crossing borders. Global energy routes are under threat. Regional alliances are being tested. And the risk of a broader and prolonged war grows by the hour.

Through all of this, we can hold onto two truths at once. The Iranian regime has long oppressed its own people. And the Iranian people, like civilians everywhere, are now caught in the middle of forces far larger than themselves.

Our hearts should be with them. And with our own service members, who may soon find themselves drawn deeper into a conflict whose scope is still evolving.

We are at the very beginning of this story, and it’s one that feels all too familiar….

---

On-line comment: Well, not to worry, magats. Your Cult Master has started his first war. I remember how we were going to “win” in Vietnam, too. Then Americans were scrambling to the roof of the Saigon Embassy to fight their way onto the evacuation choppers.

[2] Did you see the latest on Newsom? He actually told a black audience that he too had low SAT scores. Can you imagine?! Black audiences should be used to this sort of thing by now. They had Hillary and her hot sauce, Barack berating them over sexism, and Biden telling Charlamagne Tha God that they weren't black if they didn't vote for him. Most of them continued to vote Democrat, so I doubt Gavin's open racism will repel enough of them to matter. It's almost as if they're so flattered by the pandering, that they disregard the obvious racism.

[3] All I know is my sister worked her ass off every day up until 53 years old. That’s when she slipped in the restaurant kitchen and smacked her head on the concrete floor. Almost died but got Traumatic Brain Injury instead, complete disability and inability to hold a job, massive migraines and much loss of intelligence, memory and focus. She gets $1200/month which is not enough- car, rent, food, heat,etc. She’s lucky to have family. Or she’d be in one of these homeless camps. Not everybody has a family to help support them… WTH has happened to our great country?

[4] Every country has lunatics but America is the only advanced country where a high level of gun violence is considered normal. The abundance, easy availability (just be over 18 without a felony record) and lax gun laws in America combine to produce the highest level of gun violence of any first world nation.

As for “freedom”, guns result in less freedom for many Americans. A quarter of U.S. adults fear being attacked in their neighborhood. A third of U.S. adults avoid certain public places/events because of mass shooting fears. Millions of American women have been threatened by their gun-wielding romantic partners and fear breaking up with them will result in their deaths. It’s no surprise the U.S. appears far down on the list of countries on Cato Institute’s Human Freedom Index.

[5] Okay Trump as proven once again. Don't F with me. I will kill you if you do. But what do they think is going to happen in Iran now? Iran will just decide to stand down and sue for peace? Or will they become enraged and strike out with even more desperation and kill thousands with a lucky strike on something.. Or maybe they hit one of the Aircraft carriers with a hypersonic missile causing tremendous damage or loss of life. There is one thing we have learned since the Iraq and Afghanistan mistakes is that the Folks in the government do not have a plan for day 2. Especially if we take some real losses.

[6] Welp, hope everyone enjoys these few weeks of “successful regime change” because it usually only lasts a short time before decades of chaos ensue and unpredictable reverberations destabilize surrounding areas. I know everyone is dunking on the “libs” for protesting this while the Iranian people seemingly celebrate, but given the historical outcomes of USAs regime change operations, we should assume it's going to make the area much worse. The Taliban is literally the Afghan government now.

[7] Trump ran in 2024 on the huge issues of no war with Iran, full release of Epstein files, mass deportations, tariffs. We have gotten NONE of these. And he used his own powers, despite the promises of "America First" to break his own promise of no new foreign wars. What's more, he did so to begin a regional war of regime change in the Middle East with Iran.

I voted for Trump in the primaries and in the general election when I first became eligible to vote in '16, drawn in by his desire and promise to put Americans first and opposition to the Iraq war. I also did so in '20, and in '24. I will never vote Republican again until they put America First and Americans first. Trump and the Republicans have utterly betrayed MAGA and America First. He and the Republicans have lost their mandate to govern.

Trump was willing to leverage Republicans and let them lose to Hillary with a third-party split ticket in '16; guess what, he got what he wanted and became the nominee and eventually the president. He was willing to let Republicans lose to get what he wanted. I and many others are willing to make that same gambit. Until they put America First, do not let them continue to sell their globalist agenda in a pretty America First package. I am not going to vote in the midterms because of this war in Iran, in fact, I may vote Democrat. FUCK the Republican party for this. And, if the Republicans do not put America First in '28, I will vote split ticket or Democrat and let the party burn to the ground. There is no reason to keep voting for the party that dragged us into another Middle Eastern regime change war; this is not America First. I cannot and will not vote for the GOP until they put America First.

Never Vance

Never Rubio

[8] This is a foolish war with no long-term plan (again). And ultimately, as proven by the white house themselves contradicting their earlier justifications, this is a war of aggression that Israel brought us into. Israel was going in with our without us. They claim it was a binary between letting Americans die if we don't strike and going with Israel. Big problem: Israel is our client state. Why are they telling us what they're going to do? Why not restrain our client state? Why not say "no" to the Isaraelis? Iran has no nuclear weapons. They were not actively attacking Isreal. In fact, you might recall that we were in the middle of negotiations with them. So Israel starts a four day operation that they slate to end on Purim, so fitting.

This war was THEIR choice, it is a war of aggression and the intent is to defeat their final rival in the middle east. Every single time we have struck Iran it has been because Israel has in some way compelled or coerced us to. And our presidents do not say "no". This is all part of a greater plan started over 20 years ago to take out Israel's rivals (the "axis of evil" a term made up by a zionist) with the American military. We did it in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now we're doing it in Iran. And you are still gobbling it up. You're talking about Trump how dipshit comentators talked about Bush in the early 2000's, who now turn against him for starting a war in which there was never even a casus belli.

So, no, Donald Trump is not couragous to "stand up" to this regional at best threat. They don't even have nukes or the ability to make them any more. Isreal already has over 300 nuclear warheads! The Isrealis do not actually fear a nuclear strike by Iran, they fear a strategic detterrent that would prevent their hegeomny over the region. This war is nothing short of empire building for Nethanyahu.

And our president didn't say "no", didn't restrain Isreal from this insane war of aggression. And we have no long term plan for how this shakes out. So while Donald Trump got to forgo courage, we are sending our best men who are actually courageous to die for Isreal. Are we even a sovereign nation at this point if Israel gets to tell us when and where our service members are going to die on their behalf? I don't think we are.