Mendocino County Today: Sunday, February 16, 2014

• Palace Hotel Red-tagged?
• Public Hearing: CR FB
• Headlines of the Day
• Dog Gone
• Drink v. Rent
• How to Irrigate
• Seed Saving
• Swinishness
• Bank of Cannabis
• Rich v. Poor
• Santa Rosa Fluoridation
• Charlie's Birthday
• Still Waiting

WE'RE SEEKING confirmation of rumors that Cal-Osha has red-tagged the long defunct Palace Hotel in central Ukiah. The stately old structure is supposedly being rehabilitated and has received numerous work extensions from the City of Ukiah. But the current owner, a Marin County realtor named Eladia Laines, apparently lacks the resources to get the work done.

THE COLLEGE OF THE REDWOODS PUBLIC HEARING on the recommendation to “suspend” operations at the local campus will be this Monday, February 17th, at the Fort Bragg Town Hall at Noon. Doors are expected to open at 11:30 a.m. The meeting will end promptly at 2:00 p.m. Those wishing to speak must complete a Public Comment/Speaker's Request Card and turn it in to staff at the hearing. Cards will be provided at the meeting or you can download one at this link.

There will be time for fewer than 40 people to speak. Please yield to students and others most affected by the closure and to those with a point of view that has not already been expressed. Keep in mind the mission of all California community colleges is to serve students desiring to transfer, acquire vocational training, or learn basic academic skills. Personal enrichment and lifelong learning interests are not priorities in California at this time. Speakers will be strictly limited to 3 minutes. A staff member will serve as time keeper and will display placards at “1 minute,” “30 seconds” and “stop.” Sheriff Allman will assist if any speaker does not adhere to the 3-minute time limit. There will be no discussion, and no action taken at this meeting. If speakers have questions, they will be asked to submit them in writing, or if simple, staff will write them down. Answers to the pertinent questions will be posted on the website. The college is sending someone to videotape the meeting so trustees who are not in attendance can view it. A copy of the video will be available on the college's website prior to March 4 when a vote on the recommendation is expected to be taken in Eureka. I'll post a link when it is available.

Barbara Rice, Trustee

HEADLINES OF THE DAY:

• From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, their most exciting hed ever: “Dogs found chewing on dead man's body in Mendocino County.” Wow! For the toothy details see Tiffany Revelle's story from the Ukiah Daily Journal reprinted below.

• Second interesting lead headline appears in Saturday's Ukiah Daily Journal: “Bicyclist struck in street a homeless man.” Hmmm. How about writing it backwards? Man, homeless in street, bicyclist struck. Or maybe, since it was a homeless man on a bike who got hit by a car when he swerved into traffic, Bike Bum Hit by Car on North State.

DEAD MAN FOUND ATTACKED BY DOGS

Sheriff says dog bites on body were not cause of death

by Tiffany Revelle

A man was found dead after a passer-by reported seeing two dogs attacking his body in a clearing by railroad tracks near a trailer park home just south of Calpella Friday morning, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

The man wasn't identified Friday, and the cause of his death is under investigation. “He had multiple injuries consistent with dog bites,” Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said.

A driver in the area called the Sheriff's Office dispatch center at 10:41 a.m. Feb. 14 and reported seeing a man lying in the ground in a clearing beside the road in the 5000 block of North State Street, and two dogs attacking his body, according to the MCSO.

Sheriff's Animal Control officer Torsten Werner responded and saw a Rottweiler and a pitbull standing over the man's body. He yelled to get the dogs' attention and the Rottweiler charged aggressively at him. Werner reportedly shot at the dog twice and hit the Rottweiler at least once, killing the animal, according to the MCSO.

The other dog, described as a white pitbull, ran from the area and was not found after “an exhaustive search of the area,” according to the MCSO.

A 12-year-old boy who lives next door to the trailer home where the dogs were kept behind a tall fence and was out of school on Valentine's Day, said he heard the two gunshots around 11 a.m. Friday morning. The boy said he had never seen the dogs out of their fenced yard, and that they only barked at people who came especially close to their fence.

Sheriff's detectives and Mendocino County District Attorney's Office investigators also responded to the scene, and the cause of the man's death is under investigation. “At this time, investigators do not believe the adult male died as a result of an animal attack, although evidence of animal activity on the adult male's body was evident,” the MCSO stated.

Detectives are working to identify the man, and an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday. Animal Control officers took the Rottweiler from the scene to be autopsied as well, according to the MCSO. Detectives have not yet determined who owns the dogs.

Anyone who spots the white pitbull or a dog looking like it is urged not to approach the animal, but to call MCSO dispatch at 463-4086. Anhyone with information about the incident is urged to call the MCSO tip line at 234-2100.

In a separate incident later the same day, authorities responded to another dog attack and shooting on Coyote Road just east of North State Street, according to Allman. He said no one died, but one man was injured. No further information was available about the second incident Friday night.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

LOTS OF AMERICAN controversies can't be talked about in realistic terms. If, for instance, you constantly describe all the people living on the streets as “homeless,” it ignores basic distinctions: Yes, there are major shortages of low-income housing. But a lot of the distressing public behavior attributed to the “homeless” doesn't have anything to do with shelter. It occurs because people are allowed to be helplessly drunk or strung out on drugs in public. And there is another large bloc of people living outside because they're crazy. All three groups need to be hospitalized, which is what we used to do with people incapable of caring for themselves, but what we are unlikely to ever do again because the upper income people in this country don't tote their fair share of the social load.

A HOMELESS GUY explained his homelessness to me. “I get social security and some food stamps. The cheapest rental I can find in Mendocino County is about $700 a month, and that's in Willits but I'd probably get kicked out because I can be loud when I'm drunk. I can't drink and pay rent both. And I'm not going to stop drinking. I either find a free place to stay or I live on the streets.”

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY: “You must consider that in times of drought, you cannot and should not water top down to the roots. So much water is lost in evaporation alone, esp in dry conditions. Deep water is a must. For trees, Drive a porous pipe down 2.5 to 3ft and water at that level. For veges, drip line and cover the soil in straw. Use common sense and we can get through this. Stop using chemicals on the soil and rather grow what is native to the soil you have.”

AV FOODSHED THIRD SUNDAY POTLUCK IS FEB 16. The workshop this month is The Magic, Wisdom and Politics of Seed with Tom Melcher.

Potluck 5:30. Seed Saving Workshop 6:30

This event is co-sponsored by the AV Grange and is held in their building in Philo.

Also, if you would like to read the latest in our series “Connecting With Local Food” you can find it at www.mendocinolocalfood.org

This one is about Acorn Ranch (the new endeavor at the old Stanley Johnson Ranch on Hwy 128) by David Ballantine.

“AS LONG AS WE'RE YOUNG, we manage to find excuses for the stoniest indifference, the most blatant caddishness, we put them down to emotional eccentricity or some sort of romantic inexperience. But later on, when life shows us how much cunning, cruelty, and malice are required just to keep the body at ninety-eight point six, we catch on, we know the scene, we begin to understand how much swinishness it takes to make up a past. Just take a close look at yourself and the degree of rottenness you've come to. There's no mystery about it, no more room for fairy tales; if you've lived this long, it's because you've squashed any poetry you had in you.”

— Louis-Ferdinand Céline

FEDS ISSUE BANKING REGS FOR MARIJUANA-RELATED BUSINESSES – But California May Not Qualify Due to Lack of State Licensing

Cal NORML Release Feb 14, 2014

The Dept of Justice has announced new federal guidelines for providing financial services to marijuana-related businesses under the Bank Secrecy Act : “BSA Expectations Regarding Marijuana-Related Businesses.” The guidelines repeatedly call on financial institutions to check for state licensing. Because California doesn't have a state licensing system, only local ordinances regulating medical marijuana collectives, it's questionable whether these guidelines apply in California. (Note that a bill to establish a state MMJ licensing system, AB 604 by Tom Ammiano, is pending in the State Senate). The guidelines reiterate that DOJ enforcement is focused on assuring compliance with the so-called Cole Memo priorities, namely preventing distribution to minors, diversion of revenues to criminal enterprises, diversion to states where marijuana is illegal, growing on public lands, drugged driving, violence and use of firearms, etc. The memo goes on to direct financial instutions to conduct due diligence in assessing customers. In specific, it states: In assessing the risk of providing services to a marijuana-related business, a financial institution should conduct customer due diligence that includes: (i) verifying with the appropriate state authorities whether the business is duly licensed and registered; (ii) reviewing the license application (and related documentation) submitted by the business for obtaining a state license to operate its marijuana-related business; (iii) requesting from state licensing and enforcement authorities available information about the business and related parties; (iv) developing an understanding of the normal and expected activity for the business, including the types of products to be sold and the type of customers to be served (e.g., medical versus recreational customers); (v) ongoing monitoring of publicly available sources for adverse information about the business and related parties; (vi) ongoing monitoring for suspicious activity, including for any of the red flags described in this guidance; and (vii) refreshing information obtained as part of customer due diligence on a periodic basis and commensurate with the risk. With respect to information regarding state licensure obtained in connection with such customer due diligence, a financial institution may reasonably rely on the accuracy of information provided by state licensing authorities, where states make such information available. Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer called the new federal guidelines a welcome development, while urging the legislature to promptly enact a state licensing system along the lines proposed in AB 604. Full text of the guidelines may be found at <http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/pdf/FIN-2014-G001.pdf>

POOR BUT SHE WAS HONEST

by Anonymous

She was poor but she was honest,
Victim of a rich man's whim,

First he loved her, then he left her,
And she lost her honest name.

 

Then she ran away to London,
For to hide her grief and shame;

There she met another squire,
And she lost her name again.

 

See her riding in a carriage,

In the Park and all so gay:

All the nibs and nobby persons

Come to pass the time of day.

 

See the little old-world village

Where her aged parents live,

Drinking the champagne she sends them;
But they never can forgive.

 

In the rich man's arms she flutters,
Like a bird with broken wing:

First he loved her, then he left her,
And she hasn't got a ring.

 

See him in the splendid mansion,
Entertaining with the best,

While the girl that he has ruined,
Entertains a sordid guest.

 

See him in the House of Commons,
Making laws to put down crime,

While the victim of his passions
Trails her way through mud and slime.

 

Standing on the bridge at midnight,
She says: 'Farewell, blighted Love.'

There's a scream, a splash — Good Heavens!
What is she a-doing of?

 

Then they drag her from the river,
Water from her clothes they wrang,

For they thought that she was drownded;
But the corpse got up and sang:

 

'It's the same the whole world over;
It's the poor that gets the blame,

It's the rich that get the pleasure.
Isn't it a blooming shame?'

A SONOMA COUNTY WRITER SAYS NO TO FLOURIDE

Sonoma County Supervisors,

I beseech you, please, NO FLUORIDATION.

I am 69 next month. I have been a workout guy since I was 25. I spent nearly 30 years as a distance runner, and have done about every style of workout you can imagine. Along with this goes healthy diet, clean living and plenty of clean WATER. That's why I am six foot tall and one hundred sixty pounds, and wear 33 waist jeans that are LOOSE. I take care of myself. It's a job!

I cannot remove the fluoride from the water if you deliver it fluoridated. NO ONE CAN! How NASTY is that? Think on that...you cannot remove this aluminum waste garbage once it is inserted in the water using any viable water cleaning system that is available. NONE!! The BEST filters available will only remove a portion of it, and those filters would run about eighty dollars every quarter of the year. That's a waste of money.

Leaving the fluoride in; here's where it goes in a senior like me that drinks at least a GALLON of clean water every day. (I use British Berkefeld system with Black Berky filters replaced annually. I have TWO of them in our home). IF the water is fluoridated, my kidneys will have to process all that material. They will not process all of it. The rest will end up IN MY AGING BUT STILL VERY ATHLETIC BONES. This will result in my bones becoming BRITTLE much sooner. This will MESS UP MY LIFE and probably SHORTEN IT.

Please, get the kids some tooth brushes and do some oral hygiene training in the schools. Ten million and a million a year to benefit WHO?

Alabama was the first state to fluoridate. They quit it long ago; Texas, too. Why? RESULTS STUNK! It was a waste of money.

This will be the SR parking meters revisited with serious health hazards as a bonus. Talk about a LOSE LOSE deal.

Please, stick with fixing the roads and getting us out of the power company.

I'll let you know right now if you pass this, don't take it personal, but I'll bust my butt to dethrone every one of you that votes FOR this thing. I am talking especially to YOU, SUSAN GORIN!

Nowhere in your job description do you have the authority to MEDICATE the population.

Sincerely, a Sonoma County Resident

CHARLES DARWIN'S BIRTHDAY IS TODAY

I AM WAITING

I am waiting for my case to come up
and I am waiting

for a rebirth of wonder
and I am waiting
for someone to really discover America
and wail

and I am waiting
for the discovery

of a new symbolic western frontier
and I am waiting
for the American Eagle
to really spread its wings
and straighten up and fly right
and I am waiting
for the Age of Anxiety
to drop dead
and I am waiting
for the war to be fought

which will make the world safe
for anarchy
and I am waiting
for the final withering away
of all governments
and I am perpetually awaiting
a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the Second Coming
and I am waiting
for a religious revival

to sweep through the state of Arizona
and I am waiting

for the Grapes of Wrath to be stored
and I am waiting
for them to prove
that God is really American
and I am waiting
to see God on television
piped’ onto church altars
if only they can find
the right channel
to tune in on
and I am waiting

for the Last Supper to be served again
with a strange new appetizer
and I am perpetually awaiting
a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for my number to be called
and I am waiting

for the Salvation Army to take over
and I am waiting

for the meek to be blessed
and inherit the earth
without taxes and I am waiting
for forests and animals
to reclaim the earth as theirs
and I am waiting
for a way to be devised
to destroy all nationalisms
without killing anybody
and I am waiting
for linnets and planets to fall like rain
and I am waiting for lovers and weepers
to lie down together again

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the Great Divide to ‘be crossed
and I am anxiously waiting
for the secret of eternal life to be discovered
by an obscure general practitioner
and I am waiting
for the storms of life

to be over
and I am waiting
to set sail for happiness
and I am waiting
for a reconstructed Mayflower
to reach America
with its picture story and tv rights
sold in advance to the natives
and I am waiting
for the lost music to sound again
in the Lost Continent
in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the day
that maketh all things clear
and I am awaiting retribution
for what America did

to Tom Sawyer
and I am waiting
for the American Boy
to take off Beauty’s clothes
and get on top of her
and I am waiting
for Alice in Wonderland
to retransmit to me
her total dream of innocence
and I am waiting
for Childe Roland to come
to the final darkest tower
and I am waiting
for Aphrodite

to grow live arms
at a final disarmament conference
in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting
to get some intimations
of immortality
by recollecting my early childhood
and I am waiting
for the green mornings to come again
youth’s dumb green fields come back again
and I am waiting
for some strains of unpremeditated art
to shake my typewriter
and I am waiting to write
the great indelible poem

and I am waiting

for the last long careless rapture
and I am perpetually waiting
for the fleeing lovers on the Grecian Urn
to catch each other up at last
and embrace
and I am waiting
perpetually and forever
a renaissance of wonder.

— Lawrence Ferlinghetti