- Game Four
- Moron Week
- Catch of the Day
- Ukiah Remodel
- Dark Carnival
- Ted Gullicksen
- Frack Contamination
- Safe Water
- Dating Profile
- KZYX Birthday
- Heyday Books
- Fallen Angel
- Tsunami Wednesdays
- Yasmin Memories
- Halloween Boogie
- Wodetzki Recommends
- Consider Woodhouse
- War Protest
- Ain't No Wheels on this Ship
POSEY, BULLPEN, Cards First Baseman Matt Adams, and several others combined to give the SF Giants their third National League Championship Series win. On Thursday, they hope to put it away with a fourth and final win behind their dominant left-hander Madison Bumgarner at home. If they do, they’ll face the Kansas City Royals in the World Series.
SOME WEEKS all goes well with your beloved community newspaper. The news is gathered, basted with a tart opinion sauce and shoved into a production convection oven for an overnight electronic roast before it appears in print form for Wednesday morning consumption. At least in Boonville. The Post Office takes over from there. Distant subscribers may or may not receive their weekly banquet.
OTHER WEEKS everything seems to go wrong. This week was a Go Wrong Week. We announced a Boonville man as dead. He's alive. A guy called up to say he was suing me. Crazy people left uniquely weird messages on the office nut screener. I forgot to put the coffee pot under the brew, which ran out onto the floor. Walking into the coffee shop downstairs, a transient loomed up out of the dawn gloom to ask me if I could “loan” him twenty bucks. We spelled “Turbulence” wrong on the front page's lead story. And so it went.
IF THE DEAD MAN calls I'll congratulate him. “Now you won't miss Game Four of the Giants-Cardinal playoff.” The guy who called to say he was suing me said a friend of his had told him he'd been “libeled in the Alexander Advocate.” I told him he and his friend were both morons. “And now you've been slandered, too,” I said, hanging up. A male voice on the answering machine asked if we knew that “the Mossad killed Lincoln. Please call me back.” I'd asked the transient when I'd see him again. “Right here, tomorrow morning same time,” he replied. Which made three morons on the week, because I waited for him the next morning for ten minutes. And it was only Tuesday.
CATCH OF THE DAY, October 15, 2014
BRANDY BROGIE, Fort Bragg. Drunk in public.
ROBERT CAMPBELL, Ukiah. Drunk in public. Parole violation.
ANTHONY COELHO, Merlin, Oregon. DUI-Drugs; sale, transport furnish organic drug, impersonation of someone else, probation revocation, fugitive from justice.
JESSIE GERMAINE, Mendocino. Pot cultivation/processing; parole violation.
JEFFERY MILNER, Albany/Laytonville. Domestic battery, drunk in public.
ROBERT NICHOLS, Clearlake. Failure to pay, probation revocation.
TINA PATTY, Willits. Probation revocation.
CLIFFORD RAPSTINE, Grants Pass, Oregon/Laytonville. Under influence of controlled substance.
JACKI SCOTT, Willits. Driving without a license.
JOSEPH SEIDELL, Philo. Pot cultivation/processing, sale, possession of meth.
ZACH’S
Editor,
I was pleased the other day when buying gas at Valero, across from Raley's, to see that there was somebody on the roof of the long abandoned Zach's restaurant, stripping its roof deck. I wandered over and introduced myself to the gentleman inside who was running the remodel job for an outfit called Wingstop; a chain of chicken part restaurants, the nearest of which seems to be in San Mateo.
They had already removed all the asbestos and pretty much gutted the interior and seemed to be making rapid progress. I guess they've decided to stick with the bizarre zigzag roofline, which, when I first moved to Ukiah, was one of a long-gone chain of restaurants with the politically incorrect name of Sambos.
I was delighted when passing by there this afternoon, to see a completely finished, beautifully crafted, mottled black and green composition shingle roof, with the large fascia areas around it painted a pleasing contrasting color. It is great to see this long derelict building being so nicely remodeled. The project manager told me that the funky gravel area out front was going to be an outdoor dining patio with overhead heaters for cold weather.
While it is far cry from some of the town's more handsome commercial structures, such as the simple, practical elegance of Ceja tire at the corner of Low Gap and State, it really looks like they're turning a sow's ear of a building into something closer to a silk purse. Congratulations to all involved in making that project happen; while it is not my normal dining preference, I'll definitely stop in and try their fare once they open.
One down, two to go; that takes care of one side of the rotten building gateway with which Ukiah has long greeted those entering our town from probably its most heavily used freeway off-ramps. Now, if someone would just come up with something nice to do with that old Fjord's eyesore; In-N-Out Burger? Transit hub? Any other ideas? Then, of course, there's the giant fiasco of the Palace. Don't get me started.
Sincerely,
John Arteaga, Ukiah
GOODBYE, TED
Ted Gullicksen, a fighter for S.F. tenants’ rights, dies
by John Coté
The cause of death was not immediately known, and friends said Mr. Gullicksen died in his sleep. He was 61. His passing left many in the city, particularly his friends and progressive allies on this city’s political left, stunned, and robbed tenant advocates of one of their clearest voices as the city struggles with a housing affordability crisis.
“I feel like part of the city just crashed into the ocean,” said Gabriel Haaland, whom Mr. Gullicksen hired as a tenant organizer in 1998. “He was my mentor, my hero and my friend. … Thousands of tenants are in their homes because of him.”
Whether it was running a program to help tenants stave off evictions, defending the city’s rent-control protections or amending legislation to protect low-income residents from being priced out during renovations, Mr. Gullicksen was at the center of the matter.
“He was just so inspirational,” said Sara Shortt, the director of the Housing Rights Committee, who had worked with Gullicksen for more than a decade. “I think that all renters in San Francisco will be diminished by the loss of Ted to our movement. He was a tireless advocate for tenants and really led the charge for tenants rights in this city for over 30 years.”
In a city were almost two-thirds of the residents are renters, housing “was Ted’s passion,” said his longtime friend and former partner, Sheila Sexton.
“For all of the intense personalities at City Hall, Ted was an amazingly gentle, kind and decent human being,” said Board of Supervisors President David Chiu. “He really truly was one of my favorite people at City Hall.”
A transplant from Massachusetts who moved to San Francisco in the early 1980s, Mr. Gullicksen was known for his passion for the Giants, doughnuts and Falcor – a moppy part-Maltese mutt that showed up at his door several years ago.
“They were really attached at the hip these last few years,” Ms. Shortt said. “We never knew Ted to be a dog guy or anything like that. Falcor showed up on his back steps, just this ratty, unkempt thing, and they just bonded.”
On game nights, Mr. Gullicksen would be found grilling in the backyard of his Bayview home and then watching the Giants.
Mr. Gullicksen grew up outside of Boston and was a competitive sailor as a child, friends said. He always had an eye out for those less fortunate. His first job was a a mental health worker in Taunton, Mass., where he also started a local newspaper. In Massachusetts, Mr. Gullicksen also did tenant rights and lead poisoning prevention work.
Several friends said they knew of no health problems with Mr. Gullicksen, who recently had been working vigorously for Proposition G, a ballot measure designed to deter real estate speculators from evicting tenants and flipping the property by putting a steep tax on the quick resale of multi-unit buildings.
“One thing that’s very clear to me is that he would want nothing more than all of us as his colleagues and his allies in the movement to keep fighting,” Shortt said. “I know that I myself will be fighting harder than ever in Ted’s name.”
Mr. Gullicksen is survived by his sister, Sandra Gullicksen Roby, his niece and nephews, his step-daughter, Geneva Lovett, and his former partner Sexton.
Details on a memorial service are pending.
(Courtesy, the SF Chronicle.)
CALIFORNIA AQUIFERS CONTAMINATED WITH BILLIONS OF GALLONS OF FRACKING WASTEWATER
http://rt.com/usa/194620-california-aquifers-fracking-contamination/
EBOLA
Ebola’s going to be almost impossible to fix by waving a wand, because most Africans have no access to basic health care. Nor do they have that much knowledge of preventive health: sanitation, washing hands, cleanliness. The reason? The majority of them do not have access to safe water; they live in remote areas, where news still travels slowly; they believe in indigenous solutions for confronting sickness and disease. They want to attend to their dead in a respectful way, which means touching the bodies. But safe water is still the basic health problem. Even in big cities like Lagos, Nigeria (with its millions of people), you can’t drink the tap water. (Charles R. Larson)
DATING PROFILE - Valentin Papadin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96AJpRT510M
KZYX 25th BIRTHDAY BASH A BLAST
by Jane Futcher
A rousing African dance ensemble led by drummer Saternine Da capped off KZYX's 25th birthday party at Boonville Fairgrounds’ Apple Hall Saturday.
More than 275 people attended the afternoon of music, dance and shout outs to past and present KZYX staff, board members and volunteers.
Congressman Jared Huffman's staff presented a commendation to KZYX programmer Val Muchowski. The Philo resident, who has hosted the Women's Voices program since the station's inception 25 years ago, announced Saturday that her last show will be October 20.
“It was a great honor to be recognized by Congressman Huffman,” Muchowski said. “Over the past 25 years, Women’s Voices has sought to connect Mendocino women through interviews, poetry, songs and stories. Janie Rezner, Blake More and Mary Aigner will continue to do so in the future. Women’s Voices will continue. It was wonderful to see all my friends and programmers who have kept KZXY so vibrant over the years.”
Charlie Hochberg, also of Philo, won special recognition for supporting the station since it's inception — as a programmer, board member, donor and volunteer.
Humble Pie’s Jimmy Humble reminisced about the station’s early days, reading a story from former KZXY DJ Sister Yasmin about the “hardships” eager programmers such as herself experienced when the station first opened.
“The front door was not yet there or functional, so we had to enter and leave through the garage in the back,” Yasmin said. “There also were no lights, no gravel, no path, no nothing but mud, sometimes deep mud.
“I remember that in order to safely carry my heavy vinyl (no CDs yet!), I had to put on my [car] brights and use that light to see the sort of walk way of boards covering the mud to get into the garage. I remember how scary it was to enter the building in the dark and leave it in the dark, but we all did it, because we were in love with radio, in love with KZYX, in love with our communities, and especially in love with our music, and we wanted to share it, we burned to share it with everyone who was listening.”
Home brews from five local beer makers, eight local wines, lunch from Delish of Willits and birthday cake kept the steady stream of guests spirited and well fed.
“This was a great celebration and a tremendous kick off to our fall pledge drive,” said station general manager John Coate. “The community turnout was fantastic. We raised some money for the station and honored many of the people who have kept the station on the air for 25 years.”
Over the course of the afternoon, the event’s emcee, KZYX Treehouse programmer W. Dan, asked the programmers present to introduce themselves, allowing many in the audience to see for the first time the faces of the voices they’ve been listening to on the radio for years.
Among the programmers present were: Jimmy Humble, Mary Aigner, Jamie Roberts, Johanna Wildoak, Annie Esposito, Fred Wooley, Barbara Lamb, Tim Bray, Colleen Bassett, Lilia Lobo de Albuquerque, Michael Arago, Sherry Glaser Love, Jerry Karp, Doug Livingston, Stuart Campbell, Fred Wooley, Colin Harris, Paul Lambert, Barbara Lamb, Michael Kisslinger, Beth Lang, Ragtime Rick, Liz (Bessie Mae Mucho) Helenchild, Aline Jalfim, Tom Wodezki, Bill Taylor, Shari Williams Andrews and Jaye Allison Macariello.
An Honor Roll list of more than 500 people who have served the station in many capacities over the course of 25 years decorated the hall.
KZYX board president Eliane Herring said the turnout was gratifying, particularly in light of the many community events happening on the same day in Willits, Laytonville and Fort Bragg.
“I hope folks who couldn’t attend the bash but still want to support the station will call KZYX in the next few days to make a pledge,” Herring said. “We want to keep the station alive and well for another 25 years.”
(Jane Futcher was co-coordinator, with Meg Courtney, of the KZYX 25th Birthday Bash.)
A HEYDAY FOR BOOKS
"Deep hanging out" at the Mendocino County Museum
Book party celebrates 40 years of California-centered publishing
Panel discusses role of Heyday Books in Native concerns
by Roberta Werdinger
On Sunday, October 26^th , from 2:30 to 5 pm, a free book talk and cultural conversation will take place at the Mendocino County Museum to mark the publication of Willits author Kim Bancroft's new book, "The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin: The Damn Good Times of a Fiercely Independent Publisher." The book commemorates the 40th anniversary of the founding of Heyday Books, a unique independent press that has become an instrumental sounding board for the diverse cultures present in the state, with a focus on its Native peoples.
Present at the conversation will be author Kim Bancroft; Heyday Books founder and overall raconteur Malcolm Margolin; Lindsie Bear, director of the Berkeley Roundhouse and editor of "News From Native California"; Priscilla Hunter, representative of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians; Verle Anderson, of the Native American History Project; and Dr. Victoria Patterson, curator of the Museum's just-opened exhibit on local Native peoples, "Woven Worlds." The panel discussion will be followed by a book signing.
"The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin" is at once a portrait of an exceptional person and of the press he founded in 1974 and fostered against all odds. Woven into the story of Margolin's life are testimonies and reflections from the many people who have published with, worked for, or been affected by Malcolm Margolin and Heyday Books. The book thus becomes a gathering place of its own, providing a proving ground for Margolin's adage: "I love being warmed by other people's fires."
The Mendocino County Museum is located at 400 East Commercial St. in Willits. The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 4:30 pm. For more information please call 459-2736 or visit www.MendocinoMuseum.org.
FALLEN ANGEL - Valentin Papadin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Z35DSWock
MONTHLY TSUNAMI SIREN TESTING
Beginning Wednesday, November 5, 2014, and the first Wednesday of each month thereafter, the Office of Emergency Services will test the Tsunami Sirens that have been placed in the Fort Bragg and Point Arena areas. If you live in or near the City of Fort Bragg or the City of Point Arena you may hear the siren emitting a full “wail” for 5 seconds and will then wind down for about 20 seconds until it comes to a stop. In the event of a real Tsunami event the siren will “wail” ramping up for 5 seconds, then down for 5 seconds, and continuing this pattern for 3 minutes. The Office of Emergency Services will conduct a monthly testing of the Tsunami Sirens System to help ensure the sirens functionality and reliability. When the sirens are not used for long periods of time they can corrode, increasing the possibility of malfunction. Monthly testing lessens the likelihood that corrosion will take place. If there is a real earthquake in the Pacific Ocean that has the potential to generate tsunami for our coastline the test will be cancelled. For more information on how to survive an earthquake or prepare for a tsunami please visit the following website http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/ . For questions please contact the Office of Emergency Services at (707) 463-5667 or e-mail at oes@co.mendocino.ca.us.
(Sheriff’s Office Press Release)
A FEW EARLY MEMORIES OF KZYX on its 25th Anniversary
by DJ Sister Yasmin, October 6, 2014
(Author’s Note: I heard they read this at their party last Saturday.)
* * *
Back in October, 1989 the first Friday night that KZYX (no Z yet) was born, my Reggae program "Heartbeat Vibrations" went on the air at 10pm. Wow. Such excitement! I was so stoked to be on the air, that I (we all) put up with all kinds of hardships. For instance: The front door was not yet there or functional, so we had to enter and leave through the Garage in the back. There also were no lights, no gravel, no path, no nothing but MUD, sometimes deep mud! I remember that in order to safely carry my heavy VINYL (no CDs yet!), I had to put on my brights and use that light to see the sort of walk way of boards covering the mud to get into the garage and I do remember how scary it was to enter the building in the dark and leave it in the dark, but we all did it. Why? Because WE WERE IN LOVE! In Love with Radio; In Love with KZYX, In Love with our Communities, and especially IN LOVE with our MUSIC, and we wanted to (we burned to!) share it with everyone who was listening.
Which brings me to my next memory: LATE NIGHT RADIO: My program went from 10pm Friday nights and could go until around 7am Saturday morning when The News (proably NPR) came on, if I wanted to be Hard Core, and I was!! I was spending Friday nights at Wellspring (and that's another story!) so that I didn't have to drive back to Anchor Bay in the wee hours. Sometimes, exhausted and not getting any phone calls for quite a while, I'd say, "Well, I guess I'll sign off soon, 'cause it's late, I am tired, and I guess you went to bed........blah, blah, blah." And immediately the phone would ring! "Hey, Sister Yasmin!! We just got back from the Caspar Inn, we're in the hot tub, and we wanna hear the Sweet Reggae Music!! Don't you dare go off the air!!" Being the Reggae Fanatic that I was, I stayed on the air as long as The Listeners were listening! Yes! It was heady, irresistible, and so much FUN!! I especially remember Rick Redfern (RIP) and Hyacinth calling and begging, demanding me to "Keep playing Reggae!!"
In the first year, Brian Woods, PD, wisely moved Heartbeat Vibrations to Monday afternoons from 2pm-4:30pm. I was scared at first because I had cultivated a devoted late Friday night audience and was afraid I would lose them. But, Brian knew best, and I found that Monday afternoons was the Perfect time for Reggae Music! People were awake, some were working in their studios and shops, and gardens, and were really tuned in! I did lot of Black History and other Black Liberation type shows, and people were really into it. Also, sometimes I had the honor to sit in for Ron O'Brien, who did a Blues & Jazz show on Monday nights. Wowee! What a pleasure! I grew up on Black Radio and Black Music, and was into Jimmy Reed and Howlin' Wolf, Miles and Coltrane, way, way before I ever heard of Bob Marley! I loved to sit in for Ron's show! Thanks Ron!
So, Ron's show went late, and by the time I signed off, wrote on the logs, put away everything and got my (very heavy) VINYL out to my truck, it was way late, which brings me to my next (scary) memory of The Night Time Is The Right Time at KZYX: Finding myself around 2am on the Boonville Road (to you guys it's the "Manchester Road) on a dark, stormy, winter's night on my way home to the Coast, going up a very slick hill, my Toyota truck starts to slides backwards, off the road! Ohmygosh! What to do, but stop, and get out out to see what's up. (I think it was snowing by that time!) I saw that if I tried to go forward or backward, I might slide right off the road and down the mountain. Luckily, I had food, blankets, water, and tapes of my show with me (I always taped ALL my shows, so I could critique them later), so I was ready to settle down for the rest of the night, until I figured out how to get out of my predicament. When it started to get too cold, I turned on my engine (I always traveled to kzyx with lots of gas!) and turned on my heater. Just before daylight, here comes Mr. Wonderbread in his big, old truck! Yay! Wonderbread to the rescue! Ha! As he was trying to tow me out, he gets stuck in the ice and snow and starts to slide too! Help! So, there we sat until daylight, when a young man of the Piper Family, way up high in the kitchen of the Piper Family Ranch looks out his window while making coffee and sees a Wonderbread Truck and a red Toyota truck stuck on the hill way below. He got some chains and boogied down the mountain and towed us out, and Boy! were we glad to see him!! I remember being so thankful to be back on the road heading home, stopped in at Bookends (I think it was called in those days) in Pt. Arena for coffee, and just laughed and Gave Thanks! I sent that young guy a Thank You card (my daughter went to school with the Piper Girls back in the day!) and had another great KZYX Late Night Memory and Adventure to share with you all today!
There are so many more that I guess I should write a book, but that's all for now, Folks, and thanks for listening. I sure miss doing RADIO, as it was the very Best part of my life, and the most Creative part, for many, many years!!
Love, Peace & Unity, DJ SISTER YASMIN Anchor Bay, CA
HALLOWEEN BOOGIE!
215 Main and DJ Sister Yasmin present a Halloween Boogie on Friday, October 31st. Costumes are encouraged and the Funky Dance Party starts at 7:00pm. 215 Main serves a delicious bar menu, local beers and wines and non-alcoholic soft drinks, in a friendly, low-key atmosphere, with art on the walls, good vibes and nice folks. It's a great place to hang out, dance, eat, drink and enjoy a night on the town. DJ Sister Yasmin will rock the house with Cumbia, Salsa, Soul, Funk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Blues, Rock and so much more, for your dancing and listening pleasure. This is a 21 and over venue and there is no cover charge for this event. Location: 215 Main Street, downtown Point Arena, CA. Information at: 707-884-4703; 882-3215. Shine up your dancin' shoes, and see you there on Halloween Night!
VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS
by Tom Wodetzki
I've gathered voting recommendations from 15 progressive/liberal/left/environmental/labor organizations and publications, and here's my recommendations, in order of how they appear on the ballot:
The 11 "STATE" races are just between Democrats and Republicans, so go Dem on all.
Re the 2 SCHOOL races, pick Tom Torlakson, and for County Supe of Schools write in Kathy Wylie.
The 12 judges will all be selected so ignore this section since it's a democratic farce.
Mendocino County 3rd District Supervisor: Holly Madrigal.
For Mendocino Coast Health Care District Directors, Michael Carroll is 1st choice, John Kerman 2nd and Kitty Bruning 3rd.
State Propositions:
- Water Bond: NO (as recommended by SF Bay Guardian, AVA, Steve Antler, Green Party & others).
- State Budget: YES (Bay Guardian, AVA, Quakers, Democratic Party, League of Women Voters).
- Healthcare Insurance: YES (nearly unanimous choice of the 15 progressive orgs).
- Drug Testing. NO (Bay Guardian, Steve Antler, Green Party, Peace & Freedom Party).
- Criminal Sentences. YES (unanimous choice).
- Indian Gaming. YES (nearly unanimous choice).
Measure S. Fracking Ban: YES (unanimous choice).
CONSIDER TOM
Letter To The Editor,
Tom Woodhouse and Holly Madrigal are competing in what promises to be another close battle for 3rd District Supervisor of Mendocino County. Both candidates have been involved in this community for years, Holly as a member of Willits City Council and Tom as a tireless behind-the-scenes volunteer in the schools, at the Senior Center, at City Council and CalTrans meetings, and as a Sheriff’s Department Community Service Supervisor. Tom has also worked independently with local youth to instill in them a sense of community. He has organized community cleanups as well as spent untold hours weed-eating and cleaning up our city streets by himself. He is an honest and hard-working businessman and family man. If you have not decided for whom to vote in this crucial election, please consider Tom Woodhouse. If you haven’t met him, please stop by his office at 2 North Street to discuss your concerns for the future of Mendocino County. He has a broad and creative view of what Mendocino County needs to stay solvent while providing the necessary infrastructure to ensure the safety and well-being of all of its citizens. He is environmentally conscious and will do his utmost to preserve the beauty and health of this beautiful country that we call home. I’m voting for Tom and I hope that you will, too.
Norma Hanson, Willits
SOUTH COAST PEOPLE FOR PEACE will gather at the Gualala Post Office this Monday, October 20th at noon to protest Ongoing, Endless War. The US spends billions on war and weapons of mass destruction. How can we have money for Universal Health Care, Education, Housing, Jobs, Seniors, Children, healing Our Planet, Renewables, and helping People, if we have endless wars? WE CAN'T! We continue to bear witness for Peace and Justice in Gaza and for the Palestinian People,and against the wars in Iraq and Syria. Please join us this Monday, October 20th at noon at the Gualala Post Office and Stand For Peace! We stand in support of the People of Gaza's human and civil rights, self determination, water and land rights and democracy for the Occupied Palestinian People. Please join us every Monday in October and November. Everyone is welcome!! “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Beyond Viet Nam "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the Good People."Martin Luther King, Jr. - Letter from A Birmingham Jail "You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb the world into Peace! Michael Franti & Spearhead. Information: 884-4703 and
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Coast-People-For-Peace/1488299098076641
"AIN'T NO WHEELS ON THIS SHIP"
Row, row, row
Row, row, row
I used to have big money
That was many moons ago
You use to call me honey
Now you call me so-and-so
'Cause there ain't no wheels on this ship
And we can't row, row, row
We can't row, row, row
We can't row
Row, row, row
Row, row, row
You used to be big, papa
The cat of every ball
Now listen, little papa
Well, I'm at your big downfall
'Cause there ain't no wheels on this ship
And we can't row, row, row
We can't row, row, row
We can't row
Row, row, row
Row, row, row
You use to like my lovin'
Because you liked my gold
Now ya don't want my lovin'
'Cause there ain't no dough no more
And there ain't no wheels on this ship
And we can't row, row, row
We can't row, row, row
We can't row
Row, row, row
Row, row, row
Well, I'll tell you for the last time
And I told you this before
If you want to keep your mama
Ya gotta love me more and more
'Cause there ain't no wheels on this ship
And we can't row, row, row
We can't row row row
We can't row
— Patsy Cline
“POSEY, BULLPEN, Cards First Baseman Matt Adams, and several others combined to give the SF Giants their third National League Championship Series win.”
Predicting baseball is like predicting the weather or close elections…but as previously mentioned here, the Cards have shown this time anyway, the big stage may have got em… Giants Win! Giants Win! Drive home safely…
Regarding KZYX Board member Jane Futcher’s report on KZYX’s Birthday Bash on Saturday, October 11, I’m positively swooning. Giddy, actually. One would get the impression that all is well at the station.
All is not well.
KZYX has its own brand of of elitism and the status quo — the “politically correct”. The station’s programming falls far short of reflecting the diversity of the public here in Mendocino County. Programming is ideologically biased. The parameters of debate on a given topic are very consciously curtailed. The station feels the necessity to carefully consider what kinds of dissenting opinion are acceptable. Only programming that can be characterized by “radical” or “activist” politics make it to air — programming that is anti-national interest, anti-foreign policy, anti-capitalism, and anti-government.
That’s all fine — I lean toward the progressive wing of the Democrat Party, after all — but where is the diversity at KZYX? Where are the conservatives? Where are the Republicans? The Libertarians. The Green Party? The American Independent Party? The Tea Party? The Peace and Freedom Party? The Citizens Party?
KZYX is supposed to be public radio, after all.
And I haven’t even mentioned a noticeable lack of minorities on the air — African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans. They are all seriously under-represented or totally absent.
I voice my concerns as both a Board member, and as a host and producer of a show that aired for more than six years on KZYX.
Moving on, Ms. Futcher plugs the KZYX Fall Pledge Drive in her report. She says that management at KZYX wants the community to support the station as in the past. However, management will not share with you, the community, important information about how donor dollars are spent.
Letters have been written to this paper asking good questions concerning where donor dollars go when giving money to KZYX. As someone who works on a daily basis with institutional investors and retirement systems in volatile, uncertain markets, I encourage listeners to approach their gift giving as an investor — and as a consumer.
You wouldn’t buy a car without looking under the hood, asking about its history, having a mechanic do an inspection, and otherwise do your homework to see if the car is a good investment.
People in Mendocino County have supported KZYX without knowing the full facts.
KZYX is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. It is required to let you, the public, know the important information such as how much money out of a total budget of $650,000 is being put into aging equipment before it fails — to cite just one example. Nor do we know how much staff gets paid — it’s secret. And what happened to the thousands of dollars that the community raised to start a Ukiah studio — but the money disappeared.
The KZYX Board is legally responsible for all financial liabilities. If money that was earmarked for the studio in Ukiah, for example, and it wasn’t spent on a studio, then the Board is legally liable for that misappropriation. The station’s General Manager, John Coate, is not liable. But the KZYX Board has a long history of being handpicked by station management. Consequently, the Board sees no evil, hears no evil. It is generally a do-nothing Board.
How can you, as donors, support a station where Mr. Coate misappropriated that $10,000 for a Ukiah stuudio? Add that to the fact that Coate will not disclose his salary, and we have real problems with transparency and accountability.
Little wonder that the FCC has held up the renewal of the station’s licenses. Little wonder that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting continues to cut its funding for KZYX. The station is on its way to being defunded. Little wonder that the number of memberships at KZYX has been stuck at 2,300 for years in a broadcast area that includes all of Mendocino County, and big parts of the Counties of Lake, Humboldt, and Sonoma. The needle hasn’t moved. And one of the days, NPR will also probably take a close look as to whether or not they want a station as shady as KZYX as an affiliate. Little wonder.
One other thing. When I served as Board Treasurer at KZYX, I did not get one call from John Coate. Little wonder.
And oh, by the way, Coate gave himself at 10 per cent raise back in 2013. This was precisely the time that Mendocino County was laying off or “attritting” about a quarter of its work force, and the remaining county workers were getting a 10 per cent pay cut.
So much for worker solidarity at KZYX, John Coate!
Listening to the fund drive this week, I laugh at the various pitches for your money. Before you spend your hard earned dollars, know how your money is going to be spent, or how has it been spent to date. That is being an informed consumer.
It isn’t enough for the programmers to say, “Help us keep our old, tired programs on the air, programs that appeal only to old, tired hippies just us, so donate.” It isn’t enough to say, “We need a studio in Ukiah, but we’ll spend it on salaries instead, so donate.” It isn’t enough to say, “Help us replace aging broadcast equipment because it failed for three whole days in March, but we won’t budget anything for new equipment, so donate. It isn’t enough to say, “We want to go another 25 years without looking at the station’s history of a lack of transparency and accountability, so donate.”
Please, don’t give without being informed. Be that informed consumer.
Before you blindly give to KZYX, get the answers to these and others questions. Finally, you should know that when I asked these questions, my show, “All About Money”, was cancelled. My show was cancelled along with the popular shows of Norman De Vall and Doug McKenty, who also dared to ask tough questions.
Not only was my show cancelled, John Coate demanded that I sign a letter that he wrote, and which he intended to send to the local newspapers, in which I was suppose to retract my criticisms of the station. He wanted a public humiliation before finally axing me.
In the words of a friend, “The letter you were expected to sign by Coate was in league with the statements drafted by ISIS and mouthed by the hostages prior to their beheadings.”
John J Sakowicz
Board Member (2013-2015) and Board Treasurer (2013), Mendocino County Public Broadcasting
and
Host and Producer, “All About the Money” (2008-2014)