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- Moribund Radio
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- J.D. Smith
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- Withdrawal Plan
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IN MEMORIAM: MARIANNE PARDINI. AGE: 63
(May 25, 1951 to April 3, 2015 )
Resident of Boonville, California
Marianne Pardini passed away suddenly on April 3rd, 2015 at her home in Boonville California. Born May 25th, 1951 in Chicago Illinois, Marianne moved to the Bay Area with her parents and two brothers.
Marianne met her first husband, Tony Summit, on a blind date. They left the Bay Area and settled in Anderson Valley in 1974. They were blessed with the birth of twin daughters, Aimee and Sarah in 1976. In 1979, the birth of their son, Peter, made their family complete. Marianne was a wonderful and devoted Mother who always put her children first. They were her purpose in life. Her work with the community’s children was a labor of love and a source of great happiness to her. She touched many lives through her generous nature, ready smile, quick sense of humor and warm hugs. Marianne was also much loved for her willingness to spread joy through the music that was so much a part of who she was.
Later in life, Marianne extended her family by marrying Donald Pardini. They shared many happy memories and years together.
Throughout her life, Marianne always held her faith in Jesus Christ close and passed that comforting faith onto her children and grandchildren. Her loss has left a huge hole in their hearts, but they take great comfort knowing that they will see her again someday.
Marianne is survived by her husband, Donald Pardini of Boonville, CA, her daughter Aimee Yates and husband Jerry of Ukiah, CA, daughter Sarah Summit and fiancé David Halstad also of Ukiah, CA. Her grandchildren, Savannah Grider and husband Jordan of San Diego, CA, Gus and Roy Smith, Emma Bechtol, Chloe Yates, Pyper and Tayt Halstad all of Ukiah, CA, and great-grandaughter Everley Grider of San Diego, CA. She is also survived by her brother Steve Gannon and his wife Suzanne of Napa, CA and brother Gregg Gannon of Los Angeles, CA. Her step-children Julie Villa and family of Cloverdale, CA, and Ernie and Tony Pardini and families of Boonville, CA. She is also survived by the entire Summit family who always remained near and dear to her heart.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 11th, 2015 at 1pm at the Apple Hall in Boonville, CA.
FULLY FUND LAW ENFORCEMENT
Dear Supervisor Hamburg:
Recently the Unity Club, of which I am a member, learned of the truly distressing treatment of our Deputy Sheriffs. The DSO voluntarily took a 10% pay cut in 2010 when our county needed funds. This was not reinstated. Nor have they received a cost of living increase. Clearly a case of insult to injury. At this point in time they receive a fraction of the pay given to Ukiah City officers.
Now we are losing our deputies to agencies that are awarded a higher pay. This is truly outrageous.
I demand a 10% increase in the salaries of the Deputies AND a cost of living increase retroactive to 2010. Anderson Valley is proud of our Deputy Walker and we miss him. We need these salaries repaired so that Walker and others can serve those of us in the outlying areas.
Sincerely, Mary Pat Palmer, MA, RH
Philo
WHAT'S REALLY, REALLY, REALLY TIRESOME about certain discussions in this county is that the truly painful issues always, without fail, conclude with someone from one of the helping bureaucracies saying, "If you give us more money we can help better."
HOW MANY YEARS has Mendocino County, population 90,000, been among the state's leaders (sic) in per capita child abuse stats? Many. But the studies are vague. The study that came up Tuesday when the depressing subject was discussed by the Supervisors is out of UC Berkeley. It was apparently pegged to how many children are absorbed into the foster system. Mendo teens needing foster homes are about the same percentage as the rest of the state.
WHAT'S ODD about these conversations is they take place out of the wider context, which should be the obvious fact that our society is imploding. But the talk proceeds on the deluded assumption that $50,000 to the non-privatized sectors of our Mental Health apparatus will somehow begin to beat back child abuse here in Happy Happy Wine Country.
AND THE ABUSE isn't defined with any precision. I saw a prosperous-looking family of four strolling through the farmer's market at San Rafael a couple of Sundays ago when mommy suddenly wrenched the arm of the toddler whose hand she was holding, a boy of about three. The attack on the boy, and his arm was jerked hard enough to constitute an attack, seemed unprovoked, other than the boy whining about something, as in "I wanna wanna wanna…" Then, of course, having his arm pulled hard enough to injure him, the child began to cry. Daddy looked embarrassed as an elderly woman said to the mommy, "That's completely unnecessary." Mommy just glared around at all of us startled by an episode of child abuse in the very heart of mellow Marin, and walked on, the child wailing. If you're a so-called parent with such loose control of yourself that you attack your kid in a crowd of people, well, that couple's two children are in for a tough childhood. As are millions of children growing up in an objectively psycho social context.
IN MENDOCINO COUNTY, as in every other county in the state, child abuse is strictly class warfare — the state with its army of helping pros versus the working poor. That Marin woman ought to get a children's protective services look, but she won't because the well-to-do are insulated from the kind of state intrusions the poor are subject to on a regular basis.
THE ABUSE cases I have first hand knowledge of in Mendocino County fall mostly in the neglect category. Dope head parents, on the off chance there are two of them, are too screwed up from drugs and/or alcohol to get the kid fed and his diapers changed regularly. Flat out beatings and sexual assaults aren't all that common, although common enough to make one wonder at the long-term viability of the human race.
BUT HERE THEY COME, the helping professionals, and here come the supervisors listening to presentations slo-baked in false feeling for "the kids" who, of course, are major funding units considered the way they're considered in contemporary society.
THE UPSHOT? More study and come back in 2016 and, count on it, the supervisors will hand over at least $50,000 to help fund a "Family Resource Center."
REFORM AT KZYX?
Editor,
Nurturing the Seeds of Change—
Although the candidates proposing the most change at MCPB/KZYX lost the recent board election, it now appears that a majority of the new board will support greater engagement with the members and the public, and more involvement in managing the station.
At the February board meeting, three of the directors - Jane Futcher, Meg Courtney, and Holly Madrigal - said that they were bored and wanted to spend more time doing committee work. They were particularly interested in the Infrastructure and Outreach committees. Other standing committees include Finance, Personnel, and Strategic Planning.
At the candidates' forum in March, all of the candidates agreed that more engagement with the members and public was important. And, although returning director Ed Keller was willing to leave everything to management, new directors Benj Thomas and Clay Eubank acknowledged the oversight role of the board, though each wants to avoid micro-managing day-to-day operations.
The new board would not need to adopt any new policies to begin work on these goals, it would just need to implement policies already in place. The standing committees mentioned above have been board policy for several years, and each director is required to be on at least one committee, no more than two. Committee assignments should be the second order of business at the annual meeting next month, right after the selection of officers.
The Program Advisory Committee is also dormant. Naming its members and setting a deadline for the first meeting is an appropriate board action, since the current management has failed to implement the policy. Implementing the Community Advisory Board's (CAB's) recommendation for a regular "News of the Station" call-in show is also an appropriate board action. Although the composition and procedures of the CAB are themselves questionable, they did come up with one specific proposal, but even that modest proposal has been ignored by the current management.
Finally, the board should require management to activate the membership email list. We know that email addresses have been collected during membership sign-up. The renewal letter we send asks people to supply one so we can save trees and other resources. And an email address is a required field when donating online. So the information is there. Once established, it could be used to send a quarterly e-newsletter. Since we already have a relationship with the members, this would not be spamming, although an opt-out option must be available.
Although use of the email list would need to be controlled, the quarterly reports could include a link to a page on the KZYX website that lists all of the websites currently maintained by programmers - a "Programmers Page" that could be a subheading of "About Us" on the main page. A similar link and page could be created for a "Members Page", which provides links submitted by members to related discussions/resources, e.g., the KZYXTalk list serve. The station could include a disclaimer so that there is no confusion about supporting any particular view.
All of the proposals above are consistent with the majority's support for more engagement and increased board involvement. There were, of course, other proposals for change, most notably shifting personnel decisions from the general manager to the board. It is unlikely that the new board will even consider such changes. But it is proper to hold the new board accountable for the two issues where there was general agreement - greater engagement with the members/public and greater involvement in making sure that existing policies are implemented.
If the new board fulfills the promises that were made during the campaign, then the station can still move forward. But if it does not, then the station will continue to lose the support of the community, and it will fail.
Dennis O'Brien, Ukiah
PS - My personal thanks to all who supported my candidacy and who joined in the discussion of important issues. The last four months were an exciting exploration of the potential of public radio. I am disappointed that the turnout was so low; many people, including me, did not receive their ballots, which calls into question both the maintenance of the membership rolls and the integrity of the election process. I am also disappointed that the board officially sanctioned the general manager's use of the programmer email list to campaign against me. However, my opponent Clay Eubank acted honorably, and I wish him well.
BULLWHIPS CRACKIN' IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
by Marc Ash, Reader Supported News
There is a scandal involving a major urban American police department that is going almost entirely ignored.
San Francisco evokes images of hippies, gay tolerance, and world class dining. It is viewed as the most liberal major American city. But there is another, darker side to San Francisco and the region that surrounds it.
It began with a federal investigation into allegations of corruption. Ultimately San Francisco police officers would be charged with stealing cash and other property from a wide range of suspects. One of the officers charged, Reynaldo Vargas, would later testify, “If I saw something I wanted, I took it.”
Vargas and other officers would also implicate a colleague who would emerge as a central player and focus of the investigation and subsequent trail: Sergeant Ian Furminger.
Furminger and Officer Edmond Robles were both convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit theft, theft of more than $5,000 worth of property from a federally funded program, and another charge, conspiracy against civil rights.
From all appearances, it looked like a disturbing but otherwise fairly routine tale of cops gone bad in the big city. But there was another, far more explosive component contained in the evidence. Something that would put the entire department on trial.
As part of their investigation into corruption charges, the FBI had obtained copies of Furminger’s phone records including, most notably, his text messages. What was contained in the messages made the corruption problems pale in comparison:
“We got two blacks at my boys [sic] school and they are brother and sister! There cause dad works for the school district and I am watching them like hawks.”
In response to a text asking, “Do you celebrate quanza [sic] at your school?” Furminger wrote: “Yeah we burn the cross on the field! Then we celebrate Whitemas.”
“Its [sic] worth every penny to live here [Walnut Creek] away from the savages.”
“Those guys are pretty stupid! Ask some dumb ass questions you would expect from a black rookie! Sorry if they are your buddies!”
“The buffalo soldier was why the Indians Wouldnt [sic] shoot the niggers that found for the confederate They [sic] thought they were sacred buffalo and not human.”
“Gunther Furminger was a famous slave auctioneer.”
“My wife has 2 friends over that don't know each other the cool one says to me get me a drink nigger not knowing the other is married to one just happened right now LMFAO.”
“White power.”
In response to a text saying “Niggers should be spayed,” Furminger wrote, “I saw one an hour ago with 4 kids.”
“I am leaving it like it is, painting KKK on the sides and calling it a day!”
“Cross burning lowers blood pressure! I did the test myself!”
In response to a text saying “All niggers must fucking hang,” Furminger wrote, “Ask my 6 year old what he thinks about Obama.”
In response to a text saying “Just boarded train at Mission/16th,” Furminger wrote, “Ok, just watch out for BM’s [black males].”
In response to a text from another SFPD officer regarding the promotion of a black officer to sergeant, Furminger wrote: “Fuckin nigger.”
It’s Not Against the Law to Put an Animal Down
There was yet another exchange: Furminger comments to another SFPD officer, “I hate to tell you this but my wife friend [sic] is over with their kids and her husband is black! If [sic] is an Attorney but should I be worried?” The other officer responds, “Get ur pocket gun. Keep it available in case the monkey returns to his roots. Its [sic] not against the law to put an animal down.” To which Furminger responds, “Well said!”
The reality is that it really isn’t against the law to put an animal, or a human being defined as an animal, down as long as it is the law doing it.
As Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson kept firing his gun time and time again at unarmed Michael Brown, who had his hands raised, did he see Michael as something more than an animal to be put down?
As NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo choked the life out of Eric Garner in the middle of a busy New York City street in front of countless witnesses, did he really believe that he was killing a human being?
As half the Police Department of the City of Cleveland, Ohio, defied the orders of their commanders chasing unarmed Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, firing 137 shots at them and ultimately executing them at point-blank range, surely they could not have seen Russell and Williams as human beings.
As 12-year-old Tamir Rice lay dying on the snow-covered playground, the officer who had just shot him and his partner refused to allow Tamir’s mother and sister come to him. They threatened Tamir’s mother, Samaria, with arrest and literally tackled 14-year-old Tajai to prevent her from getting to her dying brother’s side. The same remorse, the same concern, the same dignity they would have afforded an animal.
Jessie Hernandez was a beautiful 17-year-old lesbian, hispanic girl. She was also joy-riding in a stolen car. Although no evidence exists to support their claims, the Denver police say that they feared for their lives and that is why they shot Jessie through the heart, both lungs, her liver, her pelvis, and her leg. As her body struggled for life, the police dragged her unconscious from the car, threw her face down on the ground, and handcuffed her. She was unarmed. An animal they had just put down.
In a scene from the 1988 movie, Mississippi Burning, an FBI agent asks a young African American boy for any shred of information that could shed light on what might have happened to missing civil rights workers Michael (Mickey) Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman. The boy simply replies, “You should start with the sheriff’s office.” Indeed, all three men were abducted and murdered by Neshoba County, Mississippi, sheriff's deputies acting under “color of law.” Put down just as though they were animals.
The tradition of violent racists infiltrating American police agencies has a rich history. While 20th century southern law enforcement agencies attracted the most attention for harboring racist elements, racist and homophobic individuals are deeply embedded in law enforcement throughout the U.S. to this day.
San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr so far has set the number of officers engaging in racist or homophobic remarks at eight, including a captain. But that’s just what Suhr is prepared to talk about publicly. Suhr is calling for their resignations.
However, roughly one hundred miles northeast of San Francisco in the state’s capital, Sacramento, there is another case with equally troubling racial overtones. African American community civil rights activist Maile Hampton is charged by Sacramento Police with the crime of lynching. The logic they apply is that Hampton attempted to pull a fellow demonstrator from the grasp of a police officer. The charge stems from the language in a 1933 law that was originally intended to mitigate real lynchings by angry mobs who would forcibly remove detainees from police custody, often resulting vigilante-style murders.
Applying this law to demonstrators who are often demanding an end to racist police practices has become a favorite tactic of California police. An exacerbation of existing racial tensions, with intent, again under “color of law.”
FBI investigators rather stumbled into the original racist text messages by Ian Furminger as part of a corruption investigation. The sentiments expressed by Furminger and at least eight other SFPD officers are now in the public record.
It is certainly the tip – not the iceberg.
(Marc Ash was formerly the founder and Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.)
BELOW are comments which Coalition Chairperson Chis Malan will deliver before the State Water Resources Control Board at the Board's April 8th meeting in Sacramento. The statement is on SWRCB Agenda Item 13 which will not be heard before 11 AM.
Here is a link
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/board_info/agendas/2015/apr/04070815_agenda_rev.pdf
to the SWRCB's meeting agenda
and here's the link to the resolution
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/board_info/agendas/2015/apr/040815_13_w_draft_res.pdf
being considered and the staff discussion of that resolution.
The issue Ms. Malan and others will be addressing is the need for the State and Regional Water Boards to list as "flow-impaired" certain streams which have been substantially dewatered as a result of poorly managed legal stream diversions, illegal stream diversion and unregulated groundwater extraction at great harm to Coho salmon and other beneficial uses of water.
Ms. Malan's statement takes note of the failure of Governor Brown to require that the Agricultural Industry cut back its water use while other industries and citizens must cut water use by 25%: "Because the Governor and this Board have failed to require cutbacks in agricultural water use, which is 80% of all California water use, our streams and salmon rivers will be dry or have meager and inadequate flows for longer this year than in any year on record." Ms Malan's statement ends with a plea for the State Board to "Give us the flow-impaired listings we need now to defend our streams and our salmon."
Since 2010 the Earth Law Center and California Coastkeeper Alliance have spearheaded efforts to get the State and Regional Water Boards to list streams as "flow-impaired" pursuant to provisions of the Clean Water Act.
Here's a link
to the ELC, CCA et al press release which includes information on the five North Coast and Klamath River Basin rivers for which there is clear and convincing scientific information indicating that beneficial uses of the streams, including ESA and C-ESA threatened Coho salmon, have been significantly damaged and degraded as a result of excessive steam diversions and unregulated groundwater extraction. The five streams are Scott River, Shasta River, Upper Main Eel River, Mattole River, and Russian River tributaries (Maacama Creek & Mark West Creek).
Two of the five streams, the Shasta River and Mark West Creek, have been selected by Governor Brown for augmented flows as part of the State's 2015 Water Action Plan. Ms. Malan's testimony asks the State Water Resources Control Board to follow the Governor's lead in recognizing these two streams as "flow impaired" waterbodies.
For More Information call Chris Malan at 707-322-6677 or Felice Pace at 707-954-6588
Near Fort Jones California, July 31, 2009: The dewatered Scott River in the foreground; full on alfalfa irrigation in the mid-ground. (Photo by Felice Pace)
* * *
North Coast Stream Flow Coalition (NCSFC)
2945 Atlas Peak Rd. Napa, CA. 94558
707.255.7434 Fax. 707.259.1097
Statement of Chris Malan, Coalition Chairperson, to the State Water Resources Control Board on the need for listing certain streams as flow-impaired and included those listings in the 2012 Integrated Report to the EPA
* * *
Madam Chairperson and Members of the Board, The North Coast Stream Flow Coalition is comprised of 17 grassroots organizations based from the Oregon Border to San Francisco Bay and including the Klamath River Basin. Those organizations, along with their 34,000 members, are working to protect and restore streamflow in the face of progressive and unrelenting stream dewatering. In spite of our best efforts, we are losing. Each year key salmon streams are dry for longer and longer periods. And in spite of public trust complaints by our members and others, the progressive dewatering continues unabated.
We are losing our streams and that is why we need your help. You can help us right now by relying on the definitive information provided by the Earth Law Center, Coalition members and others to list those streams where beneficial uses have clearly been damaged and degraded as a result of excessive stream diversion and unregulated groundwater extraction.
To help us now when we so desperately need your help you will need to reject your staff's reasons for not supporting flow-impaired listings. As stated in the Response to Comments here is why staff recommends not listing even a single stream as flow-impaired:
"Any staff recommendation to categorize the beneficial uses of a waterbody as impaired due solely to anthropogenic changes in flow may be difficult to support on a technical basis if performed without a standardized and documented methodology. Further, the effort required of Regional Water Board staff to conduct initial assessments and make recommendations on a case-by-case basis, and the subsequent effort required of State Water Board staff to understand the Regional Water Board staff assessments and recommendations will likely require staff resources far in excess of those currently available. For the above reasons relating to transparency of process, adequacy of technical analysis, and prudent use of resources, any steps that can be taken to address flow through other programs and authorities should be, and are being taken now, and the issue of flow impairment should be addressed carefully through development of an assessment method before assessments are performed on a case-by-case basis."
We grant staff's assertion that it would be preferable to have a "standardized and documented methodology" and that lack of that methodology "may" present certain difficulties. However, we would like you and your staff to be more ambitious. We want you to rely on the mountains of scientific information presented by the Earth Law Center and on the Governor's 2015 Water Action Plan. This Plan includes efforts to augment flows in Mark West Creek and the Shasta River - two of the streams petitioners have proposed for listing as flow-impaired. The Governor's targeting of those streams for flow augmentation represents a reliance on the overwhelming scientific and technical evidence that flow-related beneficial uses in those streams are impaired as a result of human activities as well as the professional judgment of scientists and managers at the Department of Fish and Wildlife. That information and those professional judgments were good enough for the governor and they should be good enough for you.
Additionally, studies completed by Riverbend Sciences for the National Marine Fisheries Service, which were used to develop the SONC Coho Recovery Plan and which were presented by staff at the recent North Coast Regional Water Quality Board flow workshop, confirm anthropogenic flow depletion in the same streams which you have been asked to list as flow-impaired.
Also, while we appreciate the statement that "steps that can be taken to address flow through other programs and authorities should be (taken)," we must point out that no such steps have been taken by regional boards and that none are scheduled to be considered in the near term. Furthermore, steps to address flows through other "programs and authorities" would also, in the words of the staff report, "likely require staff resources far in excess of those currently available."
As you well know, we are in the fourth year of drought. Because the Governor and this Board have failed to require cutbacks in agricultural water use, which is 80% of all California water use, our streams and salmon rivers will be dry or have meager and inadequate flows for longer this year than in any year on record. Under these conditions, the need for action should trump the staffs' reticence and preference for the most cautious approach conceivable. Please recognize that the Coho do not have the luxury of the most cautious approach. Give us the flow-impaired listings we need now to defend our streams and our salmon.
Thank You.
Coalition Member Organizations — Environmental Protection Information Center; Community Clean Water Institute; Forest Unlimited; Friends of the Navarro Watershed; Friends of the Gualala; Friends of the Eel River; Institute for Conservation Advocacy, Research and Education; Klamath Forest Alliance; Maacama Watershed Alliance; Willets/Outlet Creek Watershed Group; Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations; Institute for Fisheries Resources; Sonoma County Water Coalition; Living Rivers Council; Save Mark West Creek; Willits Environmental Ctr; Friends of Del Norte
BILLIE HOLIDAY, BEFORE HER FIRST SONG:
From the book Mythologies by Manuel Vicent
Translated by Louis Bedrock
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/471329917223454350/
When Billie Holiday, whose real name was Eleonora, was born on April 7, 1915, her mother was 13 years old, and her father was still a kid in short pants who kicked cans down the street. It happened in Baltimore, a city then famous for its rats. Her mother split for New York where she scrubbed stairs; her father joined a jazz band and disappeared. The child was turned over to her grandparents who lived in a small wooden house replete with aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, and cousins all crowded together. At the age of ten, Eleonora was already a fully developed woman and had to exchange her skates and her bicycle for a bucket, a brush, and some rags. Along with this trade inherited from her mother, the young girl had the job of resisting the nightly attacks of male lust by her male cousins in the communal bed.
Around the corner from her house was the brothel run by Alice Dean, where Eleonora began to run errands for the mistress of the house and the girls. She would go to the store, bring in and take out wash basins, place and retrieve bars of Lifebuoy soap, and wash towels all for five cents; but the young girl preferred not to be paid if in exchange the mistress of the house allowed her to listen to Louis Armstrong and to Bessie Smith on the victrola in the living room. It was the first time she heard singing without words, with only sounds of the soul from the throat that adapted themselves to its mood. In their early days, jazz and brothels were the same substance in those caverns where whites and blacks rubbed shoulders unselfconsciously--something that did not occur in churches. The child drank up that music from its very source. She once said, “If I had heard that music in the house of a minister, I wouldn’t have minded doing the chores for free.
When she was ten years old, she was in love with the actress Billie Dove. She imitated her movements and her hairstyle. But in the street, she had fist fights with boys her age and her father, who thought she was a tomboy because of this began calling her Bill. It was the name of her heroine: Billie. She adopted it. Her father was a trumpet player. During his travels with a second class orchestra, he spawned children with different women all over the South and they would see him suddenly appear at the door one day only to disappear the following day. Billie’s mother returned from New York and began taking on boarders to survive. 10 year old Billie wore white socks and patent leather shoes which she stole from the stores, for which her great-grandmother, who had been a slave and who spent a lot of time reading the bible, called her a sinner.
One summer afternoon, one of the guests, a man in his forties named Dick, grabbed the young girl’s hand and took her to a house under the pretext of waiting there for her mother. It was a whorehouse. With Billie stuck in a room, he attempted to rape her. The girl resisted kicking and screaming, but a woman held her head down so she couldn’t bite the man while he was satisfying himself. But through a neighbor, a vindictive lover of the rapist, Billie’s mother learned where they had taken her daughter. She called the police and Billie, covered in blood, was taken to police headquarters. There, a sergeant observed the volume of her breasts and the firmness of her legs, and all around Billie there were obscene glances and snickers. She remained locked up in a cell for several days. Ten years old, a victim of rape, Billie was tried by the court along with her assailant. He was sentenced to five years; she was locked up in a Catholic reform school run by robust nuns where she was dressed in a blue and white uniform; later, according to the rules, they changed her name to that of a saint, and from that moment Billie was called Teresa.
When a girl behaved badly, the nuns dressed her in red and prohibited the others from talking to her. One has to believe that during her time locked up in that institution that rebellious child spent most of her time wearing the color of the devil. The first time she used the red clothes was during Easter and that’s how she was dressed when her mother came to visit her and brought her two fried chickens, a dozen hard boiled eggs, and some candy. The Head Nun condemned the child to watch as her companions ate all her food without even being allowed to reach out her hand, and later locked her up for the entire night in a dark room with the cadaver of another child who had been killed falling off of a swing.
When she left the reform school, a goal she achieved by threatening suicide, Billie left Baltimore and determined that she would not stop walking until she reached Harlem. She was only 13 years old and completely developed. She had lost her virginity to a black trumpet player on the floor of her grandmother’s house which left her bloodied and battered; as a result she hated sex, but she understood the kind of a perverse world she had fallen into. She arrived at Penn Station without any luggage except a basket with some chicken in it which she ate sitting on a bench in the street. She met up with her mother and began to scrub stairs again, this time in the home of a large, course, indolent woman who screamed at her and called her “Negress” in a contemptuous tone of voice. It was the first time she had heard the word used as an insult. The young girl broke a vase over her head.
“There has to be something better than this,” she told herself. She knew she would never make a good housemaid.
Her mother took her to a luxurious apartment building on 141 Street in Harlem whose landlady was named Florence Williams. Her work emptying wash basins and washing towels in the house of Alice Dean had not been in vain: she immediately recognized that this apartment building was a bordello. She began to work for $20, five for the landlady, preferably with white men who had wives and kids and had to be home early, never with blacks since one of them, an immense stallion, one of those who says to you, “Do you like it, baby?” had devastated her and left her out of action for several months.
One day she denied her favors to the king of Harlem, a tough dude named Big Blue Rainier, a friend of the cops.
“So a black woman doesn’t want to go to bed with a black man?”
He reported her to the police for being a minor and Billie went back to jail.
One day, 15 year old Billie was walking along 133 Street--full of clubs where music was played, inclined to accept whatever work she could get that would pay her the $50 her mother had asked for so her mattress would not be thrown out of the window. She walked into the gambling den, Pod and Jerri’s--a joint which specialized in swing, and asked to sing. With the first sounds that emanated from her throat, there was a silence that would have allowed one to hear a pin falling on the floor.
In that locale, the girls were obliged to grab tips with their genitals that clients left on the tables. Billie refused to participate in this humiliation. One gentleman put some bills into her hand, and her companions, because of her pride, began to call her “Duchess” or “Lady Day”.
Although the other whores of the cabaret said that Billie sang as if her shoes were too tight, the truth is that she sang like a cat that had been wounded and humiliated in its constant rebellion of jumping over every roof. The pain would continue until the end of her life. The legend of this queen of swing had just begun.
EX-49ERS RUNNING BACK J.D. SMITH DIES
J.D. Smith, a two-time Pro Bowl running back who retired as the 49ers’ second-leading career rusher and is still sixth on the list, died April 1 at his home in Oakland. He was 83.
Mr. Smith, a native of Greenville, S.C., was nicknamed “Cinderella Man” for his unlikely path to the NFL.
“If they had ESPN back then, he would have made a really good story,” said Christian Duncan, Mr. Smith’s grandson.
A 15th-round draft pick by the Bears out of North Carolina AT&T State, Mr. Smith served a year in the U.S. Army before beginning his career with Chicago in 1956. The Bears used him sparingly and eventually released him. He then signed with San Francisco.
He played defense in 1957, but moved in 1958 to offense. The move paid off when, in 1959, the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder earned his first Pro Bowl selection by rushing for 1,036 yards (second best in the league to Jim Brown’s 1,329 for Cleveland) and a team-record-tying 10 TDs.
He also won the team’s Len Eshmont Award for inspirational and courageous play.
“He was very humble, I never heard about football from him,” Duncan said. “I think I learned about it by going with him to alumni games. And he had a basement full of old NFL memorabilia and one of the things is the Len Eshmont Award. It was then that I realized that granddad was pretty serious about football.”
Mr. Smith’s other Pro Bowl season was 1962, when he gained 907 yards and scored six times.
Mr. Smith’s last season with the 49ers was 1964. He played two seasons with the Cowboys before retiring after the 1966 season.
Fifty years later, he’s still fifth in 49ers history for rushing TDs (37, tied with Steve Young) and 100-yard games (12, tied with Hugh McElhenny) and is sixth in yards (4,370) and carries (1,007).
Mr. Smith is survived by his daughter, Patricia, sons Lonnie and David, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The family will hold a private memorial at Kezar Stadium.
The family has asked that donations be made to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Sports and Health Research program.
(Courtesy, the San Francisco Chronicle)
CATCH OF THE DAY, April 8, 2015
ESTEBAN CAMARILLO, Olivehurst/Ukiah. Possession of controlled substance and paraphernalia, false ID, probation revocation.
JOSEPH COST, Santa Rosa/Redwood Valley. Vehicle theft, receiving stolen property, possession of hash oil & drug paraphernalia.
AMANDA DAVIS, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license, probation revocation.
TASHA JARSHAW, Willits. Domestic assault.
DAVID MADDEN, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.
BOBBI MAKI, Willits. Possession of drug paraphernalia, false ID, community supervision violation.
STEVEN MATOTT, Fairfield/Fort Bragg. Dirk or dagger.
JOSE NUNEZ, Ukiah. Honey oil extraction, probation revocation.
RYAN PAYTON, Leggett. DUI with injury. Child endangerment.
SONNY PEREZ, Reedley/Fort Bragg. Drunk in public, false ID, failure to appear.
ERIC ROBERTS, Ukiah. Drunk in public. County parole violation.
TOLEDO SELVIN, Philo. Pot cultivation, pot possession for sale, armed with firearm, ex-felon with firearm, prohibited person with ammo.
PETER SMITH, Willits. Domestic battery.
MAD ABOUT YOU
A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you, I'm lost without you
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand and fall into the sea
I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you
And from the dark secluded valleys
I heard the ancient songs of sadness
But every step I thought of you
Every footstep only you
Every star a grain of sand
The leavings of a dried up ocean
Tell me, how much longer,
How much longer?
They say a city in the desert lies
The vanity of an ancient king
But the city lies in broken pieces
Where the wind howls and the vultures sing
These are the works of man
This is the sum of our ambition
It would make a prison of my life
If you became another's wife
With every prison blown to dust
My enemies walk free
I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you
And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominions over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories
Without love
A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you, I'm lost without you
And though you hold the keys to ruin of everything I see
With every prison blown to dust my enemies walk free
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand and fall into the sea
I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you
— Gordon Sumner (aka Sting)
THE CANCER RESOURCE CENTERS’ 2015 INFORMATION SERIES on cancer types: risk factors and symptoms is sponsored by CRC in collaboration with the Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency. The information presented is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace the advice of your health care provider. We encourage you to discuss with your health care provider any questions or concerns that you may have.
Testicular Cancer Awareness
Although testicular cancer is rare, it is the most common cancer for American males between the ages of 15 and 35. It is highly treatable, especially when discovered at an early stage.
Risk Factors Of Testicular Cancer:
An undescended testicle. (The majority of men who develop testicular cancer don’t have a history of undescended testicles.)
Abnormal testicle development. Family history. If family members have had testicular cancer, you may have an increased risk.
Age. Although testicular cancer can occur at any age, it mostly affects males between the ages of 15 and 35.
Race. Testicular cancer is most common in Caucasian men.
Symptoms Of Testicular Cancer:
- A lump or enlargement in either testicle
- A feeling of heaviness in the scrotum
- A dull ache in the abdomen or groin
- A sudden collection of fluid in the scrotum
- Pain or discomfort in a testicle or the scrotum
- Enlargement or tenderness of the breasts
- Back pain
- Testicular cancer usually affects only one testicle.
See your health care provider if you detect any pain, swelling or lumps in your testicles or groin area, especially if these signs and symptoms last longer than two weeks. Your health care provider may refer you to an urologist and/or an oncologist.
Prevention / Early Detection:
Currently, there is no evidence on strategies to prevent testicular cancer, but early detection can increase the possibility of successful treatment. Some health care providers recommend regular testicle self-examination so that you become familiar with your testicles and aware of any changes.
How to do a Testicular Self Examination:
Stand in front of a mirror. Look for any swelling on the skin of the scrotum.
Examine each testicle with both hands. Place the index and middle fingers under the testicle while placing your thumbs on the top.
Gently roll the testicle between the thumbs and fingers. Remember that the testicles are usually smooth, oval shaped and somewhat firm. It’s normal for one testicle to be slightly larger than the other. Also, the cord leading upward from the top of the testicle is a normal part of the scrotum.
If you find a lump, make an appointment with your health care provider.
(Sources: ACS www.cancer.org; Mayo Clinic www.mayoclinic.org)
To learn more, please contact the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County.
Inland Office: 590 S. Dora Street, Ukiah (707-467-3828)
Coast Office: 45040 Calpella Street, Mendocino (707-937-3833
GOVERNOR TO MEET WITH WATER, "ENVIRONMENTAL" AND AGRIBUSINESS LEADERS ABOUT DROUGHT WEDNESDAY
by Dan Bacher
Governor Jerry Brown will be be holding a meeting today in the Governor's Office at the State Capitol with "water, environmental and agricultural leaders" regarding the drought.
The meeting is believed to be a response to widespread and scathing criticism in local and national media about the Governor's hypocrisy in mandating cities and counties to slash water use by 25 percent, while imposing no new restrictions on water use by agribusiness, who use 80 percent of the state's water while contributing only 2 percent of the state's annual economy.
I called the Governor's Office to find out what groups and leaders would be meeting with the Governor and I'm waiting for a response.
As usual, the Governor appears to be excluding Tribal leaders and fishermen - who are among those hardest hit by the record drought - from the meeting.
The media advisory states, "On the heels of the lowest snowpack measurement ever recorded last week and the first ever statewide mandatory water reduction order, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. will meet with top agricultural, environmental and urban water agency leaders from across California today in Sacramento."
“As Californians, we have to save water in every way we possibly can and we have to pull together,” said Governor Brown at last week’s snowpack measurement. “We have to become more resilient, more efficient and more innovative and that’s exactly what we are going to do.”
The media is also excluded from the meeting, except for the final few minutes.
"The final few minutes of the meeting will be open to coverage by credentialed media at approx. 2:15 p.m. Reporters must check in at 2:00 p.m.," according to the advisory.
The media advisory states, "For more than two years, the state's experts have been managing water resources to deal with the effects of the drought and prepare for the next one. Last week, Governor Brown announced the first ever 25 percent statewide mandatory water reductions and a series of actions to help save water, increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the state's drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient.
Last year, the Governor proclaimed a drought state of emergency. The state has also taken steps to make sure that water is available for human health and safety, growing food, fighting fires and protecting fish and wildlife. Millions have been spent helping thousands of California families most impacted by the drought pay their bills, put food on their tables and have water to drink."
There was no mention in the media advisory nor the Governor's Executive Order issued last week about the alarming fact that the oil industry annually use three times as much water as the entire city of San Francisco while Big Oil pollutes precious aquifers with fracking wastewater.
After the State Water Resources Control Board announced that some California communities must cut water use by 35 percent or face fines of $10,000 a day, Ash Lauth of the Center for Biological Diversity, who will speak at the water board’s meeting today, issued a statement on behalf of Californians Against Fracking.
“California communities have been ordered to make huge water cuts to fight drought, but the state’s plan lets the oil industry completely off the hook," said Lauth. "Even as Gov. Brown and state officials vow to leave no stone unturned, oil companies that use and contaminate huge amounts of water are getting a free pass. In one year, the oil industry uses three times as much water as the entire city of San Francisco."
"Fracking and other unconventional extraction methods permanently poison and remove fresh water from our water cycle every day. It is indefensible that our governor is allowing the oil industry to continue with business as usual," Lauth said.
"Gov. Brown must also stop oil companies from contaminating California’s underground water. Hundreds of oil industry disposal wells are dumping toxic oil waste into scores of protected aquifers across the state, but the Brown administration has shut down just 23 of these illegal wells," Lauth noted.
Lauth revealed that these illegal disposal wells dump an average total of 27 million gallons of oil waste into protected aquifers!
"Gov. Brown must stop the oil industry from polluting our precious water supplies, or California will bitterly regret his inaction in the dry decades ahead," Lauth concluded.
Meanwhile, as agribusiness and the oil industry continue to use water during a record drought without the mandatory restrictions imposed upon people in the cities and counties of California, the Governor continues to push the construction of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels, the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history.
In the latest episode of the long saga of the BDCP, the Brown administration has chosen to drop the Habitat Conservation Plan section of the project. (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/07/1376237/-Why-did-DWR-drop-the-BDCP-Habitat-Conservation-Plan)
While Jerry Brown continues to gush about "green energy" and "climate change" at press conferences and other photo opportunities, his record on fish, water and the environment is arguably the worst of any Governor in recent California history.
To discover the truth about Governor Brown's environmental record, go to: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/09/24/big-oils-favorite-governor-jerry-brown/
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE FINDS NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL MAY BE ENDANGERED
Arcata, CA: Today, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service issued a positive initial 90-day finding on an EPIC petition to reclassify the iconic northern spotted owl from a “threatened” to an “endangered” species under the Endangered Species Act. The positive 90-day finding on EPIC’s petition to reclassify the northern spotted owl demonstrates that sufficient evidence exists that existing conservation measures have not been enough to protect and recover the owl, and that additional, more stringent and immediate measures are necessary to achieve this goal.
EPIC submitted a reclassification petition for the northern spotted owl to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on August 15, 2012. Today’s decision clearly demonstrates that the owl is in trouble across the species’ range, and that more stringent protections and conservation measures are necessary.
The northern spotted owl is an iconic keystone species which is dependent on large blocks of intact old-growth forests to provide for habitat. The owl was a focal point of the timber wars of the 1980s and early 1990s and was listed as a “threatened” species under the ESA in 1990. The listing of the northern spotted owl under the ESA lead to sweeping changes in land management practices on public lands with the advent of the Northwest Forest Plan during the Clinton era. The Northwest Forest Plan created a large system of reserves for the northern spotted owl and other old-growth associated species known as “Late Successional Reserves.” Although logging of suitable spotted owl habitat has been substantially curtailed on public lands, it has not been completely eliminated. What’s more, conservation of the northern spotted owl on private lands has largely been left up to voluntary measures, such as Habitat Conservation Plans and Safe-Harbor Agreements. Logging of suitable owl habitat continues at a frightening rate on private lands in California and across the species’ range, and even the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service itself has decried the inadequacy of private lands regulatory mechanisms in California to protect and conserve the species.
The northern spotted owl is also faced with several new threats that were not contemplated or foreseeable at the time of the original listing. In particular, the severe threat now being posed by the invasive barred owl (Strix varina) has complicated and confounded northern spotted owl conservation and recovery efforts. While the true impacts of barred owls on northern spotted owls is still being studied and is not fully-understood, it has become clear that aggressive measures may be necessary to curtail the negative effects of barred owls on spotted owl populations.
Indeed, the latest study on northern spotted owl populations shows significant declines in several northern spotted owl vital statistics across most demographic areas studied, including the Green Diamond study area here in Humboldt County. Another population study, due out in June, is predicted to have even more dire results, showing alarming declines across the population.
“The positive initial 90-day finding on our petition to reclassify the northern spotted owl from a threatened to an endangered species demonstrates that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can no longer deny the extreme threats now facing the species,” said Rob DiPerna, California Forest and Wildlife Advocate at EPIC. “It is now clear that more stringent, more aggressive, and more immediate actions are necessary to ensure that the northern spotted owl survives, recovers, and thrives in the wild.”
Other conservation groups have supported EPIC’s efforts to see the spotted owl listed as endangered, including Conservation Congress. “While it is important the Fish and Wildlife Service is acknowledging the dire population declines in northern spotted owls warrants a review for endangered status, it remains incomprehensible that the agency continues to sign off on logging of owl habitat under the unscientific ruse of saving habitat from fire while also authorizing ‘take’ of reproductively successful pairs,” said Denise Boggs, Executive Director of Conservation Congress. “The Service must insist on protecting all remaining suitable owl habitat and no ‘take’ should be authorized for a species with declining populations throughout its range," she said.
The positive initial 90-day finding by the Service will now set into motion a 12-month period in which it will conduct a full status review for the spotted owl in order to determine if reclassification is warranted. The Service expects to complete this 12-month review in 2017. EPIC will continue to engage at each stage of the listing process and will continue to advocate for the reclassification of the northern spotted owl, and for implementation of more stringent, more aggressive, and more immediate actions in order to save this iconic and imperiled species from extinction.
Contact: Rob DiPerna, California Forest and Wildlife Advocate; Thomas Wheeler, Program and Legal Coordinator: (707) 822-7711
SANCTUARY FOREST DOCENT TRAINING will be held on April 18th, 2015. Join Sanctuary Forest on Saturday, April 18th for the 2015 Summer Hike series Docent Training! This free training will prepare volunteers to represent Sanctuary Forest and help guide one (or more!) of 10 hikes offered this summer. Hikes vary from easy to difficult with a wide range of topics, including Edible and Medicinal Plants, Big Red: Ancient Redwood, and a hike from Needle Rock to Bear Harbor that celebrates the beauty of the Lost Coast. Over the course of 4 1/2 hours, participants will learn how to lead the opening and closing circles, assist hike leaders, keep track of hikers, basic first aid, collect evaluations and more. There are two or more docents on all hikes and responsibilities are shared. No previous experience is necessary and speaking in front of the group is not required. All are welcome! A delicious lunch will be provided. Meet at 10:30 a.m. at the Sanctuary Forest office in Whitethorn. For more information call 986-1087 ext. 1# or email marisa@sanctuaryforest.org.
Sanctuary Forest is a land trust whose mission is to conserve the Mattole River watershed and surrounding areas for wildlife habitat and aesthetic, spiritual and intrinsic values, in cooperation with our diverse community.
THIS EARTH DAY, HELP A PARK AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
California state parks give us monumental scenery, ancient forests and priceless historic sites. But these magnificent resources need significant repairs and maintenance.
Join us on Saturday, April 18 for California State Parks Foundation’s 17th Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup presented by Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Volunteers are needed at parks throughout northern California.
To register to volunteer, visit calparks.org or call 1-888-98-PARKS.
FREE iREST YOGA WORKSHOP
Sunday, May 3, 2015, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Open to people living with cancer and for those who care for them iRest is a practice of relaxation that will give you the tools to connect with peace of mind even amidst life’s most challenging circumstances. To Register: contact the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County 707-937-3833 / rita@crcmendocino.org (Sponsored by the Cancer Resource Center & Yoga Mendocino)
Rita Martinez
Client Services Manager, Coast Office
Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County
THE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF OUR 16 MARCH SHOW ON KMEC Radio on CIA Director John Brennan with CIA veteran Melvin Goodman is now posted -- please share with your friends or post to your website.
NO WATER FOR FISH EITHER
http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/california-drought-low-snowpack
MURDER
Editor,
A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder Tuesday after shooting and killing a black man following a routine traffic stop over the weekend.
The decision to charge the officer, Michael Thomas Slager, came after graphic video footage emerged depicting Slager firing a volley of bullets into the back of Walter Scott, who was running away.
Officer Slager shot a fleeing subject in the back. The subject did not present a threat of serious harm. Then, Slager falsified his incident report by stating that the subject struggled with him over the Taser gun. The video evidence clearly shows otherwise -- the subject was not struggling with Slager over the Taser . Instead, while the subject was running from Slager, Slager threw down the Taser, fired eight time with his service sidearm, hitting the subject five times. Slager then picked up the Taser from where he was standing while shooting, walked 15-20 feet to the dying subject, finally throwing down the Taser a second time by the subject's body.
Everything about Slager's conduct was criminal. Although law enforcement officers have some latitude in the use of deadly force, what’s not ambiguous are the standards needed to use deadly force, as set forth by the Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court: An officer must reasonably believe it is necessary to shoot to kill to defend him or herself or someone else from imminent death.
For deadly force to be constitutional when an arrest is taking place, it must be the reasonable choice under all the circumstances at the time. Therefore, deadly force should be looked at as an option that is used when it is believed that no other action will succeed. The Model Penal Code, although not adopted in all states, restricts police action regarding deadly force. According to the code, officers should not use deadly force unless the action will not endanger innocent bystanders, the suspect used deadly force in committing the crime, or the officers believe a delay in arrest may result in injury or death to other people.
Circumstances that are taken into consideration are the severity of the offense, how much of a threat the suspect poses, and the suspect's attempts to resist or flee the police officer. When arresting someone for a misdemeanor, the police have the right to shoot the alleged offender only in self-defense. If an officer shoots a suspect accused of a misdemeanor for a reason other than self-defense, the officer can be held liable for criminal charges and damages for injuries to the suspect. This standard was demonstrated in the Iowa case of Klinkel v. Saddler, 211 Iowa 368, 233 N.W. 538 (1930).
John Sakowicz, Ukiah
REPUBLICANS TO MEET IN UKIAH
The Mendocino County Republican Central Committee will meet Saturday, April 18, 2015, 10:00 AM —12:00 Noon at the Henny Penny Restaurant, 697 S.Orchard Ave, Ukiah, CA 95482. For further information contact: Evelyn Hayman, (707) 948-6467 or go to: www.mendocountygop.net .
evie hayman, Chairman, MCRCC
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