Off the Record (May 27, 2015)

SOPORIFIC HEADLINE from Monday's Press Democrat: "Leon Panetta speaks at Rep. Mike Thompson celebration." Leon Panetta. Mike Thompson. The appearance of Panetta's name alone is like someone's just slammed a chloroformed sock down over my head. Followed by Mike Thompson's? If surnames were lethal, here's two killers.

OUR MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT claims that the County's homeless population has declined. The Department says it counted heads in a process they called Point-In-Time conducted in January. The subsequent report to the Supervisors by the Department said they couldn't find some people and a lot of the younger homeless they did find refused to talk to them.  112 homeless persons were alleged to be in emergency shelters, 40 in transitional housing, and 880 people were found somehow, some way, for a total of 1,032 homeless people.

JACK B. AZEVEDO 1934 - 2015 Jack B. Azevedo was born on March 30, 1934, in Snelling, California. Jack passed away peacefully at the Veterans home in Yountville, California, on Monday, April 27, 2015. Jack was laid to rest at the Sacramento National Veterans Cemetery in Dixon, California, on April 30, 2015. Jack grew up in the Central Valley and joined the U.S. Navy in Dec. 1952. He served until Nov. 1, 1956, as a flight radioman during the Korean War. He soon married the love of his life and began raising a family while earning a degree in business from Woodbury College. Many will remember Jack from his time of ownership of Jack's Country Market in Cleone. Jack spent many years raising rhododendrons and his collection of many varieties of lilies.

Jack is survived by his loving wife, Carol; son, Richard Azevedo; daughter, Dorre Clayton; son, Craig Azevedo; daughter, Dana McGarr; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Jack will be greatly missed by his loving family and friends. Memorial donations may be made to our local Veterans of Foreign Wars

THE REST OF THE STORY. In the elections of 1988, Azevedo was favored over liberal candidate for 4th District Supervisor, Liz Henry, a resident of Fort Bragg. Azevedo had a talk show on one of the Coast radio stations where he recited from crypto-fascist texts and fielded call-ins from the like-minded unlettered. He came to wider public attention when he led a protest flotilla out of Noyo Harbor to confront a giant Russian fish factory ship sucking up all the marine life just beyond the three-mile limit. The Russian vessel was clearly visible from Fort Bragg, outraging local fishermen and public opinion generally. Azevedo then ran for Supervisor against Henry and was endorsed by outgoing supervisor, John Cimolino. With the popular Cimolino's endorsement, Azevedo was favored over the relative newcomer, Henry. But the mighty ava obtained from Liz Henry's daughter, Lisa, a bizarre enemy's list compiled by Azevedo, a roster of prominent Coast citizens annotated by Azevedo to indicate after each name the suspect's identity in Azevedo-think. Categories included Jew; Communist; Mason. Publication of the bizarre roster ended Azevedo's electability, although he still managed to pull a large number of wahoolie votes.

ON LINE, THEN AND NOW: "We rode the train one year just for a change of pace from Orlando, Florida to New York City. Playing cards for 14 hours in the parlor and hitting the bar car were much better than driving on I-95 with the trucks and traffic. Only thing was, every time we approached these small towns along the coast the train would slow to a crawl, sometimes stop for no reason. If they can figure a way to speed up the trip time, expand the bar cars and have some real food to offer like it was in the 50s when I rode the Silver Comet and Orange Blossom Special, people will switch. More than you think will forego the Auto. Car trips are not cheap anymore. I can still smell those dining car breakfasts of poached eggs, bacon and toast served on linen covered tables with real forks and knives. Servers with that we-can-please-you attitude might just be the trick. I am sure the Airlines, Auto Giants and Big Oil are the ones suppressing any National Rail System expansions and improvements. The railroads today are one step above a cattle car, but at least the cattle are fed and watered. I remember the electric trolleys and buses in the cities that were all targeted for elimination by General Motors and Big Oil after WWII. We need a grassroots movement backed by one or two of the presidential candidates to get the politicians off the Big Oil Dole. Amtrak should be abolished. Let Southwest Airlines take over the operations and planning — without the peanuts for meals."

AND ON-LINE WISDOM: "My father was born in Oklahoma in 1931. He taught us to take our knocks, get up and try harder next time. I remember when I was about 8 and I complained about something not 'being fair.' He said to me: 'Who told you life was fair? Bad things happen to everyone, and you're nobody special. Would you prefer that bad things only happen to your brother, your sister, your neighbors? You'll be okay, just remember how much your mom and I love you.' He was a great man!"

KIMBERLY RODRIGUES is the new director of the Hopland Research and Extension Center. Formerly known as the Hopland Field Station. Kim has a degree in forestry from UC Berkeley, worked for Simpson Timber Company as a forester, worked as a UC forestry extension agent, and then was on the faculty of UC Davis. Kim hosts a show on KZYX, 90.7 FM in Philo, the first Tuesday of each month, from 7 PM to 8 PM. The show is called the Ecology Hour.

THERE'S NO REASON at all to post stories like this one the Press Democrat put up as its lede Friday night: “Maryland Woman Found Swinging Dead Son In Playground Swing — Responding officers went to remove the 3-year-old boy from the swing and give him first-aid, but it was instantly clear the child was dead.”

THIS GOTHICALLY sad event occurred on the other side of the country, and is the kind of reporting better suited to media — the Kim Kardashian media — specializing in the grotesque. The PD seems to grab the most shocking and macabre stuff they can find off the wire as, of course, the paper studiously ignores innumerable real stories on the Northcoast.

CHARLES BRANDENBURG, Fort Bragg, notes: I have a new "Dave does this" Item… Dave takes credit for doing all the great things in our town since he has been here. Dave Turner should not take credit for things that would have happened anyways… Do the right thing, Dave Turner, resign."

GOV. JERRY BROWN is proposing an amnesty program for Californians who can't afford to pay off spiraling traffic fines and court penalties, a big slug of them right here in Mendocino County. The push by the governor apparently arises from  the obvious fact that California's justice system is profiting off minorities and low-income residents. Brown's spokesman Evan Westrup said the issue has prompted discussions between the state and U.S. Department of Justice. California's pay-to-play court system is long overdue for reform. The state has suspended 4.8 million driver's licenses since 2006 related to traffic fines. In that same time, only 83,000 licenses have been reinstated.

MENDOCINO COUNTY PROCLAIMS MAY 24 AS JUDI BARI DAY

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors declared May 24 as Judi Bari Day. The proclamation was approved at the May 19 meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of Redwood Summer. Bari, who died in 1997, was an environmental activist, labor organizer and feminist who organized and participated in many campaigns for environmental and social justice, according to the proclamation text. She was an Earth First! organizer and participated in a campaign that led to the expansion of the Bureau of Land Management’s Cahto Wilderness Area. She was also an organizer against liquidation logging in the redwood forests of Northern California, most notably Redwood Summer in 1990, and the decade long campaign to protect Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County. The board noted in the proclamation that Bari sought to build bridges among loggers, mill workers and environmentalists. She practiced non-violent civil disobedience, the proclamation stated. In 1990, Judi Bari was the victim of a bomb placed under her car seat that nearly killed her. She pursued a civil lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Oakland Police Department, which she claimed sought to blame her for the incident. After 12 years, a jury found that the FBI and Oakland Police Department knowingly violated Bari’s First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and Fourth Amendment rights to be protected from illegal search and seizure, the board proclamation said. Judi Bari returned to the front lines of environmental and social justice activism as soon as her injuries permitted, including the Albion Nation uprising in 1992, the proclamation stated. She advanced the causes of environmental and social justice and shares credit for protecting thousands of acres of forest, most notably the Headwaters Forest Preserve in Humboldt County. (Assembled by Fort Bragg Advocate Staff)

IN THE LATEST WILLITS WEEKLY reporter Mike A’Dair writes about the Supervisors Judi Bari Day Proclamation last Tuesday: “In comments made after the proclamation was read and approved, [Darryl] Cherney thanked the board for the proclamation, adding he is continuing to work to expose the person or persons he believes planted the bomb that injured him and almost killed Bari. Cherney said he is presently having discussions with members of law enforcement in Mendocino County including Mendocino County Sheriff's Office's Filed Services Commander and Public Information Officer Captain Greg van Patten and Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster.

“Fifth District Supervisor Dan Hamburg, who, together with Second District Supervisor John McCowen, sponsored the proclamation honoring Bari, said this to Darryl Cherney in relation to Bari and to her attempted murder: ‘It wasn't the Lord's Avenger (who planted the bomb),’ Hamburg said. ‘Judi Bari was regarded as a very dangerous person and a very charismatic leader, by persons who were very high up in the United States government of that time. God bless Judi Bari for being that dangerous person and that charismatic leader. And best of luck to you in your efforts to prove who bombed Judi Bari’.”

HAMBURG apparently thinks Judi Bari was bombed by the same government he served as a Congressman. Hamburg, a cult guy, also believes a crackpot who called himself Adi Da was a deity and that the US Government arranged for replacement planes on 9/11 to cover-up the government’s involvement. According to the supervisor, our government did it.

HAMBURG ON 911: “I’m on record re 9/11. ‘The New Pearl Harbor’ by Massimo Mazzucco, merely provides further confirmation that 9/11 was a shameless and unspeakably evil hoax perpetrated on the American people and the world. Perhaps most interesting in the Mazzucco documentary is the technical information that explains why the two hijacked planes couldn't have been flown into the WTC buildings at the speed they were traveling. Turns out that when a plane is flying near the ground it must drastically reduce speed or it starts to come apart because of increased air resistance. The planes that hit those buildings were replacements. Quotes from aeronautical engineers at Boeing seal the deal here. Part of the horror of this scam is that they offloaded passengers and forced them to ‘call home’ on their cell phones and read prepared statements. That's how we got the fiction behind ‘Let's roll.’ (Latest ‘Loose Change’ [an earlier conspiracy film] reports that Cleveland Airport was evacuated that morning due to ‘terrorist threats’ and that the news media reported that Flight 93 landed there and offloaded passengers to a cleared building.) At the end of one of the recorded cellphone calls (which, you recall, could not have been made from the hijacked plane's reported altitude), a flight attendant whispers ‘it's a frame.’ The cabal didn't notice this. The financial report is devastating. Turns out part of the motive was 220 billion in bogus Russian bonds. Web savvy people have written several articles about YouTube suddenly zeroing out viewing statistics on controversial 911 videos. And the one on ‘911 & Operation Northwoods’ has just plain old disappeared. Dan.”

DARRYL CHERNEY, in living fact, has done everything he can to impede the investigation into who bombed Bari, forever steering attention from Bari's ex-husband, Mike Sweeney, to vague implications that the feds or Big Timber or male chauvinists or religious zealots or, or, or anyone, everyone but the ex-husband.

AND JOHN McCOWEN, who owns the building housing the Mendocino Environment Center, has also done his share to impede investigation of the Bari case. Both Sweeney and Bari made the MEC their headquarters as did, presumably, the FBI who were certainly in town for the Redwood Summer period. Sweeney was the only person who knew all his ex-wife's movements. I think it's quite likely that the FBI made McCowen's MEC their listening post during the Redwood Summer period (ala the sixties when the feds did the same thing in black neighborhoods), and I also think it is quite likely that Bari's husband, Sweeney, was a snitch for the feds. Nothing else explains Sweeney's exemption from Suspect Number One status.

OF COURSE no one from Judi Bari's family attended the furtive, hurry-up event in the Supervisor's chambers and, as anything involving Cherney, the whole show was covered with a light coat of sleaze oil. Cherney's guest was Louis BigFoot, the sage of Sherwood Road, and not to be confused with Louis Big Brain. But Cherney, according to our No Questions Asked leadership, like OJ and Scott Peterson, is still out there trying to figure out Who Bombed Judi Bari. Now he says he has new evidence. Let's see it, not that we will. And next year McCowen and Hamburg will be back with Mike Sweeney Day, Ex Husband of the Millennium. Ah, Mendocino County. No place like it, where every day history starts all over again, and you are whatever you say you are.

HEY - THIS SOUNDS LIKE EASY MONEY

We saw the following post on the MCNlistserv: "The Mendocino Cannabis Policy Council will pay $1 per signature to place an initiative on this November’s ballot to create a Mendocino Cannabis Commission to advise the Board of Supervisors on future policy with regard to cannabis as it affects the economy, the environment, business, real estate, small farmers, etc. Contact: 937.238 Green Star Ag Solutions of Mendocino Brooke Horowitz Office 707.937.2382 Cell 707.239.4317 "

(Courtesy, MendocinoSportPlus.)

MENDOCINO COUNTY HISTORY: The Willits News, May 7, 1926: Headline: "Mendocino wild man fights constable."

Story: "A.L. Triplett, a husky rancher of Mendocino, standing 6 feet, 6 inches in his soxes and weighing over 200 pounds, gave a fearful and exciting exhibition of his pounds, strength and agility last Friday night, which was the cause of a great deal of excitement while it lasted. Triplett had recently showed signs of being mentally unbalanced. Recently he gave a few exhibitions on his ranch near town, which he called a rodeo and which consisted of throwing and hogtying a wild steer and shooting off guns and pistols. Friday evening he drove into Evergreen Cemetery with his car and soon after was noticed gathering flowers and strewing them about and waving his arms and playing a harmonica. A lot of small children gathered about him to watch his antics and some older person became frightened and telephoned Constable Patton. Patton started for the cemetery and shortly after Dan Vaughn, local taxi driver, was asked to go over and get some of the children who were following the wild man about. Daniel, who is a deputy sheriff, slipped his six-gun into his pocket and started out. In the meantime Constable Patton, who is himself a husky specimen of humanity, had approached Triplett expecting to get him away from the cemetery without any trouble, when the latter in a spirit of playfulness, picked up the constable and threw him to the ground and was sitting on him when two local gunmen came to the assistance of the officer. Triplett surrendered to superior artillery, he was not armed, submitted to be handcuffed, was thrown into his own car and driven away. Enroute to town, however, he kicked off the top of the automobile and otherwise made things lively for his captors. He was taken to Ukiah Saturday to be examined for his sanity."

(Contributed by District Attorney David Eyster.)