Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, July 1, 2015

• Hot
• Hoyle Rumor
• Covelo Shots
• Brandishing Negotiations
• Recommended Reading
• Esteemed Rags
• AVHC Report
• Women's Soccer
• Los Angeles
• Combat Stupidity
• Invisible Light
• Jay Details
• Laura's Law
• Yesterday's Catch
• Marriage
• Gardening
• Dewdrops
• Food Hub
• Terrorist Types
• Vaccination Bill
• Leal
• Fireworks Guidelines
• The Suffers

DEPENDING ON YOUR FAVE weather source, it was 99° to 106° in Boonville today. We think the Weather Underground is consistently the most accurate. It had us topping out at 98°. Whatever, as the young people say, it was hot, and will be a degree or two hotter Wednesday.

PREVALENT RUMOR in the drug “community,” says legendary Mendo lawman, Peter Hoyle, has been arrested in connection with misconduct during last week's Island Mountain pot raids. File this one under Wishful Thinking. Hoyle rides on.

DISSUADING FURTHER PURSUIT

On June 29, 2015, at approximately 6:54 PM, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received a report that a person had been shot at a residence in the 22000 block of Refuse Road, Covelo. As Deputies responded, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received multiple reports identifying the suspect as John Ross (senior), 66, of Covelo, who was seen entering the location, (a marijuana grow site consistent with medical marijuana requirements). Shots were heard coming from the location and Ross was seen fleeing. It was further reported that a witness had pursued John Ross from the scene and Ross had shot at him. The shot missed the victim and dissuaded further pursuit. Deputies located the victim, Alejandro Garcia, 33, of Ukiah, deceased at the scene suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. John Ross was located in the area and taken into custody without incident. Ross was lodged at the Mendocino County Jail for Murder, Assault with Firearm, and possession of a firearm by felon, and is being held without bail. Any persons with information regarding this incident are encouraged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at the tip line, (707) 234-2100 or via e-mail at crimetip@mendocinosheriff.com.

FRANCISCO J. ZAMORA was on probation for brandishing a weapon, a knife, when he committed another 417 (exhibiting a weapon in a threatening manner), this time threatening to hit County Supervisor John McCowen with a walking stick. The episode happened on June 17, McCowen called the Ukiah Police Department, and when the officers arrived Mr. Zamora brandished the walking stick at them as well. This case was set to go to trial, but the witnesses for the defense — several unidentified transient individuals — could not be found. During a pre-trial conference on June 30th defense attorney Lindsay Peak asked that her client be released on his own recognizance so he could go find his witnesses. Judge John Behnke denied the OR Motion and asked Deputy DA Jessa Lee Mills if there were any offers in the case. Ms. Mills said that if Zamora would plead to the first count, the 417 on the County Supervisor, she would drop the other charges, and 30 days in jail would take care of it. Mr. Zamora has until July 9th to think it over, and if he turns it down and the witnesses are not found the trial will go forward without them, and the additional charges (brandishing at the cops) will be included. As we've mentioned a number of times, the 2nd District supervisor spends much of his free time cleaning up homeless camps, especially those bordering the battered Russian River. He knows many of the chronics personally. (Bruce McEwen)

RECOMMENDED READING: “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Essays and Arguments” by David Foster Wallace. It was a big loss when Wallace committed suicide at age 46 in 2008. He was one of the few young writers I could read without shorting out my bullshit detector. Wallace writes with real passion, and passion, not to mention real experience, seems to have been bled out of the young 'uns sitting around listening to bad advice from the hacks who staff all these writer's workshops and creative lit programs. We have more writers and less readable prose than ever, which I guess you could also say about every other area of American cultural life — music, theater and so on. The stuff collected in this volume is really good, and I don't know of anybody who had more range than this guy. The essays go from literary theory (the only one I skipped) to tennis. Here you go: "And make no mistake: irony tyrannizes us. The reason our pervasive cultural irony is at once so powerful and so unsatisfying is that an ironist is impossible to pin down. All US irony is based on an implicit ‘I don't really mean what I'm saying.’ So what does irony as a cultural norm mean to say? That it's impossible to mean what you say? That maybe it's too bad it's impossible, but wake up and smell the coffee already? Most likely, I think, today's irony ends up saying: ‘How totally banal of you to ask what I really mean.’ Anyone with the heretical gall to ask an ironist what he actually stands for ends up looking like an hysteric or a prig. And herein lies the oppressiveness of institutionalized irony, the too-successful rebel: the ability to interdict the question without attending to its subject is, when exercised, tyranny. It is the new junta, using the very tool that exposed its enemy to insulate itself.”

BRUNO RUHLAND WRITES: “Please keep your esteemed rag coming. I can't wait for subscriptions to The New Yorker — ass kiss central to fame wealth and power — and Harper's — never as good as it ought to be — to end. It's down to the AVA, London Review of Books and The Nation (got a soft spot), and, well, of course, the accursed Internet."

ME, TOO, except when The Nation went totally Democratic Party I gave it up, and I'd been a subscriber for years. The London Review always has a few things I read all the way through. The New Yorker's fiction is generally awful, the poetry mostly bad, but about every third issue there's something good. Harper’s, as you say, is never as good as it ought to be. The lit mags and other allegedly highbrow stuff clogging up the mag rack at Green Apple are beyond awful, maybe because they're all dependent on foundations and universities, but they'd probably be awful anyway. Culturally, it's pretty bleak out there. As Gore Vidal famously put it, “Lack of talent is no longer enough.”

AV HEALTH CENTER NEWS

About the Health Center, Directors absent: Cox; Weyrich; Guerrero (resigned to take employment with the health center for the summer). Staff absent: Smith; Cornejo. Still trying to get Staff and committee reports appended on line to the Agenda so they are useful during meetings, no luck so far. Wally Hopkins (Buildings and Grounds) is universally and consistently the prize winner of the written report category.

Budget. The presentation of the annual operations budget for FY 2015/16 was a big disappointment for me. There was nothing in writing, no figures, no line items, no explanations, no starting balance, no projected ending carry over or intent to designate reserves.

I am giving you Ric Bonner's rapid verbal announcement which I may or may not have gotten correctly. There was no discussion, simply a recommendation by the Finance Committee (JR Collins, chair) to approve, which directors did unanimously.

Per Bonner: This documents the budget "basis". There is no anticipated staffing load change. There is a 2.5 patient level, a projected increase. Revenue per visit is projected to rise for medical visits and to decrease for "self-pay" patients (due to projected increase in insurance coverage). Directors are expecting the same level of existing HRSA grant funding with some anticipated new grant and funding increase (not detailed). There will be increased expenditures in computers and computer systems, legal services, consultants (not detailed). There will be a new expenditure for a generator. The budget assumes an increase in revenue of $40,000; increase in patient visits from 11,800 to 12,000, and a decrease in costs -- sorry I did not get how much or for what, but it was a very minor change from (197) to (201).

That's it. If you have any questions you can contact

• Ric Bonner, Chairman abonners@gmail.com
• Clay Eubank JR Collins, Treasurer, jcollins@mcn.org
• Clay Eubank clayeubank@gmail.com
• Wally Hopkins, hopkinssusan@saber.net
• Eric Labowitz, lab@mcn.org

I think there would be a great advantage to the people of the State of California if the Legislature would require all non-profit, public benefit corporations to comply with the California Public Meetings and Public Records acts.

Finance Committee. On other business: Judy Waterman has developed the financial policies--same as she has generated for all Federally Qualified Health Centers for which she also does the accounting. They will be reviewed at the July meeting to check for conformance with AVHC bylaws and presumably for directors' discussion and/or approval, although that was not said. The Finance Committee meetings are not open to the public so far as I know, and I have never seen any written report from Ms. Waterman since her appointment as Financial Officer.

Governance Committee. Two potential new Board director candidates have received applications and interview process will begin. The Governance committee (Director Clay Eubank, Chair and Director Heidi Knott-Gundling) will follow up on plans from the previous Board training meeting, including work on health center Strategic Plan development and review of personnel policies.

I reminded the directors of the requirement (AVHC ByLaws and HRSA Federally Qualified Health Center) that fifty percent of the Board of Directors must be patients of the health center. Jan Pallazola, speaking from the audience, said that the requirement used to be eighty percent. Ric Bonner said that they had lowered that at the suggestion of the feds. I asked if the information could be included in the directors' bios on the web site. There was some question if this would be a violation of directors' privacy. I don't think they decided to post the information.

Building And Grounds Committee. Wally Hopkins and his assistant (name not given) have repaired the pump house. Paint touch-up coming soon. New counters and cabinets for medical exam rooms 50% complete. Intent to standardize supply and equipment storage in each room.

Fund Raising. Secretary Heidi Knott-Gundling and Bill Sterling are discussing plans to raise money to pay down the mortgage and eventually develop an endowment fund to help support the clinic. This would be different from an "Annual Appeal". (Speaking from the audience, Brad Wiley of Navarro, congratulated directors on fund raising plans and said that reduction of mortgage debt was the best possible use of ANY fund raising.)

There was another closed session, no subject, no results reported from prior closed session.

Cheers,

Gene Herr, Philo

NATE COLLINS WRITES: "Watching the Copa America alongside the women's World Cup play especially, as I watched the Chile versus Uruguay play the other day, I realized the inferiority of the men's game. The men are invariably egomaniacal, melodramatic candy asses. On the other hand, watching the women strive, struggle and achieve is a joy to the human soul. When they flop it just reminds me of the men's game and why they should stop imitating it. Go USA Women’s Soccer versus Germany this afternoon!"

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles in January turns out to be plenty David Lynchian in its own right. Surreal/banal juxtapositions and interpenetrations are every place you look. The cab from LAX has a DDS machine attached to the meter so you can pay the fare by major credit card. Or there's my hotel lobby which is filled with beautiful Steinway piano music except when you go over to put a buck in the piano player's snifter or whatever it turns out there's nobody playing, the piano's playing itself, but it's not a player piano, it's a regular Steinway with a weird computerized box attached to the underside of its keyboard; the piano plays 24 hours a day and never once repeats a song. My hotel's in what is either West Hollywood or the downscale part of Beverly Hills; two clerks at the registration desk start arguing the point when I ask where exactly in Los Angeles we are. The argument goes on for an absurdly long time with me just standing there.

My hotel room has unbelievably fancy and expensive French doors that open out onto a balcony except the balcony's exactly 10 inches wide and has an iron fence with decorations so sharp looking you don't want to get anywhere near it. I don't think the French doors and balcony are meant to be a joke. There's an enormous aqua-and-salmon mall across the street, very upscale, with pricey futuristic escalators slanting up across the mall's exterior and yet I never in three days see a single person ascend or descend the escalator; the mall is all lit up and open and seems totally deserted. The winter sky seems marvelous but unreal, its blue the same supersaturated blue as Blue Velvet's opening's famous sky.

Los Angeles has a big city's street musicians, but here the musicians play on median strips instead of on the sidewalk or subway and patrons throw change and fluttering bills at them from their speeding cars, many with the casual accuracy of long practice. On the median strips between the hotel and David Lynch's sets most of the street musicians were playing instruments like finger cymbals and citterns.

Fact: In my three days here for Premiere magazine I will meet two different people named Balloon.

The major industry around here seems to be valet parking; even some of the fast food restaurants here have valet parking; I'd love to have the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills concession on maroon valet sportcoats. A lot of the parking attendants have long complicated hair and look sort of like the Italian male model on Harlequin Romance covers. In fact pretty much everybody on the street seems ridiculously good-looking. Everybody is also extremely well and fashionably dressed; by the third day I figure out that the way to tell poor and homeless people is that they look like they dress off the rack. The only even marginally ravaged looking persons in view are the hard-faced Latin guys selling oranges out of grocery carts on whatever median strips aren't already taken by cittern players. Supermodels can be seen running across four-lane roads against the light and getting honked at by people in fuchsia Saabs and tan Mercedeses.

And it's true, the big stereotype: from any given vantage at any given time there are about four million cars to be seen on the road and none of them seems to be unwaxed. People here have got not only vanity license plates but vanity license plate /frames/. And just about everybody talks on the phone as they drive; after a while you get the crazy but unshakable feeling that they're all talking to each other, that whoever's talking on the phone as they drive is talking to somebody else who's driving.

On the first night's return from the set, a Karmann-Ghia passed us on Mulholland Drive with its headlights off and an older woman behind the wheel holding a paper plate between her teeth and still talking on a phone.

— David Foster Wallace (from "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again")

A FRIEND WRITES: "I’m still trying to combat stupidity. Wrote a letter to the Monthly (Berkeley) about their cover story of that nut Dana Ullman and homeopathy; two letters to KPFA about their promotion of vaccine nonsense (did you know that the polio virus doesn’t cause polio and Roosevelt suffered from toxins he absorbed swimming in the ocean near a tannery outlet? Dr. Suzanne Humphries) Sigh….And a fellow swimmer got annoyed with me last week because I don’t believe in astrology!!! It never ends."

PROBLEMS OF READING

Juan José Millás

Light is invisible. We see by the grace of light, but we do not see light. The photographer has to work with this invisible material as the ceramicist works with mud.

This means that he must shape the light although the light does not always permit this. Unlike clay, light is everywhere, all the time. It works morning and evening, day and night, holidays, working days. However, its abundance means nothing. Words are abundant too, but masterpieces are scarce.

Etymologically speaking, photography means “writing of light”. Thus, photography must have its own alphabet: perhaps there is a Dictionary of Light, which the artist consults when he desires to express an idea. This would suggest the existence of a system of semantics. So photographs mean something, of course— but what?

Observe the above photograph in which the Cuban model Nidia Rios poses for Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez, Korda, in 1956.

A work of art that resembles a lesson: As if the photographer had wished to show us his raw materials because in this image, miraculously, one sees the light. Just as literature serves to speak of one thing while pretending to speak of another, Korda has pretended he was photographing a model in order to photograph light. We can follow it with the tip of our index finger as one who indicates the line he is reading.

In contrast to a written text, which is ordered from left to right, from above to below, here the reading is more erratic. For this reason too it is difficult to determine what he has wanted to tell us — and to which part of us.

(This article first appeared in El Pais. Translated by Louis Bedrock.)

MORE: FROM EARTH TO JAY WILLIAMSON, SANTA ROSA

Dear Jay,

The Port Ludlow clearcut has been termed unlawful by David Alvarez, Jefferson County (WA) Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor. The illegal timber harvest took place due to, let’s be polite, a failure of communication between the State Department of Natural Resources that initially granted the harvest plan, and the Jefferson County Zoning Department which specifically forbids such activity within the boundaries of the community of Port Ludlow, also known more definitively as the Port Ludlow Master Planned Resort. Bottom line here is Jefferson County is willing to forego litigation involving substantial fines if the developer agrees to implement and undertake remedial measures including replanting mature native trees, an operation equivalent to the net proceeds obtained from the illegal harvest.

Moving on to municipal bonds which you seem to believe benefit only the rich, on the contrary they provide the state, counties and municipalities with a relatively inexpensive method of financing and improving their infrastructure for the benefit of all residents, and no, these bonds are not repaid by taxes. If a municipality requires a new sewer system it’s not necessarily paid for by taxes but by citizens on a use and pay revenue stream. Schools are funded by ad valorem property taxes paid by community residents. Further, municipal bonds offer smaller communities a low interest method of financing their special needs such as a new fire truck for example. Your reference to “Kids ‘N Dogs Funds” suggests to me your experience has been mainly with mutual funds. Most knowledgeable investors (the rich and the not so rich at all) prefer municipal bonds because they have a stated maturity date unlike mutual funds that can languish in perpetuity.

Kind Regards,

Don Silva

Port Ludlow, Washington

WHY WE NEED LAURA'S LAW

Last week the Ukiah Daily Journal reported that Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency has delayed its implementation of Laura’s Law, which was scheduled to begin July 1, citing more time was needed to put the program in place. Over the weekend my family learned that my severely mentally ill cousin had been released from Mendocino County Jail again and is currently homeless in downtown Ukiah. Apparently he is off his medication and is making threats about killing several of my family members and himself. His parents have contacted Ukiah Police Department, Willits Police Department, and Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and notified them of his threats. Now we are extremely frightened about what may happen before he is locked up again. We are concerned that he may follow up on his threats and actually harm one of us or himself because of the pain he suffers when he is off his medications. For over a year we have been waiting for Laura’s Law to take effect in Mendocino County in hopes that he would get the help he so badly is in need of. Now they have put implementation of the program off until January 2016. My cousin is known to use drugs and alcohol when he is living on the streets and un-medicated. Because of his alcohol and drug use Ortner Management Group (OMG) wants nothing to do with him and refuses to treat him. I expect to see him in the news soon because of all this; he is one of the AVA’s frequent flyers. Hopefully law enforcement will be able to arrest him without violence, we do not want to see him or anyone else harmed. It is so unfortunate that my family’s lives and well being appear to mean nothing to the Health and Human Services Agency that has continuously resisted this program from the start. We are asking everyone to please help us put pressure on the County to start this program immediately.

James Marmon MSW.

http://www.willitsnews.com/general-news/20150624/lauras-law-implementation-to-be-delayed-in-mendocino-county

CATCH OF THE DAY, June 30, 2015

ETOP ARCHIBONG, Antelope/Ukiah. Vehicle theft/suspended license.

MARTIN BALL, Ukiah. Battery, drunk in public, probation revocation.

BEAU BENJAMIN, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. DUI-drugs, possession fo controlled substance, possession of meth for sale.

EARL CASTANEDA, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

ROBERT JAMES, Ukiah. False ID, probation revocation.

ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ, Ukiah. Drug paraphernalia, probation revocation.

JOHN ROSS, Covelo. Murder, armed with firearm, ex-felon with firearm, assault with firearm. (See separate press release.)

JOSHUA SHAW, Calpella/Ukiah. Rape, anal penetration by force, etc.

RILEY SLUDER, Salt Lake City/Willits. DUI.

KELLY STANTON, Ukiah. Suspended license.

MARRIAGE: THE REAL DEAL

A Lot of talk about marriage in recent days.

Justice Kennedy in his decision on Friday:

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.

On the other hand, Sam Kinison provides a different view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_VURr6jnWQ

(Rob Anderson, District 5 diary)

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

This year is our 8th year gardening, on a scale that we can, almost, feed ourselves.

Despite near drought, we harvested 300+ pounds (140 kg) of four varieties of potatoes, now preserved as frozen baked fries and many raw potatoes, stored in sand boxes.

One hundred two-person servings of tomato sauce, 40 pounds of dry pinto and white beans. Onions, pears, peppers, other stuff.

All accomplished on about 2,000 square feet of drip irrigated, sandy soil fortified by compost we produce, with some imported compost needed (probably for a few more years until soil improves).

No pesticides, no herbicides used. Yes, the bugs get some of the yield, but poison free produce. The pears make an excellent wine, ready in about six weeks.

We buy local the things we can’t produce. Still need coffee, though, can’t grow that here…

Keep trying, keep learning.

MENDOLAKE FOOD HUB IS OPEN & ACCEPTING ORDERS

The project is connecting local farmers with local retailers and restaurants in order to meet the growing demand for local food.

June 30, 2015 - The MendoLake Food Hub is accepting orders and delivering local produce to local restaurants and retailers. The Food Hub manages aggregation, storage, and distribution for local farms by acting as hub between producer and consumer. Many small farmers and ranchers are challenged by the lack of distribution – especially in counties as geographically large as Mendocino and Lake. Addressing distribution helps open markets for producers - and it allows local stores and restaurants to carry more local produce.

Via a web based system, food producers upload the produce they have available for sale. Buyers then select from the available crops and place their order. After receiving the order, farmers drop their produce at their closest available cold storage “node.” These refrigerated containers are strategically placed throughout Mendocino and Lake Counties including locations in Ukiah, Willits, the Coast, Lakeport, and Anderson Valley. A partnership Mendocino Coast Produce, a Fort Bragg based distribution company, has been forged. They pick up the produce from the nodes and are reserving space for 100 cases of produce on each truck, piggybacking on the company’s existing distribution network.

Hundreds of food hubs have sprung up around the country in an effort to meet the growing demand for locally produced food. The MendoLake Food Hub is a project initiated by North Coast Opportunities and is funded by a three-year USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant. A specialty crop is defined as fruits, vegetables, herbs, tree nuts, honey, olives and olive oil and nursery plants, in contrast to commodity crops like grains, soybeans, and sugar beets. These USDA grants are designed to help specialty crop producers be more competitive in their local markets. The MendoLake Food Hub aims to connect local buyers – like restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and buying clubs– with specialty crop farmers in the area.

Local farmers participating include: Lovin’ Mama, Covelo Organic, Irene’s Garden, Sky Hoyt, Fortunate Farm, Black Dog, Seely’s Farm Stand and more are being added every week. Buyers so far include Harvest Market in both Fort Bragg and Mendocino, Ukiah Co-op, Taste Buds, Saucy, and Patrona. In addition, Lake County Public Health is purchasing through the Hub for their Harvest of the Month program. The number of producers and buyers is expected to climb in the coming weeks.

John Bailey, MendoLake Food Hub Coordinator, says. “Our local farmers are struggling to compete with industrial-scale producers who ship massive quantities of cheap produce from afar. We know the community wants to support local farmers. The Food Hub is working to foster local relationships, reduce marketing and distribution expenses, and provide assistance to help our farmers build and grow their businesses. After months of work we’re excited to be up and running.”

If you are interested in participating in the Food Hub as a farmer, a business who wants to purchase local crops, or an individual who wants to organize a group to purchase in bulk quantities, please visit www.MendoLakeFoodHub.com or contact John Bailey at (707) 467-3238 or jbailey@ncoinc.org.

THE TERRORISTS AMONG US

Those in denial about Islamic terrorism pounced gleefully on the recent report counting the number of people killed in the US by right-wing violence and those by Islamic extremists. Actually, it's not really even a report, just a tally of those killed in this country by the two types of violence: only 26 killed in "jihadist attacks" and 48 killed in "right-wing" attacks since 9/11.

The count of course is radically skewed by excluding the 9/11 attacks themselves, which killed 2,996 people, bringing the Islamist score up to 3,022 killed in the United States since 9/11.

The Chronicle used a New York Times study to the same effect in its editorial this morning, as if we can't combat both forms of terrorism. The Chronicle's point: that we are allocating too much to fight Islamic terrorism rather than right-wing terrorism, that any focus on potential Islamist terrorists is somehow "scapegoating" Moslems!

The Chronicle, like the rest of the local media, has been consistently wrong on this issue, as if acknowledging the special threat posed by violence motivated by Islam contradicts a liberal, multicultural perspective.

On the other hand, many islamist attacks in the US have been foiled since 9/11. The thing about Islamic terrorism is that, when successful, the casualties are greater. The Boston marathon bombers, for example, killed three people and wounded more than 200 with a couple of crude pressure cooker bombs. The foiled underwear bomber almost brought down a TWA airliner over Detroit. The foiled Times Square bomber could have killed hundreds, etc.

Both types of violence are going to be with us for a long time. The Dylann Roof kind of racial violence has already been with us for more than 200 years, while Islamist violence is a relatively new phenomenon.

— Rob Anderson, 5th District Diary

BROWN SIGNS CALIFORNIA MANDATORY VACCINATION BILL

by David Siders, Alexei Koseff & Jeremy B. White

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed one of the strictest schoolchild vaccination laws in the country, eliminating personal and religious belief exemptions for vaccines.

The governor’s signature came one day after the state Senate moved the bill to his desk, following months of protests and fierce debate at the Capitol.

“The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases,” Brown said in a signing statement. “While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.”

The bill will make California the third state in the nation to require vaccines without religious and personal belief exemptions.

Opponents of the measure said it unfairly restricts parent choice. They immediately vowed to challenge the law in court and potentially through a referendum at the ballot box, arguing it will deprive unvaccinated children of their constitutional right to an education.

“We need to wait until someone actually gets thrown out of school until we can challenge it,” which would not occur until after the bill takes effect in 2016, said Christina Hildebrand, founder of the group A Voice For Choice. “But we will likely have a referendum on it.”

Proponents of the legislation, spurred by a measles outbreak at Disneyland, said unvaccinated children put kids who are too young or sick to be vaccinated at risk.

“Parents do not need to worry, do not want to worry, about taking their children to the school, or to stores, to theme parks,” said bill author Richard Pan, a Democratic state senator from Sacramento.

Of the possibility of a legal challenge, he said, “The courts have been very clear that you don’t have a right to spread a communicable disease, that there’s a public interest in keeping our communities safe from disease.”

The bill allows any schoolchild with an exemption on file to remain unvaccinated until he or she starts kindergarten or, if already in elementary school, seventh grade.

Thousands of California parents protested the measure, Senate Bill 277, in recent months, including at a vigil outside the Capitol this week.

When she heard at the vigil that Brown had signed the bill, Kimberly McCauley of Sacramento sat down on the steps and cried.

McCauley carried pictures of her 2-year-old daughter Ella, whom she said she stopped vaccinating after Ella had adverse reactions to three immunizations, and a letter from her pediatrician denying Ella a medical exemption.

“My daughter is the sweetest little girl, and every day she asks when she gets to go to school,” McCauley said, choking back more tears. “She doesn’t deserve to be discriminated against.”

McCauley said Pan was “facilitating hate” against those who choose not to vaccinate their children, and she accused Brown of refusing to meet with opponents.

“He signed this quick and dirty because he wants us to go away. We’re not going away,” she said. “We’re going to sue. I personally will take this all the way to the Supreme Court.”

Despite passionate opposition to the bill, a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California this month found support for mandatory vaccines from 67 percent of California adults and 65 percent of public school parents.

Brown’s signature was expected. His office said earlier this year that Brown considered vaccinations “profoundly important,” and a senior adviser, though saying she was speaking on her own behalf, testified in favor of the measure.

Three years ago, however, in a relatively mild precursor to this year’s school vaccination bill, Brown made a special exemption for religious beliefs when he signed legislation requiring parents to consult a health professional before declining vaccinations for their schoolchildren.

In his signing statement Tuesday, the Democratic governor noted that the bill exempts children whose family medical histories lead a physician to recommend against immunization. But unlike in 2012, the former Jesuit seminarian said nothing about religion.

How Vaccine Law Works

When does it kick in? Jan. 1, 2016. Schools will begin checking to ensure kids entering kindergarten and seventh grade are vaccinated in July 2016, ahead of the 2016-17 school year.

What vaccines are required? To enroll in public or private schools, children will need to have received shots for diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib meningitis), measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis, rubella (German measles), tetanus, hepatitis B and varicella (chickenpox).

Can children keep personal belief exemptions they already have? Unvaccinated kids can retain exemptions obtained before 2016 until they enter kindergarten or the seventh grade. Those who currently have a personal belief exemption and enter seventh grade before 2016 will not need to get vaccines.

Can I get my child a medical exemption? Yes. SB 277 allows for medical exemptions and permits doctors to take into account family history, including whether a sibling had an adverse reaction.

Source: California Legislature

(Courtesy, the Sacramento Bee)

FIRE OFFICIALS URGE EXTREME CAUTION AS FIREWORKS GO SALE

CAL FIRE Safety Tips for this Fourth of July

Sacramento - With the Independence Day holiday rapidly approaching, CAL FIRE is reminding all Californians and visitors to do their part to prevent fires caused by illegal fireworks or the misuse of "Safe and Sane" fireworks. On Sunday, June 28 "Safe and Sane" Fireworks went on sale in approximately 300 communities throughout California. Although fireworks are a symbolic display of patriotism during this time of celebration, they can be dangerous when handled incorrectly or used in the wrong environment. "As we head into the fourth summer of a severe drought, it is more important than ever that everyone use an abundance of caution to avoid sparking a fire," said Chief Ken Pimlott, director of CAL FIRE. "Here in California we have a zero tolerance for the use and sale of illegal fireworks." There are also legal ramifications when it comes to certain types of fireworks. Possession of illegal fireworks such as sky rockets, bottle rockets, roman candles, aerial shells, firecrackers and other types that explode, go into the air, or move on the ground in an uncontrollable manner can lead to a possible fine of up to $50,000 as well as prison time or jail for up to one year. Even "Safe and Sane" Fireworks taken into a city or county where they are banned are considered illegal. The State Fire Marshal approved "Safe and Sane" fireworks are allowed for use in many communities; however, they are not approved state-wide. Before purchasing these types of fireworks, be sure to check your local ordinances and follow the instructions to avoid accidents and injuries. "Safe and Sane Fireworks are only as safe as they are used," said State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover. "Last year alone there were over 300 fires sparked by fireworks. We want everyone to enjoy their celebrations in a safe and legal manner."

Fireworks Guidelines:

• First check that fireworks are allowed in the area of use
• Make sure the firework has the State Fire Marshal "Safe and Sane" seal
• Purchase only from legitimate organizations authorized to sell
• Have a bucket of water, sand or garden hose available at firing site
• Read all instructions before use
• Never alter, modify or enhance fireworks - use only in the manner intended
• Make sure fireworks have proper clearance from flammable materials including dry grass and brush
• For a full fireworks safety guide visit

www.ReadyforWildfire.org

Or watch this short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G38xe9gjzi8.

SUNDAYS IN THE PARK

Ukiah, CA. - On Sunday, July 12th in Todd Grove Park at 6:00pm Fowler Auto & Truck Center, The City of Ukiah, KWNE-FM and MAX 93.5 are proud to present the third concert of the 24th annual Sundays in the Park concert series with the Gulf Coast’s hottest Classic American Soul and R&B band, The Suffers.

Winner of five 2014 Houston Press Music Awards including Best Drummer, Songwriter, Vocals, Soul Group and Musician of The Year, The Suffers are a ten-piece soul collective from Houston, TX who are redefining the sound of Gulf Coast Soul, intertwining elements of Classic American Soul with Rock & Roll. Both sonically and visually arresting, the large ensemble packs each position of the rhythm section and horn section with a level of talent and taste that provides the perfect foundation for singer Kam Franklin's massive voice.

“The Suffers are a ten-piece soul collective that steeps their tracks in jazzy history with a modern twist. They’re the sort of neo-retro group you never knew music was so badly missing”. Spin Magazine

The Suffers' sound is far-reaching but logical: The brassiness and tight guitar parts unite to represent blues and soul music with a unique Gulf Coast flavor, but the international elements also have roots in Houston. Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" is a spiritual antecedent to the Suffers' "Good Day." And Nash, a native Houstonian, is a pop/R&B singer who helped sell the music of Jamaica - itself influenced heavily by American R&B, doo-wop and soul - to the world with his popular covers of Bob Marley's songs. Similarly, the Suffers' music sounds both close to home and also tied into a global groove.

The band was assembled four years ago by bassist Adam Castaneda and keyboardist Pat Kelly, who reached out to several other local players whose work they admired. The ranks quickly expanded. They eventually added guitarists Kevin Bernier and Alex Zamora, and some crucial brass and reeds with trumpeter Jon Durbin, trombonist Michael Razo and saxophonist Cory Wilson. Percussionist Jose "Chapy" Luna and drummer Nick Zamora enabled the large ensemble to swing. The musical interplay has grown more symbiotic and electric during the past four years.

"We always tell people it's more a family than a band," Franklin says. "If we do a smaller, acoustic set without the full band, it's still a band decision. At the end of the day, it's a business. But staying together got us here." The band's sincerity and emotion are laid bare in their music, which has garnered an audience so broad and varied that they may prove to be the panacea for a jaded and stratified live music scene. 2015 should be a big year for the Suffers, who release the "Make Some Room" EP this year. "Make Some Room" is a small plate with big flavors: cool '70s soul on the title track, R&B with a rock-steady break on "Stay," boisterous Afro-beat on "Gwan" and an aching blues on "Giver."