Mendocino County Today: Saturday, Oct 3, 2015

• Talen Barton
• Fort Bragg Politics
• Mendo's Slow Recovery
• The Shill
• FB Water
• Catch of the Day
• Jeb's Solution
• Airbnb Proposition
• Ticket Amnesty
• Ulrich
• Water Sacred
• Country Dance

TALEN BARTON, The Documents

THE CRIME

On July 19, 2015, Talen Barton was at the residence of Cindy and Coleman Palmieri, Barton’s foster parents in the past. Also at the residence where Ms. Palmieri's brother, Theodore Norvell, her son Teo Palmieri and two minor females who are also related to the Palmieris. Late in the evening after everyone had gone to bed Barton went into Teo’s room and placed his hand over Teo’s mouth as he slept and attempted to slice his throat with a knife. Teo woke up and started screaming as he fought for his life due to the traumatic injury to his neck. Ms. Palmieri heard her son screaming, entered his room and was immediately stabbed in the neck by Barton. After being stabbed in the neck, Ms. Palmieri started screaming for her husband, Coleman. Barton then went to the bedroom of Coleman and Cindy Palmieri. However, once Barton arrived he met Mr. Palmieri running for the door. Once they reached each other, Barton stabbed Mr. Palmieri in the throat. After the confrontation with Mr. Palmieri, Barton went downstairs where he observed Mr. Norvell entering the kitchen. He then stabbed Mr. Norvell in the neck.

During these cold-blooded brutal stabbings, Mrs. Palmieri bled profusely as her brother desperately clung to his life as well. At one point during the commission of the crime, Barton had stated, "I should just put her out of her misery" when he learned that Ms. Palmieri was not dead after stabbing her. Ms. Palmieri described a moment after Talen had stabbed her brother, Theodore. Barton looked back at her and stated, "You're not dead yet." As a result of Barton's actions, Teo eventually died from multiple stab wounds to his neck and body. Mr. Palmieri also lost his life due to multiple stab wounds to his neck and body and Mrs. Palmieri and Mr. Norvell suffered from severe injuries.

Probation spoke with pathologist Dr. Jacqueline Benjamin regarding the injuries the deceased victims suffered. Dr. Benjamin stated that Mr. Palmieri 's injuries were brutally severe. She said the wound to his chest was fatal as he was stabbed through the heart which severed the left ventricle cutting off the blood to his heart and the depth of the wound also sliced through his left lung causing it to collapse. Dr. Benjamin also said the wound to Mr. Palmieri’s neck was severe as well as his internal carotid artery was cut. Dr. Benjamin said the depth of Teo Palmieri’s injury to his throat was serious as it cut through three layers of muscle, severing his internal carotid artery and jugular.

During the interview with Barton, which was somewhat disturbing as he entered the interview room with a smile on his face. And although he said he felt "bad" about what he had done and stated he knew he would probably be spending the rest of his life in jail he indicated he felt good about his life and who he was.

Based on the information I received from Ms. Martin [Laytonville foster mother prior to Barton moving in with the Palmieris] during the interview he had grown up in a chaotic and unstable environment when he was younger eventually despising the person he had become as a teenager and young man. On that fatal night at the Palmieri’s residence he began to think about how much he hated himself, his situation, and how he could get out of the life he was living. Moreover, during the investigation, it was discovered that Barton had stated he wanted to do "violent things" and or "kill things." It was also determined he had told a friend, "I just want to kill people." But what it really came down to was, Barton "wanted to know what it felt like to die" and that is what he told detectives when they interviewed him.

Barton said it was his intention to commit suicide after he had killed the victims. It was hard for me to believe he really wanted to die but I do believe he wanted to know what it was like to watch someone die. Like most normal people who have goals in life such as going to college, getting married, having children, establishing a career, it appears Barton’s goal in life for a long time was to know what it felt like to kill someone and watch them die. So on that fatal night he killed two people, watched two others suffer as they fought for their lives and asked them "What does it feel like?" and "Does it hurt?" almost in a mocking manner.

Knowing that he had killed two people and watching two others struggle to survive, Barton eventually sat down in the living room and smoked marijuana while talking to dispatch on the phone. Eventually his hatred toward his life as well as others and the overwhelming desire to know what it would feel like to kill someone almost an obsession with death became a reality for him.

Detectives noted during their interview with Barton that he often smiled, laughed and almost displayed some sort of enjoyment in what he had done. During my interview with him, he displayed the same emotions. Barton's callous emotional display, his self-satisfied attitude and a lack of regard for the lives that he had taken is heartless. Murder by its very nature is extremely serious. In this case the victims were ferociously attacked with excessive violence and life threatening bodily harm was inflicted, displaying a high degree of cruelty and viciousness which is deserving of the years he will spend in prison. Society should be and needs to be protected from someone who is as cold hearted as Barton.

This probation officer spoke with Marcella Runnings, a juvenile probation officer at the time, who wrote the original disposition report for the court when Barton was a juvenile. Officer Runnings had written in her report about her concerns about Talon’s emotional balance and his risk of becoming a danger to others. I spoke to Officer Runnings and she said she had met with the Palmieris during a disposition report and had told them she did not think it was a good idea for them to take Barton into their home, which is somewhat ironic as Ms. Palmieri when interviewed by detectives stated Barton had told her, "You guys are really going to regret ever bringing me into your home."

On July 23, 2015 the defendant was interviewed by Donald Apostle M.D. Dr. Apostle indicated the defendant suffered from possible methamphetamine exposure in utero and a traumatic and neglectful upbringing, including sexual and physical abuse with a history of self ingestion of marijuana. Dr. Apostle described the defendant as chronically depressed. However, he did not believe the defendant was psychotic at the time of the murders and to the best degree of his medical certainty he believes the defendant was aware of the nature and quality of his actions as well as the wrongfulness. A letter written by the defendant from the jail to a friend has been attached to this report. (It is also appended below)

Probation spoke with Detective Wyant who indicated the defendant was very candid about his brutality and he felt as though he was talking to someone who was "pure evil." Detective Wyant went on to say, "I hadn't seen anything this brutal in my 17 year career. This murder was very calculated and I hope to never see him out of prison. He is an absolute monster."

TALEN BARTON EXPLAINS HIMSELF

During probation’s interview with the defendant, he stated, "It was really fucked up and now I'll be in jail for the rest of my life. I deserved to be in jail for the rest of my life." The defendant indicated he was a "pussy" for not killing himself but explained he did not have enough time to do so. The defendant stated he was "pretty pissed off" at the victim (Teo) before he killed him because he was an "ass and had an uncontrollable temper, and wasn't going anywhere."

When asked how he was able to kill one grown man and severely injure another without injury to himself, the defendant stated he practiced martial arts and boxing for a couple years. When asked how he got started in martial arts, the defendant stated his guardian (Denise Shields) at the time knew he was getting "picked on" at school and wanted him to be able to defend itself. The defendant also stated, "She also knew I had anger issues."

The defendant said he knew he had to attack both men by surprise as they were both skilled in self-defense. The defendant stated Mr. Palmieri was a Brazilian martial artist in capoeira and was well versed in the art. The defendant stated, "I knew I had to catch them off guard." When asked about Mr. Norvell the defendant stated Mr. Norvell was a fencing instructor, a form of martial arts. The defendant stated, "I had to attack them by surprise so they wouldn't have a chance to defend themselves."

The defendant was asked about Denise Shields and the relationship he had with her. He stated Ms. Shields always threatened him with the possibility of foster care in order to get him to comply with her rules. The defendant stated, "I would have killed her if she would have been there.” I asked, "You would have killed her had she been at the Palmeiri house?" The defendant stated, "Oh fuck yeah. I would have -- if anyone deserved it, she did." When asked if he had anything else to add, the defendant stated, "Goodbye."

A VICTIM'S STATEMENT

Probation did speak with one of the victims, Theodore Norvell, via the telephone. Mr. Norvell said he is still recovering from his injuries and was still seeing his physician. Mr. Norvell stated he is still struggling with trying to understand the defendant's motive. Mr. Norvell stated he will be writing an impact letter to the court, which will be attached to this report if received in time.

The defendant, Talen Barton, stated he has lived in Mendocino County for five years. The defendant stated he has lived in the state of California for 10 years however, he also lived in Nevada, Washington and Alaska. The defendant characterized his health as good. He stated he was not currently taking any medication and denied ever being diagnosed with any mental illnesses. The defendant stated he enjoys playing the guitar and reading.

The defendant indicated he started smoking marijuana when he was 13 years old and said he would smoke it once a week for recreational purposes. By the age of 15 the defendant explained he was smoking every day, and estimated he smoked 5-10 grams of marijuana a day. The defendant went on to say by the age of 18 he was smoking marijuana every day and estimated he was smoking a quarter of an ounce a day. The defendant stated he enjoys smoking marijuana and he indicated it was a "habit, just as cigarettes are to others." The defendant said he typically does not get "high" from smoking marijuana as he has become used to it. However, he did say he does enjoy the taste. Defendant also stated he likes smoking hash, honey oil and keif.

The defendant stated although he does not grow marijuana, it has been given to him on most occasions. The defendant said he has trimmed marijuana for others and in return had been paid and given marijuana in exchange for his services. The defendant also stated he has used LSD in the past and has used it approximately 10 times and said, "It was amazing." The defendant explained he also ingested psilocybin mushrooms at the least 15 times and stated, "It made me trip pretty hard."

Mother’s name: April Wheatcroft. Age 39.

Father’s name: Royal Barton. Age 45.

The defendant stated his parents were never married and he was raised by his mother and stepfather (Scotty) until the age of eight and then he went into foster care. The defendant stated he went into foster care as a result of his mother and stepfather’s drug abuse. He also said his stepfather beat him with his fist and would threaten them (his older brother as well) with weapons. The defendant explained when his stepfather was under the influence of methamphetamine he would usually punch, slap and/or kick him and his brother. Defendant also stated that he was sexually abused by one of his stepfather's friends and explained it only happened one time but he chose not to elaborate on the details.

The defendant went on to say that his mother was depressed and he usually could tell when she was. He stated she would often tell him she was depressed but he often knew ahead of time, especially when she was using drugs. The defendant stated he is "still friends" with his mother. However, he has not seen her in six years. The defendant stated he talked to his mother on Facebook and she calls him at the jail. The defendant said he does not talk to his father and he last spoke to his father when he was 15.

The defendant stated he has one brother and one half brother. Defendant said he gets along with his younger half-brother but not so much with his older brother. The defendant stated, "We're not the same kind of people. I like metal, he likes rap. It's a strange relationship."

Brothers: Royal Martin Jr., 21, Concord California. Sean Epley 15, student, Washington State

The defendant indicated he was employed at Ramone's Bakery and Cafe while living in Eureka for a couple of months between 2014 and 2015. (Report prepared by the Mendocino County Probation Department)

LETTER FROM DR DONALD APOSTLE (MD), SANTA ROSA

At your request (Andy Alvarado, DA investigator), Mr. Barton was examined at the Mendocino County Jail investigative office on July 20, 2015 for purposes of psychiatric evaluation regarding diagnosis and sanity. The two-hour interview was recorded by videotape.

Prior to my examination I was informed by members of your office that Mr. Barton had a history of being sexually abused by his parents who are also drug abusers. He did graduate high school but did not attend college. He had smoked marijuana daily and was smoking marijuana at the time he called 911. He has been noted to burn himself by putting out marijuana cigarettes on his forearm. He has been into fantasy card play including Dungeons & Dragons identifying with the character "Ger" who is an assassin and kills and rapes with a sword.

He was taken in by this adoptive family at age 17 after he had been arrested by a previous foster mother for criminal threats. He loved this new foster family, describing it as the closest thing he has ever had to a family but is now charged with killing the foster father, their 17-year-old son, and stabbing the foster mother and her brother in the throat He spared the 14-year-old and 15-year-old daughters.

I was informed that Mr. Barton believes in reincarnation and they would all be together again. He did not harm himself although he had indicated that this was a murder suicide. He had mentioned that he cries each night before going to bed wondering if he should kill everyone else as well as himself. He had informed you that he disliked the son, Teo, seeing him growing up the same way, taking the same path, smoking weed, describing himself as a failure and a putz. He stabbed Teo in the neck initially and then he stabbed the adoptive mother in the neck when she came into the room, confronting him after hearing the noise. He then attacked the adoptive father, killing him. The mother and the uncle remained wounded but he asked her how it felt to die. He had the teenage girls with him in the room and cut the phone cord, but called 911 on a cell phone stating that he had just killed four people. He vacillated between being calm and agitated according to the girls.

Mr. Barton presents as a 19-year-old male who was of slight build but was willing to speak. He stated that he was not suicidal anymore but felt the need to be punished having killed two people and maybe a third on Saturday night. I initially asked him questions of orientation on a mini-mental state examination and he was oriented to time and place and could remember three words after a few minutes and could subtract serial sevens without difficulty and could spell the word World both forwards and backwards. He could identify simple objects and had a total score of 30 out of 30 on a mini-mental state examination. He showed no evidence of agnosia being able to identify geometric forms and on a modified Bender-Gestalt showed no evidence of motor-sensory incoordination. He could correctly draw a face of a clock with numbers in the correct position. He completed a simple trail-making test without any errors quickly and did the same on a more complicated trail-making test alternatively connecting numbers and letters quite well without any errors showing no evidence of confusion and demonstrating good planning and forethought.

He was born in Phoenix, Arizona on May 17, 1996 at 12:04 in the morning. His birth mother and father were not married and his mother was 18 when she delivered him. He already had an older brother who was born when the mother was 16. He reports his birth mother probably used methamphetamine while pregnant and also had a history of heroin and cocaine abuse and may not have used marijuana. He described being raised not very well. His father left the picture and random men whom he described as meth-heads showed up and ruined the life of his mother and himself.

At age 8 he moved to California where he stayed with another family friend for eight years. He was a good student at home schooling until he stopped caring about life, feeling that he didn't have much to live for. He began smoking marijuana at age 13 and currently smokes a few grams of “kief” daily which he describes as crystals from the leaf of the marijuana plant which is pure THC. He smoked marijuana daily except for about 20 days since January 1 of this year.

He also described having taken acid and mushrooms, both on three or four occasions. He denies the use of ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine stating that he doesn't do anything harder and prefers psychedelics which open his mind. After his first acid trip he began to believe in reincarnation even though he is agnostic and has no religious beliefs. He states since the age of 14 or 15 he would feel depressed and hold an Exacto knife for hours daily thinking about suicide. He had no friends in school, feeling nobody liked him and considered him a strange dude. He then offered that he will get punished for what he did.

At age 17 he was sent to juvenile hall after a scuffle with Denise (Laytonville foster mother, and family relation) who was taking care of him since age 8. He states he was going to kill himself at the time he got arrested. He demonstrated some of the scabs on his left forearm from putting out joints on his arm. He recalls being abused by one of his mother's boyfriends who was a gang member and beat him up physically with threats to kill him and his brother. At the mention of his brother who lives in Laytonville he began to cry and became quite tearful stating that he misses his family. He described himself as being quite lonely but had a girlfriend stating that girls do like him. He stated that all he really wanted to do was help people.

On Saturday night he was thinking of killing himself and taking people with him which was a new idea. He believed in the heat death of the universe, stating that all matter stays in the universe and then after reincarnation you could start a new life. He thought if he killed himself he would never be accepted and it would be so wrong that no one can forgive that. He stated that his foster family did love him unconditionally and became tearful because he couldn't feel it. At 17 he was the new member of the family, like a second fiddle with no guidance, feeling new to this world. He remained depressed but loved food and became obsessed with sugar which made him happy. He thought that nobody cared about him since his biological mother left and he has only seen her once since the seventh grade. He recalls that his father helped setting up metal concerts and smoked weed.

He states that marijuana helped him not to think and he has felt meaningless since age eight with thoughts of killing himself from time to time. He denies having auditory or visual hallucinations. He states he believed in a new world order describing this as extremely rich people who create the New World and the president as a figurehead. He went on to describe this as BS. He has a philosophy of life in which people can eventually create their own heaven by recycling until they get it right. He does play the guitar and write songs and is into physical exercise and boxing and tae kwon do. His music teacher died of cancer a few years ago and he became tearful thinking about that.

He has never been diagnosed with ADHD although he describes himself as being hyper at times but has never been on Adderall or in the hospital. He likes to read Stephen King and other such novels and goes on to describe this world as being boring with no one coming in. He began to believe in reincarnation after his first acid trip at age 17 when he felt connected to everything after this experience. He was in high school at that time. He did worse during his senior year because he didn't care and described his sense of apathy and not being able to feel shit.

He feels really really bad remorse stating that the murders feel senseless now. At the time, they seemed like it was only choice because he had no life and felt useless. He doesn't feel any different being off of marijuana for the past 24 hours and states he is not addicted to it, having been off of it some 20 days since January 1.

He describes themes of loneliness, being disconnected and having no one. He had an Alaskan Husky dog who was killed by one of his mother's boyfriends that he felt closer to than he did to his mother. He states he feels a sense of neglect and didn't get raised right. He has no imaginary friends going on to say that he is sane. He states he killed his best friend and hopes that he will get the electric chair and a lot of punishment.

This is his first time in jail and he keeps to himself not interacting with others. He tries to get some sleep and food is not too tasty. He described being in counseling during his teenage years but that was superficial and without any depth as a counselor just seemed to want to shoot the shit. He states he wants to call his biological mother and tell her that he killed three people and is not her son anymore. He feels he doesn't belong to anyone.

In regard to the events of the time he stated that he killed Teo by stabbing him in the throat and recalls him screaming. Stepmother Cindy came into the room and he stabbed her and then felt "Oh fuck. I didn't want to do that." However, he left her there and then stabbed his foster father and then the whole house awoke. He does recall being with teenage girls and at one point offering them cookies. He did cut the cords to phone and stated that, I killed the people I wanted to kill, describing the foster father as a useless electrician who had no license and relied on Cindy.

He describes Teo as being never happy and always bitching and that they would be better off with reincarnation. However, he identified his foster mother as a saint. He states he felt like shit going through this and that there was no emotional release. He states he was going to kill himself but was interrupted after he stabbed his foster mother who he had not intended to stab. He states he thought about killing Teo and the foster mother as part of a murder suicide pact and knew that this was the wrong thing to do. Nevertheless he gave himself permission to do so in spite of his belief in reincarnation and he admits that he is afraid of death. He felt some relief when police arrived.

Mr. Barton presents as a 19-year-old male with possible methamphetamine exposure in utero and traumatic and neglectful upbringing including sexual and physical abuse. He began to feel depressed quite young and by age 13 was smoking marijuana regularly and has continued to do so until the present. He did not do well at his Senior year in high school stating that he didn't care and at one point described himself as a pothead.

Has felt disconnected, lonely and having a lack of bonding even with the new foster family that took him in at age 17. He described the 17-year-old victim and the foster father in very negative terms and planned a murder suicide which went awry after he stabbed his foster mother. He had a belief in reincarnation after his first exposure to LSD stating that one could improve in a subsequent life.

He was not dissociated during the stabbings and showed little evidence of release. He was regretful that he had stabbed his foster mother which derailed his suicide attempt. He was not hearing voices or having command hallucinations. He was chronically depressed with a history of self ingestion of marijuana.

He indicated that he was aware of the wrongfulness of the murders and knew that murdering was wrong. He now feels a great sense of remorse and wishes for severe punishment.

Posttraumatic stress disorder can be considered with depression in Mr. Barton. He self medicated with marijuana which never really solved his problems of detachment and longing. He has expressed feelings of not being accepted or being able to feel the love of others. He was not psychotic at the time of the killings and to the best degree of medical certainty shows that he was aware of the nature and quality of his actions as well as the wrongfulness. This was a murder suicide attempt that had gone awry. Respectfully submitted, Donald Apostle MD

LETTER FROM TALEN BARTON TO HIS FRIEND, GRIFF OLLAR:

Dear Griff,

Thank you for writing! I hope you are doing well as I hope everyone is doing well. I'm incredibly curious about who all returned to school and how this year is treating you.

I apologize for not having written sooner. Trust me in saying that this is the soonest I could. You ask me three questions in your letter and I'll try to answer them as best I can.

You have great faith in me when you say you don't believe I did my deeds in a sane frame of mind. I'm sorry to say I did. As unfortunate as this whole situation is it’s one caused 110% buy me, while rational. What was my motive? Truly, simply, hatred. A lot of it was due to a fermenting hatred for Teo, caused by strife and petty squabbles. More than that though, it came about due to a deep self-loathing brought about by years of mistakes and lies made mostly by me but also by others. The buildup to this took years but the events that took place directly prior to the incident are something like this:

I returned to Laytonville, incredibly dejected because I absolutely hate that tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. Cindy and Coleman are incredibly kind and let me live with them again. Rowyn's stepfather, Mike, gave me a job moving large rounds of wood across his property. This was when discord first formed between Mike and I as I was apathetic and failed to call him for more work. It was a stupid decision but I considered it to be more interesting to just smoke marijuana all day. After that it became very difficult to find a job. Coleman soon became angry with me and I was threatened with expulsion from the home. I more than deserved this.

Rowyn returned home on my birthday and I went to his house to hang out with him, Gil and Daniel. I was entirely depressed by this point. Mike made it very clear I wasn't welcome but as a favor that I didn't deserve he gave me a number of friend who gave me a job. This worked out well. I had that job up until I was put in here but soon Rowyn's family no longer liked me. They were pretty much my family and I couldn't deal with that even though I caused it.

During this time Teo annoyed me beyond belief. A lot of it had to do with smoking and once he tried to attack me so I decided not to deal with his shit anymore. But he wouldn't leave me alone. Nobody deserved what I did to them but I simply lost my patience and decided that night to remove the thing that annoyed me most: Teo. It was incredibly rash. I no longer placed any value on anything, especially life.

Everything snowballed from there into a hellish night that eventually came to your second question: Me calling 911. I hurt a lot of people who never deserved it that night. There was no rational reason for doing this. After I stabbed Teo he screamed and I knew I couldn't get away. From then on I was acting on fear. Eventually four of us sat in the same living room. Teo pleaded with me to save his sister. His daughter pleaded with me to save her dad. Cindi's daughter cried because she thought she'd last lost her whole family. I've brought so much pain to such good people. I was scared but it was my choices that had brought this on me and I had another choice to make. Nothing I did that night was right or fair but I'm proud of my last choice.

Why did I smirk? I never saw my mugshot but I tried to smile. Apparently they have lots of drugs in prison so the pot I smoked at night may not be my last. But I'm glad to be sober. I offered Teo at toke while he was bleeding for the pain. He declined.

As for my future I took a plea deal and got 71 years to life in prison. I'll have my mom keep you updated on my address if you still want to write to me.

My friendship with you was one of my favorites. I considered your family as my friends are my true family. I appreciate that you thought the same of me.

I wish you luck in everything you do. Pass my greetings to our friends if you get a chance. I'm sorry to have been a disappointment. Take care. Much love to my brother. Talen Barton

Can I ask a favor of you? Can you give the other letter to Rowyn? It’s futile to apologize but I have to try.

* * *

Barton's Facebook photo

Rowyn,

I hope you and Kelsey are well. I hope school’s going well for you too. There's no adequate way to express how I feel. I'm sorry is hollow but it's the truth. I'm getting off too easy for caving in my best friend’s family, his world. If I could change I would. I'm a fool. To have something so good and throw it away. Your friendship was the most valuable I ever had. It was all I tried to cling to. I'm sorry to have brought you this pain. Everything you ever did for me was too good. You helped me in life when I didn't even help myself. There's so much I could say. I'm truly sorry. I will be for many lifetimes. Take care. Good luck. Talen.

THE DOOR HAS BEEN OPENED and there is no turning back now. The City of Fort Bragg played the discrimination 
card and opened the door for any special interest group to do what they want, where they want and when they
 want within the City limits. How many more properties are going to be purchased and handed over 
to Hospitality Center, Hospitality House and Transitional Housing? Your guess is as good as mine but as 
we sit and discuss it more grants are being written for this very purpose. How long will this go on? 
As long as the city keeps looking for more properties to hand over to the nonprofit. Of course the 
City will be keeping their share of the grant for doing the paper work. We all know this is a quick fix 
for the City’s financial woes and it will continue until grants are no longer available. A lot of properties 
can be grabbed up by the time that happens. There is something horribly wrong when it takes 
over $600,000 to “remodel” a house after it has been purchased to use as transitional housing. 
This happened in the 300 block of North Harrison St. Even worse is the fact our City has become like 
so many of those who choose to live on the streets. They wonder around looking for freebies and 
handouts at taxpayers’ expense. There is no difference in these two groups.

So now Dave Turner apologizes for not having more meetings regarding the Old Coast Hotel deal of a lifetime. 
After the first meeting in January I spoke with Mr. Turner and his words to me were “I don’t blame the community 
for feeling like this was shoved down their throats because it was. We should have had more meetings.” 
So, there was still time, meetings were held but it was too late to change the mind of those who had all 
ready given their blessing to the project. Did anyone listen, except Lindy Peters? The decision had been 
made and it was a done deal before the first meeting and Turner knew it. He had given his approval, 100%.

Our Police Department can’t get the body cameras they had asked for because there is no money for them and 
no grants available. But the City can put a office in the Old Coast Hotel for the PD to work out of. Why is that? 
Is the PD babysitting or providing free security service? If it’s for ease of foot patrol Purity Market has a parking 
lot much closer to the center of the business district. How hard is it to park a patrol car and get out to walk 
around town? There is a reason for an office of Law Enforcement in the Old Coast Hotel. What is the reason? Gosh, I wonder.

Names such as uncaring, bigots, fearful and uninformed are a few of those being directed toward anyone who 
opposes the views of a select group within the City of Fort Bragg. I’m wondering if perhaps they were looking 
in the mirror when they came up with those expressions. It was funny at one meeting to hear them accusing the 
people opposing the Old Coast Hotel project as being fearful of the homeless. I had just heard on the scanner a 
few days before a call from one of their group saying there was a homeless person looking through the back door 
window of her/his business. Why would a person call law enforcement because a homeless person was looking 
through their window unless they were fearful? Guess that doesn’t count.

Signing the petition for the initiative isn’t approving it at all. What it is saying is THE PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HEARD and 
they aren’t being heard at the council meetings. When you speak at a council meeting you get three minutes then you are 
told your time is up. At one meeting there was a man speaking in favor of the Old Coast Hotel and went on for nine minutes. 
On the video you can see Lindy Peters pointing that fact out to Turner but it continued for another few minutes.

Instead of a “quick fix” being made from grants I think it would make much more sense to work on a long term fix that 
would keep the tourists coming back and the money flowing into the City. If tourism is to be the future of Fort Bragg 
someone should come up with a plan other than another trail and grants. If we keep going in the direction we are going 
now it won’t be long before people are saying “I remember when we used to vacation in Fort Bragg” instead of saying “Let’s vacation in Fort Bragg.”

— Judy Valadao, Fort Bragg

* * *

A correction needs to be made in the above letter. As of right now the City is not writing more grants but the Love in Action is planning on finding more properties which if purchased will be done so with more grants.

advocate-news.com/general-news/20150723/love-in-action-group-forges-ahead

--JV

MENDO’S SLOW EMPLOYMENT RECOVERY

by Linda Williams

(Source: California Labor Market Info.)

There are still fewer people working in Mendocino County today than at the start of the recession, and far below the county’s peak in Sept. 2002, according to statistics available from the state Labor Market Information department. While the recovery has been slow, there are indications most Mendocino County employment sectors started improving in 2012.

The only significant employment growth has occurred in the health and education sectors, expanding by 60%. The leisure and hospitality sectors have recovered to pre-recession levels. Most other employment sectors in the county remain significantly below pre-recession levels.

BY THE NUMBERS

Measuring the number of those employed is a more accurate assessment of the strength of the local economy than the unemployment rate, as the rate varies based on the number of those seeking work and fails to capture those who have just given up or moved away.

The preliminary August 2015 employment data for Mendocino County has 39,570 persons employed, compared with 38,730 in August 2014; 42,160 in August 2007 (pre-recession) and 44,620 in August 2002 (near the peak).

The number of employed Californians returned to pre-recession levels in 2013. Except for the period 2008 and 2009, the California labor pool has continued to grow at pre-recession rates.

At 5.1%, Mendocino County unemployment rates have returned to pre-recession levels from the peak of 12.9% during March 2010. While the rates are back to “normal” the labor pool has shrunk by more than 12.1% (5,790 workers) since 2002. In contrast the California labor pool has grown by 9% during the same period.

MANUFACTURING DECLINE

The number of manufacturing jobs in Mendocino County has been dropping since 2000. In August 2000 there were 4,830 manufacturing workers but by August 2007 the number had dropped to 2,910 workers, even before the recession began. During the depths of the recession this number bottomed out at 2,110 in April 2010. In August 2015 there were 2,620 workers employed in Mendocino County’s manufacturing sector.

This decline in manufacturing jobs parallels the overall California statistics. Between 2000 and 2007, California lost 21% of its manufacturing jobs. Between 2007 and 2010, the state lost and additional 11% compared with 2000.

Construction

Construction employment has always been cyclical, pegged to the pace of homebuilding in the county. In August 2015 there were 1,070 workers with construction jobs compared with a recession low of 770 in January 2011 and near the peak of 1,710 in August 2000. There were 106 new home building permits filed in Mendocino County in 2014, compared with 273 in 2000, according to the US Bureau of the Census.

Services

The number of workers in non-government service providing industries, such as retail sales, education, health services, hospitality, and business services, have actually gone up since the beginning of 2000. County wide the number of service jobs in January 2000 was 16,800 and the total in this category as of August 2015 was up to 20,590. After dropping in 2009, the number of jobs in this category has shown a steady increase since August 2012.

The main driver behind is the 60% job growth in the education and health sectors, which has increased from 3,870 employees in January 2000 to 6,160 employees in August 2015.

The Leisure and Hospitality sectors took a hit in 2008 from the recession. Employment in this sector began recovering in 2012. By August 2015 this sector has rebounded to pre-recession levels employing 4,570 workers.

Retail sales staffing remains at recession levels, posting no significant improvement since dropping about 10% in 2009.

The number of government workers dropped from pre-recession annualized levels of 7,550 employees to current levels of 7,100 employees, which has been essentially unchanged in the past 5 years.

(Courtesy, the Willits News)

LATEST FROM FORT BRAGG ON WATER CRISIS

The City Of Fort Bragg Announced late Friday that it would not sell any more water to water haulers. The town of some 6,500 is presently under a Stage 3 water alert, meaning residents are being asked to voluntarily cut back on water use.

* * *

Update On Fort Bragg’s Stage 3 Water Emergency

On Wednesday, September 30th, the Fort Bragg City Council declared a Stage 3 Water Emergency after the City’s Noyo River water diversion became too impacted by saltwater to be used. The Noyo provides about 40% of the City’s water this time of year, with the remainder coming from two other surface water diversions which are also at record low levels. The City’s water system includes very minimal water storage (three tanks, two raw water ponds, and a very small reservoir). The storage does not provide a reserve of water for dry periods. Rather, it is necessary to maintain pressure in the system and to ensure adequate water to fight a fire or deal with a major water main break. Consequently, on a day-to-day basis, the City’s water production must equal its water consumption. As of today, citywide water use is averaging about 550,000 gallons per day. More storage will be available once the Summers Lane Reservoir project is completed, but that will not help us through this year’s Water Emergency. The City is working hard to maintain and increase the water supply. Our operators are blending as much water as possible from the Noyo with the other sources. The City is also investigating a number of supplemental water sources that could provide for water to be hauled to the raw water ponds at the Water Treatment Plant. We have suspended sales of water to water haulers. We’ve implemented conservation protocols at the Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Water Treatment Plant. We have turned off all City landscape irrigation, including at the Guest House property. We are in the process of turning off all of the landscape meters connected to the City water system and placing those accounts on “vacation hold” status. These actions alone will shave nearly 75,000 gallons per day from the citywide water use. The City is in the process of contacting all of its largest water users to discuss measures to reduce consumption. We have also sent notices to and are in the process of personally contacting lodging, restaurant and bar owners to inform them of conservation requirements and to help troubleshoot concerns. Our leak detection program has identified 168 water customers with potential water leaks. They will be notified next week about the requirement that leaks be fixed immediately and given information about how to confirm whether they have a leak. We ask the community to work together to please conserve as much water as possible during this emergency and we thank you, in advance, for your adherence to Stage 3 Water Emergency requirements. Additional water conservation information is available on the City’s website and updates about the Water Emergency are provided on the City’s Facebook page. The City Council will receive a detailed status report at its Tuesday, October 13th meeting. Questions regarding this information should be directed to Tom Varga, Public Works Director, at (707) 961-1592 or Linda Ruffing, City Manager, at (707) 961-2823, ext. 111.

(City Press Release)

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 2, 2015

LORNA ALLEN, Willits. Petty theft, probation revocation.

JUNE ANDERSON, Lake County/Willits. Under influence of controlled substance.

JENNIFER DEGROOT, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

TERRY ELLISON, Covelo. Probation revocation.

NICHOLAS HALVORSEN, Fort Bragg. Drunk in public, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

RICHARD HODGE, Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance.

BENJAMIN HOFF, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

CHRISTINA HOFFMAN, Ukiah. Petty theft, probation revocation.

REMO MCOSKER, Ukiah. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)

JAMIE PITMAN, Ukiah. Petty theft.

COLIN ROACH, Fort Bragg. Ex-felon with firearm, prohibited person with ammo.

TYLER SHIVELY, Willits. Drunk in public, probation revocation.

SCOTTY WILLIS, Ukiah. Probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

JEB BUSH: "STUFF HAPPENS."

After a question from the audience about the massacre that killed nine people at an Oregon community college Thursday, Bush said, “We’re in a difficult time in our country and I don’t think more government is necessarily the answer to this. I think we need to reconnect ourselves with everyone else. It’s very sad to see. But I resist the notion—and I had this challenge as governor—because we had—look, stuff happens, there’s always a crisis. And the impulse is always to do something and it’s not necessarily the right thing to do.”

IT COULD HAPPEN ON THE COAST

How Airbnb Kills Residential Rentals

by Carl Finamore

And then, there is Prop F, one of the most controversial ballot measures on San Francisco’s agenda this November.

Airbnb, for its part, has thrown $8 million into high-pitched attack ads accusing Prop F supporters of “Big Brother” spying on neighbors and turning them into authorities just for trying to earn a little more cash from renting out rooms.

Actually, Prop F is quite simple. It calls for registration with the city of all short-term rental (STR) listings. A fine on the listing websites would be imposed for failure to do so.

This would be new because so far, affordable housing activists assert, there has been exceedingly little monitoring of vacation rental websites like Airbnb.

And, as a result of the city turning a turning a blind eye, housing advocates tell me, it has dramatically spurred the rapid expansion of STRs and subsequent depletion of housing units normally reserved for permanent residents.

For example, current law already requires STR hosts to register with the city, but only 618 have done so, according to the San Francisco Planning Department.

Yet, a San Francisco Chronicle investigation revealed that Airbnb had 4,238 local hosts with 5,459 listings. VRBO and others also had hundreds more listings on their sites.

The vast number of STRs, it would appear, were unreported with their actual impact on the residential housing squeeze going both unnoticed and unregulated by authorities.

Buttressing these concerns further, the San Francisco Chronicle report also indicated there were “at least 350 cases of entire homes” being listed for year-round vacation rental “bolstering claims by activists that the service removes scarce housing from the city’s limited inventory.”

Furthermore, the newspaper report concluded, STR practices appear to “flout strict rental laws.”

Quite an indictment.

It’s true, Tess Welborn, from the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Council told me in a conversation, “and none of this is legal.” She described how under current law, it is neither legal to rent vacation units full time nor legal for websites to list STRs without them being registered with the city.

That’s why SF Supervisor David Campos described at a Weds., Sept. 30 “Yes on Prop F” city hall press conference that “94% of STR website listings in San Francisco are breaking the law.”

Airbnb is Too Big to Fail

Trying to put all the pieces together so that is understandable, speakers at the Prop F press conference like SF Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards explained that making a few bucks off “home sharing to tourists is not intrinsically bad.”

And, as others explained, Prop F supporters do not want to go after individuals who host tourist guests but rather hold accountable the several dozen corporate rental-listing websites making large commissions who flagrantly refuse to register their transactions.

But, at the same time, Commissioner Richards emphasized, there comes a point when renting out residential living spaces to temporary visitors begins to displace “permanent housing availability.”

And this, he said, should get all our attention.

This is particularly true when large commercial property owners buy apartment buildings and evict long-term tenants in order to rent STRs day to day to tourists.

Of course, the big incentive is dollars.

Jennifer Fieber, from the SF Tenants Union, told me that STR daily rental charges average much more than the normal pro-rated amount for rent-control protected tenants, for example.

And thus, this explains the accelerated eviction rate for these tenants and the conversion of the units into STRs.

Amazing, and even gluttonous, that more profit can be made off short-term rentals to tourists than is already being made off residents suffering from such incredible rent inflation in the city.

Essentially, Sara Short from the SF Housing Rights Coalition said, Airbnb is a business model “that profits off our housing crisis” and, added Campos, they do it by dodging “normal business regulatory restraints.”

So, clearly, concerns about Airbnb practices are all around us. Yet, where’s the enforcement?

Business is Good, Leave Us Alone

“That’s the whole point of Prop F,” Conny Ford, VP Community Affairs, San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, told me. “It will hold Airbnb and other listing websites accountable” and allow us time to plan how to stop the unparalleled further displacement of residents.

But, housing activists have grown tired of the city’s failure to enforce existing laws while Airbnb impact has worsened the city’s housing crisis.

So far, Jennifer Fieber, SF Tenants Union, told me, we only know of around a few dozen cases of the “city enforcing its own laws already on the books.” True, it was only in July that Mayor Lee ordered the creation of a new enforcement office and then it only acted by sending violation letters to 15 hosts.

“This is a drop in the bucket, we need Prop F’s reasonable registration rules so we can keep tabs on the number of units being rented,” Ford insisted.

The city’s own Planning Department seemed to agree there were problems with current rules when it concluded that it was “impracticable to determine whether or not a host is in their unit on any given night [as legally required]. As a result, if incentives exist [profits], a host may fully withdraw the unit from the residential market and use it for STR on a full-time basis, potentially up to every night of the year.”

These are the identical problems housing advocates have been pointing out and it is why they have proposed the stiffer controls of Prop F.

(Carl Finamore is Machinist Lodge 1781 delegate, San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO. He can be reached at local1781@yahoo.com. Courtesy, CounterPunch.org)

CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES AMNESTY PROGRAM: A state amnesty program for some old, unpaid traffic tickets goes into effect October 1, 2015. Runs through March 31, 2017. By Maura Dolan (LA Times)

An amnesty program for Californians saddled with unpaid traffic tickets takes effect Thursday, October 1, 2015, paving the way for low-income drivers to win back their licenses.

Under a bill passed by the Legislature, drivers will receive discounts of 50% to 80% on tickets that should have been paid before January 1, 2013, according to the Judicial Council, the policy making body for California courts.

Installment payment plans also will be offered. Californians who lost their driver's licenses because they could not afford to pay the fines will be eligible to have them reinstated, the Judicial Council said.

Those with parking tickets or convictions for reckless driving or driving under the influence and drivers ticketed in more recent years will not be eligible for the assistance.

State lawmakers and judges decided to address the problem of mounting unpaid traffic fines after a coalition of civil rights and legal aid groups reported in April that 4.2 million Californians had their driver’s licenses suspended during the last eight years because they could not pay escalating fees.

The state raised the fines during its budget crisis. A traffic ticket with a base fine of $100 grew to nearly $500 because of additional fees and penalties the Legislature adopted to help pay for the court system and other programs. That fine jumped to $815 if the driver missed the initial deadline for payment.

The Judicial Council said drivers may be charged $50 to participate in the amnesty program, and the Department of Motor Vehicles also will charge $55 to reinstate a driver’s license.

The program will run through March 31, 2017.

What Tickets Are Eligible For Amnesty?

Any infraction may qualify for amnesty. Unpaid tickets and related "failure to appear" violations with an initial payment due date on or before January 1, 2013 are eligible. Individual superior courts and counties may extend this program to include some misdemeanors, like certain driving on a suspended license convictions and driving without a valid driver's license.

Who Can Participate In The Amnesty Program?

One. Persons with unpaid tickets whose fines were originally due on or before January 1, 2013, who have not made a payment after June 24, 2015, may be eligible to have both their debt reduced by 50% or 80%, depending on income, and their driver's license reinstated, unless an exclusion applies.

Two. Persons who have made a payment on their debt after June 24, 2015 are NOT eligible for a reduction on that ticket, but may be eligible to have their license reinstated if they are in good standing on a payment plan with the county's collection agency.

Who Cannot Participate In The Amnesty Program?

Individuals may be excluded from the amnesty program if they owe victim restitution on a case or have certain outstanding misdemeanor or felony warrants.

If you have questions about whether you are eligible or not, you may click on the following link < http://goo.gl/forms/FBkzmT0cma > to take a survey to determine if you are eligible for the Amnesty Program and/or Driver's License Reinstatement Program. If you are eligible, contact the Amnesty HOT LINE at 707-234-6849 to obtain balance due information. You will also need to complete an Amnesty Participation Form to remit with your payment.

(Mendo DA Press Release)

WINNEMEM WINTU CHIEF LEADS 'WATER. EVERY DROP IS SACRED' RALLY AND MARCH

by Dan Bacher

Small cascades of cold, pristine water rush out of the hillside at Big Springs, the headwaters of the Sacramento River, as they converge in a clear and shallow pool located in the Mount Shasta City Park.

Adults and children fill their jugs and bottles with the pristine water that takes 50 years to make it from snow and rain on Mount Shasta down through the volcanic aquifer to where the torrents converge in the park.

Even in a record drought year like this one, the icy water rushes from the hillside to make its way to Lake Siskiyou, then Lake Shasta and then to the Delta and the ocean. People from throughout the world walk along the creek and hike along shaded trails and footpaths that cross through hedges of horsetail fern and willow and across small bridges.

As people hiked to and relaxed besides Big Springs, Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and hundreds of environmentalists and activists from all over California and Oregon held a rally, the “Water Every Drop Sacred” event, in this scenic park at the Sacramento River headwaters. After the rally ended, Sisk and tribal members led a march and protest of 160 people to the plant.

The Tribe is opposed to the planned opening of the plant, closed after it was operated by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company and other corporations for years, in accordance with its commitment to protect and preserve the Headwaters of the river, the Mount Shasta watershed and sacred tribal lands.

Otsuka Holding Co, a Japanese pharmaceutical conglomerate, owns Crystal Geyser. The event began with a performance of Iroha, a traditional Japanese Taiko drum group

Performances by Sawako Ama, Rieko Ivaska and Mao highlighted the fact that Japanese residents and tourists are not pleased about the plans to open another bottling plant just 2000 feet from the headwaters, according to Vicki Gold, of Water Flows Free in a news release.

"Crystal Geyser is already entrenched in Weed, CA, just 8 miles north of Mt. Shasta, reportedly extracting 1.5 million gallons of water daily, much of it headed for Japan in single use plastic bottles with a huge carbon footprint," said Gold. "Meanwhile, Japan has abundant water of its own."

Signs at the rally proclaimed, "Want water?, Tap Mt. Fuji!," "The Truth Is…No one owns water!," "No Dam Raise," "Water Is Life" and "Help Protect Mt Shasta Sacred Waters 4 Next 7 Generations."

Chief Caleen Sisk, the keynote speaker, spoke movingly about the sacredness of water and the threat to the environment and people posed by controversial plans to raise the Shasta Dam and build Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels.

“This spring, the headwaters of the Sacramento, is sacred to us,” said Chief Sisk. “Archeologists once said they couldn’t find any evidence of indigenous people around this spring. That’s because our ancestors believe the site was so sacred that they would leave nothing behind when they prayed there. It is for the sacred beings – it is not for us to use.”

“Mount Shasta (where the Sacramento and McCloud and other rivers come from) is sacred. The sacred being brings us a message that the plant can’t be here. And if we’re not successful here, the mountain may take care of it instead," emphasized Sisk.

She emphasized that the pending plan to open the Crystal Geyser plant in Mount Shasta is part of a large water grab by corporate interests, including the federal plan to raise Shasta Dam and the Brown administration scheme to shop water to agribusiness interests and Southern California water agencies.

“The twin tunnels will be built to transfer water from the headwaters to agribusiness farming in a desert. They are large enough to divert the entire Sacramento River in them," said Chief Sisk.

She said that if the tunnels were built it would destroy the largest estuary on the West Cost of the Americas, a nursery for Chinook salmon, steelhead, green and white sturgeon, Delta and longfin smelt and numerous other fish species.

“If they kill the estuary, what will it mean? When the estuary is cut off from the fresh water, the estuary will disappear and no longer be a nursery," said Chief Sisk.

Sisk also discussed the Tribe’s long struggle to bring the original run of winter run Chinook salmon back to the McCloud River above Shasta Dam. Sisk and Tribal Members journeyed to New Zealand in 2009 to conduct ceremonies with the Maori on the Rakaira River, where the descendents of the original winter run chinook salmon from the McCloud, transplanted from the Livingston Stone Fish hatchery over 100 years ago, now thrive.

“The Maori are ready – they said they have 400,000 eyed eggs ready to be planted in the McCloud…But the scientists from the Bureau of Reclamation said they are not sure whether these are the same fish because they have no DNA from the McCloud River winter Chinooks to match the DNA of the New Zealand fish. Yet all of the records show that these fish came from this river!"

Chief Sisk has often said, referring to the essential role of water to life itself. "People can live without oil, they can live without gold, but nothing can live without water."

When the march arrived at the plant, Sisk appealed to Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in Japan to reconsider their plans and not open the facility. She also suggested that opponents of the plant make a trip to Japan to convince the company's owners to not open the plant in a manner similar to how members of the Hoopa Valley, Yurok and Karuk Tribes went to Scotland to convince Scottish Power, the owner of the Klamath River Dams, to decommission the dams in order to restore fish to the headwaters.

Gold estimated that 500 people attended the event throughout the day, with 200 present at any one time.

The speakers addressed the threats posed to our food sources, potable water supply, and ecosystem posed by water bottling and other water commodification schemes.

In addition to rallying against Crystal Geyser’s pending plant in Mt. Shasta, speakers at the event discussed their opposition to Calpine’s proposed industrial geothermal plant in the Medicine Lake Highlands that the Pit River Tribe has been fighting for many years. Both of these industrial developments threaten water quantity and quality in the area and have been the target of grassroots campaigns.

Lucas RossMerz, of Sacramento River Preservation Trust, addressed the importance of keeping the water in the river to all those who use it for recreation, residential use and farming.

He cited the aphorism, “I have Pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will,” as his philosophy in addressing the many problems of the Sacramento River watershed.

“No matter how bad the numbers of fish and habitat get, my heart won’t let me quit," he said. "So I show up to work every day and do my best!”

Reverend Amanda Ford, M.A., of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, who addressed human rights issues surrounding water, told the story about how she found Crystal Geyser bottled water in her mom's refigerator when she went home to Michigan recently. "Our message has to reach people like my mom, who view water as as a commodity," Ford said.

Mauro Oliveira, of SOL Communications, emphasized, "The Sierra Nevada and Mount Shasta snowpacks are the lowest in 500 years. Our mission is to protect our water, our watersheds, oceans, all beings and their habitat. The oceans, rivers and all life forms are suffering from plastic pollution and consequent endocrine disruption. We have to change our habits and question every action of polluting industry.”

Gold pointed out the importance of people uniting to stop the opening of the Crystal Geyser plant.

"It's time to join forces in an alliance to protect our local water," she said. "We must continue to put pressure on Crystal Geyser, Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, the City Council of Mt. Shasta and other public agencies. We are making a stand here, now, on Mount Shasta."

"Our friends in Oregon at Cascade Locks are facing Nestle; British Columbia is facing new exploitation by Nestle," Gold explained. "The plastic pollution is choking our oceans, our landfills, our rivers. Single use plastic water bottles is an idea whose time has clearly passed. Boycott bottled water."

She also urged people to ask Calpers (the California Public Employee Retirement System, largest in the world), to divest its holdings in Otsuka, Nestle, CocaCola amd Pepsi.

"We must vote with our pocket books. This is time for the voice of the public, speaking for our fragile planetary ecosystem, to be heard," she concluded.

The speakers at the five hour event also included Sherry Ackerman, PhD., who revealed why multinational conglomerates head for California and New York in search of water, "blue gold," at the pristine mountain source; Konrad Fisher, Klamath Riverkeeper; Bob McFarland, California Guild (formerly California State Grange); Geneva Omann and Roslyn McCoy of W.A.T.E.R.; Elaine Hsiao, PhD. candidate; Matt Isler, Sacred Economics; Phoenix Lawhon Isler of the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center (MSBEC); Bob Saunders of the Crunch Nestle Alliance; and Dan Axelrod, PHD, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan on the EIR.

Entertainers featured Saratone, Diane Patterson, Al Torre, Jenn Rogar, Sawako Ama and Rieko Ivaska with Iroha, Jenn Rogar who performed songs about love and respect for water.

This event followed the lawsuit filed on August 23 by the environmental group "We Advocate Thorough Environmental Review" (W.A.T.E.R.) against Siskiyou County and Crystal Geyser Water Company, whose corporate offices are in Napa County. The group has demanded an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for 2 years. The lawsuit requests Crystal Geyser Water Company meet California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) standards and requirements.

On September 16, Crystal Geyser, through their PR Firm, Burson-Marsteller, stated it will comply with the EIR process.

"However, EIR’s don’t always present the entire picture of the effects of an industry's environmental impact,” said Gold. “Our event shed light on the issues of water bottling overall, plastic waste resulting from bottling, the overall effects and impact on the environment, and the irrationality of bottling water during the time of the worst drought in California’s history.”

The event was organized by Vicki Gold of Water Flows Free and the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water and sponsored by the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center.

For more information, contact: Vicki Gold (530) 926.4206, Mauro Oliveira (530) 356-7343, Bob Saunders (916) 370.8251, or Angelina Cook or Phoenix Lawhon Isler, Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, (530) 926-5655 (office).

MENDOCINO ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCE

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Newcomer instruction at 7:30pm, Dance at 8pm

Caspar Community Center

$10 Admission

(High School Students - Free)

Support your local dance events by coming out and dancing!

Calling & instruction by dance leader - Alisa Dodson

Please bring potluck snacks and beverages to share during the break.