Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, Nov 11, 2015

• Football Camp
• Grape Jack
• MendoVito Kaput
• Nelson's Boondoggle
• Sleazy Judges
• Bag Spill
• Bumper Pot
• Yesterday's Catch
• Covelo Scuffle
• Virtual Martian
• Wonderful Lie
• Poplars
• Shove It
• Maritime Disaster
• Crunch Nestle
• Apple Insensitivity
• Waterscapes

ATTN. MENDOCINO COUNTY PARENTS! As his high school Senior Project, Boonville's Jared Johnston, a terrific football player himself and a very nice kid, is putting on a football camp this Saturday and Sunday at the Boonville high school for kids from the third grade through the sixth grade. The camp convenes both days 9-1 and costs $20, with all the money going for participant t-shirts and the sports program at Middletown High School, many of whose student-athletes have suffered the terrible consequences of the catastrophic Valley Fire.

THE BOONVILLE FAIR BOARD has decided to revamp the Fairground's landmark Apple Fair cowboy logo to somehow include bunches of grapes atop the cartoon bronco, the idea being that our apple orchards are now rare as wine grapes ascend and ascend and ascend.

CLAUDE LEWENZ, is the New Zealand author of an influential book called How to Build a Village Town. Lewenz proposed a village town for a ranch near Hopland, quite a large village town, so large that neighbors of the proposed project immediately rose up to point out that the site is not only short of water for thousands more people no matter how gently they trod the Earth, infrastructure generally is inadequate for large-scale development of any kind, let alone one with a population influx the size of present day Hopland.

THE NEW VILLAGE was to be called MendoVito. Lewenz and his friends have not issued a formal announcement but the project is kaput. MendoVito will not proceed. Their website is down "while we seek appropriate funding." (Like, they wouldn't take money from organized crime?)

JUDGE DAVE NELSON'S "retirement" means Judge Dave will now join Mendocino County's peripatetic posse of "retired" judges who got their black robes in Ukiah before "retiring" to a leisurely and quite lucrative pick and choose caseload throughout the state, flying hither and yon to pick up big pay as substitute judges. There must be 30 or so "retired" Mendo judges working the state judicial hustings.

WE HAVE tons of judges retired out of Mendocino County because we have wayyyyyy too many judges in relation to our population — nine of them for a population of 90,000 people.

NELSON, in my long experience with him, is a good judge. He's smart and fair. But, but, but..... aren't all judges smart and fair? No, my child, they aren't, as Judge Brennan of Ten Mile Court in Fort Bragg regularly illustrates, and as many black robes in this County have illustrated over the years, nicely keeping pace with the County's many learning disabled attorneys.

WAIT. GOTTA BACK up a little on Nelson. He's managed to jam an unneeded new County Courthouse down our collective throat that is designed for only the judges and their staffs. We've railed against this looming boondoggle for several years now, and won't bore you today, dear reader, with a rehash, but that thing will be Nelson's legacy, and all of Ukiah will curse his memory when they belatedly see how comprehensively destructive it is to central Ukiah and the conduct of County business.

(ED NOTE: This statement by Judge Nelson was made to the Board of Supervisors on March 25, 2014. After Judge Nelson departed, County CEO Carmel Angelo suggested that the county “explore” the idea of having the county consider Nelson's notion that the taxpayers should buy property next door to the new courthouse on which to relocate related court services. Then Supervisor John Pinches, as always cutting to the core of the issue, pointed out that maybe the judges and their state sponsors should do something about the housing problem they will have created for their “judicial partners” as they say, “We'll just lift the judges out and everyone else can make do.” And everyone else includes what's left of central Ukiah, many of whose businesses depend heavily on the business generated by the existing courthouse. Supervisors Dan Gjerde and Carre Brown expressed mild concern about where the money would come from to buy property adjacent to the new courthouse. As they pointed out, given the County’s existing debt load (millions more in obligations to retirees than the County can possibly pay) and the fact that the state didn’t seem to be including the County in the discussion of where the County staff would be located after the new courthouse was built, well, gee and golly. Supervisor Hamburg then made a motion to authorize staff to explore property acquisition. (Supervisor McCowen was not in the room when the courthouse discussion took place.) And everybody said go ahead: Find out how much the judges are going to cost us and, essentially, “Let them do whatever they want.” But of course, no exploration occurred, nobody asked about it later, Judge Nelson made no more appearances in front of the Supervisors and no purchase of any land near the Judges’ Taj Mahal is being considered. No money is programmed. The judges have offered nothing. There’s nothing in the County’s capital equipment or facility plans. Otherwise, Judge Nelson’s description of the chaos that will ensue after their Judicial Palace is built four blocks away from everything else is essentially accurate.)

TWO local attorneys, Patrick Pekin of Fort Bragg, and Keith Faulder of Ukiah want to succeed Nelson. We don't know much about Pekin, and we've never heard a complaint about him. We do know Faulder. Like Nelson, he's smart and, we assume, fair. He's a helluva courtroom lawyer, for an uncontested fact, but until he actually functions as a judge, if he functions as a judge, we won't know how fair he is. That's the problem with judicial elections; you don't know what you're getting until you get it.

I DON'T RECALL any straight-up crooks sitting as local judges, but there has been plenty of sleazy favoritism — connected people, invariably wealthy, can always count on special treatment from our courts, and we've written about how the local judges conspired to protect a flasher colleague — Judge Lehan — sitting as Ten Mile Court judge. Odd thing about Lehan; he was appointed to replace Judge Heeb at Ten Mile when Heeb, having fallen in love with a criminal defendant, flamed out totally, letting little lover boy slide when LLB should have been put away. What we had at Ten Mile, was two consecutive judges ruled by their reproductive organs.

ONLY IN MENDO. A community minded cannabis farmer was tooling along Highway 101 last week when, at Burke Hill Road out of Hopland, he was angered at the site of a massive plastic bag spill littering the shoulder of the otherwise uncluttered stretch of roadway. But anger soon became jubilation. "You know what it was? 300 turkey bags! Wooo! I got turkey bags until 2020!"

"When I first saw that I said, Holy shit! There's a culvert right there which goes into a little creek which goes straight to the Russian River. I gotta do something. I drove up to Ukiah and flipped around and drove back down to the Hmong's strawberry stand, flipped around and parked on the shoulder. I had a couple of large trash bags so I picked up 300 Turkey bags off the side of Highway 101. I know it was 300 because I found the cardboard boxes that they were in. At first I thought somebody just dropped them out the back of their pickup. But then I suspected that an idiot took a big bong hit and put them on the hood of his car coming home from a hydro shop in Santa Rosa, probably the hood of a BMW because anybody who needs 300 turkey bags is doing very big business. I wonder if that was the entire purchase or just half of it? Those bags go for about $1.25 each so you can do the math. Whoever lost it must have decided they didn't want to scramble all the way down the bank because I was parked at least 18 feet off the side of the road and they were spread all the way down. I said I was not just going to pick up a couple of them, so I went to the trouble of picking them all up."

A BUMPER YEAR FOR POT

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/a-bumper-year-for-pot/Content?oid=4563260

CATCH OF THE DAY, Nov. 10, 2015

ARTICIA ALLEN, Ukiah. Domestic assault.

MARVIN BUCKMASTER, Fort Bragg. Under influence.

DEREK DOUGHTY, Annapolis. False imprisonment, court order violation.

MATTHEW GARDINER, Ukiah. Vandalism, probation revocation.

TIA HIGGINS, Ukiah. Vehicle theft, probation revocation.

KEANA LINTOW, Willits. Drunk in public.

MICHAEL LUCAS, Ukiah. Resisting, parole violation.

LAMAR MANUEL, Ukiah. Parole violation.

DENA MORRIS, Willits. Drunk in public, under influence, probation revocation. (Frequent Flyer)

JACOB SILVERMAN, San Bruno/Willits. Shoplifting, false ID, failure to appear.

EDWARD STEELE, Ukiah. Vehicle theft, evasion, suspended license, probation revocation.

JOSE TAMAYO, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

* * *

DAVE SMITH WRITES:

I know we should not make fun of our fellow citizens when they are down and out… “there but for fortune go you and I.” But looking at the Catch of the Day, I am intrigued by their expressions and can’t help myself trying to interpret what they are projecting…

The following are my interpretations of today’s group…

Amused; Resigned; Oh, yeah?
I’ll be back; ’twasn’t me; Do I look guilty?
You’re gonna pay; Fuck you; It was Shirley;
Ah, shit; Fuck me; Who, me?

JUST ANOTHER FRIDAY NIGHT IN COVELO

On November 6, 2015 at approximately 5:44 PM, Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, assisted by a California DFW Game Warden, were dispatched to the 23000 block of Howard Street in Covelo to investigate a reported assault.

The Game Warden was first on scene and contacted a badly beaten adult male, later identified as Karl Gage, 44, of Covelo. Gage was transported to a trauma hospital in Redding, via air ambulance. Sheriff's Deputies arrived on scene and began to gather evidence and interview the involved parties. Witnesses stated that Gage and his 34-year old cohabitant girlfriend were staying in a trailer in the backyard of a residence. They began to argue. Gage kicked the dog he and his girlfriend share. He then threw a chair at her, missing the victim but causing two men, ages 44 and 37, to come to her aid. They tried to protect the victim by bringing her into a house. Gage attacked both of them with a knife, lacerating one man's hand and the other man's neck. Both victim's injuries were small lacerations and not life threatening. Gage was punched and kicked by the victims until he ceased his violent actions and walked away from the property. Gage's injuries were serious in nature and he remains hospitalized. A case has been submitted to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office requesting charges be filed against Gage for assault with a deadly weapon not a gun.

CURIOUS ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE MARTIAN? Come chat virtually with Andy Weir, author of The Martian, now a blockbuster film starring Matt Damon. Tuesday, November 10th @ 6:30 pm Snak & Yak about your favorite books. We meet in the District Teens room every Friday at 3:30. Join us for a free bilingual puppet show of the classic children's tale "Rumpelstiltskin," Saturday 1-2pm in the Children's Room! Ukiah Library. Make your Own LARP Sword! Saturday, Nov. 14th 2:30-5pm. Registration is required & space is limited. Please call ahead to reserve a spot.

DECONSTRUCTING IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

For all those who remember the Christmas Classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life,
” remember the alternate timeline where Bedford Falls was turned into Potterville, a place that preyed on its middle class and poor citizens? Well, folks, welcome to Potterville Circa 2015! “It’s a Wonderful Life” has turned into “It’s a Wonderful Lie.”

I always preferred the masculine Potterville to the candy-assed Bedford Falls. When George goes into the bar and screeches like a hysterical bitch, they threw him out on his ass just as he deserved!

MENDOCINO COUNTY'S PREMIER BEAUTY SITE!

The Fall Poplars At The Indian Creek Bridge, Highway 128, Philo.

TAKE THIS JOB....

Take this job and shove it

I ain't working here no more

My woman done left and took all the reasons

I was working for

You better not try to stand in my way

'Cause I'm walkin' out the door

Take this job and shove it

I ain't working here no more

I been workin' in this factory

For nigh on fifteen years

All this time I watched my woman

Drownin' in a pool of tears

And I've seen a lot of good folks die

That had a lot of bills to pay

I'd give the shirt right offa' my back

If I had the guts to say

Take this job and shove it

I ain't working here no more

My woman done left and took all the reasons

I was workin' for

You better not try to stand in my way

'Cause I'm walkin' out the door

Take this job and shove it

I ain't workin' here no more

—  Johnny Paycheck David Allan Coe

ON THIS DAY in 1860 twelve lives were lost in a terrible maritime disaster in Mendocino Bay. The brig J.S.Cabot had approached the loading chute to take on a cargo of lumber. Seeing the chute was currently in use, the captain attempted to turn back to sea but a sudden gale brought in a heavy sea from the south. Although anchors were dropped, the ship was dragged and capsized. A boat from shore was launched to rescue the sailors, but the rescue boat was rolled over by a large wave. Half of those lost were the would-be rescuers.

NESTLÉ: THE GRINCH WHO STOLE OUR WATER

by Dan Bacher

The "Crunch Nestlé Alliance," the group that "shut down" the Nestlé Waters bottling plant in Sacramento in March 2015 and October 2014, will be protesting at the plant again on December 4, but this time the alliance is doubling down on a shut down.

This time the group is also going to shut down the Alhambra Water Company, owned by DS Waters of Atlanta, Georgia, located directly across the street from Nestlé Waters. The theme of the protest is "The Grinch Who Stole Our Water," according to Bob Saunders of the alliance.

“That’s right,” said Saunders. “In the midst of an extreme drought in its fourth year, an out-of-town bottling company is drawing water from Sacramento to go with the gluttony of Nestlé's water drawing and profiteering actions. Additionally the large amount of plastic waste (water bottles) that is generated by these companies, much of which ends up in our ocean, is another factor in the need to stop these companies from further damaging our environment.”

“Given the success of our two previous shut downs and our successful protest outside Governor Jerry Brown’s loft in midtown Sacramento this past summer, and the neglect by the city of Sacramento and its politicians, we decided it was time once again to step forth and protest and shut Nestlé down at their local water bottling plant and raise awareness to a higher level,” stated Saunders. “After all, they sure deserve a shut down.”

The Swiss-based Nestlé Corporation is notorious for its decades of human rights violations, water profiteering and environmentally destructive activities around the world. You can read about the March shut down at the Nestlé Waters Bottling Plant in Sacramento by going to: http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/29947-activists-shut-down-nestle-water-bottling-plant-in-sacramento

Saunders noted that Governor Brown, who is currently fast-tracking two massive salmon-killing Delta Tunnels under the “California Water Fix,” has yet to publicly speak the words “water bottling” or “fracking” as contributors to the drought crisis, nor has he asked either industry to slow down or put a moratorium on their operations until we at least make it out of the severe drought conditions.

“Both industries continue to operate according to business as usual, which is an obscenity as the state draws closer to our fifth year of a major and devastating drought,” said Saunders. “The burden of drought has been put primarily on the shoulders of the people, the average Californian, in cutting back water usage , with exemption after exemption granted groups, individuals and industries over the past six to nine months.”

In fact, growers statewide actually expanded their almond acreage by 150,000 acres during the current drought, as I documented in an East Bay Express article: http://eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/05/15/californias-thirsty-almond-acreage-grows-by-150000acres-during-record-drought

Saunders asked several questions regarding agribusiness use of water during the drought that have yet to be addressed by state and federal water agency officials:

• Why aren’t growers, who use 80 percent of water used in the state of California, required to implement micro flooding, rather than relying solely on macro flooding, during the drought?
• Why aren’t farmers using gray water whenever and wherever they can?
• Why are large corporate agribusiness interests like Beverly Hills billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the owners of The Wonderful Company, still allowed to use enormous amounts of water while the rest of California scrimps for available water?
• Where is the “shared sacrifice” by these industries and groups that so many politicians talk about?

California’s reservoirs and aquifers are at some of the lowest levels in history, due to abysmal management of the state’s water resources by the state and federal governments during the drought.

“The future prospects seem grim even though many people hold out hope for a very wet El Niño winter,” said Saunders. “Sadly, the warm weather pattern of this winter’s predicted El Niño storms will bring little relief to our thirsty needs.”

During the current drought, the state and federal water agencies systematically drained Trinity, Shasta, Oroville and Folsom reservoirs, imperiling salmon and steelhead runs on the Sacramento and Klamath/Trinity River systems and bringing Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species closer and closer to the abyss of extinction. This subsidized water was exported to corporate agribusiness interests irrigating toxic land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods.

“California is literally sinking as a result of the drought, with little or no prospects for improvement or change,” emphasized Saunders. “And where is the comprehensive crisis team to deal with such an overall calamity?”

“So in accordance with much of the political inaction by the politicians, and especially by companies like Nestlé, the largest culprit of these predatory behaviors (and who are all still pumping massive amounts of water and bottling it while the state is going dry), we are going to call them out regarding their piggish ways and water profiteering and shut them down,” he said.

Saunders said other “water guzzling profiteering culprits” include Crystal Geyser, now owned by Otsuka Pharmaceutical of Japan, maker of the drug Abilifi; DS Waters of Atlanta, bottlers of Alhambra Water; the Niagara Bottling Company; Coca Cola, bottlers of Dasani Water; and Pepsi, bottlers of Aquafina Water.

The Nestlé shut down will take place on Friday, December 4, 2015, starting at 4 am (PST) and ending at 2 pm (PST).

The Sacramento Nestlé Waters Bottling Plant is located at 8670 Younger Creek Drive, Sacramento, CA. 95828.

The theme of the event is “The Grinch Who Stole Our Water.”

Please go to Facebook and their event page for more information: #crunch nestle alliance

You can also contact Bob Saunders, Crunch Nestlé Alliance, email RSaund3980 [at] aol.com, cell phone: 916-370-8251.

AN OPEN LETTER TO APPLE INC CEO TIM COOK

To: Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Dear Mr. Cook: To say I am perplexed, frustrated, disappointed, and downright angry with your company is an understatement. I have emailed you, spoken to your Executive Office, 5 Senior Advisors, a Manager of an Apple store, and two Apple Techs at an Apple store.

Due to your technical phone support, 5 years of financial data, music, videos I made, and hundreds of photos have been deleted from my computer and my external hard drive. While Apple admits that service could have been better, I was offered a $200 conditional store credit.

In my attempts to have this addressed, one of your Executive support people kept telling, me, “this is an extraordinary case,” “this is so unusual”. I was told that Apple will do nothing for the loss that was caused by your technical support. The coldness, the continued repeating of, “I understand,” has been exasperating.

I have purchased more than $25,000 worth of Apple hardware and software, and this is rotten customer service. I followed tech support’s instructions exactly, and lost 5 years of my life. I don’t know which is more insulting – the coldness of the Executive office or the lack of compensation for a monumental loss of data. If I ran my business in this manner I would have no clients. But giant Apple does this and a previously loyal customer is betrayed. Even the techs in the retail store told me they could not understand why I was told to delete my data.

So, Mr. Cook, I write this as another attempt to break through the Apple insensitivity and lack of conducting good customer service with integrity. I seek fair and adequate compensation for the loss of all of my business financials, personal and professional photographs, music, and videos that were made and saved on an Apple Time Capsule and an IMac.

Diane Katz, PhD DKCircle@me.com

PS. No more than 2 days after sending my above letter of July 1, 2015 letter to Tim Cook, someone from executive office (customer service) called me to ascertain further details. At least three times over the next two weeks, I was told, “this is an extraordinary case, that requires further investigation.” When they completed their investigation, they offered me $200 credit to purchase a product from Apple that they “approved.” I was, to say the least, appalled. They did not say they were not to blame — just that this is what they do in these cases. My trust and confidence in Apple’s integrity has been reduced to zero. It is clear it was their responsibility that I lost 5 years of my history, and in return, they gave me a Bose bluetooth device. Shameful.

WET POEMS FOR A DRY PLANET, IV

Like fingerprints and snowflakes,

no two waterscapes are exact copies

of one another and no two

waterscapes look like

identical twins,

though twins and non-twins, too,

share

the salty waters of their

mothers’ wombs that learn

them to love all the

waters of the world.

— Jonah Raskin