Mendocino County Today: Thursday, Dec 17, 2015

• Fire Cleanup
• Ukiah Costco
• Jefferson State
• Sky Lanterns
• Russian Sandbar
• MendoTown Plan
• Chipotle Ukiah
• Warrant Wednesday
• Emerald Cup
• Yesterday's Catch
• Debate Game
• Country Rankings
• Money Classes
• Giving Project
• CRV Weekend
• Bad Movie
• Market Jazz
• Coast Marten
• Hatchery Numbers
• Film Screening
• Sako Pleased

FIRE DEBRIS removal and general clean-up are still underway in Valley Fire areas of Middletown, Anderson Springs, Cobb and Hidden Valley. Property owners who haven’t signed a Right of Entry (ROE) allowing CalRecycle onto their property for debris cleanup, or submitted an application for private contractors to clean up their properties have been sent a Notice of Nuisance and Orders to Abate. They have a month from the date of the notice to do either. If they don’t comply, the County will have their lot cleaned, then the property will be assessed for the amount to abate and there will be a lien placed on that property.

UKIAH COSTCO is still on hold while the remnants of a lawsuit opposed to the new store are sorted out.

SHOULD LAKE COUNTY SECEDE from California to join the nascent state of Jefferson? Lake County voters might get a chance to vote on a “declaration of support” to separate from the state of California and join several Northern California and Southern Oregon counties in forming a new state. Lake's supervisors are kicking the idea around. Critics wonder how a bunch of poor counties could come up with enough money to provide basic public services.

SKY LANTERNS are worrying the Fort Bragg Police Department. The cops said a “flaming sky lantern had fallen to the ground” last Thursday, hit a tree and continued burning until it was put out. They say there’s been an increase in the use of the lanterns and they want the public to know the oiled rice paper is highly flammable. They say potential charges are the same as someone who carelessly or negligently discards a cigarette that starts a fire.

RUSSIAN SAME-SAME as the Navarro River. The mouth of the Russian River has been reopened after water backed up into its estuary, flooding the Jenner Visitor Center and nearby parking lots. The dammed water has finally broken through a natural sandbar sealing the river. The Sonoma County Water Agency manages the river estuary. They say they were hoping to breach the sandbar early last week but high surf made it too unsafe so the river just kept rising until flooding out the Jenner Visitor Center before they could do it.

THE ETERNAL Mendocino Town Plan Update, unanimously approved by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, has now been approved by the Coastal Commission. The update’s been a work in progress for four years, although the incomplete update prior to this latest one back four years ago was more than 20 years coming itself.

GRINGO MEXICAN FOOD is coming to Ukiah. The Chipotle Mexican Grill chain restaurant will soon be situated at the northwest corner of East Perkins Street and Orchard Avenue. A McDonald’s is directly across the street to the east, a service station on the southeast corner. A new County Courthouse that no one wants and few people are even aware of will be located just up the street, rounding out an unsightly jumble of franchise operations and forlorn private homes converted to failing businesses. Add traffic jams at the busy hours and Ukiah will have pulled off a perfect post-modern mess.

MENDOCINO SHERIFF'S 'WARRANT WEDNESDAY'

ANYONE SEE LAUREANO?

Laureano Alvarado-Valencia is wanted on three warrants totaling $130,000 for possession of a firearm while on probation, armed with an assault weapon & driving while unlicensed.
Height: 5' 10"
Age: 37 years old
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Weight: 210 lbs
If you have any information regarding his location, please call MCSO Dispatch at (707) 463-4086

THE WEED SOCIALITE:

Getting Down With the Cannabis People at the 2015 Emerald Cup!

by Emily Hobelmann

I am back in Humboldt County after spending this past weekend at The Emerald Cup, the most furious, frenzied and frenetic cannabis exposition in NorCal. The Emerald Cup is a yearly festival that originated here in the Emerald Triangle over a decade ago. For the past three years the event has been held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, a move to accommodate the already huge and still-growing interest in the cannabis industry.

The Emerald Cup is a contest, too — an outdoor cannabis competition featuring flowers, solventless concentrates, edibles, tinctures and topicals categories. This year the Emerald Cup required a $250 cash payment along with each entry to cover each entrant’s VIP ticket to the event proper. That’s a new thing: One flowers judge told me the entry fee served to narrow the playing field a bit. The Cup received 430+ flower entries this year, down from a gazillion last year. Mean Gene from Mendo took first place in the flowers category with their Cherry Limeade entry. You can find information about the other contest winners here, whenever Emerald Cup staff gets that info posted.

All those winners are announced at the massive vendor fair/concert/educational event that went down this past weekend. I will testify to the massiveness of the event. It was enormous — biggest Emerald Cup ever. This Press Democrat story says the it drew more than 21,000 — up from about 13,000 last year.

The Sonoma County Fairgrounds venue encompasses a large area, and it seemed like the Emerald Cup took up more space than ever, spreading into the far reaches of the grounds. Seriously, this year the 215 MMJ zone (the cannabis consumption locale) was in the Lyttle Cow Palace — it’s an arena, you know, for livestock competitions. It was like Eau de Barn mixed with dank dab smoke in there.

It was quite a trek from the front of the fairgrounds all the way to the back where the 215 area was. A great deal of the event was outdoors and the weather was blustery and cold, but still I saw that all parts of the fairground were consistently crowded. Everywhere I went was bustling, from the VIP tent to the 215 doctor recommendation area to the educational halls to the vendor zones. Even the program guide is big and crowded, coming in at a hulky 56 pages.

But lots of people means lots of traffic. One person told me it took 45 minutes to get in to the front gate, then another two hours of waiting “on line” to get a 215 wristband. You couldn’t get into the 215 area without a wristband that signifies your 215 paperwork has been verified. The 215 area is where everyone wants to be — that’s where you smoke. But instead of being able to have their 215s checked at the entry gate, attendees had to wait in a whole separate line once they got inside the event. And on Saturday that line was so big, titanic even… Probably a quarter mile long at times.

Someone else told me that they waited for about two hours to get a 215 recommendation. (You can do that at the Emerald Cup too.) When I spoke with her, she was headed to wait in the titanic 215 wristband line. Word to the wise: Get your 215 before you go to the big weed festival.

For me, the crowds of unfamiliar faces at the Cup serve to bring me closer to my already established friends in the industry, people that I like but I don’t necessarily communicate with on a regular basis, some from the Emerald Triangle, others from beyond. It is so great to see a familiar face in a sea of strangers, such a good way to bond.

And bond I did: My traveling companions were the crew from the Emerald Magazine, which is now cannabis-centric. (You can catch my regular “Pot Talk” column in its pages.) When we arrived at the event, we stood in the media will call line with Beth Bosk from the New Settler Interviews publication. It’s like, when do I ever get to chat with her? Never. Some Emerald Triangle media camaraderie…

Speaking of Emerald Triangle media, I saw Chris and Monica Durant from Savage Henry Magazine at the Cup. They were working the event, handing out mags, meeting people. My videographer buddy Tone G was all up in it at the Cup too… He was getting material for his Wax Tracks TV venture. That guy dabs. I ran into Kellie Butterfield Dodds from the Cannabis Film Festival. So many niche roles in cannabis these days.

The few Area 101 and Healing Harvest Farms people I saw all seemed crazy busy, so I didn’t talk to any of them really, save for event publicist Yvonne Hendrix and photographer Kim Sallaway. I did get a chance to bullshit with Lito and Lorenzo from the Mendocino-based Happy Day Farms collective — we caught up over bongloads of their Grape Drank. Jonathan Gilbert from Emerald Family Farms hooked me up with some dank Cherry Pie indoor when our paths crossed. I’ll write about his weed for the upcoming indoor issue of the Emerald. I had a brief stop-and-chat with Aaron Morales from Sun Kissed Farms and the Mecca Cup too.

I made new friends with Leo from Shine on Farms in Mendocino County. Dude hooked me up with a nice sample of a strain called “Nigerian.” Kevin Jodrey and Pedro from Garberville medical marijuana dispensary Wonderland Nursery warmed me up with their humor in the VIP tent. Those guys are the best. The Fired Up Lawyer Lauren Vazquez was there, she’s an old friend that I only ever seem to see at cannabis events. I almost got to hang out with Bay Area cannabis connoisseur Rick Pfrommer.

The Bud Sisters booth in the main not-215 vendor hall was my homebase throughout the event. And it was there I ran into California NORML Deputy Director Ellen Kompf and also this guy Colin that was my roommate back in 2002 when I went to Cal Poly. I haven’t seen him since aught-two, and there he was at the Cup hanging out with Wendy Read, the cannabis educator from Mendocino County.

Dopey from the “Dopey’s Dungeon” show on our local KMUD community radio cruised around the event with me on Sunday. We enjoyed samples from 215 vendors that did not require paperwork. Some collectives require you to register (give your name, address and signature) before giving you a dab, joint, nug or edible sample. Others don’t, like the Peace in Medicine booth, for example. It was just step right up and do a dab at their little dab bar… And they were offering Moonshine Melts and Aficionado rosins.

Beyond the courtesy free samples, a lot of collectives were doing serious business there in the 215 area, slanging seeds, flowers, dabs, topicals, accessories, clothing, all of that. Vendors really were working their asses off. Swag bags were chock full of giveaway and purchased products. It is truly mind-blowing to see a cannabis market of this scale.

I didn’t watch the music, didn’t see the awards, didn’t do the all out cup-craze thing. But I did get to bond with some great people and I got to check out some new and different products and strains. I did have a wonderful time.

The cannabis industry has changed so dramatically even in the last five years — it’s blown up. Congratulations to all the folks in the Emerald Triangle that are either keeping up and/or leading the way to innovation and success. I hope you had a good time at the Emerald Cup this weekend too.

(Courtesy, LostCoastOutpost.com)

CATCH OF THE DAY, December 16, 2015

JOHN BOLTON IV, Willits. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)

WILLIAM BRANDT, Gualala. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

RICHARD EDWARDS, Fort Bragg. Unauthorized entry into dwelling, probation revocation.

SUNNY EDWARDS, Sacramento/Little River. Trespassing, driving onto someone else’s property without consent, invalid registration, probation revocation.

KATHLEEN KNIGHT, Ukiah. Possession of drugs while armed, probation revocation.

MARK RAY, Redwood Valley. Court order violation.

DAVID SIMMONS, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

MERRILL WALRATH, Ukiah. Suspended license, probation revocation.

THE OFFICIAL GOP DEBATE DRINKING GAME RULES

Part 5: Wednesday morning is going to suck

by Matt Taibbi

Ladies and gentlemen, start your livers.

Onward we march, to the fifth Republican debate, held this time at the Venetian in Las Vegas, beginning Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. EST.

It was a lively affair, with some pundits predicting a brawl between onetime snuggle-bunnies Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Trump recently called Cruz a "maniac," prompting Cruz, who has depressed us all with his repeated overenthusiastic 80s pop culture references, to tweet back a link to Michael Sembello's "Maniac" song from Flashdance.

Ben Carson, returns from an extended trip abroad taken in the wake of a string of bizarre and controversial public comments – the campaign version of taking a semester off to "find yourself" – will need to do something drastic to stop his freefall in the polls. Even Republican voters seemed freaked out at the lack of foreign policy knowledge he displayed in the last debate. So we expected him to try to force-feed references to things he's recently learned about the Middle East, like that it is hot and you need a passport to visit it.

Marco Rubio was being set up in the press a month ago or so to be the establishment challenge to Trump, but his numbers have plateaued. Ted Cruz cunningly went after Rubio in the last debate with a passing mention of sugar subsidies. Rubio was expected to turn the tables this time and focus his blowdried boy-rage act at Cruz, who is his chief obstacle to winning Beltway support in the fight to dethrone the Donald.

My colleagues in the political media are lately trying to gin up a story suggesting that Chris Christie is making a run in the polls, but this has all the feel of a fake DC-concocted narrative – nobody actually likes Chris Christie. Nonetheless, the Gov always goes out of his way to act like he's really the comer in this race. He typically interrups people and pulls his loud, hectoring moralist routine.

As for the rest of them, God help us. Trump's continued success puts the onus on the field to try to out-crazy the frontrunner. Lots of rhetoric about the need to even more fully arm the populace (children included), put immigrants in camps, register all watchers of subtitled movies, carpet-bomb any country with sandy terrain, etc.

New this week was all the oppo research they lobbed at each other accusing their opponents of head-of-a-pin votes no normal person, much less a Republican voter, care about which supposedly represent a betrayal of the Republican party-line.

The Rules: We Drank (a lot) After Every Violation Of:

1. The doctor's note rule: Self-explanatory. Drink after any riffing on Trump's latest stunt.
2. The nuke 'em till they glow rule: Drink after any promise to "carpet bomb" the Middle East, or after any attempt to one-up Ted Cruz's recent comments about how, "I don't know if sand can glow in the dark, but we're going to find out."
3. The Obama won't say "terrorism" rule: Candidate complains that the president is afraid to use the words "radical Islam" or "Islamic terrorism."
4. The climate change denial rule: Complaint about the Paris climate change agreement. Shotgun a beer if it comes with a mention of how the nice local weather renders climate change talk meaningless.
5. The War on Christmas rule: Mention of "red cups," nativity controversies, etc.
6. The Reince Priebus rule: Mention of a brokered convention or use of the phrase "Let the people decide" in a discussion of RNC/Reince Priebus controversy. Double shot if the latter's name pronounced incorrectly.
7. The George Lucas rule: Gratuitous mention of Star Wars. Double shot if it comes with an impersonation or a sound effect (e.g., Cruz does a Yoda voice while threatening ISIS).
8. The I'm just a simple caveman rule: A candidate mentions that he/she is not a scientist, or generally derides higher education before proceeding to make a "common sense" point.
9. The wet blanket rule: Attempt by Kasich to implore his fellow candidates to be more realistic, followed by boos/catcalls from the audience.
10. The Hitler had some really good ideas rule: Salutary mention of Japanese internment, religious registries or other similar policies.
11. The I don't just believe in the American dream, I'm a product of it rule: Anyone talks about how they are the son/daughter/husband/wife of a humble bartender/maid/tow truck driver/whatever because dreams and opportunity.
12. The good guy with a gun rule: Self-explanatory.
13. The empty God platitudes rule: An anti gun-control candidate extends "thoughts and prayers" to the victims of Paris, San Bernardino or whatever other mass shooting we'll have in the next ten minutes.
14. The we're not racist rule: A candidate complains that people with "traditional values" are being accused of being bigots. Double shot if it's Rubio.
15. The Carly, interrupted rule: Carly Fiorina interrupts someone and/or uses a bogus statistic. Double shot if it's that "73,000-page tax code" line she continues to send out there at every opportunity.

The Evergreen Rules

ALWAYS drink, in every debate, when:

16. Trump brags about how much money he makes.
17. Anyone says, "I'm the only one on this stage who…"
18. Someone says, "Any one of us onstage is better than Hillary Clinton…"
19. The crowd breaks into uncomfortable applause at a racist/sexist statement.
20. Any candidate evokes Nazis, the Gestapo, Neville Chamberlain, concentration camps, etc.
21. Anyone force-feeds an Israel reference into a question where it doesn't belong. Also known as the Ann Coulter rule.
22. Anyone pledges to "take our country back."
23. The Jim Webb rule: Candidate complains about not getting enough time.
24. Any candidate illustrates the virtue of one of his/her positions by pointing out how not PC it is.
25. Someone invokes St. Reagan. Beware, people, this is an every time rule again.

(Courtesy, Rolling Stone Magazine)

NORWAY is the best place to live in the world and Niger is the worst — at least when it comes to life expectancy, education and income.

by Qin Xie

It's official — Norway is the best place to live in the world, followed by Australia and Switzerland.

On the opposite end of the scale, Niger, Central African Republic and Eritrea are three of the worse places to live.

The rankings were based on the Human Development Index announced by the United Nation's Development Programme this week.

188 countries around the world were scored on their life expectancy, education and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita for the Human Development Report.

Each country is given a Human Development Index (HDI) then ranked according to how they scored.

The USA came in at number eight while the UK was further down at joint 14th position with Sweden.

Surprises came further down the list when Hong Kong ranked 12 but China ranked just 90, joint with Fiji and Mongolia.

Vanuatu, a place that once came top on a 'happy planet index' came in at just 134 with Syria.

Qataris were on average the wealthiest, with a GNI per capita of $123,124 (£82,022) — but this was capped at $75,000 (£49,963) for the calculation of the HDI.

Central African Republicans were the poorest, with a GNI per capita of just $581 (£387).

This value was based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), or the amount of goods you could buy with your dollar.

The people of Burkina Faso were the least educated, with a mean schooling of just 1.4 years, while Germany had a mean schooling of 13.1 years.

If you want to live a long life, it's best to head to Hong Kong where life expectancy is 84 years. In contrast, those living in Swaziland only had a life expectancy of 49 years.

Seven countries and territories were not ranked, including North Korea, Marshall Islands and Monaco.

The HDI also doesn't take into account of things like human rights, pollution or the hours of work.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX TOP 20

1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
4. Denmark
5. Netherlands
6. Germany
7. Ireland
8. United States
9. Canada
10. New Zealand
11. Singapore
12. Hong Kong, China (SAR)
13. Liechtenstein
14. Sweden
15. United Kingdom
16. Iceland
17. South Korea
18. Israel
19. Luxembourg
20. Japan

Source: UN Development Program

(Courtesy, The Daily Mail On-Line)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

“Not with a bang but a whimper….” as I see it. The Aladdin’s lamp of monetary largess supports it all. Apocalypse Now was years ago and here we are still Waiting for Godot. I’d like to defend globalism, transnationalism, and multicultural diversity as good ideas that just missed their wave. Nothing wrong with international understanding and cultural appreciation but that was then and in another country and besides the wench is dead. There are now 3 classes in America: those with money, serious money, and no money. In America the latter is 80% of the population, the money class is the 15-18% and the remainder 2-5% have the serious money. As a member of the money class – a relatively powerless minority, I can feel the hot breath of class warfare: the redistributionists in favor of the 80% and the elite looking out for the 2%. We are the new “middle class” that appear to be paying the bill. Naturally it’s the money that is the problem – we have created too much of it. Money trashes the natural world by commodifying or financializing everything. Every tree a board at Home Depot, every fish pet food. How can we get to the Goldilocks amount of it? No one will say that we are all playing musical chairs for keeps so the music will not end. That’s why the wizard wanted the lamp…

LAKE COUNTY GIVING PROJECT

at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

Are you looking for the perfect way to fill your home with cheer and spread a little joy and beauty this holiday season?

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is asking visitors, members of the Gardens, and local community to help support Lake County as they rebuild from the 2015 summer fires. The Gardens will aid in replanting the 76,067 acres and approximately 7 million trees consumed by the Valley Fire with native plants and seeds donated by participants in the Lake County Giving Project.

Donate A Plant Consider a potted conifer, other native tree, or foundation landscape plant to enjoy in your home now; then donate your purchase back to help revegetate wildfire-affected areas of Lake County. Nursery on the Plaza’s selection of conifers and California native trees and shrubs offer superb winter interest for holiday decoration. You will be giving yourself a gift to enjoy now, and passing that gift for others to enjoy in perpetuity. After the holidays, drop your live, potted plant off at Nursery on the Plaza at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens for donation to the Gifting a Tree Project (https://www.facebook.com/Valleyfiregiftingatree). Cobb Mountain resident Kathy Blair created this program in an effort to “bring some greenery and life back for those who are rebuilding.” Just deliver your live, potted plant to Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens by January 10, 2016 to participate in the project. Your plant will be transported to residents of Lake County.

Donate $1 The Garden Store at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens offers another unique way to give back. The Store is taking donations of one dollar, or more, toward Wild Jules Crafted Seed Balls (http://www.wildjules.com). The money raised will purchase Crafted Seed Balls to be used by the U.S Forest Service for habitat restoration in fire-ravaged areas. “It’ll take many years but every bit counts,” said Julie Kelly, founder of Wild Jules. Seed Balls provide one of the easiest methods for spreading native foundation landscape plants, grasses, and wildflower varieties. Individual varieties of seed are proportionately mixed with red clay and compost making planting simple. They truly are the perfect vehicle for revegetation efforts in Lake County.

Reminder! The Gardens are open daily during the winter (Nov–Feb; closed Christmas Day) from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. There is never an admission fee to shop at the Nursery on the Plaza or The Garden Store.

Call 707-964-4352 ext. 16. for more information on Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens or the Lake County Giving Project.

CRV COLLECTION THIS WEEKEND/Sandbags available

Last CRV Collection of the year is coming up this Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine--11-1 on Saturday at the Little River Station and 1-3 Sunday at the Albion station. Please, redeemable containers only--no wine or liquor bottles, food cans, spaghetti sauce jars (yes, I've gotten all). And if you can, please remove the tops of the beverage containers--apparently it's a different plastic formulation than the container itself and doing this saves me a lot of time. Thanks. Also, for those of you in low lying areas, the Fire Department has received deliveries of sand at both the Little River and Albion (D Road) stations. I will have sandbags available during the collection times above if you need any, or call me (357-4285) to arrange pickup at another time.

UNSOLICITED FILM REVIEW:

From a letter to two friends who are filmmakers.

by Louis S. Bedrock

Do not go to see Youth.

It is the most appalling drivel I’ve seen since Lulu On The Bridge or The Inner Life of Martin Frost. Paul Auster should be hanged. Now I know that because you are filmmakers — and my friends, I shouldn’t say things like “Paul Auster should be hanged.” But he should be. In the movie Lulu On The Bridge, he humiliated Harvey Keitel. In The Inner Life of Martin Frost, he humiliated an actress that I love — Irene Jacob.

Paulo Sorrentino should not be hanged: he made my favorite movie, The Great Beauty. But he should be severely punished, for he humiliates not only Harvey Keitel, but also Michael Caine, Rachel Weisz, and a lot of other artists I like, including Jane Fonda.

Youth is awful in the way only those works of art that self consciously strive to be transcendently profound can be. Every other line attempts to be Nietzschean in its resounding insightfulness. And if you don’t get it at first, there’s cloying violin music to help you digest it.

One example—-there are so, so many, will suffice. Harvey Keitel tells a young actress to look at a distant mountain through a telescope. She does and says that the mountain seems so close. The Keitel character then tells her to look at the mountain through the opposite end of the telescope.

—Now it looks so far away — she exclaims.

—Looking at it from the right end — Keitel explains — is how you see the future when you’re young. Looking at it from the other end is how you see the past when you’re old.

In case this doesn’t register, a wave of syrupy violin music is dumped on you to help you appreciate this epiphany.

The Great Beauty is a great movie. Youth is youthless.

Forgive me for the terrible pun.

SOLO JAZZ PIANO at the Willits Farmers Market Thursday Dec 17th, Thursday Dec 17 Dorian May (solo Jazz piano) — at the Willits Farmers Market/Holiday Fair. Enjoy some great holiday jazz while shopping at the market. 3-5:30pm, Little Lake Grange, Willits

PROTECTING THE COAST MARTEN: Two conservation groups today sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect the coastal marten under the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Environmental Protection Information Center first petitioned for protection for the coastal marten, sometimes known as the Humboldt marten, in 2010. Represented by Earthjustice, the groups are now challenging the Service’s April 2015 decision not to award federal protection to the marten.

The bushy-tailed carnivores were once common, but now fewer than 100 of them survive in California, while an unknown but very small number are still found in Oregon. A slender mustelid related to minks and otters, the coastal marten survives only in three isolated populations in old-growth forest and dense coastal shrub in Northern California and southern and central coastal Oregon.

“The science clearly shows that the coastal marten deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the agency ignored its own scientists in making the political decision to betray the marten,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity and lead author of the petition to protect the marten.

The marten faces a barrage of threats, including logging, fire, climate change, trapping in Oregon, vehicle strikes, rodenticide poisoning and small population size. In denying the marten protection, the Service ignored the best available science, including its own scientific report. In the past year, the agency has come under increasing criticism for overruling its own scientists and too often bowing to political pressure.

“We’re dealing with an animal that is already extinct throughout more than 83 percent of its historic range. It’s like discovering that the ivory-billed woodpecker still exists, yet refusing to protect it,” said Greg Loarie, an attorney for Earthjustice representing the groups. “If they’re going to survive and recover, coastal martens desperately need the protection that the Endangered Species Act provides.”

“The Service’s decision not to protect the coastal marten is scientifically and morally unjustifiable,” said Rob DiPerna, EPIC’s California forest and wildlife advocate. “The marten is a special part of the natural heritage of the Northwest and deserves full protection.”

The coastal martens’ historic range extended from Sonoma County in coastal California north through the coastal mountains of Oregon; in Oregon the marten now lives only in a small area within Siskiyou and Siuslaw national forests. Coastal martens were believed extinct in California — with 95 percent of their old-growth forest habitat lost and a history of excessive trapping — until they were rediscovered on the Six Rivers National Forest in 1996. In 2009 the first California marten to be photographed in recent times was detected in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park by remote-sensing camera.

The extremely secretive animals are known for their slinky walking motion and expert hunting skills. Typically about 2 feet long, with large, triangular ears and a long tail, they eat smaller mammals, berries and birds, and are preyed on by larger mammals and raptors.

FEATHER RIVER HATCHERY FINISHES SPAWNING SALMON; RUN IS 7400 FISH BEHIND 2014

by Dan Bacher

(Oroville) The Feather River Fish Hatchery staff has finished spawning fall-run Chinook salmon for this season and hasn’t started spawning steelhead yet.

The facility has trapped approximately 16,349 adult salmon and 7,763 jacks and jills, a total of 24,112 fish this season. That compares to 24,893 adults and 6,620 jacks, a total of 31,513 fish, in 2014. That puts the run 7401 fish below last season.

The hatchery has taken enough eyed eggs, 11-1/2 million, to produce their goal of 8 million smolts, according to Anna Kastener, hatchery manager.

“The fish were really healthy, although they appeared to be smaller than normal. We saw a lot of jacks and jills this season,” she observed.

She said the hatchery planted 110,000 chinook salmon in Lake Oroville on November 13 to sustain the landlocked king fishery. The fish were 4 to the pound – about 8 to 10 inches apiece.

“We’ve seen hardly any steelhead – 4 in the trap today–at the hatchery to date,” she noted.

Fall-run Chinook salmon continue to move into the Nimbus Fishery on the American River, along with a few winter steelhead. The hatchery is continuing to spawn fall-run Chinooks.

The hatchery has trapped a total of 7831 salmon, including 2023 jacks and jills, this year to date. That compares to 8343 salmon, including 1,295 jacks and jills, last season to date. The hatchery should have no problem meeting its goal of spawning enough eggs to produce 4 million smolts next year, according to Gary Novak of Nimbus Fish Hatchery.

He noted that they have already sent 2 million eggs to the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery, in addition to the eggs they have on hand at Nimbus, as insurance against any unforeseen disaster.

Novak estimated that 10 steelhead have followed the salmon into the hatchery. “Last year we had seen only 3 steelhead to date,” he noted

The hatchery plans to release about 291,000 steelhead yearlings into the river system next year, according to Novak.

Water temperatures continue to be very cold at the facility, 51 degrees at press time. The Bureau of Reclamation continues to release only 500 cfs into the American River.

The Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in Clements has trapped a total of 6.199 fall-run Chinook salmon, including 3,822 adults and 2377 jacks and jills, according to the latest available data. The numbers for last year to date weren’t available at press time.

“We got all of the eggs we need for our production goal this year,” said Eric Barrow, office technician at the hatchery. “We’ve taken a total of 6 million eggs so far — and fresh fish keep coming into the hatchery. It’s a late run this year.”

The numbers of salmon counted in the river over Woodbridge Dam in Lodi, as of December 8, are 10,857 fish. That compares to around 12,000 fish last year at the same time.

The hatchery has trapped 37 steelhead total to date, including 24 adults and 13 half pounders.

Figures of fish trapped at Coleman Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek aren’t available yet. I will update you on reports from Coleman and other fish hatcheries, as well as the carcass counts on the Sacramento River and tributaries, as the data comes in.

Federal government abundance forecasts released in February, developed in modeling based on the 2014 returns of salmon to the rivers, indicated there were 652,000 adult Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon and 423,800 adults from the Klamath River fall run in the ocean this year. That would be a total of 1,075,800 salmon.

However, it appears that this fall's salmon runs are a lot less robust than projected earlier this year, based on recreational and commercial catches on the ocean and sport catches on the rivers and hatchery returns to date. For more information, go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/2/27/1367403/-Fish-agencies-anglers-are-optimistic-about-2015-ocean-salmon-season

PBS/POV DOCUMENTARY, Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case.

On Wednesday, January 6^th, at 5:30 pm, the Mendocino County Library, Ukiah Branch, in partnership with KZYX, is hosting a screening of Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case, by Andreas Johnsen. The film will be followed by an open community discussion that will be recorded by KZYX for later broadcasting.

Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case shows how the Chinese government's attempts to silence Ai Weiwei have turned him into China's most powerful artist and an international voice for free speech and human rights." (PBS film summary).

Film goers are welcome to bring snacks or take-out dinners. This event is most suitable for adults.

ALL WENT WELL

Dear friends of KZYX,

I am writing a quick note to the kzyxtalk listerv and to the newspapers letting the public know that the interview process for KZYX's new GM -- who will also be Mendocino County Public Broadcasting's (MCPB) new Executive Director -- was conducted on Monday, 14 December 2015. The final hiring process was handled fairly and professionally, and with integrity.

MCPB's Board of Directors was honorable in every regard at that time. I felt included and heard, as I'm sure each Board Director did.

In the words of one of our applicants, I felt that the Board was guided by the Buddhist principles of "truthfulness, justice, and seeking the virtuous path."

We met from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. We interviewed five finalists, broke for a pizza and salad dinner, then deliberated until mid-evening. It was a long day.

MCPB Board Chair, Meg Courtney, chaired Monday's meeting at her home in Fort Bragg.

Board Director, Benj Thomas, facilitated. He was excellent. At times, our deliberations reminded me what Quakers call a "meeting for clearness" -- trying to find the way forward during a time of change or difficulty.

All Board Directors were present for Monday's meeting with the exception of Jenness Hartley, who had to work, but she was consulted by telephone for the final vote.

The Board reached a nearly unanimous vote, with only one Board Director dissenting. The Board's decision will be announced very soon in a press release.

Please join us at the Board's regularly scheduled meeting on January 4 in Ukiah with time and location to be announced. Come to personally congratulate and support our new GM and Executive Director.

Finally, please let us all work together to heal our divisions in the coming year. Let us be empathetic with one another. Patient with one another. And kind. Public radio is not only an alternative to mainstream corporate media, it is a community of local folks. In that regard, public radio is equal parts "global" and "local". At its best, public radio is also "family".

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas,

John Sakowicz
MCPB Board of Directors (2013-2016), Board Treasurer (2014); Host of "All About Money" (on leave)