- Ask The Pros
- Bogus Stage 3 Alert
- Hat Tip To Flynn
- Marked For Death
- The Enemy Of My Youth
- Will This Really Happen?
- Signs Of The Times
- Tiny Homes A Bad Idea
- Legal Lynching Of Juveniles
- Bring 'Em All Down
ASK THE PROS
Editor,
On the issue of the airport Timber Harvest Plan (THP, non industrial) it seems that folks the likes of Roger Sternberg, and Kendall Smith (unrelated to the airport) keep on going with their over the top costs and charges, based upon their own agendas. They may not be at fault in the big picture to have all of us pay their way; it is up to management (in this case, perhaps someone from or appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Airports are tricky in that the permits to operate are entangled with CalTrans permits; something one finds out when they research the permit to operate. Didn’t anyone catch this prior to the expenditures already incurred? Apparently not. Lesson learned, and please don’t let it happen again.
As for the wells in Ukiah, has any of the Ukiah City staff ever been actively involved in a water well installation? Environmental health from the county has (assumed). I can see wanting to specify a well and its components to produce a guaranteed yield based on pump curves, but it does not look good if a test well has not been investigated to checkout the underground lithology, and stratigraphy. Using the existing well can be misleading, as the water producing strata location can change in as little as 10 feet from the existing. My experience with muni wells is to contact the pros. Lane Christian in Yuba City/ Woodland could advise Ukiah through the process of test well and ultimate well construction. The others mentioned are also reputable. But it appears that the process has been somewhat of the analogous story of going to a car lot and asking the salesman “what car do I want to buy?” Someone on staff who is qualified needs to bone up on wells and carry the item through to completion for a true presentation of the options. Doesn’t seem to be the norm in Mendo, Sonoma, and the rest of the world, and it is something important enough to do in house and let the outsource only advise when asked the proper and informative questions.
Randy Burke
Gualala
BOGUS STAGE 3 ALERT
Letter to the Editor:
Please. Stage three water alert? If Tom Varga and Linda Ruffing had done their jobs there wouldn't have been a need for a water alert! Get real.
Tom said at the City Council meeting that he hadn't checked the water levels in several days. When he had checked there they were low but not to any alarming level. Because of our four-year drought why weren't they checked every day and why wasn't Linda Ruffing paying attention?
So then we were told we were in a stage three water dilemma and we have to all cut back. We needed to use paper plates and plastic silverware and drink bottled water if we have a health issues because the water is very salty. So here I go to the store and purchase everything like a good citizen. Restaurants have to do even more. I am sure glad I would wasn't a tourist as I'm not quite sure how I would feel about eating off paper and using those wonderful plastic knives. They cut so well.
The next City Council meeting we were all praised by Linda Ruffing for having done a great job on conserving. Meanwhile I'm still buying gallons of water and the stage three alert continued.
If Tom Varga was doing his job we wouldn't be in this mess.
Now here comes the real kicker. At the last City Council meeting maintenance people and Tim Varga were given something, couldn't tell on television, a certificate or some such, for their hard work etc. during a stage three water crisis! I nearly fell off my chair! What? Are they now being rewarded for putting us all in this state? I never heard of anything so outrageous!
What about the hardship it put on me having to buy water etc.? This was not a cheap blunder.
Now folks we are in a stage one. Not out of the woods yet. Keep conserving, we are told.
What will be next?
If they raise our water bills because of their mistake we should protest!
Holly Hawkins
Fort Bragg
HAT TIP TO FLYNN
Dear Readers,
A wise friend of mine recently described his modus operandi as that of an "action oriented go getting mission specific turbocharged ground-based agent of chaos."
And this I can attest to be true! I can say this unequivocally because I know Flynn Washburne on a personal level. In fact so personal that the Sheriff's department kicked in my Motel 6 door on more than one occasion searching for him on a "tip" that I had assisted him, serving as a diversionary distraction while he robbed a Ukiah bank. I had no part in his adventure. But for the record, had Washburne called upon my services I would have gladly obliged him! After all, what are friends for?
I applaud the fine publisher for adding Mr. Washburne to the esteemed list of contributors to the Anderson Valley Advertiser. This recognition is well overdue.
So to you my old friend Mr. Flynn Washburne, I tip my hat to you for proving through your articles and writing that not all of us who live on the fringe of Mendocino County are idiots. I wish you the very best during this holiday season. See you in 2018.
Alan Sunny Crow
Corcoran
PS. I send my love and respect to my limousine sharing brother Mr. Chris Skaggs and Mr. Dan Bud Shealor. See you in Fort Bragg.
MARKED FOR DEATH
Dear AVA,
Thanks for the KC Meadows review of Tim Stoen’s book Marked for Death.
Tim Stoen needs to be forgiven, as we all do. We all do things that we should not do, and that is the point. But forgiving is not forgetting. Only fools chose to forget because, people’s tendencies seldom change, and there is always something hopefully learned. “There for the grace of God go I”? Speaking for myself, not me. I certainly am capable of doing things I should not do, but Stoen’s sin is not mine.
Stoen’s sin is the sin of those who embrace the enslavement of those who are not taking responsibility for themselves, in order to save them. The only difference between Stoen and the broader “save the poor” crowd is Stoen had his face rubbed in the results. His son, his marriage, his life. He immersed himself in a version of the liberal let’s end poverty fantasy, and paid the price. I can not imagine the tortured conflicts that Stoen will take to his grave. But let’s look at the results of enslaving the poor, that none of the rest of us have to account for.
We pay financially dependent drug addicts and drunks to raise children. We pay the “homeless” to live in the streets. We pay for lifestyles that support gun violence in our inner cities, and other self destructive behaviors. This is the short list of the perversion, that the “save the poor crowd” promotes. And the pay is what keeps the poor on the plantation, and almost guarantees children of the poor will fail.
But, unlike Tim Stoen, we are all separated from it. So the perversion goes unseen, unfelt, and unaddressed. That is until it hits our own family, makes the front page of our newspapers in a mass killing, shows up in statistics of failed schools, or when we pay the cost for incarcerating the criminal products of the a “save the poor” plantation.
For slaves there is always a slave master. In America, the slave master is the state. It did not used to be that way, and the poor did much better. The state is currently a benign slave master, that demands nothing more than a vote in exchange for a check. But Jim Jones was a demonstration of what slave masters can do. And a shell shocked Tim Stoen, is willing to share with us a part what he knows about it. The balance I imagine he has trouble sharing with himself. The rest of the “save the poor” crowd are left with the on going question of why is this not working, and why are matters getting worse?
George A. Hollister
Comptche
THE ENEMY OF MY YOUTH
Editor
I've got to say, America's enemies in the 21st Century just don't strike any fear in me compared to the enemy of my youth, the Soviet Union. Al Qaeda and ISIS, even if they were pulling off a 9/11 event once a month in America, that would be 3,000 dead once a month? Nothing compared to what an all out nuclear exchange between the US and the Soviets could have done, like wipe out life on Earth! Even a limited nuclear exchange could have killed 100 million Americans.
I think the powers-that-be always want the masses fearing an external enemy, most likely to distract us from internal enemies here at home like the 1% of us who are dominating the economy. They are much more of a threat to me than ISIS any day.
Keith Bramstedt
San Anselmo
WILL THIS REALLY HAPPEN?
To the Editor:
After reading several articles on the implementation of Marijuana Regulation in Mendocino and California my initial impressions seem to have been spot on. The State of California’s interest is in the never ending quest for new sources of revenue from taxes and permit fees. With these new monies, they promise to fund things they have not adequately funded in the past (like roads and mental health) and likely have no intention to adequately fund in the future. The State has created a bureaucratic maze in which they think growers who currently operate with a cash only backpocket accounting system will understand and gladly embrace. The growers will need to pay substantial fees to legally establish their businesses as well as to transport their product. They will need formal payroll systems for their employees in order to deduct state, federal income taxes, and payroll taxes. They will also need to file state and federal income tax returns and carry insurance policies of many kinds. Does anyone really think this is going to happen if the growers have been successful operating as they have before? State Senator McGuire is introducing a bill that will establish a special 15% statewide retail sales tax on marijuana sold in dispensaries in addition to the current 8% sales tax. Does anyone really think with all of these business obligations, with extra taxes and fees piled on, there won’t be needed the same level of law enforcement activity to ensure compliance?
Again, I am not a user, not an advocate for using, and am not in the supply chain and have no desire to be. My motive is to reduce crime associated with marijuana as well as make our wild lands safe for loggers, hunters, hikers, and naturalists. I think that if marijuana is legalized, the street price will drop such that cartels, gangs and other nefarious characters will no longer see this business as “economic” thereby reducing crime and insecurity in our communities. There will certainly be an uptick in addiction related issues, but would we rather have more personal freedom with personal consequences or a tyrannical nanny state?
D.E. Johnson
Ukiah
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Editor,
A big feature in the NYT sports section recently with some suggestions from Experienced Coaches on how to beat the Warriors.
But that's not the item, as Herb Caen used to say. In recent years, extremely ugly computer-generated art has replaced text in large swaths of the Paper of Record, often taking up half a page or more. The trend started when The Owners hired Consultants who advised the Top Editors that an Important Demographic was so accustomed to looking at computer screens that they wanted their newspaper to look like a computer screen, too. Also, it's much easier and cheaper to slap a graphic across the page than to assign, lay out, read, revise, correct, and proofread 60 column inches of text.
I decided to send the NYT's Warriors-can-be-beaten story to some hoops lovers of my acquaintance. When I found the link, I saw that the associated graphic —an army of defenders facing crude cartoon figures identified as Green, Curry and Thompson— is moving in a nausea-inducing back-and-forth pattern. Just when you think they can't make it any worse, they pick up the Ugly Stick and whomp away some more.
I try to struggle against Luddite Tendencies but...
* * *
Both obits are of people who died at 74. I can't afford to.
* * *
Termites emerged from a crack in the porch on Wednesday — some crawling, some flying, it's quite a lively entrance they make into the sunlight to start another cycle of cellulose destruction. That afternoon, when the inspector from Omega Pest Control came, he said the termites were a minor problem— compared to the dry rot. Come spring we're going to have to move all our stuff out of the basement. Madame is a hoarder and I have trouble getting rid of books because if I've read them I might want to refer to them, and if I haven't read them, how can I get rid of them? Plus three of the offspring are using the space for long-term storage.
* * *
2016 will be The Year of the House.
* * *
It says here the Cavs today by 9 and the Spurs to win the West. Also, Paul Ryan to head the Republican ticket, with Rubio as his VP. If I can get 300 to 1 from a London bookie maybe I can pay for the new porch.
* * *
So let's end this on a positive note: Porches are underappreciated. Lucky is the man who has a porch.
Fred Gardner
Alameda
TINY HOMES A BAD IDEA
To the Editor:
“Tiny homes” for the homeless are an extremely bad idea. For $1 million a facility can be built that offers the comprehensive services people need.
These “tiny homes” will force people to have to go outside and into another building to use the bathroom, even when it’s in the low 20s and when it’s pouring rain outside. There also will not be room for personal items, for pet companions, and for families. And during the day people will still be forced to be out on the streets, which is what the people of Ukiah are trying to avoid.
It’s time to stop these crazy ideas and focus on building a facility that will offer the services people need. Ukiah once did have a facility like this. Sadly the administrators were clueless and ended up closing it. Now Ukiah has to start over again.
I’ve been homeless twice in my life. And I have worked in homeless and mental health services. The homeless community has its own culture and its own rules. It’s about basic survival. It can be difficult to understand.
It’s time for a common sense solution. It is not time to for “creative” solutions that are out of touch with the needs of the homeless. Maybe it’s time to allow those that are homeless and/or have been homeless to have the majority voice on the homeless services committee. Clearly those who have been “trying” to help have not been successful so far.
William French
San Francisco
LEGAL LYNCHING OF JUVENILES
Dear Editor:
Increasingly many states rather than refer juveniles to Juvenile Court the kids are being tried as adults. A practice which I call legal lynching of juveniles. Many of these kids if found guilty are sentenced to life terms without parole. In looking at the number of inmates serving juvenile life sentences without parole per 100,000 residents the national average is 0.719. Louisiana is the top state with 247 lifers or 5.31% of 100,000 residents and of the these inmates 199 or 81% were black.
In looking at other states the whites were usually a small percentage with the majority either black, Hispanic or other. In California there were 288 lifers of which many were minorities. In 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that life without parole was unconstitutional. States are dealing with the ruling in different ways. Of course, rather than life, the juvenile can receive a long term of many years. One factor that disturbs me is the failure of editorial boards of newspapers to speak out against this legal lynching of children. In Sacramento County our previous district attorney and the current one have a penchant to try kids, many who are minorities, in adult court. The editorial board of our local paper, the Sacramento Bee, doesn't seem concerned about sending kids to adult prisons for long term sentences.
In peace and love,
Jim Updegraff
Sacramento
BRING 'EM ALL DOWN
Dear Editoria,
Vis. “Stop the Klamath Agreements” (December 15, 2015 - www.theava.com/archives/50678):
The importance of the dam removal commitment cannot be overstated, and the pernicious trickery of FERC, SWRCB, PacificCorps, Buffeteers and bountymen knows no honor.
But I’m selfishly concerned — the tribes engaging in this battle for biospheric sanity have established a body of knowledge [1] that is recognized by the US EPA, Cal EPA, Northern Coastal Region Water Quality Control Board, [2] academicians and scientists world wide, that is all but ignored here in Lake County, California.With similar dam management issues (Lake Pillsbury and Clear Lake — not to mention the long-longed-for Lakeport Lake, in Scotts Valley) and two “moderately” impaired (but extremely critical) groundwater basins, Lake County leaders maintain a straight face while claiming our water resource issues are "just not that big a deal.”
It’s "not that big a deal" that our surface water supplies are becoming noticeably prone to toxicity from naturally-occurring cyanobacteria, water purveyors are not required to monitor for these toxins or treat the water to remove them (both herculian tasks, apparently), and that calling attention to the potentially harmful conditions so as to safeguard children and pets is contraindicated by the marketing-minded ministers of the public weal.
Rather than have Clear Lake's fish tissue tested, as performed by the tribes dependent on the Klamath River, our advisors — one of whom now sits on your North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, by the way — support the position that signage itself is harmful.
If this deal goes down, the pirates win, the people lose. It’s not a battle to take lightly for any of us in the Northern Coastal Counties biodiversity region, and fragile forest-river-watersheds. And it’s the only one that even comes close to forcing the dismantling of the eco-supremacy system that exploits life for profit. Please keep us posted.
Betsy Cawn
Lake County
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