Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Jan 3, 2016

• Weather Change
• Sierra Snowpack
• Non-sequiter Care
• Sheriff Care
• Forests Stressed
• Crop Report
• Wood Bill
• Fire Tragedy
• Klemetson Departs
• Gas Tax
• Slow Learners
• Hateful Eight
• Lotto Gang
• Dating Partner
• Yesterday's Catch
• Utility Repair
• Financial Genius
• Craig's Ready
• Rose Garden
• Warming Reasons
• Gothic Update
• Rhumba Bums
• Fascinating Headline
• Bragg Water
• University Agribusiness
• Carbon Bootprint
• Oregon Laws
• Marco Radio

COLD FINISH TO THE YEAR: Boonville lows the past nine mornings: 33, 29, 29, 35, 29, 33, 30, 28, and 30. (Some say lower in some spots.) Now the forecast shifts to warmer and rainy, beginning with a NWS wind advisory from 10 pm Saturday to 10 am Sunday. Gusts are expected to reach 50 mph overnight at higher elevations (coastal ridges and highway passes). The forecast for the next week looks like rain off and on almost daily with daily totals ranging from a quarter to three quarters of an inch, heaviest on Sunday and Monday.

A DEEPENING LOW approaching the northwest California coast this evening will bring strong gusty winds to the coastal ridges. Winds will mainly impact the higher elevations of Mendocino and Humboldt counties. Valley locations will not be significantly impacted by winds from this front. Winds will begin to abate tomorrow morning as the front weakens. (National Weather Service)

THE SIERRA NEVADA SNOWPACK is at 136% of normal for the winter’s first manual survey. The chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program for the Department of Water Resources says it’s a good start. He says after four years of drought, the measuring pole went in, followed by an electronic measurement, that came back with snowpack at 112% of normal. The snowpack turns into as much as 30% of California’s water supply after it melts into rivers and streams filling reservoirs that remain critically low. Last Jan. 1st, the snowpack was at 45% of the historical average and by April 1st, only at 5%, a record low. How some ever, and as former Supervisor Pinches never failed to point out, as soon as it rains in Mendocino County all talk of conservation and future strategies to conserve or store water cease at the official level.

ONE OF THE MAIN THE REASONS that nothing much improves in the Health and Human Services Department is the simple fact that you can’t get a straight answer out of them about anything. When the Ukiah Daily Journal asked HHSA boss Stacey Cryer about the recent audit of mental health by the two nurse-evaluators from the State’s Department of Public Health, Ms. Cryer “disputed the survey finding Tuesday, saying county mental health hasn’t had a PHP, nor has it billed for Medicare services, in at least a decade.”

What does that mean?

A PHP is a “partial hospitalization program” or basically an intensive supervised outpatient program which obviously some mental patients need or it wouldn’t be in the range of services that should be offered. The context in which it was first raised in the audit was: “A Community Mental Health Center must provide day treatment or other partial hospitalization program services, or psychosocial rehabilitation services.”

So obviously, the evaluators were referring to a type of service that County mental health departments are required to provide, not some narrowly construed program or billing process which Ms. Cryer may personally think they’re referring to. On top of that, why doesn’t the County have a PHP? Surely there are Mendo people who need supervised outpatient services.

Here we have a professionally conducted state audit alleging that an inexcusable lack of coordination of services and lack of follow up probably lead to the death of a mental health client with a County management staffer quoted in the report as having admitted that “it appears as though this client’s care has fallen off a cliff…”

And all we get in response from the person in charge is a non-sequitur? Not even an “I’m sorry,” or a “We’re looking into it,” or “That information is confidential” or, “all of that will be addressed in the upcoming Kemper audit”?

RE THE SHERIFF'S mental health facility. It's still mostly in the rumor stage of development, and I'm excited about it, as the liberals like to say. To be successful it would have to be developed and funded outside the Supervisors and the present mental health system, which now spends about $20 million annually for either killing the mentally ill outright or more or less benignly ignoring them. Anything inside the existing system would be screwed up by it. Whatever the specifics of the plan turn out to be, I think the Sheriff gets major attaboys for fully understanding the problem and trying to do something about it.

THE DROUGHT has imperiled 58 million big trees in the state. A study released by the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. used high-tech imagery gathered by an airplane flying over California earlier this year that showed up to 888 million large trees had “measurable losses of canopy water” since the drought began, and of those 58 million lost so much water they were determined as “extremely threatening to long-term forest health.” Scientists say the risk is still high even with the massive rain that’s been forecast this winter due to El Niño.

TOTAL MENDO AG PRODUCTION dropped about 4% in 2014 compared to 2013 according to the latest Mendocino County Crop Report. Timber production and sales value was up somewhat in 2014 over 2013 in the 1.3 million acres zoned for timber production, 2013 stumpage/value was 112 million board feet and $27 million in value; 2014 stumpage/value was $115 million board feet and almost $35 million in value.

AFTER DISCOUNTING the marginal increase in timber production and value, other agricultural production was off 11% mainly because total grape tonnage dropped significantly from about 78,000 tons to about 62,000 tons — perhaps a reflection of the drought or lower temperatures during the growing season.

ROUGHLY 600 bottles of wine are produced by one ton of grapes. So if the average retail price of a bottle is $20-$30 (frequently much more) for the 62,000 tons, that’s well over $700 million in retail value — a lot more than the $94 million in raw grape crop value reported in the 2014 crop report. The crop report does not provide the relationship between the grape crop and county revenues; it’s very indirect since grapes contribute some percentage of sales tax and property taxes, but certainly not a reflection of the total crop value.

BACK OF THE ENVELOPE calculations for grapes show why there’s so much acreage planted in grapes. If a small ten-acre vineyard can generate 6,000 bottles a year and sell them for $40 at retail, that’s a gross of $240,000. Factor in that field and bottling labor is mostly seasonal and low-paid, ag water is cheap, and a good chunk of your revenue is direct sales via on-line sales or a tasting room — and probably at least half of your gross is pure profit. Then add more zeroes for the bigger vineyards… Why, wine grapes are probably more profitable than marijuana!

PINOT GRAPES sold for over $2700 per ton in 2014, much more than the other varieties which sold for between $1,000 and $1800 per ton.

MOST OF THE CONVENTIONAL AG SECTORS were up in 2014 — vegetables, livestock, nursery, etc. — even though there was lower overall production, also probably drought related. Vegetable production, livestock production, and livestock and poultry products all were up in gross value and livestock was reported to have seen “very favorable market prices.”

ACCORDING TO WILLITS NEWS REPORTER Kate Maxwell in a recent article about the 2014 crop report, “Under new state regulations that go into effect January 1, cannabis will be considered an agricultural commodity and regulated by the state and local agricultural departments,” adding, “In 1979, agricultural commissioners from Mendocino, Del Norte, and Trinity counties included estimates of cannabis cultivation in their annual crop reports, but after pushback from agricultural agencies estimates have not been included since that year.”

WE DON’T THINK the crop report will include marijuana anytime soon. There are new regulations concerning medical marijuana cultivation going into effect in 2016 and there are references to County Agriculture Commissioners having an as-yet undefined role in those new regulations, but we could not find any specific reference to marijuana production, medical or not, being included in future crop reports. It probably wouldn’t be that hard to include a summary of whatever limited medical marijuana grow permits were issued, but that would hardly be representative of overall marijuana cultivation, not to mention that such data would be very dependent on who even applies for the burdensome and expensive permits, the accuracy of the permit claims, and at least minimal compliance of the growers.

ASSEMBLYMAN JIM WOOD seems to have noticed that deaths from prescription opiates are up. The Healdsburg solon had introduced a failed bill, Assembly Bill 623, that would have made the most popular downers virtually uncrushable, uncuttable or undissolvable for snorting and injecting. The bill odeed, but Wood says he'll touch it up and re-introduce it this year.

BEYOND AWFUL

ON JANUARY 1, 2016 at approximately 9:37 AM, Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to conduct a coroner's investigation into the death of a two year-old male in the 22000 block of Eastside Road in Willits, California. Fire and medical personnel were already at the location when the Deputies arrived. A total of three structures and two vehicles had been damaged by a fire at the location. A recreational vehicle (RV) which had served as a family home was completely destroyed during the fire. Deputies were told that the family’s mother stepped out of the RV briefly while her sons, ages two and fourteen months, slept inside the RV with their father. The father exited the RV a short time later, telling the mother the inside of the RV was on fire. Both parents entered the RV to retrieve their children and were able to rescue their youngest son but were driven back by the heat of the rapidly growing fire and were not able to rescue their two year-old son. The two year-old son was later found deceased inside the RV. The fourteen month-old son suffered burns over approximately 40% of his body and was flown by air ambulance to UC Davis Medical Center. Both parents suffered burn injuries in the rescue of the one child and the attempted rescue of the other child. The father was treated for significant burn injuries at Frank Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits and the mother suffered less severe burn injuries. The initial investigation suggests a propane space heater may have been the cause of the fire but the official determination is pending as the investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing at this time. Names of the involved persons are not being released at this time as the investigation is ongoing and the Coroner as yet to positively confirm the identity of the two year-old child reported to have died during the fire.

NEW WORK AWAITS KMUD RADIO’S NEWS DIRECTOR

by Daniel Mintz

An era is ending for the news department of KMUD FM, Southern Humboldt’s listener-sponsored radio station, as its community-conscious director Terri Klemetson is leaving her post.

Klemetson’s seven-year stint as KMUD’s news and public affairs director included establishment of an Emergency Response Team, expansion of the department’s team of contributors and an extraordinary commitment to outreach and journalism education.

But Klemetson believes KMUD news is poised for even more progress. “We have an awesome team of reporters and we’re going to be fine,” she said.

A Humboldt County resident since 2000, Klemetson grew up in the Midwest and studied political science at Iowa Central Community College. Encouraged by her mother to travel, she interned for Amnesty International in London and then taught English in China.

She’d considered careers with government agencies or the military but her travels changed her perspective. “Being overseas made me a little too critical of the US to work for the government,” Klemetson said.

After returning to Iowa to teach English to Somalian refugees who had been placed there, Klemetson travelled throughout the West Coast and moved to Humboldt. For five years, she “did a lot of shoveling rock and working instream” for Restoration Forestry on state-sponsored fisheries habitat projects.

She also volunteered for KMUD after moving to Southern Humboldt in the early 2000s and was one of the hosts of the station’s popular Women on Wednesday interview show.

Ever active, Klemetson moved to Arcata in 2005 to study wildlife biology at Humboldt State University and to work on endangered species surveys.

During the 2007 Summer Arts and Music Festival, then-station manager Brenda Starr asked Klemetson if she’d be interested in training in KMUD’s newsroom. Klemetson was anchoring the news one day a week when then-news director and current County Supervisor Estelle Fennell — who was a community media institution — left KMUD to pursue various community-oriented roles.

Klemetson took on a new and demanding challenge when she stepped in as the station’s news director. “I loved community radio so much and really loved KMUD so I rose to the challenge and decided to invest time in KMUD,” she said.

Moving back to Southern Humboldt, where housing is elusive, wasn’t easy. But she had friends who helped. “I couch-surfed for months,” she said, adding that the assistance of her friends made her initial phase of work possible.

Friends eventually referred Klemetson and her companion, Doug Bryan, to a place to live between Ettersburg and Honeydew — an off-grid cabin which would be their home for the next five years.

Klemetson had friends who were involved in environmental advocacy, which she thinks benefitted her early work at KMUD. “It helped that we shared a focus on a lot of the issues that people in Southern Humboldt were involved in,” she said.

She believed that community outreach and cultivation of new talent were essential to delivering the depth and range of coverage listeners wanted. She was better able to pursue that when Cynthia Elkins, the former executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, joined the news department as its co-director in 2008.

With Elkins applying her management and legal experience, Klemetson had leeway to take an innovative step — she launched the Community Journalism Project (CJP), which essentially opened the doors of the newsroom to the community.

Having learned of the community journalism efforts of the Portland, Oregon-based radio station KPOV during a media workshop, Klemetson began teaching free CJP classes on subjects like journalism ethics, use of recording equipment and engineering.

The classes were interactive and Klemetson often used them as a springboard for fielding feedback on news broadcasts and explaining the department’s work.

“I just wanted to connect with the community,” she said.

Soon volunteers were doing newsroom work and several of them are now part of KMUD’s team of regular contributors.

Klemetson eventually transitioned into new efforts, such as expansion of engineering training for KMUD music programmers. She also teaches broadcast news at KRFH, Humboldt State University’s student-run radio station and is the co-owner of the Woodrose Cafe in Garberville, where she now lives.

She’ll continue to work for KMUD through January as the news department transitions into its next era with its new co-directors, Isabella Vanderheiden and Sydney Morrone.

Klemetson loves working for KMUD but it isn’t her style to do one thing for too long. “I’m 39 years old and at this point in my life, I want to make super-positive change and learn new skills,” she said. “I tell everyone that I need to close doors to open new doors and I need to do that to figure out what I can contribute to the world.”

Her next step hasn’t been decided. “I feel like I could embark on another career and help the community in a different way — I just don’t know what it will be,” she said.

(Disclosure: Daniel Mintz is a contributor to KMUD news.)

THE GAS TAX may be going up. The State Senate says 68% of California’s roads need repair. Fixing them, which is so far unfunded, could cost as much as $135 billion over ten years. Legislators are looking to fund repairs with billions for the most urgent repairs, possibly with a higher gas tax. The state transportation department, Caltrans, says each dollar spent on preventive maintenance could save as much as $10 in repairs later.

PRISON COMMITMENTS obtained as a result of strong law enforcement investigations and effective advocacy and courtroom work by prosecutors come together to protect our communities from those among us who willingly prey on others. Calendar years 2011 through 2015 have been during the watch of current DA David Eyster and his team of prosecutors. While many of us are celebrating the New Year, please be sure to keep in your prayers the officers and deputies who are working and vigilant these days and nights to keep us all safe! (District Attorney Facebook post)

FACEBOOK QUESTION: Just curious, how many of those convictions are first-time offenders and how many are repeat offenders? What is Mendocino County's rate of recidivism?_ And are these counting only local sentences or is it including the state prisoners who have been transferred in? — Paul Reed

DA EYSTER: Please speak with the PIO Mike Geniella next week and he can sort out your queries. Until then, while some commit so serious a crime their first time out that they get sent to prison, that is not the norm. Prison is normally reserved for slow learners who don't learn the lesson from prior punishment imposed. This bar graph combines both RCP (local prison) and CDCR (state prison) (the breakdowns between the two are available online at our webpage), though remember there was no Realignment in 2010. Realignment came into existence on 10/1/2011. Finally, there are no state prisoners who have been transferred in due to Realignment; instead, there are prison commitments that stay local and never get transferred out to a state facility.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING. For some people, that is. I found it pretty funny, if my dubious taste is any recommendation. But the, ah, politically squeamish, the NPR types and candy asses generally, will find much to object to in Quentin Tarrantino's latest, The Hateful Eight. I wondered at a lot of the lovingly romanticized violence in the movie myself, but then this guy's films are always heavy on the ultra-vi so you know going in that there'll be catsup all over the place. Academics might describe Hateful Eight as Tarrantino's illustrated rumination on race relations.

The female star, Jennifer Jason Leigh, steals the show from the great Samuel L. Jackson, and he's as wonderful in this thing as he is in everything. Some of you will remember Ms. Leigh as the tweeker in Orange is the New Black. All the women in Hateful Eight get shot, and until she's hanged Leigh is punched, elbowed in the nose, shot and otherwise abused.

John 'The Hangman' Ruth: [Kurt Russell, to Major Warren (Jackson)] Major Marquis Warren, this here is Daisy Domergue.

[to Daisy]

John 'The Hangman' Ruth: Domergue, to you, this is Major Warren.

Daisy Domergue: Howdy, nigger.

John 'The Hangman' Ruth: [to Major Warren, laughing] She's a pepper, ain't she?

[to Daisy]

John 'The Hangman' Ruth: Now, girl, don't you know darkies don't like being called niggers no more? They find it offensive.

Daisy Domergue: I've been called worse.

John 'The Hangman' Ruth: Now that, I can believe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fyJ3laj6ko

SCRATCHERS

On December 26, 2015 at approximately 9:30 AM, a Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy was summoned to the Jensen’s Truck Stop Gas Station (1460 Lovers Lane in Ukiah, California) for a reported burglary that had just been discovered. When taking the report, the Deputy reviewed surveillance footage from the store and learned that between 12:00 AM and 12:10 AM the previous night, two subjects forced entry into the business. The subjects were seen on surveillance footage stealing boxes containing cartons of cigarettes, money, and multiple packages of California Lottery Tickets in various denominations. The California State Lottery Board was contacted and the stolen tickets were identified and tagged should they be turned in for winnings. The total value of the stolen Lottery Tickets was $15,150.00 as identified by the California State Lottery Board. Between 12-26-2105 and 12-30-2015, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has taken multiple reports of persons attempting to claim winnings from the stolen lottery tickets. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Unit is leading this investigation and has identified multiple persons involved with the stolen lottery tickets. On 12-30-2015, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Unit, assisted by an Investigator from the California State Lottery Board, conducted a probation search at an Ukiah area hotel room in connection with an individual who had been identified as a person of interest. During the search, the individual was found to be in possession of several hundred dollars worth of the stolen lottery tickets. Several other people were contacted during this investigation and Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Detectives have thus far located and seized approximately $9,000.00 worth of the stolen lottery tickets and approximately 15 cartons of stolen cigarettes. At this time, the investigation is ongoing and there are several identified suspects and persons of interest. No suspect names are being released at this time due to the status of the investigation. There are additional suspects who have been identified and have not yet been contacted by investigators.

(Sheriff’s Press Release)

TREVOR TOUGH GUY

On 12-30-2015 at approximately 6:30 AM Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a possible domestic violence incident at a business located in the 44000 block of North Highway 101 in Laytonville, California. Upon arrival Deputies located an adult female, hiding in the restroom of the business, who stated that she had been physically assaulted by her boyfriend. The adult female was provided medical aid at the scene and subsequently transported by Laytonville Ambulance to a local hospital where she received treatment for her injuries. Deputies searched the area surrounding the business subsequently locating the adult female’s boyfriend, who was identified as being Trevor Traphagen, 25, of Shasta City.

The adult female was determined to have sustained a broken nose and a right eye orbital fracture during the physical assault. The adult female was later released from the hospital after receiving medical attention for her injuries. Following the investigation of the incident, Traphagen was placed under arrest for infliction of corporal injury on a dating partner. Traphagen was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $25,000.00 bail.

(Sheriff’s Press Release)

CATCH OF THE DAY, January 2, 2016

MICHAEL BEERS, Ukiah. Drunk in public, vandalism.

JARED HAWKINS, Fort Bragg. Domestic assault, paraphernalia, probation revocation.

CHARLES HENSLEY, Ukiah. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)

BENJAMIN KEATOR, Redwood Valley. Controlled substance, bad ID, community supervision violation.

JARED KIDD, Ukiah. Drunk in public, battery of peace officer, resisting.

ANDREW MAYNARD, Fort Bragg. Drunk in public, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

BRIAN MILLER, Ukiah. Domestic battery, criminal threats.

SUNRAY NICHOLSON, Fort Bragg. Domestic assault, “touches an intimate part of another when victim is unconscious, or fraud by stating for professional purpose,” probation revocation.

DANIEL SANCHEZ, Fort Bragg. Fake ID, probation revocation.

PATRICK TAYLOR, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

THE UNDERGROUNDING of power lines along East Perkins Street in Ukiah is being postponed because so much utility repair work is being done next door in Lake County in the wake of the summer’s huge fires.

FED UP IN BERKELEY

I'd Like to Ritually Shove Postmodernism's Head Up Its Insane Ass!

I am sitting here at a computer at Berkeley, California's Piedmont House travel hostel, sending out networking messages to realize a group solidarity situation on the New York City to Washington D.C. materialistic power strip. I want to be there performing spiritual rituals and doing direct action for the purpose of shoving postmodernism's head up its insane ass! I am very unhappy about the idiocy of the current political primaries, in which a lunatic Republican and a visionless time's-up Democrat are the only candidates allowed to debate on national television, with other worthy candidates, (such as from the Green Party), not being allowed to participate. I think that social life here in postmodern America is spiritually pointless, that the average citizen doesn't fundamentally know what is going on, and that the consumerist pop culture is slowly going mad. I am ready to leave here and proceed to the New York City--Washington D.C. power strip as soon as possible. I am accepting cooperation to go somewhere upon arrival, because what else would I do to get active again there? Where the hell am I supposed to live...in a tree in winter? Where is the solidarity, and why did Occupy ever stop functioning on the east coast? Fair weather radicalism is worse than stupid!

You may contact me at CraigStehr@inbox.com

I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

When you take, you gotta give, so live and let live,

Or let go.

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

 

I could promise you things like big diamond rings,

But you don't find roses growin' on stalks of clover.

So you better think it over.

Well, if sweet-talkin' you could make it come true,

I would give you the world right now on a silver platter,

But what would it matter?

So smile for a while and let's be jolly:

Love shouldn't be so melancholy.

Come along and share the good times while we can.

 

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

 

Instrumental break.

 

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

 

I could sing you a tune or promise you the moon,

But if that's what it takes to hold you,

I'd just as soon let you go, but there's one thing I want you to know.

You better look before you leap, still waters run deep,

And there won't always be someone there to pull you out,

And you know what I'm talkin' about.

So smile for a while and let's be jolly:

Love shouldn't be so melancholy.

Come along and share the good times while we can.

 

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

— Joe South

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

How badly are we fucking it up burning fossil fuels? Better not to ask.

Hard to not laugh about this Paris silliness with all the preening and self-congratulation.

The perpetrators of this latest farce (like all well-off people) are the least willing to limit their carbon output because they’re not willing to give up their comforts, pure and simple. But let’s not be simplistic. There’s reasons.

Yeah, sure, somebody has to do something. Which was the reason for the agreement in the first place. The GOVERNMENT ought to do something, THAT’S for sure. Or be SEEN to be doing something. Or something.

But as for their own SUV, well, that’s something that they need. Are they giving it up? Nope. Can’t.

What about the minivan? Are they giving up the minivan? Nope, regrettably, that’s a necessity too.

Could they maybe have done with less than a 4,000 square foot house? Well, it’s hard to imagine because they needed to be in a neighborhood close enough to work, given their demanding schedules, and this was what was available. Also, the house has to be commensurate with the positions they occupy ie for entertainment and socialization. These are just unavoidable facts of life.

See? There’s reasons. Besides, it’s not a perfect world.

What about the habitat destruction that went into the production process for all the house’s various elements and systems? Well, see the foregoing…

Do they really need double refrigerators? Do they really need the gargantuan stove and oven? Two of them? How about that massive granite topped kitchen island? What about all that mahogany woodwork? Oh, all those knick-knacks form the foreign holidays? How much carbon got spewed going hither and yon? Again, see the foregoing…

Ok, ENOUGH! This questioning is just getting way too intrusive. And ABUSIVE! People ARE entitled to privacy are they not? Even high officials. Even not so high officials.

And let’s don’t be too damn critical. They’re not under arrest and we’re not judge and jury. It’s not like they do nothing. They do a lot. They recycle soda cans, they buy ethical coffee, they eat organic vegetables.

As for the holidays overseas, well, it was for the kids, they need to know how others live. A worthwhile goal isn’t it? The kids are the next generation and an education is necessary for the next generation of enlightened global initiatives. As for the knick-knacks, they were supporting local economies.

Oh, and they own a Prius. That counts for something doesn’t it?

STEVE LUCKY & THE RHUMBA BUMS, a highly entertaining band from the San Francisco Bay area, featuring Steve Lucky’s soulful piano and vocals, and the vivacious Miss Carmen Getit’s vocals and acclaimed guitar will be at the Hill House in Mendocino on Saturday, January 30. The addition of some veteran musicians and young jazz talents on drums, upright bass and horn section results in a powerful sound that appeals to fans both young and old. These musicians have worked with everyone from jazz greats like the late Joe Williams and Dizzy Gillespie, to pop stars like Aretha Franklin and the Temptations to blues legend & Grammy-award winner Johnny Clyde Copeland. The band loves to entertain and has the “rock-solid musicianship” (Alternative Press) to drive folks to the dance floor. Doors open at 6PM for casual dining and full bar, Music at 7:30PM. $25 for reserved table seating, $20 general admission. Tickets will be available at Mendocino Hotel and Hill House in Mendocino and online at BrownPaperTickets.com. 707-937-1732 for more info. “Instant crowd favorites” Tom Mazzolini, producer, San Francisco Blues Festival "They are one of the hottest dance bands on the planet with personality galore." Sunshine Taylor, Mendocino Coast swing dancer

Happy New Year to you,

Pattie DeMatteo

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

“Affluenza teen hires 'rock star' Mexican lawyer to fight his deportation and accuses authorities of 'unlawfully separating him from his dog' as it's revealed his mother had to pay his strip club bill.”

(Daily Mail On-Line)

FORT BRAGG TALKS WATER

City water set to be a topic at Monday’s Fort Bragg City Council meeting

Agenda Title: Conduct City Council Workshop To Receive Reports And Discuss Various Topics Related To The City Of Fort Bragg’s Water Supply.

This workshop is intended to help educate the City Council and the public about Fort Bragg’s water supply issues. At the workshop, staff will identify and frame a number of policy issues that will require Council deliberation and action in the future. The discussion is intended to help establish priorities and expectations regarding timeframes for various actions.

Topics to include: Water emergency, water supply/delivery, Fish & Wildlife regulation, water source development, finances, schedules,

https://cityfortbragg.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4188271&GUID=0FA0F51E-A06A-4F68-9F87-539899D7C04B

UNIVERSITY/AGRIBUSINESS COMPLEX EXPOSED:

The Resnicks' deep ties to UC Davis, UCLA

by Dan Bacher

Beverly Hills billionaire Stewart Resnick and his wife, Lynda, the co-owners of The Wonderful Company, are the Power Couple of Corporate Agribusiness in California.

They exert their influence over California politics in a variety of ways, including dumping many hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of Jerry Brown, Senator Dianne Feinstein and many other politicans, both Democrats and Republicans, over the years, along with making contributions to the arts and Stewart Resnick's favorite environmental NGO, Conservation International.

The Resnicks have become infamous as the "Koch Brothers of California Water" for the many thousands of dollars they contribute to candidates and propositions in California every election. For example, Stewart Resnick donated $150,000 to the Yes on Prop 1, Governor Jerry Brown’s water bond, in 2014. (www.dailykos.com/...)

The media, particularly alternative outlets, have revealed the instrumental role that Resnicks played in promoting campaigns to eviscerate Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for Central Valley Chinook salmon and Delta smelt populations and to build the fish-killing Delta Tunnels.

It is also well-documented how Resnick, while he served as an “environmental leader” on the Board of Directors of Conservation International, bought subsidized Delta water and then sold it back to the public for a big profit as Delta fish and Central Valley salmon populations crashed. (www.indybay.org/...)

“As the West Coast’s largest estuary plunged to the brink of collapse from 2000 to 2007, state water officials pumped unprecedented amounts of water out of the Delta only to effectively buy some of it back at taxpayer expense for a failed environmental protection plan, a MediaNews investigation has found,” according an article by the late Mike Taugher in the Contra Costa Times on May 23, 2009. (www.revivethesanjoaquin.org/...)

Environmentalists have also castigated the Resnicks, the largest orchard fruit growers in the world, and other corporate agribusiness interests for planting thousands of acres of new almond trees during the drought while Governor Jerry Brown is mandating that urban families slash water usage by 25 percent. (www.eastbayexpress.com/...)

The Resnicks' contributions to the arts and charities through the Resnick Family Foundation are also well publicized.

However, much less well-known are the Resnicks’ deep ties to the University of California system, including Stewart Resnick’s “service” on UC boards and their foundation’s donations of millions of dollars to the university.

I bet you didn't know that Stewart Resnick sits on the Board of Advisors of UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, made famous for serving as Chancellor when UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike pepper sprayed students during the Occupy protests in the fall of 2011. (chancellor.ucdavis.edu/...)

Resnick serves with other corporate leaders such as Riley P. Bechtel, chairman of the board of the Bechtel Corporation, and John S. Watson, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Chevron Corporation, on the Board of Advisors. For the complete list of Katehi’s Board of Advisors, go to: chancellor.ucdavis.edu/…

That’s not the only position in the educational system than Resnick holds. According to the UC Davis website, Stewart Resnick is a member of the Executive Board of the UCLA Medical Sciences and a member of the Advisory Board of the Anderson School of Management, at UCLA , his alma mater. Resnick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Juris Doctorate from UCLA Law School.

It is at UCLA where Resnicks exert their influence the most with the millions of dollars they have donated. On May 24, 2013, the UCLA School of Law announced that it had received a $4 million gift from the Resnick Family Foundation to establish the Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy.

"The gift provides for as much as another $3 million in matching endowment funds,” according to a news release from the UC School of Law. “The new program, the first of its kind at a top tier law school, will explore ways to hasten improvements in the modern food system. In addressing questions of food safety, distribution and access, the Resnick Program will focus on reforming food law and policy for the benefit of the consumer.” (https://law.ucla.edu/news-and-events/in-the-news/2013/05/UCLA-School-of-Law-Establishes-Resnick-Program-for-Food-Law-and-Policy/)

Dean Rachel F. Moran praised the Resnicks for their donations, stating, “Alumnus Stewart Resnick ’62 and his wife Lynda, entrepreneurs and dedicated philanthropists, have long used their charitable donations to promote public health. We are deeply grateful for their generosity and their commitment to advancing sound food law and policy.”

Stewart Resnick explained his vision for the Resnick Program:

“UCLA Law is a globally respected institution of higher education located in the food capital of the world. We grow more food in California than anywhere else, and the emphasis on health and wellness here ideally positions UCLA to take a leadership position. The rise of the global food trade has generated a modern food system that is different than anything the world has ever experienced. 

From the farm to the fork, this system has given rise to profound health, social, and cultural consequences. Our goal with this donation is to help consumers better understand exactly what they’re eating. It’s also an opportunity to improve the clarity and accuracy of food labeling and broaden access to healthy food options. I’m very optimistic that this program can save lives.”

Ironically, while Stewart Resnick claims to support broadening “access to healthy food options,” he has become the poster boy for industrialized corporate agribusiness, kept alive by unsustainable water exports. He and his wife have for years fought against laws that protect salmon and other fish, a healthy wild food source, and protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas.

University officials also named a hospital after the Resnicks, the Stewart & Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA (NPH), in "honor of their support" for UCLA’s medical care programs

According to the hospital's website, the 74-bed acute psychiatric hospital is "among the leading centers in the world for comprehensive patient care, research and education in the fields of mental health, developmental disabilities and neurology. A key part of UCLA Health System, Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital is the major psychiatry teaching facility of the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences." (http://www.semel.ucla.edu/resnick)

The Resnicks contributed $15 million to the construction of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center that opened in June 2008. In 2002, they received the UCLA Medal, the university’s highest honor, in recognition of their “extraordinary contributions to the campus.” In 2005, the law school bestowed upon Stewart the UCLA School of Law’s Alumni of the Year Award.

Resnick is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; a member of the Board of Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust; and trustee of the California Institute of Technology.

The Resnicks have managed to use their wealth not only to exert enormous influence over water politics in California, but over the educational sphere as well, as we can see.

In addition to serving on UC Davis and UCLA boards and panels, the Resnicks have also extended their influence over California water policy by forming “Astroturf” groups like the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta and the Californians for Water Security to promote the construction of Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels and legislative attacks on the Endangered Species Act and other laws protecting Central Valley salmon and steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and other fish species.

Among the companies the Resnicks own include Paramount Citrus, Paramount Farming and Paramount Farms, “the world’s largest growers, processors and marketers of citrus, almonds and pistachios,” according to UC Davis. Their holdings also include POM Wonderful, grower of pomegranates and maker of the POM Wonderful pomegranate juice; Teleflora, the largest floral wire service in the world; and FIJI Water, the largest imported bottled water in the United States.

The couple also owns Suterra, the “largest biorational pest control company” in the United States, and JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery, a winery based in Paso Robles focusing on Bordeaux-style blends and single varietals.

The presence of Stewart Resnick on the boards of UC Davis and UCLA is just one more example of the growing collaboration between corporations, billionaires and government in California and across the nation that has led to the capture of the regulatory apparatus by corporate interests.

PARIS AGREEMENT: IS MASSIVE MILITARY EMISSIONS BOOTPRINT STILL EXEMPT?

KMEC guest: Nick Buxton

Buxton is the co-editor of the recently released book The Secure and the Dispossessed: How the Military and Corporations Are Shaping a Climate-Changed World and communications manager for the Transnational Institute.

He said today: “We don’t have a proper accounting, but we do know the Pentagon is the single largest organizational user of oil and gas. The massive carbon bootprint of the military needs to be radically cut if political leaders are to meet the promises they made at the Paris climate talks. Military emissions were specifically excluded from the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 at the behest of the U.S. government. There are indications in the wake of the Paris Agreement that they may no longer be specifically excluded from greenhouse gas emissions reporting. However, countries’ current reporting of emissions and planned actions known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), have so far failed to include military emissions and they will only be included if there is mass pressure to do so.” See Buxton’s recent interview on The Real News.

He added: “But this is not just an issue of the military’s own emissions. We also need to go further and look at how the military is at the heart of a global fossil fuel economy. The U.S.’ vast empire of 800 bases for example is concentrated in oil-rich regions and is designed to protect long-distance shipping routes and an unsustainable consumer economy that also contributes to climate change. This vast military bootprint, bolstered by a powerful arms industry, ends up fueling conflicts that do untold damage to the environment and kill many civilians.

“We need to open up a debate about how to cut record world military and homeland security expenditure and invest that money instead into climate adaptation for the world’s most vulnerable people. That is the only way to deliver real human security, the security of a safe and sustainable future for everyone.”

John Sakowicz

KMEC RADIO

See: www.kmecradio.org

Dear Editor;

Your on-line list of new Oregon laws was a very impressive list of liberal actions that other states including California should emulate. I would point out that Oregon is one of the more secular states and on Birth Control their action was affirmation of women's reproductive rights. Also, the expansion of school education classes to include gender identity topics was an affirmation of LGBTQ rights. As I commented Oregon is one of the more secular states and Christian Fundamentalism plays a much smaller role than in the Red States. It takes more of humanist approach to social problems rather than an inerrant biblical approach to social issues. What I see in Oregon is the same type of secularism as there is in Europe and their humanist approach to the welfare of their citizens.

In peace and love,

Jim Updegraff, Sacramento

THE CENTER CANNOT HOLD.

Opportunities in buttons and hooks, clips, snaps, other fasteners.

Hi, Marco here.

It's a fine time to hear last night's (2016-01-01) KNYO (and KMEC) Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show. The recording of the show is at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and it's ready to download and keep or just play with one click.  Get it now while you're thinking about it. Confront procrastination head on, and like any bully procrastination will give way. The question is, who is to be master, some pipsqueak character flaw or you boldly standing astride the big world, fists on hips, chin tilted just so, eyes sparkling with creative mischief, your whole being poised for success because you deserve it, having come of a race of kings?

Okay, fine, it's a trick question.

Also at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find thousands and thousands of links to not necessarily radio-useful but nonetheless interesting things to see and hear and learn about, such as: In Communist China, if you want to become a flight attendant, first you have to stroll through a freezing warehouse with a thousand other girls all in underwear and spike heels. Because, I guess, if you won't submit to that, you're obviously not flight attendant material. (Short caption: 1,000 cute Chinese girls in khaki bikinis.) http://tinyurl.com/zryqheu Perfect comic strip execution of a perfect idea. http://boingboing.net/2015/12/30/tom-the-dancing-bug-senior-ci.html

Nopes. http://www.snopes.com/2015/12/28/popular-urban-legends-2015

And a clever artist reverse-engineered the CIA's valuable top-secret collection of random shapes and colors.

http://hyperallergic.com/259987/why-does-the-cia-keep-its-art-collection-secret/

Marco McClean

memo@mcn.org

http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com