Mendocino County Today: Thursday, Mar 31, 2016

• The Candidates
• Grace Liu
• Albion Cougars
• Shelter Probing
• Crab Season
• Minimum Wage
• Mental Budget
• Clearlake Burglary
• Archaeology Dispute
• Mendo Mender
• Crime Reports
• Yesterday's Catch
• Cannabis Conference
• Drug War
• Truth-left-out
• Glyphosate Terroir
• Tunnels Deadlines
• Outage Legislation
• Marijuana Advertising
• Recycling Mecca
• Cherry Blossoms

THE CANDIDATES! The Mendocino County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder’s Office has finalized the June 2016 primary election ballot. Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman runs without opposition in Department 1; two local lawyers, one from Fort Bragg, Patrick Pekin and the other from Ukiah, Keith Faulder are running for the Department 5 seat; Dept. 8 Judge Cindee Mayfield is running unopposed.

A constitutional lawyer, Montana James Podva is running for 1st District (Potter Valley) Supervisor Carre Brown’s seat; in the 2nd District (Ukiah) Supervisor John McCowen is running unopposed, just like 4th District (Fort Bragg) Supervisor Dan Gjerde.

NORMAN DEVALL passes along the sad news that Dr. Grace Liu has died. "I received a call from her son, Paul. Grace, acupunctururist, was 93 and as you may know her husband had been the personal doctor to Chiang Kai-Shek. An unknown number of his supporters fled Taiwan for Mendocino County, arriving in the early 1960s. Their history and how or why they chose (or were ‘suggested’) to come here has not been written."

ALBION MOUNTAIN LION ALERT. Several have been sighted in the higher reaches of the area, causing one woman to spend a sleepless night beating on pots and pans to chase the big cats away for alpacas, none of which were harmed.

WE THOUGHT the flap over the Ukiah Animal Shelter had concluded with the official termination of the RFP process, but that appears to be wishful thinking. A glimpse on the county's Request for Public Records site shows a flurry of recent activity involving the besieged agency. Since January 23, 2016, 26 requests have been made for information and documents relating to the shelter. To comply, the County has released 116 documents, some of which are 200-plus pages of pdf files. Requests range from information about animal intake/outtake statistics, to all correspondence between the executive office, the board and HHSA, hiring information of the interim shelter manager, all shelter policies, programs and procedures, all veterinary contracts, and staff certifications to carry out euthanasias.

IS THIS the newest installment of a never-ending gripe with shelter management? Or the County? Or both? Seems like someone has an agenda that is way off base with the oft-repeated "It's all about the animals" slogan heard at Supes meetings the past half year.

MORE TIME, energy and tax dollars going to what purpose? Sheltergate....only in Mendo.

NO SOONER had I written only in Mendo when here comes a deluge of additional info demands:

REQUEST 1) For 2015 and for 2016, the dollar amount of expense allotted to the salary for Interim Director David Jensen at the Mendocino County Animal Care Services. 2) What is the pay/salary for Mary Jane Montana as extra help position as Interim Shelter Manager? 3) What is the pay/salary for the new security guard at Mendocino County Animal Care Services also please include the hours and days the security guard works.

DUNGENESS CRAB season has finally kicked off. California's crab catch averages more than $60 million a season, but high levels of domoic acid had been detected in the delectable sea spider, delaying until now the usual November opening. Crabbers have agreed to $2.90 a pound, ten cents less than the 2014-15 season.

IN THE MEAN TIME, starve. Governor Brown and various of his labor and elected gofers have agreed to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 for large business and 2023 for businesses employing fewer than 25 people. The raise is of course resisted by the usual suspects and much haggling remains before it's adopted.

WRITING ON THE AVA’S COMMENT LINE ON WEDNESDAY A READER REPORTS: The 2015-16 County Mental Health (BU4050) stated the following:

Current Staffing: 67.0 Funded Full Time Equivalent (FTE) 77.0 Allocated FT — a number, like all the others which appears to have no basis in reality. Thank you for reporting on the alarming state of Mental Health Finances.

ED NOTE: We just checked the budget book for 2015-16 and the reader is correct.

And the “adopted 2015-16” “employees” salary line item for that budget unit shows about $2.5 million. If they average $50k per employee salary then that’s about 50 employees. If they average $60k per employee base salary, that’s about 42 employees (benefits are budgeted separately) which is in the vicinity of what Health and Human Services Agency Chief Financial Officer Doug Gherkin told Supervisor Gjerde that they had authorized, but, he said, only about 22 or 23 actual employees in Mental Health. Nobody ever mentioned any numbers as high as 67 or 77 “full time equivalent” employees.

IT APPEARS that the Kemper Report should have included an audit of the County’s own Mental Health Department, not just the contractors. These numbers ranging as much as they do tend to imply that somebody’s hiding some money somewhere in the Mental Health budget since it’s highly unlikely that it’s an accident. Given the County’s history with state audits it might even be prudent to stash some slush money for when the state asks for x-million dollars back when they reject y-percent of the County’s mental health bills. But in the interest of the County’s new and highly touted Transparency policy you’d think they’d do it in the open, not hide it in “authorized but not filled or funded” salary budgets.

A CLEARLAKE policeman responding to a burglar alarm in the early ayem Tuesday, was struck over the head and seriously injured by the burglar as the officer fought to take the man into custody. The burglar was then shot and killed by the officer. Neither the name of the officer nor the dead man has been released.

A FEDERAL ADVISORY Council on Historic Preservation says local Indian tribes are correct to be unhappy with Caltrans’ identification and management of archaeological finds at the Willits Bypass project. The California State Historic Preservation Office will have the final say on the dispute.

WHO IS MyQ? He is the Mendo Mender at the Fort Bragg Farmers Market. MyQ (pronounced My-Q) has left his homeless/drinking/jail ways behind and now has an address, a job at the Dollar Store and is doing ONSITE mending at the Fort Bragg Farmers Market every Wednesday. He can do hemming, repairs, patches, zippers, and even creative stuff like adding external pockets on a jacket or jeans. He will work on your clothing while you shop and visit. Or will take larger jobs home and return with them the next week. His prices are very reasonable. I encourage you to bring him stuff to do - he is not looking for a handout - he has given himself a Hand Up. In the spirit of support and community - check it out! He will be available for five more markets. 213 East Laurel at North Franklin Wednesday 3-5

— Julie E Apostolu, writing on MCN Announce List

PRATT CONVICTED OF CONTEMPT

Jury Trial Result: A jury returned from its deliberations last Wednesday March 23 with a guilty verdict against Aaron Roy Pratt, age 32, of Ukiah. Pratt was convicted a willful contempt of court, a misdemeanor. The underlying facts involved Pratt refusing to obey a restraining order that he stay away from a certain person and specific locations. In short order after having been served with the order by the Ukiah Police Department, Pratt went to the protected person’s place of employment, one of the locations covered by the restraining order, and was arrested. Formal sentencing is now scheduled for March 28, 2016 at 9 o’clock in the morning in Department B. Anybody with an interest in this matter is welcome to attend that hearing. Pending sentencing, the defendant will remain in custody at the Low Gap Jail. The prosecutor who presented the People's evidence and argued the case to the jury was Deputy District Attorney Brian Morimune. The investigating law enforcement agency was the Ukiah Police Department. Mendocino County Superior Court Judge David Nelson presided over the three-day trial.

DA Office Press Release

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AGUADO ARRESTED

On March 17th at about 1 pm, UPD officers were dispatched to Wal-Mart, regarding a combative shoplifter. UPD dispatch advised that the detained suspect was threatening to assault employees. Officers contacted a subject they knew as Abel Aguado age 31, being detained by Wal-Mart loss prevention. A records check revealed that Aguado was on probation out of this county for prior thefts. During the investigation officers learned that Aguado concealed numerous store items inside of his backpack, then exited the store without paying for the items. Aguado was contacted outside by Wal-Mart loss prevention employees. Aguado had to be physically restrained and made threatening statements toward employees. Aguado was placed under arrest for shoplifting and violation of his probation. Aguado was booked into county jail.

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BARTH BUSTED FOR BATTERY

On Monday, March 28, 2016, at about 1:20 PM a female adult called the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and reported that she had been assaulted by her boyfriend. The victim had fled the residence and met deputies elsewhere. After interviewing the victim and collecting evidence, the deputies went to the 52-year old suspect, Karl Barth's Fort Bragg residence. Barth was not at the residence and deputies were not able to locate him. On Tuesday, March 29, 2016, at approximately 9:00 AM deputies located Barth at his residence. Barth was subsequently arrested for felony Domestic Violence, as well as violating terms of his probation. Barth was lodged at the Mendocino County Jail where he is being held on $50,000 bail.

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SHORTS CITED

On March 17th at about 4:20 pm, a UPD officer was dispatched to Kohl’s on North Orchard Avenue, for a report of a shoplifter in custody. Upon arrival the officer contacted Yaneth Sandoval Reyes age 23 from Ukiah, who was being detained by Loss Prevention. During the investigation the officer learned that Reyes was inside the store and was observed selecting two pairs of shorts. Reyes concealed the shorts in her purse then exited the store without paying for them. Reyes was then detained by Loss Prevention. A records check revealed that Reyes was on summary probation out of this county. Reyes was cited and provided a court appearance dated for shoplifting and violation of her probation.

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MISDEMEANOR GIBBERISH

On March 18th at about 5:45 pm, UPD officers were dispatched to Quest Mart on North State Street, for a report of a male subject causing a disturbance. Upon arrival officers contacted Danny Ray age 51. Ray was yelling gibberish, threw his bicycle on the ground and started kicking it. Ray appeared intoxicated and the officer noticed a 24oz bottle of “Hurricane” alcohol on the ground, near where Ray had been standing. Ray was extremely agitated and was detained by officers. A records check revealed that Ray was on probation. Ray was placed under arrest for violation of probation and public intoxication. Ray was booked into county jail.

CATCH OF THE DAY, March 30, 2016

OSCAR ALVAREZ-CARRILLO, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

VICTOR APARICIO SR., Point Arena. Unlawful display of vehicle registration, suspended license, failure to appear, probation revocation.

KARL BARTH, Fort Bragg. Domestic assault, probation revocation.

DANIEL BRUMLOW, Ukiah. Petty theft.

WILLIAM COLLEY JR., Fort Bragg. Registration forgery, failure to appear.

AUSTIN DIGGS, Ukiah. Battery.

DALLAS EZELL, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

BERNICE HERBSTRITT, Willits. Domestic assault.

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Laytonville. DUI.

BEATRICE LAMB, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

MICHAEL LANGLEY, San Jose/Ukiah. DUI, suspended license.

CHRISTOPHER LELOUP, Willits. Petty theft, probation revocation.

LUCY LINCOLN, Covelo. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

AUSTIN NUGENT, Lakeside/Ukiaih. Extortion to obtain vehicle.

THOMAS SANDERS, Willits. Failure to appear. (Frequent flyer.)

AUSTIN SHEALOR, Ukiah. Domestic assault, assault with deadly weapon not a gun, controlled substance.

TASHINA TILLMAN, Ukiah. Controlled substance, under influence, falsely impersonating someone else, failure to appear, probation revocation.

MENDOCINO CANNABIS RESOURCE 2016 CONFERENCE

The Mendocino Cannabis Resource (MCR) 2016 Conference will be held Friday and Saturday, April 8th and 9th at the Little Lake Grange in Willits CA.

The Essential Two-Day Conference on California Medical Cannabis Compliance & Cannabusiness Development!

For Compassionate Professionals Interested in Building a Business and Growing a Community.

This two-day conference on California Medical Cannabis Compliance will provide you with the essential basic information you need to understand the compliance process and learn how to successfully develop your cannabusiness.

An extraordinary range of experienced professionals will be presenting – each a leader in their field with hands-on experience from permits to investing, and everything in between.

Ticket includes a Farm to Table dinner hosted by Women Grow — Mendocino Chapter Friday April 8 from 6-10pm

LEARN about compliance and strategies to put your business on a solid foundation

NETWORK with experts in a wide variety of specific regulatory or business areas

EAT — in an informal setting and enjoy an amazing Farm-to-Table Dinner Reception.

Tickets are on sale at mendocinocannabisresource.com or Locally:

• Hopland: Emerald Pharms
• Ukiah: Hydro Pacific
• Willits: Headroom & Emerald River Nursery
• Laytonville: Mendo Sun Market & Mendo Trim Tools
• Covelo: M&M Feed & Supply, Uptown Mercantile, Covelo Building Supply & Farm Supply
• Mendocino: Love In It
• Fort Bragg: Dragon Fly

DRUG WAR INDEED

"[Nixon] had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or blacks, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

— John Ehrlichman, one of President Richard Nixon’s top advisers

(Submitted by Steve Heilig)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

The Great Liberals at Truthout demanded that John Pilger remove this paragraph from a piece for CounterPunch:

"Trump is a media hate figure. That alone should arouse our skepticism. Trump’s views on migration are grotesque, but no more grotesque than David Cameron. It is not Trump who is the Great Deporter from the United States, but the Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama … The danger to the rest of us is not Trump, but Hillary Clinton. She is no maverick. She embodies the resilience and violence of a system … As presidential election day draws near, Clinton will be hailed as the first female president, regardless of her crimes and lies — just as Barack Obama was lauded as the first black president and liberals swallowed his nonsense about ‘hope’.”

Pilger Comments:

The “editorial committee” clearly wanted me to water down my argument that Clinton represented a proven extreme danger to the world. Like all censorship, this was unacceptable. Maya Schenwar, who runs Truthout, wrote to me that my unwillingness to submit my work to a “process of revision” meant she had to take it off her “publication docket.” Such is the gatekeeper’s way with words. At the root of this episode is an enduring unsayable. This is the need, the compulsion, of many liberals in the United States to embrace a leader from within a system that is demonstrably imperial and violent. Like Obama’s “hope,” Clinton’s gender is no more than a suitable facade.

"MONSANTO'S GLYPHOSATE FOUND IN CALIFORNIA WINES, Even Wines Made With Organic Grapes"

A link:

http://ecowatch.com/2016/03/27/monsanto-glyphosate-wine/

And:

http://reason.com/blog/2016/03/24/really-stupid-moms-across-america-scarem

A CHAOTIC MESS: State Water Board Suspends Upcoming Delta Tunnels Deadlines

by Dan Bacher

The State Water Resources Control Board announced on March 29 that they are suspending the upcoming deadlines for the California Water Fix/Delta Tunnels water rights change petition in response to a request by the state and federal water agencies to extend dates and deadlines for the scheduled hearing, along with a number of other requests either to dismiss or delay the petition.

On March 28, 2016, the Water Board hearing officers for the California WaterFix water right change petition hearing received a letter from the Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requesting a 60-day continuance of all dates and deadlines associated with the hearing,

On the same day, the hearing officers also received a request from several parties to dismiss the petition. Then on March 29, the State Water Board received additional requests to delay and stay the hearing, pending resolution of several matters, according to a letter from Tam M. Doduc and Felicia Marcus, State Water Board WaterFix Co-Hearing Officers.

“In response to the various requests, the upcoming deadlines are suspended. A ruling will be issued in the near future formally addressing the requests and providing additional information about the hearing schedule,” said Doduc and Marcus.

The hearing officers said they “are cognizant of the inconvenience to the other parties of repeated delays to the hearing schedule.”

“Accordingly, to inform our consideration, Petitioners are directed to confirm by noon on Friday, April 1, 2016 that they will be prepared to proceed without further delay should the 60-day continuance be granted,” the Hearing Officers concluded.

All of these documents have been or will be posted on the State Water Board’s website at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/california_waterfix/

Just hours before the Water Board announced its decision, the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) announced a withdrawal of their protest petition with the State Water Resources Control Board regarding the “Change of Diversion Petition” filed by the lead state and federal agencies promoting Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels.

The CCWD reached a settlement with the California Department of Water Resources claiming that the state is going to pay for their new water diversion facility, rather than CCWD customers, to mitigate impacts to drinking water quality resulting from operation of the Delta Tunnels, according to a news release from Restore the Delta.

“The settlement is, in itself, an indictment of the Tunnels and represents Contra Costa Water District’s self-interested approach to the Delta as a whole,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. (http://restorethedelta.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/CCWD-DWR-Agreement-3-24-16.pdf)

“The new CCWD intake will have an impact on water quality and quantity in the Delta and is not covered in the EIR for the Delta Tunnels. The settlement says that DWR reserves the right to override environmental needs and concerns to build/operate the Delta tunnels. They are setting up the project as beyond the law, a project by Governor Brown’s fiat,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.

Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), said the State Board “needs to jettison the petition until such time as we have a complete petition.”

“It's a discombobulated mess, with all of the things that have changed, including last week’s request by the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority for the recusal of hearing officers and the withdrawal of the Contra Costa Water District from the petition protests,” said Jennings. “The petition was not complete and the Water Board should have held off on the petition until it was completed, but they chose not to do so. Instead we will be picking up the pieces that weren’t submitted originally throughout the process.”

“The entire California Water Fix project just changed with the settlement reached with the Contra Costa Water District,” Jennings emphasized. “We don’t even have modeling for this new aspect to the California Water Fix that establishes a pipeline from the Sacramento River around the Delta or from the new segmented Clifton Court Forebay. This changes the hydrology of the Delta.”

“A hearing is premature until there is a defined project description and evaluation of potential impacts. Right now, we don’t have a complete environmental document and a fishery assessment under ESA and we have a changing project,” he concluded.

It is clear that Jerry Brown’s California Water Fix to build the Delta Tunnels is broken and in chaos as the economic, scientific and financial justifications for the project to build two giant tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta become increasingly untenable.

The Delta Tunnels Plan would hasten the extinction of Sacramento winter-run Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, along with imperiling the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers. Yet the plan won’t create one single drop of new water for Californians.

The plan would divert water from the Sacramento River before it can reach the Delta in order to benefit corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and extreme oil extraction methods.

ATTENTION BROADBANDERS

All of you were impacted by the recent broadband outages in our county and the chaos it caused, but the public safety aspects were very alarming, because AT&T was not required to notify our Office of Emergency Services (OES) that 911 services were off-line. In this case, our OES was quickly aware of the situation, but sometimes it is not so clear. In the Russian River area of western Sonoma County an outage occurred in a small community where the fire department wasn’t even aware that 911 wasn’t working for many hours (I think it was about 10 hours…)

Why does this happen? “Reporting thresholds” requirements are based on user-minutes, and in low-populated rural areas we would need a very prolonged outage to reach those thresholds. Fortunately, Senator McGuire wants to fix this reporting problem, and require lower reporting thresholds for rural areas. He has introduced Assembly Bill 1250, the Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act. Our Board of Supervisors, Office of Emergency Services, and the Broadband Alliance have all endorsed this bill. Diann sent out a request for support letters to everyone on March 22nd on behalf of the Alliance.

The bill must first pass through the Senate Energy committee, which is holding a hearing on Tuesday, April 5th in Sacramento, Room number 3191. Our county OES Coordinator, Tami Bartolomei will be testifying at this hearing as to the importance of this bill. However, Senator McGuire’s Legislative Director has put out a call for more support - in the form of people who physically come into the Committee Hearing Room with what is called “me too” support. It’s not official testimony, but these supporters would go up to the microphone after the bill is introduced, and say:

My name is (Jane Doe), I am here on behalf of (myself/organization) and (we/I) support SB 1250.

Essentially, they need a whole bunch of folks to physically show up, and say they support AB 1250 to highlight the importance of this legislation that will hold the carriers to a higher degree of accountability and minimize impacts outages have to our county.

I know this is a big thing to ask, as driving to Sacramento is a huge deal. But please consider if it might be at all possible for you. Being there in person is a strong statement of support. I will be going, and have space in my car to carpool. The hearing begins at 9:30 so the day will be starting out early though.

Please contact me if you might be able to do this! And of course, if you can’t be there in-person you can still write a support letter. I have a letter template I’d be happy to email to you.

Thank-you!

Trish Steel
707-354-3224
Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County
http://www.mendocinobroadband.org/
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BroadbandAlliance
For better broadband data mapping, please complete the CPUC on-line survey: http://www.broadbandmap.ca.gov/map/

MEMO OF THE WEEK

Huff Objects To USPS Ban On Pot Ads

Press release from Congressman Jared Huffman:

Today, Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02) and Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), along with 6 other members of Congress, sent a bipartisan letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch urging her to clarify how the Department of Justice intends to respond to the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) recently announced national policy stating that marijuana advertisements are non-mailable. This policy could harm small businesses and newspapers that are in compliance with state law, and who believe they are compliant with the Department of Justice’s marijuana enforcement guidelines.

“The USPS has made clear their position, but this still leaves uncertainty for businesses, including newspapers, as to how DOJ will react to any information provided by USPS about marijuana advertisements,” the members wrote. “Clarity for businesses is essential as they work to comply with state law, and as states seek to implement their marijuana laws safely and effectively.”

The signatories on the letter along with Congressman Huffman and Blumenauer are Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Sam Farr (CA-20), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Eleanor Holmes- Norton (DC-At Large), and Ted Lieu CA (CA-33).

(Press Release from Congressman Jared Huffman)

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The full text of the letter:

March 29, 2016

The Hon. Loretta Lynch
Attorney General
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Attorney General Lynch:

We write to request clarification from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on recent policy issued by the United States Postal Service (USPS) regarding mailed advertisements for marijuana products in states that have legalized marijuana for medical or adult use. While the USPS may make determinations on the mailability of certain items, the authority to prosecute individuals and businesses under the Controlled Substances Act or related federal statutes rests entirely with the DOJ. We therefore request that DOJ offer guidance to clearly establish that in accordance with the Department’s August 29, 2013, memorandum titled Guidance Regarding Marijuana Enforcement, and with language in the FY16 Omnibus that bars DOJ from spending funds that interfere with state medical marijuana laws, that DOJ will not prosecute individuals who are placing advertisements for marijuana products in accordance with state law.

As you are likely aware, in December the USPS issued national policy determining that marijuana advertisements are non-mailable. The policy also made clear that Postmasters and Managers of Business Mail Entry must send a report on non-mailable items to the Local Inspection Service “and the matter would then be turned over to the responsible law enforcement agencies for investigation as appropriate.” This policy could pose significant harm to small businesses and newspapers that are in compliance with state law, and believe they are compliant with your Department’s guidance.

The USPS has made clear their position, but this still leaves uncertainty for businesses, including newspapers, as to how DOJ will react to any information provided by USPS about marijuana advertisements. Clarity for businesses is essential as they work to comply with state law, and as state’s seek to implement their marijuana laws safely and effectively. Through inclusion of language in the FY16 omnibus spending bill barring DOJ from spending funds that interfere with a State’s ability to implement its own medical marijuana laws, Congress has made clear its intent that DOJ not interfere with medical marijuana programs. Additionally, the issue of advertising was not raised as an enforcement priority in the August 2013 guidance relating medical or adult use programs. We therefore ask that you clarify that DOJ will adhere to these laws and policies, and not take enforcement action upon receiving mailability reports submitted by USPS regarding marijuana advertising that is legal under state law.

We look forward to your prompt response. Small businesses and newspapers across the country are already making important business decisions as a result of the USPS policy.

RECOLOGY

...You won’t find San Francisco’s Pier 96 in any travel guidebook but it has become a must-see destination for visitors from Afghanistan to Vietnam. They’ve come to explore Recology — Mr. Reed is a spokesman — one of the world’s most advanced recycling plants, a deafening, Rube Goldberg system of conveyor belts and sorters that, with the help of human hands, untangles a 30-foot hill of debris collected by trucks every day from across the city...“It’s like a modern art installation,” marveled Mauro Battocchi, the Italian consul general here. “So fabulous — the people and machines and objects of our lives all working together.”

Foreign officials and others come here to pick up tips on how to handle their own mushrooming piles of garbage back home. As the world’s population grows, people are consuming more, creating more trash, and countries are looking for ways to deal with it that put less stress on the environment...

(Courtesy, the New York Times)

CRAIG AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

At the National Cherry Blossom Festival

We've got a break in the environmental direct actions in Washington D.C., with the April-May protestations now being organized, and a lot of the planning is happening outside of the region. This precludes activity at both of the political conventions in July in Cleveland and Philadelphia. Beyond Extreme Energy needs money, and may be contacted at www.beyondextremeenergy.org. Meanwhile, due to errors and significant confusion by local travel hostels, I am going to the Hotel Harrington for five nights, and then to another D.C. travel hostel for fourteen nights. Part of the Washington D.C. travel hostel network incorrectly concluded that I am a homeless individual using D.C. travel hostels for my housing, and therefore my ability to reserve space further into April and may is no longer possible! As well, since I am now paying Cherry Blossom Festival prices, I did indeed go to the tidal basin today and enjoy the music, international crowd, and the beautiful pink and white blossoms, which are inspiring poetry, imparting feelings of great joy, and blissful. My intention is to continue enjoying being in Washington D.C., because there isn't anything else for me to do. Check this out: http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org As always, I am never obstructing a higher spiritual power from flowing through me, am playing the D.C. lottery six times per week, am expecting Divine Intervention, and am available for just about any creative endeavor. Postmodernism is finished! What would you like to do?

Craig Louis Stehr

EMAIL: CraigStehr@inbox.com