Mendocino County Today: Thursday, Apr 21, 2016

• Wet Forecast
• Boardman's Killer
• Desperate Roommates
• Steely Critical
• Mendo Faults
• Forest Practices
• Friendliest Librarian
• Mark Terry
• 25 Plants
• Shelter Reply
• KZYX Stealth
• Pioneer Stoners
• Weed Day
• Charter Chat
• Charter Process
• Allman Recognized
• Hungrylocks
• August 1973
• Inside Jobbers
• Yesterday's Catch
• Tubman $20
• Lessons Learned
• Sanders Campaign
• Schilling Fired

A WET FORECAST from the National Weather Service: "A storm system will approach tonight bringing widespread showers and isolated thunderstorms. Showers and unsettled weather conditions with possible thunderstorms are expected on Friday."

DATELINE FORT BRAGG. In the daily deluge of unsettling events, some are more unsettling than others. The murder of Dennis Boardman in his Fort Bragg home unsettled the heck out of many of us from Boonville to Westport. We knew Dennis well. We admired his resolve to stop drinking and sticking to his internal vow to himself to put it down for good. He had a good ten years of sobriety. Dennis had restored himself. And then he's beaten to death by a young man he'd known all his life. Dennis knew his killer from the day his killer was born.

JUST THE OTHER DAY, an unhinged woman named Robin Carpenter moved herself in with a 91-year-old Fort Bragg woman and then refused to leave. Neighbors heard screams. Quickly sussing out the situation, the neighbors offered Ms. Carpenter cash money to go away. Ms. Carpenter refused and the police were called to eject her. Ms. Carpenter, at some point in this depressing drama, fell and broke her nose. She says the police did it but, unfortunately for her, apparently other people saw her tumble on her own.

WE FOUND a 'Robin Carpenter' on Facebook where she's described as a writer and photographer who seems to come from the Bay Area. If the Fort Bragg Robin Carpenter is the Facebook Robin Carpenter it means that Robin Carpenter has run seriously off the rails, so seriously we're informed that she was turned away by Hospitality House, the catch-all Fort Bragg homeless assistance center. The picture that emerges here is of a deranged woman, probably made even more deranged by the omni-available methamphetamine, wandering around Fort Bragg until she encounters a vulnerable person living alone. This one could have turned out a lot worse, but Fort Bragg is still enough of a true community that people generally still look after each other. But nobody was looking when the young man moved in on a weakened Dennis Boardman and beat him to death.

THE FOLLOWING PRESS RELEASE was issued by the Lake County Sheriff Department @ 11:24 am Wednesday:

"As previously reported by several news outlets, a Lake County Deputy Sheriff and his 11-year-old son were swept into the ocean while visiting the Mendocino Coast on Monday, April 18th. As reported, the Deputy was unconscious when he was removed from the water. The 11-year-old son was treated and released from Mendocino Coast District Hospital, and appears to be making a full physical recovery.

The deputy was airlifted to Enloe Hospital in Chico, California to their Neurological, Trauma, Surgical, Intensive Care Unit for additional treatment.

During the early time periods of this tragedy, the family requested that the deputy's name be withheld. Understanding the fact that we live in a small community and there are many, many people who know of the incident and care about the well-being of the deputy and his family, the family has approved release of his name.

The name of the deputy is Jacob Steely. Deputy Steely entered law enforcement as a police officer for the Lakeport Police Department in 2007. After spending three years with that agency he was hired as a deputy sheriff with the Lake County Sheriff's Office. He has held positions working patrol, SWAT, and is a canine handler.

Deputy Steely is a dedicated, committed, and caring law enforcement officer with deep roots in this community. He is universally respected by his peers for his abilities, character, and professionalism.

His condition as of today remains critical.

During his treatment there have been signs of his physical condition improving, however, this recovery process is predicted to be long and challenging. It is too early at this point to predict what Jake’s condition will be. We are all praying for a full recovery.

Deputy Steely is surrounded by friends and family at the hospital during his recovery efforts. It is anticipated that Jake’s family will encounter many unexpected expenses and have many unmet needs.

A fund for those wishing to make donations to assist his family during this difficult time has been established in the name of “Dep. Jake Steely Family” at Mendo-Lake Credit Union in Lakeport. A “go fund me” account has also been created where donations can be made.

The Sheriff, staff, department members, and friends are also planning a fundraiser to assist Jake and his family. Details will be available shortly for that event."

REMEMBERING THE BIG ONE ON THE MENDOCINO COAST: APRIL 1906

by Sylvia Bartley

Shortly after 5 a.m. on April 18, 1906, a series of severe earthquakes jolted the Mendocino coastal area awake.

These quakes continued a series that had been shaking and breaking rock in the area since well before the arrival of white folks. Severe shocks in our time started in 1868. In the 1898 series, the area affected was mainly the Navarro, Albion and Comptche areas.

In 1906, the San Andreas Fault had lurched to the northwest. The Big River bottom’s south side had dropped several feet, twisting the south end’s bridge pilings and the road surface on top.

The damaged bridge had to be rebuilt. While repair work was going on, the old ferry was put back into service. Bridges had replaced the ferries by the 1870s.

The larger rivers along the coast are connected to the San Andreas system of faults. The rivers are called “splay faults,” fractures in the rock caused by the tremendous pressure exerted by the ocean plates’ movements against the west edge of the North American plate.

The San Andreas creeps slowly to the northwest some five miles offshore, but the fault zone is not a neat line cutting through the crust. Rock is broken where the rough edges of the ocean crust and continental crust can’t slide past each other. When the pressure gets so great that the rock breaks, we experience an earthquake.

The bridges in our area and their approaches have been strengthened and better connected to the land in the last several years, but anything greater than a magnitude 8 earthquake will prove problematic. Most engineers admit that their construction techniques cannot withstand sustained heavy shaking. “The longer it shakes, the more that it breaks.”

If you would like to know more about our area’s earthquake history, pick up a copy of the pictorial history published by the local historical society: “The 1906 Earthquake on California’s North Coast.”

It was prepared especially for the centennial of the 1906 earthquake. You will find it at the Guest House Museum’s bookshop and other sources of local history books.

For more information, visit the Guest House displays and website. Members receive the historical quarterly, “Voice of the Past,” and other benefits. The FB-MCHS website address is: www.fortbragghistory.org.

TIME TO CHANGE FOREST PRACTICES

To the Editor:

Back in 1998, the Fisher family, billionaire owners of Gap and Banana Republic stores, bought 235,000 acres of heavily logged Mendocino and Sonoma County “timberland” from Louisiana Pacific, making them the largest private landowners in Mendocino County. Despite heavily publicized promises to log responsibly and sustainably, Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC) and their Humboldt division (HRC), continued clear cutting at pretty much the same destructive rate as LP had been doing, four to six percent of standing inventory per year. This is well over twice the maximum rate recommended by the late Dr. Hans Burkhardt, author of Maximizing Forest Productivity, and member of the Mendocino County Forestry Advisory Committee. Dr. Burkhardt said a rate of no more than one to two percent was necessary in order to have sustainable timber production – and he had decades of research data to back it up. MRC and HRC also continued the questionable practice of poisoning non-commercial varieties such as tan oaks and leaving swathes of standing, dead trees in the forest. This is generally done through a process called hack-and-squirt, where they hack through the inner bark every few inches around the trunk of the tree and squirt in poison. LP used to use Garlon. MRC has transitioned to imazapyr, which may be marginally less toxic to aquatic life. Whatever the toxicity level, the most crucial problem with poisoning trees and leaving them is increased fire danger. Fires can cost millions of dollars – so you have to wonder why the county allows a practice that can potentially bankrupt us. Last summer’s fire season was exceptionally bad. We had fires both north and south of us and Mendocino County lay under a pall of acrid smoke for weeks at a time. Huge portions of neighboring Lake County were devastated, making 3,000 Lake County residents homeless. The Valley Fire burned more than 76,000 acres. It destroyed 1,280 single-family residences and 27 multifamily buildings. It left behind mountains of toxic ash, which endangered health and slowed the rebuilding process. Ten percent of businesses in Lake County were either damaged or destroyed. All in all, the fire cost hundreds of millions of dollars. And this was after the Rocky and Jerusalem fires, to the north and east of the Valley Fire, had already incinerated nearly 100,000 acres in late July and August.

Forestland Steward – a joint project of CAL FIRE, the USDA Forest Service, and others, to provide information on the stewardship of private forestlands in California – put out a Summer 2015 edition of Forestland Steward News, titled “Fire Behavior: What’s Going On?” In that issue they blame both drought and increased fuel load for the fact that wildfires are burning more intensively, more frequently, and over larger areas. There’s not much we can do about the drought. The increased fuel load, on the other hand, is partially caused by man and partly by nature, the result of a hundred years of fire suppression, as well as the result of trees killed by disease and insects. But it is also the result of poisoning trees and leaving them standing for up to a decade. Standing dead trees are what they call fuel ladders, and one of the recommendations Forestland Steward makes for fire protection is to “remove fuel ladders that would lead a fire into the crowns of trees,” – one of the most dangerous situations for fire fighters. “When trees die,” the newsletter says, “they add to the already excessive fuel loads in the forest. Dead trees ignite faster and burn hotter than living trees. They torch quickly, with fire moving into the crown where it can jump to nearby trees. ... In overcrowded conditions, there are nearly always trees or fuel ladders nearby to spread the fire.”

As things stand now, MRC can’t be held responsible if these trees fuel a forest fire. It is a potential cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to Mendocino County, but MRC would be completely off the hook. The county can’t afford such an expense, but the Fisher family are billionaires. They are doing their best to avoid this liability. The Fishers have cranked up their public relations department, (which has so far done a pretty good job “greenwashing” their questionable, logging behavior). Locally, they have launched a high powered publicity campaign to convince us that hack-and-squirt is a harmless process. They call it a “treatment,” avoiding the real issue of fire danger from dead standing trees. They have been buying half-page newspaper ads with condescending headlines reading, “Dear Colleagues, Friends and Neighbors in Mendocino County.” In addition, MRC has turned their lawyers loose on the problem, claiming the County has no jurisdiction over either herbicides or timber harvesting. That may be true, but the Supervisors do have responsibility to protect their constituents from a public nuisance. If the Supervisors declare these dangerous practices a public nuisance and a fire breaks out, then MRC has to bear at least a portion of the financial burden. That is why they are fighting so hard against it. Obviously, a tree killed by poison is just as dangerous as a tree killed by insects, drought or disease. Intentionally killing large swathes of trees by hack-and-squirt is sheer stupidity. It is a danger. It is a problem. It is a public nuisance. And it’s time the Board of Supervisors called it what it is.

Tom Fristoe, Willits

LYNN KIESEWETTER writing on the MCN Listserve:

I'm really upset to hear that Dennis Dias, the friendliest librarian in Fort Bragg if not the world (of course, Sylvia Kozak Budd was the friendliest in her day) has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. There is a Gofundme account set up for him.

https://www.gofundme.com/vpu94qvg

Even if you can't donate at this time, please share this with your Facebook and other real-life friends. They also need a place to board their border collie while in San Francisco for treatments.

Here is the initial message, followed by today's update by his wife:

"On our wedding anniversary in February 2016 my husband, Dennis, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A large mass was located on the head of his pancreas and also on his aorta. I can tell you the earth stood still. We found a wonderful doctor in San Francisco (3.5 hour drive from home). Every other week we drive to SF for chemo and a 48 hr chest pump. Our local Cancer Resource Center has happily given us some gas cards which will help for this month. We found a hotel that only charges $100 a night but that's $400-$500 every other week! Eek! We are both in our late 60s and on social security. Dennis works at our local public library to supplement our income and is loved by the community here. We bought a small home to live out our lives together 4 years ago and have a mortgage of $1200 a month which his job pretty much took care of. Now we realize the treatment he's receiving will keep him from his job. Sick days and vacation time will soon be used up. We are fearful that we will lose our home by the end of the year. Like many people nowadays we have no savings. A dear friend suggested I use this app for help. We are desperate and looking at a downhill run here. I can only pray this message-in-the-bottle will find its way to shore."

4/20: "We've got a new problem now about where to board our Border Collie, Gracie. Our friends were helping us at first but Gracie is a rescue and has some "issues." She's a working dog meaning she needs something to do. She loves to run, bark and has a habit of leaping up trees and hanging by her jaws on the lower limbs. This odd behavior is ok at home as most reachable limbs are gone but not good in other people's yards. Looks like we're going to the kennels next week. I'm searching around my area now."

* * *

FRANK HARTZELL ADDED: What a GREAT guy he is. Always remembered me and had comments about books and the library. Can't think of a better guy to help.

DECEASED WILLITS MAN IDENTIFIED

On 4-17-2016 around 7:34 PM Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were called to the 35500 Block of Eureka Stagecoach Road, northwest of Willits, regarding a found body. Deputies responded and confirmed a 60 year old Willits man was deceased. The decedent was located in a field next to the roadway. The case is being investigated as a suspicious death. The next of kin had not been identified or notified. The decedent's identity was not being released at that time.

UPDATE: Mendocino County Detectives are continuing to investigate a potential homicide related to the death of Decedent Mark Terry II, 60 years of age. Terry was a long time resident in the Willits area. The location and condition of how the decedent was found remains suspicious. The photographed vehicle belonged to the decedent. The Sheriff's Office is requesting anyone who observed this vehicle in or around the Willits area or any persons in or around the vehicle, while it was parked near the intersection of Coast and Mill Street in Willits, between 4-7 and 4-17-2016, is requested to contact the Sheriff's Investigative Unit. Anyone with information on this case is requested to call the Sheriff's Tip Line at (707)234-2100.

MEDICAL CANNABIS PERMITS ON HOLD

Supervisors caught flat-footed by procedural issues

by Jane Futcher

Cannabis farmers and their supporters got a shock Monday when they learned from the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors that the county’s medical cannabis cultivation permits won’t be ready until October at the earliest — when the growing season is essentially over.

An assistant county counsel and the county’s planning chief said the cause of the delay is a state environmental law that requires zoning ordinance changes in forests and timberland protection zones (TPZ) be subject to full environmental review. Without such a review, which will take many months, the county could be subject to a CEQA lawsuit.

At a meeting in March, the county’s Ad Hoc Medial Marijuana Committee said it hoped the permits would be ready in June.

The delay in issuing medical cultivation permits means that farmers who grow more than 25 plants will have no pathway to legal compliance in Mendocino County this summer. Several said at the hearing that they have already spent thousands of dollars on county and state water-discharge and water-use compliance in order to qualify for the anticipated county permits. They said they couldn’t afford these costs if they can only grow the 25 plants allowed under current county law.

Without legal status, farmers said they would also be subject to raids this summer by the Drug Task Force and other law enforcement agencies.

Many of the 60 medical cannabis cultivators and their supporters present at the meeting implored the board to offer protection to farmers who are trying to comply with state and county cannabis laws.

“You are really going to leave us all out in the open if you continue in this way,” said the Emerald Cup’s founder Tim Blake, owner of Healing Harvest Farms Dispensary in Laytonville.

“Let’s be real here,” Blake said. “The Drug Task Force has been menacing Mendocino for 30 years, and if you guys sit here and leave us out in the open like this [District Attorney] Eyster and all the task force people are going to be out there terrorizing us all summer.

“We have been under something you’d see in the South for the last 30 years. It’s time to end it and we need your help to do it.”

Blake said that in Humboldt County, where medical cannabis cultivation permits have also been delayed, the county government has assured farmers that the Sheriff’s Department will not hassle them.

Supervisor John McCowen of Mendocino’s Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee said that there is no way the county would offer Mendocino cannabis farmers protection from law enforcement.

“The Sheriff must enforce the laws as he deems appropriate,” McCowen said.

During a break in the meeting, Supervisor Tom Woodhouse, the other member of the Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee, said he only learned that day of the need for a full environmental review by the Planning Department. He said he sympathized with farmers’ frustrations and hoped the public would be patient.

“We want to do this right. We have spent so much time already,” Woodhouse said. “These are people who want to comply. We want to get them into the safety of the system. Everything takes so much time. I appreciate their politeness. I’m stretching like I’m Gumby to be flexible.”

Many of the people who attended the meeting came prepared to discuss which county agency should enforce the medical cannabis permits.

Most farmers said they would prefer that the county Agriculture Department not the Sheriff’s Department enforce the permit ordinance, when written, because cannabis is an agricultural product.

But the announcement that no county permits would be issued until October at the earliest caused some farmers to look more favorably on a revival of the county’s former 99-plant, 9.31 program, managed by the Sheriff’s Department — as a temporary solution.

“We are more than disappointed to hear that farmers can’t grow more than 25 plants this season,” said Julia Carrera, a representative of the Small Farmers Association. “They will lose their farms or become criminals.

“Let the Sheriff give permits. Look at the 9.31 program for this growing season. Resurrect 9.31 for this year.”

The Board of Supervisors will hold another public meeting on the proposed medical cannabis ordinance and permits Monday, May 16, in the Supervisors’ Chambers in Ukiah.

(Jane Futcher hosts The Cannabis Hour on KZYX FM—Mendocino County Public Broadcasting.)

RESPONSE TO KATHY SHEARN'S LETTER

(First, Shearn’s Original Letter)

An Open Letter to the Board of Supervisors:

The slogan, "It's all about the animals" certainly feels stale and disingenuous at this point in the never-ending campaign of a (small) group of people, annoyed that a contract proposal for shelter management was not awarded to Petaluma Animal Services.

Though the RFP is over, the process continues to be picked over and exploited as a tool to wedge the conversation away from the future--stuck in the unhappy past. The proponents of outsourcing the shelter have called the process first too long (when they believed no one was working on it properly,) too short (when they were unhappy with the results and demanded it go back to the administrators,) and now "completely flawed" and "set up for failure." During their appearances in front of the board these past months, not one speaker has given the smallest, positive credit to the shelter and its staff. Instead, the same people talk about personal problems, make opaque threats to the board and county, and give graphic accounts of feces, standing water and the horrid plight of "furbabies.". The subject morphs as is necessary for them: the current battle cries are the Coast, First Amendment Rights violations, the shelter being at it's "worst ever," and the waste of money spent on an interim manager and a guard---things put in place BECAUSE OF THE NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENT created by these same folks and their followers.

ENOUGH! What the board is not hearing are the many many voices of the "silent majority"--folks who, while not claiming the agency is perfect, want to see the shelter, and thus the animals in its care, succeed. And to that end, we are either at work on our computers creating photographs, updating our websites, creating graphics; or on the phone arranging transport to rescues; or at the shelter walking dog and petting cats. Moving forward can AND WILL be accomplished, even if the county and the shelter staff are continually bombarded by negativity by people who take zero responsibility for their actions over the past year. Those of us who would like to get on with the caring of the shelter's animals wait for the day when the shelter can TRULY move forward and improve. Those folks who, by their constant negativity and refusal to let that happen, have proven that the animals take second place to their personal agendas.

Kathy Shearn, Ukiah

REPLY: So, Kathy Shearn, I guess that means the Grand Jury also had a personal agenda and put the animals second when they found fault with Animal Care Services, as did the Sheriff and Animal Control Officers. And since when is recognizing the Coast as part of Mendocino County a crime? Is your battle cry, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”? — George Orwell, “Animal Farm”

Ms. Shearn, you are not silent and you are not the majority!

Carol Lillis, Albion

(Which is part of Mendocino County)

STEALTH POLICY

Editor,

It seems there was a new policy at KZYX. State of the art. Slick. And quiet as a mouse. It lasted for seven years. Something to tweak the outdated policy. On unimportant matters like elections. Personnel. Finance. And procedures. Things you don’t really need to run a high tech outfit like KZYX. It was just too darned noisy. So it got replaced. With Stealth Policy.

You can find that policy in one place. Form 990 tax returns. For Mendocino County Public Broadcasting. Under something called Schedule O. Where KZYX described its policy of making governing documents available to the public for the past five years. See the policy? ‘NO DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.’ There you have it. Stealth Policy.

The useless old policy got pushed through in 2006. By — ugh — democratic vote. The Stealth Policy appeared sometime after that. In a manner of speaking anyway. For eight years running, KZYX swore that its governing documents hadn’t been changed. Under penalty of perjury. On the Stealth Form 990 tax returns. The ones marked ‘Open to Public Inspection.’ On page one. In the upper right-hand corner.

Those Form 990s can be found at the letter of mine. From October of 2013. Calling public attention to this. Right here. The KZYX Ninja were unfazed. So they went right on filing Stealth Form 990s. One in December of 2013. And another in February of 2015. To keep that brilliant new policy quiet.

Stealth Policy needs the right kind of leadership. Somebody with a stealthy background. Or military training. Even better with a law degree. So the perfect candidate came along. Somebody with all three.

bio, he had three years of Army Intelligence experience. And by the details of one interview, it ‘probably’ saved his life.

By all appearances, Hopmann led a perfectly humdrum existence in the Silicon Valley corporate universe. Primarily in the hush-hush intellectual property sector. Until bringing his many talents to bear on the KZYX board of directors. In August of 2008. As El Jefe.

Hopmann’s views on policy are unmistakable in KZYX meeting minutes. Where it was only mentioned by unhappy members. Like Sheila Dawn Tracy. Wondering what happened to it. The fiscal effect of Hopmann’s policy was obvious. But only with three-year look-backs. From the Stealth Form 990 tax returns. Things required by that noisy old policy. The only policy that Hopmann couldn’t silence was his own term limit. So by the middle of 2013, King David was finished. And KZYX was left with nothing but his policy.

Stealth Policy has its advantages when you’re a genius like David Edward Hopmann. But not so much when you’re an idiot like John Coate. Who got hounded into republishing the old broken-down policy. He posted the whole shooting match on the KZYX website. Where you can see it today. Dated January 13, 2015.

That move wasn’t exactly voluntary. Once Hopmann left, KZYX started bleeding cash. For attorney fees. Before his departure, KZYX had zero legal expenses. In 2013, they were only $2,481. But by 2014, they’d skyrocketed to $29,164. None of it budgeted. Stealth Policy was too rich for Coate’s blood. So he finally caved. Ditching Stealth Policy forever.

By July of 2015, KZYX’s quarter million dollar nest egg had ridden off into the sunset. Along with Mister Coate. Leaving rocket scientists like Meg Courtney and Stuart Campbell holding the bag. With that noisy old policy.

Scott M. Peterson

Mendocino

PS: You can see more nonprofit nonsense at my weekly video comic strip, Mendopia.

LOCAL ORIGINATORS OF POT TERM 4/20 solve 45-year-old mystery

by Alyssa Pereira

In the 1970s, it was a treacherous task for high schoolers to obtain marijuana.

"Back then we spent every day of our lives worrying about getting busted. Going to buy was a really secret thing," Steve Capper says. That was paranoia, but it also made for an energy-charged brotherhood of outlaws, avoiding the law."

Capper, a man who now works in the financial services industry in San Francisco, was once one-fifth of a group calling themselves the Waldos, a coterie of companions at San Rafael High School generally considered to be behind the term "4/20."

While many believe that the famous phrase 4/20 was associated with some sort of police code for marijuana, that's not the case. Actually, it began as a secret language mumbled in school hallways to communicate a post-class smoke session, and since then, it has taken on the form of a bona fide national phenomenon. However, as the guys remember it, almost 50 years ago when the term was born, it was just a friendly pastime with friends; a reference to post-class trips during which they'd seek a treasure trove of marijuana mysteriously up for the taking somewhere in Point Reyes.

This is where most people stop believing the story. As it goes, forty-five years ago, the Waldos were given a treasure map. Fantastic and preposterous as it may seem, the Waldos have always contended that the brothers that passed it over to them promised with it a stoner's paradise where the "X" marked the spot: a free crop of marijuana, ready for the taking.

For the next few weeks, the Waldos would catch each other's eyes in the hallways, uttering simply "4/20 Louis." It was a secret code, an invitation to meet at 4:20pm after their sports practices, at the statue of Louis Pasteur in front of the school. Then, the "safari" would begin and they'd take off towards the Point Reyes Coast Guard Station in a '66 Chevy Impala in search of the stash.

The grower of the weed, it turned out, was a coast guardsman named Gary Newman, stationed on the peninsula. He was the brother-in-law to the Waldos' buds who first delivered them the sacred map. Newman and some other friends had planted the weed for personal use, but they soon began to grow suspicious that their overseeing officers might bust them. So, to get rid of the evidence, Newman made a map for those interested to come harvest.

The Waldos never found the marijuana, and eventually they reluctantly pushed the mystery aside, but the phrase 4/20 stuck, just like the name Waldos — a reference to the wall where they met between classes.

"We'd hang out there, make fun of people going by, doing imitations and joking around, and that was kind of our hang out," fellow Waldo and current independent filmmaker Dave Reddix tells SFGATE. "So we just started calling each other Waldos."

The phrase 4/20, meanwhile, was just another "little joke," as Reddix says.

But if it was a joke, it was one that everyone else soon learned, including some members of the Grateful Dead, as well as band mates in Phil Lesh's side projects, Too Loose Ta Truck and Sea Stones.

While Reddix isn't sure that Lesh or other musicians like David Crosby first heard 4/20 from his own mouth or from his brother's (who managed a couple of Lesh's other bands), it does seem probable. After all, the Waldos tended to hang out backstage at many of the Dead's shows. The father of Waldo Mark, who today often works as a photographer and renovator in the real estate sector, helped the Dead find the band space for rehearsals and shows, making sure to add the Waldos to pertinent guest lists.

"For a young man around 18 or 19 around these guys, it was pretty overwhelmingly fun," Reddix remembers. "We'd shoot some hoops and get high and listen to the Dead playing and practicing inside this warehouse."

And though the Waldos never knew for sure where the Dead picked up the phrase, the bigger mystery was always the answer to the map.

Until 2016.

After a six year hunt beginning in 2010, "hundreds" of unanswered cold calls, and the hiring of a private investigator, they finally found Newman. Though homeless in the San Jose area, he agreed to meet them, 45 years after he penned the legendary treasure map.

When they finally met, it was Super Bowl weekend, but the Waldos were able to put him up in lodging for a couple days while they interviewed him about the map.

But of the revelations and stories exchanged (which you can read about more in-depth here), one of the most memorable moments came when Capper went to pay the bill. "I go to the motel owner, and ask how much is [the room]," he recalls. "He says including tax, it's exactly $420 dollars."

And now, almost 50 years after the Waldos were first handed the map, 4/20 has a life of its own, far away from San Rafael. It permeates many areas of pop culture, including music, TV shows, government bills, Craigslist ads, and even beer labels.

Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, for example, has for years crafted a "Waldos" triple IPA in its namesake's honor. Brewers have even asked some Waldos to select hops for the beer based on which they believe smells the most like marijuana. The Untappd app has even developed a special game attached to the Lagunitas beer's check-in.

"[The Waldos'] legacy lives on and we just get to participate in it on a slightly different level than before," Lagunitas spokesperson Karen Hamilton tells SFGATE. "Who would have guessed that a few short years after making Waldos' Special Ale for the first time, there would be states that have legalized marijuana and an entirely new shift in attitudes and thinking about it all across the country?"

But though the brewery uses "420" for a light-hearted specialty beer, there are some people that take the term very seriously. Mentioning that they've heard of at least one Ph.D. candidate who has based studies on the etymology and spread of the word, they note that some people have built careers using the word.

For most people though, the word's usage is just recreational. "It's humorous, it's amusing," Capper says. "For a large part of people, it's just fun."

(Courtesy, The San Francisco Chronicle)

TWO BIG 4/20 POT TOKE-IN ‘WEED DAY’ PARTIES:

San Francisco: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5523385-181/thousands-to-puff-for-legal

Sonoma County: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5515576-181/investors-pour-millions-into-northern

CHARTER TOWN HALL MEETING IN COVELO ON 4/23

The Charter Project of Mendocino County is hosting a series of 9 Town Hall meetings around the county to introduce people to Charter Commission candidates for the June 7^th election, and also to canvass the public about what they would like to see in a county charter.

What is a charter, anyway? What does home rule mean to Mendocino County? Get the answers at one of these Town Hall meetings.

The final Town Hall meeting before the election will be held on Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 5:30pm to 8pm at the Round Valley Library Commons, 23925 Howard St. in Covelo.

The Measure W question will be in the ballot in the June election, "Shall a Charter Commission be elected to propose a Mendocino County Charter?"

There will also be candidates running for the post of Charter Commissioner. You will be able to vote for 15 of them in June.

Meet 2 Charter Commission candidates:

Govinda Dalton is a Media Technician for the International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Environmental Network, Western Shoshone Defense League, and Programmer at KZYX&Z and KMEC radio, as well as Independent Animation Professional. He sits on the Board of the Cloud Forest Institute. Also, Govinda is donating his expertise to all 9 Charter Town Hall events.

Robin Sunbeam, RN, is a Credentialed School Nurse. Robin is driven to do everything she can to improve the future for all of our children. And the most influence any citizen has is local. Robin believes citizens should have more influence over our local area because we live here and will reap the results of government policies.

Free admission. Refreshments by donation. Raffle fundraiser. Help us pay for these 9 Town Hall meetings with your financial support. 
All registered voters are welcome!

More information is available on our website: http://mendocinocountycharter.org/events/56-charter-town-hall-in-covelo-4-23. 
You can also take the opportunity to donate online there.

WHAT’S A CHARTER COUNTY, ANYWAY?

And why does MendoLib want it on the ballot?

Board of Supervisors Item 8(a), April 19, 2016: “Discussion and Possible Action Associated with a Presentation from the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) Regarding Charter Counties in California.“

Summary of Request: Counties in California are classified in one of two ways: Charter counties or General law.

Charter counties: 14 of the 58 counties are governed under a charter. They are Alameda, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Tehama.

General law counties: the remaining 44 operate under the general law. General law counties adhere to state law as to the number and duties of county elected officials. Charter counties have a limited degree of "home rule" authority that may provide for the election, compensation, terms, removal and salary of the governing board; for the election or appointment (except the sheriff, district attorney, and assessor who must be elected), compensation, terms and removal of all county officers; for the powers and duties of all officers; and for consolidation and segregation of county offices. A charter does not give a county official extra authority over local regulations, revenue-raising abilities, budgetary decisions or intergovernmental relations.

Charter Counties - A county may adopt, amend or repeal a charter with majority vote approval. In counties that do not have a charter, a complete charter can be proposed by the Board of Supervisors or a charter commission. Likewise, the amendment or repeal of an existing charter may be proposed by the Board of Supervisors or a charter commission. The amendment or repeal of a charter can also be proposed through an initiative petition.

Citizens of a county can put a question on the ballot to determine whether to draft or revise a charter and elect a charter commission using the initiative petition process. If this question receives majority approval, the 15 candidates for the charter commission that receive the most votes will organize into a commission to draft a charter. The initiative question on the ballot must be: “Shall a charter commission be elected to propose a new charter?"

The provisions of a charter are the law of the state and have the force and effect of legislative enactments.

Mr. Geoff Neill, CSAC’s Principal Policy and Fiscal Analyst, will be present to provide the Board with a presentation and overview of Charter Counties, including, but not limited to, the following:

Overview of Charter Counties (what is a Charter County?)

Overview of California Counties (how many are General Law vs. Charter)

Authorities of Charter Counties

Comparison between city and county charters

Overview of the Charter County formation process

If a Charter County initiative passes, what are the processes and outcomes?

Components of the proposed charter initiative for Mendocino County and application to specific county scenarios

Mr. Neill was requested to provide a brief presentation regarding Charter Counties and to address any questions presented by the Board of Supervisors.

* * *

After hearing the above presentation Supervisor Dan Hamburg, the Board’s theoretically most receptive member on the Charter question, remained unconvinced:

“Here we are going to have this Charter Commission but we don't know what kind of county commitment there is to the functioning of that Commission and how they would actually come forward with a document that is then voted on by the people. How do we know— How do we do a fiscal analysis of a charter yet we have no idea what is going to be in the charter? If the charter follows what Mr. Neill has suggested and really is confined to talking about the structure and composition of county government and these very narrow things that Supervisor McCowen described and I think you were describing, then it's fairly simple and may be fairly cheap. But that's not where I see this charter commission going. I expect, based on the input we got this morning and just from talking to people about this over the last couple of years that people are imagining this on a very expensive level. Then, we the Board of Supervisors are going to be putting on the ballot a document that is going to describe powers that, at least according to what you're saying, will be significantly beyond what is actually allowed in a county charter. [Turns to Supervisor McCowen] Do you know what I mean? It's really hard to know what we're dealing with here. This is a very amorphous paying. On the one hand I think that people have said, and they have signed, that they want a charter county and this could be a very interesting civics lesson for the people of the county about what counties are and what counties are not. What charter counties are and what charter counties are not. I'm all for civics lessons. But one thing I know I'm not for is committing a lot of County dollars to something that is really outside the bounds of anything that can be thought to be allowable under state law. I'm all for a county bank. Yay! Sure. But I have not seen anything that says you can do it. Nor do I see the way that we get there given our fiscal status as a county. Like John Sakowicz, I want to see money localized. I am not a big fan of Wall Street. But I don't see how you get there from here, frankly. So I'm reluctant to commit a lot of staff time which means money to trying to analyze something that we have no idea what it is that we're analyzing."

McCowen noted that any changes to the charter would have to go back to voters and that a public County bank would add liabilities to County, and that the initiative if passed could be subject to legal challenges. He wondered how much would it cost to staff the Commission, adding, “and I don't know if a bank can be legally done.”

CHARTER ADVOCATE Doug McKenty said that the Commissioners would not be paid, they only want a room to meet in. He agreed that there would be some cost an election but if done as part of a larger election it shouldn’t be that much. “It’s premature time to talk about a public bank,” said McKenty. We have no idea if it’s feasible,” adding that he know some authorities who think it would be good. “It’s kind of a blank slate at this point,” agreed McKenty, switching to the “geat process” the Charter would represent. McKenty said it depends on commissioners, it’s a participatory process which allows citizens to customize government for the people of Mendocino. “Don't jump to conclusions about what might be in it," McKenty said. “We don't know what will be in it.”

LEAD ADVOCATE Robin Sunbeam said that she didn’t know anyone who’s against more local control. “The opponents are against specifics that might be in a charter which is not written,” said Sunbeam. “It's a blank slate. Opponents seem to be against free speech and empowering voters.”

AGNES WOOLSEY and Jim Tarbell also spoke in favor of the initiative and agreed that it was too early to speculate about what a Mendocino County charter would look like.

SUPERVISOR CARRE BROWN moved to have CEO's office draft an analysis of the proposed charter commission initiative before it’s put on the ballot.

SUPERVISOR HAMBURG added: "I think I am not going to support this motion. I kind of think that the people have spoken. They want this discussion to go forward with what I call the civics lesson. I really for the life of me have no idea what is going to come out of this document. We could be walking into something that would be a heap of trouble. But I don't want to go there. I don't want to just — I don't want to assume that this is going to be problematic. I want to assume that these people who put this forward are going to act in good faith and will understand that this basically a process about the structure and organization of the county and will bring forward a document that the voters of the county are going to have to vote on with their good sense and good logic. If we try to do a fiscal analysis at this point it's not going to tell us very much without knowing what will be in this charter. If the worst happens we could have the voters vote for a charter that was wildly beyond anything that could actually be in a charter and then we— that's sort of the worst-case scenario. If all we are talking about is people wanting to meet around the county and have County space to meet in and put things up on a website and draw up a document that is then on a separate election and voted on by the people, I just— I'm inclined to just let that go forward and I don't think it's like the mental health thing where you are talking about a sales tax. You are talking about tens of millions of dollars being raised. You're talking about a whole mental health has been being reconfigured and how that affects the County's delivery of mental health services. That to me is a— I was not here for that discussion a couple weeks ago because I was ill. But I definitely would have supported that measure which was brought forward by supervisors Gjerde and McCowen. But on this one which I see as more of an expression of the will of the public to talk about and engage in the process by which there are governed on the local level, I say go forward and I will advocate for a very small amount of county support because we don't have a lot of extra staff and a lot of extra money to put out for anything. But I think when several thousand people sign a piece of paper saying they want to do this process and we have 15 people who are willing to put time into it to think about it and then write a document and put that before the voters, I don't want to throw any sand in those gears. I will not support the motion, but I do appreciate my colleague bringing the matter forward."

Brown’s motion passed 4-1, Hamburg dissenting.

MENDOCINO SHERIFF Tom Allman has been named an American Red Cross of the California Northwest "law enforcement hero" for his work on projects to improve the lives of mentally ill inmates.

Mendocino County sheriff to receive American Red Cross recognition

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160419/mendocino-county-sheriff-to-receive-american-red-cross-recognition

COME RIGHT IN, SETH

On 04-20-16, at about noon, maintenance workers arrived at an unoccupied residence in Little River to perform scheduled work. Upon their arrival they located a subject in the residence, consuming items in the residence. Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were called. Deputies located Seth Cole, 38, a transient in the area who is known to the deputies. The deputies established that Cole had broken into the residence during the previous night by smashing a window, causing approximately $600 damage. Cole then made himself at home, eating the food and using the amenities, until being discovered. Cole was arrested without incident for residential burglary and lodged at the Mendocino County Jail where he is being held on $50,000 bail.

AUGUST 1973

ANOTHER INSIDE JOB (Both of them!)

Appointment Of Tammy Moss Chandler As Director, And Anne C. Molgaard As Chief Operating Officer For The Mendocino County Health And Human Services Agency

Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Carmel J. Angelo, has announced the appointment of Tammy Moss Chandler as the County’s new Health and Human Services Agency Director. Ms. Chandler has most recently served as Assistant Director of the Placer County Health and Human Services Agency, Assistant Director of Health Services in Sonoma County, and Public Health Director in Merced County. Ms. Chandler has a Masters of Public Health and Health Education degree from San Jose State University, and a Masters of Business Administration and Accounting Degree from Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

Ms. Chandler stated “My family and I have enjoyed visiting Mendocino County over the years, and we are thrilled for this opportunity to make Mendocino County our home. I look forward to working with the community, and furthering the vision and mission of the Health and Human Services Agency to best serve the residents of Mendocino County.”

Local resident and well known children’s advocate Anne C. Molgaard has also been appointed as the County’s Health and Human Services Agency Chief Operations Officer. Ms. Molgaard is currently the Executive Director for FIRST 5 Mendocino and has served in that position for over 15 years. Prior to FIRST 5, she was the Executive Director of E Center in Mendocino County. Ms. Molgaard has a Doctorate of Law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, and a Bachelor’s degree in History, Political Science and Spanish from UC Santa Barbara.

“There is no more important work than caring for each other. Becoming part of the Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency team will require smarts, lots of listening, and a positive attitude. I look forward to this challenge.” stated Ms. Molgaard.

For more information, please contact the Mendocino County Executive Office at (707) 463-4441

Carmel J. Angelo, Chief Executive Officer

CATCH OF THE DAY, April 20, 2016

SETH COLE, Mendocino. Burglary.

ANTONIO COLLINS, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

RICHARD GREENE, Willits. DUI.

REX HASTINGS, Albion. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

RICHARD JOHNSON, Hopland. Probation revocation.

BRYAN LOCKWOOD, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ROBERT MCCANN, Willits. Probation revocation.

ZACHARY PAEYENEERS, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

ALAN POLLICK JR., Ukiah. Drunk in public, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

CHRISTOPHER SCHULZ, Garberville/Ukiah. DUI.

HARRIET TUBMAN CHOSEN AS NEW FACE OF $20

Harriet Tubman will replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, a Treasury Department official said Wednesday.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

More and more I find my background was great preparation for what’s happening. While growing up, I thought the opposite.

I was raised by impractical left-wing intellectuals. Not quite the same as being suckled by wolves in the forest, but close enough.

My earliest public-sphere memories were Kent State, Watergate, the anti-war movement, etc. Between financial incompetence and health issues, my large family survived on welfare for a number of years. I worked farm jobs as a very young kid, and when those jobs paid over-the-table, the amount of my work as a 10-year-old was subtracted dollar-for-dollar from my parent’s welfare money.

So I learned very early that the government represented the Elites, had no compunction about lying and killing, and would stop at nothing to maintain the advantages of the Elites. Absolutely nothing they said or did was to be trusted, and there would be a drawback that outweighed every purported benefit.

It’s worked out amazingly well. I didn’t get a credit card until well into my 30s, 15 years ago. When I was ready to buy a house, I made sure I bought one that cost less per month than I’d been paying in rent, to make saving for repairs possible. I’ve never bought a new car. I realized how much my employers paid for the other half of my Social Security etc., and health insurance. I also realized there is no such thing in our system as “being paid what you’re worth,” because that leave no room for profit for your boss. I worked my way into a position where I could do without a boss, so I actually can get paid what I’m worth, and it takes a lot less work to support one’s self and one’s family than to support one’s boss, one’s boss’s assistant, their families, and then yourself and your own on what’s left over.

I was raised for times when things don’t work, words don’t mean what they are defined to mean, every deal is a grift, and the entire system is a game of heads I win, tails you lose.

There’s nothing new about this. It’s just that America has had a large middle class that had the luxury of ignoring this until recently. I never had such privileges. I will agree with everyone that this does indeed suck. I still remember, however, middle-class Americans moralistically lecturing me on how I deserved to suffer and be treated badly as a child because my father was an improvident alcoholic.

So my sympathy is there for the taking, freely granted. My empathy, however, is a lot harder to claim.

THE SANDERS CAMPAIGN has brought the politics of inequality to the attention of the mainstream media in ways that others, individuals and social movements could not. However, the work of building a political revolution cannot end there. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, his campaign and supporters have taken on a burden, willingly or not, to go further than starting a conversation about economic inequality.

ESPN FIRED NETWORK ANALYST and former Boston Red Sox star pitcher Curt Schilling following his comments on Facebook about transgender people.

The network released a statement Wednesday saying, "ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated."

On Monday, Schilling, 49, reposted an image of an overweight man wearing a long blond wig and revealing women's clothing. It included the phrase: "Let him in! To the restroom with your daughter or else you're a narrow minded, judgmental, unloving, racist bigot who needs to die!!!"

Schilling added his own comments, saying, "A man is a man no matter what they call themselves," and, "Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic." (AP)