Letters (May 25, 2016)

• Thanks From The Kunys
• Thanks, Bob
• The Code Is Clear
• Where Were The Cops?
• Why I’m For Faulder
• Doublecrossed
• Yes On Measure V
• What’s The Rush With Remco?
• No On W
• Going Green
• Don't Do It, Coast Hospital
• Sports Talk Gets Even Worse
• Hotter Than Hot

THANKS FROM THE KUNYS

Editor,

Dan Kuny and family are deeply moved by and grateful for the many expressions of concern and sympathy for Dan's recent accident when he was nearly killed on the job by a falling tree. Dan is at home in Ukiah where he is recovering from his terrible ordeal. He is especially grateful for his long-time friends — Tony Pardini, Jimmy Brown and Mike Crudo, who spent much of Saturday building a ramp to Dan's front door because he can't get up and down the stairs yet.

Thanks to all of you,

The Kuny Family, Ukiah

THANKS, BOB

To Bob Demple,

I wanted to thank you, Bob, for your precious memory piece regarding Hopland and Judge Manning. I moved to Hopland from LA in 1974 and bought a house downtown on Spring Street. I quickly found myself as a welcomed member of the community. My time there with friends is a time that I will always be grateful for. My Husband Joe and I left Hopland in 2002 and found a new community that opened their arms with kindness to the two new guys. I thank you Anderson Valley for that.

Bob you were able to open up many memory floodgates of experiences, friendships and the process of a young person growing and finding one's way in a place that had so much love for each other and so much beauty, that I still appreciate each and everyday I am here.

Thanks Again

Kathy (Stegner) Corral

Used to live next to the Hopland Catholic Church

Boonville

THE CODE IS CLEAR

Editor,

In my last letter to the Editor I spoke of the County Assessor not saying how she came up with the way she made up the Assessor's map on our property after it was surveyed because my neighbors and my deed did not match. The County Counsel's answer was that she did not have to make up records when there were no records of how she came up with her conclusions.

According to the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250):

"Information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.

Writing means any handwriting, typewriting, printing, photocopying, transmitting by electronics, mail or facsimile and every other means of recording upon a tangible thing, any form of communication or a presentation including letters, words, pictures, sounds or combinations."

I ask anyone reading this how clear can we say something and have a lawyer dispute it?

California Government Code 6250 makes it quite clear that if a California citizen requests any kind of information that is related to any government business it is open to all citizens and by its multitude of words is to ensure that any government employee does not come up with fraudulent acts to not comply with this necessary code.

In this case it's been violated.

As I said before this is not only happening to Emil Rossi but to many people and it can happen to anyone.

If for any reason whatsoever (religion, politics, color of skin) you don't have to buy from Rossi Hardware. It might be more inconvenient to go to Philo or Ukiah, but you can.

But not the government which is a monopoly which is subject to the same laws. Unfortunately, quite often they don't follow their law and they get away with it. That's why this newspaper and all newspapers and all kinds of media, radio, television, etc. are so important to keep government somewhat accountable.

Emil Rossi

Boonville

WHERE WERE THE COPS?

Editor,

Ahhhhh, Pinot Fest!

Pinot Fest was here yet again last weekend. Or, as I have come to call it: “DUI-Free Weekend.”

I spent all day Saturday for the fifth year in a row shitfaced drunk, cruising up and down Highway 128, screaming “[BLEEP] THE CHP” at the top of my lungs. The fact that I’m not writing this from the friendly confines of Low Gap says it all!

The ONLY CHP vehicles I encountered were graciously helping host the “Heroes of Health and Safety” event at the Fairgrounds. Had a dozen or so of them been posted up along “Pinot Alley,” the state of California would have enjoyed quite the windfall. However, it would seem that enforcing the law where rich caucasians from points south of Anderson valley are concerned, is bad for business!

For obvious reasons:

Name withheld, Philo

WHY I’M FOR FAULDER

Editor,

I wanted to let you know that Bruce McEwen's article concerning judge candidates Patrick Pekin and Keith Faulder in this week's AVA was great and spot on. Although, I have to be honest when I saw Keith had an endorsement by Eyster I was a little concerned. Perhaps, even disappointed! However, seeing Paul Tichinin supporting Mr. Pekin — essentially equalizes the standing.

I first met Mr. Faulder when he was acting DA. I requested an appointment to see him regarding concerns I had had in the unlawful dismissal of an elementary school principal in Point Arena. He not only scheduled an appointment to see me but once I presented the information to him he order a "cure and correct" letter to be sent to the district. However, once the infamous DA Lintott was sworn into office, one of her first duties was to overturn Faulder's letter. Essentially, stating the board and/or superintendent had done nothing wrong!

On September 9, 2013, a "well-documented complaint" (according to retired chief investigator, Tim Kiely) was filed with the District Attorney's Office, regarding blatant violations to the California Public Records Act (6253) and Government Code 54954.7 against the Point Arena Union Unified School District. Mr. Kiely used to live in our area so he informed me he was quite "knowledgeable of the area and the school district."

Several months later, I was informed by Mr. Kiely the complaint made it to Eyster's desk and he was awaiting authorization from the DA to sign off on it.

However, I received a phone call later informing me Eyster stated he had "six months to a year to rule on a misdemeanor." When I called back six months later, Kiely had resigned and the new chief investigator, Kevin Bailey (who was very nice) could not locate the complaint. It had disappeared from Eyster's desk probably into the "circular file."

REMEMBER, all the "leg work" had been done and Eyster essentially had only to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down but couldn't take the time to even look at the summary — it was below the quality of cases he has to deal with for him pause to do so!

Mr. Faulder has my vote and to those I know I have asked they also vote for him in spite of his endorsement by our present DA! I'm not going to fault him for that because he looks after all community members and not a select few!

Respectfully,

Suzanne Rush

Manchester

DOUBLECROSSED

Editor:

In a book about Frances Perkins, Franklin Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, I found an old poem from that era, Sara M. Claghorn's "Little Toilers":

The golf links lie so near the mills

that nearly every day

The laboring children can look out

and see the men at play.

It is to that reality that the world has been returning since the death of Roosevelt. Eleanor took her stand, but by 1963 they really had us doublecrossed for a long time to come. Only barely have we managed to sustain what resistance we have, to look back on or carry on with or for as a democracy in the true sense of the word. If you look up left, right, conservative or liberal, in good conscience it should work out between them if the discussion were relevant to the basic idea, but the idiotic con we put up with for some reason renders our politics so shallow, and there are not many — I should say rather that "there are no" — real statesman to put some real effort into reasoning out constructive agreements.

One big mistake our Constitution's framers made, besides cruelly and absurdly rejecting Thomas Jefferson's attempt to abolish slavery right away, was the failure to abolish bribery, clearly, since it's never been understood to be "inferred."

So the whole representative position is loaded down with corporate elected rather than people's elected reps and you get crooks like "Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas who took over the Agriculture Committee (and) set his sights on dialing back (Michelle Obama's) school lunch nutrition requirements which he has called "big brother government that's out of control."*

So that's how it works. They take a simple provisional guideline, school lunches should be good food, use their position in government to kill it for their private employers' sake, legislate a monopoly on school lunches for them and then put on a big show about how it's "cutting back big government" for "the small businesses," referring mostly to businesses that sell their backers products, no?

(*Lee Fang, The Nation, March 2/9/2015)

Scott Croghan

Mendocino

YES ON MEASURE V

To the Editor:

Do dead trees burn? Most folks will agree that dead trees do burn. What happens when 90,000 acres of forestland are treated causing the mortality of millions of hardwood trees? In most of these treated areas there are hundreds of acres of dense dead standing hardwood trees. To a firefighter this is very heavy fuel for a wildland fire. These dead trees, many are two feet or more in diameter, also represent manmade snags. Each year wildland firefighters are injured or killed by natural snags. The timber industry refers to this management practice as frilling. A more common term for this treatment is hack and squirt. For the last ten years of my career in the Mendocino Unit of Cal Fire I was the Air Attack Captain assigned to the Ukiah Air Attack Base. A major portion of my duties was to fill the Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS) position on wildland fires. The ATGS is airborne directing air operations. In most situations the Incident Commander relies heavily on the tactical advice of the ATGS. I enjoyed a good reputation among ground personnel and pilots. After my retirement I was asked to work for Region Office in Redding as a mentor for ATGS students completing their taskbooks. After five years mentoring students in Redding I decided it was time to move on after 39 years in the business. It is clear to me that any affect frilling or hack and squirt may have on fire behavior is not well understood. As an Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS) I would advise an Incident Commander or Operations Section Chief against making an effort to suppress a wildland fire in an area that has been treated by frilling. Weather forecasts as well as current and predicted fire behavior would factor into this decision. There in lies the problem. Firefighters will be faced with having to disengage where they might otherwise attempt control efforts. It is also clear to me that my advice will not be taken, I am retired. My hope is that the students I mentored will place the same high priority on firefighter safety that I did. I am confident they will.

Let’s ask the timber industry to also make a commitment to firefighter safety. On June 7 vote yes on Measure V. Go to www.citizensforfiresafeforests.com for more information.

Kirk Van Patten

Ukiah

WHAT’S THE RUSH WITH REMCO?

To the Editor:

Friends, here is a copy of the remarks I plan to make at the City Council meeting tonight.

Public comment to be offered at Willits City Council meeting, May 11, 2016

I was surprised and dismayed by the headline in today’s Willits News “Skunk Train Out; Burton-Mitchell in Council given May 31 deadline to decide.”

As a resident of Willits I’m concerned for a number of reasons:

A revitalized Remco property sits at the cross-roads of our future—Whatever is built there will in many ways be the face of Willits and I would hope we’d present the best of us to our own citizens and to those who might visit here.

It’s my understanding that those representing the Skunk train have been in negotiations to purpose the property since 2013 and I thought were first in line to purchase the property.

Last year a second proposal was offered by Mayor Burton and Mr. Mitchell to purchase and develop the property. There was some talk at that time of finding a way to combine the best of both proposals.

Now we learn that “The Skunk Train is out and Burton-Mitchell are in and the Council is asked to make a decision by May 31.” It seems to me there is a suggestive, if not actual, conflict of interest since Mayor Burton sits on the City Council and is…well, the mayor, and he’s also a potential beneficiary of actions that the City Council may take in influencing the terms of a potential purchase of the Remco property.

I would hope the City Council, City Manager, and Staff would consider the following:

Offer a detailed time line and description of the decisions and actions that have taken place that bring us to the suggested action that “The Skunk Train is out; Burton-Mitchell are in,” so that we can feel confident that there is no conflict of interest, or if there is one that it is fairly resolved.

Since the City is involved in an in-depth exploration of what the community wants to see on Main Street, I would suggest there be community meetings held to discuss what would be in the best interests of the community for the use of the Remco site.

Since this is such an important issue, the Council should not act precipitously, but take considered action that will allow the community to feel the Council and staff are acting in the best interests of the entire community.

Jed Diamond

Willits

NO ON W

Editor,

Let’s put a stop to this Charter County madness before it costs the county more than it can afford. Several months ago, the Charter Project of Mendocino County began circulating petitions to gain enough signatures to get the question: “Shall a charter commission be elected to propose a Mendocino County Charter on the June 2016 ballot?”

Prior to the Charter Project, there was the Mendocino Public Banking Coalition, run by some of the same members as the Charter Project. Make no mistake, the only reason this group wanted to start a charter county was to form a public bank. In their own Power Point presentation, it states: “After 3 years of not being able to move forward with having the Board of Supervisors place a Charter on the ballot, the Mendocino County Public Banking Coalition decided to change our strategy”

In order to get the required signatures, promises were made like:

(x) A county bank has the potential to protect Mendocino County and its citizens from future recessions.

(x) Will save the county money, and increase the county’s financial independence.

(x) A public bank can provide no interest or low interest loans for infrastructure, and the interest will be recycled back into the county General Fund

The supporters are now singing a different tune. After they’ve realized county treasury funds can’t be used to fund a public bank, they’re wiping the promise slate clean and simply asking the voters to form the commission and they’ll work out the details later. But they’ve made one more promise. They promise that forming the Charter Commission will not cost the county anything, except the use of a room here and there to hold public meetings. This can’t be farther from the truth.

A recent analysis from the County of Mendocino’s Executive Office indicates otherwise. Quite simply, it will cost the taxpayers anywhere from $50,000 to $300,000 depending upon the needs from the commission. The Executive Office broke down the costs based on minimal, moderate or expanded needs from county staff and related expenses. Keep in mind, these costs are only to get the proposed Charter Commission to the point of bringing their language to the voters, once again. If the measure to form a Charter County fails, the county still has to pay those fees. And by “county,” I mean the Mendocino County citizens.

Vote NO on Measure W.

John Mayfield

Ukiah

GOING GREEN

To the Editor,

I've long predicted that the voting strategy employed by most Americans of my generation, which has been to vote for the lesser evil, could only end in one place. Well, we've arrived at that end now; an election in which neither evil can be rationally identified as "lesser."

But at least Bernie's campaign managed to push Clinton to the left, right? Except if you consider that campaign rhetoric is not the same as political agenda, and that there is little evidence that Clinton has ever felt particularly obliged or inclined to honor her rhetoric. But the enormous support given to Sanders by Democratic voters, while not enough to secure him the nomination, will force the party to adjust their platform to accommodate the economic reforms that *every reputable poll* has indicated are favored by a substantial majority of American voters, right? Sure thing.

Joe Trippi is a heavy-hitting political operative from deep within the Dem machine. Let's tap into his insight on the question. "It is clear that he (Sanders) hopes to have an impact on the platform. My own belief is that this is not really that big a problem," Trippi said. "I don't think there is any reason he won't get a lot of what he wants, given the reality of the impact of the party platform. It's a document that gets locked in a vault, basically." He went on to add that any real connection between the party platform built at the convention and actual policy pursued "hasn't really been a thing since the eighties."

Let's face facts. Our government and the two increasingly collusive parties that have dominated it exist solely to benefit a club to which we are not and never will be members. This government rarely needs resort either to addressing discontent or to suppressing dissent. It has become quite adept, rather, at managing both, while keeping them safely contained within the bounds of political irrelevance. The effectiveness of this management strategy has been largely due to their success, abetted by the honed perspective fed us daily by a corporate media heavily invested in maintaining the status quo, in perpetuating the myth that our electoral choices, in real practical terms, are limited to selecting from the candidates presented by either the Republican or Democrat parties, and no others. The fact that this two party system, which has been so poorly serving the needs of most Americans, was evolved by the ruling class to serve its own ends and enjoys no constitutional or legislative mandate seems never to surface to confuse us come election time. Instead, a shrinking minority marches dutifully to the polls every other November to select the candidates whose party frightens them the least, while a growing majority sit at home feeling too disenfranchised from the process to even bother.

Maybe we should judge the strength and integrity of our democracy not on the frequency of its elections, but on the likelihood that their results will have any sway over the policies of our governance. As long as the leaders from both major parties draw their direction on economic matters from the financial criminals running Goldman Sachs, and formulate their foreign policy decisions based on the model handed down by war criminal Henry Kissinger, it seems doubtful that the choices we've been making are choices at all. My friend, Geno, likes to remind me that, "Yeah, but on average, we still enjoy a standard of living much better than that found in sub-Saharan West Africa, and at least the police aren't shooting at us (well, not most of us.)" Okay, I'll concede that much. But that somehow falls short of my highest aspirations, as a citizen, for the state of our nation. I prefer to believe that, used wisely, we have the economic and civic resources available to do a little better than that. If we're going to continue to pretend that we live under a functioning democracy, let's at least be consistent in our delusion and cast our votes in November for some party in authentic opposition to continuing the policies that have failed the majority of Americans. This election cycle of 2016 seems almost made to order to test the reach of our democracy by seeing what happens when we allow our dissent and discontent to become a bit less manageable. This has to begin in withholding our votes from the deeply entrenched major parties in order to start to pry loose their previously uncontested stranglehold on our political process.

Personally, I'll probably go with the Green Party across the board, mostly because they represent the policy objectives that most closely resemble my own political views, and are already well known and organized. But there are a number of other minor parties that will appear on ballots, as well as the write-in option. Voting our fears once again will only play into the hands of those who will continue to manipulate us for their own profits.

Michael DeLang

Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado

DON'T DO IT, COAST HOSPITAL

Editor,

The closing of the Labor & Delivery—

At the Hospital Planning meeting on Tuesday, the proposal was made to close Labor and Delivery at our hospital.

If you know younger members of the community, especially our young women, many of whom have returned to the Coast and opened businesses, this is the time for them step in and demand to be heard on this issue. Share this, please.

Here are the reasons to fight this:

1. Closing L&D violates the opening statement on the MCDH website, and goes against their mission and values (these three statements are appended at the bottom of the bullet points). Closing Labor and Delivery violates the goal of providing comprehensive primary care, violates the mission in that closing such an essential service will make a very negative difference in the health of our rural community, impacting the most needy members who have no alternatives the most. Closing Labor and Delivery reduces the vital role and makes the hospital much less of a key element.

2. MCDH is a District Hospital – supported by the residents of the Community financially and answerable to them. Providing essential services is what the members of this Community expect. Essential services include Emergency Services, General Surgery and Labor and Delivery. To cut any of these is unacceptable.

3. The Community understands that Labor and Delivery Services and Emergency Services operate at a loss. We need our Board to direct management to find solutions to ensure the entire hospital operation is fiscally sound while maintaining ALL essential services. Increasing utilization of other services that provide income to the hospital and support essential services should be the major part of any plan.

4. The data show that a high percentage of patients delivering babies at MCDH are Medical patients. This in part illustrates some causes for the financial dilemma. However, these patients are also the least likely to be able to go “over the hill” for labor and delivery care and services. Thus, we are abandoning our most needy community members and dumping our “poor payers” on other hospitals.

5. The easy solution on paper is to close a department that loses money with little regard to consequences both fiscal and ethical. The economic and moral consequences of this decision to this community are profound yet not considered. No alternatives are presented such as ways to increase the utilization of services that make money to support the services that lose money. This is not just a fiscal problem, it is an attitude problem when the only solution presented is to cut essential services.

6. The Financial data presented includes Professional Fees paid to Physicians of $749,930. Where does this number come from? Mendocino Coast Clinic pays Dr. Wright and provides 14 days of call to MCDH at no cost. The Physician who covers the remaining call is not making that amount of money. Salaries and benefits outside of Physician and registry need to be illuminated. All costs need to be illuminated and the costs associated with closing L&S need to be considered.

7. In the revenue category – there is revenue missing including (but not limited to) revenue from lab tests and radiology tests that are done for prenatal patients when they have access to these services.

8. Before closing Labor and Delivery – discussion with MCDH malpractice insurance provider BETA needs to happen as to the risk associated with laboring patients arriving in the Emergency room and possibility of emergency C-sections needing to be done by on-call General Surgeons. Discussion with ER Physicians and General Surgeons needs to happen.

9. The Budget Without OB list needs to include costs for patients arriving in labor to the Emergency room as well as any data on how much the malpractice insurance for the hospital may increase due to this practice.

10. The projections of how many laboring patients would arrive in the ER based on the anecdotal “previous experience” are not data and do not match the experience of Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits after they closed their L&D department. Comparisons with Garberville hospital (which serves a very small community) are not realistic and were made assuming Garberville patients had the same commute to Eureka when in fact services are available in Fortuna.

11. The impacts on Mendocino Coast Clinics perinatal and pediatric services were illuminated by Lucretia Renteria. MCC is one of the primary “feeder” clinics for in and outpatient services to MCDH. A negative impact on MCC will result in less revenue for MCDH.

12. The potential loss of our remaining OB/GYN physician and subsequent impact on services for women must be addressed. Family practice physicians and Nurse Practitioners cannot do in or outpatient surgical GYN procedures that are routinely done by our current OB/GYN physician (and are profit generators for MCDH). This potential loss of services for half our population is profound and unacceptable.

13. The potential impact on the Community needs to be addressed. Having no L&D services on the Coast will make our area much less attractive to young families, making it harder to keep or recruit young people to the Coast. This decision will potentially impact our schools as well as our economy.

14. This Community has already suffered the consequences of College of the Redwoods stating that is was not economical to teach students on the Coast. Now we are hearing OUR hospital say that it is not economical to serve pregnant women on the Coast.

15. The decision to close L&D and the consequences of this decision will negatively affect the image of the hospital and the utilization by members of this community. This decision will affect this entire community. The entire community must be heard.

The opening statement on MCDH’s website says “The best kind of rural healthcare system is one that provides comprehensive primary care with access to specialists and onsite support services such as lab, X-ray and physical therapy.”

The mission statement says “To make a positive difference in the health of our rural community”

The Vision statement says “MCDH will play a vital role in the overall health and well-being of the community, and will be the key element in the healthcare system serving the needs of our community. We will provide leadership to enhance the efficiency, coordination, quality and range of services provided within our rural healthcare system. MCDH will be the healthcare provider and employer of choice within our community. We will continually address and keep up with technology and superior clinical skills. We will have a positive impact on health by encouraging personal and community responsibility for health and wellness. Our efforts will play a decisive role in people choosing to stay in our community or to locate here.” The Values statement says “MCDH is committed to providing excellent quality, patient centered, cost effective health care in a caring, safe and professional environment, and serving the community’s healthcare needs with current technology and superior clinical skills. We believe in the right to local access to a wide range of excellent quality healthcare services in our rural community. We promote patient safety and satisfaction, and consistently work toward a high level of care that results in our patients recommending us to others and in their returning to us for needed health care. Every member of our healthcare team will play an active, participative role that effectively utilizes the skills and talents of each. People are our most valuable resource. We encourage professional development that will achieve a level of competence and morale that will attract and maintain the highest quality staff. We strive to build partnership with our employees emphasizing mutual respect and mutual success.”

Ginny Rorby

Mendocino

SPORTS TALK GETS EVEN WORSE

Guys,

I used to wonder what Alexander Cockburn was getting on about when he would trash Bob Dylan on an annual basis. In my own far removed sense of reaction to the irreverance of "hippie" culture I really liked that piece that the AVA once ran called 'Dylan Bows Out.’ Something about that piece just tickles me. I identified with Dylan’s indignation for freeloading dirtbags who mar the counterculture. In my attempt to be less lazy about my musical tastes in various peripheral genres I decided to brush up on my rock and then my folk. Well good fortune has it that John Prine was a local guy when I was growing up and so I had some good exposure to mine from my musical past. So I listen to some John Prine, then some Guthrie of course, Pete Seeger, then Jimmie Rodgers, Uncle Dave Macon, etc.

So I come across this Martin Scorcese flick on Robert "Bob Dylan" Zimmerman and it's just a complete revelation. The guy is a total thief and phony fuckin scoundrel. In one of the performances he is filmed close up and his head is frozen and cocked a bit to the side, his blue eyes are glassy and glimmering while transfixed in a daze, the words are regurgitated from his throat region, and right then and there he was revealed to me as a complete reptile. Now I can't stand him or his old songs that I used to abide. It is a visceral distaste I have for Bob Dylan, the cheap ripoff.

My other visceral distaste is a newly promoted right wing blowhard addition from the Murph & Mac show on KNBR 680 who unfortunately for the Irish is named Patrick Conner.

They gave this slag his own hour from 5am to 6am weekdays.

This guy clearly represents the demographic of the chemically debased sports perspectives of the eternally embattled white male listening audience. I am sure all the closet racists just love him to the core. The thoroughly undeserving dominant culture scored points this morning when a new "poll" revealed that 9 out of 10 native americans don't mind the Redskins name for the NFL team from Washington DC. Not sure who they asked. From the indignation displayed by Patrick Conner one would think that throughout the long anglo-native encounter that in fact it is Patrick Conner who has been put out, no bloody island massacre memories for this peabrain. He deserves to have his eyes pried open, dosed with ayahuasca, and taken on a virtual trail of tears. May he find himself in a place rich with spirits and ghosts and may they haunt him for the deeds he is defending.

Can you tell I am mad at this ratbag? Oh yeah, he lives in the tenderloin… Sweet dreams.

Tell you what, they may have asked some living dupes if the redskins moniker bothered them, and they may have found enough dupes who were not bothered by it. Let’s see if some of those many spirits, ghosts and demons that surely wander and haunt california, with it's recent history so rich with wrongdoing, let's see if they take issue with the hatred of Patrick Conner. Let us see. Unless your people were collaborators with the British your ancestors would not be proud. You are outmanned and outgunned on all sides. Good luck, bro.

Your eternal Irish enemy, Fenian Collins

Oakland

HOTTER THAN HOT

Temperature for April 2016 was warmest on record

Dear Editor:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported April 2016 was the warmest April on record for the globe. The 12th consecutive month the earth has recorded its warmest respective month on record. Both the NASA and JMA also confirmed the new record. The month measured 1.98 F above the 20th century average. The temperature increase around the world is not uniform. Some areas such as Southeast Asia has extreme heat while other areas such as upstate New York had below normal weather. The reason for its cold weather was a jet stream that stayed in a winter-like pattern instead of moving into a summery one. Also, it was partially due to a fluctuation in the Arctic Oscillation. In northwest India the temperature reached 123.8 F. This increase was the hottest ever recorded in India. The record temperature is occurring during a second year of drought which I discussed in a previous letter. it needs to be noted India is a very poor country and the population does have air conditioning and other means to protect from the heat . They now have a health crisis coupled with a severe water shortage. Another year of extreme heat and drought will result in numerous deaths. I should also mention, it appears unlikely the climate changes set by the United Nations can be reached. As commented previously in a letter to the editor we will be at 400 ppm of C0 2 in the near future and do not seem to be able to get control of fossil burning fuel coupled by increased Methane in the atmosphere. It should be noted we have not had a record year since 1911.

In Love and peace,

Jim Updegraff

Sacramento