Mendocino County Today: Friday, May 27, 2016

• Bern Rally
• Judge Mud
• New Courthouse
• Cannabis Hour
• Project Sanctuary
• Fisher Fools
• 32 Poets
• Costco Appeal
• Open Studios
• Reluctant Details
• Yesterday's Catch
• Explosive Technology
• Pets!
• Retro Sunday
• Cleaner Beaches
• Ohio Trains
• Clinton Ad

"STAND UP FOR BERNIE" Today 5pm @ Ukiah Courthouse

Join us today at 5:15pm. Bernie Sanders Team Ukiah will appear at the Ukiah Courthouse. We're inviting Ukiahans to "Stand Up for Bernie." We anticipate fun, lots of honking, and a superb photo op for news media.

Phil Baldwin

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MUD SLING

FIRST OFF we've got Monterey County Court Docket #MS217018A. dated 8/11/03 when 2016 Mendo County judicial candidate, Patrick Pekin, was stopped by the CHP for a suspected DUI. Pekin refused all tests and was subsequently convicted of a  misdemeanor.

A NON-COOPERATIVE officer of the court with black robe aspirations? The indication here is that we've got a candidate who thinks the law is there to be manipulated for one's own benefit, which isn't what we want. What we want are honest drunks of the type we used to have, the guys who were driven home by the cops after the annual lawyer's debauch at Lake Mendocino.

SO WE HAVE PEKIN'S FLIER featuring the candidate flanked by the former Ten Mile judge who flashed his female staffers. When staffer complained, she got moved to Willits, Judge Lehan was shuffled off to Ukiah by then-presiding judge Ron Brown until all was forgiven but not forgotten.

THE OTHER JUDGE in Pekin's errant mailer is James Luther who, in our experience with him, was a total power lackey, the kind of passive-aggressive who seemed to enjoy maxing-out the doomed souls who appeared before him; these doomed souls make up about 90 percent of the people appearing as defendants in courts everywhere in our class-based legal system. (Luther put me in jail a couple of times as part of a DA Massini's scheme to get a defendant's lawyer, not that I was innocent, but I was the fall guy in the deal, which Luther had to have known.)

THEN THE GUY we think (and hope) should be judge, Keith Faulder, shows up in a flier featuring, of all people, Judge Vincent Lechowick. He also put me in jail, but again, I was not entirely innocent, although Lechowick gave me 60 days for disturbing the peace, more time on that particular charge than anybody in the history of the county. Lechowick presided, Queeg-like, over a raucous trial in Point Arena. The prosecutor was present DA David Eyster. (As the world turns.) We assumed during that trial that the judge was nuts and, like Luther, not the smartest guy out there in the fog belt.

WHEN LECHOWICK presided over the old Point Arena Court in PA's bowling alley, which was in the day when justice came to the communities it allegedly served rather than us to them in Ukiah where most of them live, Lechowick kicked off a major controversy when he falsely accused his court clerk, Cathy Scaramella, of stealing court cash. She later received a $20,000 payout from the County years after Lechowick had dragged her through the mud with no evidence that the charges against her were true.

(BTW, the more or less Covelo-based judge, Ron Combest, even once whined publicly about driving to PA from his home in Round Valley to hear a case!) Their honors then moved everything to Ukiah and are now about to build a brand new County Courthouse which, of course, will consist entirely of their lavish courtrooms and a few offices for their ancillary staff. Everyone else, including the DA and the Public Defender, will have to come to them.

WE SUCCESSFULLY SUED to get Lechowick's divorce file unsealed as the former Mrs. Lechowick checked briefly into Project Sanctuary. As public record, the Lechowick domestic saga should not have been sealed in the first place. (You think doctors protect each other? Try judges. And lawyers.) Lechowick was trying to hide his failure to pay child support. Lechowick, asssisted by his ethically challenged judge colleagues, brought in a visiting judge who re-sealed his divorce file piece by piece. Everyone else's domestic tragedies are public record.

IN THE LATE 1990s, Lechowick ran over a street guy on Highway 101 who the judge said walked out in front of his car. The circumstances were murky and we only have his dubious word for what happened.

JUDGE LECHOWICK seduced the pretty young wife of a Ukiah-based UPS driver by buying her cars and jewelry. The UPS driver told us all about it and always came over to buy extra AVAs whenever Lechowick's name was in the paper, mostly about our divorce/child support lawsuit.

ALL OF THIS substantiates our oft-repeated claim that in Mendocino County you are whatever you say you are, and history starts all over again every day.

A UKIAH WOMAN called recently to clear up a billing problem having to do with her name change notice. (It was our mistake and we resolved the problem easily.) She added that she had paid over $600 in total for her name change including over $460 in court fees. We explained that most of that money goes to finance the new courthouse.

"What new courthouse?"

"The one the judges are building that we don’t need. They’re building it just for themselves by overcharging you to have your name changed."

"Why?"

"No reason at all, really. They say it has something to do with earthquakes and disabled people and security and juveniles. But obviously it does not take a new courthouse to fix those problems. So the next time you're in there, ask them why they're wasting your money on a new courthouse."

"I will."

BRUCE ANDERSON, LONG-TIME EDITOR AND PUBLISHER of the Anderson Valley Advertiser, thinks The Cannabis Hour needs to include more about the DOWN side of cannabis cultivation in Mendocino County. He and I are going to have a one-on-one chat about his concerns on Thursday, June 2 at 9 a.m. on The Cannabis Hour. Should be interesting. Hope you can join us on KZYX FM.

Mr. Anderson says, “I'm looking forward to discussing some of the obvious ironies of life in a county whose primary economic drivers are intoxicants where once our economy was dominated by timber, fishing, farming of various kinds. I'd hope to keep it light, no rants about devil weed etc.” — Jane Futcher

DINA POLKINGHORNE, Executive Director of Project Sanctuary responded to our remark that judge candidate Keith Faulder “…serves on the Board of Directors of Project Sanctuary which provides shelter and services to victims of domestic violence…”

COMMENT: To the fine folk at AVA – Project Sanctuary is what we call a “dual agency” in that we provide services to domestic violence victims and, to the point, sexual assault victims. It is true that we started out as a stand alone DV agency, but we added sexual assault support services in the 1980’s allowing us to, among other things, provide advocacy for rape victims at the ER during evidence collection exams, individual counseling for survivors, and group counseling for adults who were molested as children.

THE FISHERS HAVE A NEW MUSEUM FOR THEIR ART COLLECTION—SF MOMA

by Kristana Arp

“Fools.” A painting called that by Ed Ruscha is presently on display at the newly-reopened San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It is a large canvas on which the word “fools” appears, not messily scrawled in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat, but in a neat lower case font. As with all modern art, its intent and meaning are hard to pin down. Who are the fools being referred to? Are they the museum goers who paid $25 to come in the museum and look at it on the wall? Or the museum curators who decided to display it so prominently? Or perhaps it refers to whoever spent the money — lots of it, no doubt — to buy it?

Who were these people? The placard next to the painting informs us that “Fools” by Ed Ruscha is a part of the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection. This is the same Fisher family who owns Mendocino Redwood Company. MRC has been in the news lately due to their practice of killing tan oaks in their forests with poison and leaving them standing there dead. A number of people living in Mendocino County strongly object to this practice and will soon be able to express their opposition by voting yes on Measure V in the upcoming elections. Measure V declares trees that intentionally killed and left standing are a public nuisance, which means that the parties who are doing this, i.e., Mendocino Redwood Company, will be liable for damages caused by them.

MRC is spending a lot of money to defeat Measure V. In a May 25, 2016 article for the AVA, Will Parrish estimates their spending at $254,000 as of that date. Their strategy seems to be to generate enough verbiage — referring to this or that study and dropping this or that name — to confuse the issue enough that people will not know what to think. But the answer to the question of why MRC has adopted this policy of poisoning tan oaks is simple: to make more money. They say it is only to encourage the growth of a healthier forest, but what that really means is bigger Douglas firs and redwoods for them to log. Tan oaks have zero market value.

This raises a larger question: what are MRC’s long term financial goals? A Wall Street Journal article from 2000 interspersed with MRC comments that is posted on MRC’s own website supplies some interesting details. The reporter writes: “In 1998 the family of Gap founders David and Doris Fisher diversified part of its roughly $12 billion dollar investment portfolio… For about $230 million, the family bought 350 square miles of timberlands.” This purchase was a hedge against the risk of losing money in their other investments. At this point they had a 34% stake in the Gap, the jeans emporium that was the original source of their fortune, as well as extensive real estate holdings.

Sounds like a good financial move. But there was one little problem. The land they bought had already been heavily logged by its previous owners, the truly rapacious Louisiana-Pacific and Maxxam Corporation. A lot of the saleable Douglas fir and redwood trees were already gone. Thousands and thousands of tan oak trees had sprung up in their place. MRC was forced to cut its estimated yield from 60 million board feet to 40 million board feet and to focus on logging the few older denser forests that were left.

This WSJ article describes some of the protests people staged that were aimed at the Fisher family. Nonetheless, the Fishers did have local supporters, some of whom were very hopeful about the future. “They’ll have tremendous resources, if they are patient enough to wait,” a former forestry official was quoted as saying.

MRC responded by interjecting the comment: “We are patient enough to wait.” But, as those of us in Mendocino County subsequently have found out, they are not that patient. They are not patient enough to wait until the Douglas firs and redwood trees on their land grow taller and leaf out, causing the tan oaks to die naturally from lack of light.

“Fools” reads the painting owned by the Fishers now on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Again the question is: who are these fools? You? Me? The Fisher family? Everyone who is a part of our out-of-control consumer culture?

Add yet another name to this list of potential fools, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art itself. In September 2009, the Fishers officially threw in the towel on their effort to get the City of San Francisco to approve their plans to build their own private art museum at the Presidio. Instead they decided to lend their 1,100 piece collection of modern art to SF MOMA and to donate a large part of the $305 million needed to build a new wing that would house it.

But there was a catch. The museum had to agree that 75% of the works exhibited at all times in the museum had to come from the Fisher collection. Instead of having a private museum for their art collection the Fishers now have a public museum housing it in a snazzy new building designed by a cutting edge architect. And I’ll bet that, unlike the rest of us, they don’t have to pay $25 when they want to go visit it either.

What is the dollar value of the Fisher’s 1,100 piece art collection? The cognoscenti agree that it is one of the finest private collections in the world. The San Francisco Chronicle estimates that it “would be appraised in nine figures.” I’ll count the zeroes for you: that means that it is worth more than $100 million.

I could find no record of what the Ed Ruscha painting “Fools” last sold for. But a work highly similar to one the Fishers own, an Andy Warhol “Triple Elvis,” sold for $81,925,000 in November 2014.

Again, for the arithmetic impaired, that is approximately $82 million. The “Triple Elvis” the Fishers own must be worth a similar sum, which means that the total value of their collection must be much higher than a mere $100 million. You can see the Triple Elvis the Fishers own at SF MOMA now. It is a gigantic silkscreen of three identical images of Elvis taken from a publicity still for a movie showing him dressed in cowboy garb pointing a six gun at the viewer. (The image was printed in various combinations on thirteen canvases that are all now worth millions. This work lacks the speech bubbles found in the paintings of comics characters by Roy Lichtenstein, so we are free to imagine what Elvis might be saying. How about: “Put up your hands, it’s a stick-up.”

If you multiply my estimated value of the Fishers’ own “Triple Elvis” by three, it is more than what they reputedly paid for 350 square miles of redwood forests in 1998. Three silkscreen Elvises times three is equal in dollar value to millions and millions of trees.

Is this logical? Aren’t redwood trees works of art too, works of art crafted by the forces of nature? No doubt some people consider redwood trees to be more beautiful than any piece of modern art. After the Fishers acquired their version of “Triple Elvis” they were perfectly content to let it just sit there on the wall. In fact, they recently spent a lot of money to create the perfect wall on which to hang it. The redwoods they own, on the other hand, have to earn their keep. They can’t just sit there until they grow tall, tall enough to cause the tan oaks to die out because of lack of sunlight. The tan oaks have to be taken out immediately, letting the redwoods grow bigger as soon as possible so that they can be “selectively logged.”

But, someone might object, a lot of people get the pleasure of viewing “Triple Elvis” at this wonderful redesigned museum. Well, a lot of people are thrilled to encounter redwood trees close up too. If the Fishers displayed some especially magnificent trees in a preserve with public access, people might flock to it. Remember when Joni Mitchell sang about taking all the trees and putting them in a tree museum?

In any case, the inhabitants of Mendocino County definitely should make plans to travel to San Francisco to view the Fisher collection at the new SF MOMA. After all, our County helped pay for it. Besides, all sarcasm aside, the art is marvelous and the new architecture truly awe-inspiring. In addition, if you feel a little homesick for the forests you left behind once you get there, you can always go see a piece of art by Carl Andre the Fishers acquired in 2007.

Called “9th Cedar Corner,” it consists of 45 three foot high 12 inch by 12 inch blocks of wood arranged in a triangle and pushed into a corner. Of course it is disappointing that it is not made of redwood, but of Western red cedar. Why is that, I wonder? Who knows what lay behind the artist’s choice of materials? Maybe redwood was too expensive.

32 POETS IN MENDOCINO

The 41st Anniversary Mendocino Spring Poetry Celebration, in its 11^th annual revival, hosted 32 poets Sunday May 22 at The Hill House in Mendocino. Lively numbers!

Poets reading were Dan Essman, Oasis, Devreaux Baker, Riantee, Jabez Churchill, Jay Frankston, Marilyn Motherbear, Gordon Black, Dan Roberts, Notty Bumbo, Mark McGovern, Theresa Whitehill, ruth weiss, Janet DeBar, Linda Noel, Scott Croghan, Janferie Stone, Tara Sufiana, Carolyn Hawley, Michael Riedell, Lorna Sides, Virginia Sharkey, Sam Edwards, Charles Hodges, Bill Bradd, Jacquelyn Cisper, Frieda Feen, Roberta Werdinger, Daniel Nealand. Mariano Gaos, Zo Abell, and Zia Cattalini. Past and present Poets Laureate of Ukiah attending were Linda Noel, Theresa Whitehill, Jabez Churchill, and newly appointed Michael Riedell. The event producer was Gordon Black. The poems were recorded by Dan Roberts for broadcast on KZYX&Z in coming weeks on Dan’s program of music and poetry, RhythmRunningRiver, heard from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on alternate Sundays, sung to the world on the Web at kzyx.org. Here are photos of the 32 poets in performance. Click the pic for the poet's name and a full view:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10207885720355490.1073741830.1070514439&type=1&l=777c43e5b5

HEARING SET FOR NEXT MONTH IN COSTCO APPEAL

by Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal

A hearing has been set in the First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco for the lawsuit stalling construction on a Costco warehouse in Ukiah. According to the court, the hearing has been put on the calendar for June 15 at 9 a.m. in San Francisco. Without the lawsuit, the warehouse could have been built in the fall of 2014, and many residents worry if the delay will make Costco officials lose interest in doing business in the city. “Are they getting discouraged by the whole process?” Ukiah Planning Commission Chairman Mike Whetzel asked Planning Director Charley Stump earlier this year. “From the day the lawsuit was filed, they knew it was possible for it to go to appellate court,” Stump said. “They know what it means to go through this stall exercise, as I call it.” Stump said while Costco is paying attorneys to represent its side in court, the city has hired “outside (California Environmental Quality Act) lawyers to assist, so we’ve got a very good legal team.” The lawsuit alleges that the environmental impact report for the project should not have been certified, and was originally filed in early 2014 by Davis attorney William Kopper on behalf of a group of four people calling themselves “Ukiah Citizens for Safety First.” The plaintiffs at the time included two employees of Lucky and two employees of FoodMaxx, but all have since removed their names. The only name still attached to both the group “Ukiah Citizens for Safety First” and the appeal is Kopper’s, as he has refused all requests to reveal any other names. In May of 2015, a Mendocino County Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit, but two months later Kopper appealed that decision, which so far has delayed the project another year. At next month’s hearing, Rapport said Kopper is expected to present oral arguments, then an attorney representing Costco and another representing the city will speak. He said the court typically prepares a draft decision prior to such hearings, so he did not expect too long of a wait for a final decision to be announced.

(Courtesy, The Ukiah Daily Journal.)

OPEN STUDIOS, ANDERSON VALLEY

The Anderson Valley Open Studios Art Tour is coming Memorial Day Weekend on Saturday, May 28 through Monday, May 30. This is an opportunity to see the environment in which the art is made but also to speak directly with the artists about their creative process.

Open Studios showcases the work of 15 artists working in a variety of artistic media, including ceramics, jewelry, abstract and representational painting, drawing, collage, asemblage and sculptural mixed media.

Ten studios and two exhibition spaces stretching from Boonville to Navarro will be open free to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A tour map at www.andersonvalley-artguild.org and signs along Highway 128 will guide the way.

In downtown Boonville, start at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds dining hall where famed artist Maire Palme will exhibit her airbrush oil paintings. Next, look for Xenia King’s studio on Farrer Lane to view her abstract paintings, oil pastels and photomontage works.

For more abstract works, make the small detour off Hwy. 128 onto Mountain View Road for a short distance and then onto Ornbaun Road to the studio of Ashley Jones and his Jackson Pollack inspired paintings.

Retracing your steps back to Hwy. 128, proceed west to Anderson Valley Way. Four artists create their art along this quiet lane that parallels Hwy. 128.

Kathryn Porter works in porcelain and stoneware to create her high fired, custom glazed pots. Antoinette von Grone’s lovely studio setting is a place to view her paintings, which portray nature’s beauty from her unique realist perspective. Sharing Antoinette’s studio is her student, Cozette Ellis, showing a series titled “Kings and Queens.” Finally, stop to view the oil and watercolor landscapes of Yoriko Kishimoto at her studio located at an 1880 historic Victorian house.

Next, a scenic drive west on Hwy. 128 will take you to the art activity centered in the Philo area. First, make a stop at Scharffenberger Cellars in downtown Philo, where an exhibit of Anderson Valley Art Guild art (running through July 7) features many of the artists on the tour. After viewing the show, proceed west to visit more studios.

At the junction of Hwy. 128 and Holmes Ranch and Clark roads, three more studios can be found. On Holmes Ranch Road at the studio of Jan Wax and Chris Bing, lizards, dragonflies and other wildlife decorate functional pottery forms in their signature green, red and black glazes.

Jan Wax, a potter, and her husband, Chris Bing, a sculptor, have combined their skills with clay for more than 30 years to make their nature-inspired porcelain art pottery.

Farther up Holmes Ranch on Chipmunk Lane, Michael Wilson and Susan Spencer will be showing their distinctive collage and assemblage works in their new home and studio.

Across Hwy. 128 on Clark Road, Marvin and Colleen Schenck share a studio in a historic 1913 barn. Marvin will exhibit his intimate landscape paintings in acrylic and watercolor, fine art prints depicting landscapes and dream imagery, and a new series of abstract works.

Colleen will show visitors how she fashions jewelry and small sculptures out of flat sheet metal and wire, forming miniature designs inspired by animals, nature and architecture. Her collages and drawings will also be on display.

Again, driving west on Hwy. 128, watch for milemarker 14.68, and an incredible ceramic mural, which marks the turn off to Doug Johnson’s colorful ceramic wonderland of pottery displays and studio space.

Finally, Rachel Lahn invites visitors to view her dimensional constructions, watercolors, mixed media works, and new encaustic pieces at her studio up in the Redwoods at Rancho Navarro.

The Anderson Valley Open Studios Tour offers visitors the rare opportunity to be part of the artists’ creative process while enjoying the scenic drive along Hwy. 128 through the beautiful Anderson Valley.

This tour is free and open to the public. Maps and more information are available at www.andersonvalley-artguild.org, the Grace Hudson Museum and Corner Gallery in Ukiah, Scharffenberger Cellars in Philo, many businesses in Boonville and Anderson Valley, and at studio sites during the event (follow the signs on Hwy. 128).

A READER CALLING HIMSELF MR. WENDEL commented on our recent post about the slow moving transition from Ortner to Redwood Quality management Company. He started out by quoting from our story, “Waiting for Ortner” by Mark Scaramella: "A few more meetings have been held and various agencies and companies ‘continue’ to do various amorphous things, but that's about it."

COMMENT: It's ALL amorphous and will continue to be until the supervisors ask for details and a true detailed plan. Supervisor Gjerde is beginning to do so and it's notable that a common reply he receives is in the form of a series of questions from the county employee (including Ms. Miller, newly promoted to Director of Mental Health) asking, more than once in different ways, if he really wants them to get the requested details and then, after a bit of back-and-forth, saying that if he really wants the information they will get it for him. The attitude shows that there is still a great reluctance to share details with the supervisors or general public...just like the attitude of the Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center. Their billings to Ortner ought to be a real hoot after seeing the Giving Garden invoices.

CATCH OF THE DAY, May 26, 2016

MICHAEL BEERS, Ukiah. Vandalism, failure to appear, probation revocation.

JEREMIAH BRYNJELSEN, Ukiah. Under influence.

KENTON COLBERG JR., Fort Bragg. Under influence.

THOMAS COOK, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

MICHAEL COURTRIGHT, Portland/Ukiah. Petty theft.

SHAYLA CRANFORD, Willits. Probation revocation.

THOMAS CREWS, Ukiah. DUI, misdemeanor hit&run.

RICKIE CURTIS, Willits. Drunk in public, probation revocation.

BRETT GRAY, Chico/Ukiah. Drunk in public.

MIGUEL HERNANDEZ-SULLIVAN, Ukiah. Petty theft, vandalism, probation revocation.

JOSE MORENO, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

JAMES NORTON, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

WILLIAM POWELL II, Ukiah. Controlled substance, protective order violation.

DANNY RAY, Ukiah. Drunk in public, resisting, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

CHRISTINE RODRIGUEZ, Willits. Under influence, controlled substance.

DONALD SHARP, Fort Bragg. Loitering, county parole violation.

PAMELA SIMONDI, Upper Lake/Ukiah. DUI-drugs.

EXPLOSIVE

by Manuel Vicent.

(Translated by Louis S. Bedrock)

If Borges posted a short story on the Internet, Ortega posted an essay, and Machado a poem, without doubt a lot of comments would be produced, and among them would be praise, volatile opinions, insults, and even the braying of asses. The Internet would send out this undistinguished stupid gibberish in the same indestructible package.

We can send a gadget to Mars, but have not reached the sublime heights of the poets of the sixth century BCE, like Sappho and Anacreon, whose sensitivity has not been surpassed.  Current philosophy is in essence nothing more than commentaries on the texts of Plato.  The entire catalog of human passions had already been transformed into theater in Classical Greece.  Neither the stoicism of Seneca or Marcus Aurelius nor the political acumen of Cicero finds its equivalent in modern culture

On the other hand, any idiot has at his disposition a microphone, camera, a screen, through which he can emit spherically any imbecility he desires to Andromeda and beyond.

The angle between morality and technology is separating more each day.  The former and the latter are pulling our spirit in opposite directions.  While this angle opens toward infinity, another much more diabolical one closes.  Every day the angle formed by fanaticism and technology moves closer to the fusion of the two sides of the angle into one single line. Hate and desperation are about to realize a deadly synthesis with some ready made explosive that can be acquired in any drug store.

At this rate the day will soon arrive when some character whose girlfriend has abandoned him will be able to destroy an entire block just for spite. Technology has made it possible for all of us to be at the mercy of the braying of asses that the waves carry to us and also prone to the destruction wrought by some fanatic simply to pass the time.

Have a nice Sunday.

LOKI

Meet Loki, the handsome black tabby. Loki is a chatterbox, and the second you step in the cat room, he will meow until he gets your love and attention. He enjoys lounging around in laps, getting a good amount of petting, and he will be a wonderful lifelong companion. Loki is 8 years old and nuetered, and ready to go home ASAP.

ELLIE

Ellie is a friendly and energetic dog who LOVES to play. Ellie's favorite activities include: playing, playing, playing, playing fetch, chasing balls and exploring her surroundings, and then playing. Never, in a million years, would you guess she was 6 years old! Ellie needs a home where she not only gets lots of love and attention, but also exercise and mental stimulation. She is great with other dogs would love a playmate, either canine or human. At the end of the day, and beneath her active exterior, Ellis has one of the sweetest souls around. Ellie is a mixed breed dog, and 95 pounds.

For information on our cat and dog of the day, and all the guests at the Ukiah Shelter, please check out our official webpage at

www.mendoanimalshelter.com.

RETRO SUNDAY — $1 admission all day, June 5

At Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

June is just around the corner and so is Retro Sunday! Once again, the Gardens is bringing back old-fashioned pricing — Sunday, June 5, from 9:00am to 5:00pm — with $1 admission for everyone!

Roxanne Golnar
Marketing Coordinator
P | 707-964-4352 ext. 22
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
18220 N Highway 1 | Fort Bragg, CA
www.gardenbythesea.org

HOW CLEAN IS NORTH COAST BEACH WATER?

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5650638-181/north-coast-beaches-get-a

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Over the weekend my family had to drive to Cincinnati – there is no Rail option thanks to illustrious Gov John Kasich cancellation of simply restoring passenger Rail at 90-100 MPH on existing tracks. The project already had funding from Obama’s Stimulus Bill in 2009 and was scheduled then to run trains in just 3-5 years. Even with the normal delays these trains would have running by now. Of course there were major delays on the Pennsylvania portions of I80 as there are every summer. It appears they are continuing lane expansion.

Columbus, Ohio now has nice artistic overpasses similar to New Mexico now with the Road or County in very large artistic fonts. Clermont, in the boonies outside Cincinnati, already a sprawl disaster, now has new and more sprawl. So it appears the suburban sprawl geniuses who helped crash the housing market in 2008 are still at work creating more “Geography of Nowhere” while gas in Ohio is only at $2.39 per gallon. As we know it is very unlikely cheap gasoline will continue for long as fracked shale oil goes bankrupt but “Happy Motoring” forever!

Of course Cincinnati was once a Rail hub and still has tracks which could connect various oldline Main streets to Downtown.

Just as Ohio still has the tracks connecting Cincinnati to Dayton to Columbus to Cleveland which if nothing else could run trains taking cars off the Interminably crowded Interstates.

TAIBBI NAILS IT

Hillary Clinton's New Anti-Trump Ad Misses the Mark

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/hillary-clintons-new-anti-trump-ad-misses-the-mark-20160525