Mendocino County Today: Monday, Oct. 10, 2016

• Rain Forecast
• Second Debate
• Home Games
• FB Limits
• AF Accusations
• Hospital Election
• Crazy Ruse
• Cat Trade
• Hortense Hoopla
• Yesterday's Catch
• Wanda Memories
• Social Advice
• Happy Place
• Sunday Musing
• Comment Fallout
• Firearm Insurance
• Little Dog
• AF FAQ
• No Soliciting
• Hawaiian Advice

FIRST SERIOUS RAIN for winter 2016 later this week, over two inches expected along with significant temperature drop:

DEFIANT TRUMP DENIES ACTIONS HE BRAGGED ABOUT ON TAPE

by Julie Pace & Lisa Lerer

In a debate flooded with tension, Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of attacking women involved in her husband's marital affairs and declared she would "be in jail" if he were president. Staring icily at her Republican rival, Clinton said Trump's own aggressively vulgar comments about women had revealed "exactly who he is."

Trump acknowledged that he had paid no federal income taxes for many years but tried to turn that against Clinton, too. If she didn't like tax provisions he took advantage of, he said, why didn't she change them when she was in the Senate.

Sunday night's debate was the culmination of a stunning stretch in the race for the White House, which began with the release of a new video in which Trump is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women. Many Republicans rushed to revoke their support, with some calling for him to drop out of the race.

Answering for his words for the first time, Trump denied that he had ever kissed and grabbed women without their consent. He said repeatedly that his words in 2005 were merely "locker room talk" and paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clinton's abuse of women.

"She should be ashamed of herself," Trump declared. Ahead of the debate, the businessman met with three women who accused the former president of sexual harassment and even rape, then invited them to sit in the debate hall.

Bill Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the allegations, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment.

On the debate stage, Clinton did not respond directly to Trump's accusations about her husband or her own role, but was blistering in her condemnation of his predatory comments about women in the tape released Friday.

"I think it's clear to anyone who heard him that it represents exactly who he is," she said, adding that she did not believe Trump had the "fitness to serve" as commander in chief.

The second debate was a town hall format, with several undecided voters sitting on stage with the candidates. The voters, all from the St. Louis area, were selected by Gallup.

The tension between Trump and Clinton was palpable from the start of their 90-minute debate, the second time they have faced off in the presidential campaign. They did not shake hands as they met at center stage.

Trump, who is several inches taller than Clinton, stood close behind her as she answered questions from the voters. At other times, he paced the stage and repeatedly interrupted her.

The businessman opened the debate with a flood of insults aimed at Clinton, including insinuating she was the "devil." He struggled to articulate detailed policy proposals, repeatedly dancing around questions about how he would replace President Barack Obama's health care law, a measure he has vowed to replace.

Asked by a Muslim woman about being singled out, Trump said Islamophobia was a "shame." But he stressed that Muslims must report suspicious behavior and argued that the country was dealing with "radical Islamic terrorists."

Pushed on whether he still supported a complete ban on Muslims coming into the country, Trump said his plan instead was called "extreme vetting."

Trump's campaign was already struggling before the new video was released, due in part to his uneven performance in the first presidential debate. Many Republicans saw Sunday's showdown as his last best chance to salvage his campaign.

It was unclear whether Trump's performance did anything to expand his support beyond his core backers. He did repeatedly cast Clinton as a career politician who had accomplished little during her years in Washington and would be incapable of bringing change to Washington.

"With her, it's all talk and no action," Trump said.

The political firestorm that preceded the debate was sparked by a video obtained and released Friday by The Washington Post and NBC News. In the video, Trump, who was married to his current wife at the time, is heard describing attempts to have sex with a married woman. He also brags to Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood" about women letting him kiss them and grab their genitals because he is famous.

NBC said Sunday that it had indefinitely suspended Bush, now a "Today" show personality, for his role in the crude conversation with Trump.

Trump's own running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has declared he could neither condone nor defend the remarks in the video revealed on Friday.

Other Republicans have taken the extraordinary step of revoking support for their party's nominee. Among them: Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte — both are running for re-election — and the party's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Trump used the revelations as an opening to make good on his repeated promises to throw Bill Clinton's sexual history into the center of his campaign against his wife. Less than two hours before the debate, he brazenly met publicly with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances and even rape.

Trump refused to answer questions from reporters about his own aggressive sexual remarks about women during the meeting in a hotel conference room with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Kathy Shelton, a fourth woman who appeared with Trump, was a 12-year-old Arkansas sexual assault victim whose alleged assailant was defended by Hillary Clinton.

Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their accusations against the Clintons.

"Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me," Broaddrick said. "I don't think there's any comparison."

Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Bill Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations.

* * *

IMPRESSIONS of tonight's debate: Anderson Cooper is an annoying little twit, Martha Raddatz could barely contain her contempt for Trump but was also tough on Hillary. The mutual accusations about sex crimes that opened the alleged debate were embarrassing to them and our country. Overall, seems to me,  Trump has a better sense of what's wrong but his solutions, insofar as they're discernible, are wrong. Scalia, for example, was a reactionary ideologue who did not fairly consider the issues before the court. Nobody except the lockstep political right wants another Scalia. The problem with ObamaCare is that the insurance combines wrote the legislation and are now, as predicted, gouging the people forced by the government to join. Trump's solution to the healthcare mess? More competition, and he misrepresented Canada's wildly successful single payer health insurance. Yes, rich Canadians come to the US (and European countries) to get extravagantly self-indulgent surgeries like nose jobs not covered by Canadian single payer, but ordinary Canadians love single payer because every non-frivolous illness is covered. Americans, under the present health care non-system, get screwed every which way. Trump is right about the Middle East, which is an ongoing disaster, and he said what is unthinkable to Hillary — that it will take the Russians, Iran, the French, the Turks, etc. and the US to somehow stabilize things. I doubt he could do it and Hillary has no idea at all what to do except blame the Russians and, of course, she voted down the line for the catastrophes set in motion by Bush-Cheney. Both candidates are bad news for the country. They represent a choice between more of the same — Hillary — and a lot of blustery Reagan-like policies from Trump. We've never voted for a Repulican (except Gentleman George Hollister of Comptche for supervisor) and we haven't voted for a Democrat since McGovern in '72. We will vote for Jill Stein who represents a platform that would be good for most Americans. We're all in for a rough ride no matter who ascends to the White House.

* * *

The debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper, Net worth: $100 million,  and the impoverished Martha Raddatz, Net worth: $17 million. Apparently Jerry Springer had another engagement. —Jeff St. Clair

THE GIANTS, as they've done before, will now win two straight at home in San Francisco and Bumgarner will beat the Cubs in the rubber game in Chicago. Bum and Johnny Cueto will win their starts at home this week.

A FRIEND suggests that for the purposes of voting, Fort Bragg's city limits should be expanded to include Simpson Lane to the south, Ten Mile to the north. I agree that those are the natural, logical city limits of Fort Bragg.

"YES ON AF INSTALLS illegal signs, fails to file campaign finance statement…" says Mike Sweeney of the No on AF committee. AF is the Mendo initiative written by the County's lead pot people. It would basically permit them to establish and administer County pot policy.

SWEENEY, a neo-respectable but unindicted car and airstrip bomber, is driving the No on AF bus. He found that the AF sign was, what?, an inch too large? And that AF's financial reporting was a few hours tardy. Ho bleeping hum. Sweeney goes on to suggest that the Yes on AF campaign is a bunch of crooks with access to all manner of untraceable cash-money. Which, truth to tell, is kinda true, but he's the very last person in the County to accuse anyone, including the current population of the County Jail, of wrongdoing.

FRESH PERSPECTIVES AT COAST HOSPTIAL

Letter to the Editor

Although life has taken me in a different direction, I continue to have a great fondness for this community and its many wonderful people. This is obviously a difficult election season. One of the most important decisions is the local election of new hospital Board members. Voters must decide whether to re-elect several “old guard” candidates that made the decisions that resulted in the hospital’s bankruptcy or turn to a new group of candidates, who bring fresh, diverse talents and ideas. Admissions are at all time lows, long-term debt is at all time highs (and increasing), cash flow is unsustainable and much needed repairs can no longer be ignored. Medicare now rates our hospital the lowest in the county. Kaye Handley and Tanya Smart are two people who bring fresh perspectives and relevant skills. The choice is clear: new people and new ideas. Your life may depend on it!

Kathryn A. Rohr, MD.

Fort Bragg

CRIME DOESN’T PAY; NEITHER DOES WORK

by Bruce McEwen

Jewel E. Dyer and James A. Norton, both of Willits, have a lot in common. They’re both astute young fellows with enough acumen to see that working for a living doesn’t pay, and they’re both ambitious enough to do something about it.

Mr. Dyer, seeing that his father, only 58, wasn’t likely to die of old age any time soon (no thanks to the damnable health food market in Willits), took up a baseball bat and dashed the old boy’s brains out, thereby hurrying along his inheritance of the family pot pharm.

Mr. Norton got it in his head he’d rather collect his retirement while he was still young enough to fully enjoy it, so he went on a tire slashing spree to convince the Social Security Insurance actuaries that he was eligible without paying into the fund for 45 years, like the rest of us must needs do before we can collect the benefits.

Another thing these guys have in common is repeated trips to see Dr. Kevin Kelly in order to impress upon the good psychiatrist how crazy they both were. Both their efforts failed. They were both diagnosed as competent to stand trial.

Unable to convince the doctor, they tried to sway the judge.

Mr. Dyer had been to two psychiatrists, Doctors Kelly and Apostle; he came back to court with his lawyer Assistant Public Defender Carly Dolan and commenced to argue with her. APD Dolan told presiding Judge Cindee Mayfield that her client was being uncooperative and argumentative – and Dyer shouted over her that he wanted a Marsden motion (to fire his lawyer). These motions are heard in private, so Judge Mayfield cleared the courtroom, heard Dyer’s complains, and denied the motion. Then she had to order him back to the psychiatrist for another evaluation. So Dyer got his case put over until October 19th; effectively postponing the inevitable.

Mr. Norton had worked with his public defender, Jonathan Opet, all the way up to the plea bargain worked out with Deputy DA Luke Oakley, when he decided to play the crazy card on Judge David Nelson. “Look here old man,” he said to Judge Nelson, you’re supposed to be helping me get my SSI, not taking my guns away – I come in here after slashing a few tires and you tell me you’re going to come to my house and take my – that’s a bunch of shit, old man!”

Bailiffs and correctional officers had converged on the tire slasher by this time and escorted him from the courtroom. Mr. Opet said his client had been perfectly reasonable and sane until the unexpected outburst over the guns – of which, Norton being an ex-con with a prison prior, had already been prohibited from owning.”

“It crossed my mind,” Judge Nelson said, “that it was a ruse on Mr. Norton’s part, but nevertheless, by law, I have to send him back to Dr. Kelly for another evaluation.”

Ruse it was. Back in court on Friday, Norton finished the plea without any more acting lessons and will be sentenced to three years in prison on November 17th. “What about my SSI, judge?”

“I don’t have anything to do with that.”

“Will I be able to get it in prison?”

“You will have to take that up with the inmate services staff, Mr. Norton.”

MENDOCINO COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS FACING HOUSING CRUNCH

by Phil Barber

UKIAH — The people who just vacated it called it “the mansion.” It had been a retirement home called Silver Birches, and then sort of a halfway house for young people who had aged out of the foster-care system. It’s a rambling, 15-room home on Hortense Street here, on a tidy block just a few streets removed from the main drag, with a Colonial revival vibe and a plum tree in the front yard.

It’s just a house, but it recently became the heart of a neighborhood dispute, and then a flashpoint in the relationship between Ukiah and its community college, and possibly the symbol of a national athletic system that has lost its balance.

Each year, young men barely out of high school pack bags and fly all over the country to pursue their football dreams. Many of these young men gravitate to California. Some wind up at relatively remote campuses like Mendocino College, which is nestled against the grassy hills outside of Ukiah.

In May, as many as 30 hopeful student-athletes packed into the house on Hortense Street, a lodging designed for, at most, 20 people. They were young, generally of modest means and African-American, in a neighborhood that skewed older, white and financially comfortable.

From the start, it was an uneasy arrangement.

“The first days those guys moved into the house, I got an email,” Mendocino College football coach Frank Espy said. “Not saying, like, welcome. It was more like, ‘We see you moving in.’ ”

Relations got worse through the summer. Neighbors complained of trash piling up, and of commotion. They wrote a letter to Espy and asked for additional police patrols on Hortense Street. Someone created a log of “Events-Issues-Problems” at the house, the earliest dated June 30, the latest Aug. 14. Most of the complaints had to do with late-night noise. Some seemed nitpicky, such as this entry from July 14: “Suspicious vehicle parked on Hortense. … Police called and made contact.”

The subjects of those police calls, some as young as 18, acknowledge they could be loud in a typical college-student way, but insist the accusations are out of proportion.

“These guys don’t party,” Espy concurred. “I expected one big party. Never got it. Never got that one big party, the kind you may see in a movie. It never transpired.”

The college kids tried to smooth things over. A few went door to door and introduced themselves. They had a big barbecue at the mansion and invited neighbors. One woman brought potato salad. A few hours later, as the gathering lingered, she called the police.

The conflict came to a head on Aug. 20, when surrounding residents led by former mayor Fred Schneiter submitted a petition to the Ukiah City Council calling the house a “student dormitory” and arguing that the rental violated the city’s zoning code. At least 25 people signed on.

Barry Vogel, who lives in the neighborhood, found out about the petition when someone knocked on his door and asked for his signature. Vogel not only refused to sign, he took up the students’ cause.

“I cannot sit quietly and know that this is going on in my neighborhood,” said Vogel, a lawyer whose office is six blocks from the mansion. “I think that the concept of acquiescence is wrong here, in this issue.”

Vogel found allies in current Ukiah Mayor Steve Scalmanini, Ukiah United Methodist Church pastor Judy Shook and her husband, community activist Peter Barrett. Their visits to the house on Hortense Street disturbed them.

They found young men sleeping on air mattresses and reclining chairs, often three to a room. The house had no heat, no hot water, paltry eating utensils and no supervision except for the older players who lived there. The carpet was dirty, and there were a few holes in the plaster walls.

Valery Lawton, whose son Alexander O’Neal recently left the team, recalled a recent trip to Ukiah to check on her son.

“I’m thinking, OK, when I get there I’m gonna make them a big meal. I’ll make a big pot of chili or something. My kid’s been living on the McDonald’s dollar menu,” said Lawton, a self-described “football mom” who works as a Realtor and program manager for the Florida Department of Health and lives in the Panhandle town of Chipley. “He didn’t even want me to come inside the house.”

Lawton described O’Neal as a nearly OCD neatnik who rewashes dishes when he’s at home. Put off by the less-than-sanitary conditions on Hortense Street, O’Neal chose to sleep in his car for a week in August. Lawton said she was losing her mind with worry.

“You can’t focus on school when your immediate needs aren’t met,” she said. “How are you gonna study in your car?”

Opinion varied on the level of disarray, though. Will Rutledge, who calls himself the resident assistant of the mansion, said: “It was never bad. We moved into a perfect house. There was nothing wrong.”

Yes, the house was without hot water, Rutledge said — for about two weeks. It was restored, then went out again as the old water heater balked.

Even more elemental than their living arrangement, though, many of the players were struggling to buy food, even as they worked through the rigors of practice and games in the 100-degree heat of a Ukiah summer.

Players concentrated on football when they were on the field. “But as soon as it goes fourth quarter, 0:00 (on the clock), you start to think about food,” said Brandon Mills, a 20-year-old defensive back from Seattle.

Shook and the other benefactors organized a response. It included deliveries through Plowshares, a Ukiah nonprofit that provides free hot meals to those in need.

All in all, the out-of-state players have seen the best and worst of Ukiah. Some neighbors brought food and prayed with them. Others were blatantly hostile in a town where big, young black guys are easily identified as college athletes.

Carlos James, a baby-faced defensive tackle from Seattle, said he and a teammate were walking along the road one day when a car full of white people drove by; the driver intentionally swerved toward them, close enough to make them jump out of the way. Two players recalled a little girl at the Dollar Tree store downtown using the N-word when she saw a couple players. To their dismay, none of the adults in earshot said a thing about it.

Quickly, the residence on Hortense became a battleground. How, Vogel and his fellow advocates wondered, could a college and its football program allow student-athletes to live in such squalor?

The organizers aired their grievances at a Sept. 26 meeting at the college, a conference attended by Espy, athletic director Matt Gordon, Mendocino College president Arturo Reyes and several football players.

School officials felt blindsided by the presence of a reporter from the Ukiah Daily Journal. They expressed sympathy for their players, but argued that the rules and regulations of the California Community College Athletic Association, which governs junior-college sports in this state, prohibits any hands-on assistance.

“We’re not giving money for housing for our non-athlete students who are in need of housing,” Gordon told The Press Democrat. “And therefore, we can’t do it for athletes.”

Those on the other side of the issue were not swayed.

“If the college says it can’t help them with housing because of restrictions, then the college has a moral conundrum,” Vogel stated. “If they say, ‘We’re going to bring them into our school and let them go hungry, let them go homeless,’ they have to say that, and say, ‘This is the choice we’re making.’ And I’m ashamed a college in Mendocino County is doing that.”

Vogel said that Reyes acknowledged to him that the housing of student-athletes has been a problem.

“The fact that the college president knew about it for 3½ years, and it’s been going on 30 years, and he does nothing, that should be publicized,” Vogel said.

Meanwhile, the owner of the house on Hortense, Dr. Robert Gitlin, told the residents they had to vacate by Oct. 7. Some had fallen behind on rent, and Gitlin was feeling the heat from angry neighbors.

Friday, the remaining occupants were packing up belongings and pondering their next moves.

Gitlin had conveniently offered some of them another of his properties, a big lodge north of Willits. No one interviewed at the mansion was planning to bite on that offer. The lodge is 23 miles from campus, up a curving road with few lights and little shoulder.

“These guys come home from an away game, it’s maybe 1 or 2 in the morning, how are they gonna get up that hill?” Lawton asked. “They say there’s a bus, but I understand the bus runs three times a day, and they have to walk 2 miles down to get it.”

Most of the evicted Mendocino players had no idea where they would live next. One, Djmitri Pierre-Lewis, said he and a friend planned to buy a tent at Wal-Mart and live in it. Rutledge said Pierre-Lewis was kidding. He may have been kidding.

“I’m staying to finish out the semester,” one player announced. But Mills said: “Going home is about 90-10 right now.”

On the field, the Eagles are 3-2 (they had a bye this weekend), and players and coaches alike are convinced the team might be undefeated if it weren’t for recent disruptions, which have included several transfers and dropouts. Up for debate is the root cause. Some players said the constant stress of coming up with money for rent and food had worn them down. Espy and Rutledge felt the media scrutiny was just as harmful.

“I hope this’ll be the last reporter we talk to,” said Rutledge, a 24-year-old running back from Tampa, Florida. “Because having me talk to the press, talking to different people, it ain’t helping. Only thing it’s doing is making me more madder.”

Friday, as many as 10-12 players gathered in a bedroom at the mansion to describe their experience. They struck a serious tone at times, but also goofed and laughed. It made sense to ask: After all that has transpired, do you have qualms about coming to Ukiah in the first place?

Several immediately replied “yeah” in a chorus. One kid added a “hell, yeah.”

“If we go in the streets and throw a football, someone’s gonna call the police on us,” a young man said.

James, the big D-tackle, was more succinct. “We had no business being here,” he said.

First of two parts. Coming next: Broke before school starts.

(The Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

* * *

ON LINE COMMENTS IN RESPONSE TO PD STORY RE MENDOCINO COLLEGE FOOTBALL

"Some wind up at relatively remote campuses like Mendocino College, which is nestled against the grassy hills outside of Ukiah." -
Uh, I'm not going to ask the obvious first question, but the second question is, why does a community college in Ukiah need a football program and who pays for all this BS and what does it cost the taxpayers? How does a little school like Mendocino attract players from all over the country? is there actually a recruitment program for low quality football players that couldn't get into any other college in the country?

Well, It won't be long before claims of racial profiling enter this conversation. It seems like Mendocino CC is intentionally importing homeless football players without the means to support themselves. When I played at Santa Rosa JC, I lived at home and had a part time job. I mean this is just about high school level sports.

It's clear from the story, that only black out of state football payers can't find housing. On the other hand, are there any white football players from out of state that can't find housing? Are there any out of state football players of any other race that wind up in Mendocino?

"Rutledge, a 24-year-old running back from Tampa, Florida." I'm not sure they are getting the cream of the crop. Time for a reality check Rutledge. It ain't going to happen dude.

When my father was 18 some idiots bombed Pearl Harbor and he had to go on a little trip to the South Pacific. I was very lucky because the Vietnam war ended before I could get drafted. If you're a young healthy man and the government isn't out looking for you to send you on an all expenses paid trip to a foreign country then consider yourself extremely lucky. 
PS The tall weeds and overgrown plants in their front yard tell me that these young men have to learn how to take responsibility for themselves.

We really enjoy the football players that are stuck here because they didn't make it as student athletes. They usually turn to crime, if they are unable to return to their hometowns.
 The SRJC players were running that prostitution ring out of the Motel 6. 
But, they aren't all like that.

Wow bigots and racists abound, both here and in Ukiah. Be proud Mendocino County.

It's an obvious question. Race baiter's like you are why this conversation can't be civil.

Well, O.J. went to San Francisco C.C., supposedly so he could get his GPA up high enough to get into USC. He turned out OK didn't he?

Dear Mendo College football players: Thanks for coming to play for our team. I wish your experience here had been a better one. Whether you stay or move on, I wish you the best!

Wishes and prayers on the taxpayers dime. Did you get involved to help out, say a bake sale or offering up the spare room in your house or converting your garage to off campus housing? I didn't think so.

No parties or loud music? Dont believe it. I wouldnt want to live next to them either!!!

You know it would only be country music, don't you?

Wow, pretty messed up, but you think these guys would want to make themselves presentable for the pictures instead of having their hands in their pants.

It's the pretend cool of the wanna be stars of tomorrow.

Sounds like bad planning all the way around.

* * *

WHERE'S THE COLLEGE'S BOARD OF TRUSTEES?

Re: Article in today's PD about the college football team

Hello Janet [Chaniot]--You don't know me, but when I looked up College Board members, your name was one I knew.

Anyway, it seems to me that the Board of Trustees needs to direct President Reyes to find a solution to housing and feeding the college's football team, or drop football. Apparently, he couldn't figure this out on his own.

Please consider bringing this matter before the Board as soon as possible.

Thank you very much,

Janie Sheppard

* * *

From: Janet Chaniot <kiks@pacific.net>

To: Jsheppard <jsheppard@pacific.net>

Cc: Arturo Reyes <areyes@mendocino.edu>, tomkjohn@mchsi.com

Subject: Re: Article in today's PD about the college football team

Dear Janie,

The board is aware and has asked to be informed about all efforts to resolve the issues, not just for this year but for the future, involving the players and the football program.

Thank you for your concern.

Janet Chaniot, MLCD Trustee

* * *

101 HORTENSE, aka, the Mendocino College football team. The coach, the athletic director and the college president are saying they know nothing about their recruited players' living situations. The college's trustees are, so far, at least until tonight's ava blog, also silent. And the City of Ukiah, whose mayor says he's upset that 30 kids were stuffed into 101 Hortense by its unscrupulous owner, Dr. Gitlin, who rented that rambling slum for $9,000 a month, had no idea that the college was involved. Ukiah’s $250,000/year city manager has not been heard from.

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 9, 2016

CHARLES DUNCAN, Willits. DUI, probation revocation.

KIANA FLORES, Redwood Valley. Paraphernalia, probation revocation.

WHITNEY HAMILTON, Willits. Under influence.

ARION KELSEY, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

ROBERT MYERS III, Redwood Valley. Battery, parole violation.

REGINALD NUNEZ, Ukiah. Child endangerment, vandalism.

OSCAR OJEDA, Yorkville. DUI, no license.

RICHARD ORTIZ, Second degree robbery, resisting, probation revocation.

CHRISTOPHER RENNACKER, Fort Bragg. Domestic assault, probation revocation.

WILLIAM RETZLOFF, Redwood Valley. Fighting, contributing, drunk in public, probation revocation.

DANIEL ROCKEY II, Willits. Probation revocation.

ISIDRO RODRIGUEZ JR., Ukiah. DUI.

ROSALIE ROJAS, Ukiah. DUI-drugs.

BRYAN SCOTT, Hopland. Resisting.

ZACHARY SIMONS, Ukiah. Grand theft, drunk in public, paraphernalia, probation revocation.

DELILAH SMITH, Ukiah. Forgery.

BRANDON STONE, Fort Bragg. Community supervision violation.

GORDON BLACK WRITES:

Subject: Wanda

Editor,

David Jones, former owner of the Sea Gull Bar & Restaurant, where much happened, has posted some Wanda Tinasky reminiscence on his blog:

http://thinkinthemorning.com/the-wanda-tinasky-affair/

* * *

ED NOTE (regarding the final “comment” by “Gordon” (Black) at the end of the linked story: As a matter of historical, chronological fact, Wanda was kicked out of the Commentary and found a home at the AVA where she was appreciated and celebrated and where her final letters appeared.

A READER ASKS, "What to tell a 10-year-old daughter? Why hasn’t Mr. Trump outgrown the locker-room talk? These are among the questions being asked across the country."

WHEN I was raising ten-year-olds I told them that most people were nuts and to never be surprised by anything that people do or say.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I think some people are in their happy place when they’re angry at others. They’re the ones who’re always criticizing what others have to say. I’m pretty sure from reading the posts on the news around town that most of Humboldt should be on psychotropic meds. So hopefully their anger doesn’t spill over landing them in jail, or prison. Yes, it is happening all over the country, but Eureka was also named the second most dangerous city in California… the chance of being a victim of a crime in Eureka is 1 in 13. And from the news it seems like Fortuna isn’t very safe anymore either.

CASTING THE SECOND STONE

“Mr. AVA,

Must have been a slow news day Bubba…

Anyways, I did a little surveying of my own yesterday, in my limited world, not nearly as intellectual as yours likely is.

I ask three men and two women about the Trump dust up. The men said, “Hell yea”, they have heard stuff like that and said it too, in an altered state of course…. Two support Trump secretly I suspect, and the third thinks Trump is a turd.

The women said, “You should hear us after a drink or two. I suspect that’s true after hearing stories of “girls night out” at a male stripper bar, altered state influenced…

Interestingly one of the women, a professional type, seemed puzzled at the feigning of the newly minted holy roller, ratings driven media…She thought it stupid going both ways.

Oh yea, one is voting for Clinton, the other, I have no idea.

I guess the point is, we’re all flawed, some more obvious than others, but since you got all Biblical (Timothy 5:2), what about that casting the first stone stuff, since its Sunday and all?)”

ED NOTE: Sunday is a day set aside by God for rest and contemplation. What better time to consider our sins?

A NEW POLL released Sunday morning shows that a majority of Republican voters want the party to stand by Trump in the wake of recently-published sexually explicit comments he made in 2005. Three-quarters of GOP voters believe Trump should still receive support from the party at large, which just 13 percent said the RNC should abandon him, according to the Politico/Morning Consult poll. Additionally, just 48 percent of Republican voters said the recorded remarks, published Friday by The Washington Post, make them view Trump less favorably, and 36 percent said it did not affect how they view him. The comments have caused a crisis situation for the party, with a plethora of elected GOP leaders declaring they can no longer support the Republican nominee. The poll gave Hillary Clinton a four-point lead, 42 to 38, over Trump, with Gary Johnson pulling 8 percent.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY NUMBER TWO

Let me try to help you understand about guns. You and your family are at home. He wants to come into your house and take you and the family hostage. Your choice, call the police and then they will surround the house and try to talk this cop killer out of the house without killing you and maybe using your wife and or daughter for some amusement one last time before he goes up to prison. As this is happening you tell your family that you love them and gosh, you are sad you are forced to let this happen to them.

First, I am talking about me and people like me. You know, those of us who no longer owe our country a military obligation. He comes to my house. I love my family and am willing to defend them to the death. I get out my firearm that Uncle Sam taught me to use, the firearm that I have practiced with time-to-time to stay proficient. He crashes through my door. He is hit by double OO buckshot. He dies, I call the carpet cleaners.

Dangerous tools are not for everyone. No one says you have to have a firearm. I doubt that I will ever have to use a firearm to defend myself or my family. I also have life insurance, car insurance and homeowners (fire) which I don't ever expect to use. But if I need it, I will sure be glad that I had the foresight to have it. Guns are like that. You don't need until you need it, and then you really need it.

LITTLE DOG WITH BOOMERANG

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MEASURE AF (The “Heritage Act”), 10/4

Mary Pat Palmer, M.A. Registered Herbalist

Cannabis Therapy Consultant

The Philo School of Herbal Energetics

www.herbalenergetics.com

("Ideas are what live forever" - Graham Hancock

Green Blessings,

* * *

What is Measure AF?

Measure AF —The Mendocino Heritage Act, is a Mendocino voter initiative on the November ballot to tax and regulate all commercial medical cannabis activity in unincorporated Mendocino County. It was written to be in accord with new state laws governing commercial medical cannabis activity and Mendocino County’s existing agricultural ordinances and zoning provisions.

Why do we need AF?

In 2015, the State of California passed historic legislation to regulate medical cannabis, the Medical Cannabis Regulation & Safety Act (MCRSA). The MCRSA designates medical cannabis as an agricultural product, to be regulated by the Department of Agriculture. The MCRSA specifically states that prospective participants in this newly regulated industry may not obtain state licenses unless they first obtain locally issued permits, thus opening the doors for counties and cities to follow suit and regulate locally.

Isn’t County Government working on their own ordinance?

Community stakeholders have been working for years with the Board of Supervisors, County Staff and the Agricultural Commissioner to educate them about the cannabis industry and regulation needs. This year the Board of Supervisors created a draft ordinance for cultivation, which is currently under environmental review, and we do not know when this review will be complete.

In the interim the County passed a special urgency ordinance for cannabis cultivation, which offered permits to over 300 Mendocino cannabis farmers before it was closed to applicants, due to a lawsuit leveraged from a local organization,The Black Tail Deer Association. This limited permitting program expires in the Spring. There is a strong possibility for further lawsuits against the county’s permanent cultivation draft ordinance once it emerges from environmental review.

Does AF have to go through an environmental review?

Voter initiatives are written by citizens, not government agencies with significant staff support, legal teams and review budgets. Voter initiatives are exempt from CEQA review (California Environmental Quality Act) based on legal precedent in California, which means that this policy is less vulnerable to costly lawsuits and delays.

What does AF have to do with state law?

If Measure AF is adopted, it will be implemented in conjunction with state laws, namely the Medical Cannabis Regulation & Safety Act (MCRSA) and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Boards’ Cannabis Cultivation Waste Discharge Program. This tandem regulation system mandates rigorous environmental protections and sets quality & safety standards for operations & management practices.

Can AF be amended?

Policy must change over time. Measure AF is amendable, and it empowers the Board of Supervisors to make changes to the permitting program to continue to meet the needs of all county residents as of June of 2018. The only provision is that any amendments be made in alignment with the intent of this voter initiative stated in the opening statements:

The voters of Ca passed Prop 215 in 1996.

Prop 215 is intended to help relieve patients by supporting access to medical cannabis.

The California Medical Marijuana Program Act allows cannabis patients & caregivers to operate cooperatively.

MCRSA is state law regulating commercial medical cannabis activity.

Cannabis has cultural & economically significance to Mendocino County, and encourages farmers to work in a

sustainable way.

The people of Mendocino county desire to have a regulated cannabis industry and to stop the negative impacts of

the black market.

All information about citizens operating under this ordinance will be kept confidential.

Does AF offer permitting for all cannabis activity?

The County draft ordinance would only permit cultivation & nursery operations, leaving out permitting for manufacture, transportation, distribution, testing & dispensaries. Measure AF permits all of these activities, mirroring the state licenses being offered by MCRSA.

Why was Measure AF drafted as a citizens initiative & who wrote it?

Measure AF was written by small farmers and local business owners with input from our friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, professional & agency advisors, and Mendocino County residents that have been impacted by an unregulated industry. It was a thoughtful process to regulate the industry for the benefit of the entire community. With over 4,000 petition signatures, Measure AF qualified for the November 2016 ballot. Measure AF was written to meet the immediate & urgent needs of our community in this local climate of regulatory uncertainty.

Did AF include a public review process?

Public review is a process mandated in the development of county legislation by elected officials working on behalf of their voter’s interests. It is a form of checks and balances ensuring stakeholder input and limiting the abuse of public office. Measure AF is a voter initiative, which is a form of lawmaking in which citizens draft a proposed law, demonstrate significant public support for the proposition, validated by number of supporting signatures collected (in this case 4,000), in order to qualify for the ballot. It is then up to the will of the voters to decide if this citizens initiative becomes law. A voter initiative is by definition entirely a public review process.

How does AF protect our environment?

In order to understand how AF protects our environment, you first have to understand the complex regulatory system that AF will be implemented within, and how this relates to various local and state agencies, and their various mandated standards.

AF requires that local agencies responsible for issuing County permits first establish standard operating procedures and regulations therein that match or exceed state mandated standards. The Mendocino County Department of Planning and Building Services for manufacturing, transportation & distribution permits; Mendocino County Health and Human Services for dispensary & lab testing permits. The Mendocino County Department of Agriculture will issue permits for cultivation, the operating requirements for which are outlined in AF and further subject to requirements outlined in state law. The Department of Pesticide Regulation will promulgate pesticide use regulations for the indoor or outdoor cultivation.

Measure AF will be implemented in tandem with both state MCRSA licenses and the provisions of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQB) Cannabis Cultivation Waste Discharge Program, which will be enforced by a joint task force comprised of multiple agencies; Ca Water Board, Fish & Wildlife and Local law enforcement.

MCRSA licensing will be issued under the purview of: The Department of Food and Agriculture for cultivation licenses; the Department of Public Health for manufacturing licenses; and the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation within the Department of Consumer Affairs is responsible for issuing distribution, transportation, laboratory testing, and dispensary (sale) licenses.

NCRWQCB requires performance standards for cultivation site conditions: a. Site maintenance, erosion control and drainage features b. Stream crossing maintenance and improvement c. Stream and wetland buffers

1. Spoils management e. Water storage and use f. Irrigation runoff g. Fertilizers and soil amendments h. Pesticides i. Petroleum products and other chemicals j. Cultivation-related wastes k. Refuse and human waste, and l. Remediation, cleanup, and restoration activities

Commercial cannabis activity in California, and any city or county therein, will be operating within the most tightly regulated agricultural industry in history, with rigorous environmental protections mandated throughout, enforced by the combined agencies involved.

Will AF allow commercial cannabis grows in every zone in the county?

As of Jan 2016 the State of California recognized cannabis as an agricultural product to be regulated by the Department of Agriculture. Mendocino County’s Ordinance Code for Agriculture says : It is the declared policy of this County to conserve, protect and encourage intensive agricultural production. County code defines agricultural to include horticulture and row & field crops, which now by state law includes cannabis.

Scale and types of operations permitted by AF vary based on zoning & acreage limits. In current County zoning code

agricultural activity is a principal permitted use in the following county zoning districts: AG, UR, RL, FL, TPZ, SR, R1, R2,

R3, RC, C-1, I-2, OS, PF. Measure AF calls for cannabis cultivation to be a principally permitted agricultural activity in the following county zoning districts: AG, UR, RL, FL, TPZ, SR, R1, R2, R3, RC, C-1, I-2, OS, PF, the exact same zoning districts.

What is the tax provision in Measure AF?

AF adds a 2.5% tax to gross receipts for the cannabis industry. AF puts money into the general fund for schools, public safety, enforcement, mental health.

How does AF strengthen enforcement?

By drawing a clearer line between legal and illegal operations, AF strengthens enforcement, providing the Sheriff with more resources to focus on hard drugs, illegal grows, and violent crime. State & local agencies protect against environmental impacts through permits & licenses that require compliance with land use, operational and management standards, verified through inspections & management plans. The sheriff will continue to enforce activity outside of the permitting program.

How does Measure AF protect Mendocino’s small local farmers?

AF states that all permit applicants must prove two year residency in Mendocino County as well as over 51% local control of their business. AF calls for no caps on local permits, allowing for the greatest inclusion of current cultivators wishing to transition into the regulated market. Once AF is law, it can be amended by the Board of Supervisors starting in June 2018, and the amount of permits issued can be restricted then if deemed appropriate.

Will AF allow grows of up to an acre?

According to the USDA, small family farms average 231 acres; large family farms average 1,421 acres and the very large farm average acreage is 2,086.

The cost of transitioning from an individual patient/producer or a non-profit cooperative model, to a for-profit small business model is an onerous and expensive process. Costs include: permits & licenses, lawyer fees, inspection fees, development of operations & site plan, compliance education and/or consulting fees, costs of getting the site up to code, possibly new infrastructure, business structuring & development, trademarking, training, marketing & PR, packaging, insurance, tax, trade association memberships......on and on.

Sensible regulation for Mendocino county means a framework that acknowledges the necessity of the small farmer scaling up in order to survive the transition into a regulated market. This framework gives the small cannabis farmer of Mendocino county, many of whom have never operated a small business, a fighting chance. They will be entering a market that includes competing corporate entities with mighty resources, who hold permits for vastly more than 1 acre of cultivation.

There is also the consideration of the regional market. Mendocino County is part of the Emerald Triangle, a brand identity that will loose it’s value to the small farmer in Mendocino County if our county’s participation therein becomes a historic reference. Surrounding counties are moving forward with bolder regulation than AF proposes, and regional as well as statewide industry is well underway.

Will AF allow commercial cannabis operations in trailer parks?

No. Permitting through AF requires consent of the land owner. AF has setback provisions of 30′ from any property line, 100′ from an occupied residential structure on a neighboring parcel and 600′ from school or park. Mobile Home Parks are predominately located within incorporated areas of Mendocino County, which will fall under the purview of distinct ordinances in the process of being, or yet to be drafted in those municipalities.

How does AF protect neighbors from cannabis activity?

Measure AF only applies to the unincorporated areas of Mendocino County. Mendocino Cities have the obligation to draft their own distinct regulation for commercial cannabis permitting, so population dense incorporated areas will be governed by their own distinct ordinances, the development of which will involve public review.

Under AF, setbacks are fully consistent with state law, AF can be amended by the county as of June 2018, including provisions for setbacks. Measure AF will make illegal cannabis activity clear to law enforcement, and move dangerous un-permitted activities out of neighborhoods and into licensed facilities.

Cannabis’ new designation by the state of California as an agricultural product means cannabis agriculture is protected under the Right to Farm Act, and can no longer be subject to a nuisance ordinance. Therefore the County’s 9.31 cannabis cultivation ordinance, which is the nuisance ordinance that currently governs cannabis cultivation & permitting in this county, is obsolete. The passage of AF would position Cannabis agricultural land to be legally eligible for The

Williamson Act. To categorize cannabis as somehow undeserving of these rights and protections is out of line with state law, and the intent of Mendocino County Code.

However AF does includes provisions for proximity considerations such as calling for; lights used for cultivation shall be shielded and downcast or otherwise positioned in a manner that will not shine light or allow light glare to exceed the boundaries of the parcel upon which they are placed from dusk to dawn. AF also mandates that activity not exceed noise level standards set forth in the Mendocino County General Plan.

How does AF protect Mendocino from butane hash production?

Currently there is un-permitted cannabis extraction activity, using volatile flammable solvents such as butane, happening in homes and fire-prone rural areas. The manufacturing process of extracting botanical oils using volatile solvents is extremely common to the production of many household items; cooking oils, oils in cosmetics, botanical medicines. For example, Coconut, Palm, Grapeseed and Rice Bran are typically solvent extracted. This is a complex manufacturing process using food grade solvents in a laboratory setting. However, while this is a standard process for production, it requires strict protocols for safe & effective procedure.

Measure AF imposes such restrictions, requiring that the permitting agency, in this case Building and Planning first establish standard operating procedures and regulations before issuing permits. AF calls for permitted manufacturing facilities to maintain an on-site operating plan that includes procedures to limit risk of explosion or combustion, a hazardous waste disposal plan, a fire safety & suppression plan and a water source & discharge plan.

Measure AF proposes that cannabis manufacture using volatile solvents be limited to industrial zoning, which represents .09 % of Mendocino county zoning. Designating industrial zoning for regulated volatile solvent extraction moves this activity out of wildfire vulnerable rural communities & neighborhoods. Most industrial zoning falls under the jurisdiction of distinct municipal ordinances in development or yet to be developed.

How does AF protect Mendocino’s children?

AF provides set backs of 600′ from schools and parks. Under AF employees working in permitted facilities are required to be 21 years or older. AF will move commercial cannabis activity into a regulatory system. The black market activity which persists in neighborhoods will be very clearly defined, allowing law enforcement to focus their efforts more efficiently on illegal grows and major crimes within the county.

How does AF protect farm workers?

Measure AF mandates worker-protective standards such as; clean working conditions, protocols to prevent the processing of mold and mildew contaminated products, an emergency action plan, hazard storage & communication policies, providing of protective equipment, safe drinking water & sanitation, and much more. The current cultivation draft ordinance by the Board of Supervisors does not speak to workers rights or safe working conditions at all.

How does AF affect our local economy?

AF will pour millions of dollars into the County’s depleted general fund & tax revenue and create thousands of jobs. Measure AF will level the local playing field, making all citizens in Mendocino County eligible for permitting, provided they have been residents of the county for the past 2 years. This is an inclusive policy, providing opportunity to a wide spectrum of racial and economic demographics, as compared to the Board of Supervisor’s cultivation ordinance being drafted currently, which limits eligibility to residents of Mendocino county that can prove a history of cultivation prior to Jan 1 2016. This inclusionary policy allows for the greatest amount of local small farmers to transition into the regulatory framework.

What’s at stake if AF does not pass?

The regulatory framework that small cannabis farmers are currently operating under is being phased out on the state level. It is essential that comprehensive local permitting become available as soon as possible so that our farmers can begin the onerous process of transitioning into regulation. Surrounding counties are regulated & well on their way, experiencing exponential growth of industry and revenue. The economy of Mendocino county will be shifting as a result of these sweeping regional changes, either for the better or the worse depending on how prepared we are to leverage these changes to our benefit as a rural agricultural county.

Delayed & partial regulation in Mendocino County means enduring black market activity that perpetuates dangerous manufacturing in neighborhoods and forests, illegal trespass grows, unmitigated water diversion and pollution. It also means that businesses who want to come out of the shadows to own & operate legal permitted cannabis business here may have to relocate to other cities and counties that offer regulatory protections.

For more information, please visit our website: www.YesonAf.com

DON HOHOHOHIO

The View from Paradise

Enjoyed another picture postcard perfect day

At the beach on sunny O'ahu island, thousands

Of miles away from everything in the middle of

The Pacific Ocean, with soft continuous waves

And swaying palm trees and everywhere the bright

Colored flowers because tonight we sit at long

Tables at The Plumeria alternative travel hostel

Saturday barbecue, tearing apart the miserable

2016 American presidential election with all of

Its depressing possibilities and ramifications

And also we take note of technological paranoia

And science's full invasion of biology and cowboy

Capitalism which requires more global militarism

And so staff, residents, and travelers here are

Recommending to you, before you freak out amidst a

Devastating earthly ecological implosion which is

On the way, to have a few friends over for dinner

And agree to gleefully fight back real hard, okay?

–Craig Louis Stehr

Email: CraigStehr@inbox.com