- Woof!
- Let Redwood Children's Do It
- White Lightning, A True Mendo Story
- How To Fix Social Security
- Whatever
- Shock Therapy
- Thundering Silence On The First Day Of 2017
WOOF!
Editor,
I wonder where you get your information regarding the shelter. I wish I could agree with you. I'm not aware of any significant improvements in the care the animals receive. The shelter situation is as bad as it ever was and the animals suffer from neglect and insufficient veterinary care on a daily basis. And the Ukiah shelter is as of today NOT no-kill shelter.
Monika Fuchs
Philo
ED NOTE: What ever happened to the inmate crews who used to help out?
LET REDWOOD CHILDREN'S DO IT
To the Editor:
The failure of Measures AG/AH is a good thing for Mendocino County. AG was written by good hearted people but deeply flawed. It missed one basic fact — the County has proven decade after decade that it can’t properly manage mental health services.
Mendocino County needs an inpatient psychiatric facility for adults and juveniles. It needs to be in Ukiah. And it needs to be owned and operated by a health care company with a long and respected history of offering psychiatric care. At the same time mental health services need to be handled by a non-profit with a long history of comprehensive quality care. There is no reason for the County to be involved in any way.
To me the best way to get mental health services finally back on track is for the County, as soon as possible, to turn everything over to RCS. RCS has proven that they can offer quality children’s services. It’s time to allow them the opportunity to do the same with adult services. They already have part of the contract. It’s time to give them the entire thing.
Let RCS work with Adventist Health when it comes to opening an inpatient facility. Let RCS handle psychiatrist services. Let RCS handle everything. Get the County out of it.
I’ve had the extreme pleasure of working with RCS’s crisis team. Their dedication is inspiring. Mendocino County hasn’t seen this level of caring and dedication in over a decade. They have significantly improved crisis response times and services. This is an area I am well versed in having helped develop the County’s former, highly successful Crisis Service Center.
The people of Mendocino County deserve high quality mental health services. RCS has the capability of offering what is needed. Measure AG would have continued the mess we have been in for far too many years. It’s time to turn over all mental health services to RCS. They have proven they can do it.
Thank you,
William French
Ukiah
WHITE LIGHTNING, A TRUE MENDO STORY
Editor,
Unlabeled beverages
Long, long ago in dog years, around 1972, in a dog-eared little town on the Mendocino Coast, a small crew of young People were looking for something 'to do,' as was their custom. There's always a lot to do, so you can guess their perceived ennui was a fantasy they lofted between them; you know how these 'intelligent' bipeds are. Anyway, they decided they'd distill their own entertaining things to drink, and dispersed across the land to look for information and hardware. Much to their surprise, they found right on Main Street the ready-made copper kettle, brass pressure head, gasket and clamp, and hand-bent coil of copper tube, maybe ten feet long if straightened out. All the necessary gear was stashed at the sheet-metal shop, collecting dust. The proprietor had been a police official in town during the alcohol Prohibition Stupidity, and he said he still (if you'll pardon the expression) had a shed full of confiscated copper vessels and fittings. (In Winter, it was easy to see who in town was 'cooking.' Stills were usually placed in attic spaces, so on icy mornings, the roofs covering criminals were wet and black, mostly frost-free.) The youngsters scurried off to Safeway (back when it was across from the cop-shop) and bought several gallons of Pink Chablis (easy, now!), some yeast, and a five pound bag of sugar...just for experimental purposes. Subsequently, a sacrometer purchased from a curious but discreet Mr. Champaignier at the pharmacy showed that the first condensate to appear crystal-clear from the pipe was 197-proof, or real close to All-Alcohol. Imagine the joy this engendered immediately, and for some time later. You heard remarks like, '...dangerously smooth...', and '...perfectly lethal...', and '...you better drive, you're too drunk to sing!'... What was also remarkable, and seemed to go entirely without note in their revelries among our 'masters,' was the criminology lesson glaring down on the whole deal. This demonstration of a de facto connection between crime and crime-fighters was too close to the stark views of both Mickey Cohen, and Malcolm X. These two People, both of whom were in positions to damned-well know whereof they spake, said organized crime is only possible, and exists only to the degree that it is known to the 'authorities.' And it's not even a full step to the notion that you can delete the 'middlemen' if you ARE the authorities... So, next time a Person tells you how quick you learn, even with your tiny little canine brain, remember this. 'War on Drugs?!' *SNORT*... and mind where you curl up, the BigFoots are about to celebrate another 'new' year!
Rick Weddle
Hawaii
HOW TO FIX SOCIAL SECURITY
Editor,
The truth is that despite a decade of dithering by Republicans and limp Democrats also anxious to cut the program’s cost on behalf of their Wall Street contributors, Social Security could be fully funded for another 75 years or more by simply eliminating the cap on income subject to the FICA tax (currently only the first $118,500 of income is taxes, rising to $127,200 next year), so that all income is taxed, and benefits could even be expanded by adding a small transaction tax of a fraction of a percent on all short-term stock trading (a measure that would not impact long term investors or retirement funds).
Susan Hartle
Fort Bragg
WHATEVER
Editor,
Hello. As circumstance would have it I am having a little issue with the way you decided to title my last mailbag submission. You titled it: “Whatever his name was…” I feel like you were being rude to a 30-year resident and local. And on top of it you published it a little different than the original letter. Nothing too drastic, you scrambled everything I mentioned about mental health and Anderson Cooper 360, and you even plugged my inmate ID number mid-print thanstead [sic] of conveniently salutating [sic] the end of the letter. Thank you.
Jewel Dyer A#20559
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office,
Corrections Division (aka jail)
951 Low Gap Rd, Ukiah CA 95482.
SHOCK THERAPY
Dear AVA,
Having been a subscriber and avid reader of the AVA for the past 26 years, I’ve read my share of batshit crazy letters from people in the Letters to the Editor Section. I’ve even written a few myself.
But none of these letters were as batshit crazy as the one published by Jewel Dyer in the 12/21/16 issue.
Mr. Dyer, your letter sets the standard for which all other batshit crazy letters are measured. Normally, letters such as yours evoke little response from me other than a sympathetic chuckle at the absurdity of your words. But I find your 12/21 letter much too delicious to ignore. So please allow me the following batshit crazy response.
Mr. Dyer, you are a weirdo who beat your own father to death with a baseball bat. You woke up in jail where you wrote a letter to the AVA where you managed to disrespect Mr. Anderson, Bruce McEwen, and my friend Flynn Washburne.
Then you go on to complain abuot the jail medical staff not treating your nasal drip correctly.
Are you serious?
Please Mr. Dyer, hurry through the court process and be found guilty. Take your sniveling nasal dripping ass to prison for the rest of your life! Nobody cares and you don’t matter!
Alan ‘Sonny’ Crow
Soledad
THUNDERING SILENCE ON THE FIRST DAY OF 2017
Dear Editor:
It is becoming very clear that Hezbollah will again attack Israel with missiles and probably with ground troops. The only question is when will it happen. I would think most likely after. Raqqa is captured and ISIS defeated. Meanwhile, Israel with considerable assistance from the United States is developing a very sophisticated missile defense system.
Meanwhile with the assistance of Iran, Russia and North Korea Hezbollah has is building up its missiles supply with long range and very effective missiles. Israel will have a radar system that can detect missiles 600 miles away. The David's Sling will replace the Iron Dome anti-missile system which was so effective in the previous action with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has an anti-ship missile for which Israel has no defense at this time plus anti-tank missiles. Russia has furnished an updated anti-air missile improved upon the missile system that was used to shoot down the Dutch airliner in the Ukraine. They have built up a stock of about 120,000 missiles although I have read some reports it is 150,000 missiles. These missiles are a large improvement over those previously used.The big question is will Hezbollah attempt to invade Israel with the possible assistance of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps and other special forces. They also could have the assistance of Christian and Sunni units which Hezbollah has been training. Then the final question, if all of this happens how will President Trump react.
In peace and love,
Jim Updegraff
Sacramento
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