Mendocino County Today: Saturday, March 4, 2017

• Snow Forecast
• Helen Dain
• Dam Safety
• Ukiah Aquifer
• Mack Brown
• Vagrants Amuck
• Peskin Appointment
• Berkeley March
• Exciting Walk
• Headlines
• Yesterday's Catch
• Little Dog
• Idiotic Cheerleading
• Muchowski Recognized
• PA Housing
• Multimedia Show
• Leggett Slide
• Cartooning Trump
• Canadian View
• Clean Water

SNOW forecast at 1,000 feet and higher which may affect communities within Mendocino County. Hail may be possible near the coast. A winter storm warning is in effect for locations above 2,000 feet and travel through mountain passes may be difficult. The snow accumulation forecast this weekend is:

• 2 to 4 inches between 1,000 feet and 2,000 feet
• 5 to 10 inches between 2,000 feet and 4,000 feet
• 10 to 15 inches above 4,000 feet

Please see the timing section below in the NWS outlook to see when and how much snow if forecast for Mendocino County. Snow is forecast to fall in Mendocino County Saturday through Monday.

National Weather Service:

Cold Weather System to Bring Significant Snow Accumulations Above 2,000 feet

Winter Storm Warning in effect until 10 AM PST Monday for locations above 2,000 feet.  Snow accumulations between 2,000 and 4,000 feet 5 to 10 inches and above 4,000 feet 10 to 15 inches.

Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 4 AM Sunday to 4 AM PST Monday for 2 to 4 inches of snow between 1,000 feet and 2,000 feet.

Impacts

• Snow will yield hazardous travel conditions above 1,000 to 1,500 feet.
• Travel delays expected on all major highways and county roads due to snow
• Major Highways impacted: 3, 199, 299, 36 and portions of 101.
• Small hail may lead to hazardous road conditions for areas near the coast.

Weather Summary

A cold upper-level low is forecast to move south across northern California Saturday afternoon through Monday. The cold air associated with this system will bring moderate to heavy snowfall for locations above 2,000 feet. Near the coast, small hail and isolated thunderstorms are possible.

MEMORIAM FOR HELEN E. DAIN

1920-2015

By Elizabeth A. (Dain) Karzag

Even if you didn’t know Helen Dain from St. Elizabeth Seton’s Church, the Boonville American Legion Post or from seeing her at Lemons Market or the Philo Post Office, you would recognize her once you made her acquaintance. Why? Because she would smile at you and open the door for you! Our mother was happiest greeting and conversing with people no matter if she knew them personally or not. That was our Mother. She would often embarrass us when we were younger by her magnanimous nature with everyone — and that meant strangers too.

Because Helen was consistently, Helen, one who shared life and love without reserve, if you needed a hug, you got it! Many a Philo and Boonville resident probably can recall Helen’s hugs. This “Memoriam for Helen” is a short history of a remarkable woman, who married a remarkable man named “Jack” and while living in Anderson Valley, namely, Philo, loved every minute of life and love that came to her. Below is a summary of her abundant and notable life.

Two years ago, on March 12, 2015, Helen E. Dain passed away in Ojai, California after suffering from a stroke. She was surrounded by her family: children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Helen was preceded in death by her late husband of 54 years, Jack E. Dain, and a son William M. Dain. Helen is survived by children Stella Lum Kee (Gordon) of Honolulu, Hawaii, William Dain’s widow Sandi, Utah, Elizabeth Karzag (Chris) Santa Cruz, Mari Allen (Chet) Ojai, Patrick Dain (Kristin) Ventura, Kathleen Deaton, Terrebonne, Oregon, and John Dain (Elizabeth) Hollister. Helen is survived by 26 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild, by her youngest brother Harry Gerc of Chicago and many nieces, nephews and their families in Illinois, Minnesota, Southern California and New Mexico.

Helen was the seventh of ten children born on a farm to Eastern European immigrant parents, in a Slovenian settlement in Willard, Wisconsin. Her childhood summers were spent picking beans and corn, collecting eggs, feeding pigs, milking cows, scrubbing floors, and caring for three siblings. Helen cared mostly for her youngest sister who had Down’s Syndrome. At Willard reunions, Helen’s close friends remembered how she carried her sister in a sling on her back to and from school, church and around the farm. In the winter, she carried her sister places using wooden skis. For two motherless years until 1934, Helen cared for her three siblings exclusively. It all ended when she moved to Chicago at 14 to live with her older sisters when her father lost the farm.

Helen learned many skills from her mother, had great determination and knew how to care for others. She was a nanny for a wealthy Chicago family for several years, but, in the early 1940’s, her excellent math skills landed her a job with the United States Treasury. Helen continued her nanny position, but working two jobs wasn’t easy. She wanted her independence, as she shared her wages with her sisters to help with their family’s expenses.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Helen enlisted in The Woman’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). Although, just prior to her enlistment, she met her husband-to-be, Jack Dain on a blind date. She didn’t expect much from the date, only to her surprise, she really liked this guy! Helen’s army duty took her to Camp White, Oregon, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Santa Barbara, Oakland and DeWitt General Hospital in Auburn, California working for the Army’s Finance Office. Once in the Army, Helen could only see Jack on furlough’s and in 1944 after Jack enlisted in the U. S. Navy, Helen and Jack married that June. Jack returned to San Diego where his destroyer escort, the USS Bates, cruised to war. Helen remained ‘stateside’ and endured the news of Jack’s ship being sunk by a kamikaze in the battle of Okinawa on May 25, 1945. Jack’s rescue at sea was good news for the newlywed, Helen, who was married less than a year.

Helen was discharged from the army in 1946 after serving four years in the army. She and Jack, with their new baby, both realized that they loved California and wanted to raise their family there. They settled in Chatsworth, California where Jack sold vegetables and Helen’s pies before he began an engineering job at Rocketdyne. About six years later they moved to Canoga Park as a family of five. The move was necessary since Helen had contracted polio and was completely paralyzed. The doctor told Jack that if he didn’t want his wife in an iron lung, then he had to give her physical therapy. Jack wanted Helen closer to a town, their church and his work so he could attend to Helen’s therapy and help more at home. Helen’s regaining of her health depended upon the introduction of the Salk vaccine and physical therapy. Everything they did for her recovery worked! Four more children were born in Canoga Park where Helen and Jack participated in their church’s Christian Family Movement and square dancing as they were exceptional dancers. Somehow Helen found time to type her church’s bulletin and participate in school functions for her children, especially, bake sales.

Helen showed kindness and relentless love for her children, husband and others. In the close-knit neighborhood of immigrants and large families, Helen often cared for her neighbors, providing meals and child-care. She was a terrific housewife, cook, baker, seamstress and economizer. Helen was known for her tasty dinners and desserts, especially her famous “Wheaties” cookies, cheese cakes and fruit pies. Kids “cleaned-up” their plates when dessert followed. Helen’s homemade soups, breads and pastries were life’s routine along with making clothes and hats for her family. Her children recall coming home from school and smelling the distinct aroma of eight loaves of bread that she baked every week. There was nothing more comforting than a thick slice of Helen’s freshly baked bread steaming with melted butter. The taste was glorious.

Helen had a loving spirit and amazing strength raising her children. She knew how to soothe a crying child, elevate their mood or calm their disappointment by her positive disposition. She was known for hugging her kids and grandchildren, singing to them and playing her harmonica at public and family gatherings. Best of all, if one of her children needed to be home for a day with her, she would let them stay home from school, no questions asked. Helen knew how to show her love for others. She was a gifted letter-writer and never stopped writing letters throughout her life to family and friends. She kept a calendar with birthday and anniversary dates and tried to keep up with each special occasion letting the recipient know that she remembered them. Her letters sent praise, encouragement, accenting life’s joys and above all, her love for them.

Helen enjoyed the times when she was employed for her talent in the kitchen. She worked for a high school cafeteria, a local restaurant in Camarillo, but, when she opened her own family catering business, Helen’s delicious menus were sought after by her customers.

Helen and Jack cared deeply for their fellow parishioners at St. Elizabeth Seton in Philo. Helen helped with teaching catechism to children and selected weekly hymns for services. They loved the wonderful, upbeat, fellow veteran’s members of the Boonville American Legion with whom they enjoyed events and dinners for many years. And as a veteran couple, they liked working together in the Legion’s beer booth at the county fairs.

After Jack passed away in 1998, Helen made the difficult decision to move to Ojai, California, where she immediately joined the Ojai American Legion. As their Chaplain, she organized and lead “Chaplains Day” celebrations for the Ojai community, participated in Veteran’s day events and in 2014 was highlighted in the Ojai Valley News for her military service as a WAAC. She frequented Little House in Ojai where she would drive others to parties and especially weekly bingo games.

Helen had a resilience that allowed her to maneuver twists and turns throughout the phases of her life. She survived a harsh farm life, navigated young adulthood in Chicago, survived paralysis from polio in her early 30’s, Lymphoma in her 70’s and open heart surgery in her 80’s. In honoring her life, during Helen’s last years, her son, Patrick Dain organized and invited many friends and relatives to celebrate her birthdays. Each year with Helen was treasured.

On March 20, 2015, Helen’s life of 94 years was celebrated at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Ojai with a rosary and mass officiated by Fr. Fernando Lopez. Helen’s pallbearers were grandsons Kaliko Lum Kee, William Dain, Alexander Karzag, Adrian Rogers, Benjamin Dain, Jacob Dain, and John Paul Dain. On March 22, 2015 after a prayer service, a military burial commenced with a 21-gun salute attended by Boonville Veterans, family and friends at Evergreen Cemetery, Boonville, California, where Helen was laid to rest next to her beloved husband Jack.

READING COMMENTS like the following on LCO, I had to wonder how sound Coyote Dam is. If that baby goes, in an earthquake for instance, Ukiah would go with it: "Scott Dam in Lake County holds back the Eel River. If the dam were to fail, Lake Pillsbury would flow down the Eel River watershed, wiping out communities along the way. Humboldt County communities include Alderpoint, Fort Seward, Eel Rock, McCann, Camp Grant, South Fork, Weott, Burlington, Myers Flat, Miranda, Larabee, Holmes, Shively, Pepperwood, Elinor, Stafford, Scotia, Rio Dell, Metropolitan, Fortuna, Fernbridge, Loleta bottoms, Ferndale and Ferndale bottoms."

I ASKED SUPERVISOR McCOWEN for his opinion on Coyote: "Yes, of course it has been considered. I do not believe it is considered to be an issue. In fact, when the dam was built it was anticipated that it would be raised at some point in the future and it was built with that in mind, so it is more substantial than if that were intended to be the final height. The Army Corp and local partners have been funding a slo-mo feasibility study on raising the dam. I think that would have already been stopped if dam safety were an issue.”

UKIAH VALLEY DRINKS FROM A LARGE, RENEWING WATER SOURCE, SCIENTISTS SAY

by Justine Frederiksen

The Ukiah Valley’s residents and farmers have a consistently renewing source of water thanks to a vast underground aquifer believed to hold more water than Lake Mendocino, scientists told the Ukiah City Council Wednesday.

“There is no overdraft, or mining of the aquifer,” said Sam Sandoval Solis of the University of Davis, who was hired by the city to evaluate the valley’s water supply along with Maritza Flores Marquez. “We have some periods of drought, but the supply is balanced, because half of the time there is more water in than out, and the other half of the time there is more water out than in.”

Solis and Marquez were hired in May of 2016 to complete a Groundwater Characterization Study as part of the city’s efforts to comply with the state’s Sustainable Groundwater management Act.

Since the city is designated as having a “medium priority basin,” it must have a Groundwater Sustainability Plan in place by Jan. 31, 2020, and city staff described the characterization study as the beginning of the process of “quantifying our groundwater resources.”

To characterize the basin’s water supply, Marquez said the study monitored the water flowing into and out of the Russian River in the valley, but only between Redwood Valley and Hopland because the data was dependent on water gauges.

“There is no storm gauge north of Redwood Valley, but even without that, we have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in the aquifer,” said Marquez, explaining that the study determined that there was no depletion of the aquifer storage, which is estimated to be about 120,000 acre-feet. (As of March 1, Lake Mendocino had 82,161 acre-feet).

To determine the demand on the aquifer, the study determined how much water was needed for municipal and agricultural purposes versus the recharge from rain, the Wastewater Treatment Plant and river tributaries.

Marquez said the valley had about 8,700 acres of agriculture, which Marquez said required about 10,000 acre-feet of water a year. And most of that is supplied by surface water supplies such as the lake and rain, not affecting groundwater supply.

But even when it does tap groundwater, Marquez said the amount of “recharging of the groundwater supply is much greater than the agricultural demand.

“Overall, the groundwater basin looks stable, and the gains are a lot larger than the losses,” she said.

“This sounds like we’re in good shape,” said Steve Scalmanini. “Are we bucking the trend throughout the state?”

Solis said that yes, the Ukiah Valley had more water resources than the Central Valley and the Central Coast, but it should look at this reality as an opportunity to be “proactive, than reactive,” and to make sure its water supply is properly managed.

Resident Phil Baldwin took issue with the report, questioning its validity given that the scientists were working for the city.

“To me, the supply doesn’t look stable,” said Baldwin, pointing out that since no one can know how much water really is in the aquifer, “I question why the number 120,000 acre-feet is even being presented.”

White said that number was reached and supported by looking at the amount of water flowing in versus the amount flowing out, and that the size of the aquifer would be measured conclusively within “the next couple of years by the (United States Geological Survey).”

DR. S. MACK BROWN, Optometrist

Dr. S. Mack Brown died peacefully at his residence on Saturday, February 25, 2017. Born in Los Angeles on July 21, 1934, Mack graduated from the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles College of Optometry in preparation for what would be a 50-year professional career as an Optometrist in Ukiah. While attending USC, Mack joined the Navy Reserves. He was an avid tennis, racquetball, and pickle ball player and retired at 81 years of age. As a competitive spring board diver, Mack competed at the 1955 Pan American Games and the 1966 Olympic Trials. Mack spent many years as the Ukiah High School dive coach, and was an active member in the Ukiah Kiwanis and the Redwood Empire Woodturners club. Mack is preceded in death by his daughter Vinca Hougen. He is survived by his wife Shari Brown, daughters Eva Brown, Cynthia Brown and Stephanie Brown-Barber, son Steven Brown, niece Lisa Schultz, and nephew Dave Cubberly. Services will be held Eversole Mortuary at 141 Low Gap Rd. at 12:00 PM Monday, March 6, 2017. Arrangements & Care are under the direction of The Eversole Mortuary. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

ENFORCE THE LAW, CHIEF

David Eyster, Mendocino County DA

Dear Sir,

We are contacting you to request that you take any actions appropriate to encourage the FBPD to enforce existing laws and regulations for the transient population in Fort Bragg. This growing number of homeless people has caused a dramatic increase in town of public drunkenness, blatant use of drugs on the streets, illegal camping and living in vehicles, trespassing, vandalism and robberies, littering, using the streets as a toilet, loitering, panhandling, etc etc etc.

The lack of enforcement is one of the factors attracting more and more uncivil behavior, and damage to the local economy, plus destruction of our quality of life, and lowering of property values. After 43  years here on the coast, we no longer enjoy going to town to walk around and visit friends, shop, and dine. We must remember to lock the car, and at home, a mile outside city limits, we have had to increase our security measure, as the transients have spilled over to outlying areas.

It seems that FBPD prefers to order vagrants to move on, rather than cite them for violations, and many businesses have given up in frustration calling the PD when problems arise, because nothing is done to the perpetrators, except a scolding.

When asked by Mayor Peters for stricter enforcement of the laws and regulations governing the problems mentioned above, Chief Lizzarago angrily responded that he cannot and will not violate their civil rights. Homelessness is not a crime, but when the homeless break laws, we believe our police should do the job paid for by our tax dollars, and enforce the laws. The Chief seems to forget that residents and business owners have rights too. Perhaps you could remind him.

We appreciate whatever you can do to help correct the problem of lax enforcement, and ease the negative impacts it has caused here. Perhaps more background checks would help identify the criminal element, including those with out standing warrants, and VOP.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Alice and Douglas Chouteau

Fort Bragg

FRISCO SUPERVISOR, Aaron Peskin, a bona fide environmentalist, has been appointed to the Coastal Commission. This is a good news for an organization that has endorsed condo-creep along previously undeveloped stretches of the California coastline they're supposed to protect. See the Mendocino County coastline for confirmation of condo-creep, especially in the Elk area where there are new ocean view dentist complexes (a school of modern architecture begun in Marin County about 1965) seemingly every month. Peskin isn't afraid to take on developers. Done it for years in San Francisco.

DON'T LOOK NOW but the American Weimar period kicks off today (Saturday) in Berkeley where the Trumpets plan a 2pm march "in support of the president." Berkeley as site for a pro-Trump march is reminiscent of the Nazi marches in heavily communist neighborhoods of pre-War Germany. The Nazis would send in gangs of fascist thugs to provoke the left-wingers who, of course, fought back. Trumpers are supposedly coming from all over the state while, count on it, the Bay Area's recreational rioters are padding up for a major confrontation.

EXCITING WALK this morning at the Golden Gate where, as I picked up my pace on the road to the parking lot at Baker's Beach, a large off-leash dog, teeth bared, lunged at me. He was a good 70 pounds with light blue eyes betraying a heavy wolf heritage. I swung my walking stick at him like a baseball bat, hitting him somewhere in his unfazed head area as a tiny Chinese woman hustled up with a leash, yelling, "Don't worry, he won't bite." He didn't bite but gave every indication of hostility, and he was way too much dog for his presumed owner, who was still chasing him up the hill with her leash as I walked on. Trudging along the beach to the Sand Stairs on which one regains the pavement above, a naked man was standing in the surf line. Call me uptight, but I don't approve, and, as I drew closer, saw that he was erect. I looked down the beach, up the beach. We were the only people on it. The perv's erection seems to have preceded my appearance. Either that or I've suddenly become an erotic object in my dotage. I've often seen naked people on Baker Beach, some of them engaged in the act. It's advertised in the city's cretinous weeklies as a sexual free fire zone, so on warm days here they come! But families also like to enjoy the beach, and why should an unsuspecting parent have to explain to her 7-year-old etc? Two long flights of stairs and I was at the Lookout where a street guy staggered up to me and said, "I just got a letter from the goddam government. They want two million dollars from me." Son, I said, I'm betting they won't get a dime. "That's right," he said, "Not a dime outta me."

HEADLINE OF THE DAY from the Press Democrat:

Schwarzenegger opens up about affair, Trump feud

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LEAD STORY on KRON Morning News:

"Mountain lion sighted in wooded area near Gilroy”

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IN ALL MEDIA this morning, the burning question, Did the Rooskies tamper with Attorney General Sessions? And did they rig the election for Trump? Wolf Blitzer was positively spinning in CNN's Situation Room, the talking heads on all the channels looked very, very concerned. And even the Chuckle Buddies on local television were tsk-tsking. Does this in-lieu-of relevant political action have anything to do with anything, as the country falls apart every which way? I mean really, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats as pillars of rectitude? If anyone can make the Trump Gang look plausible it's these fools.

CATCH OF THE DAY, March 3, 2017

HEATHER DEWOLF, Fort Bragg. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)

RODOLFO CEJA III, Ukiah. Burglary, suspended license.

CHAD MABERY, Willits. Probation revocation.

DANIEL MONTALVO, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

RICHARD NELSON JR., Ukiah. Meth possession for sale, sale of meth.

JOHN POCZA, Ukiah. Battery.

NATHANIEL ROYE, Eureka/Ukiah. False ID.

LOGAN RYMEL, Ukiah. DUI-drugs.

KIERA SHED, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

AMANDA SIZEMORE, Willits. Vehicle theft, honey oil production, controlled substance, child endangerment, failure to appear.

JAMES SOUZA, Concord/Fort Bragg. DUI, domestic battery, protective order violation, suspended license, probation revocation.

ALESHIA TUTTLE, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

RON WILKINS, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “I heard that it might snow tonight and started worrying about whether I could find that primo bone I buried!”

IDIOTIC CHEERLEADING

by James Kunstler

President Trump garnered props from many quarters for not acting like a crazy person when he delivered his State of the Union address, but one part of the proceedings sure made my skin crawl: the two minutes of applause for Carryn Owens, widow of William “Ryan” Owens, the Navy SEAL recently killed in action in Yemen.

This culture is so screwed up that we have lost all sense of appropriate behavior and decorum. A situation like that customarily calls for a minute of silence, not a round of applause. Don’t we know that? This is not an award ceremony? Being widowed in such a way is a grave life event, not an accomplishment. Not only have we allowed ourselves to be carried away by emotion, but we don’t even know which emotion to attach to which event anymore. And the one appropriate behavior we seem incapable of is silent solemnity — not surprising in a society beset by the noise of incessant messaging.

Of course the politicos assembled were following the cue of President Trump who clapped the loudest — and right into the podium microphone, too — and wouldn’t let up, until everybody in the chamber appeared to be hostage to his idiotic cheerleading, all in all an interesting demonstration of the madness of crowds.

Speaking of comportment and messaging, what was with those Democratic congresswomen all gotten up in white costumes? The LA Times ventured that this was the emblematic color for suffragettes back in the day. Maybe the congresswomen haven’t heard, but that battle is over. Many women actually voted in the recent election, some even for these female office-holders. The same paper also suggested they might be emulating the sacred white pants-suit that their fallen heroine, Hillary, wore for the occasion of her demi-apotheosis at the convention last summer. Isn’t dressing alike something generally reserved for junior high school or KKK rallies?

A few other notes on the substantive particulars of the SOTU evening:

The ObamaCare quandary. A fiasco for sure. Under it, not uncommonly, a family pays $12,000-a-year for a policy that carries a $5,000 deductible. That’s an interesting number in a land where most people don’t even have enough ready cash for routine car repairs. The cruel and idiotic injustice of such a set-up could only happen in a society that has normalized pervasive lying, universal accounting fraud, and corporate racketeering. I personally doubt the existing health care system can be reformed. Anyway, we’re starting in the wrong place with it.

The part that nobody talks about is the psychopathic pricing system that drives medicine. The average cost for a normal (non-surgical) hospital childbirth in America these days is $10,000. WTF? An appendectomy: between $9,000 and $20,000 depending on where. WTF? These days, a hip replacement runs about $38,000. Of course, you will never find out what a treatment or procedure costs before-the-fact. They simply won’t tell you. They’ll say something utterly ridiculous like, “we just don’t know.”

You’ll find out when the bills roll in. Last time I had a hip replacement, I received a single line-item hospital charge report from the insurance company that said: “Room and board, 36 hours… $23,000.” Say what? This was apart from the surgeon’s bill and the cost of the metal implant, just for occupying a bed for a day and a half pending discharge. They didn’t do a damn thing besides take my blood pressure and temperature a dozen times, and give me a few hydrocodone pills.

The ugly truth, readers, is that medicine in the USA is a hostage racket. They have you in a tight spot at a weak moment and they extract maximum payment to allow you to get on with your life, with no meaningful correlation to services rendered — just whatever they could get. Until these racketeers are compelled under law to post their prices openly and transparently, no amount of tweaking the role of insurers or government policy will make any difference. Note, too, that there is a direct connection between the outrageous salaries of hospital executives and their non-transparent, dishonest, and extortionist pricing machinations. The pharma industry is, of course, a subsidiary racket and needs to be subject to the kind of treatment the Department of Justice used to dispense to the likes of the Teamsters Union.

The healthcare system probably will not be reformed, but rather will collapse, and when it does, it will reorganize itself in a way that barely resembles current practice. For one thing, citizens will have to gain control over their own disastrous behavior, especially their eating, or else suffer the consequences, namely an early death. Second, the hospital system must be decentralized so that localities are once again served by small hospitals and clinics. The current system represents a mergers-and-acquisitions orgy that went berserk the past quarter century. The resulting administrative over-burden at every medical practice in the land is a perfectly designed fraud machine for enabling rackets. Preliminary verdict: congress will get nowhere in 2017 trying to fix this mess. Some things are too big to fail; some are too broken to fix. The coming debacle in finance, markets, and currencies will speed its demise.

Boos and catcalls rose from the Democratic side of the house chamber when Trump brought up the issue of immigration. Taking a position against the rule-of-law is an argument that the Democratic Party is not likely to win. It seems a cynical ploy to pander to a burgeoning Hispanic voter base, combined with a sentimental crypto-religious belief that any effort to regulate immigration is un-American. In any case, they act like people who are unable to think clearly. Trump can to some degree act independently of congress on the enforcement side of existing law, and apparently he intends to do that. Can his opponents find a position on the issue that is not cynical, sentimental, or hysterical? If not, it may be another factor in the death of the Democratic party.

Trump appears eager to continue the idiotic war on drugs that has the effect of making that traffic into an even more deadly and destructive criminal racket. It has already turned millions of small-timers into felon pariahs who can’t find any other employment when they get out of jail even if they want to try. The growing disparity between state and federal law on marijuana, for one thing, is a dangerous legal contradiction that could lead to other failures of federalism. Sanctuary cities is another one. Before long, federal law becomes meaningless and, voila, so does the United States of America. We better get our heads straight on this.

I also cringed when Trump trumpeted the supernatural rise in the stock markets since his election. Looks like a dangerous blow-off topping event to me, the ugly climax to the era of anything-goes-and-nothing-matters. Apparently, he’s unacquainted with the history of stock markets and their tell-tale behaviors. Beyond the markets, grave problems with currencies and banks await an epochal readjustment in the value and price of everything. The event could easily shut down the global banking system for a period of time, and it’s liable to be an interruption that advanced economies can’t recover from — but only re-start at a much lower level of activity and complexity than what we’re used to. Nobody can calculate the cost of that disorder and Trump is cruising into that implacable wall of woe at ramming speed. I don’t think he’ll survive it in office.

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/JamesHowardKunstler?ty=h)

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AGREE TOTALLY with Kunstler: A prolonged Standing O for the widow of special forces soldier? Absolutely grotesque. What happened to reverent silences? And the Democratic hackettes all dressed in white was, was, was.… simply weird, especially considering that Suffragettes actually stood for something…

DEMOCRATS HONORING EACH OTHER FOR BEING DEMOCRATS

Senator McGuire Recognizes Val Muchowski as Mendocino County Woman of the Year

Sacramento — In recognition of Women’s History Month, celebrated each March, Sen. Mike McGuire has chosen a woman from each of the seven counties in the 2nd Senate District as Women of the Year. Each of the women who have been selected for this award have extraordinary accomplishments, demonstrated incredible commitment to their communities and have brought positive change in Northern California.

McGuire, all throughout the year and especially in the month of March, celebrates the contributions women have made all throughout our state by recognizing Women’s History Month. It is an opportunity to highlight the significant achievements women have fought to accomplish all throughout this great nation and this year’s Northern California recipients exemplify that sentiment with unmatched commitment and dedication.

Val Muchowski, a retired educator and President of the Mendocino Women’s Political Coalition, has been chosen as Woman of the Year for Mendocino County.

Recognized from the counties that comprise Northern California’s Second Senate District:

• Marin: Cecilia Zamora
• Sonoma: Mary Szecsey
• Mendocino: Val Muchowski
• Lake: Debra Sommerfield
• Humboldt: Julie Fulkerson
• Del Norte: Kymmie Scott
• Trinity: Jill Richards

McGuire will be honoring these Women of the Year at two different luncheons, one in the North Bay and one on the North Coast.

“This phenomenal group of women continue to inspire and bring positive change to our local communities and we’re excited to recognize Val’s track record of success in Mendocino County,” McGuire said.

Muchowski, a retired educator, has been a leader in fighting for equity and women’s rights for decades. Thirty years ago, she led the formation of the first National Women’s Political Caucus in Mendocino County.

In 1989, she started a radio program called “Women’s Voices” as a way to share the activities other Mendocino women were engaged in. Today, she serves on the North Bay board for retired members of the California Teachers Association. As the President of the Mendocino Women’s Political Coalition, she organized the Ukiah March for Women, which drew record crowds this January.

ATTN POINT ARENANS! YOUR GOVERNMENT REALLY, REALLY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

Notice Of A Public Workshop On HousingTuesday March 7 At 5pm

The Point Arena City Council will host a Public Workshop regarding housing in Point Arena on Tuesday, March 7 at 5:00pm at City Hall, 451 School Street. The purpose of the workshop is for public input only. No action will be taken. A small team of graduate students at UC Berkeley's School of Public Policy is working on a project with City of Point Arena staff to analyze and assist in implementing aspects of Point Arena's Housing Element. The team will be visiting Point Arena on Tuesday, March 7 and hope to meet with Point Arena residents to hear their thoughts about the present stock of housing and possibilities for future development. There will be a community roundtable from 5-6:30pm on Tuesday at City Hall and all interested residents are invited to join the conversation.  For more information, contact City Hall at 707-882-2122 or email pa-admin@mcn.org.

DERIK NELSON & FAMILY

Ukiah, CA – (March 3, 2017) – Derik Nelson & Family will present a multimedia show featuring songs for all ages.  Their velvety three-part vocal harmonies together with a state of the art light and audio/video technology will take you on an aural and visual journey through time, space, landscapes and musical settings. Concert will be at Mendocino Little Theater on Sunday, March 19, 2017 at 3pm. Tickets available at Mendocino Book Company and online. Single tickets for this concert are $30 (adult) and $10 (youth). For more information call 707-463-2738, or visit our website at www.ukiahconcerts.org.

CALTRANS FACEBOOK POST:

This photo came from one of the two slides just west of Leggett on Route 1 in Mendocino County.

As you can see, this slide stretches a good way up the side of the mountain and continues all the way down to the river below.

While we’ve cleared the roadway for construction traffic, the slide itself is still unstable and unsafe to work on. Because of this, we essentially have to wait for the slide to come to us.

We’ve undermined the slide to help create ideal conditions for the slide to come down during the next rainfall, which is expected this weekend.

Once we’ve brought more of the slide material down, we’ll re-evaluate it and make sure it’s safe for our contractors to work on. After that, we’ll be able to begin work to stabilize the hillside and reopen the highway.

HUMOR: HEARTBEAT OF DEMOCRACY

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-cartoonist-tom-toro_us_58b861b6e4b0a8ded67b38f0

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

My wife and I have been two of the many Canadians following the last 6 months of Trump. My God, when the widow applause started off I felt so uncomfortable I went outside for an arm load of firewood (and a leak). When I came back in and dropped the wood into the box it was still going on. Back for another load and a return to see it was intensifying. Then I started to swear and exclaim the Country was so screwed up in glorifying war and warriors the People have lost all common sense. My Dad was in on the Normandy invasions. He didn’t even talk about the war. My Mom was an army nurse and when she talked about it it was full of tears about ‘boys’ with their face shot off or burnt….the burns. Then, I watch these fat suited up blobs with their frantic applause and I felt sick. This is one fucked up Country, my friends. It is scary, scary, scary for many of us outsiders.

Bread and circuses.

The next day I watched a few interviews about the Repeal, and how anything less than people paying for their insurance (or access) was just, “Plain old socialism, and we can’t have that, can we”? An aside, my sister-in-law just had two new hips put in last year up in Canada. This ex US army nurse captain didn’t pay a damn thing for it, much less receive a $23,000 bill for 3 hots and a cot. Last month my nephew had a ruptured appendix, big strong healthy bugger that he might be. Guess what? No bill, either. And on and on and on.

And now, the old USA is so broke funding perpetual war and a soon to be rebuilt military that there isn’t enough money for anything to change. Well…..except for those new 3P infrastructure (toll roads and bridges) to be built by Trump’s construction bum boys buddy buddies. Hell, anything less would be commie socialism, and we can’t have that, “Can we”?

SPORTSMEN AND SPORTSWOMEN SLAM TRUMP'S ORDER ROLLING BACK CLEAN WATER RULE

by Dan Bacher

The Donald Trump administration has been in office only since January 21, but it has already managed to alienate one key constituency — sportsmen and sportswomen — for its attacks on the nation’s key environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.

Six national conservation organizations representing sportsmen and sportswomen on February 28 issued a joint statement condemning President Trump’s executive order directing the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to revise their 2015 Clean Water Rule, which was created to clarify protections for headwater streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

The order directs the federal agencies to consider using former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's minority opinion, claiming that seasonal streams and many wetlands do not merit protection, as a basis for revising the rule, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. Scalia died in February of 2016.

“Sportsmen will not settle for watered down protections or negligence for the habitat that supports the fish and wildlife we love to pursue,” said Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, which joined five other leading sportsmen’s groups in issuing a joint statement of support for the benefits of the Clean Water Rule.

Two years ago, sportsmen, conservation groups, and many other stakeholders generated one million public comments that helped to shape the final rule. The rule was broadly celebrated for restoring protections to 60 percent of America’s stream miles and 20 million acres of wetlands previously at greater risk of being polluted or destroyed because of jurisdictional confusion, according to Fosburgh. Since May 2015, there have been several legislative plays and lawsuits filed to block or roll back the rule.

“If this administration wants to put its stamp on the rule, they should honor the years of solutions-oriented consensus on the need to reverse wetlands loss, which has been fueled by legal and regulatory confusion. More clarity for headwater streams and wetlands protections should be the baseline standard from which to improve the rule, not the target of a tear-down,” said Fosburgh.

Fosburg said it “remains to be seen if it is even legal to ignore the majority position on a Supreme Court case. Meanwhile, the health of fish and wildlife habitat is the infrastructure of an outdoor recreation industry that fuels $646 billion in annual spending and supports more than 6 million American jobs.”

The statement issued by the six groups — the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited, American Fly Fishing Trade Association, National Wildlife Foundation, Izaak Walton League of America and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers — proclaims, “The Trump Administration is undermining the Clean Water Act. American sportsmen and sportswomen call on the Administration to protect headwater streams and valuable wetlands, keystones of America’s clean water and hunting and fishing heritage.”

The rollback of the Clean Water Rule could have a devastating impact on struggling salmon and steelhead populations in California and the Pacific Northwest.

“Anglers understand that healthy fish populations require high quality habitat and clean water,” said Rob Masonis, Vice President of Western Conservation, Trout Unlimited, and founder of TU's Wild Steelhead Initiative. “Salmon and trout don’t just live in big rivers and lakes, they often spawn in small streams, some of which go completely dry during the summer, and those same streams act as nurseries for young fish during the wet months.

“If we don’t protect small headwater streams and the wetlands that feed them, we imperil our fisheries and undermine the enormous investments we have made to recover salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.  Anglers are not going to sit back and watch that happen without a fight,” he stated.

It is notable that California Governor Jerry Brown, who promotes himself as a “climate leader” and the “Resistance” to Donald Trump’s anti-environmental policies, has not commented on this latest attack by the Trump administration on the  nation’s fish, wildlife and water.

Could this because Brown is seeking to make a deal with Trump on support for the Governor’s “legacy project,” the Delta Tunnels — and a weaker Clean Water Act would make it much easier for the federal government to approve the needed permits to build the California Water Fix?

If constructed, the Delta Tunnels would hasten the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, winter-run Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as well as imperil the struggling steelhead and salmon populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.

Below is the complete statement by the conservation groups:

Statement of sportsmen and women who support an effective Clean Water Act regarding today’s Trump Administration Executive Order on the Clean Water Rule 

“The Trump Administration is undermining the Clean Water Act. American sportsmen and sportswomen call on the Administration to protect headwater streams and valuable wetlands, keystones of America’s clean water and hunting and fishing heritage

Does America need cleaner waterways? Or do we want to forsake decades of progress and allow degradation of our streams, rivers and wetlands? Those are the vital questions for the new Trump Administration and the 115th Congress.

American sportsmen and women want to move forward, not backward.

Yet, today, President Trump signed an executive order to start rolling back the Clean Water Rule, a new definition issued in 2015 to clarify what are “waters of the United States.” The legally sound and scientifically supported definition would ensure protection for headwater streams and wetlands.

The Trump administration Executive Order directs the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to rescind and revise the Clean Water Rule. It directs the agencies to consider using former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s minority opinion that said seasonal streams and many wetlands do not merit protection as a basis for the revision.

If Justice Scalia’s direction is followed 60 percent of U.S. streams and 20 million acres of wetlands would lose protection of the Clean Water Act; a tragedy for fish and wildlife, hunting and fishing, and clean water.

President Trump’s reliance on Justice Scalia’s opinion is especially misguided and must be reversed. The Trump Administration must consider the benefits of the 2015 Clean Water Rule and make sure that any revised rule does the following:

• Restores longstanding protections for millions of wetlands and headwater streams that contribute to the drinking water of one in three Americans, protects communities from flooding, and provides essential fish and wildlife habitat that supports a robust outdoor recreation economy.
• Sustains the sport fishing industry, which accounts for 828,000 jobs, nearly $50 billion annually in retail sales, and an economic impact of about $115 billion every year that relies on access to clean water.
• Sustains duck hunting in the U.S., including 1.5 million duck hunters whose expenditures invest more than $3 billion into our economy.
• Fulfills the aspirations of 83 percent of American sportsmen and women, from across the political spectrum, who believe the Clean Water Act should apply to smaller streams and wetlands, as the 2015 rule directed.

The new Administration must listen to the voices of American sportsmen who want more clean water, more fish and wildlife habitat, and new progress building on the successes of the past.

Sportsmen and women will do everything within their power to compel the Administration to change course and to use the Clean Water Act to improve, not worsen, the Nation’s waterways.”

For more information, please contact:

Kristyn Brady
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
(617) 501-6352
kbrady@trcp.org

Jan Goldman-Carter
National Wildlife Foundation
(202) 797-6894
goldmancarterj@nwf.org

Steve Moyer
Trout Unlimited
(703) 284-9406
smoyer@tu.org

Jared Mott
Izaak Walton League of America
(301) 548-0150 ext. 224
dmerritt@iwla.org

Ben Bulis
American Fly Fishing Trade Association
(406) 580-6887
ben@affta.org

Katie McKalip
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
(406) 240-9262
McKalip@backcountryhunters.org