Mendocino County Today: Thursday, April 13, 2017

• Upskirt Deliberations
• Leonard Pinola
• Counselor Banished
• Little Dog
• Love Hurts
• Sutro Wine
• BookingMobile
• Fierce Ancestors
• Braxton's Coffeshop
• Quiz Night
• Fatal Collision
• Yesterday's Catch
• Disappointing Loot
• Pacification
• Friendly Skies
• Foster Kittens
• Wolf Dogs
• Pot Swap
• Improv Workshops
• Usal Cleanup
• Salmon Season
• Om-diddy-do

NEW WRINKLES IN PERVERY

(Prior, AVA, November 24, 2016): A Ukiah man was arrested Tuesday when he was caught filming up a woman’s skirt with his cellphone, the Ukiah Police Department reported. According to the UPD, an officer responded to Walmart on Airport Park Boulevard around 9:33 a.m. Nov. 22 when it was reported that a man had been caught recording under a shopper’s skirt. The victim said she was shopping and looked down to see the suspect, described as a 26-year-old Ukiah man, bent down with his arm extended out. In his hand was a cell phone, and it was faced upward and under her skirt. The woman said she grabbed the cell phone and alerted a Walmart employee that she wanted the man arrested. The suspect was placed under citizen’s arrest for invasion of privacy with a camera, a misdemeanor, and booked into Mendocino County Jail.

ED NOTE: Isai Sanchez-Aquilera was later booked into the County Jail on November 23, 2016 for an offense committed on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 with a charge of “Offense Code Not In Table,” which apparently means there’s no specific penal code for using your cellphone to look up a woman’s skirt. However, California Penal Code 647(j) PC — invasion of privacy Penal Code (j)(2) makes it a crime to use a camera to look at someone's body under or through clothing ("upskirt" violations). It was signed into law in 1999. And the use of newer technologies, such as camcorders and mobile phones as instruments of criminal invasion of privacy, was not specifically addressed by the California Legislature until 2011. This section of the statute covers what are sometimes referred to as "upskirt" violations. You violate it when you: “for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person, without the consent or knowledge of that other person, with the intent to arouse, appeal to, or gratify your lust, passions, or sexual desires and invade the privacy of that other person, under circumstances in which the other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy."

* * *

April 11, 2017 — Isai Sanchez is on trial for peeking up ladies’ skirts with his iPhone at WalMart and making videos for prurient applications *(PrurApps™), a violation of Penal Code 647(j.)2, more commonly called invasion of privacy, for purposes of viewing the body or underwear of another.

It took a day and a half — almost — to pick a jury. That’s almost twice as long as the trial lasted, which started at 10:30 on Tuesday, April 11th and seemed sure to be over well ahead of schedule by the end of the workday, even though this reporter was called away before all the evidence was in and the jury went into deliberations.

A visiting judge, the Honorable Douglas Mewhinny, formerly of Calaveras County, brought a refreshing sense of style to the tedious rote of the daily courtroom routine, and spoke each of the shopworn pro forma statemetns as though he were auditioning for a role in a blockbuster film. By comparison, our local judges sound like computer-generated answering machines.

Judge Mewhinny (pronounced the way the Welch would say McWhinny, according to Jessica McBride — as if someone with a name like that would know!) turned to the prosecutor and said, “Mr. Morimune, call your first witness.”

“Could we have a sidebar, your honor?”

Deputy DA Brian Morimune wanted time to set up his video screen so the jury could see the peep show the defendant had filmed. The judge let the jury go to Schat’s Café across the street for coffee while this was done. When they came back, an advocate from Witness Protection brought in the victim.

Sherrilynn Goates, a tasting room manager, when she raised her right hand to be sworn in, trembled like she was greeting her spiritual advisor before an appointment with Dr. Kevorkian. Deputy DA Morimune, a youth with the fashion-sense and mannered bearing of an undertaker’s apprentice (and — don’t forget — a very effective lawyer), took Ms. Goates back through the sordid indignities she’s been subjected to during the abysmal incident, and he did it with the aplomb of a prince.

“Do you remember where you were, on or about November 9th, at about 9:30 in the morning?”

“At WalMart, shopping.”

“Do you often shop at WalMart?”

“Not anymore!”

“Why not?”

“Because of what happened November 9th.”

“Remember how you were dressed?”

“Boots, a dress, my jacket.”

The witness’s voice cracked, she tremblingly unscrewed a water bottle and tried to drink, but her throat seemed too constricted. She broke down and started to cry. Morimune asked if she needed a break and she said no she wanted to get it over with, then she got hold of herself and identified the defendant, saying he was the one who put an iPhone under her dress.

The video played. It happened very fast. A quick look at the floor of the aisle, some of the shelves, a shadow, and it was over. I saw nothing. Then, for the benefit of the old Luddites who can’t parse the subtleties of a technology that allows our government to view and monitor our every bowel movement (perhaps even analyze it, like a UA…?), I say, he (DDA Morimune) was an awfully good fellow to stop the infernal machine on the picture — I think they call it a “still” — of the shot up the lady’s skirts. And then — even after the advocate had ushered her (the vic) away — they left this prurient picture up on the screen…! (As a father, I felt like filing a lawsuit on her behalf!)

Timothy Pitchford of the Office of the Public Defender’s Office started right in on cross-examination with an insinuating line of questions about the nasty weather, and wondered leeringly at Ms. Goates’ decision to wear a lacy dress and (what were described as) “nylons” in November?

Morimune objected — belatedly — and His Honor, lifting his long thin hand as though in benediction, reminded the lawyers of the rules of evidence as eloquently as though he were lecturing at Harvard: “Gentlemen, I cannot object for you. You must do it yourselves.”

For Tim Pitchford, the most casual dresser in the court, to raise queries about other people’s dress is bordering on the hilarious. He has the physique and wardrobe of a couch potato (as well as a penetrating legal acumen), and it’s a sobering spectacle to see him wade into insurmountable gulfs of incriminating evidence with the valor of a court jester from a Sir Walter Scott novel.

“Objection sustained. Mr. Pitchford, move along.”

“Now, when you turned around, as you said on direct, and saw my client crouched down, with his hand out-stretched under your skirts — gimme some kinda of timing on this: After he walked behind you, and passed out of the periphery of your vision, as you were looking at the granola bars — how long was it before you turned around?”

“I’m not sure. I just noticed the person didn’t continue, so I turned around.”

“Well, was it really quick?”

“I don’t know what you call really quick [sometimes a big guy can move really quick], I just turned around.”

“How long before he made any movement — after you turned around?”

“As soon as I turned around!”

I didn’t see what happened in the video, but I heard it correctly. The vic said (with a snarl familiar to anyone who has seen a cat pin a rat to the floor), “Nice try!”

The perp grunted, “Huh?”

Click click click, of boot heels heard on the aisle then the vic accusingly speaks, “... you keep walking with your phone…!”

Here the video ends, and here we are told the vic grabbed the phone from the perp.

Good job. She calls 911 and Officer Chris Donahue soon arrives; he’s given the phone, takes a look at the video, thumbs through the time-stamp log, skips back an hour or so, and lands where he finds a similar recording (woman's legs and buttocks), and opens an investigation, which eventually ends up in court.

By lunchtime, the prosecution rested, so I got a loaf of day-old bread at Schat’s (Dutch for “treasure”) Bakery, steamed-up the office windows with French onion soup, and having exonerated my corporeal bail, waded through the wind and rain back to the trial of the century, wearing my company tie, the Anderson tartan.

Defense called a character witness, the accused’s wife, Carla Iveth (Yevette, as they say France) Sanchez, recently of her hometown Caparán, Michoacan, Mexico. Timothy Baird, the Spanish language court interpreter, had been standing by, and he (Baird) escorted Señora Sanchez elegantly to the stand.

Mr. Pitchford led his witness through the highlights of her romance with Isai in the Sanchez's lush orchards — arranged by Carla’s devoted sister, she hastened to say — on the Sanchez Ranchero, at a time (as we learned later) when Isai had been visiting his family’s orchards and was injured in a crash (this testimony he later delivered to explain his crouch). Having established as much, the lawyer asked about her estimation of her husband’s morals; he asked at length.

It was the defense's main contention that this was a grievous error of happenchance.

“Do you know him well enough to have formed an opinion of his morals?”

“Yes, I do have an opinion. And he’s a very good man. He’s a hard worker, and very faithful.”

“Objection, judge,” Morimune said, rising calmly to his full height of moral rectitude. “The part about his work ethic is irrelevant.”

Judge Mewhinney very decorously asked for a moment, bent his head studiously, closed his eyes, with every appearance of a man rehearsing a scene in his mind. When the brief pause ended he said, “Objection sustained, and I want the part about being a 'good worker' stricken.”

If that don't impugn your resume, I don't know what will.

There were more questions in this vein, but the jury — while not wanting to appear impatient with this newly minted American — appeared to be thinking "you might as well ask Queen Vicky what she thought of Prince Albert."

The ribald Mr. Pitchford — he couldn’t resist asking on cross whether the vic had anything on besides the “nylons” and whether it was a between the legs, and a shot of the crotch (Ans. yes no yes) — was such a delightful foil, in this sordid morality play, to Mr. Morimune’s starched decorum that the jurors — and remember, they all were sedulously selected, after two days -- they could lean either way… But as the proverb goes, suspense is the life of a spider.

Updates Awaited.

(— Bruce McEwen)

LEONARD PINOLA

Leonard Pinola, ‘Poker’ to many who knew him well, died March 27, 2017, surrounded by family members.

He was a member of the Manchester-Point Arena band of Pomo Indians and was born on the Manchester Rancheria on April 16, 1928 to Lena (Smith) and Harry Pinola. The family moved to the Point arena side of the Rancheria when eight homes were built there in 1938. The property was a functional ranch when the move was made.

Mr. Pinola had a large family that included five brothers and two sisters. He grew up with the majority of his maternal cousins as well as his mother's siblings and spouses, Mamie (Smith) and Raymond Laiwa; Josie (Smith) and Walter Frank and Elwood and Daisy Smith also lived on the Rancheria at that time.

Leonard left school to start working, at times working with the family harvesting fruit in Sonoma County. In approximately 1944 he began logging with his father and continued until 1998.

Leonard worked throughout the north coast, at one point falling logs at both mills in Gualala alongside his brothers. He worked as a faller for Red O’Farrell and Ralph Bean at different times. Leonard also did choker setting (wrapping links of chain around the trees to be pulled out by the "cats") to be loaded onto the trucks. He also drove "cat" and loaded the truck.

"Leonard and his brothers loved to go down to the ocean for abalone and fishing," said his daughter, Bobbie Pinola-Garcia. "If it was low tide they would leave early to get their abalone before work, bring them home, clean them, prepare them and have them for breakfast before heading out."

They also enjoyed going to Alder Creek for night fishing, Pinola-Garcia said. "The kids and all would be on the beach around the fire with hot dogs or marshmallows while the fishing was going on, and then head home with sacks full of fresh ‘surf fish’."

Mr. Pinola leaves behind his wife, Darlene L. Pinola of Point Arena, son Nelson and his wife Sandy Pinola of Windsor, daughters Trisha and Sharon Pinola of Santa Rosa and Bobbie Pinola-Garcia; grandsons Christopher Pinola, Ellie Sutton, Ray Pinola, Nelson Pinola, Justin Roubidoux, Aaron DeLeon, Marvin and Matthew Garcia; granddaughters Cassandra and Eric Isol, Valerie and Jason George, Selena Lawson, Zipborah Sutton and Katrina Diaz. Also 26 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.

Mr. Pinola was preceded in death by his parents, Lena and Harry Pinola, his brothers Elmer, Richard, Chester and Robert Pinola; his sisters, Lila Pinola and Helen Lawson; his sons Robert, Leonard Jr. and Darrell Pinola; his daughter Penny Sutton, and great-granddaughter Victoria Roubidoux.

A graveside service was held on Saturday, April 8 at 2:30 at the Point Arena Cemetery in Manchester followed by a reception at the Druids Hall in Point Arena.

BANNED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH

Editor,

There are three things the community needs to know:

I have filed a Title IX violation complaint with the Office of Civil Rights against the Point Arena school district for the handling of alleged sexual harassment of female students at the high school.

Superintendent Brent Cushenbery accused me of creating a "hostile work environment" (I think that means telling the truth) and then banned me from campus. My banishment meant that I was not able to say goodbye to my individual counseling students or to the student body at large which is very confusing for vulnerable small children.

While at home on Wednesday, March 29, I received a phone call from the district office demanding that I return my school computer that same day. My concern is this: if Mr. Cushenbery pays a professional to recover confidential information from my computer, it is your information he will be reading via confidential counseling files. I'm so sorry.

If you are concerned about your confidential information, or your child's, being read by school district office staff and board members, I suggest you make your voice known. Call the district office at 707-882-2803. Trolling through counseling records is an ethical and moral violation that does not have to be tolerated.

Arena Elementary and Point Arena high school belong to you, the community. You elected school board members and their job is to make sure the superintendent's actions are responsible, honest, ethical and transparent. A school district is not a personal fiefdom to be ruled. And as we still live in a democracy, I hope you will take whatever action seems right and correct to you.

It's been my privilege to know so many of you and to have known your children.

Sincerely,

Holly Rawlins

Mendocino

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Yeah, I work out a lot, and would work out a lot more if I could get someone to throw the darn thing for me more often.”

LOVE HURTS

On April 10, 2017 at approximately 9:44 PM Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call for service regarding a verbal domestic violence incident at the intersection of Orr Springs Road and Pinoleville Road in Ukiah. Deputies arrived at the location and contacted a 46 year-old adult male who was lying on the ground at the side of the roadway. The male adult appeared to be injured and Deputies learned he had been struck by a vehicle driven by Sherrie Jones, 43, of Ukiah. Deputies discovered the adult male and Jones were presently involved in an intimate relationship. The adult male and Jones had been involved in verbal domestic argument at the location when Jones went to leave in her vehicle. When Jones drove her vehicle onto the roadway she struck the adult male causing him to fall to the ground. Jones fled the scene prior to Deputies arrival. At about 10:45 PM Deputies met with Jones at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office in Ukiah where she was arrested for the listed violations. Jones was taken to the Mendocino County Jail where she was booked and to be held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

SUTRO & BOONVILLE

by Bob Dempel

John Carl Warnecke (Jack) was a famous architect. His father was an architect. His son Fred is an architect. His son had two children. One of those children (Alice) wound up growing up in Boonville with her mother.

I had and still do consulting work for Jack Warnecke on his ranch in Alexander Valley in Sonoma County. The ranch consists of 80 acres of prize wine grapes. A few years before Jack died in 2010 he asked me to instruct his daughter Margo on the practices of growing premium wine grapes. Margo is also an architect and a quick study.

About the same time Fred Warnecke’s daughter Alice expressed an interest in the Warnecke vineyards. While giving growing instructions to Margo more and more of the time Alice would be there at the ranch. Alice inherited the height and beauty of the Warnecke Family. A tall young lady with an infectious smile and inquisitive mind. Alice studied art at Stanford. The amazing connection I soon made with Alice is that she grew up in Boonville with her mother and stepfather. Her mother had remarried sometime in the early 1980s and lived in Boonville raising apples just next to the high school. Alice attended elementary school in Boonville thru the fifth grade known locally as Alice Warnecke Dyer. Alice became and still is friends with Peter and Marti Bradford’s two daughters. Peter Bradford and I share a nephew through Peter’s sister and my late brother.

Sometime around the time of Jack Warnecke’s death I noticed Alice spending more time in San Francisco. The surprise was that the young man was named Sutro. The second big surprise was that he also was an architect. Elliott Sutro look like a young Robert Redford with the personality of a self-confident outgoing person. Elliott had the same interest in the vineyards that Alice had.

Not much later a beautiful marriage was celebrated at the vineyards uniting Elliott and Alice. An ongoing three-day happy occasion with a multitude of mixture of the Warnecke and Sutro families and lots of young people. Shirley and I were delighted to be invited even though we only attended two out of the three days events.

A couple of years ago Alice and Elliott began to purchase some of the Warnecke Vineyards grapes for their own use. In addition to consulting for the Warnecke Vineyards, I supply trucks at harvest time to haul the Warnecke grapes from the vineyards to selected high end wineries.

This included the grapes that Alice and Elliott purchased and I delivered to facilities know in the industry as custom crush winery. These facilities provide a much needed service for small brands who for whatever reason do not have an actual winery but can serve the needs of many small to medium sized brands.

After a few seasons of crushing grapes and having the Warnecke grapes made into wine Alice and Elliott have launched their own brand using the name Sutro. The Press Democrat reviewed one of their wines with high praise.

Recently I opened the current issue of AVA to find an article titled “Sutro Heights” by Penny Skillman. What a coincidence. I contacted Alice to find that Adolph Sutro was a cousin to Elliott’s great-great grandfather.

My late friend Ernest P. Peninou wrote a history book on the California Wine Association. 1894 to 1920. In that book he mentions San Francisco attorney Alfred Sutro praising the California Wine Association. The mighty Association dominated the California wine industry until Prohibition.

I have tried to contact Penny Skillman. Alice and I wish to send her a complementary bottle of Sutro Wine. Long live the history of the Sutro Family.

MENDOCINO SPORTS PLUS, in high dudgeon this morning, wrote: "Not to be picky — but the Fort Bragg City Council just issued a proclamation that included 'honoring' the notorious racist & Yankee-killer ‘General Braxton Bragg.’ I thought honoring Confederates was politically incorrect? Is observing General Robert E Lee's birthday coming next? The South shall rise again!"

THE SOUTH done rose, Paul. Look who's president. Anyway, I guess you could call it ironical that the man who pounded the South (and Braxton) into submission, the truly great Ulysses S. Grant, was at Fort Humboldt just to the north of Braxton's assignment to Mendocino where he oversaw the final relocation of area Indians to Covelo. A few years later, Grant pounded the bejezzus out of Bragg and the rest of them, in the Civil War. (Grant and Braxton may also have been classmates at West Point, too. The Civil War split a lot of Civil War generals. Much as I admire Grant — his memoirs ought to be required reading; he was a wonderful writer. Away from his family in Humboldt County, Grant fell into the bottle, pulled himself out, lost money in a series of failed businesses, went on to win the Civil War and became a two-term president, his whole history that of a man of real experience, real mettle.)

I THINK it's safe to say that while Bragg wasn't a liberal in any known sense of the term, he doesn't seem to have been any Simon Legree, either. But looking at any of these people through a modern lens can lead to the snow flake-ism that's currently all the rage among the neo-Stalinists on college campuses. People did what they did and our history is our history.

FROM the scant record available, we know that Bragg's assignment to what became Fort Bragg was to protect the Indians from the crooks and rapists preying on them up and down the Mendocino Coast and everywhere else in California. So he herded the remnant Indians over to Covelo by what is now the Branscomb Road, through Laytonville, and kinda southeast into Round Valley where they were more easily preyed on because they were now in one place. At least that's the version of early Mendo that sticks with me.

YEARS AGO I got into an argument with a resident of Pelican Bay's iso section, the SHU or Security Housing Unit. This guy was heavily into Aryan Bro social views which, at one point, he supported with an admiring reference to Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general who was regarded by the media of the day as "the fiercest man in America," which is a large claim in this ferocious country, especially in Forrest's day when ferocity was a way of life for many people.

SO, with this AB guy, in my dual responsibilities as lib-lab and corrector of wrong history, I pointed out that Forrest, founder of the KKK and a slave trader, not to mention his war record cf the massacre at Fort Pillow, died a liberal, deeply lamenting the race-obsessed part of his life.

ARYAN BRO didn't believe me so I sent him a Forrest bio. Then he wrote to say he was going to have me killed, but our exchanges at least seemed to make him realize that historical fact and popular myth are often at odds. Hey, Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize when he had, what? six wars going? So, against all the evidence, our former president is the next best thing to the Prince of Peace.

LOTS OF PEOPLE will remember Braxton's coffee shop just off Laurel in Fort Bragg, but I can't for the little life left to me recall the proprietor's name. (Michael?) But it was always fun to buy a cup from him because he served it with a flourish of dips and bows to the classical music he had playing.

THE BIG BOONVILLE QUIZ is Tomorrow, April 13^th, the second Thursday of the month and therefore, as we play on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays, it’s Quiz Night at Lauren’s Restaurant in Boonville. Hope to see you there, Cheers, Steve Sparks, Quiz Master

FIERY CRASH NEAR UKIAH CLAIMS SECOND LIFE

by Glenda Anderson

A fiery head-on crash just north of Ukiah last week has claimed a second life. Former Sonoma County resident Peter Cole, 53, was removed from life support at Stanford University Medical Center on Tuesday, according to one of his brothers, Terry Cole, of Santa Rosa. Peter Cole of Ukiah suffered multiple fractures and severe brain trauma during the early Friday morning crash on North State Street, his brother said, adding that Peter was not wearing a seatbelt. The solo driver of the Toyota Camry that caused the crash also died but has not yet been identified because the body was badly burned, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. The Camry crossed into the oncoming lane at about 1:30 a.m. and struck head-on the Ford Explorer in which Cole was a passenger, according to the CHP. Cole and three friends were returning from a casino in the area, his brother said. The Camry went on to strike a fence, power pole and a parked Jeep at Thurston Auto Plaza, engulfing both vehicles in flames. The driver of the Ford Explorer, Joshua Depree, 26, of Cottonwood in Shasta County, suffered moderate injuries. Passenger Aleshia Dedrick, 33, of Redwood Valley suffered major injuries while Shane Roork, 32, of Ukiah, had moderate injuries, the CHP said. Dedrick remains hospitalized with a broken back, Terry Cole said. Following the crash, Peter Cole was taken to Ukiah Valley Medical Center, then to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, his brother said. On Saturday, he was flown to Stanford. Cole was born and raised in Sonoma County, one of 10 siblings, his brother said. He graduated from Cloverdale High School then worked in construction before getting involved in the marijuana business in Mendocino County about six years ago, his brother said. He also had a great smile and “huge sense of humor,” Terry Cole said.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

CATCH OF THE DAY, April 12, 2017

DEONTAY ANDERSON, Ukiah. Unspecified charges.

ANGEL ARNOLD, Ukiah. Domestic assault.

CLEVELAND CARR JR., Ukiah. Assault with deadly weapon causing great bodily injury.

ADAM EMARINE, Durango, Colorado/Ukiah. Drunk in public, resisting.

RANDY JONES, Gualala. Protective order violation.

VICKIE MEJIA, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear, resisting.

RANDY MILLER, Ukiah. First degree burglary.

ROQUE MINCITAR, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

MICHAEL OLVERA-CAMPOS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

PEDRO REYNAGA, Calpella. Drunk in public.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Yes, the collapse is under way, Trump’s foot is on the gas pedal, and it’s sad to see everyone who knows about collapse prep instead of trying to prevent it.

As William Gibson said about the future “it’s already here, just not evenly distributed.”

I drove past 1) a deserted strip mall that should have been redeveloped and then 2) a new one built instead, just up the street, and without a single store selling a durable good. Everything was restaurants, coffee, massage, pet grooming, or a gym.

We continue to make tragic and wasteful choices. It’s the worst thing about “free market” and command economies, alike. The bad choices are simply different.

I’ve come to conclude that in America, even the looting would not be good on Doomsday.

THE FRIENDLY SKIES

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/business/flying-with-marijuana-tsa.html/a>

MEOW!

Wanna Kitten? The Ukiah Shelter at 298 Plant Rd, is holding a Kitten Fostering Workshop on Saturday April 22nd from noon to 2 pm. This workshop will be assist the community in knowing what to do if they find a litter of kittens as well as how they can help by fostering kittens that come into the Ukiah Shelter. For more information please call the shelter at 467-6453

WOLF-DOGS! "Neither Wolf Nor Dog" films showing in Cloverdale on May 25th at 3:30pm in your event section. It’s a one-time showing and 95 tickets need to be pre-sold at $12 each to pull the event off. Here's the FB link for more information or you can contact me directly. https://www.facebook.com/events/1868114303405602/

Deny Dudzik

deny.dudzik@gmail.com

POT SWAP

The Casual Crop eXchange, Humboldt County’s Premier Cannabis Farmer’s Market, Reopens for the 2017 Season

REDWAY, Ca, April 12, 2017 — Humboldt Local, Inc. and Trim Scene Solutions present the season’s first Casual Crop eXchange Sunday, April 30, at the Trim Scene Solutions store in Redway. The Casual Crop eXchange is Humboldt County’s premier Cannabis farmer’s market. The all ages event brings together educational speakers, equipment demos, local artists, fundraising for local non-profits, great food and a bounty of locally grown produce (of both the Cannabis and non-Cannabis variety). The alcohol-free event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the $5 entry fee goes to Community Cornerstone, a group dedicated to providing training and opportunities for adults with disabilities in Northern Mendocino and Southern Humboldt Counties.

What differentiates the Casual Crop eXchange from other farmer’s markets is the addition of a dedicated 215 area where you’ll find an array of local Cannabis products, a 215 doctor on site and a vendor-supplied dab bar. 215 area attendees can even vote in the Casual Cup extract and flower competition! All leftover meds from the competition will be donated to the Humboldt Local, Inc., Compassionate Care Program for Seniors, Veterans and eligible patients. Entrance is 21+ and requires a valid 215 card.

The April Casual Crop eXchange has scheduled educational speakers on a variety of topics. Casey O'Neil of Happy Day Farms, Emerald Grown and California Growers Association will give a political update on the state of legal Cannabis in California. Indra, holder of the patent on Closed Loop Extraction using solvents, will talk about the history of the process. And Luke Moser, Laboratory manager at CW Analytical (a cannabis testing lab in Oakland), will speak on pesticide and microbiology testing.

The event also features "Demo Row" where attendees can watch product get trimmed, kiefed and pressed with professional, state-of-the-art industrial equipment. This is especially helpful to small farmers as they can see how everything works before making an investment in a trimming machine or a rosin press. The April presentations include Resin Ranch Extraction demoing their static electricity Dry Sift technique, which sifts resin heads to 99.9% purity without the use of solvents or ice, Purge Labs’ Closed Loop basic operation and safety meeting, Soul Evolution Enterprise’s Bubble Hash making demo and Dia Damon of Nomad’s Landing doing a Korean Natural Farming Fermented Plant Juice making demo.. The dedicated Trim Scene Solutions staff are available throughout the day to answer questions about products and services available in the store.

And if that’s not enough, the April Casual Crop eXchange also features live music from DamShane and Gnarlock. Red Nose Glass will do a live glass blowing demo and Humboldt Vibe Tribe will paint a mural live. So be sure to join us on April 30th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All it takes is a $5 donation to enjoy our community’s best crops of all kinds! The event is all ages but the 215 area is 21+. NO DOGS ALLOWED. For more information email ccx@trimscene.com.

See you at the eXchange. And until then, keep it casual!

HIT & RUN IMPROV WORKSHOPS to begin next Wednesday, April 19

Hit and Run Theater will be offering a new round of 4 Improvisation workshops running Wednesdays April 19, 26 and May 3 & 10, 2017. The workshops take place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Doug Nunn’s classroom (aka “Mendocino Sunrise High School”), next to the Media and Electronics labs, at the North East corner of Mendocino High School in Mendocino (Mendo High address is 10700 Ford St). Hit and Run Theater has been performing improvisation since 1980 and has been leading workshops since the mid 1980s. This series of workshops will be coached by Hit and Runners Doug Nunn, Kathy O’Grady, Steve Weingarten, Jill Jahelka, Christine Samas, and Ken Krauss. Hit and Run’s newest workshop series is open to all interested students. The course will last for four weeks and will include basic improvisational games and acting exercises. No previous theatrical or improvising experience is required and mature teens are welcome as well as adults. A workshop fee of $40 will cover the four Wednesday evenings. What a deal! To register or for further information, please call 937-0360 or email Doug Nunn at dnunn@mcn.org or write Doug Nunn on Facebook. We look forward to seeing you there.

EARTH DAY AT USAL (MCN Listserve exchange)

Molly:

I'm confused about two aspects of this planned event.

1) There already IS a road closure on Usal Road. Is part of the "clean-up" effort to shovel the massive landslide off the road and remove the stumps of the slid trees? Or is it expected that county road maintenance will clear the road before the planned event--during a time when the road will continue to suffer seasonal damage? Or will volunteers hike in and out the three miles to the beach/camp area?

2) How are donation moneys from private and corporate sponsors needed for this volunteer-driven event, apart from a lunch?

Thanks, Molly

Join the 19th annual Earth Day Restoration and Clean Up at state parks, sponsored by PG&E!

Lunch will be provided at Usal Beach, weather permitting. Sign up to volunteer at: http://www.calparks.org/help/earth-day/. Please check for road closures day of event.

Saturday, April 22, 10 AM to 4 PM at Usal Beach, at Sinkyone Wilderness State Park. For more information call 707 272-1944 or 707-964-2263, or email vc@humboldtredwoods.org.

Megan:

Hi Molly,

1) Usal road is currently open and free of landslides. Before planning a trip out there, please call DOT 463-4363 to check on the road condition.

2) I am not personally connected with this cleanup effort, but if you have been to Usal beach you know it needs a lot of help. Sponsors, corporate or otherwise, are not only providing food and incentive, but many times they foot the bill for proper waste disposal, tool usage, leadership initiatives, and construction supplies like railings and boardwalks.

I hope that helps!

~ Megan

Molly:

Hi Megan,

Thanks for answering both of my questions.

I'm glad to hear the road was cleared, as I know there was a car trapped behind it. Some guy Christopher who was stalking the small southern herd of male elk and nabbing up all the antlers.

Yeah, we hiked down to Usal (you-saw) recently, and the human facilities could use some work. The wilderness looks great, though, if only us humans would not tangle it up with our waste and swaths of damage.

It seems like there should not be a bill for "proper waste disposal" for trash from volunteer-effort cleanup projects. Waste Management ought to do that pro-bono--has anyone approached them about this?

Now I'm curious what volunteer "incentive" is on the line--other than a gourmet (goor-mett) seafood-company-made hotdog lunch complete with condiments, bun, and chips!

I could do without the boardwalks and railings, but you know me. Things inevitably change as usage increases. I like Erica's signage work, mind you, but once those interpretive signs go up, railings get installed, and restrictive list of restricting restrictions appears (STAY ON THE TRAIL, ON PAIN OF INCARCERATION AND UTTER FINANCIAL FLATTENING), it no longer feels like wilderness. Despite the telltale skidmarks they leave, I'm actually impressed by how generally well the rednecks have stewarded the moderately accessible wild places (like Usal) still available to us.

The new trail is great, I'll admit--I love the little footbridge and the clever angles on several of the steps. There were a few trees down across the trail the other week, though, on the skid road section. Lots of small slides!

Thanks for all that you do! Perhaps we'll see you in Usal.

Cheers, Molly

Marco McClean:

Hi, Molly, the only proper protest of a road closure is to boldly and defiantly use the road anyway, and if it tears the suspension out from under your 1994 Subaru or dumps you through a sinkhole into a subterranean world of were-diggadog-people who anoint you as their Pope forevermore and stuff you with a tribute of albino potatoes whether you like it or not, then that's what has to happen. You makes the commitment and you takes the responsibility. Somebody has to pay for the safety vests, and the folding chairs, and the pilot vehicles, and the football-on-end-shaped sentries twirling, twirling in clockwork motion the clever signs that order STOP on one side and allow SLOW on the other. Somebody has to keep watch, or we're all finished. Our lives hang on a single shining thread. A shaft of light when all around is dark. The combination, described in the final episode of Hyperdrive, the serial documentary of the British Space Service --motto: "Justice in the void" -- of horror and courage, that is horridge. "Our feet are in the mud, but our head is in the stars." Or, rather, "My neck is on the line for you, Henderson. My ass is on the line... My neck and my ass are both on the line at the same time, and it hurts."

Oh, that was such a wonderful show. Why do the best shows get canceled practically right out of the gate? Pushing Daisies, Ernie Kovacs, Carnivale, Firefly, Defiance, Soupy Sales, Stargate Universe, Lie To Me, Flight of the Conchords, Fireball XL-5, the original Outer Limits...

Wait— Ernie Kovacs got killed in a car wreck. But the others.

FEDERAL COUNCIL ADOPTS WEST COAST SALMON SEASONS

Salmon Fishing Closed In Klamath Management Zone

by Dan Bacher

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) at its meeting in Sacramento on April 11 adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that offer some recreational and commercial fishing opportunities for most of the West Coast.

Due to low ocean abundance forecasts, the 200-mile-long Klamath Management Zone (KMZ) from Humbug Mountain, Oregon, to Horse Mountain, California, will be completely closed to the take of Chinook salmon this season.

The recommendations will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for approval by May 1, 2017.

This year’s run of Klamath River fall Chinook salmon is projected to be the smallest in history- 11,000 fish, about 10% of average for the last 3 decades. "Before colonization, scientists estimated that over 1.2 million salmon returned to the Klamath annually," according to Craig Tucker, Natural Resources Policy Advocate for the Karuk Tribe.

Other areas, including sections of the coast from Horse Mountain to the U.S./Mexico border, offer restricted recreational and commercial fishing seasons.

While allowing for some fishing opportunities, the PFMC pointed out that the adopted salmon fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington do achieve the conservation goals set for the numerous West Coast salmon stocks.

“The Council has recommended commercial and recreational ocean salmon seasons in Washington, Oregon, and California this year that provide important protections for stocks of concern including Klamath River fall Chinook, Washington coastal coho, and Puget Sound Chinook," said Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy.

Before the adoption of the measure, Brett Kormos, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) representative on the PFMC, told the Council, "This has been a challenging fishery planning process due to our continued concerns over winter run and the depressed status of the Klamath stock."

"We have all spent a great deal of time and effort attempting to develop appropriate regulations given these considerations and the added likelihood that the Klamath stock will face similar levels of risk under all of the scenarios we examined, including total closure of the fishery. These regulations are a reflection of the deliberative process we have undergone, including concern for the future of our salmon stocks and our stakeholders and the Tribes up and down our coast," Kormos explained.

Commercial and recreational fishing families in the Klamath Management Zone on the ocean and tribal and recreational fishermen on the Klamath and Trinity rivers will be hurt particularly hard by the closures this season.

“This announcement means we’re going to have to fish for other species in order to make a living; that’s a fact,” said Tim Klassen, captain of the charter fishing vessel Reel Steel, fishing out of Eureka. “The long term health of salmon is more important than just one season. We’ve been through this before and it hurts, but if we don’t do something soon to improve our salmon runs, we will be the last generation of salmon fishermen in California.”

Recreational salmon fishing further south below Horse Mountain opened on April 1, with surprisingly decent fishing at times in the Half Moon Bay and Monterey Bay areas.

The fisheries south of Point Arena are also impacted by the need to protect Sacramento River winter Chinook, a listed species under the federal and state Endangered Species that has been hammered by decades of water diversions throughout the river system and in particular by massive water exports out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

In the Fort Bragg area from Horse Mountain to Point Arena, the season will close during June, July, and half of August, then reopen through November 12.

In the San Francisco area from Point Arena to Pigeon Point, the season will close during the first half of May and reopen through October 31.

Salmon fishing will remain open through July 15 in the Monterey Bay area and through May 31 for areas south of Monterey Bay.

After hearing the announcement, Noah Oppenheim, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), said thousands of West Coast commercial salmon fishing families are going to be impacted by "another significantly curtailed salmon season" this year.

"For California fishermen the drought is far from over, and its lasting effects are sending a shudder through coastal communities today," he emphasized. "The effects of climate change and a five year drought, exacerbated by unnecessary dams and unsustainable water diversions, have resulted in this disastrous situation. Preventable declines in salmon populations will cost commercial fishermen millions of dollars this year and have already severely reduced the public's access to the natural resources that they rightfully own."

"We know that these closures are caused by the same flawed projects and policies that closed the fishery nine years ago. Salmon need cold water, good habitat, and adequate flows now and into the future, and salmon fishing families and seafood consumers need sustainable, locally caught salmon. If deadbeat dams remain standing and exorbitant water exports continue apace, threatened and endangered salmon runs won't have much of a future in California," he concluded.

Oppenheim noted that the commercial non-tribal salmon fishery in the Klamath Management Zone, a 200 mile stretch of coast from Humbug Mountain in Oregon to Horse Mountain in California, will be closed this year.

There will be a limited fishery (up to 3,000 fish) with a limit of 60 fish per week per boat in the Fort Bragg area in September.

The area surrounding San Francisco will open for a limited time in August, September, and parts of October, according to Oppenheim. The commercial salmon fishery will be open in May and June solely in areas south of Pigeon Point.

Tribal fisheries are also greatly impacted by the Klamath River salmon collapse. The Yurok Tribe will have no commercial salmon fishing season this year. The subsistence allocation is 650 fish, the lowest allocation ever.

"This is the worst year in history for Klamath salmon,” said Amy Cordalis, the Tribe’s General Counsel, a Yurok Tribe member and fisherwoman. "There is no mystery as to why. The effects of an unprecedented drought were exacerbated by dams and diversions."

"This year, Yurok, Karuk and Hupa people will have little to no salmon for the first time in history. Although the fish are important economically, they are more important as an irreplaceable part of our identity as people who care for the river," she stated.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe will be greatly impacted by the looming salmon season restrictions, particularly during their biannual white deer skin dance and world renewal ceremonies that will begin in August, according to Mike Orcutt, the Tribe’s Fisheries Director.

“Approximately 130 fish will available for the 3400 members of the Tribe,” said Orcutt. “Not to have salmon for people participating in our ceremonies will be unfathomable.”

On April 10, the Karuk Tribal Council took the "unprecedented step "of placing restrictions on subsistence fishing by Tribal Members for the first time in history.

“It’s my saddest day as Chairman,” said Karuk Tribal Chairman Russell ‘Buster’ Attebery. This is the first time in our history that we have imposed limits on traditional dip net fishermen working to feed their extended families and tribal elders.”

The Tribe will allow the harvest of 200 Chinook salmon for substance and ceremonial purposes, according to Attebery.

Typically, Karuk fishing requires little in the way of regulation due to the fishing method. Karuk fishermen use a traditional dip net about 12 feet long to scoop out salmon from behind rocks in the rapids below Ishi Pishi Falls.

“You can only catch a very small percentage of the fish that are moving through the falls with dip-nets. Our fishing method limits our take so as to ensure plenty of fish make it up- stream to spawn,” explained Attebery.

For more information about the salmon seasons, go to: Pacific Fishery Management Council: http://www.pcouncil.org·

Description of 2017 salmon management process: http://www.pcouncil.org/salmon/current-season-management/

PASSPORT TO HEAVEN

Subject: Gayatri Mantra (Rig Veda 3.62.10)

Om Bhoor Bhuvah Svaha Tat Savitur Verenyam Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayat

This sung morning, midday, and at dusk, (plus Oming on the outbreath), will permanently place anybody square in the center of the Heart of Divinity...forever!

–Craig Stehr