Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017

• Larry Smith
• 107 Degrees
• Pedestrians Struck
• Consumption Theft
• Morning Glory
• Little Dog
• Principal Payout
• Panther Sports
• Homeschoolin'
• Home Invader
• Men Working
• Maciel Brothers
• Horseshoe Slide
• Debut Novel
• Yesterday's Catch
• Online Comments
• Wildlife
• Beach Access
• Bold Dems
• Houston Damage
• TCP Testing
• Highway Repairs
• Rural Broadband
• Off Scripting

TO THE ANDERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY:

We would like to let everyone know that Larry Smith died peacefully in his sleep last Thursday, 8/24/17, at the age of 74.

We have appreciated the messages of support sent our way from our great community, and have always been grateful to the people of Anderson Valley for their love and friendship.

Sincerely, Gwyn, Nemo, and Ras Smith

107? CAN IT BE? Yep, 107 in Boonville on Sunday afternoon, and globally toasted again Monday as the temps again soared over a hundred here at the AVA bunker.

* * *

YORKVILLE'S TRIPLE-DIGIT TEMPS over the past three days

Saturday, August 26

100º  1 pm
104º  2 pm
105º  3 pm
104º  4 pm
102º  5 pm

Sunday, August 27

105º  noon
107º  1 pm
105º  2 pm
108º  3 pm
107º  4 pm
104º  5 pm

Monday, August 28

101º  noon
104º  1 pm
107º  2 pm
109º  3 pm
104º  4 pm
102º  5 pm

* * *

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE in Eureka has issued an excessive heat watch (issued Aug. 29, 2017) which is in effect from Thursday afternoon through Monday evening.

Locations: include most interior valley locations, including but not limited to Leggett, Laytonville, Willits, Covelo, Boonville, Ukiah, and Hopland.

Temperatures: high temperatures between 100 and 115, with overnight lows ranging from 55 to 65 in cooler valleys, to 65 to 75 in higher elevations.

Impacts: moderate to high risk of heat illness for those who are sensitive to heat or for those who are exposed to the sun and active for long durations. This heat will also be dangerous to anyone without proper hydration or adequate cooling. Heat stress is possible for livestock and outdoor pets.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

An excessive heat watch means that a prolonged period of hot temperatures is expected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are possible. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear light weight and loose fitting clothing when possible and drink plenty of water.

To reduce risk during outdoor work the occupational safety and health administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency - call 911.

TWO PEDESTRIANS were struck down at approximately 3:55 PM in Ukiah Monday afternoon, as the temps were soaring. A cop in an unmarked car – the Gang Unit, as the gangbangers affectionately dubbed it — suddenly accelerated, laying a patch of rubber on Main Street. I could hear a veritable symphony of sirens coming together from all points of the compass. As I strolled up to State Street, I saw the conglomeration of emergency vehicles snugged-up to the curb in front of The Ukiah Brewing Company, directly across from the courthouse. The officer in the Gang Unit was out in the middle of the intersection, directing traffic. There was a woman seated on the curb, she appeared to be in tears, and what looked like one or more people were lying prostrate on the side of the roadway, just outside the gutter. (They’d been moved from the middle of the street, on white stretchers). Officers drew a chalk around the man and woman where they had lain (no doubt in pain), 10 or 12 feet from the crosswalk where they were struck. The chalk marks depicted them in the fetal position. On my way back to the Forest Club, I met an eye-witness, a bouncer at the Forest Club who I know well, who told me the vics – a man and a woman — were hit by a car coming out of the left-turn lane from Perkins Street, and both of them were tossed over the hood and left groaning and gasping for breath in the middle of the road. My source said they were both coherent, as they were loaded into the ambulances and evacuated to nearby Ukiah Valley Medical Center. (Bruce McEwen)

FOUR DRIED CRANBERRIES: AN UPDATE

Editor,

On tasting: Is it a crime to taste four dried cranberries? Apparently it is at the Ukiah Co-op. A new crime requires a new descriptive term. It's the crime of "consumption theft" according to manager Laurie Rosenberg. The punishment: banishment from the Coop.

So in pursuit of alternative sources of organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, the basic vegan diet, I've noticed the employees of other stores like Raley’s and Grocery Outlet deliberately opening the packages of small fruits and cherries for customers to taste. Good psychology. It tastes good. Let's buy it. Store employees report increased requests for organic food as customers realize the enormous harm caused by pesticides, herbicides, petro-chemical nitrogen fertilizers, genetically engineered unlabeled fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds (the basic vegan diet). The customer never sees the approximately 80% of nitrogen fertilizer which washes into our streams, rivers, eventually bays and oceans, creating toxic algae blooms, diminished oxygen in the waters, dying aquatic and microlife, nor the loss of migratory songbirds from eating poisoned insects.

According to the Co-op’s bylaws, the Co-op is a democratic organization, devoted to providing the healthiest food to the community. It is not an elitist nor an authoritarian organization run by a manager. Ordinarily in business, a manager works for the owners. Since Co-op members are owners, the manager works for the members. Co-op bylaws contain a section on expulsion of a member. There is no mention of a criminal taste. To claim that a member who has been eating organically for almost 40 years is stealing, a member who has never stolen or shoplifted, is stealing, is slander. My certified letter requesting reinstatement has been ignored.

The Co-op needs more competition. As understanding the importance of healthy agriculture and food production becomes more widely known, the requests for organic food grow. Raley’s has an excellent organic vegetable department as does Harvest Market in Fort Bragg. Smaller stores carry some items, some locally grown. We'll have to teach young people how to grow more of their own food, food up to 35% more nutritious when grown in healthy soil without chemicals. What better places to teach them than schools (already happening), jails and prisons? How about utilizing the wasted time spent in imprisonment where there is little to do other than look at television, read if an inmate can obtain books and literature, pump iron, to growing fresh food?

Leave the authoritarianism to Mr. Trump as he unwittingly develops his own opposition with his non sequiturs and outright lies.

Sincerely, Dorotheya M Dorman, Redwood Valley

Rod Balson, Boonville, King of the Morning Glories (Click to enlarge.)

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Hey! Not mentioning any names, but I know people who really, really need this. Vote Yes on Measure B — For BETTER Mental Health.”

LOCAL SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT Michelle Hutchins said Thursday that K-12 enrollment so far this school year is “482 but growing.” Ms. Hutchins also said that the district’s lawyers had advised her that the payout amount to former Elementary School principal Katherine Reddick upon Ms. Reddick’s stormy departure was confidential, as agreed upon by both parties, those parties being Ms. Reddick and the school district. Be that as it probably is, expenditures of public money are public information, but since I seem to be the only person interested I’ll forego a FOIA argument with the district’s dependably wrong easy-over attorneys and say the payout was probably in the neighborhood of $80,000, Ms. Reddick’s contract for the second year of work she did not do plus her legal fees. Quick editorial aside: Used to be the assumption was that publicly-employed people spent public money like their own, frugally. That standard flew out the window years ago. Now, when you have tax-paid lawyers (all of them otherwise unemployable) like our school district’s Santa Rosa-based seraglio, advising our tax-funded school district, with an oversight school board bamboozled by legal mumbo jumbo, if the entire apparatus flew off to Acapulco for a week of “in-service seminars,” the public wouldn’t know anything was amiss until AV Unified’s school buildings were put up for sale on E-Bay.

SOCCER COACH ABEL MALDONADO reports that his undefeated Panther athletes cruised by Middletown on Friday, 6-1, tuning up for the Lake County squad by defeating Willits 5-0 and Kelseyville 4-0. Middletown, Coach M. noted, inspired a spasm of anxiety into his powerhouse team when they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, the first and only time they’d lead. “Our record is now 3 and 0. We have a young (only three seniors) but very talented team and they are playing well as a team. The coach cited his goalie turned forward, Jose Magaña, “who scored a beautiful diving header playing forward for the first time.” Over all, Coach Maldonado singled out Ulises Garcia and Brian Bucio as “men of the match.”

THERE’S FUTBOL AND FOOTBALL here in Mendocino County’s most happening community. Our first home football game is this Friday against Cornerstone Christian at 6 pm, Boonville Fairgrounds. We have some good returning players led by JT Carlin at QB hoping to fill the monster-size shoes of all-everything Tony Pardini, last year’s quarterback now an engineering student at UC Davis.

THIS TREVOR JACKSON GUY is a natch for the movies. He’s got a perfectly villainous look going, and an apparently highly irritable personality to match. And guns. And dope. And a posse of mopes who look to him as their gang boss. Jackson has been at the very top of Mendo’s Most Wanted list for a couple of months now, and Sheriff Allman himself said Saturday he was relieved that Jackson was in custody, telling us that he was doubly relieved a patrol deputy was able to arrest Jackson without the county’s SWAT team being called out.

HOME INVASIONS, Jackson’s alleged specialty, are an ongoing concern to all residents of the Emerald Triangle, whether or not they grow marijuana. He was involved in one right here in Anderson Valley that involved a midnight shoot-’em up in the area of Upper Peachland.

FROM MSP: MEN WORKING

City Of Fort Bragg News...

Street and Alley Construction Update: This week the contractor will be grinding and placing base rock at the Portuguese Hall alley, the alley behind Sears, and the alley behind Starbucks. There will be demo and concrete work on Franklin Street as well. There may be some intermittent closures during this time, and the contractor is working to minimize this. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sarah Wachtel comments: It'd be nice if the men doing this work could maybe pay attention to their surroundings and NOT talk about "raping their wives" and "kicking dogs" while they are working outside people's homes. If my daughters had been home and heard it I would've been even angrier. I live on Franklin St and shouldn't have to listen to this kind of talk. Totally unacceptable.

BOOZE PREVENTS FRATRICIDE

Ukiah brothers arrested after gunshots heard Sunday

Roman Garcia Maciel, 47, and his brother, Miguel Maciel, 50, both of Ukiah were arrested Sunday after a report of gunshots fired in Ukiah. Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office

Two brothers were arrested Sunday after one reportedly fired a gun into the ground four times, the Ukiah Police Department reported.

Officers responded at 4:53 p.m. to a report of multiple gunshots fired in the 900 block of Waugh Lane, where they met with three people. Two were brothers, identified as 47-year-old Roman Garcia Maciel and 50-year-old Miguel Maciel, who had been arguing. The third person, not identified, was apparently not involved.

While the Maciel brothers were arguing, Roman Maciel allegedly went inside his house and came back out with a bolt-action rifle, which he fired four times into the ground. The brothers appeared drunk as officers were talking to them, according to the UPD. Officers reportedly found the rifle in a nearby travel trailer and collected it as evidence.

Miguel Maciel was found to have an arrest warrant for violating a court order, and Roman Maciel was on probation.

Roman Maciel was arrested on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm, public intoxication and violating probation. Miguel Maciel was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and for the outstanding warrant. The two were booked into county jail.

CALTRANS FINISHES AIR OPERATIONS AT HWY. 101 SLIDE NEAR LEGGETT; SHORTER DELAYS EXPECTED

Caltrans on Wednesday wrapped up air operations at the large landslide on Highway 101 north of Leggett that has been causing delays since April, named the Horseshoe Slide, its District 1 office reported.

Contractors were draping a cable mesh net over the Horseshoe Slide on Wednesday afternoon, delivered by helicopter, which one driver said stopped highway traffic for 45 minutes.

RAVE REVIEWS for local writer, Gabriel Tallent

A Debut Novelist’s Descent Into Darkness - The New York Times

nytimes.com/2017/08/27/books/gabriel-tallent-my-absolute-darling.html

CATCH OF THE DAY, August 28, 2017

JESUS ELIZARRARAS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ROBERT FULLER, Fort Bragg. Grand theft, stolen property, probation revocation.

MIGUEL GARCIA, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, disobeying court order.

TREVOR JACKSON, Redwood Valley. Second degree robbery, kidnapping for robbery/rape, conspiracy, failure to appear.

DONNA LEE, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

NICHOLE LOPEZ, Hopland. Domestic abuse.

RAMON MACIEL, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, negligent firearm discharge, illegal entry, probation revocation.

THOMAS PHILLIPS, Laytonville. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

NOELLE POTTER, Redwood Valley. Protective order violation.

MARIO QUABNER, Chicago Park, CA/Ukiah. Conspiracy.

LANCE TREPPA, Ukiah. Failure to register, community supervistion violation.

LEONARD WHIPPLE, Covelo. Community supervistion violation.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE WEEK: “Because when economic and living conditions become more and more dire, the people running the show want distractions. Hence, the LGBTQ washroom controversy, then it was Russian election meddling and now Confederate statues and when that runs its course, and it will, there will have to be another distraction. Can’t wait to see what it is.

I thought the washroom issue was inspired. I laughed and laughed, Democrats did superiority dances for months, the Republicans were outraged at such degeneracy. All over what exactly, pissing arrangements for a point something miniscule percentage of the population?

If they can’t come up with something it’ll be abortion again or evolution or maybe they’ll dredge up school prayer. Or maybe the right of Muslims to have prayers in schools but no school prayer for Christians and Jews and Hindus. That’ll be fun to watch. Progressives will take on this issue and stand up tall and proud and… well, we’ve seen this movie already so you can fill in the rest…”

ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE DAY

[1] An endless supply of distractions. How many true Black-hating, Jew-hating people are there in America, not counting those who just dislike them, but ultimately don’t care. One million? Two million? That’s well under 1% of the population. Yet we let these haters become headline news, taking up our national energy, when truly important survival issues are staring us in the face – e.g., climate change. Don’t say there’s nothing we can do, because that’s not true.

Even so, go forward and live your life – AND – try to ignore the distractions. Focus on what’s real. Seek peace of mind; prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

* * *

[2] I sympathize with people of Texas regarding the catastrophe unfolding there. The tax payers will again be asked to help through gov’t aid, loans, etc. The problem is that people living and building along this country’s coastlines continue to get blown or washed away from storms and then expect the gov’ts to help them rebuild only to be blown or washed away again a few years in the future. Example: Galvastan got blown away in I think 2011, rebuilt and now got hit again, all be it not as bad. When are our gov’ts going to wake up and say enough of this building on the our coastlines ? Houston’s concrete jungle cannot allow any drainage so this flooding has and will continue with them getting gov’t aid everytime it happens. Enough already!

* * *

[3] Speaking of not knowing the true value of anything, the powers that be in Iowa think that data centers have greater value than does Iowa farm land, the richest to be found anywhere.

Headline on page one of this morning’s Des Moines Register: Apple Data Center Puts Iowa on World Stage (I paraphrase slightly). This is a quote from Iowa’s governor referring to a “server farm” announced yesterday to be built on 2000 acres of farm land on the west edge of the Des Moines suburb, Waukee. Two thousand acres is over 3 square miles.

Trouble is, Iowa took a major place on the world stage in 1846, the year of statehood. At that time there was prairie and savanna covering maybe six feet of black topsoil, a resource of almost unimaginable richness. Now a portion of that soil has been eroded away, but what remains is the envy of the world.

The other problem is the idiotic inferiority complex that Iowa has, leading its power brokers to proudly crow about things like a mega-corporation destroying our land. Iowa is a farm state, and farming has long been a low-status occupation, not nearly as admirable in the eyes of the ignorant as, say, computer programming.

But he group-thinking masses celebrate the destruction of our land; going along with their group-thinking “leaders”.

From “Des Moines, Iowa, the Sprawl Capital of the World.”

MARCO ON WILDLIFE

Willow Walker wrote (Coast Listserve):

Are there actually elk in Elk?

Willow, there's an Elks Lodge in Lakeport, and a Moose Lodge in Eureka. Though there's no other Moose Lodge around here, there are a few old Brothers of the Loyal Order of Moose (LOOM) scattered around. "No man stands so tall as when he stoops to lift a child." Boy, that's a kick-ass quote. There are also Women of the Moose. Here's a catchy song with details of the organization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZNT1SzbMvw

Also, last Saturday morning at about 4:30 or 5am on my way home from KNYO I drove through Caspar to stop at the postal-box gazebo, and there were deer all over the place like flies on a cake. One time a few years ago at about the same time of night, but that night in a blanket of fog, there were deer all over Main Street in downtown Fort Bragg, just standing there in the quiet, thinking their thoughts. They look nice but I've hit three deer with cars in my life, and so many people who ought to know say every deer is a whole city of ticks.

A truck driver who lived in Elk in the 1990s used to send stories to my newspaper. One was about the complex road-related religious suicide cults that poorly-educated deer allow themselves to get sucked into. The messy rituals. They have so much to live for, it's really sad.

Marco McClean
memo@mcn.org
http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

GLASS BEACH ALTERCATIONS

Editor,

All summer long I have had reports of altercations on and above our Glass Beaches due to the lies of the city and park rangers regarding the legality of collecting glass here, and the city lies over the legal public domain access to Site 2, which the city is trying to steal with the wire across the old access along the old GP fence line. The wire is criminal. The city does not own that land. It became public domain decades ago when GP fenced it off and abandoned it when it was the dump site. It is a long established public right-of-way to Site 2 and the southern end of Site 3 (Glass Beach). This our land, just like the beaches, not city land. The lies about the legality of taking the glass are crimes under Federal law; a “denial of rights under color of law,” though the FBI wants the problem “handled locally,” whatever that means. Just as people were injured on the illegal steps they put down to Site 2, people are going to get hurt during these altercations, either through physical violence or through a heart attack or stroke. Raise your voices and tell the criminals enough is enough. Aren’t you tired of lying, corrupt, public servants endangering people lives and welfare and stealing our rights? When is enough, enough? When there is a fight or someone finally drops dead?

Capt. Cass Forrington

Sea Glass Museum, Fort Bragg

PS. I sent the above “Letter to the Editor” about the violence occurring on our beaches and headlands and Kate Lee and Chris Calder at the Fort Bragg Advocate refused to publish it, Chris demeaning and insulting me in the process.

Hence, what follows:

Hello Kate Lee and Chris Calder (Fort Bragg Advocate);

Since neither of you have deemed to reply, please consider the following:

I spent nearly, or over, $5,000 in the Advocate over the past 17 months regarding the legality of these issues you think I know nothing about. These ads have had a significant effect on the rangers and city, making them back off claims they own the beaches. The rangers have now also stopped telling people collecting is illegal.

Ruffing has lost her job and I expect Jones to be next.

I am a Cum Laude graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY. In fact, I am receiving an award for my service, the Silver Mariner’s Award, at my 45th homecoming next month. Of course, as you are aligned with the criminals in city hall, that distinction will not be published in your paper, nor any mention of the Sea Glass Museum, the most popular privately-owned attraction on the coast, with 21,000 visitors last year, where I get profuse thanks every day for preserving our beaches’ treasure for future generations to enjoy.

We took law courses at Kings Point. Ships’ Masters have to know how to read and interpret the law...and how to stand up to bullies and corrupt officials all over the globe, even at home.

You have never even entered the museum to see what the big attraction is, nor has anyone at KOZT or in city hall, except with hat in hand when I was suing Jones and the city for libel, something you also failed to report in your “News” paper.

I have been on German and Australian TV, in this year’s online winter travel edition of Der Spiegel, and then other European publications chaining off of that article and, reportedly, in a Turkish magazine article written by two of my visitors. The Japanese called me and people are now coming here from all over the country, and world, just for the museum. If you don’t believe me, just Google me and/or the museum and see how many pages come up.

Yet none of you “elite” have been in. “Elite?”, you say? Well, let’s see, by Dave Turner’s own figures, 70% of Fort Bragg’s residents live below the poverty level. Jones makes what? Ruffing makes what? YOU make what? And that puts them and you in what percentile nationwide? And then you run nice little comments about the people on the street corners on weekends protesting bigotry and hatred in a community where there is nearly none. People protesting against the “elite”. HELLO! Yes, the left won over the years (and lost big time at the end of the process during Obama’s presidency), but guess what? When you win, you become the “elite”. YOU are out of touch. YOU are now the problem; the establishment pushing and bullying their way on everyone, ignoring the laws and constitutions establishing our states and nation: placing your own self-righteous intents above not just the law, but the welfare of the people and their freedoms. You would rather just ignore the violence on our headlands and beaches, and ignore the poverty of the general population. Hence, no Sea Glass Festivals and lies that deter tourism...etc.

Do you think I make this stuff up? HELLO! You are either calling me a liar or just don’t give a damn about the violence on our beaches and headlands, or the corruption in city hall. Which is it? I will be very unhappy either way and I have a strong pen. Maybe you are just weak, feckless elites, heh?

I am smart enough to realize that I can do direct mailings to every home and business in Ft. Bragg for far less than I have paid on each of my ads.

If I have to resort to those mailings, they will include a campaign against the Advocate, asking advertisers not to advertise and readers to cancel their subscriptions. I will tar you with city hall’s muck and stench. Believe me, I have much more influence, and much more support, than you realize. People respect me, unlike your paper. They know I am honest and fighting for the right causes. Don’t believe me? Ask them, They tell me, so I am sure they will tell you..if they still respect you enough. Let me know when you want to sell, Kate, and I will make it a real newspaper, not a fluff rag.

Think about that before you insult me again or ignore these serious issues. Take a stand, or else, I will spend against you what I have spent supporting you. It doesn’t matter to me. I would rather see a responsible press, but I can actually afford to be that press and have a lot of free time in the winter.

Sorry for the harsh tone (almost), but I do not tolerate “those” who question my integrity, honesty, education or intelligence well. I am too old for that and my honor is extremely important to me. In older times I would have demanded a duel by now.

As per my intelligence and education, I can read and understand Einstein’s original works. I am educated in Quantum Physics, Relativity and Cosmology and their maths, including the tensor calculus required to understand Einstein. and have finally figured out dark matter, dark energy and the Hubble Shift, solutions for which I have been working on for years. Oh, I can hear you snickering now! So go to http://vixra.org/abs/1708.0142 and read my paper before you laugh yourselves silly. I have already forgotten more than either of you will ever know. I take “refreshers” in graduate courses.

I await your apologies  and advices before proceeding further.

Capt. Cass Forrington

USMMA Cum Laude ‘72

USMM Retired

Recipient, USMMA AA Silver Mariner’s Award.

PS: Many more people are getting this email than you realize. BCC

I will now stop to consider whether my lovely, intelligent daughters would approve of me sending such a harsh email. I can hear them now, “Daddy, be diplomatic.....like you taught us to be.”

Tick-Tock.

Sorry, luvs, here it goes. I need to blow off steam to keep my blood pressure in check. These people have just pissed me off too much for too long! I can’t breath in all the “smug”. I am ready for the duel!

PPS: Had a local bring in his Marine Biologist daughter today. She agrees the glass and pottery are extremely beneficial to our (now extremely sick) marine environment. diatoms, etc.

PPPS: Do the ‘s lighten the mood enough? I don’t want to seem “aggressive”. That would not be PC or socially accepted among some of the local “elite”. Really works well in New York, though; and amongst the poor everywhere. Those people still have a sense of humor and humility. When I was a teenager and young man we called them “real” people. “Real” people were cool. Still the only people for me.

WHEN THE BUTTERFLY FLAPS ITS WINGS

by James Kunstler

It remains to be seen what the impact will be from Mother Nature putting the nation’s fourth largest city out-of-business. And for how long? It’s possible that Houston will never entirely recover from Hurricane Harvey. The event may exceed the physical damage that Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans. It may bankrupt large insurance companies and dramatically raise the risk of doing business anywhere along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the USA — or at least erase the perceived guarantee that losses are recoverable. It may even turn out to be the black swan that reveals the hyper-fragility of a US-driven financial system.

Houston also happens to be the center of the US oil industry. Offices can be moved elsewhere, of course, but not so easily the nine major oil refineries that sprawl between Buffalo Bayou over to Beaumont, Port Arthur, and then Lake Charles, Louisiana. Harvey is inching back out to the Gulf where it will inhale more energy over the warm ocean waters and then return inland in the direction of those refineries.

The economic damage could be epic. Much of the supply for the Colonial Pipeline system emanates from the region around Houston, running through Atlanta and clear up to Philadelphia and New York. There could be lines at the gas stations along the eastern seaboard in early September.

The event is converging with the US government running out of money this fall without new authority to borrow more by congress voting to raise the US debt ceiling. Perhaps the emergency of Hurricane Harvey and its costly aftermath will bludgeon congress into quickly raising the debt ceiling. If that doesn’t happen, and the debt ceiling is not raised, the federal government might have to pretend that it can pay for emergency assistance to Texas and Louisiana. That pretense can only go so far before government contractors balk and maybe even walk.

Ordinarily, failure to raise the debt ceiling would lead to a government shut-down, including hurricane recovery operations, unless the president invoked some kind of emergency powers. That would be decisive action, but it could also be the beginning of something that looks like a full-out dictatorship. Powers assumed are often not surrendered when the original emergency is over. And what would the president use for money if a substantial enough number of congresspersons and senators are prompted by their distaste for Mr. Trump to drag out the process of financially re-liquefying the government? (And nevermind even passing a budget.)

Meanwhile, two other major sources of aggravation are waiting off-stage: one is North Korea. Why wouldn’t Kim Jong-un use the opportunity of political disarray in the US to create more headaches for a distracted US government? Never let a crisis go to waste. Another potential irritant is the return of students to American college campuses. Imagine how the campus Antifa forces would react to Mr. Trump assuming emergency powers. It’s easy to foresee an acceleration of violence between the extreme Left and the Extreme right during what is shaping up to look like a major crisis in governing. If the campus Left had any tactical brains, they’d stop marching around in black uniforms and instead organize a mass renunciation of college loan debt.

Behind all this political strife will be wobbling financial markets. The message from the debt ceiling stalemate to the bond market would be that the US can no longer be relied on to pay its debts. Interest rates on US Treasury paper would have to go up as the long-lost concept of risk returned to the bond scene. People and institutions will not be induced to hold bonds unless the yield is recalibrated to the actual risk. Of course, in the mysterious world of bonds (i.e. securitized debt), the price of bonds goes down as interest rates rise. Meaning a lot of current holders of bonds would be hammered if they tried to sell. Rates rising would also spell big trouble for corporations and governments who have to make regular interest payments to bond-holders. A rate rise to as little as 3 percent on US Treasury bonds could spin the country into comprehensive bankruptcy.

How might stock markets and currency markets react to the scenario above? To me it would look like a drop of at least 1000 points on the S & P. The US dollar might actually rise initially as a whole lot of debt is renounced — which makes money actually disappear — but then you have the Federal Reserve waiting on another flank to roll out their own emergency response: Quantitative Easing No. 4, flooding the system with new “money” that has all the appearance and none of the mojo of value, tanking the dollar anew. As a wise correspondent of mine wrote a while back: “financialization is nothing more than money with its value removed.” (Graham Reinders.)

A lot can happen when a faraway butterfly flaps its wings and sets a slight current of air in motion.

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/JamesHowardKunstler)

WHAT IS 1,2,3-TCP & IS IT A PROBLEM IN MENDOCINO COUNTY?

by Jim Shields

At the end of June, the State Water Resources Control Board adopting a new drinking water standard for the regulation of the contaminant 1,2,3-Trichloropropane in tap water.

California is only the second state after Hawaii, to regulate the chemical in drinking water.

Under the new regulation, all public water suppliers, including the Laytonville County Water District, will be required to start testing for the contaminant commonly known as 1,2,3-TCP. The regulation will require that more than 4,000 public water systems statewide to begin quarterly sampling for 1,2,3-TCP in their drinking water sources in January 2018.

Just what is 1,2,3-TCP?

It’s a man-made chemical, used historically in industrial cleaning solvents and some soil fumigant pesticides. It’s also a recognized carcinogen that may cause cancer after long-term exposure. It has been found in groundwater sources, primarily in the Central Valley.

My boss at the State Water Board, Chairwoman Felicia Marcus, in announcing the new reg, said, “1,2,3-TCP is not naturally occurring and too many Californians have been exposed to it for far too long, which is why it has been our top priority for standard setting this year. This standard will better protect public health and allow communities and the state to get on with the job of getting it out of our water supplies.”

The State Water Board’s Division of Drinking Water set the standard for 1,2,3-TCP at 5 parts per trillion (ppt). The drinking water standard, also known as a maximum contaminant level (MCL), is a set limit on what’s an allowable concentration of a contaminant in tap water. This is the first drinking water standard adopted by the State Water Board since the Division of Drinking Water joined the Board from the Department of Public Health in July 2014. Based on 2015 data, the Division of Drinking Water has estimated that 103 water systems serving approximately 920,000 Californians have detected 1,2,3-TCP above 5 ppt in at least one drinking water source. Communities in several counties within the Central Valley are particularly impacted due to their reliance on groundwater and past use of pesticides containing 1,2,3-TCP in many agricultural areas.

According to a BC Water News report, the chemical is currently found at dangerous levels in the drinking water served by 94 different California public water systems, mostly in the farming communities of the Central Valley. Those numbers don’t take into account the nearly 2 million Californians, mostly in rural areas, who get their water from private wells. Experts say many of those wells are also assuredly plagued by 1,2,3-TCP.

Although the chemical was removed from pesticides marketed by Shell and Dow Chemical in the 1980s, its use was so prevalent that it seeped into groundwater where it remains today in levels state scientists say would increase cancer risks after a lifetime of exposure.

From the 1940s through the 70s, soil fumigants mostly under the trade name of D-D, were used in agriculture as pesticides and nematicides for the cultivation of various crops, including grapes, fruits, cotton, tomatoes, and other field crops.

It’s not known whether these types of soil fumigants were ever used in Mendocino County where fruit trees and grape production were and still are agriculture staples. For example, the Ukiah Valley, Hopland area, and Anderson Valley are all places where presumably testing will be done by water districts to determine any presence of the contaminent.

Here in the Laytonville area, there’s never been a heavy presence of the type of agriculture where 1,2,3-TCP types of fumigants would have been used.

In any event, I didn’t want to wait until next year when the law requires us to test for 1,2,3-TCP, so the Water District has already tested for it and we’re waiting for the lab results, which should be provided to us in the next couple of weeks.

I thought you might find this Q&A information helpful in learning more about this contaminant. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at the Water District at 984-6444, or stop by the Observer office above the Post Office. I’ll be glad to talk to you especially if you have any information about some of the past farming practices in our area.

Q: What exactly is TCP?

A: TCP is a manmade chemical. The TCP contamination in wells is believed to have come from soil fumigants. Soil fumigants in use today no longer contain TCP.

Q: How do you treat TCP?

A: TCP will be most efficiently removed using granular-activated carbon (GAC) technology. GAC vessels, which will be installed at impacted wells, will eliminate or substantially reduce the levels of TCP to meet the new MCL standard.

Q: Why is the MCL being set at 5 ppt, when the public health goal is 0.7 ppt?

A: The determination of whether water is safe to drink and use is made by public health experts, who have calculated the theoretical health risks of TCP at the MCL at a 1-in-142,857 cancer risk over a lifetime of exposure. Five ppt is the level that the State has established as the detection reporting limit using currently approved testing methods. A public health goal is the level of a contaminant below which there is no known or expected risk to health over a lifetime (assuming a person drinks 2 liters per day for 70 years), without regard to available treatment technology.

Q: Where does the TCP (or the waste) go after treatment?

A: TCP adheres to the surface of the carbon used in the treatment process. When the carbon is exhausted, a carbon provider will replace the old carbon with new carbon. The provider will properly dispose of or regenerate the old carbon in accordance with federal and state laws.

Q: How Does Activated Carbon Work?

All preparations of activated carbon work through a process known as adsorption. In absorption, compounds are evenly distributed throughout the absorbent product, like a sponge soaking up water. In adsorption, however, the compounds bind only to the surface molecules, creating a film.

Carbon molecules are naturally attractive. That is, they actively seek out other molecules with which they can bond. The immense surface area and highly porous nature of activated carbon allow the adsorbed compounds to penetrate the material fully, seeking out all available binding points.

Chemical reactions also take place, changing some offensive compounds into less objectionable variations. Although activated carbon is not effective against all compounds, it does have the ability to bond with compounds in all three phases: liquid, solid, and gas.

THE HIGHWAY TO HELL

by Jim Shields

Well, we’ve now started the third year of the Caltrans repaving of Highway 101 in the Laytonville area.

This week, Caltrans and its contractor Ghilotti Construction Co. began round three of the “third time must be the charm” phase of a job that I’ve called “The Highway To Hell” project because it’s paved with good intentions but bad results.

For most of the summer, Caltrans posted “Rough Road” traffic signs warning drivers to watch out for the outcropping of potholes starting at the south end of town but there are lots more in the stretch south to Willits.

Caltrans crews were out earlier in the summer painting white marks around the damaged sections of roadway to Willits. Those paint marks designate the “digouts” for paving repair, some of which are two to three feet wide by 20-feet in length. I any event, the contractor is now repaving the entire original highway project, not just the potholes and larger sections of failed roadway.

As most of you know, Caltrans spent the better part of two years laying down new pavement in that southbound stretch. There was controversy surrounding the local batch plant, Grist Creek Aggregates, that produced a rubberized asphalt that was used in the project. The controversy centered on use permit violations and air quality problems. Neighbors of the asphalt plant, its owner, the county, and the air quality district are still enmeshed in lawsuits, civil complaints, damage claims, etc. But none of those issues — so far anyway — provide an answer with what caused the failure of the newly paved Highway 101 in the Laytonville area.

Caltrans evidently believes the problem is caused by this year’s heavy rains, slightly over 100 inches in the Laytonville area. However, as most of you know, I started noticing and then writing about and discussing on my KPFN radio show the presence of all the potholes around Thanksgiving when only 22 inches of rain had fallen. That’s hardly enough rain to cause the sort of deterioration that we’ve seen on the newly paved highway.

Recently Caltrans sent out a very brief statement regarding the work that begun this week: “Route 101 (63.5/82.5) – Emergency pavement repairs from Long Valley Creek to the Empire Camp Rest Area will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Monday evening through Saturday morning. Motorists should anticipate 5-minute delays.”

You have to wonder how much these “emergency pavement repairs” are costing taxpayers, what was the “emergency” that caused the repair project, and who is responsible for the pavement failure.

Although I don’t have a lot of extra time on my hands given I have two jobs (the newspaper and managing the Water District), I’m going to look into this and find out what the hell is going on.

(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, and also manages the Laytonville County Water District. Courtesy, The Mendocino County Observer.)

MENDO BROADBANDER TRISH KELLY WRITES: Tomorrow (Tuesday) there is an informational hearing by the Assembly Select Committee on Economic Development and Investment in Rural California from 2-3:30, and you can stream it (if you have broadband). Here's how: Go to www.assembly.ca.gov , find the “Daily Hearings” section on the right-hand side and then click on the link to the listed hearing.

Also, our next Broadband Alliance meeting is on Friday September 8th (the 2nd Friday of the month, not the first as it is normally) - usual time, usual place (10 am at the Community Foundation in Ukiah).