Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017

• Navarro Study
• Hendy Sunday
• AV Shindig
• Flora Walks
• Cannabis Budget
• Confession Tapes
• California Sanctuary
• Election Forum
• NCRA Appeal
• Rough Road
• Ocean Troubles
• Yesterday's Catch
• Connie Hawkins
• Cancer Event
• Phony Baloney
• Political Discussion
• Harvest Moon
• Bump Stocks
• Mendocino Theatre
• Ladies Only
• Climate News
• Marco Radio
• Estate Tax
• Little Dog
• Library Events
• My Life

NAVARRO RIVER BASIN INSTREAM FLOW NEEDS ASSESSMENT MEETING

October 26, 2017

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) will hold the first public meeting to discuss the development of a Study Plan for the Navarro River Basin Instream Flow Needs Assessment (Study). The Study is being designed to assess flow needs to support beneficial uses in the Navarro River Basin.

This meeting is the first opportunity for stakeholders to hear about the Study, ask questions of staff, and hear about future opportunities for engagement. Please find the meeting agenda attached. Future meetings will be held throughout the Basin to provide additional opportunity for engagement with watershed stakeholders. The initial Navarro River Basin Instream Flow Needs Assessment (Study) meeting will take place at the following place and time:

Mendocino County Fairgrounds, Dining Hall
14400 CA-128, Boonville, CA
Thursday, October 26, 2017
4:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Topics/Presenters:

Opening Remarks and Study Background/Context
Bryan McFadin, Regional Water Board

Agenda Review and Meeting Guidelines
Sam Magill, Kearns & West

Project Description Review and Study Timeline
Paul Devries, R2 Consultants Inc.

Stakeholder Assessment Overview
Sam Magill, Kearns & West

Audience Q&A
All Meeting Participants

Review Action Items and Next Steps
Bryan McFadin, Regional Water Board
Sam Magill, Kearns & West

HENDY WOODS COMMUNITY will again be picking up Day Use fees for local people this Second Sunday of October, the 8th. Come see the lovely new paths and boardwalks that were created in the Upper Loop of Big Hendy Grove after the wild Winter of 2016-17 or enjoy the sunshine and fall colors in the big meadow or along the Navarro River.

ANDERSON VALLEY FOODSHED SHINDIG

Reminder: It's going to be another magical evening celebrating the harvest season together, with great food, great music, great company, we hope you can join us!

Saturday, October 14th at 6:00 PM

The Shed (Behind Paysanne Ice Cream Shop)

ALAN FLORA didn't just resign his position as the number two man in County admin, he just up and walked out. No weasel-lipped presser about how he was sorry to be leaving, no nothing. Trouble with the boss? Could be. Flora was recruited by CEO Angelo to be her successor. He was brought over from Lake County to work Lake's magic in Mendo. But the abrupt departure hints at something more. Even disgruntled employees give 30 or more days notice then use up vacation time before they shuffle off.

NOW THAT THE COUNTY’S pot permit and legalization program is finishing its first (calendar) year, it seemed like a good time to look back at the budget assumptions and other matters relating to “the largest new program undertaken by the County in many years,” as the County's 2017-18 Budget book described it. (If you can't name another new program initiated by the County ever, you're not alone.)

THE COUNTY staffed up for their new pot program very fast, and early on it looked to us like they were just as quickly stepping into budgetary quicksand.

ACCORDINGLY, last March we asked the since-disappeared Deputy CEO Alan Flora how he saw the pot program playing out. Mr. Flora replied at some length.

BUT FOR OUR PURPOSES now, Mr. Flora replied (in part):

“Currently the cannabis program is budgeted in the Agricultural Commissioner's budget (Budget Unit 2710). The program is budgeted separately from the traditional responsibilities of the Ag. Commissioner’s Office (internally), but it is not reflected separately in the County Budget. The FY 2017-18 Budget will include a separate budget unit for the cannabis program so the finances specific to that program are more externally transparent. The Board has not provided specific direction on reporting applications and/or costs, however we would envision the Ag. Commissioner reporting on the program during quarterly budget reports.”

ALTHOUGH AG COMMISSIONER Diane Curry (who just got a big raise) has made several reports to the Board since then, the “envisioned” reporting on the program has never mentioned her budget. Nor has any other pot related department mentioned their budget.

FLORA CONTINUED, “The Agricultural Commissioner's Office has estimated that with 350 applicants the annual program cost would be $745,832. The Board adopted fees in January that would cover these costs. Of course this is somewhat of a moving target and adjustments will need to be made if the number of applicants fluctuates significantly from that estimate. For example, if the County receives 500 applications, the fee structure should still be valid as far as the amount of time required to process a single application, but the County may need to hire additional staff to handle the increased workload.”

MS. CURRY has not mentioned staffing in her reports either.

ON MAY 21, during the Quarterly Budget Review, CEO Carmel Angelo told her captive Board of Supervisors, “What I would like to see is that we actually have a workshop in the summer when there's usually more time, the agendas are not that full in July or August and that workshop would be dedicated to looking at — you are really talking about performance measures — when you're talking about performance measures, Assistant CEO Flora is working on metrics, we are really looking at outcome measures for departments. What you're talking about is more about performance measures. So what I would like to do is have a workshop with Human Resources and really look at some of the areas that we are working on — that Human Resources is working on — and also get direction from the board because it is a much bigger issue than what you have discussed in the last three minutes. So I'd like to go ahead and schedule that for the summer.”

GUESS WHAT HAPPENED “in the summer”? That’s right: Nothing. Nor has the subject come up since.

ON JUNE 2, 2017, we quoted from the Final 2017-18 County Budget: “…The Board has also directed increased enforcement efforts to be managed through the Code Enforcement Program in Planning and Building Services. Code Enforcement positions are not funded by permit fees and therefore discretionary dollars from the cannabis tax are used to cover the increased costs of this program, including the cost of a full-time Deputy County Counsel and a 0.5 FTE Legal Secretary in the County Counsel’s Office to support the Code Enforcement Program. Similarly a new position in Public Health and a contract for public outreach regarding cannabis education [sic] are funded from cannabis tax dollars…”

THE CEO’S “Net County Cost” chart showed ($1.7 million) of Cannabis Tax Revenue (but it’s in parens, which presumably means loss of revenue). This would seem to have been the $1 million road allocation ($1 million of the projected cannabis fee and tax revenue was supposed to go to upgrading the County’s awful rural roads) plus $700k for enforcement: two code enforcement officers, 1.5 lawyers, a hearing officer, 0.5 of a Human Resources Tech, and two public health staffers (one a nurse).

ON TOP OF THAT were six Planning & Building staffers, three more public health staffers, a legal secretary, another human resources staffer, and three “Ag/Measurement Standards Specialists.” Or 14 full time pot program staffers plus six in "code enforcement" which probably represents another $2 or $3 million in gross expenditures.

IN THE 2017/18 BUDGET, CEO Angelo insisted that the County will “Utilize a conservative approach to budgeting anticipated cannabis dollars, recognizing we are budgeting a new and unpredictable revenue stream.”

AS OF THAT BUDGET 2017-18 projection in June the County had committed at least $2 million in projected pot program expenditures (not counting the hoped for allocations to roads, law enforcement, emergency services, or mental health). People were hired, vehicles were bought, programs were put in place, offices were expanded — all with projected dope money, and all based on the presumption of at least 600 permit applications filed, paid for and approved (a low number considering the number of pot growers in Mendocino County is probably more than ten times that).

SO FAR there are reportedly 734 applications, a few of which were denied while a very few were approved. But they seem to be taking more staff time than anyone "envisioned," even with the additional staffing the County has hired to help with the anticipated but largely imaginary pot permit largesse.

THE POINT: Despite vague references to reporting and metrics and budget status reviews (which we all knew was more empty rhetoric, including those who mentioned it), the pot program’s financial viability remains unexplored and dubious.

WHAT WE'VE seen so far is a kind of reverse Midas effect — less money for law enforcement by way of fines, seizures, forfeitures, and mitigation fees. Although law enforcement isn’t supposed to use those funds for basic operations, these revenue reductions are going to put pressure on all the County’s law enforcement operating budgets.

UPSHOT: The County’s Pot Program Budget so far is mostly smoke and more smoke.

PS. Remember Measure AJ from November of 2016 which passed comfortably? It was an advisory measure that was supposed to instruct the County to “use a majority of [marijuana business tax] revenue for funding enforcement of marijuana regulations, enhanced mental health services, repair of county roads, and increase fire and emergency medical services.”

NO ONE HAS EVEN ASKED for an accounting of those funds, even though Measures AI and AJ were put on the ballot and sold as the sensible alternative to the Pot Growers' own Measure, Measure AG.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: "Confession Tapes," the new NetFlix documentary. Not for everyone, especially persons predisposed to the fuzzy-warm worldview, the series is a riveting tutorial on how law enforcement extracts false confessions from defenseless persons, i.e., people who don't know they don't have to say anything unless they're under arrest, and even if they are under arrest don't have to say anything without a lawyer present. In all of the cases presented there is serious doubt about the guilt of the cop's designated perp. In one painfully sad case of a man found guilty of deliberately drowning his four children and attempting to drown his wife, even the judge expressed public doubt that the man's crime was anything but a tragic accident. Nevertheless, he went down for life.

CLOSER TO HOME, we have the case of Tai Abreu of Fort Bragg whose public defender managed to convert no evidence against him into a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. All three defendants were found guilty of the murder of a Los Angeles man. There is zero evidence that Abreu participated in the murder part of the scheme, but under California's murder law if you're present when a murder occurs, you're automatically involved. He confessed, just like the people in "Confession Tapes" without knowing the first thing about his right not to talk about being in on the confused pothead plot to lure the vic to Mendo. Abreu had just turned 19 when he got a one day trial during which Public Defender Linda Thompson essentially joined the prosecution in testifying against him. The other two defendants pled out, receiving, essentially, 20-to-life each. They'll be out soon, Abreu, unless some remnant of justice can be squeezed out of the justice system, will never get out. Mendo PD Thompson talked Abreu into going to trial when he, too, should have taken the DA's offer of 20-to-life. Of all the rancid miscarriages of justice I've seen in Mendocino County over the past forty years, the legal lynching of Abreu is the absolute worst.

CALIFORNIA'S SANCTUARY LAW, SB54, was written by Senate President Kevin de León, a Los Angeles Democrat. It bars law enforcement officers in the state from arresting individuals based on civil immigration warrants, or asking about a person’s immigration status or participating in any joint task force with federal officials for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws. It also prohibits local officials from contracting with the federal government to house their detainees and holding immigrants for any reason if they are cleared for release on their state criminal cases. The bill does not prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing federal immigration laws in California. Instead, the law says California will not use its own law enforcement resources to help in those actions.

ELECTION FORUM

NORTH COAST RAILROAD AUTHORITY, A STATE AGENCY, WILL ASK US SUPREME COURT TO RULE THAT IT IS NOT BOUND BY STATE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

by Hank Sims

The North Coast Railroad Authority will soon be asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn its legal defeat at the hands of two local environmental organizations this summer, and appears to have retained the services of a high-powered Washington lawyer in its quest to do so.

Near the end of July, the California Supreme Court ruled that the railroad authority – a financially troubled public agency that was created by the state legislature in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s to manage the railroad line between Humboldt County and the Bay Area – is, in fact, bound by California environmental law.

The authority has steadfastly maintained that it is free to ignore the California Environmental Quality Act, despite being having applied for and accepted state money in order to prepare an environmental impact report on the restoration of rail service – and, indeed, despite being an agency of the state of California itself.

Now it will attempt to take that case to the highest court in the land. Earlier this week, an attorney with a Washington D.C.-based law firm wrote to the Supreme Court to ask for an extension of time to file a petition begging the court to hear an appeal of the California Supreme Court ruling. The extension of time was necessary, the attorney said, as he was only recently retained and had to familiarize himself with the case.

“Only on September 29, 2017, did NCRA retain new Counsel of Record, Andrew Tauber of Mayer Brown LLP,” read the letter. “Mr. Tauber was not involved in the litigation before the California state courts and therefore must familiarize himself with the proceedings and arguments below. Mr. Tauber requires the additional requested time to research the legal issues fully and prepare an appropriate petition for consideration by this Court.”

The appeal to the Supreme Court raises the odd specter of an agency of the state of California spending public funds on high-powered Washington attorneys to argue that it should not be bound by California law, against the demands of California’s highest court. What’s more, it comes at a time when the most recent financial audit of the authority showed that it is running a $200,000-per-year deficit, with much of that attributable to legal costs.

Richard Marks, one of Humboldt County’s two representatives on the railroad authority’s board of directors, told the Outpost yesterday that he was “surprised” to hear that the authority’s staff had engaged attorneys in D.C. to prepare an appeal, but that he could not go into further detail as previous discussion of the matter had taken place in a closed session of the board.

Marks said, however, that the railroad’s finances were not quite as dire as they had been previously, as it is now receiving more income from the sale or lease of property along the line. He assured the Outpost that the authority would pay for the cost of any Supreme Court appeal out of its own budget, and not by soliciting outside funds.

But the NCRA — and particularly its finances — have also been under a microscope recently, after the California Transportation Commission held a probing question-and-answer session with the authority’s leadership back in June. By the end of it, the commission ordered the authority to come back to it with two new documents — a business plan and a “shutdown plan.” That should happen sometime in the coming months.

Scott Greacen, the conservation director of Friends of the Eel — one of two local environmental groups, along with Californians For Alternatives to Toxics, that took the original lawsuit up to the California Supreme Court — said today that he felt that the chances of the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to hear the case (to “grant certiorari”) were small. But he said that his organization would be prepared to defend its case, and the decision of the California Supremes — basically, that a state government may decide how it wishes to operate its own agencies.

“In the unlikely event that the Supreme Court were to grant cert, we will vigorously defend our victory at the California Supreme Court,” Greacen said. “What’s important to us is that the California Supreme Court showed that you can harmonize federal railroad law with states’ right to insist that its own resources be spent in ways that affect our needs and priorities.”

It has been nearly 20 years since any trains have run to Humboldt County.

Documents: ”Application to the Hon. Anthony M. Kennedy for an Extension of Time Within Which to File a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of California.” Letter from Andrew Tauber of Mayer Brown LLP, on behalf of the North Coast Railroad Authority. Oct. 3, 2017.

A READER SUBMITS:

At entrance to Signal Ridge Road, Philo.

CA FISH & WILDLIFE RECOMMENDS 2018 ABALONE CLOSURE

"Red abalone are susceptible to starvation when kelp and algal abundances decline. Kelp and other algal species are being actively cleared from rocky bottom habitat that is dominated by grazing purple sea urchins, which are at least 60 times more abundant now than prior to 2013. Urchin populations increased, in part, to large-scale loss of predatory starfish species in 2013 due to sea star wasting disease."

Here's a link for more information: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx…

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 7, 2017

JAMES BAHR, Berkeley. DUI.

NICHOLAS COCHRAN, Willits. Failure to appear.

SERGIO GARCIA-BASILIO, Ukiah. DUI.

 

SHELLY GIBSON, Willits. Receiving stolen property, conspiracy.

NICHOLAS HALVORSEN, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)

JIMMIE ISENHART JR., Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent Flyer)

DANNY MARTIN, Willits. DUI, no license, probation revocation.

KYLE MCCARTNEY, Willits. Receiving stolen property, conspiracy, probation revocation.

ADAM PEARSON, Ukiah. Under influence, parole violation, probation revocation.

WILLIAM RETZLOFF, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

RICHARD SUGGS, Ukiah. Domestic abuse, resisting, probation revocation.

CESLEY WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Criminal threats, probation revocation.

CODY WILLIAMS, Covelo. Infliction of injury on a child.

NICOLE WRIGHT, Ukiah. Domestic battery, probation revocation.

CONNIE HAWKINS

Connie Hawkins, basketball's dazzling New York playground legend who soared and swooped his way to the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 75.

His death was announced Saturday by the Phoenix Suns, the team with which he spent his most productive NBA seasons in a career delayed for years by a point-shaving scandal that led to the league blackballing him, even though he was never directly linked to any wrongdoing.

The Suns did not disclose the cause of Friday's death. Hawkins, who lived in the Phoenix area, had been in frail health for several years and was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007.

"We lost a legend," said Jerry Colangelo, the Suns general manager when Hawkins played and later the owner of the franchise, "a player I had a very deep affection for who kind of put us on the map."

"The Hawk,'" as he came to be known for his soaring repertoire, was born on July 17, 1942, in Brooklyn, where he could dunk by age 11 and ruled the asphalt playgrounds, tales of his basketball feats spreading across the boroughs.

He was a decent shooter, but he was at his masterful best should anyone dare to try to cover him one-on-one.

"One of the first players to play above the rim,'" Colangelo said, "and kind of set the tone for those who followed, Julius Erving in particular, in terms of charisma on the court and the ability to do things on court.'"

Hawkins would blow by defenders and, gripping the ball in one hand, finish with breathtaking wizardry or a thunderous slam, seemingly defying laws of gravity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj2tXnFhYpc

"Someone said if I didn't break them, I was slow to obey them,'" he once said.

Before there was the persona of "Dr. J,'" Hawkins produced his own brand of basketball theater, although for many years he played before decidedly smaller houses.

"'The Hawk' revolutionized the game and remains to this day an icon of the sport and one of basketball's great innovators," the Suns said in their statement. "His unique combination of size, grace and athleticism was well ahead of its time and his signature style of play is now a hallmark of the modern game."

Hawkins toured the world with the Harlem Globetrotters then played two seasons in the ABA and was the league's Most Valuable Player in 1968, helping the Pittsburgh Pipers to a title.

He didn't play in the NBA until he was 27, the league keeping its distance because of a college point-shaving scandal in New York City while Hawkins was a freshman at Iowa in 1961. Hawkins was never directly associated with the scandal and the principals always contended he had nothing to do with it, but the NBA barred him nonetheless.

"It was totally devastating," Hawkins said in a 2009 interview with NBA.com. "I was innocent, but no one would listen to me. Plus, coming from a poor family, no one even thought about trying to get a lawyer to fight it. We just weren't that sophisticated.'"

Hawkins eventually sued the NBA for banning him and, according to his biography on NBA.com, reached a settlement of more than $1 million. Finally, in 1969, then-commissioner J. Walter Kennedy lifted the ban.

The Suns, a 1-year-old franchise at the time, selected Hawkins second overall after losing a coin flip for the rights to then-Lew Alcindor, now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"I was the happiest guy in the world," Hawkins said. "Once I became an NBA player, I never looked back. People still to this day ask me if I was bitter about that, and I still tell them the same thing. Hell no. I'm just glad I was able to play."

He was an NBA All-Star for four straight seasons. His best season in the NBA was his first, when he averaged 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He also played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks before retiring in 1976.

Colangelo has said that if Hawkins would have come into the league through college at the normal age, "he could have been one of the top 10 or 15 players to ever play the game."

Hawkins was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.

An original member of the Suns Ring of Honor, he was a community representative for the Phoenix franchise for many years after his retirement.

He was, Colangelo said, "a very warm, compassionate guy who was very humble in his own way."

18TH ANNUAL BIG RIVER WALK & PADDLE

Saturday, October 21, 2017, Big River State Park at 9:30 am

Family friendly event for all ages, Adults: $25, Teens: $10, Children: Free

Register online at http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CancerResourceCenter/450e612481/c8bebd9577/33f29900e9

download a pledge list; create a fundraising page; or call 707.937.3833

First prize for gathering the most pledges is a brand new bike from Catch a Canoe

Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County
PO Box 50
Mendocino, California 95460

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

MIGHT go wrong? What do you mean MIGHT?

The phony-baloney economy? There’s not a lot of rationality evident lately, whether it’s financial markets in ionospheric denial of everything abundantly obvious or bank balance sheets sagging with trillions in derivatives contracts that nobody in management, nor on bank Boards, nor in audit firms, nor in the alphabet soup of government regulatory bodies, have a sniff about. Do you worry about financial time-bombs? Well, there be those in surplus. Big ones. They’ve gone off before, not that Wall Street learned, nor the battalion of PhDs at the Fed. It’s not just the tattooed fatsos on drugs.

In the more mundane realm of household finance it doesn’t take a Wharton MBA to understand there’s trouble afoot when the last payment on the auto-loan is half a life-time away. OK that’s an exaggeration. The average length of an auto loan is only 70 months. A third go from 73 to 80 months. Imagine that. These aren’t cars, these are millstones.

Don’t look for reasoned discourse in the great newspaper and magazine publishing houses that cloak their political allegiances with steady-eddy sounding articles doing make-believe impartial analysis. It’s just the same old calumny with a bit of perfume. But if you DO want outright insults, they’ve got ’em, if you want fantasy-land economists, they have them too and if you want dog-whistles, nobody does it better than the New York Times and their self-congratulating media brethren.

When you cut through the blather, what they’re all saying is that fly-over Americans are racist morons whose interests don’t matter, their concerns unworthy, their gripes without basis. As such their votes don’t count and so the election of 2016 is invalid.

Will Trump’s generals defend him? Hell no, they’ll be the ones doing the termination interview. Drown him in the Potomac? Too much bother. Find a crazed gunman. No shortage of those.

VILE & STUPID

Editor:

Once again I hear in the media the proliferation and perpetuation of another idiotic phrase: “Now is not the time for political discussion” and then valiant accounts of brave responders. Let’s be honest. We are a vain, uncivilized, vile and stupid people who have brought this upon ourselves, revisiting this tragedy over and over and taking no action to prevent it.

Jeff Mulanix

Santa Rosa

COAST HARVEST MOON

(Photo by Susie de Castro)

TYPICAL GUN GUY REACTION TO VEGAS:

Comment: As a Second Amendment supporter and an owner of a number of firearms, I see no reason for the need of a bump stock.

Reaction: I dont have a need for it, but I will buy one just because the government is trying to say I can’t own one. I will most likely never use it or ever install it to a firearm that I have. But just because the dems say I can’t have one, means I will have one.

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? continues this weekend...Please join George, Martha, Nick, and Honey for an evening of Fun And Games in the Mendocino Theatre Company's production of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee. Gut-wrenching and visceral, this seminal work shows that Albee’s genius is as powerful and relevant today as it was fifty years ago. Join us this Sunday at 2pm for a special matinee performance that features a talkback with the actors, immediately following the show. What people are saying about this production:

"What a performance! The entire production was fabulous—cast, set, lighting — one of the best MTC has produced!"

"...this is a difficult and demanding play, particularly for the two lead characters, but the actors rose to the challenge and were excellent in their roles."

"If you want a close second to the Irwin-Turner matchup, you can't beat the current Mendocino Theatre Company production..."

"Amazing performances. Kudos to director, Willo Hausman."

The show runs weekends through October 22nd. For tickets, phone the box office at 707-937-4477, or visit our website at: http://mendocinotheatre.org/single-tickets/.

GUNS FOR WOMEN ONLY

Editor,

I have an idea for easing the tension between the need to maintain Second Amendment rights and the even stronger need for gun control. Under my plan, guns would remain freely available, but only women could have them. No other regulation would be necessary — no fussing about bump stocks or anything else, really.

Women, of course, could use their guns for self-defense, and would also be available to form militias if, in fact, the government becomes tyrannical. But after a possibly difficult transition period, the number of mass shootings would plunge, probably to zero.

Elizabeth Morrison

San Bruno

CLIMATE NEWS

Dear Editor:

This letter follows my letter of October 1, 2017, wherein I deferred comments on various research reports regarding climate change.

First, an effort by Australian scientists to breed a super coral that can survive the warming oceans. As the scientists worked through a stretch of ocean off the Australian state of Queensland they found sample after sample of living coral that had dodged a recent die-off. The goal according to Neal Cantin, a researcher with the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville is to find the corals with the best genes, multiply them in tanks on land and return them to the ocean where they can can continue to breed. This work is now being carried on by the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida. This effort is very expensive and they have the support of private philanthropists such as Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. The big question is can they breed a coral that can live with warming and more acidic water that mimics the predictions of scientists for the years 2050 and 2100.

Climate change is having a profound affect on the grain crops and pasture land in the 300,000 square mile Pampas area of Argentina Grains include soybeans, corn and wheat. The country ranks third globally in corn and soybean production. While various factors such as El Nino came into play, it was noted that higher temperatures probably have triggered more intense rain and shorter winters. Other parts of the Pampas have been afflicted by drought. In January there was a wild fire over 1.6 million acres that threatened crops and killed thousands of open-range cattle. In addition, heavy rains flooded the fields at harvest time with the result excellent crops have been negated by the flooding leaving little profit for the growers. The heavy rains last month has already have jeopardizing this season's soybean's planting.

I need to hold my comments to one page so I will again defer my discussion on the Sixth Mass Extinction of Wildlife Also Threatens Global Food Supplies to next week's comments. A new report, “Tsuami carried a million sea creatures from Japan to US west coast” is of interest.

In peace and love,

Jim Updegraff

Sacramento

A SEARS CATALOG OF TARGET-RICH ENVIRONMENTS

"When you look for guidance, direction, mentorship, you always look toward institutions but it's really yourself that is the final arbiter. And if you keep yourself as the final arbiter, you will be less susceptible to infection by cultural illusion. Now the problem with this is it makes you feel bad to not be infected by cultural illusion because it's called alienation. But the reason we feel alienated is because the society is infantile, trivial and stupid. So the cost of sanity in this society is a certain level of alienation." —Terrence McKenna

The recording of last night's (2017-10-09) KNYO and KMEC Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show is available to download and enjoy via http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

Also there you'll find directions to many not necessarily radio-useful though worthwhile goods that I set aside for you while putting the show together, such as, for example:

Why we feel lonely and odd.

https://boingboing.net/2017/10/05/psychological-asymmetry-why.html

The meaning of life.

https://theawesomer.com/cliched-meaning-life/448312/

Ballet. And that's loci not locus. And an not a. Skip the gif and scroll down to the real video.

https://laughingsquid.com/ballet-rotoscope/

And a wonderfully silly plasma gun made of vinyl tubing and water bottles. /Stop or I'll whish-whish-whish-PHOOMP./

http://dailyoftheday.com/playing-with-fire-of-the-day-plasma-gun/

–Marco McClean

ONLY THE RICHEST

Dear Editor,

Looks like the Right Wing Republicans are still at it.

They’re in power so let’s raid the Treasurey, kick people off their health care and give that money to the sickest people in the country. The current scam? They need to get rid of the inheritance tax. Why? It doesn’t apply to 90% of the people. Anyone can have $5 million to their heirs with no tax.

So who does this affect? Only the richest 10% of Americans. If you’re a CEO of a health insurance corporation, you make $250,000 a week. That’s over $6,000 per hour, and now you want to leave hundreds of millions to your spoiled kids without paying any estate tax?

Why not leave your kids the $5 million you didn’t pay tax on and give the rest to charity or at least pay the tax thereby kicking back some money to the country that let you accumulate all of that wealth in the first place?

Don Phillips

Manchester

PS. Actually the tax is $5.49 million and that’s per person, so a couple can leave nearly $11 million tax free. The remainder is taxed at 40%. We need some higher brackets for the really rich.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Everyone is down the street at the Farmer's Market having a good time. Can I go? Nope, they say, you gotta watch the place. It's your job. You know that. I ask, What's to watch? Skrag? Someone's gonna rip off that deadbeat?”

LIBRARY EVENTS

Teen Read Week

(October 8^th – October 14^th) with the following events:

Spooky Teen Storytime Pajama Jam & Pillow-Making

– Friday, October 13^th 4:30-7pm

Teen Read-a-Thon – Saturday, October 14^th 10-5 pm

The Ukiah Branch Library will celebrate Teen Read Week (October 8-14, 2017) with special events and programs spotlighting all the great resources and activities available at the library and to encourage teens from around the area to read for their enjoyment. Thousands of libraries, schools and bookstores across the country will hold similar events centered on this year’s theme, “Unleash Your Story!”

We invite teens, parents and other concerned community members to participate in special programs and events during Teen Read Week:

On Friday, Oct. 13^th, teens are invited to wear their pajamas to the library for a Spooky Teen Storytime Pajama Jam & Pillow-Making between 4:30-7pm. Any treasured childhood stories or ghost stories are welcome. We will also be making special pillows from denim and corduroy.

On Saturday, October 14^th, join us for a Teen Read-a-Thon all day between 10-5 pm. Teens can read away their fines – knock $1 off every hour you read at the Library!

Teen Read Week is a time to celebrate reading for fun while encouraging teens to take advantage of reading in all its forms —books, magazines, e-books, audiobooks and more! It is also a great opportunity to encourage teens to become regular library users.

In recent years, many families have had to adapt to make do with less as a result of the economy. Teen Read Week is a great opportunity for teens and their families to learn about all the free services and resources the library offers. The library also offers a safe and supervised space for adolescents to engage in creative, educational activities with caring adults and mentors.

Moreover, according to Teen Librarian Melissa Carr, strong reading skills are more critical than ever because they translate into better performance at school and better preparedness for careers. This is why it is important to take advantage of Teen Read Week and show teens that reading is a fun and relaxing activity they can do for free.

Parents of teens are also encouraged to celebrate Teen Read Week at home The Ukiah Branch Library offers these ideas:

Set aside time each day for the family to read

Give books or magazine subscriptions to your teen as a gift or reward

Share your favorite book with your teen

Go online with your teen to learn about new books or authors by visiting http://tinyurl.com/yalsabookawardslists, or use YALSA’s free Teen Book Finder app

Host a book discussion group

Build an in-home library (thrift stores and yard sales offer an inexpensive way to do that)

Listen to audiobooks on trips

Create a cozy reading corner somewhere in your home

Use meal time to talk about books that you’re reading

Parents and caregivers can be role models by making time to read, too

Incorporate reading into teen chores, such as reading a recipe when cooking, reading instructions for how-to projects, reading sales fliers to develop a shopping list, and more

Teen Read Week is a national adolescent literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association. It is held annually in October, the same week as Columbus Day. For more information, visit www.ala.org/teenread.

For more information – please contact Melissa at the Ukiah Library: 467-6434

* * *

District Teens Leadership Council

Saturday, October 14^th

Saturday, November 18th

3 - 4 pm

Teens are invited to join the library’s Teen Leadership Council (TLC). Teen leaders can volunteer & apply for credit toward community service hours while building their résumés. Teens will have a chance to be heard & make a difference in the community.

District Teens Leaders will gain valued skills & experience:

Collaborating to design our new teen space

Planning & organizing events

Recommending books & other materials for library purchase

Developing leadership & conflict-resolution skills

Contributing to the Ukiah community by expanding teen resources

Come and find out if this is the group for you!

Pizza will be provided.

For more information – please contact Melissa at the Ukiah Library: 467-6434

* * *

Clothing Swap Party

On Sunday, December 3^rd from 1-4 pm, Mendocino County Library, Ukiah Branch is hosting a Clothing Swap Party!

Donate clothing that is in clean and good condition before our party, and come and find new-to-you clothing at our Clothing Swap. No hats, scarves, socks or undergarments please.

All ages are welcome; there will be live music by Sid and Steve, and food for your enjoyment. This event is sponsored by Mendocino County Library, North Coast Opportunities, the Alex Rorabaugh Recreation Center, Mendocino College Library, and the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library.

Donations are not necessary for participation. Questions on where to donate in advance? Contact the Ukiah Library at 707-463-4490.

MY LIFE

by James Herriot Jr.

Dear AVA,

My name is James Herriot Jr. from Albion. I'm doing a prison term for four years. My release date is December 25, 2018. I'm writing in hope of finding a friend to write me and just help me not feel so alone in life. You see, everything I have loved has been ripped from me in a tragic way.

It began with my sister hanging herself when I was 17. Then my mom poured gas on herself and killed herself when I was 18 at which time I began using drugs just to maintain. I was a walking dead man. Yet somehow I still held on to life and was always looking for a connection with someone.

I met a lady and she had my baby. I was in jail the day my baby girl was born. I got out two weeks later and went to a drug program to get my life in order so I could be there for my baby girl. The mother of my child lost her to foster care.

I was going to get her back, but then I got a call on a Sunday morning that something had happened to my daughter. She had been life-flighted to Oakland Children's Hospital. I went there and it still haunts me to this day. She had 15 tubes going into her body. Yet I thought she was going to make it. I remember talking to the doctor and asking if she would make it and they said I needed to say my goodbyes. I said, Can't you give us a 1% chance that she will be okay? They could not give me that. I went in that room and talked to Emerald Robin Rose Herriot and said, Maybe if you want to go with God you can. And you know what happened? She flatlined one minute later and I stood back while the doctor did chest compressions yelling, No, emerald, come back! And she came back. The doctor looked at me and said he would not to do that again. I knew then that she was going and it would be my last goodbye to her. So I held her, kissed her, and she died the next day on December 4, 2012.

Somehow I held onto life and did not give in to drugs for awhile. All I wanted to do was honor her life. But stuff got hard and I went back to drugs to help me forget. But I never really was able to forget, just kind of suppress it all.

Then I found out my uncle who raised me had stage 4 cancer and was dying and I spent all the time I could with him not wanting to let go of the last person I loved in this world. And then he died.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm jinxed somehow. I went back to a program to get help. Cobb Mountain Hilltop, was the name of the program. I was up there and I decided to go for a long hike. I came to a waterfall. I was sitting there on top of this waterfall and a vision came to me and it's not a vision you see with your eyes but you feel it with your heart. I saw women and children there. The women were weaving baskets, the children were playing in the water. I knew I was seeing something from the long past. I began to try my hand at weaving a basket right next to this native woman. I began to get the wisdom to do it from watching this native woman from the past. I knew right then I was receiving big medicine.

Then I went to the edge of the waterfall and looked over and there was a rope there and I was about to rappel down the rope when I stopped. I thought, Wait, you don't know who put that rope there. There are sick, twisted people in this world. Someone could have put a short, cut off the rope there. I could end up falling to my death.

My daughter Emerald was murdered in her foster home by Josh Tubbs. I am aware of how messed up people are in this world.

I went back to my vision and I saw two people on horseback along with rifles and they began to shoot and kill the Native people and then just got back on their horses. The Native people grabbed the kids and ran up the hill. I began to follow the path they took. It led me to this outcrop of rocks where the native people were able to defeat their attackers with great loss and great sorrow. I looked down at my feet and there was a hawk feather. I picked it up and I did not feel alone. I know that I had spirits with me. This was just the beginning of this vision.

I went back to my program.

The next day I went on another vision quest. This time I was seeking the eagle feather and I went back to that spot and began there. I saw a butterfly and I asked it, Where is the eagle? So I followed it and I was walking along and I heard the eagle scream from a ways off and I hopped down some rocks. I saw a rattlesnake and I knew that I had to kill the rattlesnake and bring it to the eagle if I was to get one of his feathers. I did not want to kill that eagle, just to have one of the eagle feathers. So I was happy with my hawk feather and my vision.

I went back to my program after being gone all day. I had already asked them to save me a dinner plate. I went looking to get my dinner plate and I asked Mike, one of the staffers, about it. He said I didn’t get a plate. I said, Well F___ you then. He said, What did you say? I said, F___ you. And he kicked me out of the program. I went out and got my hawk feather and Mike gave me a ride off the mountain to the Wal-Mart bus stop. All I had was 10 bucks and my hawk feather.

I got on the bus and went to Robinson Rancheria casino because the buses were not running back to Ukiah until the next day. I sat at a slot machine almost all night. I waved at the camera with my hawk feather and then walked all around that casino with my feather and I did not sit down once. I did not spend a dime gambling.

I went around looking at pictures on the wall and I saw this one where this guy is riding a bull. Then later I saw the same guy in the casino, yet he had only one leg. In the picture he had both his legs. I went up and talked to him. Turns out he was the man who donated the property that the casino was built on. I made his day because I recognized him from the picture. I almost gave him my feather because it was the right feather and he lost his right leg. But I knew that the feather was for me alone.

I went back to the slot machine and sat down. Some Natives admired my hawk feather and said I could not sell it, that I had to give it as a gift if I was to get rid of it. It's not for sale, I said. I was sitting there when suddenly a flying bat with flapping wings flew in the sally port door and was trapped inside. I went to free him with my feather. I was trying to get him to go out the door. I'm sure I must have looked like some crazy insane person waving off evil spirits. I did not care what people thought. Then I slowed down and thought about it. Some guy and I held both doors open for the bat to get out and he flew right out. Problem solved.

I went back to waiting for daylight and it cost $5 to get on the bus. I wanted to get a snack but I wanted the best buy. I noticed that Snicker bars cost $1.25 at the vending machine but at the other vending machine they were only a dollar. So instead I bought Lifesavers. It was a long night.

A buddy of mine from jail came in and gave me $20. I did not even ask. So I got on the bus the next day and I was in Ukiah and I had some time to kill so I went to the Grace Hudson Museum. All the paintings were little Native kids and there were all kinds of baskets. Something led me there.

My bus came in. I got on it and went along Highway 128 toward the Coast and looked behind me and there was this bird of prey way up there following the bus. I'll be damned. I have a hawk spirit bird.

We stopped at the Navarro store and I spent some food stamps I had picked up while waiting in Ukiah. I bought the whole display of Hershey bars and gave them to a kid on the bus who was talking with me about a mud jump they had out on the reservation in Point Arena. He invited me to come out there and he said I could go sailing. I never did go and I never saw that kid after that. I told him to share the Hersheys with his sister.

I went back to Albion and got my dirt bike to take a ride. It was by now about two weeks later. I pulled into my aunt’s house and I heard people across the street yelling for help. So I went over there on my Honda dirt bike and she said her house cat just got jumped by mountain lion. I calmed the lady down and later that night went for a long ride out towards the donut shop [an area where kids spin donuts with their dirt-bikes – ed]. I ended up getting my bike stuck along this side hill. I got this feeling that eyes were upon me. I believe it was that mountain lion. I told the lion, a female, that she can't be grabbing people’s cats, They will kill you. Anyway, I got back on my bike, turned around and got out of there.

The next day I was out along for another ride all day and I was cold and had left my sweatshirt in my car so I pulled up and stopped at my truck. There was a piece of split firewood on top of my truck. What the heck? I looked around and wondered what did that? What was that?

The next thing I knew I was tackled by the Mendocino Sheriff's. I had an open parole warrant for getting kicked out of the Cobb Mountain program.

I asked the deputies to shut my bike off and they did. I said, Good job. You guys are a bunch of sly foxes and I labeled them to be foxes. I went to jail and got out and went on the run again.

I was down on B Road and it was night and I was on my way to my cousin’s house so I decided to cut across the big field and take a short cut. I walked along and came across the same female mountain lion 20 feet away giving birth. She looked up at me while lying on her side with her kittens. Coming out, I said, good kitten, and kept walking. Then I hopped the fence and out of nowhere there was a fox following me. I turned around and said, You better be a nice fox. I kept walking, but I slowed down because seeing that fox made me think of those sheriffs deputies from two weeks earlier. As I slowly came to the fence I stopped and waited and sure enough there they were, the sheriff's deputies were at my cousin’s house. I backed away from the fence and lied flat on the ground. I was in a fenced in horse pen and horses were running all around me. I hoped they didn't trample me but I stayed until the two sheriffs cars pulled out with their headlights going over my body. I got up and I remembered to say thank you to that fox because without that fox I would've walked right into the deputies.

I got over that, but later I learned that they had tackled my cousin thinking he was me. He was hurt a bit, and told me that I needed to turn myself in. I thought, Yeah, right. Well, I went to my truck only to discover they had pulled out a bunch of wires and stuff. I had seen two of the places where they disabled my truck. Later my buddy Eric found the other spot they tried to disable my truck.

Well anyway, there is a little bit about me and some of my story. So if there are any ladies out there who would like to write me, please do. I don't have a girlfriend. Just write me, I'm 32 years old.

James Herriot Jr. V-68940

Salinas Valley State Prison

PO Box 1050

Soledad, CA 93960-1050