Mendocino County Today: Friday, Nov. 3, 2017

• Winter Weather
• Wet World
• Burn Season
• Little Dog
• Mental Patients
• Raskin Book
• Ed Notes
• Embezzlers Sentenced
• Track & Trace
• Lamun Wanted
• Substance Abuse
• Measure B
• PG&E Lawsuits
• Victoria Jackson
• Yesterday's Catch
• Gun Shopping
• Outside Mullingar
• Hurricane Smith
• Trump Appointees
• Foodshed Events
• Librarian
• US Oligarchy
• Brazile Revelations
• MLK Celebration
• Help Jesus
• Let Go
• PA Agenda

RAIN IS EXPECTED to last through this afternoon and evening, and will be followed by chilly but dry conditions overnight and Saturday. Additional rain and mountain snow is expected Saturday night and Sunday, with cool and dry conditions Monday and Tuesday. More rain is expected Wednesday. (National Weather Service)

BELOVED, LET US ONCE MORE PRAISE THE RAIN

by Conrad Aiken

Beloved, let us once more praise the rain.

Let us discover some new alphabet,

For this, the often praised; and be ourselves,

The rain, the chickweed, and the burdock leaf,

The green-white privet flower, the spotted stone,

And all that welcomes the rain; the sparrow too,—

Who watches with a hard eye from seclusion,

Beneath the elm-tree bough, till rain is done.

There is an oriole who, upside down,

Hangs at his nest, and flicks an orange wing,—

Under a tree as dead and still as lead;

There is a single leaf, in all this heaven

Of leaves, which rain has loosened from its twig:

The stem breaks, and it falls, but it is caught

Upon a sister leaf, and thus she hangs;

There is an acorn cup, beside a mushroom

Which catches three drops from the stooping cloud.

The timid bee goes back to the hive; the fly

Under the broad leaf of the hollyhock

Perpends stupid with cold; the raindark snail

Surveys the wet world from a watery stone...

And still the syllables of water whisper:

The wheel of cloud whirs slowly: while we wait

In the dark room; and in your heart I find

One silver raindrop,—on a hawthorn leaf,—

Orion in a cobweb, and the World.

BURN PERMIT SUSPENSION LIFTED

Effective Friday, November 3, 2017 at 12:01 AM the burn permit suspension in Mendocino County will be lifted. CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit Chief George Gonzalez is formally cancelling the burn permit suspension and advises that those possessing current and valid agriculture and residential burn permits can now resume burning on permissible burn days. Agriculture burns must be inspected by CAL FIRE prior to burning until the end of the peak fire season. Inspections may be required for burns other than agriculture burns. This can be verified by contacting your local Air Quality Management District.

CAL FIRE burn permits will be required until the end of fire season. Property owners and residents are asked to use caution while conducting debris or agriculture burns, follow all guidelines provided, and maintain control of the fire at all times. Individuals can be held civilly and/or criminally liable for allowing a fire to escape their control and/or burn onto neighboring property. Residents wishing to burn MUST verify it is a permissive burn day prior to burning. For more information regarding winter burning regulations go to the MCQAMD web site at www.mendoair.org. Recorded Burn Day status is available 24/7 on the Burn Information Line at (707) 463-4391.

Pile Burning Requirements

• Only dry, natural vegetative material such as leaves, pine needles and tree trimmings may be burned.
• The burning of trash, painted wood or other debris is not allowed.
• Do NOT burn on windy days.
• Piles should be no larger than four feet in diameter and in height. You can add to pile as it burns down.
• Clear a 10 foot diameter down to bare soil around your piles.
• Have a shovel and a water source nearby.
• An adult is required to be in attendance of the fire at all times.

Safe residential pile burning of forest residue by landowners is a crucial tool in reducing fire hazards. State, Federal and Local land management and fire agencies will also be utilizing this same window of opportunity to conduct prescribed burns aimed at improving forest health on private and public lands.

For more information on burning, visit the CAL FIRE website at www.fire.ca.gov.

(Press release from Cal Fire’s Mendocino unit.)

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “My fave tv show? Crime Watch Daily. Fave reporter? Jason Mattera. He runs right up on the perps yelling stuff like, ‘Scumbag! You're running away from me now? You don't want to be on national television for beating up your grandmother?’"

UKIAH ER DOCTORS SEE CRUCIAL NEED FOR LOCAL PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY

by Justine Frederiksen

It is never safe to put a suicidal person in a room they can lock others out of. Yet one of the beds in Ukiah’s emergency room is a converted closet, so the door had a lock.

“This patient wanted to kill himself, so he closed the door and tried to hang himself with the blood pressure cuff cord,” said physician Marvin Trotter, recalling just one of the incidents with patients placed on mental health holds, known as 5150s, who have put themselves, other patients and staff at risk.

“This door had a lock in the back, which we didn’t know about. It’s gone now,” said Trotter, explaining that while most of the emergency staff was busy saving the man’s life and working to restrain him, “you have a woman in cardiac arrest coming in, and a teenager seizing in the waiting room.”

“It is not safe for the patients or the staff,” said the nurses working in the emergency room Tuesday, describing days when they had seven mental health patients to care for and only two guards to keep the rest of the patients and staff members safe.

“There was the 6-4 man who attacked us,” said one nurse, while another pointed out that other out-of-control patients have punched holes in the walls, ripped out all of the cabinets and caused countless other damage to an emergency room that is not designed to keep such patients under control, let alone help them.

“I don’t think we’re qualified to treat them,” said one nurse. “They need a calm, safe, therapeutic environment. We can’t offer them that.”

“They need one-on-one care, where they are immediately put back on their medications and begin therapy in a place where their family can visit and be involved in their therapy,” Trotter said. “Not kept in a place where a doctor just orders them to be shot up again (with Haldol and Ativan).”

‘The Numbers Are Increasing Exponentially’

“The last thing (those patients) need is to be put in a box, with no natural light, with constant noise and chaos surrounding them,” said Gary Fausone, who said he had numbers to prove that the amount of 5150 patients – those placed on a 72-hour hold for evaluation – the emergency room at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley (formerly Ukiah Valley Medical Center) is seeing is “increasing exponentially.”

In March of 2016, Fausone said the emergency department saw 15 mental health patients for an average of 365 patient hours. A year later in March of 2017, Fausone said his department had seen 61 patients, more than triple the number, for a total of 1,594 patient hours.

“And that is for only 2.2 percent of our patients,” he said, describing in a letter detailing his research that “the improvement of this situation is necessary and critical to the functioning of the emergency department. The whole population of the county relies on that department to be ready in the case of an emergency.”

‘Measure B’

What will alleviate the problem, both Trotter and Fausone said, is a psychiatric facility that Measure B proposes to build in Mendocino County.

If passed by voters in the Nov. 7 election, the initiative would collect a half-cent sales tax for the first five years and raise approximately $30 million. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said 75-percent of that money will be used to build facilities, and the remainder would be used for staffing.

“I will admit, that was lacking in the previous proposal,” said Trotter, referring to a similar measure that failed last year by a reported 165 votes. “And after the first five years, there is a 1/8 cent permanent tax that will used to continue paying for staffing.

“If (Measure B) passes, my next visit will be to the college to say, ‘we need a psychiatric technician program,” said Trotter, recalling how Mendocino College successfully launched a registered nurse program 10 years ago that Allman said now produces 25 RNs a year.

Having such a facility in Mendocino County is crucial, Fausone said, because “then those beds would be for our patients. Now they are all sent out of county, to hospitals that can choose whether or not they want to take them.”

And the patients that Fausone said such hospitals are most reluctant to take are also the patients Mendocino County seems to have more than its fair share of: people without a home.

“There is also a large contingent of homeless patients that are very difficult to place in inpatient facilities,” Fausone wrote in a letter to other local agencies, and both doctors said if they cannot find a hospital bed for a 5150 patient to go to, “we legally cannot release them. So they are here, often for all 72 hours.”

“Even though 90-percent of them have no other immediate medical problems they need to be treated for,” said Trotter, describing the emergency department as being “hobbled” by the influx of mental health patients.

“This is a problem we must solve in Mendocino County,” wrote Fausone. “There is no cavalry coming. Just more patients.”

ED NOTES

ABDICATING RESPONSIBILITY, EXHIBIT A: Fort Bragg City government announces: "The Fort Bragg City Council would like you to be a part of the recruitment for the new City Manager. The executive recruiter selected by our City Council, Phil McKenney, of Peckham & McKenney, has agreed to review your comments and will use this background information in his screening process. Comments will be accepted until Monday, November 20th, 2017. We thank you for taking the time to help the recruitment efforts. Click on the link to leave your comments as to what qualifications and experience you think our next City Manager should have."

ELECTED PEOPLE are supposed to select a city manager, not a headhunting firm which, in any case, will ignore citizen input, assuming some people will be saps enough to participate. The headhunters are paid wayyyyyy too much public money to do what the city council is elected to do. Besides which, there are at least two perfectly capable women in the present apparatus quite qualified to assume the job. Why go through the expense and charade of a disinterested search, which will mean some poor dupes will pony up all their bona fides, appear for interviews, etc. while the headhunting firm wires the job for some pal of theirs. Fort Bragg gets ripped off more than any municipality its size anywhere, although Ukiah, for its size, is right up there as civic larceny vics. Point Arena, of course, gets mugged on a daily basis.

* * *

RAN INTO DON SUMMIT at the Redwood Valley Store on Wednesday. Don is the youngest Summit brother of the family clan whose home base was once Boonville. Like his brothers, an outstanding all-round athlete, Don, for many years, wore AV High School's all-time points-scored crown. These days he's best known as a high school hoops ref, and a good one. For a guy who lost his home in the devastating fire that whipped through Redwood Valley, the irrepressible Summit was in good spirits. "I was lucky," he said. "We got a warning that gave us about thirty minutes to get out. I thought maybe I could out-run it if I had to, but no way I could have outrun that monster. I grabbed my guns and we took off." I asked him if he was getting the assistance he needed to upright his life. "So far, so good," he said. "I'll let you know if I have any trouble with them, " he laughed.

* * *

THAT LARGE-SCALE Fish and Wildlife raid in Navarro last week was based on a warrant for one of the usual suspects at that active address. The warrant was for illegal possession of a firearm, methamphetamine, poaching.

* * *

OUR GENERAL IMPRESSION is that meth use isn't as prevalent as it was a few years ago, but it's readily available in the Anderson Valley and everywhere else in Mendocino County if you're looking.

* * *

HOMELESS IN ANDERSON VALLEY? At least two persons are sleeping in their cars on Anderson Valley Way every night.

* * *

A READER COMMENTS: "An expensive Bay Area high school hired a female principal who isn't even a bit afraid of enforcing a dress code. The previous male principal was, in her words, 'afraid to even look at a female student below her chin.' The new principal sends girls home all the time to change their clothes (in the face of many parent complaints). Men have a harder time in these entitled areas these days…"

A REDWOOD VALLEY COUPLE has been packed off to the state pen for embezzlement. Deborah Sears, office manager at Deep Valley Security, managed to divert $180,000 to herself. Mr. Sears was convicted of profiting from his wife's initiative. The couple also ran a marijuana business whose cash receipts were stored in the company safe to spare it if their home got hit in a pot raid. Deep Valley Security isn't a very big business. One would think the owner would know quickly if large sums of money were missing, but it took several years and some savvy police work by Andy Phillips of the Ukiah Police Department to nail it all down. We'd like to turn Detective Phillips loose on the County's mental health contracts, a dollar-rich swamp into which millions disappear annually with zero accountability.

ANOTHER EMBEZZLER SENT AWAY

Convicted embezzler, Deborah Ann Sears, age 46, of Redwood Valley, was ordered taken into custody in court this morning to begin serving a just-imposed state prison sentence of 56 months. Her husband, Jason Eagles Sears, age 46, also of Redwood Valley, having been previously convicted of being an accessory to his wife's larceny, was placed on supervised felony probation for 60 months. As one term of his probation, defendant Jason must serve 180 days in the county jail. The two defendants were ordered — jointly and severally — to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $180,179.76. Moving forward, any unpaid balance on the ordered restitution will accrue interest at the legal rate of ten percent.

Following a lengthy Investigation by law enforcement, it was determined that the aforementioned husband and wife team had been involved in embezzling, hiding, and spending over $180,000 stolen from Deep Valley Security during calendar years 2014, 2015, and 2016. Over $37,000 was stolen in 2014, over $79,000 was stolen in 2015, and over $63,000 was stolen in 2016. Defendant Deborah was able to access and steal these sums due to her position of trust as the office manager of the business — my "most trusted employee," as she was characterized by the owner — during her three-year stint at DVS. Defendant Deborah in part justified her thievery by telling the interviewing probation officer that "she was never recognized or rewarded for her hard work," and that she was "resentful of others who were not working as hard, but were still being paid the same."

It was also disclosed to Probation during the interviews that during the same time period while money was being illegally siphoned away from DVS, the two defendants were also involved in drug dealing. The defendants admitted growing and selling black market marijuana, and then even hiding their marijuana profits in DVS's business safe in Ukiah. This was to protect their illegal underground profits from seizure in the event of a law enforcement raid on the defendants' Redwood Valley home and marijuana business.

The prosecutor who has handled the prosecution of these defendants from the start through today's sentencing hearing is District Attorney David Eyster. The law enforcement agency responsible for the investigation of the crimes committed was the Ukiah Police Department, with kudos extended to Detective Andy Phillips for an exceptionally thorough and well-done investigation. The judge who imposed sentence on both defendants this morning was Mendocino County Superior Court Presiding Judge John Behnke.

(District Attorney Press Release)

THAT WAS QUITE A SALES PITCH County CEO Carmel Angelo and SICPA* VP Alex Spellman made on KZYX with Cannabis Hour Host Jane Futcher on Thursday morning. Angelo and Spellman were touting their Track & Trace scheme they’re trying to sell to local pot growers trying to go legal. We wonder if the CEO and/or Spellman kicked back something to KZYX for the air-time? The show was an hour-long infomercial that they seemed to think was the best thing since Purple Kush.

FOR YEARS Mendo pot was sold in extremely high volume for extremely high prices and nobody questioned the claims about where it came from or who grew it, how it was grown, who packaged it, how many guns they owned, whether it was stolen or not.

FOR MOST of those same years grape growers were a legal version of the same thing: The grape grower, bottler, and marketer stuck clever names and beautiful labels on their bottles that said the drink was made from this specific grape, that appelation, this brand and so on. The claims on the labels largely determined the price, yet seldom did anybody doubt those claims because a) nobody could really tell the difference, b) there are laws that supposedly regulate it, and c) the retail wine buyers have no idea what goes on during growing or processing and generally don’t want to know.

SO HERE COMES MENDO’s own version of Track & Trace for dope which is supposed to keep track of Mendo pot from farm to table. Why are pot growers subject to an onerous pedigree system when grape growers are not? Why do people assume that grape growers are truthful, pot growers need to be tracked and traced?

AFTER THE OPENING sales pitch about how SICPA’s expensive Track & Trace system is a boon to the pot business — pot growers are required to use it as part of the permuting process — Ms. Futcher asked a few questions, which were replied to as if the entire process was no more complicated than sending a UPS package.

CALLERS were skeptical. Why wasn't SICPA’s system not chosen as the statewide Track & Trace program by the State of California? How will SICPA interface with the state's version of track and trace? Why will local growers have to pay for two track&trace systems? How will people with slow or no internet (e.g., Covelo) use it? Will retailers retain the Mendo label, and so on.

IMAGINE the confusion if Mendo had its own alcohol and wine rules different from Sonoma which was different than Napa which was different than Lake County. In Napa you can grow x grapevines on y acres with Napa’s own grape tracking system, but in Mendo you need more acreage and pesticide training, but less paperwork. Etc.

IT’S A FUNDAMENTAL error, and it dooms Mendo's track and trace to allow each County in California to have its own rules about this branch of statewide ag.

TOWARD THE END OF THE SALES PITCH, Noel Manners of Covelo told Angelo and Spellman that not only was the system hard to connect to in remote Covelo, but that the few growers who are using it have to have one employee dedicated to Track & Trace because it’s so hard to use and time consuming. Instead of answering the question, Angelo and Spellman simply thanked Mr. Manners for the feedback, saying that they plan to work the feedback into their “future development plans.” Angelo, who seems more estranged from reality by the week, added that pot growers can use the WiFi at the Library!

HOST OF THE PROGRAM, Ms. Futcher, wanted to know if the Sheriff would have access to the Track & Trace data. Ms. Angelo again hedged: “Right now, the only three departments that have access to that data are Ag, the Executive Office and the Treasurer.”

“RIGHT NOW?" We'll take that as a "If the cops demand to see it, well, uh, gee, they're here with a warrant and…”

A CLEAR-THINKING caller summed up. “I’ve heard the words, Hope and Believe and Our Goal and Absolutely many times, but you’ve hardly answered the questions at all.” Jane Futcher, sounding chastened, said, “Sorry.” (Mark Scaramella)

* * *

*We don't know what the acronym SICPA stands for. They're one of the computer software outfits to develop track and trace programs for many California counties. According to their website: "Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, SICPA is a privately owned company providing secured identification, traceability and authentication solutions and services. Today, SICPA is an international organisation with offices and factories on five continents. With around 3,000 staff of over 50 nationalities, we provide technologies and services in more than 200 countries around the world. We are a trusted security provider and adviser to governments, central banks, high-security printers and industry. The company is organised around three global businesses: security inks; government security solutions; product and brand protection solutions. The executive management team of SICPA, together with several group functions, are based in the Lausanne Headquarters."

WARRANT WEDNESDAY!

Michael Lamun is Wanted

Fail To Register Sex Offender

Prison Prior

Violation Of Community Supervision

No Bail

Age: 31 years old

Height: 5' 8"

Weight: 160 lbs

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Green

If you recognize this individual or have information which could lead to their arrest, please contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at (707) 463-4086

SUBSTANCE ABUSE SUPPORT GROUP

Anderson Valley Health Center

This group will serve as a space for participants to address substance use issues and examine core issues that drive substance abuse. The group will utilize a client-centered, collaborative approach and participants will be encouraged to identify individual goals. For example, one participant may have a goal to reduce use of one substance, while another participant may have a goal to maintain a longstanding abstinence from multiple substances. Additionally, the group welcomes those entering into or maintaining a medication assisted treatment (MAT) for substance abuse. In the group format, participants will have the opportunity to experience a sense of community, develop their communication skills, and give and receive feedback from others. Participants will receive support and a safe space to explore their relationship to substances and will be taught skills to assist in reducing and managing substance use while working toward their individual goals.

Wednesdays from 5:30 - 6:45 PM, beginning November 29th

The group will be limited in size and we ask all participants to make a commitment to attending the group weekly for a three month module

To join the group or for more information, please contact Stephanie Shreve at 707-895-3477 ext. 240 or sshreve@avhc.org

FROM THE SHERIFF

Measure B, the Mendocino mental health initiative on the ballot - in fact, the ONLY thing on the November ballot - had 10,584 ballots received by the County Elections office as of today (November 2nd) according to Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

There are 39,500 registered voters in Mendocino County, so, according to our math, 26.7% of the ballots have been returned so far - the election is "officially" Tuesday, November 7.

The voter turnout is expected to be small due to no "hot button" matters on the ballot like a presidential election or something to do with marijuana.

MORE SONOMA COUNTY RESIDENTS SUE PG&E OVER WILDFIRES

Now up to 107 people in nine lawsuits. Hundreds more expected.

petaluma360.com/news/7592772-181/more-sonoma-county-residents-sue

* * *

NEW PG&E REPORTS SHOW EQUIPMENT PROBLEMS NEAR FIRES’ ORIGINS — and more reports are on the way.

pressdemocrat.com/news/7588772-181/new-pge-reports-show-equipment

VICTORIA PEARL JACKSON

Victoria Pearl Jackson passed away Saturday Oct 28, 2017 of natural causes at 101 yrs, 8 months. She leaves behind two sons, Adrian L. Jackson, Kayenta, Az. Daniel W. Jackson, Ukiah, CA. Grandchildren; Gillian Jackson, Mericopa, Az. Alexander L. Jackson, Ukiah, CA. Great grandchildren; Conner Jackson, & Logan Jackson, Mericopa, AZ. and Destiny Abella, Hopland, CA. Pearl is preceded in death by her husband of 65 yrs, Edgar Jackson, siblings; Florenda Arnold Hansen, Walter Arnold, Kenneth Arnold, Marie Arnold-Lincoln, Louis Arnold Jr, Roger Smith.

She is survived by her Uncle Artie Eleck of Red Bluff, CA. Nieces and nephews; Sharon Lincoln, Joyce Arnold-Gonzales, William Arnold, Mary Arnold, Lewis Lincoln, Ronald Lincoln, Loretta Harjo, Shirley Lincoln, Wanda Bigpond, Mike Lincoln, Edward Arnold, Donnie Arnold, Jerry Davis, Mary-Jane Naverez, Jim Hansen, Elizabeth Hansen, Frank Hansen, Polly Smith Juarez, Roger Smith Jr, Clinton Grant.

Pearl was an avid quilt maker and reader of books. Made Indian Basketry with her late husband Edgar J. Jackson. She was a graduate of Hopland High School with some time at Sherman Indian School in Riverside.

Prayer service and wake will be at the Hopland Gymnasium at 6pm on Friday Nov. 3, 2017. Burial will be Nov. 4, 2017 at the Hopland Indian Cemetery. She is going to missed by her whole family. She was loved very much.

CATCH OF THE DAY, November 2, 2017

LESLIE ADELMAN, Ukiah. Switchblade in vehicle.

BAPTISTE BREMOND, Beaumont de Pertuis (France)/Willits. DUI, evasion.

KYLE BYRNE, Ukiah. DUI with priors within ten years, suspended license, controlled substance, probation revocation.

DYLAN COOK-SCHULETER, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

HEATHER DEWOLF, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

RACHEL GARNER, Sacramento/Albion. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, willful cruelty to child, criminal threats.

THOMAS GULYAS, Ukiah. DUI.

WANA MATTHIAS, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

SARAH MITCHELL, Laytonville. Protective order violation, probation revocation.

RICHARD ORTIZ, Ukiah. Resisting, probation revocation.

AARON RATHBLOTT, Mendocino. Stalking, protective order violation, probation revocation.

DAYLEE WATSON, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Speaking of handguns…I am still in the long process of getting a NJ permit to purchase a handgun. Thus far I have gotten 2 people to vouch essentially that I’m a reputable citizen and the local police dept has, I believe, gotten back OK results on their check of my mental health. I also had a full set of fingerprints taken by IdentoGo at a fee of $52.69. Some other research must be performed (arrest record and such) and in a week or so I should be good to go.

Meantime I went gun shopping in a HUGE gun (and other sporting goods) store in Pennsylvania named Cabela’s. Any of you gun nuts out there heard of it? What an amazing place THAT was…there were enough weapons under one roof to conduct WW3…and what a cast of characters shopping there!, including women in no danger of being molested by Harvey Weinstein, who were examining and handling guns like Annie Oakley. The toddlers clutching at their mommy’s blue jeaned pant legs seemed to see nothing unusual in all this mock aiming and firing of weapons. I felt like such an uninformed wimp in their presence.

Even when I DO eventually acquire a handgun it will be virtually useless if I, in fact, live by NJ’s rules for concealed carry. For example, the gun may not be carried loaded with ammo in your car and the gun and ammo must be locked in widely separated compartments within the car, like ammo in glove box and gun in locked container in the trunk. Now I ask you, what good is THAT going to do me if some one cuts me off in traffic and I am suffering a bout of road rage… how am I supposed to express how pissed off I am without a loaded weapon easily at hand?……Juuust kidding!

OUTSIDE MULLINGAR

Set in the sprawling Irish countryside, Outside Mullingar is the story of two farmers — Anthony and Rosemary — who must overcome a land feud and their own clumsiness to find happiness. “This is a play that makes you laugh out loud, cry, and enjoy language as it’s meant to be enjoyed,” says director Lorry Lepaule. “If you’re a fan of love stories, then this is a play you will not want to miss!” Outside Mullingar features Summer Makovkin, Dwight Branscombe, Nancy Nelson, and Seamus Keighran. The creative team includes designers Diane Larson (set), Dave Gealey (lighting), Ken Krauss (sound), and Susan Collins (costumes).

Preview Performances Are Tonight And Friday Night November 2 & November 3. Preview tickets are just $15, or $7 for youth under 22.  Opening Night Gala is Saturday, November 4th. Tickets include delicious food, Roederer bubbly, and a meet-and-greet with the cast, director, and crew.

For tickets and information, phone the Mendocino Theatre Company box office at 707-937-4477 or go to mendocinotheatre.org

HURRICANE SMITH!

Hurricane Smith opens November 3rd! Gloriana Musical Theatre is pleased to announce its Young Performers production of Hurricane Smith! Directed by Andrew Atkinson and David Kosonen.

The setting is the stage of a school auditorium where a schlock film director is wrapping up his latest epic, ’Monster On Campus.’ Enter Gloria Daily, fresh from her creative writing class, with an Indiana Jones-like script under her arm. Trailing behind her are members of the drama club who intend to ’act out’ the wild plot for the disagreeable film director. And what a plot! It concerns Hurricane Smith, famous explorer, whose mother was eaten by crocodiles and whose father disappeared in the Amazon jungles on a search for the fabled ’Garden of the Golden Monkey.’ Parentless, Hurricane is raised by a gorilla. Twenty years later a mysterious foreigner delivers a ’Golden Monkey’ to Hurricane, and the young adventurer sets out accompanied by the feisty, independent photojournalist Linda Zest, to locate the Garden, and he has to survive cannibal Cobra Natives, headhunters, the hilly range, and the Pit of No Return to do so.

The show will be performed at Eagles Hall Theatre from November 3 to November 12 with performances at 7:30 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays and Sunday matinees beginning at 3 p.m.

Admission is $18 for the general public, $16 for Seniors and $8 for youth (17 and under).

Tickets may be purchased online at gloriana.org, at Harvest Market in Fort Bragg or at the door of Eagles Hall Theatre prior to each performance. Advanced tickets available at gloriana.org.

Be sure to join us for our Gala performance! On Sunday, November 5th following the performance celebrate with the cast and crew and enjoy yummy food, drink, dessert and more! Tickets are $20 for general, $18 for Seniors and $10 for youth (17 and under).

For more information, visit Gloriana.org.

TRUMP APPOINTEES

Trump may want “extreme vetting” of immigrants, but he’s rather more lenient with his appointees. On Wednesday, he named Robin Bernstein to be ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Bernstein speaks only “basic Spanish” (it’s so hard to find Americans who speak Spanish), but she does have this — membership at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.

A group called American Oversight had the foresight to make records requests for resumes of those hired by the Trump administration, and the group searched for those who worked on the Trump campaign. Among the “best” Trump hires American Oversight found:

Sid Bowdidge, assistant to the secretary of energy for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Before working for the Trump campaign, Bowdidge, from 2013 to 2015, was manager of the Meineke Car Care branch in Seabrook, N.H. He previously was service and branch manager for tire shops. I don’t know what qualified Bowdidge for his position, but I do know this: He is not going to pay a lot for that muffler. (He had to hit the road, losing his job after it was discovered he had called Muslims “maggots.”)

Victoria Barton, congressional relations for Regions II, V and VI, Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prior to working for the Trump campaign, Barton was an office manager and, between 2013 and 2015, a “bartender/bar manager.” The expertise in housing policy possessed by Barton is no doubt invaluable to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, a retired brain surgeon.

Christopher Hagan, a confidential assistant at the Agriculture Department. Before working on the Trump campaign, he was, between 2009 and 2015, a “cabana attendant” at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. According to his resume, he “identified and addressed customer’s needs in a timely and orderly manner.” This is important, because you never know when somebody at the USDA is going to need a towel.

Nick Brusky, also a confidential assistant at the USDA. The Trump campaign worker previously drove a truck. He was a trustee in Butler Township, Ohio, at the same time, and, as Politico noted, his resume lists coursework but no degree.

David Matthews, yet another confidential assistant at the Agriculture Department, developed scented candles while also serving as a “legal receptionist” before joining the Trump campaign. Some of the other “best” people Trump has hired are well known.

Lynne Patton, HUD regional administrator, previously arranged Trump golf tournaments and arranged Eric Trump’s wedding, among other things.

Callista Gingrich, just confirmed as ambassador to the Vatican, prepared for this by writing children’s books, singing in a church choir — and being married to Trump ally Newt Gingrich.

Others now in high office are less known: an office page, the author of an anti-Clinton book, a Christian-school librarian, a couple of real estate brokers and a landscaper. Many don’t appear to meet the educational qualifications for their positions. But they did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

(Washington Post)

WINTER MARKET KICK-OFF, CHESTNUTS, TURKEYS & MORE!

Meet Rachel

Hi All! I'd like to introduce myself to those of you who do not yet know me. My name is Rachel Turner Williams, and I will be taking over the AV Foodshed weekly updates for Cindy Wilder. I just moved to Anderson Valley about two months ago with my family. Although I'm new to the valley, I grew up in Albion, and after spending many years in the Bay Area and Santa Rosa, it is great to be back in Mendocino County!

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Boonville Winter Market

The Boonville Winter Market begins Saturday November 4th, and will be from 9:30-noon, in front of Seebass, across from the Boonville Hotel. The possibility of rain is keeping some vendors from committing to this week.

We love music, so if any of you musicians want to come play a few tunes, please do! :)

From our vendors...

JD's Varietals may be there this Saturday, depending on the weather. Nobody shops in the rain. I'll have my usual varieties of pickled veggies, low-sugar real fruit preserves, my killer black olive tapenade and a few of my redwood shake bat houses, even though the hibernation season has begun for the bats. If anyone would like a bat house for the spring, to encourage the little bug eaters to frequent your property, they can buy one from me.

Petit Teton Farm may be at the Winter Market this Saturday, weather permitting. If we can make it, we will have a wide range of canned goods, from jams and jellies to soups, salsas, pickles and krauts, plus beef, pork sausage, squab, stewing chicken, eggs, and whatever fresh produce we have available.

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Zeni Chestnut Gathering - Saturday Nov. 4th

A Mendocino Permaculture Event

Mendocino Permaculture 36th Annual Chestnut Gathering and George Zeni Memorial Potluck will be held at the Zeni Ranch from 10 am to 4 pm, rain or shine, on Saturday, November 4, 2017. Our event has now grown into the Zeni Family’s Annual Chestnut Festival. There will be live bands, so bring your dancing shoes as well as your orchard boots!

The Zeni's 100 year-old dry-farmed seedling trees are a testament to the sustainability of tree crops.

No admission cost; bring a potluck dish. Pick your own fresh chestnuts off the ground for $3.50/lb. De-burring the chestnuts on the ground is easier with good boots and gloves. Zeni also sells the de-burred clean chestnuts for $4.50.

Schedule of Events

• 10:30 am to 4 pm: Chestnut gathering and roasting over the open fire.
• 11 am: Tour of the ranch by the Zeni family.
• 12:30 pm: Potluck and music, show and tell of local self-sufficiency.
• 1 pm: Discussion on what this year has taught us; the drought; the best fruit and nuts.
• 2 to 4 pm: Chestnuts, music, taste the harvest.

Please bring: Potluck dish (oven available), made from local ingredients if possible, and bring your cup, plate, napkins and utensils. If you bring a dog, bring a leash and be responsible.

Bring your wine, fruit, nut, or vegetable harvests to show us what works for you. Demonstration tables will be available.

Bring cuttings of fruit plants to share: this is the beginning of the season to start cuttings of the easy-to-root hardwood plants. Starting cuttings so early gives them plenty of time to root with no inputs needed except the rain. Bring labeled, de-leafed cuttings (you can leave the leaf stem on) of these plants: olive, grape, fig, mulberry, pomegranate, quince, kiwi, goji, currant, gooseberry, berries, cherry plum, roses.

Directions: The Zeni Ranch is at 30995 Fish Rock Road at mile marker 15.6 (County Highway 122). From the Coast Highway 1 junction of Fish Rock (5 miles north of Gualala) go 15.5 miles east. From Highway 128 the Fish Rock Road junction is at Hwy 128 marker 36.56, about 7.7 miles east of the Highway 256/128 junction, or 4.7 miles west of Yorkville. Take Fish Rock Road about 13 miles to marker 15.6. Using odometer and mile markers, it's an easy and enjoyable slow drive through a most beautiful and very remote part of the county.

For information call Zeni Ranch 684-6892, Barbara & Rob Goodell 895-3897, or Mark Albert 463-8672.

For more information about the Zeni Ranch, see their Facebook website: https://m.facebook.com/zeniranch/

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Free Range Turkeys

If any farmers have free range organic turkeys for sale this year, please contact Rosemancreekranch@gmail.com. They would like to buy at least two.

HALLOWEEN AT THE FORT BRAGG LIBRARY

(Photo by Susie de Castro)

JUST LIKE RUSSIA

Editor:

According to our Founders, the most powerful branch of government is Congress with its constitutional checks on the executive branch. The president can appoint Cabinet members to help govern in the most effective way.

The appointment of the attorney general, by precedent, is different than that of other Cabinet members. The president must avoid situations that would imply a conflict of interest. If she/he isn’t following the precedent, and his party shows no desire to check him/her, we have a similar justice department to authoritarian dictatorships. That is what we are approaching in our country with a president who thinks he’s king.

We’ve witnessed the dictates of the Emoluments clause being ignored, outrageous executive orders, attempts to curb freedom of the press, withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the appointment of incompetent Cabinet members, obvious racism and sexism and a stubborn unwillingness to deal with cyberattacks from hostile countries.

The most heinous thing the president’s party has just done is passing a budget to harm the poorest Americans and give enormous tax cuts to the richest Americans.

If the budget becomes our tax reform, $1.5 trillion will be taken from Medicare and Medicaid, and our country will become an oligarchy like Russia. But maybe that was the plan all along.

Mary Ellen Kuhi

Cloverdale

HILLARY RIGGED THE NOMINATION

Hillary's DNC Coup: Hillary Clinton took over the Democratic Party months before she ran, in an astonishing move that rigged entire system in her favor, reveals ex party boss Donna Brazile

by Geoff Earle

Hillary Clinton's campaign seized control of the Democratic National Committee months before she won her party's nomination, diverted resources away from struggling state parties, and allowed the national party to accumulate a mountain of debt, writes former DNC interim chair Donna Brazile.

Brazile has written a tell-all article about the dysfunction and mismanagement she uncovered at the organization she was brought in to run after hacked emails revealed efforts by party insiders to tilt the scales toward Clinton.

Brazile, who was herself thrown into controversy when it was revealed she passed on debate questions to the Clinton camp, unloads on her predecessor, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and discloses a smoking gun document in the form of a fundraising agreement that sent resources to the Clinton camp.

Astonishingly, Elizabeth Warren — who campaigned with Clinton — said she believed Brazile.

Asked on CNN by Jake Tapper: “Do you agree with notion that it was rigged?,” Warren answered simply: “Yes.”

“Debbie was not a good manager. She hadn't been very interested in controlling the party—she let Clinton's headquarters in Brooklyn do as it desired so she didn't have to inform the party officers how bad the situation was,” Brazile writes in an essay in Politico magazine.

Brazile only learned of the party's financial troubles in July after she was named interim chair after Wasserman Schultz stepped down, in a call with CFO Gary Gensler.

“What?” I screamed. “I am an officer of the party and they've been telling us everything is fine and they were raising money with no problems,” she writes that she told him.

One culprit was President Obama, who failed to refill party coffers after his 2012 win.

“Obama left the party $24 million in debt—$15 million in bank debt and more than $8 million owed to vendors after the 2012 campaign and had been paying that off very slowly. Obama's campaign was not scheduled to pay it off until 2016,” Brazile writes.

Clinton's fundraising took care of the remaining debt — then put the DNC, which is supposed to be neutral until there is a nominee, on “an allowance.”

Gensler laid out the state of affairs in a phone call. “He described the party as fully under the control of Hillary's campaign, which seemed to confirm the suspicions of the Bernie Sanders camp. The campaign had the DNC on life support, giving it money every month to meet its basic expenses, while the campaign was using the party as a fund-raising clearing house,” according to Brazile.

She says Wasserman Schultz ignored her board of directors, including on the bombshell development that Russia hacked the DNC's emails.

“She seemed to make decisions on her own and let us know at the last minute what she had decided, as she had done when she told us about the hacking only minutes before the Washington Post broke the news,” she writes.

When the Hillary Victory Fund organized big donor fundraisers who cut checks that were to go to state parties, the funds came back to her own Brooklyn headquarters.

“Money in the battleground states usually stayed in that state, but all the other states funneled that money directly to the DNC, which quickly transferred the money to Brooklyn,” according to Brazile.

States “kept less than half of 1 percent of the $82 million they had amassed from the extravagant fund-raisers Hillary's campaign was holding,” according to Brazile.

The party was burning through up to $4 million each month.

“When I got back from a vacation in Martha's Vineyard, I at last found the document that described it all: the Joint Fund-Raising Agreement between the DNC, the Hillary Victory Fund, and Hillary for America,” according to Brazile.

In exchange for its fundraising, “Hillary would control the party's finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff,” according to Brazile.

She said she was searching for evidence of “internal corruption” before she found the agreement. It wasn't illegal, “but it sure looked unethical,” she writes.

She writes that she called Sanders to tell him what she'd found. “Hello, senator. I've completed my review of the DNC and I did find the cancer,” she says she told him. “But I will not kill the patient.”

She says she urged Sanders to urge his supporters to back Clinton anyway, and says she told him she had concerns about Clinton holding together the Obama coalition.

“When I hung up the call to Bernie, I started to cry, not out of guilt, but out of anger. We would go forward. We had to,” she writes.

(Daily Mail On-Line)

MLK 2018 CELEBRATION

DJ Sister Yasmin, 707-884-4703

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration — Planning Meetings November Through January And Call For Volunteers And Donations

In these troubled times, we need the inspirational messages of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. more than ever! Please support this community event by getting involved in our Planning Meetings, volunteering to help us, (we have many jobs of all kinds you can plug into), assisting us in reaching out to The Youth of all ages, to the Latino Community and American Indian Community, helping us get donations, and whatever you can do to participate in this very important event celebrating "Unity In Our Community"! We really need your participation and enthusiasm.

The Second Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Birthday Celebration will be held at the Gualala Community Center in Gualala on Monday, January 15, 2018, from 11:00am until 2:00pm, which will be Dr. King's actual 89th birthday and the legal holiday.

We are in the process of planning this important community event and invite everyone to attend our Planning Meetings which will take place on Wednesday, November 15, and Wednesdays December 6 and 13, and Wednesdays January 3 and 10, at the Sundstrom Mall in Gualala at 5:00PM. Your participation and input are essential to make a successful event; please try to come to any or all of our meetings.

We welcome your input, ideas, creativity, suggestions, inspiration and enthusiasm. We are especially reaching out to students of all ages, teachers, educators, and anyone interested in helping us plan this very important and wonderful community event. This is a call for Artists, Musicians, Singers, Speakers, Poets, Spoken Word and Hip Hop Artists, Dancers, and anyone who cares to be a part of this event, all ages and cultures welcome. We also need Volunteers for set up and clean up, decorating the hall, and we are requesting monetary donations of any amount. We invite local community groups to set up information tables and need some volunteers to run The Kids Table! We need children of all ages to participate in this event!

This celebration will be all-inclusive, all ages, multi-cultural and everyone is welcome to attend and participate. We encourage involvement by our youth and all community members. We will have speakers, poetry, dance, good food, music, dancing and much more. We welcome your involvement in this wonderful event! We need you!

Please share your suggestions, Ideas and assistance in creating a memorable celebration to honor Dr. Martin Luther King here on our South Coast.

Join us in planning this most timely and inspiring event, celebrating Dr. King's Beautiful Struggle.

For questions, comments and more information, call Yasmin at 707-884-4703. Thank you!

MLK 2018 Celebration

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

AWAKE & SING!

Vrittis Take Over

Awake in the early morning, witnessing the mental factory and the body's functioning. No plan. Nothing left to do anymore, so the brahmic vrittis take over. The only possible successful response to the stupidity of postmodernism, is to completely let go. There is really no way to reverse the ecological damage from globalized materialism, and particularly the planet earth's destabilized climate. So everyone is encouraged to be established on a higher platform, which means to let go and spiritually ascend to the fourth dimension, allowing the brahmic vrittis to take charge of the body-mind complex, continuing to witness worldly situations. Mystics report that there is a greater reality beyond even this, which is not directly explainable, and to realize that, one needs to go there! In order to be effective in terms of radical environmentalism, it is necessary to shift one's position. Establishment on the spiritual platform, or fourth dimension, is crucial in order to "intervene in history". Basically, there is no other way. Earth First! is aware of this, and also other revolutionary ecological tendencies are awake to the vital requirements for success, insofar as ecodefense is concerned.

–Craig Louis Stehr

MOST GOVERNMENT PER CAPITA...

Subject: Special City Council Meeting November 8, 2017

Point Arena City Council: Mayor Scott Ignacio ~ Vice Mayor Barbara Burkey ~ Richey Wasserman ~ Jonathan Torrez ~ Anna Dobbins

Agenda - November 8, 2017

Special Session - 6:00 P.M.

I. Call To Order & Roll CallI

i. Approval Of AgendaI

ii. Privilege Of The Floor (Public Comment Period)This is the time for members of the public who wish to be heard on matters that do not appear on the Agenda. City Council policy is to limit each speaker to three (3) minutes. Such time allotment or portion thereof shall not be transferred to other speakers.

Pursuant to the Brown Act Section 54954.3, the City Council may not take action on an item that does not appear on the Agenda. The public will be allowed to speak concurrently with the calling of an agenda item following the staff presentation of that item.

IV. Workshop — Review options for modifying City Ordinance 226 in response to new state regulations concerning the Adult Use of Marijuana Act.

Recommendation:

1. Review proposed ordinance

2. Provide direction to staff

3. Set date to conduct public hearing

V. Adjournment

If open session items cannot be completed by 9:00 p.m., the meeting may be adjourned to the next regular meeting or Council may vote to extend the meeting.