Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017

• Firestorming
• Red Flag
• Pets
• Supe Gravy
• 172 Funds
• Ed Notes
• Little Dog
• Coan Case
• Koty Nabbed
• Stone Broke
• Half Warned
• Avril Found
• Poirer Claim
• Onerous Regs
• 1972
• Mikey Jacked
• Yesterday's Catch
• Un Survey
• Insanely Stupid
• Facebook Politics
• Fraternal Monarch
• Forbidden Words
• Toxic Oil
• Flicker
• Sexual Scumminess
• Define MAGA
• Craig v California
• Cancer Resource
• MarcoRadio
• MTA Coal

DEADLY CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE THREATENS MONTECITO AS MORE EVACUATIONS ARE ORDERED

by Max Ufberg & Danielle Paquette

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The deadly wildfire that has ravaged Southern California for nearly two weeks gained fury overnight and now threatens swaths of coastal Santa Barbara County, authorities said Saturday.

Heavy winds, dry brush and low humidity keep fueling the so-called Thomas Fire, said Jude Olivas, a public information officer and Newport Beach firefighter who was monitoring the destruction. Smoke clouded the sky, forcing water-dumping helicopters to land and stay grounded through the afternoon.

"There's very, very poor visibility in those areas," Olivas said of Montecito and Summerland, where emergency vehicles were parked at the ready outside of churches and public schools. "We've got over 400 firetrucks out there."

Aerial photos showed the blaze was about 40 percent contained on Saturday, he said. But the risk remains high for people living near the foothills of Montecito - home to a number of celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.

Joe Rosa, another firefighter in the area, said erratic winds kicked up the flames and pushed crews to temporarily retreat.

"It wasn't a safe spot," Rosa said of the frontlines. "They pulled them out. Our number one goal is life safety."

The mandatory evacuation zone on Saturday afternoon stretched 17 miles long and about 5 miles wide, running from the mountains northwest of Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. Rain isn't expected to quench the area for another ten days. Winds in the foothills reached 30 mph, with gusts hitting twice that speed.

By 2 p.m. local time, firefighters said they didn't know if flames had charred any homes in the area, asserting they'd inspect neighborhoods once the blaze had cleared.

Melissa Baffa, 43, worried about her workplace, which sits near the evacuation perimeter.

The inferno missed her house last week in the Ojai Valley, just east of Santa Barbara - though it covered her lawn with ash - and she hoped the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History would survive, too.

Inside are thousands of artifacts and bones, including an ancient mammoth skull.

"It's like a war zone here, with all the firetrucks and first responders," said Baffa, one of the museum's grant writers. "It has now moved from where I live to where I work."

The fire has scorched roughly 259,000 acres and 700 homes in Southern California since it started on Dec. 4. The cost of battling the blaze has exceeded $104 million, officials said, as more than 8,000 firefighters work to suppress it.

One firefighter died Thursday while trying to halt the blaze.

Cory Iverson, 32, had worked with Cal Fire for eight years, serving as an engineer for the San Diego unit. He was also the father of a 2-year-old daughter, and his wife, Ashley, is pregnant, according to the California governor's office.

Across the city of Santa Barbara on Saturday, residents began preparing for the worst.

"We got the alert when I woke up this morning," said Camron Kazerounian, 26. "The smoke looks crazy right now. You can see the dark plumes right over the hills."

Like many locals, Kazerounian is fleeing the city for safer ground - he said he was heading back to his parents' home in the Bay Area.

"I don't have any respiratory issues normally, but you can start to feel the slight burn in the back of your throat," he said. "It's been a week and half now that it's been smoky. You can smell the smoke and feel it."

Shane Kleinebecker, who had just returned to the city after a short evacuation to Bakersfield, said he had no choice but to pack up again.

"The street that's under mandatory evacuation is visible from our front yard," the 33-year-old said.

State Street, normally a bustling center of life and commerce in downtown Santa Barbara, was eerily quiet on Saturday as the Thomas Fire raged closer. Many shops and restaurants were closed, and the street was nearly empty of pedestrians.

Joe's Café, long a popular hangout in Santa Barbara, also shuttered early.

"Next year will be our 90th year," said Deborah Bahre, 58, the assistant manager. "We consider ourselves an institution, so for us to close is a big deal."

Patrons have been leaving extra money to cover the firefighters' meals, she said.

"All day long we've had firefighters," she said, and not one has paid a bill since the fire started.

(Washington Post)

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE issued a rare December red flag warning — indicating extreme fire danger — for our areas of NorCal from 10 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Sunday. National Weather Service Meteorologist Anna Schneider warned Friday that the lack of rainfall, low humidity, dry winds and high temperatures mean a “prolonged period of critical fire weather. It is not normal, but it is not unprecedented,” she said. Strong winds blowing from the north at speeds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph are expected for higher elevations all weekend.

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION from the National Weather Service, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017

Synopsis: High pressure will bring dry weather through Monday with unseasonably cool temperatures gradually warming across the interior. Then a cold front will bring a chance for rain Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Discussion: Breezy north-northeast winds will gradually diminish behind the exiting frontal boundary today with unseasonably cool temperatures expected in the 50s and low 60s across northwest California. Dry weather conditions will persist over the next several days as high pressure shifts over the Pacific Northwest. This will additionally bring a warming trend with temperatures still generally in the 50s and lower 60s. Then an approaching cold front will bring an opportunity for rain Tuesday night into Wednesday. The best chances look to be primarily northward of Cape Mendocino with lower chances across Mendocino and Trinity Counties. At this point precipitation totals look to range from around an inch to the north to a few hundredths to the south across Mendocino. Models could still change slightly but confidence is moderate regarding wet weather impacting northwest California. Beyond that models signal for stronger ridging across the Pacific Northwest which means prolonged dry weather through possibly the end of December. Stay tuned.

PETS OF THE WEEK

Yahoooo! Laser is an energetic, fun-loving dog. He's quite the looker, too. Laser is a 1 year old, mixed breed fella, who weighs 67 pounds. We think kids in Laser's new home should be over 16, old enough to understand his high energy. Laser would benefit from a basic training classes, which are REALLY fun and educational for dog and human alike. (Ask us about local dog trainers!)

Shelter staff call me Princess, and I think that fits, as I do have a regal personality. I adore people! I’m 2 years old, spayed, and I have the longest whiskers you have ever seen! In my previous home I wasn't fond of my feline roommate, and thus, I find myself at the Ukiah Shelter in the hopes of finding my home — where I am the ONLY princess. The Shelter staff won't let me come and go as I please so if you would like to meet me you will need to come to the Shelter. Just ask for Princess!

The Ukiah Animal Shelter is located at 298 Plant Road in Ukiah; adoption hours are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10 am to 4:30 pm and Wednesday from 10 am to 6:30 pm. Lots of wonderful dogs and cats await their new homes. To see photos and bios of the shelter’s guests, please visit online at : www.mendoanimalshelter.com or visit the shelter. Please join us the second Saturday of every month for our "Empty the Shelter" pack walk and help get every dog out for a walk! For more information about adoptions please call 707-467-6453. (Laser photo by Rod Coots)

SUPES WANT ON THE GRAVY TRAIN TOO!

Board of Supervisors Meeting, Monday, December 18, 2017; Agenda Item 5b)

Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Setting Elected Officials Compensation for the Board of Supervisors to Take Effect December 31, 2017 (Sponsors: Executive Office and Human Resources)

Ed note: Notice that they go out of their way to include the much-higher Sonoma County Board salary in the “neighboring counties” list. Without Sonoma County skewing the average the “comparable counties average salary” would be $72.7k/year. And take out the equally pricey Napa where, like Sonoma County, the cost of living is much higher (which they of course don’t adjust for), the “comparable counties average salary” would be $67.3k/year.

SUPERVISOR MCCOWEN’S PROP 172 OBJECTIONS RESOLVED; OVERDUE MONEY TO GO TO VARIOUS COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENTS.

Board of Supervisors Meeting, Monday, December 18, 2017; Agenda Item 5e) Discussion and Direction Regarding Fiscal Year 2017-18 Distribution of Proposition 172 Funding to County Fire Districts

Background:

To: John McCowen, Chair, Mendocino County Board of Supervisors

From: Mendocino County Association of Fire Districts

The Mendocino County Association of Fire Districts was formed in 2015 to promote and sustain the effectiveness of local county fire agencies and their critical fire, rescue and medical aid operations and to actively pursue all issues that affect the operational health of our local fire departments. It is also the stated intention of the Association to bring these issues to the attention of the public we serve and the elected officials who are in a position to make funding decisions related to these issues. Specifically, it is the objective of this Association to secure and maintain equity in the distribution of Proposition 172 Public Safety sales tax and general fund revenues to county Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

This effort has taken a number of twists and turns, including public advocacy, numerous discussions by and among the Association members, a proposed ballot measure, a lawsuit and the appointment of an Ad Hoc committee of the Board of Supervisors. These efforts culminated in agreement by the Board of Supervisors to allocate $398,000 in Fiscal Year 2016-17 to be distributed to local fire agencies based on a formula approved by the Association. Despite some delay, the funds were ultimately disbursed. At the same time, the Board of Supervisors agreed to work with the fire agencies to address long term strategic planning issues including identification of sustainable funding sources at the state or local level. To date, there has been little or no effort expended to achieve these longer term goals. We are recommending the re-establishment of the Board Ad Hoc Fire/EMS committee with a focus on 1) getting the 2018-19 allocation through the budget process with the allocation formula agreed upon by June and 2) making recommendations to the BOS regarding the long term financial and strategic needs of rural fire districts.

During budget deliberations for the 2017-18 fiscal year the Board of Supervisors again agreed to allocate $398,000 but did not reach final agreement on the formula. Although the intention of the Association has been to support the fire agencies, there is some concern that the formula does not account for the population of the cities. An alternate formula has been proposed in an effort to resolve this difference with the hope that the fire agencies, the cities and the county can all reach agreement with the hope that all parties involved will be better able to focus our attention and our collective efforts on longer range objectives.

The 2016-17 formula allocates separate shares for both the Fort Bragg Rural Fire Protection District and the Fort Bragg City Fire department and for both the Ukiah Valley Fire Protection District and the Ukiah City Fire department. Although they are legally separate, the two fire entities in the Fort Bragg area, and those in the Ukiah Valley, function as a single unit operationally. Because there is no separate fire protection entity for the City of Point Arena or the City of Willits, the agencies that cover those areas (Redwood Coast Fire Protection District and Little Lake Fire Protection District) each receive one share. The current formula does not provide an allocation for the population of any of the four incorporated cities.

The alternative formula that is being proposed would eliminate the separate payments for the Fort Bragg and Ukiah City Fire Departments, with that amount redistributed to the other 20 fire districts. Finally, contingent on the Board of Supervisors agreeing to allocate additional funding, the alternative formula would make an allocation to each city based on population. In summary, the cities of Fort Bragg and Ukiah would not receive a separate allocation on a district basis, but along with the cities of Willits and Point Arena would benefit by receiving an allocation based on population. It must be emphasized that including the cities in the distribution based on population is contingent upon the Board of Supervisors increasing the total allocation. Under the proposed alternative formula, while the cities would benefit more overall by accounting for their population, a more equitable allocation for each district will be achieved.

We recognize that considerable effort was expended in reaching agreement on the original funding formula. We also recognize that no formula is perfect or accounts equitably for every nuance of the myriad differing circumstances of the individual fire agencies. The primary benefit of the proposed alternative, if it is approved, is to shift the focus from the funding formula to the long term needs of the agencies. Further, during budget deliberations, the Board of Supervisors did agree to uncouple fire funding from the dispatch contract which means, for example, that increased county general fund expenditures for dispatch will not result in a reduction in funding for fire. While the new formula is also not attached to any ERAF calculations, moving forward, it does represent a quantifiable proportion of the total Prop 172 funds received by the County.

If the proposed alternative formula and increased funding is not approved, the most likely result is that each agency will receive the same amount of money in Fiscal Year 2017-18 as in the previous year. We are cautiously optimistic that approval of the alternative formula will create a more unified front and enable us to move forward and address more critical long term strategic planning issues, including opportunities to secure enhanced and sustainable funding to support our vulnerable fire, rescue and medical aid operations.

Submitted December 14, 2017 by the MCAFD steering committee based on direction from the meeting held December 13, 2017.

ED NOTES

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MEANWHILE, in the acoustical torture chamber of the Point Arena gym where the PA Pirates hosted their annual Jolly Roger basketball tourney, the Boonville girls dropped two as their male counterparts split, knocking off a startled Willits but losing to arch-rival Mendocino, 66-47, as crafty Cardinal coach Jerry Young puzzled out Boonville coach Luis Espinoza's famous "squid" defense, that relentless, full court man-to-man Espinoza deploys in lieu of offensive fire power.

JUST IN: AV Boys knocked off host Point Arena late Saturday afternoon to take third place in the tournament.

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RECOMMENDED VIEWING, nay must viewing of the best documentary since "Making A Murderer." Remember the CIA's murder of Frank Olson back in '53 (I think it was), a scientist involved in the agency's lsd experiments? The great filmmaker Errol Morris tells the appalling story of Olson's acid-hastened murder in Wormwood, via NetFlix. (Tinfoil hat alert: If you even suspect the government is talking to you through your tooth fillings or is systematically poisoning you with contrails, this truly excellent film is not for you.)

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FROM the Chron's weekly gastro-celebrations: ".... Rural Northern California is seeing the culinary effects of this outmigration, too. Bay Area chefs are opening restaurants in small towns where food of the caliber they make has long been rare. In Philo (Mendocino County), for instance, Gary Danko alumnus Patrick Meany bakes Neapolitan-style pizzas at Stone & Embers. In Arroyo Grande (San Luis Obispo County), Chez Panisse veteran Brian Collins practices wood-fire cooking at Ember. At Park Winters Inn in Winters (Yolo County), Scott Ostrander, who spent several years at Alinea in Chicago, oversees seven-course tasting menus. Living in rural Mendocino County brought one burned-out San Francisco chef back into the restaurant industry. By his mid-20s, Aaron Peters had run the kitchens at PlumpJack Cafe and Aram’s. But he and his then-wife gave up restaurants to farm organically near the coastal city of Point Arena (population under 500). A divorce left Peters without a farm after a decade of selling produce at Mendocino County farmers’ markets. In April 2016, he scraped together his savings and opened Bird Cafe and Supper Club, connected to a bar on the town’s main street. He opens four nights a week, cooking almost everything himself. He buys octopus and crab from a guy who fishes at the coast, and cheese from a dairy farmer friend. His lettuces are picked each morning on nearby farms.

Peters takes a break in the afternoon to walk his 6-year-old daughter home from school, and sometimes brings her into the kitchen with him.

“I used to work 16-hour days, 6 days a week, and then sleep all day on the seventh,” he said. “I could never imagine doing that and having a kid and feel like I was involved.”

“I’ve never had a sandwich on my menu before, but I keep one, because it’s what the guys at the bar want,” said Peters. “I’ve found ways that work for me so I’m able to make it interesting and still totally approachable.”

Peters says that running a restaurant in Point Arena has been a challenge, yet his long hours are offset by other benefits. “It’s about the lifestyle — it’s more mellow, nicer,” he said. “When you leave the restaurant it’s incredibly gorgeous. You can walk to the beach, the hills, the river. That makes a big difference.”

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FOG BELT GRIFTERS: Point Arena’s Doug Burkey and Sheryl Lyn Smith, former members of Point Arena's city council, have been sentenced to a year in jail and three years formal probation on two felony charges of forgery. The couple is also ordered to pay Ms. Smith's family $91,000 in restitution for property illegally diverted to her and her new love interest, Doug Burkey, from the estate of Smith's late husband Aron Leventer.

ARRESTED in August of 2016, on a Sonoma County warrant, Ms. Smith claimed she jointly owned Timber Cove property with her late husband. He had conveniently died two months after the couple’s break-up without including Ms. Smith on the deed to his property. Ms. Smith’s "new friend and neighbor," Doug Burkey, "offered himself as a buffer” in Smith's negotiations over the property with her late companion’s family. Sonoma County detectives thought the death of Ms. Smith’s ex was suspicious and the transfer of his property to Ms. Smith even more suspicious. They pursued investigation of the transaction which has now resulted in both the "buffer" and his buffee in the Sonoma County Jail for 12 months. The paper trail on the fraud is absolutely damning, which you can see for yourself at the AVA’s website.

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SANTA CLAUS, an investigative report. It took our ava reportorial task force two weeks of digging, but we eventually discovered that Randy Lane was Santa Claus at this year's Anderson Valley Unity Club Holiday Bazaar. And a darned good Santa, from all accounts.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “I don't care what they say, I'm inviting Bruno over for a Christmas drink!”

KELLY COAN’S CLAIM ON MENDO GOES TO THE FBI

Background:

Mother Kelly Coan and son Alexander Coan have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Jamie Dawn Shipman, 57, of Mendocino the morning of May 23rd. The Coans, it seems, had been asked to leave the Shipman property and a dispute between them and the Shipmans ensued. After the shooting, and it's not yet known who pulled the trigger, Ms. Coan departed the Coast in a vehicle belonging to the deceased's husband. She turned herself in in San Joaquin County the next day. Ms. Coan's son, Alexander Coan, was arrested in Comptche four days after the murder of Mrs. Shipman. Their murder case is pending. (AVA, June 28, 2017)

SO, WHAT'S HER SIDE OF THE STORY?

On April 4, 2017, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Superior Court in the town of Aguadilla, PR, issued an arrest warrant against Koty Hawthorne for illegally taking her children out of the local jurisdiction, after a court had issued full custody of the children to the father.

The U.S. Marshals have been searching for Hawthorne for several months. Information developed led The Puerto Rico Violent Offenders Task Force (PRVOTF) to Chicago, Ill, Franklin, Texas and Elk without results.

On Thursday, December 14, the PRVOTF received information indicating Hawthorne was residing in the town of Fort Bragg. The N/CA Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force (PSWRFTF) was immediately notified and Hawthorne was apprehended. Hawthorne was taken to the Mendocino County Jail. She faces extradition to Puerto Rico.

US Marshal, Orlando Rivera said, 'This case is an example of how the US Marshals Service and the Puerto Rico Violent Offenders Task Force will not rest to bring a fugitive to justice, no matter where they go or hide.'

The US Marshals Puerto Rico Violent Offender Task Force is comprised of investigators from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Puerto Rico Police Department, San Juan Municipal Police, Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Puerto Rico Revenue Service and the Puerto Rico State Marshals.

COME ON MENDO, GIVE MIKE SIX BUCKS FOR HIS GLASSES

IN SONOMA COUNTY:
MANY WARNING CALLS FAILED DURING FIRST HOURS OF OCTOBER WILDFIRES

New records show 54% of emergency warnings sent to telephone numbers in Sonoma County failed to connect during the first 24 hours after the SoCo Alert system was activated for the October wildfires.

pressdemocrat.com/news/7769979-181/most-soco-alert-calls-failed

TEEN MISSING IN LAKE COUNTY

"On Friday, December 15, Sahra Wilcoxson contacted the Lake County Sheriff's Office to report her 15-year-old daughter, Avril Wright missing. Wilcoxson stated Avril did not return some from school from Upper Lake High School.

Wilcoxson stated Avril was last seen at 12:30 pm during her lunch break at school. Avril was not seen after her last period of school.

Wilcoxson believes Avril may be en route to Wichita, Kansas where her father is currently awaiting surgery.

Avril was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt with white lettering, blue jeans, and boots. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, is 5'7" and weighs 160 pounds.

If you have any information of the whereabouts of Avril Wright, please contact the Lake County Sheriff's Office at 707-263-2690."

UPDATE: AVRIL FOUND

The Lake County Sheriff office sent the following press release to MSP Saturday @ 7:18 pm:

"Missing 15-year-old, Avril Wright, was located this evening and is safe. The Lake County Sheriff's Office would like to thank everyone in the community for their assistance in locating her."

POIRER FAMILY CLAIM

Background:

A teenage boy from West Virginia died after falling off a cliff in Westport in mid-June (of 2017). A family driving south on Highway 1 in Westport saw the boy’s brother running up the road, waving for help. Ian Schmidt, of Seattle, said he and his family were traveling through the area when they saw the brother and stopped, following him to the scene. He said he saw the boy, unconscious and bleeding from his face, on the rocks below. Schmidt saw helicopters responding to help the boy. The boy had been on a road trip to Oregon with his brother and friend when they decided to stop on a turnout in the 42000 block of Highway 1 in Westport, according to MCSO Capt. Greg VanPatten. The boy then reportedly tried to climb down the steep cliff to the beach, and fell about 60 feet onto the rocks on the ocean line. His brother and friend ran down a trail to help while they waited for medical assistance. Medical responders attempted to revive the boy, but he died on the scene. The boy was later identified as Matthew Ian McCoy of Clarksburg, W.Va. (Ukiah Daily Journal)

ED NOTE: Exactly how Mendo is responsible for the young man’s death is not clear. We doubt signage would have made any difference. And much of the coastline is unfenced and should remain so. Below is a google streetview shot of the area just south of Juan Creek Bridge.

MENDO WITH ALL ITS RIDICULOUS POT PERMIT FEES pretends to care about the little guy:

Cannabis Regulation Comment Letter 12.4

SUMMER OF 72

by Paul Modic

My friends and I were renting an old farmhouse in Solsbury, Indiana for $45 a month, ice cream cones were five cents in the little store down the road. I was almost eighteen and felt pretty lost in those days finding momentary solace smoking a joint sitting on the defunct tractor out in the field behind the house but the confusion would come back doubled once I came down. Gaybe was fifteen and wanted someone to hitchhike with to California and though I hadn't thought about heading West I had been a subscriber to the Berkeley Tribe for a year or so. We left that night and by the time we got to Missouri our latest driver was picking up everyone, the car was so full one boy was lying across the seats above us. In the middle of the night outside Lawrence, Kansas a friendly guy took us home, turned us on to a white ceramic pipe full of weed, and then dropped us back by Interstate 70. The next day we got to Grand Junction, Colorado where we split a hit of windowpane acid and drove through an incredible lightening storm in Utah. Gaybe was very deep and I was pretty shallow and this was a difference that annoyed her to no end.

We split up when we got to Berkeley and I discovered that a tick had ridden on my left nipple for the whole 48 hours from the Indiana farmhouse. I was one of those backpack-toting kids on Sproul Plaza with my green frisbee and when a woman asked if she could throw it with me I said, “If you're human you can.” For some reason that intrigued her and the next day she picked me up and took me to her friend's house who was a doctoral candidate at Cal. Jean was a twenty-seven year old junior high teacher in Hayward married to a German guy. We smoked a joint, I got on top of her and we started to have sex, but I was very inexperienced.

“Well, bounce up and down or something,” she said. That night some cute Moonie girls invited me to dinner at a very nice house up in the hills, there were a lot of people and they fed us rice with yogurt and saffron.

I headed across the bay but when I got to the Haight I was too late. I found a crash pad where a young woman was shooting up water. I tried to score some weed and the guy said give him the money and he'd be right back but I didn't believe him. “Here, hold this blotter acid till I get back then,” he said so I gave him the fifteen bucks. He dumped the worthless paper in my hand and I never saw him again. I went over to Delores Park and saw the mime troupe, then I saw the 14-year-old Guru Mararaji speak and finally scored a lid on Guerrero Street. I found another crash pad but it was a house full of predatory homosexuals. As soon as I sat down one unzipped my fly, took it out and gave me a blow job. When it was quickly over I ran out of there in shock and fear and shame. (I bet they had a good laugh.)

I was talking to various nice hippie ladies in the neighborhoods of San Francisco, trying to find out where a commune was up north that I could presumably join. I was writing down names of towns in my little notebook and one woman said try Garberville. I got out of the city and encountered Shawn on the Highway 101 onramp in San Rafael. He had just gotten out of San Quentin and was heading North with two duffle bags. He was short, stocky and tattooed with long red hair and beard. He wore an amulet and had a stash too.

“Let's twist one up,” he said. “I'm going up to Nooning Creek, Whitethorn. People are living naked on the creek. The trees talk to me.”

Sounded good to me.

‘IT’S APPALLING’: MCGUIRE VENTS ABOUT STATE WEED REGS, THEN WEIGHS IN ON OPIOIDS, HOMELESSNESS AND MORE

by Ryan Burns

State Senator Mike McGuire was characteristically bright-eyed and energetic when he met with a couple of your Lost Coast Outpost correspondents at his local district office earlier this week. He seemed particularly jazzed about the Humboldt Holiday Food Drive that had just wrapped up, yielding more than eight tons of donated food thanks largely to the efforts of students from six local high schools — Arcata, Eureka, McKinleyville, St. Bernard’s, Ferndale and Fortuna.

“They blew it out of the water.” he said. “We’re so pleased and grateful.”

But he quickly transitioned into his frustration over the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s surprise omission of any size limits for weed grows in their recently released regulations (which we’ve addressed here and here).

Prop. 64 had promised that grows of more than one acre wouldn’t be allowed until 2023, giving small-scale cultivators a chance to get a foothold in the new legal marijuana market. So what happened?

“Someone’s been whispering in the ears of California Department of Food and Ag.,” McGuire said. “It’s a last-minute change to the draft rules, and no one knows where it came from. It came out of left field. And it’s appalling.”

He repeated that word — appalling — three times while discussing this issue. And while McGuire never seems to lose his composure or his air of cheerful determination, he appeared to find this particular development genuinely outrageous.

“We have upended every promise that was made,” he said. “This is the worst part of politics. This reeks of a smoke-filled backroom deal, and it’s appalling. My belief is this is why Americans are frustrated with our governmental system — because these last-minute backroom deals are consummated.”

The idea of removing the cap had never been discussed in the Senate, and McGuire vowed not to let it stand. “If the administration is not going to reinstate that five-year grace period, then we’ll start working to do it for them,” he said. The alternative — having no upper limit on the size of commercial weed grows in the state — would open “the floodgates to the Walmart of weed,” he said, calling that prospect “everyone’s worst fear when it comes to the issue of legalized recreational cannabis.”

Here are some highlights from the rest of our interview, divided by topic:

The AT&T Problem

We had a bill — SB 566 — that did not make it through the legislature — that would have given residents and local law enforcement the information they need to keep communities up-to-date when it comes to these catastrophic outages.

It would have mandated that a telecom disclose where the outage is at, an estimated time of a fix, [that they] be in constant communication with local emergency managers and law enforcement, and [that they] need to be able to inform the [Office of Emergency Services]. It faced stiff opposition; [we] could not get it passed. And the legislature should be ashamed of themselves.

McGuire said he plans to reintroduce the bill in the new year.

We’ve had six catastrophic outages in the last nearly four years. If this were to happen in L.A. or San Francisco or San Jose, the public would become unglued, yet it’s acceptable because we’re rural.

And i will be honest: One of the reasons why Donald Trump is our president here today is because the Democrats have forgotten about rural communities, rural America, and we have forgotten about rural California.

We’re in the 21st Century, and it’s time that the Democrats grow a spine, stand strong against telecom, and get common sense legislation passed that will save lives.

There are limits to what the state legislature can do on telecom issues since those companies are largely regulated by the federal government, but McGuire said the Public Utilities Commission has an open case focused on the lack of redundancy and resiliency, particularly in rural communities.

We have no standardized emergency alert system in place, and what we’ve seen from the wild-land fires in Southern California and the wild-land fires on the North Coast and North Bay, different counties deploy the technology in many different ways.

And we need a standardized emergency alert system that’s technology neutral, that residents can rely on, that can be deployed to phone lines, cell phones, radio, television and social media all at the same time. And that’s another piece of legislation that we’ll be advancing this year.

Despite the lack of understanding and belief of our president, climate change exists, right? And if we take a look a the last 10 years, the wild-land fire events in this state have grown — size and scope — significantly.

We don’t have a standardized emergency alert system, and we have not invested nearly enough in our mutual aid system for local fire and CalFire. So those are going to be two major focus areas of ours, because our district, the North Coast, has been adversely impacted when it comes to these wild-land fire events.

This is a new reality. We have to play catch-up. And the more information we can give residents in their time of need, the more lives we’re gonna save. Residents deserve timely information that’s accurate.

The Opioid/Heroin Epidemic

McGuire said there will be a follow-up to last month’s well-attended and well-received town hall sometime in the new year — probably in the spring.

[There’s] five times the overdose rate compared to the statewide average here in Humboldt County. Twice the death rate from opioid addictions here in Humboldt County compared to the rest of the state. And you take a look at the number of opioid prescriptions — off the charts compared to statewide average.

Regarding needle-exchange specifically, McGuire said:

I’m a believer that a needle exchange [program] saves lives and helps create a safer community, particularly when it comes to hepatitis, for example, and other transmitted diseases.

At the same time, though, I also believe there needs to be a balance. What I’ve heard is [the Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction] went from a one-to-one [exchange, meaning people have to turn in a used needle to receive a new one] to a needs-based [system] that very well may have contributed to needles being deposited in some public areas and parks. …

The last thing that we should be doing is going to our corners and yelling at each other. … Candidly, we have the worst drug-addiction crisis in our nation’s history, and the less time we spend talking with each other the larger this crisis is gonna grow. And I am deeply concerned about, in particular, rural California and the lack of resources we’ve had flow in.

Opioids absolutely serve a purpose when it comes to healing a body. The prescription numbers [in Humboldt County] have gone down, but they’re still way out of whack compared to the rest of the state, and that’s why I think we need to have some greater oversight.

Roads

I understand it can be controversial, but the gas tax is going to start moving — six million [dollars] into the county of Humboldt next year. That’s just for unincorporated roads. It’s the largest investment in state funds in our history. And an additional $600,000 for Eureka.

With this, Humboldt will receive more state funds than it gives to Sacramento on an annual basis.

Homelessness

We got this bond passed in 2015. Republicans and Democrats worked together as they should. This “No Place Like Home” initiative.

My goal: making sure that we always have a set-aside for small cities in rural counties. We were able to get language embedded so that every county, no matter your population, gets a minimum of a half-million dollars a year. …

So Humboldt County is going to get $1.8 million in permanent homeless housing dollars in 2018. And then they’re going to be able to go compete in competitive pots for like-sized counties.

So for the first time in the state’s history, rather than Humboldt having to go fight against L.A. or Riverside or San Francisco or even Sonoma County, they’ll be able to go in against counties that have similar-sized populations.

McGuire noted that much of this money will be based on local point-in-time counts, and we noted that there was a great deal of skepticism about the accuracy of the most recent count here in Humboldt, since there were far fewer volunteers than in previous years and the numbers came out much lower than the year prior.

There are no dollars available from the state to fund point-in-time counts. My thoughts, being candid: There are tens of millions of dollars at stake, and investing the resources to ensure an accurate point-in-time count is absolutely necessary. I think locals need to make it a high priority.

The dollars [from the recent bond] are gonna go for chronic homeless residents. I know some say that if we invest in homeless services then more will move into the county. Data doesn’t show that, but I understand that there’s concern about that. We’re basing this model off of Utah. [See here.] It has an incredible success rate.

I’ll fast-forward and say, the only way we’re gonna solve the homeless crisis in California is being able to provide permanent housing wrapped with mental health and and drug- and alcohol-addiction services. And it’s about damn time.

If you are a taxpayer that’s concerned about the bottom line, this investment makes sense too because the taxpayers spend $100,000 per year in unreimbursed emergency room visits, stays in county jail and run-ins with the law [for each homeless person].

We have some of the highest homeless numbers per capita in the state. The more we’re spending upstream the less we’ll spend long-term.

I think we need to invest in evidence-based services, and all the data shows that when we provide individuals who are chronically homeless a permanent home they’re able to kick their drug addiction, finally access mental health services, and they’re able to secure — within 36 months — a job and get their life back.

Single-Payer Health Care

I hope that [Senate Bill] 562 [The Healthy California Act, a single-payer measure that stalled this year in the legislature] moves this [upcoming] year. California has led on all issues of climate; we lead America in job growth; we lead America with our economy; we have 25 percent of America’s GDP.’ and we need to lead on health care.

What we have found is, while I’m an acute supporter of the Affordable Care Act, it’s extremely vulnerable to the political winds of change in Washington, D.C.

This issue is too important to hold. My own editorial is, I think the Senate and the Assembly need to come together as grown-ups, work through the challenges with this bill and get it passed.

The North Coast has some of the highest rates of insured through the ACA. And there are much smaller economies in the world that have been able to pass a form of universal health care, and it’s time that California does the same. Our health depends on it. … Our current health care system does not work. California can do better.

One little post-script:

Before parting ways and heading to points south in his district, McGuire told the Outpost that he has endorsed California Senator Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles in the race for U.S. Senate, snubbing the 25-year incumbent, octogenarian Dianne Feinstein, who has recently run afoul of the progressive’s left flank.

(Courtesy, LostCoastOutpost.com)

CATCH OF THE DAY, December 16, 2017

FERMIN BARRALES-GONZALEZ, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, failure to appear, probation revocation.

JAMES BROWN SR., Redwood Valley. Failure to appear.

TIFFANY LANGENDERFER, Willits. Domestic battery.

JOSEPH MCBEE, Alameda/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

REMO MCOSKER, Ukiah. Probation revocation. (Frequent Flyer)

MICHAEL MINUTELLI, Murrieta/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

TYMIAH MONTESANO, Laytonville/Garberville. DUI, resisting, battery on peace officer.

MARCO MOON, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, parole violation.

LAFAYETTE ROBINSON, Probation revocation.

OSCAR SANCHEZ, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

RUSSEL WATSON, Fort Bragg. Controlled substance, transportation of controlled substance, paraphernalia, parole violation.

HE’S JERRY BROWN, RIGHT?

Dear Editor,

I did a little survey on my own around for Fort Bragg, Ukiah and Comptche. I asked people who Kim Jong Un was. Out of 135 people I asked, 110 of them did not know who he was. Some thought he was a basketball player. Some said he was a baseball player. Some had no idea. Isn't that a shame? Our society does not even know who is threatening us with a nuclear weapon. They are so wrapped up in their own political thoughts trying to undermine President Trump. Isn't that something to think about? Why don't we let the Hillary Clintons, the Maxine Waters, the Nancy Pelosis, the Chuck Schumers, and I could name a bunch more — why don't we just let them take over? Then we will really be up shit’s creek without a paddle. They won't call it the United States of America anymore, they will call it the Liberal States of America. That's what we have to look forward to as they keep pecking away at President Trump who is the only person alive who can get this country straightened out and back on its feet again. Wake up you Republicans. Wake up you stupid assholes and stand up for your country. It's about time.

God bless Donald Trump.

Jerry Philbrick

Comptche

5150

Editor:

It has been said many times, perhaps too many, that doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity. Republicans are once again lowering taxes for the most well off and claiming this will raise up the less fortunate. They have done this before several times and, of course, it did not work.

Insanity? No, this is the definition of stupidity. People, do not re-elect stupidity.

Sylvan Eidelman

Santa Rosa

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I’m not a fan of any of the current politicians, but the whole Roy Moore compared to Al Franken thing just makes me shake my head in bewilderment.

As far as I can tell Facebook has become a cesspool of partisan politics of the worst kind. Democratic friends are posting petitions to convince Al Franken not to resign even though there is actual photographic evidence of his past misdeeds that he admitted to. All the while they are lambasting Roy Moore and patting themselves on the back that he lost the Alabama election (And what kind of white backward hicks would vote for such a man? Even though he has denied the questionable allegations against him that are just that — accusations, not a conviction).

All of this is communicated through nonsensical memes, of course, which have no basis in reality. One of the founders of Facebook recently came out claiming that he believes FB is destroying society as we know it. I have to agree with him.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS are forbidding officials at the nation's top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases - including "fetus" and "transgender" - in any official documents being prepared for next year's budget.

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are: "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based."

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of "science-based" or "evidence-based," the suggested phrase is "CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes," the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered. (AP)

REPORT REVEALS L.A. OIL COS. HAVE USED 49,000 TONS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS SINCE 2013

by Dan Bacher

California is the nation’s “green leader” and Governor Jerry Brown is the country’s “greenest governor,” right?

That is the narrative promulgated by state officials, public relations experts and writers who gush about the Governor’s frequent speeches at international climate conferences. The reality on the ground here in California is much, much different.

In fact, California is the third biggest oil producing state in the country and Big Oil is the largest corporate lobby, dominating the Governor’s Office, the Legislature and the regulatory agencies.

Even worse, a report released this week by the Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling - Los Angeles (STAND-L.A.) coalition revealed that oil companies in the nation’s so-called “greenest state” have used more than 98 million pounds — or 49,000 tons - of chemicals known to cause serious health problems in Los Angeles County since 2013.

These “air toxics” were often used “dangerously close” to homes, hospitals and preschools, the report said. In addition, “more than 21 million pounds — or 10,500 tons— were used in the city of Los Angeles alone.”

“The known air toxics most frequently used by oil companies in the Los Angeles air basin include crystallinesilica, methanol, hydro uoric acid, and formaldehyde,” according to the report. “These chemicals pose serious health concerns. Formaldehyde, for example, harms the eyes and respiratory system and is classified as a cancer-causing substance by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the California Air Resources Board.”

The Danger Next Door report analyzed South Coast Air Quality Management District records dating from June 4, 2013 to Feb. 28, 2017.

“The analysis revealed that over 80 percent of air toxics uses involved just 12 chemicals, including carcinogens like crystalline silica and formaldehyde. Hydrochloric acid, one of the most frequently used air toxics, is a corrosive gas that can cause suffocation or irreversible lung damage at high concentrations,” the report stated.

Report co-author John Fleming, a staff scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, explained the health risks these toxic chemicals pose.

“The oil industry’s massive use of air toxic chemicals threatens the lungs and lives of thousands of people in Los Angeles,” said Fleming. “With risks ranging from respiratory irritation to cancer, it would be irresponsible for state and local regulators to allow drilling to continue in our densely populated neighborhoods.”

As of 2013, the air district requires well operators to disclose chemicals used in “unconventional oil and gas recovery activities,” including well-stimulation techniques like acidizing and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), according to Fleming.

However, because oil companies used “trade secret” protection in 21 percent of their reports, more air toxics could have been used than were disclosed, said Fleming.

Fleming said the report further found that over 30 percent of the 1,140 “well-stimulation operations” using air toxics occurred within 1,500 feet of at least one hospital, preschool or residence in Los Angeles County. One well-stimulation event occurred within 12 feet of a home in the Wilmington neighborhood and another within 200 feet of a hospital in Los Angeles.

The report concluded:

“The data reported to the Air District, while incomplete in many ways, shows extensive and widespread use of harmful chemicals by oil companies in the Los Angeles air basin. The pervasive and persistent use of these chemicals threatens to contaminate local air quality and put public health and safety at risk. State and local governments must take stronger action to protect our communities from these dangerous oil industry chemicals.”

Martha Argüello, chair of STAND-L.A. and executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles, commented, “It’s unconscionable that oil companies are using highly toxic chemicals in L.A. neighborhoods, often just yards away from homes, schools and hospitals. And it’s inexcusable that oil companies continue to hide behind inadequate reporting and trade secrecy claims to keep the full scope of this danger from the public.”

“Los Angeles officials urgently need to create buffer zones to prohibit risky neighborhood oil drilling,” Argüello advised.

Why is the oil industry so easily able to pollute urban neighborhoods in Los Angeles County with toxic chemicals? It’s because the oil industry is the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in California and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the single largest and most powerful lobbying organization.

The oil industry has captured the regulatory apparatus in California from the Governor’s Office, to the Legislature, to the state agencies. Because of the gusher of oil lobbying money, no bill opposed by the oil industry with the exception of one has been able to make it out of the Legislature over the past three years.

The California Oil Lobby was the biggest spender in the 2015-16 legislative session, spending an amazing $36.1 million on lobbying over the two-year period, according to an American Lung Association in California report.

Big Oil spending last session amounted to $1.5 million per month — nearly $50,000 per day. The $36.1 million surpassed the $34 million spent in the prior legislative session.

WSPA was the top overall oil industry spender during the 2015-16 session, spending $18.7 million. As is normally the case, WSPA ranked #1 among all lobbying spenders last session. To read the report, go here: www.lung.org/…

Based on the oil industry lobbying over the past two quarters of 2017, it looks like the industry could set a new spending record this session. The oil industry spent more on lobbying in California, $16,360,618, in the first six months of 2017 than was spent by the industry in all of 2016, $16.0 million.

This translates to an average of $2.7 million per month – $90,000 per day – since Jan. 1, 2017, according to a new report compiled and written by William Barrett of the Lung Association in California. Since the 2007-08 Session, the oil industry has spent over $150 million in lobbying in California when you include the figures for the first two quarters of 2017.

Not only do WSPA , Chevron and Big Oil dominate California politics by spending millions on lobbying every year, but they also exert their money and power through campaign spending, creating Astroturf groups, working in collaboration with media and getting appointed to positions on and influencing regulatory panels.

For more information, go to www.dailykos.com/…

NORTHERN RED-SHAFTED FLICKER

(Photo by Harvey Reading)

THAT THE AGENTS OF DESTRUCTION have been women simply telling their stories in public is nothing less than delicious. Women were gossiping, complaining, name-calling, and suddenly the world was listening. (In fact, historians have written extensively on the importance of gossip and its venues, such as coffeehouses, in fomenting previous revolutions.) Each tale that came tumbling out was more sordid than the last: infinite variations on the theme of sexual scumminess. The revelations weren’t exactly new, but the frame had shifted: the handsy boss, the lewd entreaties, the casting couch, were no longer going to be business as usual. Every revolution has its weapons of choice — once it was muskets and guillotines, this time around it’s “sharing” and media exposure. It wasn’t heads that were rolling, it was careers: contracts yanked, deals canceled, agents quitting, e-mail accounts shuttered. Career death is hardly nothing — it’s the modern equivalent of losing everything. (When the Times recently compiled the names of twenty-four prominent men accused of sexual harassment, it did rather bring to mind the spectacle of heads on a pike in a public square. The name conspicuously absent, unfortunately, was our groper-in-chief Donald Trump, who’s thus far managed to slither away from the variety of sexual charges lodged against him.)

— Laura Kipnis

WHAT DOES TRUMP MEAN BY ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN’?

by Ralph Nader

Donald Trump’s now ubiquitous slogan, “Make America Great Again!”, is often chanted at rallies, but rarely scrutinized in public discourse. What era in America’s past is Mr. Trump referring to when he says “Again”?

Would Mr. Trump prefer America return to the days of slavery, Jim Crow and labor exploitation in unsafe factories, mines, foundries and plantations? How about the late 19th century when “Robber Barons” monopolized one industry after another? Is he longing for the days when women were second-class citizens and couldn’t vote, until securing this right less than 100 years ago, only to still be paid lower wages than their male colleagues for performing the same jobs and faced with consumer and educational discrimination?

Or is Trump referring to a time when the US was less of a giant empire than it is today?

Or, more optimistically, in the nineteen sixties and early seventies when America had its highest real wages and a large trade surplus? Has anyone heard him say he wanted to return America to that prominence that peaked in the nineteen sixties?

He surely doesn’t want to raise wages for workers. On the campaign trail last year he said wages were too high and has not championed raising the frozen federal minimum wage (at $7.25 an hour) since.

He has spoken often about revising trade agreements to reduce our trade deficit, but he’s not going to take on the opposition of the emigrating giant global corporations to reduce our trade deficit.

Maybe he wants to go back to the America before there was Medicare and Medicaid, before dangerous cars had to be recalled, before food had to be labelled, before unions existed to collectively bargain with large companies in the auto, steel and oil industries?

Does he miss the days when there were segregated restaurants, hotels, trains and buses? What about when people could smoke in your space on airplanes, in college lecture halls, hospital waiting rooms, cafes, offices and just about all public spaces, no matter the presence of children and asthmatics? Or when people with disabilities faced physical exclusion and career discrimination?

More benignly, perhaps Mr. Trump is longing for the days when there was less soil erosion, fewer toxic chemicals in the environment and more family farms. Or when there was far less obesity and diabetes and less aggressive marketing to children of fast food full of fat, sugar and salt. If so, he sure is not going to Make America Great with the corporatists he’s appointed to run the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Agriculture.

Does he want to Make America Great Again by returning to the days when there were fewer people in prisons per capita, fewer non-violent drug offenders serving long sentences, including juveniles, fewer if any private corporate prisons? If so, he is going to have problems with his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. What about when casino gambling was highly restricted and only legal in Nevada? It’s unlikely Mr. Trump would have wanted to prohibit gambling in his Atlantic City Casinos before they failed or went bankrupt. With his flurry of statements and Tweets endorsing sexual harasser and accused pedophile, defeated Senate candidate Roy Moore, Trump, given his boastful aggression toward women, certainly does not want to return to an America when such widely publicized misbehavior would have kept men from even running for office.

Maybe, Mr. Trump has a limited meaning to “Again.” Maybe he means going back to a time when America was respected and feared in the world. Going back to the days when a smaller Japan and Germany made war on the US or when Britain played Woodrow Wilson and the US for suckers and got us into World War I, which led to World War II. Oh, such glorious nostalgia for Donald J. Trump.

What a speech Trump could give were he to explain what Making America Great Again means to him. He could explain his desire to go back to the prosperous Sixties when big corporations and the rich paid much higher taxes, didn’t dare pay their CEOs more than 30 times the average wage in their companies and had to comply with a higher real minimum wage. He could wax nostalgic over the larger relative infrastructure budgets of the federal government, or the days when student debt was small or non-existent compared to the huge student debt load now imposed on this younger generation of Americans.

If all this sounds a little confusing, it is. Voters should have rejected such an unrebutted slogan repeated to applauding crowds again and again by Donald Trump in his get-away-with-anything presidential campaign of 2016.

(Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!)

CRAIG VS FRANCHISE TAX BOARD

Crazy California Franchise Tax Board Threatens My Enlightened Self

Warmest spiritual greetings,

In 2014 I inherited money following my father's passing. Mechanics Bank in Berkeley, California located a tax accountant for me on Google. I successfully filed both state and federal in the spring of 2015, paid my taxes in full, and received appropriate letters of acceptance, which are filed in the tax accountant's office. In 2016 I began receiving notices from the State of California Franchise Tax Board, that based on my previous filing, they assumed that I earned money in 2015, which is taxable, and thus sent me a bill. I reported this absurd situation to both the tax accountant and Mechanics Bank, requesting that they instruct the State of California Franchise Tax Board that I do not owe any money, and to adjust their computers to reflect this fact. Nevertheless, the State of California Franchise Tax Board continued sending me these absurd notices for two years. Yesterday, I received a threatening notice from the State of California Franchise Tax Board, stating that if I do not within 30 days pay in full the original tax amount, plus the fine amount, plus the interest amount, plus the billing cost, totaling slightly over one thousand dollars, that they will take a long list of actions against me, including "attaching deposit bank accounts". Aside from the fact that this is crazy, the larger issue is that the State of California Franchise Tax Board is receiving money from California residents who do not owe it! Obviously, California residents have been extorted by the State of California Franchise Tax Board and have sent in the money, perhaps because they are senile, or perhaps because they assume that it is necessary since it is an "official" notice from the state government, or perhaps they didn't want to be bothered with further harassment, or perhaps they are fools. I suggested to Mechanics Bank that they contact the appropriate federal agency, and ask that this be investigated. Mechanics Bank did not take my request seriously. Why not??? I am leaving for Honolulu on January 1st, and do not regret at all leaving postmodern California. Only an idiot would send in to the State of California Franchise Tax Board, money to pay for taxes based on income which did not happen in the first place. Ignoring Mechanics Bank's complaint that my behavior is not always peaceful,(particularly when I am being victimized), I'd like to invite the State of California Franchise Tax Board to drop dead in hell. I fully and clearly understand that my present behavior, including the words that I am using in this text, are not peacefully zen like, that I am not being overtly kind, and that I am not being overtly compassionate, dripping with love. I'm also not being a complete mental imbecile, which is generally what postmodern California demands of me, to be considered a politically correct state resident. Please share this message with your friends. The public has a right to know about this situation with the State of California Franchise Tax Board, in order to protect itself from the essentially criminal behavior of the state.

Craig Louis Stehr
San Francisco, CA
Email: CraigStehr@inbox.com

DECEMBER NEWS FROM CANCER RESOURCE CENTERS

Season's Greetings!

On behalf of the staff, board of directors, and volunteers of the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County, we wish you a warm and joyful holiday season. My first year as Executive Director is drawing to a close, and what a wonderful year of learning it has been for me. I am grateful to have met so many wonderful people: staff, volunteers, clients, board members, donors, and those in our community who support the Cancer Resource Centers in a hundred different, quiet ways. Daily, I stand in awe of the generosity of the human spirit as well as the courage and determination of those actively fighting cancer. It is an honor to do this work and I look forward to the new adventures that 2018 will bring.

—Karen Oslund, Executive Director

* * *

Indoor Tanning Increases Cancer Risk

During these shortest (and coldest) days of the year, some may be tempted to seek that bronzed look for a holiday party, so it is important to remind people of the dangers of indoor tanning. The ultraviolet radiation from sunlamps, tanning booths, and tanning beds is a human carcinogen, increasing the risk of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. California passed a law in 2011 prohibiting teens under 18 from indoor tanning, but use of tanning beds is still popular with many young people, who dismiss the cumulative risk of skin cancer that could take decades to develop, or could show up much sooner. More than 400,000 new cases of skin cancer in the United States each year may be related to indoor tanning (Centers for Disease Control). Stay out of tanning booths and remember that good health looks good on everyone!

The Cancer Resource Centers' 2017 Cancer Awareness and prevention series is sponsored by CRC in collaboration with the Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency. The information presented is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace the advice of your health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with your health care provider.

Enjoy a Winter Evening of Music While Supporting a Great Cause

"The Back Porch Project" will play in concert Friday, January 19 at 7 p.m. at the Ukiah United Methodist Church. This is a benefit for the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County and we would love to sell it out. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Mendocino Book Company for $15 (beginning December 19) or at the door for $20.

Your Gift Stays Here and Helps People Who Have Cancer

Our year-end appeal has been mailed and I thank each and every person who has sent a donation. Your gifts are what make our work possible. There is still time to give in 2017. You can mail a check to P.O. Box 50, Mendocino, CA 95460, or give online at crcmendocino.org.

Thank you!

A ZATOICHI THE BLIND SWORDSMAN HANNUKAH.

“Yes, thank you, Kozue, if you say Hannukah over and over a bunch of  times it sounds like a washing machine. But it's like that with a lot of  words. With every word. You'll find that out, and drum it to death, and  get tired of that too, and the next thing, and the thing after that. And  then eventually you'll be old and your own little grandchild will kick  your foot and startle you awake and tell you about Hannukah and washing  machines, and you'll nod and smile and tell her to go in the kitchen and  show her mother, and that's how it works. Go on."

Thanks to Hank Sims of Lost Coast Outpost the recording of last night's  (2017-12-15) KNYO and KMEC Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show is  ready to hear with a single click: https://tinyurl.com/MOTA-KNYO-0259

Of course you can also get it at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com as  well as wade among a fresh batch of interesting and educational goods  that I collected, with you in mind, while putting the show together, to  add to the literally zillions of wonders and amusements and  Gaia-affirming tchotchkes, gimcracks and gewgaws already there, that  might not necessarily work on the radio because of being mainly visual,  say. For example:

The second-to-last Jedi.

http://www.neatorama.com/2017/12/08/The-Second-to-Last-Jedi/

Film documentation of 62 atomic bomb tests that were a huge pinky-swear secret for half a century. Apparently the cat's out of the bag on that, so.

https://newatlas.com/declassified-nuclear-test-videos-released/52630/

Why to use the kind of Xmas tree stand that keeps the stump end of it always in water.

https://theawesomer.com/watered-tree-vs-dry-tree/457663/

And the incandescent Gunhild Carling!

https://theawesomer.com/happy-10-instruments/457601/

–Marco McClean

AND FOR YOU, MTA RIDERS, SANTA HAS A NICE BIG LUMP OF COAL

Except for Xmas Day and New Years Day, Mendocino Transit Authority (MTA) buses will run their regular routes on the coast and inland in Mendocino County through the December holidays.

There is no MTA bus service on either Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, with an exception: On New Year’s Day, two buses will bring inland and coast passengers to Santa Rosa roundtrip.

• In Fort Bragg and the Mendocino Coast on Christmas and New Years, passengers should note that Dial-A-Ride, #5BraggAbout and #60 Coaster buses will not be running. On New Years Day, however, passengers can catch the Route 65 bus to Ukiah and Santa Rosa.
• In Ukiah and inland communities on those two holidays, passengers are advised that there will be no inland MTA bus service, including the Willits local route and Dial-A-Ride. The exception is Route 65 which will bring passengers from Ukiah to Santa Rosa and back on New Years Day.
• Passengers along the south Mendocino coast will have no MTA route 75 bus service on either Xmas Day or New Years Day. The bus from Point Arena south to Santa Rosa and back will run on New Years Day but not Christmas.

Check MTA’s website for holiday routes, schedules and alerts at www.mendocinotransit.org. Or call MTA at (707) 462-1422 or 1 (800)-696-4682.

MTA extends warm holiday wishes to all of our passengers and communities.