Mendocino County Today: Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018

• David McGowan
• Care-a-Van Manchester
• January Rains
• Museum Director
• Carriage House
• Hawk
• KZYX Candidates
• Underfunded Schools
• Bekah Found
• Candidate Juhl
• Amnesty Applications
• Demolition Housing
• Operation Iceplant
• ICE Inspections
• Yesterday's Catch
• Twitterpated
• Memo Vapors
• SOTU Show
• BS Nation
• SNWMF 2018
• Super Battles
• Psychedelic Generation
• Beaten Nation
• FBOver
• Library eBooks
• FB Agenda
• The Wall
• Planning Agenda
• Seized Weed
• Marco Radio

DAVID EARL MCGOWAN

David Earl McGowan, 44, of Ukiah died Sunday, January 31, 2018 of an accidental drowning at Lake Mendocino. David was born in Jackson, Mississippi on December 12, 1973. David grew up I Mississippi and attended the University of Mississippi, he worked as facilities manager for Pinoleville Pomo Nation and he was the owner of McG's Family Fun Center. David was generous, always the first person there when anyone was in need. He had a smile that could light up a room, eyes that sparkled and a laugh that could be heard a mile away. David loved all children and was his happiest playing with them and making them laugh. His four boys were the love of his life, they meant the world to him. He was an amazing soul and will be deeply missed by so many. David is survived by his wife of 16 years Jennifer McGowan, sons David Earl Jr., Elijah Lee, Jeremiah Xavier, Sebastian Abel, mother Ella McGowan, sister Pamela Powell, brothers Donald Jr. McGowan, Preston McGowan, Joshua McGowan. David was preceded in death by his father Donald McGowan. A funeral service will be held on Friday, February 2, 2018 at 2:00 PM at the Eversole Mortuary.

PLEASANT WINTER DAYS. Ukiah is positively balmy with highs reaching the upper 70s. As the National Weather Service puts it, "Mild and dry conditions are expected across the region during the next seven days as high pressure dominates the weather pattern."

PREVIOUSLY, January provided decent rainfall. Some monthly precipitation totals, comparing this year to last, from Yorkville's DWR Station:

2017-18

• 9.16" January
• 0.44" December
• 7.84" November
• 0.72" October

2016-17

• 24.92" January
• 9.92" December
• 6.76" November
• 10.36" October

GRACE HUDSON MUSEUM IN UKIAH WELCOMES NEW DIRECTOR DAVID BURTON

by Carole Brodsky

As visitors enter the muted, warm light of the Grace Hudson Museum’s Hart Gallery, even those who have never heard of Grace Hudson are captivated by her prowess as a painter and her depth as a human being.

Her respect and love for the Pomo people she painted resonates through the room, and in the next gallery, one of the most comprehensive Pomo basket collections in the world provides a glimpse into a people who are arguably among the most unsurpassed basket weavers in the world.

In the main gallery, pieces of glasswork from the museum’s previous exhibit are being meticulously packed away, as museum staff prepare for the next exhibit, opening in February.

The tripartite nature of the Grace Hudson Museum: the legacy of Grace Carpenter Hudson and her husband, John Hudson; the cultural history and influence of the Pomo people and the ongoing contemporary exhibits both inspires and fascinates the museum’s new director, David Burton.

Burton’s father, an Anglican priest, left his British homeland when the church assigned him to South America, where he met Burton’s mother, a fifth-generation Argentinian. The family resided in Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala until his father was assigned to a church in Riverside, California, in 1960.

Burton received his undergraduate degree in history from UCLA. Following graduation, he began writing short stories. “I took courses in creative writing from UCLA’s extension program. I really got bit by the writing bug,” he laughs.

Burton was accepted to graduate school at San Francisco State. “Living in San Francisco was a plus. It’s a big, literary city, which at the time was filled with well-read people, curated readings, open mikes at coffee bars, City Lights Bookstore and great used bookshops in the Mission.”

Burton completed his Master’s Degree in creative writing and from there became an instructor and then an administrator at a private school. “This wasn’t my life’s ambition, so I returned to Southern California to write a novel, realizing I might only have one chance to do that,” he notes, smiling. Though the novel didn’t get published, Burton’s proximity to Hollywood provided opportunities to experiment with other forms of writing.

“I had friends who helped me get a job doing research and writing for ‘clip shows.’ I worked on a blooper reel for weddings, called Here Comes the Bride, There Goes the Groom, Part 2. I didn’t really see a future in that,” Burton laughs. “I’d written grants for a theater company, and I realized I could have a satisfying job as a grant writer.”

Burton made a connection with the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, where he began a 16 ½-year career with the museum.

“I started by doing foundation and government grant work for the museum. I then became Director of Government Affairs, serving as the liaison between the museum and elected officials. I travelled to DC with the museum CEO and board chair. We’d lobby Congress for money in a time when you could do that.”

Burton oversaw three federal appropriations and the same Proposition 84 funding that the Grace Hudson Museum applies for. “The Autry received $6.5 million to carve out 13,000 feet of interpretive space dedicated to California Native peoples,” Burton continues.

Another program – Native Voices at the Autry – is one Burton is very proud of. “It’s a theater program that develops plays by Native writers. It’s the country’s strongest national platform for Native playwrights to develop and produce plays about subjects they’re interested in, both historic and contemporary.”

One of the Autry’s playwrights had a play performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, marking the first time a play by a Native American was performed at the event.

Burton became the director of the Autry Research Institute, where he oversaw libraries, archives, publications, programs and the education department.

When the Research Institute was shut down due to economic constraints, he was ready for a new challenge. “At the Autry, I learned as if I had been in museum grad school. I’m proud of the museum and I’m still a member. But after 16 ½ years, I was ready to run my own organization. I wanted to look at being a director.”

He became a finalist for five positions, and in 2015 accepted a position at the Yakima Valley Museum. “I went there initially as the director of advancement – doing fundraising, program development, strategic planning and marketing.” He became the interim director for about a year, and when the search for a permanent director opened up, Burton decided to apply for the position at the Grace Hudson Museum.

Several factors, including the museum’s mission excite Burton about his new role. Grace Hudson herself is another inspiration. “We have a beloved historical figure at the heart of the museum who was a pioneer in many different ways – this Potter Valley girl who was sent by her parents to the San Francisco Institute for the Arts, who became a very successful painter in the late 19th century – certainly not the norm for a woman of that time. Grace’s history of her life with John is also fascinating – how they merged his interest in ethnography with their love of Pomo Indian culture.”

“The Sun House, combined with a gallery dedicated to shows featuring contemporary artists merges my love of history and fine art museums.”

Burton’s first impressions of the museum are exceedingly positive, and he credits his assessment to the hard work of current staff and former director Sherrie Smith-Ferri.

“Sherrie is insanely smart, and good at so many things. We have wonderful core galleries that make a strong statement of the museum’s values, particularly our gallery dedicated to Pomo culture. If you have native collections, it’s our job to help the public understand the history and the vibrancy of the cultures as they exist today, even after surviving enormous brutality. That’s an important story to tell. From a programmatic and institutional standpoint, we’ll be carrying on the trajectory of the work that has been done, and continuing to have it rise to a high level.”

Like all museum directors, ensuring financial sustainability will be a large focus for Burton. “I’m getting my hands around the fact that the museum, land and contents are owned by the city of Ukiah. The city provides many services for us: HR, payroll, many other services that small museums have to figure out on their own. They’ve committed to a strong financial investment, but the city can’t handle it on their own.”

He’s getting familiar with the Sun House Guild and the museum’s Endowment Board. “It’s a real pleasure getting to know the boards and the passion they bring to the museum.”

Burton’s plan is to spend a portion of his first year listening and observing. “I want to build upon the great work that’s been done. To that end, I’m hoping to use my skills in museum management to coordinate a strategic plan for future stakeholders, look for ways to connect the present to the past, and direct us to a better, shared future. That being said, strategic plans are living documents, not tablets. They have to be adaptable, and you have to course-correct when necessary.”

“People have an idea that museums are about the past – a place where the past is kept, as objects, under glass. That’s all very important, but I start with a premise that museums should be about the present – making contact with contemporary times and issues in contemporary life. How can we learn from the material culture, the art and the exhibits that interpret the past? My philosophy is that it really starts by using the richness of history to better understand the present.”

Burton uses the museum’s Wild Gardens as an example of teaching about the past through the present. “The Gardens flesh out the past story of Native peoples. But the Pomo are still around, still part of this community. The Gardens help us better understand their history and hopefully help us to better care for our land.”

For Burton, “relevance” is a keyword for modern-day museums. “Changes started at the end of the 20th century. For hundreds of years, the museum paradigm was being a repository for past knowledge. Cracks started appearing in the ’60s, as the culture exploded, and things really changed when technology allowed people to carry around an encyclopedia inside their phones.”

Easier access to information prompted the public to request more “interactive” museum experiences. “It started out with a couple of computer stations. That was very popular for a number of years. Then the pendulum started swinging the other way, because using technology in a museum means it’s going to break down.”

Computer stations lost their novelty when broken kiosks resulted in poor visitor experiences. “By the late 2000s, people wanted a more relevant experience, like being able to touch replica objects, or having visitors think and respond to questions.”

Those dramatic changes in museum culture happened in just 15 years. Now, says Burton, marketing trends suggest that Millennials and earlier generations are seeking out social museum experiences. “They want a group of friends to meet and have a broader, event-driven experience. Regardless, all experience has to be in service of sound scholarship. Those two ideas can cohabit the same space.”

Someone once said that museums are safe places to have unsafe conversations, with the goal of deeper and more informed knowledge about a subject. David Burton subscribes to this school of thought, and he is hopeful that the museum will continue to exemplify the complex, diverse history of the community he is learning to love. For now, he is enjoying being back in the Golden State.

“Coming back to California feels good. It’s truly my home.”

The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4:30 p.m. Docent-led tours of the Sun House are offered Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. For more information, visit gracehudsonmuseum.org/ or phone (707) 467-2836.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

THE FOLLOWING ITEM is on the consent calendar for Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting:

Item 4j) Approval of Joint Operating Agreement (No. P17OA050) with the State of California Natural Resources Agency Department of Parks and Recreation for the Rehabilitation and Use of the Ford House Carriage House in the Mendocino Headlands State Park as a New Sheriff’s Substation in the Town of Mendocino.

(About $250k is being allocated for the remodel.)

WHEN WE FIRST READ THE ITEM, we thought they were remodeling the State Parks Department’s nice old Ford House into a Sheriff’s substation, which sounded like a potential controversy. But the key words in the item are “Carriage House” which is a euphemism for the dilapidated garage behind the Ford House. So the propsal is to rehab and remodel the Carriage House into a Sheriff’s substation.

According to the detailed plans and agreement with State Parks:

The Carriage House has served as a storage building for groundskeeping supplies in recent years. The County Commissioned architectural plans for the project and Parks Department has obtained all required permits for the project. The County will operate the Carriage House at the Headlands State Park as a Sheriff's substation. The county agreed to accept the premises and all upgraded facilities and take them as is. The use of premises will include Parks department managed concessions and other facilities accessible to the use and enjoyment of the general public. The county may improve the premises by constructing and operating the Carriage House as a Sheriff's substation. The facilities “shall not adversely affect the use and enjoyment of the premises by the public. It shall be in the Parks departments sole discretion to determine if such an adverse impact exists.” The remodel will create a new office within the Carriage House which will be granted for use to the county. Uses will include all Sheriff's office activities except booking, interrogation and storage of drugs or ammunition. The Parks Department will retain use of the buidling for landscaping supplies and tool storage. The premises contain significant and potentially significant cultural, archaeological and historical resources and the county must ensure that those resources and sites are protected. The Parks department insists that the interior and exterior structural integrity of the storage buildings be maintained. The Parks department and the county will work together to develop mutually agreed-upon roles and responsibilities to provide interpretive and educational programs and materials in the remodeled structure. A volunteer program will be "strengthened." The county will be granted use of the premises rent-free as long as the terms and conditions are met. County will allocate about a quarter of million to rehabilitate and remodel the Carriage House (garage). The Parks department did the structural analysis, historic review, plan review, obtained all required permitting, photo documentation and will be responsible for removal of existing structures. The County will manage the remodel construction project. And the County will maintain and operate the premises including all equipment, personal property and facility improvements.

REMODEL PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Rehab existing historic structure. Remove existing siding and roofing. Cut off bottom of studs to remove all pest and water damaged material. Pour new concrete foundation and slab floor. Reframe existing walls using new 2x6 studs. Reapply exterior siding using original salvaged material to the greatest extent possible. Reroof the building. Insulate walls and ceiling. Apply new gypsum board on interior walls and ceiling plus covering trim and paint to match original construction. Approximately 75% of the building will be used as office space for the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department. Approximately 25% of the building will be used as storage space for State Parks maintenance.

OUR INITIAL of this project based on the Supes agenda item alone gave the impression that the historic Ford House itself was being remodeled. But closer reading shows that the remodel is of the "Carriage House" which is basically a glorified garage behind the the Ford House.

WE ASKED three supervisors about the project and suggested it be pulled from the consent calendar because the agenda item is subject to misinterpretation. But after looking at the County-Park Department agreement and plans and realizing that it only applies to the garage behind the Ford House, we can’t see any reason to object and don't expect any problems with the idea. It's simply a way to put a dilapidated garage back into service while providing a small sheriff's substation for the town of Mendocino.

NOYO TRAIL HAWK

(Photo by Judy Valadao)

CANDIDATE SLATE FOR MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION

By Jeffrey Parker (KZYX Station Manager)

Candidate applications for the Mendocino County Public Broadcasting board of directors election closed at 5 p.m. on 30 January 2018. The following candidates qualified for the ballot:

District 2 Board Member (one open seat; members vote for one candidate): Dina Polkinghorne

District 3 Board Member (one open seat; members vote for one of the two candidates): David Hulse-Stephens, Patricia Kovner.

District 5 Board Member (one open seat; members vote for one of the two candidates): Tom Dow, Len Tischler

At-Large Board Member (two open seats; members vote for two of the four candidates): Bruce Anderson, Bob Bushansky, Robert Vaughan, Renee Vinyard

Programmer-Elected Board Member (one seat open; will not appear on general-member ballots): Jerry Karp

Ballots will be mailed by the end of February to all supporters who were members in good standing as of 31 December 2017, and must be returned in a station-supplied envelope by mail and received by the independent election auditor by 31 March 2018. Please do not deliver ballots to KZYX.

Thank you for your support!

Promoting Community Through Public Radio

ACCORDING TO AN MCOE “Williams Settlement Agreement” report to the Board of Supervisors on next Tuesday’s agenda most of the poorer school districts in Mendocino County have teaching and facilities problems that need attention. The Williams Settlement was imposed on California schools after the ACLU successfully sued the state saying that poor schools were being neglected and underfunded and teaching was compromised as a result. The settlement called for County Schools offices to assess each “Decile 1-3” school (i.e., in poor districts) annually and report their findings to the County Supervisors. This year’s report is in the BOS agenda packet for Feb. 6. But, as typical with these things, it’s just a report, no reference to prior years, no indication that districts are dealing with the problems, no deadlines for responses, etc.

FOR EXAMPLE, the report says that Anderson Valley Elementary is deficient as follows: "Multiple lights out. Many rooms have containers marked ‘Keep out of Reach of Children’ under sinks. Referred walk-in freezer problem to Intercounty Mechanical for estimate. Rainwater intruding into classrooms 16-19 is a safety hazard and will damage flooring. Playground needs more engineered wood fiber in safety zones around equipment. This area also drains under portable buildings eventually creating rot.” MCOE also reported: “Teacher Misassignments & Vacancies During the 2016-2017 school year, there were fifty-three teachers (one at Anderson Valley Elementary, three at Laytonville Elementary, eight at Arena Union Elementary, one at Point Arena High, one at Calpella Elementary, eleven at Eagle Peak Middle School, one at Grace Hudson Elementary, one at Nokomis Elementary, two at Oak Manor Elementary, twenty-two at Pomolita Middle School, one at Blosser Lane Elementary, and one at Willits High) who lacked the appropriate authorization for their assignment. All assignments were rectified by reassignment, retirement, or applications for appropriate credentials within 30 calendar days. 2017-2018 teacher misassignments and vacancies are monitored throughout the year and will be summarized in next year’s letter to the Board of Supervisors.”

WE ASKED AV SUPERINTENDENT Michelle Hutchins about the AV portion of the report. Adding that although the report is signed by then-County School Superintendent Warren Galletti (who has since hired himself as the new very high paid Point Arena superintendent) that it seems like it's a much bigger problem at Mr. Galletti's new district.

SUPERINTENDENT HUTCHINS REPLIED: “What you are referring to is the Williams Report that is completed each year. The county uses a Facility Inspection Tool to determine the condition of the District's buildings. The few items noted for Anderson Valley have been rectified. New light bulbs installed, walk-in freezer repaired, installation of a new french drain in front of rooms 16-19 completed and new engineered wood chip fiber purchased. Teacher mis-assignments for AVUSD remains at one. We do not have a credentialed Math Teacher teaching some of the math classes. The Principal is a Math Teacher and is assisting the substitute with curriculum development so that the students receive a strong math foundation. We continue to advertise for a credentialed teacher to fill the vacant position. I am sure Mr. Galletti has a plan to address the issues in Point Arena.”

FEDS THOUGHT SHE WAS MISSING IN HUMBOLDT, BUT WOMAN WAS SPOTTED ON 'THE BACHELOR'

by Amy Graff

A woman who was reported as missing in Humboldt County was found this week in a rather visible place — the reality series "The Bachelor."

Rebekah Martinez, 22, of Fresno, was reported missing on Nov. 18 by her mother, who told the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office that her daughter had gone to the area to work on a marijuana farm.

The North Coast Journal included Martinez in a cover story featuring images of the 35 people listed as missing in Humboldt County on the California Department of Justice's website.

The story titled "The Humboldt 35: Why does Humboldt County have the highest rate of missing persons reports in the state?" was published on Facebook on Thursday in a post that asked readers if they recognized anyone.

Amy Bonner O'Brien of Trinidad was the first to respond on the Facebook post and identify Martinez as a contestant on the current season of "The Bachelor."

"My sister always calls me Sherlock Holmes," O'Brien said. "I was just scrolling through the 35 missing people and I recognized some of them from news stories. When I got to her, I was like wait a minute, she looks so familiar and I instantly thought of 'The Bachelor.'"

O'Brien doesn't regularly tune into "The Bachelor," but on a recent visit to see her sister they watched this season's first episode together.

The North Coast Journal reached out to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, who contacted Martinez over the phone and promptly removed her from the missing person's list.

"(The mother) had phone contact with Bekah via a friend on the 12th," said Public Information Officer Samantha Karges. "Bekah had told her she was coming to Humboldt County to work on a marijuana farm and she wouldn't be able to contact her for a week or so."

(SF Chronicle)

HUMCO SHERIFF EXPLAINS HOW IT HAPPENED

On Nov 18, 2017, at about 1:06 a.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a missing persons report for 22-year-old Rebekah Martinez. The reporting party, Martinez’s mother, told deputies she last had contact with Martinez on Nov. 12, 2017, at about 11:00 a.m. via a friend’s cell phone. Martinez told her mother that she was going to work on a marijuana farm and would see her in seven to eight days.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office attempted to contact Martinez and other persons associated with her, receiving no response. The deputy followed procedure, following up on all leads and forwarding the case to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division.

On Dec. 12, 2017, a deputy sheriff contacted Martinez’s mother by email to inquire whether she had heard from Martinez. Martinez’s mother responded to the email confirming that Martinez had contacted her late in the afternoon on Nov. 18, 2017, and stated that she was headed home. The deputy requested Martinez to contact the investigator of the case as soon as possible.

As part of procedure, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office deputies are typically required to make direct contact with the missing person to confirm status and wellbeing, as geographical and other factors allow. A deputy was not able to make direct contact with Martinez and she was not removed from the Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

On Feb. 1, 2018, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received an inquiry from a local resident in response to a news article about missing persons in Humboldt County. The resident reported that one missing person listed on the California Attorney General’s missing persons website was actually on the television show, The Bachelor.

The deputy who initially took Martinez’s missing person report attempted to contact Martinez by phone, without answer. The deputy left a message for Martinez directing her to contact The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office as soon as possible. The deputy then reached out to Martinez’s mother as to why Martinez had not contacted the Sheriff’s Office as requested in December.

The deputy was informed that Martinez had attempted to contact the Sheriff’s Office but was not able to speak directly with a deputy. At this time, Martinez’s attempts to contact the Sheriff’s Office have not been confirmed. The deputy provided Martinez’s mother with her direct phone number and requested Martinez call the deputy immediately.

Martinez returned the deputy’s call at 2:59 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2018, confirming that she was not missing and was doing well. Based on the totality of information provided regarding Martinez’s wellbeing, Martinez status as a missing person was cleared over the phone and she was removed from the Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

CLARIFYING MY CV

AVA,

On the 19th of January one of your reporters wrote an article on the 5th District candidates for supervisor. I am Arthur E. Juhl, a candidate, and in the article she was unsure of my fishing career. My boat was the Gusty, and my Fish and Game No. was 9930. I fished out of San Francisco, Pt Reyes, Bodega Bay and Pt Arena.

The other question was my career as CEO of the Oklahoma Energy Corp. If you type in Arthur Juhl CEO Oklahoma Energy on Google you will find me. I believe that working with the budget, of which I have been studying the proposals that the BOS initiated can be accomplished.

I am the assistant governor of Rotary 5130 and will attend an international meeting in Vancouver Canada on the 9th of February on Peace and the Environment, and plan to talk on saving our coast from oil drilling.

Thank you for the article,

Arthur E. Juhl

(PS, Also: Not a lawyer, just went to law school)

HOW ABOUT MENDO? (with Mendo DA response)

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has announced it will expunge thousands of misdemeanor convictions for marijuana possession dating back to 1975. The move comes after recreational marijuana use was legalized in California this year. That paved the way to have previous low-level offenses dropped, but it required a costly petition process that San Francisco authorities have decided to bypass. George Gascón, the city’s district attorney, said his office will automatically erase about 3,000 convictions, while an additional 4,900 felony convictions will be reviewed to determine if they can be downgraded to misdemeanor charges. “A lot of people don’t even know they qualify, and I don’t think it’s the right thing to do to make people pay lawyers’ fees and jump through a bunch of hoops to get something they should be getting anyway,” Gascón told The New York Times. San Diego has also said it will forgive previous convictions, having identified about 4,700 that will either be wiped out or downgraded.

MENDOCINO DISTRICT ATTORNEY DAVID EYSTER RESPONDS:

“People have been submitting applications as allowed. If the SF District Attorney wants to volunteer to send up some of his staff to handle Mendo cases, so be it. Otherwise we'll proceed as is, processing applications and doing the best we can with limited staffing.”

HUH?

Ukiah Daily Journal Hed, Feb 2, 2018:

"Ukiah Approves Demolition Of Homes For Housing Projects"

THE LATEST CALTRANS SHELL GAME

by Albion Bridge Stewards

Will the California Coastal Commission – which Caltrans has been partly funding to the tune of millions of dollars – require Caltrans to follow the same coastal resource protection rules that appropriately apply to everyone else in the coastal zone?

The next test comes on February 7, when the Coastal Commission meets in Cambria, San Luis Obispo County, to consider its Executive Director’s waiver of the coastal permit requirement for the Caltrans proposal to superficially, incompletely, and unsustainably “restore” the 1,250 square foot area, in the berm and dune between Albion Cove Beach and the landmark Albion River Bridge’s foundation. Caltrans removed stabilizing vegetation and graded that area on October 31, 2017, without the required Coastal Commission and County grading permits. (Photos 1 and 2)

Under the guise of an “archeological investigation”, Caltrans' archeological consultants dug a trench much larger than originally proposed. By driving with a backhoe over the dune/berm, by destroying the dune/berm structure consisting of sand, saw dust, rocks and old logs, and by removing the protective covering (the ice plants) Caltrans and their consultants exposed the dune/berm to wave run-up and erosion. (Photos 3 and 4)

Last week, Caltrans presented Coastal Commission staff with an ambiguous, incomplete, and internally inconsistent application for a coastal permit, along with a request that Commission staff waive the coastal permit requirement. That application describes a project consisting of nine workers with shovels and rakes to move some sand around to “create a uniform surface” and dump on top of it some “ice plants” from the Albion River Campground and Marina property. In sharp contrast, the Caltrans “Notice of Pending Permit” states that it will “restore the beach dune to pre-excavation conditions that occurred on October 31, 2017”.

Caltrans is misleading both the public and the Coastal Commission. The project for which Coastal Commission staff is ready to waive the coastal permit requirement is not the project that Caltrans describes, and does not repair – much less restore – the damage that Caltrans has done. Caltrans simply has not met the Coastal Commission prerequisite for a complete and accurate application, a basic requirement before a coastal permit or waiver can even be processed. Neither Caltrans nor Coastal Commission staff has analyzed, or demonstrated, that the project is consistent with all of the Coastal Act Chapter 3 standards, or that the project will not have any direct or cumulative adverse effects on coastal resources.

To the coastal community, who are intent on protecting the landmark Albion River Bridge, Coastal Commission staff’s proposed waiver is disturbing on several fronts. For example, the waiver makes no provision for Caltrans to protect the damaged dune/berm from further erosional forces while the “ice plants” attempt to reestablish themselves. To make matters worse, the waiver provides no backup plans if this attempt by Caltrans fails to remediate the damage caused by its unpermitted trenching.

The public and the coastal resources deserve better. The coastal community requests that a complete Coastal Development Permit application will be heard as a regular permit item at the Coastal Commission's March meeting. Caltrans must follow the same coastal protection rules and procedures that everyone else is subject to. Anyone who agrees can express their concern to Bob Merrill, Coastal Commission District Manager at 707-826-8950 or <bob.merrill@coastal.ca.gov> and Alison Dettmer, Coastal Commission District Director at 415-904-5240 or <Alison.Dettmer@coastal.ca.gov>

For more information check out:

• albioncab.wordpress.com/
• facebook.com/savethealbionbridge/
• dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/albion/

PHOTOS:

 

 

 

ICE AGENTS SERVE INSPECTION NOTICES AT DOZENS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BUSINESSES

Immigration agents this week delivered inspection notices to 77 restaurants and other businesses in Northern California and gave them three workdays to prove their employees are authorized to work in the country.

pressdemocrat.com/news/7948688-181/77-northern-california-businesses-asked

CATCH OF THE DAY, February 2, 2018

THOMAS ALLEGRA, Willits. Domestic battery.

JORDAN BROYLES, Fort Bragg. Burglary, grand theft.

CAROLE CHRYSLER, Ukiah. Harboring a wanted felon, probation revocation.

EFREN GUZMAN, Rodeo/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ROY JONES JR., Upper Lake/Ukiah. Renting a vehicle to a person who must have an interlock device to drive to assure sober driving, suspended license, paraphernalia, probation revocation.

JAVIER MEJIA-VALENCIA, Clearlake/Ukiah. Hit&run with property damage and failure to notify property owner, burglary tools, receiving stolen property, prison prior, prior strike, county parole violation, evasion.

MICHAEL PARKER, Ukiah. Resisting, probation revocation.

MICHAEL PATTON JR., Ukiah. Probation revocation.

RANDY PETERS, Ukiah. Domestic abuse, false imprisonment.

ESPERANZA VERDUZCO, Ukiah. Petty theft.

KENNETH WOLFE, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

HAWAII GOVERNOR FORGOT TWITTER PASSWORD DURING FALSE MISSILE ALERT CRISIS

As if the Hawaii false missile alert incident wasn’t embarrassing enough already, Hawaii’s governor has now admitted that he took 15 minutes longer to tweet a reassurance that the alert was a mistake because he had forgotten his Twitter password.

theverge.com/2018/1/23/16923080/hawaii-governor-forgot-twitter-password-during-false-missile-alert-crisis

SOTO KLAATU BARADA NIKTO

by James Kunstler

It’s beginning to look a little like The Day the Earth Stood Still out there, with Devin Nunes in the Klaatu role, roiling the Earthlings into a frothy hysteria as they attempt to defend their puny empire of errand boys, grocery clerks, and elected buffoons. At dawn’s early light, we await The Memo.

The New York Times was running veritable Chinese fire drills on its front page this morning denouncing The Memo in advance, shrieking about the end of the Republic, with the laughable caveat that… “None of this is to say the F.B.I. and the rest of the federal law enforcement apparatus should be immune from criticism or reform.” The Times editorial did not go into any detail about what exactly might invite that reform — like perhaps one top-rank agent telling another one that the “loathsome” president had to be gotten rid of at all costs.

The casual observer — say, one who is immune to the charms of Donald J. Trump — can’t fail to notice that there is a bit more smoke emanating from the upper echelons of the FBI than has yet been seen in the sludgy narrative called “Russian Meddling in the 2016 Election.” Going into two years of that yarn, not one concrete detail has emerged. Meddled how? For all the “we now know” talking points uttered by Grand Inquisitor Rachel Maddow, it seems to me that we now know next to nothing about “collusion” between Russians and Trump, while we know a great deal about the indelicate behavior of FBI officers in important positions with grave responsibilities — government agents with the power to wreck lives — who cooked up an enormous hysteria in the body politic.

The situation certainly puts the nation in a quandary. An uncouth and ridiculous President called forth to battle a vicious, dishonest, bureaucracy and in particular its gigantic, out-of-control “security” apparatus, which appears to have been hijacked by politically interested parties — namely, the minions of Hillary Clinton. You have been reminded here before that history is the supreme prankster. In Fourth Turning terms, the poor old disintegrating USA pined for a “gray champion” and all it got was this booby prize: a Manhattan real estate schmikler with a mean streak. Well, that’s how things roll in a long emergency. And this might only be the beginning of it.

In any case, it appears that the FBI, in the hallowed words of Ricky Ricardo, has got some ‘splainin’ to do. Recall, it was not so long ago that the FBI was run by a cross-dressing maniac addicted to blackmail, so let’s not act as if the agency was something that the Lord Yahweh brought into being on the fifth day of creation, after the lobsters and the cockateels. Granted, J. Edgar Hoover was a hard act to follow, but we are now, evidently, living in an age of even lower men (and women, to be fair).

CNN reminded viewers relentlessly Thursday night that The Memo was sure to be a disappointment, a “nothingburger,” for a nation that expects a righteous half-pound beef patty with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and special sauce on a sesame seed bun. Personally, I expect something more like a three-day-old dead carp in a plain brown wrapper. Maybe “the Resistance” will try to make gefilte fish out of it, which is a burger of sorts: chopped meat, anyway.

Meanwhile, we await the report of DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who has been rooting around in the same burger den as the House and Senate committees, questioning the same cast of characters. The DOJ report is liable to be more damaging than The Memo. The whole nasty gumball of suspicion and innuendo seems destined to climax in a constitutional crisis. Ludicrous as it seems — like some rogue army out of the stupid Star Wars epic — the “Resistance” bethinks itself the nation’s savior. In the best American tradition, they’ll burn the joint down in order to save it.

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

* * *

MEMO DECLASSIFIED

House Intelligence Committee Report On FISA Abuses

THE STATE OF THE LIMOS

Editor:

I’ve watched many State of the Union speeches. They all have things in common. It’s a chance to tell everyone what a great job the sitting president is doing, true or not. The speeches are also full of bon-bons that the chief executive says he will serve up off the large government silver tray. Of course, none or very few make it beyond that podium.

The whole show of constant rising and sitting down and the incessant clapping reminds me of Stalin’s speeches, but in his world, the first comrade to stop clapping was shot.

What I enjoy most is watching the opposition party members as each statement or bon-bon is offered up for applause. A larger group of grouchy old people has never been assembled. The Black Caucus just sat there staring forward. Nancy Pelosi was constantly looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was smiling or standing at the wrong time. It was a sad exhibition by a bunch of rich old people. Speaker Paul Ryan was actually mocking them toward the end of the show.

Dave Haynes

Santa Rosa

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Yet another Middle School drama breaking out in Washington, yawn. At this point I don’t care what is disclosed. The whole place has become irrelevant to adults and anyone with a triple digit IQ.

At this point can we expect anything even close to the truth to come out of DC? Can we trust any mainstream media outlet to present it? Lies, spin, propaganda and marketing have infused every aspect of our lives these days, thus coating any truths in a crunchy coating of dried bullshit that is nearly impossible to penetrate anyway.

After so many years of just figuring the latest government stats, reasons for war, and explanation of events are pure bullshit concocted to advance an agenda, all of the sudden we are supposed to take “The Memo” at face value? It’s all part of the spectacle to keep us engrossed while the owners pick our pockets.

SIERRA NEVADA WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL
June 22-24, 2018

Early Bird Artist Announcement

• Beres Hammond
• Cocoa Tea
• The Mighty Diamonds
• Half Pint
• Culture w/Kenyatta Hill
• Jah9
• Nattali Rize
• Randy Valentine
• Kingston Rudieska
• The Nomaddz
• David Hillyard & Rock Steady 7
• Wayne Wade
• Natty
• Spiritual

In the Dance Hall

• Jah Shaka
• Rorystonelove

And many more TBA.

EARLY BIRD MUSIC TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

A limited number of Early Bird 3-Day Music Tickets are now available Online and via Mail Order. Early Bird tickets will be available through February 28th or until sold out, whichever comes first, so order yours today! 3-Day Early Bird Music Tickets are only $165.00 each. Children 12 and under are free if accompanied by a paid adult.

HOT PROTEST IN AN ICE-COLD SUPERBOWL CITY

by Dave Zirin

There are two contests taking place in Minneapolis–St. Paul this weekend. One, of course, is the Super Bowl, the NFL’s reward to Vikings owner Zygi Wilf for getting taxpayers to hand half a billion dollars to build his football arena, the aptly named US Bank Stadium.

The other contest involves local unions and a wide array of social-justice organizations attempting to be heard over the hype and din of Super Bowl week. Their battle pits them against the under-discussed economic and social trauma that the Super Bowl brings. Their plan is to “disrupt the narrative” that what the Super Bowl arrives with is not only acceptable but something to be celebrated.

As Veronica Mendez Moore from the Twin Cities Centro De Trabajadores Unidos En Lucha (CTUL) said to me, “It’s not about being anti-football. It’s about being against a corporate party that’s extracting from our communities and creating an environment of militarization, while increasing wealth at the top at expense of those at the bottom.”

This isn’t just about leveraging the glare from the big game to spotlight local issues. There are real dangers for working people, immigrants, and people of color that come with hosting the Super Bowl. It’s the danger that arrives with a massive expansion of closed-circuit television surveillance, hyper-militarized policing and the free entrance of ICE into a space that normally is a “sanctuary city.”

Hani Ali from from the Black Visions Collective said to me that, while there are a wide variety of organizations taking part in demonstrations, they have coalesced around a series of specific demands.

It starts with transparency: “The city and the Super Bowl host committee decided to not make public the deal that they made, the amount of public dollars that went into bringing this into our community. We’re just asking them to reveal that bid. We want to know exactly how much of our money is going into this. We also want going forward a commitment in transparency and decision-making oversight for other large-scale events.”

There is more. They are also demanding “local law enforcement not cooperate with ICE, so no reporting [undocumented people] to ICE agents. We’re also asking that sex-trafficking victims be treated as victims. We’re going to see, with the Super Bowl. an increase in sex-trafficking incidents…. And also we want the decriminalization of sex work, in general. We’re going to see an increase of violence to people who do sex work on a daily basis, because of the people, the misogyny, the toxic masculinity that these types of sporting events bring to our communities.”

Mendez Moore says that these demands speak to the urgency that communities are feeling and they also “unmask the reality of what comes with 10 days of corporate parties. The cities will be a playground for the rich, while others are suffering poverty, facing homelessness [in freezing temperatures], and we need to put forward that the way resources are being invested could be so very different.”

The organizers in the Twin Cities are teaching the rest of us a hell of a lesson as well. Whether it’s Super Bowl week in one city, or the way this Trump administration makes all of us feel like we are facing a fusillade of injustice from every possible angle, it can be difficult to know what issues upon which to focus and where to build the most effective citadels of resistance. But the young activists of the Twin Cities are practicing old-fashioned solidarity to knit together their different issues and push forward as one.

As Michael Moore, local labor editor of The St. Paul Union Advocate said to me:

"Local unions and worker groups have been organizing around the game for months. Transit operators authorized a strike during Super Bowl week, leverage they used to force management into addressing concerns about safety and restroom access. Teachers in St. Paul launched a social media campaign shaming corporations like US Bank and Ecolab for spending over $50 million to lure the NFL and its billionaire owners to town, while avoiding local taxes that fund our schools. Bakery workers, retail janitors and fast food workers will be in the streets outside Super Bowl events next week, lifting up their own campaigns for better wages and working conditions—and standing in solidarity with local movements for racial equity and immigrant rights. Super Bowl boosters told us an event like this would bring people together and showcase the best of our community, and in an ironic way they’re right. It’s going to be a very powerful display of solidarity."

In so many ways, if we will heed the lessons of their organizing, they’ve already won.

THE PSYCHEDELIC GENERATION

If marijuana, LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and the like are so good for you, can someone explain why the psychedelic generation produced such an abundance of crackpots, charlatans, drug addicts, alcoholics, and yes, Trump voters?

True, many, myself included, came through the experience. Between 1967 and 1980 I consumed an enormous amount of LSD along with a fair sampling of the other substances, and kept smoking marijuana semi-regularly until 1993. Apparently I still have a more or less functioning brain, though I hesitate to say whether it’s because of or in spite of my drug-addled youth.

Not a lot of my fellow druggies are still around, and in trying to evaluate those who are, I’d have to say the results are mixed at best. But what middle-class hippies always seem to miss when they attribute certain universal qualities to the psychedelic experience is that their own fond memories of hearts and cosmic flowers are probably as much a product of their upbringing and education as the drugs themselves. When the young gangbangers in my old neighborhood smoked marijuana, they didn’t tend to sit around contemplating the groovy aspects of world peace; they were more likely to get in fights and stab people. Not because the marijuana made them do it, but because that was the sort of entertainment they were used to, and being high enhanced the experience, the same way it made Bob Dylan and the Beatles sound extra profound for those of us inclined in that direction.

Oh, and as Jeff Costello also noted, there’s no specific or predictable set of hallucinations attached to any given drug. Some people see colors and shapes, others find themselves viewing the world with what appears to be a hyper-crystalline clarity, still others (Charles Manson comes to mind) crawl up their own asses and declare themselves kings of a their own private universes. Not to lump him in with a mass murderer, but Tim Leary kind of fell into this category as well.

(Lawrence Livermore)

THE CAMERA EYE (50)

The Execution of Sacco & Vanzetti

They have clubbed us off the streets they are stronger they are rich they hire and fire the politicians the newspaper editors the old judges the small men with reputations the college presidents the wardheelers (Listen businessmen college presidents judges America will not forget her betrayers) they hire the men with guns the uniforms the policecars the patrolwagons

all right you have won you will kill the brave men our friends tonight

there is nothing left to do we are beaten we the beaten crowd together in these old dingy schoolrooms on Salem Street shuffle up and down the gritty creaking stairs sit hunched with bowed heads on benches and hear the old words of the haters of oppression made new in sweat and agony tonight

our work is over the scribbled phrases the nights typing releases the smell of the printshop the sharp reek of newprinted leaflets the rush for Western Union stringing words into wires the search for stinging words to make you feel who are your oppressors America

America our nation has been beaten by strangers who have turned our language inside out who have taken the clean words our fathers spoke and made them slimy and foul

their hired men sit on the judge’s bench they sit back with their feet on the tables under the dome of the State House they are ignorant of our beliefs they have the dollars the guns the armed forces the powerplants

they have built the electric chair and hired the executioner to throw the switch all right we are two nations America our nation has been beaten by strangers who have bought the laws and fenced off the meadows and cut down the woods for pulp and turned our pleasant cities into slums and sweated the wealth out of our people and when they want to they hire the executioner to throw the switch

but do they know that the old words of the immigrants are being renewed in blood and agony tonight do they know that the old American speech of the haters of oppression is new tonight in the mouth of an old woman from Pittsburgh of a husky boilermaker from Frisco who hopped freights clear from the Coast to come here in the mouth of a Back Bay socialworker in the mouth of an Italian printer of a hobo from Arkansas the language of the beaten nation is not forgotten in our ears tonight the men in the deathhouse made the old words new before they died

If it had not been for these things, I might have lived out my life talking at streetcorners to scorning men. I might have died unknown, unmarked, a failure. This is our career and our triumph. Never in our full life can we hope to do such work for tolerance, for justice, for man’s understanding of man as now we do by an accident.

now their work is over the immigrants haters of oppression lie quiet in black suits in the little undertaking parlor in the North End the city is quiet the men of

the conquering nation are not to be seen on the streets

they have won why are they scared to be seen the

streets? on the streets you see only the downcast

faces of the beaten the streets belong to the beaten

nation all the way to the cemetery where the bodies of the immigrants are to be buried we line the curbs in the drizzling rain we crowd the wet sidewalks elbow to

elbow silent pale looking with scared eyes at the coffins

we stand defeated America

(John Dos Passos)

READER COMMENT:

From J. Edgar Hoover’s blackmail files to COINTELPRO to the assassination of Vicki Weaver, the FBI has shown itself to be a snake-pit of corruption. Time to do away with it, and replace it with a more accountable federal investigative agency.

MENDOCINO COUNTY LIBRARY INCREASES SPANISH EBOOKS AVAILABLE

February 1st, 2018 - More eBooks in Spanish are now available for Mendocino County communities. Using library account credentials, patrons can quickly browse, click, and enjoy over a thousand new Spanish titles at https://mendo.odilo.us.

The eBook management platform, powered by Odilo, features quality Spanish titles from hundreds of publishers, to better serve the needs of the Hispanic Community. Odilo is a privately held Spanish and USA based company dedicated to developing the most innovative and creative solutions for libraries.

“The Hispanic and Latino population makes up 25 percent of our community (according to www.census.gov), and now the Library offers over a thousand popular and bestselling eBooks in Spanish," said Karen Horner, County Librarian. “This provides much more quality Spanish language content for our patrons than was previously available."

Library patrons will also appreciate the ability to enjoy the new digital content on any device, whether a Chromebook; eBook reader (Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble NOOK, Kobo eReader, and Amazon Kindle eReaders); iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch; PC or Mac computer; or anything Android. Readers will never incur any late fees - as titles automatically expire and return to the library collection.

FORT BRAGG FINANCES

city.fortbragg.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02072018-533

“I’m really looking forward to talking to you—just give me a minute.”

DARN RIGHT WE HAVE PLANNING!

Planning Commission meeting Agenda for February 15, 2018, is posted onthe department website at: mendocinocounty.org/government/planning-building-services/meeting-agendas/planning-commission

Please contact staff with any questions.

Victoria Davis, Commission Services Supervisor, 707-234-6664

ONE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COUNTY IS CONSIDERING SELLING SEIZED WEED

chicoer.com/article/NA/20180201/NEWS/180209984

ANNOUNCING THE TECHNIQUE!

And Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio tonight on KNYO and KMEC!

I've told you a number of times about how I have always been envious of people who can make that Scottish/Spanish/Xhosa rolling-R sound with their mouth at the start or in the middle of words (that have an R). I couldn't whistle, and I learned to whistle. I can wiggle and wave toes independently of other toes on the same foot, and open and close my nostrils independently of one another without employing fingers or a pencil or an electrical prosthetic aid (though those are all good training tools). I was in my middle twenties when accordionist John Paul's son Heile (sp?), also an accordionist, taught me to juggle. But after literally decades of reading about it and trying different ways, and asking people to show me how, and lately watching instruction videos, I still could not do the rolling-R sound.

And just now (!) I was reading about Colombian clarinetist Jaime Uribe, and hearing the name in my head in the exaggerated way that makes it funny: HHY-mee oo-RRRRee-bay, and it occurred to me that I could simulate the rolling-R sound by sharply vibrating my entire head left and right exactly at the right time, keeping my cheeks loose and letting the flapping of my face vibrate the R, and I tried it. It hurts a little -it gives you a headache- but it works! It works!

It's vain when an innovator names a universally useful thing after himself, like the Valsalva or Picard maneuvers, say, or Kleenex or a Hoover, so I'll be calling this simply The Technique.

IN OTHER NEWS: I'll be in Fort Bragg for tonight's show. If you want to talk about your project or read aloud your writing in person, or bring your instrument(s) and/or fellow instrumentalists and play a short set, or invent an entirely new thing to do with radio that no-one has ever thought of before, you can drop by 325 N. Franklin, next door to the Tip Top bar, after 9pm and just wade in. Head for the lighted room at the back and clear your throat or clap your hands (or triumphantly The Technique a rolling R) or something. If you like to speak freely with proper swears, wait till 10pm, because otherwise that agitates the weasels.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio: Every Friday, 9pm to about 4am on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg, and 105.1fm KMEC-LP Ukiah. And also there and anywhere else via http://knyo.org or if that doesn't work for you try http://TuneIn.com and look up KNYO-LP.

The deadline to email your writing to be read on MOTA is always about 5 or 6pm the night of the show, no matter where I'm doing the show from.

So as of this writing you have some time to get that together for tonight. Just paste your poem or essay of kvetch or sale item or whatever into the body text of an email, check that it's going to me and not to the whole group, unless that's what you want, and press send.

Besides that, you can have /your own whole regular radio show/ on KNYO. Contact Bob Young: bobb@poetworld.net and introduce yourself; you'll be on the schedule before you can say Jaime Urrrrribe!

Jaime URRRRRibe! Ow.

–Marco McClean