Mendocino County Today: Saturday, May 5, 2018

• Pat Hulbert
• Christine Lopiccolo
• Adoption Day
• Quentin Bound
• REXercised
• Crow
• Hare-Creek Review
• $2m Grant
• Little Dog
• Auto Yes-Votes
• Plunkett Resignation
• Humco Clap
• Yesterday's Catch
• Pesky Horsefly
• F&G Agenda
• Trade Jobs
• Reading Habit
• 1915
• Racy Covers
• Workers Protest
• Personal Experience
• Ukiah Artwalk
• Progressive Policies
• Chronic Homelessness
• Fish Story
• Avoiding War
• Marco Radio

RUBY PATRICIA (PAT) HULBERT

Born November 18, 1933, passed April 22, 2018, after a long, brave battle with cancer, peacefully, surrounded by all of her family.

Pat is survived by her direct and adopted family, sister Carol, brothers Dale and Butch and her many nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren whom she treated as her own.

Pat lived a rich and meaningful life touching many lives, including rehabilitation and counseling troubled youth for many years. She was well known throughout the Anderson Valley community as an historian, member of the Philo Methodist Church community, and many years of volunteer work at the Boonville Fair pie bake.

There will be a memorial service celebrating Pat’s life:

Date: June 15, 2018
Location: Boonville Fairgrounds main hall
Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Refreshments will be served and there will be time set aside for sharing thoughts and stories about Pat. Additionally, there will be a short service at Philo Methodist Church for family and friends at 11:30 am.

* * *

Interview of Pat Hulbert by Steve Sparks.

CHRISTINE LOPICCOLO died last night when she piled into some trees near the Navarro Store. A long-time resident of Rancho Navarro, Ms. Lopiccolo was driving her distinctive ancient Honda. At the curve near the historic Navarro sign, Ms. Lopiccolo was westbound at about 4am Friday morning, and for unknown reasons, crossed the road, hit a light pole, went through a blackberry patch, and into a redwood grove, her car tumbling much of the way before it landed upside down on its roof and burst into flames. The initial flames soon caused the portable propane tank and gas can in the car to explode, and almost instantly Ms. Lopiccolo, who we hope was already dead, was incinerated. Preliminary estimates have it that Ms. Lopiccolo was traveling at a suicidally high rate of speed, perhaps as great as 90 miles per hour. Ms. Lopiccolo's only known relative is a nephew in the LA area.

Caltrans has steadily refused to put up a speed limit sign at that dangerous bend in 128 which is deceptively treacherous, and the site of numerous accidents over the years.

REMEMBER that Ukiah guy arrested for molesting an infant? The guy whose wife (or girlfriend) said her nanny cam caught him in the act? So, what happened? If he was found not guilty of the charges we oughta know about it, especially given this is just about the most abhorrent crime a man can be charged with.

* * *

BACKGROUND: (AVA, September 6, 2017)

The End Times, Mendo Branch, Episode 25,685,510

On 09-05-2017 at about 6:50 PM Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to the Ukiah Valley Medical Center regarding a reported sexual abuse case. Deputies contacted a mother of a 2 year-old female child who had discovered her boyfriend, Mark Austin Boughton, 25, of Ukiah, had committed sexually lewd acts upon her daughter earlier in the evening. The acts were recorded on a "Nanny Cam" in the couple's home and the video footage was shown to the Deputies. Deputies confirmed evidence existed showing Boughton had performed sexually lewd acts upon a child in violation of penal code section 288. Boughton was subsequently located and arrested in the 200 block of Mason Street in Ukiah. Boughton was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on the above charges and was to be held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

* * *

DA spokesman, Mike Geniella, brings us up to date: "Records show that Boughton is San Quentin bound. He entered no contest pleas on Dec. 22 to two felony counts of lewd or lascivious conduct with a child. He was sentenced March 6 to five years in state prison by Judge Ann Moorman. Boughton was ordered to stand trial following a preliminary hearing in November. The prosecutor was Deputy DA Elizabeth Norman."

NEVER KNEW I WAS THIS TERRIFYING

by Rex Gressett

In the packet of documents pertinent to the special meeting of the Fort Bragg City Council of Wednesday, May 5 regarding the proposal for race-based redistricting of Fort Bragg’s electorate there was a letter to the Council from Scott Menzies describing his views on the redistricting proposal. To my slight surprise and enormous amusement Mr. Menzies made an extensive reference to me personally. It is the second time in a couple of weeks that I have been tarred and feathered by concerned patriots.

A few weeks ago Meg Courtney wrote: “You four with the big mailing lists: We can't have Rex G getting that empty seat!!”

As if that were not enough to discomfit me, now the inimitable Scott Menzies, in a craven demonstration of execrable grammar, has cautioned the unwary that "Rex Gressett!! could end up on Our Council at the expense of the diversity that the ward system is be presented as providing.”

You know what Scott means. Possibly.

I believe that the "ward system" to which Mr. Menzies refers is the redistricting plan. Mr. Gressett is “absolutely unfit to be in a leadership position,” storms Mr. Menzies. Gressett “was so angrily driven to run that he actually moved his residence to do so.”

Shocking.

But, you know, he has a point there. In the 2016 election, I was living on the San Juan. When the election rolled around, I did, in fact, rent an apartment just to run for the city council, miserable creature that I am for exercising my basic citizenship.

It is obvious that Mr. Menzies’ cautions are founded in prudence and common sense. The city owes Mr. Menzies a debt of gratitude for his elegant exposure of my “demonstrably emotionally out-of-control and inconsistently opioned [very good word] well-documented [another good word] abusive behavior.” I humbly bow to the superiority of Scott's incisive perspicuity. In the solemnity of my reflections on Mr. Menzies’ high minded admonitions, I gave consideration to the error of my ways.

Have I ever been angry? You know, he is right — I actually have been. I thought Linda Ruffing was an irresponsible tyrant. My bad. Have I been in their face? Perhaps I have. I thought it was cowardly to cringe before inflated pretension. I made it a point to attend the meetings, to speak out, to be involved. I haven't seen Mr. Menzies at a City Council meeting since he condescended to run for office in 2016. I go to most of them.

There were people who found my presence objectionable. Scott Menzies is one of them. I confess the truth of Scott Menzies’ allegations that I did run for the City Council not once, but twice. Much worse, more abusive by far, I made it my affair to write and that, of course, is the unforgivable affront. The prerogatives of the privileged, they will tell you, are sacrosanct and holy. I never bought it. They have me flat.

Still, I wonder a little at the attention they lavish on me. It seems unlikely that if I were the raging wildman, the out of control abusive maniac without substance or policy that they describe, if there would be much concern about me at all. A little eye-rolling ought to take care of it. Since I am such a feature of City Council meetings and a weekly contributor to our county's finest newspaper I would imagine that an intelligent informed public would not be deceived for long. But they have no confidence in your judgment. We must save the council from Rex G, Meg Courtney shouts from the rooftops. And Scott Menzies has now arrived after a long hibernation to set you straight.

What exactly is it that they are worried about?

AT 'THE CROW'S NEST' — Noyo Marine Center

(Photo by Susie de Castro)

HARE CREEK MALL REVIEW EXTENDED

Dear community members,

The Hare Creek Center Project is up for review. The comment period got extended. New due date May 22, 5pm.

MENDO’S HELPERS at Health & Human Services have received a whopping $2 million five-year grant for “Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Specifically for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” The grant covers from September 2017 (six months ago) to September of 2022. In the past Mendo’s helpers have complained that dealing with the mentally ill who got that way via substance abuse was usually not covered by Medi-Cal insurance. Now that they have the additional $2 million we are confident that Mendo’s many substance abuse walking wounded victims will finally get the help they need. (Oh wait, it’s for “administration,” and they’ve had the money for six months already and they’re only now getting around to setting up the budget unit for it. Probably because they’re going to hand it over to Redwood Quality Management Services who will absorb-administer it in ways that will be invisible to the general public.)

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Cinco de Mayo, dudes! Find a chihuahua babe and party down!

MENDO COMMUNITY SERVICE DISTRICT RIGGED VOTING?

Questionable Vote Tally With No Oversight

MendocinoSportsPlus noted this post to the MCNlistserv Friday @ 7:16 am from Tom Tetzlaff:

"Good morning everyone.

I wanted to update folks on the voting irregularities and the responses given from the Mendocino City Community Services District (MCCSD) concerning their latest ballot proposal to increase the Ground Water Management (GWM) fee.

Property owners living within the MCCSD may have recently received a ballot from the MCCSD seeking a doubling of the GWM fee based on an increase in the percentage of the sewer charge from 11% to 21%.

To review, the MCCSD has enacted plans to count any absent or unreturned ballots as 'Yes' votes. Mr. Kelly claims that MCCSD has this right based on Prop 218 and he cites article XIII D as the justification for doing so.

The MCCSD and Mr. Kelly are simply wrong here.

In fact, prop 218 article XIII D section 4 specifically says that for a vote to count, it must be submitted. I have linked to the California State Board of Equalization at the bottom of the post where you can read the law as it is written for yourself.

Scroll down a bit to section 4 to the 'Procedures and requirements …' section, where it clearly states that: 'A majority protest exists if, upon the conclusion of the hearing, ballots submitted in opposition to the assessment exceed the ballots submitted in favor of the assessment.'

The key word here is 'submitted.' It seems very clear to me that the intent of the law is to require that votes that are to be counted MUST BE SUBMITTED.

The MCCSD cannot simply count unreturned or absent ballots in their favor as 'Yes' votes skewing the outcome in their favor. An unreturned ballot has not been submitted!

In my opinion, Mr. Kelly’s ‘interpretation’ of the voting rules via prop 218 article XII D is in error and their attempt to manipulate the vote is at the very least grossly dishonest. It is shameful and sort of third world-ish to operate a vote in such a way.

I must also say that I am VERY disappointed in the way MCCSD has approached this and also with Mr. Kelly’s attitude and responses to my (and some others) inquiries.

When specifically asked about the ethical nature of skewing the vote against We The People, Mr. Kelly is silent.

So here is what I know.

• The MCCSD has no governing body above them. There is no government oversight whatsoever, except us.
• According to MCCSD, this increase is mostly going to pay for their lawyer fees. So what happens to this increase in fees after the lawyers have been paid? Does the increase get rescinded? Nope. There is no indication of that at all. This increase is indefinite (read permanent) and will continue to fleece you of your money long after the lawyer fees have been paid in full. This seems like a rather sneaky and rather dishonest approach to increasing their funds in my opinion.
• The vote is tabulated by the MCCSD themselves. A third party is not involved in determining the vote tally. One would think that such an entity would be utilized in order to maintain transparency.
• No additional services are provided for this increase in fees.

I urge everyone who cares about honest government to take some action and make your voice heard here.

To tabulate votes in this way is clearly illegal, dishonest and reeks of government overreach.

One last thing. Please understand that my only gripe here is HOW the voting for GWM is being tabulated. The MCCSD sewer system is wonderful and is of great value. It is on the GWM side that things are running amok.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

boe.ca.gov/LAWGUIDES/property/archive/2011/ccp/art-XIII-D-all.html#4

(via MendocinoSportsPlus)

HAPPY WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

Another DFM resignation/firing? in Colorado

BREAKING: Chuck Plunkett, the courageous opinion page editor at the Denver Post has resigned. We're told Alden/DFM tried to silence him. Happy World Press Freedom Day.

facebook.com/dfmworkers/posts/1821985817859365

HUMCO CLAP ON THE RISE

Humboldt County health officials are reporting a recent spike in HIV cases after an unusual number of infections were confirmed in April. Several of the cases are believed to be related.

Additionally, there has been an increase in the number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis locally.

Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Donald Baird said Humboldt County typically sees one positive syphilis case a year. That has increased up to five a week.

“There is an unprecedented number of STDs in Humboldt County, reflecting a national trend,” he said. “All of these diseases are treatable, but they have to be diagnosed first and can be most contagious in the early stages.”

It’s important for people to be honest with their medical providers about their sexual history and get tested regularly. People who have multiple partners, men who have sex with men and intravenous drug users who share needles are at greater risk.

Dr. Baird said some of those at highest risk are people who have anonymous partners, a practice made easier by the prevalence of smart phone hookup apps.

To find out if you are at risk or to make an appointment to get tested for STDs, call your health care provider or the Public Health Clinic at 707-268-2108.

Comment 1: Kinda takes the fun out of meeting someone new and exciting.

Comment 2: It does add a little zing to meeting someone you’ve lived with for years.

CATCH OF THE DAY, May 4, 2018

GERALD BRITTON, Covelo. Controlled substance, pot cultivation.

DUNCAN CHARLES, Calpella. Probation revocation.

AMANDA DELVALLE, Ukiah. Felony conspiracy.

BILLY ELKIN JR., Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent Flyer)

EMERY ELLINGWOOD, Fort Bragg. Under influence. (Frequent Flyer)

AARON GRIFFIN, Ukiah. DUI, misdemeanor hit&run.

KENNETH HALL, Moreno Valley/Ukiah. Unspecified misdemeanor.

CHRISTOPHER KEYSER, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

KEVIN STARNES, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ROBERT VICENTE, Piercy. DUI.

THE HORSEFLY COMETH

by James Kunstler

You can see where this Mueller thing is going: to the moment when the Golden Golem of Greatness finally swats down the political horsefly that has orbited his glittering brainpan for a whole year, and says, “There! It’s done.”

It suggests that Civil War Two will end up looking a whole lot more like the French Revolution than Civil War One. The latter unfurled as a solemn tragedy; the former as a Coen Brothers style opéra bouffe bloodbath. Having executed the presidential swat to said orbiting horsefly, Trump will try to turn his attention to the affairs of the nation, only to find that it is insolvent and teetering on the most destructive workout of bad debt the world has ever seen. And then his enemies will really go to work. In the process, they’ll probably wreck the institutional infrastructure needed to run a republic in constitutional democracy mode.

They got a good start in politicizing the upper ranks of the FBI, a fatal miscalculation based on the certainty of a Hillary win, which would have enabled the various schemers in the J. Edgar Hoover building to just fade back into the procedural woodwork of the agency and get on with life. Instead, their shenanigans were exposed and so far one key player, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, was hung out to dry by a committee of his fellow agency execs for lying about his official conduct. Long about now, you kind of wonder: is that where it ends for him? Seems like everybody else (and his uncle) is getting indicted for lying to the FBI. How about Mr. McCabe, since that is exactly why his colleagues at the FBI fired him?

Perhaps further resolution of this murky situation awaits Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s forthcoming report, which the media seems to have forgotten about lately. An awful lot of the mischief at the FBI and its parent agency, the Department of Justice, is already on the public record, for instance the conflicting statements of Andrew McCabe and his former boss James Comey concerning who illegally leaked what to the press. On the face of it, it looks pretty bad when at least one of these Big Fish at the top of a supposedly incorruptible agency is lying. There are at least a dozen other Big Fish in there who still have some serious ‘splainin’ to do, and why not in the grand jury setting?

Nobody knows where the current Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, is in all this — and “is” may be too strong a word to describe his wraith-like tenure this past year. He seems less present than the portraits of his dead predecessors lining the hallway outside his office, considering the lively swirl of allegations all around him. Well, he did appoint yet another special counsel, an obscure US Attorney from Utah, John Huber, to evaluate several heaps of FBI dirty laundry, most particularly the strange and baffling treatment that Hillary Clinton has received in the matter of the Steele Dossier, the email server inquiry dropped by Comey, and the 2012 Uranium One incident that abracadabra’d about $150 million (from wealthy Russians!) into the Clinton Foundation coffers while she was Secretary of State. Mr. Huber is charged to follow up anything the Inspector General discovers to be a possible breach of the law.

But it’s finally back to Mr. Mueller, the zeppelin-sized horsefly circling the head of state. There was that Russia thing that set off the awful commotion in the FBI, which arose first in the charge that the newly-appointed National Security Advisor had a couple of conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period. The President-elect’s furious adversaries managed to put across the story that American officials are not supposed to talk to ambassadors from foreign countries, which is about the most absurd proposition imaginable — except in a land where school kids are taught nothing about government or history. Anyway, Mr. Flynn was not even indicted for that, but rather for supposedly lying about it to a delegation of interrogators from Mueller’s office. My guess is that Mr. Trump will sack Mr. Mueller when the IG’s report comes out and the shady machinations that brought Mueller onto the scene are revealed in full. The #Resistance will lose its avatar and impeachment will become the sole campaign issue for November 2018.

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon Page.)

FISH & GAME COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA, 5-8-18

Please find attached the agenda to the next Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission meeting. You are welcome to post and/or forward it to interested parties.

Meeting Details:

Tuesday, May 8, 2018 at 6:00pm
in the Abalone Room at The Little River Inn
7751 CA-1, Little River, California

Please note the new coastal location and find a map attached.

Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. Hope to see you at a Fish and Game Commission meeting soon!

Elizabeth Salomone
Fish and Game Commission Secretary
860 North Bush St, Ukiah, CA 95482
www.co.mendocino.ca.us/dfg/
707-234-6094

DATE & TIME: Tuesday, May 8, 2018 6:00pm

LOCATION: Abalone Room at The Little River Inn at 7751 CA-1, Little River, California

Note: All items are considered for action unless otherwise noted.

1. Call to Order, Roll Call, and Commissioner Appointments
2. Public Expression on Non-Agenda Items (No Action)

The Commission welcomes participation in the Commission meetings. Comments shall be limited to matters under the jurisdiction of the Commission which are not on the posted agenda and which may have not already been considered by the Commission. The Commission limits testimony to matters not on the agenda to the three (3) minutes per person, and not more than ten (10) minutes for a particular subject. No action will be taken.

3. Approval of Minutes of March 13, 2018 Regular Meeting
4. Reports

CA Fish and Wildlife, Fisheries, Other Cooperative Agencies, and Grant Awardees are invited to speak.

5. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Burn Symposium (Vann and Brown)

Update and discussion of participation in a co-sponsored burn symposium with Mendocino Farm Bureau.

6. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Lake Mendocino Recreation Areas (Ford) Update and discussion of status of Lake Mendocino recreation areas.
7. Discussion and Possible Action on Commission Administration and Accounting Reports

• Hammerhorn Lake Project Extension Request

8. Commissioner Comments, Reports, Announcements
9. Future Agenda Items
10. Adjournment

Next Meeting Scheduled: Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 6:00pm
Willits City Council, Council Chambers
111 E. Commercial Street, Willits, CA 95490

MY ADVICE TO HIGH SCHOOL GRADS: LEARN A TRADE

by Chuck Collins

In the classic 1960s movie The Graduate, a family friend offers Dustin Hoffman, the recent graduate, one word of advice: “plastics.”

My advice for today’s high school graduates: “learn a trade.”

Unfortunately, there’s a historic stigma about “voc-ed,” the result of snobbery toward certain occupations.

Yes, there’s also the shameful practice of tracking low-income whites and people of color into blue-collar jobs while encouraging wealthier white students to attend college. But now there are millions of rewarding, high-paying trade jobs sitting empty.

Instead of training for those, tens of millions of high school graduates are on college autopilot, loading up an average of $37,000 in debt, and graduating without any practical skills.

Not only is our economy suffering for lack of skilled workers, but also a huge number of workers are unhappy and earning below their financial potential.

There are legions of depressed Dilberts out there in cubicle land, sitting in front of computer screens, wondering who will be laid off next. And there are millions of young people sitting in college classrooms dreaming of being somewhere else.

Put these same people in an apprenticeship with a skilled adult and they’ll thrive. Instead of wasting their intelligence in an office, they could deploy it in a bicycle or auto repair garage, woodworking shop, or on a farm or construction site.

Princeton economist Alan Blinder says the job market of the future won’t be divided between people with college degrees and those without, but between work that can be outsourced and work that can’t. “You can’t hammer a nail over the internet,” he observed. “Nor can you fix a car transmission, rewire a house, install solar panels, or give a patient an injection.”

The value of a liberal arts college education is exposure to a wide range of ideas and knowledge, along with social networks. But college is certainly not the only path to such learning. And four-year residential college today has more in common with a party on a luxury cruise ship than a platform for learning a vocation.

True, today the lifelong earnings of college graduates exceed those who don’t attend college. But there’s no evidence this will be the case going forward. Have you paid an electrician or a plumber anytime lately? There’s a reason they’re hard to find and can command a high wage. It’s called scarcity.

Millions more “green collar” jobs are emerging in our transition to the renewable energy economy. And at some point, our nation will have to repair our aging bridges, roads, and transportation facilities and retrofit buildings to be more energy efficient.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one third of all new jobs through 2022 will be in construction, health care, and personal care. The fastest growing occupations are solar and wind energy technicians, followed by plumbers, machine tool programmers, HVAC mechanics, and iron and steel workers.

Changing attitudes about different occupations is part of the challenge.

Parents and guidance counselors can start by respectfully talking about the opportunities in trades. They can introduce students to people with satisfying careers in the trades and steer them to useful web resources on the path to trades.

Congress could help by making Pell grants available for short-term job training courses, not just college tuition. It could also restore funding for Tech-Prep, a neglected federal program that supports vocational education.

Let’s dump the old class-biased stereotypes. It takes all kinds of intelligence and advanced training to do a trade. And it can be financially rewarding and enormously satisfying.

I HAD HUNDREDS OF BOOKS under my skin already. Not selected reading, all of it. Some of it could be called trashy. I had been through Nick Carter, Horatio Alger, Bertha M. Clay and the whole slew of dime novelists in addition to some really constructive reading. I do not regret the trash. It has harmed me in no way. It was a help, because acquiring the reading habit early is the important thing. Taste and natural development will take care of the rest later on.

— Zora Neale Hurston

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

The USA had one hundred million residents in 1915. It also had a monotonous consumer economy with NO “cheetos and porn and netflix movies”. Having 100 million residents was the shits.

In 1915, Americans walked everywhere (There were just 2 million cars on the sparse roads of 1915, or about one for every 50 people). They lived in three-generation homes that they rarely owned, ate almost as much lard as chicken, and spent Friday nights dancing to player pianos. In short: Everything was worse.

America in 1915, with only 100 million inhabitants, suffered worse working conditions, in just about every way. Work for men was more widespread, more dangerous, worse paid, and, well, just more annoying. According to the 1920 census, 85 percent of men over 14 were in the labor force, compared with just 69 percent for men over 16 today. It was the dawn of scientific management, with factory workers introduced to a brand new office colleague, the time clock. Manufacturing workers averaged 55 hours at work per week, 10 percent more than self-reported averages today. And the jobs were more dangerous: With a fatality rate of 61 deaths per 100,000 workers, the workplace was about 30 times more dangerous than it is today.

Women were much less likely to work, and in 1915, many were finding employment at elementary and high schools. The reason for women’s early entry into education in the U.S., however, is a little depressing. School boards preferred female teachers not only because they were seen as more loving, but also because they would do what male principals told them while accepting less than a man’s wage.

For those who did make it to old age (something of a feat back then), Social Security didn’t exist, and in bad times, poverty among the old was so bad that contemporaries wrote of growing old as if it were a dystopia — the “haunting fear in the winter of life.” In 1938 a writer with the American Association for Old-Age Security said “our modern system of industrial production has rendered our lives insecure to the point of despair.” The industrializing economy was no country for old men or women. As families moved off farms into cities and suburbs, it became harder for some old people to find work in factories, which ran on limber sinews and sweat. In the 40 years before 1920, the share of men over 65 working on farms dropped 39 percent.

Owning was a rarity. In 1920, there were about four times as many renters as homeowners, whereas today, the homeownership rate is above 60 percent. Houses were cheaper, but buying was a relative hassle: Although the average value of a home was no more than $75,000 in today’s dollars, mortgages typically required a downpayment of about 50 percent.

Children were likely to die: Ten percent of infants died in their first year, compared with one in every 168 births in the U.S. today.

In 1915, 30% of the country had a telephone. Less than 20 percent had a stove. Very few people owned a refrigerator, and almost nobody owned a radio.

THEY DON'T MAKE BOOK JACKETS LIKE THEY USED TO

openculture.com/2018/05/pulp-covers-for-classic-detective-novels-by-dashiell-hammett-arthur-conan-doyle-agatha-christie-raymond-chandler.html

CALTRANS WORKERS PROTEST having to clean human waste, needles from homeless camps. Can anyone blame them?

latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-caltrans-homeless-20180504-story.html

AS MORE SURVIVORS of harassment and assault courageously come forward, an increasing number of us will be confronted with an accusation against a person we know. The impulse to deny another person’s account because we have not personally experienced harassment by that individual will be intense. It will also be terribly flawed. How many times have we watched interviews with the shocked and bewildered friends and neighbors of someone arrested for horrific crimes? “He was always polite when I saw him.” “I never could have imagined he had prisoners in his basement.” A car thief doesn’t steal every car. A burglar doesn’t break into every home. The mere fact that someone has not stolen from us is not a proof point that they have never stolen from others.

— Lisa Senecal

JUST IN

Last minute additions to the Art Walk

We've had a couple of last minute venues open! Can't wait to see you tonight!

May First Friday Art Walk in Ukiah

Art Center Ukiah and the Corner Gallery 201 S State Street Present the The 9th Annual High School Student Photography Show. May 4th through May 30st Opening Reception Friday May 4th 5 pm —8 pm Refreshments and live music with Chris Gibson and Char Jacobs. Ukiah High School Photography Department Presents 9th Annual Student Photography Show “5K” Since our first show in 2010 we have exhibited over five thousand photographs taken by 1400 students. Ukiah High School has 150 Photography Students and Ukiah High School instructor Lech Slocinski compiled over 500 5x 7 student photographs that will be displayed and for sale. Only Ukiah High School student's work presented this year.

Grace Hudson Museum 431 S Main Street

NOW ON VIEW: "Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change"

For over 20 years, award-winning Marin photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter have produced exquisite photographs of California wildflowers that connect us to the beauty of the Golden State while raising awareness of threats that natural habitats face from climate change. The exhibition spotlights flowers associated with the state’s many geographic regions, the photographic techniques involved in capturing these delicate subjects, and the expanding impact of human activity on wild spaces. A sampling of Grace Hudson’s wildflower paintings will also be on display.

W Real Estate 101 N State Street

Erica Volpe is a self-taught artist who was both born and raised in Northern California. Self expression has always been vital to her and she spent most of her childhood crafting, drawing, painting, dancing and playing music. In her twenties Erica decided to pursue a career in Nursing after being gifted with a beautiful daughter. She went on to get married and gave birth to a handsome son. While she loves caring for others through her career, the arts have remained Erica’s grounding passion. In recent years, Erica has embraced the beauty and freedom of flow art, which allows her to express herself through the intuitive layering of color and texture.

Ukiah Massage 304 N State Street

Lindsey Buschbacher is a self-taught custom sign maker and loves what she does. She started her business “Country Signs” 2 years ago. In the beginning she received orders from family and friends. But when their family and friends viewed her work her business started to boom. She is seeing her little business grow and grow.

She graduated from Mendocino College in 2003 with an Associates Degree and in 2005 received her Bachelor’s Degree in Sales and Marketing at DeVry University. She now lives in Ukiah with her husband, Matt and their three boys; Daniel, Jackson and Klayton. She is a stay home Mom and loves it. Her family and friends are her biggest supporters and her husband helps any time he’s needed. He’s a great carpenter and she has learned from him.

“I love designing my signs, but I really enjoy my customers reactions when I can create exactly what they asked for.” Her biggest reward was an order that was for the memory of two little girls who passed on too soon in their young lives. After giving the signs to their Mother, she started to cry and stood there in awe. “It touched my heart immensely, knowing that something I made-- meant so much. Their initial reactions are the most rewarding than anything else.”

If you have any questions or want more information about her signs, she can be reached at 707-972-2793 or on Facebook at facebook.com/lindzw2001.

Paradigm 312 S School Street

Joey Gothelf is a Mendocino local. A transplant from the east coast. Born and raised in New York City and schooled in Philadelphia at the University of the arts he maintains a street art vibe combining the kind of characters we see in large scale graffiti and mural work with precise details. A graphic designer and screen printer by training and trade, His fascination with faces has always been a mainstay of his work. Accessible to all tastes and styles he prides himself on his work neither being over your head nor too lowbrow for anyone. He now lives in Covelo.

Ukiah Public Library 105 North Main Street

Join us for an art display and crafting session by local artist, Tim Poma. There will be live music by Elizabeth MacDougall, delicious nibbles, and a $5.00 a bag Book Sale by the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library. Don’t forget to bring your bags! This event is free of charge and is sponsored by Mendocino County Library and the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library.

Canova Records 252 N State Street

Canova Records and the Mendocino County Youth Project present an Art Show and silent Auction For youth Art. All Proceeds go to the Artist and the Jim Levine Legacy Scholarship fund. The scholarship helps a student receive money for college. The Jim Levine Scholarship supports students who have faced personal challenges toward reaching their goals, the student writes an essay and a winner is picked. This Event is free to attend and has music, food and beverages. There are prizes and certificates for the kids and their art. We have 1st, 2nd,3rd, honorable mention and people’s choice awards. There are different age categories as well. The art is mainly 10-24 year olds. Any adult art work turned in is donation only.

Museum of Encountered Objects 110 W Clay St

will have 3 anonymous 24" bronze fully empowered Sino-Tibetan Buddhist statues of uncertain date and provenance. They have unusual presence.

Bona Marketplace 116 West Standley Street

is happy to host Local artist/painter Pete Castro, and Doug Johns playing music.

Miss Rossi’s Creative Art Studio 208-A South State Street

Come one, come all to Miss Rossi’s Creative Art Studio grand opening party and open house. We will be creating Art On the Fly and featuring the Cosmic Family Band for your enjoyment. This is also the Gallery Opening for the Waldorf School and a Tarot Reader will be on hand. This month’s featured artists are The Waldorf School, Dina Riggi of Redwood Valley and Miss Rossi’s Acrylic Pour Paintings.

Palma Properties 487 N State Street

Ryan McCarthy is a native of California and for the last decade resided on the central coast of California and Mendocino County. His photography covers a broad spectrum of styles and content, ranging from documentary and street photography, to landscape and nature as well portraiture. Ryan's work is heavily influenced by life and culture of the region and inspired by his love of nature and the beauty that is California. Ryan works in all photographic mediums including 35mm, medium and large format analog photography as well as historic and alternative processes. Ryan is currently pursuing a BFA in Photography and has earned degrees in Fire Technology, Art Photography, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and a Historic and Alternative Photographic Processes Skills Certificate amongst others.

Ryan is currently working on several series including The Potter Valley Project, that is continuing to evolve and grow. Ryan’s original ties to Mendocino are through connections to Potter Valley. Ryan worked in Willits and lived on a family farm in Potter Valley for a period. During this time the idea for the project was born after a day at the river during the drought and deep thought about the relationship between the people, the place, and the water. The idea for the project is simple in essence, “In 1900 construction began on the Potter Valley Project, delivering water from the Eel River to the Russian River. The Potter Valley Project gave rise to the place. These are the people.” The purpose of the project is to create a visual archive and short history of the people and culture of Potter Valley and the surrounding area. Ryan photographs all subject using a large format camera on 8x10 black and white film. Ryan will be continuing to photograph anyone interested in participating that lives in Potter Valley or the surrounding area and showing the collection in the future.

Younique’s 205 W Standley Street

Younique's will be open & showcasing local artist Tre Leher-Nelson with her fluid acrylics among other locally made crafts. Everything in our store is personally made & locally crafted from Redwood Valley, CA. Come show us some love!

THE DEMOCRATIC BASE Overwhelmingly Supports Progressive Positions. It's Time the Party Started Paying Attention

By Sean McElwee & Colin McAuliffe, Vice

readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/49877-the-democratic-base-overwhelmingly-supports-progressive-positions-its-time-the-party-started-paying-attention

GOOD TO LEARN that Scott Wiener isn't always wrong, just most of the time. Below Dick Spotswood points out that since homelessness is a statewide problem the state needs to help local governments pay to deal with it:

I’ve been critical of state Sen. Scott Wiener’s misguided pieces of legislation, Senate Bills 827 and 828, that attempt to usurp local land use control to force building high-density housing. It’s only fair that when the San Francisco Democrat co-authors a creative law addressing a huge statewide issue — chronic homelessness — he earns my kudos.

Wiener and Sen. Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, have introduced legislation to strengthen California conservatorship laws. SB 1045 expands use of conservatorships to protect those substance abusers and mentally ill who are a threat to the health and safety of themselves and potentially others...

I recently rode Amtrak from Oakland to Southern California with members of Mill Valley Rotary. In communities along the line we saw tent camps and squalor. Whether it was prosperous Santa Barbara, working-class Salinas or sad West Oakland, desperate human beings living near mounds of garbage were common. Downtown San Rafael and out-of-sight sections of East Marin experience the same phenomena.

Most of the chronic homeless are mentally ill or addicted. The help they need is the 21st century version of long-closed state hospitals: “supportive housing” that includes detox and psychiatric care.

The legislation’s premise is that counties will provide that supportive housing and residential facilities to keep these sick folks safe and off the street until they recover.

SB 1045’s weakness is fiscal. The state needs to pay its fair share by providing participating counties with a 50-50 match to create new supportive housing.

None of this is cheap, but the cost in human lives and loss of quality of life in communities where miserable tent camps proliferate makes it worthwhile. The fiscal and moral cost of doing nothing is high (Kudos to Sen. Wiener for addressing chronic homelessness).

(Rob Anderson, District5Diary)

“Remember, if you catch a small one, you claim it was huge, and then you set about smearing any potential eyewitness.”

WAKE UP TO TRUMP, DISTRACTION & WAR WITH IRAN

by Ralph Nader

In mid-May, super-war hawks Donald J. Trump (worried about the Mueller investigation), John Bolton, Trump’s new unconfirmed national security advisor, and new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are likely to pull out of the Iran nuclear accord. This would open the way for Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Congressional allies to push for armed conflict with Iran.

“Don’t do it,” declare our allies, Britain, France, and Germany—signatories to the Iran accord along with China and Russia. “Don’t do it,” say former secretaries of state and secretaries of defense from both Republican and Democratic administrations. “Don’t do it,” says Trump’s own Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, and Trump’s chief of staff, General John Kelly.

“Don’t do it,” say outspoken former top Israeli national security and intelligence officials berating Netanyahu.

All of the above say Iran is in compliance with the accord’s demand to stop its nuclear arms program and allows thorough inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. All parties agree that if Trump disrupts this accord, even more havoc will break loose in that volatile region. This is what both Israel and some Persian Gulf nations may desire, as long as the U.S. bears the burden of this reckless action and plunges into another deep quagmire to add to those in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

You’d think that the Israeli government couldn’t play Uncle Sam a sucker to fight yet another war—this one against Iran with American soldiers and money. But the three warmongers, named above, are driving U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Unfortunately, Congress regularly disregards its constitutional duties and follows the lead of AIPAC lobbyists.

Both Trump and Netanyahu paint Iran as the most dangerous terrorist state in the world. Really? It wasn’t the Iranian regime that illegally cost over one million Iraqi civilian lives and blew that country apart. It was George W. Bush and Dick Cheney becoming major war criminals whose actions cost the lives of over 5,000 American soldiers, injured or made sick well over 100,000 more, and wasted trillions of dollars continuing to this day.

Iran wants its sphere of influence. The country has memories. For example, in 1953, the U.S. overthrew Iran’s democratically elected prime minister and reinstalled the dictatorial Shah who ruled despotically for the next 26 years. In 2002, George W. Bush targeted Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, referring to them as the “axis of evil.” Iran saw what he did to Iraq and didn’t want to take chances by surrendering its security perimeter.

The U.S. has Iran militarily surrounded on its eastern, western, and southern borders. Israel has working spies in Iran, creating secret sabotage and mayhem. Israel, which has illegally bombed civil war-wracked Syria (no threat to Israel) dozens of times, has recently hit locations known to have Iranian advisors to Bashar Assad, Syria’s ruler, while fighting ISIS, along with U.S. forces there. Iranians have been killed in these raids.

So who is the aggressor here? Unlike Israel’s many invasions and military incursions, Iran, a poor country, has not invaded any country for over 250 years. Iraq’s dictator invaded Iran in 1980, with U.S. backing, costing Iran an estimated 500,000 lives.

No country, save the U.S. Empire, has the chutzpah that Netanyahu possesses because he knows the U.S. government and the mass media will embrace his expanding push for U.S. militarism in the Middle East.

Note the interview by NPR’s Steve Inskeep of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, on May 1, 2018. Inskeep was trying to be firm with Mr. Dermer, who was going beyond any evidence that Iran possesses a nuclear weapons program.

The ambassador was showcasing the theft of old Iranian documents from an Israeli nighttime raid on an Iranian warehouse. (The New York Times called these documents about a long-suspended program “Mr. Netanyahu’s Flimflam on Iran”). When that ploy didn’t work, he tried to tell Inskeep that Iran will get to a nuclear bomb by staying with the deal because existing restrictions will be removed someday and the existing inspections are “a joke.” He also condemned Iran for violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The ambassador’s flailing accusations could have, but did not, set the stage for Inskeep to ask the following obvious question:

“Mr. Ambassador, Israel has long had a nuclear weapons program, with an estimated 150 or more nuclear bombs at the ready. Also, your country has rejected belonging to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty so you can avoid any international inspectors provided by this global agreement. Your critics would say, ‘Who are you to complain about Iran, which is afraid of not only your bombers made in America, but also your large nuclear bombs and warheads?’”

As in years past, the Israeli government won’t tell the globally recognized truth about having nuclear weapons. Instead, the ambassador would have uttered the boilerplate evasive reply that Israel would not be the first to use nuclear weaponry in the region.

For decades, Israeli leaders and emissaries have come to the U.S. for congressional speeches, for interviews on the Sunday network talk shows and in the print media. Questions about Israel’s nuclear bombs have not been juxtaposed with Israel’s desire for the U.S. to overthrow the Iranian regime or bomb Iranian installations. Trump’s war hawk in the White House, John Bolton, wants to go further. In the past, Bolton has urged Israel to militarily annex the Palestinian West Bank, presumably as a twofer.

Will enough American people, including knowledgeable retired national security and military officials, stand up to stop this slide toward another conflagration that will likely produce blowback in the U.S.?

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

MEMO OF THE AIR: GOOD NIGHT RADIO FRIDAY NIGHT!

I'll be in Fort Bragg for a fourth Friday in a row, which in this case is First Friday, the fourth of May (may the fourth be with you). It's 325 N. Franklin, next door to the Tip Top bar. Just wander in any time after 9pm, thread your way amongst the elements of the lurid blacklight storefront diorama and head for the normally lit room at the back. I'll be reading stories on the air all night long; you're not interrupting, just barge in with you musical instrument or show-and-tell item or conspiracy theory about the demonic origins of Hindu-Arabic numerals, or whatever. You're welcome.

The deadline to email your writing to be read on MOTA is always about 5 or 6pm the night of the show. So you've got a little while to get that together for tonight, and even more time for next week. Paste your poem or essay or kvetch or sale item or event notice into the body of an email, check that it's going to memo@mcn.org and not also to the whole group, unless that's what you want, and press send.

Besides that, you can have your own whole regular real radio show of your own style and devising on KNYO. Contact Bob Young: bobb@poetworld.net and introduce yourself; he'll direct your hand to the important knobs and switches and you're instantly a prominent poobah in the cult of radio. No arcane handshakes or dances to learn, no loyalty oath. You have arrived. From now on your life is going to be different. Colors will be brighter, smells smellier, triumphs more triumphant, colorful smelly triumphs especially. If you were never a special person before, you are a special person now, friend. You're already in the club and entitled to all perquisites and benefits thereof.

Memo of the Air, Good Night Radio: Every Friday, 9pm to 4 or 5am on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg, and 105.1fm KMEC-LP Ukiah. And also there and anywhere else via http://knyo.org or http://kmecradio.org and if none of that works for you try http://TuneIn.com and look up KNYO-LP.

Marco McClean
http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com