Mendocino County Today: Saturday, June 9, 2018

• Neuroth Video
• Warriors Sweep
• Budget Tricks
• Little Dog
• Gonzales Guilty
• Mendosa Wanted
• Comptche BBQ
• PG&E Liability
• Prospective Tavern
• Politicians
• Ed Notes
• Previous Catches
• Summer Discontent
• Finch
• Water Tax
• Tensions Rising
• Pain Management
• Grant Workshops
• Mendo Pedestrian
• Noah's Facility
• Valedictorian Censored
• Border Patrol
• Keflavik Airport

VIDEO IN MENDOCINO COUNTY LAWSUIT SHOWS DEPUTIES PUNCHING INMATE

Mendocino County, facing a lawsuit over the death of a jail inmate, released surveillance video on Friday showing deputies punching the man as he pleads with them not to hurt him.

The family of the inmate, Steven Neuroth, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and sheriff’s officials in 2015, accusing jail staff of ignoring his medical needs and using excessive force.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said Friday that Neuroth was high on methamphetamine, and deputies used distraction blows to try to subdue him when he became combative.

County officials released the June 2014 video footage after a federal judge denied the county’'s request not to disclose it publicly.

In the video, deputies take Neuroth, 55, to the ground after sheriff’s officials say he threw his body sideways when his handcuffs were released. Neuroth had been arrested in Willits on the night of June 10, 2014, on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

"“Mr. Neuroth pulled away from the deputies and started fighting them and yelling and ranting nonsense,"” Allman said.

During the incident, a deputy tells Neuroth to relax and that nobody is trying to hurt him. Deputies take him into a cell, where a deputy who punches Neuroth as he appears to be on the ground accuses Neuroth of kicking him off.

Deputies “"did what we call ‘'distraction blows',’”" which are jabs to the meaty party of the upper legs, calves and shoulders, to try to subdue him, Allman said.

"“They did all they could to restrain Mr. Neuroth, who was in the throes of a meth-induced combative state,"” Allman said.

After Neuroth mentioned he may hurt himself, deputies put him in a safety smock and placed him in a cell by himself, the sheriff said. When they checked on him a short time later, he was unresponsive, Allman said.

Deputies started life saving measures and called emergency services, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital, Allman said.

Michael Haddad, an attorney for Neuroth’s family, said the video was “"shocking".” "“The video completely corroborates everything we’'re saying in the lawsuit,"” he said.

An autopsy showed Neuroth had contusions and abrasions, a rib fracture and other injuries, according to the lawsuit.

(courtesy Associated Press)

* * *

MSP LISTENING TO SHERIFF ALLMAN PRESS CONFERENCE

Graphic Video Of 'Death In Custody' Coming Today

MSP is listening in to the “Telephone” press conference being conducted by Mendocino Sheriff Tom Allman that started at 10:00 am Friday Morning. The sheriff’s office released a rather graphic surveillance time-stamped CAV (Combined audio/video) of the incident later today in which an inmate named Steve Neuroth died while in custody back in 2014. A Federal lawsuit was filed in July, 2015 (James Neuroth v. Mendocino County et al. — 21 named defendants) and this press conference is the response from the Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff said the county has 5,100 bookings a year and have never had a death like this. The person who died was only in Sheriff’s custody for a half-hour and was under the influence, and had a lethal level of meth in his system. In fact, the Mendo District Attorney noted from the autopsy there was a "staggering" amount of meth in his system.

* * *

COMBINED AUDIO/VISUAL POSTED IN SUPPORT OF THEIR FEDERAL LAWSUIT DEFENSE

(Warning, content may be too graphic for some viewers)

MSP received the defense exhibits from Mendocino County Friday at 1:44 pm concerning the 2014 “in custody” death of Steven Neuroth.

The message from the county stated these were:

“The motion for summary judgment and supporting evidence filed by Mendocino County and its public officials in the case of Neuroth v. Mendocino County, et al., District Court for the Northern Dist. of Cal., Case No. 3:15-cv-03226-RS.”

To see the video, find the CAV link and double click on it - but again, a warning that it is graphic:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fo118rxme0nj064/AADMyGN-oqUOfSRtvzADYGC7a?dl=0

(via MendocinoSportsPlus)

WARRIORS SWEEP CAVS TO TAKE 2018 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP, the third in four years.

SUPES SCRAMBLE TO KEEP JUVENILE HALL OPEN, BUT…

by Ariel Carmona Jr.

After deliberations on the fiscal merits and drawbacks of closing Mendocino County’s juvenile hall as part of its second day of budget discussions for Fiscal Year 2018-19, the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday voted to keep the facility open with an allocation of additional funding from various sources including a budget adjustment of employee vacancy rates and more than $250,000 for county general fund reserves.

According to a budget presentation to the board by Chief Probation Officer Izen Locatelli, the unanticipated termination of a contract with Lake County’s detention resulted in a loss of more than $525,000 in projected revenue for Fiscal Year 2017-18.

Locatelli’s presentation showed third quarter projections were at $349,613 over budget and the department estimated $176,344 cost reductions in response.

Two options were presented during the early morning deliberations, one which would send the county’s juveniles out of the area to Sonoma County and would close the juvenile hall, establishing a contract with Sonoma to provide detention services at an overall estimated total of $1 million including base contracts, transportation and other additional operating costs.

An annual report detailing juvenile admissions and other pertinent data compiled by staff shows 303 youth were booked directly into the county juvenile hall last year. Out of this number, 297 (98 percent) were Mendocino County residents, and six (two percent) were from out of the area. Of the 303 admitted directly into the juvenile hall, 80 (26 percent) were released prior to a court hearing.

Reasons for admission of juveniles included property crimes, crimes against others, drugs and alcohol related offenses and gang activity, with the highest amount of admissions (55 percent) due to court commitments, court orders and other legal holds.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer Janelle Rau, in response to a suggestion made by Supervisor John McCowen to consider a change in the proposed [funded employee position] vacancy rates, said she ran numbers for every general fund department (excluding the DA, Sheriff and Jail because their budgets were done) and found that out of $2.9 million, $1.1 million was used to balance the budget, leaving an approximately $900,000 available.

“There are some general fund departments like information services that submitted their salaries with the intention of holding vacancies,” she said. “It’s not an exact science but you could reasonably achieve an additional $500,000 savings by holding at 5 percent and allowing us to run those numbers and really work on them.”

Leaving aside the Sheriff and DA which already built their budget for next year with an assumed 10% [position] vacancy factor, McCowen said for most of the other general fund departments, their budgets were built on an assumed 5 percent vacancy rate.

McCowen proposed changing that for the general fund departments.

“Given that a more realistic figure is 10 percent, that is one possible source of how we close the gap. We could increase the assumed vacancy rate from six to eight, potentially,” he said.

Angelo seemed hesitant to go that route initially in order to keep the hall open.

“I understand keeping the hall open, but really then it’s this shared approach with other departments that possibly have needs that would serve the public just as much if not greater,” said Angelo.

McCowen said since the budget was going to be adjusted at various points during the year, he was making the suggestion to find the funding needed to close the budget gap.

“You are right, we are going to manage this every quarter,” said Angelo. “I would just hate to see departments that really need to either fill positions or to do something and they don’t have the general fund because of this action.”

Following a short break in the afternoon meeting discussions, a motion to approve the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget as recommended directing the auditor controller to prepare the required documents for adoption of the budget on June 19 was made.

The motion included, among other items, approval of the CEO’s recommendations to create a cultural services agency and direct staff to allocate $90,000 from fund balance carryover to support fire agencies, and to keep juvenile hall open by utilizing $253,000 of fund balance carryover, $900,000 from additional assumed 5 percent vacancy rate across general fund programs and $125,000 reduction in the probation general fund budget.

(Courtesy, the Willits News)

* * *

MARK SCARAMELLA ADDS: This “solution” is obviously precarious and requires that the county keep lots (10%) of funded, authorized and necessary general fund job positions vacant, in other words to avoid the underlying problem of an overstaffed juvenile hall which still costs more than triple what other California counties budget for juvenile hall. Although the Board did subsequently vote to form a special ad hoc committee, presumably to include the judges, the District Attorney and the Probation Department itself, to address the staffing questions at the Hall, perhaps take input from the local school superintendents, and see about taking over management of the Probation Department from the courts who have proven themselves incapable of dealing with personnel problems in the Probation Department.

AS AN EXAMPLE of how precarious the budget for July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 is, one need look no further than the Sheriff’s Department overtime line item. Before last week’s budget hearing CEO Angelo and the Sheriff had allocated exactly $0 to Sheriff’s overtime (It was $1.6 million last year) in an apparent budget balancing trick so ridiculous Supervisor Georgeanne Croskey (whose husband is a patrol deputy) felt obliged to comment, after which CEO Angelo blithely suggested $300k without any basis other than maybe the budget could handle that much.

Supervisor John McCowen agreed.

McCowen: “It is not realistic to have a zero line item for overtime. You are suggesting a $300,000 if we were to put a number in there. I do think that's conservative. As we have all said we don't know what may happen as the year goes forward. But we know we are going to have some overtime just in the normal course of events. If there is no disaster or there are no tragic car wrecks for complicated homicides that we naturally would drive further over time. If we have none of that we still know that we are going to have it. So perhaps between now and tomorrow the executive office and the sheriff can work to identify what other line items in the budget could potentially reduce to at least put in the $300,000 for overtime which would be kind of the minimum realistic figure I believe.”

Angelo: “I'm fine with that. If that's the board direction we will do that. And then – … What I have noticed in the last 10 years with the sheriff's office overtime, which of course you have noticed as well, is when the positions and critical positions are really low obviously that's when we have more overtime. What I am also seeing is a real effort on the part of the Sheriff's office, particularly with various funding streams either being diminished or going away [probably a reference to a significant decrease in pot-related asset forfeiture plus the approximately $1 million cannabis permit program deficit] there is a real effort to focus on the overtime. The positions – he [the Sheriff] has his positions filled now. If we were going to budget overtime right now in the Sheriff's office we would have budgeted approximately $300,000. With what happens with the sheriff's office, it is, it's just, you know, you never know what the next crisis is going to be. So I'm fairly confident. I have to say that we have had problems in dealing with the Sheriff's budget. He obviously has managed his budget very well. And he has helped. So we can talk about this tomorrow when this board is ready to make recommendations and make decisions on this. If we are going to budget I would say that we would have budgeted approximately $300,000. The other thing is that we can't really say today as far as what happens over the next 12 months that it is possible that there are other funding streams for overtime that we just -- we just -- you know -- we just don't have right now, or don't have the ability to say right now. Honestly, in seeing the Sheriff’s budget I don't have a problem with this. Clearly you are the decision-makers and if you do [decide] we will rearrange the money.”

Deputy CEO Janelle Rau said they put zero overtime in the budget because they plan to keep close track of the overtime.

Rau: “I have been working with the Sheriff's office on their budget. They did go through some budget balancing strategies [translation: they made some ridiculous assumptions]. And working with their budget officer Kyra [the Sheriff’s budget analyst] and the Sheriff himself they did do some reductions to meet net County cost. [Arbitrary cuts.] With that is an understanding that the executive office is going to be working with them hand in hand and in turn with the board, meaning that we will be coming to you -- and there are descriptions in the information to you -- monthly, not quarterly. We will be coming to you with adjustments as they are necessary. We have made that arrangement with the Sheriff to say, you let us know when there is an issue so we will have discovered that between all of us here if there is one. Overtime was one of them. We knew it was out there. It is a strategy that we will watch. And that we will look at their vacancy factors as well to see in their total 1000 series [general fund] where they will be. It's a different approach this year. But we have been working on it effectively. Kyra and I started working on it this last year in July to make sure we could come here and feel good about what we are giving you and actually give you the confidence that we will be informing you as we go along as well.”

So the CEO’s Office and the Sheriff are going to start providing monthly reports on overtime! Does anybody believe that? They should have been doing routine monthly overtime tracking all along and now all of a sudden they’re going to start monthly reporting on something?

Never happen.

This reporting will either be non-existent or — if it happens at all — will be lame to the point of uselessness. Mendo just does not do monthy budget and staff reporting. In all likelihood they will ignore the overtime as it routinely goes over-budget like they do everything else and wait until it’s a problem, then make some equally preposterous declaration like the magic assumption change from 5% position vacancy to 10% position vacancy and cover the overtime like they always do by shorting other already short departments.

Supervisor Croskey wanted to hope — in spite of her gut knowledge that even $300k is nothing more than a place holder — that this still-ridiculous $300k approach would help.

Croskey: “That helps. I certainly have concerns. But we have nothing budgeted for overtime. It's not as if overtime won't happen. I understand we will be looking at it as we go. But it's — it's not as if — I don't know — I have concerns that we are pretending that that $1.6 million is — that we will find a way as we go. But…” [Shrugs.]

WE HAVE ALREADY HEARD from several patrol deputies that this discussion is as far from their reality on the street as it could be. And nobody has told them about any changes in overtime procedures or authorizations.

SO MARK YOUR CALENDARS. This was the first meeting in June. We will be looking closely at the first July agenda (July 10, to be exact) to see what kind of monthly overtime tracking Ms. Rau, Ms. Angelo, Mr. Allman and the crew actually come up with.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Not Anthony Bourdain! Even Skrag said he will miss the guy, and Skrag....well, not a sentimental bone in his body.”

UKIAH, Thursday, June 7. — A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations this morning with guilty verdicts against an out-of-town drug dealer.

The jury found defendant Miguel Gonzales, age 41, of La Quinta, guilty of possession of methamphetamine for purposes of sale, a felony; possession of cocaine, a misdemeanor; possession of heroin, a misdemeanor, and driving on a suspended driver's license due to an alcohol-related prior conviction. The defendant was also found not guilty of a separate charge of misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine.

A separate court trial to determine whether the defendant has suffered a prior Strike conviction got underway after the jury had departed. After the prosecutor presented his evidence as to the prior conviction, the court found true that the defendant has suffered a prior felony conviction for assault with a firearm in 1997 in Riverside County, which is a Strike under the Three Strikes Law.

A separate court trial is also upcoming on felony charges that the defendant willfully failed to appear after being ordered to do so, as well as a sentencing enhancement alleging that the defendant committed a new felony while released from custody on an earlier felony pending in the courts.

The defendant's convictions were referred to the Adult Probation Department for a background investigation and sentencing recommendation. A sentencing date of July 12, 2018 at 9 o'clock in the morning in Department B of the Ukiah courthouse has been set. Any one interested in this case or this defendant is welcome to attend that sentencing hearing.

The prosecutor who presented the evidence to the jury on behalf of the People was Deputy District Attorney Luke Oakley. The investigating law enforcement agencies were the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force, and the Department of Justice crime laboratory.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Cindee Mayfield presided over the four-day trial. Judge Mayfield will also be the sentencing judge on July 12th.

BOONVILLE GUY MAKES SHERIFF'S MOST WANTED

Date of Birth: 03-07-1983

Height: 5 feet 7 inches

Weight: 160 LBS.

Aliases: Elias Alberto Soto-Avila (21 yrs old)

Francisco Javier Soto-Avila (25 yrs old)

Javier Avila Soto (22 yrs old)

Ramiro Mendosa Apaniso (23 yrs old)

Nickname: Tiko

Ramiro Apansio Mendosa is currently being sought in regards to a shooting that occurred on 08-21-2008 in the 1900 block of Talmage Road. The victim in the shooting sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to an out of county hospital for treatment. For further information refer to Mendocino County Sheriff's Office press release 08-2440 that can be found on the Sheriff's Office website.

Ramiro Apansio Mendosa should be considered armed and dangerous as the handgun used during this shooting has yet to be recovered. Ramiro Apansio Mendosa's last known residence was listed as transient in the Boonville, California based upon a previous booking into the Mendocino County Jail in August 2007.

Anyone with information about the current whereabouts of Ramiro Apansion Mendosa are asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office dispatch center at 707-463-4086 or the TIP LINE at 707-234-2100.

MCSO Case Number: 08-2440

$750,000 BAIL

Attempted Murder

SA Use Of Firearm

Shot At Inhabit Dwelling

Kidnapping

Security Assessment

Age: 35 years old

Weight: 160 lbs

Heights: 5' 7"

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Brown

Last known town/city: Boonville, CA

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

* * *

(2008) A Mendocino County transient has been identified as the suspect in the recent Talmage shooting, said a Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office report on Tuesday.

The report identifies Ramiro Apansio Mendosa, 25, of the Ukiah and Boonville area to be the suspect.

The victim’s identity will not be released, the report said. The report said that the victim of the Aug. 21 shooting in the 1700 block of Talmage Road was able to identify Mendosa as the man who shot him.

The shooting is believed to be the result of a marijuana related argument.

Detectives have now processed an arrest warrant for the suspect. Mendosa is believed possibly to be known by different names in the Ukiah area, the report said.

Names believed to be used by Mendosa include Elias Alberto Soto-Avila, age 21, Francisco Javier Soto-Avila, age 25, Javier Avila Sota, age 22, and Ramiro Mendosa Apaniso, age 23, the report stated.

He is considered armed and dangerous.

A Mendocino County transient has been identified as the suspect in the recent Talmage shooting, said a Mendocino County Sheriff's Office report on Tuesday.

The report identifies Ramiro Apansio Mendosa, 25, of the Ukiah and Boonville area to be the suspect.

The victim's identity will not be released, the report said. The report said that the victim of the Aug. 21 shooting in the 1700 block of Talmage Road was able to identify Mendosa as the man who shot him.

The shooting is believed to be the result of a marijuana related argument.

Detectives have now processed an arrest warrant for the suspect. Mendosa is believed possibly to be known by different names in the Ukiah area, the report said.

Names believed to be used by Mendosa include Elias Alberto Soto-Avila, age 21, Francisco Javier Soto-Avila, age 25, Javier Avila Sota, age 22, and Ramiro Mendosa Apaniso, age 23, the report stated.

The report warns that Mendosa is considered armed and dangerous at press time. Any one with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office tip line at 707-467-9159

DEAR OLD DAD

Take Dad out to dinner Father’s Day! Comptche Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Father’s Day Chicken BBQ is Sunday June 17. Chicken and all the fixin’s and hundreds of home made pies, live music, raffle for a quilt and lots of goodies, country store, libations and a kids zone. Noon to four at Firehouse Park on Flynn Creek Road next to the station.
(Katy Tahja)

PG&E MAY TRY TO SHIFT FIRE LIABILITY

If the utility is found liable for the October wildfires, it may argue governments share responsibility for the damage because of the 'inadequacy' of the local fire response and preparations.

pressdemocrat.com/news/8411242-181/pge-may-try-to-shift

* * *

CAL FIRE: PG&E EQUIPMENT CAUSED 12 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRES

The Redwood fire, in Mendocino County, started the evening of Oct. 8 and burned a total of 36,523 acres, destroying 543 structures. There were nine civilian fatalities and no injuries to firefighters. CALFIRE has determined the fire started in two locations and was caused by trees or parts of trees falling onto PG&E power lines.

pressdemocrat.com/news/8413929-181/cal-fire-pge-equipment-caused

FORT BRAGG PLANNERS TO CONSIDER NEW BAR/TAVERN

Well, someone wants to do something about a vacant storefront in the Central Business District of Fort Bragg. The Fort Bragg Planning Commission will hear a plan for a new bar/tavern in Fort Bragg.

Here are the details:

OWNER: Matt Huber

APPLICANT: The Cube Power of Three LLC

AGENT: Valerie Thornton

REQUEST: Use Permit to convert an existing vacant storefront in the Central Business District to a bar with live music (Bar/Tavern).

LOCATION: 338 N Franklin Street, Fort Bragg

And here is the agenda (with attachments) for the Planning Commission meeting to be held Wednesday, 6:00 pm, at Town Hall:

city.fortbragg.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06132018-584

(Via MendocinoSportsPlus)

SIX SKILLS OF THE SUCCESSFUL POLITICIAN

1. Knowing how to blur the issues
2. An ability to delay decisions
3. Verbal agility in dodging questions
4. A talent for juggling figures
5. The ability to bend facts with your mind
6. Knowing where to conceal errors

These are my paraphrases of Nigel Hawthorne's lesson to his boss in "Yes, Minister," the episode being "A question of Loyalty" (on youtube) there's an especially good scene w/ guest star Jennifer Saunders, from "Absolutely Fabulous" in this episode, too!

(Bruce McEwen)

ED NOTES

KATHY SHEARN, INDEFATIGABLE advocate for the Mendocino County Animal Shelter reports: "I know the country is spinning apart, but there's good news from our little shelter. Since March, here are the dogs you advertised in the blog who have gotten adopted: Baby Cakes, Buzz, Jetson, Ziggy, Puppies, Pete, Connor and Rocky. Also lots of the cats went to new homes. So, thank you for the help getting our guests adopted."

HAPPY TO HELP, MA'AM. Even in its most troubled state, we've thought our "no kill" Shelter did a good and necessary job in getting dogs and cats adopted out. Ms. Shearn deserves multiple woofs and as many meows for her untiring animal advocacy. Under the able direction of Richard Molinari, the Shelter's new director, Pit Bulls continue to predominate among the hard to place animals because… Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but Mendo's abundant two-footed psychos are partial to the breed, often abandoning their Pits when they become inconvenient. Too bad the Shelter couldn't administer a simple suitability test: "Sir, do you enjoy watching Grand Theft Auto or Texas Chainsaw Massacre?" If the answer is Yes, that person could not, by law, own a Pit Bull.

LIKE MANY PEOPLE, I'm wary of Pits. I owned a half-Pit I became very fond of, but he was unpredictable, too frequently taking a cheap shot at me, the best friend he ever had! And he was a terrible racist, growling at every dark-skinned person we passed which, in San Francisco, and me as a life-long lib-lab, Dog embarrassed heck outta me every time I took him out in public.

* * *

THE TRUE STATE of Mendo poverty as implied by the Mendo Grand Jury: More than 60 percent of Mendocino County school children are eligible for free or reduced-cost meals. Mendocino County school districts currently offer students breakfast, lunch, snacks and some provide dinner each school day. The grand jury found that all children eligible for free or reduced cost meals did not take a meal; some did not care for the menu offering on a particular day, and often eligible families did not complete the form to apply for free or reduced-cost meals.

* * *

THE WAY WE DIE

THE STATS reveal that Mendo is pretty healthy, with low rates of suicide, and relatively low rates of other mortal calamities, although for our population we have a high rate of venereal disease. Humboldt and Lake County rate high in all categories of mental and physical health.

cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/CDPH%20Document%20Library/CHSP-County%20Profiles%202018.pdf

* * *

ART REMAINS ON THE CASE!

Not quite a farewell as I am still working on the county budget and trying to discover some discrepancies. As a resident of Gualala and of the county it is my duty to seek out misuses!

We as citizens of the county must make ourselves more knowledgeable in the wasteful spending. If we want our roads repaired we better watch how the BOS spends our money!

Arthur E. Juhl

Gualala

* * *

FROM the realtor's sales pitch for the Witter Ranch deep in the Eel River Canyon: "Stretching across 42 square miles, Lone Pine Ranch is nearly the size of San Francisco. The vast property of redwood forests, oak woodlands and grassy meadows straddles Trinity and Mendocino counties and is about a six-hour drive from the city. The land includes a 16.5-mile stretch of the Eel River teeming with salmon and steelhead migrating from the Pacific Ocean."

SALMON AND STEELHEAD haven't teemed in the Eel since the 1950s.

* * *

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Cartel Land via Netflix, the story of Dr. Mireles, a small-town physician from Michoacan who led a vigilante counter-attack called Autodefensas against the narco-cartels terrorizing large areas of rural Mexico. (This film will resonate in Mendocino County whose immigrant population largely derives from Michoacan.) This riveting documentary also features Mireles' American counterpart, Tim Foley, a charismatic American who hates the drug carnage wrought in the US so intensely he hunts down smugglers on the wild Arizona border to turn them over to the Border Patrol.

(MUCH of the methamphetamine available in America is brewed up in Michoacan, one group of whom is interviewed as they mix their evil potion. Law enforcement assumes that the meth so prevalent on the Northcoast originates in Michoacan.)

THE MEXICAN government so feared what they saw as a kind of parallel government inspired by Mireles, they locked him up and have kept him locked up. No one will be surprised to learn that the doctor's militias have since been taken over by the drug gangs they were formed to fight.

THE FILM confirms our worst suspicions: illegal drugs are worth around $30 billion a year in the US, and it's a market Mexico's cartels will stop at nothing to protect, costing some 70,000 Mexicans their lives in drug-related violence between 2006 and 2013, not to mention the myriad lives destroyed by drugs here in Gringolandia.

* * *

ARE FIVE CATEGORIES of hurricanes enough? What if a sixth — for those with winds at almost 200 mph — is now becoming necessary? One of the most prominent advocates for a new category is Michael Mann. Mann, a professor of atmospheric science at Penn State, says destructive tropical storms are steadily growing, both in number and intensity. According to Mann's study, “Storms of 200 km/h [124 mph] and more have doubled in number, and those of 250 km/h [155 mph] and more have tripled.”

CATCH OF THE DAYS, June 7-8, 2018

SHAWN BIAS, Fort Bragg. Trespassing/refusing to leave. (Frequent Flyer)

ZACHARY BRINT, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, disobeying court order, probation revocation.

PHILIP BURFOOT, Point Arena. Failure to appear.

AMANDA DUVALL, Ukiah. DUI.

BRYAN FLINT, Little River. Ukiah. Community supervision violation.

KELLY FONSEN, Willits. Domestic abuse.

JOSE GARCIA, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

MICHAEL GLASS, Willits. Failure to appear.

KATHLEEN GREENE, Ukiah. Controlled substance, probation revocation.

NICHOLAS HALVORSEN, Fort Bragg. Elder abuse, probation revocation. (Frequent Flyer)

TAWANA HENRY, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

URIEL HERNANDEZ, Willits. Taking vehicle without owner’s consent, controlled substance, false info to cop.

ANDREW HURTADO, Fort Bragg. Contempt of court, probation revocation.

ROY JONES JR., Upper Lake/Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

JOEL KIMBALL, Ukiah. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

GARY MUELRATH, Clearlake Oaks/Ukiah. Grand theft, failure to appear.

ODESSA ONEIL, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

HARLEY PATTON, Ukiah. Attempted murder, elder abuse with gread bodily injury or harm, under influence.

BARAQUEL RUIZ, Ukiah. Ammo possession by prohibited person, controlled substance, controlled substance for sale, offenses while on bail, probation revocation.

JAKE SCHULER, Willits. DUI, probation revocation.

RUBEN THOMASSON JR., Boonville. Attempted murder, assault with deadly weapon not a gun, discharge of firearm in grossly negligent manner.

BENJAMIN TORANGO, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

THE SUMMER OF DISCONTENT

by James Kunstler

The ill-feeling among leaders of the G-7 nations — essentially, the West plus Japan — was mirrored early this morning in the puking financial market futures, so odious, apparently, is the presence of America’s Golden Golem of Greatness at the Quebec meet-up of First World poobahs. It’s hard to blame them. The GGG refuses to play nice in the sandbox of the old order.

Like many observers here in the USA, I can’t tell exactly whether Donald Trump is out of his mind or justifiably blowing up out-of-date relationships and conventions in a world that is desperately seeking a new disposition of things. The West had a mighty good run in the decades since the fiascos of the mid-20^th century. My guess is that we’re witnessing a slow-burning panic over the impossibility of maintaining the enviable standard of living we’ve all enjoyed.

All the jabber is about trade and obstacles to trade, but the real action probably emanates from the energy sector, especially oil. The G-7 nations are nothing without it, and the supply is getting sketchy at the margins in a way that probably and rightfully scares them. I’d suppose, for instance, that the recent run-up in oil prices from $40-a barrel to nearly $80 has had the usual effect of dampening economic activity worldwide. For some odd reason, the media doesn’t pay attention to any of that. But it’s become virtually an axiom that oil over $75-a-barrel smashes economies while oil under $75-a-barrel crushes oil companies.

Mr. Trump probably believes that the USA is in the catbird seat with oil because of the so-called “shale oil miracle.” If so, he is no more deluded than the rest of his fellow citizens, including government officials and journalists, who have failed to notice that the economics of shale oil don’t pencil out — or are afraid to say. The oil companies are not making a red cent at it, despite the record-breaking production numbers that recently exceeded the previous all-time-peak set in 1970. The public believes that we’re “energy independent” now, which is simply not true because we still import way more oil than we export: 10.7 million barrels incoming versus 7.1 million barrels a week outgoing (US EIA).

Shale oil is not a miracle so much as a spectacular stunt: how to leverage cheap debt for a short-term bump in resource extraction at the expense of a future that will surely be starved for oil. Now that the world is having major problems with excessive debt, it is also going to have major problems with oil. The quarrels over trade arise from this unacknowledged predicament: there will be less of everything that the economically hyper-developed nations want and need, including capital. So, what’s shaping up is a fight over the table-scraps of the banquet that is shutting down.

That quandary is surely enough to make powerful nations very nervous. It may also prompt them to actions and outcomes that were previously unthinkable. At the moment the excessive debt threatens to blow up the European Union, which is liable to be a much bigger problem for the EU than anything Trump is up to. It has been an admirably stable era for Europe and Japan, and I suppose the Boomers and X gens don’t really remember a time not so long ago when Europe was a cauldron of tribal hatreds and stupendous violence, with Japan marching all over East Asia, wrecking things.

There is also surprisingly little critical commentary on the notion that Mr. Trump is seeking to “re-industrialize” America. It’s perhaps an understandable wish to return to the magical prosperity of yesteryear. But things have changed. And if wishes were fishes, the state of the earth’s oceans is chastening to enough to give you the heebie-jeebies. Anyway, we’re not going back to the Detroit of 1957. We’ll be fortunate if we can turn out brooms and scythes twenty years from now, let alone flying Teslas.

This will be the summer of discontent for the West especially. The fact that populism is still a rising force among these nations is a clue of broad public skepticism about maintaining the current order. No wonder the massive bureaucracies vested in that order are freaking out. I’m not sure Mr. Trump even knows or appreciates just how he represents these dangerous dynamics.

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

HARVEY? IS THAT YOU?

(Photo by Susie de Castro)

STOP THE WATER TAX

Editor:

We need to be vigilant about the latest tax masquerading as a fee on water, and let our representative know that this is misguided. No other life-essential product such as food or bottled water is taxed.

The most insidious part of this proposal, Senate Bill 623, is giving the dairy and fertilizer a pass for the damage to existing aquifers. As part of the legislation, the dairy and fertilizer industries are taxed a nominal amount, and if they pay these “fees” they become immune from enforcement of penalties for contaminating groundwater.

Most of California environmental laws are guided by the polluter-pays principle, and this funding mechanism turns that upside down. The dairy and fertilizer revenue is only 20 percent of the total raised, which means that the tax on individual water users is responsible for 80 percent of the funding to remediate a problem largely caused by dairies and farmers.

Please let your state legislators, especially state Sen. Bill Dodd, who is a co-author, know that SB 623 is a bad idea.

Steve Rogers

Sonoma

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

There are some very real and dark forces in US society at the moment. Yesterday new suicide research revealed a very palpable uptick in suicide, amongst all demographic groups in the US. People in the US are literally being boiled to death by real economic pressure. The increasing stress on people will not last forever – something will explode. Whether it means civil instability, or an election of an authentic autocrat, I don’t know. However, there will be an equal and opposite reaction to the type of applied force occurring in the country.

I also want to post the suicide hotline. We lost another very creative person today to suicide with the death of Anthony Bourdain.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline

Call 1-800-273-8255

Available 24 hours everyday

PAIN MANAGEMENT AND OPIOID ADDICTION

by Justin Ebert, PA-C, MCHC Health Centers Medical Director

Ukiah, CA – Opioids are narcotic painkillers that have been used for years to treat pain. When brand name pills like OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin came on the market, they were touted as miraculous, non-addictive medications to reduce pain. Health care providers prescribed them to help patients, unintentionally creating an unhealthy culture of dependence in our country. When patients began dying from accidental opioid overdoses in record numbers and new research indicated that opioids actually exacerbate pain over the long term, the national medical dialogue changed dramatically.

By the time it was clear that opioids were dangerous in large doses over long periods, the train had already left the station, so to speak. Right now, the medical community is trying to figure out how to slow the train and help people disembark. At the national level, doctors are working with policy makers to set dose limits, define clinical guidelines and create best practices. At the local level, a coalition called Safe Rx Mendocino is working with Assemblyman Jim Wood, who introduced legislation to regulate opioid prescription practices in California.

Mendocino County, like many around the country, has high opioid prescription rates. While the numbers are coming down slowly, HealthyMendocino.com has pulled data from the California Department of Justice’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review to show that as of January, there are 718 opioid prescriptions per 10,000 population in our area. Also, about 5 percent of people in Mendocino County have a prescription for opioids (and this number does not address those who use opioid pain killers without prescriptions).

The SafeRx Mendocino coalition is made up of doctors and other health care professionals from local health centers and hospitals, as well as representatives from Partnership HealthPlan of California and other service providers in our community. Safe Rx Mendocino has two primary goals: 1) to support safe prescription practices in Mendocino County and 2) to expand access to treatment programs for those addicted to prescription drugs. By working together, these organizations reinforce a culture shift away from opioids and toward more effective pain treatments.

New research suggests that alternatives like acupuncture, yoga, therapy and mindfulness practices are far more effective at treating chronic pain than hydrocodone, oxycodone, or morphine. Some new pharmaceutical solutions may also be effective.

One way MCHC Health Centers is addressing the issue is by offering Medication-Assistance Treatment (MAT) to people who want to reduce their dependence on opioids. Our screening and treatment protocols help identify the scope and nature of the problem, and our multidisciplinary and multi-agency approach allows us to use a team approach. Most people don’t realize that 15 percent of the general population has a substance use disorder; this means people from all walks of life struggle with this problem.

As a health care provider, I try to create a safe place where my patients can share what’s going on with them so I can help them develop healthy ways to cope and feel better. When someone comes in and tells me she’s been working in the sex trade to support her gambling habit, my response isn’t to judge, but rather to help identify the most immediate needs and address those first. Then we work on the underlying problems, one step at a time.

Many people with substance use disorders also suffer from mental illness, whether they’re dealing with post-traumatic stress, bi-polar disorder, depression or other challenges. To ease the pain caused by physical or mental illness, people sometimes “self-medicate” with drugs or alcohol. By talking with a medical provider they can often learn better ways to cope and become healthier.

Unfortunately, talking to a medical provider about physical, mental or emotional problems is difficult and not everyone is up to the challenge.

People feel ashamed of their behavior and don’t want to admit it, so they don’t seek the help they need. It takes real courage to call and make an appointment. If someone you know wants help, encourage them to call their health provider. They can say they want to make an appointment without having to share the details of why—they can just say they have an issue they are only willing to discuss with their doctor.

At federally qualified health centers like MCHC Health Centers, medical providers work with therapists and others to arrange inpatient or outpatient detox and/or recovery services. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out and talk to someone. There is hope. We can help.

(Justin Ebert, PA-C, is the Medical Director of MCHC Health Centers, a local, non-profit, federally qualified health center offering medical, dental and behavioral health care to people in Lake and Mendocino Counties.

Visit www.HealthyMendocino.org to view this story and more additional information on health and well-being in Mendocino County. For more information on this story, contact healthymendocino@ncoinc.org.)

CALLING ALL GRANT GOBBLERS

(Final Call) grant opportunity + fundraising trainings on June 14 + 15 — “Jumpstart” your nonprofit’s fundraising through this special presentation.

I'm working alongside The Community Foundation of Mendocino County to rollout a new, grant-funded program called "Jumpstart" for nonprofits who are short on time or budget, but need to raise more money from individual donors. Do you need to raise more money this year? If so, we're hosting two "town hall" style workshops next week: Thursday, June 14th in Ukiah & Friday, June 15th in Fort Bragg.  And I wanted to drop you a final reminder to register if you're interested. During each of the workshops, I'll be leading a practical, how-to training on developing a plan to secure more donors and dollars with limited resources. Then, we'll walk you through the "Jumpstart" grant opportunity, which you can apply to inside of 10-minutes. Selected nonprofits will receive 12-months of personal fundraising coaching, software, and continued training. Can you join us on the 14th or 15th? If you can, please register here for Ukiah, and here for Fort Bragg.

Lastly, Holly's out on vacation today, so if you have any questions, just hit reply and I'd love to help out. Very sincerely, Nate Nasralla, CFRE Managing Director, Impact Division Network for Good, Direct: 630-247-0830

PS. if you've already registered, great! Looking forward to seeing you!

SHOEMAKER'S ALWAYS WORKING FOR, UH, YOU?

by Richard Shoemaker, City of Point Arena, (707) 882-2122

Mendocino County, CA – The Mendocino Council of Governments has secured funding for a comprehensive regional study to improve sidewalks, paths, and safe crossings in Mendocino County. The Mendocino County Pedestrian Needs Assessment and Engineered Feasibility Study – or Mendo Pedestrian project – will evaluate the needs, priorities, and feasibility of improving pedestrian facilities in the region, and provide options and recommendations leading to the eventual construction of new and infill pedestrian facilities.

The first of several workshops will focus on the South Coast and will be held Tuesday, June 19 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm at Point Arena City Hall. Participants will hear about the path to improved walking conditions, including techniques and funding to improve sidewalks, paths and crossings. Input will be sought on community priorities from the Point Arena Community Action Plan as well as new priorities for the South Coast. Refreshments will be provided by Trinks Catering in Gualala.

Additionally, the public is invited to participate in an online survey to help determine pedestrian needs and priorities in the region. Results of the survey will be shared with MCOG and local agency staff, planners and engineers to help illuminate the most important issues in the region. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and is available at www.MendoPedestrian.org.

The Mendo Pedestrian project is funded by Caltrans through the Rural Planning Assistance and Sustainable Communities Transportation Planning Grant funds. Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG) is administering the project and providing matching funds. The project is conducted in coordination with the Cities of Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Ukiah, and Willits, and the County of Mendocino.

For updates, future workshop dates, and more information about the Mendo Pedestrian project, visit www.MendoPedestrian.org.

* * *

MS NOTES: Nothing ever comes out of these “studies” except money for the studiers.

HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIAN SAYS MIC WAS CUT BEFORE SPEAKING ABOUT SEX ASSAULT

by Alex Sundby, CBS News

A Northern California high school's valedictorian accused school officials of turning off the microphone at a graduation ceremony before she could speak about being sexually assaulted. Lulabel Seitz posted a video to YouTube on Sunday showing the moment the mic went off and members of the audience chanting "Let her speak."

Seitz told CBS San Francisco station KPIX-TV that she was sexually assaulted by another student.

"The school continually censors students," Seitz told the station. "It wasn't an easy thing to do to go up there and say what I said or tried to say."

Seitz told KPIX-TV that she had reported the sexual assault to Petaluma High School officials, and she accused the school of not taking any action. The school said in a statement to the station that it couldn't comment.

"Due to student privacy issues, we cannot and should not respond with specific information," the school said. "We can say that when issues of sexual assault come to our attention, local law enforcement has initial jurisdiction and determines the course of action."

Seitz told KPIX-TV that she's received positive and negative feedback.

"Graduation may not have been the spot to say it," fellow graduate Nick Mall told the station. "There was an opportunity for her to display her message to all of us, but … we're all celebrating us leaving, you know? And she was kind of taking it off into what happened to her."

The microphone cut off four minutes into Petaluma High School valedictorian Lulabel Seitz’s speech after she deviated from the script she originally submitted to school officials.

* * *

DISGRACEFUL but not surprising. Public ed in this country is a K-12 contradiction. Whatever you do, young people, don't be a troublemaker. Be like us. The kid looks at us and, if he or she has any real brains, says, "No thanks." The people who run the schools most desire automatons. Any deviation from the norm — them — out from the velvet comes the iron fist, as we've seen in Petaluma.

Here’s the video of the full speech which Ms. Seitz posted on youtube the next day: youtube.com/watch?v=SWbFmi_lqdo

RUSSIAN "AGGRESSION"

STUCKY’S FOOTPRINTS, LUTOSLAWSKI’S SHADOW

by David Yearsley

I flew to Berlin on WOW! airlines, an outfit touting scandalously cheap tickets for passage on a minimally-appointed, purple-painted fleet of Airbus 320s that aren’t cleared for uninterrupted travel over the Atlantic and therefore must stop in Iceland on the way to Europe. Nothing is included in the price of conveyance other than your seat and a single personal item of carry-on luggage. A small bottle of water bought on the plane will cost you several dollars.

The flight was delayed and I missed my connection in Iceland. Along with twenty other stranded passengers, I was then bussed off to a hotel near the airport to spend the rest of the long day on the vicinity and rise at 3am local time the following morning for the next WOW! flight to Berlin. Keflavik airfield and its surrounding infrastructure were once a U.S. air force base that operated from the 1950s until about ten years ago, I was told by the kindly manager of the simple hotel where we were quartered — a converted officer’s barracks on the sprawling one-time base. The manager also said that the U. S. has plans to construct a new, modern base on this same peninsula that juts out from the southwest corner of the island.

No one would ever visit Keflavik airport and the grim surrounding settlements for the fun of it. Its military past is obvious and gloomy, and as the bus passes roads called things like Valhalla Street and Thor Avenue that lead across the grassland to distant, widely spaced former barracks now converted into apartments, I feel more like am headed to a work camp to be housed in long rectangular concrete buildings buffeted by the relentless wind. The blocks are now inhabited by the locals, most of whom, one supposes, work at the airport. Even if the West can claim to have won the Cold War, Soviet-style architecture appears victorious on this treeless steppe. I imagined myself suddenly conscripted as extra for a Wim Wenders film — or perhaps a more menacing one dreamt up by Lars Van Trier. If it were the latter, I suspected I wouldn’t survive to get my flight the next morning.

It was on this base that Pulitzer-winning American composer, and my one-time Cornell colleague, Steven Stucky, who died of brain cancer two years ago at the age of sixty-seven, was stationed as a serviceman for a couple years in the early 1970s. It was less tropical assignment than one to Southeast Asia — and a lot less lethal. Perhaps Keflavik was a sleepy fishing village back then, even if the harborside settlement was still close to the Cold War American base. The town sleeps only intermittently now, what with the jets coursing endlessly overhead. Steve must have heard a lot of them in his time here, too, but in the form of fighter planes and troop transports to Europe; after all, it was not only the Asian communists who needed to be contained.

I think of Steve often since his death, so it is strangely fitting to find myself unexpectedly in a place he spent a long, unlikely stretch in. I think of his great warmth and his gentle brilliance that sparked and flamed — and brooded, too—in the wide-ranging oeuvre he left behind. Steve was not only a celebrated composer but a wonderful writer, too — a fluent stylist whose critical ear allowed him unique insights, but who never showed off with his prose or his musical acumen. He loved to talk about music, too, and it was always a hugely illuminating pleasure to learn from him in these convivial conversations abetted by food and drink.

In Keflavik that day it was very cold and windy, with intermitted rain. In the early afternoon I took a walk of a few miles from the hotel to the nearest coastline, now mostly a bleak collection of post-industrial wreckage. I did not find a harbor pub with crackling fire: the only sign I saw that suggested any sort of hospitality was that of a KFC — Colonel Saunders smiling into the wind. Abandoned machinery, derelict building sites, a few half-hearted attempts at semi-upscale apartments sprawled along the bulkhead. At a few points these “improvements” had not erased the primordial lava and its meeting with sea. I ventured out onto one of these, crossing over a narrow natural stone bridge to look back to land at the dismal waterfront and to the volcanic cinder cones in the distance, and farther beyond to higher mountains still sheeted with ice.

I did make it to Berlin the next day and one week later on a sweltering Sunday evening to a concert of the Berlin Philharmonic — one of the final performances of the famed orchestra under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle as Chief Conductor, a post he’s held since 2002.

The program was a microcosm of Rattle’s artistic mission in Berlin, demonstrating his commitment not just to the orchestral traditions of the past but of the present. The evening began with a commissioned work, then turned to a classic of the twentieth century, and finally, after intermission, a Classic with a capital C by one of the three Bs.

The brand new work was Jörg Widmann’s Tanz auf dem Vulkan (Dance on the Volcano) — a kind of souvenir, I wanted to think, for my Icelandic stopover. After the orchestra had tuned it broke into some swing music though there was still no sign of Sir Simon. After a minute or so, he slunk into the hall to laughs and applause from the audience, but motioned at waist-level with his hands for quiet. It became clear that the dance number was part of the theatre of the piece, as was the conductor’s entrance. When he got to the podium and pulled out his baton, the 1940s dance hall fun immediately gave way to modernist spurts and sputters: but it was a very tepid eruption, never molten.

Lutoslawki’s Third Symphony — recorded by the Berlin Philharmonic in 1985 under the direction of the composer himself — followed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0aJHZ7LBMc

It was Steve Stucky who wrote the seminal English-language study on the great Pole. The book was an expanded version of his doctoral dissertation at Cornell, published first in 1981 by Cambridge University Press and reissued in 2009. Steve was an ardent and erudite devotee of Lutoslawski’s music, and had this to say about the work on the Berlin program:

“At the heart of the symphony lies the second movement, a musical argument whose size, motivic complexity, and sonata-like aspirations stamp the whole enterprise as “symphonic,” in the full, traditional sense of the word. Everything else in the work revolves about this turbulent center: the episodic first movement cunningly prepares for the second, while the highly charged recitatives and cantilenas of the slow third movement rise out of the aftermath of its catastrophic conclusion.”

Against the half-an-hour masterpiece, Widmann’s preceding volcanic foxtrot appeared a bagatelle - a theme park attraction. Rattle’s lean intensity drew from his orchestra’s expressivity a precise and tumultuous epic, the music rising at last towards what seemed like shimmering apotheosis only to be slammed back to earth by the judgmental tattoo of unison Es with which the work opens and which it shockingly ends.

After the interval the elemental magma of Brahm’s First poured out, from the timpani-troubled pedal point of the C minor opening, like lava pushing towards the sea, to the glorious tectonic structures and triumphant main theme of the C Major finale — a benediction, I couldn’t help but think, for all that Steve stood for and did with his life in music.

(David Yearsley is a long-time contributor to CounterPunch and the Anderson Valley Advertiser. His recording of J. S. Bach’s organ trio sonatas is available from Musica Omnia. He can be reached at dgyearsley@gmail.com.)