Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018

• Complex Updates
• Ranch Expansion
• Devastation
• Evac Map
• Eel Fire
• Relief Fund
• Fire Storybook
• Displaced Animals
• BOS Watch
• Forest Service
• Little Dog
• Fatal Accident
• Barajas Case
• Alonso Background
• STD Awareness
• Yesterday's Catch
• Art Remembered
• Endangered Species
• Crowdthink
• Manafort Envy
• Treaties
• Dissing Lebron
• Heating Up
• Evacuation Scofflaws
• Creating Again
• SF Enabling
• Ice Age
• Marco Radio

CALFIRE'S MENDOCINO COMPLEX UPDATE (Sunday 7am): 254,982 acres; 33% containment; 146 structures damaged or destroyed.

"Last night crews had good success increasing containment on the River Fire and containment lines were holding well. The strategic plan and operations throughout the previous day held the fire to limited fire spread. The Ranch Fire continues to grow in a south east direction and crews will continue to be embedded in the communities providing structure protection. The Pillsbury Lake Basin still continues to be threatened and crews are working strategically protect this area."

 

 

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FOREST SERVICE MENDOCINO COMPLEX MORNING UPDATE:

WILLOWS, Calif. - The Ranch Fire remained active overnight, spreading northward toward Lake Pillsbury and east toward Stonyford.  As of 6 a.m. on August 5, 2018, the Ranch Fire is estimated at 207,319 acres and 23 percent contained. The River Fire is 47,663 acres and 58 percent contained.

River Fire:  Containment lines have been completed between Scotts Valley Road and Blue Lake/ Highway 20. On Sunday crews will use tactical firing as necessary to remove vegetation between the active fire's edge and the containment line. Firefighters will continue to improve and patrol completed containment lines around the fire.

Ranch Fire:  Firefighters initiated dozer line overnight from the Eel River northeast toward Elk Mountain Road to protect the residences around Lake Pillsbury, and to attempt to keep the fire out of the Pine Mountain Project. The fire slowed around Little Round Mountain as of this morning. Fire crews will continue to improve that line today.

Opportunities to build indirect fire line (containment line built ahead of the fire's active edge) were scouted on the northeastern side of the fire. Steep, rugged terrain and prevalent winds through drainages will continue to result in active fire behavior again today.

Crews will continue to work on dozer lines along the Stonyford-Lodoga Road and around the community of Stonyford.  On the southeastern side of the fire, favorable visibility allowed aircraft to reduce fire spread with retardant, giving firefighters on the ground an opportunity to create dozer line down the eastern edge of Bear Valley. The fire has burned into the burn scar of the 2018 Pawnee Fire.  The east-southeastern edges of the fire were the most active, again growing over 30,000 acres in 24 hours. Spot fires were observed over one mile ahead of the main fire.

Active fire behavior was observed around the communities of the eastern side of Clear Lake. The focus again will be to create buffer zones around these communities, to assess and protect structures, and to build line directly on the fire's edge as it is safe to do so.

FIRE AREA WEATHER
A strong high pressure system over the southwestern United States will start to weaken today, allowing several weak systems to pass through the area over the weekend. While this may result in some mildly cooler temperatures, daytime highs will still remain slightly above normal. Dry conditions are expected to persist, and may even heighten somewhat in between systems. Winds are predicted to remain normal for this time of year, with up-slope, up-canyon winds changing to down-slope after dark. Another warming trend is expected to begin on Monday.

SMOKE
Smoke is expected to remain heavy throughout the region, especially in the areas east and south of the Ranch Fire. Air quality monitors are being installed today throughout the fire area.

PS, In addition, the Stonyford Work Station is closed until further notice due to mandatory evacuations on the Ranch Fire.

* * *

CHARLIE BLANKENHEIM'S FIRE CHAT

THE HUGE RANCH FIRE expanded so fast with on-shore winds on Saturday — increasing by about 25,000 acres in one day — that the containment percentage went down from 27% to 22%. It has now burned over 181,000 acres (as of 7pm), compared to the companion River Fire at just under 45,000 acres with about 50% containment. Total acres burned in the Mendocino Complex now up to almost 230,000 acres, equivalent to more than one-fourth of the entire 850,000 acres in Lake County. For comparison, the huge Carr Fire in the Redding area was last listed as about 145,000 acres as of Saturday afternoon.

CALFIRE'S SATURDAY SUMMARY: "Today crews observed erratic winds following column collapse and are reporting 300 ft. flame lengths in some of the southeast areas of the Ranch Fire. Crews were working hard to protect property in the Lucerne with many fire personnel mobilized to that area. The River Fire we had some successful burn operations on the northeast side and continue to make good progress."

EVACUATION ORDERS were issued for Colusa county on Saturday because the Ranch Fire is now crossing the Lake County border along the northwest fire line. Even western parts of Glenn County were under mandatory evacuation.

Ranch Fire Mandatory for Hwy 20 (Double Eagle)

This is a Mandatory Evacuation Notice for the Highway 20 Area East of New Long Valley Road to the Lake-Colusa County Line, including residents with driveway access on the south side of Hwy. 20. All residents are advised to Evacuate Immediately. Shelters have been established at Mountain Vista Middle School in Kelseyville.

This includes the Landrum Ranch and Double Eagle Community.

Recommended actions

This is a Mandatory Evacuation Notice for the Highway 20 Area East of Hwy 53. All residents are advised to Evacuate Immediately. Shelters have been established at Mountain Vista Middle School in Kelseyville.

(Colusa County Sheriff’s Office)

HWY 175 IN HOPLAND, looking towards Lakeport.

(Photo by Seana Berglund)

THE MENDOCINO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE is having difficulty keeping up with which areas are under evacuation orders as the fires move erratically and quickly. On Saturday afternoon they published their first attempt to map the current evacuation areas and warning zones of the Mendocino Complex within Mendocino County. Presumably it will be frequently updated, but it only covers Mendocino County. Here's the link --> http://bit.ly/MendocinoComplex2018

RED FLAG WARNING OVER THE EEL FIRE

COVELO, Calif. - A Red Flag Warning was in effect for the Eel Fire area all day Saturday creating critical fire weather conditions for firefighters on the incident. Saturday, firefighters will continue to reinforce and cool the fireline with helicopter water drops, hoses extended from engines, and shovel work. When firefighters need to hike into areas that are difficult to access, they will carry their own water with them in 40-pound water carriers called "bladder bags", For safety reasons, tree fallers will be taking down "snags," or dead trees, especially on the north end of the fire. A portion of the Eel Fire is in the fire scar of the 2012 North Pass Fire. "Snags from the North Pass Fire make it more challenging for firefighters to mop up and cool hot spots," said Incident Commander Dale Shippelhoute. A half-acre fire that escaped containment lines Friday was stopped and lined. The Eel Fire is 40 percent contained and 972 acres. There are 175 personnel assigned to the incident. Please go to InciWeb at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6083, Facebook and Twitter for further updates or call 530-640-1168.

–Punky Moore, Public Affairs Officer, Forest Service, Mendocino National Forest

SUPPORT FOR OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE EAST

Dear Friends,

It is with sorrow that we witness the rapid growth of the Ranch and Rivers fires (Mendocino Complex Fire) encroach upon our neighbors in Lake County. This fire season has begun exceptionally early and it's already taking its toll. As of Saturday morning, August 4, 2018 the Ranch and River fires (Mendocino Complex Fire) have increased to 201,471 acres burned with 27% and 50% containment (respectively). 55 residences and 49 other structures have been destroyed, the majority in Lake County. Between counties there are over 10,000 evacuees seeking shelter.

The Mendocino Complex Fire has now surpassed the Carr fire in acreage, although those in the greater Redding area have experienced far greater damage to personal property. Even as I write this new evacuation notices are coming in as firefighters struggle to gain control over the devastating firestorm. Because Lake County is bearing the brunt of the property damage, we would like to encourage donors to extend their generosity to North Coast Opportunities (NCO) via its Wildfire Relief Fund https://www.ncoinc.org/disaster-recovery

(More info at: http://www.communityfound.org)

–Megan Barber Allende, President/CEO

To get involved contact Mendocino-ROC Project Manager Rose Bell at rosebellconsulting@gmail.com

MENDOCINO COUNTY LIBRARY, UKIAH BRANCH IS ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FOR THE MENDO FIRE STORYBOOK PROJECT

Have you been waiting to share your experience with the Mendocino Lake Complex fire, but weren't sure how you would tell it? Maybe you can't put it into words, because you express yourself through art. Or you can speak to others about it, but would have trouble putting it down in writing. If you feel ready to share, the Ukiah Library is ready to listen.

The Mendocino County Library, Ukiah Branch and Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library are accepting submissions for the Mendo Fire Storybook project. Please help us in telling the story of our communities - the sorrows, love, and resiliency. Our little corner of the world deserves to be remembered.

We are looking for:

Written and visual works, including essays, prose, & narratives, poetry, 2-dimensional art and photographs. Topics may include (but are by no means limited to) what life was like before, what the fire experience was like for you, how life has been in the aftermath, what you have learned, or what others should know.

If you are willing to verbally tell your story, we have writers interested in meeting with you to compose your story together. Please contact the Ukiah Library at (707) 463-4490 to schedule an interview.

We realize that asking you to bare your soul and then placing restrictions on it might be difficult. If possible, though, please limit word count to 2500 words or less (about 5 8.5”x11” pages, single-spaced)

Images should be in .JPG or .GIF format, and 300dpi at 100% resolution is best. We would be honored to assist you with scanning images if needed.

Submissions are due no later than September 29th, 2018.

Editors will then assemble submissions and undergo a selection process, and finally publish a compilation of the written and visual works into a book. The book will be available for sale, people whose submissions were selected will receive a copy at no cost, and proceeds will go to the Disaster Fund for Mendocino County.

Please email submissions to MendoFireStorybook@gmail.com. For questions or comments or to receive a submission form, email MendoFireStorybook@gmail.com, call (707) 234-2865, or visit the Mendocino County Library, Ukiah Branch.

BURIED DEEP in next Tuesday’s Consent Calendar are giant raises for two (or three) more of Mendo’s top officials: The Director of Planning and Building, and the Director of Health and Human Services.

Item 4x on the Consent Calendar appears to be an intentional attempt to hide the raises from the Supervisors and the public by describing them as: Adoption of Resolution Authorizing Salary Grade Adjustments as follows: Planning and Building Services Director from D48D to D52Z and Health and Human Services Agency Director from D50A to D54Z."

According to the attached resolution, itself slathered in more bureaucratic jibberish, both positions are being jacked up in grade from a “bi-weekly” mid-range rate (which obscures the actual amount because you have to do some math to get the annual pay) of the equivalent of $116k per year to $137k per year for Planning Director Nash Gonzalez, and from $124k per year to $153k per year for either (or both) Tammy Moss-Chandler and/or Anne The Inevitable Molgaard. Of course, no reasons are given for these gifts of public funds other than “it is the wish and desire of the Board of Supervisors to amend this resolution to meet the needs of County service.” And, “the various affected departments or agencies have agreed to incorporate the positions within their existing fiscal year budgets.”

Translation: Gonzalez and Molgaard (and Moss-Chandler?) are allowed to give themselves their own raises simply by putting the raises in their own budgets. Presto! $21k per year more for Gonzalez and almost $30k per year more for Molgaard/Moss-Chandler.

* * *

Supervisor McCowen responds:

"The increased salaries for HHSA and P&BS Directors are large but justified under the circumstances.

Tammy Moss Chandler is resuming her duties as HHSA Director and Interim P&BS Director Nash Gonzalez is taking over from her as Recovery Director. Meanwhile the County is in the process of hiring a permanent P&BS Director.

The increased salary for HHSA Director is necessary to retain Moss Chandler who had a competitive offer from another jurisdiction for a position that would be far less demanding. During her time at HHSA she has worked tirelessly to make it a more effective and responsive organization and has a comprehensive understanding of the complex funding streams that HHSA relies on. As Recovery Director she consistently went above and beyond to resolve issues with our State and Federal partners, particularly the over excavation issue, frequently working into the night. The increase in salary is minor compared to the value she brings to the County.

Nash Gonzalez has done a great job as P&BS Director but it was on an interim basis as we recruited for a permanent director. His willingness to serve as Recovery Director to continue the work from last year's fire disaster and now this year's, speaks to his commitment to his home community. His planning expertise is an invaluable asset to the recovery effort and we are fortunate to still have him on our team.

But the increased salary for P&BS Director is necessary to secure the services of the best qualified applicant for the permanent position. An announcement should be made shortly, but the incoming P&BS Director has the experience and skill set that is needed to avoid a break in continuity as we continue to rebuild P&BS.

The Board of Supervisors is very aware that the same could be said for many of our employees. In fact, employees working in about 20 classifications, ranging from custodians to social workers and public health nurses, have recently received unilateral pay increases at the direction of the Board.

We are well aware that many more employees are deserving of increases but in most cases this will be the subject of the next round of negotiations through the collective bargaining process.

It's easy to justify the need but it's a constant challenge to pay for the many services the County is required or expected to provide with the limited financial resources available.

That said, I honestly believe the increased salaries for these two positions will result in a much greater benefit that will make it easier to provide critical services and meet our many obligations."

* * *

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE’VE SEEN an official “Museum Director’s Report” on the Supervisors agenda (for next Tuesday). Too bad the photos are of such poor quality: Museum Director Report

* * *

DESPITE PROMISING no more retroactive contracts (meaning “what’s done is done, no review or oversight is possible, even if it was called for) Mendo’s Health and Human Services Department has put the following items on Tuesday’s consent calendar for the Supes to back-approve.

Item 4o on the Consent Calendar: Approval of Retroactive Agreement with Adventist Health, Ukiah Valley in the Amount of $157,800 to Provide Support and Participant-Specific Data to the County of Mendocino’s Whole Person Care Pilot Project for the Period of January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2018.”

No description of service, no explanation of why it’s retroactive — just $158k to be handed over to the Adventists for data they apparently already provided (but the public nor the Supes have received no reports or recommendations stemming from the ridiculously titled “Whole Person Care Pilot Project.”

* * *

ALSO ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR is the controversial consolidation of the Parks, Museum and Library departments into a “cultural services agency,” over the objection of all the advisory boards involved.

Item 4v: “Adoption of Resolution Adopting the Classification and Establishing the Salary of Director of Cultural Services, Department Head Association (D47D) and Amending Position Allocation Table as Follows: Budget Unit 7110, Add One (1) FTE Director Cultural Services; Delete One (1) FTE Museum Director.”

Among the “duties and essential job functions” of the new Cultural Services Director position we noticed a number of things which seem pointless and unmeasurable, and typical of the kinds of vague “duties” which make all of Mendo’s top management jobs unaccountable to any objective measure of job performance: “Strive to integrate library, literacy, and arts and recreational programs into the Cultural Services Department’s operating structure” … “Provide creative leadership to staff in order to develop a problem-solving and proactive staff team that works toward a common vision, mission, and plan.” … “Work effectively with ethnically and economically diverse constituencies, and is sensitive to political and cultural issues and concerns.” … “Work with all staff in a cooperative manner, accepts basic workplace democracy, and encourage and utilize staff input in decision making.”

OH YES, “workplace democracy” — in the fine example set by CEO Angelo.

* * *

ACCORDING TO AN ATTACHMENT to the proposed increases in County fees, to be rubberstamped by the Supervisors on Tuesday, if you need the hourly services of anyone in the Planning Department you better have a lot of money to waste:

CALIFORNIA BURNING

by William Finnegan

(for G.H.)

On the northwestern edge of Los Angeles, where I grew up, the wildfires came in late summer. We lived in a new subdivision, and behind our house were the hills, golden and parched. We would hose down the wood-shingled roof as fire crews bivouacked in our street. Our neighborhood never burned, but others did. In the Bel Air fire of 1961, nearly 500 homes burned, including those of Burt Lancaster and Zsa Zsa Gabor. We were all living in the “wildland-urban interface,” as it is now called. More subdivisions were built, farther out, and for my family the wildfire threat receded.

Tens of millions of Americans live in that fire-prone interface today — the number keeps growing — and the wildfire threat has become, for a number of political and environmental reasons, immensely more serious. In LA, fire season now stretches into December, as grimly demonstrated by the wildfires that burned across Southern California in late 2017, including the Thomas Fire, in Santa Barbara County, the largest in the state’s modern history.

Nationally, fire seasons are on average seventy-eight days longer than they were in 1970, according to the US Forest Service. Wildfires burn twice as many acres as they did thirty years ago. “Of the ten years with the largest amount of acreage burned in the United States,” Edward Struzik notes in Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future, nine have occurred since 2000. Individual fires, meanwhile, are bigger, hotter, faster, more expensive and difficult to fight, and more destructive than ever before. We have entered the era of the megafire — defined as a wildfire that burns more than 100,000 acres.

In early July 2018, there were twenty-nine large uncontained fires burning across the United States. “We shouldn’t be seeing this type of fire behavior this early in the year,” Chris Anthony, a division chief at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told The New York Times. It has been an unusually dry winter and spring in much of the West, however, and by the end of June three times as much land had already burned in California as burned in the first half of 2017, which was the state’s worst fire year ever.

On July 7, my childhood suburb, Woodland Hills, was 117 degrees. On the UCLA campus, it was 111 degrees. Wildfires broke out in San Diego and up near the Oregon border, where a major blaze closed Interstate 5 and killed one civilian. The governor, Jerry Brown, has declared yet another state of emergency in Santa Barbara County.

How did this happen? One part of the story begins with a 1910 wildfire, known as the Big Burn, that blackened three million acres in Idaho, Montana, and Washington and killed eighty-seven people, most of them firefighters. Horror stories from the Big Burn seized the national imagination, and Theodore Roosevelt, wearing his conservationist’s hat, used the catastrophe to promote the Forest Service, which was then new and already besieged by business interests opposed to public management of valuable woodlands. The Forest Service was suddenly, it seemed, a band of heroic firefighters. Its budget and mission required expansion to prevent another inferno.

The Forest Service, no longer just a land steward, became the federal fire department for the nation’s wildlands. Its policy was total suppression of fires — what became known as the 10 AM rule. Any reported fire would be put out by 10 AM the next day, if possible. Some experienced foresters saw problems with this policy. It spoke soothingly to public fears, but periodic lightning-strike fires are an important feature of many ecosystems, particularly in the American West. Some “light burning,” they suggested, would at least be needed to prevent major fires. William Greeley, the chief of the Forest Service in the 1920s, dismissed this idea as “Paiute forestry.”

But Native Americans had used seasonal burning for many purposes, including hunting, clearing trails, managing crops, stimulating new plant growth, and fireproofing areas around their settlements. The North American “wilderness” encountered by white explorers and early settlers was in many cases already a heavily managed, deliberately diversified landscape. The total suppression policy of the Forest Service and its allies (the National Park Service, for instance) was exceptionally successful, reducing burned acreage by 90 percent, and thus remaking the landscape again — creating what Paul Hessburg, a research ecologist at the Forest Service, calls an “epidemic of trees.”

Preserving trees was not, however, the goal of the Forest Service, which worked closely with timber companies to clear-cut enormous swaths of old-growth forest. (Greeley, when he left public service, joined the timber barons.) The idea was to harvest the old trees and replace them with more efficiently managed and profitable forests. This created a dramatically more flammable landscape. Brush and woodland understory were no longer being cleared by periodic wildfires, and the trees in second-growth forest lacked the thick, fire-adapted bark of their old-growth predecessors. As Stephen Pyne, the foremost American fire historian, puts it, fire could “no longer do the ecological work required.” Fire needs fuel, and fire suppression was producing an unprecedented amount of wildfire fuel.

(New York Review of Books)

(Ed note: The above article was written before Carr and Mendocino Complex fires broke out.)

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “My old friend Spot the fire dog, just got back from the front. Poor guy lost his nose up on Cow Mountain. They've got him on disability 'til it grows back.”

TRAGEDY AT BELL SPRINGS & 101

A fatal accident slowed traffic and left at least one man dead and a child injured on Hwy 101 north of Laytonville. According to one witness, the incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. when a small white car went off the road and down an embankment. According to reports we have received, a man and a dog were killed and a child badly injured.

One witness, who wishes to be anonymous, said she was driving north on 101. She says she saw a “young couple parked alongside of the road.” According to the witness, the couple “were frantically trying to wave people by.” She said she could hear them screaming, “We have no cell reception.”

She pulled over. The couple told her that there was a man, probably deceased in the vehicle and an injured child. Though she had no medical training, she had worked in a school and she felt she might be able to comfort the child. “I am good with kids,” she said simply.

When she got down to the accident, she said she saw a man laying back in his seat with his eyes wide open but unmoving and a child with long hair that she originally thought was a girl but has since come to believe was a boy.

The witness was there for quite some time while she waited for medical personnel, she said. During the whole time, the man did not move. “There was not a touch of blood on him,” she explained. “He was leaned back and not breathing.”

The child who was wearing her seatbelt appeared to be unconscious, the witness said. “[He] was clearly breathing,” the witness explained. “[He] was trapped in there. [The man’s] seat was pushed up against [the child’s] legs. I saw that [his] right arm was twisted badly.”

The witness described seeing that the child was bleeding but couldn’t see from where. She said she was afraid to move the badly injured child. “I just stood there and kept rubbing [his] forehead. I was scared [he] was going to wake up and see [his] dad and see he was injured badly.”

She started looking for something to cover the dead man’s face but couldn’t see anything usable. “I took my t-shirt off and draped it in a way that [the child] couldn’t wake up and see that,” she explained.

“It was horrible,” she said. “I’m haunted by it.”

Eventually, the witness said, another nurse came down to help. “Before the ambulance got there, a young woman came down the hill,” the witness said. “She went to the child and said, “It is okay, sweetheart. We’re going to take care of you.’ She was clearly competent.”

The witness said she left. “I couldn’t do anything but get in the way.” She stayed on the road “until all the first responders were there.” Then after informing an officer, she left.

Traffic along Hwy 101 was delayed for several hours.

(Courtesy, KymKemp.com, Redheaded Blackbelt)

BARAJAS CASE: Not guilty & Mistrial

UKIAH, Saturday, Aug. 4. -- A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations this past Thursday, August 2nd, with two out of four verdicts.

Zachary Macel Barajas, age 22, of Ukiah, was found not guilty of forcible rape and assault with the intent to commit rape in two felony counts stating crimes that were alleged to have been perpetrated against two separate victims.

In counts alleging forcible rape of a minor and unlawful sexual penetration with a foreign object by means of force alleged to have been perpetrated against yet a third victim, the foreperson announced that the current jury could not and would not be able to reach unanimous verdicts on these remaining two counts. A mistrial was declared as to those two counts.

Once the jury was thanked for its service and excused, the Court set August 20th as the date for selecting a new jury to hear the available evidence with an eye towards resolving the two unresolved counts.

The prosecutor who presented the People's evidence to the jury was Assistant District Attorney Rick Welsh. The investigating law enforcement agencies were the Ukiah Police Department, and the California Department of Justice forensic crime laboratories in Redding, Eureka, and Sacramento.

The bench officer who presided over the nine day trial was Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Cindee Mayfield.

ON THE SUBJECT OF FREE RANGE UNDESIRABLES ROAMING MENDOCINO COUNTY…

A reader suggested we look into the background of Daniel Alonso, Fort Bragg, who was with Andrew Crowningshield’s former girlfriend, Autumn Johnson, the mother of Crowningshield's son, when Crowningshield shot and killed Ms. Johnson on February 4, 2018.

The earliest reference we found to Daniel Alonso was as the victim of Oakland-based home invaders back in 2012: https://www.theava.com/archives/15281

Excerpt from AVA version of Crowningshield murder incident press release, Feb 6, 2018)

“…According to the Sheriff’s Office, Daniel Alonso, 35, of Fort Bragg reported the shooting shortly after it occurred around 9 a.m. Feb. 4. Alonso is also now listed as a second victim in the shooting, having told deputies he believes Crowningshield fired shots at him, as well. “[Alonso] and his friend, Autumn Smith (aka Johnson), were traveling southbound on North Highway 1 from Fort Bragg,” the MCSO stated in a press release. “As they passed the area of Caspar they observed Suspect Andrew Crowningshield in his vehicle. According to Alonso, Crowningshield followed their vehicle as they drove south.” The Sheriff’s Office stated that Crowningshield and Smith had a child together from a relationship that ended approximately a year ago and that they shared custody of their 3-year-old son. On Highway One south of Little River, the release states, “Smith pulled to the side of the road to talk to Crowningshield about their child and when she could pick up the child. She approached Crowningshield’s vehicle and for reasons unknown at this time, Crowningshield fired numerous rounds at Smith, who fell to the ground. According to Alonso, he believed Crowningshield also fired numerous rounds at him while he was seated in the other vehicle. Alonso used Smith’s vehicle to drive to a nearby business to report the shooting to the Sheriff’s Office. Crowningshield fled the area in a large 4-wheel drive Ford pickup.”

* * *

Fort Bragg man (Alonso) arrested for sex with teen

(UDJ/Press Release, May 28, 2018)

A Fort Bragg man was arrested recently for allegedly having sex with a minor, the Fort Bragg Police Department reported. According to the FBPD, officers began investigating the incident after family members reported a young girl missing on May 19. The following day, the girl’s father reported that she had been found, and officers responded to speak with her to make sure “she was safe and there were no issues.” Officers then learned that the girl reported being raped by a friend of hers, a 15-year-old boy, on May 19 on a beach near Pudding Creek. While officers were investigating that incident, the victim also reportedly revealed that a relative of the boy, a 35-year-old man, had sex with her at his home two days before she was raped by her friend. The adult, identified as Daniel J. Alonso, 35, of Fort Bragg, was then arrested on suspicion of having sex with a minor and booked into Mendocino County Jail under $20,000 bail. The teen was arrested on suspicion of committing rape and sodomy

* * *

Two arrested for alleged rape of minor

Kelci Parks, Fort Bragg Advocate, May 31.

Police have made two arrests in connection with two rapes this month. Daniel Alonso, 35, of Fort Bragg, as well as a 15-year-old male juvenile were taken into custody on May 22 and charged with alleged rape, sodomy and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Officers responded to a report of a missing 15-year-old girl on May 19 and follow-ups were conducted to locate her, according to police. On May 20, the girl’s father reported that the she had been located and officers responded to confirm that there were no issues, however, upon arrival police were told that the girl had reported being raped by a male friend of hers, also a minor, on May 19. The juvenile suspect was identified by name. During the course of the investigation, the victim disclosed that on May 17, Alonso, an adult relative of the juvenile suspect, also had sex with the victim. Police say the May 17 incident occurred at Alonso’s residence and the May 19 incident happened in the area of Pudding Creek Beach. Arrest warrants were secured for both suspects, who were located and arrested on May 22. The case has been forwarded to the Mendocino County DA’s Office for prosecution.

* * *

FB Police press release,

May 23, 2018

On May 19th, 2018 Officers from the Fort Bragg Police Department responded to a report of a missing Juvenile. A report was completed and follow-ups were conducted to locate the missing juvenile. On May 20th, the Missing Juvenile’s Father reported that the juvenile was located. Officers responded to confirm the juvenile was safe and there were no issues. Officers learned that the juvenile had reported being raped by a male friend of hers, also a minor. This incident occurred on May 19th. That juvenile suspect was identified by name. During the course of the investigation, the victim disclosed that on May 17th, a relative of the juvenile suspect also had sex with her at his residence. That relative is an adult, identified as Daniel Alonso, 35 years old, of Fort Bragg. The investigation continued and “Ramey” arrest warrants were secured for both suspects. A search for the suspects began and ended with the arrest of both suspects on May 22nd. The case has been forwarded to the Mendocino County DA’s Office for prosecution.

AMID UNPRECEDENTED OUTBREAK OF HIV AND SYPHILIS, HUMCO HEALTH PROFESSIONALS URGE PRECAUTION, TESTING

lostcoastoutpost.com/2018/aug/3/amid-unprecedented-outbreak-hiv-and-syphilis-healt/

* * *

ACCORDING TO LIMITED STATE PUBLIC HEALTH STATISTICS, MENDO ranks below the state average for HIV and Chlamydia over the three years from 2014-2016. But well above the average for gonorrhea. Mendo’s syphilis rate appears to be well below the state average.

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

CATCH OF THE DAY, August 4, 2018

DOUGLAS ANDERSON, Clearlake. Unlawful possession of tear gas/tear gas weapon, parole violatioin.

JORDAN BAKER, San Jose/Ukiah. DUI-drugs&alcohol.

DUSTIN BERG, Lakeport. DUI-drugs&alcohol, under influence, controlled substance, entering closed disaster area, false personation of another, no license.

EVAN CASTER, Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg. Domestic abuse, controlled substance, contempt of court, false registration, probation revocation.

FELIPE MADUENO JR., Ukiah. Witness intimidation, criminal threats.

PATRISHA MOODY, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

EWIK MORINDA, Lakeport. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, entering closed disaster area, failure to appear.

DANIEL NICHOLAS, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JAMES OBRYANT, Ukiah. Controlled substance/narcotics for sale, and sale, and possession; entering closed disaster area.

JONAH OTWELL, Ukiah. Domestic battery, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

JOSHUA REID, Lakeport. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, loud noises/disturbing the peace.

SHAWNA SCHRAMER, Ukiah. Domestic abuse.

THE MENDOCINO COUNTY MUSEUM ANNOUNCES THE EXHIBIT CLOSING FOR ART REMEMBERED – 45 YEARS AT THE MENDOCINO COUNTY MUSEUM

On Wednesday, August 3, 2018 at the Mendocino County Museum

The last chance to view the Art Remembered-45 Years at the Mendocino County Museum exhibit at the Mendocino County Museum will be on Sunday, August 19, 2018.

This 45^th anniversary commemorative exhibit features art pieces and crafts that have historical significance in this county. The Museum has been a champion of the arts through partnerships, collecting, and commissions. It has also been instrumental in publishing a variety of books through the Mendocino County Museum Grassroots History Publication. These books are available for sale in our gift store for the anniversary price of $1.00 each.

In October, the Museum will be a host site for the Out of the Ashes exhibit. This community-sourced multimedia art exhibit will focus on documenting the Mendocino County wildfires in October 2017, and the process of rebuilding home, spirit, community, and reflecting our ability to rise from the destruction that was wrought.

Please visit the Museum which is located at 400 East Commercial Street in Willits, and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00am to 4:30pm. Admission: Adults $4; Students $1; and Children under 6 Free. For more information on upcoming events relating to this exhibit, visit www.mendocinocounty/government/museum.org or call (707) 459-2736.

COUNT ON IT

Editor:

Someone once referred to me as “our congresswoman who has never met a tiger salamander she didn’t love.” That was absolutely accurate. I was proud to fight for the California tiger salamander, because it needed and deserved protection. In the end, it took compromise and bipartisan effort to win the battle for the salamander to be listed as “endangered.”

Those were different political times in 2009 from what we are experiencing in 2018. Tennis Wick, Sonoma County’s planning director, suggested that we “keep our powder dry” when dealing with the Trump administration’s plan to roll back the Endangered Species Act.

I disagree.

We are dealing with a divided House and Senate, led by Republicans who are doing the president’s bidding on almost everything he wants whether they disagree or not. Unless we object loudly and clearly to rolling back the Endangered Species Act, every species listed as endangered will be at risk, including the tiger salamander.

We can count on Reps. Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson to fight the fight, but they need our support. Plus, they need a new Democratic Congress that respects the progress we have made to save endangered species and the environment and will move forward not backward.

Lynn Woolsey

Petaluma

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

While watching the clip from Trump’s Florida rally where the crowd is turning on the MSM and CNN’s Acosta, it occurred to me that the crowd, which did not appear to be part of the smart set, that what offends these people more than any of the political statements made by the MSM is the excessive and corrosive disrespect they show to the president, to the presidency. It is an affront to the fragile belief system that holds these people locked in to an oppressive order that despises them, that uses and discards them at will. To question the presidency is to expose the falsehood of their lives, the cruelty that deprives them of the dignity of their personhood.

I'VE THOUGHT OF MYSELF as being in deep clover. I have clothes that are 100% pure cotton, pure wool and even a couple pure silk! I still own things Made in America, and my checking account is not yet with the Bank of Beijing. This is an okay neighborhood and a nice-enough house. My cars are all a little long in the tooth, but then so am I, and we're all more or less tootling along, mostly.

Then comes Paul Manafort, and I see how paltry and pathetic is my estate. I didn't even know there was a cobra-skin codpiece, much less that a made man must have one.

Have you seen pictures of his summer place in Ukraine? Goddamn palace! So now I look at the seamy face staring back at me over the sink, and I say, "Loser! That man's way younger than you, and look what he's got!"

Look how springy his step is. I bet he has a personal trainer.

(Mitch Clogg)

TREATIES are like young girls and roses; they last as long as they last.

— DeGaulle

PRESIDENT TRUMP hurled personal insults at Lebron James on Friday night after the basketball star criticized him in an interview with CNN. “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn't easy to do,” Trump tweeted. He concluded his tweet with an apparent reference to basketball legend Michael Jordan and the ongoing debate of who is the better NBA player of all time, saying, “I like Mike!” The comment came after James told CNN’s Don Lemon he believed Trump was using sports to sow discord in the country. “I can’t sit back and say nothing,” James said, recalling the NFL kneeling protests that saw Trump intervene and call for suspensions of players. James’ comments about the president came after he won praise for opening an $8 million public school for at-risk youth in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

Greg Cooper

OBVIOUSLY CLIMATE CHANGE, PLUS…

Editor,

The effects of climate change are here now and by the year 2050 population is projected to be 10 billion and the food supply can only feed 6 billion - so we are looking at mass starvation over the the next 30 years with mass migrations, war and there will be rising sea levels with a good portion of land lost to flooding. Temperatures in southern Europe are on the way to reach 48 C this year - same issue in other parts of the world - can people live in 125 degrees F all year? Deniers of climate change like Trump have their heads in the sand.

In peace and love,

Jim Updegraff

Sacramento

GET OUT, AND STAY OUT

LAKE COUNTY — More arrests have been made in Western Lake County as police continue a heavy patrol in areas that have been evacuated due to the Mendocino Complex fires.

At approximately 9:45 a.m. Thursday, officers saw a man running across Highway 20 near Mendenhall Avenue in Upper Lake.

The officers recognized the man as Peter Karl Saari, 55, and had warned him earlier in the day about being in the evacuation area. Saari told officers he had not stayed at his residence as he was told because he was going to get water.

Saari was arrested as an unauthorized person in an evacuation area and released with a citation after being escorted from the evacuation area.

At 11:40 a.m., officers observed a male riding a motorcycle on Scotts Valley Road. Officers stopped the male who was identified as Sheldon Hugh Fairlee, 18, who had been warned the prior day about riding his motorcycle in the evacuation area.

Fairlee told officers he was going to his grandmother’s house to take a shower. Fairlee was arrested and booked into custody for being an unauthorized person in an evacuation area.

At 8:10 p.m. officers observed a man prowling in the backyard of a residence in the 4500 block of Highway 20 in Nice. Officers contacted the man, Michael Joseph Santos, 36, of Nice [not booked in Mendo as of Aug. 4).

Santos told officers he was walking to Lucerne and was staying off the main roadways to avoid law enforcement. Santos had a duffle bag containing tools and a pair of binoculars. Officers could not determine if the items were stolen. Santos was arrested and booked into custody for being an unauthorized person in an evacuation area and prowling.

While being transported to the jail, Santos told officers he had a syringe containing methamphetamine in his shoe. Santos was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.

Later that night, deputies observed a white Ford Expedition drive into the parking lot of the Power Mart in Lower Lake. Deputies recognized the driver of the vehicle as Mark Andrew Nielsen, 30, of Nice, and the passenger as Javier Marcos Rosales-Peraza, 20 [not booked in Mendo as of Aug. 4], of Lakeport. Deputies also knew that Nielsen was on Post Community Release Supervision and his driver’s license was suspended.

Deputies contacted Nielsen and Rosales-Peraza and noticed they were acting extremely nervous. Deputies noticed there was a police red/blue light on the dash of the vehicle. Deputies searched the vehicle finding a police style baton. They also observed that the police light was velcroed to the dash. Deputies located a police duty belt and bright yellow police style traffic vest in the back of the vehicle. Bolt cutters, a pry bar, flashlights and binoculars were also located in the vehicle.

A wallet with bank cards and ID of a third person was located in the back of the vehicle. When asked about the wallet, Nielsen told deputies his daughter had found it months ago. Nielsen said he had the police light for years and had just found it. He could not explain why he had it on his dash and he could not explain why he had the baton. Nielsen denied being involved in thefts. Rosales-Peraza told deputies he was just getting a ride from Nielsen and did not see the tools or police light on the dash.

Nielsen was arrested and booked into custody for possession of burglary tools, police impersonation, possession of stolen property, and driving on a suspended license. Rosales-Peraza was arrested and booked into custody for possession of burglary tools and police impersonation.

On Thursday, at approximately 3:45 a.m., officers contacted Doug Trimmer, 55, of Upper Lake, and Courtney Addelle Falkowski, 20, of Kelseyville, near Highway 20 in Nice [not booked in Mendo as of Aug 4].

They could not provide a good explanation for why they were in the evacuated area.

They were both arrested for being unauthorized persons in an evacuation area and later released on citation after being escorted out of the evacuation area.

On Wednesday, at 8:50 a.m., patrolling officers came in contact with Fernando Benitez Mada, 65 [not booked in Mendo as of Aug 4], who was walking on Lakeview Drive in Nice. Mada had been previously warned about walking in the evacuated area and told officers he was looking for food. Mada was arrested for being an unauthorized person in an evacuation area and later released on citation after being escorted out of the evacuation area.

At 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, officers observed a red Jeep Cherokee traveling on Highway 20 near Pyle Road. An officer recognized the driver as David Anthony Sparks, 20, of Nice, and knew that he had been warned about driving in the evacuated area.

When the officers pulled behind the vehicle, they noticed the vehicle was accelerating away from them. The officers activated emergency lights and siren and Sparks quickly turned onto Butte Street and continued approximately 100 yards before stopping. Sparks exited his vehicle and was detained.

Sparks told officers he had called the sheriff’s dispatch and was told he could pick up his girlfriend, who was also in the vehicle.

The officers contacted dispatch and found they had not spoken to Sparks. Sparks was arrested and booked into custody for unauthorized person in an evacuation area. Sparks’ girlfriend was released without charges.

At 7:40 Wednesday evening, officers contacted Jason Lee Compton, 46, of Nice [not booked in Mendo as of Aug 4], riding a bicycle in the area of Buckingham Way and Liberty Street in Nice. Compton knew he was in an evacuation area.

Compton told officers he was trying to get cigarettes from a friend and his girlfriend could verify his story. When officers contacted Compton’s girlfriend, she told officers he left to get drinks and food.

Compton was arrested for being an unauthorized person in an evacuation area and later released on citation after being escorted out of the evacuation area.

Ten minutes later, at around 7:50 p.m. Wednesday, officers attempted to stop a motorcycle on Scotts Valley Road in Lakeport.

The motorcycle did not yield and officers initiated a pursuit. The driver of the motorcycle, Bradley Stephen Bastian, fled on foot in the area of Pear View Drive near Eickhoff Road and was apprehended after a short foot pursuit.

During the vehicle pursuit, Bastian drove recklessly, speeding and crossing over double yellow lines, endangering any emergency personnel in the area. There were several firefighters and fire trucks along the route Bastian took.

Bastian told officers he saw their lights and heard the sirens, but decided he was going to go to his friend’s house before stopping. Bastian had previously been arrested for being an unauthorized person in an evacuation area.

Bastian was arrested and booked into custody for felony evasion, driving under the influence, and being an unauthorized person in an evacuation area.

(Lake County Sheriff’s press release)

"How many Operations are there now in Use, which were unknown to the Antients?"
— London Dictionary of Medicine, 1745.

The surest way for a nation's scientific men to prove that they were proud and ignorant was to claim to have found out something fresh in the course of a thousand years or so. Evidently the peoples of this book's day regarded themselves as children, and their remote ancestors as the only grown-up people that had existed. Consider the contrast: without offense, without over-egotism, our own scientific men may and do regard themselves as grown people and their grandfathers as children. The change here presented is probably the most sweeping that has ever come over mankind in the history of the race. It is the utter reversal, in a couple of generations, of an attitude which had been maintained without challenge or interruption from the earliest antiquity. It amounts to creating man over again on a new plan; he was a canal-boat before, he is an ocean greyhound to-day. The change from reptile to bird was not more tremendous, and it took longer.

— Mark Twain, 1892; from "A Majestic Literary Fossil"

I LEFT MY HEART… WHERE?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld6qYJe4pRs&t=167s

(via infowars.com)

IT'S THE COLD THAT'LL GET YOU

Editor,

Lots of people are worried about global warming, but Malcolm Gaskill’s piece on the Little Ice Age in last month’s London Review of Books should instead serve to remind us of the vastly greater danger we would face were the world to become substantially cooler. As late as the 1880s, we experienced another mini ice age, this time caused by the eruption of Krakatoa; we would simply have no response if, say, the Yellowstone Caldera were to erupt. Perhaps the threat that the Siberian or Deccan traps might unleash massive amounts of lava has gone away, but suppose there are other such natural dangers lurking? We do not know enough about the interactions between solar activity, ocean currents, volcanic activity, planetary motion etc. to be in a position to make definitive judgments as to whether we are causing catastrophic climate change or helping to avoid another cooling period. Extreme cold weather, whatever the cause, remains a far greater threat to civilization and health than the rise in global temperature. Another ice age, with mile-high glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere, isn’t something that can be ruled out.

Stephen Essrig

New York, New York

CIRCUS FIRE COMPLEX."I got flowers in the spring. I got you to wear my ring. This is my quest, to follow that star. No matter how hopeless, no matter how fa-aa-ar!"

The recording of last night's (2018-08-03) KNYO Fort Bragg and KMEC Ukiah Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show is available by one or two clicks, depending on whether you want to listen to it now or download it and keep it for later and, speaking of which, it's right here:

https://tinyurl.com/KNYO-MOTA-0292

Bill Olkowsky, Ph.D came to talk about guns, germs, steel, glyphosate, and genetical jiggery-pokery. Chris (Bwana) Byrne, who's donating his collection of 23 Vincent van Gogh framed prints to be placed on sale in support of elephants in Kenya ("Hang a Van Gogh, Save an Elephant") (say van-GOFF), phoned to talk about poaching, and about International Elephant Day August 11 at the Fort Bragg Elephant Museum, 17801 North Highway 1, Fort Bragg. Scott Peterson is creating a stairway from the bottom to the top, or perhaps the other way around. Lucky Otis swung by to explain many things, employing graceful and evocative hand gestures. Etc., etc., and then the show ends with Doug Nunn's approximately fifty-minute Snap Sessions episode number 3, featuring a detailed interview with that violet-eyed vixen Late Night Liz. If Liz is all you're interested in, and who would blame you, here's just SS3:

https://tinyurl.com/SnapSessionsEp3

KMEC's automation again didn't grapple properly with my real-time stream, so this show was, like a few earlier ones, only on KNYO at first, but Sid got home from his nighttime day job at about 1am and manually massaged that, and put it on properly from there until the end. It's always something, and it always ain't the end of the world; trying is what's important. Gandhi said that. Gandhi and Yoda can arm-wrestle for it.

IN OTHER NEWS: Also at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find a fresh batch of dozens of links to not necessarily radio-useful but nonetheless worthwhile items I set aside for you while gathering the show together, things where just hearing it wouldn't be enough. Such as:

The lions drink tonight, then they become suspicious and weem away.

https://laughingsquid.com/lions-drinking-water-at-night/

A toast.

https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2018/07/wine-connoisseurs.html

The detonating cord is both literally and figuratively the bomb. Also it looks like Yondu's Yaka arrow in GOTG 1.

https://theawesomer.com/explosions-in-slow-mo/487886/

Stephanie Millinger's impressive trick. She stands on her hands, balancing on an exercise ball. She bends her legs forward by bending them backward over her head, reaches down to pick up sunglasses with her toes, and bent double (backward!) puts the glasses on, facing the camera the whole while, then places her feet flat on the ground and stands up, in the process flipping her upper body under and over to triumphantly wave ta-daah and shut the camera off. You can close your mouth now.

https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/wellinformedmindlessangwantibo

And Trumpy jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cds7dU7xXSA

–Marco McClean