Mendocino County Today: Friday, Aug. 24, 2018

• Complex Updates
• Fire Break
• Little Dog
• Huffman Disappoints
• PD Aaron
• Hurricane Craig
• Floating Tent
• Kemper Assessment
• Ed Notes
• Buckhorn Brunch
• Jail Bros
• Nutcase Warden
• Pot Perv
• Hopland Tap
• Girlfriend Shakedown
• Yesterday's Catch
• Half DST
• Trump Dialect
• 12 Galaxies
• Billable Hours
• Sheriff Pickers
• Smart Comedy
• Gaslighting
• Gazpacho Evening
• Circle Dance
• Bananas
• Eye-Ear
• Tax Pat
• City-Related Travel

RANCH FIRE UPDATE: As of 7pm Thursday night.

Now up to 367,000 acres, 67% containment.

Calfire Status report: Firefighters continue to build and reinforce containment lines and mop up in the northern portions of the Ranch Fire. Firing operations will continue as weather conditions permit in the northeastern portion of the fire area. The fire growth has been moving north/northeast for the past several days, and will continue to do so at a lower rate of spread due to more favorable weather conditions. The southern portion of the fire remains in patrol status as crews continue with suppression repair and mop up.

MENDOCINO COMPLEX NEWS RELEASE — THURSDAY MORNING, AUGUST 23, 2018

Ranch Fire: Weather conditions at the Ranch Fire on Wednesday were favorable to continue strategic firing operations along northern containment lines. Firing operations remove vegetation between the main fire and containment lines and reduce the chance of spot fires caused by floating embers crossing containment lines. The fire grew approximately 4,524 acres from Wednesday to Thursday. The fire was now estimated at 366,086 acres and is 67 percent contained as of Thursday morning.

Firing operations progressed in the area of Bloody Rock and Little Round Mountain. Engine crews and hand crews supported firing operations by patrolling containment lines, watching for spot fires and mopping-up hotspots. This was a critical section of containment line necessary to stop the northern spread of the Ranch Fire.

On Thursday, crews patroled and improved containment lines where firing was conducted Wednesday night, mopping-up where necessary. Engine patrolled the Rice Fork Summer Homes and Lake Pillsbury areas. This area remains under a mandatory evacuation order. Crews are prepared to defend homes in Bonnie View/Happy Camp.

The mandatory evacuation for the Eel River Road area has been cancelled. This includes all areas west of the Mendocino-Lake County Line, south and east of Eel River Road, and north of the 1600 block of Mid Mountain Road.

The advisory evacuation for the Potter Valley Area has been cancelled, including all areas north of Pine Avenue, south of the 1600 block of Mid Mountain Road, west of the forest boundary, and east of eastside Potter Valley. County Road 301 from the forest boundary remains closed.

County Road 306 is open to north and south bound traffic. All roads west of County Road 306 to the Lake County Line remain closed. County Road 308 is open to east and west bound traffic from County Road 306 to the forest boundary. County Road 308 remains closed at the forest boundary going west.

The northern half of the Mendocino National Forest remains open. The forest areas around Plaskett Meadows and Hammerhorn Lake are open for recreation activities. The Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness is also open for recreation. Forest Highway 7 remains open.

Hunters are reminded that the fire area is closed to hunting. For a specific closure map, please see the forest’s web page at https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd591718.pdf

Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists from the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior are gathering data from the Ranch Fire burn area to provide an assessment and recommendations to lessen immediate hazards to public resources from effects of the fire. Information may be found on Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gobv/incident/6156.

River Fire: The River Fire remains at 48,920 acres and is 100 percent contained. Management of the River Fire has been returned to the Mendocino Unit of Cal Fire.

Fire Area Weather: A moderate marine influence will persisted over the fire area Thursday, creating lower than average temperatures and higher than average humidity. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s with light southwest winds.

Smoke: The area will continue to experience hazy skies and similar air quality conditions. High level smoke is drifting southward across northern California. Smoke from the Mendocino Complex is drifting northwest with the offshore wind flow. Significant smoke overnight settled in the Elk Mountain and the West Fork of Middle Creek drainage areas and to the northwest toward Covelo. A west/northwest wind developing Thursday pushed smoke toward the Sacramento Valley. Clearlake Oaks and Cortina Rancheria experienced higher smoke impacts with the change in wind direction, with smoke clearing in the Covelo area.

* * *

CALFIRE'S MENDOCINO COMPLEX UPDATE (Friday, Aug 24, 7am): 422,396 acres; 74% containment.

"The Ranch Fire continued to remain active overnight. Firefighters continue with firing operations as weather conditions allow. Fire crews and dozers continue to build and reinforce containment lines on the north and northeastern areas of the fire. The main fire progression will be fuel and topography driven and will continue to follow the northeastern/eastern drainages. Fire activity will continue to become more active around 4:00pm. The current weather pattern is expected to remain in the area into the weekend. The mandatory evacuation orders in areas of Lake, Colusa and Glenn counties remain in effect. The southern portion of the fire remains in patrol status as crews continue with suppression repair and mop up."

(Click to enlarge)

HOW ABOUT HERE?

Editor,

With fires raging all around us, and Redding the latest example of how fast a city can burn, Why don’t we have a Fire Break in the Western hills above Ukiah? If the lack of a Fire Break on the Western Hills concerns you, as it does me, please contact members of the Ukiah City Council. Ukiah City Council members can be reached individually by clicking on their names on this website: cityofukiah.com/city-council, then clicking on the green the message link, right below the name.

Lynda Myers

Ukiah

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “I'm wondering if I should hyphenate my name, class up my act a little like the libs do. How about L. Dog-Little? Might be a little pretentious for Boonville, but I could give it a try, right?”

DEMOCRATS DISAPPOINT IN FORT BRAGG

Editor,

On August 15th I received an email from the office of Congressman Jared Huffman's office regarding a Town Hall to be held in Fort Bragg on Tuesday, August 21st. I attended the town hall and would like to share my thoughts.

I am a Democrat, moving further and further left as time goes by, as well as a deeply committed “resister” to the existing government of the US, specifically, Trump and the remnants of what used to be the Republican party. (And to think I voted for Nixon!) I am, like so many other Americans, deeply concerned about the current state of the country and world and looked forward to hearing from our Congressman.

I was not impressed.

To begin with, it was apparent that the Congressman's town hall was cursory at best. It was “announced” with only seven (7) days notice and not to the general public. It was scheduled for only one hour. The hour chosen was between 4 to 5 p.m., a time when the great majority of us are still at work. I couldn't help thinking that traveling to the Coast takes immensely more time than the Congressman allotted to meet with our community. When the meeting began, it was requested that questions presented by the audience would be best kept to a limit of one minute!

Substance? Although it was valuable and interesting for me and others to get a better understanding about some of the challenges the Congressman encounters in his role that are not readily apparent to us, those challenges did not make up for the elephant in the room about what the plans and/or goals of the elected Democrats in the legislature are about some extremely critical and life and death issues.

Besides neglecting to equate “keeping our kids safe from gun violence while at school” as a major issue being addressed by our Washington legislators, a response that “the NRA has a very strong hold/influence on many of the legislators across the aisle,” was the Congressman's answer. However, it was stated that a Democratic majority win in the November midterms would give our legislators more options to explore in dealing with this issue.

So, I attended the town hall and asked a question about school gun violence with the expectation of acquiring a better understanding of what our leaders in Washington are strategizing and/or focusing on when dealing with guns and school shooting and what all I heard was that Democrats are hoping for a majority win in November.

So, only with a Democratic majority could this issue be addressed? As in let's wait and see? I don't know about anyone else, but that was disconcerting for me to hear. I guess I expected and hoped that our legislators had perhaps some slightly more definitive types of answers, more along the lines of this is Plan A, if we win the majority, or this is our Plan B, C, D, etc. If 2016 taught us anything, it is that nothing is guaranteed and/or anything can happen! Congressman Huffman!

What if the Democrats don't win back the majority? Another day, week, month? Time keeps passing — hoping, praying that our children don't experience our worst nightmare.

I would also note in relation to this matter, the protest against violence that occurred in March of this year outside a luncheon that the NRA was having at Portuguese Hall in Fort Bragg, prompted a request to Congressman Huffman through his San Rafael and Fort Bragg offices for his participation in a town hall here in Fort Bragg, likewise extending that same invitation to our Chief of Police, Fabian Lizarraga to address gun violence at school, as well as a look at the almost 50% of acts of gun violence against law enforcement in this nation that occur due to illegal gun ownership. Chief Lizarraga has responded and we have since met and discussed the question. I would like to think improvements will be made locally.

Dear Elected Washington Legislators in the House and Senate, Our children — our sons, our daughters — are now back to school! Another school year has begun. Are you asking us to give it another couple of months before you come up with some ideas for addressing the matter? Until then, are we just supposed to cross our fingers and hope and pray that our CHILDREN! remain safe?

One can only conclude that our elected legislators in Washington, can't seem to effectively meet the needs of their constituents. Then why did we hear about their representation abilities and effectiveness while running for their positions?

Yes. I'm frustrated. I would have at the very least accepted the rationale offered by the Congressman on this issue, if it would have been acknowledged that nothing will ever happen unless we come together as citizens and demand our voices be heard. A little direction on how we could assert those demands in this current political climate would have been a whole lot more palatable than “we are waiting for a majority win.”

Rosemary Mangino

Fort Bragg

HEEERRRRREEEEESSSSS, JEFF!

Appointment Of Jeffrey A. Aaron As Public Defender For The County Of Mendocino 

The Mendocino County of Board of Supervisors is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeffrey A. Aaron as Mendocino County Public Defender. Mr. Aaron joins the County of Mendocino from the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Central District of California, where he served as Directing Attorney, managing the Eastern Division office and litigating complex criminal matters, including federal death penalty cases, habeas corpus petitions, and appeals in the Ninth Circuit. He is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles and holds a Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University School of Law.

Dan Hamburg, 5th District Supervisor, and current Board Chair, stated “Jeffrey Aaron brings decades of experience as a federal, state and county public defender to Mendocino County. Along with his skills as a litigator, he will emphasize the professional development of his staff attorneys. We are fortunate to be able to bring him to county service.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Aaron stated: “I’m a career public defender with over 25 years of experience in both state and federal public defender offices. I am delighted to come to Mendocino County, and to share with a new office the unique combination of passion and professionalism that characterizes public defenders.”

For more information, please contact the Mendocino County Executive Office at (707) 463-4441.

Carmel J. Angelo

Chief Executive Officer

CRAIG STEHR from the eye of the hurricane:

Awake in the room at The Plumeria Alternative Hostel in Honolulu at 7:02 a.m. Thursday morning, awaiting Hurricane Lane. Skies are gray, sirens outside, windy. Advising everybody to be forever “above the God realm”, established on the spiritual platform. The umbrella is out of the luggage, ready for duty. That is all.

* * *

Subject: 7:59 p.m. Honolulu August 23, 2018

Relatively calm right now.  Expecting wind and rain to increase tonight, possible 45 mph wind speed mixed with rain on Friday, and Hurricane Lane is s_l_o_w moving.  Visited the McKinley school gym which serves as the area shelter...buses marked EVACUATION are bringing in those in need of shelter space.  Interesting that Walmart is open until midnight, will open again tomorrow morning at 5a.m. and be open until midnight Friday.  Everywhere else closed up today at 4p.m.  Exception: my friend Roger Snyder is the cook at Bar 35 in Chinatown, and Facebooked me just now to say that they will be open until 11p.m. tonight.  ~Mahalo~

Craig Louis Stehr
Honolulu, Hawaii
Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com

A READER REMEMBERS....

This talk of a hurricane approaching Hawaii reminds me of the night I rode one out on Maui. I was exploring that magical island for the first time. There were rumors that Richard Pryor lived at road's end, and Robin Williams had recently been traipsing about.

I was driving along the highway to Hana in a rental car and had picked up snippets of warning on the radio about a coming storm. I found a state campground that afternoon with an open area perched high above the ocean. So I figured the waves couldn't reach me, no matter how high they got. The open grassy field for camping had the ocean view on one side, and was otherwise surrounded by eucalyptus forest.

I was the only camper there that night, so I pitched my little dome tent in the center of the field. I made dinner, enjoyed the surroundings, and as the evening progressed, the stormy weather did too, so I put on the rain fly and staked the tent down. I cleaned up, brought all my stuff inside, and tucked myself in for the night. As the rain and wind continued picking up, the little dome tent just leaned with it, flexing with the forces. I began hearing branches breaking and falling in the forest. It was a fitful night of sleep, between the wind howling and the trees crashing, and at one point I woke up feeling like I was being lifted off the ground. I splayed out my arms and legs as far as possible and rode the levitating blanket of air. Staking the tent down had been a good idea.

The next morning the forest was a mess of broken branches, and I later saw newspaper photos of harbor boats that had been tossed about. That was Hurricane Iwa in 1982.

MR. KEMPER’S NEEDS ASSESSMENT: First Impressions

by Mark Scaramella

IT’S NOT LIKELY that anyone in Official Mendo will recognize the recently released $40k Kemper Report/Needs Assessment as the broadscale indictment of Mendo’s haphazard and unmanaged mental health system that it is. It’s also not likely that Mendo’s executive leadership has the capacity to deal with Kemper’s basic recommendation: Provide more useful upstream mental health and substance abuse assistance and reduce the number of people who need acute psychiatric care.

MENDO spends upwards of $30 million a year on mental health through its current contractor plus several dozen mental health department staffers, but we have never seen any kind goal-setting, reporting or accounting for all those millions. Mendo’s official position on Mental Health is: Give as much as possible to Camille Schraeder’s Redwood Quality [sic] Management Company and be done with it.

OH SURE, Mendo could probably pull off a construction project like remodeling the old Howard Hospital in Willits. But Mendo has nothing like the kind of senior staff capable of making the many mental health and treatment system improvements Kemper recommends because to do so would require accounting, management and reporting of the kind that Mendo just can not and will not do.

Excerpts:

“…We believe policy makers should establish a policy goal of Measure B funding to reduce the need for inpatient psychiatric care, while simultaneously assuring that inpatient psychiatric care is available in the County when needed…

“For the current mental health continuum of care, we find the continuum is missing key services that are essential to reducing the need for inpatient psychiatric care, including but not limited to Crisis Residential Treatment, day treatment, and a robust array of community-based wellness and support services…

“We also find the growing level of crisis mental health assessments is placing increasing strain on local hospital Emergency Departments that serve as the primary locations for patient assessment and hold pending a determination of their psychiatric needs. Further, we find that Mendocino County’s use of out-of-county inpatient psychiatric care is growing at an accelerated pace, due in large part to a lack of alternative treatment options in the County…

“For the current SUDT [Substance Abuse Disorders Treatment] continuum of care, we find the array of treatment services provides only the most basic components of a care continuum, and to a very small population. We find key services are missing, most notably community-based recovery and rehabilitation programs and a wide range of residential treatment options (low to high intensity)…

“These data reveal a serious weakness in the overall composition of the County’s mental health services continuum – there are no meaningful alternatives to inpatient psychiatric care, and there are insufficient front-end services that support persons with mental illness and reduce the incidence of crisis conditions. [Kemper’s emphasis]

“The small multiple episode group, the so-called “frequent utilizers,” followed a trajectory of placement, return to the community, and return to placement. This dynamic reveals a lack of sufficient community-based treatment support and ongoing follow up services for people that return from inpatient care.”

All of this and much more is backed up by quite a bit of detail, not that anything will be done to correct it.

* * *

Kemper also calls for “a separate annual accounting of all Measure B revenues and expenditures … distinct from standard accounting by BHRS [Behavioral Health & Recovery Services. (I.e., separate from the non-existent management and accounting for existing services.)

Kemper seems to think that a 16-bed PHF unit is doable, perhaps at the old Howard Hospital which he describes in some detail including construction costs and staffing levels, but only in conjunction with other system-wide mental health service improvements — improvements that Mendo’s top management has never shown any interest in, preferring instead to hand over millions of dollars a year to Ms. Schraeder and her minions and hope for the best.

But don’t take our word for it. Read the Kemper report for yourself.

Kemper Consulting Group_Mendocino County Measure B Report_082118

And if you’re a glutton for disorganized Mendo-muddle like we are, try watching the Measure B Advisory Committee’s attempt to react to the Kemper Report next Wednesday afternoon from 1-3pm either on-line or at Conference Room C at the County’s admin complex on Low Gap Road.

Prediction: The Committee will be overwhelmed but will recommend that the old Howard Hospital be remodeled into a PHF along the lines described by Mr. Kemper — the main point of the entire exercise in the first place — and ignore everything else in Kemper’s “needs assessment.” After all, most of these rather obvious basic improvements should not require a consultant to point out, and thus could have been done years ago if anybody was interested.

ED NOTES

HUMBOLDT COUNTY takes a regular on-line beating from many of its residents. During a discussion of class this morning, a cyber-critic noted, "Middle-upper class in Humboldt just means your mom wasn't on food stamps and your dad wasn't in jail."

* * *

THE FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL simply up and cancelled their entire regular August 27 meeting without explanation, issuing this cryptic notice Thursday, with no mention of a reschedule, just no meeting.

“PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the regular meeting of the Fort Bragg City Council scheduled for MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2018 at 6:00 PM is hereby CANCELLED, pursuant to Resolution 4116-2018. The next regular meeting of the Fort Bragg City Council will be held on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2018 at 6:00 PM.”

(PS. We were unable to find any on-line reference to “Resolution 4116-2018.”)

* * *

THE COAST DEMOCRATICS met Wednesday to interview candidates for the Fort Bragg City Council. Insulting incumbent Lindy Peters and hopefuls Mary Rose Kaczorowski and Jessica Morsell-Haye who showed up and spoke at the meeting, the Coasties nevertheless endorsed Tess Albin-Smith who didn't bother to appear. Leave it to the Libs to not only wire local elections for their versions of "appropriate" people, but annoy everyone else with their obliviously smug insider-ism.

IF YOU'RE NEW to Mendo politics, here's how it works: The County is overwhelmingly Democratic but a relative handful of insider Demos — Rachel Binah, Val Muchowski, Joe Louis Wildman, Meg Courtney to name a few of them — keep close tabs on all local elections from school boards up through county supervisors. They also work hard to install people like them — conservative liberals of the Billary type — at the top of all the County's public bureaucracies and all its many non-profits. Needless to say they control KZYX, their audio arm. They also usually have their political clones sitting as Superior Court judges. They've owned the 4th and 5th District supervisor's seats for many years, seats occupied by more or less functioning nut cases, relentlessly oppose maverick Republican John Pinches in the 3rd and are supporting his opponent Haschak this election. They support and are mostly happy with John McCowen in the 2nd, have never yet been able to win the Farm Bureau's 1st District seat where Wildman himself got thumped when he tried to take it. Natch, the insiders actively support whomever the state Democrats foist off on us for the state assembly and senate office and our Congressman.

* * *

MUCH INFORMAL DISCUSSION of California history is either uninformed or inaccurate. But this on-line comment is pretty close: "If you are a historian you know that John Sutter was born a Swiss citizen, moved to New York, then travelled extensively. When he wanted land around Sacramento, the local proto Mexican authority wanted him to be a Mexican citizen so that his settlement could act as a frontier barrier to the Russians’ immigration and a defense against the native Indians because Mexico had no presence above what became Sacramento. Apparently his goal was to make his settlement French but the Americans invaded before he could do it. He was a Swiss citizen first, an American citizen next, a Mexican citizen next and really at heart wanted to found his own country. This is all fun and games discussing history but the point was that neither Mexico nor the predecessor Spain ever colonized in even the weakest way above Sonoma. The claim that history created the right of Mexican nationals to any part of California they want is as unreal as Spain declaring it was theirs 500 years ago. It’s nonsense and should be looked at for what it is."

BACK IN THE 60'S, there were Reconquesta stirrings among some Mexican-American radicals, but it seems to have since evaporated except, it seems, among the paranoid sectors of the rightwing who think Mexicans are poised to re-take California any time now.

SUTTER was a fascinating character, most vividly described in Blaise Cendrars’ wonderful novelistic re-creation, Gold, the only old California history I've read that gives you a real feel for what California was like just before the Gold Rush when "the world came rushing in."

http://brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/326/Gold%3A%20Being.htm

It would take a genius filmmaker, and we have a few, to capture that feeling in filmic scenes like Sutter's Native American army, the biggest Indians he could find, about five hundred of them, that he outfitted in Russian uniforms he bought from the Russians when they pulled out of Fort Ross. History has since been on fast-forward, but old California wasn't that long ago and, in its way, much more civilized.

* * *

THE WILLITS NEWS operates out of the Ukiah Daily Journal's office in Ukiah, these days, although their young reporter, I think, lives in Willits. We hear there's a cannabis testing lab opening (presuming they get or have gotten a Willits permit) at the former Auto Mart repair shop. Rumor in Willits has it that the investors include chemists, and are opening several labs around California. The city planner hasn't given a report yet to the City Council about which cannabis permits have been granted. Possibly in addition to testing for contaminants, they will be making some kind of non-psychoactive cannabis oil product, too.

* * *

SPEAKING OF LOCAL CHAIN PAPERS, here’s the latest Digital First Media Workers story about the evil Alden Hedge Hund closing offices, in case anybody thinks the Willits News closed their office due to competition from the successful upstart The Willits Weekly: dfmworkers.org/newspapers-without-newsrooms/

AT THE BUCKHORN in Boonville:

Cool off with a Key Lime Daiquiri or one of our other Summer Specials.  These happen to be the owners' favorites!  And be sure to try our Strawberry Mojito, made with Bucket Ranch strawberries and mint from our garden.  Or, the strawberry shortcake, and pancakes too at brunch, which also feature Bucket Ranch strawberries. Mmmm so good. Also, did anyone notice an old familiar face at the bar Sunday brunch?  Yes, Tom Towey [former Buckhorn Proprietor] is back as guest bartender on Sunday mornings. Welcome back Tom!

WISH YOU WERE HERE

To Trevor Jackson,

I just want to say that I miss you my brother. I want you to know how grateful I am for you helping my daughter when she was hurting and when she needed a couple of dads who tried to guide her through her life’s trials and heartaches. It meant a lot to her and myself as well. I also want to thank you for keeping me cool in situations that could have gotten out of control and for picking me up when I was down. Also for helping me keep a good head on my shoulders. I also want to thank you for some of the good times we had. You made sure I always had money in my pocket when I was broke and helped me get through the hurt and pain I was going through when the woman I loved with all my heart dumped me on my ass out of nowhere by sending several hot ass women my way to help me get over her!

And Bro, it still blows me away how you got 25 years for pot garden stealing when no one even came close to getting hurt. Where the only shots fired were from neither you nor your crew. It blows me away also that I got a three-year term for a stolen flatbed trailer that was on my property when the man who had more evidence against him than both of our cases combined got set free on misdemeanor probation after only six short months in county jail for raping my daughter.

But that just goes to show you where law enforcement and the district attorney in Mendocino County’s heads are. Thieves go to prison with felonies, child molesters and rapists go home with misdemeanors as long as they get the kids drunk first.

I'm sorry, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I would rather have a tweakers who steals living next door to me and have my stuff missing from time to time than have a sex offender next door when my child comes up missing. But not the good old judicial system in Mendocino County!

Anyway Trevor, I pray for you every day my brother that you will win your appeal for being illegally sentenced for a strike that you didn't have and that that appeal knocks 10 years off your sentence and that you come home a lot sooner to your baby girl than currently expected. I hope you get this, love your life home boy, I hope to hear from you soon and I will write you again soon!

Your brother,

Garrett Coughlin A#2185

Mendocino County Jail,

951 Low Gap Road, Ukiah CA 95482

PS. Thank you so much AVA for everything you do and by making sure the truth of things are told and heard for the underdogs like myself. Your paper rocks!

WHEN WARDENS FREAK OUT

Editor

It's okay again for me to write to you now because we have a new warden.

Back in the middle of 2017 young man from a Central American country climbed out of here over a fence, a building, then three more fences with the middle one electrified and wandered around Atwater, California, for a couple of days.

The warden at that time, Mr. Andre Matevousian, at first denied anyone was missing, then panic took hold and he ordered his guards go out and look for the guy even going so far as to stop cars with Latinos in them and check ID. That last is illegal as prison guards are not police. His worst mistake was that he did not notify the local sheriff of an escaped convict for about 11 hours. I heard that part on the local a.m. radio Tuesday.

After a couple of days the local sheriff found the escapee walking along a road and calmly arrested him, no dramatic incident, no guns drawn, no crimes committed, he just wanted to go home to Central America.

The warden here went bugfuck after that. Every letter I wrote in which I mentioned that escape (or the next one, keep reading) just disappeared. Warden Matevousian eliminated all 46 people with whom I had approved contact via mail, e-mail or phone. He did that with hundreds of prisoners. He then staged massive prison wide shakedowns and a book confiscation. While doing this he used the guards who normally supervise the trustee camp right outside of the prison to help with all the extra work. It was then that a trustee prisoner escaped and he was the second one from there to go in a year.

Warden Matevousian then went into full nutcase mode and removed all the books from the prison library never to be seen again.

During this month long same period in the fall of 2017, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Mr. Mark Inch, issued orders to severely restrict prisoners from ordering books. Congress heard about that and reprimanded Mr. Inch so much that he resigned just eight months after being appointed by Donald Trump. The warden here was moved on in March of 2018 and a new one, Mr. Stephen Lake, is slowly setting things back to right. Although our library is bare we may order books again. The vending machines in the visiting room once again have items in them. I have 15 people back on my contact list now, including the AVA.

Your August 8, 2018 edition of the AVA was a very popular issue. I have passed it around here because of the excerpted article from your book about trying to rehabilitate delinquents in 1971. I wrote a note in the margin that I read the book and donated it to the USP Hazelton library in West Virginia.

I have a parole hearing coming up in September and they may say that I am to get out in June of 2019. If they don't then I am to get out in June of 2020. I may need another year of fine tuning after all these decades.

I am the computer tutor here and I know how to use the things and I look forward to reading the AVA online.

Freedom,

Paul Jorgensen #53599-146

USB Atwater, P.O. Box 019001, Atwater, CA 95301

POT PERV

In July of 2018, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Marijuana Enforcement Team became aware that Charles Phillip Maniaci, a 65 year old male, from Leggett, was cultivating marijuana. Although Proposition 64 allows for the recreational use of and cultivation of marijuana, as does the Mendocino County Code, Maniaci has a past conviction that requires him to register as a sex offender. California law, prohibits persons with past conviction of serious offenses, including those for which persons have to register as a sexual offender, from cultivating more that 6 marijuana plants. A search warrant affidavit was authored for Maniaci's residence, which included two parcels containing one permanent residence; several out buildings; and several travel trailers. A Mendocino County Superior Court Judge issued a search warrant and the warrant was served at Maniaci's residence on 8-23-2018. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Marijuana Enforcement Team was assisted by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Detective Unit, the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force, and Wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. In all, six persons were located on the property, and only Maniaci was arrested. Law Enforcement Officers eradicated 1359 growing marijuana plants and seized approximately 150 pounds of harvested marijuana that was in various stages of being processed, along with 21 pounds of packaged bud marijuana. Maniaci was transported and booked in the Mendocino County Jail for Cultivation of marijuana plants w/prior conviction that required sex offender registration, Conspiracy, and Possession of marijuana for sale. Maniaci's bail was raised to $750,000.

“IT FEELS LIKE I NEVER LEFT.”

Hopland Tap Coming Soon

When Ron Lindenbusch was tavern manager at the former Hopland Brewery, the famous brewpub on Highway 101 that featured one of California’s original microbrews, Red Tail Ale, it was a time he always remembers as “packed with fun.”

ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20180822/mendocino-county-business-hopland-tap-coming-soon

ON THE EDGE AT THE EDGEWOOD

On August 22, 2018 Deputies were dispatched to the Edgewood Motel, in the City of Willits, regarding a Domestic Incident. Upon arrival Deputies met with a distraught adult female that reported she had been assaulted by her boyfriend. The Adult female reported that earlier in the night her boyfriend had picked her up in Ukiah, and drove her to a residence located on Hearst Willits Road, in Willits. Upon arrival she her boyfriend, suspect Miguel Angel Lopez-Cerecedo, 36, of San Diego, got into an argument.

During the argument Lopez-Cerecedo assaulted the 24 year old female victim pulling her hair and striking her in the face. During this assault he also forcibly took $2000.00 in US currency and $1000.00 in Mexican Peso from her person. Deputies responded to the residence on Hearst Willits Road at which time they contacted Lopez-Cerecedo. Upon their arrival Lopez-Cerecedo fled, at which time he was apprehended and placed under arrest. Lopez-Cerecedo was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked on charges of Inflicting Corporal Injury on a spouse, co-habitant or person of a dating relationship and strong-arm robbery. He is currently being held on $75,000 bail.

CATCH OF THE DAY, August 23, 2018

MARIAH BARRON, Hopland. DUI, misdemeanor hit&run, driving without a license.

DARRELL CREAMER JR., Stockton/Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

ANDRES EMERY, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

JOSEPH HILLE-JAMES, Ukiah. Vandalism, probation revocation.

JODI HODGES, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

CHARLENE MARTINEZ, Ukiah. Dumping in commercial quantities, paraphernalia, disobeying court order, failure to appear, probation revocation.

LUIS OLIVER, Covelo. Probation revocation.

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

NATHAN SOTELO, Eureka/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

KENNETH WHIPPLE, Covelo. Probation revocation.

SPLIT THE DIFF

Editor:

A 30 minute change — Regarding daylight saving time there may be a simple solution that no one has mentioned. Simply move clocks forward a half-hour from standard time, and leave them there. This would split the difference year round and would require no further adjustment.

Donald Montgomery

Sebastopol

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Trump is extremely articulate – in lower class Deplorable White Speak. An act? Or is he really like that? A bit of both I’d say. He didn’t grow up lower middle class, but maybe he hung out with them a lot? Maybe the class structure was looser in that time and place? So not an act, but a legitimate sub-personality that he can drop back into at will.

INSIDE THE LAW, a reader writes: So, I practiced law in California for 15 years until I couldn't stand doing it for another minute and went into techbiz. I was 99% civil, divorces and real estate and such, and I was never assaulted by a client, but I did experience some unusual things. One time, I was representing the husband in a divorce between extremely devout Christians. They had a daughter, 11-12 y.o., whom the wife had turned against her husband bigly. The wife instructed the daughter to follow me around the courthouse, about three feet behind me, and describe to me the torments of Hell. This went on for about two hours. Another lawyer asked me "What is up with that?" and I said, "Billable hours my man, billable hours."

BECKY'S NEW CAR, a smart comedy by Steven Dietz, directed by Virginia Reed. Now playing at the Mendocino Theatre Company:

Becky Foster (Pamela W. Allen) is a middle-aged office manager who has been comfortably married to her contractor husband, Joe (Raven Deerwater), for twenty-eight years. When a wealthy widower (Steven Jordan) stumbles into her office one night, she finds herself faced with an unexpected choice, which pulls her in two directions and leads her on a surprising journey.

‘Becky’s New Car’ plays Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm, through September 9th. For tickets, phone the box office at 707-937-4477, or go to mendocinotheatre.org.

Director Virginia Reed discusses the play in this video  by Alice Williams: https://youtu.be/fmGS5g8DCzE

What people are saying:

"...altogether splendid acting..." -- Bill Fenley

"I thoroughly enjoyed Becky’s New Car. The comedy elements were superbly executed, leaving me in stitches."-- Margaret Paul

"This show is at the same time zany, riveting, and provocative. A rare thing for a comedy. Not to be missed.-- Larry R. Wagner

"Loved the play...it was so entertaining and well done." -- Judy Mathey

POP-UP COMMUNITY GAZPACHO EVENING AT SEABASS!

Although no longer a monthly event, please plan to join us on Friday August 24th from 5-7pm to share our summer bounty of all things delicious from the garden!  Only $10 for a big bowl of our homemade, homegrown, chilled Gazpacho along with freshly baked breads and estate olive oil, along with specials on our wines, music and probably some freshly baked desserts.  Hope we'll see you for our community evening - be well, be safe and be kind!

CIRCLE UP, COASTIES!

Circle Dance this Sunday, August 26th, from 3-5pm at the Mendocino Community Center.

No previous experience or partners necessary! All dances are taught before each dance. Dance is one of the oldest ways in which people celebrate community and togetherness, and the circle is the oldest dance formation. Circle Dance mixes traditional folk dances with new choreography's set to a variety of music both ancient and modern. Dances can be slow and meditative or lively and energetic.

Circle Dance groups are a grass roots phenomenon, with hundreds of dance circles in the US, England, and throughout the world. The Mendocino group has been dancing every month for over 30 years. As one dancer put it, “We are doing what people have been doing for millennia, on beaches, in forest glens, around campfires-- dancing together in circles to express joy, passion, solidarity, pain and faith.”

For more information on Sacred Circle Dance go to CircleDancing.com

For local info contact Devora Rossman at drossman@mcn.org or 937-1077.

SEE AND HEAR?

A man walks into a hospital and asks the desk nurse if he can see the eye-ear doctor.

“There is no such doctor,” she tells him. “Perhaps you would like to see someone else?”

“No,” he replies, “I need to see an eye-ear doctor.”

“But there is no such doctor,” she replies. “We have doctors for eyes and doctors for ears, nose and throat (ENT), but no eye-ear doctor.”

“No help,” he repeats. “I want to see the eye-ear doctor.”

They go around like this for a few minutes before the nurse interjects and says, “Sir, there is no eye-ear doctor, but if there was one, why would you want to see one?”

“Because,” he replies, “I keep hearing one thing and seeing another.”

‘CITY-RELATED TRAVEL’?

August 28, 2018 Point Arena City Council Meeting

(https://mailchi.mp/f0dc020b1480/august-28-2018-city-council-meeting?e=d0e3cdc057)

Point Arena City Council: Mayor Scott Ignacio ~ Vice Mayor Barbara Burkey ~  Richey Wasserman  ~ Jonathan Torrez ~ Anna Dobbins

Agenda - August 28, 2018

Regular Session ~ 6:00 p.m.City Hall ~ 451 School StreetI.  CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL

II.  READING — Councilmember Wasserman

III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

IV.  MAYOR’S REPORTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

V.  COUNCIL REPORTS

A) City-Related Travel Reports

B) Council Committee & Commission Reports

1. Harbor & Seafood Festival

2. Community Garden

3. Arena Cove & Pier

4. Street Standards