Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018

• Red Flag
• Seven Candidates
• Meet Three
• Lichen
• FB Council
• Cat Colony
• Little Dog
• Pets
• Predators
• Burkey's Back
• Freezer Mural
• Candidate Interviews
• Kirk Case
• Khadijah Search
• Yesterday's Catch
• Precarious
• Coming Disasters
• CAMP Numbers
• Alcatraz
• Library Events
• Kavanaugh Accusations
• Velma's Produce
• Banksy Shredded
• Gas Tax
• Marco Radio
• Albion Market
• Clavichord Weather
• Beer Justice
• Online Advertising
• Life Matters
• Police Info

RED FLAG WARNING THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY MORNING

The National Weather Service in Sacramento has issued a Red Flag Warning, which is in effect from 11 PM this evening to 11 AM PDT Monday. The Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect.

Building high pressure will bring warming temperatures, lowering humidity, and strong northerly wind to interior Northern California this weekend. Areas that did not see significant rains this past week will see rapid drying during the weekend. The combination of dry fuels, strong wind, and low humidity will likely lead to critical fire weather conditions late tonight into early Monday.

WIND...North wind 15 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph, strongest during the day Sunday.

HUMIDITY...Minimum daytime humidities around 15 percent, with overnight humidity recoveries as low as 30 to 40 percent.

IMPACTS...any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.

Outdoor burning is not recommended.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.

SEVEN CANDIDATES FOR COAST HOSPITAL BOARD

by Louise Mariana, RN

It was standing room only at the Fort Bragg Senior Center on October 1. The League of Women Voters (LWV) hosted a meet and greet for the seven candidates running for one of the four seats available on Coast Hospital's board of directors. The election will take place November 6. Be sure to to educate yourself and vote!

The seven candidates had a few things in common: they all voted for the hospital’s parcel tax, Measure C. They all believe in maintaining the obstetrics department. And they all feel community involvement, administrative transparency and a more efficient billing system are crucial to the hospital's survival.

I will now attempt to summarize each candidate’s qualifications and responses to some of the questions posed by the audience.

Jessica Grinberg has an orthopedic/prosthetics business. She has been a school board member and has experience with budgets and planning. Her platform consists of ABC -- Accountability of hospital executives, Billing improvements to capture lost charges, and Community support and involvement.

Amy McColley, RN, is a former hospital employee. She was an obstetrics nurse and supervisor and later became the hospital's quality assurance manager. She repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining and improving quality of care in order to sustain and increase usage of the hospital which would contribute to the hospital's survival.

Kevin Miller, MD, is the hospital's ophthalmologist. He is currently a board member. His focus was on the board’s role in developing a budget for a 5-10 year plan to ensure survivability. He wants to look at "certain programs" to see if they fit in the plan or if they are "losers."

John Redding has degrees in nuclear physics and business. He is a former long-term executive with General Electric has 40+ years in financial management. He has served on many private and nonprofit boards and believes the key to any well-run organization is collegiality. All employees must enjoy working for the organization, sharing responsibility in a group endeavor.

Jade Tippett has a background in education and stressed the importance of community input and support. The recent debate about keeping or retiring the obstetrics department is what got him involved in hospital issues.

Karen Arnold is the human resources manager at Coast Clinics. She has a master’s degree in management and organizational development and has over 30 years serving on nonprofit boards. She is a certified mediator and does recruiting for the Coast-clinics.

Rex Gressett is the odd man out. He cited no university degrees, no experience or board memberships, only his journalistic offerings in the Anderson Valley Advertiser and his involvement in the Fort Bragg City Council issues. He is a concerned citizen who owns a generous amount of skepticism.

I will now highlight the most salient comments coming from the candidates:

Dr. Miller said, "Gotta just trust” in the current administration that they would spend the Measure C money prudently. He supported administration's efforts several times. He believes in his 5-10 year planning process. And if he is not re-elected I hope he will take a seat on the hospital's planning committee.

Ms. McColley said the operational side of the hospital is what will bring in the money and to do that quality of care must always be improved. She got some silent applause from me when she had to respond to a multilevel question and had only one minute to do so. She responded with, "We should get more than one minute!"

The LWV structures these forums in the least confrontational, least informative way possible. The audience gets just a glimmer of what the candidates think. It's not fair to the candidates and it's not fair to the public. The LWV would do well to increase response times to at least two minutes. These are crucial, critical issues and people who have the interest and take the time to run for elected seats should have a little more time to express themselves.

John Redding believes there should be "clear metrics" in evaluating the performance of the CEO to be sure that the CEO does what the board wants, not vice versa.

Rex Gressett said he would hold the CEO accountable, but he would not be afraid of firing him if he underachieved. Gresset said he would not enter into a "corrosive relationship," just one of accountability. He cited the experience with the former Fort Bragg City Manager who was let go last year and things improved drastically after her departure, according to Rex. He also thought that a podcast from the board would promote community support and encourage discussion.

Measure C money from the recently approved parcel tax was discussed. Mr. Trippett thinks the money should be held in a separate account to track expenditures. John Redding echoed that sentiment, saying there was "no certain way to know where the money is going to unless it's in a reserve account." He also mentioned this interesting concept: He believes the current administration is "carefully managing the decline of the hospital." This is negativity and its finest display.

Rex Gressett has no confidence in the administration or its lip service to transparency. He asked for a copy of the budget and was given a one-page print out. “One page!” he explained, for a $100 million budget. When he asked for a more detailed report he was told to file a public records act request. Administration is as transparent as asphalt.

What about putting a new hospital at the old GP mill site? John Redding said he was "excited" about the possibility, plus adding housing units alongside for staff. Rex Gressett brought him back to earth -- the site is toxic, Gressett said, and it's the most expensive option available.

I personally might add that renovating or rebuilding at the current location makes more sense because it would be close to existing clinics, doctors offices and the helipad.

Then it was time for the two-minute closing remarks.

Ms. Grinberg said her ABCs were critical to the hospital's well-being. McColley said we all want transparency, financial statements we all understand, and improve quality of care. Dr. Miller said it was time to take drastic measures to save our hospital. John Redding said, We must work toward positive goals, not manage decline. “We must create a culture where everyone enjoys working at the hospital.” Karen Arnold said, "I need you to help solve the problems; the board can't do it alone." Jade Trippett said, "What happens in the next four years with the new board will affect the next 20-30 years for the hospital. We need a new hospital for the economic health of the area, and I what I can offer you is a tough work effort." Rex Gressett said, "Read my articles to know that I do my homework. I will give my full attention if elected. If not, my feelings won't be hurt. Enough of the happy talk. Conflict resolution is a buzzword. What we need is transparency and a clear ideology. I will do my best."

I hope there will be more opportunities to speak with and learn about these candidates. I'm glad seven people threw their hats in the ring. We have choices. And I hope the three “losers” will continue their involvement in the hospital issues and will offer to serve on its financial and planning committees.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY, October 2, I went to a meet and greet with three of the candidates — Grinberg, Arnold and Redding at the Harbor Lite Lodge. They reiterated their positions from the night before. I asked them what they thought of the Union (UFCW-United Food & Commercial Workers) that represents employees and if they thought the wages and benefits package was largely to blame for the hospital's financial difficulties. To summarize their statements, They were all in agreement that the health and welfare package was not the reason for the financial difficulties. The union's MOU is not the place to cut. It's an easy out to blame the Union and the employees need the protection of the Union. Also mentioned were ways to create a more healthy hospital — i.e., improving goodwill to increase usage, adding local businesses to insurance networks to lower costs, seek out more grant money, and enlist employees in decision-making, not view them as a drag on profits.

If you want the same old nonsense, vote for Dr. Miller. If you want a chance for real change, vote for any of the other six. Just vote.

MEET THE CANDIDATES AT ST. ANTHONY'S

Event: Meet John Redding, Jessica Grinberg and Karen Arnold

Where: St. Anthony's Hall, 10700 Lansing, Mendocino

When: October 9, from 7-8:30

The upcoming election will give the community a chance to vote on candidates for the MCDH Board of Directors. Community members are invited to meet MCDH Board candidates John Redding, Jessica Grinberg and Karen Arnold. Each will share his/her qualifications and why they are running, followed by a Q&A.

INVASION OF THE INNOCENTS

by Rex Gressett

It must have been like this in the last days of Rome waiting for the Vandals to come over the hill. Not that the new prospective city council candidates are barbarians exactly but the feeling is similar. Perhaps like those fated Romans, I have just lost all faith in the old order. It’s a what-the-hell moment.

The three open seats for the Fort Bragg City Council means adios to the old City Council that in happier days not so long ago was the new City Council majority. I am reluctantly backing all the women knowing full well that none of them except Jessica Grinberg Morsell-Haye is remotely qualified or capable. I support them anyway and fear for the next Council. It could be grim.

Say what you will about the current council — they have at least kept up appearances. It's hard to imagine Ruben Alaca or Dana Jess remotely keeping up. Departing Incumbents Bernie Norvell and Will Lee busted their chops to at least look good.

City business is very complex. Training a new City Council starts day one. Lee and Norvell learned the game at the feet of former City Manager Linda Ruffing. It took months of high-intensity indoctrination. Cynicism is a disease. I guess they caught it. At least they were passably competent and both are snappy dressers. Council members can look stupid very easily and the old City Council majority figured out very quickly how to never risk it. They have had a swell time ever since. It’s success of a kind.

The first thing the new Council will be embarrassed to discover is that the generalities and cliches that achieve election are worse than useless once you get in office. Manipulating policy past opposition from all sides is the game at Town Hall. When the blind puppies arrive the City Manager will inoculate the novices against egregious blunders and coordinate on their behalf from behind the scenes by means of an administration-provided “agenda” that keeps the tough stuff on the consent calendar and moves the city leviathan forward in its perpetual quest for grant funding.

There will be the shocking discovery that the Council actually has nothing to do with the great bulk of city business. “Direction” from the council is a mythical fiction. Name me one policy initiated by the city council? Oh yeah, the $35,000 desalination study that Lindy Peters grubbed up in the heyday of his influence and wasted 100% of. No desalination of course. The consultant was able to convey the information that it would take the compliance of 30 separate agencies. That was a nasty surprise. Mr. Consultant consoled a stunned council with the information that a toy desalination plant could be built at one water well for a mere $2 million bucks. It was crazy and never discussed again.

Even that much Council initiative is very rare. Everything of substance, every plan, every policy, every interpretation of regulation, every application of law comes from City Hall to the City Council in a nonstop torrent. The poor Council is expected to deal with information overload without any administrative support of their own and do it for $300 bucks a month and healthcare.

City Business coming off the desks of department heads is pre-negotiated, predigested, and presented to the council in glossy packages designed to move ponderous procedures through difficult regulations into hard cash without incurring undue public notice. When that happens everyone is happy.

The actual Council function is to make possible steady unexamined progress by administrators at city hall. Innovation is so far from being a driving force that any suggestion of it is openly scorned by the Administration and carefully avoided by the Council. The city administrators (not current city manager Tabatha Miller) openly sneer in Committee meetings at even the smallest correction.

The much touted “public conversation” advocated so passionately with such curious ubiquity by apparently all candidates is the last thing any of them will want after the election. The avoidance of embarrassment is what they will crave and the administrators at City Hall have it fearsomely in their power to withhold it. In Town Hall vs City Hall it’s no contest.

Into that vacuum commeth the most powerful landowner in the city — the Koch brothers (GP). It's not so sinister, really, it’s just a fact. Development Director Marie Jones works closely with GP. They gave her department a lot of money. The people might bend the ear of a Councilperson but they are not calling the Development Director on the phone. GP/Koch protects their own interests through secret pressure on the Council and the direct intermediation of one public official. Marie Jones, I just don’t trust her. And I don't support her egregious out-front bias for GP. I understand it, but I think it should be public. The old City Council has been a vivid, historic failure. Marie Jones ran them like a dog sled. The newbies might be worse.

THERE'S ALSO A FERAL CAT FEEDING STATION ON ANDERSON VALLEY WAY, BOONVILLE

I visited this burgeoning cat colony in Yorkville yesterday. There are nine teenage kittens, 4 smaller easily socialize-able kittens, and another 7 somewhere else on the property. You can see the original culprit off to the right, a single calico mama cat. It just takes TWO breeding cats in an area to suddenly find yourself 21 cats in and overwhelmed. This is why spay and neuter is SO important.

We're looking for volunteers in the Anderson Valley area, or even in Cloverdale, as this property is only about 10 miles away from there. This is outside of our usual terrain, about and hour and a half each way for our volunteers, not to mention high volumes of cat needs right here on the coast where we're designated to work. But, something needs to be done. Please reach out if you can help, or share this post to spread awareness and help find new cat heroes in these regions. We need you! The kittens need you.

707-969-7781

coastcatproject@gmail.com

Coast Cat Project

LITTLE DOG SAYS, "Every time I complain about something the boss hits me with, 'Every day's a holiday, every meal's a banquet. Little Dog. There's no alternative.' I don't get it. Some kinda Zen parable?"

UKIAH SHELTER PETS OF THE WEEK

Avalanche is a pure white, 4 month old, neutered male kitten who is polydactyl on both front feet. Avalanche is a frisky kitten who loves feathery toys and enjoys playing hide and seek under his blanket. An indoor-only home would be ideal for Avalanche, as white fur animals can sunburn easily and have a higher risk for skin cancer. Avalanche lives with his sister, Snow, a pure white kitten who is also available for adoption.

May is a beautiful, lithe and athletic dog. She’s close to a year old and weighs a svelte 40 pounds. May is a little shy and wary, but warms up easily. May spent a month in a foster home, so we have lots of information about her. In foster care, May lived with 5 other dogs and got along with them — she loves playing with other canines. May is crate-trained, housebroken, knows some basic commands. And though a bit stubborn, May's love of treats will be a good training motivator. Visit May’s webpage for more photos and information: http://www.mendoanimalshelter.com/dogblog/may

The Ukiah Animal Shelter is located at 298 Plant Road in Ukiah, and adoption hours are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10 am to 4:30 pm and Wednesday from 10 am to 6:30 pm. To see photos and bios of the shelter's adoptable animals, please visit us online at: www.mendoanimalshelter.com or visit the shelter. Join us the second Saturday of every month for our "Empty the Shelter" pack walk and help us get every dog out for socialization and exercise! For more information about adoptions please call 707-467-6453.

PREDATOR AND PREY

Editor,

By affirming Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, a spineless, gutless, shameless majority of United States Senators has sent a chilling message to the American people:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are predators and all women are prey."

"Get over it!"

"Long live Kid Kavanaugh."

Cheers,

Don Morris, Cranktown/Willits

ON THE SUBJECT of suddenly interesting mayors, former Point Arena mayor, Douglas Burkey, and his consort, Sheryl Smith, a former employee of Mendocino County’s smallest but most consistently in-the-news town as previously reported here, were arrested three years ago for grand theft. Their arrest occurred in Point Arena on a warrant from Sonoma County.

BURKEY AND SMITH had some serious 'splaining before them. The background for their arrest involved theft in the amount of $168,000 from a man named Aron Laventer, a former love interest of Ms. Smith’s. The 60-year old Laventer was found dead on his SoCo property in late 2012, conveniently and unaccountably dead, it would appear, if viewed from a larcenous perspective.

DOUG BURKEY is back in PA and working for the Mendocino County's smallest city as manager of the town's pier. Still recognizable through his long hair and a full beard, Burkey and his girlfriend, the late Lian Smith, were arrested several years ago by Sonoma County authorities on charges stemming from the convenient death of Lian's former boyfriend and the subsequent transfer of the dead man's property to Burkey and Smith, both of whom were eventually charged and convicted on various charges related to the false transfer of property. Lian died of cancer soon after she was released from prison, Doug has resumed life in the fog belt.

UKIAH TAKE NOTICE. THIS BRILLIANT MURAL IS IN FORT BRAGG

Roundman's Smokehouse is with Nicola Sttaeb.

Take a stroll down the alley behind our shop, between Main and Franklin & Laurel and Pine, and gaze upon this beautiful mural by the mighty talented Nicola Beatts @slugandkitten

We are so honored she chose our huge freezer as her blank canvas! Be on the look out for more amazing artwork by Nicola around town. (via MendocinoSportsPlus)

UKIAH CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS:

Ed Haynes, veterinarian: ukiahdailyjournal.com/2018/10/05/ukiah-city-council-candidate-q-and-a-edward-haynes-veterinarian-and-business-owner/

Juan Orozco, educator: ukiahdailyjournal.com/2018/10/05/ukiah-city-council-candidate-q-and-a-juan-orozco-educator/

Chon Travis, musician and entrepreneur: ukiahdailyjournal.com/2018/10/05/ukiah-city-council-candidate-q-and-a-chon-travis-musician-and-entrepreneur/

PRIMARY SUSPECT IN NORTH COUNTY ARSONS PLEADS NOT GUILTY

Charles Levi Kirk, 18 of Piercy, was arraigned on six charges of felony arson in Mendocino Superior court this morning. Judge Cindee Mayfield presided.

mendovoice.com/2018/10/arson-mendocino-kirk-arraignment/

KHADIJAH BRITTON WON’T BE FORGOTTEN...

“Tragically, Khadijah Britton, a 23-year-old tribal member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, has been missing since February 7th, 2018.

Many searches by Khadijah’s family and other concerned community members have ensued with no answers for her family and friends. The family continues to diligently search for their loved one in and around the RVIT Reservation Boundaries and beyond, hoping desperately to have some answers about her disappearance.

The Tribal Council of the Round Valley Indian Tribes is urging anyone who knows the whereabouts of Khadijah Britton to come forward.

There is a general knowledge amongst many Tribal members that someone knows Khadijah’s whereabouts and are too afraid of possible consequences to come forward. As the leaders of this tribe we urge these people to come forward.

The family of Khadijah Britton deserves to know the whereabouts of their precious child and to have peace of mind.

Eight long months have passed with continued heartbreak for the family.

The spark of hope that Law Enforcement might use enforcement tactics to compel information from the ex-boyfriend, Negie Fallis IV, the prime suspect in Britton’s disappearance has proven empty.

The only hope to find Khadijah Britton is for this community to come together and encourage those who know her whereabouts to step forward.

The anonymous tip line has been circulated for months and we urge those who know anything to call this number with complete anonymity and confidentiality.

Also there is a $50,000 reward for the return of Khadijah Britton.

707-234-2100

We urge anyone with information to come forward. This tragedy must end; the family of Khadijah Britton deserves to know her whereabouts and Khadijah Rose Britton deserves to come home.”

(Round Valley Indian Tribes)

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 6, 2018

CHRISTINE ANDRETTA, Manchester. Battery.

MICHAEL ARNOLD, Covelo. Probation revocation.

BRIAN BANZHAF, Upper Lake/Redwood Valley. Under influence, controlled substance, forge/alter vehicle registration.

KURTIS BARNARD, Turlock/Ukiah. DUI with priors, suspended license, no insrance in accident, failure to appear.

WILLIAM BARRY, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)

ALFREDO CHI, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

JUSTIN CONCHOLA, Talmage. DUI.

DAVID FETZER, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

DAVID FITCH, Concealed dirk-dagger, probation revocation.

SEAN FLINTON, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, shoplifting, trespassing/refusing to leave. (Frequent Flyer)

JULIAN GALARZA SR., Ukiah. Domestic battery, protective order violation.

MARCOS HERNANDEZ, Redwood Valley. Probation revocation.

SUSAN HOLMES, Ukiah. Under influence.

ROBERT MATTOS, Willits. DUI.

HARRY MILA, Fort Bragg. Parole violation.

CHERRI ROBERTS, Ukiah. Failure to appear. (Frequent flyer)

CHRISTOPHER ROVETTI, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

MICHAEL SIEGLER, Talmage. Unspecified offense.

TASH WAKE, Fieldbrook/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

The increase in technology allows for a corresponding increase in complexity, however when things get really complicated, everything has to work perfectly. All it takes is for one part of the whole to collapse, and everything begins to tumble down. Recovery will come slowly, because most people haven’t lived a lifestyle that translates into a skill set useful for the great reckoning. It’s hard to hurt someone who lives in a mud hut, and beats his clothes on a rock in the river, however, we don’t live at that level, and have no experience in how to live in reduced circumstances. I guess it depends on how great the fall, and how far it drops. My guess is that if you don’t already live close to a simpler lifestyle, whatever that may be, the tougher it will be when the hammer comes down.

A ROLLING DISASTER

Editor,

The president loves to rave about the roaring economy, and those who support him clap with glee. As with many things coming out of this administration, it is based on false premises.

I will only mention three concerns. First, by all but eliminating science from the Environmental Protection Agency, and bulldozing toward deregulating the protections we need for safety and the health of the planet, discharged carbons will continue to accelerate.

Second, the so-called middle-class tax cut, which benefited the wealthy and big business, has deficits soaring. The dishing out haphazardly of tariffs has the administration giving our tax money to farmers who didn’t want these tariffs in the first place.

Lastly, the assault on our workforce, especially the immigrants and lower-rung folks, will leave vital work undone. Who will clean the hotel rooms, cook the food served in restaurants or pick the food from the farms?

By ignoring the consequences of these policies, the economy is roaring toward disaster. This is just a hunch, but in two years, by the end of this term, even the GOP base may be ready for the incredible repair work that will need to happen.

Noel J. O’Neill

Willits

MEANWHILE METH AND HEROIN ARE EVERYWHERE

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced the arrest of 52 individuals as part of the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) Program, which is the largest illegal marijuana eradication program in the nation. This year, CAMP eradicated 614,267 plants in over 254 illegal grow sites across the state. Agents also seized 110 weapons.

“This year’s results put an exclamation point behind California’s multi-agency illegal cannabis campaign, holding accountable individuals who damage our public lands and hurt our communities,” said Attorney General Becerra. “At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to work with our partners at the federal, state, and local levels through our CAMP program to vigorously enforce California’s laws against illegal cannabis activity.”

The twelve-week CAMP operation headed by the California Department of Justice includes local, state and federal agencies that work to eradicate illegal indoor and outdoor marijuana cultivation and trafficking throughout California. Agents were divided into four teams covering the Northern, Central and Southern California regions. The following counties were targeted: Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba.

In the course of the operation, CAMP teams protected public resources against misuse and safeguarded public land and water from illegal pesticides. A CAMP team in Stanislaus County stopped drug traffickers from diverting water from the San Joaquin River in order to fuel their illegal operation. In other cases, the CAMP team busted suspects using a deadly, banned pesticide called carbofuran. Agents shut down these illegal grow sites, shielding public land from this dangerous chemical.

The 2018 operation is a product of a multi-agency collaboration between the California Department of Justice, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Forest Service, the United States Department of Interior, the National Park Service, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the United States Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration, the California National Guard, the California Bureau of Land Management and the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program and other local law enforcement departments.

(California Attorney General Xavier Becerra)

* * *

ON-LINE COMMENT

39 Counties & 52 Arrests - I think the message being received is that the odds of pulling off a crop are pretty much in the growers favor, as usual. Their Whack-a-Mole tactics have never worked. But hopefully, most new greenrushers will give up and go away. Long live Mom&Pops!

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS & VIRTUAL REALITY @ UKIAH LIBRARY

We invite people ages 13+ to come try our Oculus Rift & Oculus Go! First come, first served for 20 minute increments per person (more time given if no one is waiting in line). All adult participants, or legal guardians of teens ages 13-17, must sign a liability waiver.

The Mendocino County Library's National Endowment for the Arts - NEA Big Read selection is the collection of nine short stories, Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link. By inviting the community to all read the same book, we are aiming to inspire conversation and discovery. Pick up your free copy of Pretty Monsters at any Mendocino County Library branch during the month of October, and join us for a variety of special events inspired by the book. The Ukiah Library is hosting a series of “Hands-On Healing” therapeutic art workshops. This series is available at no cost to anyone affected in any way by the fires in October 2017 or those of 2018, and no art experience is necessary. The sessions will be led by artist, teacher, and fire survivor, Nori Dolan. Next session is on Saturday, Oct. 20th. Children’s session is at 10am (children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult). Teen & Adult session is at 11:30am. Signup by calling 463-4490. For a full list of events, check out our website or follow us on Facebook.

A READER WRITES: How would like being accused of what Brett is accused of with NO corroborating evidence, NO date or time, NO witnesses. The people she said were there have no recollection of anything even close to that ever happening. Are they lying? How would you like your life as you know it being turned upside? Regardless of the fact that it's a 99% chance Brett will be voted for today, his life will never be the same. Convicting a man 35 years later for a serious accusation that is simply hearsay is wrong no matter how you twist it. I'll take "innocent until proven guilty"... over mob rule mentality.

ED REPLY: How would you like to be judged by a lying lunatic? In this case, the lunatic won, although I agree that the accusations against "Brett" were so vague they did not stand up to even cursory examination. Bottom line? A large part of our population thinks like a lynch mob.

VELMA'S FARM STAND

Certified Organic Biodynamic
11750 Anderson Valley Way
Boonville Ca 95415
Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday
10am till 4pm

APPLES: Ambrosia, Coral, Jonagold, Rubinette, Honeycrisp, Smokehouse, Gala, Orleans Reinette (Red Delicious), Mountain Rose, Swiss Gourmet, Freyburg, Kidds Orange Red

PEARS: Bosc, Taylor's Gold, Comice, D'Anjou

GRAPES: Fantasia, Red flame, Jupiter

TOMATOES: Blush Cherry, Early Girl

SQUASH

PEPPERS

OLIVE OIL

BANKSY AUCTION PRANK LEAVES ART WORLD IN SHREDS

Canvas of Girl With Balloon passes through shredder in frame shortly after £1m sale

theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/06/banksy-sothebys-auction-prank-leaves-art-world-in-shreds-girl-with-balloon

DO THE MATH BEFORE YOU VOTE ON PROP. 6

Editor,

Proposition 6 (gas tax repeal) is a hot topic in this year’s election, but I think it’s important to do some math on the financial impact of this fee or tax if you wish, before you vote.

Assuming you drive 12,000 miles per year and your vehicle gets 22 miles to the gallon, you would consume approximately 550 gallons of fuel; at 12 cents per gallon, the recently enacted fee will cost you $65 per year, $5.45 per month or $1.05 a week. If you drive one of the hybrids and get 40 mpg, your cost plummets to $36 per year, $3 per month and 70 cents per week.

With its continuance and with many projects already underway we will find better maintained and safer roads and bridges and our cars will last a lot longer, and therefore I conclude that repeal would not be in our benefit.

Louis Bartolini

Novato

MEMO OF THE AIR: LANDMINE COFFEE

The recording of last night's (2018-10-05) 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-0301

Dynamic Zachary Friedley came to talk about his mission to provide prosthetics for landmine survivors, and of course I interrupted him mercilessly like an idiot. I don’t know why I do that, but at least he'll be prepared for future interviews on the international stage where they do it right, and he promised to call in reports from India, so there'll be plenty of other chances. Paul Katzeff's Thanksgiving Coffee Company is even coming out with Landmine Coffee to support Zachary in his project.

Kay Rudin and I chatted about various shared and unshared history. You'll especially like her story about 1979-era Donald Strauss (R.I.P.) theatrically and stark-nakedly distracting the entire Willits police force while Kay and the rest of the Gloriana Pirates of Penzance cast and crew got away clean in the night. Thomas walked in and brought me the very dictionary definition of a /superior/ hamburger, handmade with his own startlingly long piano-playing hands. Also he spontaneously developed a really entertaining, insightful and bravely revealing rant about the emotional hierarchy and pecking order in bars. Alex called to talk about David Lynch using a booth in Bob's Big Boy for an office, and how he met him once and did his David Lynch impression and David Lynch didn't bat an eye. And there's a great deal of other valuable information on various subjects in a rather more coherent, if slightly nervous-sounding, order than usual.

Last part of the show: the entire live recording of Maureen Martin's and Bronwyn Falcona's brand-new play about phone sex, from the test reading at Helen Schoeni Theater. It's the next day now and I'm still a little gaziggled. It takes a longer every time to recover from accomplishing the show. I guess now that I'll be 60 in a few weeks I'm not 25 anymore. They'd really better schedule Memo of the Air on KZYX before I need a walker to get around. I've been waiting patiently exactly 344 fricking weeks for that, and though it annoys everyone when people say just saying: just saying. Get on the stick, Alice. What else have you got to do? What is more important, that's been more important for coming up on seven years?

In Other News: Also at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you can 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 about it wouldn't be enough. Such as:

A short film about teleportation.

https://laughingsquid.com/lcd-soundsystem-oh-baby-rian-johnson/

The Kavanaugh thing. You haven’t been paying attention because it’s a shitshow, and later on when some small person climbs up onto your knee to ask you about it you’ll be glad you watched John Oliver, here, explain it all in just half an hour, so you can answer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opi8X9hQ7q8

And scream into a pillow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwgIJE8iAwo

-- Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org

ALBION FARMERS' MARKET, SUNDAY 2-4 PM

Here’s the vendor lineup this week:

ANGEL: Herbal body care products

ANTHONY: Anthony back with lots of tomatoes, all kinds of peppers, beautiful eggplants, cucumbers and carrots.

FRED: Pieces of hand cut and polished Mendocino County jade

GEORGINA: Several varieties of tasty tamales ready to eat, plus hot sauce, and Thai coffee and tea

JD: Hand crafted bat houses

JOEL: Several nice big heads of radicchio. This is an excellent green to mix into a salad with lettuce and other greens; or it makes a classic salad on its own - chopped, and tossed with blue cheese and chopped nuts such as pistachios or walnuts. Yum! Another great preparation is to grill sections of the tight head and dress with olive oil and/or Balsamic vinegar - Fresh basil - Possibly a few baskets of colorful, mixed cherry tomatoes (sungold, chocolate sprinkles, chocolate cherry, juliet, el dorado) - Hand crafted Albion Natural Soap

ROSA: Cucumbers, Cilantro, Beets, Kale/2 Types, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Lettuce, Squash, Broccoli, Snow Peas, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Carrots, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Garlic, Manzana Peppers, Apples, Dates, Raisins, Flower Bouquets

SKYE: Zucchini, tomatoes and herbs

SUSIE: Fresh sprouts!

Thanks To All For The Well Wishes,

See you at the farmers market on Sunday

CLAVICHORDS & CLIMATE CHANGE

by David Yearsley

Bainbridge Island, Washington

The Cascade Mountains were dusted with snow this week, less a harbinger of the coming winter than of ominous larger changes in the climate. According to many, the snow came “too early,” especially considering the apocalyptic smoke from the fires of summer just gone.

The Washington of my youth was a paradise for the “outdoors.” The future points “indoors.” It is there that solace will have to be sought.

When snow blankets the ground the clavichord comes into its own. The world becomes quieter, or tries to, and this quietest of instruments finds its voice anew.

The clavichord demands great concentration of listeners but rewards them with its unlimited dynamic shadings and expressive powers. In this heightened state extraneous sounds come as a shock to the ear. The clavichord is an instrument of introspection, but it can also be played for the enjoyment of a few listeners seated nearby; it requires a degree of stillness to which few people are accustomed. J.S. Bach is said to have “favored it for private musical entertainments.” The most popular domestic keyboard instrument in eighteenth-century Germany, the clavichord could not compete with the flash and brilliance of the piano, which had largely displaced it in bourgeois homes by the early nineteenth century.

The clavichord is the most expressive of keyboard instruments and derives much of its beauty from the simplicity of its action — the mechanism for producing sound. In contrast to the complex piano action with its array of levers, hammers, dampers, not to mention whippens, capstans and other exotic contrivances, the clavichord strikes the string in the most elegant and obvious way. At one end the key is veneered in ebony, boxwood, bone or another traditional substance that is both beautiful to look at and hard enough to withstand the wear from years of fingertips against it. Inside the instrument the key narrows to a thin strip on which is placed a small piece of brass—a tangent—that projects up from the end of the key about three-quarters of an inch. When the finger depresses one end of the key the other end goes up, making the tangent strike the string. At the hands of a skillful player, this simple action allows for minute dynamic shadings, abrupt accents, and even vibrato.

Johann Gottfried Müthel (1724-1788), the last of J. S. Bach’s students, was by all accounts a willful, melancholic genius and one of the greatest masters of the instrument. Much of Müthel’s music, with its carefree passage work and ornaments that suddenly dissolve into reverie and pathos, would seem to bear out the scant biographical information that documents his moody character. Prone to introspection and even lassitude, Müthel produced a relatively small body of work. An interesting recording of some of Müthel’s keyboard concertos (played on harpsichord) and chamber works was made back in the 1990s by Music Alta Ripa of Hanover, Germany; the two CD-set gives you a sense not only of Müthel’s incredible dexterity of mind and hand, but also of the elegant and often intense conversational mode that brings the keyboard into contact with other instruments in the bourgeois and noble drawing room where it was heard. One is amazed, even sometimes perplexed, at the frequent collision of the insouciant and the soul-searching that animates Müthel’s style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewoQIyAa1rg

No music reflects that pleasant paradox of art and nature so crucial to north German music of the eighteenth century more than Müthel’s. He was a musician, like so many others of his caliber, who apparently spent huge amounts of effort learning to act or play “naturally”; all should sound easy, but the level of detail and refinement is taken to such an extreme that things begin to sound like a critique of politeness: the manners are so refined they become almost scathing. The above-mentioned CD doesn’t quite capture this manic decorum.

The finest recording of Müthel, indeed of clavichord music of any kind is that of the Dutch keyboard player Menno van Delft. On this double CD van Delft plays Müthel’s solo keyboard works, three sonatas and two sets of variations on a clavichord from Hamburg built in 1763 and now in the Russell Collection in Edinburgh. It is a sumptuously decorated instrument that was first bought by a wealthy Amsterdam family and was played on in their household by Mozart. Mozart also loved the clavichord, and doubtless loved this one, capable of such power and nuance, such bold outbursts and whispered asides. Müthel’s music is fiendishly difficult both for its velocity and other acrobatics and for its hushed nuances. To hear van Delft make these demanding works his own is to begin to understand that Müthel at the perfect instrument is a unique musical experience: there is really nothing quite like it, and this recording is as impressive as it is moving.

In spite of his solitary nature, Müthel had many admirers and his music was disseminated even as far as London. The eighteenth-century traveler Charles Burney visited the most legendary of the clavichordists, C. P. E. Bach (J. S. Bach’s second son), in Hamburg in 1772 and described a transcendent clavichord performance in his host’s house in which Bach’s “eyes were fixed, his under lip fell, and drops of effervescence distilled from his countenance.”
Burney did not make it far enough east to meet Müthel in Riga, but he acquired a copy of the German’s mighty duet in E-flat for two keyboards. The title page of this 1771 publication lists piano, harpsichord, or clavichord all as possibilities for performance, but clearly the last of these is the perfect instrument for the piece, especially since it calls for so much of the vibrato. Burney had the piece performed several times by his daughter and her husband (both of whom were keyboard virtuosos) during his winter concerts in London in 1775, describing the work as the “big gun.” In the final pages of the third volume of his European travels published in the 1770s, Burney turned to Müthel on the farthest frontier of musical civilization:

“When a student upon the keyed instruments has vanquished all difficulties to be found in the lessons of Handel, Scarlatti, Schobert, Eckart and C.P.E. Bach; and, like Alexander lament that nothing more remains to conquer, I would recommend to him, as an exercise for patience and preservation, the compositions of Müthel; which are so full of novelty, taste, grace and contrivance, that I should not hesitate to rank them among the greatest productions of the present age. Extraordinary as are the genius and performance of this musician, he is but little known in Germany.”

It was difficult to persuade Müthel to play even for his circle of devotees, which included Johann Herder. He would relent only when “thickest snow covered the ground” of the Baltic city of Riga, where he spent his professional career. Only when the outside world was muffled could his innermost thoughts and feelings be expressed in the fullness of silence. The clank and clatter of horseshoes on cobblestone were intolerable intrusions.

I got my first clavichord the year we lived in a rent-controlled apartment building in Santa Monica, California, four blocks from beach. It was one-bedroom one story above a back alley lined by other apartment buildings. Gray carpeting covers everything but the dingy linoleum of the bathroom, kitchen, and the “dining room,” a five-by-ten rectangle between the living room and kitchen.

Wall-to-wall carpet soaks up too much of the clavichord’s precious sound, so we put the instrument in the dining room with its linoleum flooring and plasterboard walls, the best acoustical space we could find. But the buzz of the refrigerator a few feet away in the kitchen was very distracting. Müthel would have flipped out. I turned it off, and the next day I opened the freezer to find a lake of shrimp juice and vanilla ice-cream. The bathroom was just big enough for the instrument so I tried it in there. But the intermittent hiss of the toilet filling with water for a few seconds, perhaps as a result of the building settling, or—more ominously—the entire Santa Monica Palisade sliding into the Ocean. The stopcock was too corroded to close, and the building manager had his hands full with the stacks of deferred maintenance.

At dawn we would hear only the rock doves, but by 7:00 a.m. cars were starting up in the alley; the surrounding buildings acted as a sound box, amplifying the engines. From the more affluent blocks to the north came the distant complaints of leaf blowers and lawn mowers punctuated by car alarms. By nine o’clock the opera-singer-to-be in the adjacent apartment building would begin her shower and then proceed methodically through a battery of vocal warm-ups and exercises, and then move on to actual pieces. As ten o’clock approached reservoirs across California were a tremolo of whirlpools, draining to her song.

There were rains that year, battering the gutters and the dumpsters in the alley outside our apartment. When the rain let up there was the slide. A huge rib of the Santa Monica Palisades fell onto the Pacific Coast Highway bringing with it a chunk of the park above. This temporarily silenced the faint whir of traffic along the Coast Highway but attracted flocks of helicopters monitoring the progress of the clean-up.

In the spring men painted the adjacent apartment building: just outside my window were the sounds of scaffolding going up and being torn down, cursing generators, the hiss of paint, and the pleasant voices of the painters.

To play the clavichord is constantly to be reminded that the world was once a much quieter place.

Müthel would have been happy for early snow, but furious about the snow blowers.

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

THE ROOT OF THE INTERNET’S DISREPUTE: ONLINE ADVERTISING!

by Ralph Nader

In all the mounting media coverage of problems with the Internet, such as invasion of privacy, vulnerability to hacking, political manipulation, and user addiction, there is one constant: online advertising. Online advertising is the lifeblood of Google, Facebook, and many other Internet enterprises that profit by providing personal data to various vendors. Moreover, the move of tens of billions of dollars from conventional print and broadcast media continues, with devastating impacts, especially on print newspapers and magazines.

But does online advertising work for consumers? The Internet was once considered a less commercial medium. But today consumers are inundated with targeted ads, reviews, comments, friends’ reactions, and other digital data. Unfortunately for advertisers, consumers are not intentionally clicking on online ads in big numbers.

Google’s search ads tackle people when they search for a product or service. A controlled study by eBay research labs in 2014 concluded that Google was greatly exaggerating the effectiveness of such ads—at least those bought by eBay. eBay’s researchers concluded that “More frequent users whose purchasing behavior is not influenced by ads account for most of the advertising expenses, resulting in average returns that are negative.” This is the “I-was-gonna-buy-it-anyway problem,” says an article in the Atlantic.

The Atlantic notes:

“Whether all advertising—online and off—is losing its persuasive punch…Think about how much you can learn about products today before seeing an ad. Comments, user reviews, friends’ opinions, price-comparison tools…they’re much more powerful than advertising because we consider them information rather than marketing. The difference is enormous: We seek information, so we’re more likely to trust it; marketing seeks us, so we’re more likely to distrust it.”

Some companies like Coca-Cola have cooled on using online advertising. But advertising revenues keep growing for Google, Facebook, and the other giants of the Internet. These companies are racing to innovate, connecting ads to more tailored audiences, which tantalize and keeps hope springing eternal for the advertisers. The Internet ad sellers also provide detailed data to advertise themselves to the advertisers staying one step ahead of growing skepticism. This is especially a problem when there is inadequate government regulation of deceptive advertising. It is the Wild West! Online advertising revenues are the Achilles’ heel of these big Internet companies. Any decline will deflate them immensely; more than public and Congressional criticism of their intrusiveness, their massive allowed fakeries, their broken promises to reform, and their openings to unsavory political and commercial users. If they lose advertising revenue, a major revenue bubble will burst and there goes their business model, along with their funding for ventures from video hosting to global mapping.

After reviewing the many major negatives attributed to the Internet, the New York Times’ Farhad Manjoo writes, “So who is the central villain in this story, the driving force behind much of the chaos and disrepute online?… It’s the advertising business, stupid.” He adds, perhaps optimistically, “If you want to fix much of what ails the internet right now, the ad business would be the perfect perp to handcuff and restrain.”

Randall Rothenberg, who heads a trade association of companies in the digital ad business, urges advertisers “to take civic responsibility for our effect on the world.” Then he shows his frustration by saying that, “Technology has largely been outpacing the ability of individual companies to understand what is actually going on.” All of this even before artificial intelligence (AI) takes root. Meanwhile, Facebook, Google, and Twitter keep announcing new tools to make their ads “safe and civil” (Facebook), open and protective of privacy. At the same time matters keep getting worse for consumers. The backers and abusers keep getting more skilled too (see Youtube Kids ).

In a recent report titled “Digital Deceit,” authors Dipayan Ghosh and Ben Scott wrote:

“The Central problem of disinformation corrupting American political culture is not Russian spies or a particular media platform. The central problem is that the entire industry is built to leverage sophisticated technology to aggregate user attention and sell advertising.”

If so, why isn’t more public attention being paid to this root cause? Not by the mass media which is obviously too compromised by the Congress, by academia, or by more of US before “We the People” become the conditioned responders that Ivan Pavlov warned about so many years ago.

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

WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT ON COAST SOCIAL MEDIA

Law enforcement really needs to step up with their reporting of incidents. If you want information about an incident you happen to see, you have to root around on social media sites to find out any information. It could be days, if EVER, that law enforcement agencies post about it.

We went to the Mendocino Sheriff page to see if there was report on the incident posted below on their log - and they haven’t posted a SINGLE daily incident log for the month of October. But their Mendo Jail “Booking Log’ is pretty much up-to-date and the last “press release” they issued was October 4.

The Fort Bragg Police, to their credit, post their booking log on Friday’s and their latest (October 5th) entry found a range of arrests - from a person arrested for trespassing on railroad property (plus disorderly conduct and TWO failure to appears) to failure to register as a sex offender. Here’s the link: https://city.fortbragg.com/…/Vi…/7486/2018-10-05-booking-log

But they are (sadly) WAY behind in informing the public via press releases - the last one issued by the Fort bragg Police was August 26th - there were NONE in September and none so far in October. Yet social media has been posting about a possible arson on South McPherson Street and a woman allegedly arrested in connection with the death of her mother through neglect - to name just a couple.

So if you want to know what goes on in Fort Bragg on a DAILY basis, you have to go to the Ukiah Police page the following day you witnessed an incident in Fort Bragg. Here’s the link to Friday’s Police log - it’s posted on the Ukiah Police page as they dispatch for Fort Bragg: https://www.ukiahpolice.com/…/assets/files/4476/10052018.pdf

But it has no mention of this incident described below:

***”What's going on with all the police cars, some unmarked, across from Hopper's Dairy, on Hwy One.?”

***”We saw those also on our way to dinner?????”

***”There was something else going on just south of there. Lots of Popo & cars pulled over at the same time.”

***”They were across from Safeway yesterday making arrests.”

***”I wonder if ICE was involved? There were certainly lots of police.”

***” It looked like a bust. It was at one of those house across from ReFind. The flack jackets had stuff written on them but I couldn’t tell what they said.”

***”On the back of their shirts it said something about special task force.”

***”That was a probation search and warrant arrest. I knew the kid.”

***”A 1966 blue 396 Impala, they were getting hooked and booked!”

(MendocinoSportsPlus)