Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018

• Temperate Weather
• Hospital Petition
• America Haywire
• Beer Tasting
• Farm Report
• Boonville ATM
• Kiln Party
• Yasmin Unblocked
• Burglars Nabbed
• Little Dog
• Building Workshop
• Dogwood Lawsuit
• Handyman Housing
• Cannabis Enforcement
• AV Village
• Hanging Liberals
• Doggie
• Helmuth Seefeldt
• Homeless Robert
• Bowling Center
• Yesterday's Catch
• Burnt Nails
• Humpbacks
• Body Slammer
• Sobering Handshake
• Pets
• Socialist FDR
• Marco Radio

TEMPERATE WEATHER

High pressure will result in dry and warm afternoons with cool nights through Monday across the interior. Meanwhile, persistent low clouds and cool temperatures are expected for the coast. A weak front will bring a chance of light rain to the northern portion of the area on Tuesday. (National Weather Service)

MSP SENT INTERESTING HOSPITAL PETITION TODAY

A MendocinoSportsPlus viewer sent along the following petition this morning that has been making the rounds on the coast. We don’t know what effect it will have - if any. The “lame duck” hospital board voted on a three-year extension of the CEO’s salary - even though they knew a majority of the board would be turning over in November - a final slap in the face to the public and a pat on the back to CEO Bob Edwards.

The petition reads:

Petition For The Board’s Review & Response
Mendocino Coast District Hospital
(Mendocino Healthcare District)
Executive Compensation Petition

The people of the Mendocino Coast Healthcare District make the following findings:

The people of the Mendocino Coast Healthcare District call for a reduction in pay and a total value of the compensation or payments authorized or paid under a severance or similar post-service or post-employent arrangement for any former Mendocino Coast District Hospital affiliated executive, manager, or administrator not to exceed $186,000.

It is the purpose of this petition to ensure that compensation packages for executives, managers, and administrators affiliated with the Mendocino Coast District Hospital and Mendocino Coast healthcare District are reasonable and not excessive and to ensure that Hospital and District assets are used to promote the best interests of the public health through services for patients and the public and reasonable compensation for other employees.

The Board of Directors of the Mendocino Coast District Hospital has a responsibility to take all necessary steps to address these concerns.

RECOMMENDED READING: "FANTASYLAND: How America Went Haywire, a 500-Year History" by Kurt Andersen. Strike “recommended” and substitute “required reading.” Which this book should be, especially here on the Northcoast, rural national headquarters for magical thinking. The author says he was especially inspired by the ascension of Trump, “a pure Fantasyland being, its apotheosis.”

AMERICA was founded by fanatical religious sects like the Puritans and the Quakers and has always been plagued by hysterias, political and religious, with rampant Nut Pie-ism picking up its all-time, and still unchecked, head of steam in the late 1960s. "We let a million flowers bloom — it wasn’t just groovy peace and love. 'I can believe what I want; science is no better than magic; reason is not superior to faith; it’s all a construction' — different flavors and versions of that existed in the academy, in Haight-Ashbury, in my college dorm room. At the same time, this was the moment when American Protestantism really threw out nuance and reason." Yes, Mr. Andersen, you've got it totally correct. '67 was the year of the great pivot to unreality.

ANDERSEN'S history of the irrational is exhaustive. He takes us from the early religions and their witch burnings up through contemporary charlatans like Alex Jones who, the one time I watched him, I thought was some kind of rightwing comedian. But Jones was among the first persons Trump called his thank you's to after his election.

I WAS PARTICULARLY PLEASED to read the author's well-deserved whacks at Oprah, whom he indicts for giving quacks like Dr. Oz, Shirley McClain, and the recovered memory liars repeat air time to sell their noxious books. But Oprah isn't the only medium to give magical thinking national exposure. All the tv talk shows do it.

A CURSORY READING of any Mendocino County events calendar invites the credulous to a range of crackpot gatherings and presentations organized by dubious persons with even more dubious credentials. We can all name our favorite delusional preoccupations, ranging from the sinister — vaccination causes autism (very big in Mendo) to the harmless, such as astrology, that fail-safe celestial guide to everyday life "believed" in by millions of Americans.

CRIMINAL magical thinkers are almost synonymous with Mendocino County, ranging from Jim Jones and Charles Manson to a more or less harmless member of our board of supervisors and former congressman, Dan Hamburg, who maintains a replica of Adi Da on his dashboard and thinks 911 was an inside job.

I KNEW an otherwise thoroughly grounded woman who made her living reading fortunes via Tarot cards, but gave it up "because I just couldn't go on giving people bad news." Lots of people get sputtering mad when I say I think Oswald acted alone in murdering Kennedy.

A LOCAL EXAMPLE of magical thinking occurred in the 1980s when the non-existent phenomena of Satanist child abuse swept many areas of the country and was particularly venomous in Fort Bragg, with a mini-hysteria in Potter Valley. In Fort Bragg, a pair of sisters from the Bay Area named Orr bought a property at the foot of Airport Drive north of town and set up a day care center, running immediately afoul of Coastlib when, as Catholics, they came out publicly against abortion.

https://www.theava.com/archives/70409

From there, the sisters were rumored to sub-let toddlers to Satanists for day time ceremonies up the Coast, a fact verified by 3-year-olds to investigators from the Mendocino County Department of Social Services, and very soon the Sheriff's Department packed off a detective to police seminars on how to sleuth out Beelzebub's predatory exploitation of pre-schoolers.

THE ORR SISTERS were hounded out of town, and one of them lost custody of her daughter when a deranged social worker, Pam Hudson, an eager advocate of Satanist conspiracies, accused the mother of renting her daughter to devil worshippers.

MY FAVORITE RIFF among the hysterics promoting these evil rumors was the one that had the daycare kids being ferried to the Satanists by a Georgia-Pacific helicopter! Of course the kids got back to the Orrs' daycare in plenty of time to be picked up by their unsuspecting parents.

BUT THE PERSECUTION of these women was tax-supported and sustained by official Mendocino County, which is additional evidence, if any is needed, that a whole lot of our fellow citizens were out of the classroom when critical thinking skills were taught. Which reminds me; I forgot to buy a PowerBall ticket. I'll be right back.

BREWMASTERS 4PM SUNDAY AT THE KELLEY HOUSE MUSEUM

Aficionados Stephen Duerr, of Fort Bragg's Piaci's Pizza and Overtime Brewing, and Sonoma Harvest Fair Blue Ribbon winner Drew Jackson will share their love of beer Sunday, October 21, from 4-5 p.m. at the Kelley House Museum.

Taste the beer inspired by the shipwrecked Frolic and hear about 21st century brewing on the Mendocino Coast. Admission for museum members is $5; $7 for the public. Includes tasting and recipe for the Frolic Wee Heavy.

kelleyhousemuseum.org/beer

untappd.com/b/drew-s-brews-frolic-ale/2828011

PETIT TETON MONTHLY FARM REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2018

Hi friends,

The past month and a half has been tough for us. The conjunction of the peak harvest season, which has stressed us to the max, and the daily news, which has engendered a deep and abiding anger, has not been a good combo. We're tired. We even took four days to visit the Sierra and relax, and we did...to the best of our ability :>) The first day out we climbed 13,050' Mt Dana which forced us to relax for the three days afterwards because we could hardly walk!

There are those around the farm who get to relax most of the time. Check out the pic - "Lounge dogs hard at work posing".

They're usually so relaxed they can't find the energy to bark when a visitor pulls in. We should fire them.

The other pic is of the Night Blooming Cereus, an exquisite beauty with an other worldly scent.

Our last Mendocino market for the year is next Friday and we're ready. Ready for rain and wind and a slower pace. Bring it on.

Hope all is well with you and yours. Take care, AND VOTE (we know you all do).

Nikki Auschnitt/Steve Krieg, Petit Teton Farm, Yorkville

LOCAL ARTIST AND ENTREPRENEUR LAURA DIAMONDSTONE appeared at last Wednesday's Community Services District meeting at the behest of Board Chair Valerie Hanelt (who was unable to attend last Wednesday's meeting) to pursue the possible installation of a "full-service ATM" in Anderson Valley for local businesses and residents to be able to make deposits, not just cash withdrawals. Along with Boonville Hotel proprietor Johnny Schmitt, Hanelt and Diamondstone met with the president of Community First Credit Union (formerly Mendo-Lake Credit Union) a few months ago to discuss what it would take to get such an ATM installed at Aaron Weintraub’s Tindall Market building next door to the Boonville firehouse. The Credit Union president reportedly said that it would cost around $100,000 to set it up and then service it. That cost seemed a little high to everyone so Ms. Diamondstone was seeking input and ideas about pursuing the matter further with more specific information. Anderson Valley is widely thought to have considerably more money and financial wherewithal than, say, Point Arena which has a Redwood Credit Union office downtown serving fewer people and less money which would seem to be able to support a full-service ATM. Apparently, a full-service ATM is also being talked about in Albion. The CSD Board decided to put the subject on their November agenda and invite representatives from the two local credit unions, and any commercial banks that express interest, to attend and discuss what it might take for one of them to install a full-service ATM.

FIRST FIRING KILN PARTY

(Photos by Dick Whetstone)

KZYX/Z UPDATE

Thank you to all who supported me by calling and emailing The Powers That Be at kzyx/z, our "Community Radio Station", to tell them to UNBLOCK MY PHONE! They finally did, after blocking me for two weeks. (shame on them!)

I appreciate the support. This is not the way to deal with internal struggles with listener/supporters. Non-violent MEDIATION is in order, not banning a Cultural Worker/Activist from calling their Talk Shows, to talk about VOTING, VOTER SUPPRESSION, VOTER REGISTRATION, AND VOTING RIGHTS, two weeks (now 3 days) before the last day to Register to VOTE, which is Monday, October 22.

Thank you again to all who supported me, if you did. I appreciate it.

Peace & Justice,

DJ SISTER YASMIN

Yasmin Solomon <sisteryasmin@hotmail.com>

884-4703 (let ring 5X)

BAD NEIGHBORS

On October 18, 2018, at approximately 08:21 a.m., Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies received a call for service of a residential burglary discovered in the 31000 block of Highway 20 in Fort Bragg. After arriving on scene, deputies learned that one of three residential units at the location was undergoing construction remodel and multiple construction tools being stored inside the unit were stolen sometime during the night. The total loss to the victim, Carlos Anaya, Ruiz of Fort Bragg, was estimated at $940. During preliminary investigation at the scene, deputies received information of a person of interest who was possibly responsible for the burglary and they located potential evidence left by the suspect(s). The ongoing investigation eventually led deputies to a residence in the 29700 block of Highway 20 where they located and recovered a portion of the stolen property.

Further information prompted deputies to respond to a residence in the 32800 block of Boice Lane where they contacted Aaron Guillory, 31, of Fort Bragg. During that contact deputies discovered more stolen property in Guillory’s possession and they were able to connect Guillory to the burglary through other supporting evidence. Guillory was arrested at the location for First Degree Burglary, Possession of Stolen Property and Conspiracy to Commit a Crime. Deputies then responded to a residence in the 16900 block of Ocean Drive where they contacted Devan Tompkins, 23, of Fort Bragg. During that contact deputies discovered the remaining stolen property in Tompkins possession and also connected him to the burglary through other supporting evidence. Tompkins was arrested at the location for First Degree Burglary, Possession of Stolen Property and Conspiracy to Commit a Crime. Both Guillory and Tompkins were transported to the Mendocino County Jail where they were booked and both held in lieu of bail set at $50,000.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Halloween costume? I'm thinking Great Dane, but I've got a week or so to decide. Skrag says he's already got the heart of a lion. "So I don't have to resort to pathetic fantasies like you, LD."

2ND UNIT BUILDING WORKSHOP

October 25 @ 4:30 pm - 8:00 pm, Free

The North Coast Housing Action Team will be hosting a 2nd Unit Workshop at Fort Bragg Town Hall on October 25th from 5-8pm. There will be discussion about housing challenges and solutions as well as information on building 2nd units as one of the solutions to increasing housing on the coast. This even is being sponsored by Healthy Mendocino. For more information about the event visit: Healthy Mendocino website

SONOMA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF FRIENDS OF GUALALA RIVER’S second lawsuit over the “Dogwood” floodplain timber harvest plan

Sonoma County Superior Court once again has ruled in favor of Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) in its lawsuit against CAL FIRE’s approval of logging of coastal floodplain redwood forest in hundreds of acres of the Wild and Scenic Gualala River. The controversial “Dogwood” timber harvest plan (THP) proposed by Gualala Redwoods Timber LLC has been opposed by public protests, petitions, and litigation since 2015.

On October 16, 2018, Judge René Chouteau concluded that the second Dogwood THP failed to meet California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements for evaluating project alternatives with less environmental impact, and for assessing cumulative environmental impacts to the river, forest and floodplain, in addition to those from the Dogwood THP itself.

FoGR, Forest Unlimited, and California Native Plant Society previously sued CAL FIRE over similar environmental review flaws in the first Dogwood THP (1-15-042), and prevailed in case SCV 259216, requiring CAL FIRE to revoke the permit to log “Dogwood” in March, 2017. The applicant, Gualala Redwoods Timber (GRT), resubmitted the logging plan with minimal corrections, and CAL FIRE again approved it over major public opposition on March 30, 2018. FoGR again sued over the same basic flaws in CAL FIRE’s environmental review process for “Dogwood II” in case SCV 262241.

In agreement with legal precedents, the Court stated in “Dogwood II” that it is “absolutely clear” that THPs must be functionally equivalent to Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs). THPs must meet the same fundamental standards of CEQA with regard to evaluation of alternatives that reduce impacts to the environment, which the Court reaffirmed is “one of the most important functions of an EIR.” The Court ruled that CAL FIRE’s position on THP requirements for alternatives analysis was incorrect, and its discussion of alternatives for Dogwood simply presented no information, analysis, or explanation of how it reached its conclusions in rejecting all alternatives as infeasible. FoGR argued that CAL FIRE uncritically accepted the prejudicial arguments of the applicant, Gualala Redwoods Timber, in rejecting alternatives without analysis.

Once again, the Court ruled that CAL FIRE failed to assess cumulative environmental impacts to the Gualala River and its watershed in accordance with requirements of CEQA. The basic flaw in CAL FIRE’s analysis was a lack of a reasoned discussion for the basis of its conclusions, the Court ruled, consistent with FoGR’s position that CAL FIRE jumped to conclusions of “no impact” without evidence or accounting for other impacts from past or future logging and land and water uses.

With regard to specific flaws in CEQA-equivalent analysis of rare plants, “wetlands,” and steelhead trout and coho salmon, the Court applied legal standards that “do not focus on the €˜correctness’ of a report’s environmental conclusions, but on agency (CAL FIRE) findings that are presumed to be supported by substantial evidence €“ the minimum requirement for CEQA compliance. On these issues, the Court gave weight to the “expertise” of findings and approvals from other state agencies (California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Regional Water Quality Control Board), and the adequacy of “expertise” of registered professional foresters.

CAL FIRE, formerly known as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, is governed by the Board of Forestry, which is composed of members drawn from among timber industry, forestry, and environmental professionals. It has a reputation of substantial influence from the industry it regulates.

FoGR is seeking reform of CAL FIRE’s THP procedures and documents so that they actually function as efficient equivalents of CEQA Environmental Impact Reports that focus on significant environmental impacts and solutions in the public interest, not just private interests of the timber industry applicants. FoGR and its broad coalition of public citizens and organizations will continue to pursue conservation of the unique Gualala Redwood Floodplain Forest, including full consideration of alternatives that protect the most sensitive extensive wetland and floodplain habitats.

Jeanne Jackson, natural history author of “Mendonoma Sightings” and a leader in FoGR’s opposition to Dogwood, emphasized the implications of the Court’s decision regarding alternatives: “The Gualala River is the only river in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties that has not protected its mature redwood floodplain forests. Judge Chouteau asked why the alternative of conservation sale of this unique area’s sensitive habitats wasn’t considered to comply with CEQA,” she said. “GRT’s attorneys’ answer was that the owner wants to log and isn’t interested in fair market value prices for the land. The river needs its floodplain protected. GRT owns almost 30,000 acres of timberland in the Gualala River watershed. The floodplain forest in “Dogwood,” less than 400 acres, deserves to be protected from harm.”

Contact:

Edward Yates, Friends of Gualala River’s attorney, 415.990.4805

For more background information on the Dogwood THP lawsuit, visit: www.GualalaRiver.org

Friends of the Gualala River, P.O. Box 1543, Gualala, CA 95445

AL'S STILL LOOKING:

"With my motor home tools and trucks. I am 59 years old with plenty of skills and ambition. I am clean, quiet, organized individual. When I'm not working I'm doing my hobbies at home. I have no pets. Hoping to find a place around Fort Bragg area being that most people i work for live here. I have money saved and I also can do handyman work to pay rent.

707-409-4147 Al."

CODE ENFORCEMENT NEWS

[1] Cannabis Cultivation without a Permit, non-permitted structures, grading and electric
Date: 10/19/18
Location: 57000 Block of Registered Guest Road, Laytonville, CA
Subject: Cannabis Cultivation without a Permit, non-permitted structures, grading and electric
Information: The Code Enforcement Division received a complaint about cultivation of cannabis without permits and non-permitted grading at a location in the 57000 Block of Registered Guest Road, Laytonville. Code Enforcement determined that the location was not in the County Cannabis Permit Program. Information about this complaint was shared with Law Enforcement who began an investigation. On 10/17/18 Code Enforcement personnel participated in the service of a search warrant obtained by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for this property. During the search the following violations were observed:The non-permitted cultivation of 696 Cannabis Plants totaling approximately 8750 square feet of canopy. Non-permitted structures Significant non-permitted Grading Significant non-permitted Electrical

* * *

[2] Cannabis Cultivation without a Permit, non-permitted structures, grading and electric
Date: 10/19/18
Location: 4000 Block of Laytonville Dos Rios Road, Laytonville, CA
Subject: Cannabis Cultivation without a Permit, non-permitted structures, grading and electric
Information: The Code Enforcement Division received a complaint about cultivation of cannabis without permits at a location in the 4000 Block of Laytonville Dos Rios Road, Laytonville. Code Enforcement determined that the location was not in the County Cannabis Permit Program. Information about this complaint was shared with Law Enforcement who began an investigation. On 10/17/18 Code Enforcement and personnel from the State Water Board participated in the service of a search warrant obtained by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for this property. During the search the following violations were observed: The non-permitted cultivation of 2900 Cannabis Plants totaling approximately 36000 square feet of canopy. 4 non-permitted greenhouses with non-permitted electrical 2 non-permitted residences Significant non-permitted Grading Significant non-permitted Electrical

* * *

[3] Cannabis Cultivation without a Permit and Building Violations
Date: 10/19/18
Location: 4100 Block of Fisher Lake Drive, Redwood Valley, CA
Subject: Cannabis Cultivation without a Permit and Building Violations
Information: The Code Enforcement Division received a complaint about cultivation of cannabis without permits at a residential location in the 4100 Block of Fisher Lake Drive, Redwood Valley. Subsequent investigation confirmed that cannabis was being cultivated without a permit in violation of Mendocino County Code Chapter 10A.17. , and a structure had been constructed with a building permit.The property owner was located and issued an administrative citation for the non-permitted cannabis and a notice of violation for the non-permitted structure. The property owner submitted an application for an after-the-fact building permit for the structure but did not remove the non-permitted cannabis. Fines related to the administrative citation for the non-permitted cannabis continued to accumulate daily.On 10/11/17 Code Enforcement issued an Order to Abate the non-permitted Cannabis within 5 days pursuant to Mendocino County Chapter 8.76 and set a hearing as required by this Chapter for 10/18/18. If the Order to Abate is upheld at hearing, the property owner would be responsible for paying for the costs of abatement.On 10/17/18 Code Enforcement Inspected the property after the property owner/cultivator advised that all Cannabis had been removed from the property. During the inspection, Code Enforcement found that the 27 non-permitted Cannabis Plants totaling approximately 750 square feet of canopy had been removed from the property. The property owner was then issued a notice of penalty due for the administrative citation fines for $2900.00.

* * *

Code Enforcement will be issuing Notice of Violations for all observed construction and grading violations to the property owner. If these violations are not corrected, administrative citations with fines will be issued. State Fish & Wildlife is handling the violations related to the Cannabis that was eradicated. The Code Enforcement Division receives all Cannabis and General Code Violation complaints in the unincorporated areas of the County. Complaints can be made in person at our offices or by visiting our website at: mendocinocounty.org/government/codeenforcement.

Cannabis specific complaints can also be filed by calling the Cannabis Complaint Hotline at: (844) 421-WEED(9333).

* * *

On Line Comments:

[1] This is all fine and dandy but where the hell is code enforcement on the 101 shitshow between Willits and the divided highway to Laytonville? Up to twenty dilapidated vehicles in the yards and structures on the verge of collapsing with people occupying them. Answer: there’s no money in it. It would cost the county a fortune to haul all that shit away.

[2] Plant some cannabis there & call the SO.

SEVERAL older locals, organized as "Anderson Valley Village," are looking at ways to help themselves and their neighbors as they age. "We'd like to retain our independence, stay and age in place and remain active in the community,” said Lauren Keating. "We are following a model that began in Boston in 2002 and has now spread across the country with 200 ‘villages’ in operation and another 150 in development." This "village movement" is based on a local locally organized, self-supporting membership model offering "comprehensive support and social engagement designed to maintain and improve our quality of life." The Anderson Valley village group is still working on how to set things up. They have applied for nonprofit status and have started working on the necessary details involved. They meet on the second Sunday of each month from 4 PM to 5:30 PM at Lauren’s Restaurant in downtown Boonville. Everyone interested in is invited to attend. They hope to be able to hire at least one coordinator soon and would be receptive to any qualified local who might want to might be interested in the position when it becomes official.

THE ROAD TO RUIN

Open Letter to Mr. Jerry Philbrick,

My name is Ashley Jones. I am one of those liberals you keep writing about. I am also an old man. I served my country in the U.S. Navy as a frogman, retired as a public school teacher after 40 years in the classroom and in counseling offices. I was recently fired from my job as a substitute teacher because I joined a large group of students who quit school in order to protest gun violence in our schools and our country. When you talk about hanging all liberals, does that mean that liberals should hang people like yourself so that our society does not disintegrate into his name-calling or, as in your last letter — hanging? We need to take a moment to understand that we are all doing the best we can. We can disagree and no one wins all the time. Hating each other will eventually destroy us all. Sincerely,

Ashley Jones

Alameda

JACK LONDON & HELMUTH SEEFELDT

by Malcolm Macdonald

In February, 1874, blue-eyed, brown haired Helmuth Seefeldt was born in Demmin, on the West Pomeranian plain of northeastern Germany at the confluence of three rivers. Little is known about his childhood there or his reasons for leaving his birthplace behind. At twenty he set out to explore the world, sailing from Hamburg on July 17, 1894. By the end of the month he'd made his way to Glasgow, Scotland, where he purchased a ticket in the forward section of the State of California, bound for New York City. He eventually reached California and became a naturalized U.S. citizen at San Francisco in 1902.

His wanderlust drove him over the seas, farther west, to the South Pacific. He might have lived his life unnoticed on the property he acquired at Papeete, Tahiti, but for an encounter there in 1908. By chance he happened to meet the owner of a yacht. The vessel was named for Lewis Carroll's poem, “The Hunting of the Snark.” The craft possessed two sails, ran forty-five feet at the waterline, fifty-five feet on deck, had a seventy horsepower engine that seldom worked, and leaked worse than an extremely old bucket. In short, it badly needed repair and Helmuth was just the man for the job. Thus began a friendship with the ship's owner. The craft was the Snark, the owner: Jack London, already world renowned for Call of the Wild and The Sea Wolf.

Departing in April, 1907, London had sailed the Snark from San Francisco Bay to Hawaii and beyond with limited navigational skills and a skeleton crew that included his wife, Charmian, her uncle, a former Stanford athlete, a Japanese cabin boy, and twenty-three year old Kansan, Martin Johnson. The cabin boy and Stanford man quit in Hawaii. Only Johnson accompanied the Londons throughout their South Seas journey until the couple became too ill to go on. Johnson sailed the ship from the Solomon Islands to Sydney while Charmian and Jack London traveled on a steamship to Australia, where they recouped for months before taking passage on a liner back to California.

The Snark was sold in Sydney, but Johnson continued his travels and eventually circumnavigated the globe, which had been Jack London's original goal for the craft and himself. London's book on the adventure, The Cruise of the Snark, is still relatively well known. Johnson, too, wrote about the voyage. His account, Through the South Seas with Jack London, is a worthy read as well.

Martin Johnson and his wife, Osa (they married in 1910), went on to a lifetime of adventures. Starting with Among the Cannibal Isles of the South Seas, their silent wildlife documentaries, filmed by air and waterways, though smacking of western colonialism by twenty-first century standards, proved groundbreaking in both the silent and early sound eras of film making.

Leaving the Johnsons many adventures for another page, let's turn back to Helmuth Seefeldt. His repair work on the Snark began a relationship with Jack London. Despite the fact that when the famed author returned to California to live at his thousand acre ranch near Glen Ellen, Seefeldt remained in Tahiti. He might have stayed indefinitely but for the outbreak of World War I in August, 1914. Tahiti was a French colony. As soon as word reached Tahiti about the conflict in Europe, French officials rounded up every German national in French Polynesia. Helmuth Seefeldt, along with seventeen other German born men, abandoned nearly all their belongings as the French herded them as prisoners into an abandoned barracks. Several days later they were transferred to confinement on an isolated reef a few miles from Papeete. The American consul and Captain J.H. von Dahlren of the barkentine S.N. Castle heard about the prisoners' plight and began negotiations with French authorities.

The French colonials finally allowed Captain von Dahlren to sign all eighteen Germans on as crewmen. Devoid of cargo, other than its newfound sailors, some of them bankers and government bureaucrats, the S.N. Castle took twenty days to reach Honolulu. From there, Seefeldt and others, were given passage on to San Francisco.

Like Jack London, Seefeldt settled in Sonoma County. He purchased property on Creghton Ridge, fifteen miles northwest of Cazadero in western Sonoma County.

Seefeldt was a guest of Charmian and Jack London several times and London visited Seefeldt's place as often as he could before the famous man died at age fifty a mere two years later in November, 1916. Helmuth Seefeldt carried on at his ranch, though by then he was defined by locals as something of an eccentric for not only hanging bells around his lead cow's neck, but bells also hung at the front gate, as well as the door of the dilapidated, cobweb strewn cabin he lived in. Cowbells dangled at other strategic spots Helmuth deemed important warning areas. Perhaps due to his sudden imprisonment by the French in Tahiti, Seefeldt seemed to grow extremely wary of strangers showing up unannounced. An assortment of guns and knives decked the interior walls and shelves of his cabin.

By the beginning of World War II, the main house at the Seefeldt property was occupied by sheepherder and ranch foreman Roy Cornett along with his wife and nine children. In late August, 1942, Helmuth Seefeldt appeared to simply vanish from the place. The only trace of him showed itself in a handful of checks, totaling $390, cashed by Roy Cornett, bearing the sixty-eight-year-old world traveler's signature. Cornett said that he didn't think it all that unusual that the aging rancher would go away and not tell anyone about his plans.

When Seefeldt did not return home for some weeks, Cornett shot two of Helmuth's sheepdogs and buried them. The disappearance went unresolved until January, 1943, when newly elected Sonoma County Sheriff Harry Patteson first arrested Roy Cornett for forging the checks. Next, the sheriff employed three of his deputies and about twenty Cazadero area residents in an all out search of Seefeldt's property. Several hours into the search, forty-five year-old woodsman Julius Johnson noticed sprouts growing out of the ground at what he considered an odd angle near the base of a redwood stump. Dropping down on hands and knees, Johnson used his spade to brush through twigs and sticks, finding what seemed to be loose dirt. When he jabbed his spade into the earth, the first shovelful of overturned soil turned up a human skull.

The two foot deep grave, only fifty yards from the rundown cabin, produced Seefeldt's remains as well as those of another of his pet dogs. Later, thirteen year old Roy Cornett, Jr. led deputies to a place where he witnessed his father bury the other two sheepdogs. Ex-convict Roy Cornett, Sr., who had years before been found guilty of cattle rustling, was held on a charge of murder.

Cornett's trial commenced in the final week of February, 1943. In the second week of March a jury of seven women and five men convicted him and recommended life imprisonment for the murderer of Helmuth Seefeldt. The sentence was affirmed the following Monday by a Sonoma County Superior Court judge. Cornett was sent to San Quentin to serve out his sentence.

A funeral service for Helmuth Seefeldt was conducted late in March. About six weeks later his 321 acre ranch was sold to a Mr. Jones of the Western Wax Corporation. Jones owned an adjoining property where he ran a sizable flock of sheep.

*More sails and tales at malcolmmacdonaldoutlawford.com

A HOMELESS GUY NAMED ROBERT

Sketch by Terry Howard

SAVE UKIAH BOWL!

Editor,

Yokayo Bowling Center is a place for everyone from toddlers to seniors in their 90s, for Special Olympics, seven leagues a week, youth tournaments with youth scholarships, a monthly Comedy Club, many family celebrations (birthdays, etc.), wonderful therapy (physical and mental) a yearly PRO AM tournament which benefits Special Olympics, additional special events, a place to make new friends and a great snack bar. Owner, Mike Schultz, and his awesome staff treat everyone as a personal friend. That is why people come from Lake County, Laytonville, Willits, the Mendocino Coast and Ukiah on a regular basis.

We do not need another department store, we do not need another restaurant, most of us do not need a pot dispensary. We have fitness centers, grocery stores and churches. But we only have one bowling alley. Please do not take that away from us.

Lorri Barker

Willits

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 20, 2018

BLUE ABREU, Willits. Parole violation.

ANTHONY EVANS, Chester/Ukiah. DUI with priors.

NAYELI FUENTES-LUCERO, Ukiah. Domestic abuse.

MARCUS GAINES, Eureka. Resisting.

AARON GRIFFIN, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license (for DUI).

AARON GUILLORY, Fort Bragg. Burglary, stolen property, conspiracy.

DANIEL HEATH, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

JACEY JACOBSON, Point Arena. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

DAVID JOHNSON SR., Ukiah. Parole violation.

JUSTIN MAXFIELD, Willits. Petty theft, trespassing, probation revocation.

JAIME NUNEZ, Upper Lake/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

DIEGO PARRA-RODRIGUEZ, Ukiah. Domestic abuse.

DEVAN TOMPKINS, Fort Bragg. Burglary, stolen property, conspiracy.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

When I was a kid in beautiful upstate New York, the gang and I hiked out to the site of a recently burned down barn. There were lots of things to look at. Scorched concrete footings, bits of metal sticking out of a pond of wood ash, stones turned red from the heat. But sightseeing was not the point of our excursion. Nails, thousands of nails. We could rake our fingers through the ashes and come up with fist-fulls of wonderful nails. For 11-year-old boys with a yearning for a tree house this was manna. Scrounging lumber wasn’t the hard part. There were tumble down farm buildings all around. The nails were the tricky bit. Having little more cash than the price of an empty soda bottle, new nails from the hardware store were out of reach. Extracting nails from fallen buildings was hard work and yielded bent nails that were difficult to reuse. While the nails from the burned barn may have lost some of their temper, they were straight and free of the wood and there for the taking.

A LOT OF HUMPBACK WHALES NEAR SHORE OF LATE.

LAUGHTER AS TRUMP LAUDS POLITICIAN'S BODY SLAM OF GUARDIAN JOURNALIST

theguardian.com/us-news/video/2018/oct/19/laughter-as-trump-lauds-politicians-body-slam-of-journalist-video

I SHOOK HANDS WITH PAT BOONE and my right side sobered up.

— Dean Martin

UKIAH SHELTER PETS OF THE WEEK

Sassy is a lovely 6 year old, spayed female cat who LOVES getting attention and pets. She’s super social with people, though not a fan of her feline roommates. Sassy's ideal home would be one where she is the only cat getting all the love and attention. Sassy is a big girl and a bit of a talker, she has a lot on her mind! Come meet her and let her tell you a story.

Skip is a VERY athletic and fun dog. He’s 2 years old, neutered, mixed breed, and weighs 50 pounds. We took him out for his photo shoot and he had a great time jumping for tennis balls. This guy leaped so high, he jumped out of the camera frame! Skip enjoys playing with toys and he's very entertaining. There’s lots more about this Olympian canine on his webpage: http://www.mendoanimalshelter.com/dogblog/skip

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 For more information about adoptions please call 707-467-6453.

MEMO OF THE AIR: GONE TO EDFALOBA.

“And then WHOOSH with their heat ray. We’ll turn it on Martians! We’ll turn it on men! Man on TOP again! …Wait, where are you going?” “Not to your world.”

The recording of last night's (2018-10-19) 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-0303

Usually I put on something interesting that will just fluff up the air for a bit before I start the show, to make sure everything’s working all the way from wherever I am to the transmitter; this time it was Jim Holt’s TED talk asking the question /Why does the universe exist?/ The program I use to stream the show out stopped registering an input on the meter and luckily I noticed. I solved it, or thought I did, started the show, and it stopped again, seeming to have something to do with the USB mixing board dropping out of being the default sound device, so- USB problem? Reinstall the mixer’s USB driver, restart the computer, everything working again. I set up a tablet where I could see it playing KNYO’s stream, so if the screen changed to automation-provided album cover art that would alert me, and over the course of the show several times that happened, and I restarted the computer, wiggled the wires, reconnected and continued. That means, each time, a few minutes of fail-safe random music on KNYO and a few minutes of zen dead air on KMEC. Tch, oy. I’ll fix this stuff up and make it reliable again by the next time I need to use it; it might even be just a bad USB cable or a bad port. Oh, right, the reason I’m explaining all this is to let you know that the eight-hour recording, see above, has four or five sound dropouts in it, and why, but that I’ve shortened them all to five seconds, so.

While I’ve got your eyes, and thanks for that, friend, I’d like to repeat about Mendocino Theater Company doing /Mervin Gilbert’s WAR OF THE WORLDS!/ live on stage in Helen Schoeni Theater in the middle of the Art Center in Mendocino 7pm this coming Wednesday October 24. And you and your date can be there in those comfy new chairs. That’ll be going out live on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg! It's part of KNYO's commitment to real radio, and part of MTC’s reading series of Wednesday night events while the main play people are out, the main play this time and until just before Halloween being Marjorie Prime. WOTW will be the first time I’ve had anything to do with live-on-air radio drama since the Whale School era. I get to be both the sound effects monkey for the broadcast and the demented artilleryman, which is easy because I’m already in costume. Like Wednesday Addams said, “This /is/ my costume.” Speaking of Wednesday.

Also at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you can find a fresh batch of dozens of links to not necessarily radio-useful but nonetheless worthwhile educational items I set aside for you while gathering the show together. Such as:

Recovered original newsreel footage from the Great Martian War 1913-1918. https://tinyurl.com/GMWRecoveredFootage

Whatta show! And those are /high school/ kids. E for effort and execution.

https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2018/10/epic-harry-potter-dance-routine.html

Puppetry genius Barnaby Dixon’s latest amazing real-time puppet. He just keeps outdoing himself.

https://laughingsquid.com/barnaby-dixon-creepy-face-puppet/

And objects (and creatures) in space.

https://robotmafia.com/solar-walk-the-journey-of-individuals-and-their-creations-in-space/

Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org

https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com