Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018

• Fatal Crash
• Fire Insurance
• Suspicious Death
• Bridge Closures
• Navarro Watershed
• Little Dog
• B Meeting
• Ed Notes
• Dignity
• Shelter Placement
• Milky Way
• Devolution
• Fish Ladders
• Turkey Tell-all
• Cannabis Hour
• Yesterday's Catch
• Sea Rise
• Dangerous Mob
• MurphLandia
• Fat Man
• Manchester Fair
• Snow Tables
• Artshow
• Gloriana Shows
• Mushroom Events
• Fraidycats
• Comments
• Found Object

THREE‑VEHICLE CRASH IN MENDOCINO COUNTY KILLS DRIVER

CHP officers arrested a Leggett man, suspected of impaired driving, following a fatal crash on Highway 1 in Mendocino County. Leida Padway, 67, of Alameda died in Wednesday’s three‑vehicle collision near Leggett, according to the Mendocino County Coroner’s Office Monday. Three others suffered major injuries, the CHP said. The crash occurred as suspect driver David Gosselin lost control of his southbound Toyota Tacoma pickup near the Highway 1 and Highway 101 intersection. The truck spun into northbound traffic and hit a 2001 Ford Escape driven by Padway, who died in the collision. After striking the Ford, the pickup hit a northbound Toyota Camry, pushing both off the highway and into an embankment, the CHP said. In the impact, the pickup’s cab separated from its chassis and the divided truck then toppled sideways onto Highway 101 lanes.

Suspect Gosselin, Ford passenger Barry Greenburg, and Camry passenger Rhiannon Chavez Miramontes appeared to have major injuries and were taken to Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits. Camry driver Ivan Romero had minor injuries and was treated by paramedics at the crash. Officers arrested Gosselin on suspicion of driving under the influence and released him to the hospital due to his injuries. The crash investigation and cleanup closed the highway for five hours. Caltrans diverted traffic to nearby rural Highway 271.

(courtesy Press Democrat)

RURAL FIRE INSURANCE IS CHANGING in California due to wildfire experience

California’s Department of Insurance Report in the wake of the State’s massive wildfires.

Good morning,

The attached link is a report generated last from the California Department of Insurance (CDI) that discusses changes in the insurance world and how they are affecting in the Wildland Urban Interface/intermix (WUI). This is informational only.

Discussions and decisions based on AV Fire Department's Long Range Plan (LRP) and our strategic placement of stations and equipment have been historically based on a Insurance Services Office (ISO) ratings. This document shows that the metrics and modeling for insurance in the rural area is changing. The 2018 fire season will add to the impact of this situation. As we move forward, we need to seriously weigh the cost of having expanded department assets and the lowering benefits to the community. I will discuss this at the Fire Protection Committee meeting and report to the Board anything of substance.

http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2018/upload/nr002-2018AvailabilityandAffordabilityofWildfireCoverage.pdf

Andres Avila, Fire Chief, Anderson Valley Fire Department

SUSPICIOUS DEATH

Missing Eureka Man Linked To Burning Van Found With Body In It, Says Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office

On November 24, 2018 around 1:13 PM a citizen reported a vehicle fire at mile marker 100 on North Highway 1, just south of the Town of Leggett. The citizen reportedly saw an adult male, possibly in his 50's, wearing a white jump suit and heavy logging style boots fleeing the scene. The witness indicated the man's legs appear to be on fire as he was last seen running onto a private gated logging road to the southeast of Highway 1.

Personnel from the California Highway Patrol, Leggett Valley Fire Department and Cal Fire personnel responded to the scene to extinguish the fire and discovered a deceased male inside the vehicle. Emergency personnel saw what appeared to be numerous bullet holes in the side of the van and a gun was located on the ground nearby. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office initiated a criminal investigation into a possible homicide based upon witness statements and evidence located at the scene. The Mendocino County Inter-agency SWAT Team was requested to assist with a search of the nearby logging roads where the suspect was last seen. A search of the area was conducted but the suspect was not located. The suspect was described as a white male, in his 50's, approximately 6'00" tall, weighing approximately 180 pounds. The suspect may have suffered burns to his legs, hands, and may have singed hair.

The burned vehicle, a 2004 White Ford Econoline Van (California Lic. #8Y79772), was registered to 58 year old Frank Pinckney, out of Eureka CA. The vehicle is further described as being a utility van with a lift gate on the rear and a large mirror attached to the back door. At this time Frank Pinckney is missing and family members are concerned for his well being. A vehicle similar to the involved van is pictured below. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's assistance. Anyone with information related to the suspect or anyone who might have seen Frank Pinckney or his vehicle in the past several days is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office Communications Center at 707-463-4086 or the Sheriff's Tip Line at 707-234-2100.

(Not Actual Vehicle)

TRAFFIC ADVISORY UPDATE

Intermittent Full Road Closures at Albion River Bridge on State Route 1 in Mendocino County. Beginning Thursday, November 29 and continuing until December 15. 8am to 5pm, weekdays. Motorists should expect 20 minute delays. Full road closures are required due to helicopter flights over the work zone. The helicopter is helping to stage equipment for geotechnical studies for the Albion River Bridge. The helicopter flights are weather dependent so the exact schedule is unknown at this time. The Coastal Development Permit issued by the California Coastal Commission allows helicopter flights for a time period of up to four weeks, however the actual days of helicopter flights will be no more than 6.

(Caltrans Press Release)

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING WATER SECURITY FOR THE NAVARRO COMMUNITY

Linda MacElwee & Patty Madigan

As a relatively dry fall gives way to winter, local residents are hoping for a good rain year while still worried that it will be another dry year and possibly the start of another drought. The alarming trajectory we’ve seen in recent years of low rainfall in the Navarro and throughout northern California threaten the security of our water supply as well as the health of our rivers and fisheries. Climate change is making the situation worse with predicted increases in the frequency and intensity of drought periods. While we hope the Farmer’s Almanac’s prediction of a cold and wet winter holds true, we know it is just a matter of time before the next year when the rains fall short and we’re eventually faced with another drought.

To safeguard the health and well-being of the Navarro watershed now and into the future, the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District is stepping up its efforts to work with the community to implement projects and strategies to improve water supply security that also benefit the health of our rivers and fish. To turn the tide of increasing vulnerability and diminishing stream flows, we are enlisting the help of landowners, farmers and vineyards and leveraging partnerships with the Nature Conservancy (TNC), Trout Unlimited (TU), Natural Resources Conservation Service, University of California Cooperative Extension and Shippensburg University. But success will depend on broad support and active participation of the Navarro watershed community. On December 6^th, we’re kicking-off our community outreach effort by hosting an event at the Grange in Philo from 6-9 to share useful information and water management strategies and to encourage local participation.

We’ve been hard at work on this problem already. Over the past 3 years, the MCRCD and our project partners The Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited have worked with a nearly a dozen landowners to gather data, implement projects and develop win-win strategies that work for people and fish. Low summer flows, especially in drought years can impact homes and businesses that rely on diversions from streams. In the recent drought, some stream reaches dried up and landowners were forced to truck in water. Extreme low flows are also hard on our endangered salmon and steelhead populations. The late summer and fall is when the young of the year salmon and steelhead need stream reaches to stay wet and maintain pools that stay cool enough for them to survive until the winter rains come. It also happens to be when people and our farms, gardens, and enterprises most need water and when the least amount of water is available. With funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board, this past summer we completed initial planning and project development where we reviewed existing salmon and steelhead recovery and restoration plans to identify projects and management actions to enhance flows and build drought resilience in the watershed. Our partners TNC and TU collected streamflow data throughout the watershed and developed an assessment of estimated water need in the Navarro watershed. We also created a decision-support tool to help identify areas in the watershed where water management projects will most quickly assist in the recovery of coho salmon and steelhead and therefore be more likely to access fisheries restoration funding.

The good news is that we have enough water. The total estimated amount of water needed each year for all users in the Navarro watershed is about 1800 acre-feet - less than 1% of the average annual runoff of about 240,000 acre-feet. But about 80% of all water use is in the driest months of the year when instream flows and water supplies are at their lowest. The solution to the Navarro’s water supply problems seem obvious – reduce reliance on dry season diversions by storing the wet season rainfall for use during the dry season. But implementing water management projects can be difficult. Issues related to permitting, water rights, flow requirements, project design and cost have kept many water users from taking steps to improve their water security. The MCRCD and its partners are focused on strategies to overcome these challenges and empowering water users to implement solutions and management strategies to meet the needs of people and fish. We have two main strategies.

Our first strategy is to store wet season water for use in drier months and reduce the cumulative impacts of dry season diversions. While rainwater capture systems, ponds and tank storage are not new to the Navarro watershed, they are, often difficult to permit and underutilized. The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District and our conservation partners TNC and TU recently received a second grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board to continue our work to promote and demonstrate a variety of storage and flow enhancement projects. Over the next two years we will install two new storage projects and develop designs for four more. We will also pilot a new landowner-based Collaborative Water Management project in a tributary to the Navarro to improving water supply reliability and instream flows at a watershed scale. Working with willing landowners, we’ll identify water management projects that meet their needs and create a plan which will facilitate permitting and future funding to support a more resilient watershed and community. We’ll also pilot a project to coordinate timing of diversions. By working together, water users can reduce the impacts of existing diversions simply by coordinating when and how much water is diverted at one time. Much like people filling an elevator, if everyone tries to enter at the same time there is not enough room, but by taking turns there is room for everyone.

Our second strategy is to increase storage of water naturally - in the ground. Shallow groundwater drains out slowly into our streams over the dry season and enhances streamflows, naturally maintaining flows for juvenile salmon and steelhead. But changes in land management and have decreased the natural infiltration of rainfall into the ground that forms groundwater storage. The first step to improve this situation and increase groundwater storage is to slow runoff when the rains fall, giving the water time to sink into the soil (infiltrate) and recharge groundwater supplies. Increasing soil organic matter in the soil increases the water holding capacity and sequesters carbon, two strategies we need more of across the entire planet. Increasing soil organic matter by 1% is estimated to hold as much as 20,000 gallons of water in the soil allowing it to sink in slowly and recharge groundwater supplies. Similarly, more water in our streams can be stored in the adjacent hillsides by slowing run-off using structures made of fallen trees. Increasing the amount of large wood and trees in streams creates pools for fish, but also raises the groundwater table and stores water that will release to the stream later in the dry season when the needs are greatest.

Over the next two years we’ll be advancing our groundwater and soil health strategy in two ways. As part of our “Navarro Farm to Water Table” project we will be collaborating with our partners at Natural Resource Conservation Service and Professor Christopher Woltemade of Shippensburg University to work with farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that build soil health, sequester carbon, increase water holding capacity, and water-use efficiencies such as replacing failing or leaking irrigation systems and conveyance. To support this work, we’ll be engaging local volunteers in a citizen monitoring program where landowners will participate in gathering temperature data throughout the watershed. Together with TNC and TU we’ll also be designing and constructing large wood restoration projects in several watersheds. We’ll also be implementing an infiltration study to better quantify the benefits of shallow groundwater storage to enhancing streamflow.

For both people and fish, now is the time to begin thinking like a watershed, do our part, however small or large, to return the Navarro to a healthy, productive river ecosystem.

If you are interested to learn more about all of these activities and strategies, please join us for a Community Meeting, The Future of the Navarro River Watershed: Stream Flows and Water Security Strategies for Farms, People and Fish on December 6^th at the Anderson Valley Grange from 6-9 pm. We will begin with a potluck supper from 6-7, and presentations beginning promptly at 7:00 pm. For more information you can email or phone Linda.macelwee@mcrcd.org (707)895-3230, patty.madigan@mcrcd.org (707) 462-3664 ext. 102, or go to www.mcrcd.org.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “I’m pretty sure Skrag is getting stoned again. He spends hours some afternoons just staring at the fish in the boss’s tank. This won’t end well.”

THE MEASURE B COMMITTEE IS MEETING this Wednesday, November 28, 1-3pm at the County Admin Center, 501 Low Gap Rd, Ukiah in Conference Room C.

Thank you,

Dora Briley, MCSO - Measure B Committee Clerk, 707-463-4408

MBaMEASUREBCOMMITTEEAgenda 11-28-18

MBKemper2018StudyGuideNotesMcGourty11-19-18

ED NOTES

RAIN FINALLY fell on the parched Anderson Valley over the past week with a welcome three inches or so falling on Boonville alone with more on the way the next few days as we go to press. It will take a true deluge to blast the Navarro River free at its mouth where the annual sandbar stands guard at the Pacific. The battered and fish-free Navarro has never looked worse, the lethal combination of chemical runoff and lack of rain combining to starve it of life.

* * *

KEN HURST stopped in Sunday. Ken and his wife Joanadel are being sheltered by a Valley samaritan while they try to put their lives back together after the loss of their home to fire on Friday, November 16th. “We lost everything, and I mean everything,” Ken said, “including our family histories.” He said the fire began about six in the morning on the deck of the two-story house overlooking the Navarro. “Nope, no visible cause.” Ken seemed not to want to say “suspicious” but the fire inspector asked him if he had any enemies. The affable old fullback and Army veteran replied, “None that I know of.” The Hursts are fully insured but there’s no compensation for a loss this large. Ken said he and Joanadel planned to re-build.

* * *

“PLEASE JOIN US in celebrating the final ArtWalk of 2018, hosted at Mulheren Insurance! This month we welcome one of the newest members of the local artist community, Elias Laughton. An abstract artist who works with experimental acrylic pouring techniques, Elias’ art is both intricate and fascinating... A passionate animal lover, Elias also donates 10% of all sales to the Anderson Valley Animal Rescue agency. Don’t miss out on your chance to see this exiting new artform up close and in person, as we say hello to Christmas and bid farewell to 2018!”

* * *

SWUNG in off the 101 corridor Sunday morning to have a cup of coffee in Geyserville, silently wondering why Boonville isn’t as, as, as… vivid, which may not be the word, but Geyserville welcomes the visitor at its south end with an intriguing array of sculptures, including a giant scrap metal horse. There are more businesses along Geyserville’s main drag, buildings are nicely kept up and the little town seems generally more like the kind of place that takes some pride in its appearance. Pride of appearance, in Boonville, is purely the work of isolated individuals, not according to a community plan or even any expressed community desire. With all the money stashed away in the hills these days you’d think we’d at least have the equivalent of the Willits Arch or, better yet, a giant piece of art announcing, “You’re in Boonville, Ca, bub, and you won’t forget it.”

* * *

THE NUMERO UNO seed Anderson Valley boy’s soccer team will finally get to play for the Division 3 championship — 20 days after their big win in the semi-final playoff game over 5 seed San Francisco Waldorf on penalty kicks (5-4). The combination of unhealthy air from the Butte County Fire, and Boonville’s default win over number 2 seed Jewish Community School because Jewish Community refused to play on the Sabbath, has pushed the championship match to Tuesday right here in Boomsville, 2pm at the high school. Rain predicted, but the game is on, rain or shine. (Results on line, print next week.)

* * *

DR. ROBERT MARBUT is famous among municipalities large and small for evaluating their homeless populations and prescribing specific steps to get people housed. Mendocino County hired Marbut to investigate Mendo homeless strategies. Back on March 15th, Marbut duly reported back to the Supervisors when he presented 28 recommendations, and 15 practical, immediate steps Mendo could immediately take to radically reduced the number of free range drunks, drug heads and unconfined lunatics agitating everyday citizens and occupying the police out of all proportion to their numbers.

MARBUT'S report has not only been ignored by the Supes and our over-large array of helping professionals who profit directly from unhoused, untended human misery — the so-called County "continuum of care" for instance, and related doers of wholly self-alleged good who have actively subverted the Marbut Report by talking it to death, as in meetings that begin, "Presentation: Miles Gordon and Maya Stuart follow up from community conversation working group."

MENDO COUNTY is getting an additional $4.9 million from the state to presumably help the homeless get housed. The money is based on a fraudulent homeless head count conducted by the helping pros themselves, the people who directly profit from inflated counts. The more homeless you count, or pretend to count, the more cash Mendo gets from the state to continue not doing anything about it. Mendo is claiming its latest "point in time count" revealed 1,235 homeless in the County. Marbut said there were maybe 200 indigenous homeless people. He went out himself to search out the homeless. Told there were fifty in Hopland, Marbut found only an abandoned blanket. The counters are people working for the agencies getting the money. Marbut recommended head counts at shelters and free meal sites, weeding out lifestyle transients and focusing helping efforts on homeless people with Mendo roots. Won't happen, can't happen with the present, self-interested apparatus in place and no leadership coming from the Supervisors.

* * *

WHERE'S HAMBURG? Has the Fifth District supervisor lurched all the way into mental catatonia, or is he simply tired of pretending to be a supervisor? We understand that Hamburg has sold his combination dope farm and home south of Ukiah, that he's presently married to County psychologist, Sara Starks, after a brief union with Point Arena’s Lauren Sinnott that lasted only long enough for her to get medical assistance through Hamburg's lush County health plan. The Hamlet of Mendocino County politics has either moved to Oregon already or will soon. Or he's so totally wigged out and unable to function even to vote yes with his colleagues on whatever is shoved before them every other Tuesday by CEO Carmel Angelo.

* * *

THE THEME of Michael Lewis's new book, "The Fifth Risk,” is that Trump, by deliberately sabbing federal bureaucracies by placing flagrantly unqualified people at the head of them, is hastening catastrophe. Whatever’s happening, it seems to be picking up speed.

'DIGNITY' a Statue in South Dakota, was done by artist Dale Lamphere to honor the women of the Sioux Nation

TROUBLE AT HOSPITALITY HOUSE

Anna Shaw, former Hospitality House Director, on Fort Bragg’s Homeless Plans

Fort Bragg City Council,

November 25th 2018 — I write in reference to the Limited Term Use Permit, which is on the City Council agenda for 11/26/18 for the Extreme Weather Shelter (EWS) to be run by Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center (MCHC).

I cannot attend the City Council meeting on 11/26/18. I request that this letter be added to the Public Record, and be read out at the meeting.

I was the Executive Director of MCHC for almost eight years until April 2018. In that time I added the EWS to MCHC’s services, as well as Transitional Housing, the Wellness Center, clinical mental health services, and indeed all the services and properties over and above the Hospitality House. I have more than thirty years of experience in managing social and healthcare and housing/homeless services; I trained professionally as a social worker and have a degree in Public Administration and an advanced degree in Care, Policy and Management.

Much as I am dismayed when I see the changes at Hospitality Center over the last seven months, with the homeless regularly sleeping in doorways, lying drunk in the bays by the windows, and leaving shopping carts trashed out front, all with no redress or amends made by staff, I have wanted to stay out of these issues. But I am so concerned by the plan to stage the EWS at Hospitality Center that I am submitting this letter. The Board wants to help our homeless neighbors but do not have the professional experience and training to know how to handle people with serious mental illness or homeless services. The majority of the Board do not live in Fort Bragg and have no relevant professional background; therefore they do not prioritize the local neighbors, and they do not know how best to run the services for the clients. A year ago the Board wanted to cease the EWS “for business reasons”, whatever that means, and now they wish to run it in the mental health center! From one extreme impractical decision to another extreme impractical decision at the polar opposite of the spectrum of options; both of these choices were born of political expediency. When MCHC acquired the “Old Coast Hotel” MCHC promised not to open a homeless shelter there, yet now the Board wishes to bring the most desperately needy and intoxicated homeless clients to check into shelter at the very same location.

I object strongly to the “staging” (i.e. gathering of clients) of the EWS at the Hospitality Center, and to the reduction of supervisory staff night from two to one if there are fewer than twelve guests. As of one year ago, the MCHC staff at that time told me that they objected to this idea too.

This is for the following reasons:

1. Safe Neighborhood.

The EWS clients are intoxicated and disruptive. They are often angry, understandably angry because life has dealt them a rough hand of cards at this time. They are cold, hungry, intoxicated and angry. I ran the EWS at the previous nonprofit operator in 2009/2010 and then at MCHC every consecutive year since then; I know. They desperately need and deserve to be sheltered, but do not bring these clients in a mass group to the center of downtown Fort Bragg! Let’s shelter them at the recently vacated 900 N. Franklin Street. Let’s "stage” the EWS at the Food Bank. Let’s bring common sense as well as professional care to these decisions as to where to locate shelter. Their behavior at Hospitality House when the staging was there in the winters of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 was so damaging to the local community that it drove the complaints that led to the EWS being disallowed from the Hospitality House Use Permit. Why would we as a community try again to have a group of intoxicated and disruptive people gathered in our downtown again, after the community had the EWS removed via the changes to the Hospitality House Use Permit from another downtown location? This is the worst of scenarios both for the homeless and for the neighbors. The EWS clients simply will not stay within the confines of the courtyard, that much is known from the Hospitality House staging experience, where the same commitments were given as to managing the clients onsite.

2. Care for Mental Health Clients.

The Hospitality Center is funded by Mental Health Service Act dollars to provide wellness services to the mentally ill. Some but not all of those are homeless. Located at Hospitality Center is additional funding and staffing for homeless case management and vocational services for homeless clients who have the ability to participate. Fragile mentally ill folk are at serious risk of predatory behavior by the EWS clients, who are bound to gather and stay on the property, while the mentally ill folk are on the property still seeking services. The Hospitality Clinic abuts the shared courtyard and those seriously mentally ill clients will also be at risk. If the EWS clients are allowed to gather in the courtyard before the Center and Clinic close for business, they will negatively affect those with clients attending for mental health services. If the EWS clients are not allowed to gather in the courtyard before the Center and Clinic close for business, they will be very disruptive indeed to the local neighborhood. The Transitional Housing clients (who are clean and sober) living on the second floor all have serious mental illness and go to the courtyard to smoke and to take respite, all of which will be unavailable while the intoxicated EWS clients gather in courtyard. There is no way to “manage” the staging of the EWS at the Hospitality Center.

3. Safe Staffing.

The challenging nature of the EWS clients makes it unsafe to have one lone supervisor when there are fewer than twelve guests. I made regular reports to the MCHC Board as to the almost daily threats to supervisory staff over the winters of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 and the Board eventually made a decision only to open when the staffing level would comprise two for safety reasons and not to go below that. Threats made to staff included “I will break your jaw”; I will beat you; “I will hunt you down on the street and attack you”. Some years ago there was a young man who hung himself in the county jail, after attacking two of our police officers in Bainbridge Park: this is the kind of client who is sheltered in the EWS. It is irresponsible to revert to sending one lone staff members to supervise EWS clients, who are intoxicated and volatile. Having two supervisors allows for safe control and supervision of guests along with support and back up when incidents occurs. With two supervisors at night, the EWS of 2017/2018 was safe and calm.

Thanking you for your consideration,

Anna Shaw

Fort Bragg

* * *

FROM THE Report of the Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center (MCHC) Ad Hoc Committee Regarding Oversight of and Improvements to the Operations of the MCHC

The City received numerous written and verbal complaints about the operation of the Hospitality House from the fall of 2016 through the summer of 2017. These complaints resulted in the City opening a code violation case regarding the Hospitality House. During the course of the code violation investigation, staff discovered a violation of the Hospitality House Use Permit (USP 9-03). The City initiated proceedings to modify Use Permit 9-03 to address the nuisance conditions and the permit violation.

In July of 2017, pursuant to Fort Bragg Municipal Code (FBMC) Section 17.96, the City served a Notice of Violation and Hearing on the Hospitality House. The City and the MCHC met on numerous occasions over the summer and the City held two Planning Commission hearings to discuss modifications to the Use Permit. This was followed by an appeal of the Permit to the City Council, which was decided on October 3, 2017. Aa a result of the October 3 appeal and direction from City Council, the MCHC and the City entered into a negotiated modification to the Hospitality House (HH) Use Permit 9-03 (USP 9-03) for the Hospitality House to include 18 Special Conditions to address nuisance conditions and violations of special and standard conditions of the Use Permit.

 

Condition #8 (of 18)

Hospitality House shall establish rules of conduct for clients, aimed at curtailing behaviors that are unlawful and/or disturb the peace. Clients who violate the rules of conduct shall be denied service by Hospitality House in accordance with policies approved by the MCHC Board of Directors. The Hospitality House shall establish a “ban list” which identifies individuals who are temporarily and/or permanently banned from the Hospitality House property. The “ban list” shall be shared with the Police Department and the Police Department may recommend the addition of individuals who have been cited and/or arrested for illegal acts occurring in locations other than the Hospitality House premises. The Hospitality House shall abide by the “ban list.” Closed loop surveillance cameras shall be installed in the interior and exterior public spaces of the Hospitality House. With regard to sharing video footage with the Police Department, MHCH and Hospitality House will comply with their obligations to their clients under state and federal privacy laws, including but not limited to HIPAA.

Compliance: Yes, with qualifications. Closed loop cameras were installed late. HH has not always agreed with the Ban requirements recommended by the Police Dept.

 

Condition #18

The Hospitality House shall not offer new services that attract additional clients to the facility at other times of day or otherwise intensify the utilization of the facility, including but not limited to: counseling, educational services, mental health services, mail service, computer access, food pantry, etc.

Compliance: “Unknown.”

 

…The Ad Hoc Committee and staff has also worked with MCHC on the following activities and successes:

Toured both the Hospitality House & the MCHC and learned about various homeless services, programs and activities.

Worked with the MCHC to ensure that the requirement to have a functional restaurant open in the MCHC Oak Street facility be achieved within the required one-year timeframe.

Provided oversight and direction with regard to the operating requirements for the

Extreme Weather Shelter through the Limited Term Permit process.

Worked on various homeless loitering issues relative to various benches around downtown Fort Bragg, including: removed two City benches (corner of Franklin and Redwood; and in front of the Barber shop on the 100 block of North Franklin which were “hang out” locations for homeless groups); replaced two MTA benches with loitering resistant benches at the corner of Harrison and Redwood Street; and worked with Hospitality House to continued patrolling areas around Hospitality House to address loitering issues.

Improved cooperation between the Police Department and HH regarding following Use Permit special conditions (installation of surveillance cameras, banning problematic clients with criminal histories, etc.) and recommendations to reduce calls for service and incident reports.

Addressed supervision and fighting incidents on HH premises.

Helped the HH center establish better prescription drug control protocols and equipment.

Worked with Hospitality House to ensure the guest vehicles obey parking and camping regulations within Fort Bragg.

Negotiated a set of rules for operation of the hospitality house in addition to the requirements in the Use Permit.

Interviewed for the Marbut report, recommended that City Council adopt the Marbut report, and developed mechanisms to implement the recommendations of the Marbut report (through the EWS Limited Term Permit for example).

Ensuring that the HH stays within its meal service maximum for the year, per the Use Permit.

Identified and removed four large encampments (A&W Haul Road, Skunk Train Tracks, Pudding Creek Bridge, Cypress Street) and over 450 cubic yards of trash and debris. Worked with property owners to install fencing on some of the parcels to deter future encampments.

PAINTING WITH LIGHT: MILKY WAY OVER SOUTH FORK EEL RIVER

by David Wilson

The word “photography” literally means “light painting,” and there is something about taking that idea and actually adding my own strokes of light that appeals to me. Nighttime gives me the opportunity to make images that are illuminated in ways we don’t usually see, whether from moonlight, artificial ambient light sources, or light that I may apply to an area myself. Let me share with you one such light-painted image from a dark summer’s midnight in Southern Humboldt.Coursing among giant Redwoods, the South Fork Eel River slipped quietly by the California Federation of Women's Clubs Grove, while the Milky Way made its silent passage across the sky. Not a human soul was about that night after midnight, though during the day this Humboldt Redwoods State Park spot on the Avenue of the Giants is very popular. I had seen many people enjoying the river and day use area of the Grove when scouting here that afternoon to see how the Milky Way would lie at night.

One of the reasons I am drawn to photographing the night is for the opportunity it gives me to add my own touch in the form of painted light to create something unique. Because it is dark, I have to leave the camera shutter open for extended periods, and that gives me time to apply light selectively to areas of a scene, often using a flashlight. Such was the case with this image.

To make this photograph I left the shutter open for 30 seconds, which was a long enough exposure to capture a lot of stars, bring out the detail in the Milky Way, and to give me time to use my light to illuminate the foreground and the trees across the river. It can take some time to paint light into a scene, particularly when some of it is as large and distant as those redwoods. While the shutter was open I had half a minute to run up the river bank a little way and use my flashlight to illuminate both the foreground and the distant redwoods across the river. My idea was to illuminate it from as far to the side as I could in order to highlight the foreground texture with interesting shadows, particularly with the small rocks along the river bank.

If you would like to see this image in person, and many others from our beautiful nighttime North Coast, I have a show hanging through December at Arts & Drafts on 422 1^st Street in Eureka, California, on the Waterfront. There will be an opening that I’ll attend on Saturday, December 1 at 6 PM for Arts! Alive. The gallery typically has evening hours during the week.

(To keep abreast of David Wilson’s most current photography or peer into its past, follow him on Instagram at @david_wilson_mfx or his website mindscapefx.com, where you can also contact him, but which Wilson says he updates less frequently.)

MORE FISH LADDERS?

Editor:

I wish to rebut Thursday’s Close to Home column in the Press Democrat by Curtis Knight and Brian Johnson (“A once in a lifetime chance to restore the Eel”).

While not stated specifically, the article certainly slants toward the removal of Cape Horn Dam at Van Arsdale and Scott Dam, which creates Lake Pillsbury. Both are part of the Potter Valley Project. Their reasoning is to help protect the fish. Let me remind people that without the water stored at Lake Pillsbury, parts of the Eel River system would pretty much dry up in the summertime, as it used to do prior to the construction of Scott Dam.

Let us remember that the diversion tunnel at Van Arsdale feeds Lake Mendocino, which in turn supplies water to hundreds of agricultural entities downstream from Coyote Valley in both Mendocino and Sonoma counties, not to mention the drinking water for much of Sonoma County.

Rather than removal of the dams, how about some federal funding for fish ladders at both Lake Mendocino and Scott Dam? (Cape Horn Dam already has one.) That would do more to save the fish and retain the flows downstream in both the Eel and Russian rivers.

Warren K. Bilstein

Ukiah

“The turkey you pardoned published a scorched-earth tell-all about its time in the White House.”

DECEMBER 13 CANNABIS HOUR

(Thursday, Dec. 13, 11 a.m., KZYX)

Do You Have a Clue? What’s in Mendocino County’s cannabis ordinance? Can you guess which regulations cultivators hate the most?

Attorney Hannah L. Nelson, who probably knows more about this county's cannabis ordinance than anyone on the planet, will unravel some of its mysteries on the Cannabis Hour, Thursday, Dec. 13 at 11 a.m. on KZYX.

CATCH OF THE DAY, November 26, 2018

ZACHARY COLLINS, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

PATRICK HAFNER, Glenwood Springs, Colorado/Laytonville. Burglary, vandalism.

JACK HAYWARD, Boonville. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

BRENTON MICHELS, Kennewick, Washington/Ukiah. Fugitive from justice.

SHARON SPIERS, Eureka. DUI, false ID.

STEVEN WHITE, Potter Valley. Under influence, disobeying court order.

WILLIAM WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

SEA RISE PLANNING SPARKS CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE

by Daniel Mintz

A Humboldt County staff report states that sea level rise is “a significant threat to every aspect of life on the North Coast” but opinions on how to react to it are divided.

Based on a “vulnerability assessment” by hydrologist Aldaron Laird, a staff report prepared for the county’s Planning Commission describes inundation risks in the unincorporated areas surrounding Humboldt Bay. The shoreline’s “vulnerability tipping point” is between two to three feet of sea level rise and those benchmarks are projected for 2050 and 2070 respectively.

The report envisions the impacts that could be seen by 2070: “Fifty-nine percent (33 miles) of barrier-like shoreline structures (dikes, railroad and road grades) on Humboldt Bay could be breached or be overtopped by approximately three feet of sea level rise, placing thousands of acres and critical regional assets at risk.”

Those assets include King Salmon’s only access road, PG&E’s spent nuclear fuel storage site, areas of Highway 101, State Route 255 at the Mad River bottom, the Humboldt Bay Trail, 9.6 miles of water transmission lines, 30 electrical transmission towers and 113 transmission poles, the north and south jetties and three of the bay’s 10 bulk cargo/commercial docks.

The report also estimates that 62 percent of the ag lands in the county’s Humboldt Bay planning area would be inundated by king tides if three feet of sea level rise happens.

The inundation would also envelop 32 percent of the bay area’s industrial/commercial properties, 29 percent of its coastal-dependent industrial properties, 17 percent of its public facilities and 11 percent of its residential parcels.

The report sets forth a variety of policy options in response but when it was workshopped at the November 15 commission meeting, Planning Director John Ford carefully pointed out that the planning is in a formative stage.

“I want to take the pressure off tonight’s discussion – we’re not trying to adopt policy here, we’re trying to begin a dialogue about sea level rise,” he said.

Ford added that “one of the things we also are not trying to do is prove whether or not sea level rise exists, we know that there are divergent opinions on that.”

Before commissioners arrived at that debate, there were allusions to the potential economic losses of sea level rise policy-making.

As commissioners considered a policy to plan for the highest inundation level scenario, Commissioner Mike Newman said he’s concerned that the planning period “is pretty open.”

Senior Planner Lisa Shikany said an “adaptive management” approach can be followed, with an eye on the forecasted future.

She gave a hypothetical example of a public facility like a wastewater plant being in the inundation zone. “That doesn’t mean that we will move it now or that we wouldn’t protect it to the extent feasible,” Shikany told commissioners.

But she added that part of the planning is realizing that at some point asset protection may not be practical. “So where might we relocate that plant – and if there’s only one or two options, we may not want to approve a subdivision there now,” she said.

The Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce has written a letter to the county expressing concerns about a sea level rise overlay zone and during public comment, Scott Pesch, a Eureka-based realtor, said the zone “goes a long way and I guess there’s a concern initially about insurance possibilities here that might affect the private property owners of these areas.”

Pesch added that there’s also concern about a policy option to restrict life-extending improvements to existing development.

Commissioner Ben Shepherd recommended considering “triggers” that would spur policy actions. “If we focus on, not dates but on specific levels, then it’s not an issue of whether you believe in it or don’t believe in it,” he said.

He added, “I can see a lot of people getting uncomfortable when you say – Well, greenhouse gas is leading to … -- that is, I think, where we’re going to end up with issues.”

Commissioner Brian Mitchell emphasized the importance of the planning effort. “I feel that climate change and specifically sea level rise is an undisputable situation that is happening,” he said, adding that even agencies within the Trump administration and the U.S. military acknowledge it.

Commissioner Noah Levy thanked Mitchell for his comments. “It does our community a disservice if we act like ‘well, maybe it’s rising, maybe it’s not, there’s some dispute,’” Levy said. “It’s a fact – we don’t know exactly when certain thresholds are going to be met but the trajectory is there and we should not be shy about saying the sea is rising on Humboldt Bay.”

There was debate, however. “I’m not saying you’re right or you’re wrong,” said Commissioner Alan Bongio. “But what if we are wrong, what if the science isn’t right and what if we put an overlay zone and the sea rise doesn’t happen.”

If so, “All these people that have these lands will not have the opportunity to do whatever they were going to do,” he continued.

Bongio said he doesn’t “buy in” to the climate change warnings that get “shoved down our throat on a daily basis” because “you can get whatever results you want if you get the right scientists to go along with you – you fund them, give them grants, you can get what you want and we’ve seen both sides of it.”

Levy said he wants to be careful about policymaking but he took exception to the characterization of climate change findings being purchased.

Commission Chair Bob Morris questioned whether “this is the proper place for this discussion” and moved the meeting on.

Ford said the next step will be to set a schedule for continuing the workshop and “beginning to engage the public discussion” on sea level rise planning.

It’s especially critical for the Humboldt Bay area, whose land is sinking due to subduction and has the highest rate of sea level rise on the U.S. West Coast.

MURPHY’S LAW TO THE RESCUE!

by James Kunstler

What can go wrong will go wrong. It’s so fundamental to the operation of the universe that Sir Isaac Newton should have installed it between his 2nd and 3rd Laws of Motion — but he had his hands full losing a fortune in Britain’s South Sea Bubble circa 1721, after muttering to a colleague that he “could calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of the people.” Note to all you hedge fund cowboys out there: Old Isaac was probably smarter than you (and all the algos you rode in on).

Was it a fretful Thanksgiving this year, a family feud of political recrimination with a lot teeth gnashing through mouthfuls of candied sweets? Well, yes, coming after the extraordinary fiasco of the Kavanaugh hearings and the disputed midterm elections, but the glide path to Yuletide looks kind of bumpy, too, so here’s a short bill or particulars of things tending to go wrong:

Ukraine verges on martial law after a naval incident with Russian ships in the waters off Crimea. Say what? Martial Law? They might as well declare a Chinese Fire Drill. Details of the actual incident around the Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov remain murky besides the fact that two Ukrainian gunships and a tug disobeyed orders from Russian ships to stand down in Russian maritime waters and shots were fired. Who knew that Ukraine even had a navy, and how can they possibly pay for it? But now NATO is trying to get into the act, meaning the USA will get dragged into just the sort unnecessary and idiotic dispute that kicks off world wars. Note to the Golden Golem of Greatness (aka Mr. Trump): this dog-fight is none of our goddam business. Russia, meanwhile, asked the UN Security Council to convene over this, which is the correct response. What could go wrong?

Late Monday update: I’ve heard reports this afternoon that Russia had intel Ukrainian ships were transporting an explosive device supplied by NATO which they suspected was intended to be deployed to blow up the strategic bridge across the Kerch Strait. Still unconfirmed chatter. Developing story….

Sunday: about five hundred Central American migrants rushed the border at Tijuana. The US Border Patrol tear-gassed them and they backed off. Bad optics for those trying to make the case for open borders. Naturally, The New York Times portrayed this as an assault on families, defaulting to their stock sob story, though the mob assembling down there is overwhelmingly composed of young men. Complicating matters, a new Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, takes over next Saturday, a Left-wing populist and enemy of Trumpismo. Tijuana is now choking on the thousands of wanderers who were induced to march north to test America’s broken immigration policies. What could go wrong?

Congressional Democrats are said to be “loading the cannons” with subpoenas for Trumpsters to get raked over-the-coals in a circus of committee hearings when they take over the majority in January. They’ll be matched by Senators firing back in hearings controlled by Republicans, setting up the worst political pissing match since the Civil War. In a fair universe, enough dirt would come out on either side to disable the most sinister forces of the Deep State — especially the seditious “intelligence community.” But life is unfair, as Jimmy Carter once observed and the exercise will only fan the flames of already-extreme antipathy. What could go wrong?

The engine pulling that choo-choo train of grievance is Robert Mueller’s Russian Collusion investigation. I expect him to produce mighty rafts of charges against Mr. Trump, his family and associates, and anyone who ever received so much as a souvenir mug from his 2016 campaign. But I doubt that any of it will have a bearing on Russian election “meddling.” And in that case, the charges will be met by counter-charges of an illegitimate investigation, meaning welcome to that constitutional crisis we’ve been hearing about for two years. That’s a mild way of describing anything from a disorderly impeachment to troops in the American streets. What could go wrong there?

Finally, there’s the elephant in the room with the 800-pound-gorilla riding on its back: the economy and its diabolical engine the financial markets. Anyone notice on the lead-up to Thanksgiving and Black Friday that the markets have been going south (and not on holiday to Cozumel)? Stocks are roaring back up again as I write. The TBTF banks and their ringleader, the Federal Reserve, have had a few days to engineer a rally, and the sharper it goes up, the more remaining “greater fools” will get roped in for eventual slaughter. Bond rates are charging back up too, meaning the price is skidding down. Bad combo. The poison cherry-on-top is Bitcoin, which has plunged about 40 percent in ten measly days to a 3000-handle and is headed to zero. So sad, as The Golden Golem might put it. It seemed like such a sure thing less than a year ago. What could have gone wrong?

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

MANCHESTER CRAFT FAIR AND BREAKFAST – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2

The Manchester Community Center/Garcia Guild’s "First Sunday of the Month" breakfast and annual Holiday Craft and Gift Fair is on Sunday, December 2nd from 8:30 to 11:00. The breakfast menu includes mushroom and spinach frittatas, ham, scrambled eggs, biscuits, pumpkin bars and, as always, features local favorites Lisa's Luscious Jams and Little Green Bean Coffee. This all-you-can-eat breakfast is $10 for adults, $5 for children and by donation for toddlers.

The Garcia Guild Holiday Craft and Gift Fair has a full house of 18 vendors, featuring local artists, artisans, and small businesses. There are a wide variety of amazing items available for purchase from custom artwork, ceramics, holiday cards and ornaments, kitchen items, photography, shopping bags, clothing, handmade soap, and several types of jewelry. The Fair will remain open until 11:30.

“Each year this event provides residents a family-friendly venue to shop local and to enjoy a hot breakfast while supporting our community center.” says Fair organizer, Arlene Peterson “I can't wait to continue my holiday shopping!”

At this breakfast the Garcia Guild will also begin the sale of advance tickets to their Annual Crab Feed, which will be on December 29th. For more information on the breakfast, Holiday Craft and Gift Fair and the Crab Feed call 882-3425. The Manchester Community Center is on Crispin Road in Manchester, just east of Highway 1.

“Gray Thursday” in the Park, 11/22/18

(Photo by Harvey Reading)

ARTWALK DECEMBER 2018

“Please join us in celebrating the final ArtWalk of 2018, hosted at Mulheren Insurance! This month we welcome one of the newest members of the local artist community, Elias Laughton. An abstract artist who works with experimental acrylic pouring techniques, Elias’ art is both intricate and fascinating... A passionate animal lover, Elias also donates 10% of all sales to the Anderson Valley Animal Rescue agency. Don’t miss out on your chance to see this exiting new artform up close and in person, as we say hello to Christmas and bid farewell to 2018!”

GLORIANA MUSICAL THEATER is proud to present the fourth annual Green Fields Christmas! A dynamic experience featuring the Mendocino Coast's liveliest brewgrass boys, Green Fields, and a slew of shenanigans as they bring their uncouth and uncut brand of bluegrass and country comedy music to Fort Bragg once again.

The doors open at 8:30 on Saturday, December 22nd, so bring your loved ones who are over 18 years of age so y'all can slap some knees and kick some back with Pookie, Paul, Duncan, Ed, Diggs, and Gabe. There will be an ugly sweater contest, photos with Santa, and present giveaways for those in attendance!

Tickets are $7 per person or $10 a couple. The show starts at 9:00 at Eagles Hall in Fort Bragg.

So come one, come all, as we find out just what is in Santa Sack at the most exciting Mendocino holiday tradition: THE ANNUAL GREEN FIELDS CHRISTMAS SHOW!!!

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Gloriana Musical Theatre presents A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz. Directed by Kevin and Erin Green.

When Charlie Brown complains about the overwhelming materialism he sees among everyone during the Christmas season, Lucy suggests that he become director of the school Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown accepts, but this proves to be a frustrating endeavor. When an attempt to restore the proper holiday spirit with a forlorn little Christmas fir tree fails, he needs Linus’ help to discover the real meaning of Christmas.

Running at Eagles Hall from December 7 - 16 with performances at 7:30 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays and Sunday matinees beginning at 3 p.m.

Admission is $16 for the general public, $14 for Seniors and $8 for youth (17 and under).
Tickets available at Harvest Market in Fort Bragg, online atGloriana.org and at the door.

MUSHROOM WALKS & WORKSHOPS

Rain brings out the wild mushroom collection at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Join us this afternoon at 1:30pm for a Monday Mushroom Walk with Mario Abreu or sign up for this Saturday's Mushroom ID Workshops for a more in-depth experience!

Mushroom Walks

Each Monday now through December 17 beginning at 1:30PM

Enjoy an identification walk and learn mushroom lore with Naturalist and Mycologist, Mario Abreu each Monday from November 12 through December 17 (Nov 12, Nov 19, Nov 26, Dec 3, Dec 10, Dec 17). Walks are free with regular Gardens admission - https://www.gardenbythesea.org/visit/admissions-hours/

Mushroom ID Workshops

December 1 or December 15 from 10:00AM to 3:30PM

Learn the basic taxonomic identifying features that distinguish mushrooms from each other, where each unique mushroom species can be found, when they can be found, and the myths associated with them. This workshop consists of a lecture, hands-on look of mushrooms collected and displayed for each workshop, and a field walk to find mushrooms associated with the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens' native plant communities. Identification tools will be provided at the workshop to key mushrooms. Class cost is $25 for members and Master Gardeners; $35 for non-members (includes Gardens admission for the day). Payment is due upon sign-up. Please note, all workshop fees are non-refundable unless the workshop has been canceled or rescheduled by the Gardens. Please reserve space for your preferred date by phoning 707-964-4352 ext. 16 or stop by The Garden Store at MCBG.

Please remember, mushrooms found at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens should stay at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens... DO NOT PICK OR COLLECT from our botanical collection!

ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK

A READER WRITES: I remember how Weston Price traveled deep into the Swiss Alps, about a 100 years ago, to small villages that had yet to be infected with our culture.

Besides the outstanding health of the people, he found a strong comradery among them all. He described it as truly a community of “one for all and all for one.” He was greatly affected by it, and it is reflected in his writing. The point of today’s “culture” is to atomize everyone, pit everyone against each other, break all apart, so to allow the easy domination of the governmental power structure. No one has others to confide in, share their innermost thoughts. Unlike our past history, where you had deep connections with each other in clans, and with the animals and life around you, now there is nothing.

If you remember Dave McGowan, the excellent investigative reporter, wrote about this more than 13 years ago. We are all, purposefully, cut off from each other. And there’s a reason for it. It makes us all weaker and impotent before the leviathan. Traister is a stooge fronting for the “deep state” to maintain the hatred and confrontation between men and women. It’s essential for the powers that the most basic, human relationships be destroyed. And family is target #1.

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[2] Can I tell you a secret? I don’t even care if there are undocumented immigrants in this country. I think it’s a non-issue. Without social security numbers they aren’t privy to the welfare people claim they get. The vast majority of them are normal people trying to live a better life. This whole wall, deport the illegals bullshit is just the 1% convincing the working poor to blame a subset of the working poor for the fact that they’re all poor instead of realizing the reason they are all poor is due to vast income inequality and resource price inflation in combination with wage stagnation. Please use your brains. PS. The existence of another poor person is not why you’re poor. It’s because the people who control everything refuse to increase your wages.

 

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[3] During the 1950s we had rampant alcoholism, soul destroying factory work, accepted marital rape, domestic violence, child sexual abuse, rampant racism, and an out of control witch hunt for “communists.” Women had little opportunity in education or c-suite employment. The military industrial complex was gobbling up the national budget, increasing the national debt. Those were the “social norms” and they were the reason for the anti-war, civil rights, and women’s liberation movements of the 60s.

FOUND OBJECT [you provide the caption]