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MCT: Tuesday, April 23, 2019

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UKIAH SUBWAY HEIST

On December 12, 2018, at 7:18 in the evening, UPD officers were dispatched to Subway, 130 N. Orchard Ave., regarding shots fired at the location. Upon arrival, an officer located a subject with gunshot wounds in front of Ross. The officer provided first aid until paramedics arrived. The subject was subsequently flown to an out of county hospital for medical treatment. It was quickly reported that the injured subject had just robbed the Subway sandwich shop with a firearm. During the robbery, a customer with a valid Concealed Carry Weapons permit discharged his firearm, reportedly in fear for his safety and the safety of other citizens. The customer also was one of the reporting parties to the robbery. Ukiah Police Detectives responded and took over the investigation. Ukiah Police Detectives processed the scene for evidence, spoke with witnesses and contacted neighboring businesses. The subject who committed the robbery was quickly identified as Dorian Michael Coon. The weapon used by Coon was also located at the scene and found to be a BB gun, that resembled a firearm. Coon subsequently remained out of county for several weeks while receiving medical treatment for his injuries.

Ukiah Police Detectives continued the investigation, interviewing more witnesses and learned of a second suspect who was involved in the robbery. The accomplice was identified as Alexander Donovan Romero. Romero was determined to have assisted Coon immediately prior to the commission of the robbery.

Arrest warrants were sought and obtained for the arrest of Coon and Romero.

On April 13, 2019, Romero was booked into the county jail by the Willits Police Department.

On April 17, 2019, Ukiah Police Detectives located Coon out of county and placed him under arrest. Coon was transported to the Mendocino County Jail, where he was booked and lodged.

Romero, Coon

Both Romero and Coon were charged with Kidnap for robbery (Felony), False imprisonment (two counts - Felony) Second degree robbery (two counts - Felony) and Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (two counts - Misdemeanor).

Coon and Romero are both being held on $450,000 bail and the case was forwarded to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

(Ukiah PD presser)

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Noyo Harbor, 22 April 2019

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SHERIFF ALLMAN'S STALKER

This guy calls last week. "Meet me in Ukiah. I have the evidence."

Evidence of what?

"Allman drunk driving."

Bring it to Boonville.

"No, too risky."

I laugh.

"It's all on a thumb drive."

Mail it.

"That's a good idea."

The thumb drive arrived in Monday's mail. It's so hot I can feel its heat through the padded envelope. I turn to my colleague, The Major. Lock the doors and raise your right hand.

"Why?"

Got some top secret stuff here. Our eyes only.

I plugged in the thumb drive.

There's a photo of a pick-up truck parked on a rainy Fort Bragg street. It may or not belong to the Sheriff, although the license plate is visible, and the parked truck presumably belongs to the Sheriff. There is a brief, fuzzy film of the taillights of a truck rumbling sedately along 101 in nighttime Willits. The truck is not weaving or otherwise moving erratically. The truck may or may not belong to Sheriff Allman. The rest of the material includes cryptic communiques to the CHP, partially redacted printouts and copies of unexplained copies of copies. The whole of it proves nothing except that the informant doesn't like the Sheriff.

Dude! If you've got a video of the Sheriff staggering out of the Tip Top Club, firing his service weapon into the air, then careening off down the street in his truck, we'll put the news on the front page. In the mean, and as the young people say, Get yerself a life.

The end.

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TWO CASES set for trial this week, Jewel Evern Dyer and Dr. Benjamin Meyer, pled out at the last moment. The first, Mr. Dyer, who killed his father with a baseball bat, took an open plea to Voluntary Manslaughter last Thursday during a pre-trial conference; his exposure is a triad of three, six or 11 years in prison, with one thrown in for admitting to the Special Allegation that he used a weapon (a bat). Technically, he is eligible for probation, but it would be surprising if this were to happen. The case is currently with the Probation Department for sentencing recommendations, and May 15th at 1:30 has been set for Judgment and Sentencing.

Dr. Meyer, who shot two of his Potter Valley neighbor’s dogs in their kennels, then knocked the woman down who owned the dogs and threatened her with the shotgun, on Monday morning pled to counts of malicious and intentional animal cruelty, killing one dog, a great Pyrenees, and maiming another, a border collie, and admitted to the Special Allegation of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Meyer's maximum exposure is 13 years and eight months in prison. Counts Four and Five, assault with a firearm and threatening to shoot the woman were dropped in exchange for the plea. Part of the agreement was that Meyer would not make a motion to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor until the full term of probation has been served, which gives us a hint that Probation will not be asking for any time in custody when the case comes back for Judgment and Sentencing on June 12th at 1:30.

(Bruce McEwen)

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I DIDN'T CHECK ON THE GEESE YESTERDAY. It was to windy and cold. Today he seemed to be getting bored with the entire situation and she was busy grooming.

(Judy Valadao)

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BACK IN THE DAY…

When phones in rural areas were almost non-existent, growers had to use CBs, Citizen Band radios, to communicate and, of course, this meant that anyone listening could hear. So, for obvious reasons, they decided that code words provided a needed layer of cover for their conversations.

Various areas had different codes. For instance, Salmon Creek used words like “visitors” to describe law enforcement in the area and quilting party to describe a gathering to trim up marijuana. Asking if someone had any manicured cannabis for sale might be worded as, “Do you have any completed quilt squares?”

Or sometimes words would be brought up and used in context with just an emphasis to indicate what was needed. “I need some of your ‘Outdoor’ Life magazines. How many do you have?” Or “I’m wanting your ‘Interior’ Decorating magazines. Do you have a couple?

(photo provided by Ron Glick)

The photo above is of the code words used in Briceland in 1979. (Pause to chuckle at the spelling of Humboldt. Does this mean that the transcriber was a newcomer, a poor speller, or just made a momentary mistake?)

We’re going to add this photo to our online marijuana museum. If anyone has any memories or photos of artifacts from this time period, we’d love to read what you remember.

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A READER WRITES:

You have been running Curtis photos of Native Americans. You may or may not know that they are staged and that Curtis supplied many of the costumes worn. The Arapaho's striped shirt is used in many of his shots and he once dodged an alarm clock out of a teepee shot. The image of wistful gazes are part of the cleansing of the west, portraying the Indian looking back at the "inevitable" loss. Here is the very much non vegan raven having one of its favorite desert snacks

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SCAM ALERT

On April 19, 2019 a Deputy Sheriff with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office was working court security at the Mendocino County Courthouse in Ukiah. The Deputy Sheriff was contacted by an adult female who reported that she had received a phone call earlier in the day from a person who identified themselves as being Lieutenant Mason with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. The adult female was told she had a warrant for her arrest and that she needed to obtain a cash card and drop it off at location (later to be provided) or that she would be arrested. On this same day, a Willits resident contacted the Sheriff's Office to report having received a similar phone call. Again the caller identified themselves as being Lieutenant Mason from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and notified the resident of an active warrant. The resident was given instructions to purchase a cash card and to deliver it to the courthouse or be arrested. This is an obvious phone scam with no legitimate law enforcement purpose or participation. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office does not handle the service of arrest warrants in this manner and members of the public are asked to disregard any such phone calls. The public is urged to contact their local law enforcement agency directly during situations of this nature instead of providing any such payment as instructed during the phone call.

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MASONIC HALL in Mendocino, 1870s

(Photo by M.M. Hazeltine)

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ED NOTES

A LITTLE BEFORE 8am the morning of March 27th, David Hayden pulled out of a Ukiah hotel parking lot. With him in the passenger seat was Mrs. Hayden and the couple's six-year-old daughter. The Haydens are 14-year residents of Covelo where they enjoy a reputation as good citizens and solid parents. They were in Ukiah for a MediCal meeting at precisely 8am, which is why they'd stayed overnight in the Ukiah hotel rather than drive from their home in distant Covelo. Applicants who miss appointments must come back another day.

NEAR THEIR HOTEL, Hayden was pulled over by a Ukiah police officer because the directional signal on Hayden's car did not work. Hayden was subsequently arrested for driving on a DUI-suspended license, Mrs. Hayden arrested because the officer found doctor's prescribed Xanax in her purse.

HAYDEN CALLED his father to come and get the little girl. Dad says he was on the way, but before he arrived CPS had taken the child. CPS also dispatched a team to Covelo to take the Haydens' 14-year-old daughter out of her 8th grade class, telling her to come along if she wanted to see her little sister. Mr. Hayden was booked into the County Jail and released three days later on his own recognizance, meaning he could have been cited and released as Mrs. Hayden had been on the same day of her arrest. By sundown, the Hayden family consisted of Mr. Hayden in jail, his two daughters gone, Mrs. Hayden missing her husband and her children.

CPS told the Haydens they would inspect the Haydens' home "and then we'll talk about you getting your children back." The Haydens passed inspection by Mendocino County's family and children experts, but a month later they still do not have custody of their children and no one will talk to them about when they are likely to get them back.

IN JUDGE MOORMAN'S COURTROOM the Haydens learned that it was up to CPS "discretion" as to when and how the family would be re-united. Unless CPS has changed lately, most, if not all, their staffers are single people who have never raised children.

MEANWHILE, the Haydens were told that their six-year-old had to be vaccinated. Although they are anti-vaxxers, the Haydens agreed, but insisted that their child be vaccinated at the Covelo clinic where she felt comfortable. When the child appeared, the Haydens say their little girl was so sick, so dehydrated from a flu or whatever it was, that the vaccination had to be postponed. The Haydens have no idea where their youngest child is being held, but their 14-year-old has been placed with a 68-year-old woman who, reinforced by CPS, wants to enroll the girl in a school far from her home in Covelo, the assumption apparently being that the kid is never coming back to her parents.

THE HAYDENS' CAR was impounded at the time of their arrest. To retrieve it from the impound lot in Ukiah Mr. Hayden would have to pay $1,400. "I don't have the money," he says, "so I just left it there and bought another car."

AS LONG-TIME RESIDENTS of Covelo, the Haydens have had no difficulties in getting area officials to write letters on their behalf to the court. Mr. Hayden promised us he'd tell us when he got his confiscated children back.

UPDATE: A little before 7pm Monday night, Mr. Hayden wrote: “Thank everyone that prayed for my grandaughters to be returned unharmed, god can do anything if you ask and then butt out. Praise god, they are home.”


A CHRON story, "Changing San Francisco is Foreseen as a Haven for the Wealthy and Childless," quoted Dr. Kenneth T. Rosen of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business as saying thirty years ago that "Ten years from now, unless we adopt some sort of policy to insure income integration, we will crowd out all the middle-income people. I think San Francisco is going to become a very rich living area, a lot of single and retired people who have money, executives who work down in the financial district. It's going to be very difficult for a nonwealthy person to live here." Sure 'nuff.

AND WHOEVER THOUGHT that rent for a two-bedroom house in Boonville would rent for two thousand a month? Back in the 1970s, school bureaucrats would say things like, "It's hard to find teachers who want to live here." Now they say, "Teachers can't find affordable places to live, nevermind buy." I bought my two bedroom, one bath house in Boonville in 1973 for $23,500 with a thousand down I chiseled from credit cards. Last time it sold the place went for $650,000 to a couple of City vultures who rent it as a B&B for $450 a night! In defense of the Vulches, they do rent a couple of the cabins to locals at, I would imagine, extortionate rates.

(ms NOTES: According to the on-line inflation calculator $23,500 in 1973 would be roughly equivalent to $135k in 2019 just on inflation alone.)


NO WORD YET on the identity of the persons injured Sunday afternoon when their vehicle containing five persons plunged over the side and into a creek near 3210 Holmes Ranch Road. The Anderson Valley Fire Department ambulance rendezvoused with the Ukiah ALS (Advanced Life Support) ambulance at the Boonville Fairgrounds. At last report (5:20 pm) five patients were transported to the Ukiah Valley Medical Center "Code 2" - no lights/siren, meaning none of the five suffered life-threatening injuries.

CHIEF AVILA fleshes out the unhappy episode: “A Redwood City family was driving through the area when they left the roadway and hit the embankment; they then lost control and crossed the highway and rolled down the hill. During their descent down the vehicle was said to have rolled more than three times and came to a rest in the seasonal creek. When units arrived at scene, the family had self-extricated out of the vehicle and climbed up the 100 foot embankment and was sitting under a tree near the road. The two adults, three children (two under ten and an infant) were transported by AV Ambulance, with our local medic Theresa Gowan on board, to an incoming ambulance out of Ukiah and ultimately to Ukiah Valley Med Center. AVFD units reported that the five were transported with minor injuries to UVMC for care and precaution due to the potential for injury. AVFD remained on scene for an hour and a half to assist with the vehicle recovery after the patients were transported.”

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THE ANDERSON VALLEY FIRE DEPARTMENT will host a three-part fire prevention series called “Living with Wildfire (in the Navarro River watershed)” on three successive Tuesdays — April 30, May 7, and May 14, from 6-8pm at the Boonville Firehouse. The first Tuesday will cover Fire Behavior And Home Hardening, the second Fire Behavior And Best Management Practices, and the third Organizing And Communicating At The Neighborhood Level. "Learn how factors like topography, wind and fuel might affect fire behavior in your neighborhood and what you can do to be prepared.” Group size is limited. RSVP by calling 895-2020 or email admin@AndersonValleyFire.org. Sponsored by the Anderson Valley Fire Department and the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council.

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THE ANDERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY SERVICES administration, fire and emergency services staff received 5.8% performance and cost of living pay raises from the CSD Board this month based on good performance reviews and budget affordability. Fire Chief Andres Avila will now make $78k/year plus health and retirement benefits (for comparison, a Ukiah Valley Fire Department captain gets $80k-$85k/year plus full benefits); Part-time Fire Department admin assistant Angela Dewitt gets $24k/year with minimal benefits; EMS Officer (aka Ambulance Manager and lead first-responder) Clay Eubanks gets $58k/year plus modest benefits; Part time CSD manager Joy Andrews gets $29k/year plus modest benefits; part-time CSD Secretary Patty Liddy gets $23k/year plus modest benefits. The five CSD board members get no salary or benefits for their significant time contributions: Valerie Hanelt, Kathleen McKenna, Paul Soderman, Larry Mailliard and Francois Christen.

OLD TIMERS and not-so-old timers will remember when Homer Mannix took care of the Valley’s business almost singlehandedly, and the fire department was strictly volunteers. Please excuse me if I say out loud that I have noticed no difference in quality of emergency services between then and now, not that the paid apparatus we now have doesn’t do a good job.

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WILDFLOWER SHOW coming right up on May 4th and 5th, more than 300 flowers, grasses, and tree branches will be identified and on display at the Boonville Fairgrounds (June Building). The plants most beneficial to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds will be the focus of plants-on-sale this year. Lots of information will be provided, including which plants and trees host caterpillars that help songbirds feed their young. Plant talks will be given by naturalists; attendees are welcome to bring in plants for experts to identify. Some of Susan Gross’s striking botanical art pieces will be on site, and for sale -- two pieces will be offered on raffle!

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THE AV LIBRARY will be closed Saturday, April 27, during the Beerfest. On Saturday, May 4, during the Wildflower Show, the library will be open 12:30-2:30 and will have a $5 a bag book sale. Please bring your own bag.

ED NOTE: Book people won’t want to miss the Library’s sale, always a great deal and better by the year for book dinos as our distracted population goes from the peace, quiet and contemplation offered by books to the frazzling, fragmented blips of handheld gizmos. Make a day of it by taking in the Wildflower Show then shuffling a few feet west to the Library for the big sale. Admission is free.

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THE ANNUAL BOONTLING CLASSIC 5K FOOTRACE is Sunday, May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) at 10pm starting and ending at AV Elementary School. $10 entry fee, $10 per commemorative t-shirt. Plaques to top man and woman, ribbons for top three in each age/gender division, and a prize drawing. More info: Mike McDonald: 621-2701 (flick@mcn.org).

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FORMER SUPERVISOR DAN HAMBURG and Sara Stark have bought a home at 32386 Wilson Creek Road, Cottage Grove, Oregon 97424.

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THE BOONVILLE FARMERS’ MARKET is back and will open with festivities on Friday, May 3rd from 4:00-7:00 p.m. in the parking lot at Aquarelle (14025 Highway 128). Come for local food, dinner, music and other local products! Cal Fresh’s EBT Market Match program will be available. More info? Call Lama at 489-5034 or check for updates at www.avfoodshed.com.

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LOS ANGELES in the 1950s

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THE DA WANTS A DRONE

(No reason given)

Consent Agenda Item 4j) on Tuesday, April 23, Supervisors Agenda: Approval of Purchase of Advexure Aerial Drone in the Amount of $26,761.04 with an Equal Share of Cost between California State Association of Counties Excess Insurance Authority Subsidy Fund and DA Asset Forfeiture Fund 2110-760220; Approval of Associated Appropriation Transfer to District Attorney Budget Unit 2070 Revenue Accounts, Line Items 823310 in the Amount of $13,380.52 and 826390 in the Amount of $13,380.52, and to Line Item 864370 in the Amount of $26,761.04; and Addition of Item to County’s List of Fixed Assets

ACCORDING TO THE ADVEXURE DRONE WEBSITE: “The DJI Matrice 200 Series drones are designed with law enforcement in mind, providing top-of-the-line imaging technology in an ultra-portable package” for “suspect search, crime scene mapping, traffic collision mapping, search warrants or any other mission…”

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BERNIE SANDERS ORGANIZERS' KICKOFF EVENT

Saturday, April 27, 2 Pm, Harbor Lite Lodge Conference Room, 120 N. Harbor Dr., Fort Bragg. Bring friends & snacks, park across street; RSVP.

act.berniesanders.com/event/Organizing_Kickoff/1255/signup?source=events-map

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GARDEN CAFÉ HIRING

We have been busy busy busy this spring! We are looking for another wonderful person to join our staff at Rhody's Cafe (located at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens). Come be part of a fun team working in beautiful surroundings. Application and full job description available at gardenbythesea.org/about/employment/rhodys-staff/

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EASTER & A SHORT TRIP

by Anne Fashauer

When I was younger and an observant Catholic I used to love Lent and Easter as the antithesis of the consumerism of Christmas. I would always give something up for Lent. As a child this would usually be candy; one year as an adult I gave up movies, which had the unfortunate effect of lasting for the rest of my life. I still watch movies, but not with the regularity I used to. Easter itself was a wonderful break from the fasting and “giving up” of Lent, plus the celebration of spring and bunnies. It’s been a long time since I gave up anything for Lent or even felt like Ash Wednesday or Good Friday were anything more than regular days. I still enjoy Easter though.

This year I found some yummy-sounding recipes in a copy of Southern Living magazine. I decided to host a brunch for some friends and family. I spent half of Saturday and all of Sunday morning cooking; I made two quiches, a French toast casserole, huevos rancheros and a flour-less cake made of meringue and coconut cream. Friends brought Kir and sparkling wine and we enjoyed Kir Royales with the feast.

My brother hosted us for dinner. He smoked and then grilled a leg of lamb — it was perfect. Lightly smoked and tender and delicious. We had macaroni salad, rolls, green beans and a delightful fruit salad that became dessert for some of us (others had ice cream bars). All in all it was a wonderful day of food and family.

This week we are working on our office move to our new space and the following week my husband and I are taking the week off. We are heading to Cabo for a week of warmth and sun. I’ll tell you about it when we get back.

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FORMER HEALDSBURG SHED CHEF TAKES OVER BOONVILLE HOTEL KITCHEN

Chef Perry Hoffman is getting back to his roots, returning to the kitchen at the Boonville Hotel in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. The former SHED executive chef who also received a Michelin star for his work at Napa’s étoile at Domaine Chandon, grew up in a well-known restaurant family that includes Sally and Don Schmitt, the original owners of the French Laundry and the current owners of The Apple Farm in Philo as well as his uncle Johnny Schmitt’s Boonville Hotel.

Best known for his pristine sourcing and composed plates dishes that feature wildflowers, herbs, and other foraged food, it’s a, uh, boon to the Boonville Hotel’s restaurant program.

He’ll be tapping into hyperlocal foods like Steelhead tartar, with asparagus from Philo, celery, lovage, olive oil and preserved lemon; Mendocino purple sea urchin with asparagus, Koji and garden herbs; grilled local halibut with fermented green garlic and fingerling potatoes and, for dessert, Pennyroyal cheese tartine with herbs, bee pollen and local honey.

Dinner will be served Thursday through Saturday with a prix fixe menu or small plates ranging from $8 to $22. On Sunday, May 26, Paella dinners will return to the hotel courtyard on Sunday evenings.

Chef Perry Hoffman at the Boonville Hotel in Boonville. Photo: Lucille Lawrence.

“After cooking professionally for 20 years, it’s crazy to me that I didn’t see the writing on the wall, and return here sooner. Anderson Valley in its rural form couldn’t be a more beautiful place to cook,” said Hoffman. “I’m surrounded by artisans, farmers, family, and friends. I plan to cook for and with them, for the rest of my life.”

14050 CA-128, Boonville, 707-895-2210, boonvillehotel.com.

(courtesy Sonoma Magazine)

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MENDO SECESSION

Editor,

I would love to see Mendocino County become its own state, get away from California and have our own government so that we could still get federal aid. Anyone who wants to come up here from the south would have to pay a toll. It might seem impossible but then it might be very possible with enough votes.

We could get people out of the woodwork like conservationists. Get someone to go house to house on horseback or on a motorcycle or by four wheeler just to make sure people are registered to vote. I know President Trump would love it. And other states would follow.

I will not say anything bad about the Democrats who got in president Trump’s way the whole time he's been in office. I won't say anything bad about the filthy liberals trying to change the United States into a socialist program.

Did you know they found a new bird in the swamps outside of Sacramento? It's got a long neck, long legs, and when it talks it sounds like somebody is gargling. They call it a Newsom. So if you see a Newsom flying over your head, go ahead and shoot it with your shotgun.

Thank god Donald Trump is president. He will be the next president, too.

God bless Donald Trump.

Jerry Philbrick

Comptche

PS. CalFire, under the authority of Governor Gruesome Newsom, is going to every house in the county to make sure their homes are not too close to brush or timber. If they are, they cancel their homeowner’s insurance until they move away or do something about it. It has already happened to two or three people in Fort Bragg. Calfire is running wild with this idea because they are trying to impress Gruesome Newsom. So, get ready for someone to come to your house and if you have any brush or tall grass around they will find out who your insurance company is and if you do not comply you will be up Schittz Creek without a paddle. Another dictatorship move among many.

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HISTORIAN ROBERT CARO IN THE NY TIMES:

“You don’t know if this is an aberration or not, if Trump is something outside, and he’s going to lose, and we’ll forget. Or is he the first of the mad Roman emperors?”

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CATCH OF THE DAY, April 22, 2019

Ellison, Gibney, Grunwald

TRACY ELLISON, Ukiah. Domestic abuse.

JUSTIN GIBNEY, Fort Bragg. Concealed dirk-dagger, suspended license, probation revocation.

MICHAEL GRUNWALD, Ukiah. Resisting.

C.Roberts, S.Roberts, Roston

CHERRI ROBERTS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

SKYLER ROBERTS, Willits. Grand theft.

BOBBY ROSTON, Ukiah. Parole violation.

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ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK

[1] Look at how we’ve lived our lives. How many lies are we fed as if they’re the unalterable truth? How many of these lies don’t even pass a cursory logic-test or eyeball-test, yet, to get and keep gainful employment and societal acceptance, you have to talk and act as if you believe, as if what you’re told and what everyone else seems to believe is actually real. It’s not just people living in western societies that are required to imbibe and swallow and smile. The USSR and its eastern bloc allies fell under the weight of their own bullshit, the yawning chasm between official lies and the day-to-day reality of life a joke, the only item never in short supply being vodka, staying drunk the only way to cope with the necessary double-think. Come night-time, in the privacy of their own abodes, away from nonsense-spewing commissars and the ever present threat of informants, guys drank until they fell off their chair. Well, that’s history and we’re not good at taking the lessons of history, least of all the parasitic ruling class, who, without fail, think that they’re special, that history is dull and doesn’t apply to them. Well, history is about people and how they behave, and as far as I can see, human nature hasn’t changed all that much in ten thousand years, at least since folks settled down and started cultivating and raising pigs and chickens. If they don’t take the lessons of history, that’s more their problem than ours, because they might learn and forestall what’s happened to every regime now covered under a mound of desert sand.

[2] If anyone had doubts about so-called higher education, they were amply confirmed by the admissions bribery scam, crotch-fruit of Hollywood degenerates getting preference from eyes wide-shut universities, themselves blind to the most ludicrous misrepresentations, and not just any universities but the world’s most – cough – illustrious. Day-by-day, week-by-week, with favored treatment for the addled, coddled, unqualified offspring of the donor class, with openly racist admissions policies disqualifying high-achieving Asians with the excuse of inadequately formed personalities, these institutions disqualify themselves. Dishonesty is nothing new, it’s well-established in the human repertoire of behaviors. But there comes a point where dishonesty becomes the default societal mode, where to survive you have to be underhanded in your everyday dealings because everyone else is trying to chisel you, and you can’t trust anybody outside your own clan or family, if then. The rot starts at the top, lies as the stock-in-trade of the governing class, fraud the default setting of Wall Street, lawlessness the way of law enforcement, deception and self-deception the accepted mode of educators, casuistry rampant in a politicized judiciary, aggressive disregard for fact among the press, academics making shit up, peer-review a joke, replication a distant dream, scholarly journals nothing of the sort. The Democrats made themselves a laughing-stock by managing to lose an election against a laughing-stock. Unfortunately for the Democrats that laughingstock opponent had the one idea that the Democrats had no answer to, that Washington and Wall Street sold out the American worker and ruined America. In 2016 that one truth won the day. There’s no way to measure the depth and breadth of the full-of-shitness of Democrats still clawing to dethrone Trump. They lost the fucking election, that’s it, no more to say, they fucked it up. And they’re on course to fuck it up again in 2020. We can bow down and give thanks to the gods in this fold of the cosmos that killed Republicans as a credible party and we devoutly pray that those same deities chew up and spit out the twitching corpse of the Democrats.

(3) After a while, the public just tunes out the hysterical End-of-Days types, especially since their track record has been spotty at best:

The Population Bomb (1969) - world-wide famine and civilizational collapse by 1980s, didn't happen.

Energy Crisis (1973) - the world will soon run out of oil, gasoline will cost $20 a gallon by 1990.

Killer Bees (1974) - B-movie type invasion of aggressive South American insects stinging us into submission, didn't happen.

Global Cooling (1974) - goes without saying.

Nuclear Winter (1982) - not

AIDS Pandemic (1985) - prediction that HIV would rival the effects of the medieval bubonic plagues. No.

Global Warming (1988) - worldwide devastation within 20 years, blah, blah, blah…we're still here and global temps have stalled for the last dozen years or so (?). Maybe, some day.

Y2K (1999) - no.

WMD's in Iraq (2003) - nooooo.

Then again, while they were waiting for the Killer Bees to get here, none foresaw 9/11 or the sub-prime mortgage-fueled economic melt down of 2008. After the novelty of the latest apocalyptic prediction wears off people just go back to their lives and business as usual. Your song and dance was entertaining for a bit, but we've heard it all before and have bills we need to figure out how to pay.

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DON’S CLEAN

Editor,

For 22 months, the Robert Mueller investigation has dominated elite media. The message was always the same: President Donald Trump is guilty of Russian collusion. Now we discover it was all a lie. Not only is our president not guilty of any criminal charges, he is squeaky clean.

Mueller and his team, which included not less than 18 lawyers who favored Hillary Clinton for president, could not find sufficient evidence to justify indictments.

Thus, we end up with this lame rhetoric: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment.”

As Sidney Powell explained so well in her book “Licensed to Lie,” federal prosecutors, when they fail to find evidence to indict, will leave behind written rhetoric to imply guilt so as to keep a cloud of suspicion over the head of the accused.

Now, we can thank Attorney General William Barr for his intention to launch investigations to uncover who was behind the start of the Mueller investigation. Let justice again be served.

Robert Shoptaw

Fort Bragg

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Some of the smartest people I know smoke pot.

I’ve watched lawyers toke bong hits and stay up all night writing what turned out to be winning arguments in some seriously complicated trials.

Personally I smoked before every test in college as it helped my test anxiety. Always got A’s even on taxonomy of plants and animals.

Some folks it makes go “duhhh” but usually cuz they smoke too much. For a lot of people it’s a brain activator.

I find alcoholics, screen/phone addicts, and coke heads to be pretty stooopid to be honest. Look at Miller country, they’ll believe anything.

If you hate pot then leave cuz it’s not going anywhere. There would be no county left without it.

You ought to be thanking growers who decided to invest in the community years ago.

How many people do you know who lost homes in 2008? We barely noticed it here thanks to our underground cottage industry.

Be grateful not hateful. That’s what Jesus said.

There were some great codes out there!! My outlawladyness says to not divulge.

* * *

THE NUN IN THE BACKGROUND

by Juan José Millás (translated by Louis S. Bedrock)

The seamstresses that are seen on the left and right of this photo are in a women’s prison in Barcelona serving sentences for this thing or the other. This takes place in 1952. Poor things. They are working as seamstresses to reduce their sentences.

Ladies and gentlemen of the pro-Franco bourgeoisie will later rummage through the sheets that are piled next to the sewing machines. One of the women, the first one on the left, has the temerity to look at the camera for an instant or two, although she does so with a furtive expression. They are supposed to pretend that there’s no photographer—or photograph. Perhaps, on this day, they have been permitted to clean themselves up a bit more than normal to give the institution a good image.

The truth is that I didn’t have to go looking for this snapshot. It found me. El País published it a few weeks ago to illustrate an article about the labor exploitation of prisoners of war during the dictatorship. Searching the schools, I ran into this representation of the Spain from which we have emerged. This is how oppressed we were, whether it was in prison, in the classroom, or in the community of neighbors.

The discipline lacked color. Either it was white or it was black; in the best of cases, white and black like the stills from a movie of the era. This is where we come from, from that open aisle between the workers. It turns out that when we leave the photo, we’ve turned our head to look behind us. And what do we see? That the prison guard was a nun. A little nun, to say it affectionately. Among all the types of guards, this type was the most dangerous, the cruelest, the most ungodly. There’s ample documentation on this matter.

* * *

* * *

OMINOUS TENDINGS IN THE NERVOUS HERE & NOW

by James Kunstler

Unfortunately for the nation, the RussiaGate fiasco is only half over. There is just too much documented official turpitude on the public record for the authorities to answer for and the institutional damage runs too deep. Act One, the Mueller investigation, was a 22-month circle-jerk of prosecutorial misconduct and media malfeasance. Act Two will be the circular firing squad of former officials assassinating each other’s character to desperately avoid prosecution.

In the meantime, there is the nation’s business which has been hopelessly burdened by an hallucinatory overlay of Wokester idiocy emanating from the campuses, so that even in the absence of the Mueller distraction every organized endeavor in this land from-sea-to-shining-sea is paralyzed by race-and-gender hustles. Next up: a national debate over reparations for slavery in the never-ending quest to monetize moral posturing. Won’t that be a mighty string of knots to untangle? Who qualifies, exactly? What about the indigenous people whose lands were overrun? And what about the Japanese interned in 1941? And what about women prevented from earning salaries all those lost decades of housewifery? And what about the brown people from many lands whose families did not come here until slavery was a long time gone? Do Silicon Valley engineers from India, and thoracic surgeons from the Philippines have to pay up for the sins of Whitey?

That circus won’t stop until America gets whapped upside the head by economic reality and, really, who is paying attention to that? The shale oil “miracle” has put even the superstars of economic commentary to sleep, though the quandary in plain sight is that the mighty flow of shale oil doesn’t pencil out as a money-making enterprise, and the whole project is destined to fall part even more rapidly than in the decade since it was ramped up. When the private oil companies finally sink into bankruptcy, the obvious “solution” will be to nationalize the industry — a giant step toward destroying the dollar and whatever residual value the industry might have had.

After a month-long case of influenza around Christmas time, the financial markets recovered and are once again demonstrating that they only go up — in defiance of the laws of physics, which actually do apply to markets and economies. It’s a fantastic stunt of computer algo math and misplaced faith in magic, and when it all blows up, as it must, it will make all the other delusions spinning in American life look like mere passing impure thoughts. The notional wealth involved — which is to say, the wealth of nations — has two ways to evaporate: either the stocks, bonds, and other derivatives lose their value, or the money that they represent loses its value. In either case the wealth will be gone and America will be left with the sad recognition that it is broke both privately and publicly.

In the background lay the ticking time bombs of health care, college loan debt, and pension funds. These are rackets and Ponzi schemes. Before we get to Medicare-for-all, I’d like to see congress pass one simple law requiring all medical service “providers” in the land to publicly post the price of all their services, from the cost of heart transplants down to those $90 Tylenols they dispense. Let’s see how that affects the lawless hocus-pocus of insurance companies “negotiating” their payments with the medical corporatocracy before we go whole-hog for a nationalized health service. The colleges have already destroyed themselves intellectually, and thereby the value of their overpriced credentialing services. The smaller colleges are already folding, and many more will follow now until higher education becomes a boutique industry.

The pension funds are truly big, ominous bombs, because when they fail, they will set up unresolvable fiscal problems that will turn ugly and political. Even if the federal government attempts some kind of “one-time” bail-out, it will not solve the embedded Ponzi problem of a system that has to pay off an ever-expanding pool of claims with an ever-diminishing stream of revenue. It will only be another swipe of the blade cutting off the legs of the US dollar so that it in the end every pensioner will receive his-or-her promised payout in dollars that are increasingly worthless. We may even discover that the opioid epidemic has been the only thing keeping the immiserated denizens of Flyover-land from resorting to violent insurrection.

These internal problems of the USA point in the direction of states and whole regions stealthily seceding from a federal system that can’t run itself competently at scale anymore. The process has already begun in such acts of defiance as “sanctuary states” and the burgeoning marijuana industry. Unlike the calamity of 1861, though, there may be no way to even attempt to hold the old Union together, even by force. Instead, as is the case with all foundering empires, the end will be a sickening slide into a new and strange disposition of things. One of the last successful acts of the American empire may be to send the RussiaGate instigators to jail.

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

* * *

‘ALL DRESSED UP, AND NOWHERE TO GO’

(Photo by Harvey Reading)

* * *

THE NAVY IS COMING TO TOWN

Dear folks,

The Navy is coming to Dana Gray School in Fort Bragg to promote their desire for more intensive war training exercises off the Northwest Coast of the U.S. on May 3, 2019 from 6-8:30 p.m. This increased training will include the use of Low Frequency Sonar which is very harmful to marine mammals. The Ocean Protection Coalition of Mendocino County (OPC) has asked permission to set up a table outside the school venue with information that disagrees with the Navy’s opinion that marine mammals are likely to be harmed. But OPC was refused permission by the Superintendent of Fort Bragg School unified School District, Rebecca Walker. OPC will be on the sidewalk, which is public space, with signs urging people to comment on the Navy’s proposal for increased war training off the U.S. coast. OPEC. Our next meeting is at 7 p.m. onTuesday, April 23 at 310 N. Harold in Fort Bragg. We invite people to come to our meeting and help us make signs. Please join us if you can at Dana Gray School on May 3 at 6 p.m. Information about how to comment and where is attached to this email. We hope to see you see you soon

Ed Oberweiser

Chair, Ocean Protection Coalition - oceanprotection.org

* * *

* * *

ASSANGE & ISRAEL

This is probably too long to print in the AVA but I’m sending it anyway because the three of you may find it interesting. It certainly represents a threat to what you do. Personally, the arrest of Assange is one of the most depressing events I’ve experienced in my life. It marks the death of the First Amendment.

Siempre adelante.

Louis Bedrock

* * *

I DID NOT KNOW a single person growing up who was afflicted by 20 different allergies and needed to carry a badger on to a plane as a security animal. I see these kids in over-sized sunglasses, clutching a poodle with a little security tag.

— Bret Easton Ellis

* * *

“SINCE there are only two million Assyrians left, there’s a feeling that we might not survive. So we lean on our rituals. We lean on our church. We lean on our language, which nobody else speaks. It's a ‘we’ culture. Everything is about the group. And if you wander too far from the group, you become a threat. Because the group can’t afford to lose anyone else. Your relatives will remind you that you should be proud to be Assyrian. You’ll be reminded that our people were slaughtered. So it’s tough to go your own way. For the last couple months I’ve been traveling alone. My mother is convinced that this is my breakout plan. She’s been so strict on me my entire life. But a couple days ago she sent me a text message that brought me to tears. It said: ‘I know that I said you've seen enough and that you should come back, but if you want to stay longer, and you feel that it's safe, than you should definitely stay. And we'll hear from you when you come back.’”

(Sydney, Australia)

* * *

NATURE’S DREAM HOUSE CONCERT

3 pm, Sun. April 28, 2019

Jini Reynolds’, 3551 Road B, R.V. With Paul McCandless, George Husaruk, Yanahay Hooper, Bill Taylor, and Jaye Alison Moscariello

Music inspired by the natural world and love. Most by Bill Taylor, some by Paul McCandless, George Husaruk, and Priscilla Rowe, with plenty of great solos. $20 tickets at Mendocino Book Company or from the performers. Only 30 will be sold! Refreshments served. CD’s for sale & signed.

email edibleland@earthlink.net, web www.touchtheearthmusic.com, info 707-272-1688, on day of concert directions 485-0823

Bill, Jaye, Paul, George, Yanahay

* * *

STILL TRYING TO WIN THE LAST GAME OF THE SEASON

Addenda to what I posted re: Headwaters. I am still trying to win the last game of the season. This will change your life. It will put you in that Maserati if you can't think of anything better to do with your new-found riches. It may start you drinking craft beers and buying suits from expensive catalogues. It will make it easier to get laid.

Your dog will gaze at you as though you know everything, because you do. Or you can find out the answer. If you know nothing of baseball, find out. Pick up a ball. Throw it at something. The first person to communicate with me gets half of whatever money we make. You pay all expenses.

Every time someone communicates with me on this gets half of the money, even if is to just say It's Great. Go! 707.799.0620. bbbackofbeyond@gmail.com. Looking forward to your call. Maybe I'm nuts. Maybe I should be embarrassed. But, hey, nobody knows this better than me. Surprise me. Phone at 2 AM. Carry on. Eh?


SWEETHEART, I ALWAYS SAY YES at age seventy-six, I believe all the commercials. Like those purring in the background as I type and listen to the Sunday purr of NPR news. Even when I am ridiculing the absurd idea that buying that Mustang will somehow get you down to whole foods better than your shoes. This insight colors this part of my world. But it seems not to have made me much of an optimist. But it is fun to contemplate. And you started it all. Yes, you. For putting me here. I am trying to go back to meals at predictable times. As do you. I just end this, although I see a novel here. I am so tired that this is all I'll be writing tonight. And you did this. Thank you. Dinner smells good. And tomorrow, you may notice something about the description of that time in Paris…

(Bruce Brady)

* * *

* * *

HIT & RUN THEATER Summer Schedule

1st stop Redwood Coast Senior Center, Saturday, May 25 Hit and Run Theater will return to the stage Saturday, May 25, 2019 at 7:30pm at the Redwood Coast Senior Center at The Fort Bragg Middle School, 490 N.Harold St., Fort Bragg, CA 95437. This show will benefit the Redwood Coast Senior Center and will kick off Hit and Run’s summer season, which will include an Improv Workshop Series from Wednesday, May 29 through Wednesday, June 19, and culminate in shows at the Matheson Performing Arts Center in Mendocino on Friday & Saturday, June 28 & 29.

The Senior Center Benefit will follow on Hit and Run’s first show at the Senior Center last spring. Scheduled for Saturday evening, May 25 at 7:30pm, the show will be fully improvised with all skits and songs based on audience suggestions. For this evening, Hit and Run Theater will include Jill Jahelka, Ken Krauss, Doug Nunn, Kathy O’Grady, Christine Samas, Dan Sullivan, and Steve Weingarten. We look forward to a lively evening to benefit the Senior Center.

The following week, Wednesday, May 29 Hit and Run Theater begins a series of 4 Improvisation workshops running Wednesdays, May 29, June 5, June 12, and June 19. The workshops take place from 6:30 to 8:30pm at the Community Center of Mendocino, 998 School St., Mendocino, CA 95460. Hit and Run’s newest workshop series is open to all interested students. The course will include basic improvisational games and acting exercises. No previous theatrical or improvising experience is required and mature teens are welcome as well as adults and seniors. A workshop contribution of $15 per night for Hit and Run Theater will cover the workshop fees. Wednesday night, June 19 will be set aside for a “workshop show” including all participants. What a deal! To register or for further information, please call Doug Nunn at 937-0360 or email Doug Nunn at dnunn@mcn.org or connect on Facebook. We look forward to seeing you there.

And finally, on the weekend of Friday and Saturday, June 28 & 29, Hit & Run Theater will present two nights of improvisational comedy and music at the Matheson Performing Arts Center at 45096 Cahto St., near Mendocino High School in Mendocino. Both shows are at 7:30pm. The cast includes Jill Jahelka, Ken Krauss, Doug Nunn, Kathy O’Grady, Christine Samas, Dan Sullivan, and Steve Weingarten, with a possible appearance by Nicole Paravicini. San Francisco keyboardist Joshua Raoul Brody will supply improvised music and sound effects. General Admission is $18, with tickets for Seniors and kids at $12. All ages are welcome! For reservations or further information, call Doug Nunn at 707-937-0360, write him an email at dnunn@mcn.org, or write Doug Nunn or Hit & Run Theater on Facebook. We look forward to having you with us.

7 Comments

  1. Marco McClean April 23, 2019

    Re: the story of the Mormon and the Irishman on the plane.

    I just read this in BitsAndPieces.com

    The Blind Salesman

    A woman goes into Cabela’s to buy a rod and reel for her grandson’s birthday. She doesn’t know which one to get, so she just grabs one and goes to the counter. The clerk is standing behind the counter wearing dark glasses. She says to him, “Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me anything about this rod and reel?” He says, “Ma’am, I’m completely blind but if you drop it on the counter I can tell you everything, from the sound it makes.” She doesn’t believe him but drops it on the counter anyway. He says, “That’s a six-foot Shakespeare graphite rod with a Zebco 404 reel and 10-pound-test line. It’s a good all around combination, and it’s on sale this week for only $20.” She says, “It’s amazing that you can tell all that just by the sound of it dropping on the counter. I’ll take it.” But when she opens her purse, her credit card drops on the floor. “That’s a MasterCard,” he says. She bends down to pick it up and rips a fart. At first she’s really embarrassed, but she realizes there is no way the blind clerk could tell it was her who tooted. Being blind, he wouldn’t know that she was the only person nearby. The clerk rings up the sale and says, “That’ll be $34.50 please.” The woman says, “Hold on, there. Didn’t you tell me the rod and reel was on sale for $20? How did you get $34.50?” He says, ”Yes, ma’am. The rod and reel is $20, the duck call is $11, and the catfish bait is $3.50.” She paid it and left without saying another word.


    Marco McClean
    memo@mcn.org
    https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

    • Harvey Reading April 23, 2019

      Great. I’ve gotten two belly laughs, and it’s still fairly early in the day.

  2. Harvey Reading April 23, 2019

    Re: ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK [2]

    Ditto my Sunday comment for the same conservative tripe.

    • Harvey Reading April 23, 2019

      Make that (3), not [2].

  3. Kathy April 23, 2019

    It’s apparent that Mr. Philbrick lacks the basic understanding of the California and local economies. There is no way, repeat NO WAY, this county could even perform the most basic of services, without State subsidies. We simply lack the population base.

  4. james marmon April 23, 2019

    Why the Stepping Up Initiative should have been first and why a PHF is really the last thing we need.

    “Recently, the County Sheriff’s Office started collecting data on the number of jail inmates that have been prescribed mental health medications. Such prescribing provides evidence of the need for mental health services by jail inmates. As shown in Table 10 (following page), on a monthly basis, between 39% and 76% by jail inmates were prescribed mental health medications, for an average monthly rate of 62%.”

    -Lee Kemper

    https://www.mendocinocounty.org/home/showdocument?id=23234

    “The closing of the hospitals and inadequate community care resources left many mentally ill persons without proper psychiatric care. The mentally ill often lapsed into psychosis, some committing misdemeanor or felony offenses resulting in their arrest. Some mentally ill are taken to jail because their erratic behavior is considered annoying to the public, not because they are a threat to public safety. Others end up in jail when their families cannot find help and call law enforcement. Still others are taken to jail because treatment centers cannot care for them due to violent or uncontrollable behavior”

    “Certain steps being taken constitute some progress, including increases in staffing and a recent resolution of the Marin County Board of Supervisors to join a program entitled the “Stepping Up Initiative,” a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illness in jails.”

    -Marin County Grand Jury

    https://www.marincounty.org/~/media/files/departments/gj/reports-responses/2017/care-of-mentally-ill-inmates.pdf?la=en

  5. Craig Stehr April 23, 2019

    Just completed several miles of road walking around Garberville and Redway. Am immeasurably enjoying conversations with “forest people”, and an assortment of other amblers. I’ve no idea precisely what Andy Caffrey and I will actually do, insofar as future video presentations, climate justice roadshows, making an appearance in Washington, D.C. and in NYC at the UN, or even how long I’ll be supportive of his video production efforts here. And then, there is the conspicuous fact of our differing approaches, with my own certainty that Divine Intervention is absolutely positively a necessity in order to resolve global climate destabilization. Thanks for listening.

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