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Mendocino County Today: November 15, 2020

Off & On | 19 New Cases | Burn Permits | Snowy Ranch | Election Rigged | Hourglass | Ida Jackson | South Coast | Corn Mazing | Ship Watch | Budget Report | 18 Footer | LSD Running | Temple Crescent | Embracing Socialism | Yesteryear Images | Well Armed | Con Camp | Yesterday's Catch | Isolation Time | Uncomfortable Risks | Got Mask? | Corporate Dominance | Many Taxes | Challenging BLM | Zombie Rights | Understanding Isms | Found Object

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AN ACTIVE, WET WEATHER PATTERN will continue through the middle of the upcoming week. Rain will continue to push in through tonight, becoming heavy around Del Norte County as a front stalls out. Only minor rainfall amounts are expected in southern Mendocino and Lake Counties. Monday will bring a break in the weather with a milder day, before a potentially more potent storm brings more rain and wind Tuesday and Wednesday. (NWS)

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NINETEEN NEW COVID CASES reported in Mendocino County on Saturday. The total increased to 1288. 

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BURN PERMIT SUSPENSION LIFTED

As of Nov. 10, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) Mendocino Unit lifted the local burn permit suspension.

According to a press release, Unit Chief George Gonzalez advised residents that those who possess current and valid agriculture and residential burn permits can resume burning on permissible burn days. However, all agriculture burns must be inspected by CAL FIRE prior to burning until the end of the peak fire season. Inspections may also be required for burns other than agriculture burns.

Burn permits are available online at burnpermit.fire.ca.gov. The press release noted that it is the responsibility of the land owner to check with local fire agencies to determine whether additional permits are needed. CAL FIRE burn permits are only for residents who live in CAL FIRE jurisdiction.

Burn permits can also be obtained by mail and by calling the CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit Howard Forest Headquarters in Willits between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at 707-459-7414. Offices are currently closed to the public due to the pandemic.

Local burn permits can also be obtained from local agencies for burns in the respective district: Anderson Valley, Laytonville, Little Lake (Willits), Redwood Valley-Calpella, and Brooktrails fire departments. Call the agency to learn about their individual permit procedure.

“Safe residential pile burning of forest residue by landowners is a crucial tool in reducing fire hazards,” stressed the press release. “CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit reminds everyone that it is their individual responsibility to use fire safety and to prevent fires.”

As always, before you burn, call Mendocino County Air Management District at 707-463-4391 to confirm that you have all the required burn permits and to ensure the day you plan to burn is a permissive burn day.

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Snow On The Coast Bell Springs, Mendocino County, 1989 (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

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TRUMP has finally admitted that Joe Biden won the election. Tweeting furiously early Sunday morning, Trump wrote, "He won because the Election was Rigged, NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn't even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!"

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BOOK REVIEW: IDA JACKSON

The Search for Something Better, Ida Jackson’s Life Story

by James Willis Jackson (JWJ Enterprises Dallas, Texas 1994)

by George Hollister

In the early 1980s I did logging work on the Lookout Ranch for the Shandels of Comptche. My impression was they had purchased the property from Ida Jackson, the proceeds of the sale were donated to the University Of California, and the late Jack June represented Ida Jackson in the sale. I had heard Ida was black. Bruce Anderson at one point had asked me if I knew anyone who might have known Ida Jackson, and her story. Since the newspaper that “should have no friends” had few/no friends in the old establishment Anderson Valley community, Jack June as a source was a nonstarter. Jack was the only person I knew with a direct connection to Ida. So that is where the story stayed until last June when the AVA ran an article (https://www.theava.com/archives/129067#25 about Ida Jackson). 

I e-mailed the article to various people I know who would potentially be interested. Stuart Titus responded and told me he remembered Ida from when he was a young boy in the 1950s. She had been one of his family’s neighbors on the Manchester side of Mountain View Road. Stuart loaned me the book of her life story. I read the book because of my brief connection to the Lookout Ranch, and Ida Jackson’s connection to Mendocino County. The book is available on Amazon.

Ida Jackson was a teacher at heart, and a child prodigy. She started school at age three, when she also began teaching. She graduated from high school at age 12, and entered UC Berkeley at age 16.

Ida Jackson’s life is a story of an exceptionally talented, and ambitious black American with family roots in Southern slavery who struggled to gain acceptance, and the fruits of American freedom. She was an activist, and her actions were recognized nationally , and influenced and inspired the lives of thousands who had the same background. She had a presence at UC Berkeley, Tuskegee University, and Columbia University. She worked with a number of notable black activists of her era, which was the 1920s through the 1940s. Ida’s story spans the history of black Americans with roots in slavery from the Civil War, to the present. Her time in Oakland saw the emergence of trends we see today.

She was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1902. Her father, Pompey Jackson, had been 10 when the Civil War ended, and had spent his first years as a slave on a plantation in Southern Louisiana. Her mother was much younger, and mixed race being white, black, and American Indian. Both of Ida’s parents were educated, and instilled the need to be educated in their children, “Education is something whites can’t take away.” Pompey strove to be financially independent, so he would never be dependent on whites. His path to “being his own man” was the trades. He was an accomplished builder and his services in Vicksburg were in high demand, and provided a good income to support his large family. (Ironically, today, the trades remain the quickest route to financial independence.) Family and church were the anchor of Ida’s life. Her mother, father, and brothers were very supportive of her ambitions. The success of Ida Jackson came from a timeless model for freedom that today we call conservative; a strong family, the virtues rooted in faith, and an education.

Ida Jackson saw blacks as being just as capable as whites, and education was the key. So she strove to bring education to black children. Her largest struggle in life was with the Oakland school system; first to finally be hired as the first black teacher there, then a frustrating failure to being hired as a principal. In both positions she was imminently more qualified than anyone else in the system, she had to be, except she was black and shunned by the other mostly women teachers.

Stuart Titus told me she was someone “who could make things happen.” She was instrumental in bringing phone service to her area on Mountain View Road. In the end, what she brought to Oakland was herself, as a teacher who taught and inspired black children, including the author of this book. She broke the color barrier but failed to change the school system. 

I have wondered, maybe she would have been better served to start her own private school in Oakland, where anyone would be accepted who “wanted to learn, and could be taught”? She certainly would have been the one capable of doing this. Her fight with a government run system eventually exhausted her, resulting in her move to Mendocino County to raise sheep and cut redwood timber. Ida Jackson was a remarkable person, and her story is a classic American one. I wish I had known her. Get the book, it is certainly worth reading. There is also much about her on line, provided by the UC Berkeley Alumni Association.

On a personal note, the book makes reference to Sherwood Eddy, and Delta Cooperative Farm Group (p.174). Sherwood was a cousin of my grandfather, George Eddy Hollister. His mother was a sister to my grandfather’s mother. Their roots were in the anti-slave movement, and the Congregational church that existed in Leavenworth, Kansas before the Civil War. My grandfather’s mother’s maiden name was Norton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwood_Eddy

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R.I.P. MAZE

by Bob Dempel

I have always wondered what happened to a corn maze after Halloween. I think about all of the work just put into raising the corn. Having to figure just what plants to omit so that a pathway could be identified as a trail. A corn Maze is always fun, and it generally built in conjunction with a pumpkin patch. All of this opens to the general public about 5 weeks before Halloween. 

I needed to know where these corn plants (stocks) went. Is there a great corn maze in the sky? Does maze corn require a special seed. How long does it take for a corn maze to grow? How close do you plant the seeds? I could go on and on with questions.

The Sonoma County Farm Bureau identified all of the local corn maze growers located in Sonoma County and published a small clip about each one in their last month’s Farm Bureau News. Included was information about the Petaluma Great Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze. The owner, Jim Groverman who runs this maze is a close friend of mine. I visited his maze a couple of times this season. Once with a 5 year old and once with a 7 year old, both precious girls, the best fun I have had in 8 months. The parent of both of these girls are very special friends of mine.

Jim’s corn maze is located just north of Petaluma west of highway 101 at the intersection of Stony Point Road. It could not be located at a better location. The entire parcel is about 20 acres. This lets Jim carve out a 4-acre maze, a likewise sized pumpkin patch and then an area for a food stand, a smaller corn maze for younger people, a pony ride, and up to this year a slide. A large parking area is provided all surrounded with just one row of corn at various locations to help identify different areas. The entire venue is preciously laid out.

The weather this year cooperated for all of the Pumpkin/Corn Maze growers. This is not always the case. 

On Monday, November 1st I called Jim to confirm when he would remove the corn maze. He called on Thursday and told me to come down on Friday around 9 am to see the demise of the corn maze. The corn maze harvest was already in process when I arrived. Converting the corn maze to silage was a very large John Deere implement. The cab was two stories tall. The cutting bar was 36 feet wide. Processing ten rows of corn at one pass. The equipment was moving at a fast walking speed spitting out the green silage into a receiving hopper truck which kept right up with it while filling up the hopper. As soon as one truck was full another truck was right in line to receive more of the green mixture of corn and stocks now silage feed for animals.

It’s a good thing I got to the maze when I did. By 10am the Great Petaluma Corn Maze was gone. Ground up into green feed and sent to a dairy in Sonoma to produce milk. So, the answer where does the Corn Maze go when it is gone, it goes into milk. When you have a glass of milk today you just might be consuming a little bit of the Petaluma Corn Maze. 

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Girls Ship Watching

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FIRST QUARTER BUDGET SQUEEZE

by Mark Scaramella

CEO Carmel Angelo’s 1st Quarter Budget Report is on next Tuesday’s Board agenda. On the revenue side the CEO says the County expects to get about a million more than anticipated from the cannabis business tax. But that increase is more than offset by departmental overruns and a long list of “funding needs.” 

According to the CEO (we have to take her word for everything since the info in the budget report is selective; not every department is listed), six county departments are “significantly overbudget”: Sheriff ($828k), Jail ($679k), Public Defender ($648k), Alternate Defender ($184k), Elections ($144k), County Counsel ($119k), for a total of $2.6 million. (Probation, for example, a department which has overrun every year in the past especially with its $2.5 million minimally utilized juvenile hall, isn’t even listed. The District Attorney’s office isn’t listed as overrunning either, although there have been some high profile cases in recent months. But the courts have been closed to various degrees which might have kept the DA’s budget down.)

Alleged reasons for the overruns include the universal catchall Covid (of course), recent salary increases in every department (which should have been budgeted, but apparently were not), wildfires and overtime (mostly in law enforcement). 

No explanation is offered for the overrun in the County Counsel’s office, but it’s likely that the County is paying a lot more than anticipated in expensive outside attorney fees since a number of lawsuits against the County are pending, several of which are from former employees alleging wrongful termination.

There’s several million in carryover from last year — how that happened isn’t explained and the exact amount isn’t known until all the taxes are in and the bills are paid. But historically, a significant amount of the carryover is put into reserves. Not this year. In fact, reserves will probably have to be drawn down. 

Even so, the carryover is nowhere near enough to cover the CEO’s “funding needs” which total almost $15 million not counting the $2.6 in the six departmental overruns. The CEO doesn’t mention the size of the County’s reserves either, but reserves have already been depleted to some extent in recent years and they’re not likely to increase given the sizable overruns and funding needs.

What about the gorilla in the room, the budget impact of Covid which has cost millions of dollars, a percentage of which is reimbursable? Covid dominates County activities and in the past County Budget specialist D’Arcy Antle has described the covid budget situation as “sobering.” 

Despite the high cost and high profile nature of the County’s covid response going back to March and continuing into the first quarter from July 1 to September 30, CEO Angelo dismisses the entire covid budget picture with two irrelevant sentences: “The first of the regular and frequent updates to the Board of Supervisors began on March 4, 2020. The full fiscal impact is still unknown as the event is still very active. More information will be reported at mid-year as the event continues to unfold.” (Mid-year means the Board won’t get any information on the covid budget until January at the earliest when their options — if there are any — will be limited.)

In her last few reports Ms. Antle’s “regular and frequent updates” have provided little more than the number of hours worked, meals delivered, and motels purchased or rooms rented, with nothing about how much of the sizable cost will be reimbursed or when. When last we heard, the feds were only going to reimburse for covid related overtime, not regular time. There’s probably some wiggle room in how that’s calculated, but when the reimbursement deficit is determined, by the time the Board hears about it in January or February (i.e., “midyear”) — when two inexperienced new Supervisors will be on the Board — there won’t be much that can be done about it.

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Loggers & Giant Redwood

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RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE

by Bruce Anderson

Say you walk into a Willits bar. John's place maybe. You order up a draft and start talking sports with the guy next to you. He does a monologue on his triumphant sports days at Willits High School, finally getting around to you, Bob Deines. 

“Nice to meet ya, Bob. You're looking kinda tired. Long day on the job? “No,” Bob says, “I just ran over here from Fort Bragg on Sherwood Road.” The Willits guy says, “Sherwood? Closed to through traffic, ain't it? Four wheel drive, for sure.” Bob says, “I ran it. On foot.” The Willits guy stares in disbelief, finally blurting out, “Bullshit! That's humanly impossible!”

Bob Deines started running in the summer of 1964, and 56 years later he's still running. And between then and now the soft-spoken, scholarly-looking senior citizen has racked up a more than impressive competitive record. “I started running cross country in my senior year of high school. The coach really didn't want me, saying that he'd never had much luck with guys only starting out as seniors. His teams had won small-school CIF championships in Southern California three years in a row.”

And here was this scrawny, library-looking dude boldly demanding he join the most successful cross country team in all of Los Angeles.

“But after a summer of team workouts two or three times a week, and running on other days with my buddy Alan Haas, I made varsity and we went on to win the league and tie for first in the state CIF championships. Track season of 1965 was the first year that had a race longer than a mile, and though I didn't have a particularly great season, I won the league meet in the 2-mile in the not too spectacular time of 10:10.”

Mr. D is too modest. Two miles over a hilly cross country course in ten minutes is beyond the capacities of most of us. And this is a guy who laments that he lacks the fast-twitch speed muscles the really, really fast runners are blessed with. (Ever watch a world class sprinter or an NFL wide receiver warm up? They run in place so fast you wonder if they're half-hummingbird. They have the gift of fast-twitch muscles.)

Deines (right)

Having discovered the joys of competitive distance running well before it became an international pursuit enjoyed by millions, and well before training practices like “long slow distance” were adopted to make good runners great runners, the Willits-based Dienes, also a gifted math student, went on to Occidental College where “I started doing the standard interval training (workouts that combine speed and distance training in one session) but started running some of the LA road races as well, including my first marathon, the Culver City Western Hemisphere Marathon, second oldest in the US to the Boston Marathon.”

Deines remembers road races in LA in the 60s felt a lot like the Boontling Classic, but without the kids, and only a few women were starting to run marathons. The entry fee for most races was $1, maybe $2. Even the famous Boston Marathon cost $2.50; the entry fee is $250 today, no joggers allowed. In the early days of distance running there were no tee shirts, maybe a trophy or maybe medals for the top three finishers. In the late 60s they started giving medals to Masters (40+) the first and only age group. 

“You'd see a lot of the same runners at all the races,” Deines remembers, “and there was a race somewhere in LA most weekends. The top racing shoe, the pre-Nike Tiger Marathon cost $9.95. Getting corporate sponsors for a race was still a pipe dream, there just weren't enough runners to get their attention.” 

We're still in 1965, the very cusp of revolutionary change in sports and everything else. Deines is just getting warmed up, running farther and faster. 

“Following the 1965 cross country season my freshman year my only run longer than 6-8 miles was a 10-miler at the Rose Bowl the week before in a little over 60 minutes (distance runners remember every mile!). I ran the first 10 miles with a recent Oxy grad in a little over 62 min and hit the wall at 18 miles, walking most of the last 8 miles and being out-kicked at the end by movie actor Bruce Dern by 2 minutes. I finished in 3:21.”

As any average masochist who's tried to run a marathon will tell you, these events are grueling, but for some people, Mr. D being one, they aren't long enough. Realizing he hadn't been prepared to run 26 miles the first time he tried, Deines set out to prepare the only way one can prepare for these things — running farther every day in preparation.

“My sophomore year at Oxy I was on 50 miles a week or so, but having run all summer, I brought my Culver City time down to 2:40, and my 2-mile time in track season to 9:20. The summer of 1967 I increased my mileage to around 90 miles per week and got in my first 100 miles per week (112) and ran 20 some races, mostly all-comer's meets, but some road races and got my first marathon first place in the hilly Palos Verde Marathon in 2:48.”

While his peers were variously dying in Vietnam, trying to elude Vietnam or turning on and tuning in at the chaotic end of the Summer of Love, Deines “was on the East Coast visiting Rick Spavins, my Oxy training partner and co-marathon enthusiast.” 

Which is where the young California distance runner met some of the legends of the sport and began to become something of a legend himself. 

“We ran the local Doc Robbins 5-mile road race, which Amby Burfoot won but I came in second. The next day I went up Fall River for a 10-mile which I won. Second place was Jeff Galloway, who made the 1972 Olympic 10K team 5 years later and broke the American record for 10 miles. The next day, Labor Day, we went to Westport for another 10 mile race. I managed 5th place, 2 places behind ultramarathoner Tom Osler who had just published an influential short book, “The Conditioning of Distance Runners.”

“When I got back to college, I told the new coach, Dixon Farmer, that I wanted to continue my high mileage training as it seemed to be working, rather than the team interval-type training he coached. He didn't like it, but when I started winning the meets, he went along with it. My training had essentially become just long slow runs and lots of weekend races.

Mr. D had also run a 2:25 marathon which, at the time, was right up there with the elite distance runners in the country.

“Looking back, 1968 was my peak year, averaging 106 miles per week and running 62 races from the half-mile to the marathon; my best times that year for all but the half-mile ended up being lifetime personal bests. I went 5 years without missing a day running.”

On the track, Deines brought his two-mile time down to 9:00.4 and on Friday April 19th of '68 he ran his first of three Boston Marathons. 

“In that one, I was still with Amby Burfoot who won and Bill Clark who finished second as we approached Heartbreak Hill, but I got a stitch on the hill and had to let them go. I was passed by maybe a half-dozen guys, but recovered enough to get back up to sixth place at the finish. I was back on the track the next Tuesday for a two-mile race in a dual meet, and then a 10K at the Mt. Sac Relays on Saturday.”

The guy was getting noticed. After Boston, Deines won the Culver City Marathon, a qualifying race for the Olympic Marathon Trials, in which he finished fourth. 

“I didn't know that I was supposed to be devastated about missing the team,” Deines says modestly. “I was officially the First Alternate; if one of the top three got sick or injured I'd get a call to substitute in. I felt I should be in the top ten if I had a good day, so I was really happy with fourth place. As with a lot of my best races I ran negative splits and was passing guys up to the end, having been still in ninth place with five miles to go.”

Diligent record keeper that he was, and is, Deines hadn't realized at the time that when he'd won the National One-Hour Run it was an NCAA record over a distance of 11 miles, 1321 yards. Deines was running with best of the times, people like Gerry Lindgren and Frank Shorter.

That fall the distance champ moved up to Oakland at the invitation of Jack Scott — yes, that Jack Scott who combined sports journalism with the Patty Hearst saga, at one point driving the infamous fugitive from her hideout in the east to her hideout in the west. 

“When I moved to Oakland, I moved into Jack Scott's basement. I was one of his acolytes. I became aware of him from a review he wrote in Track & Field News of a book by San Jose sports psychologists Ogylvie and Tutko, called The Problem Athlete and How to Handle Him. Scott criticized the book for being too authoritarian and militaristic. He felt athletes were individuals expressing their artistic selves, rather than cogs in a hierarchical team. Rick Spavins, my roommate at the time (and now lifelong friend) sent in a letter to Track & Field News saying how much he enjoyed his review, and asked whether he might write a book called: The Problem Coach and How to Handle Him. Obviously, our crewcut coach (who had been a NCAA champion intermediate hurdler) did not take kindly to its publication and immediately threw Rick off the team. He kept me because he wasn't willing to lose his top distance runner. Later I met Jack [Scott] at several big track meets, including the NCAA championship in 1969. That was when he was working on books with Harry Edwards and Dave Meggyesy who were revolutionizing the psyches of young athletes who, at the time, were obsessive not only about their own sports, but the impending threat of the draft. It was Jack Scott who suggested his friend Herb Kohl [famed educator based for years in Point Arena] could get me a draft deferment through his school.”

Running as hard as he could to avoid being shipped off to fight in Vietnam…

“I knew I could lose eight-to-ten pounds in a two-and-a half hour marathon race on a warm day. And I had also learned through draft counseling that if I took ten pounds off of my normal weight I would be under the minimum weight needed to pass a draft physical for someone my height, and therefore, would be accorded a 1Y deferment [not quite as permanent as a 4F]. So, the morning of my draft physical, I ran two hard hours in a plastic rain suit, to sweat out the ten pounds. I had fasted the day before and soaked in a hot tub at the end of my work-out. I weighed in at 135, three pounds under the 138-pound limit. Because it was a 1Y, I had to go back and do it all over again six months later. After twice they just stopped calling me back.

Deines, still running for his life via a draft deferment, took a draft-proof job at a continuation school run by Herb Kohl, a famous educator based for years in Point Arena.

“The lure for the teaching job was that I would be able to obtain a draft deferment.” 

In between classroom bouts with difficult teenagers, Deines signed up for a 50-mile race in Rocklin, the PAAAU District Championship. It turned out to be one of his most memorable competitions.

“For 40 miles I ran close to or with fellow Oxy grad John Pagliano, who had won the National Junior Championship for 50 miles a year or two before. We came through 25 miles in a little over 2:48. At 40 miles I was feeling good and picked up the pace and gained five minutes on him; by 45 miles (the course was a 5 mile loop) I'd gained another 10 minutes by the finish. My time, 5:22:55 was the best in the country. The 9th of 16 finishers was the actor Bruce Dern in 7:06, and in 16th place was 15-year-old Pamela Schmidt of San Francisco in 10:14 who became the first woman to finish a 50 mile race. 

“Ted Corbitt of the '52 Olympic marathon team (and still the only American-born black Olympic marathoner) and considered the father of American ultra-marathoning came out for the race from New York along with former American champion 50-miler Jim McDonag, an Irishman who lived for many years in New York. In 1969 Corbitt had run the 52.5 mile London-to-Brighton race in 5:38 for second place, and was estimated to have come through 50 miles in 5:22 something, a little better than my time. 

“Three-plus weeks after London-to-Brighton, Ted ran 100 miles on the track at Walton-on-Thames and broke the American record by three and half hours. Skip Houk and Darryl Beardall (the great Santa Rosa-based runner) led most of the way, while Corbitt, McDonagh and I were together at 30 miles in 3rd, 4th and 5th. At 40 miles I was feeling good and took off after Houk, passing him at about 44 miles and pulled ahead by 3-400 yards. At 45 miles, with one five-mile lap to go, I realized I was just behind the world record (5:12) pace and had to run 10 or 15 seconds a mile faster to get the record. I picked up the pace and made it about half way around the loop when I hit the wall. In what seemed like 30 seconds I went from feeling like I could get a world record to feeling like I could barely lift my legs. I'd been out there for five hours and how was I going to make it another 2 and a half miles? At the last turn with a couple hundred yards to go, I looked back and Skip was only 20 or 30 yards behind me. It gave me one last shot of adrenaline and I was able to hold him off by 2.8 seconds in 5:15:19 to take another 7+ minutes off the American record.” (See addendum, below.)

It was that same month that Joe Henderson, while working at Track & Field News, came out with his first of 30-some books — Long Slow Distance: The Humane Way to Train. It was already known as LSD training, though Henderson was not the one to come up with the term. He soon became the first editor at Runner's World magazine. The LSD book profiled six runners who had all turned away from the typical interval training for long slow distance training. These elite runners, including Deines, all had rebelled against what they considered the tyranny of the track, and found they ran just as well, or better, without all the interval and tempo runs. And they all found long slow distance training to be a lot more enjoyable way to run. Ed Winrow, for one, felt that by running 25-50 races a year there was no need for any other speed work, which is what Deines had already doing with notable success by 1968. 

The 60-page LSD book sold in the vicinity of 100,000 copies in the days when 300 runners was a big race. The 3rd edition from 2010 is still available at Amazon.com. Six of the elite six were still alive 50 years after the book came out, but Ed Winrow has died and Joe Henderson is still slowly recovering from a stroke.

Bob Deines runs on, these days alternating long slow distance out of Albion and Willits, making his way as a skilled carpenter, semi-retired division. For years he's been a familiar face at local running events where he inevitably finishes among the top runners, first or close to first among the older runners.


ADDENDUM

Ted Corbitt said the following in a letter to John Chodes: “If I had not been aware of the force that the West Coast has become it would have been like walking into a big, big ambush. I was aware and on one occasion a few weeks ago I figured that I could break the American 50-mile record and finish as high as 10th place. I expected to break the American record even if I had a bad day and my run was not good. From 30 to 40 miles was a ‘living nightmare.’ I ran very badly, losing ground where I had hoped to close up the distance. We must have passed the marathon point in about 2:46 and I still felt reasonably ok at that point. As you know I had at least three efforts which were considerably better than the record in longer races. Now the new record is most respectable — but it can be had.”

The Finishers:

  1. Bob Deines 5:15:19.2
  2. Skip Houk 5:15:22
  3. Darryl Beardall 5:18:55
  4. Jose Cortez 5:30:42
  5. John Pagliano 5:33:03
  6. Ted Corbitt 5:34:01
  7. Gary Dobrenz 6:03:12
  8. Randy Lawson 6:05:45
  9. Bryan Geiser 6:07:40
  10. Rost Bruner 6:09:55
  11. Ken Young 6:20:37
  12. James Bowles 6:25:50
  13. R. Paffenbarger 6:26:15
  14. Tobe Lusionam 6:31:38
  15. Peter Mattei 6:29:29
  16. Al Meehan 7:02:43
  17. Pat Crevet 7:12:43
  18. Natalie Cullimore 7:35:57
  19. Paul Reese 7:38:49
  20. Brad Gieser 7:56:09
  21. Phil Schaffner 8:04:52
  22. Walt Stack 8:08:58
  23. Dave Cortez 8:32:18
  24. Mitch Kinsery 8:51:27
  25. Rex Dietberich 8:53:39
  26. Mike Ipsen 9:41:55 

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HUFFMAN DISAPPOINTS

Dear Editor,

I voted for Jared Huffman and appreciate his participation in the House Progressive Caucus and support for universal health care, but was disappointed to read his quote in the 11/5 Washington Post: “I think Republicans try to scare people on this ‘socialist narrative.’ … What’s the point of embracing a phrase like [socialism]?” 

Because, we are all socialists! Socialism occurs when society chooses to pool our taxes for social benefits like highways, libraries, police and public schools. This contrasts with capitalism where businesses sell goods and services for private gain. We have a mixed economy: part socialist, part capitalist. 

Please don’t perpetrate conservatives' scare tactics and forbid us from speaking the truth. Instead, be proud of our socialized national parks, universities, postal service and Social Security. After all, a Harris poll last year found, “Socialism is gaining popularity: 4 in 10 Americans say they would prefer living in a socialist country over a capitalist one.” 

Tom Wodetzki

Albion

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IT'S MIDNIGHT IN UKIAH, AND…

On Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at approximately 12:05 A.M. a Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputy was on routine patrol in the 4000 block of North State Street in Ukiah, California.

The Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for an observed vehicle code violation.

As the Deputy stopped the vehicle, he noticed both the driver and the rear passenger were frantically moving around inside the vehicle.

Azbill, Hallmark-Duman

The Deputy approached the vehicle and contacted the driver, who was identified as Johnny Azbill, 39, of Covelo, and the rear passenger who was identified as Jennyfer Hallmark-Duman, 32, of Ukiah.

The Deputy developed probable cause that Azbill was a known gang member.

Based on this information, as well as the furtive movements by both occupants, the Deputy asked Azbill to step out of the vehicle. Azbill consented to a pat search of his person for any weapons.

The Deputy felt what he recognized to be a methamphetamine smoking pipe in Azbill's pants pocket. Azbill was detained in handcuffs at this time.

The Deputy then requested Hallmark-Duman to exit the vehicle in order to perform a search of the vehicle.

Hallmark-Duman exited the vehicle as requested, then became argumentative and would not allow the Deputy to pat search her person for weapons. When asked if she had any weapons on her, Hallmark-Duman removed a pair of handcuffs from her pocket.

The Deputy asked Hallmark-Duman to lift up her jacket in order to confirm that she did not have any weapons on her.

As Hallmark-Duman lifted her jacket to expose her waistline, a second Sheriff's Deputy who had arrived on scene to assist, noticed a bulge in her rear waistline. The Deputy lifted Hallmark-Duman's jacket, and observed the grip of a handgun tucked into her waistband.

Hallmark-Duman was detained in handcuffs, and the Deputy removed a loaded Glock style 9mm handgun with an inserted extended magazine containing live 9mm rounds.

During a further search, Deputies located a semi-automatic "AR" style rifle with a loaded magazine in the trunk of the vehicle.

The rifle had an approximate 10" long barrel. The rifle had numerous features which met the criteria of an "assault weapon" and "short barreled rifle" per California Law.

Neither of the firearms were serialized and are commonly referred to as "Ghost Guns" as they are unable to be traced.

Azbill was found to be a convicted Felon and is prohibited from owning or possession any firearm or ammunition.

Other items located within the vehicle included night vision goggles, additional ammunition, a gas mask, a ski mask, and several bags of processed marijuana.

Azbill was placed under arrest for Possession of an Assault Weapon. Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Felon in Possession of Ammunition. Possession of a Short Barreled Rifle. Possession of a Controlled Substance While Armed with a Loaded Firearm, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. 

A Mendocino County Superior Court Judge authorized a bail increase for Azbill.

Azbill was subsequently booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $150,000.00 bail.

Hallmark-Duman was placed under arrest for Carrying a Loaded Handgun-Not being the Registered Owner, and Carrying a Concealed Weapon in a Vehicle.

Hallmark-Duman was booked into the Mendocino County Jail. In accordance with the COVID-19 emergency order issued by the State of California Judicial Council, bail was set at zero dollars for Hallmark-Duman and she was released after the jail booking process.

Please visit the following link to hear Sheriff Matthew C. Kendall provide a Public Safety Message on the current COVID-19 emergency order related to zero bail: facebook.com/MendocinoSheriff/videos/2568683186688486/

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Con Camp

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CATCH OF THE DAY, November 14, 2020

Chiles, Gowan, Kavanaugh, Lopez

CHRISTOL CHILES, Fort Bragg. Burglary, failure to appear.

JAMES GOWAN JR., Redwood Valley. Refuse disposal in state waters. 

PETE KAVANAUGH, Hopland. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, county parole violation.

JUAN LOPEZ, Willits. Unauthorized entry of dwelling, resisting, county parole violation.

Navarrete, Perez, Plascencia, Warner

MARCO NAVARRETE-HIGAREDA, Willits. Controlled substance for sawl.

JORGE PEREZ-HERNANDEZ, Ukiah. DUI, no license, failure to obey lawful order from police.

MIGUEL PLASCENCIA-BARAJAS, Ukiah. DUI, no license, no insurance in accident, probation revocation.

MALISSA WARNER, Ukiah. Parole violation.

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CHOICES

Editor,

If you choose to live in the urban wildlife interface, then you assume certain fire-related risks. If you choose to live next door to a park that is meant for the enjoyment of all residents, then you have to know that you can’t interfere with the opportunities for residents in that park. If the risks are uncomfortable for you, then it might be wise to relocate to an area where you feel safer.

JT O’Neill

Sebastopol

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

What did we expect? Politics in the West has turned into another form of reality tv and all of our leaders, whether we are talking about Trump or Trudeau, are manufactured to entertain the public and distract us from the “corporate coup d’état” that has permeated every facet of human life on this planet and will end up leading to the the extinction of all life on Earth. The masters of the universe who control our politics don’t give a damn if Joe Biden or Donald Trump occupy the Oval Orifice because they know that neither pose a threat to their dominance over us. The same can be said of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, Make America Great Again or Proud Boys. All of them are puppets whose strings are pulled by media conglomerates and none of them pose a threat to the established order.

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* * *

AG BECERRA, GOVERNOR PROTEST FEDERAL OIL LEASE SALES AS CA REGULATORS INCREASE OIL DRILLING PERMITS

by Dan Bacher

On November 9, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Governor Gavin Newsom and two state agencies filed a protest challenging the proposed sale of seven oil and gas leases in Kern County by the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The proposed December 2020 sale involves seven parcels totaling 4,133.58 acres of Federal public lands and mineral estate within the Bakersfield Field Office.

*Ironically, the protest against the BLM oil and gas lease sale takes place at a time when state oil and gas regulators under Governor Gavin Newsom have expanded oil and gas drilling in Kern County and other areas in California. Since January 2019, CalGEM, under the the Department of Conservation, has approved 7071 oil and gas drilling permits.*

Becerra pointed out that more than 95 percent of federal drilling in California already occurs in Kern County, “often in close proximity to California’s most vulnerable communities.”

Instead of conducting a detailed environmental analysis of the leases, Becerra said the BLM “is relying on a flawed programmatic environmental review” finalized in December 2019 that opened more than one million acres of public lands in Central California to oil and gas drilling.

Becerra, Newsom, and state agencies are currently challenging the programmatic environmental review in court.

“Time and time again, the Trump Administration has worked outside the bounds of the law to advance the interests of industry polluters,” said Attorney General Becerra. “BLM is recklessly jamming through the sale of oil and gas leases in Kern County using a flawed environmental analysis that is being challenged in court. Rest assured, we’ll do whatever it takes to protect our public lands and uphold the rule of law.”

Becerra said the Kern County lease sale “builds on BLM's continued efforts to open federal lands in California to additional oil and gas development.”

On January 17, 2020, Becerra, Newsom, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the Department of Water Resources, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), filed a lawsuit challenging BLM’s plan to open up more than one million acres of public lands in Central California to oil and gas drilling.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleges that “BLM’s programmatic environmental review of the project failed to fully evaluate the significant and adverse impacts on the communities and environment of eight Central California counties, and requests that the court set aside the decision.”

On August 26, 2020, BLM relied on the same flawed programmatic environmental review to propose seven parcels of land in Kern County for a lease sale in December 2020, according to a press release from Becerra’s Office.

In September, Attorney General Becerra and CARB submitted comments slamming BLM’s draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact evaluating the environmental consequences of selling the above seven oil and gas leases in Kern County.

*In their comments, Becerra and CARB used the same arguments that climate and environmental justice organizations have used in the current campaign to stop new oil and gas drilling and fracking in California, arguing that the BLM decision “endangers California’s environment and the public health of its communities.”*

“Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) causes pollution from the evaporation of toxic chemicals that return to the surface and has been tied to an increase in hazardous air emissions in already overburdened communities near oil and gas operations,” they said.

“In Kern County, excess pollution from existing operations has significantly increased the rates and risks of asthma, heart disease, lung disease, and cancer in nearby communities. Fracking also heightens the risk of well cracks that can contaminate underground sources of drinking water and creates millions of gallons of wastewater contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals,” added Becerra and CARB.

In the protest, Attorney General Becerra and state partners argue – as they did in the September comment letter – that “BLM’s draft Environmental Assessment is deficient and must be revised because it fails to fully analyze the significant effects of oil and gas leasing and relies on the flawed programmatic environmental review,” which:

 - *Significantly underestimates the percent of new wells that would be drilled using fracking;* - *Ignores recent studies and best available science in evaluating the impacts of fracking;* - *Does not consider or attempt to mitigate the impacts of oil and gas development on nearby environmental justice communities;* - *Fails to analyze its proposed action for consistency with California state standards and policies, including California’s statutory targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions;* - *Fails to adequately analyze impacts to groundwater; and* - *Fails to adequately consider or mitigate the significant climate impacts of opening up more than 4,000 acres of public lands to new oil and gas leasing. *

*I’m glad that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) are protesting proposed the sale of seven oil and gas leases in Kern County by the Federal Bureau of Land Management under the lame duck Trump Administration.*

*However, it would be even better if Becerra, Newsom, CARB and the CDFW also took action to stop new oil and gas drilling on land under the jurisdiction of the state of California also.*

In a meeting and press conference regarding the California fires with President Donald Trump on September 14, Newsom told Trump: ”The hots are getting hotter. The dries are getting drier. The evidence is all around us -- climate change is REAL.”

Yet Newsom’s words about the reality of climate change contrast dramatically with his actions. Since Newsom became Governor in January 2019, his regulators have approved a total of 7071 oil and gas drilling permits in California, according to Department of Conservation data analyzed by Consumer Watchdog and the FracTracker Alliance.

CalGEM, the agency in charge of regulating oil and gas drilling, has approved over 1540 new oil and gas drilling permits in 2020 to date. 185% more oil and gas drilling permits were issued in the first six months of this year than in the same six months last year under Governor Newsom, the groups reported.

In addition, 54 of the new oil wells permitted by state regulators so far this year are fracking operations.

The permit numbers and locations are posted and updated on an interactive map at the website: NewsomWellWatch.com

 To get the message across to the public, the California Governor and other elected officials, the Last Chance Coalition launched a radio and billboard campaign in October to illustrate the dire health impacts to vulnerable communities living near oil and gas wells.

Radio ads started playing on on popular Sacramento stations, voiced by frontline leader Nalleli Cobo, who was sickened by oil wells across the street from her childhood home in South Los Angeles starting at age nine. Now nineteen years old, Nalleli is battling cancer.

"We hope that Governor Newsom will get the message loud and clear,” Nalleli said about the ads. “His announcement banning new gas-powered cars by 2035 doesn't provide the protection that millions of Californians living near oil wells need right now."

Cesar Aguirre, a community organizer in Kern County featured in another radio spot, lives around oil wells also.

Aguirre says in the ad, "You've expanded oil production in my community, where we breathe the industry's toxic pollution every day. California's frontline communities need real action."

The radio ads point out that Governor Newsom has expanded oil production in communities of color and call on him to phase out oil drilling.

The Newsom Administration is supposed to issue a draft health and safety rule before year's end. Member groups of the Last Chance Alliance have demanded a 2500-foot set back between oil wells and homes, schools and communities.

At this time, California is one of two oil and gas drilling states — the other is Alaska — that don’t have health and safety setbacks around homes, schools, hospitals and other facilities.

Background: The Big Money Behind Big Oil

Why have California regulators expanded oil and gas drilling in recent years? Well, it all comes down to Big Oil regulatory capture.

The Western States Petroleum Association, the trade association for the oil industry in the Western States and the most powerful lobbying organization in California, pumped more money into lobbying state officials than any other group in 2019, spending a total of $8.8 million. WSPA lobbies for Aera Energy, Chevron, the California Resources Corporation and other oil companies in the states of California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Arizona.

The oil companies also spend many millions lobbying themselves each year, in addition to the money spent on their behalf by WSPA. Chevron pumped the third most money of any organization in California into lobbying in 2019, a total of $5.9 million. The lobbying expenses of Chevron and WSPA came to a total of $14.7 million.

In 2017, Chevron placed first in California lobbying expenses by spending $8.2 million, while WSPA placed second by pumping $6.2 million into lobbying.

During the first quarter of 2020, at the same time that the Newsom Administration approved 1,623 total oil drilling permits, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) spent $1,089,702 lobbying state officials.

Chevron spent even more: $1,638,497 in the first quarter of 2020 to influence legislators, the Governor’s Office and other state officials. The two oil industry giants combined to spend a total of $2,728,199 lobbying from January 1-March 31.

In the second quarter of 2020, WSPA spent $1,220,986 while Chevron spent $974,322 on lobbying in California, a total of $2,195,308.

Neither WSPA nor Chevron had posted their July 1 to September 30 lobbying expenses for 2020 by October 31, although Aera has posted its expenses up to September 30.

Aera Energy spent a total of $672,604 lobbying California officials in 2019. In 2020 to date, Aera spent $290,826 on lobbying from January 1 to March 31, $191,660 from April 1 to June 30, and $200,082 from July 1 to September 30, a total of $682,028, more than all of last year.

In addition to spending hundreds of thousand of dollars every quarter on lobbying, Aera Energy also has deep connections to Governor Newsom’s Office. “Aera has well-connected lobbyists in its corner who work for the firm Axiom Advisors,” acccording to Steve Horn in his June article in Capital and Main:

“One of them, Jason Kinney , headed up Newsom’s 2018 transition team

and formerly served as a senior advisor

to Newsom while he was lieutenant governor. He is also a senior advisor to California’s Senate Democrats,” wrote Horn. “The other, Kevin Schmidt, previously served as policy director for Newsom when the latter was lieutenant governor. Aera paid Axiom $110,000 for its lobbying work in 2019 and, so far in 2020, has paid $30,000 lobbying reports reveal.”

The Governor’s close relationship with Kinney hit the news on November 13 when First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and people from several other households gathered outside this month at The French Laundry to celebrate Kinney’s 50th birthday. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the dinner at one of the world's most exclusive restaurants as coronavirus cases spiked in California and throughout the country.

Lobbying is just one of the seven methods that Big Oil uses in California to exercise inordinate influence over California regulators. WSPA and Big Oil wield their power in 7 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) creating alliances with labor unions; and (7) contributing to non profit organizations.

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BIG DIFF

Editor,

I would like to correct David M. Heaney’s definition of socialism. He writes “The definition of socialism is that the community owns the means of production and distribution.” That is the definition of COMMUNISM.

It’s time Americans understood the difference. One good place to start is to study the social democracies of Western Europe, Canada and Australia, and the relative happiness of their citizens compared to the United States.

Astrid Harper

Santa Rosa

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FOUND OBJECT

10 Comments

  1. Lazarus November 15, 2020

    found object

    Lady Gaga in drag…

    Be Swell,
    Laz

  2. Marmon November 15, 2020

    RE: EMBRACING SOCIALISM

    I get real tired of people who only talk about what they think are the positives of socialism but ignore the negatives.

    What are the negatives of socialism?

    Disadvantages of socialism include slow economic growth, less entrepreneurial opportunity and competition, and a potential lack of motivation by individuals due to lesser rewards.

    “An evil enemy will burn his own nation to the ground…To rule over the ashes.”
    — Sun Tzu

    Marmon

    • Harvey Reading November 15, 2020

      NO economic growth would be just fine. You cannot have infinite growth in an environment lacking infinite resources. And, getting rid of plunderers and robber barons, which is all “entrepreneurs” are, would be an improvement, starting with “Leon Skum”.

    • Bruce Anderson November 15, 2020

      Tell it to the Swedes, Jim.

      • Marmon November 15, 2020

        The problem with using Sweden as an example of a socialist model that works? Sweden ain’t socialist.

        If Bolsheviks Sanders and Ocasio‐​Cortez really want to turn America into Sweden, what would that look like? For the United States, it would mean, for example:

        -More free trade

        -A more deregulated product market

        -No Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

        -The abolition of occupational licensing and minimum wage laws

        -The abolition of taxes on property, gifts, and inheritance

        -Even after the recent tax cut, America would still have to slightly reduce its corporate tax

        -America would need to reform Social Security from defined benefits to defined contributions and introduce private accounts

        -The US would also need to adopt a comprehensive school voucher system where private schools get the same per‐​pupil funding as public ones.

        If this is socialism, call me comrade.

        Marmon

  3. Stephen Rosenthal November 15, 2020

    FOUND OBJECT: Al Davis’s college graduation portrait.

  4. chuck dunbar November 15, 2020

    CONCESSION:

    The AVA notes that “TRUMP has finally admitted that Joe Biden won the election…”
    By Tweet of course, and minutes later, of course, retracted in part. It brings to mind other notable concessions, like Nixon’s in 1962, after losing the race for governor of California.
    It’s, as we all know, the one that in good part focused on the press, and it ends with the famous line: “Gentlemen, you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore…” And it’s worth noting ( listen to the entire 16:45 speech on You Tube) the difference between Trump’s schoolboy ranting in caps versus Nixon’s–by comparison–nearly erudite presentation. Nixon did the better job.

  5. Michael Geniella November 15, 2020

    I think the photo labeled “Snow on the Coast” is actually a George Rose picture taken on Bell Springs Road.

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