TRAGIC WEEKEND FOR HUMCO LOGGERS, as reported by the Eureka Times-Standard and the Lost Coast Outpost: 66-year-old Thomas Alan Rea died on Friday after being hit by a log on his property in Garberville while cutting fire wood. 53-year-old William Stanley Thomas was found dead at a Sierra Pacific logging site in Kneeland on Friday after he was struck by a nearby rotting oak. 23-year-old Jason Meng was struck and killed by a small redwood tree on Saturday while setting chokers.
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LOOK OUT FOR SLEEPER WAVES. The National Weather Service has issued a hazard warning for coastal beaches Monday and Tuesday because of “long-period swells likely to produce large surf and strong rip currents.”
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GREG KROUSE WRITES: “I was cruising by the Anderson Valley Grange the other night and in the tule fog, I spied a strange sight. It was almost like the Cops and Robber’s, Costa Cabana Nightclub was operating. A couple of spotlights soared through the dark night sky. The club’s marquee was alight with band names and a bunch of Dusenburg cars were parked out front and some nappy folks were moving toward the doors. Men in styling striped suits and fedoras, ladies in flapper dress with boas and exotic hats. I saw a seasoned reporter, a famous dick, a couple of cops outside too. Bet there were photogirls, stage gals, card sharks and moonshiners in there too. Perhaps too many Grange pot lucks or too late night of driving had me hallucinating a bit, but well it made me think to remind you again that Cops & Robbers Costume Ball is coming Saturday night 7 to 11:30, a benefit for new gear for the Anderson Valley Health Center. Fifteen smackers to enter unless you are minus costume, then it is $18, so you can get some costume gear. You gotta enter that prohibition time properly. The very hot and zany swing dance band, Mixed Nuts are the featured music with a floor show in the middle, unique Costume contest line up, Speakeasy bar and card room run by some questionable Lion clubbers and Domino’s Café putting out good grub. All the proceeds going to the Health Center. Check out more details on Facebook at Cops and Robbers.”
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THE FACES OF METH
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LEAD SARDINES
Editor,
I agree with you that it's “possible” for someone's vacant house to be hit by tweakers, prompted by your grotesque stunt in the AVA, which called your washed-out Grayshirts into action. As you concede, “Possible.”
Now, how would you know that? Which beloved Valley editor got his house smashed up while he was away? And on another occasion, your truck vandalized? Some people just take things too seriously.
So you knew, Bruce— you knew there are such characters, even among the friendly folk in the peaceful valley. A bit reckless, were you? And with your old awful bitter root of malice? And giggles of passive aggression?
Edgy entertainment, though. Why wouldn't you have phoned your joke in to Open Lines?
A good hypothetical question, bearing on management of the KZYX radio show, as well as credibility of the AVA. Answer, please.
Yours, Gordy Black, Mendocino
PS: I don't know that you'd really go to jail for leaden wit.
Ed reply: If leaden wit were a crime, you'd be doing life, Gordy. Open lines? I think the paranoids just fired the open lines guy, and you're the only person affiliated with the place with any kind of wit, leaden or otherwise. (Can I call you next time I think I have a boffo mondo to share?) So, let's repeat the facts, not as you, as always, deliberately misconstrue them, and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, Gordo, that you can more or less accurately decode your native language. Ready? Take Two! I made a joke that I was mobilizing tweaker-bandits to go in search of John Coate's house because Coate was out of the country, usually being simply out of it wherever he is. As if I or anybody else could mobilize tweakers for anything and, once mobilized, they could search out Villa Coate. Such literal mindedness! And you a poet! Author of my all-time favorite line, "I left her voluptuating in the doorway." Oh you're a sly dog, Gordy, but that poor woman! Or that lucky woman, depending. Anyway, I've just got to tell you about this trip I made to the Monterey Aquarium. Stay with me here, big boy, it's pertinent. This was some time ago, and Steinbeck would not recognize Monterey, a kind of down market version of Mendocino, to tell the truth. Anyhoo, the Missus and I were standing in front a gigantic tank marked 'Sardines.' We've all seen lots of sardines, all be them entombed in tin and tomato sauce, and I've probably seen more of them than you, you being an upscale cravat guy and all. Anyway, there they were, this splendid mass of mysteriously choreographed silver, darting hither-thither starling-like in the cruel captivity of their tank. The odd thing, though, and this is right where I thought of you. There was this one lonely little fish who could never quite catch up with the main body sardines. I thought at first he was simply a laggard, that he'd soon rejoin his fleeting fellows, that they wanted him back. We must have stood there for a half hour, waiting for this orphaned sardine to get back in the pack. He never made it. So, what's all this have to do you, Mr. Faking The Classical Music Liner Notes at Mendocino County Public Radio For Twenty Years? You're not that fish.
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STATEMENT OF THE DAY: (Bill Maher is painfully unfunny. I haven't seen a white comedian since, I dunno, George Carlin, Sam Kinison and, of course, Lenny Bruce, half as funny as any number of black comedians. Maher's merely offensive but is somehow regards by libs as hilarious. I direct you to a long, and long overdue deconstruction of the painfully unfunny Maher for CounterPunch, from which the following paragraph derives): “On Real Time with Bill Maher, on countless other television shows, non-fiction and fiction alike, the audience is given cues when to laugh. It is in ways like this that systems of power self-propagate. The laughing track is no neutral tool. It has a particular purpose; it is one of the new arbiters of the status quo. It does not, at first glance, seem as dangerous as the gun—at this point history’s most successful arbiter—yet it is equally iniquitous. Someone chooses when to flip that switch.”
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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY: I’ve definitely soured on Christmas. A few years back an economist slammed Christmas in the Op-ed pages of the local rag. He had a point. Christmas gift giving is largely a spectacle of burning through cash and credit, to purchase junk which is generally un-needed and worse, unwanted. In my college town it is astounding to think that most of these stupid jakes are going to take to flying back across the country to eat turkey and snooze in their old bedrooms, come back, spend three weeks in class, and then repeat the damn thing. It’s an orgy of waste and stupidity. In the past, a child was expected to set out and establish themselves in a family, a new family, new family traditions, etc. Now it’s like being trapped in Amber. We are all summoned to an event which is pulled out of mothballs from the attic. These holidays and national events, evenly spaced, comprise the grist for the media and commercial apparati to never have to fulfill their social functions a la the Fifth Estate. Every business craves the kind of predictability of Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, The Superbowl, Easter, Memorial day, Fourth of July. Wash, rinse repeat. We should remember the government shutdown, for instance, but, the newspapers will be flooded with the next planned installment of corporate holiday and it will be forgotten, which is what it is designed for. The echoes of agrarian cultural traditions that represented the turning of the great wheel, the seasons, embedded in a natural cycle.
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THE OBAMACARE PROGRAM'S FLAGSHIP WEBSITE is so error-prone and user-unfriendly that Consumer Reports magazine has thrown up its hands in disgust, advising readers to “stay away from Healthcare.gov for at least another month if you can.” The website's messy launch has been the subject of endless news reports, talk show segments and late-night comedy bits — adding to a full-time congressional inquiry and, now, questions about why Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is refusing to testify on Capitol Hill. But Consumer Reports, the toaster-testing, TV-rating consumer powerhouse, is on the case. Before October 1, the magazine was a major booster of President Obama's health insurance overhaul plan, devoting several pages in its latest issue to an optimistic “step-by-step guide.” But the print edition was completed weeks before the Obamacare enrollment website actually launched. And once its crashes became the stuff of political and geek-tech legend, the editors told Americans to run away at full speed. On launch day, the Consumer Reports blog counseled patience. “If you're planning to use the marketplace to get health insurance for 2014, don't worry if you can't sign up today or even within the next couple of weeks,” read one reassuring message. Three weeks into the glitch-littered launch of the Obamacare insurance “exchanges,” critics are decrying the roll-out as a “train wreck” that will require a massive tech intervention if it is ever going to work. A day later, the same blog instructed that “the best strategy is simply to wait a week or two for the initial traffic to die down. — We tried it several times today and never succeeded in getting through.” On Oct. 8 Consumer Reports headlined an update of the Obamacare website's progress: “One week in, Healthcare.gov is barely operational.” The magazine's blog continued to recommend that readers “wait a couple of weeks and hope that the site irons out its many problems.” By Oct. 10, however, the editors' patience was wearing thin. “Healthcare.gov is slightly less terrible today,” they wrote. “The bad news,” the Consumer Reports blogger wrote, “is that it’s still next to impossible to create a user name and password that you can actually use to sign in. I myself have tried five times without success. Our readers report similar frustrations.” The only silver lining the magazine could find was a note that “consumers coming to Healthcare.gov are no longer stopped cold by an error message or a screen saying they’ve been put in a waiting line.” The bottom-line guidance? “Don’t bother even trying for another couple of weeks.” In search of “tips on how to get past the roadblocks,” Consumer Reports turned to a professional software tester for his advice, a four-point plan that involves ignoring the site's error messages and clearing browser “cookies” every time you visit Healthcare.gov. But “if all this is too much for you to absorb,” the blog post concludes: follow our previous advice: Stay away from Healthcare.gov for at least another month if you can.'
'Hopefully, that will be long enough for its software vendors to clean up the mess they’ve made.'
(Courtesy, London Daily Mail.)
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ON OCTOBER 19, 2013, at about 10:26pm Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a domestic disturbance at a residence in the 46000 block of Fish Rock Road in Gualala. A witness had reported seeing fifty-one year-old Michael J. Sahl, 51, of Gualala, grab his 44-year-old cohabitant girlfriend by the neck and choke her. He also punched her in the head one time with a closed fist according to the witness. Sheriff's Deputies made entry into the residence to check the welfare of the female victim. When they failed to find her in the home, they searched outside and found her in an apartment above the garage where she had gone to escape the suspect. The frightened woman climbed out onto the roof to get to the deputies. The victim denied that Sahl had punched or choked her, despite visible swelling and small lacerations above her left eye consistent with a blow from a fist as described by the witness. She stated that Sahl grabbed her by her arm, forcing her to walk into the house and telling her that he would have killed her if the witness had not been present. Deputies sought, and were granted, an Emergency Protective Order for the victim. Sahl was arrested for domestic violence, criminal threats and false imprisonment, along with two misdemeanor arrest warrants. He was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was lodged with bail set at $30,000.00. (Sheriff’s Press Release)
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ON OCTOBER 19, 2013, at about 11pm Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office observed a blue mini-van pass through the stop sign at the intersection of Howard St and Airport Road in Covelo without stopping. A traffic stop was initiated at 24280 Foothill Blvd and the driver, David Freeman, 68, of Covelo, was contacted. Freeman immediately walked back to the patrol car to meet the Deputy. As one Deputy spoke to Freeman the other Deputy walked up to Freeman's vehicle and observed a short barreled 12 gauge pump shotgun in plain view in the back seat. It was loaded with five rounds of 00 buckshot in the magazine. MCSO Dispatch confirmed that Freeman was a convicted felon, prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. Freeman was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possessing a loaded firearm in a public place. He was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was lodged with bail set at $25,000.00. (Sheriff’s Press Release)
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(ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE): On 10-17-13, at 1435 hours, Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the 31000 block of Highway 20, Fort Bragg, for a report of a suspicious vehicle parked in the area. Upon their arrival, Sheriff's deputies located a mini-van parked near the area of the “bark dump.” The van was parked in a manner which prevented it from being seen from Highway 20. Deputies checked the interior of the van and discovered a deceased female in the front driver seat and a deceased male in the front passenger seat. Both victims appeared to have suffered wounds to the head. The exact cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy. Preliminary investigation indicates that the victims may not be Mendocino County residents. The female victim has been identified, but sheriff's detectives are still attempting to locate her next of kin. The male victim has yet to be positively identified. (Update:) On October 19, 2013, Sheriff's Detectives identified the female victim as being Cindy Bao Feng Chen, 38, of San Francisco, California. Sheriff's Detectives are still in the process of attempting to identify the male victim and the case is still being actively investigated. Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office tip line at (707) 234-2100. (Sheriff’s Press Release)
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HALLOWEEN PARTY! Attention all Zombie lovers and Halloween enthusiasts. The Active 20-30 Club of Ukiah is happy to announce their first annual Halloween Party. October 26th at the Landmark Room at the Discovery Inn. 21 and up. DJ Ryan of Tah Dah Productions. Light Show, Go Go Dancers, Costume Contests with cash prizes. Great Drink Specials! Call 707-391-3664 for details. $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Presale tickets available at JLB,101 North State Street Suite B in Ukiah
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COME JOIN OUR FIRST THREE-HOUR EXPLORING COLOR & DESIGN CLASS AT THE CV STARR CENTER!
SIGN-UP: Beginning NOW at the CV STARR Center, 300 So. Lincoln at Maple, Fort Bragg, as soon as you can, as there are only 12 seats available. Be an early bird and secure your space early. Tuition: $55. We will meet on Wednesdays only. Dates are Oct 30, Nov 6, 13, 20, Dec 4, and Dec 11. Class meets from 1-4pm. We have a few art supplies, but you will want to bring your own also. This enjoyable new art class will be an investigation into the fundamentals of color and design principles and will really help you make your artwork shine! We will have six colorful three-hour classes starting with learning the basic color families, followed by creating new eye-catching stunning designs! We'll work on different projects each meeting, and have many interesting discussions! Immerse yourself with a new and bright awareness of exciting color combos! Apply your new knowledge to home interior remodeling ideas, planned color gardens, and other ideas with which you have been thinking! Learn about merchandising sales secrets! Linn Bottorf, BFA, MFA. Linn was an Art Instructor at CRMC here from 1985 to 1996,where he enjoyed taking his students down to the San Francisco Museums once a semester and also taught in Illinois and Colorado. He studied film with Stan Brakhage, and drawing and painting skills with David Hockney, Fairfield Porter, and Nathan Oliveira. He was appointed Exhibits Director at Fort Bragg Center for the Arts from 1991 to 1996 on the entire 2nd floor of "DALY'S". He also taught Art Appreciation for 2 Honors classes through a CR College Credit Program at FBHS in 1996! "Linn Bottorf offered me what, as a student, one most wants - intelligent, cogent, and entirely engaging new fresh eyes to see the world as an infinitely changing one where I could capture the world in infinite ways, thanks to his skills, so wonderful to impart and share with his students. Teachers like this one are rare and few. This man is a teacher." - Barbara Nerney For more information: Call Linn at 964-0577 [or pls lv msgs] before 11PM, email linn@mcn.org, or call CV STARR Center at 964-9446
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OPEN SEASON
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