- COR Accreditation Worries
- Nana's Old Radio
- Sandra Rubin's Art
- Another Bubble?
- Puig’s Backstory
- Catching Rainwater
- California's Resource Secretary
- Defensible Space
- Tribes of Mendocino
- Police Reports
IT DOESN'T SEEM to be widely known in Fort Bragg that the College of the Redwoods nearly lost accreditation, and has only just now emerged from the gallows. The college draws most of its students from the Mendocino Coast and has always struggled to maintain a viable student population. COR is one of three badly managed community colleges to nearly betray its students, in that loss of accreditation would mean that four-year schools wouldn't be able to accept credits from a disenfranchised two-year school. City College of San Francisco is one of the three imperiled campuses, and the best known because it's the largest. Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo is the third. It remains unclear if COR, based in Eureka and in its 50th year, will abandon its Fort Bragg facilities. Most locals would like to see the school become affiliated with Ukiah-based Mendocino College. Accreditation hassles always means a hard slog through a morass of edu-babble and fuzzy thinking, the net effect of which is inevitably confusion. One of the many mysteries of American public life is the placement of the crucial educational function into the hands of incompetents.
A READER WRITES:
“Me being an old radio guy, I like to listen, too. I do my baseball listening at home on my nana's old 1946 Philco radio phono tower. I inherited this baby from her when she died in the early 70s, and I've cared for it. Recently had a serious tube radio guy go through the internals completely. Obviously it's terrific cosmetically. Now it is fully restored.
It has a 13 tube radio, featuring two 6L6 power tubes.
Those are big tubes, used these days in the best rock guitar amps (see MARSHALL) and this thing really HEATS UP.
The SOUND is terrific. It runs a big original 12-inch speaker.
You place the radio so it has about a two inch gap from the wall. These big tube amps have a sound that CUTS. You can hear the game over anything all over the house. My wife says, ‘It sounds like America!’ Built in Philadelphia, PA, USA. I want to add that K&K, the Giants announcers, are world class. Imagine life with Joe Buck. No thanks.”
BOONVILLE'S SANDRA MENDELSHON RUBIN is featured in the Huffington Post. A winner of a prestigious Guggenheim, Ms. Rubin's brilliant work is making her famous, justly famous in a field almost synonymous with, well, bad art. Several of the paintings accompanying the Huffington piece are inspired by the Anderson Valley and Mendocino County. Her husband is Steve Rubin formerly a jazz programmer at KZYX.
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
When people buy with loans, the banks restrict the prices paid to the corresponding income. When people buy with cash, however, there is no such restriction, and prices can get far outside of people's ability to pay. That is what is happening now, investors pay cash and no one restricts the price to that which can be supported by incomes. At some point, it ends, and prices fall back to those that can be supported by incomes alone. That happened in 2008 and people lost 30% or more. It will happen again, of course. When you see sales start to slow, it means the investors are running out of cash and the end is near. You'll note that sales just started to slow in what is usually an increasing sales period.
FASCINATING STORY by Jesse Katz of LA Magazine about the long journey taken by Cuban baseball player Yasiel Puig from ultra-rural Cuba to the big-bucks Dodger outfield. The well-researched story provides some obscure details about the Cuban amateur baseball system, describes Puig’s alleged cooperation with Cuban officials in arresting those involved in a previous defection scheme, threats against Puig’s family and friends in Cuba after he ascended to superstardom, the connection between some shady middlemen who ultimately helped him escape Cuba — for their own substantial profit, a deadly Mexican drug cartel, and the execution-style murder of their leader. It’s complex and disturbing, providing much of the interesting backstory to the still-young Puig’s quirky on-field persona.
RAIN: CATCH IT WHILE YOU CAN!
Rainwater Harvest — Design, Installation, Uses
Saturday, April 19
9:00 to Noon
Mendocino College, Little Theater
Attendance Is Free – Everyone Is Invited
One In a Series of Water Conservation Workshops Presented By Mendocino College and the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District.
Visit mcrcd.org/drought-water-conservationresources for more information
SECRETARY JOHN LAIRD, OCEAN 'PROTECTOR'
by Dan Bacher
John Laird, Secretary for Natural Resources and Chair of the California Ocean Protection Council, on April 14 sent a memo to the "California Ocean and Coastal Community" discussing recent letters on the federal FY15 budget that he sent to three Congressional appropriation committees.
"Please find attached my letters to three Congressional appropriation subcommittees regarding funding for key ocean initiatives in the federal FY15 budget," Laird wrote. "Of particular note for the ocean and coastal community, my letter to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies includes support for coastal management grants, regional ocean partnerships, ocean observation systems, ocean acidification research, and marine debris, among several other items. Similar letters were sent to the respective appropriation subcommittees in the Senate."
"In addition, please also find attached a letter from members of the California legislature, including OPC members Senator Pavley and Speaker Atkins, stating their support for increased funding for ocean acidification research," concluded Laird.
Joey Racano of the Ocean Outfall Group wasn't impressed by Laird's memo and letters.
"WTF do we need more research for? Stop manufacturing oil fired cars. Go electric. There's nothing to research," quipped Racano.
Racano also questioned the presence of Senator Fran Pavley, the author of the green light to fracking bill, Senate Bill 4, on a committee designed to "protect the ocean."
"'Frackin Fran" is on the OPC?" he asked.
There is no doubt that the oceans are in deep trouble with folks like Secretary John Laird and Senator Fran Pavley in charge of "ocean protection" in California.
Laird is one of the worst Natural Resources Secretaries for fish, oceans and the environment in California history.
He presided over record exports of water to corporate agribusiness interests in 2011, resulting in the massacre of millions of Sacramento splittail in the Delta water export pumps. Nearly 9 million Sacramento splittail, a native fish species, were "salvaged" in the death pumps, a new record. The actual number of fish lost in the pumps is estimated by scientists to be 5 to 10 times the "salvage" numbers.
Laird and federal officials also presided over the systematic draining of northern California reservoirs during a drought in 2013 to fill the Kern Water Bank and Southern California reservoirs, resulting in enormous damage to salmon and steelhead populations and endangered Delta and longfin smelt, as well as imperiling the water supplies of Sacramento, Folsom and other cities.
He has relentlessly pushed the most environmentally destructive project in California history, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels. The project will hasten the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon and other species, as well imperil Trinity and Klamath River salmon and steelhead. The project will devastate the Bay-Delta Estuary, the most significant estuary on the West Coast, resulting in tremendous damage to coastal halibut, striped bass, leopard shark, anchovy, sardine, herring, halibut, leopard, rockfish, lingcod and other fish populations.
Laird also oversaw the completion of a network of a network of so-called "marine protected areas" under the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. In a extreme case of greenwashing, these "marine protected areas" fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture and other human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering.
Senator Fran Pavley has also been a strong supporter of the oil industry lobbyist-overseen MLPA Initiative, as well as the author of the bill that clears the path to expanded fracking in California.
In one of the biggest environmental scandals in California history, Laird, Pavley and other state officials strongly backed the leadership of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force for the South Coast by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, while the oil industry was conducting highly polluting fracking operations in Southern California marine waters.
With environmental "guardians" like Laird and Pavley, California is in deep, deep trouble.
CALFIRE Mendocino Unit personnel have begun conducting Defensible Space inspections within the State Responsibility Areas (SRA) of Mendocino County. These inspections are focusing on education and ensuring landowners have created and are maintaining defensible space around their homes and structures. As drought conditions continue in California, this Defensible Space is critical for the protection of homes and the safety of citizens and firefighters during a wildfire.
California Public Resources Code §4291 requires homeowners in SRA to maintain 100 feet of Defensible Space around structures. The 100 feet of Defensible Space is divided into two zones:
The first zone is for the first 30 feet from the home/structure. This zone should be completely clear of all dead and flammable vegetation, including woodpiles, flammable brush, dead plants, weeds and dead grass.
The second zone is the following 70 feet from the first zone. The primary goal within this zone is to eliminate the horizontal and vertical fuel continuity which will decrease the ability of a fire to spread. This can be accomplished by pruning trees, removing dead vegetative matter, cutting grass, removing and/or spacing out trees and brush. Woodpiles can be kept within this zone.
Compliance with this law will aid in the prevention or minimization of large and damaging wildland fires, decrease the risk of property loss, and provide increased citizen and firefighter safety. One of the essential tools utilized to accomplish this goal is the fire prevention inspection. These inspections will help homeowners understand the requirements and methods to eliminate or reduce fire hazards and risks near homes in the SRA.
CAL FIRE Defensible Space inspectors will make the majority of their inspections in the months leading up to fire season in order to allow landowners time and flexibility to prepare their property for the upcoming fire season. CAL FIRE inspectors will attempt to inspect all the homes they have access to (e.g., no locked gates, can be viewed from a public place/roadway, or property that can be accessed by any private citizen, mailperson, delivery person, etc.) within a given target area prior to moving onto another area. The inspectors will be conducting their inspections during reasonable daylight hours, knocking on the door of the residence and being professionally dressed so that CAL FIRE staff can easily be identified as fire department personnel. Ideally, CAL FIRE would meet all landowners on-site so that questions can be answered and hazardous conditions addressed. If the Defensible Space inspectors are not able to meet face to face with the landowners, a “Notice of Fire Hazard Inspection” form will be left at the property. The “Notice of Fire Hazard Inspection” form will give a detailed description of what was inspected and if any corrections are needed to improve the property for fire survival. A phone number will be provided to the landowner to use in the event they have questions concerning the inspection or what/why hazards need to be reduced.
Defensible Space inspections are supported by the SRA Fire Prevention Fee, which is an annual fee assessed to rural residents for fire prevention activities in the SRA. The Fire Prevention Fee resulted from a law signed by Governor Brown in 2011 which imposed a fee to owners of habitable structures in the SRA.
Here are some tips that can help homeowners increase their properties’ fire resistance and increase safety for residents and firefighters:
- Maintain 100 feet of Defensible Space around all structures.
- Clear all needles and leaves from roofs, eaves and rain gutters.
- Trim branches six feet from the ground.
- Use trimming, mowing and power equipment before 10 a.m.
- Landscape with fire resistant and drought tolerant plants that require little water.
- Remove branches away from roofs and 10 feet from the chimney.
- Keep wood piles and flammable materials at least 30 feet from the home.
- Use fire ignition resistant building material.
For more information on preparing for wildfires and defensible space visit: www.ReadyForWildfire.org.
THE TRIBES OF MENDOCINO
by Leonard Marston
In Mendocino County there are ten federally recognized Indian Tribes. A federally recognized Tribe is one in which the United States government maintains a government-to-government relationship with the Tribe and recognizes the right of the Tribe to organize its own government and govern itself on its Reservation(s). The federally recognized Tribes in Mendocino County are the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, the Cahto Indian Tribe, the Manchester-Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians, the Potter Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the Pinoleville Indian Community, the Little River Band of Pomo Indians, the Covelo Indian Community, the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians and the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians.
In addition to the federally recognized Tribes listed above, there are two non-federally recognized Tribes in Mendocino County. These non-federally recognized Tribes are the Yokayo Tribe of Indians of the Yokayo Rancheria and the Noyo River Indian Community in Fort Bragg.
Each of the federally recognized Tribes in Mendocino County is organized under a Constitution which has been approved by its Tribal citizens. Each of the Tribes' Constitutions set forth criteria for membership and for voting in Tribal elections. Pursuant to these Constitutions each of the federally recognized Tribes has established and maintains a voter registration list showing which members of the Tribe or Band are eligible to participate and vote in Tribal elections. Under each of these Constitutions, if a person is eligible for membership in the Tribe, they are automatically eligible to participate and vote in Tribal elections upon obtaining the age of 18. Thus, each Tribal government in the County maintains a Tribal voter registration list which contains 100% of the Tribe's adult voting membership.
The majority of the Indians who are members of the federally recognized and unrecognized Tribes of Mendocino County that reside on or near the Tribe's Reservations, meet the poverty guidelines established by the Legal Service Corporation for receiving free legal services. With the exception of Indian Casinos on the Sherwood Valley, Coyote Valley and Hopland Reservations, there are no Tribally or Indian owned and operated businesses on any of the reservations, recognized or unrecognized, in Mendocino County. With the exception of the Sherwood Valley, Hopland, and the Coyote Valley Bands of Pomo Indians, the unemployment rate on each of the federally recognized Indian Reservations in Mendocino County is approximately 75-85%. As such, Indians 16 years of age or older who would otherwise be eligible for a California driver's license do not have the financial resources to purchase motor vehicles or pay for the annual cost to maintain and insure these vehicles. As a result, American Indians resident in Mendocino County possess a disproportionately low number of California driver's licenses compared to the non-Indians residing within the County. Moreover, the State of California and the County of Mendocino do not have jurisdiction to enforce their civil regulatory laws against Reservation Indians on their Reservations. As a result, a Reservation Indian does not need a valid California driver's license or vehicle registration to operate a motor vehicle on his or her Reservation. In addition, those Tribes, here in Mendocino County, that have revenue being generated from their casinos to fund Tribal governmental programs, benefits, and services on the Reservation are beginning to develop their own motor vehicle licensing and registration codes. Thus, a Tribal citizen within the County would be able to operate a motor vehicle within the State both on and off the Reservation without needing a valid California driver's license or registering his or her vehicle with the State of California, as long as that Tribal citizen had a valid Tribal driver's license, registration and vehicle license plates issued by his or her Tribe.
The reason that a majority of American Indians residing within the County of Mendocino do not want to participate in state, city, and local county elections is because they view the State of California and its political subdivisions as their enemy. For this reason, they do not want to register to vote or participate in local city and county elections. To understand why American Indians view, even to this day, the State of California and County of Mendocino as their enemies, you have to understand the historical relationship that has existed between Tribal, State, County and City governments and between Indians and non-Indians in this County.
Prior to contact with non-Indians there were approximately 310,000 American Indians living in the State of California. In a relatively short period, from 1830 to 1910, that population decreased from approximately 245,000 Indians to approximately 16,000. Three factors contributed to the death and decline of American Indians in the State of California: 1. disease; 2. starvation; and 3. murder. While diseases, such as the smallpox outbreak here in Mendocino County among the Pomos in the 1840s, contributed to the death of approximately 60,000 Indians during this time period, the greatest decline in the population of Indians in Mendocino County and the State of California during this time period can be attributed directly to starvation and murder caused by non-Indians. With the discovery of gold in 1848, the State began to fill rapidly with a new wave of white immigrants. Those portions of the Indian territory that, up until this point, had escaped direct contact with non-Indians, now was invaded by miners, ranchers, and farmers. The remote areas of the State, such as the Sierra Nevada, Cascades and Siskiyous attracted miners, while the remote areas of the central valley and coastal ranges, such as Mendocino County, were overrun by non-Indians seeking to log timber, ranch and farm.
The overwhelming assault upon the subsistence, life and culture of all California Indians during the short period of time from 1848 to 1865 has seldom been duplicated in modern times by an invading race. This has been set forth in extensive detail and testimony submitted to the Indian Claims Commission in the Clyde Thompson cases and other cases filed by California Indian Tribes with the Indian Claims Commission in the 60s and docketed as Docket Nos. 31 and 37.
The Indian population declined and was reduced still further to a population of about 100,000 by 1850. The decline during the worst decade, 1845-1855, was incredible. Approximately 150,000 Indians were reduced to a population of 50,000 persons. This reduction in the Indian population was accomplished by a ruthless flood of miners and farmers who literally annihilated the Indians without mercy, restraint or compensation. The direct causes of the death were disease, the bullet, exposure, and acute starvation. The more remote causes were the insane passion for gold, abiding hatred for the “red man” and a complete lack of any legal control to stop the miners from murdering Indians.
By 1865, many of the surviving Indians had discovered remote niches where they might exist undisturbed or had been settled on Reservations. Nevertheless, the great upheaval of the 1850s was still felt and the population continued to decline. Agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) began to make annual reports of the numbers which included those Indians under direct government supervision, plus others living near the Reservations. The US census reported 20,385 Indians living in California in 1880, 16,624 in 1890, and 15,377 in 1900.
During this same time period, laws in California fostered the institutionalization of kidnapping Indian children. Evidence indicates that this practice was widespread throughout California, including Mendocino County. An editorial in the Marysville Appeal of December 6, 1861, illustrates this practice:
“But it is from these mountain Tribes that white settlers draw their supplies of kidnapping children, educated as servants and women for purposes of labor and lust... It is notorious that there are parties in the northern counties of the state, whose sole occupation has been to steal young children and squaws from the poor Diggers... and dispose of them at handsome prices to the settlers, who, being in the majority of cases unmarried but willingly pay $50 or $60 for a young Digger to cook or wait upon them, or $100 for a likely young girl...”
In addition, during this time period, the State of California encouraged private citizens to form militias to hunt down and kill California Indians. The Clear Lake massacre is just one example of a typical militia expedition against the Pomo Indians of Mendocino and Lake Counties. Under the leadership of Captain Nathanial Lyon, the soldiers, equipped with boats:
“...sent across [the Lake] in their long dugouts, the Indians saw they would meet them in peace. So when the whites landed, the Indians went to welcome them, but the white man was determined to kill them. Ge-Wi-Lih said he threw up his hands and said, “No harm me, good man,” but the white man fired and shot him in the arm... men, women and children were killed around this island. One old lady saw two white men coming with their guns up in the air and on their guns hung a little girl, they brought it to the creek and threw it in the water. Two more men came; this time they had a little boy on the end of their guns and also threw it in the water. A little ways from her two white men stabbed the woman and the baby. All the little ones were killed by being stabbed, and many of the women were also. This old lady also told about the whites hanging a man on Emerson's Island. The Indian was hung and a large fire built under him. Another was tied to a tree and burned to death.” (Benson, 1932, 271, 272).
In order to clear the way for white settlement, the Senate of the United States, in 1853, authorized three commissioners to negotiate treaties with the Indian Tribes in California to extinguish their aboriginal title. 18 treaties were negotiated with the Indians along with promises that if the Indians moved to the Reservations, that the US government, and its army, would protect them from white settlers. The Indians negotiated the treaties in good faith and bartered away millions of acres of land in the State of California in exchange for the Government's promise of protection and lands with adequate water and game to sustain themselves and their way of life. The Indians began moving to the Reservations only to find out later, once they had settled upon the Reservations, that the Senate failed to ratify the 18 treaties. After they had moved from their aboriginal territory, they found themselves squatters with no legal title to the land they occupied and no US government willing to protect their interests. As a result, the US government began setting up military Reservations within the State and specifically within the County of Mendocino. The purpose of the Reservations was to round up and force march all of the Indians to the Reservations for their own protection. Two Reservations were created within the County of Mendocino. The Nomecult or Round Valley Indian Reservation and the Mendocino Reservation on the coast. Life for the surviving Indians on the Reservations wasn't much better than life off the Reservations. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs documents the dishonest and unscrupulous nature of the Indian agents who operated the Reservations between 1854 and 1910. Non-Indian squatters were allowed to set up businesses and farm the most productive agricultural lands within the Reservations. Reservation supplies were not distributed to the Indians, but rather were sold to non-Indians for profit. As a result, Indians on the Reservations did not have land available to them to farm. In addition, they were afraid to leave the Reservation to hunt and fish for fear of being murdered by non-Indians. As a result, Indians on the Reservation began to literally starve to death.
In response, Congress, in 1906, appointed C.E. Kelsey, a San Jose attorney, as its special agent for the purpose of assessing the condition of the Indians of California and submitting a report to Congress. Kelsey found that the majority of Indians, including the Indians of Mendocino County, were landless, squatting on lands that they had no title to, uneducated, and starving to death. These Indians also experienced a high incidence of infant mortality. Mr. Kelsey recommended that Congress appropriate money to purchase lands for homeless California Indians and to create Reservations within the State near where the Indians were squatting so that the Indians could live peaceably and safely from non-Indians. He recommended that the lands that were purchased have a good source of water, wood for the Indians to construct homes, and be located where there would be an abundance of fish and game. In response to Kelsey's recommendation, Congress appropriated monies between 1906 and 1910 for the purchase of land for homeless California Indians in Mendocino County. This included the purchase of the Coyote Valley, Pinoleville, Potter Valley, Guidiville, Hopland, Sherwood, Cahto, and Manchester-Point Arena Reservations within the County. After these reservations were established, and the Indians moved to these reservations, the US government began settling up schools on the Reservations or removing Indian children residing on the Reservation from their families and sending them to BIA boarding schools in other states to be educated. This occurred between 1910 and 1930. During this time period, some of the most cruel and harshest penalties were imposed upon American Indian children of Mendocino County. The experiences of the late Frances Jack, a Pomo Indian from the Hopland reservation are typical of the experiences of most Indian children of Mendocino County during this time period.
Frances stated that she and the children from Hopland were forced to dress in non-Indian clothing and were required to attend the BIA school on the Reservation. Any Indian student who was caught speaking their native language or did not dress or act appropriately was severely beaten. Frances was routinely beaten because she refused to stop speaking her native language. During this same time period, Indians were not allowed to attend white schools here in Mendocino County. In fact, in the late 1930s, a lawsuit had to be brought against the Ukiah School Unified School District to obtain a Court Order to force the School District to admit Indians to the District.
Things were not very much better for American Indians in Mendocino County during the 50s and 60s. The US government, in 1954, decided that it was going to “get out of the Indian business.” It adopted a formal policy of termination, that is, to end the special Reservation status of the Indians’ lands, break up Tribal landholdings, destroy Tribal governments, and integrate the Indian into white society whether they wanted to or not. The US government targeted the small Tribes of California to test their new termination policy. In 1958 Congress passed the California Rancheria Act. That Act allowed the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate an agreement with the Indians to divide up a Reservation among its Tribal members, bringing an end to the Tribal government, in exchange for the US government providing the Indians with good roads, good water systems, good sewer systems, new houses, and, most important of all, good legal title to their land. Despite the fact that termination was discretionary under the Act, agents for the Bureau of Indian Affairs told the Indians that termination was mandatory. Though Congress had appropriated $300,000 to make improvements on the Reservations, a secret agreement was worked out between key members of the US Senate and high ranking officials of the BIA in which the BIA agreed that they would not utilize any of the money appropriated by Congress under the Act for making improvements on the Reservations.
As a result, the Indians of Mendocino County agreed to terminate their Reservations in exchange for the Government's promise that sufficient funds were available under the Act to build new homes, roads, and water and sewer systems for the Indians as part of termination. Instead, the US government used existing inadequate BIA budgets to construct inadequate water systems, utilizing small 19-foot wells that easily became contaminated and ungalvanized lead pipe, which later contributed to a high rate of cancer among the Indians.
Under the Act, the US government developed distribution plans in which Indians received title to their land but which did not conform to local county building, zoning, or subdivision laws. As a direct result, when the Reservation status of the Indians' land was removed and the Indians were subjected, for the first time, to County jurisdiction, the County moved to tax the Indians' land, red-tag their homes and evict them from their homes because the homes and lots did not meet uniform building codes, zoning laws, and Subdivision Map Act requirements. In desperation, the Indians who could, sold the majority of their land, so they would not lose it at a forced property tax sale, holding onto small remainder parcels. They would use the profits from the sale of their land to fix up their homes to uniform building code standards so they could continue to live in them. The Indians who couldn’t sell their land lost it at a forced tax sale. As a direct result of the termination policy, Indians in Mendocino County lost 95% of their Reservation lands.
In addition, during this time period, from 1954 through 1975, the US government began relocating Indians off the Reservations into large metropolitan areas. They would send them to a vocational school to be trained for a job, find an apartment for them, paying one month’s rent in advance, and then leave them in the city to fend for themselves. Because most of these individuals had been born on the Reservation and lived on the Reservation all their life, they were not able to cope with city life. Homesick and unable to deal with the cultural shock, the majority of them lost their jobs due to alcoholism and returned to the Reservation or what was left of it.
In 1975 the US Government adopted a policy of self-determination for Indian Tribes. The policy of self-determination was for the US Government to recognize the Tribes as governments and to assist them in strengthening their governments and exercising jurisdiction on the Reservations. From 1975 to the present, Tribes in Mendocino County have begun asserting their sovereignty. In almost every case when the Tribes have attempted to exercise jurisdiction on their Reservations, the State of California and the County of Mendocino have challenged their jurisdiction and authority. This has resulted in lawsuits being filed over: whether the Tribes or the State of California, here in Mendocino County, have the authority to regulate the hunting and fishing of Indians on the Reservations, whether the County of Mendocino or the Tribes of Mendocino have the authority to zone their Reservations and whether the Tribes or the State of California have the authority to regulate gaming on the Reservations and whether the Tribes or the County of Mendocino could enforce local animal control laws on the Reservation to name but a few of the lawsuits.
This is an overview of the historical relationship between American Indians and Indians Tribes in the State of California and the County of Mendocino. As this overview illustrates, the relationship between the two has been one of constant conflict. For these and other reasons, the majority of Indians in Mendocino County literally do not want anything to do with the State of California, the County of Mendocino, or local non-Indians. For those reasons, many Indians today and particularly mixed bloods, who are part hispanic or Italian will not even identify themselves as being Indian to non-Indians, including census takers for the US Census Bureau.
CHP seeks public's help in fatal I-5 crash investigation
The California Highway Patrol is looking for witnesses and/or information about the multi-vehicle, fatal crash last week involving a FedEx truck, a Nissan Altima and a bus on Interstate 5 near Orland.
The crash occurred at about 5:40 p.m. April 10, and resulted in 10 deaths, including five high school students from Southern California, according to the CHP.
Anyone with information, including photographs or video of the crash, is urged to contact CHP officer Lacey Heitman at (530) 225-2715, or by e-mail at lheitman@chp.ca.gov.
Ukiah woman allegedly attacked with box cutter
Authorities on Saturday arrested a Ukiah man who allegedly attacked his wife with a box cutter, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies were summoned at 7 p.m. April 12 to an apartment complex in the 100 block of Laws Avenue for a domestic fight where someone was reportedly attacked with a screwdriver, according to the MCSO.
Deputies spoke to the couple, and the 37-year-old Ukiah woman said her husband, Paul Honneyman, 36, had attacked her with a box cutter knife during an argument. The deputies saw a cut on the woman's left forearm from the alleged attack. She refused medical help.
Deputies arrested Honneyman on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and domestic battery. He was booked at the Mendocino County Jail under $30,000 bail.
Fort Bragg man arrested after flipping car
Officers were summoned at 10:27 p.m. April 11 to a crash described as a vehicle flipping from the west side of the Noyo Bridge onto the parking lot below, according to the FBPD.
Officers checked the area and found a 1980s model Ford Bronco lying on its side in the Noyo Jetty parking lot at the end of North Harbor Drive, and determined it hadn't fallen from the bridge.
The driver and only occupant, Corey Giaccani-Bond, 26, told officers he lost control of the vehicle while driving around the parking lot, according to the FBPD. Giaccani-Bond was not injured.
Officers evaluated the driver and determined he had been driving under the influence of alcohol. They arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence and released him to his girlfriend with a citation to appear in court. The vehicle was towed from the scene and stored.
SHERIFF'S REPORTS
Domestic Violence — Cherish Y. Cram, 29, of Ukiah, was arrested at 8 p.m. April 4 on suspicion of domestic assault and child endangerment, and booked at the county jail under $25,000 bail. The Willits Police Department arrested her.
DUI With Priors — Charles M. Sperling, 38, of Willits, was arrested at 12:19 a.m. April 5 on suspicion of driving under he influence with prior convictions and booked at the county jail under $15,000 bail. The CHP arrested him.
DUI — David J. Miller, 34, of Laytonville, was arrested at 1:41 a.m. April 5 on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit, and booked at the county jail under $30,000 bail. The CHP arrested him.
Assault With A Deadly Weapon — Michael K. Arnold, 54, of Eugene, Ore., was arrested at 11:26 a.m. April 5 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and booked at the county jail under $20,000 bail. The WPD arrested him.
Domestic Violence — Bruce T. Neville, 53, of Ukiah, was arrested at 12:07 p.m. April 5 on suspicion of domestic assault and booked at the county jail under $50,000 bail. The Ukiah Police Department arrested him.
DUI — Joshua C. Cate, 39, of Willits, was arrested at 1:44 p.m. April 5 on suspicion of driving under the influence and booked at the county jail under $5,000 bail.
Domestic Violence — Shayna D.M. Williams, 25, of Willits, was arrested at 3 p.m. April 5 on suspicion of domestic assault and booked at the county jail under $25,000 bail. The MCSO arrested her.
DUI — David J. Murray, 28, of Lucerne, was arrested at 8:42 a.m. April 6 on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and booked at the county jail. The WPD arrested him.
Grand Theft — Lorri M. Lawrence, 35, of Ukiah, was arrested at 11:16 a.m. April 6 on suspicion of grand theft and booked at the county jail. The MCSO arrested her.
Marijuana Transport — Chase A. Rolfsen, 26, of Encinitas, was arrested at 11:50 a.m. April 6 on suspicion of transporting marijuana for sale and driving with a suspended driver's license, and booked at the county jail. The MCSO arrested him.
Meth Sales — Michael I. Brown, 53, of Ukiah, was arrested at 11:54 a.m. April 6 on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine for sale, possessing a controlled substance for sale and violating his parole terms, and booked at the county jail. The UPD arrested him.
Marijuana Transport — Tyrell P. Rohrer, 28, of Long Beach, was arrested at 12:33 p.m. April 6 on suspicion of transporting marijuana for sale and booked at the county jail. The MCSO arrested him.
DUI — Eric L. Olijnyk, 36, of San Diego, was arrested at 1:40 p.m. April 6 on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit and driving with a suspended license, and booked at the county jail. The CHP arrested him.
Domestic Violence — Daniel J. Montalvo, 28, of Ukiah, was arrested at 2:37 p.m. April 6 on suspicion of domestic assault and booked at the county jail under $25,000 bail. The UPD arrested him.
Domestic Violence — Vicki L. Balmain, 59, of Willits, was arrested at 2:45 p.m. April 6 on suspicion of domestic assault and booked at the county jail under $25,000 bail. The MCSO arrested her.
DUI — David J. Maurer, 48, of Willits, was arrested at 3:23 p.m. April 6 on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit, and booked at the county jail under $15,000 bail. The CHP arrested him.
Child Sexual Abuse — David L. Furr, 38, of Windsor, was arrested at 1:17 p.m. Wednesday on suspicion of committing sexual acts on a child, committing lewd or lascivious acts on a child younger than 14 and showing lewd material with the intent to seduce a minor, and booked at the county jail under $420,000 bail. The MCSO arrested him.
CHP REPORTS
DUI, Reckless Evading Arrest — Peter A. Richardson, 59, of Ukiah, was stopped in the 300 block of Sanel Drive at 3:24 p.m. April 3 and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit, recklessly evading a peace officer and resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
DUI, Meth Sales Arrest — Eric Gonzalez, 24, of Ukiah, was stopped in the 2900 block of North State Street at 11:30 p.m. April 6 and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit, selling methamphetamine, driving without a license and violating his probation terms.
DUI Arrest — Buffy M. Lyons, 39, of Santa Rosa, was stopped on Laws Avenue at South State Street at 1:10 a.m. Tuesday and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
DUI Arrest — Scott L. Finney, 47, of Ukiah, was stopped on Old River Road at 5:33 p.m. Tuesday and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit, driving with a suspended license and violating his probation terms.
Be First to Comment