- Hot Weather
- Revelle & Rainville
- Gizmo Addicts
- Supes Discuss Wind Machines
- Grad Parties
- Hey! Taxi!
- Catch of the Day
- Police Calls
- Big Oil Buying Votes
YEAH, IT WAS HOT. 106 in Boonville by Sunday afternoon. Same tomorrow, and hot most of the week but not hundred-degree hot. My dahlias fried on their stems, the hydranges were wilted-to-weeping, roses roasted to a crisp at the crowns of their petals, the chickens unmoving in their shallow dirt holes in the shade. The one drunk I saw downtown was turning purple.
BRUCE McEWEN reports that the Ukiah Daily Journal's talented reporter Tiffany Revelle is leaving the paper as of Friday the 13th for a job in the Bay Area. “No replacement for her, so far. All the candidates take one look at the niggardly pay package the UDJ is offering, and leave. Glenda Anderson (Press Democrat) came by to get the scoop on Friday and we chatted about Tiffany — Glenda used to have that job and she wondered how Tiff made it all these years on such stingy pay — with two daughters to raise!”
TIFFANY'S LAST STORY was about the sad drunk driving case of Joan Rainville, formerly of Ukiah's Mendocino Book Company, and a good person but a good person with a serious drinking Jones.
“A jury of 10 women and two men retired to deliberate Thursday afternoon inthe Mendocino County Superior Court case of a Ukiah woman accused of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly driving through her neighbors' backyard fence and crashing into their house while drunk.
Joan Rainville allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of 0.25 — more than three times the legal limit — when she got behind the wheel of her mother's 2008 Toyota Camry and accelerated forward instead of backing out of her parking space just before 9 p.m. May 26, 2013. She allegedly plowed through her neighbors' fence and into their backyard, where they were entertaining guests on the patio, narrowly missed a seated guest and stopped when she hit their house and cracked a wall, on the other side of which an 8-year-old boy was sleeping.
“So a near miss is a nothing?” said prosecutor Paul Sequeira of the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office as he gave his closing statement to the jury Thursday afternoon.
He described how the car had stopped momentarily, seemingly caught on the cement lip of the patio, with Rainville still revving the engine until the car again charged forward and hit the house.
“What if she had hit the gas a little harder and hurt the boy?” Sequeira said. “Do we have to wait for that?”
Rainville's trial began Monday with jury selection, and the prosecution rested Thursday morning after Sequeira produced evidence that Rainville had four prior DUI convictions since 1998, two of them involving crashes.
Her defense attorney, Andrew Higgins of the Mendocino County Public Defender's Office, mentioned several times to the jury during his closing statements that no one had been injured in any of Rainville's three DUI crashes.
Higgins and Sequeira agreed that injury — or any touching at all — didn't need to be proven for the jury to convict Rainville of assault with a deadly weapon.
To find Rainville guilty of the assault charge, Sequeira said, the jury needed to find that she knew her actions would “probably and directly” result in someone being hurt.
Sequeira likened the case to a scenario where a gunman shoots at someone and misses, saying Rainville knew because of her prior DUI crashes and court appearances that driving drunk was dangerous, and did it anyway on the night she drove through her neighbor's fence.
“We're not saying that she drove at somebody on purpose, or that she intended to hurt somebody,” Sequeira said. “What we're trying to punish is the dangerous act. Should we wait 'til someone gets hurt or injured?
He urged the jury to use the facts, the law and common sense to find a verdict.
“What's more dangerous: I'm angry, and I'm going to take a gun and go after someone and try to shoot them, or drinking to such a high level that when I drive around town, everybody I pass is in danger instead of one person?” Sequeira said.
A drunken driver is 160 times more likely to crash than a sober driver, he argued.
“And who bears that risk? Us? And it's OK?” Sequeira said, reiterating that a car can be a dangerous weapon in the right circumstances. “Who wins that deadly lottery someday?”
Higgins told the jury that, despite Sequeira's argument that a reasonable person with Rainville's history would have known driving drunk could hurt someone, Rainville had never hurt anyone in any of her prior DUI incidents.
He also reminded the jury it could only use Rainville's history to evaluate her knowledge of the risk.
“However you feel, you must follow the law,” Higgins said.
Finding that her actions “could” hurt someone wasn't enough to prove assault, he argued. The requirement was to find that driving under the influence would “probably result in the application of force.”
He cited testimony from two officers, one of whom said that out of 1,000 or more DUI investigations, 200 involved crashes. Another officer had said out of 1,200 crashes, fewer than half — between 400 and 500 — were DUI-related.
To illustrate the difference between whether driving drunk means a crash will “probably” happen or is “35 to 40 times more likely,” he used the example of buying a lottery ticket.
“If I buy one ... ticket, my chances are one in — a lot — of winning the jackpot,” he said. “If I buy 35 to 40 more, my chances of winning go up 35 to 40 more times. Am I going to win just because it's 35 or 40 more times likely?”
He continued, “You have no evidence to suggest that driving under the influence will probably cause an accident, or that it will probably cause injury. No evidence.”
Convicting Rainville of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the DUI charges, Higgins argued, would send the message that anyone with the same knowledge Rainville had — including “someone sitting in the courtroom” hearing the evidence in her case — could be pulled over charged with assault after having “a glass of wine too many.”
In his rebuttal, Sequeira called that argument a “cheap emotional trick” aimed at scaring the jury.
“Really?” Sequeira said. “He's saying you can't convict her because it could happen to you?”
Sequeira reiterated that Rainville's blood-alcohol levels had risen to more than four times the legal limit in prior cases, and that judges had told her repeatedly that she could hurt someone if she kept driving under the influence of alcohol.
He read a transcript from a 2005 court case where Rainville pleaded guilty to DUI, detailing a judge's conversation with Rainville where he asked her if she had “learned enough lessons.”
In the transcript, Rainville answers, “God, you would think by now I would have,” according to Sequeira, and the judge answers, “I hope so. I hope this is a wake-up call.”
He told the jury that Rainville would not change her behavior, and that even if they believed she was addicted to alcohol and couldn't help herself, “There is no such addiction to driving.”
Sequeira concluded, saying, “You know what, if she wants to put the bottle to her head and pull the trigger, that's up to her. But she can't point it at all of us and spray it all around and have us say that's OK, no harm,no foul.”
LONG STORY, with photos, in Sunday's Press Democrat called, “Camp Grounded” or “Digital Detox.” Here's the link if you want to read about people who'll pay $600 to camp at the old Boy Scout Camp in Navarro where glib someones will tell them that life might be better if they occasionally turn off their gizmos.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140607/lifestyle/140609664
And before that:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/fashion/a-trip-to-camp-to-break-a-tech-addiction.html?_r=0
SUPERVISOR DAN HAMBURG and Ag Commissioner Chuck Morse discussed the wind machine nuisance we suffer in Anderson Valley at the Board of Supervisors meeting of June 3, 2014:
Hamburg: “Our Ag commissioner is in the room, and I know he's been very involved in this and it is something kind of tangential to the drought situation which is the needs in the Anderson Valley to use wind turbines for frost protection. I'm sure most of the board members have heard about this. We have wind machines operating all the way from the 128-253 intersection all the way to the town of Navarro along Highway 128.
“There have been a number of community meetings that have been held. I think Chuck Morse has attended a couple of them. I have attended the most recent one, which happened last week. There is no doubt that there is a lot of consternation in Anderson Valley about the disturbance from wind machines. This really is another result of the drought. It's because the farmers cannot use water to frost protect, they are using wind turbines.
“There are a lot of issues involved here. There is the right to farm ordinance. There are decibel limits connected to our noise ordinance. My concern is that we address this somehow between now and when we are going to have a lot of frost again, which will likely be in the fall. We have some very low-lying Vineyards in Anderson Valley where the cold really starts to get on nights when most of the rest of the county is frost-free, Anderson Valley is being hit with temperatures in the mid-30s and sometimes the low 30s.”
Supervisor Carre Brown: “And we did have last Thursday as the Ag Commissioner predicted, we did have last night.”
Hamburg: “Chuck [Morse] watches this very closely. He knows when it's likely to happen and he tries to spread the word. What I know from talking to my constituents there is that there is a lot of concern. We are starting to get complaints coming in under our nuisance ordinance from people who are more than 300 feet away from an existing ag operation. So what our right to farm ordinance says is if you live within that 300 perimeter the rights of the agricultural operation trump any kind of a nuisance complaint that would be issued. [Probably incorrect. See below.] But we are seeing now the people who are outside that perimeter complaining and sending those formal complaints to the Planning Department. We also have petitions which are out around the town. There are people who are having their sleep disturbed and they are very concerned. I'm in favor of agriculture. I'm in favor of vineyards. I know how much tax revenue they bring into the county. It's not a matter of trying to put anybody out of business or trying to make it hard for people to operate. I do know though that there are farming operations in Anderson Valley that get along with a lot less of these wind machines than others. And I don't know what all the reasons are. I know there are some ways that you can prune and some ways you can protect your crop that necessitate less, less of these wind turbines. I'm not saying that they are not necessary. I know they are. But I think there are better and worse technologies connected to the wind machines in terms of the thermostats, in terms of the way the actual turbines function. This year I think we kind of got caught by surprise. I don't think anybody anticipated how bad this drought would be and how much that would necessitate the use of wind machines. We had a lot of rental machines on the market and people going and picking up machines from rental agencies that maybe were not as high quality as some of the ones that are permanently installed. I think there are just a whole host of issues that are connected to this. The reason I bring this up during the drought report is that this is part of the drought, the increasing use of wind machines to frost protect. I don't think it's going away. I think we are likely to see the same kind of problems next year. So I am trying to work with both Chuck’s office and the Planning and Building department and of course the people in Anderson Valley to try to make some progress on this issue before we get into the frost season again. So, I don't know, Chuck, you are here and that's the reason I brought this up. I was going to bring this up later, but I saw you in the audience and I thought I would bring it up now.”
Ag Commissioner Chuck Morse: “I would like to start by thanking both Supervisor Brown and yourself for being at the Ad Hoc [drought committee meeting] and making it happen and keeping that moving because it is serious, a serious issue. It's great to see the coordination that you two have put together to bring the state resources to help our communities in the broader sense. You summarized the situation out there pretty well. There have been multiple meetings. Just to be real brief, I am going to continue to try to bring the growers and the community together in the next — we have about 10 months before this is going to cycle through again. The vineyard operators I was talking to, most of them are not going to use it for frost protection in the fall. They are not thinking about that. Because these are rental machines, so every 30 days they are paying a cost for this very unusual situation, the majority of that. So I am looking at 9-10 months to try to figure out what we can do to help the folks out there.”
Hamburg: “I really appreciate the work you have done Chuck. You have gone over there and tried to settle things down and come up with some good ideas. Most of the vineyard operators over there have really tried to be receptive to the ideas that you put forth and that they've come up with themselves. Obviously there are still some very dissatisfied people over there. We need to address as many concerns as we can between now and the next frost season. And I think we can do that.”
Morse: “You are absolutely right that the owners and operators of the vineyards out there are very aware of the situation and what is happening. We are just going to try our best to see if we can work on that.”
* * *
SUPERVISOR HAMBURG doesn't communicate with Boonville's beloved community newspaper. It apparently hasn't occurred to him to call an open public meeting to discuss the gross nuisance the frost protection machines present to the people of the Anderson Valley, and if he and Ag Commissioner Morse are going to talk about this stuff privately, those conversations are unlikely to lead to resolution because the affected community is shut out.
THE 300-FOOT nuisance-free zone is news to us. Assuming there is a 300-foot free fire zone between neighbors and an ag operation, the logic of the right-to-farm ordinance is to forestall people who move into an ag area and then complain about the smell of barnyard animals and tractor noise. But we're talking about industrial ag and a freshly-introduced nuisance equivalent to a 747 take-off that disturbs the sleep of everyone within a mile or more of these things, and that means most people who live on the Valley floor of the Anderson Valley.
SPEAKING SOLELY for your beloved community newspaper, we don't expect relief from the Supervisors or anything resembling leadership from Hamburg. These things have to go. Period. If they don't, we'll be in court next Spring with recordings seeking some kind of court order preventing their operation. Failing that we'll go creative.
THERE HAVE only been three formal complaints filed so far, two of which were rejected as being too general. The third complaint is ours. It's being investigated by the Planning Department's code enforcement division. Nothing has been agendized for future Supe's meetings and no additional meetings or updates on the subject of wind turbines are scheduled for the Anderson Valley.
A READER WRITES from the Fog Belt: “One of our local grant whores, Action Network, has been promoting its stupid 'Sober Grad Night' party. This is so dumb! First, the grads are now adults, most of them 18, and should be able to knock back a few drinks if they want. In all my years here, there has been one alcohol-related accident on grad night - a young Indian woman from Kashia who got a brand new truck for graduation and drove it off Skaggs Springs Road. The truck was totaled but she wasn't hurt at all. The kids only go to these parties for the free food and expensive prizes. The next night (Saturday) they all rent houses in Anchor Bay or Irish Beach and party on.”
HEY! TAXI!
Editor:
Greetings and many respects to you. I saw your ad for a very cool AVA t-shirt. I have two logos. One is for Knight's Taxicab Service — “Need a cab? Call day or night.”
I sure hope you can draw a chess piece knight better than I can.
My printer Lee Smith of S&S Printing, Taft, California made my business card. I wrote to him to get an original copy but have not received a reply yet. I don't even know if he's still alive. Also, they could be extremely mad at me for causing the death of my wife but they don't know she almost caused the death of our son.
The other logo is up in the right-hand corner here. Can you print these two logos on two different shirts? Also, can you advertise them on eBay or Craig's List or Angie's List or Facebook? Prepaid orders only please, Sell them for $26 for your trouble. Take the cost and overhead out and whatever profit is left take up 13% royalty from the profits. In turn I will give you a Bank of America deposit account with the fictitious business name Knight's Taxicab Service and its associate ROOAARR. My employee identification number is enclosed.
You can take a vested interest in my request. Instead of me being a hanger on, this is the opportunity to generate some funds for the causes mentioned including the AVA. Believe me it can work. You have the AVA legacy and Knight's taxi service and the legacy will live on for generation upon generation. The sale of these t-shirts will cover the cost of advertising slogans in ads and on the Internet with a campaign to raise funds to restart Knight's Taxicab Service3. One slogan would read: “Sponsor Knight's cab and support your cause.” Sponsorships would start at $25,000 up to $300,000 and on up to $45 million. By doing this, 13% of the profit, the cab you sponsor is posted for your cause for the life of the taxicab service. If you support 13 taxis you get the full profit from the taxi after costs and overhead. One taxi based on the meter certified at a rate of $26 an hour would earn over $200,000 a year.
You would have full control over this taxicab service and bank account, all deposits and all expenditures. You can designate an employee and appoint that person as assistant to me. When money starts to come in for the sale of T-shirts, I actually will take 25¢ and up to 60¢ per second of taxi service which will be paid directly to the AVA. In turn the person you assign to me as my assistant will help design website domain advertising, organize packages and bookings, monitor website and do research.
It's as simple as that.
When the sponsorship pledges come in the assistant will go on assignment putting taxis in operation. For example, San Diego has 12 taxis, Los Angeles would have 12 taxis, San Francisco would have 12. That's three major city locations just there. Once this is in operation in full swing there could be 1800 taxis.
Let's say we start in one location like San Francisco. They need 15,000 taxis like in the 90s. We would put all 1800 taxes there or in Los Angeles. The point is, this will generate $377 million approximately, a ballpark figure of course, in one year. At 100% operation with all 1800 taxis in service there's a potential for $167 million or thereabouts and after costs and overhead there will be a profit of approximately $9 million or 13%.
As the taxis earn, the funds that can fund ROOAARR which is the end of the line resulting in the spread of charity and goodwill. Taken together this will create 1-10,000 jobs and it could restart with you. No games, no scam, no con. This is an innovative way to fund your cause by sponsoring the Knight's Taxicab today. I would like to put 12 taxis in 150 major cities across the nation. That way there will be an office in each taxicab stand, all starting from the office headquarters of the AVA — nationwide. Wherever there is an AVA newspaper a taxi will be right there. This will create many jobs.
I offer my salutations to the mentally downtrodden and a wish for a medical emergency room for the handicapped and those at the end of the line. Help feed the world. Support groups for every cause on earth. Who wouldn't want to be part of putting a smile on someone's heart and face? All you have to do is leave a line open for communication and once I gave you the bank account and letter of appointment of authority all I can do is offer consultation and advice. You would be the boss at the helm operating a taxi business which is no joke.
Make sure you struggle for the place to be self-insured. This actually means funds in a bank account just for insurance and a legal fund by contract. For example say a sponsorship budget comes in for $10,000 and is put in a bank account called administration general fund which covers cost and overhead. $15,000 goes into a bank account for equipment costs and from this account you buy taxis and associated equipment such as paint, meters, meter certifications, permits and inspections, signage, wipers, radio and radio service. This would be a fixed cost package coming to approximately $1000 per taxi. The assistant would go to one of the major cities in the state of California and get a hotel room, find an office, get utilities turned on and a phone, find local help in the taxi business, go to local auctions and get cars and convert them to taxis, and get them certified and inspected, insurance, a local business license and a fictitious name. That will put us in business. Then go to the next major city where the assistant would be an constant contact by computer.
So here's the organizational approach:
I would be the founder, Bruce Anderson would be re-cofounder and you would be reestablishing Knight's Taxi Service. Then there would be an executive assistant, a manager dispatcher, one on each shift, bilingual drivers assigned by seniority with a lead driver. And a two-day training course by the foreman.
The objective it is to make this viable and from the very start of the first taxi install ROOAARR as an associate of Knight's Taxicab Service and register it as a 501(c)4 foundation and c-9 legal clinic and a C-20 educational organization. We would need to work on the position of employment of course and prepare job descriptions, forms, applications and membership registrations. Simply take any form and standardize it and put our logo on top and get some uniforms. The form should be simple and easy to remember what form is for what purpose. I know and I realize I have given you a lot of detail here, but we are after the golden prize: the joy of goodwill.
One other thing. Since you are a vested party, if you invest any time or money to further the cause you should keep a record of it and rest assured I will give you my permission to buy a unit of life insurance. For about $10 a month for a $20,000 policy. Lincoln Heritage, Colonial Pen or even MetLife. Get one from each for a total of $60,000 of insurance. Would you like to sponsor a taxi from $25,000 and earn 13% interest on the profit? You get the tax break too. If I die during this process or anytime after you start the life insurance then the sales from the T-shirts allow you to continue to pay the life insurance policy from the account and not from your own pocket. Okay?
Now you know the gist of this endeavor. From time to time you can use the funds from the account to pay for my subscription to the AVA and maybe ads, especially if you run ads in the Chronicle or other magazines or social media.
All that's left now is to see if you are interested. And if you're willing to work with me. I would need the assistant to prepare logos for the t-shirts. What would that cost you? Also what's the cost of selling by advertising with a prepaid order? If the T-shirts sell that would be fine. If they don't sell them we would only be out the cost of two t-shirts and the superimposed logo design What is the cost of the advertising? Even if you're not interested you could tell me how much it would cost to make the AVA t-shirts with the logos? What what it cost you to advertise? Have you advertised the T-shirts online? How much? Please. Don't forget that you can't be always fan the flames only on both passions by making the right choice. This means you are on the right side of things. You'll know it when it brings joy, peace and a smile. Have a great day. We can do this.
Please assign a journalist to write the book on how to start a taxi service. He could be the assistant. This is a great deal for Mendocino County to bring back business, world integrity, hope, honesty, truth and peace. I suggest the t-shirt be blue with black logo or white with black logo. They should come in sizes 5X, 3X, XL, L, M or S. How much would a 5X cost?
Eddie Knight, Stockton
CATCH OF THE DAY, SUNDAY, JUNE 8TH
JAMES ANDEREGG, Ukiah but arrested in Fort Bragg for drunk in public.
AUSTIN BROWN, Laytonville. DUI.
MAURILIO CASAREZ, Fort Bragg. Cultivating marijuana in a state park.
DANIEL DELUCIA, Ukiah. Meth charges plus possession of “metal knuckles.”
JOSHUA GETTYS, Fort Bragg. Arrested in Willits for drunk in public.
JAMES LEE HERRIOT, JR., no fixed address. Threats, parole violation.
BRANDEN LUCAS, Redwood Valley. Revocation of probation.
AHREN RYAN, Fort Bragg, Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
CHERYL TURNER, Fort Bragg. DUI.
MICHELLE FABIAN, Ukiah. Possession of methamphetamine, resisting arrest.
RANDALL GENSAW, Ukiah. Possession of meth, receiving stolen property.
CHAD MARTINSON, Redwood Valley. Drunk in public.
NOE PEREZ, Ukiah. Drunk in public.
POLICE CALLS AS OF SUNDAY, JUNE 8
The following were compiled from reports prepared by the Ukiah Police Department. To anonymously report crime information, call 463-6205.
UNATTENDED CAR RUNNING — Caller in the 100 block of Despina Drive reported at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday that a red Ford Mustang was running with no one around and money in the center console. An officer secured the vehicle and returned the keys to the student.
LOADED GUN IN CAR — Caller at Walmart on Airport Park Boulevard reported at 12:46 p.m. Wednesday that a loaded pistol had been found under the hood of a car in the service center. An officer responded and took a report.
SHOPLIFTER — An officer responded to Kohl's on North Orchard Avenue at 2 p.m. Wednesday and arrested a 19-year-old Nevada woman for theft. She was cited and released.
CAR STALLED AT SPEED BUMP — Caller on Lorraine Street reported at 4:35 p.m. Wednesday that a dark green Honda had sped over a speed bump and stalled out in the middle of the road. An officer responded and the car was moved.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — Caller in the 1000 block of South State Street reported at 6:54 p.m. Wednesday that a woman had been assaulted. An officer responded and arrested John Pestoni, 61, of Ukiah, on suspicion of domestic violence.
MAN IN YARD — Caller in the 400 block of East Gobbi Street reported at 8:29 p.m. Wednesday that a man was in her yard and had jumped the fence and ran. An officer responded and arrested a 25-year-old Willits man for a Chico warrant and booked him into county jail.
GENERATOR NOT RETURNED — Caller in the 700 block of North State Street reported at 8:19 a.m. Thursday that a customer had not returned a rented generator and could not be reached.
VEHICLE KEYED — Caller in the 200 block of Hospital Drive reported at 8:52 a.m. Thursday that a vehicle had been scratched with a key.
BAG OF CLOTHES, STEAKS — Caller in the 300 block of North Main Street reported at 10:26 a.m. Thursday that someone had left a bag on a front porch with clothing and raw steaks in it. An officer responded and took a report for found property.
STUDENT WITH MARIJUANA — An officer responded to Pomolita Middle School at 10:54 a.m. Thursday and arrested a 14-year-old boy for possession of marijuana. He was released to a parent.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — An officer responded to Lucky's on East Perkins Street at 5:46 p.m. Thursday and arrested Michael L. Miller, 36, of Willits, on suspicion of domestic violence.
SHERIFF'S REPORTS
The following were compiled from reports prepared by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office:
MARIJUANA SALES — Richard A. Edwards, 43, of Fort Bragg, was arrested at 9:33 a.m. May 29 on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and possessing methamphetamine, and booked at the county jail under $15,000 bail. The MCSO arrested him.
MARIJUANA TRANSPORT — Adam Alexander, 23, of Bronx, N.Y., was arrested at 1 p.m. May 29 on suspicion of transporting marijuana for sale and booked at the county jail under $30,000 bail. The MCSO arrested him.
MARIJUANA TRANSPORT — Clevon E. Grant, 26, of Bronx, N.Y., was arrested at 1 p.m. May 29 on suspicion of transporting marijuana for sale and booked at the county jail under $30,000 bail. The MCSO arrested him.
MARIJUANA SALES — Allison J. Harris, 23, of Fort Bragg, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. May 29 on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and cultivating marijuana, and booked at the county jail under $25,000 bail. The MCSO arrested her.
MARIJUANA SALES — Jeffrey C. Aylen, 61, of Fort Bragg, was arrested at 2:37 p.m. May 29 on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and cultivating marijuana, and booked at the county jail under $25,000 bail. The Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force arrested him.
DUI — Gary V. Balmain, 65, of Willits, was arrested at 8:14 p.m. May 29 on suspicion of driving under the influence and booked at the county jail under $15,000 bail. The Willits Police Department arrested him.
MARIJUANA TRANSPORT — Matthew A. Devito, 30, of Fort Bragg, was arrested at 8:14 p.m. May 30 on suspicion of transporting marijuana for sale and violating his probation terms, and booked at the county jail. The MCSO arrested him.
DUI, HIT-AND-RUN CAUSING INJURY — Jacob A.R. Norgard, 26, of Redwood Valley, was arrested at 10:22 p.m. May 30 on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury, driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit and hit-and-run causing injury or death, and booked at the county jail under $50,000 bail. The California Highway Patrol arrested him.
MARIJUANA, DRUG SALES — Jack P. Daily, 64, of Fort Bragg, was arrested at 2 p.m. May 31 on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, cultivating marijuana, possessing a controlled substance for sale and possessing methamphetamine, and booked at the county jail under $100,000 bail. The MMCTF arrested him.
DUI — Roel I.M. Meyer, 25, of Willits, was arrested at 6:26 p.m. May 31 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 $5,000 bail. The CHP arrested him.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — Salvador Salgado-Coria, 27, of Gualala, was arrested at 6:51 p.m. May 31 on suspicion of domestic assault and illegal entry, and booked at the county jail under $25,000 bail. The MCSO arrested him.
BATTERY WITH INJURY — Michael A. Phillips, 48, of Laytonville, was arrested at 8:10 p.m. May 31 on suspicion of battery causing serious injury and booked at the county jail under $30,000 bail. The WPD arrested him.
DUI — Garrison R. Patrick, 31, of Martinez, was arrested at 4:49 p.m. Sunday 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. The CHP arrested him.
DUI — Luella L. Lawrence, 80, of Ukiah, one of Mendocino County's more active Senior Citizens, was arrested at 5:08 p.m. Sunday on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit and violating her probation terms, and booked at the county jail. The CHP arrested her.
DUI — David A. Marty, 53, of Ukiah, was arrested at 7:36 p.m. Monday on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level greater than the legal limit and violating his probation terms, and booked at the county jail. The CHP arrested him.
The following were compiled from reports prepared by the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority.
HEAD INJURY— Crews responded to the 100 block of Ford Street at 10:38 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a man with a head injury.
ASSAULT VICTIM — Crews responded to the 1000 block of South State Street at 6:58 p.m. Wednesday for a report of an assault victim and assisted with patient care.
DRUNKEN TEEN — Crews responded to the 1100 block of Mulberry Street at 8:42 p.m. Wednesday for a report of drunk 13-year-old boy and treated him until an ambulance arrived.
CHILD NOT BREATHING — Crews in the 1400 block of South State Street at 12:44 a.m. Thursday treated a 4-year-old child who had reportedly stopped breathing. The child was stabilized and transported.
SENATORS OPPOSING FRACKING MORATORIUM RECEIVED 14X MORE MONEY FROM BIG OIL
by Dan Bacher
Five days after a bill calling for a moratorium on fracking in California failed in the State Senate, a non partisan watchdog group revealed that those who voted against the legislation or abstained from voting on it received many times more in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry than those who supported the bill.
State Senators voting 'NO' on the fracking moratorium bill on Thursday, May 29 received 14 times as much money the oil and gas industry, on average ($25,227), as senators voting 'YES' ($1,772) from January 1, 2009 to December 21, 2012, according to MapLight, a non profit organization revealing money's influence on politics.
The report also said the Democrats who abstained from voting on the moratorium received, on average, 4.5 times as much money from the oil and gas industry as the Democrats who voted 'YES'.
Under intense pressure from the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum and other oil companies, the Senate failed to pass Senate Bill 1132, legislation that would have placed a moratorium on oil and gas well stimulation treatments, including hydraulic and acid fracturing, until the government completes a scientific study of the practices' impacts on human and environmental health. The bill was authored by Senators Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno.
The final vote was 16-16, with eight Senators not voting. Twenty-one votes were required for the bill to pass. Three of those with no vote recorded – Leland Yee, Rod Wright and Ron Calderon - have been suspended from the Senate due to corruption allegations.
“If the five active senators who abstained from voting -all Democrats-voted in favor, the moratorium would have passed,” according to a statement from MapLight. “The Democrats who abstained from voting on the moratorium have received, on average, 4.5 times as much money from the oil and gas industry as the Democrats who voted 'YES'.”
Senator Jeanne Fuller (R), who received $52,300 from the oil and gas industry, more than any other senator voting on the bill, voted 'NO'.
Fuller is known not only for her big contributions from the oil and gas industry but from corporate agribusiness in Kern County. It was Fuller who sponsored legislation to eradicate striped bass in the Bay-Delta estuary, a bill that failed twice due to massive opposition by recreational anglers and grassroots environmentalists.
The oil industry contributions to the Senators voting NO were as follows:
Joel Anderson (R) $18,750
Tom Berryhill (R): $15,000
Anthony Cannella (R): $40,150
Lou Correa (D): $11,350
Jean Fuller (R): $52,300
Ted Gaines (R): $27,250
Cathleen Galgiani (D): $24,950
Ed Hernandez (D): $23,250
Bob Huff (R): $45,550
Steve Knight (R): $24,050
Mike Morrell (R): $19,300
Norma Torres (D): $13,250
Mimi Walters (R): $51,000
Mark Wyland (R) - $12,250
When one adds in the oil industry contributions for 2013, the campaign contributions mushroom. For example, Fuller received $76,850 from 2009 to 2013, while Galgiani received $47,600.
The oil and gas industry contributions to those Democrats who abstained from voting were as follows:
Marty Block: $2,000
Jerry Hill: $3,950
Ben Hueso: $12,400
Ricardo Lara: $21,300
Richard Roth: $ 0
The MapLight analysis of campaign contributions from PACs and employees of oil and gas interests to legislators in office on day of vote was during the period from January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2012. The National Institute of Money in State Politics was the data source for the campaign contributions.
For more information, go to: http://maplight.org/content/fracking-oil-gas-hydraulic-fracturing-ca-legislature-bill?utm_source=Fracking+Bill+Killed+by+CA+Leg.&utm_campaign=CA+SB+1132+-+Fracking+Bill&utm_medium=email
Big oil spent $123.6 million on lobbying from 1999 through 2013
The failure of the fracking moratorium bill on May 29 is a classic example of the inordinate power that the oil industry, the most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento, exerts over California politics.
A report released on April 1, 2014 by the ACCE Institute and Common Cause reveals that Big Oil has spent $143.3 million on political candidates and campaigns – nearly $10 million per year and more than any other corporate lobby – over the past fifteen years. (http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7Bfb3c17e2-cdd1-4df6-92be-bd4429893665%7D/BIL%20OIL%20FLOODS%20THE%20CAPITOL%204.1.14.PDF)
But Big Oil exerts its influence not just by making campaign contributions, but by lobbying legislators at the State Capitol. The Western States Petroleum Association, the most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento. spent $123.6 million to lobby elected officials in California from 1999 through 2013. This was an increase of over 400 percent since the 1999-2000 legislative session, when the industry spent $4.8 million.
The combination of the $143.3 million of political candidate and campaign contributions and $123.6 million lobbying legislator amounts to a stunning $266.9 million over the past 15 years.
The report, “Big Oil Floods the Capitol: How California’s Oil Companies Funnel Funds Into the Legislature,” also exposes how the oil and gas lobby has spent nearly $15 million to influence Sacramento lawmakers halfway through the 2014-15 legislative session. The record is $25.5 million, set in 2011.
While the mainstream media failed to cover the Common Cause/ACCE report, the LA Times did report on the Maplight report on Big Oil's campaign contributions to legislators voting no or abstaining on the fracking moratorium bill (http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80409776/). This is a very positive development - and I hope that the LA Times reporters and editors do some more indepth research, as I have done, into the power of the oil industry in California.
Big Oil lobbyist oversaw creation of Southern California “marine protected areas”
It is critical to realize that the oil and chemical industry exerts its influence not just through spending enormous sums on lobbying and contributions to political campaigns, but by serving on state and federal government panels. This is a topic that the LA Times and other mainstream media outlets have failed to explore.
You won’t find any mention in the LA Times or other corporate media outlets about one of the biggest conflicts of interest in California environmental history – the key leadership role that a big oil lobbyist played in the creation of alleged “marine protected areas” in California.
Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, served as the Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called “marine protected areas” in Southern California, as well as sitting on the task forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast.
The alleged “Yosemites of the Sea” created under Reheis-Boyd's “leadership” fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and tribal gathering. These “marine protected areas” are good for big oil and ocean industrialists – and bad for recreational anglers, Tribal gatherers, commercial fishermen and the people of California.
At the same time that Reheis-Boyd, MLPA Initiative advocates and state officials were greenwashing one of the most corrupt environmental processes in California history, the oil industry was fracking like crazy in Southern California ocean waters.
“In waters off Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach — some of the region's most popular surfing strands and tourist attractions — oil companies have used fracking at least 203 times at six sites in the past two decades, according to interviews and drilling records obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request,” reported USA Today on October 19, 2013. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/19/calif-finds-more-instances-of-offshore-fracking/3045721/)
The greenwashing of Big Oil's role in “marine protection”
I suspect that the failure of the LA Times and other mainstream media outlets to report on the prominent role the Western States Petroleum President played in the crafting of fake “marine protected areas” in southern California is because their reporters, editors and publishers have been bamboozled by state officials and corporate “environmentalists” as to what really happened in the MLPA Initiative process.
For example, an article published in the LA Times on December 19, 2013, completely greenwashed the MLPA Initiative fiasco, claiming that “California officials today completed the largest network of undersea parks in the continental United States — 848 square miles of protected waters that reach from the Oregon state line to the Mexican border.” (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-undersea-parks-20121219,0,4717471.story)
This piece, as in previous ones in the Times, failed to address any of the real, substantial criticisms of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative process by grassroots environmentalists, Indian Tribe members, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and advocates of democracy and transparency in government, including the role that the Western States Petroleum Association President played in the creation of these alleged “undersea parks.”
The reporter, Kenneth R. Weiss, portrayed a false conflict of “fishermen versus environmentalists” over the MLPA Initiative when the real conflict is one of public policy between those that favor corporate greenwashing and the privatization of conservation and those who oppose corporate greenwashing and the privatization of conservation. The reporter fails to mention any of “inconvenient truths” about the MLPA Initiative, including Catherine Reheis-Boyd’s chairing of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force.
Not only did Reheis-Boyd help craft oil industry-friendly “marine protected areas” in California, but she currently sits on a federal marine protected areas panel. The National Marine Protected Areas Center website lists Reheis-Boyd as a member of a 20 member MPA (Marine Protected Areas) Advisory Committee. (http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/28/big-oil-lobbyist-serves-on-federal-marine-protected-areas-panel/)
Reheis Boyd has also “served” on other government and non-profit organization commissions and committees, as revealed in her biography published on the Department of Fish and Wildlife website (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/brtf_bios_sc.asp):
“Reheis-Boyd was appointed by the Governor as a California petroleum industry representative on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and is a member of the California Chamber of Commerce Natural Resources and Policy Committee. She has chaired the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce Air Quality Committee, and was past president of the Sacramento chapter of the Air & Waste Management Association. She has also served as past president of the Kern County Chapter of the American Lung Association, and is a past recipient of the Bureau of Land Management's State Director's Oil and Gas Award for Special Achievement.”
To really understand the power of Big Oil in California, you have to look at not just the money spent on campaign contributions and lobbying, but also at the role the oil industry plays on government panels and in manipulating environmental processes.
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