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Mendocino County Today: Friday, March 2, 2018

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A DRY FEBRUARY this year. If not for the last night's downpour the monthly total would have been closer to a half-inch. Thus far this rain season the months have alternated dry/wet/dry/wet/dry, and March just came in like a lion. Comparing this season to last, monthly precipitation totals from Yorkville's DWR Station:

2017-18

1.32" February
9.16" January
0.44" December
7.84" November
0.72" October

2016-17

21.64" February
24.92" January
9.92" December
6.76" November
10.36" October

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WONDER WHY MENDO’S ROADS ARE SO BAD?

(Hint: Mendo’s let them go for the last three years.)

(Click to enlarge)

According to a note with this chart: “CHANGES IN BUDGET FROM PRIOR YEAR: The passage of California Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) created the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account which is anticipated to provide additional funding which will help supplement the recent reduction of Highway User Tax Account revenues which are used primarily for Road Maintenance operations and local share for projects.”

And even with Senate Bill 1 — counties.org/post/sb-1-road-repair-and-accountability-act-2017 — Mendo is planning to accumulate $4.5 million of those SB-1 funds and not spend any until 2022!

Which begs the question of why the “recent reduction” (which is not so recent, but for more than three years now).

SAME WITH ROADS & BRIDGES: Very little’s been spent on them for over three years with no explanation for why the big reduction.

(Click to enlarge)

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THE MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES (aka Measure B) advisory committee met for their second time on Wednesday, but we haven’t had a chance to review the video of the meeting yet. Initial indications are that they’ve taken some of my advice and begun to focus on the actual facilities that are the primary focus of the measure. They are also finally getting around to asking the Mental Health Department for some basic stats so they can get a handle on the level of activity involved before they hire a consultant for a needs assessment. Both of which are movements in the right direction. We’ll have more when we’ve had time to view the entire meeting video.

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CONVICTION FOR DECEMBER DEATH

Ukiah, Thursday, March 1. – A homicide case filed last December against defendant Joseph Charles Mantynen following a stand-off with law enforcement at a Ukiah motel was resolved this afternoon in Mendocino County Superior Court.

Joseph Mantynen

Defendant Joseph Charles Mantynen, age 32, of Hidden Valley, plead guilty to an amended count charging voluntary manslaughter, a felony; a count charging an assault with a firearm on a Mendocino County deputy sheriff, a felony; a count charging a separate assault with a firearm but on a Sonoma County deputy sheriff, a felony; and a count charging burglary in the first degree, a felony. The defendant also admitted that he had personally used a firearm in the commission of the conduct underlying the conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

Defendant Mantynen and an accomplice, his parolee wife, together burglarized the home of Mantynen's grandmother in Sonoma County on Dec. 20. Investigators from the neighboring county tracked the couple to Ukiah and found them hiding out in a State Street motel on December 21st. Rather than surrender, Mantynen later confessed to interrogators that the couple had agreed to resist arrest and, if escape was not in the cards, to die together by means of "suicide by cop."

During the early stages of the stand-off, Mantynen pointed his rifle at and threatened a Sonoma County deputy sheriff. In doing so, Mantynen committed what is known in the law as a provocative act that allowed for the use of deadly force by the threatened deputy. Fearing for his own safety and that of his team, the Sonoma County deputy discharged his firearm at Mantynen but the shot missed the provocateur.

Mary Mantynen

The out-of-county law enforcement officers surrounding the motel room were quickly reinforced by the Ukiah Police Department, as well as the Sheriff's special weapons and tactics unit. As the stand-off lengthened, Mantynen again pointed his rifle at and threatened law enforcement, this time a Mendocino County deputy sheriff. Apparently as part of the couple's death plan, this act by Mantynen was provocative that allowed for the use of deadly force by the local deputy. Fearing for his own safety and that of others, the Mendocino County deputy discharged his firearm at Mantynen. That shot went through Mantynen's bulky clothing, missing the defendant's body, hitting the defendant's wife, who was also participating in the stand-off and verbalizing death threats at law enforcement. After his wife was fatally hit and fell to the ground, Mantynen surrendered to the law enforcement presence.

Following his review of crime reports from the multiple agencies, the Mendocino County District Attorney elected to charge the defendant with being responsible for the death of his wife pursuant to the "provocative act" doctrine. This doctrine is a legal theory of homicide prosecution which applies when someone commits an act that provokes someone into killing someone else.

Pursuant to today's resolution, as worked out by the defendant, his attorney, and District Attorney Eyster, Mantynen will be sentenced to a stipulated commitment on March 28 of 26 years, 4 months in state prison. Because of the violent characterization of the crimes involved, the good time/work time credits the defendant may earn in prison against his total sentence will be limited to 15%. The District Attorney also required that Mantynen waive all jail credits from the date of his arrest until the date of sentencing.

The prosecutor handling this matter will continue to be District Attorney David Eyster. The investigating law enforcement agencies are the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department, the Ukiah Police Department, the California Department of Justice forensic laboratory, and the District Attorney's own investigators. The judge who accepted today's change of plea was Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke. Judge Behnke will formally sentence the defendant at 9 a.m. March 28 in Department H of the Ukiah courthouse.

Mendocino County District Attorney

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A READER asked if we remembered this one, but was vague on the details. Diving deep into our archive we found it under a crime of the week, for November 17, 2004:

THREE FRUSTRATED FORT BRAGG MEN are alleged to have turned into a three-man vigilante crew after a man they accused of a dope theft seemed poised to get away with it. Michael Moor, 34, of Fort Bragg, told Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies that the word “thief,” recently tattooed on his forehead in dark blue letters about two inches high, was put there against his will after he was kidnapped, assaulted, duct-taped, and tied to a chair at a home on Pudding Creek Road. During the course of the investigation it was learned that Moor had stolen one pound of marijuana from Stephen Anapolsky, 64, of Fort Bragg. “So Mr. Anapolsky essentially put out a bounty of $1,000 on Mr. Moor,” Bushnell said.

EVEN GILLIGAN, 19, of Fort Bragg arranged for Moor to be brought to his house. Gilligan has a mutual friend with Moor — Daz Carlson, 34, of Fort Bragg — so Moor’s friend basically said “Let’s go to Gilligan’s house and hang out,” Bushnell said. “Once Moor arrived he was immediately punched several times by Carlson, and then Carlson and Gilligan duct taped the victim and held him in the chair, and Anapolsky tattoos him on the forehead,” Bushnell said. Bushnell said the group then discussed whether or not they should turn Moor loose in the woods naked. Instead, Anapolsky put Moor in his vehicle and drove north out of Fort Bragg. At that point, Moor broke loose from the duct tape, and Anapolsky pulled over and released him north of Cleone where he made his way to a market and called 911.

Anapolsky

ANAPOLSKY, Gilligan and Carlson were all arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, aggravated mayhem, kidnapping and false imprisonment. Anapolsky was also arrested on suspicion of possession of a dangerous weapon. Bail for Gilligan was set at $100,000. Bail for Anapolsky was set at $250,000.

IN THE MENDO WAY, when it was all sorted out, according to the son of a 60s-era accomplice of Anapolsky in Canada’s National Post in 2011:

“In 2004, Mr. Anapolsky made the front page of a local daily when, to punish a man who had stolen a pound of marijuana from him, Mr. Anapolsky and two accomplices caught the man, duct-taped him to a chair, and Mr. Anapolsky tattooed the word “THIEF” (only Mr. Anapolsky misspelled it “THEIF”) across the man’s forehead. He pleaded guilty to one count of mayhem and served three years in California prisons.”

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MR. ANAPOLSKY is one of Fort Bragg's more vivid citizens:

nationalpost.com/news/my-father-his-firebombs-and-me-eviction-and-retribution

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BEST THOUGHT ABOUT THE SIXTIES: "The songs were much better than we were." –Leonard Cohen

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BRUCE MCEWEN ADDS A POSTSCRIPT about Mr. Leif Ibsen, the defendant who was found guilty of the pot DUI.

While many people familiar with the case felt it was a petty course for law enforcement officers to take, supposing them resentful of legalization, busting potheads for smoking and driving, as it were, we all agreed it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy — irony alert! irony alert! irony alert! In this case because of all the nasty things Mr. Ibsen had to say, such as, “you piece of shit,” to courthouse functionaries who meant him no ill will at all and were merely doing their daily duties impartially. The same can be said for the law enforcement officers, I suspect, who no doubt encountered the same kind of charm emanating from Mr. Ibsen’s mouth and demeanor.

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MENDOCINO'S TOTEMIC BIG AL IS GONE

Big Al

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Eleanor Cooney:

Somewhere in Bobby Markels' (also gone, alas) writings is a sublime description of a conversation she and Al had years and years ago when he came to her house to do some work. I'm not going to wreck it by trying to paraphrase it, but I'll ask her son where I might find it. I used to enjoy watching the reaction of visitors to town when they encountered Al, 6'4", dreadlocks, fearsome countenance like a Toltec tomb guardian, usually with a big long knobby walking stick. They'd flinch, gape and cover their children's eyes involuntarily, their instinctual reaction at total odds with their deeply programmed "inclusiveness."

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Marco McClean:

On my way to Fort Bragg at about midnight, to go to the bank and put my paychecks in to stave off disaster, I met a man in the Mendocino post office who told me Big Al is no more. I said, "When? How did you find out?" He said, "Everybody knows. It was last night. They were just all having a drink for him at Patterson's."

I told him a couple of my Al stories and I asked him if there was anything he could tell me about Al that most people might not know. He said, "He was very generous with his weed... And he rolled these giant bombers, just huge, /that big/, and he'd sit on that bench behind the bakery smoking this giant thing, and one time the sheriff's there, in the front, and he's going, to us, 'You're smokin' weed right in /fronta/ me? Right in /fronta/ me?' But we weren't; it was comin' all the way from the back." I said, "And he knew that?" "Yeah." "But he didn't go back and mess with Al, because--" And he and I said at the same time, "Who would mess with Al?"

I'd like to hear a few Big Al stories I haven't heard yet.

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GOAT FEST 2018

On Saturday, April 21st, “all things goat” Goat Fest 2018 will be held at the Fairgrounds in Boonville. More details will be published as the event takes shape. In the past, this festival has included goat-related workshops, a goat parade, live music, and a birria cook-off. If you have goats, goat expertise, mean birria cooking skills, or any fun ideas you'd like to add to this event, please contact Cindy at avfoodshed@gmail.com or Rachel at rachel@williamsae.com.

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COVELO SCHOOL SCARE

On 2-27-18 at approximately 4:05 P.M., Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to contact school administrators for the Round Valley High School (76280 High School Street in Covelo,) regarding a potential threat made by a student. The reporting party informed the Sheriff's Office that school personnel were advised that day of a possible threat made by a student towards the students and staff of the Round Valley High School. The school administrator reported the incident immediately to the Sheriff's Office and Deputies responded to investigate. During a two-day investigation, Deputies interviewed multiple students, staff members, parents, and other community members who reportedly had information relating to this alleged threat. Deputies spent multiple hours at the school and investigated numerous possible sources of information related to this incident. Through this investigation, Deputies determined that no criminal threat had occurred. Deputies remained in constant communication with representatives of the school to keep them appraised of the progress and status of this ongoing investigation. The safety of the students, school staff, and the Covelo community is a priority of the Round Valley High School and the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. The Mendocino County Sheriff's is committed to thoroughly and effectively investigate any potential threat to any school in our county. The cooperation of school administrators, students, parents, school personnel, and the entire community is greatly appreciated and imperative in such an investigation. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office would like to encourage all residents of our county to report any suspicious behavior or activities. If you see or hear something concerning or suspicious, please report it immediately to law enforcement.

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WHERE IS SHE?

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a missing Garberville woman.

Chelsey Dawn Israel, 27, was reported missing on Feb. 28, 2018, at about 1:30 p.m., by her boyfriend. Israel was last seen Sunday, February 25 at her residence on Redwood Drive. Israel reportedly left the residence on foot between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. that day to visit her children and never returned.

Israel is described as a white female, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 180 pounds, with blue eyes, glasses and shoulder length, dirty blonde hair. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black coat, a beanie and brown tennis shoes, and was carrying a black purse.

Anyone with information regarding Israel’s whereabouts is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

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LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Tuned in Shelly Quim for the KZYX weather report. Scared hell outta me. Snow, sleet, five feeta rain. I was all packed up to evacuate. But nothing happened. Little rain, little wind. No storm to it. Slept like a dawg all night.”

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FROM THE DA: A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations this morning with guilty verdicts against a defendant charged with three misdemeanors and one infraction.

Montigny

Defendant Edward John Montigny, age 79, of Willits, was found guilty by jury of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol .08 or greater, and driving a motor vehicle with a suspended driver's license, all as misdemeanors. The defendant was also convicted of operating a motor vehicle with an open container of alcohol in his automobile, an infraction.

The prosecutor who presented the evidence to the jury was Deputy District Attorney Houston Porter. The investigating law enforcement agencies were the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice crime laboratory. Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder presided over the three-day trial.

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ALSO FROM THE DA: A recruitment is underway looking for smart and articulate attorneys to join the successful team of prosecutors currently working for the Mendocino County District Attorney. Depending on experience, timely applications will be considered for attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of California who meet the qualifications for employment as a Deputy District Attorney I, II, or III. Tough to beat Mendocino County as a place to work and call home. Please share! The application period closes quickly!!

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Mar. 1, 2018

Dillon, Frease, Hardwick

JEROMY DILLON, Redway/Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, stolen vehicle.

MANUEL FREASE, Covelo. County parole violation.

MARY HARDWICK, Redwood Valley. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, domestic abuse, “possession of money for use,” pot cultivation and sale, conspiracy, failure to appear.

Kaye, Leggett, Mendez-Martinez

BRENNON KAYE, Santa Barbara/Ukiah. DUI, assault with deadly weapon not a gun.

SAMMI LEGGETT, Covelo. Paraphernalia, ammo possession by prohibited person, probation revocation.

YEFRI MENDEZ-MARTINEZ, Fort Bragg. Rape, sexual penetation with force or fear, contact with minor with intent to commit sexual offense.

Stegner, Vanhorn, Vargas

BRANDON STEGNER, Petaluma/Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting.

HOLLAND VANHORN, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

LUIS VARGAS, Hopland. Felon with firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person, probation revocation.

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MY COLD, DEAD BRAIN

Editor:

From my conversations with local NRA members — whom I identify by their bumper stickers — I believe their primary concern isn’t having the gun of their choice for hunting or self-defense. They believe the Second Amendment gives them the right to keep even the most powerful firearms so they can defend themselves against the tyranny of the U.S. government.

If we keep stressing that no one needs military-type firearms for hunting, we are missing the point of their resistance, and we will continue to get nowhere.

But what confuses me about the gun lobby is this: Even in the unlikely event of a dystopian government takeover, one where the U.S. government begins to infringe on all our rights on the way to a military dictatorship — to use the most extreme example — no civilian militias, regardless of how many there are and how well armed they are, would have the remotest chance against the U.S. military’s might if it were determined to use it against its own people. Does anybody want to argue with that?

It seems to me that politics and whom we choose as our elected representatives are the only realistic way to deter government tyranny. We need to have this conversation with hard-line NRA members. Because we’re not getting anywhere the way we’re going.

Trina De La Chapelle

Santa Rosa

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EXPERTS FOR THE PEOPLE — SHUT OUT BY THE MASS MEDIA

by Ralph Nader

Ever wonder how the television, radio and newspaper people select whom they are going to interview or get quotes from when they are reporting the news or producing a feature? I do. What I’ve learned is that they go to guests that are connected with the established powers—such as think tanks in Washington, D.C. that work on “the military-industrial complex” policy (to borrow President Eisenhower’s words) and somehow lean toward more warmongering (e.g. NPR and the U.S.-Iran relationship) or backing more weapon systems (such as a new nuclear bomb arsenal and more F-35s and aircraft carriers).

You won’t be hearing from MIT Professor Emeritus Ted Postal on the chronic failures of the anti-ballistic missile program (spending $13 billion this coming year).

Whether it is NPR, PBS, the network news programs, the Sunday news interview shows and too often the New York TimesWashington Post, Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal their interviewees are the defenders of the status quo or those with corporatists’ viewpoints.

These news outlets seem oblivious to the blatant economic conflicts of interest inherent in groups such as the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and professors who moonlight with corporations. These interviewees have economic and ideological axes to grind that are not disclosed to the general viewers, listeners and readers, when they are merely described as “experts.”

There are real experts and specialists, with no axe to grind, who are so ignored by the media that they have almost become nonpersons, despite their past proven records of achievements for the public interest, and for the people’s well-being.

Here are some examples of experienced people whose veracity and honesty you can take to the press and media outlets:

David Freeman, probably the most knowledgeable, experienced authority on energy in the United States. A lawyer and engineer, he was an advisor to Presidents, Governors, ran four major utilities, including the giant Tennessee Valley Authority. He was also the author of key studies on energy policies starting in the nineteen seventies and presently is negotiating the shutdown of California’s last atomic energy plant with its owner, Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation.

Nicholas Johnson, former FCC Commissioner, author of many books and timely commentaries on communications subjects (e.g. “How to Talk Back to Your TV Set”) and has been teaching at the University of Iowa Law School.

Karen Ferguson, head of Pension Rights Center since the mid-seventies, has been involved in Congressional policies, judicial decisions, organizing retirees to assert their rights and generally watchdogging the increasing pension crisis in our country.

Jamie Love, the expert on drug patent abuses, drug industry pricing power, international efforts to counteract these “pay or die” policies. He has been a major figure in bringing down the price of AIDS drugs for developing countries.

Rena Steinzor, law professor, author of books such as Why Not Jail?, organizer of the Center for Progressive Reform and corporate crime specialist.

Janine Jackson, long-time media critic documenting weekly noteworthy bias, censorship and commercial distortion of the news.

Danielle Brian, director of the Project on Government Oversight has had much to say accurately about the massive military budget, redundant weapon systems and their waste, fraud and abuse over three decades.

Jesselyn Radack, former Justice Department lawyer, represents whistleblowers on national security wrongdoing and is an acknowledged legal expert on free speech in these sensitive areas.

Greg LeRoy, directs Good Jobs First and knows a great deal about corporate welfare, giveaways to sports stadiums, Amazon and the whole ‘business development’ subsidies at the local and state level in the U.S. He is the author, among other publications, of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation.

Mark Green, one of the nation’s experts on campaign finance rackets and reform, author of over twenty books, including Losing Our Democracy, and experienced as a candidate in New York State elections.

Ralf Hotchkiss, former MacArthur Genius awardee, inventor and founder of Whirlwind Wheelchair and a successful advocate for people with disabilities having mobility without having to pay monopoly prices for shoddy wheelchairs in the U.S. and developing countries.

Lois Gibbs, coming out of the Love Canal tragedies in Niagara Falls, NY, she organized arguably the leading ggrassrootsmovements against poisoning of neighborhoods around the country. She is an accomplished author, a speaker and is the director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, which works with hundreds of local citizen fighters for health and safety.

Some of the above were featured in the mass media years ago; others have been relegated to the shadows of our public news and features for almost their entire careers. The slanted selections by media gatekeepers are getting worse. Increasingly, TV and radio anchors interview their own reporters, not experts like Robert McIntyre, lawyer and founder of the highly regarded Citizens for Tax Justice. Too often the Sunday network TV political shows tap into the same stable of Washington pundits and commentators.

Readers and viewers can make their own lists of media-excluded, knowledgeable persons, be they at the local, state or national levels. On our public airwaves, after the FCC repealed the “Fairness Doctrine” in 1987, bloviators such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, completely dominate our airtime with their corporatist and hate-filled soliloquies. These “champions” of the free market have no problem using the public airwaves free of charge. As owners of the public airwaves and buyers of print journalism, let’s demand higher standards for experts in journalism. Let’s demand that the media seek out people who know their facts and work in the people’s interest and give them airtime.

(Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!)

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I think our mistake is to suppose that it matters which beards rule which patch of sand. No matter what cut-throat it is, if they rule sand with oil underneath it, they still have to sell the oil.

This was the fuck-up with the first Iraq war. The numb-nuts in Washington and the State Dept and the White House got all huffy when Saddam got presumptuous and thought he could take Kuwait without US clearance. Actually, the hilarious part is that he DID try to get clearance from April Glaspie who responded with bureaucratic gobble-de-gook that led ole Saddam to think he had a green light. When I saw the video of the meeting I even thought he had the go-ahead.

But that’s not really the point. The point is who the hell cares if Saddam ruled Kuwait? He’d still have to sell the damned oil. And if it’s all about oil as everyone sez it is, then that’s all that matters, that he sells it. Which IMO, he would have.

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WARRIOR DON

Editor:

Donald Trump says he would have charged inside the building even without a gun and confronted the Parkland, Florida school shooter. This is the same guy who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War with five different deferments because of bone spurs in his feet. The same guy who wants a military parade, wants to arm teachers and tells us not to worry about the National Rifle Association. His valor never ends.

Christopher Riebli

Graton

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“February 29th flew by without any new scandals from the White House.”

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THE STUDENT ACTIVISTS of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High demonstrate the power of a full education.

slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/the-student-activists-of-marjory-stoneman-douglas-high-demonstrate-the-power-of-a-full-education.html

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Cepeda: Are Florida students channeling the tenacity of school’s namesake?

eastbaytimes.com/2018/02/28/cepeda-florida-students-reclaim-passion-of-stoneman-douglas/

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A NEW STEELHEAD RUN RECORD SET AT MOKELUMNE RIVER FISH HATCHERY

by Dan Bacher

It’s official; a new record for the number of steelhead returning to the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in one season has been set.

The hatchery, located on the river near Clements, has received 530 adults and 638 juveniles this year to date, a total of 1,168 fish. That compares to 719 adults and 402 juveniles last season, a total of 1,121 fish.

“We’ve taken over 1 million eggs to date,” said. William Smith, the manager of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife-run hatchery. "Our goal is to raise 250,000 steelhead smolts for release into the river next year.”

He plans to keep the hatchery open into the first week of March, since fresh steelhead are still arriving every week.

The hatchery has taken over 1 million steelhead eggs to make sure they meet their production goal of 250,000 steelhead smolts.

Over the past month, the CDFW has released 300,000 6 to 8-inch steelhead smolts in the Mokelumne below Camanche Dam.

Experienced anglers fishing below the hatchery continue to battle some quality steelhead and wild trout. “One guy who has been fishing three to four days per week has been catching and releasing around three fish per day in the 18- to 24-inch range while using flies,” said Smith.

The big steelhead run follows a record salmon run. A total of 19,904 fall Chinook salmon went over Woodbridge Dam in the fall of 2017.

The factors behind the record steelhead and salmon runs include stronger river pulse flows, closures of the Delta Cross Channel gates, the use of tagging data to increase fish survival, barging salmon, habitat improvements and the 1998 Lower Mokelumne River Settlement Agreement.

You can thank the CDFW, East Bay Municipal Utility District, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and Committee to Save the Mokelumne for their hard work in restoring the river’s fisheries.

General information: (209) 759-3383. Fishing regulations information: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?

While a record number of Chinook salmon returned to the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in the fall of 2017 and good numbers of salmon returned to the Feather River Fish Hatchery, a below normal number of salmon came back to Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the American River and one of the lowest numbers of fall run Chinooks ever returned to Coleman Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek and the upper section of the Sacramento River.

For more information about last year's record salmon run, go to: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/11/16/1716371/-Record-chinook-salmon-steelhead-returns-projected-on-Mokelumne-River

 

8 Comments

  1. BB Grace March 2, 2018

    AVA publishes the work of several local writers. Like many natives of CA I enjoy reading CA history. My favorite CA historian currently is 5th generation from Tulare, Kings county teaching at CSU Fresno campus where his popularity has surged since the election of President Trump to an international level. I could say Victor Davis Hanson is defining what is CA today as he explains how the left in CA has destroyed the state’s farming and ranching.

    AVA native historians might find Victor Davis Hanson inspiring while native Californians may enjoy his history of Central CA farm and ranch life and how the coastal cities are destroying the rural areas with unsustainable developments.

    http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/understanding-the-california-mind/

    Victor Hanson is an excellent speaker thus his Youtubes, played on a number of channels, are very enjoyable and for native rural Californians he hits home runs telling it like many of us see it.

    • George Hollister March 2, 2018

      Hanson is a good writer:

      “Out here is the antithesis of where I work in Silicon Valley. Each week I leave at sunbreak, and slowly enter a world of Pajama boys in BMWs and Lexuses, with $500 shades and rolling stops at intersections as they frown and speed off to the next deal. Somehow these techies assume voting for Barack Obama means that they are liberal. They are not. By proclaiming that they are progressive, they feel good about themselves and do not have to worry about why their janitorial staffs are not unionized, or why no one but they can buy a house, or why they oppose affordable housing construction along the 280 corridor, or why they fear the public schools as if they were the bubonic plague. Their businesses don’t create many jobs in the area; they don’t live among the Other; they seek to get out of paying income tax as they praise higher taxes; and they use money to ensure their own apartheid. And so they are “liberal.””

  2. Jeff Costello March 2, 2018

    So, according to Nader, mainstream media news is bullshit, and as we know, so are Trump, his staff, and all the “regular” politicians.

    “And in the news today, the world situation looks pretty bad, folks.” — R. Crumb

  3. Lazarus March 2, 2018

    “THE MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES (aka Measure B) advisory committee met for their second time on Wednesday”

    I watched some the meeting over coffee, besides Marge Handley hawking her crumbling HMH facility to the tune of 11 to 14 mil,…it seems these experts had trouble coming up with a basic mission statement, If they can’t even do that…, how in world can they agree on how to spend the peoples tax money on this crazy house…?
    I had to quit, it’s to painful to listen…
    As always,
    Laz

    • Betsy Cawn March 3, 2018

      I watched a chunk of the first meeting; excruciatingly incompetent, orchestrated by Carmel Angelo’s assistant, endured by Sheriff Allman (who successfully campaigned for the measure on the grounds of having a feasible approach, if not a “plan”) — and attempted to parse the online information published by the Mendocino County Behavioral Health Advisory Board — all of which appears to serve as an effective buffer zone shielding half-hearted administrative services.

      It seems likely that the Sheriff’s Office would have the most specific current “data” about the individuals needing “mental health” services, some of which could be medically ameliorated, some of which cannot. Proposition 63 (2004) funding, under the Mental Health Services Act, is administered by multiple layers of quasi-professional associations and councils whose business is conducted elsewhere (Sacramento, LA, Redding?) but whose hustle and bustle result in little actual knowledge that can be applied to local planning. A lot of tax dollars go into these bureaucratic regimes, leaving the actual delivery of services to those on the ground — cops and docs — with little supporting “data” to analyze for project design purposes.

      Meanwhile, figure-heads and self-certified experts in the delivery of minimal assistance (a.k.a., “treatment”) perpetuate the public service myth that licensed family therapists and counselors are effective at alleviating the conditions fundamental to mental illness — while white-coated administrators in “clinical settings” are remunerated for so-called professional services under government contracts, with no performance measures or functional audits.

      At the state level, the Press Democrat reported a few years back that the California Mental Health Planning Commission (and the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission) could not explain what had been done with nearly $11 BILLION in revenues achieved from Prop. 63; and this is the spending authority that is supposed to ensure local effectiveness of Mental Health Services Act funding. Throw in a few million dollars of local sales tax revenues, give the county Administration the oversight and management, and hand the design process to local wannabe civic masterminds — and here we are “waiting for Godot” as usual.

  4. Jim Updegraff March 2, 2018

    Nader: Just another clown tilting at the windmills.

  5. Eric Sunswheat March 2, 2018

    1.) If Measure B isn’t working, cities and County can further strip shade trees and shrubbery from public spaces and bridge underpasses, to ensure the homeless don’t enjoy doing time in Mendocino.

    2.) Mendocino DIstrict Attorney just advertised for new lawyer hires, perhaps to save face, after it took the letter writing volunteer efforts of the Sonoma DIstrict Attorney, published in this week’s AVA letters to the editor, on no cost simple instructions to petition for Prop 64 conviction reductions. DA Eyster’s media rep had no time for this.

    3.) A second glance of DA Eyster’s crowing a few weeks ago, while blogging in the online AVA, about a news story over a dragged out voluntary plea conviction win, by a defendant who was not able to raise funds for a private attorney, until just before the judge said too late.

    4.) A response to DA Eyster’s blogging, asked about simple low cost instructions for Prop 64 conviction reductions. DA Eyster replied that the question was off topic, and queried the questioner, in essence, to think of some else instead of marijuana.

    5.) Okay, so what’s the ‘elephant in the room’ behind DA Eyster’s seemingly cavalier comments, on denying equitable relief on past transgressions that are no longer charged as felonies?

    6.) DA Eyster could have been exhausted with lighthearted jubilation blogging, from working the long double shift working day that he lays claim to, for which he has at times, received extra pay.

    7.) But the ‘elephant in the room’ is jury pool tampering by neglect. DA Eyster know that a significant portion of Mendocino residents have marijuana felony convictions and are barred from jury duty. If their rights were restored, then their potential bias and perceived beliefs no matter how unsubstantiated, might be too much for the DA to throw out during jury selection.

    7A.) The DA knows that these felony convictions have often resulted in asset forfeiture, denial of educational and employment opportunities, disqualification for low income housing subsidy, and are least likely to be able to pay for resentencing. Private attorneys have suggest fees of perhaps $1200 in the AVA, paid to themselves and more elsewhere, for what is essentially no cost other than proof of service, after reading the pertinent page of the law in Prop 64 with simple online search for the computer adept.

    7B.) The irony is that C. David Eyster was the ‘go to’ guy around the state of California, for district attorney associations implementing prosecutions post Prop, 64. But with the steadfast neglect by his office and mass media consultant, that torch locally has passed to Jill R. Ravitch, Sonoma County District Attorney

    7C.) So, DA Eyster, to summarize, it’s not about marijuana, it’s about jury pool tampering by default or neglect, for not serving all of your constituents, in the interest of justice.

    7D.) And simply posting a new job notice for attorney hiring, seemingly in response to published Sonoma County DIstrict Attorney letter, with seemingly no vetting of applicants, other than meeting minimal legal requirements, isn’t going to excuse obfuscation of potential Prop 64 petitioners, by your office since passage of Prop 64.

    7E.) I find you as charged. Case adjourned. Congratulations on your pending re-election.

  6. Jim Updegraff March 2, 2018

    NRA: dear gun nuts, the 2nd Amendment is not what you say it means. It is what the Supreme Court says it means. If they approve a local or state or a Congressional law prohibiting ownership of AR-15s then the decision becomes the law of the land.

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