Mendocino County Today: Sunday, July 22, 2018

• Carder Fire
• Heart Fire
• Apartment Fire
• Pets
• Little Dog
• Crab Season
• Local Retail
• Yesterday's Catch
• American Socialism
• Opioid Lawsuit
• Medicare Caucus
• Beach Glass
• Civil Disobedience
• County Indifference
• Mendocino
• Sculpture Trail
• Cooley Law
• Military Fundamentalists
• Trump Show
• Corporate Apologies
• Writing Workshops
• Marco Radio

CARDER FIRE, LAKE COUNTY

Started 2:40pm, July 21, 2018 at Adobe Creek Road and Peterson Lane, Kelseyville. Burned 60 acres as of 6:30pm when it was 20% contained, “fast moving,” but “forward spread stopped.” Mandatory evacuations called for in Adobe Creek Road, Peterson Lane and Wight Way areas. No mention of whether structures were threatened.

HEART FIRE IN REDWOOD VALLEY

65 acres as of 8:30pm Saturday night. 50% contained. Highway 101 open one lane in each direction around milemarker 38 west of Redwood Valley.

FOUR INJURED IN FORT BRAGG FIRE

The 8:30 a.m. Saturday fire engulfed an apartment building on the Mendocino Coast.

pressdemocrat.com/news/8554623-181/four-injured-in-fort-bragg

NEIGHBORS HELP CATCH CHILDREN TRAPPED BY FORT BRAGG FIRE

pressdemocrat.com/news/8554623-181/neighbors-help-catch-children-trapped

* * *

On July 21, 2018, at approximately 8:33 a.m., Officers from the Fort Bragg Police Department were dispatched to the 300 block of S. Sanderson Way for a report of structure fire. Officers responded to the location code 3 (lights and sirens) and arrived on scene at 8:34 a.m. Upon arrival Officers immediately insured everyone was out of the structure and began evacuating the surrounding residences. Officers located four victims on scene that required medical treatment. They were transported the Mendocino Coast District Hospital where they were treated for burns and smoke inhalation. Members of the Fort Bragg Fire Department, California Department of Fire, and Mendocino Fire Department arrived and quickly extinguished the fire.

While on scene Officers contacted Kevin Lutz. Lutz identified himself as a resident of 391 S. Sanderson. He informed officers he had smelled smoke and went outside to see if something was burning. As he exited his residence he realized the building was on fire and evacuated his family. He then heard a female and children screaming in the upstairs apartment. Realizing his upstairs neighbor and her children were trapped he grabbed a mattress from his child’s room and threw it out the rear bedroom window. He and another neighbor, identified as Ernesto Calzadilla, then caught the children as they were dropped by the mother from the second story window. Finally they caught the mother who leapt from the window. The Fort Bragg Police Department would like to recognize Kevin Lutz and Ernesto Calzadilla for this brave and selfless act that allowed the mother and her three children to escape to safety.

The American Red Cross has been contacted and notified of this incident. They are currently working with the displaced families to provide services. If you know of anyone who was displaced by this incident and has not been contacted; please have them contact the American Red Cross at 707-577-7600.

The cause for the fire starting is not known yet, but arson is not suspected. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Fort Bragg Police Department at (707) 961-2800 or our anonymous Crime Tip Hotline at (707) 961-3049.

(Fort Bragg Police Press Release)

AHUMADA FAMILY - FIRE RECOVERY

On July 21st 2018, a house fire broke out in my aunt, Gabriela's, apartment complex in Fort Bragg, Ca. My aunt and my four younger cousins were able to escape out of a window of the second floor with the help of others. However, it remains that some of them were badly burned and all of them are having to start their lives over.

My aunt will be needing reconstructive surgery on her severely burned arms and will need time to heal from her face and neck. While three of my cousins remained uninjured, the youngest (1 year old), Ainer, was badly burned and is currently sedated, so that he may heal without pain.

Our family is working to help my aunt and her wonderful children recover from the trauma and the loss of their home. We are thankful that it did not become the tragedy that it could have been, but we'd like to ask for your generosity to help my aunt's family with medical expenses and the start of their new life.

No amount is too small and any donation would go directly to my aunt and her family.

Thank you in advance for your support.

gofundme.com/ahumada-family-fire-recovery

UKIAH SHELTER PETS OF THE WEEK

Beans is a happy, social, people-oriented dog. He’s 2 years old, mixed breed and weighs 38 pounds. We took him out for a play yard romp and photo shoot, and we enjoyed his company a lot. We’re pretty sure Beans is housetrained. He enjoys getting pets, especially at the base of his tail. He was friendly and loving with our volunteers, "talking" and telling us he was excited and happy. Beans’ coat is white with light orange, and he looks like a creamsicle!

You can find out more about this lovely dog on his personal webpage: http://www.mendoanimalshelter.com/dogblog/beans

Meet Cinder — a 3 month old, spayed female, short hair kitten. Cinder has beautiful gray tabby markings. She is the last kitten of her litter who has yet to be adopted. Cinder was a little unsure about getting her picture taken but she does like to be held and cuddling up in her blanket. Come down to the Shelter to meet this adorable kitten and all our other feline guests!

The Ukiah Animal Shelter is located at 298 Plant Road in Ukiah, and adoption hours are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10 am to 4:30 pm and Wednesday from 10 am to 6:30 pm. To see photos and bios of the shelter's adoptable animals, please visit online at: www.mendoanimalshelter.com or visit the shelter. Join us the second Saturday of every month for our "Empty the Shelter" pack walk and help us get every dog out for some socialization and exercise! For more information about adoptions please call 707-467-6453.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Lottsa visitors over the last coupla days. I was busy showing people around when we met Skrag who, of course, said, ‘No thanks. I don't do meet and greets.’ It's one thing to have zero social skills, but to insult total strangers?”

DUNGENESS SEASON SAW STRONG CATCH

by Daniel Mintz

The North Coast’s commercial Dungeness crab season was affected by delays due to meat quality issues and price negotiations but the catch soared as soon as fishing began.

The season ended July 15 and the northern region from the Fort Bragg area to the Oregon border accounted for 14 million pounds of the state’s 19-million-pound total through June. The northern area accounted for $42 million of the state’s total ex-vessel (off-the-boat) landings value of $64 million.

Last year’s season saw a statewide total value of $72 million, about evenly split between the north and central regions.

This season, most of the northern area’s catch was gained in February, when delayed crabbing began.

The northern season’s December 1 opening was delayed until January 15, when crabs were determined to have met a 25 percent meat to total weight ratio standard.

Negotiations between fishermen and processors led to further delay but high ocean swells would have prevented the start of crabbing anyway.

Catches were robust when crabbers began pulling pots on February 5, however.

Harrison Ibach, president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, reflected on the season.

“There were a lot of variables that went into actually getting the season going,” he said. “If someone was to write a book, they couldn’t come up with everything that we had to deal with.”

He added, “But once we ended up going, the fishing was good.”

To keep within maximum processing capacity, the area’s seafood buyers set landings limits.

“They basically tell each boat how much they are allowed to bring in to sell,” said Ibach. “So even though there was a decent biomass of crab, people were very limited.”

Crescent City was the region’s top-performing port, with its landings yielding about $22 million in total value. Eureka’s total value amounted to $13.3 million.

Trinidad’s total value was $2.5 million and Fort Bragg’s was $4.8 million.

Catch volume differences between the central and northern regions are common and tend to be cyclical.

Christy Juhasz, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist, described a pattern that was seen in past years and repeated in the season that just ended.

“As we saw with the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, those two seasons also had delays until January 15 and we saw some significant landings in the north,” she said. “It’s been generally believed that the delay in the crab filling out may be due to the fact that there’s resource allocation issues – the crab population is large and that could be contributing to this late filling out of crab and then once the season opens, there are a lot more available to the industry.”

The out-of-the-gate surge in landings is common. Juhasz said eighty to 90 percent of a season’s catch is gained within its first six to eight weeks.

The central/north region variances alternate, as the central region saw record landings several years ago.

The strength of the last two Dungeness seasons is helping fishermen recover from the 2015 to 2016 season, which was drastically delayed and declared a fishery disaster.

The static mass of warm ocean water that came to be known as The Blob promoted the spread of domoic acid, a naturally-occurring toxin that curtailed the season.

A federal disaster relief payout of $25.8 million has been approved and includes relief funding for the much smaller commercial rock crab fishery. The process of dispersing the money is beginning and was outlined in a July 18 teleconference webinar between federal and state officials and the fishing industry.

Fishermen will be entitled to relief payments based on a variety of factors, potentially including their catch histories.

TALKING RETAIL (On Line Comments Of The Day)

Joyce Pfaffle wrote: Costco Today; Target soon

Costco opened Thursday in Ukiah and the hubs, Davie, and I went there to shop. It is imho, much better than Santa Rosa's where it felt cramped and not very friendly for some reason. We enjoyed the ambience in this new one, with a couple glitches only at checkout with new employees. Everything was there that other Costco stores offer (and gas prices are at $3.25/gal) except I didn't notice any garden items or a food court--but they probably are in the works. Davie and I had to look for some items--like cheese. Specialty cheese was in the usual area but the regular Kirkland cheeses were way in the back against the wall. Other than that, we loved it! Parking lot was pretty well filled, but it wasn't overly crowded for a first day and the staff was soooo helpful. Hot though -- 106 deg in the car coming back. It didn't reach 80 until we were close to Fort Bragg!

Target -- it will be coming to Ukiah. Lucky foods is closing and Target will replace it on N. Orchard St. Maybe that is what the person who told me about Trader Joe's coming there was talking about since I have not been able to verify that TJ's was coming was true--yet. Still hopeful though.

And I do buy in Fort Bragg--lots of local goods and services.

* * *

Margaret Paul wrote:

Costco, great! Target, not so much.... What we really need is a Trader Joe's.

What we really need is no Hare Creek strip mall. Strip malls are closing all across the country. They are a thing of the past. The ones we already have are not even close to fully occupied and our downtown has approximately 20 vacant store fronts. Tourism is now our bread and butter. It would be a crime to greet our tourists as they enter the coast with such a sorry site as a strip mall. Most of the tourists I meet are coming here to escape strip malls, big box stores and endless asphalt. From the meetings I've attended at Town Hall, it appears most of the community is vigorously opposed to this inappropriate land use. If we want a Trader Joe's, anywhere east of Hwy. 1 would be a much better location.

Ideal solution: One of our local land trusts buying the land to conserve it, thus preserving our beautiful coast as a destination location.

CATCH OF THE DAY, July 21, 2018

JIMMY ALLEN JR., Willits. DUI with prior manslaughter.

BAILEY BLUNT, Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg. Taking vehicle without owner’s consent, probation revocation.

IVY BODWIN, Willits. Concealed dirk-dagger, false ID, failure to appear.

SONO CARRIGG, Ukiah. Parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)

BRUCE CARTWRIGHT JR., Willits. DUI-drugs&alcohol.

PRUDENCE DAVIS, Ukiah. Domestic abuse.

NINA GOODSON, Lucerne/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

MICHAEL HAMMOND, Fort Bragg. Petty theft, failure to appear.

NOVAN JACK, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

LAWRENCE JOAQUIN, Covelo. Failure to appear.

JUSTIN MALUGANI, Ukiah. Under influence, probation revocation.

CORT MILLER, Covelo. Domestic battery, under influence, probation revocation.

JARRETT NELSON, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

THOMAS SANDERS, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation. (Frequent Flyer)

CHRISTINE SEIGLER, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

HENRY SONNESYN, Eureka/Piercy. Controlled substance for sale, paraphernalia, switchblade in vehicle.

MIKAYLA THRILKILL, Willits. Disobeying court order, failure to appear.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

SCANDINAVIA NOW!

Editor:

Most people don’t even know what socialism is.

Socialism, or democratic socialism, is a form of governing — a form of generous taxation — successful in Scandinavian countries (rated the “happiest countries on earth” by the World Happiness Report produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network). Socialism is a form of caring for all people. We have socialism but only for corporations, the moneyed and privileged. Socialism is what protected the auto industry and the banks, for example. It is helping those in need.

A Danish man once commented to me on our homeless population. He said, “You Americans force your mentally ill to live on the streets. You don’t take care of them.”

Of course not. We’re too busy taking care of billionaires. We can’t take care of the disabled, the elderly, single moms, schools for children. We can’t supply health care, housing subsidies or benefits to anyone. Well, anyone except the rich.

That’s why socialism has a bad name in our culture. Those in control want our tax dollars and benefits only for themselves. Resist! Make caring a greater value than wealth.

Marsha Taylor

Santa Rosa

SUING DOWNER MANUFACTURERS

In the face of the worst man-made epidemic in modern medical history, known as the opioid crisis, the County of Humboldt this week filed a federal lawsuit against the largest manufacturers and primary distributors of prescription opioids in the United States.

The reckless promotion and distribution of potent opioids for chronic pain, while deliberately downplaying the significant risks of addiction and overdose, has led to unprecedented levels of opioid-related overdoses in Humboldt County, forever changing the lives of so many local families.

Opioid-related overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in the United State, surpassing even fatal car accidents. Since 2000, more than 300,000 people have died from opioid overdoses. Humboldt County has the second-highest fatal overdose rate in California, a rate that is five times the national average.

Prescription opioids are a class of powerful pain relievers, including oxycodone and hydrocodone. The chemical make-up of these prescription drugs is nearly identical to heroin.

Since 1995 when OxyContin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and aggressively marketed to healthcare professionals, the sales of opioids has skyrocketed and pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these drugs have recorded massive profits. In Humboldt County opioid prescriptions outnumber people. In 2016 there were 156,444 opioid prescriptions, or more than 114 prescriptions per 100 residents.

As is true around the country, the rise in prescription opioids in Humboldt was followed closely by a dramatic rise in heroin use. Once patients can no longer obtain prescription opioids, many turn to heroin.

In years past, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office captured one or two pounds of heroin in a big year. In 2017 alone, the Sheriff’s Office confiscated 10 pounds and is well on pace to surpass that amount in 2018.

The complaint alleges that the defendants violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and the federal RICO statute, and that their conduct constitutes public nuisance, negligence, gross negligence, and unjust enrichment under California law.

Humboldt County retained Keller Rohrback as outside counsel on a contingency-fee basis. The law firm has already filed numerous opioid cases on behalf of public agencies in Washington, Idaho and Arizona. In addition, other municipalities around the country have filed more than 1,000 similar lawsuits seeking to hold manufacturers and distributors liable for the harms they have inflicted on communities.

MEDICARE-FOR-ALL-CAUCUS

When Medicare was created 53 years ago this month, it was over the objections of Ronald Reagan. On behalf of the American Medical Association, Reagan warned that should Medicare become law, it would lead to “a mechanism for national health insurance capable of indefinite expansion in every direction until it includes the entire population.” More than five decades of frustration later, advocates are still fighting to make Reagan’s “nightmare” of universal health care a reality. The recent formation of the Medicare for All Caucus by House progressives could prove to be an important development in this pursuit, according to members and advocates who introduced the new caucus at a press conference on July 19. “We are united today by a common conviction that health care is a human right,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal during the launch. “One of the best ways to ensure health care for all is to use the system that already exists for millions of seniors [in] Medicare.”

truthout.org/articles/single-payer-advocates-in-congress-double-down-with-medicare-for-all-caucus/

EVER WONDER WHERE GLASS BEACH GLASS GOES? EBAY

(MendocinoSportsPlus)

CIVILITY AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

"Calls for civility can be used as a partisan strategy to obscure or divert attention from efforts to consolidate power (as in authoritarian regimes), the skeptics warn. Absolute adherence to civility can insulate public officials from feeling the consequences of abuses of power. Some argue that civility lends tacit support to a political system that is structurally broken due to the distorting effects of the electoral college, gerrymandering, money buying elections, and politicized courts. With our political system entrenching those in power, confrontation and noisy protest are among the few tools left to rebalance the system and recover our democracy, if only by a little."

commondreams.org/views/2018/07/21/civility-and-civil-disobedience-not-mutually-exclusive

FROM BETSY CAWN:

Calif. Appellate Court Orders Governor to Return $330M to Fund for Distressed Homeowners

law.com/therecorder/2018/07/11/calif-appellate-court-orders-governor-to-return-330m-to-fund-for-distressed-homeowners/

Lake County residents whose homes were lost during the “subprime mortage loan” implosion, followed by vulturizing foreclosure banks, are vindicated in their efforts (futile, multi-year, publicly-broadcast and video-recorded) efforts to get the County Board of Supervisors to seek the local District Attorney’s support for protecting vulnerable older adults in this debiliating financial crisis. Did they? Of course not. One citizen explained this over and over again, but the local “justice” system and the “quasi-legislative” body that controls Lake County coffers wrote off the magnitude of this State “misuse” of funds in our hard-hit communities. The hidden losses of county indifference to the plight of its residents are incalculable, since there is no reporting from responsible agencies to inform the public of the facts. All hail the AVA, on this side of the Cow.

VILLAGE OF MENDOCINO DURING MUSIC FESTIVAL 2018

(Photo by Susie de Castro)

CLOVERDALE SCULPTURE TRAIL

Free Audio, Self-Guided Walking Tour of the 2018-2019 Cloverdale Sculpture Trail

Take a tour with the 2018-2019 Cloverdale Sculpture Trail artists. Cloverdale enlisted Otocast to, again, create a narrated, audio, self-guided walking tour for the sculptures in the 2018-2019exhibit. And best of all, the audio comes from the actual artists!

What is the Cloverdale Sculpture Trail? The Sculpture Trail is a year-round public art exhibit with sculptures changing every 12 months. It is designed to enhance the Cloverdale public environment and promote an understanding and enjoyment of public art and sculptures.

To enjoy the audio guide you download through Google Play or the Apple App Store the free Otocast app, which includes the Cloverdale Sculpture Trail.

All the sculptures are displayed on an interactive map, with descriptions and directions from wherever you are, so you can easily explore the Trail. Sculptor information is available, including an image of each sculpture on the Trail. Press play and listen to the artist talking about his/her sculpture you are looking at. Or, if a trip to Cloverdale is not a possibility, take the tour where you are right now and enjoy the experience of public art in Cloverdale.

I WONDER about Trump’s gofer Michael Cohen when I see him on TV. For a man in such serious trouble, he doesn’t show anything on his face — mouth ajar, eyes to the front. It’s not so much a “sealed” look (like he's determined to not show any feelings), it’s more a vacant look, it seems to me, as though there’s a very dim bulb in there. Or maybe no bulb at all.

So, I looked him up. He’s from Long Island, the west end. He went to Cooley Law School.

Check this out from Wikipedia: Western Michigan University Cooley Law School (WMU-Cooley) is a private American law school in Lansing, Michigan, established in 1971. It is, according to one expert, "a bottom-tier law school with the lowest admission standards in the country." Or, more plainly, "the worst law school in the country."

During the 2015-2016 application cycle, Cooley admitted 85.8% of applicants. The entering fall 2016 class had a median GPA of 2.90 and median LSAT of 141 (15th percentile of test takers). The 25th percentile GPA of enrolled students was 2.60 and the 25th percentile LSAT of enrolled students was 138 (9th percentile of test takers).

Law professor David Frakt described Cooley's 2015 entering class as "statistically the worst entering class of law students in the history of American legal education at an ABA-Accredited law school [and here's the earlier quote again], described by the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a ruling as “a bottom-tier law school with the lowest admission standards in the country."

Cooley graduates have struggled to pass state bar exams, a requirement to practice law. In recent years, the average school bar passage rate has been about 50%. The average school bar passage rate was 51.86% in 2015, 52.73% in 2014, and 51.45% in 2013. Cooley's bar passage rates have averaged about 20% less than the state average pass rates.

According to disclosures required by the American Bar Association (ABA), 27.4% of graduates from the class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, bar-passage-required employment nine months after graduation, 23.8% of graduates were unemployed 9 months after graduation.

53% of graduates passed the Michigan bar exam on their first attempt in July 2017, below the 83% average for other Michigan law schools.

In 2012, Cooley was noted, by a plaintiff's attorney in a civil lawsuit regarding false advertising, for having "the loosest admissions standards of any accredited or provisionally accredited American law school... the employment prospects of its graduates are grim, even compared to the generally dire state of the legal job market."

The plaintiff lost. In 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the district court's dismissal of the plaintiff's lawsuit because although the graduates’ complaint showed that the statistics on which they relied were objectively untrue, their reliance on the statistics was unreasonable. Judge Quist noted that "it would be unreasonable for Plaintiffs to rely on two bare-bones statistics in deciding to attend a bottom-tier law school with the lowest admission standards in the country."

In 2017, Cooley was sanctioned by the American Bar Association's Section of Legal Education and Admissions due to its lax admissions standards. That same year, the school was ranked the "worst" law school in the country by law website Above the Law, referring to a list of the "bottom 10 least-selective law schools in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico)".

After having found in 2017 that Cooley was one of ten American law schools out of compliance with the American Bar Association's requirement that schools only admit students who appear capable of earning a Juris Doctor degree and passing a bar exam.

The organization Law School Transparency considered Cooley one of the most at-risk law schools for exploiting students for tuition.

[This is me again]: Makes (now gone) Trump University sound like Harvard. Thanks, Ellie. (That was Eleanor's reaction to all this.)

(Mitch Clogg)

DOWN HERE, the military is second in reverence only to Christian fundamentalism; War is an honor bound duty. In fact, the military is hardwired in with the fundamentalist Christian madrasses up and down the Shenandoah Valley cranking out 18-year-old Rambos for Jesus on a production line... Those like my nephews, one of whom keeps his .357 Glock in the nightstand and the Bible on the nightstand with the personal weapons permit for the Glock inside the Bible. To him, I’m sure there is a fundamental Christian symmetry in this… Like their parents, they know what has gone wrong in America, who is responsible and how to correct the situation. Just ask yourself: Who would Jesus kill? Muslims are always hollerin’ to meet Allah, and they’re more than happy to provide .45 caliber cab fare to heaven.”

— Joe Bageant, Howling in the Belly of the Confederacy.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

The goal is not to fool all of the people all the time. All that matters is enough get fooled enough of the time so protest becomes un-American. Un-American in an, if you are not with us, you are against us, patriotism on steroids sort of way. We have probably already reached that point. Consider all news is now about Trump. The paper tiger of his illegitimacy as president is attacked daily and without any purpose, at heart it is a non-issue. It is a shiny object that diverts attention away from things that matter. In your mind you can be Luke Skywalker and save the galaxy or you can impeach Trump. Same difference, both are fantasies which live only between your ears.

For this paragraph I could bolster my point by finding a story to link to, maybe a picture to go along with it too. Perhaps an environmental travesty like our now common export of coal to foreign lands. But you might not care about that. You might even be making money off the coal going to Chinese power plants yourself. That being a possibility I won’t write such a paragraph.

Instead I’ll ask everybody else to think of something they think should be on the news instead of Trump. An issue you personally think is more important than he. After you do that, make like the justice lady! You don’t need a blindfold, closing your eyes and thinking will do.

Which way do your scales tip. Is the Trump show worth it?

THREE OF AMERICA’S BIGGEST COMPANIES – Facebook, Wells Fargo and Uber – have been offering up vague apologies via television commercials in recent weeks. You’ve probably caught one or all of them. Have a bucket handy.

All three entities are apologizing for recent scandals, all three are pledging to change their ways and all three are basically rolling out the same script:

“Hi, America. We were awesome for a long time. Here are some culturally representative shots of people like you smiling and enjoying our services. After repeated denials, we recently had to admit to violating your trust, but the unelucidated bad thing doesn’t have to come between us. We promise: we fixed that shit. You will now wake up feeling refreshed in 3,2,1…”

rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/taibbi-an-ode-to-the-feeble-corporate-apology-629452/

(Matt Taibbi)

FREE MONTHLY WRITING WORKSHOPS FOR TEENS & ADULTS

(June – October 2018)

THE ART and CRAFT of WRITING for YOUNG READERS

The Ukiah Public Library and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators are delighted to offer a series of presentations on the art and craft of writing for young readers by Mendocino County authors. The series features Rena Rockford, David Weitzman, Natasha Yim, and Jody Gehrman. Each presentation in the series will be held on the last Thursday of the month from July through October from 5:30-7:30 in the Ukiah Public Library.

Thursday, June 28 Rena Rockford: HOW TO CREATE IDEAS OUT OF THIN AIR

Thursday July 26 David Weitzman: STORYBOARDING & OTHER VISUAL WAYS TO PLOT YOUR STORY

Thursday, August 30 Natasha Yim: REINVENTING FOLK AND FAIRY TALES: WRITING INSPIRATION FROM STORIES YOU ALREADY KNOW

Thursday, September 27 Jody Gehrman: TEN TIPS TO MAKE YOUR DIALOGUE SING

Thursday, October 25 WRITING FOR YOUNG READERS: A PANEL DISCUSSION

Rena Rockford, David Weitzman, Natasha Yim and Jody Gehrman.

* * *

STORYBOARDING & OTHER VISUAL WAYS TO PLOT YOUR STORY

With David Weitzman

Thursday, July 26, 2018, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

The Ukiah Public Library

Using visual strategies and approaches from his experience as an author/illustrator, award-winning author David Weitzman will help writers explore plotting and story structure from a visual perspective. David will lead beginning to advanced writers on a visual journey from capturing first thoughts, creating quick rough drafts, storyboarding, and utilizing page turns to elicit surprise, discovery and adventure.

About David

David’s twenty books of historical narrative and fiction (Pharoah’s Boat, Rama and Sita, Old Ironsides, Jenny: The Airplane that Taught America to Fly) have received several awards including a Bronze Medal at the International Book Design Exhibition, Leipzig, Germany, a PEN Book Award for Children’s Nonfiction, an Association of Children’s Librarians Distinguished Book Award, and the Children’s Africana Book Award. Books can be seen at www.weitzmanbooks.com

* * *

REINVENTING FOLK AND FAIRY TALES:

WRITING INSPIRATION FROM STORIES YOU KNOW

With Natasha Yim

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

The Ukiah Public Library

Through guided exercises and prompts, picture book author, Natasha Yim, will help workshop participants explore the rich world of fairy tales, folk tales and legends for story ideas, and ways to re-write them into different yet familiar tales. This works for middle grade and young adult novels as well. Using her re-envisioned fairy/folk tales, Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas and The Rock Maiden, Natasha will share her revision process, the story “twists” that made it and those that didn’t (and why), and elements to consider to give your story a unique angle. We will also explore other titles in the genre.

About Natasha

Natasha Yim is a children’s author, playwright, and freelance writer and editor. She has published three fiction and two nonfiction picture books. Her book Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas (Charlesbridge Publishing, Jan. 2014) was a Junior Library Guild and Scholastic Book Club selection and was nominated for the 2017 Illinois Monarch Readers’ Choice Award. Her latest book, The Rock Maiden, was released by Wisdom Tales Press in March, 2017, and was a finalist for the 2017 Foreword Reviews Best Book of the Year award. Her recently completed picture book project for Disney Publishing Worldwide, Mulan’s Lunar New Year, will be released in October 2018.

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TEN TIPS TO MAKE YOUR DIALOGUE SING

Jody Gehrman:

Thursday, September 27, 2018 5:30-7:30

Ukiah Public Library

Many writers struggle with dialogue, from the technical rules that govern its execution to the bigger questions of authenticity and voice. Join playwright, screenwriter and novelist Jody Gehrman as she shares her love of dialogue and her top ten tips for making yours come alive.

About Jody

Jody Gehrman has authored eleven published novels and numerous plays for stage and screen. Her first suspense novel, Watch Me, was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2018. Jody’s plays have been produced or had staged readings in Ashland, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. Her newest full-length, Tribal Life in America, won the Ebell Playwrights Prize. She is a professor of Communications at Mendocino College.

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IDEA SETS: HOW TO CREATE IDEAS OUT OF THIN AIR

Rena Rockford

Rena Rockford presented the basic components of stories and the structure of stories in three acts. She also talked about idea sets, and how to use them to determine good story ideas from not so good story ideas.

About Rena

Like most mad scientists, Rena Rocford has made an art form of living as a muggle. Today the bills, tomorrow the world. She writes science fiction and fantasy for all ages from her secret base in wine country. When she isn’t planning for world domination, Rena creates nerdy art and enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She unleashed her first book Acne, Asthma, And Other Signs You Might Be Half Dragon on the world. The companion novel, Prom, Magic, and Other Man-Made Disasters has been released on the world with more to follow.

If you are interested in the program or want to find out more, please contact Melissa at the Ukiah Library: 467-6434 or carrm@mendocinocounty.org

MEMO OF THE AIR

"Princess Lili’uokalani! You getcher skinny little Hawaiian butt right back here this instant, do you hear me!"

The recording of last night's (2018-07-20) KNYO Fort Bragg and KMEC Ukiah Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show is available by one or two clicks, depending on whether you want to listen to it now or download it and keep it for later and, speaking of which, it's right here:

https://tinyurl.com/KNYO-MOTA-0290

Musician and astrological raconteur Lucky Otis, and bar bouncer/event producer Michelle 99, came back for another try, this time bringing the Verge Belanger, of the famous circus performing family of mom-led juggling acrobatic unicycle daredevils, and he demonstrated Mel's Mess, juggling up to fourteen crackers before I lost count and, at the finish, landed all but three safely in his mouth, a historic feat. Kay showed up. Thomas. Siddhe phoned at about 1am in response to my opening-of-show email expressing my dismay at not successfully connecting to KMEC, after things worked so well last week with the new equipment there. As before and always, he's on it. I don't remember how many times I've said this, but: next week for sure, for sure.

A lot of music about Heaven and a lady who's sure even though words have two meanings and all of our thoughts are misgiven, whatever that means. WordPress' spellcheck doesn't like it, I know that much. Pittspopper, it doesn't like that either. Gaziggled, no. Gowrshk, no.

These are all perfectly good words with one meaning each; the technology isn't quite ready yet.

Also at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find a fresh batch of links to not necessarily radio-useful but nonetheless worthwhile items I set aside for you while gathering the show together, things where just hearing it wouldn't be enough. Such as:

Drama of the deep.

https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2018/07/drama-in-deep.html

Maybe all unboxing videos are like this —I don't know; I've only heard about them— but this girl is so embarrassingly, entertainingly, out-of-control, flexible-happy-puppy excited about this thing, I wonder if she's an actress just pretending to be this person. Maybe she met somebody who's like that and it struck her as a useful comic model.

https://laughingsquid.com/mkbhd-ijustine-unbox-apple-ibook-g3/

New wow-worthy astronomy pictures:

https://tinyurl.com/AstroWow

And a new kind of art space.

https://newatlas.com/tokyo-mori-building-digital-art-museum/55491/

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio: Every Friday, 9pm to 5am on 107.7fm. KNYO-LP Fort Bragg, and 105.1fm KMEC-LP Ukiah. Also there and anywhere else via http://knyo.org

Marco McClean