Archive for the ‘*Annie Esposito Blog’ Category
In *Annie Esposito Blog on December 7, 2009 at 4:36 pm
From ANNIE ESPOSITO
Ukiah
Jitterbox, Bandbox, and Spencer Brewer’s Ukiah Music Center are all closing at once. Jitterbox and the Ukiah Music Center are advertising going out of business sales this month. The recession is taking them out – along with recession fall-out such as the loss of music programs in the schools.
But in addition to the recession, there is another problem. Brewer has been quoted as saying that people use the local music resource to research what they need. And they call him for advice after buying – but make their actual purchases on line.
There are also a lot of people who buy their books on “Large River dot Com” when local book stores depend on that support. It is a big mistake to economize on our local autonomy.
The local music stores (and any local stores) are an important presence in the community. From his base, Ukiah Music Center, Brewer started a music school and performance space, Treblemakers, which he must also let go. more→
In *Annie Esposito Blog on September 21, 2009 at 9:19 pm
From ANNIE ESPOSITO
Ukiah
There was a ceremony Monday (9/21) at the far end of the cemetery on Low Gap Road. Under a graveled area that looks just like another part of the parking lot, lie the bodies of 400 mental patients who died at the state hospital in Talmage (where the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas now stands.) Another 1,200 are cremated and buried en mass in an unmarked area between other grave stones.
This has been very painful for former mental patients; and there has been a seven-year campaign to get recognition for these people – forgotten in life and forgotten in death.
Organizers were pleasantly surprised that 75 or more people came – much bigger than previous events. There were several ex-patients who spoke. One recalled being released in the 70’s when the hospitals were shut down. When they asked her where she wanted to go, she had no idea. But the Sacramento Bee caught her eye, so she said, “Sacramento.” She was driven to Sacramento and set down on a street corner with about $150 – that was all.
But many people died in those hospitals and were buried without names. There is now a stone to commemorate their lives collectively. The new marker at the cemetery on Low Gap Road is on the far west side. It will eventually hold a plaque from the State of California acknowledging hundreds of state mental hospital patients buried in that place. The state has not yet released the money for the plaque. Keep reading→
Anchor Bay, Anderson Valley, Boonville, Calpella, Caspar, Cleone, Comptche, Covelo, Dos Rios, Elk, Fort Bragg, Gualala, HInglenook, Hopland, Laytonville, Leggett, Manchester, Mendo, Mendocino County, Navarro, Newport, Noyo, Philo, Piercy, Point Arena, Potter Valley, Redwood Valley, Rockport, ukiah, Ukiah Valley, Westport, Willits Albion, Yorkville
In *Annie Esposito Blog on August 12, 2009 at 5:11 pm
From ANNIE ESPOSITO
Ukiah
August 13, 2009 Ukiah Valley, Mendocino, North California
Six years ago, with a great amount of noise, federal agents stormed the Coyote Valley Reservation in Redwood Valley. They arrested then-tribal chair Priscilla Hunter at gunpoint in front of children, charged her with embezzlement, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice, drove her from office, threatened her with imprisonment, and forced her to live under a cloud of criminality. This week charges were dismissed. (Except for one misdemeanor failure to file one income tax return)
Hunter released this statement about her ordeal:
FOR IMMEDIATE AND CONTINUOUS RELEASE
CONTACT PERSON: PRISCILLA HUNTER (707) 391-6410
The family of Priscilla Hunter, want to thank the many good hearted people who submitted support letters on her behalf requesting the Federal District Court render a lenient sentence in her sentencing hearing on Thursday Aug 6 in the Northern District Federal Court. Priscilla pled guilty to one misdemeanor charge of failing to file a tax return, whereas she was charged with misappropriation of tribal casino revenue, obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy and the U.S Attorneys spent over six years in the investigation and pre-trial litigation of the case. All of the charges except the failure to file a tax return charge were dismissed.
As stated by local press the investigation and charges that were leveled against the former Tribal Council were the first effort of a joint federal and state Task Force established to fight crime in Indian Country and they may have started with a bang but “ended in a whimper”.
Keep reading→
Anchor Bay, Anderson Valley, Boonville, Calpella, Caspar, Cleone, Comptche, Covelo, Dos Rios, Elk, Fort Bragg, Gualala, HInglenook, Hopland, Laytonville, Leggett, Manchester, Mendo, Mendocino County, Navarro, Newport, Noyo, Philo, Piercy, Point Arena, Potter Valley, Redwood Valley, Rockport, ukiah, Ukiah Valley, Westport, Willits Albion, Yorkville
In *Annie Esposito Blog on July 14, 2009 at 9:07 pm
From ANNIE ESPOSITO
Ukiah
July 15, 2009 Ukiah Valley, Mendocino County, North California
[We often hear about change starting from within. We change ourselves and it manifests outward in ripples that begin change for the world. But the reality is that no matter how virtuous we are as individuals, or think we are, effective change needs to be systemic. Ecologist Derrick Jensen is circulating an essay making that point - we need to go after corporate power to create real change. And it's dangerous, but necessary. -AE]
[Todd Walton and Annie exchange comments about this article in the Comments section below. Your thoughts? -DS]
~
Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”?
Part of the problem is that we’ve been victims of a campaign of systematic misdirection. Consumer culture and the capitalist mindset have taught us to substitute acts of personal consumption (or enlightenment) for organized political resistance. An Inconvenient Truth helped raise consciousness about global warming. But did you notice that all of the solutions presented had to do with personal consumption Keep reading→
Hopland, Mendo, Mendocino County, Redwood Valley, ukiah, Ukiah Valley, Willits
In *Annie Esposito Blog on May 24, 2009 at 10:03 am
From ANNIE ESPOSITO
Ukiah
May 24, 2009 Ukiah, Mendocino County, North California
There’s enough bad news to deal with: over-development, global warming, legislative nonsense offensive on many different levels. Sometimes, though, you can just take a deep breath and enjoy the wonders of our mortal plane.
For example, a giant asparagus from a distant part of the solar system has invaded Dora Street. Troyle Tognoli has a flower garden that pleases all people who walk by. But now they stop and stare. A century plant is blossoming. As the weeks go by, the stalk jumps up another few feet. This week it sent out branchlets which will hold the flower clusters.
Here is Troyle looking up at the plant as it looked on Saturday. It’s still climbing, and looks like it is trying to match height with the adjacent palm.
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In *Annie Esposito Blog on April 13, 2009 at 6:09 pm
From Annie Esposito
Apr 13, 2009, Ukiah, Mendocino County, North California
The Saturday Afternoon Clubhouse on Oak Street is shaded by a beautiful redwood. But of course the Redwood isn’t the small obedient tree it was when it was part of a planting program after World War II. It is now pushing up the sidewalk and it was doing the same to the porch of the building. In the past there had been plans to cut it down to save the building.
Fortunately, however, the building was bought by Lisa Mammina who was determined to do anything she could to save the tree along with the structure. And where there’s a will, there’s a way. With help from Mike Riddell, they took off the stairs to go under the porch and support the structure while they cut two inches off the uprights. They set it back down and voila — the porch is level and the tree thrives. She may have to do something similar in ten or fifteen years, but it is well worth the effort.
It cost Lisa a couple of thousand dollars to “finesse” the building. To cut the tree down, she could have made a couple of thousand dollars from the wood. What a gift to the community to think things through and preserve part of the town’s canopy. Lisa is very happy with the result as well. The tall tree is a magnificent accent to the building, making it more than just an ordinary building.
There have been trees cut down for expedience that should have been preserved. Think before you reach for that chainsaw, and you’ll have a better town. That tree may just be an important part of the architecture and not ‘in the way’ after all.
(Coincidently, Thursday evening April 16th, the Audobon Society will present a slide show on Life in the Canopies of the Redwoods at the Saturday Afternoon Clubhouse. There’s a lot that goes on up there in the treetops.)
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Hopland, Mendo, Mendocino County, Redwood Valley, ukiah, Ukiah Valley, Willits
In *Annie Esposito Blog on March 30, 2009 at 6:35 am
From Annie Esposito
3/30/09 Ukiah, North California
The Mendocino Coastline is facing three threats right now. (Well, at least three.) Offshore oil and gas development are back on the table, along with experiments in wave energy generation. And the Navy wants to extend military training on the coast.
The Navy does a kind of high tech target practice out of Puget Sound, which extends down to the Humboldt-Mendocino line. Supervisor John McCowan notes that fish and sea mammals don’t know about the line; and high tech target practice will affect Mendocino’s coast as well. Officials from the Navy will be at the Board of Supervisors Tuesday March 31st, at 4 pm. They will be answering questions from the Supervisors and the public. Community members are encouraged to be there to let the Navy know that there are grave concerns about militarization of the coast and the threat it poses both to peace and marine habitat.
Meanwhile Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, will be in San Francisco April 16th. It is the nearest of several regional meetings on energy development on the outer continental shelf. Judith Vidaver of the Mendocino County chapter of the Sierra Club is encouraging people to attend that meeting as well. People will get a chance to inform the Secretary about regional opposition to offshore drilling and experimental wave energy devices. And people can also give their input on the militarization of the coast while they’re at it. For information on car pooling, people can contact Vidaver at 964-2742. If there are 50 people interested in going, they may rent a bus. It would leave from Willits early in the morning, to get to San Francisco by 8:30 a.m. – again, on Thursday, April 16th.
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Hopland, Mendo, Mendocino County, Redwood Valley, ukiah, Ukiah Valley, Willits
In *Annie Esposito Blog on March 16, 2009 at 4:23 pm
From Annie Esposito
3/16/09 Ukiah, North California
Friday the 13th was Pink Friday all over the state – including Mendocino County. Teachers and supporters wore pink to protest the pink slips being given to teachers. About 60 teachers here could be affected. A crossing guard wearing a pink muffler, a teacher on traffic duty with a pink necktie – made a rosy picture.
But of course the big picture is not. And teachers face the brunt of the steady decline in enrollment and the budget crisis. Superintendent Lois Nash promised to take the same cuts as everyone else. But one teacher noted that it’s different when you get in the negotiating room: A lawyer represents the superintendent in negotiations. And teachers are on their own. Cutbacks could include school closings – and Hopland could lose its local school.
A spirited group of teachers “pinked” in front of the County Court House; they got loud support from cars traveling past the scene. The teachers marched to Grace Hudson museum for a party and to hear announcements. They will be waiting for the May Budget Revise to learn more about their fate. Teachers are asking for creative ways to save money – other than the quick and easy axe.
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Hopland, Mendo, Mendocino County, Redwood Valley, ukiah, Ukiah Valley, Willits
In *Annie Esposito Blog on March 5, 2009 at 11:38 pm
From Annie Esposito
3/6/09 Ukiah, North California
This year the Annual Women’s History Celebration takes place on International Women’s Day, March 8th. The theme is “Women Taking the Lead to Save the Planet” and will be dedicated to Judi Bari. Alicia Littletree will open the gathering with a little talk about Bari and a song by or about her.
The featured speaker will be Rachel Binah, who initiated an environmental caucus for the Democratic Party and worked against offshore oil drilling when she ran a bed and breakfast on the coast.
Honorees include Ellen Drell, co-founder of the Willits Environmental Center and Jenny Burnstad, a mainstay of the Mendocino Environmental Center in Ukiah. Burnstad will share the stage with daughter Alida – the two of them oversee the Cloudforest Institute. Another mother-daughter pair will be Karen Bates and Sally Schmidt of the organic Philo Apple Farm, pioneering ecological agri-tourism. Phyllis Curtis will be honored for her work on the Mendocino County Land Trust. Poet Mary Norbert Korte and musician Kitty Rose will add cultural touches to the environmental theme.
This year the Women’s History Gala will be at the Saturday Afternoon Clubhouse, 107 North Oak Street, Sunday, March 8, from 12:30 to 3:30. The event is sponsored by The American Association of University Women, Soroptimist International of Yokayo Sunrise, the Saturday afternoon Club and the National Women’s Political Caucus. Local radio KMEC will live-cast the celebration at 105.1 fm.
Image credit: Judi Bari by Xiang Xing Zhou, San Francisco 1995
Hopland, Mendo, Mendocino County, ukiah, Ukiah Valley, Willits
In *Annie Esposito Blog on March 1, 2009 at 12:35 pm
From Annie Esposito
3/1/09 Ukiah, Northern California
Senator Diane Feinstein’s San Francisco Office Director, Russell Lowe, spoke to the business community in Ukiah Friday. The West Company brought Lowe to Fort Bragg and Ukiah to present categories of funding in the Economic Recovery Package. The Senator noted that the package isn’t perfect, but it’s the one that can pass. And it will bring substantial revenue to California, creating as many as 396,000 jobs here.
As you can imagine, there were all kinds of questions and comments for Lowe to take to the Senator. But there was a major message to Feinstein from our rural area – a recurring theme. At least five people raised the issue – in five separate ways – that none of that money will make it here.
Ukiah City Manager Jane Chambers said that she does not have the staff it would take to go through the myriad burdensome requirements to even be able to apply for that money. The larger cities have that kind of personnel power built in. Second District Supervisor John McCowen said the same for the County. He indicated that Mendocino County does not have the extra personnel to focus on the (unnecessarily) complicated hoops to jump through. Madeline Holtkamp, who has worked on economic development issues locally for years, noted that for a lot of big population areas, there are already templates for their areas in place that they can plug in – with personnel familiar with those arcane processes and, of course, resources to do it. Jesse Burnett, Executive Director of the Northern California Tribal Economic Development Consortium, said the same for the tribes. He noted that it is a very small percentage of tribes that are rich from casino profits. Most tribes are struggling – and they certainly don’t have trained, surplus employees to bring in the federal money. A representative from the MendoLake Credit Union made the same point from where he sits. The big banks who were instrumental in the economic melt-down get bailout money. Our local credit union pumps money right into the local economy. For example, MendoLake Credit Union makes more car loans for people here than any of the “chain” banks. This enables people to get to work and buoys local car dealerships. But the Credit Union will not qualify for any of the federal help because of its structure as a member organization rather than a big private bank.
Feinstein aide Russell Lowe said that people can contact him at One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco CA 94104 – letters are best, because e-mails are unverifiable. People planning to visit Washington DC should contact him at 415-393-0707. Feinstein holds a breakfast meeting with constituents Wednesday mornings before work while Congress is in session. It’s on a first come first serve basis.
[Update -DS]
“Just as our political regeneration will happen locally, in counties and states that learn how to control themselves and demonstrate how to govern effectively in a time of limits, so will our economic regeneration. That will begin in someone’s garage, somebody’s kitchen, as it did in the case of Messrs. Jobs and Wozniak. The comeback will be from the ground up and will start with innovation. No one trusts big anymore. In the future everything will be local. That’s where the magic will be. And no amount of pessimism will stop it once it starts.” ~Syndicated Columnist Peggy Noonan
food
In *Annie Esposito Blog on December 30, 2008 at 3:20 pm
From Steve Scalmanini
via Doug Mosel
~
Various news reports:
Ohio authorities stormed a farm house in LaGange Monday, December 1, to execute a search warrant, holding the Jacqueline and John Stowers and their son and young grandchildren at gunpoint for nine hours. During the raid the Ohio Department of Agriculture and police confiscated over ten thousand dollars worth of food, computers and cell phones. The Stowers’ crime? They run a private, members-only food co-op.
While state authorities were looking for evidence of illegal activities,
the family was not informed what crime they were suspected of, they were not read their rights or allowed to make a phone call. The children, some as young as toddlers, were traumatized by armed officers interrogating the adults with guns drawn.
The Morning Journal, a newspaper serving northern Ohio, reported that the Stowers were believed to be operating without a license. However, the Stowers claim that the food co-op they run does not engage in any activities that would require state licensing.
Friends of the Stowers openly question why such aggressive tactics were necessary to investigate a licensing complaint.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture has apparently been chastised by the courts in previous cases for over-reach, including entrapment of an Amish man to sell raw milk, which backfired, when it became known that the man gave milk instead of selling it to a state undercover agent, refusing to take money for what he believed to be a charitable act. The Amish literally interpret the Gospel of Matthew (5:42) to “give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
The matter has been forwarded to the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office and the Lorain County General Health District according to Lorain County court records.
Energy, peak oil
In *Annie Esposito Blog on December 24, 2008 at 1:00 pm
From
Steve Scalmanini
This short article is downright inspirational, thinking about what we could do locally. The $6,000 per resident cost is comparable to the typical current price of putting solar on a single family dwelling – roughly $20,000. Assuming three people per dwelling, that’d be $18K. Sounds doable to me…
Continue reading→
politics
In *Annie Esposito Blog on December 18, 2008 at 2:29 pm
From Annie Esposito and Steve Scalmanini
There is a local group forming to send feedback to the incoming administration – as is happening with other groups around the country. Antonia Juhazs, author of “The Tyranny of Oil,” encouraged people to do this when she spoke in Ukiah recently. For more information, contact ruth at rusander1@yahoo.com.
A half dozen to a dozen people gather in front of the court house every Friday from 5 to 6 pm, to urge world peace upon the rush hour traffic. They report that over the span of time they’ve been there with their anti-war signs, approval rating has continued to climb with more honking and ‘right ons.’ But there was a disturbing change after Obama won the election. They received racist slurs from several passers-by for the first time. The overall reaction of the drivers and pedestrians, however, continues to be positive.
Meanwhile there is a new website Obama Watch – put together by Redwood Valley resident Jim Houle. He is running short reality checks comparing what Obama has promised with what he is doing – both the Beautiful and the Ugly. Houle also welcomes contributions to the site – but no windy editorials, please. It’s at http://www.Obama-Watch.us and you can contact Jim at obamawatch@willitsonline.com. And we can celebrate escaping the reign of a President Palin: The local Democrats will hold a Mendocino version of the Inaugural Ball. That will be at the fairgrounds in Ukiah January 20th, 7 pm. The Democrats will dance while a 65″ screen above the band shows the Ball in DC. It’s evening attire and costs $35 (to benefit the Mendocino County Democratic Central Committee). Contact gigi@pacific.net for information – they think it will sell out.
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