this ain't livin'

The Beacon Update | 21Aug05

Interesting bits of news between the news this week in the Beacon–the first related to a fatal accident on the Navarro River which occured on Tuesday. As of press time, the victims could not be identified because the families had not been notified, but other news sources revealed that one of the victims was Joe Ranft of Pixar. The report in the Beacon is brief–three men driving northbound went off the road shortly after the 1/128 Junction. The report also mentions that the men were wearing seatbelts–ever since an accident last year where a man was not wearing his seatbelt and died subsequently, the paper has made a point of including this information in their reports.

However, the men were driving an suv, and it is my suspicion that they were probably not driving it very intelligently, a frequent problem around here. 128 is extremely long and windy–the road flattens out after the junction and the driver was probably lulled into a false sense of security. It’s also highly probable that he wasn’t used to driving that type of vehicle on the sorts of roads common in Mendocino County. Most of the accident reports in the local papers involve suvs, especially with older drivers. Suvs have an undeserved reputation for safety and reliability, perhaps because they are aimed at an urban market, where these myths may actually be accurate. It’s curious but true–despite the advertisements in print and television showing rugged outdoorsmen with suvs, most locals don’t drive suvs because they are dangerous. With their soggy handling and tippiness, they are not responsive and reliable enough for curving roads which are often slick with water and, sometimes, ice. Local residents who need a workhorse of a vehicle generally drive light trucks. Those that haul heavy loads keep a heavier-weighted pick-up around. While of course it’s unfortunate that two of the passengers in the vehicle died, I must still question their common sense, and the market that drives consumers to purchase unsafe and overpriced vehicles in droves.

The things we do for status.

In other and better news for the area, the Federal court ruled against offshore oil drilling, and not for the first time. Offshore drilling has been a major issue in the county ever since the Reagen era, when it became a serious threat. Curiously, it’s one issue about which most coastal residents are united. The hunting, fishing, and logging communities oppose it because it destabilizes the marine environment, and, by extension, other reliant ecosystems, potentially putting their income at risk. The hippies oppose it because, frankly, offshore derricks are ugly, and most people who have been to Southern California know this. The scientific community also opposes drilling, because offshore drilling is never “safe.” Consistent leaks of crude oil in one of the richest and most biodiverse marine environments in the world would be a tragedy. The tourist industry also opposes drilling, because of the threat to their income–no one travels to Mendocino to look at cumbersome structures of steel rooted to the seabed.

However, the potential for offshore drilling is a growing threat. As energy sources dry up, more and more companies, and the United States Government, are eyeing the offshore waters of California greedily. Senators and Congresspeople from California claim to be dedicated to keeping offshore drilling out, arguing that the benefit would not outweigh the immense cost. But how long can we stave off the oil industry? Shortsighted members of this country point to rising gas prices, and then to the oil reserves off the state of California, and they ask why we are not doing our part to end the energy crisis. However, no one really knows how much oil there is in California. Existing wells in the south have been in operation for anywhere between 17 and 33 years, depending on the length of the lease. Is extending drilling operations to the North really an intelligent solution? California must not be the only state which is trying to examine the energy problem with a long-term view–and that view involves independence from petroleum based energy, which is a finite resource. Destroying the world’s oceans is not the solution, weakening the power of the petrochemical industry is.

[oil]
[Mendocino]

The Weekly Advocate Roundup | 18Aug05

Big news this week of course was the bridge dedication which occured last Friday. Attended by a smattering of politicians including Wes Chesboro and Patty Berg, as well as some inland supervisors, and a sampling of former Fort Bragg mayors, it sounds as though the dedication went well. Friday was marked by fog and only a small, brave crowd turned out to attend the ceremony, which was followed by a parade. (By all accounts, the parade was pathetic, consisting of the dregs of local groups and a few oddballs. Everyone is resting up for Paul Bunyan Days, which are almost upon us.) The boat salute was a bust, although the Coast Guard cutter did make an appearance. The length of the bridge was also speculated about at length–in actuality, the bridge is not “wider than the Golden Gate Bridge.” It falls four feet short of the Golden Gate, and I’m sure it will serve this community just fine. Hopefully the day will never come when a wide bridge might be desired.

Some speeches were made, some individuals were toasted, ribbons were cut, and everyone trundled home.

But there are two things, or, rather, two people about the bridge whom we should remember. Although there seems to be some confusion about it, the bridge actually is named for Lt. Charles Larson, who lost his life fighting in the Second World War. Larson’s family attended the dedication of the previous bridge as well, which sounds like a much grander affair by all accounts, with wreaths, Navy flyovers, and other such relics of an age when people used to dedicate things properly. The bridge is not “The New Noyo Bridge,” or even “A Triumph of CalTrans Engineering.” It is the Lt. Charles Larson Memorial Bridge, and most people native to this community know it. I hope that the plaques on the endpieces of the bridge are restored, so that visitors can be made aware of this as well. It’s important for us to remember our heritage and our roots, and Fort Bragg is small enough that dedicating a bridge to the memory of one of her former citizens seems no crime to me. When a community this size loses one of her own, it is an experience which marks everyone. I have a feeling I’m not the only resident who prays that no more bridges will need to be named for friends, neighbors, and children.

Julio Quintero, the man who was killed during the building of the bridge, was also honored. The accident in which he died was freakish, and I’m sure I’m not the only who has wondered how his white supervisor survived and he didn’t. During the early stages of construction on the bridge, rebar columns were created which would later serve as cores for the concrete trusses. Early one morning, Quintero and a supervisor were working on one of these columns, which suddenly collapsed–Quintero was crushed. This of course does call into some question the support system of a bridge which is now host to brisk traffic in both directions.

There have been numerous accidents on the deck of the bridge in past years, as well. Is the bridge bloodthirsty, or is it merely that in a small town, each death had impact? At any rate, now we have a new bridge, and the roadway, at least, is accident free thus far. With the amount of drunk driving convictions in the court report, we shall see how long that lasts.

[Fort Bragg]

General Hospital, episode 313 | 17Aug05

And, the eagerly awaited update in the MCDH saga:

Editorials and letters to the editor continue to abound. The line in the sand is beginning to resemble The People vrs. MCDH, as administration hotly contends that the hospital is running money losing programs, and providing lists of these losing programs, including Caring for Women, the ambulance, and other unimportant hospital services. Civilians repeatedly ask why the hospital hasn’t added “boneheaded administrators” to the list. An article in the 13 July AVA points out that many civilians (including yours truly) viewed the advertising campaign for Measure R (the ill-fated parcel tax discussed below) as a threat, and voted against the hospital out of spite. (The hospital also sent me a bill for emergency services from March two days after the election out of spite, apparently.)

The hospital renovations are now running several million dollars out of budget, and the hospital had to get approval to use money from their reserve account to pay outstanding bills—some of which are over three months old. (Although Advocate readers are assured that the hospital always pays local merchants within 60 days.)

The good ship MCDH has developed a strong and suspicious list to port.

[Fort Bragg]
[MCDH]

And, the Beacon Update | 14Aug05

This week’s Beacon was singularly unscintillating. The cover photo, for a report on the Caspar World Folk Festival, was of a fat girl hula-hooping. I don’t know who decided that would make a good cover image.

I also don’t know who decided that the “Caspar World Folk Festival,” a largely self aggrandizing event filled with local ego-heads, would make good cover material. As a former Caspar resident, I am well aware of the demographic shift from community to fiefdom which Caspar has experienced, and it saddened me.

You see, back in Caspar’s dark ages, a large chunk of undeveloped land went up for sale. The community of friends and neighbors realized that unless they acted, it would be filled with McMansions and other assorted signs of progress, and they banded together to protect their home town. However, a few personalities within the Caspar community dominated the proceedings, and one by one the voices of temperance and logic fled, leaving Caspar in the hands of a megalomaniac few. It is my profound hope that some of Caspar’s exiles will return and retake control of their homeland–it is long past time. As it is now, Caspar is truly a decaying ghost town, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of a place filled with friendly people who would meet in the street in the evenings to talk over community events. Now it is a dark and cold place, unwelcoming and sour.

[Caspar]

Working girls | 11Aug05

Your intrepid reporter at last has a job, which will hopefully result in a greater and more interesting frequency of posting, as she will not be spending every waking hour seeking employment. That said, plans to paint the house are afoot, and will therefore interfere with scintillating on-the-spot Bragg News. An earnest attempt will be made to attend the bridge dedication tomorrow for all the last in Fort Bragg style, gossip, and construction trends.

We hope you can survive.

Look out for the Weekly Advocate Roundup and the Beacon Update on Thursdays and Sundays, respectively.

The weekly Advocate roundup | 11Aug05

Apparently, hiring hitmen has gone to the heads of the local ruffians, as this week Reuben Ralph Casillas was arrested for soliciting the murder and torture of no less than five people. Luckily for the intended victims, Casillas is apparently inept, as his hired hitman turned out to be a police operative. Unusually for Mendocino County, several law enforcement agencies apparently cooperated in the case, allowing for rapid processing and booking.

Glad Fort Bragg’s finest does something other than harassing teenagers with skateboards.

It would appear that media coverage really does inspire copy-cat crimes—Alice Kautz went before the court for locking her daughter in her car trunk. The seasonal state parks worker apparently wanted to conceal the presence of the girl from other parks employees, as children are not allowed at work. She pled guilty on the charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance in exchange for a drop of the child endangerment charge.

Excitement grows about the bridge dedication, which is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:30, with parade to follow. I’m just excited that the bridge is four lanes now.

[Fort Bragg]
[hitmen]

General Hospital, episode 303 | 05Aug05

Perhaps the most intriguing bit of news this week in the Advocate involves the case of a transient who apparently drove his car into the Emergency Room. Well, in strict truth, he drove his vehicle at the Emergency Room, apparently damaging the glass wind barrier at the entrance.

This instance of wanton destruction was apparently prompted by “frustration” with the hospital staff, and it is related to another local issue—that of the hospital itself. It is the largest health care within miles, and is accredited with the state—it has actually won awards in the past for quality of care, although in recent years the standard has gone down. A certain amount of thoughtlessness and recklessness goes on at the hospital, especially, it is noted, with Medical and Medicaid patients. While it is not able to deal with major life threatening conditions, the hospital does have OB/GYN services, and acute care facility, and a fair number of beds. For major medical mishaps, patients are airlifted out. For most surgical procedures, patients go out of town. But the hospital serves a function. It has a 24 hour ER. It’s there when you need it. (And bills ferociously for it later.)

However, Mendocino Coast District Hospital is going under. Rapidly. Most of the community has sensed this coming for some time, and a series of increasing desperate articles in the Advocate testify to it. The hospital has repeatedly had troubles renewing the Blue Shield and Blue Cross contracts. It has also repeatedly been accused of mismanagement and gross misuse of funds.

Almost no one in the community disputes that the hospital wastes money, overpaying administrators and underpaying health care professionals. I know numerous nurses and doctors who formerly worked with the hospital, and now do not, because of the difficulties in the administration there. A recent letter to the editor written by Herb Ruhs laid out the myriad problems with the hospital from the perspective of a former doctor, and encouraged the community to do something about it.

In the November election, a bond act to raise funds for the hospital was voted down by a substantial margin. The message was clear—we as a community are tired of the histrionics of the hospital. It is time for a major change. The hospital claims that it will be cutting vital services, including the ambulance, for lack of funds. Yet, plans go on for the annual hospital fund raiser, Winesong. (In which, ironically, masses of the coast’s elite get together to drink wine in the hot sun and then merrily drive home. Perhaps there is a certain pragmatism here, inasmuch as the accident rate skyrockets during Winesong weekend.)

The question the community is faced with is this: do we allow the hospital to go under, or sell out to a conglomerate, potentially threatening the already questionable quality of care available? Or do we strive to save it, and at what cost? How much are we willing to do to save a clearly lame duck from what seems like an inevitable fate?

The problem with the hospital speaks to a larger problem in Californian, and American, health care. The fact is, a large portion of the nation can’t even afford to go to hospitals for care. Those who can choose to go to places like Stanford and UCSF. Except for a thinning group of middle class locals and confused tourists, it is unclear who the hospital is really serving, and if it’s entirely fair to demand that people who can’t afford to go to the hospital pay for it. Especially when the hospital is engaged in a multi million dollar renovation. It is clear that major changes are needed in the health care system—one wonders how many people will have to suffer before they happen.

[Fort Bragg]
[MCDH]

Wacky doings in Westport, part II | 01Aug05

The allegations are flying.

After a brief and apparently decorous tussle within the Republican Central Committee, Rogers has been allowed to take a six months leave of absence. While an 8-3 vote initially set in motion a request for Rogers to resign altogether, he sent the group a letter pleading instead for time off, and his request was granted.

As a member of the committee points out, this seems entirely reasonable given that at this point, he has not been convicted of any crime. Meanwhile, a temporary chair has stepped in, and intends to engage in more Republican outreach to the youth a community where Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one. She says that she thinks “Republicans are sometimes made to feel unwelcome in local dialogue.”

I can’t imagine where she got that impression.

(As reported in the 28 July Advocate)

[Fort Bragg]
[Westport]