Polly Endert vs Linda Atkins? Left vs Right Part 2?

Current Eureka Councilmember Polly Endert from the 2nd Ward, has not officially announced her intention for this coming November election. She has formed a committee (North Coast Journal) so I assume she will throw her hat in the ring. I wonder who is on her committee?

Polly will have a challenge from Linda Atkins if decides to retain her position. Linda is a Democrat and past union member. Haven't heard her vision for Eureka yet. She seems to be hanging on the coattails of 4th Ward hopeful George Clark HighBoldtage.

Any other potential candidates for the 2nd Ward? I get the feeling this will be another very partisan election.

SAC ends up 4th place in Oregon ASA "C" division State Championships. We qualify to go to nationals in Seattle.

First of all, let me tell you that the US Cellular Fields in Medford are really nice. Not Redding Big League Dreams nice, but the 5 artificial turf fields are very playable. You can see them right off of I-5 but it takes some maneuvering to find them. I requested a chance from the ASA rep if we could participate and they said we could. They placed us in the "upper" division and we competed well and placed 4th in the ASA "C" division. We did not get any close calls, but that is expected when we travel. (Local teams know the umps by name and they have to deal with those guys all year. We are just a weekend fling.) The players were great, and I met some new friends and caught up with other hard line players. It was fun regardless of our losing to Southern Oregon Softball Grants Pass Storm 5-4 to knock us out of the tourney.

My batting slump continues, so I am ready for a break out weekend. Playing 4 leagues and being over 50 has caught up with me. But I love the game and the players so I keep going.

Tournament in Scotia this weekend? Stay tuned for more information.

Don't forget the August 9th and 10th tournament at Big League Dreams in Redding. Call me at 707-445-3432. Or email me.

Oregon ASA Softball State Championships! SAC invited and not doing well. Seen my niece and nephew so worth the drive!

The Samoa Athletic Club softball team is playing in the ASA Oregon state championships. We were allowed because we had no jurisdiction boundaries. Good news is I have had a hit in each game we played. Bad news is we lost all three games. We have been assigned a "C" league status which means we played State 19th ranked "Drinking Devils" of Oregon and they beat us 11-1. Then we faced " RV Holiday" from Medford who are ranked 8th in the state, and they beat us 7-4. Our last game of the day was ranked Grants Pass team, "The Swarm" whom beat us 12-9. The last two tourneys we have played we have placed 3rd and 4th. So this is not a good start.

Great news is that I was able to see my niece Colleen and nephew Darrell between games. I have not been up this way in over a decade! My great nieces and nephews are nearly adults! Wow. Time flies. It was great to see them all! The last time Colleen saw me play softball I had the number 00 on my shirt. She yelled "Go Double Zero! Go you big nothing!" Funny. All the kids and stuff were beautiful.

Medford has given me inspiration for some topics! Stay tuned!

Worst softball weekend of my life.

Wow. This weekend I totally sucked at softball. I went 2-10 and hit into a double play, struck out and for the second straight tourney, made two outs in an inning. Oh yes, I walked in two runs in and just sucked pitching.

After our win Sat. night, our team went to All Stars bar in Anderson to celebrate. Since I struck out, I paid for the beer. Damn. After we settled in to our Motel 6 rooms, we walked to Bert & Ernie's bar off of Hilltop Drive. When I walked in, a young lady walked up to me and waved her hands over me and said, "What is this going on? This is not working." I was wearing my Humboldt's Finest Shirt with brown pants and Cal hat. Wow. I couldn't even make through the door without comment. I left my teammates a little after 1am and went back to the motel.

Maybe I should pack it in. I am getting tired.

Tsunami Mountain/Sewage Plant/RV Park for Fairhaven Sandwellers?

As luck would have it, our Samoa Peninsula Fire District volunteers were called out on a fire in the woods just west of the end of the Samoa Bridge near the “Doghouse” right before our public meeting about the Tsunami “Mountain/Sewer System/RV Park” Berm being proposed in Fairhaven.

Samoa Peninsula Fire District Chair Troy Nicolini, whom is also involved with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration http://www.noaa.gov/, led the meeting first as a NOAA Rep who wants organized Evacuation Plans and actual drill planning for emergency situations. He made it clear that Fairhaven is not ready for a tsunami.

Then, Troy covered his shirt NOAA logo and spoke as the chair of the fire department. He said the intent or idea has been brought forward to develop a mountain that would serve as an evacuation point for Fairhaven. There are waste “spoils” near the airport that could be used to build the hill. People talked about gridlock to get off of Peninsula, environmental issues, where is the best spot and past history of tsunami warnings. There was a clear consensus from the crowd (Over 30 people) that the concept was agreeable.

Then the funding was discussed. How do we get this done? The Army Corp of Engineers will pay for the feasibility studies to see if this is even doable. FEMA money should also be available. A community private partnership, Coast Guard, BLM and City of Eureka help was also discussed. (Eureka owns the airport and other land adjacent to Fairhaven) The creation of a new service district or expansion of the Manila Community Service District to include the whole peninsula was also brought up. And what about the Harbor District and Humboldt County’s roles in bringing recreation to the peninsula without helping with emergency services? Many layers.

The real driving force for this project is also entrepreneurial. Kurt Kramer Properties has been told that he can not continue to build residential homes in Fairhaven, (He owns many parcels) unless he mitigates the Tsunami issue. He also needs to come up with a sewage plan for his parcels. In the past, Wisconsin mounds SEPTIC TANKS (basically a mound leach field in the back yards.) were deemed OK, but that has changed lately. So there is need for the community as a whole, for a new sewage system. So Kramer is willing to partner in building a Berm over 30 feet tall with a new Fire Station/Evacuation point, with a sewage treatment plant below and just for good measure, a new RV Park on the other side. Stay tuned.

$2.50 a fill up! Environmentally sound transportation.

Dave Stancliff recently wrote about vehicles that run on air. Yes, believe it or not, this technology is ready! Air-Powered Car Coming to U.S. in 2009 to 2010 - Zero Pollution Motors - 1000-Mile Range - Popular Mechanics. Why don't we hear more about these alternatives? Let us hope for the best!

Fairhaven Tsunami "Mountain" construction meeting tomorrow night 6pm at Fairhaven.

Samoa fire officials to discuss tsunami evacuation site at Fairhaven July 17th at 6pm. I am on the Board of Directors for the Samoa Peninsula Fire District, so I will be there to hear public comment. Should be interesting. The first project of it's kind in the United States.

Democrats host Chicken by the Sea!

This Sunday will be the HCDCC hosted Chicken by the Sea at Trinidad City Hall. If you have not purchased your ticket yet, it is $20 at the door. Mix with political people from all spectrum in a beautiful setting. Robin and I will be there so should you.

Update: It is all done. Many ate. We had hundreds there and people seemed festive.

During the dessert auction, a cake went for $200!

Politically, speeches were given by 1st District Assembly hopeful Wes Chesbro. County Supervisor candidate for the 2nd District Estelle Fennell. Arcata City Council candidate Mike Winkler, Eureka City 4th Ward candidate George Clark and Eureka 2nd Ward Candidate Alice Atkins. (I hope that is her first name. Busy day.)

I had BBQ duty and it went pretty smooth. Had many compliments on the chicken. (We preboiled the chicken and then put Lawreys seasoning on first, and added BBQ sauce.) Then we used the BBQ charcoal grill to give that smoke taste. Thanks to Jaime O'Donnell for the use of grill, ice chests and advice. (Jaime was supposed to man the grill but broke his arm and had to coach from the sidelines.)

Thanks also to my fellow HCDCC member helpers: Larry Hourany, Phillis A. Taborski, Milt Boyd, Barbara Kennedy, Chuck Dewitt, Pam Service, Barbara Carolan, Chuck Harvey, Mike Winkler, Christine L. Cole and all others I may have overlooked.

Charlene Cutler-Ploss chaired this event and did a commendable job in a thankless task. She wore many hats. Thanks Charlene. (Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger. This was a test.)

Clark vs Jager. Left vs Right?

Chris Kerrigan is terming out as Eureka city council member representing the 4th Ward. Man, those 8 years went fast!

Long time Eureka Business owner George Clark is running for the position. George is a liberal who fits the label of a local "progressive" Berkley type Democrat. I am sure he will have the resources to run a good campaign, and I think he will be tough to beat. I have not heard enough to judge his agenda yet. Back in 2000 he had a claim against the city of Eureka. Anyone out there remember what that was about? Is this one of the reasons he is running?

Frank Jager is the likely challenger for this position. He is currently leads the Humboldt County Coroners Office, but is retiring this year. He was a Eureka Councilman from 1992 to 1998. What does he think he can do now differently from what he did last time? Don't know what his agenda is yet either.

I realize this is a "non-partisan" position, but I have come to the conclusion there is no such thing in Humboldt County anymore.

Liberal vs Conservative. Democrat vs Republican. Environment vs Business. Left vs Right. Let the games begin.

HCDCC 4th of July Booth crazy! SAC places 3rd in Yuba. Old man Marks makes 2 outs in one inning!

Robin and I attended the 4th of July events in Eureka and Arcata. The Eureka fair looked well attended.......by dogs! I did not know you had to have your Rottweiler present to go. We then went to the Arcata event, where Robin and I were to man the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee Booth. Shane Brinton helped out and we registered a ton of people! We were pretty much slammed most of the time. We also engaged in much debate with passersby. It was fun banter mostly. No Republican booths in either venues.

Since my tournament in Weaverville was canceled, the R-co softball team I play on in Eureka decided to play in Yuba City on Saturday. We lost our first game (Never a good idea on the road) in the bottom of the 7th inning. We won our next game in the bottom of the 7th and seemed to have our bats going I started out 5-6 and was on base 6 out of my first 7 at bats, so I was feeling pretty good about the day. Then we had a wild game against one of the local teams and went through 12 batters in one inning. I was the first and third out. I can never remember doing that before. I hope to never do it again. The silver lining is that we won 24-20. We finished 3rd. I think the heat really took it out of us. If we won that first game, I think we could have won this tourney. The tournament director thought we had a "scrappy" team. I am over 50. My players would say my game is not scrappy, but it rhymes with it.

Weaverville July 4th softball tournament update.

As of right now, the tournament is on. The Weaverville Chamber of Commerce has canceled the 10k run and the Friday fireworks, but the softball tournament, paintball tourney, arm wrestling and horseshoe tourney are still a go so far. I have heard that some ball players rooms at the local hotels have been given to fire fighting personnel. I guess I will play it by ear. Can't predict rain or fire.

Tentatively the Nugget Restaurant of Weaverville is playing R-Co Construction from Eureka at 8pm Friday. Ray Wolfe Construction of Arcata is playing the Horsemen from Orland at 9:30am Saturday morning. The Kingmen of Redding and Mendocino of Ukiah play at 10:35am followed by Samoa Athletics and Hitmen at 11:40am.

I am getting many calls, just hang in there and leave messages! I will update you all as soon as I can.

Update: The July 4th tournament has been postponed to a later date due to air quality. Fires around the area have caused smoke and ash issues. Sorry to everyone. We will try again in August.

First tsunami berm might be built in Fairhaven!

· WHAT: COMMUNITY MEETING

· WHERE: FAIRHAVEN FIRE STATION

· WHEN: JULY 17, 2008 at 6 PM

· TSUNAMI EVACUATION SITE INFORMATION

· COMMUNITY SEPTIC SYSTEM INFORMATION

· NEW FIRE STATION OR COMMAND CENTER INFORMATION

· PARTNERSHIPS AND/OR GRANTS FOR TSUNAMI EVACUATION SITE AND COMMUNITY SEPTIC SYSTEM

The Samoa Peninsula Fire District Board of Directors will host an informational meeting at the time and place above to discuss and hear comments about the possibility of a tsunami evacuation site, community septic system, and a new fire station above tsunami flood zones. This informational meeting is focused for the community of Fairhaven. All residents of Fairhaven are encouraged to attend. All Samoa Peninsula residents invited.

What is being proposed is an artificial hill that may have a fire station built on top and a sewage system nearby. For more info, come to the meeting. This would be a pilot project. The first of it's kind in the U.S.

Humboldt County Mental Health has 100 "temporary" workers with no benefits. County Supervisors highest paid in state!

Yes, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (BOS) are the highest paid per capita (by nearly $30,000 a year) in the state of California at $72,000+ per year. Oh, by the way, they voted themselves a huge raise on top of that recently. How does the average employee for the County do?

The disparity is stunning.

Let's take a look at the Mental Health department as an example. 100 workers are on payroll as "temporary" workers. Many of these are working for less than $10 an hour with no benefits or worker rights! With college degrees! And guess what, many of these workers are eligible for Social Services doled out by the county. But if you talk with most employees, they will tell you where there is waste in their work place from outside contractors that are ignored by superiors in each department. And this theme is continued in other county departments. There needs to be communication and accountability from the BOS through the lowest paid workers. Not happening now.

How can we justify paying our County Supervisors nearly twice as much as counties our size? We can't.

U.S. Supreme Court allows state monies to be used by companies to fight union organizing! This makes me so angry!

Supreme Court strikes down California law on unions. Basically letting companies that receive state funding use those tax payer monies for anti-union campaigns! Unbelievable. And all under the guise of free speech!

I have been in the trenches as a labor organizer and have witnessed the off balance process of workers trying to become union. The company has all of the advantages and this is going to be yet another step for workers to climb. I had an organizing campaign in Bakersfield at a plant called Dopaco. There were 160 workers there. The company held anti union one on one meeting with the workers to intimidate them individually. Then they would have group meetings and have the Human Resource person conjure up tears (Not kidding) and a bogus story of how a bad union affected their family. They had management do a buffet breakfast at the plant with supervisors dishing up food. They literally shut down production to talk to the workers as a group! Then a BBQ on the premises with Mariachi band and blow up playground for employees kids. The company put out shirts to wear on the floor expressing their non-union stance. Then at the end, a movie about union strikes. Literature was passed out at work along the way demonizing all aspects of unions. Promises of better care were made. And of course, they also focused on the big bad union salesman, me. If I was just a plant worker just like them, how come Mr. Marks make so much money? (I think I was at $63,000 a year then and living in motel rooms.)

By the time all was said and done, Dopaco spent around 1.6 million to keep the employees non union. They could have written each worker a check of $10,000! The funny thing is, a little over a year later, I was called back for a second attempt since the company did not keep their promises. That story is for later.

Operation Southern Sweep recovery plan.

I thought this was funny in the TS back page with the story on the pot raids, there is ad placement for you, Humboldt Hydroponics. So you can get those replacement gardens up and growing!

Bob Service is the "Comeback Kid" upsets Jake Pickering in final vote tally. HCDCC undefeated for June Election 2008!

The Humboldt County Election office announced their final figures for the June 3rd Election. ELECTION RESULTS Bob Service was trailing Jake Pickering for a 4th District seat on the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee (HCDCC) by 4 votes before the final tallies. After all is said and done, Bob won by 14 votes! So that means the HCDCC endorsed 9 candidates this June and 8 won with one pending in November! The last 2 elections the HCDCC has endorsed 16 candidates and 15 have won outright! Fennell is still pending. Congratulations to all.

Tomaso's Blue Lake Wood Bat Champions!

The City of Blue Lake hosts the Sunday Wood Bat League each year. It is a great competitive league that had a huge waiting list this year. I play for Tomaso's Specialty. Our team was the #1 seed this year going into the League Championship Tournament based on our league best 9-1 record. Only 4 teams play in the tournament, so we faced the #4 seed Breakers. They came out and beat us 10-5 to knock us in the losers bracket. We won our next game 4-1 against FB to gain another shot at the Breakers. We squeaked by 2-1 to reach the finals against the Hey Juan Barnstormers. We snuck by them the first game 4-3 to force a do or die championship game. It was a great defensive battle, and we prevailed 3-1. It is Tomaso's 6th championship in the last 7 years! Not too shabby.

Here is the age breakdown of our team: Chuck Kirsher, Tom Pagano, Steve and myself over 50. Chris Pence, Erik, Alan Schmidt, Doug Small, Dave Rhodes and Greg Alora 40's. Jerome Holbrook and Toye Johnson around 30 and Jackson Kirsher and Kris Avelar in their 20's. Over half our team at least in their 40's and still winning! Got to love Wood Bat. Evens the playing field.

Next Tournament in Weaverville July 4th, 5th and 6th.

I just might have to vote Republican.....

Why I'm Voting Republican!

Paper vs. Plastic again.

Let me preface my argument for paper over plastic by letting you all know that Robin and I recycle both paper and plastic. Our paper is done at the curb and our plastic is taken to Safeway.

If you do not recycle, I suggest you ask for paper. There are arguments on both side, and if you have time, please check out this information piece: Battle of the Bags: Paper vs. Plastic- msnbc.com Very well done. My biggest complaint against plastic is the 100,000 animals that die each year from plastic litter. And, did you know that 14 plastic bags contain enough petroleum to drive a car a mile? Can't we come up with technology to convert the bags back into usable energy? Also, the non biodegradable factor is a huge consideration. I realize it takes more energy to make paper, but I believe we can do better. One thing that could be done more environmentally conscience, is using only recycled paper and Hardwood pulp from regenerating Eucalyptus tree farms. This idea was brought up by Simpson years back when they had the Shasta Pulp mill in Anderson. They bought land around Red Bluff off of I5 to do just that. You can harvest the tree and the stump will just grow a new tree. The trees are still just sitting there to this day. Other states also need to mandate pollution control standards, like the ones we see in California. If Evergreen Pulp can make environmentally safe pulp without the use of dioxins, others should too. (Evergreen is the only pulp mill in North America without dioxins. European pulp mills in Scandinavian countries are also "Chlorine free.")

Just for the record, Robin and I do have reusable carry bags that I always seem to forget when I go to the store. Reusable Bags :: Reusable Grocery Bags. This, of course, is the best way to help the environment.

We need serious Immigration reform.

Sun Valley Floral Farms let go of 283 undocumented workers today after receiving a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week indicating that the employees — from flower pickers to management-level staff — were not eligible for employment in the United States.

I had just led around 700 workers at Dart Container in Corona California through the National Labor Relations Board NLRB process of becoming a union bargaining committee in 2002. Mostly Latino workers. It was their right through the National Labor Relations Act to organize without the fear of reprisal regardless of their immigration status. They were successful in their campaign and I was blessed to lead the largest manufacturing union victory in the nation in a decade.

Word got around in the Latino community and I was contacted about organizing an manufacturing outfit of 500 workers in Moreno Valley called Thor Industries that made recreational vehicles. I and Corona Latino workers from Dart had meetings with workers to lead them through the process of becoming union. When we were in the process of having union authorization cards signed, the Thor company decided to use the immigration hammer. They told all workers to bring in their "green" cards on a Monday to prove their US residence. Hundreds of workers were now out of a job, and their only recourse was to have me lead them through the process of protection through the NLRB. How many of those workers out of 500 do you think stepped forward to testify against Thor? You guessed right, 0.

The process is uneven and unfair.

Sun Valley President and CEO Lane DeVries met with his entire staff this afternoon and shared the “shocking” news with them. In a phone conversation today, DeVries described the meeting as “heart-warming and frustrating.”

As for the 283 workers who are now jobless, he said, “It really stinks. It’s a raw deal. It’s very sad for everyone. These people bought houses, bought cars, spent money at the Bayshore Mall. This is not good for this community.”

And it’s bad news for Sun Valley too. “The heart and the soul of our team is getting ripped out,” he said. “The heart and soul of our company is no longer with us.

Some of the workers who were let go today had been with Sun Valley for 17 years, DeVries said.

Mario Meza, general manager of Spanish-language radio station KNCR in Fortuna, told the Journal today that he has received a steady stream of calls from anonymous community members about the layoffs since last Friday .

I know there are many in the community who feel these workers are getting what they deserve. But when you are talking about workers with nearly 20 years of service and above the board citizens contributing taxes in the form of Social Security and Federal and State Taxes for nearly 20 years. Shouldn't we have an amnesty program in place for those? Just a bad situation.