Top Ten Political signs 2010!

1. Dave Meserve-All over Arcata you can see these individually painted signs. By far the best signs in Humboldt County.

2. Marian Brady-You might not like the Brady Bunch theme, but you have to admit that those round signs are flashy and well done. Stands to reason. Marian is a graphic arts designer.

3. Alex Stillman-Kind of quirky but it works. The old style theme, or whatever it is, just is kinda mellow.

4. Mike Newman-These signs stick out like a sore thumb! You can't miss them and the little man in the middle is different.

5. Allison Jackson-Very artsy. Nice contrast. Serves Jackson well.

6. Paul Gallegos-Repeat signs that have worked in past. I guess they are thinking, "If it ain't broke, don't mess with it."

7. Xandra Manns-Home made, grass roots, serves Green Party candidate well.

8. Larry Glass-Shouts out like a conservative, but this candidate is way left.

9. Frank Jager-Recycling signs Ala Gallegos, and these colors really force you to look.

10. Ryan Sundberg-I like them and hate them. I don't know why. They are different.

Just missed the list: Bonnie Neely signs. Soft color, and when you can just put your first name on a sign, you have big time name recognition.

Where is Bass on my list you might ask? I wanted the hook in the water but was out numbered, so we went with the red white and blue thing. They are nice, but where's the Hooked on Bass theme?

Pulp Mill Lumberjack story

Low Tide For Samoa Pulp Mill

By Scottie Lee Meyers

The tide in Humboldt Bay ebbs and flows. Last Monday, when the tide went out, the Samoa pulp mill was open for business. By the time the tide returned, the pulp mill closed for good.

More than 200 of the highest paying jobs in the county are permanently gone. News of the closure heightened concerns over the economic stability of the port and the surrounding community.

The pulp mill began operations in 1964. Since then, six different groups have owned the mill – an indication of how difficult it is to conduct a profitable pulp mill enterprise here on the North Coast.

In a pulp mill, workers manicure wood chips – a waste product of the timber industry – through a long process into pulp, which has the consistency of hot oatmeal. Workers spread the pulp onto 100-foot screens, which then travels on a conveyor belt where it is vacuumed, pressed, chemically treated, and dried into paper. Then they collect the paper into 550-pound, ready-to-ship bales.
Evergreen Pulp Inc., a subsidiary of a Chinese paper manufacturing firm, closed the mill in October 2008, but workers and community members clung to the hope that it would reopen. The mill has been out of commission since. The announcement last Tuesday that the pulp mill will close permanently meant workers let go of all hope, forever.

It was during Evergreen's ownership that some community members began to loathe the pulp mill. Evergreen Pulp racked up over 200 violations. Carol Binder spearheaded the "People Against the Samoa Pulp Mill" blog, a coalition of residents from West Eureka.

Richard Marks, the 4th District Harbor Commissioner, worked at the pulp mill since 1980. Marks understands Binder's point of view. As an employee, Evergreen's environmental stewardship disappointed him. "Our community was basically environmentally raped by Evergreen pulp."

On his blog, Marks says, "In January of 2009, Evergreen owed $463,000 in fines for non-compliance of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels for 2005 to 2007. [In] 2008, Evergreen went over permitted limits 252 times."

Problems with environmental stewardship go back before Evergreen. During previous owner Stockton Pacific's ownership, agents raided the mill because of BOD violations. The Water Board filed a suit for $700,000.
When the pulp mill was in operation, the plume from the stack invariably blew to western Eureka. Back in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s when sulfur dioxide was prevalent in the plume, the whole area smelled of rotten eggs.

After four years of ownership, Evergreen shut down the plant and "skipped" town, says Marks. A legal battle still looms between the workers and Evergreen. Marks says that Evergreen violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and left hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee medical bills unpaid.

Freshwater Tissue Co. bought the mill for $2.8 million in February 2009 with plans to reopen the mill and rehire the previous workforce – mainly those affiliated with the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) union. Union workers had newfound hope that they would return to work, and 80 percent of them committed to returning.

Freshwater's president, Bob Simpson, initially sought $400 million to convert the pulp mill into an eco-friendly tissue plant.

With no offers, Simpson scaled down the business plan. Freshwater's revised plan was to make eco-friendly pulp and sought $30 million in financing. Freshwater got a 10-year contract for all its production. Still, no one was willing to loan the funds.

"I am disappointed in our failure to restart the pulp mill," says Simpson in a press release. "We exhausted all possible means of funding the project. Unfortunately, [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] regulations made it impossible for banks to finance startup projects like ours."

Economic uncertainty surrounds the Humboldt Bay area now that the pulp mill is closed.

David Hull, chief executive officer of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, looks at the harbor as the economic engine to the area. "The pulp mill closing was a big hit for the whole region," says Hull.
Hull estimates the pulp mill brought 24 ships – 700-feet long and 40,000 to 50,000 tons in weight – every year into the bay. Humboldt Bay Harbor collects between $12,000 and $17,000 per pulp mill ship.

Other entities not affiliated with Humboldt Bay Harbor make money on ships too. Tug operators receive money to pilot ships into the bay and to the dock. Longshoremen receive money to tie the ships to the docks and to load and unload cargo. Dock owners receive money to let the ships anchor.

"It could be between $50,000 and $60,000 per ship to the local economy," says Hull. "It really is significant money."

With that much money to gain in ship traffic, the Humboldt Bay Harbor -- a governmental entity --worked with pulp mill owner Bob Simpson and lobbyists in Washington D.C. to revitalize the dormant mill.

The Samoa pulp mill contributed 15 percent of the district's water revenue. Steve Fleisher, former CEO of the mill under Stockon Pacific Enterprises, says, "When they closed and stopped buying water, their portion of the bill basically had to be picked up by the remaining customers. The customers are the cities and services districts who ultimately pass on the costs to their customers. So, our water bills have all gone up."

John Palmquist, district business manager for the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, says with the pulp mill now shut down, our water rights are in jeopardy in California's use-it-or-lose-it water policy

Humboldt County Economic Development Coordinator Jaqueline Debets says the economic mentality of Humboldt Bay needs to shift. "It's not so much a port. It's a bay, and it's transitioning because we're changing how we import and export."

Debets feels the lack of transportation arteries in the Humboldt region makes Humboldt Bay unappealing for ships to import. "Once you do get to the land, you're still not close to the market."
Debets predicts Humboldt Bay will do more aquaculture – the farming of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.

Kurt Hippen was one of 200 employees laid off when Evergreen Pulp shut down two years ago. Hippen put in almost 30 years at the mill, mostly as a carpenter. Now, he has no health insurance. Hippen drove to a health fair last weekend where he could get his blood tested for free.

Hippen enrolled in several classes since being laid off in an effort to gain new job skills and find employment. He is in a water operations course at College of the Redwoods with 20 of his former pulp mill coworkers. Many more wait in line to take the course. Humboldt County's Health and Human Services Employment Training Division offers the classes free to former pulp mill workers.
Since the mill shut down, Hippen became certified as an energy auditor. He also earned solar power, historical building restoration, and electrical wiring credentials. Still, Hippen ca not find permanent employment. "It angered me," says Hippen after receiving an email from the vice president of his union telling him the pulp mill is permanently shut down. "What angers me the most is the fact that 215 people aren't going to have good jobs."

The history of the Samoa Pulp Mill is a microcosm of the decline of California's manufacturing industry. Gino DiCaro, spokesman for California Manufacturers and Technology Association, says that in the past decade, California lost 34 percent of its state industrial base. Businesses move offshore where wage rates, energy costs, taxes, and governmental regulations are more suitable for profit. "California is a very costly place to do business," says DiCaro.

The pulp mill starts to look like an old Chevy that's seen better days. Simpson wishes to recoup his investment by selling parts from the plant. Freshwater has an offer for its power and recovery boiler. Hippen expects Freshwater to sell the turbine, pumps, and tools. Freshwater's plans for the 156-acre site are unknown.

Marks reminisces about the way things used to be in Samoa. His adult sons moved to Sacramento and San Francisco for work. "I wish there was something here for them."

What the freak was that! (A Fisher actually)

Robin and I were driving down Lord Ellis the other day and I had to slow down to avoid running over a strange animal. This animal was nearly 6' long from tail to snout and nearly took a whole lane and looked like either a mink or a ferret. We both discussed what this could be and neither had seen this animal in the wild. I brought this up to a person well versed in animals in the North Coast wild and he congratulated me on witnessing a "Fisher". A very rare sighting he said in Humboldt County. It seems just a few years back that I had seen very few possum and now they are all over the place. Any others out there seen these "Fishers?"

D Day for Bay area teams!

The Niners have to win today to avoid an 0-4 start. Not good. Coach Mike Singletary is having a melt down of extreme sorts, and none of the offensive coordinators seem to know how to get the ball to Vernon Davis! The defense has been on the field too much. Sigh. Another long winter.

The Giants have picked a bad time to lose games. If they do not win today against the Padres, they face either having to play San Diego at Petco, or go to Atlanta to play the Braves. Let us hope it doesn't come to that!

Freshwater done.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 28, 2010 - Samoa Pulp Mill Permanently Closed

Samoa, Ca - Freshwater Tissue Company announced the permanent closure of the
Samoa pulp mill. Evergreen Pulp, the prior owners of the pulp mill, closed
the mill in October of 2008 after a global collapse of the banking industry
left Evergreen insolvent.

Freshwater Tissue purchased the Samoa mill assets in February of 2009 with a
vision of converting the pulp mill to an integrated pulp and tissue plant
that would convert forest residuals into consumer-ready, eco-friendly toilet
paper. The projected cost of the plant conversion was $400 million. The
owners anticipated borrowing the funds from the Department of Energy.
Unfortunately, DOE loans were only available to green energy projects, such
as wind energy, solar energy, and the production of electric cars.

After failing to fund the integrated tissue mill project, Freshwater scaled
down its business plan and reduced its capital requirement to $30 million.
The company's new plan was to produce eco-friendly pulp, and it secured a
10-year sales contract for 100% of its production. Freshwater obtained all
necessary regulatory permits to re-open the mill, it received unprecedented
environmental and labor support, and it had bi-partisan government support.
When the company received notice from the U.S.D.A. that it qualified for a
$25 million loan guarantee Freshwater believed a loan was certain, but it
soon discovered banks would not loan against a government backed guarantee.

In a statement issued by Robert M. Simpson, Freshwater's President, Simpson
said "I am disappointed in our failure to re-start the pulp mill. We
exhausted all possible means of funding the project with the intention of
re-hiring union workers. Unfortunately, FDIC regulations made it impossible
for banks to finance startup projects like ours."

Freshwater reported that it has received an offer for its power and recovery
boiler. When asked about the offer Simpson said "we have two groups
interested in acquiring the boiler but we are not in contract and we don't
have any expectation as to when a sale will be completed." Simpson didn't
offer any details of Freshwater's future plans for the 156 acre industrial
site.

Lumberjack requests Pulp Mill information.

Scottie Lee Meyers from The Lumberjack (the Humboldt State University student newspaper) is looking to do a story on the Pulp mill, past and present.

He can be reached at this email address slmeyers@humboldt.edu or called by cell phone: (262) 385-7518 if you would like to add your 2 cents.

Happy 32nd Anniversary Robin!

The Marks endurance race continues. We used to joke to our friends that the only thing that was keeping us together was our kids, because we wanted to avoid a nasty court battle on who would have had to take them! But both are out on their own for quite a few years now, so I guess that was not the case. She puts up with me and I her. I will be at the softball fields most the evening and I am sure she will join me. What a date!

SOP and Breakers win Tomaso's Invitational!

The former "Beer League" Championships, (which has been ongoing since 1973?) was replaced by the "Tomaso's Willow Creek Invitational." This was due to liability issues. 10 teams and over 100 participants and many hundreds of fans watched some great ball this weekend. In the "A" Division, Son of Pitches (SOP) were able to run the table and went undefeated and beat Puba's 1 for the Championship. In the "B" Division, Blondies Beakers beat Puba's 2 for the Championship. SOP won the overall Championship by beating the Breakers. All Tournament players for the "A" Division were, Doug Small and Kirk Gray Powers from Tomaso's, Wayne Wilson and Charles Barblutten from Central Station, Cam Reed and Jared Harpe from Puba's 1, Mike Menacho, Toye Johnson and Byron Gardner from SOP. Jason Mullaney was the Most Valuble Player of the "A" Division.

In the "B" Division, The Blondies Breakers defeated Puba's 2 (My Team) for the "B' Championship. Brian McNeil was the Most Valuable Player and David Thompson All Tournament from the Breakers, Marti Conti and Al Schmidt were the picks for Puba's 2. Gnash Day from the Dirt Bags made all tournament as did Rick Harding from Good Woods. Gene Joyce and Richard Wanu from the Pigs also made All Tournament. Mark Dube and Bob Davis were chosen from the Fat Bastards.

This Tournament would not happen if not for Tom Pagano, owner of Tomaso's Specialty Foods & Distributing at 201 Taylor Way Blue Lake, CA 95525. 668-1868. Tom supplied the insurance, umped many games, put out water, chips and salsa for all teams and served as good host for this tournament. For the love of the game. I look forward to next year.

Next year will be bigger and better. Tomaso's will be hosting this tournament at the same time next year and also a 10 team Blue Lake Mad River Invitational. BBQ and Bands and other Rowdiness. Stayed tuned.

(The Graphics design for this tournament was done by Jim Romick.)

LA Times does Pulp Mill. Port closing?

The timber industry has suffered a long decline in Eureka, an isolated community about five hours north of San Francisco.

Now, a group of entrepreneurs wants to restore a wood pulp mill there to its former glory. The hitch is they need someone to lend them $20 million.

If they can't get financing to reopen the facility, which closed two years ago, they say, the local port will fail, hurting surrounding lumber operations and the last remnants of a resource economy in this community of 25,000 people.
"The only thing that sets Eureka apart from Bakersfield or Grass Valley is this port, and without the mill, this port has a good chance of going insolvent," said Sid Berg, president of the Humboldt and Del Norte Co. Building and Construction Trades Council, which supports the reopening.

In its heyday, the Louisiana-Pacific pulp mill, which converts scraps from timber operations into material for paper, generated so much pulp that two cargo ships pulled into the Eureka port each month. Those ships and two others serving another pulp mill in the region would transport the material to paper factories in Asia. Three additional barges brought in gasoline for the region's filling stations.
Since the closure in 2008, a total of only three ships have entered the port. The harbor commission has been dipping into its financial reserves to keep the port running in the hope that the mill would reopen. If it doesn't, the port won't generate enough traffic to justify the expense of dredging the harbor or keeping bar pilots on staff to guide ships into the harbor, said David Hull, chief executive of the Humboldt Bay Harbor District.

If the port closes, gasoline would have to be trucked into the area over winding roads from San Francisco. That would put more trucks on the roads and raise transportation costs for the fuel, Hull said. The cost of Eureka's water could also go up, because the pulp mill was contributing 15% of the district's water revenue.
In addition, other lumber mills that traditionally sold their waste to the pulp mill — popularly known as the Samoa mill because of its proximity to the small town of that name — will have to burn it or truck it to Oregon to sell to other pulp mills.

Because of the increased expense, Schmidbauer Lumber Co. is making about half of what it did when the Samoa mill was still open, said general manager Richard Graham.
But opponents say it's time to let go of manufacturing and stop pouring money into the towering smokestacks that have chugged since the 1960s. They say the Samoa mill's backers are having difficulty raising capital because the deal simply doesn't make business sense.

Bob Simpson bought the mill for $2.8 million in February 2009. Its former owners had abandoned it abruptly the year before, leaving behind millions of dollars in debts amid a deteriorating pulp market.

Simpson initially sought $400 million in financing to convert the property into a mill that would make eco-friendly toilet tissue. When that effort failed he lowered his sights to $20 million to restart the plant as a traditional pulp mill. Requests for loans, government grants and federal stimulus money so far have gone nowhere.
He's now considering selling off the factory in pieces to recoup his investment. A Canadian company has offered to buy the mill's boiler, and Simpson has to give them an answer by Wednesday.

Without timber, he said, the hardscrabble area won't have much to sustain its economy. As fishing and logging have disappeared in the northern part of the state, many locals have taken advantage of the cool climate to venture into a more profitable business: cannabis.

"Humboldt County's economy will be dependent upon the marijuana industry for its economic recovery," he said. "I don't believe that would be in the best interest of the state or federal government."

Opponents say the mill polluted the environment and that the region would be better off focusing on tourism.

"It's time to let go of it," said Carol Binder, a West Eureka resident who can see the smokestacks of the mill from her home and runs a blog, People Against the Samoa Pulp Mill.

CO-ED softball starts in Arcata this Friday!

There will be CO-ED softball played in Arcata starting tomorrow at 6:20pm at the Arcata Sports Complex. If you are interested in playing, there is a lack of women participants. Call Kel Karges at 496-9695 or Richard Marks at 445-3432. I sent this information out multiple times to the Times Standard and they have not printed. So far we have 10 tentative teams.

United States uses 26% of all world oil! Canada our largest supplier!

“Consider that the United States, with four percent of the world’s population, consumes a disproportionate slice of the world’s oil-production pie chart. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that we import almost 10 million barrels of crude oil per day of the 74 million the world produces (up from 21 million in 1960). We use 10 million barrels of our own oil, making our consumption roughly 26 percent of all crude oil pumped out of the earth.”

“We buy about half of our 10 million imported barrels from four countries. They are: Canada (1.86 million barrels), Mexico (1.17), Saudi Arabia (1.08), and Venezuela (1.07). The rest comes from eleven other countries.”

“It is apparent, then, that we buy 3.32 million barrels of crude each day from countries that either want to repossess California, have a habit of funding Middle Eastern terrorist groups, or are led by an egomaniac who hates everything about the U.S. except Sean Penn. We could lose Canada if a bad call by a U.S. referee should cost one of its hockey teams the Stanley Cup.”

William Jeanes AOL Auto Editor at Large

Top 10 Word's Phrases that need to be retired today!

10. "So…"(starting a sentence with)

9. "Get over it."

8. "Irregardless"

7. "Know what I’m Saying?" (Or See)

6. "Ya think?" (Or ya know?)

5. "I’m just saying"

4. "It is what it is"

3. "With that being said..."

2. "24/7"

1. "Been there done that!"

Which words or phrases get on your nerves?

Broadway Taco Bell a front?

What the heck is with this place! Robin and I were driving by the Broadway Taco Bell past 11pm and there was a line around the restaurant! And every time we go by the place, regardless of what time of the day, there seems to be an average of 7 cars in the drive through line. I have been all over the west coast and have never have seen a Taco Bell as busy. Just what sets this store above all the others in the chain? There not serving crack in those tacos are they? (Joking! Thanks to Chris Rock)

Fire in the stove in August? Global warming my ass part II.

Our house has been freezing these past months. I have had to crank up the woodstove too many times. I was curious on what is going on, so I went on Accuweather and listen to this; the average High Tempature in Janurary of 2010 was 58 degrees. The total average for the month Janurary was 52. In July of 2010? Average high of 60 and total average of 55! Only a 2 and 3 degree difference! Samoa is suffering from global cooling! Refute my facts!

Public Toilet Etiquette

Why is it that 90% of all public restrooms are such a disaster? Is it just a very small percentage that seem to have to defile a public toilet, or is this a majority thing? I have had to clean up my share of bathrooms running athletic events and I can assure you that this not just a male thing. If anything, it seems that women are even worse. I just don't get it. I really don't think people treat their own bathrooms like this, or do they?

Pulp Mill garners water permit.

The State Water Board unanimously voted to approve the NPDES permit to allow Freshwater Pulp to start the mill. This was the last large regulatory hurdle for the Pulp Mill to surpass. Congratulations to Bob Simpson and may many workers soon start back to work!

Good Bye old green machine. Ya done good.

Robin and I purchased the 98' Mercury Tracer in 1999. It had low miles and I needed something dependable to drive while I was organizing for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. Robin was surprised I picked out a "green" car, as I had heard they were unlucky. (Used to not see green stock cars. Urban myth?) Anyways, the car piled on over 200,000 miles between me, kids and friends (borrowing). It had been in a few fender benders along the way, and was totaled twice! (Always people hitting it, never it hitting them.) The last one left it pretty much not worth fixing so I decided to donate it to Car4Causes. They made it easy. They said they would pick it up, but I told them I could drive it to wherever they needed. They seemed surprised and they told me John's Used Cars and junkyard was their point, so I drove it over there and they seemed surprised I was donating a drivable vehicle. Anyways, I have donated cars to either St Vincent DePaul or friends in need, and this was the quickest and easiest I have experienced.

So, Robin and I are down to 5 cars, Robin's 2002 PT Cruiser, a 97' Ford Escort, two 85' Ford Ranger's and my 95' BMW 325i. (Yes, they all run.) I have been trying to talk Robin into buying a new car, but she likes her PT. We are pretty easy on cars and they last for us pretty good. But I would like to have something newer. They can only last so long.

Gang rape at Arcata Sports Complex. 50 feet away from softball play.

And none of us heard a thing. Our Uniontown used tire softball team had just finished a 12-8 win against Big Pete's pizza team and we were all in the parking lot while the field rep shut off the lights. Out of the dark came a young lady who asked one of our umps for a cell phone so she could call her dad and tell him she was raped! The ump and the field rep went running to the woods to see if anyone was around will the police were called. One of the lady players in the league who is a trained nurse tended to the upset young lady until the Arcata officers showed up within minutes. (I was over with the Betz Bombers team talking softball past and was wondering about what all the commotion was across the parking lot.) Then the Ambulance and Arcata Fire Department showed. Two of our umps and field rep found a guy spun out with a pair of women's panties next to him in the wooded area behind the fields and held him up until officers took over. The young lady said 3 men were involved. I was able to turn the field lights on so the ambulance could make it's way to the guy. He became belligerent and put up a fight. At the same time the young lady, who was waiting in the back of the police car started to try to kick out the windows, so I went and found the officer of that car who was helping with the spun dude. While they were trying to calm the guy in the ambulance he started spitting on the EMT and pissing all over. He started yelling, "Don't you know who my father is? He is going to kill you!" Then he started chanting loudly, "Beelzebub, Beelzebub, Beelzebub, Beelzebub!"

This whole thing was like in slow motion and surreal. What is going on in our world, when this kind of evil is so close to real life? Just a bunch of softballers having fun and playing ball after work within feet of druggies doing what they do, making life hell on others. When I left (just about a half hour ago) they were still looking for the other two suspects and officers were abundant. Thank God for the quick response of the Arcata police and the Arcata Fire Department.

The Mad River Softball Association Field Representative and Umpires deserve an award for their role in this craziness.

Excursion Train blast from past.

Here is an old video of the Peninsula Union School District from 1988 on the train. Many of those kids on the train played Basketball for the mighty Yellowjacket teams that I coached. It was fun seeing them as kids again.

Happy fathers day to all. My oldest son Jacob called and wants to go to a Niner’s game with me this fall. (This is hard for him as he is a die hard Raider fan.) He is an auto body repair man in El Dorado Hills just east of Sacramento. My younger son called from San Francisco. He has just moved to the Castro district and is working for Ken Cole clothing. He is hoping to climb the corporate ladder in fashion design. It is so good to hear when they are doing well and are healthy.

The picture is my father, Army Major James Marks. He was at Pearl Harbor during the attack and served in Korea. (My older brothers James, Roy and Michael all served in either Korea or Viet Nam) Once my dad passed the bar and became an attorney, he followed his Army buddy James McKittrick to Eureka and went into law practice with Al Paso and Jim. But, alas, my mother and father divorced when I was 6 years old. My dad and I were never close and he passed away in 1981 when Robin was pregnant with my oldest son Jacob. He was a great story teller and I wish we had more contact. He affectionately called me “Tooter,” which to this day is my family name, and was once the only name I was known by.

So, as a family, we went from good living on the Presidio in San Francisco to Healdsburg then Eureka and ended up in Petaluma, where we lived with my mother Mabel and 5of her children and whatever stray’s my family seemed to find in a two bedroom house in the front of a chicken farm. I went to work on a local rabbit farm at the age of 7 and was paid in vegetables! (When our family gets together we discuss how I never had a baby sitter from 7 years old on. My mom worked afternoon and nights for Western Auto. We were broke, broke.) We moved back to Cutten in the mid 60’s and my mom was able to get a union retail clerks job at Disco and then Bazar. Our living conditions changed dramatically and we ended up in Myrtletown. (And I dropped the “Tooter” name from the school rolls, but some from Cutten still didn’t get this memo)

I had the greatest childhood experience of growing up and going through Lafayette, Zane, St. Bernard’s and Eureka High and College of the Redwoods. I was so fortunate to have the Biasca family take me in and take me to their cabin in Willow Creek and teach me to fish for trout. Lee Biasca helped formed my basic working class Democratic values with his observations in the 60’s as did Paul Maisenbach, who helped me learn how to catch a baseball and welcomed me in his household. (The neighborhood used to go to Paul’s fast pitch Louisiana Pacific games, if they won he would buy us root beer floats at A &W, if they lost….we got nothing. And he stood by that!) Our next door neighbor Mark Stark was a staunch Republican who laid the foundation of my love for the 49ers and took his son Matt and I out Salmon fishing in the ocean. Fergy (Clyde) Ferguson let us immature teenagers work on his #21 stock car, and no matter the results, he always praised us. (But he won a lot!) My local Boy Scout troop also was such a blessing, Art Pope, Paul Green, Mr. Kyle and Mr. Allen were so patient and helpful. Some of the greatest memories of my life! I was raised by a village and can never express enough my gratitude.

But, I want to point out my mother Mabel, my sisters Kathy, Michelle and Mary, and my brothers Jimmy, Roy and Michael helped form my core values and living platform. And it is diverse.