Humboldt Port Development. Lets talk.

Humboldt Port Development.

The rail story you don’t hear:

On February 11th of 1998 one of my best friends was the engineer of a train hauling product from Northern Humboldt to the southern portion of our rail system. Word was out that a slide was occurring between Dos Rios and Bell Springs. Nick’s step father “Fergy” Ferguson told Nick to abandon the rail cars at Island Mountain, and those cars are there to this day! Nick took the Locomotive north to wait for the time to return to repair the line. Mind you, this had been pretty much Standard Operating Procedure for over 85 years. The repairs needed to restore service were nothing more than they had been up against in past years or not anything they hadn’t seen before. Nick said it would have taken about 2 days at the least, and no more than a week or two to resume service at way under 1 million dollars. Unfortunately, the North Coast Rail Authority had contracted out rail services to Railways Inc. and CEO Ron Darling had announced they were going bankrupt. Nick and other rail workers were actually working for free, in hope that the rail would find money to pay the employees sometime in the future. When it became obvious there would be no payroll checks forthcoming, people left to find new jobs. Many workers filed claims for past payment due from Railways Inc…….including the CEO Ron Darling. Wild stuff.

So this interruption in train service for just ten years ended up being a huge contributor to the train downfall. We went from a rail system needing less than 1 million to continue a service that had only short interruptions in the winters for decades, to a totally stagnant rail system that is dilapidating yearly. New figures thrown out there for functional/actual train service is now over 1 Billion dollars! How and why did this happen? It seems the North Coast Rail Authority has become its own beau racy that has money coming in, but where is it going out? Staff? Repairs? Studies? Directors? Attorneys? Got me. I am looking from the outside in. This is a loosely wrapped observation and I am sure others out there who know more particulars. Please refute my facts publicly and not anonymously. I will monitor those out.

Who is Worthy Pick? Evergreen Pulp mill's new owner.

Lee & Man Paper (2314) said it disposed the entire interest in USLM Acquisition, Inc. and HKLM Acquisition, Inc, (”USLM & HKLM”) at a consideration of HK$200 million. USLM & HKLM were paper pulp manufacturers in the USA. The gain from the transaction was estimated at about HK$1 million and the consideration was decided based on the net book value of the assets of USLM & HKLM. The transaction was completed on 15 October.

Raymond Lee, CEO of Lee & Man Paper, said, “The profit margins of USLM & HKLM have been dwindling significantly because of the continuing increasingly production cost in USA. With what’s best for long-term development of the group in mind and the pulp line in Chongqing plant has started production, we decided it is the right time to dispose of the business. The move has freed resources for us to concentrate on growing our containerboard and pulp businesses in China with lower production costs.”

“Worthy Pick,” the concern that purchased the pulp mill (USLM & HKLM), is a shell holding company based in the Virgin Islands with links to Lee and Man. Because of the downturn in the pulp industry and because of the recent credit crisis, Lee and Man needed cash fast - hence the sale. Sources say that because Worthy Pick has inside links to Lee and Man, they will sell it back to L&M when the global pulp market improves, perhaps three to six months from now. Stay tuned.

"Worthy Pick" -- listed as incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on Jan. 10, 2008 -- is believed to be in the paper manufacturing business, according to the Hong Kong exchange filing.

Why would they invest in a Pulp Mill with the market so bleak?

SINGAPORE, Oct. 20, 2008 (RISI) - The Asian pulp market remains in freefall, with no sign of the bottom in sight. Market players are at sixes and sevens, unsure when the slide may end.
Contract prices for October orders are still under negotiation in the region. But suppliers have offered to slash them by $70/tonne for bleached softwood and hardwood kraft pulps.
They have not yet decided what prices to offer for unbleached softwood kraft pulp or bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp grades this month. But these are expected to fall as well.
Regular buyers attributed the weak pulp conditions to stagnant paper and board demand in the region.

Evergreen Worker stuff.

There has been plenty of discussion on the blogs concerning our status. Check out Sound investment or irresponsible debt? by Bill Holmes of HighBoldtage and EVERGREEN PULP: Closing for good? The Humboldt Herald. Be sure to check out the comments.

I have been in contact with local labor leaders and will be meeting with some tomorrow over proper protocol for Evergreen workers to enter local union trades. I encourage workers to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. This may be the time to really consider using the training available to have a new vocation. When/if the Pulp Mill starts, you will have to make a decision on where to go career wise.

I have also been in contact with a local insurance provider who may be able to write insurance to fill the gap of our unemployment for under $200 a person as opposed to the over $500 for Cobra. I will be calling the membership when I have a meeting set up. We have until Nov. 30th unless I am able to have Attorneys get us an extension per WARN ACT violation.

I have had local financial experts examine the financial transaction of the sale of Evergreen (Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd.) and what I am hearing so far is not all positive.

To top it all, I am sure you all have received your 401k Quarterly statement from Principal Financial Group for the 3rd Quarter. I lost $4,600 this last three months and have been losing over $1,000 per month for the year. (Well over $10,000 this fiscal year) Don't even want to see my loses for the 4th Quarter of 2008. Most of my account is in Large U.S. equity. (High risk)

Evergreen Pulp to start in a few months! As a new company. Evergreen Pulp?

Positive News: I have been assured this by Evergreen CEO David Tsang. He said Lee & Man has every intention to re-start the plant in a window of 3 to 6 months into the future. He pointed out the fact that Lee & Man has spent millions in upgrades and have until recently paid their debts orderly. They have a cash flow issue that should be taken care of soon with a change of banks. Local vendors have been paid in full and some partial with what cash flow we have left. We have plenty of customers lined up for the future once our pulp goes from warehouses to customers.

Negative News: Evergreen has a shipment delivery that is being held up with a Temporary Protection Order or lien by local vendors who have not been paid in full. The shipment is estimated to be worth 6 million dollars. The vendors are owed over 2 million and are protecting their interests. Evergreen may also be in violation of the The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) and owe 215 workers either 60 days pay or 60 days work. And if this shutdown becomes permanent, Evergreen/Lee & Man owes 800 hours pay per our labor agreement, severance to many hourly employees.

Employee Dilemma: What do you do? If you take advantage of the services available through Humboldt County services and are in a training program to be re-introduced to the workforce in the form of a new job, you will have to make a decision whether to go back to Evergreen, if the Pulp Mill starts in the middle of your training, or try your hand at new vocation. And you have to make that decision right when the Mill starts up! Which Career will you choose? Quick, how will you feed your family and pay the mortgage? Going to be tough for the younger folks.

Insurance Dilemma: As of November 30 (Unless legal counsel find the Warn Act violated.) workers will be out of health insurance and can choose to purchase insurance through COBRA . It is kind of pricey: $558 per month for individuals, $972 per month Employee and Spouse or Employee and Child and $1436 per month per family. So if you receive the max unemployment amount of $1800 a month to live on with a family you have $364 to pay for rent/mortgage and food. That dear friends, is a reality check. Now you can search for a independent insurance carrier to bridge that gap while you are uninsured, but they must meet the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements of proof of insurance, so there is no unlap of insurance on workers with pre-existing conditions so they can be put back on Evergreen's insurance roles. I have been actively searching insurance carriers to meet these requirements more cost effective.

Employee Information: I have had many calls from workers and employees coming up to me asking questions. I have been shocked to hear how many keep track of things through this blog. So let me cover some easy questions to answer concerning unemployment paperwork: You are represented by the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers local 49. Phone number for the local is 442-2289. Evergreen's address is #1 TCF Drive, PO Box 218 Samoa Ca 95564. Feel free to call me with any questions at 445-3432. I am not working you know!

Upsate: Pulp Mill Dumped. Pulp mill company sold, CEO says move is to refinance. I hope this all is good news.

Humboldt County displaced workers RAPID RESPONSE team greets huge Evergreen crowd.

The safety conference room was packed to the gills with Salary and Hourly Employees and their spouse's to find out what programs are being provided by the county to get workers back to work. One ironic thing in this process was the presenter was Sandy Neal, the ex-Pulp Mill Manager for Louisiana Pacific! How to apply for unemployment was covered by Anne Crossan. Steve Hughes covered training, resume writing, relocation assistance and stuff like that. Linda Cohen from Coast Central offered services on what to do with our 401k plans, and Sandy covered information for counseling, technical assistance and small business management. Amy Brewer from the Humboldt County Personnel office explained the process to apply for County jobs.

The County is the largest employer in the area with 1,900 on payroll. If unemployment locally hits 10% (Most likely will be by next month) the tax base will take a pounding and there will be county budget cuts in the future. Not a good option.

The Response team put out at least 19 pieces of literature to consider in less than 2 hours and I felt it was kind of overwhelming for some of the workers. But it was better than going out of work naked in knowledge.

One of the issues that the Response team could not answer was the status of the workers. There are programs available to workers if they are permanently laid off for long term re-training, that are not available if this turns out to be a short term lay-off. As union president, I have contacted counsel to give us an answer soon. I will see what options workers have to re-locate to other pulp mills or union affiliates.

Could be a long winter. Long and cold.

Chris Kerrigan called me today...........

Eureka City Councilman Kerrigan called me this morning and asked if I would give an update on the status of the pulp mill at a Rally for the Clark/Atkins campaign at the Labor Temple. I am not attached to any campaign in Eureka so I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to go and hear the two Democrats speeches and also get a chance to talk to 4th District Supervisor Bonnie Neely. When I pulled up, Bonnie was just getting out of her car at the same time. I gave her a short update concerning Evergreen Pulp Mill and she assured me that she was in contact with Patty Berg's and Mike Thompson offices about what actions to take. Then Bonnie shared a piece of information she had and I was floored. I am waiting for conformation and will have to do some investigation but I am quite alarmed. (Bonnie's information sources are endless. I thought I was updating her, and here she has something I should have seen coming. If you work at the Mill and want to know what it is, call me. I don't want to go public with the information until I see proof with my own eyes.)

The crowd there was good for a Saturday afternoon. Chris made introductions and Bonnie spoke to the crowd. She was well received and spoke well, as usual. Chris then introduced me and I gave a quick synapse on what was going on at the mill. People came up after to offer their condolences and offer help for the holidays. That was nice.

George gave a great speech. I did not know he had it in him. He actually ignited chants from the crowd and this past union organizer was impressed. He made it no secret that he does not like this Republican administration. Linda's speech was more calm but focused. They both hit all their talking points and charged their supporters to get active. (And no, they did not corner me or pressure me to help in their campaigns.)

Oh, and the sign thing, their campaigns are about to blanket Eureka. I have already said the Clark/Atkins campaigns will have a huge advantage by focusing on Democrat voters and identifying them as endorsed by the HCDCC. But having the extra advantage of endorsement by all the largest local union organizations will make them tough to beat.

Then there is the wild card..........I know many people in Eureka and have talked candidly, without political loyalties to any Eureka City Council race camps. I don't have any poll numbers, (I guess Polly Endert does though.) but word out there seems to suggest Jager has a good chance for winning, and the Endert/Atkins race will be close. Non-Scientific of course. I still say the two Democrats are the people to beat.

Shane Brinton at Arcata Arts Alive!

City Council candidate Shane Brinton will hold an informal meet-and-greet event on tonight during "Arts Alive" in Arcata. The event will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at Prosperity Real Estate, located at 839 9th St., near the Plaza. And he did. Shane Brinton for Arcata City Council. I feel Shane will be a great addition to the Arcata City Council.

This last Wednesday Arcata City Council candidates weigh in on issues on a KEET forum. Shane was far above all the other candidates with addressing pertinent issues for the City of Arcata and giving solutions. Michael Winkler did OK but seemed tense and nervous. Susan Ornelas seemed like she was comfortable but is she a Liberal/Conservative? Michael Machi came across all right. Same old. Jason Grow has a future in politics, he surprised me with his candor. Geronimo Garcia was entertaining and did bring up points from his perception from the streets. Entertaining anyways.

I feel Shane will bring a great dynamic change to Arcata government. He is a social liberal with fiscal conservative tendencies. I think he is able to leave his politics "at the door" and react to issues without partisan pressure. He has shown that as a board member with the Northern Humboldt Union High School District and I know he will continue this at the Arcata City Council level as well.

So if you have an extra $170 (Max amount allowed in Arcata races) laying around earmarked for a political candidate for the Arcata City Council race or you have a high profile/traveled sign placement, please call Shane's campaign.

As far as "Arts Alive Arcata" Robin and I went around the Arcata Plaza and were constantly pan-handled to the point of almost ridiculous. I mean, when you are stuffing your face with food or smoking or drinking and asking for change, I am not feeling overly generous. And normally I am an easy touch. I want to help people who need help and this makes picking those out hard. Shane and I argued over which "Arts Alive" was better, the Arcata or Eureka venues. I argued for Eureka, because it is the best. Hands down.

Leo Sears, Patrick Eytchison, Paul Pitino and Sir Elton John sightings at HCDCC headquarters? Is it close to a full moon?

Went to the HCDCC general meeting last night and was helping put decorations away and saw every phone manned for the the George Clark/Linda Atkins campaign. Anti Pulp Mill Green Party activist Patrick Eytchison was on one of the phones. I wanted to tell him we were closing the mill for awhile, but thought better of it and didn't.

Leo Sears and Paul Pitino were at the meeting looking for endorsements on tax initiatives for their cities. In Leo's case, he was promoting Measures D & E for Eureka and Paul was pushing Measure G for Arcata. Both garnered unanimous endorsement.

Tera Prucha and Edward "Buzz" Webb were present to seek the endorsement for the Division 2 seat on the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District board. Both are Democrats who seem to be great choices and we argued back and forth, but neither were able to catch enough support for endorsement. A third Democrat in the race, Jake Pickering, was not there.

Today I was helping with a mailing for fund-raising at the HCDCC headquarters and many people were stopping in looking for Obama material. It seems as fast as it is coming in, it goes back out again. Anyways, in walks a dude that looks like Elton John! He says his name is Reginald Ferguson and he is a representative of Sir Elton John and was looking for Obama stuff. I asked what he was doing here and he said he had grandchildren in Humboldt County. I then asked if he had any demo tapes. He said no, but he left a snazzy picture of his alleged boss with an autograph. Just another day at the HCDCC headquarters!

Evergreen announces Temporary (Hopefully) mill closure and mass layoffs.

Our union standing committee met with Evergreen company officials and they broke the bad news to us. Evergreen will no longer be purchasing wood chips to process into pulp and so there will be a mothballing of the mill until the pulp market picks up. This is the first time in the history of the plant that there has been a complete stoppage of buying of wood chips that I can remember. And I have been there nearly 30 years. Looking through the seniority list, I am still not even in the top 40 seniority wise. So our workforce has been pretty stable through the last 4 decades.

It is sad and hard hitting seeing how these economic times have come to affect Humboldt County workers. By us closing, truck drivers bringing in chips will be laid off. Container drivers will not be coming from Oakland. Chemical drivers will not show up. It will ripple through our local economy. Don’t know what else to say. Bummer.

George and Linda want new wage ordinance.

Two candidates suggest raising minimum wage! I was kind of shocked that Frank and Polly were against such a modest bump. "It’s a great idea,” Jäger said, “but it’s a job killer.” But he did not justify his reasoning. In this case, I will just disagree. I feel a living wage ordinance would be a good idea. We can argue the amount all you want. I was encouraged and surprised to hear George go public that he paid his employees over $3 an hour over the minimum when he was a business owner, and he seemed able to stay in business.

Evergreen Pulp wants reduction of workforce and wages!

Kind of shocking news for most, but not for the workforce. We have seen the company cut back on small items like linen service to the purchasing of essential materials such as wood chips. Evergreen seems to have a cash flow problem.

Our parent company Lee & Man Paper has went from a 52 week high of $37.00 a share to as low as $3.58 a share on the Hong Kong stock exchange. They had plant closures due to the Bejing Olympics, and now the pulp market has went soft as well.

Locally, our union workers have been asked to take a 15% reduction in wages and to be prepared for temporary closures with layoffs of production workers. Along with this, the company has announced a reduction in hourly staff from 165 to 145.

The only way for there to be a reduction of wages is for there to be an election of the bargaining unit (our union body) and a majority agreement to accept a pay cut. We are currently under a binding labor agreement (Labor contract) with Evergreen until June of 2009.

I personally have issues with this request, as Lee & Man has reported gross profits of 1.4 Billion dollars on March 2007 and 2.1 Billion dollars on March 2008. (Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd. (2314.HK): Financial Statements - BusinessWeek) No savings for a rainy day? And I have locally witnessed many dollars wastefully spent in speculative operational ventures that have produced nothing but an abundance in scrap metal. Ultimately, the workforce might be requested by Evergreen to make a sacrifice of their agreed upon wages. Hopefully we will have a quick resolution.

Johanna Rodoni has huge mountain to climb in the 2nd District.

Johanna Rodoni Write-In Campaign for 2nd District Supervisor, Humboldt County is going to have many obstacles. First, her campaign is assuming they will be able to garner the votes that her late Husband Roger had back in the primary vote. If that 37% decides to vote for Johanna, they will have to actually write in her name and fill the pertinent bubble to show they are voting for her. Not as clear cut as some might think.

In 2004 Donna Frye, a city councilperson for San Diego mounted a write in campaign for Mayor and won! Until the votes were challenged and ballots that did not spell her name correctly or have the bubble properly filled in were thrown out. So even when the intent was clear that voters in San Diego were voting for her was there, she still lost.

So Johanna's campaign has a two fold problem, one is to educate the voters to spell her name correctly, and two, making sure they fill the bubble. Sounds easy, but it is not. Absentee voters who get to take their time in voting will be the most likely to vote correctly, and I am sure her campaign is focusing heavily on those people. But people who hurry to the polls and feel rushed to vote are not as likely to take the time to make sure they correctly vote for Johanna. I predict that she will not receive over 27% of the vote. (Taking into account that 10% less will vote for her than Roger just because of the write in hassle.) Even if I am wrong and she pulls out a majority victory, those challenged votes will come into play.

Now where will those votes go? That is the big question. I would like to think that Estelle will have a 10% jump, but is that reality? Does that much separate Estelle and Clif ideology wise? I am going to guess that each will have a 5% bump and the final Tally will most likely come down to this:

Clif Clendenen 40%
Estelle Fennell 33%
Johanna Rodoni 27%

Biden vs Palin.

Biden came across as the definite best information source. Palin hit a high point when she made a comment that she is not part of the Washington Machine and can't understand why politicians would vote yes on one thing and then no on the same thing later. She made it clear she was not a Washington insider. (Hey Sarah, Bridge to no where!) Platform, Talking points and attacking points. She did well. Asked policy procedure substance wise, nothing. "You Betcha. Get back to ya!"

Obviously Biden could have ate her alive fact wise. But he did not. Kind of weird really. He was in a no win zone.

KEET debate for the 2nd Supervisorial District.

Many people probably missed the debate last night due to Suddenlink cable outages. Robin and I watched it on an old Black and White portable TV with an antenna. Johanna Rodoni came out strong in her opening statement, but seemed confused when answering questions and even a bit nervous. Estelle Fennell was pretty consistent and well spoken all debate. Clif Clendenen seemed to be well prepared by memorizing his opening statement, but I could see he lost some of his points and had to end abruptly. When Code enforcement was brought up, it seemed that Estelle had the best answer that was agreed upon by Clif and Johanna had trouble answering. I thought that this would be her strong point. When the General plan options were brought forward, Clif was the only one that identified his preference.....kind of. He chose plan A or B or maybe A- and B+. Johanna and Estelle were evasive. Overall I thought that Clif and Estelle were about equal, and that Johanna lagged way behind. But this is a nerve wracking venue. The 2nd District has a tough choice.

Suddenly-Unlinked again!

I don't have to remind most of you that we are vulnerable to outages like we are having today in Humboldt! "Suddenlink, we are disconnected!" Oh, yes, I am using dial up.

George Clark for the Marina Center! Labor endorses Clark and Adkins!

Surprised me. Call Randy Gans to verify. I haven't seen George in a Marina Center sweater yet, but I have been assured by local labor that he is indeed for the project! And for port development with rail. More than Frank Jager! Wow.

The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) local 49 does not normally endorse candidates and does not have an active Political Action Committee to disperse money, but our affiliate senior, the United Brotherhood of Carpenter's local 751, has also endorsed Mr. Clark. Nobody asked me by the way. But, yes, my union dues will go to their chosen candidate. So financially I am supporting George.

I just want to know what Humboldt Baykeeper, EPIC, ECONEWS and Surfrider Foundation's have on their agenda concerning the Marina project and a Port Terminal. And maybe that largest manufacturing plant on the northcoast, Evergreen Pulp.

Stock market plunges 777 points. Sign of the purity of God? Record one day loss! Quick Summary.

94% of people who have a mortgage in the USA have not defaulted. And yet taxpayers are being asked to bail bad house loan debts that were created by bad management practices. Why aren't CEO's of these companies held criminally accountable? Remember Savings and loan crisis fiasco? What ever happened to that $136,000,000 tax payer bailout? Oh, how often history repeats itself.

Please give your quick summation and solution.

Check out Stryper. They used the number 7 symbolically for God a few times.

Let the sign wars begin! Eureka and Arcata.

Political signs are popping up in Eureka and Arcata for their respective city council races. I see Polly and Frank have the early lead in Eureka, but I fully expect to see a wave of signs for Linda and George in the near future. Both Frank and Polly have very visible signs. The Clark/Adkin's signs are kind of blah but consistent with their theme. (Two candidates in one.)

Micheal Winkler has started a push, but I fully expect Shane Brinton to blanket Arcata. Susan Ornelas has started also. Machi? Jason A. Grow? Geronimo Garcia? Not yet.

Any scouts out there for Fortuna, Blue Lake and Trinidad?

AWPPW California Council at Los Angeles.

Down here in So-Cal for a council meeting of all the locals in California. We give reports on how our plants are doing and catch up on grievances, arbitration's, organizing and bargain's the AWPPW is active in. (We had lunch at a place called the The Hat in Brea. Awesome!) The theme seemed to be about the economy and how it is affecting our industry. Our jobs in the Pulp and Paper industry are moving overseas because of environmental constraints that oversea operations do not have to abide by. I will touch on this subject when I am home.

Did you see that tonight! Comet or UFO?

I worked some Over-Time today operating a 950 Caterpillar and operating a new piece of equipment. When I was driving home I saw bright light streaking across the sky heading west. It was a bright light streaking at a unbelievable rate. This was around 8:30pm on Navy Base road. Any other people see this?

Seen those Blogger people in Rio Dell! Hey Juan Barnstormers win. The Higster has 2 hits.

Went to the blogger picnic. No Heraldo, but I seen others so I can put a face on their blogs. It was nice to do.

Hey Juan had sweet revenge on my Tomaso team, winning the championship game of the Beer League Wood Bat Tournament 6-1 by playing stellar defense.

Tomaso's vs. Barn Stormers. Hope to "De-Rail" Higgins.

The Tomaso softball team has been the most dominate wood bat team for the last 5 plus years. We will play the Barn Stormers in the Semi-Finals to see who is the front runner in the 2008 wood bat championship in Willow Creek. The Tomaso team has 3 players over 50 years of age and the rest are over 40 or 30, and one just over 20. Humboldt Harbor Commissioner Pat Higgins plays for the Barn Stormer team, and we hope to dominate their challenge. Our game is at 1:40pm at Willow Creek.

Hey EHS! Give that Vainuku kid "Soma" of the ball!

Went to watch the EHS football games tonight against Pleasant Valley. The JV's lost in the 4th Quarter 6-2. Tough loss. Anthony Hernandez (Number 23) had a nice return on a punt. The Wilkinson kid had a good game also. (Their punting team needs to practice!) This JV team should be 2-1.

The EHS varsity team worked hard and was up 21-14 going to the 4th quarter. In the first half, Soma Vainuku had gained nearly 80 yards and had a touchdown. In the 3rd Quarter, he did not touch the ball! I am not a football coach, but I do follow the game some. Soma did touch the ball a few times in the 4th quarter, for about 60 yards! But not the last two series? C'mon! Greg Allen was open and is a weapon the team needs to use. Dallas Mohorovich was stellar on Defense.

And of course the Loggers lost again 27-21. 0-3 on the season. But they will beat up on the local teams later.

Unagi wins "Wall Ball" Tournament at Big League Dreams Sept. 13th.

Unagi from Yreka beat FTH of Redding 6-5 by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th for the championship. The Bombsquad from Weaverville finished 3rd. Hamanaka Paint of Eureka, NSC from Redding, the Rock Shop from Ft. Bragg and the Ofer's from Arcata rounded out the tournament.

Rodney Dickerson of Eureka won the HR contest in a playoff. He beat out 16 other contestants.

This was the first tournament Robin and I have hosted at Big League Dreams Redding. The staff was friendly and helpful. The restaurant seemed to be quite busy, and much beer flowed. (I just drank water and ice tea all day. It was around 100 degrees and the artificial turf was hot!) There must have been 15 staff people at the park for the tournament. Good to help the Redding economy. We would run another tournament there. Overall it was a positive experience.

30th Anniversary! Robin and Richard endurance race continues work in progress.

Robin and I have now been married 3 decades! And how are we going to celebrate? You guessed it. We are both working. Robin from 7:30am to 7pm and me 7pm to 7am. Story of our lives. We will have to plan a date to go out later.

Ex Crab in bad trouble. Domestic violence at its worst.

Man accused of beating girlfriend goes to court. Tom Wallace and I played quite a bit of ball together through the years. Softball and Basketball. I just don't understand how this could happen. Drugs/Alcohol most likely have cost an innocent woman her health and Tom his freedom. I would never have expected this, and yet I have other friends that have been either the victim or violator. If you are having difficulties in your relationship, please contact HDVS: Humboldt Domestic Violence Services. And just another note, Robin and I are on the board of directors for HDVS and we are in need of new board members. So contact the above.

Angry HCDCC meeting tonight. Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District race heats up!

The HCDCC Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee meeting was packed tonight. And opinionated. We argued about a resolution against US aggression in Iran as long as they are compliant with nuclear agreements. We need to stop forcing our fears on other countries.

We had candidates from the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District race. And we argued.

Leading off in the 2nd Division, Tera Prucha gave a great speech for the second straight HCDCC meeting outlining her qualifications and justifying an endorsement by the HCDCC. "Buzz" Webb's wife had surgery so, Tina Mackenzie (Last years Democrat of the Year) read a two page, poorly written leaflet that outlined no qualifications for the job. (Buzz said he served 8 years on the Northern Humboldt Unified School District. He actually served on the Northern Humboldt Union High School District.) At least know what board that you served. IMO. Jake Pickering is the third Democrat in this race. He has the tenacity to keep running. His heart is right. Republican Ben Shepherd and No Party Adrienne Floreen are also running. A motion was made to endorse Tera. Then we argued. Then we voted and there was no majority. (A 2/3 majority vote of HCDCC members present is needed.) Endorsement failed. (I voted in favor of endorsement.) A motion was made to endorse "Buzz" Webb. We voted and there was no majority. No motion was made for endorsement of Pickering. (He did not ask for endorsement.) So there is no HCDCC endorsement for the second, YET! If both of these candidates come to the next HCDCC meeting, there might still be an endorsement.

In the 1st Division, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belnap (Green Party Candidate) was called to give her campaign update and was attacked by a fellow Democrat of why she was there wasting our Democrat time. Kaitlan reminded the crowd that this was non-partisan race and did very well at speaking her positions for the board. Stephen Davies is a past Green Party member challenging Kaitlin and is a recently registered Democrat. (It seemed he has re-registered Democrat just for personal political reasons with no promise he would not re-register Green. Give him that for honesty.) He has no issues with Kaitlin's performance on the board. (A Motion was made to endorse Kaitlin, even though she is not a Democrat, but the motion was denied because of bylaw restrictions.) No endorsement.

Kaitlin also gave an update on the Measure "T" lawsuit. Keep the faith in campaign reform!

In the 3rd Division, Republican Barbara Hecathorn is running against Democrat Robert Schultz. Robert gave a straight forward, non-partisan and non-agenda liberal speech concerning water rights. He was a unanimously endorsed candidate by the HCDCC. Go get em Robert!

This is a very strong Democratic Committee right now. I feel we are accomplishing very good policies and candidates. We may argue, but we share the same commitments and values.

Softball Next Weekend at Big League Dreams! League season done for me. Local Football observations.

Next weekend (Sept. 13th) I am hosting a softball tournament at Big League Dreams Redding. Contact me if you want to play. The Chuckster is hosting the Beer League Wood Bat Championships at Willow Creek Sept. 20th and 21st. Live music!

Tomaso's was eliminated this year from the Arcata city playoffs quickly. Out n 2 & BBQ. We did win the Blue Lake City title though. My Eureka team, R-Co Builders, did not compete in the City playoffs. There were not enough "C" division teams wanting to play. Bummer. The Senior League did not have a playoff. Thank goodness. League teams I played for this year were a combined 24 wins 34 loses. 23-15 excluding the Senior League. In Tournaments my teams have been 26-21. 50-55 total. One 1st place, two 2nds, one 3rd and two 4ths. Have probably 5 tourneys left for the year. It has been a fun year. I lose a step each year, but gain new friends. So it is all worth it.

Went to the Eureka High JV's game. Freshmen Anthony Hernandez and Rickey Higgins both grew up here in Samoa so I wanted to watch them. (I coached Rickey at Peninsula and Matt Buckman from the Logger varsity team, in Basketball.) Anthony recovered a fumble, but the Loggers could not recover from 3 blocked punts from number 88 of Foothills. You saw that right, three blocked punts by the same kid! Hey some one go stop that guy! I think the final was 22-20 foothill, but I am not sure.....the scoreboard didn't work! The biggest school in the county, and no one in maintenance did a pre-check to make sure the board works? The Eureka varsity is probably glad it didn't, as they were drubbed.

Went to the CR game with Big Union Boss (BUB) Steve Harris. He is working in the San Jose area for the Operating Engineers, but still is holding onto his house in Rio Dell. He rents it out to about a million CR students, and one (Ben Watkins) from Kodiak, Alaska plays defensive line on the CR football team. He was held and double teamed but still had a solid game. Both teams played sloppy. Best crowd I have seen in some time. Lyndon Rowells must have had 200 yards rushing, but CR still managed to lose 32-30 on a last minute touchdown by Siskiyous. Quarterback Sergio Allen made some great throws and runs, but I question why CR did not run more between the tackles. Offensive Lineman Justin Primofiore from Fortuna is 6'5" and 340 and just wipes out people. He should be playing D1 somewhere next year. CR had no luck on sweeps.

CR missed a short 22 yard FG and two extra point attempts. But still did not have a practice kicking net on their side of the field. (Siskiyous did)

Get this fact, out of the 80 some odd players on the CR football team, 24 are from Florida! Only 16 from Humboldt County! I remember a time where this team was predominately Humboldt County alumni. And what happened to our Pacific Islander player connection? Used to have many Samoan and Hawaiian players.

Drumroll...Nov. Local Candidates and their Party affiliations. By Marks! (Progressive in waiting)

I went to the Humboldt County Elections office today and asked Jenny there if I could have the current roster of candidates for this coming November election and their political affiliation. She looked at me wide-eyed and seemed upset, and told me it would “take awhile.” I don’t remember going into this office too often where I didn’t feel like a bad guy for asking for information. Like pulling teeth. And I have used this office more than most I am sure. So here is what I have for you ‘all out there who may want to know:

Humboldt County Supervisor 2nd District

Estelle Fennell-Democrat. She has been endorsed by the HCDCC and has been in hyper drive lately. She has an uphill battle still.

Clif Clendenen-No Party. Still don’t know much about the guy. He plays music. Makes cider. Ok then.

Johanna Rodoni-Republican. Write in candidate with little chance. May hand over the seat to Clif. (Taking women vote from Estelle) I was disappointed to hear her saying she was put in an uncomfortable situation when she voted for the County Supervisors large raise. Vote your conscience! And she have any solutions for county code enforcement yet?

Eureka City Council

2nd Ward-

Linda Adkins-Democrat. HCDCC endorsed. New to local politics. Retired Cal Trans worker and union member. She was in the kitchen helping at the HCDCC Chicken by the Sea. I like to see doers! This will be a tough race for her to compete.

Polly Endert-Republican. Big family and friend support. Smart young lady who took her appointment with no political agenda.

4th Ward-

Frank Jager-Republican. Nice guy. 30 years of law enforcement. Scoutmaster. Past Eureka Councilman. Can’t say anything bad about the man. Everyone seems to know Frank. Big name recognition advantage.

George Clark-Democrat. Endorsed by the HCDCC. Well known business owner of Kyoto’s. Definitely a lefty liberal. Nice friendly guy. This race will come down to which campaign convinces their candidates strengths to their constituents the best. George needs to make this a partisan race to win. Democrats out number Republicans 58% to 39% in Eureka.

Arcata City Council (Three seats available)

Michael Machi-No Party. Incumbent

Michael Winkler-Democrat. Endorsed by the HCDCC. Ran for this position and came close before. He has already knocked on around 70% of the doors needed. Should do it this time.

Jason Grow-No Party. Into clean energy. Student.

Geronimo Garcia-Green Party. Don’t know this dude either.

Susan Ornelas-Republican. Interesting. I wonder what her agenda is?

Shane Brinton-Democrat. Endorsed by the HCDCC. Political and Union history walking encyclopedia. Shane's work for social justice includes, worker advocacy, renter's rights, homeless support, campaign reform and political education both nationally and locally. Shane is currently an elected official (Youngest in the county) on the Northern Humboldt Union High School District and has made many decisions to help enhance one of the finest school districts in the state.Now go get that checkbook out and help Shane get elected! The limit for individuals to contribute to Shane's campaign is $170 for Arcata elections. (Shameless Marks endorsement)

Fortuna City Council (Two Positions open?)

Don Mayden-American Independent. Whoa! A member of the George Wallace’s party? I wonder if he even knows that he belongs to this racist party? And he wants to help Fortuna? Do what? Hunt Latino workers and chase them to the border?

Odell Shelton Jr.-Republican. Odell has helped baseball players all over the county. Good guy.

Douglas Strehl-Democrat. Incumbent. Must be tough being a Democrat on this council.

Tom Mulholland-Democrat. Are these the only two Democrats in Fortuna? Just joking!

Kenneth Zanzi-Republican. Currently on the Fortuna Planning Commission.

Rio Dell City Council

Richard Leonard-Republican. Incumbent

Marc Barsanti-Republican. Incumbent

Jack Thompson-Republican. I think this might be a past Pulp Mill worker. If it is the Jack I am thinking of, he is a hard worker and a fair man. (And a past monster softball player!)

Blue Lake City Council (2 Seats?)

Meghan Vogel-Democrat. She could be a great councilperson!

Michelle McCall-Wallace-Democrat. I don’t know her.

Karen Barnes-Democrat. Same

Patricia Falor-Democrat. I know here from somewhere.

Alexander Ricca-No Party. I know Alex. He helped me hold a couple of Softball Tournaments years back. Good guy.

Ferndale City Council

For Mayor

Jeff Farley-Democrat. Wow. All that controversy and no challenger? Must be doing something right.

For Council (Two seats)

Kenneth Mierzwa-No Party. Incumbent. I don’t know this guy.

Stuart Titus-Republican. Incumbent. I have talked with Stu. He is a nice open guy.

David Walters-Republican. Don’t know this guy.

Shannon Leonardo-Democrat. I vaguely know Shannon.

Trinidad City Council (2 seats)

Julie Fulkerson-Democrat. Julie is more than qualified. Trinidad is lucky!

Michael Morgan-No Party. Don’t know him.

Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District

Division 1

Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap-Democrat. What? I thought she was a Green Party member. This is why you have to question the information you get at the Humboldt County Elections office. Where is Dave Berman when you need him?

Stephen Davies-Democrat. I don’t know Stephen.

Division 2

Edward “Buzz” Webb-Democrat. Don’t have the “buzz” on him.

Tera Prucha-Democrat. Came and talked to the HCDCC. Very well educated and has plenty of qualifications.

Jake Pickering-Democrat. Now wait a doggone minute! He ran for the HCDCC out of Arcata. Then Water Board in Eureka. Then CR trustee. Then HCDCC in Eureka and now Water Board out of McKinleyville. Where does Jake really live? Kinda like where’s Waldo? I have not met Jake. Seems like he is everywhere and nowhere. Eerie.

Ben Shepherd-Republican. Controversy follows Ben. Will he run against Jill later?

Adrienne Floreen-No Party. Good to see many people running and getting involved.

Division 3

Barbara Hecathorn-Republican. Incumbent.

Robert Shultz-Democrat. Don’t know Robert.

Southern Humboldt Community Hospital District

Judith Gonzales-Democrat

David Kirby-Democrat

Chloe Wilson-American Independent. Why do they belong to a racist party?

Nancy Wilson-Democrat

Ed Smith-Democrat

If anyone out there has more dirt on any of these candidates, please feel free to contribute!

Who and what are the "Progressives?"

I posted on Rose's blog the definition of "progressives" as:

Progressives are Political people who are moving forward; proceeding onward; advancing; evincing progress; increasing; as, progressive motion or course; opposed to retrograde. Improving. Promoting or favoring progress toward better conditions or new policies, ideas, or methods. Favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are.

That started debate that delved more into semantics.

I consider myself a "progressive" and I am more of a "Doer" or "Trier" than a "Talker." I have a record backing that.

Advocates for "improvement" is best summation. But that is just one opinion.

The "progressive" label can fit both Liberal Democrats and change minded Republicans. Just look at their agenda and record.

Obama picks Biden. McCain picks Sarah Palin. Hillary gets to watch.

I am not happy with Barack's campaign right now. How can you ignore someone who garners nearly 50% of the popular vote like Hillary did and take a cranky Joe Biden? Biden had 1% support in Iowa for his bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination. I don't care how the Obama camp paints this. They were wrong.

Now McCain campaign is looking like the "progressive" forward thinking group. They will have the fringe uninformed voters who do not know of Sarah's environmental stands or her anti-wildlife positions. Oh, she is a "hotty" though, so they will get the shallow vote. This was a brilliant move for the "Rights" or conservatives. And have you noticed how far the "moderate" McCain is falling off the right wing cliff?

This race is going to be so frustrating if McCain hangs close. Please, someone tell me this is a nightmare and I will wake up soon!

Jager vs Clark & Atkins vs Endert. Eureka has tough choice!

Frank Jager is running against George Clark for the 4th Ward seat on the Eureka City Council. Both are long time residents with strong local roots.

I would say that Frank is better known in the area and will have a head start name recognition wise. His community service as past Councilman and his current public service as Humboldt County Coroner really helps his cause. Almost 40 years in law enforcement! And he is really a nice guy. One thing I find really impressive is his work in helping over 50 Humboldt County Boy Scouts achieve the ranking of Eagle Scout. Too bad I wasn't in his troop. I think I stopped at Second Class in Myrtletown. Troop 79? I loved the camping trips.

George and I were on the HCDCC at the same time in the 90's. I did not really socialize much with him, but he has always been cordial. He wrote some letters to the editor that were kinda radical in the past. I think he might be just a bit to the left of my politics. But that may work good for him because he controls the political demographics. All he has to do is carry the Democrats and Greens in Eureka, and he has a chance to win. And he has already garnered the HCDCC endorsement. Now he just needs a fancy aggressive mailer with his agenda and the HCDCC endorsement predominately splashed on the cover. And you have to admit his website is very well done.

Linda Adkins is fairly new to the area. She recently retired from Cal Trans and is a past union member and advocate. She has an uphill battle as far as name recognition. But she does have the collaborative help from the Clark campaign. And their combo website is cool. George Clark & Linda Atkins Campaign Website Her campaign needs to do the same with the HCDCC endorsement. Identify herself as the Democrat in the race and ride the tide.

Polly Endert was appointed the 2nd Ward Council seat by a community committee chosen by Eureka Mayor Virginia Bass. She has been a good addition to the Council. No web-site for her campaign as of yet. She has long time roots to the community.

I know I will hear the non-partisan thingy being spouted, but like I have said, politics in Humboldt County have become undeniably partisan. 15, count them, 15 of the last candidates that the HCDCC endorsed are in office!

Democrats outnumber Republicans by a large margin in Humboldt County. I don't make the rules, just report them.

Brinton and Winkler endorsed by HCDCC!

Shane Brinton and Mike Winkler were endorsed by the HCDCC electronically for their respective campaigns for Arcata City Council. Good luck to both! Shane will publicly/officially announce his campaign tomorrow at the Arcata Industrial Park at noon. If you have $170 laying around for a campaign, please help Shane in his endeavor. If you have anything left, please help Mike. Both these candidates are ready and willing to help Arcata.

How much for one Rail System, slightly used?

I see that the Rail and Port Infrastructure Taskforce (RAPIT) is hosting a Port Development seminar on Wednesday the 20th at 5:30pm at the Warfinger. I did not know they have formed a certifiable Political Action Committee. Good for them. It looks like most people are in agreement that you have to have Port Development to have a rail and visa verse. So I just have one question I can't seemed to get answered straight by anyone........

How much will it cost for us to have a workable railroad connecting us to the Port of Oakland and beyond? And by when? I have heard FEMA numbers of over 650 million to a BILLION for a workable rail system with probably over 5 years just for the Environmental Impact reports! But then I hear rumbling from the North Coast Railroad Authority - (NCRA) that the rail could be serviceable in 4 years at the cost of between 115-300 million. It seemed just a few years ago the NCRA floated numbers of about 60 million. Huge discrepancy. What funding limits do we have?

Someone help me here. Give me a concrete number to start the rail system back up and back it up with informational sources. Anyone! Help!

Humboldt water to Southern Cal via water bags. Coming soon!

The Humboldt Bay Municipal Water has control of the Mad River water that provides most of Humboldt County residents and businesses with services. They have the capacity to move 70 million gallons a day, yet only provide around 40 million delivered. That means the district has the capability to provide 30 million gallons to some investor in the future. In the past, entrepreneurial private sector business has "floated" this idea around. It was not well received. But what if another municipality decided to try? We have a surplus of water, So-Cal has a need. It is not "if" they are coming, it is "when."

Shane Brinton for Arcata City Council!

Shane has thrown his hat in the ring to run for Arcata City Council. I wholeheartedly support Shane's effort. Not only has Shane been successful as an elected member of the Northern Humboldt Union High School District (NHUHSD), he has been heavily involved and knowledgeable in progressive local politics. A few years ago he managed my failed campaign for County Supervisor against Bonnie Neely that had little chance for success, and we had the most cost effective campaign of the candidates and came darn close! When my wife Robin ran for the NHUHSD he was instrumental in strategy to help her election victory. His management of the Mark Lovelace campaign for County Supervisor was highly methodical and successful. Shane knows politics and how to make things happen! Shane is a champion of workers rights and supporter of living wages in Humboldt County. This is a great opportunity for the residents of Arcata to support a life long member of the community.

Times Standard promoting union busting?

The Times Standard editorial page this opinion piece "Kill the unfair labor bill" that really does not do The Employee Free Choice Act justice.

As a union organizer I have experienced the tilted scale of justice in many organizing drives toward Corporations. A company will on average spend $10,000 per employee to outside consultants or "Union Busters." What will a company do? First thing is they will try to get the workers to not trust the "union salesman" or organizer. "That Richard Marks guy hand billing this place says he is just a worker like you, have you asked him how much he makes? What does he drive and how big of house does he lives in?" When you finally do get the workers trust, and start to have them sign authorization cards, the company will convince the workers that they are basically signing a contract with the union to start charging them dues, which is a lie. (You have to have at least 30% of the workers sign the cards so that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will hold an election. If you are an organizer, you better have over 70% of the workers signed or you will lose!) Once you have the cards collected and have turned them over to the NLRB, the company is forced to cooperate and has to give the union all the names and addresses of the employees. Oh, that lie the supervisor made about the authorization cards? That is forgotten, because there are more lies to look forward too! Now the company will put out a letter saying they did not want to jeopardize their employees privacy, but the union has every ones addresses and will be invading their private lives at home! "You don't have to talk with them!" The the company will try to talk to the workers one on one, to get information about who the inside organizers are. (In Plant Committee. Usually it takes 10% of the workforce to successfully pull off a organizing drive. They are the eyes and ears of the organizers.) Then the company will either have corporate Human Resource people or even the owner of the company come and talk to the workers in a big meeting. Smaller groups will have meetings weekly as the campaign trudges on for the 45 days from the filing of the authorization cards to the actual election. Companies will show horrific strike videos, threaten to move the facility elsewhere, allude to poor financial times and have their Human Resource person tell a personal horrible union story and cry. I am not making this up! Happened multiple times. Then there is the feel good Company picnics that has not happened before and won't after we are gone. Breakfast served at the plant by management. Cool anti-union shirts to wear (You better!) on the floor. The company will put out many (almost daily) fliers handed out personally with half truths and blatant lies about unions.

And how do we organizers fight back? We can make no promises to the workers. We can only give them the hope to have a chance at bargaining with their employer as a bargaining unit for fair compensation. We have to stand outside the facility on public property and handbill the workers who have the guts to stop and grab our material, or who will come to our meetings whether at the library, pizza parlor, motel or any other public gathering place we can come up with. And the dreaded house-calls that can either be a great experience or unfriendly fiasco. And organizers have to above board on all they say and do, or they will lose!

Recent surveys have shown that well over 50% of American workers would like to be union, but in fact only roughly 10% of American workers are union. I have been on organizing drives where workers were happy with their employers and did not feel the need to organize. Good for them. But for some workers, and companies for that matter, it is better for them to have a union. Asking for 50% gathering of authorization cards for union representation will level the playing field.

Union Organizers as Union salesmen? What do they have to sell? Only hope!

Local Solutions and HCDCC in Cahoots?

You sure would think so by many anonymous bloggers out there who label any liberal progressive candidates as being joined at the hip with Local Solutions (LS) and the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee (HCDCC). While the HCDCC may agree with LS on some of the same candidates, such as Mark Lovelace recently, that is not necessarily the rule. In the 2nd District Supervisor race, LS is backing Clif Clendenen and the HCDCC has endorsed Estelle Fennell for this upcoming election. We may have similar philosophies, but the main purpose for the HCDCC is to get Democrats elected, while the LS supports their defined best "progressive" candidate, regardless of party affiliation. Hope that clears it up somewhat.

SAC finishes 2nd in FastPitch tournament.

I had to cancel my tournament at Redding Big League Dreams on Wednesday. I was down to 7 teams and I saw the writing on the wall. I am going to try again Sept. 13th and 14th at Redding. Metal Bat Slow Pitch "Off the Wall" Tournament. Guaranteed 3 games. E-mail me.

Since I was canceling the tournament, I had players who still wanted to come to Redding and play ball. So I told the guys we could enter a fast pitch tournament at Big League Dreams, and I would find us some pitchers to throw. One of the first I called was Billy Osborne who has played for many local fast pitch teams. He laughed at me, but said he could pitch a "few innings." I told him I would find backups for him. I could not. Local pitcher Josh Sargent was playing for the host team, Bob Annis was busy, Larry Kuwahara the same and all from here and the valley that still play were already taken. So it was Billy and I. Here is what happened:

Redding: Samoa Athletic Club finished second in the 2008 “Rumble in the Valley” men’s fast pitch softball tournament after being drubbed 7-0 by Brotherton Pipe of Oregon this past weekend at Big League Dreams. Richard Marks took the loss on the mound, giving up 3 earned runs in 6 innings. Samoa Athletic Club reached the championship game by scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the seventh against KTM of Willits for a 15-14 victory in the semi final.

Billy Osborne led the Samoa pitching staff, going 3-1 and pitching 30 innings. Sam Jaskar won the Golden Glove award. Kelly Miller paced the hitters by batting .550 with a homerun followed by Travis Wright at .421. Catcher Byron Gardner had 2 home runs. As a team, Samoa had a batting average of .335 for the tournament of highly ranked west coast fast pitch teams.

Other SAC players batting averages in the tournament were: Byron at .381, Dave Jones .318, Sam Jasker .316, Mike Brown .294, Nate Parkinson .273, Tracy Driskoll .235, Me .200, Tommy .188. Of course, some of our players were walked and Hit By Pitches that would have raised their on base percentages. My OBP was .333. I wasn't hit because "I was a baling!"

Billy Osborne was hooked up in a pitching dual with pitcher for Brotherton on Saturday night that ended with Brotherton scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th to beat us 2-1. Ugh! Billy was a Warrior and pitched masterfully to almost pull a monumental upset against a ranked "A" Fast Pitch team. Brotherton's pitcher was flown in to pitch this tournament, so you can understand the David vs Goliath thing. But we still were the #2 seed going into Sundays play for our 2-1 record and our plus run differential which must have been a plus 17. Billy shut down Yokuts from Lemore early Sunday and pitched into the 7th inning against #8 state ranked KTM. I finished up that mess and lucked out for the win.

I threw the Championship game throwing, slow, slower and slowest but I walked only 2 so I was satisfied. Ended up 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA. The defense behind me saved my buttocks. If Billy had more help in the bullpen, we may have pulled off a championship.

Most of our players were slowpitch guys who have never played fast pitch, so that was good. One problem I had with some was their squirreling. Most of these people playing fast pitch were very serious. KTM has three sponsor's and three different set of uniforms and they were not happy losing to us twice and our guys were, believe or not, overconfident. And they lipped off a little too freely to some hardcore veterans playing. Not all, but just a few.

I did enjoy our team going out to Logan's Roadhouse Saturday night and getting to know each other better. Thank goodness they didn't throw us out for the peanut throwing fiasco!

Arts Alive! Remember Rob Colivas? SAC finishes 2nd.

Robin and I went Arts Alive on Saturday. Liked the art work done by Ruth Jamison. Robin saw a piece she may buy soon. Had a drink with Eureka Mayor Virgina Bass and her husband Matt there at the new bar and grill in Old Town across from Hurricane Kate's. (Starts with an O?) Frank Jager came by and said hi. Had a person come up to me and asked if I recognize him. Then he did the worst thing you could do, he wanted me to guess. I had no clue. It was Robert Colivas. I have seen his brother Sam through the years, but I was not able to put it together. I played softball, basketball and flag football with Robert back in the late 70's. He did not look the same. He had that 70's type poofy hair in back when and did not wear glasses. He was able to name our softball line-up of M & D Auto back then (Robert and his brother Sam, Sam Skillman, Mark Smith, Mike Robinson, Kurt Brungart, Mike Gomes, Mike Carroll, Frank Spicka, Ed Fregoso, Loren Price, Andy Lameroux and me of course.) Robert was hanging out in old town with Tom Corder and Richard Rummell from the EHS class of 77'. They have all moved away but said they are meeting up with each other each August, and old town was their venue of the day. How embarrassing!

Steve Coppini hosted the Wildwood Days Softball Tournament in Scotia this last weekend as a fund-raiser for the Rio Dell Fire Department. The field was great and the weather better! The last time there was a men's softball tournament at Scotia, the trains were still running! So it has been at least a decade. Samoa Athletic Club made it to the Championship game but lost 36-14 to Drink/R-Co. Ouch! We beat 12 pack by throwing out the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, and then advanced to the championship game by scoring the winning run with 2 out in the seventh against the Fortuna Bombers, so we had a good tournament. (I was on base over half my at bats, but still consider mired in slump.)

Something always happens at a tourney that I have not witnessed before. This time Joe Auseillo scored from third on a pop up to the catcher and then later in the day scored on a pop up to the pitcher! He also threw the runner out at the plate to end one game. Dave Damme was hit a few times hard up the middle while pitching. I am sure he is wearing bruises today. I over ran a fly ball by Steelheads player Jimmy Smith by about 10 feet in the outfield. Comedy relief. Robin wanted to know if it was a inside the park home run or a 4 base error. I let her know I didn't touch it, so no error! I have no brakes anymore. Kelly Miller, Matt Dusel and Eric Bess were also out there messing up their hardball swings. Tim Hunt may have had the longest Home Run of the weekend. Either Dusel or Smith had the most.

Next weekend is the Big League Dreams tourney. Anyone out there wants to play, call me!

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.