Mental Health tax ballot measure is a step in the right direction

Source: The Willits News,  July 28, 2017

It doesn’t take a whole lot of detailed research to see that mental health facilities are still badly needed in Mendocino County. According to the county’s Behavioral Health Advisory annual report for 2015-16, the committee recognized the inadequacy of both substance abuse and disorder treatment services and urged the Board of Supervisors to prioritize financial resources.
Board members in their report supported maximizing the use of all available funding resources, locating and staffing substance abuse treatment disorder options county-wide and providing transportation support for those remote locations, among some suggestions.

On the law enforcement end, earlier in the year the MCSO announced they planned to stop responding to crisis calls and non-violent 5150s. Section 5150 of the state’s Welfare and Institutions Code authorizes a qualified law enforcement officer or clinician to section a person suspected of having a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themselves or others.
As reported by the Mendocino Beacon earlier this year, the costs are staggering with emergency room visits by people placed on 5150 holds.

Since the county has had no emergency facilities for mentally ill patients since the shuttering of the psychiatric health facility, known as the PHF unit in 1999, law enforcement and regional medical facilities have been burdened with a lack of resources to deal with the growing demand for services.
To address some of the issues, an ordinance was developed by Sheriff Tom Allman and a 12-member planning team which he assembled and placed on the November 2016 ballot.
The ordinance proposed to levy a half cent county sales tax limited to five years and was projected to raise $22 million towards the creation of a locked psychiatric facility in the county. The initiative also included development of a training facility for mental health and public safety professionals and citizens.

Dubbed Measure AG, the measure was defeated by voters when it failed to reach the two-thirds super majority vote required during the November election. As reported last week, county social service employees and Allman are taking a second stab at passing a mental health tax bill.
Members of the Board of Supervisors said they hoped the new measure has enough for approval from voters. It is clear that whatever shape the proposed retooled initiative takes that services in Mendocino and Willits are still desperately needed and this has been the case for quite some time.

While doing research for an article regarding drug prevention and health, I discovered last year there are few resources available locally in the Willits area and the services that are available for mentally ill patients are scattered throughout the county. For example, Redwood Community Services offers mental health crisis support in both Ukiah and Fort Bragg.
These centers are designed to deal with treatment options such as psychiatric consultations, referrals to follow-up services and assessment and crisis intervention.

This type of facility is non-existent in Willits and Frank R. Howard Hospital does not have the capacity to deal with the mentally ill.
Although drug abuse and mental illness are often linked, qualified therapists and specialized services can best be managed at a localized facility equipped to deal with the staggering demands in psychiatric care. Currently, there are not enough services offered and there is a lack of constant outreach and support on the local level.
The Frank R. Howard Hospital Foundation has been exploring the possibility of utilizing the old Willits hospital as a locked facility for in patient psychiatric care, but according to its board of directors President Margie Handley, it will still take two to three months even after (if) the new tax measure is approved by voters, to determine what it would cost to rehab the facility. She said it could be up to an advisory committee if the ballot measure passes to decide if the envisioned facility would become reality.

If more resources and funds become available as a result of voter approval of the retooled health tax measure, that is a step in the right direction.

Bravo to Rodriguez for speaking up in favor of immigrant resolution

source: The Willits News, June 22, 2017

Earlier this month the Eureka Times Standard reported the Arcata City Council adopted an ordinance making Arcata a sanctuary city.
According to the news report, a round of applause rang out in the council chambers after the council voted 3-1, with one councilman dissenting, to pass the sanctuary ordinance.
Contrast this with Willits City Council which recently passed a resolution by a 3-2 vote championed by Councilwoman Saprina Rodriguez affirming a commitment to non-discrimination and supporting immigrants in the community. The resolution was passed by City Council late last month, but not without controversy.

Although Rodriguez said she had to fight to get the item on the council’s agenda, on the night of the May 24 meeting, Mayor Gerry Gonzalez had announced that he was pulling the item from the agenda on advice from City Attorney Jim Lance.
Gonzalez took issue with the original resolution’s wording which he felt could potentially result in the city losing federal grant funding. Although the mayor had pulled the item from the agenda, fellow council members and members of the public in attendance urged him to proceed with the discussion of the resolution. By all accounts, by the time the item was brought back for discussion, a crowd of residents seeking to give input on the matter had thinned out. Some went home in disappointment upon hearing the item had been originally pulled.

Rodriguez said she let her fellow council members know she felt pulling the item was not OK and it was also an abuse of Gonzalez’ authority.
A controversial paragraph in the resolution which in part stated the Willits Police Department would continue its long-standing practice of not participating or aiding in the enforcement of federal immigration laws was revised, taking out the phrase “long standing practice.”
Rodriguez is to be commended for her staunch determination to bring the Willits City Council in alignment with many cities in the state and the nation with regards to supporting their immigrant populations.

The councilwoman said she felt it was her obligation to bring the resolution forward, despite being shut down initially by Gonzalez. She said she gave a draft copy of the resolution to Lance and City Manager Adrienne Moore on May 10, but the item had to make its way through a process before it could make its way to the council’s agenda for the May 24 meeting.
Even though Hispanics and other minorities comprise a lower percentage of Willit’s population and demographics, as Rodriguez correctly points out, there was clearly enough interest in the issue as an immigration town hall held in late March turned out to be one of the highest attended events in recent years, despite a low attendance by the population it was intended to serve.

We can hardly blame Hispanics and immigrants for staying away from this and other forums held throughout Mendocino County, despite reassurances from Sheriff Tom Allman and other law enforcement and county officials that they will have no direct involvement in carrying out federal immigration law in the wake of a federal executive order signed by President Donald Trump this January, there has been great confusion spreading over social media regarding possible ICE raids in Lake County.
I believe Rodriguez is also correct in her assertion that the loss of federal funds is an overplayed argument in opposition to these types of resolutions.

As public sentiment throughout the nation evolves and changes, support for local resolutions has increased from cities across the nation and they continue to be approved at a rapid race.
Gonzalez and other local leaders in Willits have advocated for restraint, fearing the loss of federal funds and citing direction from organizations like the League of California Cities in regards to adopting a sanctuary city ordinance, but as Rodriguez said, the threat of federal funding should not be a critical factor in adopting a resolution when it comes to safeguarding residents and allaying mass fear or confusion.

Leaders don’t always make a decision based on funding, and Willits is not out on an island, nor would it be alone in supporting its immigrant population - joining cities like Santa Rosa and Windsor which have passed similar resolutions or declared themselves as sanctuary cities, despite threats from the federal government.
I add myself to the list of those whom Rodriguez said have overwhelmingly thanked her for her moral leadership.

I spent part of Saturday visiting the Brooktrails Township and covered the Brooktrails Fire Department Open House for TWN.

In partnership with CAL FIRE, the department put together an open house/preparedness event this weekend for residents. With hot summer temperatures and fire season right around the corner, the Fire Department wants residents to be ready for any contingency or emergency.

There were tables full of pamphlets, information about preventing and dealing with emergency situations, as well as T-shirts and raffle items and baseballs with "Smokey The Bear" logos emblazoned on them.

I actually felt badly for the volunteer firefighters that were assembled there. There was only one thing missing: the Brooktrails Township residents.

Where were the residents?
Except for one lone straggler toward the end of the allocated time for the event, most of the Brooktrails residents were no shows. Now you can argue that there were a lot of events going on this weekend and that the forecast called for rain, but it still seemed like a shame to me that the FD would go to the trouble of advertising the event and it ended up being sparsely attended.

The same story was true for a tour of the Brooktrails Community Garden in which resident Anthony Ward was scheduled to read excerpts from his book on gardening and spirituality. 
The pending threat of rain and cold weather in June seemed to deter residents from stopping by.

But for the other events, is it a lack of marketing to blame? I can't be sure.
This isn't the first event in North Mendocino County I have covered which suffered from a lack of participation from the very people it is intending to serve.

A couple of months back I attended a workshop of the Mendocino County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Committee aimed at educating community members, particularly cultural groups such as native Americans and Hispanics, about the services available to them in terms of counseling, mental health and other areas.

Once again that workshop was missing members of the community, despite the fact I was told that there is a staff member employed by the county whose job description includes driving around the county promoting such events. Sadly, the counselors and presenters may as well have been talking to themselves because there was zero community input.

I have not attended other workshops, though I am told others have been better attended. Later this month on June 29 in Redwood Valley, another event, this time a cross cultural training, the byproduct of a collaboration between the Consolidated Tribal Health Project and the County's Behavioral Health and Recovery Services will feature a couple of speakers and discuss topics such as sharing of local practices.

I hope this workshop will see better community attendance and participation. The event is scheduled from 9 to 4 p.m. and lunch will be provided. Those interested in attending should contact Dustin Thompson at thompsondu@mendocinocounty.org

Cue in the Rocky theme song

Through no fault of my own, I am mostly left to complete this latest edition of TWN virtually without any extra help.

When I was in college at Mt. San Antonio in Walnut CA, I will never forget how my good friend at the time, page and layout designer extraordinaire James Choy would psyche himself when he felt tired or every time we were up against the tight deadlines by playing "Eye of the Tiger" or the Rocky theme song for that 11th hour stretch of work or for that extra burst of needed inspiration.

You know what? I never thought that would stick in my mind, but it's those types of moments that really stick out from person's background  and you remember them when it's least expected, or when you most need to reflect on them I suppose.

Just today I have completed two news stories, including a 35 inch budget piece, prepared a brief history retrospective, an opinion piece and I am getting ready to complete a movie review for my entertainment page. Oh and then there's the police log.

It would not be appropriate to discuss in a public thread on my blog the circumstances why I am a reporter short this week, suffice it to say I won't talk about any H.R. issues or specifics, but at least some relief is on the way.

The freelancer budget has been increased and I can assign my freelancers (I really only have two, one main one doing some soft pieces and profiles and one specializing in sports) a few more assignments to get me through. Although it is still me doing the bulk of the work, including updating our website.

I am getting ready to plan out the rest of the content and to look for some region and state stories to round out Friday's edition. Was it Billy Ocean that sang that old tune, "When the going gets tough...?" You know the rest. I am not going to lie, the going's been VERY rough of late, and although I wish I had a lot more help, at least I remember back on the old days.

I swear I can still see good 'ole James Choy gearing up and psyching himself up for another round.

Cue up "Eye of the Tiger"

P.S. I just looked at this image carefully, WTH? Why is this boxer dude wearing a suit with his gloves? Or am I just that tired. LOL

Net neutrality under seige in wake of Trump's internet bill

source: The Willits News
 April 7, 2017

Have you ever logged on to a website and been surprised that the ads were targeted to suit your needs? Perhaps the first time you experienced the phenomenon of targeted advertising you wondered how it was the web programmers knew of your predilection for Nike sneakers or your secret love of Grease the musical? You were either horrified at the prospect of your web privacy being invaded or marveled at the technical wizardry behind the technology. Whatever your reaction, get ready for the next phase.


In a recent 50-48 vote, the U.S. Senate approved to do away with Federal Communications Commission rules established last fall blocking internet service providers such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T from selling private communications to advertisers eager to get their hands on consumers’ Google search history without their authorization.

The Los Angeles Times and other media outlets reported earlier this week President Donald Trump signed a bill allowing internet Service Providers (ISPs) to track and sell users’ data.


According to The New York Times, GOP lawmakers and new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said privacy rules hampered telecommunications carriers, opening the door for further deregulation and allowing the federal government to strike against net neutrality rules. Net neutrality refers to requirements that broadband providers should enable access to all content and internet applications without playing favorites to specific websites.

As pointed out by Forbes, Wired and other technology and business publications, the future of net neutrality could be jeopardized as regulatory rollbacks that would allow the sale of users’ private data to corporate tech interests become the order of the day. What’s worse, the potential abuse of internet ownership by means of censoring or biasing content for financial gain could be predicted by Trump’s selection of Pai to take over as chairman of the FCC in January. People could read the writing on the smart board.


It’s no secret that Pai, a former attorney for Verizon, has been a vocal critic of net neutrality rules and his views seem to align with an administration which berates the media and has sworn to break up what Trump called “media conglomerate oligopolies” while on the stump last fall.

That’s not to say net neutrality is not an important concept for business, or that business should not play any part in people’s internet usage. As pointed out by the non-partisan Free Press, an organization fighting to save the free internet, the ability of small businesses and startups depends on an open internet to foster economic growth and encourages more diversity and creativity. The internet has always been a marketplace of ideas, although lobbyists have been attempting to impose government regulations to for several years in attempts to maximize the profits of a select few.


Free internet protection advocates argue that the open internet is also important for racial and social justice campaigns. The loss of a free internet could have the damaging effect of demarginalizing people of color by potentially taking away platforms for free expression on the web. We are not there yet and there are those who undoubtedly would categorize these ideas as hyperbole, but the potential is a real concern.

Regardless of their ideological stance, at the very least people should be leery of ISPs having the ability to exploit their browser history, thereby acquiring access to their consumer choices and internet searches. Currently there are malware and malicious programs designed to hijack search engine queries and by now the majority of web users have experienced the frustration of being rerouted to a website or advertising page without their consent. Advertisers will not have to rely solely on these surreptitious tactics and harmful software programs if the federal government moves toward ending what an L.A. Times editorial called “The equal opportunity internet.”


Once we go down the slippery slope of rolling back rules established during the previous administration espousing internet consumer protections in favor of increased profits, we face the real danger of going back to square one when it comes to user privacy and the establishment of a fair and equal internet for everybody.
Ariel Carmona Jr is the city editor for The Willits News. He can be reached by email at acarmona@willitsnews.com or by phone at (707) 841-2123.

six months ago...

I closed the deal with K.C. Meadows, the managing editor of the Ukiah Daily Journal to come to Willits and take over as the city editor for the Willits News.

So I recall giving my landlord notice, packing my 2013 Kia Forte and driving from Espanola New Mexico to Arizona and then to Southern California where I stayed one weekend with my parents before heading out into the unknown: Mendocino County.

I still recall that fall weekend full of promise and hope, after a brief stop in San Francisco, the 100 mile plus drive north on the 101 to Ukiah where I stayed in temporary housing for three weeks while I commuted to Willits on a daily basis.

I remember that first fall weekend with the orange leaves on the sidewalks and downtown Ukiah so picturesque and lovely full of color, charm, almost like that fictional town the Gilmore Girls inhabited on TV.

Basically I took a leap of faith and it paid off.

So much happened since!

The first big story about Board of Supervisor Tom Woodhouse getting arrested the weekend before Halloween. I still remember he came to my office and said hello and gave me his business card, told me to call him. He had been AWOL at Board of Supervisors meetings and resurfaced on the streets on Willits, often disheveled or talking nonsense according to the locals.
Little did I know he was bipolar and his subsequent brush with the law and eventual resignation from the board was the first big story.

Just before the holidays the Bypass project opened, and shortly after that the aftermath of its construction. It appears the local businesses are still feeling its effects.

This morning I was at the local coffee shop for the first of what I hope will be many "meetings with the editor" where I sit and meet readers and discuss whatever is on their mind. This will happen at Rolands Bakery at the Evergreen Shopping Center every Wednesday AM.

This Friday I am taking a well deserved day off.

I will post my opinion on the Net Neutrality issue from Friday's paper late tomorrow once it goes live on our site.

Man About Willits: It's Your Move

source: The Willits News March 2, 2017

I have been a gamer all my life. From board games to card games to video games to role playing, I love all kinds, every kind of game, and I probably have tried most at one point or another from “Risk” to “Dungeons and Dragons” to “Magic The Gathering,” but there is one game that has had a hold on me for years and has been a constant throughout my life: the venerable game of chess. I often drive the rain soaked streets in Mendocino County looking for a game.

Ever since my dad taught me how the pieces move when I was 10, I have been enthralled by the complexities of the royal game, although I didn’t always play it. I took a long break from the game, not because I wanted to but because life got in the way, but I rediscovered it in college and have played it on and off ever since.

The beauty of chess, apart from the fact it offers many intellectual rewards, is also that you can play it anywhere and everywhere. In Russia and most European countries, the game is almost like a religion, I have read people play it on trains, in the park, and kids partake of it at school as part of their curriculum. Nowadays you can play over the board face to face against your opponent or on the internet and even on a smartphone through an app.

Most people who do not partake of the hobby don’t realize that chess has its own language. Actually, it has many languages, although there are two types of notation, the descriptive and the algebraic. The former was replaced by the latter for ease of use. This notation works by naming the squares where the pieces move on the 64 square board.

It is chess notation that allowed people to play “postal” chess for years prior to the advent of the internet. In postal or correspondence chess, a person will mail their move to another player and wait to receive the other player’s response. A game could take months or even years this way, but the advantage is you did not have to be next to the other player. It also allowed players to enjoy centuries old games and to play over historic matches by replaying the moves of their favorite recorded games printed in books and in newspapers and magazines.

The rise of the world wide web in the 1990s changed a lot in the global society and chess was no different. All of a sudden more people could instantly face each other in fierce battles over the web, internet clubs sprang up as did forums and websites dedicated to strategy and preserving the history of the game. Software which helped with instruction became popular and tournaments, which had once been exclusive to over-the-board play suddenly were also happening online.
I play chess occasionally with my college buddy Michael Chen, even though he resides 536 miles away in Southern California. We play using correspondence through Facebook and he routinely beats me.

Throughout history many famous people have played chess and the chess world has produced its share of celebrated characters and players. Benjamin Franklin was said to have loved the game. He famously said once, “We learn from chess the greatest maxim in life - that even when everything seems to be going badly, we should not lose heart, but always hope for a change for the better.”Another temperamental player, after losing an intense match is said to have grabbed his opponent’s king, hurled it across the room and shouted, “Why must I lose to this idiot?”

When I was growing up I was fascinated and read about the great chess champions of all time. There was Jose Raul Capablanca, the great Cuban master who was also ambassador for Cuba during his lifetime and a world champion in 1920. There was the U.S. champion Bobby Fischer who took on the Russian monopoly of the game and won the world title in 1972 in Reykjavic Iceland in dramatic fashion against the best Russian master Boris Spassky. The celebrated match was like a heavy weight boxing fight to chess lovers, and a microcosm of the Cold War.

In 1996 in Philadelphia, another historical chess match enthralled the world. This one featured chess champion Gary Kasparov playing against a super IBM computer dubbed “Deep Blue.” It marked the first time a chess playing computer defeated a world champion in a classical game under tournament regulations. The match captured the attention of millions and brought a renewed interest in the ancient game.

No one knows who invented it, but the game has been played for centuries by aristocrats, by diplomats and by scholars. I personally travelled by bus for several hours once to Santa Monica beach where there is a section of benches and old Russian masters who play on a daily basis. On another occasion, I was in New York City in the famous Washington Square Park, killing time while waiting on a flight back home. I thought it was a good idea to play one of the old guys in the park, perhaps I could give them a good game?

I don’t recommend it. Fastest $5 I ever lost.
Chess players are sometimes stereotyped as uber geeks, but in my experience this is a misconception as I have met chess players of every age, creed and walk of life during my lifetime. Chess players have a sense of humor. One player told me this joke: A man and a dog were seen playing chess together in a park. One person remarked, “Wow, that’s a clever dog.” The man retorted, “He’s not so clever, I beat him three out of four games.”
I try to find a chess club or gaming store everywhere I go. Ukiah has one and so does Willits. The Willits gaming store has almost every role playing, card and board game available and there are games happening on week nights and on the weekend. I have not seen chess players there.

I am still searching for over-the-board opponents to play during my free time. Come on Willits, it’s your move.

The facebook Journalism project: Do we really need it?

Approximately two weeks ago, Facebook kicked off their first Facebook event with local media in Dallas. According to their site page, the Facebook team hosted nearly 70 attendees, representing newspapers, TV and radio stations from across Texas and surrounding areas.

The social media giant called it "an opportunity for newsroom leaders, social media editors and journalists to learn more about using Facebook and Instagram for news" and for them to learn more about local news organizations on these platforms. Additionally, Facebook said local news is important to people and that they admire their local news partners that bring communities together around issues that are closest to home.

 Facebook invited users to take a look at some of the standout moments local publishers shared over the past few weeks. They say they are launching a new monthly feature on their Media Blog called "Spotlight on Local," where they will showcase storytelling from local news publishers on Facebook and Instagram. The Facebook team said over the coming months their news partnerships team will also be hosting more regional news on Facebook events for local publishers across the country.

The problem with "fake news" found on social media has also been addressed of late. I think the problem is exacerbated by a president and an administration that labels news report they find critical or they disagree with as fake. Just because a politician does not like the way he or she is portrayed in an article, that does not necessarily invalidate the information anymore than President Trump hearing somewhere that he garnered the greatest number of electoral votes in history (not true) make that fact a true statement.

Personally I don't think there really is a need for a Facebook journalism project. The latest version of the Associated Press stylebook has an entire chapter dedicated on how to deal with many of the issues journalists face with the emergence of social media. Mostly I use Facebook and Twitter to post links to my work, and so do a lot of other media organizations that I am aware of.

Certainly there needs to be more education about social media and how it benefits the industry, but other than that, it does not seem this type of elaborate project is needed because media professionals have already incorporated the web and social media to supplement and enhance their reporting and have been doing it successfully for quite some time now.

 I also dare to say that social media, Facebook in particular, has not always been good for journalism and has had the opposite effect in many cases. One unwanted byproduct of social media integration has been the notable rise in the fake news trends. Because anyone can post on the web and links containing information that isn't vetted, often the spread of misinformation via links to sites of questionable legitimacy with questionable facts and content was a byproduct of the rise of social media, memes and the internet culture.

Another detrimental result is that people have become accustomed to getting their news from social media and have become lazy and less critical. A large demographic and segment of the population does not even read newspapers or magazines and the lack of in-depth reporting in other media outlets has eroded people's ability to exercise critical thinking and judgement. That may not all be attributed directly to social media, but it sure has not helped.

Another problem has been news outlets, particularly on the broadcasting spectrum, becoming less impartial and espousing ideology such as Fox News for conservatives and MSNBC on the liberal spectrum.

I think it is laudable for Facebook to try to mitigate the problem with fakes news now, but it seems more like a reactionary end result to the criticism it faced over the controversy, more than anything else. I hope that the collaboration between Facebook and news professionals turns out to be good for the industry. 

Man about Willits: Why I love books

Man about Willits: Source: The Willits News 1/19/2017

 I love books. I especially love older volumes and the musty, used variety. Back in 1981, Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and famous media mogul, was quoted saying newspapers would be gone in 10 years. I am guessing his assessment was probably based on the emergence of new technologies at the time, and on the rising popularity of cable television. Now, cable TV is all but dead, replaced by streaming services and other technologies.

 I am a newspaper print guy and I realize that compared to the younger generation, I could be equated with a dying breed, the traditionalist who prefers the printed page to the shiny new gadget, tablet or e-reader.

The last few months have been pretty busy professionally for me, I am still getting acclimated to Mendocino County and to Willits specifically. There has been no shortage of significant events to cover since my arrival in the fall, but in the wake of last week’s storms and before this week’s ongoing precipitation, there was a lull in the weather. I stepped out of my office to stroll down Main Street, take in the sliver of sunlight and to walk to a favorite new destination: The used bookstore. After a filling lunch at the Mexican restaurant near my bank, I popped into the bookstore to briefly disappear into the stacks for the balance of my lunch break. It was the perfect respite from the deadlines, interviews, emails and the other responsibilities of the typical work day.

Whenever I find a new bookstore I always make it a point to scope out the section on games looking for tomes on chess. Willits is pretty well stocked when it comes to the books I enjoy reading.

I have heard it said that there are more books printed on chess strategy, history, tactics and tournaments than any other topic, except perhaps religion and the Bible. I probably read that bit of trivia somewhere.

 When I visit a library, I always head to the section labeled .794 under the Dewey Decimal system first, because I know that is where all the chess books are hidden, like rare gems in a buccaneer’s treasure chest. I also love biographies and screen writing books. Maybe my movie script will be completed in 2017. Sadly, bookstores have been going the way of the dinosaurs, brick and mortar stores and mom and pop businesses replaced by Amazon, Google gadgets and technology. According to the illiteracy statistics compiled by the Static Brain Research Institute, based on research undertaken by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy last year, there are still 32,000 adults in our country who cannot read; 14 percent can’t read above a basic level.

A staggering 44 percent of U.S. adults can only read at an intermediate level of proficiency and studies have shown close to 20 percent of high school graduates are illiterate. I remember sitting in my high school French class reading “The Little Prince” in its original French and in my A.P. English class pouring through the works of Shakespeare, Orwell and other classics. I cannot fathom being in a classroom without the ability to understand the printed page.

 I have always believed there is something irrefutably sad about a society where anyone can tell you the latest exploits of the Kardashians, but are at a loss when asked who wrote “Moby Dick” or to recite a line from Shakespeare’s 18th sonnet without pulling out their iPhone or asking the all-mighty Google.

Then again, I am “old school.” I sat in a freshman high school class learning to type the “home row” keys and just yesterday was having a conversation with a co-worker about the days when we needed a landline to be able to use the Internet.

 I love books, the tactile nature of their texture and feel, and I even love the way an old book smells. The fictional librarian in the old Buffy show Rupert Giles said “books smell like knowledge.” He said the problem with computers is they don’t smell. I think he was absolutely right. Conversely, I think my college journalism teacher was wrong when she adopted the mantra “print is dead.” Print and newspapers are alive and well in Willits, California and in Lake Jackson, Texas where I worked as a reporter two years ago and they are also still viable in Northern New Mexico where they are sold on street corners, much like they were a century ago. It looks like books and newspapers have some life in them yet. Ted Turner was dead wrong as a prognosticator, fortunately for us old souls who still love curling in a corner with a favorite book.

Man about Willits

Here is a link to my first column for TWN: Man about Willits

http://www.willitsnews.com/opinion/20170105/man-about-willits-a-visit-with-women-in-business

source: The Willits News, January 6, 2017

It must have come as a surprise to some of their members when I walked into the North County Women in Business Network’s latest meeting at the Willits Center for the Arts upstairs gallery Wednesday morning.

As I clutched my trusty battered briefcase and Canon digital camera and signed the attendance sheet, I overheard one of the ladies say in a concurrently bemused and astonished tone, “It’s a man.”

As a reporter and city editor working in the community of Willits, I have gotten to know a few of those in attendance, like former Mayor and City Council Member Holly Madrigal and Chamber of Commerce President Lisa Epstein, but the bulk were still new faces. Truth be told, I wasn’t really sure of what I wanted to accomplish other than networking and listening in to the group’s plans for the new year. It was perhaps just a good opportunity to attach faces to some of the names making their way into my inbox on a periodic basis.

On the agenda was a discussion of best practices and goals for businesses in 2017. The network’s Co-Chairwoman Jenny Senter, owner of Celtic Heritage Destinations travel agency, and Patricia Baumann, former network chairwoman, acted as facilitators. Senter asked the members what they were looking to leave behind from the previous year in 2017 by way of an introductory ice breaker, and each took turns around a circle providing various responses.

One member told me in jest that I should come back to a subsequent meeting wearing a dress. Others half-jokingly pointed out they were wearing pants or business attire. If my camera and notepad had not given away my profession, if not my intentions, a brief introduction took care of any uncertainty or potential awkwardness. There was little I could do about my gender.

Denise Rose, Brooktrails Township general manager, said she hoped to leave behind a playground, a project she has been working on for some time. Baumann, design principal at Design Cafe, said she was looking forward to having more time for herself in the new year and volunteering less.

Introductions were followed by break out sessions consisting of three or more members sharing ideas about best practices and how to improve themselves personally and professionally. These women in business forced me to think about what I wanted to leave behind in 2017, and after a brief period of reflection, I came up with this: I want people to shed their misconceptions, prejudices or preconceived notions about those in our community.

In addition to being more visible by stepping away from my desk and from behind the computer, whenever deadlines allow, it is one of my goals to shed any ignorance of the various groups operating in our coverage area, to better inform and serve the members of the community, while walking the line between informing and ferreting out corruption or waste.

Others in the group said 2016 taught them huge lessons, such as not worrying about disappointing people in business or as a volunteers. Saprina Rodriguez, newly-elected city council member and president of Willits Youth Soccer, said she underwent major surgery for a spinal injury recently, which slowed her down a bit. Rodriguez said she used her recovery time to gain perspective, and she feels excited about the tasks she is taking on in 2017.

Some of the best practices shared by members include taking time to plan, doing things one enjoys, networking, learning to be better listeners, learning more about online marketing, continuing with education, and not being afraid to ask for help.

These are challenging times for the local business community and property owners. In addition to the untimely death of former Chamber of Commerce Director Lynn Kennelly, city officials are in the midst of making the transition to new city council members, while coping with the reality of the post-bypass era. Most of the members embraced the notion that, as a collective, they were up to the task of dealing with their individual concerns.

A number of members have ambitious goals for the new year. Madrigal for example, has expressed desire in taking over the post recently vacated by former Third District Supervisor Tom Woodhouse, in order to advocate for Willits and Mendocino County. Others set more modest personal goals such as swimming and getting fit or meditating regularly.

I was invited to come to another meeting to visit with the group in the near future, with one caveat: I don’t anticipate wearing a dress.

The government's dangerous legacy of stifling a free press

I think this NY Times report got it right. Donald Trump's administration's disregard for the Constitution and the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of the press has dangerous precedents, notably under the Obama and Bush administration.

First Amendment freedoms et. al

Hello neglected journalism blog.
It was always my intention to update this blog with important issues, links and stories regarding our industry, but somehow I have neglected it, but I hope to rectify this moving forward into 2017.

Things are progressing at a good pace at The Willits News. Today I put the pages together, working with our designer in Chico for the first time, without much supervision from our managing editor who as of tomorrow will be on Christmas break until the end of the year.

After covering my first meeting of the Little Lake Fire Department, I trekked my way to the Brooktrails Township board meeting, which was no small feat considering Mendocino County is under a flash flood warning until Friday. We are expected to get anywhere from 3-12 inches of rain in the next few days, so I was extra careful driving down those windy roads leading back into town this evening.

Dec. 15 (coming up later this week) marks an important anniversary for democracy and for our industry. It is the anniversary of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which among other freedoms grants us the freedom of the press. I plan to write my first editorial for Friday's newspaper on this topic, but as a bit of preview and research, I found this article by the Newseum Institute to be very enlightening and important to all journalists and journalism students alike:

The State of the First Amendment survey, conducted by the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center, tests Americans’ knowledge of their core freedoms and samples their opinions on First Amendment issues of the day.
The results of this year’s survey show most Americans favor free speech, even over speech that offends, and support religious liberty, even in the face of terrorism. However, 39 percent of Americans could not name a single First Amendment freedom: religion, speech, press, assembly or petition.
The annual survey, which began in 1997 and this year was conducted in late May, showed that 86 percent of those responding in the national survey favored “protecting speech,” while just 10 percent favored limits aimed at “protecting people from hearing things that offend them.”
There also was strong support for free expression on college campuses: 57 percent said college students should be able to speak freely. The results dropped to 35 percent for students in high school.
Also, a follow-up survey done after the June 12 mass shooting in Orlando showed support for First Amendment protection for all religious faiths, regardless of how extreme or fringe the survey respondents might consider the beliefs of those faiths, actually increased, despite anti-Muslim rhetoric and reports of an ISIS connection that followed the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

Here is a link to the full report if any of you would like to read it.

The Willits News has new City Editor

  

 source: The Willits News 10/25/2016


  
  Ariel Carmona Jr. has joined The Willits News as City Editor/reporter. Carmona grew up in the Southern California region in Los Angeles where he cultivated an appreciation for good food, family and community oriented journalism.

    Prior to joining The Willits News this fall, Carmona was a columnist at the Valley Daily Post, a hybrid newspaper website in Espanola, in Rio Arriba County and covered education in the Northern New Mexico region. He also worked as a reporter for the hyperlocal Community Impact chain of newspapers based out of Pflugerville, Texas.

    He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and an M.A. in Communications from California State University Fullerton.
Carmona has written for various print and online publications including the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in West Covina ,California, AOL Patch media, the Orange County Register and the Walnut Weekly News in Walnut, CA where he served as sports editor and as a general assignment reporter.

   “We are glad to have found Ariel for this important position,” said Willits News Publisher Kevin McConnell. “Ariel will be able to coordinate coverage of the Willits community and be ready to interact with our readers as well as do the great reporting we know he can do.”

   Carmona can be reached at the Willits News office at 707-841-2123, on his cell phone at 707-671-3575 or by email to acarmona@willitsnews.com. He is on Twitter @AOCarmona.

A year later in New Mexico

A year has passed since I packed my bags and left the state of Texas. It is ridiculous how time flies and you get busy and don't realize it.

I also left the Rio Grande Sun newspaper about three weeks ago after almost a year of employment there and now am writing columns and doing educational coverage for a hybrid news website in Northern New Mexico The Valley Daily Post.

My time as an education reporter in New Mexico has been amazing, I have covered controversies regarding teacher vacancies, school districts, charter schools and funding and program cuts at Northern New Mexico College.

Personally, I have been enriched by a good group of friends in Los Alamos and by a friendly game group I belong to in nearby Santa Fe. If I have to move on and leave the area anytime soon like I was forced to do a year ago because of employment, at least I can say I have made some amazing friends here.

The experience has been a good one overall for me. 

My education column has been featured in the Espanola and the Los Alamos newspapers and I am excited to have the opportunity to write a column for a professional newspaper like the Post.

You can read the first part of my series on Charter Schools here. I will be posting the next couple of articles and featuring some of my other work here on the blog.

Then and Now

A month ago....

I packed my bags again and filled up my car and drove more than 800 miles from Spring to Espanola New Mexico. Things didn't work out at The Facts long term, so I searched for another newspaper or news outlet to work for. This time I looked for a weekly because the daily pace was wearing me out.

As luck would have it, I got about 4 or 5 callbacks from newspapers hiring in Sherman TX, Grand Rapid City Michigan, Iowa, Argus Media and the Woodlands, but I had already accepted an offer to spend a weekend in New Mexico about 30 miles distance from Santa Fe to interview with the Rio Grande Sun.

 I recall spending my last night in Spring having dinner with my roommate at T.G.I.F. and being excited over the possibility of working for the Sun.

The newspaper paid for my stay at a hotel during the hiring process and 3 days later I was offered a position as education reporter and all that was left to do was to look for an apartment. After spending a relaxing week in Arizona with my sister, I was still apprehensive. I recall having breakfast with my brother-in-law and feeling sort of homeless, it isn't easy to take a leap of faith and all I knew is I had to spend a few days in a hotel because I had nothing lined up, as luck would have it I found a place I liked 10 minutes from the newsroom.

I have settled in quite nice in my new newsroom. I think I am having success in adapting to the style and editorial demands of the education beat at the Sun. At least once a week I cover a board of education or school related meeting and my reports on two school lockdowns and recent school rankings in the state have graced our front page.

There are some really cool things about this place, the Indian Casinos, the community feel of a small town, some cool mom and pop stores and indie shops. Santa Fe is only a 25 mile drive away which offers more in the way of the big city life style I am accustomed to. It makes for a cool weekend getaway.

A year ago....

On all days, my mom's birthday, I packed my bags in my car and made the the long trek from Covina CA to Spring Texas. It was over 1,500 miles of driving through three states, but I was eager to work with Community Impact in Houston.

I made some good friends in Houston but I also struggled, and every day, even now, I long to go back to Covina to visit my family and friends I left behind, to visit my old haunts. I am beyond stoked over the possibility of seeing them during the holidays this fall. 

I will continue to fight the good fight, and now that I have internet hooked back up in my home I promise to make more entries in this here, the old blog 

Eight Months Later: The calm before the storm (literally)

It had been my intention to update this blog on a regular basis detailing my professional life and my writing endeavors in Texas. Somehow, things got so hectic that I was never able to jump on this virtual journal until now!

So much happened in such a brief amount of time, it is difficult to encapsulate or even internalize or process it all. Suffice it to say that I became quite comfortable with Spring and my surroundings and region, but as often happens in life "Just when you think it's all downhill, life throws you a curve" (Thank you poster from my 5th grade classroom for that bit of philosophy and insight)

On the professional side, I covered the Spring/Klein region for Community Impact newspaper for the better part of 7 months. While working under editor Matt Stephens, I learned a great deal about the C.I. style, although I never truly fit into the scheme of things.

I think in retrospect part of my inability to quickly adapt to the newspaper's style was not due to my inexperience with hyperlocal journalism, as I was previously doing a lot of local coverage while at AOL patch and other outlets, but I think it was mostly due to my being more accustomed to writing for weeklies as opposed to a monthly edition and very different deadlines and time elements.

My employment with C.I. came to an end on May 18 of this year, just before the memorial day holiday and right before the first round of storms which pelted the region for several days and left parts of Houston flooded and distraught. Fortunately for me, Spring wasn't as battered by the flooding and rain which crippled some of the area and took some people's lives.

The same could not be said of my ego and confidence. Here I was, one day sitting in my bedroom and trying to figure out what my next move should be. Should I move to Arizona with relatives and loved ones? Or should I give Houston one more chance even though things had not gone as planned? Was it time to throw in the towel?

Before I answer, I have to say that I was very fortunate to make really good friends with co-workers. The members of my editorial team for example, were invaluable in making me feel at home, as much as an out of towner can feel. I like to think that I made some really good friends in a short period of time.

Also, I give props to my therapist. I don't think I am ashamed to say I sought professional help with some of the transplant issues I was having, being alone in a new region with my family and friends scattered throughout the country.

I am happy to report that the answer to my previous query was a resounding no. I was not yet ready to throw in the towel, I resolved to remain working in print media, to fulfill my mission of ingraining myself in a community. Within 10 days of leaving C.I. I had job offers from publications as far north as Amarillo Texas and Wyoming.

It wasn't easy, let me share that, I worked and networked my butt off.

Ultimately,  I opted to stay local and have begun a professional relationship with The Facts, a daily newspaper covering Brazoria County, south of Houston.

I am eager to get back to steady writing (and blogging) again. But I have to get through this mess first

One month Later

Incredibly, amazingly, even miraculously, I have survived an entire month in Houston Texas. Not that I have been able to explore much outside of Spring which is about 30 minutes from the office (with no traffic) yet. I put so much effort into getting here that at first I thought the cultural and personal transition would be too much to bear, especially leaving behind my comfortable life in California in order to (hopefully) advance my career further. I hope to make more of these posts more frequently. Monday I am having my 30 day review at the newspaper. Wish me luck!

One thing which has been a big help has been focusing on the many assignments I am juggling for the paper. The latest one has been the most interesting: A community forum at Spring Independent School district (ISD) designed to give staffers an opportunity to share their feedback and address grievances in front of district administrators. I am hoping I will get a good web story out of it for next week.

I am also working on a story about a study put together by the Houston Galveston area council regarding redevelopment in the North West Houston area: Specifically a region called Cypress Creek Parkway which has been lagging behind other areas due to numerous factors including a rapid shift in demographics and older infrastructure.

One big adjustment, besides the weather, (it hardly rains now in So. Cal due to the ongoing drought, whereas it has been rainy and wet here for several days)  has been not having enough time to enjoy some of my hobbies like reading comics, writing about superhero culture and happenings and table top gaming and playing mmorpgs, which I hope to change by devoting more time to on weekends, days off and evenings. There will be four days to catch up on it all this coming holiday weekend.

I also plan to find a paper to freelance that covers sports on weekends because I really miss doing that. Last Saturday I attended a playoff game at Spring High School just to be in the midst of prep football once again, though being a spectator is not as much fun as actually covering the event IMHO.

Another change has been that it is hard to make new friends because of my schedule. Back home, a lot of the people I grew up with are still in town or came back to town, including my brother and I missed hitting up my old haunts like the bookstore in Glendora and Frank and Son's Collectibles in Industry. Yet, I think these are adjustments everyone faces in life at one time or another and counting my 2 year stay in Fullerton for graduate school, this is the second time in recent years that I am faced with making these life altering changes. Here we are a mere 6 days away from thanksgiving and less than a week from Black Friday craziness, but I have no plans for the holiday other than watching some football in the AM and maybe joining a gaming group to do some gaming into the evening with, hopefully, a lot of turkey eating in between.

I got my EZ tag in the mail this week, this is a device which allows me to go through the highway tolls and it electronically deducts money from an account, this has saved me quite a bit of time and it is nice not having to worry about looking for money or change for my commute on a daily basis.
CI is having their annual Christmas celebration in Austin near their headquarters in a couple of weeks and I am looking forward to the trip. Also, the most joyous news of all is the fact that I get to go home for Xmas for nearly a week on Dec. 23. It will be nice to be in the Covina area for a few days and be briefly reunited with my old haunts.

Community Impact job in Houston TX

It's funny that a week ago I was driving through Texas and stayed at a hotel in a little town called Sonora on my way to my new job in Houston.
Last night I found myself near downtown Houston a the grand opening of a bar that was offering free food for Halloween revelers.

I got offered a job as a reporter in the Spring-Klein market, so I packed up my Kia with as much of my belongings and trekked my way through two states.

The Friday before Halloween I found myself having dinner alone after a long day of driving at a place called Ozona, 36 miles or so away from my destination, the hotel room I reserved that night in Sonora. Though the wi-fi was spotty, the room was comfortable and I had a good time speaking to my sister, whom I stayed with two nights prior in Arizona.

It wasn't easy to say goodbye to family and friends and my routine, but I relished a fresh start and full time work so the decision really was made for me. I drove for four straight days with stops in Arizona and El Paso along the way before finally reaching Houston a week ago.

Right up till my move I had been practicing journalism and writing as much as I could, doing some freelancing for the SGVExaminer and tweeting out scores of prep football games for the SGVTribune. In fact, I was freelancing for three newspapers including the Weekly News in Chino and anapr.com.

Thought I was comfortable with my freelancing, I wanted to work full time and doing it out of state was my only options. Journalists are often told to start in small markets before pursuing bigger more saturated media jobs, but with all my experience, I am not exactly new to the industry.

My experience in the new job, though I have had some rough patches, is plugging along and I even participated in our office Halloween party this past weekend.

 It is great to be able to practice journalism full time with a good market to cover including coverage of school districts and local government.

I have not completely got used to some things in Houston, the highways and toll roads, and the differences in weather patterns, but I think getting acclimated in a new region always takes time and patience and hard work.

I never knew how much I would miss my old life, my routine trips to Barnes and Noble on weekends, jaunts to North Orange county near my alma matter, high shool football games and Mt SAC and Citrus College games, and even my old desktop computer.

Thus far, the fruits of my labor has been covering an event for the Spring ISD (Independent School District) which gave me a chance to get to know the communications people for the district and to write a nice little web story. 

Next week I will be covering local races in Texas for the upcoming election, and who knows what else. Though today I finally got a chance to rest for a bit, and though I am grateful to be working in journalism, I felt homesick for the very first time, missing my hometown and my routines, but I think that the future holds good things for me.

I am a reporter, that is what I do

I have started to write again for the Walnut Weekly News. For some reason, the publisher decided to change the masthead and it is now called "Our Weekly Newspaper" but most people still call it the Weekly News.

I may be a small fish and not working for big media print outlets like the L.A. Times or the OC Register, but I feel that I still make a contribution in my industry and chosen profession.

It's interesting, while reporting at the OC Register this summer I had a backstage view of the goings on in the newsroom and their plans to expand to Long Beach. Shout outs to my many friends fighting the good fight there like Raymond Mendoza, Alma Fausto, Jackie Moe, Evan Lancaster and a few others.

The next few weeks into the holiday are going to be busy with projects to end the year and with my thesis and research for CSUF, but I feel pretty good about the upcoming year, 2014 is looking up. I maintain optimistic about the future. I will be T.A.ing Dr. Gail Love's section of history and philosophy of mass communications, while continuing to freelance for various news outlets like the Walnut Weekly and (hopefully) an online news agency like the Voice of OC.

The Register continues to post from time to time stories that I wrote during my tenure in Santa Ana and Tustin, here is a link to the latest:

Five questions with family caregiver Josefina Ortiz

Well, that is all for now, I will post again sometime, I am on my way to cover a city council meeting

-30-

Redskins: Will they Change the Name to Appease Political Correctness???

Well hey there, I haven't blogged in such a long time.

The reason being, ever since I finished my summer internship at the OC Register, I have been busy concentrating on grad school. I got A's this summer, but this fall has proven harder with quantitative research and having to research my thesis topic as well.

Also, the tiger and I haven't been doing much journalistic work, but that may soon change as in addition to covering sports for the Tribune, we might get another reporting internship, this time with the Voice of OC. I am having coffee with the editor next week.

So what's been in the news bugging me lately? The Washington Redskins! The Politically correct run amok crowd, or some indian tribe wants the team to change the name because the term is apparently insulting to Native Americans. I guess historically it is, but why has the controversy made headlines of late? I mean the team has had that name for close to 8 or so decades. The owner says he will never change the name because it was chosen to honor the team's first coach, who was part Indian, or so the legend goes.

I don't know how to honestly feel about this one. I know a lot of Native Americans say that they are not bothered by the name, that it just honors their history but others say that they don't know what they are taking about.

All I know is that one of my fondest memories of being a kid is decorating the Christmas Tree one day and putting up decorations with the rest of my family while in the living room of my old house. The Skins and the Cowboys played on the tube and I would sneak peeks to see how the game was progressing, my brother and I both did while the rest of the family cooked, helped with decorations. I can almost vividly replay that over and over in my head, a moment in time I will always treasure, that Sunday seemed to last an eternity. So it seems weird if the Cowboys end up playing the Red Hawks, or some other name they give the team if they decide to change it. What's next? Will they go after the Cleveland Indian's mascot?

President Obama came out to say that he would think about changing the name if he was the team's owner. Doesn't the President have more pressing issues to consider than to meddle into the NFL???