Ain’t it Grand?

It’s here! Yes, the 2007-2008 Final Report from the Humboldt County Grand Jury is out. Not that you’ll find it on their website. And no, you can’t ask them for one until tomorrow morning when they present the 44 page document to the Supes. However, since it’s on the Board agenda, the county posted it on their website .
What is it? Well, kind of like a report card for various county agencies, and about as exciting. Sorry, but we’re mostly underwhelmed.

Highlights? Well, it starts with something tantalizing: “Board of Supervisors Settlement with Tamara Falor,” and you’re thinking, wow, that mystery is finally solved, but guess what, the Supes were as tight-lipped about the terms with the Grand Jury as they have been with everyone else, once again citing the old personnel issue dodge, so we learn zip from them. The grand conclusion? The Supes “may have settled with Falor to avoid more costly and time consuming litigation,” um, then again maybe it was something else. With that they throw up their hands.

Next they tackle the pressing issue of County Dept. head evaluations. Turns out they’re pretty much non-existent. Improvement needed.

Sewers are examined (who volunteered for that committee?) and it was found that shit happens, and escapes various systems. Again, improvement needed.

It’s too bad Hank isn’t around to read the scintillating GJ report on his beloved North Coast Railroad Authority. The grand conclusion: “The principal objection to the restoration of the rail line is the enormous cost likely to be incurred. Any benefits from such a project would be other than monetary and limited in scope in the foreseeable future.” (Have they perhaps been following our Town Dandy?)

They took some time investigating a citizen complaint of wrongdoing by Big Lagoon School District regarding the Big Lagoon Charter School, but found no substantiation. Hmmm.

The GJ also looked into fencing at Murray Field Airport, which apparently is needed to keep out deer who get in the way of emergency medical flights. Pending environmental review, a $600,000 fence should be built in spring/summer of next year

The G. Jury looked at Public Transit and the Humboldt Transit Authority and offered a fairly detailed explanation of transit financing that we will not go into at this time. Overall the GJ commends the HTA and associated agencies for doing what they can, but with some provisos regarding a couple of points that turned up:
One is that a fair amount to the Transportation Development Act (TDA) funding we receive is not used for public transit at all — in Rio Dell and Fortuna the money goes toward road maintenance.
The report noted something that might seem obvious: “Ridership is higher in the main transportation corridors and reduced on the periphery,” especially those areas (Garberville for example) that no longer have bus service.
The county figures that 32 percent of those in incorporated areas live outside the reach of public transit and/or have no access to specialized services like Dial-a-Ride.
And, to sum up a bunch of findings, considering gas prices, insurance, and emissions standards, it’s going to be increasingly expensive to move people around.
The GJ “encourages” improvement in meeting unmet needs and suggests using more TDA funds for public transit. However, no response is required.

The report includes a frequency chart showing how often the GJ investigates various subjects. Since the turn of the century (and perhaps earlier) they’ve looked at our jails and juvie every year. They did so again this time around. And they checked in on the police. We’ll address those in Part 2.

 

The “Joint” News Release and unanswered questions

To quote the much heralded Heraldo, there was “Little new info on pot busts,” yesterday, and as a result (and because Hank was not around to man the front lines), the Blogthing was quiet. The couple of dozen or so agencies involved in the big sweep issued a “joint” statement, which you’ll find below. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The KHUM/K-Slug news team was on the story all day, and asked a bunch of questions of their own, but one must accept the simple reality that government flaks thrive on obfuscation and are not in the business of spilling the beans.Today KMUD is on the story nonstop, with some of those raided talking anonymously about what they’re going through.

You’ll find all sorts of guess work bubbling on various blogs regarding what happened and how (Heraldo’s afternoon post on the “Joint news” has received over 130 comments). Some of the chatter there and on Craiglist is seemingly informed, some paranoid, some is completely wrong-headed. Mostly you find people with questions about how the big bust came together,  who’s to blame, and what happens next. The feds have said repeatedly that they’re not after medical grows, but as the spokesman explained to the Times Standard (and I paraphrase) 215 ain’t federal law.

A personal observation: A lot of manpower (and tax money) went into this operation, which according to the p.r. folks netted something like 10,000 plants. Is that a lot? Not really. Humboldt County Sheriff stats for last year showed, “a total of 355,122 marijuana plants were seized from both indoor and outdoor marijuana grow sites.” Law enforcment officials consistantly admit that the pot they grab is just the tip of the iceburg.

How much money does marijuana pour into the local economy? Your guess is as good as mine.

What do you think?

Joint News Release
June 25, 2008 4:20 p.m.
Operation ‘Southern Sweep’ Targets Commercial Marijuana Growers
Around 7 a.m. Tuesday approximately 450 local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel
executed 29 search warrants in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties. The warrants stemmed from
a nearly two-year investigation targeting a large commercial marijuana cultivation and distribution
organization.

 

The Piss Fir Air Force

According to an Associated Press story published yesterday, we here in Humboldt County will soon get to experience the joy of living under remote-controlled aerial electronic surveillance. Who says war brings no peacetime benefits?

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service has bought a pair of flying drones to track down marijuana growers operating in remote California woodlands.

Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who oversees the Forest Service, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the pilotless, camera-equipped aircraft will allow law enforcement officers to pinpoint marijuana fields and size up potential dangers before agents attempt arrests.

Rey said there are increasing numbers of marijuana growers financed by Mexican drug cartels using California’s forests to stage their operations.

“We’re dealing with organized efforts now — not just a couple of hippies living off the land and making some cash on the side,” Rey said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.

Yes, this is going to play really well here on the ground. Especially following yesterday’s mass uprising against the county’s odd new dope-bust tactics.

UPDATE: Much more from the Sacramento Bee.

SIDE NOTE: Did the AP really title its report “Pilotless Drones to Battle Pot Growers”? Believe it or not, that’s probably a sly AP in-joke referencing the following SF Chronicle podcast, which is legendary:

 

Martin Cotton Redux

Between 5:15 p.m. and 7:02 p.m. on August 9, 2007, Martin Cotton’s final hours were recorded unpoetically in the Humboldt County Correctional Facilities observation log:

1715 hours ———– Admitted – Extremely combative
1738 hours ———- Moving – OK
1752 hours ———- Talking / Moving OK
1755 hours ———- Moving
1807 hours ——— Breathing / Moved
1821 hours ——— On stomach / Breathing
1834 hours ——— On stomach / Breathing
1848 hours ——— On stomach / Breathing
1902 hours ——— Breathing shallow / Medical called

Cotton was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 p.m after being admitted to St. Joseph Hospital. There is a tape of the almost two hours Cotton spent in the jail cell, but only a few people have seen it, including the County Coroner and the District Attorney, and they don’t agree with each other as to whether Cotton most probably died of a self-inflicted head injury.

In a press conference held yesterday at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos announced that he would not be pressing charges against any of the officers involved in Cotton’s arrest and detention.

Eureka Police Chief Garr Nelson, also present, said the announcement would “resonate positively” throughout the department. “I believe that my officers acted appropriately … used the appropriate level of force in subduing [Cotton] and taking him into custody,” he said, reiterating what has been his stance since the incident occurred. He added that he felt his officers were “appropriately trained” for the situation and said, “We did everything right.”

However, there was one important lesson the EPD learned from the incident and that’s the need for a more stringent medical evaluation process for arrestees. The EPD has since changed its policy to require that medical attention be sought for people who have engaged in a protracted physical encounter with the police, like Cotton had.

After the jump: Coroner Frank Jager errs.

 

CNN: Thompson Iraq Visit Bought By Iraqi Spy

Remember Rep. Mike Thompson’s visit to Iraq back in 2002, just before the outbreak of hostilities? Remember how it solidified Thompson’s opposition to the war?

Um, about that …

Muthanna al-Hanooti, a former official with an Islamic charity in Detroit, Michigan, was taken into custody Tuesday night. Hussein’s spy agency secretly paid al-Hanooti 2 million barrels of oil, during the time the U.N. Oil for Food program was in place, for services rendered, the indictment states.

Those services included providing the Iraqi government with the names of U.S. members of Congress believed to favor the lifting of sanctions against Iraq, arranging for delegations of those members to visit Iraq and traveling with those delegations.

(…)

In September 2002, al-Hanooti traveled to Iraq with three members of Congress whom he believed to be sympathetic to lifting the economic sanctions against Iraq.

The U.S. led an invasion into Iraq, starting the war, in March 2003.

The indictment did not name the lawmakers, but Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California made a trip to Iraq at that time.

Rep. Thompson now sits on the House Intelligence Committee, and is chair of the subcommittee on Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Human Analysis and Counterintelligence. So if you want to find a positive angle, you could say that being the target of an enemy power’s intelligence operation might just deepen your understanding of, and commitment to, the cause of counterintelligence.

UPDATE: More links after the jump.

 

Phil Crandall’s Finest

There’s been some clamoring of late for the Journal to publish its letters online. Folks, it’s coming. Trust me, it’s coming.

In the meantime, we’ll give you a taste of how it’ll work by posting a letter we received about this week’s issue. Enjoy!

Editor:

In Hank Sims’ “Town Dandy” column of March 20, the self-righteous Sims cast aspersions against Humboldt County’s Department of Health and Human Services.

With his inane comments, comparing DHHS to a totalitarian communist North Korean regime, Hank Sims betrays his “poor understanding of the law.” For your review, Hank, I have enclosed information regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 — otherwise known by its acronym, HIPAA.

I am not an official spokesperson for DHHS, but as a long-time employee I feel that it is my duty to set the record straight. Privacy regarding health care is a major concern for our clients, and they most definitely do not want government employees giving out their personal information to “journalists” like yourself, Mr. Sims.

The real question I would like to see answered in the pages of the North Coast Journal is — why is conservative Frank Jager and his County Coroner’s Office so ready and willing to provide your publication with information? It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Mr. Jager’s impending run for the Eureka City Council and his desire to get on your good side, could it, Hank?

Jake Pickering, Eureka

 

Klam Dam-Blam Angers Bucket Man

Meanwhile, in the dry uplands to our east, another supervisorial race has grumbled into low gear with one Leo Bergeron, a long-time Siskiyou County rancher, insurance salesman and genuine Bucket Brigadier, tossing his cap into the ring for the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors’ First District seat. It was the latest Klamath River restoration agreement love-fest (hate-fest?) that made him do it.

From the March 12 Siskiyou Daily News:

“The main issue right now is this Klamath Basin restoration agreement,” Bergeron said. “This should have been blown out of the water two and half years ago. When the Board of Supervisors started to participate in these meetings and it became apparent the sole purpose was to remove the dams, the county should have done something. The dams have nothing to do with the restoration agreement. The county should have stepped out of the agreement.”

Bergeron, as one-time master of the State Grange, was a player in the Klamath Bucket Brigade of 2001 and, according to himself, instrumental in bending Gale Norton’s ear, which in turn led to a study which led to the water for farmers — turned off to protect fish — getting turned back on. And the rest is fishtory.

Oh, but wait, there’s more: The farmers, who sued the feds over the decision to take water from them to protect endangered fish, are still hashing their case out: Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals kicked it over to the Oregon Supreme Court for a looksee. Here’s a rundown.

 

Fortuna Moment

OK, so, the Fortuna City Council was well into its agenda Monday night, in what would be a four-hour meeting after all was said, ranted and done, when Sean Armstrong, project manager for Danco Communities, stood up to answer some questions about his company’s plans to build low-income housing on land the city had bought and set aside for just that purpose. The land, however, is zoned residential single family, and the Danco project — 35 low- and very low-income “townhome-style” units — would require a rezone to residential multi-family, a General Plan amendment and an easement from a nearby church. This was a public hearing on the proposed rezone.

It’s a sticky issue, rezoning. Fortuna’s in the midst of updating its general plan; meanwhile, would-be developers keep knocking on the city’s propped-open door. But how can the city make decisions about rezones and housing when it doesn’t even know what its new housing element’s going to be, asked Councilman Douglas Strehl. Indeed, every time one of these proposals comes up it reminds the council that the city hasn’t yet answered some pretty key questions. Like, what does Fortuna want to be when it grows up? Who will it associate with? And so on.

But Councilman Dean Glaser is pretty clear about what he doesn’t want. He said he was leery of the rezone, and that he knew of “horror stories … marital disturbances” and such associated with these sorts of high-density low-income developments. He wants homeowners, not lowlifes (OK, he didn’t quite use the term “lowlifes”).

Glaser’s soliloquy on what makes a good neighbor — in the first clip, below — was followed by a severe upbraiding by Armstrong — the second clip.

(The clips are from a disc Access Humboldt, which broadcasts the City of Fortuna’s council meetings on Channel 10, was kind enough to make for us.)

 

Where’s My Agenda!

The County of Humboldt, drunk with power and out for a heavy-metal joyride, today seems hell-bent on pushing the envelope of the Brown Act to its very limits. Here it is 4:30 p.m. Friday, and no agenda posted for the Tuesday morning meet. Where’s my agenda?

Meanwhile, the City of Eureka is up and at ‘em. What do we have over there? Check the agenda PDF and tell me if I miss anything major.

1. The city’s still trying to move the Hill Street Pump Station, a piece of property over by the old Mall 101 area (now better known as the home of Harley-Davidson). There’s a closed-session item on it. City Manager Dave Tyson is apparently deep in negotiations with “Nelson,” one name. Who is this “Nelson”? Some over-the-hill ’90s boy band pop celebrity who moved to Eureka to open his own pump station?

2. There’s a public hearing on an amendment to the city’s Local Coastal Program for what looks like a parcel on the foot of C Street. Are we talking about the Buhne Building? Fisherman’s Terminal? Help me out, I’m a little bit behind on matters Eureka right now.

Basically, it looks like they want to introduce an ordinance that would change the use of the parcel to allow “commercial uses incidental to the primary coastal dependent industrial use.” Makes sense, because strict coastal dependent industrial is about the last thing the city would want on that area of the waterfront, and coastal-dependent industrial real estate isn’t exactly a hot commodity around Humboldt Bay these days.

3. An ordinance that would amend the rules for street trees. This whets my curiosity, but the council does not put up its packets on the web, alas, and the planner has gone home for the day.

4. A $1 million program with a big title — the “101 Corridor Traffic Light Synchronization Program Project.” If approved, this program or project or program project will authorize city staff to seek a $640,000 grant and to set aside $380,000 from next year’s budget. The money would then be spent to further the cause of Traffic Light Synchronization.

5. And there’ll be a mid-year city budget update.

Ten ’til five, and the county’s agenda still isn’t up. I’m outta here. You’ll be hearing from my attorneys. There is a meeting, we know that much. It’ll be at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Board of Supervisors Chambers in the county courthouse, 825 Fifth St., Eureka.

The Eureka City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Eureka City Hall, 531 K St., Eureka.

UPDATE, SATURDAY MORNING: So the county’s agenda is up, and there’s just about nothing there. Seriously, apart from closed session it looks like a five-minute meeting. Gotta say, though, that I dig the new department-by-department format for agenda items. They must have been working out the kinks.

 

King’s pretty new map

Tim Daniels, of the Bigfoot Bicycle Club, just sent out a note on the club’s message board that the BLM-Whitethorn office has uploaded a map of its emerging mountain bike trail in the Paradise Ridge region of the King Range National Conservation Area. The trail won’t be completed until this fall, but there are some stretches that can be ridden now.

We wrote about the trail a couple Novembers ago.

 

Save the other Grizzly

Worried about that huge padlock that may be clamped onto the entrance to Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park once — if — the guvnr shuts ‘er down, along with 47 other beloved state parks across California? That’s his idea, as part of a budget nip that critics say will save little but wound many.

Well, then, hie thee to the California State Parks Foundation’s new “Save Our State Parks” (SOS) campaign website. There, you can read up on the budget cut plan and all the parks it could impact, and take action. There’s also a section where you can wax poetic and nostalgic, or outraged and forceful, about your own particular favorite state park which, quite likely, is on the shut-down list.

Of course, if the campaign fails, there’s always the other, less agreeable option for getting past locked gates (it’s the first item). Not that we’re recommending it.

 

Thompson Blasts Maxxam

… relatively speaking.

Of all the position statements filed by politicos in the Pacific Lumber bankruptcy — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and now Rep. Mike Thompson — Thompson’s, submitted on Friday, comes closest to actually taking a position on the case.

As with all political communications, you have to read between the lines. Thompson lists five principles he believes should guide the reorganization of the bankrupt company. The first three are boilerplate. Like those who came before him, Thompson believes that any new Pacific Lumber Co. should keep the mill open, maintain the company’s forests as working timberland and abide by the terms imposed on the company as part of the 1999 federal/state buyout of the Headwaters Forest.

But in the last two points to Corpus Christi Federal Bankruptcy Judge Richard S. Schmidt, Thompson goes far beyond what his predecessors had to say:

4) Ensure that the timberlands and mill are owned and operated by an entity(ies) with a proven track record utilizing sustainable management of California’s redwood forests and with full knowledge and experience in the operation of a mill;

5) Limit or restrict the reliance on the expenditure of additional public funds for any plan that is finally adopted.

On the surface, this is milquetoast. But Point No. 4, with its implied emphasis on the word “sustainable,” is an obvious dig at Maxxam and probably a tilt toward a rival Pacific Lumber Co. aspirant, the Mendocino Redwood Company. But it’s Point No. 5 where Thompson seals the deal. Fact is, Maxxam’s principal reorganization plan is the only one on the table that would require a vast infusion of public funds. (Maxxam’s “alternative” plan — its real plan — wouldn’t, though Hurwitz would likely try to hold the “Ancient Forests” hostage until such time as the government coughed up some serious scooty.)

So take #4 and #5 together, and you get a subtle but pronounced tilt away from Maxxam — something no other politician has done as obviously. Why doesn’t Thompson just out and say it, then, you wonder? Well, as the great Norman Wilson noted in a similar context, “You don’t dance on Clay Davis’ grave until you know the motherfucker is dead.”

Download the Thompson letter (.pdf).

 

‘Til Tuesday

The Board cannot state more ardently the importance of Redwood Memorial Hospital and keeping the hospital operating.

They’re throwing around a lot of money over there at the County of Humboldt. Perhaps they should think about hiring an editor. They do come cheap.

The sentence above was taken from a draft letter from the Board of Supervisors to the Sisters of Orange, the religious order that owns and operates Eureka’s St. Joseph Hospital and Fortuna’s Redwood Memorial Hospital. It’s no secret that the Sisters have been looking at cost-saving measures in Humboldt County, nor that the management team has been especially looking toward cutbacks at Redwood Memorial. The Board, naturally, is concerned.

But — leaving aside the clumsy syntax for a moment — is “ardently” really the word we want here? How about “strongly,” “urgently,” “forcefully”? Any of them would be free from innuendo that might upset the Sisters.

You’re welcome.

We’ve got three main items on the agenda this Tuesday — the midyear budget update, the draft of a “welcome letter” to be sent to future building applicants and the big Danco/Lane Devries Samoa Project.

The budget? Though the talk in Sacramento is very dark these days, CAO Loretta Nickolaus is here to tell us that things are going smoothly in Humboldt County for now. The General Fund is “performing substantially as budgeted.” That’s the intro to a 29-page staff report available on the web site … but available only in the county’s idiotic TIF format, which must be downloaded page by page and viewed as images. Go for it.

The proposed “welcome letter” from the Planning Division appears to be an attempt to dissipate some of the intense hatred that many builders, developers and others have for county planning staff. The idea is that upon submission of a project proposal, they will be handed a letter — here in draft form — that will outline the applicant’s rights and the planning department’s responsibilities in a humble, self-debasing tone of voice. It puts us in the mind of some sort of feudal Japanese ritual:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide permitting and development services to you. We will honor this privilege through hard work and the delivery of professional and helpful service to you, our customer.

If you are at any time dissatisfied with the service we provide you, the person responsible for your dissatisfaction will be taken out back and beheaded.

The Samoa development is scheduled for the afternoon (1:30 p.m.). It’s an overwhelmingly huge and ambitious plan, eight years in the making, to rebuild the defunct company town as a modern, probably kind of yuppified community. The Board of Supes will comment upon and possibly approve the final environmental impact report for the project.

Want to know more? Just head on over to the county’s website and download the 269 individual TIF files that comprise the county’s staff report on the matter, fire up Photoshop and get to clicking. You’re a better citizen than I.

Board of Supes: Tuesday, 9 a.m., at the County Courthouse (825 Fifth St., Eureka). Remember: Samoa Project in the afternoon, at 1:30 p.m.

 

Your Tuesday Tedium

In other words, what’s on at the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and the Eureka City Council next week. We’re going to try to make this a regular Friday afternoon feature on the Blogthing. As a way to make those hellishly painful final hours of the work-week even more painful, we will delve deep into the published agendas of those municipal bodies.

We’re looking at a pretty light load over at the county, with only three real items on the calendar. First up: A proposed set of state-mandated regulations that would mandate certain minimum labor codes for county contractors doing work under a $25 million state grant the county received last year. Next, what’s sure to be the main show — a presentation on the Klamath Settlement Agreement, with the board slated to take action to sign on. Finally, some emergency action on the Martins Ferry bridge crisis.

Wait a sec, though — cast your eye over at #17 on the consent calendar. Is that what you think it is? Yes, indeedy. The county is putting into the record its opposition to the Big Lagoon Racheria’s request to place a piece of 6.4-acre piece of land fronting Highway 101 in “tribal trust.” The county’s proposed letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs notes that if the parcel becomes part of the rancheria’s tribal land, it will likely have very little control over what is built there.

And if we were to guess, we’d guess that Big Lagoon Rancheria Chairman Virgil Moorehead is thinking just what the Supes think he’s thinking: That the spot would be a good place for the casino he and his tribe have long been denied. What do you think? Take a look — the parcel in question is a rectangle just to the southwest of the little green arrow, with the long side fronting 101 and the short side halfway up Big Lagoon Park Road.

So that’s something. As far as the county goes, though, it looks like the big stuff is slated for coming meetings. On Feb. 26, there’ll be an update on the big Danco/Devries Samoa project, which has been sidelined for some time. (The Eureka Reporter did a pretty good write-up a couple of weeks ago.) Then, on March 11, a discussion on inclusionary zoning that’s sure to bring the HELPsters and/or associated developers screaming into the chambers.

What’s Eureka got? At the moment it’s got a broken web site. But at its meeting Tuesday night it’ll hear two potentially explosive items: an amendment to the city’s utility users tax ordinance and the ever-controversial proposal for mandatory garbage collection.

Board of Supes: Tuesday, 9 a.m., at the County Courthouse (825 Fifth St., Eureka). Eureka City Council: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., Eureka City Hall (531 K St., Eureka).

Signing off …

 

Be It Hereby Proclaimed: Rep. Mike is down with the weed

This just in:

Proclamation “To be presented @ 11 AM today at Mike’s office on 3rd and D street in Eurkea (sic).”

PROCLAMATION of
Congressperson Mike Thompson’s
Awareness and Support of Medical Cannabis.

Whereas Americans for Safe Access is the nation’s largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.

Whereas the week of February fifteenth has been designated by Americans for Safe Access, “Medical Marijuana Awareness Week.”

Whereas Congressperson Mike Thompson has repeatedly shown his support and awareness of patient’s right to Safe Access to medical cannabis.

Whereas Congressperson Thompson Co-Sponsored and voted for the States Right to Medical Marijuana Act. (The Barney Frank Bill.)

Whereas Congressperson Thompson supported and voted for the Hinchey Medical Marijuana Amendment to prevent the DOJ and DEA from federally prosecuting state-authorized medical cannabis patients and their care-givers.

Whereas Congressperson Thompson supported and voted for H.R. 4754 House Amendment 652 prohibiting the use of funds to prevent the States of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, Vermont or Washington from implementing state laws authorizing the use of medical marijuana.

Whereas Congressperson Thompson has most recently pressed forward efforts for marijuana legalization by writing a letter to the Governor of California; his fellow Members of Congress and the President of these United States.

In support of Congressperson Thompson ongoing awareness and work for medical cannabis patients rights the Humboldt County Chapter of Americans for Safe Access does hereby proclaim that Congressperson Mike Thompson is an advocate for and a good friend of medical cannabis patients everywhere.

So proclaimed the week of 2-15 2008 by the members
of the Humboldt Chapter of Americans for Safe Access.

A few notes re: the bills Thompson supported: the Barney Frank bill and the Hinchey amendment both died the usual death of pro-pot legislation. H.R. 4754 House Amendment 652 does not seem to have anything to do with medical cannabis; it was supposed to protect library circulation records, library patron lists, library Internet records, book sales records and book customer lists from the prying eyes of the Patriot Act. It failed to win a majority after a hard-fought battle. (The vote was a tie. Rep. Mike was for it.)