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WELL's Weekly Blog

Spring Senerchia — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 11:52:21 -0800

WELL is very happy to announce they now have a small, but effective, staff!
A generous grant from the PCI has enabled them to hire a part-time office manager.
As part of my duties I will be writing a weekly entry here to let you all know what's happening here in Willits.

This week has been extremely wet, lots of heavy rain, high winds and some thunder. The water is gushing in our creeks and will perhaps bring even more salmon upstream - we have already seen large numbers coming home to spawn.

CITY GOING SOLAR
We are taking this wet weather time to have meetings! Our Congressman Mike Thompson recently came to Willits and met with representatives from WELL and the Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI). He was happy to hear about the tremendous work already done by WELL and the city's adhoc energy committee on documenting the current energy use in our area. Everyone agreed that Willits could be a pilot city in renewable energy and Congressman Thompson has subsequently asked his staff to look into funding for us.

Willits Economic Localization (CA)

What's New in WIllits?

Spring Senerchia — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 17:31:07 -0800

The incredible storms that doused us over the holidays have subsided, leaving behind swollen rivers, green grass and deep appreciation for sunny moments. Willits, although severly flooded, seems to be recovering well, with little serious damage.

At WELL, we are busy planning our next events, reviewing our progress and archiving our work so far.

In this blog: upcoming event, "The Party's Over" radio show, school farm update, local networking news/exciting convocation event.

JESSICA PRENTICE EVENT

We are looking forward to tasting some winter root vegetable soup while listening to Jessica talk about local, seasonal food. She does a great job of offering food that is healthy and nourishing, emphasizing the connection between food and culture.

Willits Economic Localization (CA)

WELL Newsletter 2.8.2006

Spring Senerchia — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:31:34 -0800

WELL NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 8, 2006

CALENDAR

Friday, February 10 7pm WELL Film Series:

"Jamie's School Dinner - Part 2"

British TV Chef Jamie Oliver embarks on a campaign to bring healthy menus to Britain's Schoolchildren. Jamie goes into London schools to introduce fresh, natural, nutritious and delicious food to students who are accustomed to eating over-processed junk food.

Showing at the Willits Public Library, E. Commercial Street

Donation requested

Monday, February 13 evening presentation by Hal Wagenet

Willits Economic Localization (CA)

read more

WELL Newsletter - February 23, 2006

Spring Senerchia — Wed, 17 May 2006 10:09:22 -0700

WELL NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 21, 2006

CALENDAR of WELL EVENTS

March 4 & 5 - Workshop: "The Future of WELL"

10am - 5pm both days, at the Willits High School Food Center

This workshop will have three parts:

1. review of what we've accomplished, what's working, what's not, organizational structure

2. visioning of what we'd like to create in our community based on core values - including a long term vision and a succinct vision statement

3. strategic plan for our next year of work, to include fundraising plan, outreach plan, organizational structure and key projects.
Willits Economic Localization (CA)

read more

WELL Newsletter - June 1, 2006

Spring Senerchia — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 13:36:26 -0700

WELL NEWSLETTER – June 1, 2006

Calendar of WELL Events

Monday, June 12 – Special Meeting: Project Updates!

6:30 - 8:30pm Willits Community Center

Come hear the progress of various projects that are happening NOW, in our community and get active.

Friday, June 16 – Film: “The Future of Food”

7pm Willits Library

This film explains the issue of Genetically Modified Foods and compares GMO foods to Conventional and Organic agriculture.

Monday, July 10 – Speaker Event: “Voices of Wisdom”

6:30 - 8:30pm Little Lake Grange Hall – 291 School St.

Come listen to stories addressing traditional values and agricultural practices here in the Little Lake Valley. This event will be co-sponsored by the Willits Grange.

Saturday, July 22 – Special Meeting: “The Future of WELL”

All day – exact times to be announced – Willits Community Center

This all day meeting will culminate in the adoption of WELL’s Membership and Governance structures and the Strategic Plan. Subcommittees have been working hard on drafts, which will be widely available by mid-June. Please come to this meeting to give your feedback, work on incorporating changes, and, to VOTE on accepting these documents. This is the culmination of months of work and visioning.

Saturday, July 22 – PARTY

6-10 pm, at the Bradford home – 284 Redwood Ave.

Join us to celebrate this day’s hard work and all of WELL’s progress. More details to come.

Our schedule is intentionally light this summer. We suspect that people will busy with travel plans, gardening and general warm weather frolicking. The events we have planned should be FUN, as well as informative. It is also our sincere hope that folks will take time to carefully read the documents that our three hard working committees – Strategic Planning, Membership and Governance – will be distributing soon. Broad, carefully considered input is welcome and vital in this process. We hope that by the end of the summer we will have a lot of these details agreed upon and in place, allowing us to turn our attention to further projects – large and small alike.

Other events

This came to us from Janaia Donaldson and Robyn Mallgren of Yuba Gals Independent Media. Some of you may remember them from RLNC.

Richard Heinberg's "Peak Oil" riveting presentation last November in Grass Valley, California will be shared with the world via Free Speech TV's "Keynote" series the week of June 12 (schedule below). Free Speech TV is automatically included in Dish Network's basic service on satellite, channel 9415.

Here's an easy way to inform colleagues, friends and family, and do it fossil-fuel free in their own homes. (Or your group can have a gathering to view and discuss it afterwards). Please forward this message to your relocalization group and personal friends. Some consider Heinberg's presentation to be a perfect follow-on to End of Suburbia.

The show will be aired at the following times: http://www.freespeech.org/schedule/

Monday 12-Jun 1 am

Tuesday 13-Jun 4 am and 8 pm

Wednesday 14-Jun 11 am and 1 pm

Thursday 15-Jun 2 am and 8 am

Friday 16-Jun 1 pm

Saturday 17-Jun 8 am and 12 pm

Sunday 18-Jun 4 pm

The video is a project of Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy (APPLE of Nevada County)

The Mendocino Ecological Learning Center on Pine Mountain offers great workshops and is an ally in localization. Their website is now fully updated. You can check it out here: http://www.melc.us

There you will find information about their organization, programs, classes, workshops and activities...

There will be a Zero Waste Building Demo in August - contact Ron Woolsey - dragon4ron@hotmail.com - for information

PROJECTS in MOTION - Spring, 2006

WELL has helped spawn projects that form the bridge between our current reality and our desired future. WELL creates a place where ideas, plans, and group feedback are available to initiate and keep projects on track. We offer this list of current projects for those of you who want to DO something. If you have a project happening – let us know.

GRATEFUL GLEANERS This is an ongoing and organized project to collect unharvested produce from local gardens. This produce is then distributed to our local food bank or other community programs.

SCHOOL FARM The 1 acre farm at our local elementary school will provide education opportunities, food for the community & demonstrates local food production

COMMUNITY GARDEN This garden is in a small downtown back yard and has the goal of growing enough food in this space for several families with some to give away as well.

BARN RAISING A monthly get together of anyone who wants to help some project manifest in a Saturday morning - 9-1pm, followed by a shared lunch.

WILLITS WELLNESS NETWORK An open group that meets monthly to explore present and future health care in our area. The Medicine Chest Garden is one of our current projects.

FILM SERIES The "Now and Then Film Series” plans to show films related to Economic Localization and community self-reliance once a month.

COMMUNITY MAPPING “Mapping a vision that will manage future development in the greater Willits area to provide an accessible and sustainable community.”

Want to get involved? Come to a meeting or call the office to get contact information for any of these active and inspiring projects.

Get Involved

Join the Grateful Gleaners in sharing our community’s bounty! The Grateful Gleaners are dedicated to promoting the growth, preservation and sharing of local, seasonal, organic food through communally harvesting fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Generous growers throughout our community offer us their excess, which we harvest and distribute. We donate a portion of our harvest to those most in need in our community, and the rest is enjoyed by growers, gleaners, and the community at large through donations to local events and gatherings. If you grow fruits, veggies, or nuts and have extra to share, or if you’d like to come glean with us, please contact the Grateful Gleaners through Karen Gridley at # 459-2101. By sharing our abundance and resources we strengthen community ties, to create a sustainable, cooperative future.

The Willits City Park Neighborhood Association is one of the groups pooling resources to monitor local governments. They have requested help in monitoring Willits government. Help would be in the form of attending City Council and City Committee meetings, or reading through government documents, or doing research around timely issues, or writing summaries to pass along to those interested.

The WELL Steering Committee is working with some other county folks trying to organize a County research and monitoring group. This group would focus on the unincorporated part of the county, as well as the existing municipal districts in this area [water and sewage].

Even once this is in place, we would still need groups to the cover the three cities- Ukiah, Fort Bragg, and Willits. If you are interested in helping in WILLITS – please contact Ralph Pisciotta - pisciottaelectric@sbcglobal.net

Job Opportunity

You may have seen the following add running in the last few editions of the Willits News. If you’d like to apply, call today as hires are being made presently.

REDI – Renewable Energy Development Institute Introducing 250 Willits homes to HELP, a new Energy Efficiency Program that will provide hands-on, direct assistance to all income levels.

HELP is hiring: Data Coordinator Set-up Excel; Enter and process Survey and Audit data; Produce summaries. $12/hr 12 hours/wk flexible M-Saturday 9AM-4PM June 19 – Oct 27

Household Surveyors Door-to-door; Assist interested households with survey questions. $10/hr 6-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Thurs 6-9PM; Sat 9AM-4PM July 1 – Aug 12. Training provided.

Energy Auditors Conduct household Energy Audits. 10/hr 12-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Sat 9AM-9PM; July 10 – Sept 15. Training provided.

Contact George at REDI – 459.1256

HELP

I need someone to volunteer a few sunny hours hanging our next schedule of events around town. I have the posters and a list of locations to post here at the office. Please volunteer – otherwise, it won’t get done!

Office Note: If you would like to be taken off this mailing list, please let me know and I will gladly oblige.

spring@redinet.org

Spring Senerchia, Office Manager

Willits Economic Localization - WELL

Renewable Energy Development Institute - REDI

75 N. Main St. PMB 234 Willits, CA 95490

707.459.1256
Willits Economic Localization (CA)

WELL Newsletter - June 21, 2006

Spring Senerchia — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 11:04:41 -0700

                                                                           WELL NEWSLETTER – June 19, 2006

Calendar of WELL Events

Monday, July 10 – Speaker Event: “Elders Speak”
6:30 - 8:30pm Little Lake Grange Hall – 291 School St. Come listen to stories addressing traditional values and agricultural practices here in the Little Lake Valley. This event will be co-sponsored by the Willits Grange.

Saturday, July 22 – Special Meeting: “The Future of WELL”
All day – exact times to be announced – Willits Community Center This all day meeting will culminate in the adoption of WELL’s Membership and Governance structures and the Strategic Plan. Subcommittees have been working hard on drafts, which will be widely available by mid-June. Please come to this meeting to give your feedback, work on incorporating changes, and, to VOTE on accepting these documents. This is the culmination of months of work and visioning.

Two of the draft documents to be discussed and, hopefully, adopted are ready for your review. I have attached a PDF version of the Governance Document and the Membership document. If you are unable to open this document, let me know and I can arrange to get you one in a different way. The Strategic Plan should come to you early next week after the committee finishes the final revisions.

Please – print out these documents, read them carefully, take notes. There are also copies available in the office for anyone who is interested. You may give your feedback prior to the meeting by contacting WELL (contact information is at the bottom of the newsletter) or, you may come to the meeting and give your input directly. However, it is critical that you take the time to absorb the voluminous amount of information in these documents – PRIOR to the meeting.

Saturday, July 22 – PARTY
6-10 pm, at the Bradford home – 284 Redwood Ave. Join us to celebrate this day’s hard work and all of WELL’s progress. More details to come.

Our schedule is intentionally light this summer. We suspect that people will busy with travel plans, gardening and general warm weather frolicking. The events we have planned should be FUN, as well as informative. It is also our sincere hope that folks will take time to carefully read the documents that our three hard working committees – Strategic Planning, Membership and Governance – will be distributing soon. Broad, carefully considered input is welcome and vital in this process. We hope that by the end of the summer we will have a lot of these details agreed upon and in place, allowing us to turn our attention to further projects – large and small alike.

WELL News

On June 12 there was an exciting WELL meeting where projects were discussed. There was a lot of energy and some new faces! Thanks to everyone who participated in this evening.
     “At our June 12 meeting, when WELL projects were discussed, it was suggested that there should be a coordinator/liaison person to keep track of all the information from food projects and give it out to interested people. I would be happy to serve that function. Since I missed a lot of what was said, I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has ideas what that function would include. Thanks! Mary Zellachild 459-3963; maryzel@saber.net “

WELL Website Be sure to visit the WELL website: www.willitseconomiclocalization.org. Suzie Gruber recently took the reins from Brian Corzilius and is diligently keeping the site updated. Many thanks again, to Brian, for getting this going and keeping it alive. And newer thanks to Suzie for her dedication to this ongoing task.

You can now access many presentations and much information from the Regional Localization Networking Conference – RLNC – with more coming each week.

WELL in the world Brian Weller is often away from home these days, spreading the word about WELL and helping other communities to localize themselves. He has presentations coming up in Carbondale, Colorado and Bainbridge Island, Washington. He is only recently returned from Kinsale, Ireland. This is a quote from the article written after his presentation: “Brian’s talk and seminar gave valuable insights into the process that one community has followed to prepare for the coming energy crises. Engaging, charismatic and at times hilarious, Brian did not shirk from the difficulties that they have encountered along the way, but also gave us useful tools for working in groups, facilitating meetings, and much more. The process in Willits stands as an inspiration to us all as what a community can achieve in a very short space of time.” You can read the entire article here: http://transitionculture.org/?p=331

Get Involved
WELL officially endorsed the precautionary principle, so this is good news, please lend your support: The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will hear and vote on whether to adopt a Precautionary Principle Policy for the County. The hearing presents an opportunity to voice your support for Mendocino County's first environmental policy - and one that states the value of public input, transparency, full-cost accounting, and guidance towards an alternative with the least potential impact on human health and the environment.

The final draft is available here: www.MendoPrecaution.org/2006-04MendocinoPrecautionary.pdf

When: Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Time: 1:30 PM
Location: Supervisors Chambers, 501 Low Gap Rd., Ukiah, CA

What You Can Do:
1. Please consider attending the Board of Supervisors hearing on this issue. If you can attend the hearing on June 27th, plan on speaking in support of the Precautionary Principle. You will be be provided 2-3 minutes or you can simply state your support for the Precautionary Principle.
2. If you cannot attend the hearing, please consider faxing or emailing a letter of support to the Board of Supervisors, Cc:ing your district Supervisor. Board of Supervisors Fax: (707) 463-4245 Email: bos@co.mendocino.ca.us
3. Endorse the Precautionary Principle in Mendocino County decision-making! Go to www.mendoprecaution.org For more information: See MendoPrecaution.org or contact: info@EnvironmentalCommons.org, (707) 884-5002.

“An Inconvenient Truth” There have been a lot of good reviews of Al Gore’s film, which relates to topics that concern WELL. This film will be showing in Willits, at the Noyo Theater, hopefully in July, according to their manager. To learn more about the film, go the website: http://www.climatecrisis.net/

Job Opportunity You may have seen the following add running in the last few editions of the Willits News. If you’d like to apply, call today as hires are being made presently.

REDI – Renewable Energy Development Institute
Introducing 250 Willits homes to HELP, a new Energy Efficiency Program that will provide hands-on, direct assistance to all income levels.

HELP is hiring: Data Coordinator Set-up Excel; Enter and process Survey and Audit data; Produce summaries. $12/hr 12 hours/wk flexible M-Saturday 9AM-4PM June 19 – Oct 27
Household Surveyors Door-to-door; Assist interested households with survey questions. $10/hr 6-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Thurs 6-9PM; Sat 9AM-4PM July 1 – Aug 12. Training provided.
Energy Auditors Conduct household Energy Audits. 10/hr 12-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Sat 9AM-9PM; July 10 – Sept 15. Training provided.
Contact George at REDI – 459.1256

Thanks Many thanks are due, and are hereby offered to Marc Grail, Suzie Gruber and Liam UiCearbhail for their generous and timely help in the WELL office. They have undertaken the thankless and often frustrating task of working the kinks out of our internal network and with our internet connections. Their technical expertise and unflagging devotion has been invaluable.

Office Note: If you would like to be taken off this mailing list, please let me know and I will gladly oblige.

Happy Solstice!

spring@redinet.org
Spring Senerchia, Office Manager
Willits Economic Localization - WELL
Renewable Energy Development Institute - REDI
75 N. Main St. PMB 234
Willits, CA 95490
707.459.1256
Willits Economic Localization (CA)

WELL Newsletter - July 5, 2006

Spring Senerchia — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 12:04:24 -0700

                                                        WELL NEWSLETTER – July 5, 2006
Calendar of WELL Events
Monday, July 10 – Speaker Event: “Elders Speak”
6:30 - 8:30pm Little Lake Grange Hall – 291 School St.
Come listen to stories addressing traditional values and agricultural practices here in the Little Lake Valley. This event will be co-sponsored by the Little Lake Grange.

Saturday, July 22 – Special Meeting: “The Future of WELL”
9:30am – 4:30pm – Willits City Council Chambers
This all day meeting will culminate in the adoption of WELL’s Membership and Governance structures and the Strategic Plan. Subcommittees have been working hard on drafts, which will be widely available by mid-June. Please come to this meeting to give your feedback, work on incorporating changes, and, to VOTE on accepting these documents. This is the culmination of months of work and visioning.

I have again attached all three documents for your convenience. Please – print out these documents, read them carefully, take notes. There are also copies available in the office for anyone who is interested. You may give your feedback prior to the meeting by contacting WELL (contact information is at the bottom of the newsletter) or, you may come to the meeting and give your input directly. However, it is critical that you take the time to absorb the voluminous amount of information in these documents – PRIOR to the meeting and that you make your comments in writing.

Schedule:
9:30 – 10am – arrive, settle in, tea and coffee available
10am – Introduction to the days work (we will begin promptly at 10)
10:15am – Presentation of Membership document, clarifying questions, straw poll, written comments
10:45am – Presentation of Governance document, clarifying questions, straw poll, written comments
11:15am – Presentation of Strategic Plan document, clarifying questions, straw poll, written comments
noon – Lunch break
1pm – Break out groups for each of the three documents (each person attends one group) These groups work together to incorporate all the written comments submitted and agree upon a final draft to be ratified.
2:30pm – Short break, then reassemble as large group
2:45pm – Membership document re-presented, vote to ratify 3:15pm – Governance document re-presented, vote to ratify
3:45pm – Strategic Plan document re-presented, vote to ratify
4:15pm – Closing
4:30pm – End

The day will be facilitated by Marc Grail and Spring Senerchia. The break-out sessions will each have facilitators and members of the committee who drafted the document will be available to answer questions.

It would be helpful to know who plans to attend – just so we can get an idea of the size of our group. If you plan to come, please let us know using the contact information at the bottom of the newsletter. It is critical that you bring your comments and suggested edits in writing.

Saturday, July 22 – PARTY
6-10 pm, at the Bradford home – 284 Redwood Ave.
Join us to celebrate this day’s hard work and all of WELL’s progress. More details to come.

Saturday, July 29
10am – Noon, 130 Tuttle Lane, Willits
Free class at the demonstration Medicine Chest Garden, with special guest, KC Chamberlain who will regale us with the wonder of lavender. We will tincture some fresh lavender also. Bring a chair and a sunhat.

Look for our August/September schedule coming to town soon.

Our schedule is intentionally light this summer. We suspect that people will busy with travel plans, gardening and general warm weather frolicking. The events we have planned should be FUN, as well as informative. It is also our sincere hope that folks will take time to carefully read the documents that our three hard working committees – Strategic Planning, Membership and Governance – will be distributing soon. Broad, carefully considered input is welcome and vital in this process. We hope that by the end of the summer we will have a lot of these details agreed upon and in place, allowing us to turn our attention to further projects – large and small alike.

Past Events

Project update meeting
On June 12 there was an energizing WELL meeting where current projects were discussed and attendees had the chance to be updated on progress. There was recently a very good article in the Willits News, which you can read here: http://www.willitsnews.com/localnews/ci_4014439

Other Events

“An Inconvenient Truth” There have been a lot of good reviews of Al Gore’s film, which relates to topics that concern WELL. This film will be showing in Willits Friday, July 7 through Thursday, July 13. There will be three showings per day. Call the Noyo Theater – 459.6696 - for prices and times. To learn more about the film, go the website: http://www.climatecrisis.net/

On Wednesday, July 12, WELL participants will moderate a discussion of the film, directly following the 7:10pm screening, in the theater. Everyone is welcome to participate. Thanks to the Noyo staff for this special opportunity to respond to the facts, images and feelings in this ground breaking film.

Audiences everywhere respond to An Inconvenient Truth with spontaneous applause and standing ovations. That’s because An Inconvenient Truth gives voice to a crisis that impacts us all: global warming. The facts are chilling and galvanizing individuals. Reversing global warming is not a political issue. It’s a practical and realistic proposal. It’s our civic responsibility. If we, our children, and our children’s children want to continue living on Earth, it’s an imperative.

Bring your self, a friend, especially young people.

San Francisco Oil Awareness
Please help San Francisco Oil Awareness spread the word about the upcoming hearing on July 28 at City Hall regarding Peak Oil and the ramifications it could have for our city and region. If you have relatives in the San Francisco Bay Area – encourage them to attend.

This event will be both a press conference and an opportunity for officials and the general public to learn more about Peak Oil and the ramifications. The attached Acrobat file provides further details regarding the hearing, and the press conference scheduled in advance of the hearing – this attachment is short and worth the read.

Do you like to EAT? FOOD News
C'mon Home to Eat, Eat Local Month
Mary Zellachild sent this in and is offering to help spear head this effort. PLEASE contact her to help so we can join this effort.

We have received a letter from Sara McCamant of the Anderson Valley Local Foodshed, saying they are hoping the rest of the county will join them in organizing a county wide "C'mon Home to Eat, Eat Local Month" this October. Anderson Valley did one last October and it was a great success. It would be a good way for us to start to get the issues and ideas around local food out there.

Some of the things they organized last year: A pledge for people to eat local (within 100 miles) that month; worked with local restaurants to highlight what’s local on their menus or have a local food special; asked stores to let them put tags on what was grown within 100 miles; taught canning classes, using local restaurants; did outreach with schools; put up local food displays at the farmers market and in stores; printed a local food guide (they’d like to have input from our area); and did radio shows and newspaper articles.

It would be good to make some effort here in Willits to be part of this. It will take a lot of ideas, follow through, and people willing to work on it to make it happen. Sara says it takes about 2 months, which means we would need to start in August.

What We Need to Carry This Out
(The number of activities that will actually happen during the month depends on the response received.)
• A planning committee (at least one other person besides me) to coordinate activities and gather information to be distributed
• Media/Publicity group to distribute information
• A group to help plan a “Local Harvest Festival” – potluck or catered meal with local foods to end the month
• Liaison for school activities
• A liaison for stores and restaurants
• Someone to organize and/or teach harvest processing (canning, drying and/or freezing)
I see the first 3 of these to be the minimum needed for us to do this project. . Anyone who is interested in helping with this, please contact me at 459-3963 or maryzel@saber.net

Eat Locally Guide
Julie Honegger, of the Anderson Valley Foodshed Group’s Eat Locally Guide Committee recently sent us this:

To Willits Friends:

The Anderson Valley Foodshed Group is amping up its effort to create the Eat Locally Guide. We just received a grant to help fund the project, and now we really need to push to find the information to fill the guide.

Attached is an updated version of the food survey with cover letter. Please fill out and/or send this survey out to food producers in your area; at this point we only have 3 completed surveys and we need more! Due to the difficulty in obtaining the completed surveys, we've also decided to go visit food producers at the Farmer's Markets in order to expedite the process =) You'll see our smiling faces around the county at the markets in the next couple of weeks.

Please help with this effort by passing on the food survey and making sure it gets filled out. I have attached it here, or you can contact me for a copy.

100 Mile Menu
The Hopland Inn “epicenter of Hopland” recently reopened and Executive Chef and inn co-owner Shaun Behren says much of the new menu, and the ideas behind it, were designed around the local community. "The community wants to be here," Behren said.

This excerpt is from the Ukiah Daily Journal. The full article is informative and worth checking out. You can read it here: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/features/ci_3963170

"The dinner menu, which will be available in the entire restaurant, includes both seasonal appetizers and entrees made from local fare.

I'm trying to do a 100 mile menu," Behren, who graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, said. This means all ingredients come from within 100 miles of the inn. In addition to the number of herbs and greens Behren grows on site, local items include grass-fed beef from 60 miles away, produce from Sonoma and walnuts from Lakeport. "If I've got to pay $10 for hazelnuts that come from Oregon, why not pay $3 for walnuts to come from Lakeport," Behren explained. "A nut is a nut." Buying locally also saves the customer money on freight charges and is better for the environment, according to Behren. As a result, the inn throws out less packing materials.

Because Behren uses only local items, both the dinner and bistro menu will change seasonally.”

Meat processing and packing, in Ukiah?
Els Cooperrider sent this news to us:

Sam Golberger from Marin is looking to put a meat processing and packing plant in Ukiah. His vision is for a multi species plant- everything from buffalo to goats. Also included could be an educational component.

This is just what we need. If the EL groups can support this project it will really help 'localize' the meat scene.

Please contact Els – els@ukiahbrewingco.com or Sam - 415-435-1107 or tirmidi@mac.com, if you can help with this project.

Get Involved
Barn Raising – this Saturday
Saturday, July 8, from 9 to 1, we will be working at the community garden located at 221-D S. Lenore (on at the corner of E. Valley and Lenore) among the WISC (County) buildings. We will meet at there at 9 am, warm up a bit and get to working on moving wood chips, weed eating and some test digging.

Bring any of the following, if you have them: labeled weed eaters, wheel barrows, shovels, rakes, knee pads for weeding, hat, gloves, study shoes, water and your own eating utensils.

We can use some cooks to volunteer! Bring food at 1 pm for lunch.

Questions? Call Diane at 456-9086.

Happy Summer! Let's get together to further this important garden.

P.S. Due to Medea Benjamin coming on August 11 & 12, there will be no barn raising in August.

Willits WELLness Network update:
Willits WELLness Network goes to the garden!

As most of you know, the Willits Wellness Network has been meeting monthly since March of 2005. We are ready to move into a new phase so we will be gathering at the old Creamery, 475 E. Valley Street, on Sunday, July 9, at 9 am to beat the heat. We will gather herbs for a luscious tea to serve the following evening, June 10 (at the WELL 'Elder Speak' event, 6:30 pm at the Grange). We will be identifying the herbs growing there at the 'pharm' and networking.

We can pick some food to eat or you may like to bring some food - ideally local - for a potluck lunch at noon. Come for any or all of the time. There are green houses to rehabilitate. Let's evaluate the property for needs and value.

Summer is here and things are growing. It is time to get out in the garden and get our hands dirty. This is where the rubber meets the road, to use a hopelessly outdated metaphor.

Let's begin to make the Herbal Apothecary a reality. Prophessor Ping Pong (P3) has generously offered his property at the Creamery as a place to identify the volunteer weeds, cultivate herbs, start seedling in the greenhouse and process the herbs into medicines for the people of Willits and for trade. Here is a list of what is growing already:

mint, passionflower, comfrey, shou wu, fennel, feverfew, rose, elecampane, mullein, blackberry, raspberry, hops, valerian, calendula, poppy, horehound, licorice, honeysuckle, burdock, red and white clover, chicory and others!

It is a place to grow food, as well. Come and find some plants that are your allies to care for. We envision a cooperative of people who develop and carry out a plan to steward the herbs and prepare them for use as medicines. We like the idea of a barter system for the exchange.

All Grateful Gleaners and food growers are invited to network with us as there is ample food growing and processing space at the Creamery as well.

Bring your ideas and energy. See you on the 9th. Questions? Call Diane Smalley at 456-9514.

The Medicine Chest Garden
Congratulations to Donna D'Terra who applied for and received a modest grant from the Ukiah Co-op that will help make the Medicine Chest Garden project a reality in 2007.

Come to our next free class at the demonstration Medicine Chest Garden, 130 Tuttle Lane, Willits, on Saturday, July 29, from 10 to noon. Our special guest, KC Chamberlain will regale us with the wonder of lavender. We will tincture some fresh lavender also. Bring a chair and a sunhat.

For further information, phone Diane Smalley, 456-9514

Important Liason Team Forming Now
Keeping tabs on our local government bodies and communicating WELL's opinions to them is vital to accomplishing WELL's goals. In recognition of this we have formed a Liaison Team (as described in the Draft Governance Document) in advance of the July 22 Future of WELL meeting.

Mary Zellachild and Ralph Pisciotta have committed to this effort and we would like a few more volunteers as well. What we want is a group who can commit to this effort, and plan and coordinate strategy to be certain that we are communicating effectively. This committee will pay attention to all of the issues that arise, and coordinate with the governing body of WELL so that they can truthfully represent themselves as being the Voice of WELL to our local governments.

Ralph will be attending the Elders Speak event at the Grange on July 10 and would like to hear from anyone interested in committing to this important task. You may also contact Mary Zellachild - 459-3963 or maryzel@saber.net - or Liam UiCearbhaill – macamergin@yahoo.com

Job Opportunity
You may have seen the following add running in the last few editions of the Willits News. If you’d like to apply, call today as hires are being made presently.

REDI – Renewable Energy Development Institute Introducing 250 Willits homes to HELP, a new Energy Efficiency Program that will provide hands-on, direct assistance to all income levels. HELP is hiring:
Data Coordinator Set-up Excel; Enter and process Survey and Audit data; Produce summaries. $12/hr 12 hours/wk flexible M-Saturday 9AM-4PM June 19 – Oct 27
Household Surveyors Door-to-door; Assist interested households with survey questions. $10/hr 6-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Thurs 6-9PM; Sat 9AM-4PM July 1 – Aug 12. Training provided.
Energy Auditors Conduct household Energy Audits. 10/hr 12-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Sat 9AM-9PM; July 10 – Sept 15. Training provided.

Contact George at REDI – 459.1256

Office Note:
If you would like to be taken off this mailing list, please let me know and I will gladly oblige.

spring@redinet.org
Spring Senerchia, Office Manager
Willits Economic Localization - WELL
Renewable Energy Development Institute - REDI
75 N. Main St. PMB 234
Willits, CA 95490
707.459.1256
Willits Economic Localization (CA)

Basin Fire

Linda Parker — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:15:24 -0700

Just an up-date on the Basin Fire:
7:00AM June 28 Update: Fire Actively Burning in Little Sur Watershed

Overnight thermal imaging shows vigorous fire activity along broad fronts in both the north and south. In the north, the fire appears to have spilled over the ridge into the Little Sur Watershed in a line stretching from the Window all the way to the headwaters of the South Fork Little Sur. The active burning continues from this area, back through Ventana Creek and across the main stem of the Big Sur River just above Ventana Camp. In the south, an active fire front appears to extend from low in Anderson Canyon, past Burns and Buck creeks and through the upper headwaters of Hot Springs Canyon - while on the other side of the Coast Ridge the fire appears to be descending rapidly toward Lost Valley. The satellite also found continued heat in the upper Tassajara Creek watershed and in McWay Canyon.
Willits Economic Localization (CA)