October Newsletter

By KMUD membership | October 5, 2022

Autumn has arrived with her wondrous bounty plus the blessing of early rains and some relief from the stresses of fire danger! This bounty was generously passed around during our Fall Membership Drive and gave us a great opportunity to celebrate our new and old members as well as a successful drive! We didn’t quite reach our goal, but nearly. Thanks so much to all of you who participated with time, talent and money. And please keep sending your donations if you can, specially if you didn’t do it yet!

In this E-newsletter, we’ll remind you about the Drive’s live music and the Wild and Scenic festival. More about the upcoming Halloween Boogie at the Mateel. The programmer’s spotlight is on Katie Jazz Lady. This month, the talk show is Thinking Clearly and our underwriter is the Lost French Man. The News Room relates the PG&E Proposed Herbicide Use story and its community response. And finally, hear how KMUD is collecting community stories.

Live Music at KMUD for the Drive
by Dennis Maher, Music Director

During our Yard Party, on Friday 23rd, it was also the perfect opportunity to showcase our great local talents right here at home. Our local musicians played fabulous live broadcasts from our studio B and closed out the event when they took the stage out in our station’s front yard! Many wonderful thanks to appearances by The Camo Cowboys, Wolfmandu and the Howler, Anna Hamilton with Mumzer, Josiah Appleseed, King Strang of the Bridge City Sinners, as well as Hill Honey And The Wildcats, The Colour Green, and Zera Starchild! You can listen to or enjoy once again the highlights of these performances when they broadcast on Saturday October 9th at 2am during Rewind!, our exceptional shows from the Kmud Archive feature show. Then the program will be available on the archive at kmud.org for an additional two weeks for listening at your leisure. Check it out!

The Halloween Boogie is back and it’s the place to be!! Come dressed to impress. We’ll be having a Halloween Contest for both adults and kids with badass prizes. We are so excited for Perro Bravo and Hijinx! Come out and support both KMUD and the Mateel. You won’t want to miss this good time!

“Wild and Scenic Film Festival” show

by Tanya Horlick, Public Affairs Director

Last Thursday eve, guest hosts Justin Crellin and Cheryl Lisin, two leaders of the Friends of the Lost Coast, spoke with filmmakers whose work will be featured this coming Sunday, October 9th during the 2022 Wild and Scenic Film Festival! Catch behind the scenes with filmmakers on Public Affairs at: archive.kmudfm.org for 5-6 pm Thursday Sept. 29, or score tickets to Sunday’s festival and more at : https://lostcoast.org/wild-and-scenic-film-festival/

Programmer of the Month
KATIE JAZZ LADY / KATIE JAM LADY

Katie has been a programmer at KMUD for 3 years, enough to make her irreplaceable. You’ve been listening to her musical choices in the Jazz Feast (3rd Wedn 4-5.30pm), on the Phish Show (Tuesdays 8-10pm), on Lester Leaps In (Sundays 7-9pm) and subbing anytime needed. For example this last month doing some great Music Junkie Support Group (Mondays 1-3pm). Katie wanted to have a show on KMUD for a while put her daughter being still young, it was complicated to organize. But now Uma is 14, Katie can make herself available more freely. And actually Uma became a DJ as well, on Youth in Radio (6 -7-30pm).
Katie says “KMUD is the soundtrack of my life. When i’m not playing, I’m listening all the different shows, from classical to World Music, and the Talk Shows too.”

Talk Show Spotlight

THINKING CLEARLY
by Tanya Horlick, Public Affairs Coordinator

Tune to Thinking Clearly on KMUD, this Thursday, October 6 from 7 to 8 pm to hear an inspiring story from guest, Jon Guy, who turned his life around under very unusual circumstances. Jon wrote the book: Think Straight—An Owner’s Manual for the Mind. In discussion with hosts Bob and Julia, Jon describes insights, ideas, and tools needed to master critical thinking and improve our lives. Hear podcasts from the legacy of this unique KMUD talk show at https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

Underwriter Spotlight
THE LOST FRENCH MAN

Located in the heart of Redway, The Lost French Man has been serving up authentic wood fired pizza since 2012. Now, there is even more to enjoy! Their lunch and dinner menu includes a variety of options to suit everyone’s taste. Along with their wood fired pizza, they serve paninis, sandwiches, burgers, salads, soups, cheese plates, appetizers, and desserts. Their juice bar features all organic fresh made juices, smoothies, and healthy shots (served until 4pm). Nightly dinner specials including steaks, pork chops, sea food, pastas, and more. At The Lost French Man they take pride in the food they serve to the community and beyond. (Our KMUD staff are regulars!) They use fresh organic produce, non-hormone grass fed meats, and offer gluten-free and vegan options. They make everything in house from their select dressings and fancy desserts to their famous mouth watering meatballs. Come enjoy the spacious dining room with an open view of the wood fire oven, or sit on the outdoor patio while you enjoy a view of the scenic Redwoods. The friendly staff is ready to greet you! If you are looking for fine dining with a casual family friendly vibe, then “come get lost” at the French Man.

KMUD NEWS SPOTLIGHT

PG&E’s Proposed Herbicide Use
by Lauren Schmitt, News Director

Listen to Part 1 of the story by KMUD News here
Listen to Part 2 of the story by KMUD News here
and read more below

On Thursday, September 29th, Humboldt County officials were alerted to PG&Eʼs plan to apply a series of herbicides on hundreds of private parcels throughout the county: Benbow to Trinidad, Alderpoint to Petrolia, and Willow Creek to Orick. PG&E contractors intend on spraying herbicides in an 11-foot-radius around PG&E infrastructure on private properties. Work was scheduled to begin on October 3rd.

PG&E contractor, Wright Tree Service, emailed local officials stating that they would refrain from spraying on county property due to an agreement from 1997, but would proceed to contact local land owners whose properties are slated for an herbicide treatment. Under the permit issued by the county, contractors will be allowed to use four different herbicides, which includes up to 64oz of Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, per acre …which equates to approximately 2 ounces per ten power poles, according to their figures.

Wright Tree Service sent a map in KML format of the locations of the proposed sites. Red pins indicate county property and yellow pins represent private land.

KMUD News contacted a local landowner whose property had been pinned on the map. The site is home to an organic flower company, Tranquility Lane Flowers, in Whitethorn. The landowner, Donna Lovatto, was surprised and outraged to learn that her property had been selected for an herbicide treatment, citing concerns regarding their organic farm and sensitive watershed that provides refuge to an at risk species of salmon. Lovatto was under the impression that the county of Humboldt had an herbicide ban, recalling the 1997 agreement. After further review, KMUD News was able to determine that there never was a ban in place, instead an agreement between the county and CalTrans (who, at the time, was broadcast spraying herbicides along roadsides) to “discontinue all herbicide spraying.”

Humboldt Countyʼs Interim Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures, Weylan Shaw, agreed with our interpretation of the document. Shaw stated that his department is in touch with PG&Eʼs ‘pest control expertʼ and extended his officeʼs services to answer the publicʼs questions: 707-441-5260.

Seeking additional information, KMUD News reached out to PG&E spokesperson, Deanna Contreras, who emailed the following:

After our story aired on KMUD News and was published on Kymkemp.com, the community responded by holding a series of meetings to discuss strategies to stop the proposed herbicide treatment. A representative with Californians for Alternatives to Toxins was invited to speak to residents via Zoom during a hybrid meeting organized by Southern Humboldt residents at the Garberville Town Square. The organization offered ideas and encouraged concerned citizens to contact PG&E, contractors, and elected officials to make their stance against herbicides known. On social media, the Southern Humboldt Business and Visitors Bureau is even holding a contest on the best ‘No Sprayʼ signs, which are starting to pop-up through the county.

Following the community backlash, the PG&E contractor contacted the Agricultural Commissioner and stated that herbicide applications in Humboldt County have been postponed until they have additional consultations with their legal council. Supervisors Bushnell, Madrone, Wilson, and Bohn have been attempting to get answers from the power conglomerate. In an email, PG&E sent the following to our elected officials on Monday, October 3rd.

PG&E has assured local officials that contractors will need explicit consent from landowners to use herbicides on private parcels. Residents can proactively call 1-800-743-5000 (option 3, then option 4) to decline or allow the application. Humboldt Supervisors are expected to discuss a countywide ban on herbicide use (potentially codifying the 1997 agreement into an official ordinance for all entities) as early as Tuesday, October 18th. In the meantime, residents are encouraged to share what they would like to see written into law via email with their elected leaders.

KMUD News will continue to share updates…

Listen to Part 1 of the story by KMUD News here
Listen to Part 2 of the story by KMUD News here

1st District Supervisor: Rex Bohn
Email: [email protected]
Direct line: 707-476-2391
2nd District Supervisor: Michelle Bushnell
Email: [email protected]
Direct line: 707-476-2392
3rd District Supervisor: Mike Wilson
Email: [email protected]
Direct line: 707-476-2393
4th District Supervisor: Virginia Bass
Email: [email protected]
Direct line: 707-476-2394
5th District Supervisor: Steve Madrone
Email: [email protected]
Direct line: 707-476-2395

We are overwhelmed with gratitude from our Fall Membership Drive but we still have a whole lot more that we need to raise this year to keep this station running strong.

You can help! And not just with your donations. We are collecting stories as a part of the #GivingTuesday movement and our end of the year giving campaign. #GivingTuesday is the global generosity movement where folks donate to their favorite nonprofits. It falls the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and is a contrast to the consumerism of Black Friday. It centers around collecting and sharing stories.

We would love to hear your story. You can share with us why you support KMUD, how KMUD has effected your life, and/or how you get turned onto the mighty mud. Your story can be audio, text, or video. We are happy to film you or record your audio. You can email your story or get hooked up with someone to support you by emailing [email protected].