We can’t afford to lose KPFZ; a valuable resource
The Board of Supervisors is considering a request made by the Board of KPFZ, our local radio station, to either eliminate or greatly reduce their rental for broadcasting from the Mt Konocti tower to help them with their tight budget. The Supervisors need to know how much this radio station means to us.
KPFZ provides an invaluable service to the community of Lake County. In good times, they provide a forum to educate our people of current issues in a fair and open manner and in times of crisis have always interrupted their regular programming to provide access to local, state and federal fire agencies, county and city law enforcement, as well as other public officials upon request.
They also consistently provide free airtime to local candidates running for office. An informed electorate is essential to the survival of a democracy.
At a time when media is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, it is important to provide support for independent media, especially one which operates as an all-volunteer, non-commercial, non-profit organization.
Although they don’t reach Middletown through the airways, they are available by live streaming over the internet and during disasters, when cell towers and land lines go down, they have provided a very valuable service to emergency services and all the people of our county.
We cannot afford to lose such a valuable resource!
—Greta Zeit, Middletown
Setting the record straight about the Mueller Report and Benghazi
What a strange letter from Mac McKay (Record Bee, June 6). Of course elections are pure politics. It is a political process, after all. But Mac is wrong that the Mueller report said “no collusion, no obstruction.” This is what Attorney General Barr said.
The report stated the investigators could not find sufficient evidence of conspiracy and it lays out several occurrences that appear to be obstruction but that Justice Department rules did not allow them to accuse the sitting president. Our very own senator Kamala Harris pointed out that AG Barr failed to review the underlying evidence even though it was the President.
Why? Because he had already made his decision before becoming AG. And now he is supporting Trump’s conspiracy theories concerning the deep state and spying, with as much evidence as Trump has (zero). Barr is also failing to give the House the documentation it has requested on several investigations it is working on. This may lead to a vote on a contempt charge (not impeachment Mac).
And House democrats are reading the Mueller report because many Republicans being interviewed by the press still have not heard that it does not absolve the president of guilt, unlike what they are hearing on Fox News.
Mac appears to be still confused about Benghazi. Does he think that Democrats blocked the Trey Gowdy investigation? Gowdy was a Republican in a Republican House majority. How could Democrats block this investigation? That’s right, 40% of republicans still believe that Obama ordered a stand down and Clinton lied to the public to cover up the whole thing.
—Kevin Bracken, Kelseyville
Conn Murray, beloved Godfather of the L.C. Wine Club
In the beginning there was Conn Murray and his wife June. They became very active with the Lake County Symphony. June was President of the Ladies Auxiliary, who organized an Art and Wine Auction held at the Lilly Langtry Estate in Middletown. Dignitaries from all parts of California came to this event, raising hundreds of dollars for the Symphony. Sadly, as people aged, moved on, and venues became harder to get, it went away.
The fundraising diminished greatly, consisting of garage sales, animal jamborees and other small events. During this time Conn was a home wine maker, making wine on his back porch. He knew the ladies were struggling to raise funds so he thought maybe there was a way to use wine. He liked the European street festivals and came up with the idea to have a Home Wine Makers Festival on the streets of Kelseyville. It was the husbands of the “Ladies Auxiliary” who joined in and started the first Wine Club. As the Lake County Symphony Association was a non-profit organization, the club could now solicit the wine grapes needed as a donation from the growers.
2001 marked the first Home Winefest held on the streets of Kelseyville. Each booth was staffed by a club member and they all poured the same wine made with the club, Ferral Family Merlot. In 2002, an upstart named Ed Bublitz joined the club and introduced food and art to the festival. Winefest remained on the streets of Kelseyville until the heat of the summer sun drove the festival to seek cooler grounds.
The first year in Lakeport was not good. Park Street was closed off and the arts and crafts vendors were lined up along both sides of the street, on the hot asphalt, roasting again, while the wine makers were on the grass with a cool breeze coming off the lake. The City of Lakeport relented and allowed sales at the Park the following year on a trial basis. All the City Council members were invited to attend and it was a great success. The Home Wine (and now also Beer) Makers Festival has for the last 18 years been the largest fund raiser for the Lake County Symphony Association.
—Cornelia Sieber, Lakeport
