Eagles RELIGION basketball Saturday Faith community news action ...................................Page 3 .............Page 6 Feb. 10, 2007 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Sunday: Cloudy with a couple showers 7 58551 69301 0 Monday: Afternoon sunshine 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 14 pages, Volume 148 Number 307 email: [email protected] MURDER CASE Medical Boy, 14, marijuana to be GREEN JEANS FARM ID card fee tried as may soar State raising its portion of an adult the fee more than tenfold By KIM CURTIS Associated Press By KATIE MINTZ UKIAH — A 14-year-old The Daily Journal boy accused of gunning down The fee for obtaining a medical mari- his sister’s boyfriend on a juana identification card in Mendocino small American Indian reser- County may more than double beginning vation shook his head and March 1, and medical marijuana advo- cried Friday as he was cates fear the increased fee will keep charged as an adult with mur- many from using the voluntary identifica- der. tion program. Marcos C. Escareno did Due to a recent statewide increase in not enter a plea in Mendocino cost, on Tuesday, the Mendocino County County Superior Court Board of Supervisors will because his family asked for consider increasing the more time to hire a lawyer. He application fee for the ‘We’re just was held at juvenile hall in state Medical Marijuana lieu of $550,000 bail and his ID Card program admin- passing arraignment was postponed istered through the coun- along the until Feb. 21. ty’s Public Health Branch. The teen used a rifle Currently, in state increase Tuesday to shoot Enoc Cruz, Mendocino County, the 21, in the head and back as annual cost for a card is so that the the man sat behind the wheel $70 -- $57 of which cov- local govern- of his van near Escareno’s ers the county’s cost for home on the Manchester- verifying and processing ment doesn’t the application, and $13 Point Arena Rancheria, said Isaac Eckel/The Daily Journal have to pay Mendocino County Sheriff’s Toni Adams, who runs the Green Jeans Farm with her husband, Jeff, works in the green- of which goes to the state Lt. Kurt Smallcomb. house, where peas, tomatoes, pak choi and sage, among other plants, are beginning to for maintaining the pro- for it.’ Cruz dated Escareno’s 22- sprout. Green Jeans offers local organic vegetables, and customers can purchase shares gram and printing the year-old sister, but investiga- of the garden and receive fresh produce throughout the season. card. DAN TAYLOR tors would not discuss a pos- Recently, the sible motive in the killing. California Department of Public Health The suspect, who arrived Health Services (CDHS) Branch director in court wearing an orange announced that the state Local farm selling shares in will raise its portion of the fee more than jail shirt with his hands tenfold to $142, bringing the total poten- See ADULT, Page 14 tial cost in the county to $199. produce from its next garden Medi-Cal beneficiaries will continue to receive a 50 percent discount. COUNTERFEIT FOLLOW-UP By LAURA MCCUTCHEON “The state said, effective March 1, The Daily Journal they’re going to charge us that new amount, and we can’t afford to pay the ushel baskets full of homegrown produce state the amount without collecting it Fake bills are now available throughout the growing from the applicant,” Mendocino County season, and recipients don’t even have to Public Health Branch Director Dan step foot on the farm. Taylor said. “What we’re asking the board can look B to do is implement an increase in the card The Green Jeans Farm, where up until recently, fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers and eggs fee that will meet the new state fee por- like the were sold only on Saturdays during the summer tion that’s been increased by the state.” months, at the farm stand in Potter Valley is According to a letter sent by the state offering shares this year, Toni Adams said of the to all county health directors Dec. 27, the real thing business she created about four years ago with her fee increase is necessary to comply with a husband, Jeff Adams. law that requires the state’s portion of the Denominations Green Jeans this year began selling full season fee to cover program expenses incurred and half season shares of produce, both with eggs by the CDHS, such as Medical Marijuana altered, but real and without, she said. ID Card implementation, development and support activities. money used “Each person who buys a share gets bushel Adams sorts baskets, and we fill up one basket with whatever is The original $13 fee -- first implement- The Daily Journal through seeds ed in 2005 after the passing of SB 420, Counterfeiters are getting in season at the time and we keep one basket here that are being and fill that basket up when the first one runs out,” which requires CDHS to maintain a vol- extra crafty these days, alter- planted in the untary ID card program -- was based on ing currency so that even Adams said, noting the baskets generally feed a greenhouse, and family of four for about a week. an estimate of the number of cards the security pens won’t detect the which in several state thought would be issued vs. the cost phony bills. “This year my friend Barbara Newell and I, we months will yield decided to go whole hog. She gardens like a of staff to develop the program, Taylor The Ukiah Police Depart- fresh produce. said. ment has received several maniac and cans all the time, and I don’t have Along with fresh chickens and she does,” Adams said, noting He said he believes the state may not reports of fraud, concerning produce, Green be getting as many applicants as once counterfeit $100 bills, accord- Newell helps out when possible. Jeans also pro- Meanwhile, life on the farm is a full time job expected, and as a result, has to raise the ing to the police, who said in duces jams and fee per card. two reported incidents, local for Jeff and takes up most of Toni’s free time when catsup. she isn’t working at Performance Coatings, she Should the board choose not to merchants have received the increase the fee the county collects from fake bills. said. Not that they mind. applicants, it would have to cover the dif- When employees utilize a imminent, and before too long the inch-high ference itself. security pen to test the “We have a lot of fun doing it,” she said. “My starters will be grown and producing fresh food. grandfather was a farmer. I grew up in the state of “We’re just passing along the state authenticity of the currency, Those interested in eating it can visit the farm this increase so that the local government the security pen indicates the Washington. He used to sell his vegetables ... I summer, or sign up for a membership now and grew up around gardening all my life and I guess doesn’t have to pay for it,” Taylor said. bill is genuine, UPD Detec- start receiving produce this spring. Pebbles Trippet, a coordinator for the tive Glenn Stark said. That’s this is kind of an extension,” Adams said Friday as A full-season membership costs $450 for she sat at her kitchen table inside the couple’s Medical Marijuana Patients’ Union and a because the paper the coun- produce only, or $14 per week for about 31 weeks Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory terfeit bills are printed on is country home. -- or April through November. Produce and fresh Soon after, she stood up, pulled the hood of her Board member, said the increased yearly authentic. The suspects have eggs cost $550, or $18 per week. cost, on top of the approximately $200 taken actual $5 bills, bleached jacket over her head, stepped outside into the rain A half-season membership supplies people with and headed toward the greenhouse. cost to get the required doctors’ recom- them and printed $100 bills produce and eggs biweekly. The cost for produce mendation will keep many from obtaining on them, he said. While the half-acre garden plot -- or orchard of only is $250 or $16 a week. Produce and eggs cost fruit trees -- didn’t have the plush foliage one the ID card. However, watermarks are $350 or $22 per week. “Certainly, the state doesn’t under- still telltale signs, according would expect during the summer months, People can pick up their orders at the Green numerous little sprouts were thriving inside the stand, and we don’t really think the coun- to Stark. Jeans Farm in Potter Valley or at Performance ty does either, how much this is going to Merchants should check greenhouse. Baby pak-choi, lettuce, peas, zucchini, Coatings in Ukiah. Home deliveries are also sage, cilantro, basil, dill, and various varieties of cut into the success of the program,” the watermark on the curren- available for an extra charge. Trippet said. cy, as well as the security tomatoes, among other things, lined the shelves For more information, call 743-1996, or e-mail inside the shelter, where, relatively speaking, it She said while Prop. 215 legalizes the thread, to ensure that they are [email protected]. use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, a match to the denomination was warm and dry. Laura McCutcheon can be reached at As with the weather, however, change is [email protected].