Mendocino County

Here is the Mendocino County district attorney's race boiled down to its extremely odd essence: On your right is incumbent Susan Massini, a conservative Republican pushing for a fourth term, who has been accused of bungling the highest-profile cases of her 12-year tenure, from the slaying of a sheriff's deputy to the prosecution of union activists. On your not-quite left is challenger Norman L. Vroman, a Libertarian who spent nine months in federal prison for failing to file tax returns.

Over two hours, three times a day, precisely on schedule, on a full stomach. A novice picker and single mother named Velasquez, acknowledged that spending an afternoon working like a dog for a few of the aromatic, apricot-flavored golden mushrooms that will sell for $11 a pound in upscale Bay Area markets is no way to get rich. "But the economy up here is awful, and you have to do what you can," she said. Besides, "I enjoy being outside."

I enjoyed reading the article by Heidi Haughy Cusick ("Cabin Fever," June 30), particularly since I have not been through Mendocino County for over 30 years. The author, however, states that Beija Flor is Portuguese for beautiful flower. Not so. Beija Flor, loosely translated, means "flower kisser" and is an appropriate name for that pretty creature the hummingbird. If Ms. Cusick had kept her eyes peeled, she would probably have spotted hummingbird logos at the hideaway. RUDY DOMENIE Laguna Hills

Printed prominently on each front page of the Anderson Valley Advertiser is a famous quotation from the legendary newsman Joseph Pulitzer. "Newspapers," it reads, "should have no friends." The admonition is clear: Journalists must avoid relationships that might prevent them from reporting news fairly and accurately. Few have embraced this advice as lustily as Bruce Anderson, the owner-editor-publisher of the Advertiser.

To the old-timers who gather for afternoon coffee at the Redwood Drive-in, there are few pastimes sweeter than sharkin' a bright-lighter with a slib of Boont. Take the yuppie in his BMW, up from San Francisco for some weekend wine tasting. He approaches the men with a smile, asking directions to a local bed and breakfast inn. The response is quick--and earnestly polite: "Take your wee moshe, pike toward the Deep End and you'll deek on the Big Crick chiggrul and sluggin' region. And jape easy!"

Whether the falling trees in this remote forest made noise is anyone's guess. Nobody was around to hear. But weeks later the uprooted trees--along with tons of boulders, mud and shale--are still causing a stir. Environmentalists blame loggers for the 80-foot-deep, nine-acre swath of hillside that tumbled into the Navarro River sometime in March. The landowner, Louisiana-Pacific Corp., contends it was an "act of God."

As a native Northern Californian born and raised in the "silver lining" above Mendocino County, I strongly agree with Cockburn's column. His cryptic outlook on the parties and their funding is realistic. These corporations are piling money into these candidates for their own welfare, not that of the community. It is time to realize the dangers we are facing by allowing these multimillion-dollar firms to influence and run our elections and our government. It is indeed time that we as individuals who appreciate our freedom become educated about the perils of corporate funding before we find our democracy taken away by socialists in three-piece suits.