Mendocino County Today: Saturday, June 5, 2021

Onshore Flow | Another Death | Meeting Summary | Albion 1863 | Burgerday Yorkville | Whipple Surrenders | Labor Action | Lauren's Last | Vaughn Asymptomatic | Monet's Garden | Barn Sale | Local Produce | Firesafe Meeting | Credentialed Supes | Sciatica | Abandoned Motorhome | Christian Crusade | Life Term | Rubberband Test | Ed Notes | Homophobia | Buds & Suds | Before Seatbelts | Streetscape Update | Redwood Museum | Yesterday's Catch | Shot Prizes | Track Car | Double Capture | Dark Matters | Activism Uncensored | White Rage | Picket Barbara | Movement Schooling | What If | Matchstick Math

WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT continues across the region...maintaining onshore flow to the region. Marine influence along the coast is modified by northerly winds allowing increased sunshine and breezy afternoons. Interior areas will continue to see sunny and warm days with cooler temperatures coming early next week. (NWS)

7 NEW COVID CASES and another death reported in Mendocino County yesterday afternoon.

SUPERVISOR MULHEREN: 

Last night I spent about an hour working on a summary of the meeting from yesterday and then got up at 5am to work on it some more for two hours and I realized there is just too much to list in one summary. I write like I speak just one long run on sentence. Here is the redline version so you can see what the Board changed yesterday. 

I’m wondering if anyone would be interested in a FB Live Q&A? Or Zoom?

The Board did the best to incorporate the various opinions about what the ordinance should look like and come up with some compromises.

I 100% agree with the Chair. Your voices were heard. “The Ordinance with all of the amendments is a sincere attempt to incorporate the community concerns” - Chair Gjerde 6/2/21 All of the work the Board is doing is meant to move the industry forward in to the regulated market. There is still a lot of stigma and we have a lot of work to do to legitimize the industry. We will get there if we can work together.

BBQ SATURDAY 6/5 AT THE YORKVILLE MARKET

Today is burger day! We will be making delicious homemade hamburgers, cheese burgers, veggie burgers and portobello burgers to order from 12:00ish to 4:00ish today. Call in (707) 894-9456, or drop by and pick up your order.

We also have a selection of other tasty homemade snacks and entrees prepared by Chef B in our case.

MENDOCINO SWAT TEAM AT COYOTE VALLEY SCENE OF A POSSIBLY ARMED AND VIOLENT SUSPECT HOLED UP IN SHED

Friday, 11:46 A.M., Mendocino County Sheriff deputies and medical personnel were engaged in a standoff situation on the 100 Block of Coyote Valley Boulevard in Redwood Valley regarding a possibly-armed suspect with a violent history holed up in a shed. 

Update: Suspect Surrenders: mendofever.com/2021/06/04/coyote-valley-standoff-continues-into-the-afternoon-where-mendocino-sheriff-says-time-is-our-friend/

VICTORY!

The freighter Volans, chartered by Israel's ZIM lines, left the Port of Oakland earlier this afternoon after longshoremen and port truckers again honored the picket lines, and the ship left unworked.

It looks like the Bay Area has now organized the only successful labor action anywhere in the world - to date - against Israel's atrocities in Gaza.

The Stop ZIM Action Committee is continuing to monitor the situation. We hope other West Coast ports will refuse to work the Volans.

The Stop ZIM Action Committee would like to thank the longshoremen of Local 10, the ships' clerks of Local 34 and the port truckers for honoring the picket line, and the Block the Boat Coalition for their role in making the picket happen.

— Jeff Blankfort

TONIGHT...

BOONVILLE'S FAVE BALL PLAYER OUT FOR A FEW DAYS

“In compliance with MLB’s existing COVID-19 protocols, Andrew Vaughn has been placed on the injured list,” GM Rick Hahn said. “Andrew is currently asymptomatic.”

White Sox outfielder-first baseman Andrew Vaughn went on the injured list Thursday. John Antonoff/For the Sun-Times

In yet another setback to their depleted outfield ranks, the White Sox put rookie Andrew Vaughn on the injured list Thursday in compliance with MLB COVID protocols.

The hope is that Vaughn won’t be sidelined for long.

“Andrew is currently asymptomatic, and our hope is that, similar to our other IL placements [Luis Robert, Dylan Cease] of this nature, he will return shortly to the active roster,” general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement announcing the move. “At this time, no other players on the roster are impacted.” 

Infielder/outfielder Gavin Sheets was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

Vaughn did not play in the Sox’ doubleheader against the Indians in Cleveland on Monday and returned to the lineup Tuesday. Manager Tony La Russa said Vaughn was held out Monday because of allergies.

“The pollen in the air was really bad, and he was hurting that day,” La Russa said Thursday.

“You’d have to be a doctor to know how that affects the test. He was healthy, and all of a sudden he was miserable that day. Then he shows whatever showed up in the test. A couple of tests were negative, so we’re optimistic . . . that this is a temporary thing.”

Players on the injured list for COVID-19 cases do not face a minimum duration.

(Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times)

BARN SALE, TAKE TWO

We had a hell of a sale last weekend so we're doing it again this Saturday and Sunday 9am-4pm. Tons more stuff. Lots of tools, household, camping, fishing, yard tools, Cadillac El Dorado, 1970 Toyota Land cruiser, too much to list. More pics to come as we set up. 27800 Hwy 128 in Yorkville. Follow the signs.

EVERY FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT THE BREWERY

Hello valley friends! Logan Family Produce will be vending at the boonville farmers market this [Friday] afternoon! We will have a big selection of fresh produce to offer. Our bundles are generous and fresh harvested this morning. We will have several root crops like radish, carrot, and beets. Greens are all washed and ready to eat! We will have head lettuce, bagged salad mixes, arugula, chard, kale, and Asian greens. Lincoln Peas are in and they are sweet and delicious in salads! We are a small family farm located in Comptche. All our food is grown organically and with great care! Come see us at the brewery in boonville from 4-6. We look forward to seeing you there!

WHY IS MENDO PROPOSING TO DEFUND THE SHERIFF’S VEHICLE BUDGET? 

by Mark Scaramella

Among the 19 Mendo Graduates of the California State Association of Counties Executive Credential Program for 2020/21 are Supervisor John Haschak, Supervisor Ted Williams and Darcie Antle, the newly promoted Assistant Chief Executive Officer (and Mendo’s Budget Point person).

Next Tuesday, all 19 of them will be the subject of a big “presentation of credentials.”

We couldn’t find anything about what the “credential” entails but it costs an undisclosed amount of money and “credential” holders get: “a Unique framed Credential, a Lapel pin, a Listing on the Institute website, Recognition at a CSAC annual conference, and Listing displayed at CSAC Institute.”

Get back and make way, Mendocino County.

That lapel pin and framed certificate showing us that Supervisors Haschak and Williams are not just “supervisors,” but “credentialed supervisors” sound particularly impressive.

One would hope that Mendo’s newly credential managers and officials would at least be able to produce a clear, non-contradictory budget.

However, based on the accompanying budget agenda package for later that same Tuesday, the “credentials” start to sound more like the Matchbook School of Art.

On the one hand, we read in the intro to next year’s proposed budget that it contains a “Large investment into salaries, benefits, including public safety.”

On the other hand, the Sheriff’s (non-jail) budget chart shows that the Sheriff has asked for about $18 million (no noticeable increase from prior years), most of which is salaries and benefits. including about $1.2 million in Overtime.

But the CEO’s proposed “adjustment” reduces the Sheriff's budget by a total of about $2.3 million and totally eliminates the Sheriff’s request for about $1.3 million in “vehicles/equipment.” And without explanation.

Elsewhere in the disjointed — but presumably “credentialed” — budget presentation we read that…

“The Sheriff’s Office has run over budget for several years primarily due to the ever-increasing cost of labor and benefits for the personnel necessary to meet public safety needs of Mendocino County. Also of note, for FY 2020-21 the Executive Office decreased the Sheriff’s Office Net County Cost from $15,243,953 (Adopted/Revised) in FY 2019-20 to $14,724,924 (Adopted/Revised) for FY 2020-21, despite fiscal year-end Net County Cost coming in over $287,300 in 2019-20.

”To help balance the budget, reduction of expenses in other areas have been realized, such as the postponed purchase of updated patrol vehicles. The Sheriff’s vehicle fleet is aging rapidly, with many of its patrol vehicles operating with high mileage (13 vehicles have over 100k mile odometer reading). During the recent Wildfire event last October, over 200,000 miles were logged on the Sheriff’s vehicle fleet in a one-month period. It is unrealistic to sustain savings in this area, and in FY 2021-22, the Sheriff is asking for additional funds to replace a number of vehicles with high mileage.”

Sounds like the Sheriff has made a good case for some new vehicles, but the CEO has turned him down flat. We await Tuesday’s explanation for how that plays into a “large investment into salaries, benefits, including public safety.”

HEY! GET THAT THING OUTTA HERE!

Trashed Motorhome Sitting Above Russian River Hauled Away

UKIAH - For quite some time, a motor home has sat abandoned just off Highway 101 partially hidden behind a small hill south of Comminsky Station Road in southern Mendocino County.

While Caltrans at some point placed barriers to block the dirt access road where the RV was parked and was further falling into disrepair, nothing was apparently undertaken to have the vehicle removed in at least two years, if not longer.

While driving north on Highway 101 last month, District Attorney David Eyster noticed the collapsing roof of the RV and made inquiry as to why the vehicle was parked on the blocked off road above the busy north-south highway.

It was the DA’s belief that the vehicle was not only both a public nuisance, but also a potential environmental hazard to the Russian River flowing just 300 feet downhill from the location.

After calls were made and plans formulated, Mendocino County’s Building and Planning Department and Caltrans agreed to cooperate with the DA to resolve the problem. The road barriers were temporarily moved Thursday and the RV – full of trash – was pulled from the location. Once the trash was removed from the vehicle and hauled away by Caltrans, the RV was likewise towed away.

Backing his environmental concerns with dollars, Eyster paid for the towing bill with environmental funds obtained by the District Attorney’s Office from environmental settlements and fines that the DA seeks in court and holds on account.

An investigation continues into who abandoned the vehicle at that location and why. California law holds owners of abandoned vehicles financially responsible for costs of removal.

CAREER VIOLENT CRIMINAL SENTENCED TO LIFE TERM IN STATE PRISON

UKIAH – A former Ukiah man with a long criminal record was sentenced this week in Mendocino County Superior Court to a life term in state prison on multiple felony crimes.

Raymond Devon Jones, 46, was convicted by a county jury last year of multiple felony crimes of domestic violence, including assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant, dissuading a witness by means of threats or force, and vandalism causing greater than $400 in damage.

Following the jury verdict, a court trial was conducted where the trial judge found true sentencing enhancements alleged by the District Attorney’s Office. Assistant DA Dale Trigg alleged that defendant Jones has previously and separately suffered felony convictions for robbery and residential burglary in the San Joaquin County Superior Court, within the meaning of California's Three Strikes law. 

At a sentencing hearing on Thursday in Department A, Jones’ attorney argued that the sentencing judge should remove or “strike” one or both prior convictions for the purposes of sentencing because, it may be argued, a particular defendant falls outside the letter and spirit of the Three Strikes law. 

Assistant DA Trigg, the prosecutor who presented the evidence to the jury last year, vigorously opposed the motion and argued that the defendant is a career criminal with a history of violence spanning more than 25 years. 

Both Trigg and a probation report noted that the defendant, prior to the new convictions, had suffered six felony convictions, 22 misdemeanor convictions, and had served multiple prior state prison commitments. 

Moreover, the defendant has a long history of parole and probation violations, which included committing new crimes of violence shortly after being released from prison. 

During the commission of the crimes for which he now stands convicted, the defendant was on post-release community supervision, a new form of parole, following his most recent release from state prison seven months earlier. 

As such, Trigg argued, the defendant was incorrigible, was not deserving of any leniency, and had earned his way to a life sentence. 

Trial Judge Keith Faulder agreed, and on Thursday he denied the defense motion to strike Jones’ past convictions for sentencing purposes... 

The sentencing recommendation of the Adult Probation Department was followed and defendant Jones received 114 years, 4 months to life in state prison.

The law enforcement agencies that developed the underlying evidence used to convict the defendant were the Ukiah Police Department and the District Attorney’s own Bureau of Investigations.

ED NOTES

INTERESTING STAT. According to the Marin County Grand Jury, there are 100,000 guns among Marin's roughly 250,000 serene citizens, one of which belongs to me, but I keep my other gats up here, being that rare American who actually gets enough threats to warrant being a gun guy.

ON LINE EXCHANGE OF THE DAY

Brahma Muhurta 4AM — The Hour of Brahman. Woke up for no particular reason at The Magic Ranch in Redwood Valley, with the sound of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” on the Google Gizmo out in the spacious living/dining/kitchen area. The revisiting couple is asleep in the outdoor artist’s studio. The actual property owner is asleep in an upstairs bedroom. One of the roosters is crowing outside. One can only wonder where the German shepherd is. Nobody downstairs, the music is pumpin’ and good as it always was during a certain heyday of rock ‘n roll, went outside the bedroom and drank the last of the Yerba Mate, then noticed a partially drained bottle of Bacardi rum on the kitchen counter. If this weren’t all meaningless enough, returned to the bedroom and turned on the new ACER computer, signed in to the AVA online, scrolled down to find a Dick Whetstone photograph of common weeds, the publisher of the Boontling Greeley Sheet’s thousandth mention of the Judi Bari car bombing case (after I have many times reported that Judi told me in her hospital room, right after she got out of surgery, that the male of a certain couple who were at the abortion clinic protest when she and senor Cherney performed “Will the fetus be aborted by and by Lord by and by” sent darts from his eyes at her the whole time that she fiddled, and of course he placed the bomb underneath her Subaru when it was parked across from the Mendocino Environmental Center when Judi was inside visiting with Betty Ball), and then scrolling down further enjoyed the cartoon of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, (the Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” still going strong in the spacious common area), I just realized that I have a serious decision to make. Either I can do morning yoga sadhana, or instead I can open up the case of Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing IPA, go outside and snuggle into a well-padded porch chair, and get the weekend started. Gotta check to see if the Coyote Valley Casino is open. I guess that leaves sex and smoking to guarantee my trip to hell. In fact, with some seriously bad luck, I could end up living in Mendocino county for a long time. Where did I put my worn out copy of the Yi Jing? If ever there was a crucial need to consult the Chinese Book of Changes, this is it! PS. Gotta chant OM and find that huge Augustiner Brau liter mug. PPS. Always remember the advice of Ken Brandon who owned the Caspar Compound in 1972 (when I was the cook at the informal zen center retreat Big River Farm located precisely six miles up the Comptche Road in Mendocino). Ken said: “Be what you wish to seem.” GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!!!!! PPPS. How come we haven’t heard from Nate Collins in awhile? 

ED REPLY: Luke warm non-spiritual greetings, Craig, but I’m afraid I have to call bullpucky on your Bari bombing remarks. I seriously doubt you got into her intensive care unit to see her soon after the bombing since entree was restricted to immediate family members. As it happens, Fred Gardner almost got in because Judi wanted to see someone from the ava, but almost remains almost and he was stopped at the door. As for your evil-eyed anti-abortionist as the bomber, It assumes that he/she lurked outside 106 Standley with a literal ticking time bomb waiting for an opportune moment to slip a bomb under the driver’s seat of Bari’s Subaru, the bomb mounted to fit precisely around a short length of metal suspended from the under carriage of that seat, meaning my krishna-besotted friend, that the bomber was scrupulously aware of that vehicile. (106 West Standley, incidentally, is owned by John McCowen, whose role in all this is one of many murky-murks about the case). Bari was not inside the MEC when the bomb was placed. She had walked west on Standley to see attorney Rod Jones, and wasn’t inside 106, aka the Mendocino Environment Center, when her ex, Mike Sweeney, whose “office” was in the MEC, placed the pipe bomb under the car’s driver’s seat. Bari knew he’d done it and told PBS’s Steve Talbot that she knew he did it, but, since the fun couple had buckets of mutual felony info on each other and two small children together, for obvious tactical reasons Bari and Sweeney diverted attention from themselves on to, basically, every male on the Northcoast. Bari and her cultists threw out false flag perps like evil-eyed anti-abortion fanatics, the FBI,, timber corporations. and men generally to steer attention away from her ex-husband. I’m afraid, Craig, assuming your story about seeing her immediately after the bombing is true, she accurately sized you up as one more useful idiot. 

CRAIG STEHR: I attended the rally for her at the hospital, went inside and snuck up to the floor she was on using a doctor’s elevator. Upon exiting, I noticed that the hospital personnel didn’t even look up, as I walked right into her room. There was no police guard, as had been stated by the Oakland Police Department. She recognized me, and although under heavy sedation, responded to my question “How did this happen?” with the answer that I have already shared. Shortly after that, two of her friends from Oregon entered with a guitar, sat down and proceeded to play music and sing with her. I kissed her hand and left, using the public designated elevator. The hospital personnel were still at their work places, and never did look up. I have no other information to which I am a witness. — Craig Louis Stehr, June 4, 2021

BRUCE ANDERSON: I yield to your memory.

UKIAH BECKONS

Visit Mendocino County — for a Trip!

Historically renowned as part of the Emerald Triangle, Mendocino County stands ready to showcase our legendary harvest (crop) with two new tours offering a behind the scenes peak at cannabis operations. Education is a huge component of Mendocino’s cannabis industry, so get ready to be schooled on what makes our green so pristine. 

Aside from buds, Mendocino County is also known for award winning suds, and is home to no less than five breweries covering nearly every part of the county. But wait — there’s more! We have numerous restaurants with formidable beer menus offering local, regional, national, even global favorites. Look — Mendocino County loves our ales, lagers and stouts so much we even have an annual Mendocino County Homebrew Fest! 

So whether you follow the buds or the suds, Mendocino County has an adventure trek for you! Click HERE to find out about this MendoMoment! COME AND VISIT

UKIAH STREETSCAPE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION UPDATE - JUNE 4 

Continuing with the myth-busting...

Myth-busting, Part 5: City Staff concocted this plan in a vacuum and never involved the public. FALSE. In community meetings more than ten years ago, Ukiah residents asked for State Street—the former Highway 101—to be made safer and more inviting for the downtown. As previously discussed, traffic engineers were hired to propose solutions, and then grant money was sought (and obtained) to help fund the project. Over the course of the last decade, there have been countless public meetings, newspaper articles, and presentations regarding this project to gather community input. Today’s plan represents the evolution of the project based on that input from the community, the police and fire departments, and numerous experts. Although projects like this are not voted on by the public, there have been many Council decision points over the years where public input was received and considered. Does that mean everyone loves it? No. But that’s democracy. 

Construction Overview, Week of June 7 

Monday, June 7: Demolition continues on Standley Street in front of Left Coast Seafood and Cultivo, between 6-8:30am. 

Tuesday-Wednesday: Curbs and gutters will be formed on Standley Street. 

Important: The Thursday/Friday schedule below has been updated from that which was posted on the orange flyer. 

Thursday-Friday: New sidewalks will be poured on Standley Street. The plan is to pour everything EXCEPT for Left Coast Seafood and Cultivo on Thursday, June 10th and in front of those restaurants on Friday, June 11th. Additional work is happening to incorporate infrastructure related to permanent outdoor dining facilities on this street. While we are making every effort to stick to the published schedule, there are some unknowns out there “in the field.” For example, why is the concrete on Standley Street 8” thick??!! 

Monday-Friday: Miscellaneous work on Standley, Church, and South State Streets. Also, new curb ramps are being constructed at the corners of Clay and Oak Streets. 

• Construction hours: 6am – 6pm – Crews will work extended hours this week to complete construction on the 100 blocks of West Church and West Standley. 

• Standley Street will be closed to vehicular traffic during construction hours, opened in the evenings. 

Looking forward: 

• Week of June 14 (estimated): Completing the sidewalks on the north side of Church Street; possibly pouring the new driveway at the Round Table building. 

Thanks, everyone. Have a great weekend.

— Shannon Riley, Deputy City Manager, City of Ukiah, w: (707) 467-5793

UKIAH’S REDWOOD TREE MUSEUM OFFERS NOSTALGIC TREASURES IN UNIQUE LOCATION

by Dianne Reber Hart

Motorists traveling along North State Street in Ukiah can no longer pump ethyl into their gas tanks at the World’s Largest Redwood Tree Service Station, but they can fill up on nostalgia at the local landmark.

It’s where a massive ancient redwood tree was transformed in 1936 into a working gas station – as eye-catching then as it is today, 85 years after heads first turned in wonder at the sight.

To create the station, a redwood reportedly more than 1,500 years old was chopped down, cut into several sections and carefully hauled over a ridge from a grove 17 miles west of Ukiah.

After its arrival on North State Street – Highway 101 at the time – it was reassembled, with a canopy, restrooms and a hollowed stump as the service station office, all roofed with redwood shakes. The restrooms are gone but old-time gas pumps still stand outside where the likes of Oldsmobile convertible coupes and Buick touring sedans once pulled up for leaded fuel.

“Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t come by,” said Greg Martyn, who owns the adjoining Redwood Tree Service Station automotive repair shop, tire dealership and car wash/auto detailing service. He’s the third-generation member of the family business and caretaker of what’s now the World’s Largest Redwood Tree Service Station Museum. It’s been under the ownership of the Martyn family for more than 35 years.

“Oh my gosh,” said Martyn, “it’s amazing.” Years ago, families would park their cars, wander inside the museum of automotive memorabilia and pose for photos. “Now they pull out their cellphones and slow down to 5 miles per hour.”

Still, the service station remains an attraction and is listed among places to visit in Mendocino County on websites like RoadsideAmerica.com.

“I think it’s a hoot, actually,” said Tim Buckner, executive director of the Ukiah-based Historical Society of Mendocino County.

He said the redwood was selected by Bob Ford and Alfred Weger, the original service station owners, who reportedly paid $25 for the giant tree. It measured 17 feet in diameter and stood about 250 feet tall, Buckner said. “It took a week and a half to haul it back.”

It’s a fitting attraction for those touring what’s long been called the Old Redwood Highway, the northernmost segment of Highway 101 that weaves through the world’s largest redwood forests. Other tourist spots along the roadway include a park in Leggett where visitors can drive through a redwood.

Buckner likens it to other places of interest in the area, including the longtime gem and rock shop south of Hopland and the historic Ridgewood Ranch near Willits, the final resting place of famed racehorse Seabiscuit.

For Katrina Kessen, executive director of the Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance, the redwood tree museum represents the best of small-town Americana. “It’s been there so long, and it’s so loved,” she said. “It’s one of our favorite spots.”

She stops by often to have her car washed at Redwood Tree Service Station, where the adjacent museum provides “a sense of continuity that really binds the past to the present.”

Visitors entering the free museum will find framed old black-and-white photographs and artwork of the gas station and the downing of the redwood tree it’s made from; an old-time National cash register; vintage hubcaps; motor oil containers priced at 15 cents per quart; retro automotive signs; and more.

One faded newspaper clip is headlined, “On the road to building electric cars.” Another details a dramatic 1951 roadway accident and includes a photo of a lumber truck dangling halfway off a bridge over the Eel River near Garberville.

One dated circa 1930 shows a street banner over the southern entrance to the city, declaring “Ukiah, Gateway to the Redwoods.”

For perspective, Kessen suggests stopping by the museum and then driving 25 minutes to Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve, with towering old-growth trees, a trail and picnic tables. “It’s really worth the drive,” she said. “It’s spectacular.”

(courtesy Press Democrat)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, June 4, 2021

JACK ALVAREZ, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ANTHONY CAPE JR., Willits. Domestic battery, probation revocation.

DREW ERSLAND, Ukiah. Community supervision violation, failure to appear.

KIANA FLORES, Redwood Valley. County parole violation.

SARA GODFREY, Leggett. Domestic battery, child endangerment, protective order violation, probation revocation.

SHALOM LEWIS, Fort Bragg. Parole violation.

JOSE QUIROA-ASTORGA, Willits. DUI, no license.

ADAM VASQUEZ, Hopland. Failure to appear.

TINY WHIPPLE, Covelo. Felon-addict with firearm, failure to appear, probation revocation.

LYDELL WILLIAMS, Covelo. Vehicle theft, controlled substance, failure to appear, probation revocation.

WELL, WELL

Today, Governor Gavin Newsom selected the first 15 lucky Californians to be awarded $50,000 for doing their part in getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The $750,000 awarded in today’s randomized drawing is part of California’s new $116.5 million Vax for the Win program – the largest vaccine incentive program in the nation – which includes $50 incentive cards to newly vaccinated residents and cash prize drawings for all who have received at least one dose. This historic program is designed to motivate Californians to get vaccinated leading up to the state’s reopening on June 15th.

“California has made incredible progress in the fight against COVID-19, with the lowest case rates in the entire country and millions more vaccines administered than any other state. But we aren’t stopping there, we’re doing everything it takes to get Californians vaccinated as we approach June 15 to help us safely reopen and bring the state roaring back,” said Governor Newsom.

Since Vax for the Win launched, roughly a million vaccine doses having been recorded, including roughly 350,000 Californians newly starting their vaccination process. In total, California has administered more than 38 million vaccines, ranked number 8 in the world. California has administered 15.4 million more doses than any other state and more than 70 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose.

“We are making another push to get more Californians vaccinated against COVID-19,” said Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer. “With more than 70 percent of adults having already received at least one dose, the Vax for the Win program is the creative approach we need to make that final push for those who remain unvaccinated.”

More than 21 million Californians aged 12+ are at least partially vaccinated and automatically entered to win in the cash prize drawings. The second $50,000 drawing will take place next Friday, June 11, when an additional 15 Californians will be selected. On June 15, when California safely reopens, 10 winners will be selected to receive $1.5 million each – adding up to a total of $15 million in cash prizes. On top of that, the 2 million newly-vaccinated Californians who get their dose since Vax for the Win launched will be eligible to receive $50 prepaid and grocery cards.

Winners from today’s drawing live throughout the state in the following counties: Mendocino, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Diego, San Francisco, Orange, San Luis Obispo. They start being notified directly by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) within hours of the drawing and over the next four days by telephone, text, email or other contact information associated with the person’s record in the state’s vaccine registry. To protect their privacy, all winners will have the option to accept their cash prize while remaining anonymous or decline it altogether.

Winners must complete their vaccination in order to claim their prize. If someone under 18 wins, the cash will be put in a savings account for them until they turn 18. For more information about Vax for the Win, please visit https://covid19.ca.gov/vax-for-the-win.

SHERIFF BYRNES MAKES DARING DOUBLE CAPTURE

Fort Bragg Chronicle, November 25, 1913

Like a chapter from the “Old Sleuth” series of dime thrillers or a page from the history of “Doc” Standley, Mendocino County's redoubtable fighting sheriff, reads the story of the latest exploit of Sheriff Ralph Byrnes, when single-handed and unarmed last Sunday he captured two desperate criminals at a lonely mountain cabin deep in the wilds of southeastern Trinity County.

Word had been brought to Covelo by residents of the border land between the two counties of Mendocino and Trinity that two “bad men” had taken possession of an old cabin in the mountains and had entered on a career of thievery that was causing considerable loss to settlers. The men were stealing cattle, burglarizing cabins and killing stock partly for food and partly out of wanton malice. They were said to be well armed and to have made the boast that they would not be captured alive.

One of the settlers who had suffered at their hands came into Covelo the first of last week told of his troubles, and desired the local officers to go out and capture the men. Byrnes heard of it and saying nothing to anyone departed in quest of them. En route he picked up a lad on the Travis ranch and took him along as a guide.

As the two approached the cabin they had to ride down a long hill and the quarry had cognizance of Byrnes' approach long before he was off his mount and on the ground. When Byrnes reached the place he found only one of the men. He then asked if he might stop there for noon and also feed his horses, stating that he was going across the mountains on business. He was told that he might and was shown to the barn. Fearing that if he took his rifle off the saddle he might arouse suspicion, he left the weapon at the barn, trusting that he might by strategy be able to effect the capture of his man. As it turned out, it was lucky that he made no overt move, for, when he went back to the house, the fellow gave a whistle like the call of a quail and his partner came out of the brush where he had been in hiding all the time. He was armed to the teeth with a bowie knife, a rifle and a revolver.

Byrnes and the boy ate dinner with the men and the sheriff engaged them in conversation after the meal. In the course of the conversation Byrnes was handed one man's revolver to examine and after looking at it he laid it on the table.

Whenever one of the men had to go out go get wood or water or for any other reason he took his rifle with him and presently hearing a slight noise at the side of the house where the meat was hanging, one of them got up, taking his rifle, and went out to see what it was. Byrnes followed him out. As the sheriff went out the door he said to the other man, “Lots of deer in those mountains, isn't there? Looks like it ought to be fine hunting.” The fellow followed him out and got to talking about the hunting, leaving his revolver on the table where Byrnes had laid it. The second man then came around the corner of the house from where the meat was hanging and Byrnes asked him what caliber rifle he had. He handed the rifle to the sheriff to examine who thereupon leveled the rifle, covered them, told them who he was and stated that he wanted them both. One made a start for the door, but was promptly notified by Byrnes that he meant business and that there would be no fooling. Thereupon the boy tied the prisoners up and Byrnes straightaway set out for Covelo. He arrived in Ukiah Tuesday evening and landed both men safely in jail. 

Their names are Paul Pfaendtner, alias Jack Wilson, and Albert F. Bayles. A search of the cabin revealed half a dozen rifles, two revolvers and sufficient ammunition to have supplied a regiment of soldiers.

They are held under $2000 bail each, which they are unable to furnish.

Both have signified their intention to plead guilty to burglary and take their medicine and the county therefore will be spared the expense of a trial.

During his trip to Covelo Byrnes also arrested Ed Betz, who was indicted by the Mendocino County grand jury last year and whom Byrnes has had located for several weeks in southwestern Trinity. Betz gave bonds at Covelo in the amount of $500 for his appearance before the Superior Court.

INTRODUCING ‘ACTIVISM, UNCENSORED’: A Collaboration with news2share

Special report from Ford Fischer, on a joint BLM 757/Boogaloo Boys rally in Virginia Beach

by Matt Taibbi & Ford Fischer

Ford Fischer of News2Share is an independent videographer, previously profiled in “Meet the Censored.” If you follow news at all, you’ve probably seen his work, which regularly appears in mainstream outlets. He specializes in shooting scenes of public activism, depicting everything from a woman in Oklahoma City dragged out of a Trump rally for wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirt to footage of Richard Spencer in the Emmy-award winning PBS film, “White Right: Meeting the Enemy.”

People in Ford’s line of work often travel long distances, chew up advance time arranging interviews, spend days in the cold or the sun or the rain walking alongside marchers or running around cities chasing rumors of street unrest, or listening to people of all political persuasions opine at length into mics — only to go home at night and watch rival news outlets use footage similar to their own to report something different from what they just saw and heard. 

The press as a business depends on simple storylines, but they’re not always there. Not all antiwar activists are alike, not all militias are alike, and not everyone who claims to represent a larger movement really does (overseas reporters get this one wrong all the time, at times seemingly by design). Sometimes what looks like a confrontation between groups is actually a collaboration. Turnout can be made to look bigger or smaller than the reality, and 99% of an activist’s comments might be discarded in favor of the one or two lines that fit the easier narrative. 

TK has decided to team up with News2Share for a new regular feature called “Activism Uncensored,” which will attempt to give context to mainstream coverage of public protests and demonstrations big and small. Oftentimes shooters like Fischer know activist groups better than most, because they’ve had to follow them over periods of time, and learn to distinguish between monolithic national organizations and more idiosyncratic groups that may all march under one name, but vary wildly from chapter to chapter, region to region.

In this first installment, about a joint action of armed “BLM 757” and Boogaloo activists in Virginia Beach, we see an example of groups depicted as adversaries who in fact were acting in cooperation. Typically Ford lets his footage speak for itself, but in this series (he plans to be in the Midwest next), we’re asking him to add whatever history he knows about the scenes in question, including how they might have been covered, mis-covered, under-covered, and so on. In an effort to avoid simple storylines, the people interviewed will get to speak a little longer, the scenes will roll a little longer, and we’ll try to give you a broader picture, rather than just a piece. 

Thanks to Ford and News2Share for working with TK. We hope to add more contributions from diverse sources in the future.

DEAR MARY [MOORE]

Re: Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Help Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange

Dear Mary,

Sorry to rain on your parade for Barbara Lee but she's not one I would credit with integrity, based on her support for Israel and her readiness to do the dirty work of its Lobby. You may not remember or even have known that after Hillary Clinton appointed her to the party's platform committee in 2016, she was the deciding vote in keeping any criticism of Israel's occupation and expanding settlements from the party's platform. It is part of her long history in sucking up to Israel which includes her twice having sent her congratulations to Ariel Sharon after his elections as prime minister. More recently, unlike our Jared Huffman who has signed Rep. Betty McCullum's bill to protect Palestinian children, Lee has not shown the spine to do so. 

In fact I have encouraged pro Palestinian activists in her district to get off their duff and picket her office and sit in if necessary and that if they can't do that, which they evidently can't, the same way activists in SF ignore Pelosi, what's the point of simply marching for Palestine? 

Jeff Blankfort

Ukiah

WHAT IF THE ‘BIG LIE’ IS THE BIG LIE

by James Kunstler

Maybe now that Dr. Tony Fauci has begun to spill the beans on his doings in service to the Wuhan virology lab, the phrase “conspiracy theory,” flogged by the media as jauntily and incessantly as by the soviet kommissars of yore, will have worn out its welcome.

In a sane polity, Dr. Fauci would be cooked. He looks circumstantially like an epic villain of history, who promoted and funded dangerous research activities knowingly, which led to an international disaster that killed millions of people and destroyed countless livelihoods and households, perhaps even the whole global economy, when all is said and done — and he appears to have lied at every step along the way.

As a practical matter, what is the “Joe Biden” admin going to do about him? Throw him under the bus? I don’t think they can at this point. Dr. Fauci has come to represent not just the falsehoods employed around the Covid-19 fiasco but more generally the long campaign against truth itself by a grossly illiberal Jacobin Democratic Party seemingly out to punish and destroy Western Civ.

Whether the Covid-19 pandemic was an overt tactic in that campaign, or just the result of Dr. Fauci’s catastrophic bad judgment, remains to be revealed. But at least half the country will conclude that there’s some connection between the terrible losses suffered in the pandemic year and the political bullshit they were force-fed in the four-year effort to defenestrate Donald Trump. All Joe Biden’s handlers can do now is fade Dr. Fauci out, keep him off the cable channels, and hope the public can be distracted with some new nonsense. You also have good reason to doubt that Merrick Garland will do anything but look the other way and whistle.

The downfall of Dr. Fauci is a watershed moment. There were so many more authorities caught lying over the past five years, but who got off scot-free — Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, James Comey (actually, the whole FBI and DOJ E-suites), John Brennan, James Clapper, Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissman, Adam Schiff, and the editors and producers of the news media, plus the execs of social media — who not only disabled the truth at every opportunity, but just about destroyed the public’s grip on reality.

The result has been an utter collapse of authority in this land, so that now nobody who runs anything is credible, from the current pitiful president of the USA, to most elected and appointed officials, judges, corporate CEOs, college deans and presidents, and now “The Science” itself. Just remember: there is still a sizable faction in America of people who are deeply interested in ascertaining the truth about a lot of things. They are aiming to get at it, too, for example, the truth about the 2020 election. Maybe now you can begin to see why this is important.

Yet the cable news channels were really at it last night (Thursday) with Erin Burnett and Anderson Cooper of CNN, and the slippery crew at MSNBC, strenuously assailing the Arizona election audit with their usual battery of opprobrious slogans: it’s a “conspiracy theory,” “baseless,” a “Big Lie.” Is it perhaps more likely now that their Big Lie is the Big Lie? It looks like we are going to find out. And perhaps not just in Arizona, because other states are warming to the audit idea.

“Joe Biden’s” DOJ may yet try to quash the AZ audit. But one subsidiary truth to be gleaned in all this is that the audit is solely a state prerogative as a constitutional matter and if the DOJ tries to lay some horseshit ruse about “civil rights” on the operation, they’ll end up with their pants on fire, maybe even an official nullification of federal action. Sound a little civil war-ish?

So, we can see that the disclosures over Dr. Fauci’s role in the origins of Covid-19 and the potential discovery of 2020 election fraud are converging toward a deep constitutional crisis this summer. If a growing number of Americans come to believe that the pandemic was a number run on them by the authorities, they may be more disposed to going forward with election audits in several states. And what happens if solid evidence is discovered and fraud is proven? Whu-oh…! Does the country perhaps have to call a re-do of the election, this time without mail-in ballots and with a more serious effort to substantiate the votes? That’s a tall order. Or does “Joe Biden” just keep ridin’ out for ice cream cones? Geopolitics may determine that. Can the nation afford to keep such a weak and illegitimate regime in power?

I’ll tell you something that could happen: “Joe Biden” (his handlers and their factotums, anyway) may try something else, another ruse to distract the public’s attention from a constitutional crisis: how about crashing the financial markets? That would do the trick, I’m sure. In fact, it looks like the Federal Reserve is already tuning that frequency in by announcing it’s “tapering” its bond buying activities, starting with corporate “junk” bonds. You know what will happen if they ramp up tapering of more bond purchases (currently around $120-billion-a-month)? Interest rates will rise — because who else will buy that paper at near-zero interest rates? (And, by the way, Russia just announced it’s about to sell off all its sovereign holdings in US dollars). And when interest rates rise quickly, Wall Street’s current business model goes south. Wait for that!

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon Page.)

(How many solutions can you find?)