Mendocino County Today: Friday, June 3, 2022

Wet Weekend | Rose | Trash Pickup | Pomo Village | Plane Crash | Youth Soccer | Fentanyl Awareness | Jamesplains | Mendocino 1887 | Not Impressed | Restless Stop | County Notes | Humane Dinner | Sea Raunch | Greenwood Sisters | GJ Extension | Parking Trick | Hutch Chat | Yesterday's Catch | Ukraine | One Stop | Bostrodamus | Teardrop Car | Brit-ertainment | Welcome Back | My Generation | Whale Schoolers | Jim Thorpe | Cultural Downturn | Nixon Youth | Stoner Supes | Dubs Lose | Eat Concha

PERIODS OF LIGHT RAIN or drizzle will continue north of Cape Mendocino into tonight. More significant rain will spread into the area from the NW late tonight and on Saturday ahead of an approaching front. This rain will be more widespread and beneficial. Showers will linger on Sunday, with drier and warmer weather expected next week.

TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS will range from nearly 2 inches across the mountains of Del Norte County to around an inch elsewhere. Rain will combine with oil on roadways to make for slick driving conditions. Some standing water is possible on roadways with poor drainage. (NWS)

ATTENTION ANDERSON VALLEY: Your residential trash and recycle pick up for this week (May 31 - June 3) will be done on Saturday, June 4. If you need to dump sooner. Please call the offices and have a pass called into the transfer station and you can self haul for free up to the size of your trash cart. Please share this information with your neighbors. We are sorry for the inconvenience. (Solid Wastes of Willits, Inc.)

PRIVATE PLANE CRASHES OUTSIDE OF WILLITS

On Monday, May 30 2022 at approximately 08:45 AM, Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to a plane crash causing a fire on private property near the 16000 block of Hearst Willits Rd. near Willits. Upon arrival, deputies discovered Cal-Fire was already on scene and had extinguished the fire. 

Deputies observed the plane was almost complete destroyed by fire. Deputies were told by a witness at the scene the aircraft was an unknown make and model small passenger aircraft that had two occupants when it crashed near a landing strip on private property. 

A witness at the scene reported the 33-year old adult male pilot and 26-year old female passenger had significant injuries and were transported by a family member of the pilot to a local hospital for medical treatment. The pilot and female passenger were eventually transported to an out-of-county hospital for further medical treatment. 

The cause of the crash was unknown at the time and the incident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. The Federal Aviation Administration was also notified of this incident. 

(Sheriff’s presser)

FENTANYL AWARENESS DAY

The fentanyl epidemic is here: People in Mendocino County are dying or being hospitalized from fentanyl poisoning. To educate the public about the tragic impacts of fentanyl use and how to prevent them – Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment (SUDT) is partnering with Safe Rx Mendocino in sponsoring a Fentanyl Safety Awareness Day. The free event takes place from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 24, 2022, at the Ukiah Fairgrounds, Carl Purdy Hall. 

The Fentanyl Awareness Day will feature guest speaker Shannon Robinson, MD, board-certified in psychiatry and addiction medicine. Dr. Robinson served as the chief of Addiction Service for California Correctional Healthcare Services, where she was the champion change management agent for administration and line staff while initiating Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) within primary care, assisting with the enhancement of evidence-based psychosocial treatment and person-centered care throughout the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 

Information tables, staffed by local providers, will have demonstrations on how to use Narcan – a nasal spray that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose – as well as distribution of free Narcan kits and resource information. 

Fentanyl, a dangerous opioid implicated in fatal overdoses, is here in Mendocino County. It is mixed into other drugs, like street Xanax or party drugs, without the user’s knowledge. It is odorless, and drugs contaminated with fentanyl are almost impossible to tell from drugs that are not contaminated. An estimated 3,946 people, mostly young adults, have died of fentanyl overdoes in 2020 in California. Fentanyl can be fatal in tiny amounts. 

Lunch will be served to all that pre-register for the event. Please use this link to pre-register: https://forms.gle/7cNaNdpNekmi9pbd6.

For questions or additional information, contact Jill Ales at (707) 472-2618. 

TRENT JAMES tried to “clarify” his position on vaccinations and assault rifles in his latest video for June 1 after hearing his KZYX interview where he kinda implied he was anti-vax mandates and against a ban on assault rifles. He denied any such thing, saying he’d enforce applicable laws and is “not a gun guy.” Along the way he mentioned that he thinks that Mendo’s pot permit program is “a failure.” He has a simplistic approach to enforcing illegal marijuana grows involving contracting out most of the enforcement, but doesn’t seem interested in the details or implications of doing that with contractors, nor how they’d be managed or even if they’re available. 

JAMES ALSO COMPLAINED about Matt LaFever’s recent piece summarizing James’s positions on various topics, saying that LaFever “twisted my words around,” but declining to say which words were twisted around. James isn’t much for writing, preferring his casual youtube style to any written position papers or statements. That style obviously goes over well with his fans who also tend to be averse to actual reading, preferring to watch videos which play into their existing perceptions about law enforcement. James said that LaFever offered him an opportunity to write a correction or statement but, “It wasn’t worth my time to do that. He’s not somebody I’m ever going to interview with again.” 

Commenting on Tom Allman’s recent endorsement of Matt Kendall, James said that that just indicates that the Sheriff’s Office is afraid of James’s candidacy. “They are scared, they are threatened, they see their empires, their good old boys empire, in jeopardy and they are going to lose that, so they’re reaching.”

James said people have sent him the recent letter by ex-Mendo Lieutenant Shannon Barney for comment but, “I didn’t read it because Shannon Barney is a liar. He’s part of the good old boys club.” Referring to Barney’s, ahem, sketchy history in Round Valley, James added, “He should be in prison. He was kept on because of his connections, he was involved in that little group. I don’t care what he says. I didn’t read it because he’s probably one of the biggest crooks that was ever employed at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s office.”

(Mark Scaramella)

A READER WRITES: “Has the Trent James bubble burst yet? He claims to be running for Sheriff to bring transparency and accountability to the Sheriff’s Office. What a joke! James quit the Sheriff’s Office when they wouldn’t pay him the $20,000 bonus he demanded. He went to Willits but didn’t like his assigned duties like traffic patrol. He was suspected of hanging out at home when he was supposed to be on duty. He was eventually fired from Willits before completing probation. He claims it was retaliation but doesn’t say for what. He then applied to go back to the Sheriff’s Office despite all the command staff being (allegedly) corrupt and dirty. He claims the Sheriff’s Office refused to take him back, which is a flat out lie. The truth is that Mr. Transparency and Accountability withdrew his application when he found out he would have to complete the normal background check, including a polygraph examination. What does he have to hide? The Willits command staff only became dirty after they fired him. The Sheriff’s Office command staff only became dirty after they refused to waive the background check when he applied to come back. His tell all videos make lots of allegations based on rumor, hearsay and innuendo but are short on factual documentation. And with few exceptions have nothing to do with the current Sheriff’s Office. And mostly happened 20 or more years ago if they happened at all. In contrast, Trent James is blatantly lying when he says the Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t take him back. He knows full well he pulled his application to avoid the background check. And despite his denials, it’s very clear he’s a disgruntled ex-employee who only turned on his former employers when he didn’t get his way. It says a lot also that his biggest supporter is John Sakowicz. But maybe Sakowicz can get his old job back at the jail?”

ED NOTE: This "rest stop" is on Highway 101 near Leggett. Headed south one night after a long day in HumCo, I pulled in to use the facilities. It was about 9pm. It was like walking into that bar in Star Wars. There was one faint light illuminating a half-dozen men just standing around. I did an abrupt about face and got outta there. I've wondered ever since what the hell was going on there, but whatever it was I didn't feel like it was restful.

COUNTY NOTES

by Mark Scaramella

TWO CALLERS who follow Supervisors activities reasonably closely said Thursday that it seems like the Supervisors don’t understand the implications of their sales tax proposal plans. The Library people are circulating a petition to put a sales tax increment on the November ballot and now the Supervisors are putting what many people will perceive as a competing sales tax increment proposal which may have the effect of reducing the support for the Library measure or reducing support for all the measures since, as Supervisors Gjerde and Haschak have pointed out, the public doesn’t have much trust or respect for the Board these days and they may vote down a seemingly supportable measure (sales tax measures require two-thirds votes, a pretty high bar) even if it’s for “water” or “emergency services.” Count us among the skeptics who doubt the Supervisors will spend any new money wisely, especially if all they propose is broad categories like “emergency services” and “water” raking off a nice chunk for themselves/the County before handing out the remains to whatever they decide is a deserving activity. (Never mind that they still have not made any attempt to honor the advisory measure from 2016 which “advised” the board to spend half the pot tax revenues on emergency services, roads, mental health and enforcement.)

BUT THERE’S NOTHING on next Tuesday’s agenda about a sales tax measure. 

AS WE REPORTED LAST MONTH, “The Board voted unanimously to ask staff to draft a possible sales tax ballot measure or two for water and emergency services to be considered next month. Supervisor Gjerde said he didn’t think the public trusted the board enough to pass a sales tax and that doing so would be ‘a passage to nowhere.’ Supervisor Haschak thought that before they propose a tax the Board should ‘prove that we can implement it.’ There was some question about whether ‘the public’ should circulate their own sales tax initiative petition like the Library tax proposers are now doing, instead of the easier but more risky approach of having the Board put the question on the ballot. Nobody brought up the pot tax revenues (over $16 million in the last four years) that the public already voted should go to in large part to emergency services (among other things) back in 2016 but which the County has sat on ever since.”

SO APPARENTLY “next month” hasn’t arrived yet.

* * *

SPEAKING OF WATER, Consent item 3bc on next Tuesday’s board agenda is for a huge no-discussion needed $875k water hauling contract:

“Adoption of Resolution Authorizing Department of Transportation Water Agency Division to Award Contract Number 210065for the Mendocino County Community Water Supply Replacement Project to Butch Cameron Trucking, for an Amount Not-to-Exceed $875,000, Using Funds by California Department of Water Resources Funding Agreement Number 4600014496to be Reimbursed to Disaster Recovery Budget Unit 2910 (Countywide)”

We knew the County had been planning to haul water to the Coast again this year, but we have no idea how they arrived at a project of that size, even with the large increases in fuel costs this year. Apparently Mr. Cameron was the low bidder to whatever water hauling bid package they sent out.

* * *

ANOTHER CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM is to have the Board rubberstamp the hiring of a legal consultant for $90k to advise the Board on how to borrow money. 

Item 3i: “Approval of Agreement with Hawkins Delafield & Wood, LLP in the Amount of Up To $90,000, to Provide Legal Services to Mendocino County Staff, County Board, County Counsel, Financial Advisor, Underwriter(s), and Other Consultants, As Requested, Effective Upon Full Execution Through December 31, 2022”

The attached proposed consent calendar contract says the “LLP” will “assist the county in structuring a legal bond issuance.” But nowhere do they mention how much they want to borrow nor what the proceeds would be used for nor why they can’t fund whatever the borrowed amount is out of existing reserves. County Counsel Christian Curtis apparently assumes (probably rightly) that the Supervisors will just give him $90k without discussion to begin a process that once begun will commit the County to whatever large bond scheme he (or whoever?) may or may not have in mind. “Transparency”? Right. Surely they’ll be very transparent after everything’s arranged when nothing can be done to change it or stop it.

AND ALL THIS TIME YOU THOUGHT SEA RANCH WAS BORING

This week someone accused two Sea Ranchers about suppressing diversity on the board of directors. Some called her claims outrageous while others said, at least they appreciated the diversity of opinion. The meaning of diversity on The Sea Ranch board was discussed.

Someone accused a specific member of misogyny. The accused replied by asking if they were misogynistic.

A ton of opinions were shared about how to properly hire the next community manager, although it was unclear if any had ever hired a community manager before.

Someone didn't know where the Hot Spot was and two people shared stories of how foggy the 1970s were. Someone else said the 'Hot Spot' is named so, because it was once righteous for fishing steelhead.

Someone accidentally replied to the entire Listserv, asking to be removed from the Listserv. Another community member, acting equal parts helpful and passive aggressive, suggested they read the instructions of every TSR listserv message footer and try again.

Someone said that they and another Sea Rancher would be out of town this week and not responding to posts on the Listserv. Someone replied, "good riddance", more-or-less. Another praised the out-of-towner's past comments about music.

A debate emerged about whether the Listserv would be moderated or, at least, whether people should be prevented from posting anonymously. Someone called anonymous posters cowards. Someone who was not anonymous said they weren't a coward and encouraged other community members to Google their email address to learn more about them online. A quick Google search of their email address provided 0 results, which was the first time I'd ever seen this happen.

Nobody seemed happy about the board results.

PEOPLE ARE NOT FLOCKING TO BE GRAND JURORS?

Court Extends Deadline to Apply to Serve on the 2022/2023 Mendocino County Civil Grand Jury

The Honorable Jeanine B. Nadel, Presiding Judge of the Civil Grand Jury Recruitment/Selection Committee has extended the deadline to submit applications to serve on the 2022/2023 Grand Jury to June 17th, 2022. 

Service on the Civil Grand Jury is an excellent opportunity to learn about the inner workings of government while providing a valuable service to the community. The 19 members of the Civil Grand Jury serve for one year and are empowered to investigate the operations of county, city and district governments; provide civil oversight of local government departments and agencies; and respond to citizen complaints. The Civil Grand Jury sets its own agenda and meeting schedule. Much of the work is performed in small committees allowing for considerable flexibility in the work schedule and meeting locations. 

To attract more residents from the geographically distant regions of Mendocino County, the Civil Grand Jury is making it possible for interested members of the public to participate in a safe environment. The Civil Grand Jury has implemented remote meeting protocols to maximize participation while reducing the demand for travel. 

Grand Jurors are compensated $25 per full panel meeting, $10 per committee meeting and committee attendance at public meetings. Mileage is reimbursed at the current County of Mendocino rate. There is free onsite parking. Prior to being nominated, each qualifying applicant is interviewed by a Superior Court judge. Training for Grand Jurors will be provided July 25th and 26th, 2022 either remotely or in the County offices. 

To serve as a Civil Grand Juror, the following requirements must be met:

• At least 18 years of age 
• United States citizen 
• Resident of Mendocino County for at least one year 
• Sufficiently fluent in written and spoken English 
• Not currently serving on any other governmental board or commission during the term
• Not presently holding a public office 
• Not personally active in any campaign of a candidate for elective office
• Computer skills highly desirable

Applications and related information are available on the Internet at: Grand Jury (ca.gov). The application may also be obtained in person at the Superior Court, 100 North State Street, Rm. 303, Ukiah or by calling the Grand Jury at (707) 463-4320. 

For more information contact: 

Chelsea Leher, Administrative Technician 
Superior Court of California, County of Mendocino 
100 N. State Street, Room 303 
Ukiah, CA 954825 
(707) 468-3498

FROM THE COMMITTEE TO RE-ELECT MICHELLE HUTCHINS Mendocino County Superintendent of Schools

Greetings all,

Election Day is less than a week away! Every vote will count and I need your vote in order to continue the work we have started in support of students across Mendocino County. Because it is the students who count most and our focus should be on what they need to succeed and thrive.

You have time and options to get your ballot turned in

1) Mail it in by end of day June 7. No postage required!

2) Find a drop box. They are located all over the county.

3) Go to your polling place on Tuesday and vote the old-school way.

No matter how you choose to vote, please know that I'm grateful for your support and counting on you to help me serve our students for the next four years!

---

Do you know people who are still undecided?

Pre-Election Weekend Talk With the Candidate

• Saturday, June 4 at 10:00 am Black Oak Coffee, Ukiah
• Saturday, June 4 at 3:00 pm Headlands, Fort Bragg

And, they can always visit my website to learn about my first term and why experience matters now more than ever before!

CATCH OF THE DAY, June 2, 2022

JOSEPH BALLARD, Fort Bragg. Controlled substance for sale.

NICHOLAS BURNS, Huntsville, Alabama/Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

AUDREY CARD, Covelo. Failure to appear.

BRYCE CARLILE JR., Willits. Ammo possession by prohibited person.

SERENA CHAVIERS, Willits. Domestic battery.

SETH COSTA, Redwood Valley. Probation revocation.

AMBROSE FALLIS, Covelo. Under influence, obliterating markings on imitation firearm.

JUSTIN GARNER, Ukiah. Receiving stolen property.

JESUS HERRERA, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, controlled substance.

WILLIAM HILLER, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

AMANDA MORENO, Casa Grande/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-under influence.

FRANKLIN PATTY, Ukiah. Controlled substance, county parole violation.

DANIEL PEREZ, Manchester. DUI, suspended license for DUI, probation revocation.

UKRAINE THURSDAY, June 2:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Luxembourg's parliament that Russia now occupies about 20% of Ukraine and the Russian army "has already destroyed almost the entire Donbas." He made a plea for more weapons and for more sanctions on Russia. Separately, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked U.S. officials for authorizing $700 million in new military aid, including long-range rocket systems.

The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles, a U.S. official confirmed to NPR. The drones, whose sale requires congressional approval, would be a significant upgrade to the smaller, shorter range unmanned aerial systems that Ukraine has been using. President Biden separately met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the military alliance's summit later this month.

The White House also announced new sanctions against Russian officials and oligarchs, aiming to crack down on evasion of existing penalties and crank up the pressure on President Vladimir Putin and his allies. The sanctions are in partnership with 30 other countries, the Biden administration said. They include targets like yachts and yacht brokerages the administration says are connected to Putin and his inner circle.

Ukraine more than doubled its interest rate to 25% in the first hike since the war began. The central bank at first froze its 10% rate but now finally increased it — to the highest level in seven years. The goal is to slow surging inflation and prop up the country's currency, the hryvnia, as the war is expected to shrink Ukraine's economy by more than a third.

The new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, presented her credentials to Zelenskyy and said America would stand with Ukraine as long as it faced Russian aggression. Brink is the first permanent ambassador to Ukraine in three years. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv reopened two weeks ago, having temporarily closed just before Russia invaded in February.

(NPR)

PIKES, PICKS & SHOVELS

Editor,

Severed heads on a pike, gun violence and mass murders…

I have advocated that all those in Mendocino County who possess firearms designed to kill human beings shall have their name and address displayed on a signboard in front of our beautiful new courthouse. Never mind, that idea, like the rest of my ideas, died for lack of a second. 

Josefina, age 4, found selling chiclets on the street in a Mexican slum is learning to count. "Quanto estrelitas en su bandera bonita?" asked Marquess in his broken Spanish. Chepa replied, "49," one was removed. 

Kentucky has one senator who is crazy and the other has done more damage in this country than anybody else since Ronald Reagan. Good! That's more like it! 

I have nominated three left writers who have done the best job of "telling it like it is": Eugene Robinson, Thomas Frank and E.B. White. 

Frank is best known for "What's the Matter with Kansas?" He publishes books of his writings and lectures every couple of years. Too uncomfortable for mainstream readers who don't like to be reminded of how stupid they are. Frank, like Maureen Dowd, nips at your heels. 

E.B. White, best known for Charlotte's Web, wrote for the New Yorker from 1925 until 1976. Author of 20 books, he has been called the finest essayist of the 20th century. White didn't know he was "telling it as it is," it just came naturally to him. Bernie Sanders exclaimed, "Jesus Christ, he was 50 years ahead of its time." I can't think of a New Yorker writer today who would come close to his level of talent.

You have seen pictures of conquistadors with their heads removed and posted on a pike lined up on a street. Unfortunately that is illegal today. But the next best thing would be a large placard with the name, party affiliation, and picture of each senator who votes against gun control, placed on a pole and paraded back and forth after each mass killing for as long as it takes for all TV viewers to have seen it a dozen times. That's about 2.5 million people who will know just who the enemy is. We know that those senators who support the gun lobby are doing just what their constituents want them to do. If they support gun control, they are not going to get elected. It seems to me that the problem is the voters who support the "right to bear arms" (or those who support the right to arm bears), the NRA, Fox News, right-wing churches. 

The cable stations, MSNBC and CNN, have been all excited after Uvalde, blaming everybody except the family dog for the deaths of 19 children. They don't mention that the answer is a campaign to get voters to support anti-gun candidates at every level of government. A large percentage of people under 30 don't vote. A well-organized campaign to get this group of potential anti-gun voters to the polls might be the easiest way to proceed.

As a child I was told not to discriminate against people with different colored skin, people with different nationalist background, love thy neighbor as thyself, and no hating. Do not hate! Hating is out! It's certainly tough to get through a 24 hour day without hating people who vote for Republicans. I'm considering a mild hatred. After Einstein's theory of relativity, the most important fact known to man is "All the problems of the universe are caused by people who vote for Republicans." 

A ballot issue to remove the added tax on gasoline (the first rise in price for 25 years) was put there by wealthy orange county Republicans. All money spent on homelessness will now be spent on the bullet train headed to Los Angeles. It's only common sense. 

The entire Democratic platform this year will be Election Day being a holiday (Saturday), no more Electoral College, and a single six-year term for the president. Also, a mass newspaper in the United States supported by its readers, no advertising. 

I voted for Mike Bloomberg for President in 2020. Let's make a list of Democrats for president in 2024. Gavin Newsom is going to be pushed. Is Senator Brown too old? Senator Romney took 13 million from the gun lobby. Thom Hartmann knows where the bodies are buried. Buried? Principle proclamation of 2022: We don't need no stinking Navy!

All I ever needed was a 1950s Plymouth. When you stepped on the gas the car goes. When you step on the brakes the car stops. What else could anyone possibly want? Down south, everyone thinks about race every day. If you've ever spent a fair amount of time down south you know that this is not an exaggeration. In the 2016 Republican primaries all the candidates except Trump were not racist enough. 

Credit card interest rates are way too high. Stop using credit cards and the rates will come down. It won't take long. 

I don't think it's necessary to make a mud puddle of Lake Pillsbury or Lake Mendocino. We will need a lot of shovels and picks though.

Ralph Bostrom

Willits

ON-LINE COMMENTS OF THE DAY

(1) Watched the British celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation. As always, a wonderful display of pageantry. To me, the royalty demonstrates a continuity, an identity that says “Britain”. We lack a similar identity in the US. I think we miss that in times like today. Our emblem is the flag, which is getting burned regularly. There is little feeling of being an American and what that means anymore, certainly not from Left of center. The monarchy gives an identity to Britain, a continuity. Some people may think that is unimportant but I believe if we had a similar unifying influence, the US would not suffer so many divisions. Scotland and Ireland sorta want out of Great Britain, however the titular head of the same may give a comforting feeling of unity. It is definitely not a monetary situation as the Royals bring in much more in tourism and world interest than they cost.

(2) You’ve got to be kidding! You’re under the thrall of those inbred parasites? I guess lots of rats grow to love their cages as long as there’s ‘pageantry’. SiGH.

THROUGH A GLASS LIGHTLY

by Herb Caen

My generation has seen it all, from the machine gun ("so horrible it will make war impossible") to nuclear bombs (ditto, and don't you believe it). They talk about electric cars today as though they were a big deal — but we had them in all their glory: marvelously romantic broughams driven by fierce old ladies wearing huge hats. Autos lost their running boards, their silk shades and their flowers in cut less vases and does this put us ahead? A skyscraper was something ten stories tall and that still seems high enough or haven't you waited for an elevator on the 29th floor lately? Butchers gave you a pice of balongna and threw a piece of liver for free ("for the cat"), Barbers gave you all day suckers and "mother" was still an acceptable word. God was alive but not in the White House.

How to tell the kids of today about the glories of the bridgeless Bay and the curving beauty of the ferryboat? The steam train that curlicued its way to the top of Tamalpais? The pasta at Papa Coppa's? They were part of a generation's innocence: we thought homosexuals were simply "sissified," that all the dikes were in Holland and the girls were divided into two groups — those who Did and those who Didn't; anybody who went to a psychiatrist should have their head examined, as Sam said. As for not trusting anybody over 30 — ridiculous; in our lexicon, age and wisdom went hand in hand and a successful man was simply anybody who made $10,000 a year or over. That he might also have been an exploiting, thieving summbitch was unthinkable.

The hippies and other youngies are getting their own kicks in their own way and good luck to them. At 16 I had my first shot of bootleg booze in an upstairs speakeasy in Sacramento and at 18 I was turned on to my marijuana cigarette by a Sacramento police sergeant who smoked one too. Benny Goodman came to McFadden's ballroom in Oakland and I haven't heard any more exhilarating sound before or since, and that includes the Rolling Stones. We drove Model T Fords that would run over you while you were cranking them, but they were worth the trouble. They had front seats you could remove to neck on in William Land Park. We were probably all neurotic as hell, but we didn't know it because there was nobody around to tell us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIM THORPE!

James Francis Thorpe was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, and played American football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and basketball. He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals.

After his athletic career, Thorpe struggled to provide for his family. He found it difficult to work a non-sports-related job and never held a job for an extended period of time. During the Great Depression in particular, he had various jobs, among others as an extra for several movies, usually playing an American Indian chief in Westerns. In the 1932 comedy "Always Kickin'," Thorpe was prominently cast in a speaking part as himself, a kicking coach teaching young football players to drop-kick. Thorpe portrayed an umpire in the 1940 film "Knute Rockne, All American."

Thorpe was memorialized in the Warner Bros. film "Jim Thorpe – All-American" (1951) starring Burt Lancaster, with Billy Gray performing as Thorpe as a child. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz. Although there were rumors that Thorpe received no money, he was paid $15,000 by Warner Bros. plus a $2,500 donation toward an annuity for him by the studio head of publicity. The movie included archival footage of the 1912 and 1932 Olympics. Thorpe was seen in one scene as a coaching assistant.

(Wikipedia)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Yes, if I were to make any prediction at all about what the future holds for those living in the US, I would predict increasing lawlessness and crime–that life will become incrementally more dangerous, as it has for decades already. 

I think it’s a safe bet that people will continue to grow poorer and less secure, the dollar will lose more and more of its value, and more and more people will become desperate. 

I do have to say that surely city people would have to be pretty desperate to drive out to the country with the idea of robbing rural people. All my neighbors are well armed, and it sounded like most of them were out practicing with them on Memorial Day–as were we. 

And that is some very good fun–sitting in a sunny meadow on a nice day trying out my new AR with the family, and practicing with the pistols (a .38 and a .22). I have decided that I need a .22 rifle.

RD BEACON OF ELK: 

I strongly object to standing for and promoting cannabis products of the District 5 Supervisors page.

Even though a lot of our government within the state think it's legal, it is still against federal law, and is considered a Class A narcotic and violates the all federal law by selling distributing and/or growing the same.

If you go to promote products that are dragging the population down one of displays is some ads for hard alcohol which is against some moral laws in the church and even some of the bleeding hearts around the country, saying that it causes accidents and other disruptive events.

Being stoned on weed also causes accidents and is a staircase for harder drugs for young people that no longer get ripped on weed, but in most states alcohol is legal.

But in most of the states in America cannabis is illegal and is against the law, except in upside down California and Colorado, although it still against federal law.

So maybe on the Fifth District page we should see ads for Old Crow, or Early Times whiskey, rather than ads for cannabis products which violates federal drug enforcement code.

And reminding, if you are stoned out of your mind you will go to jail for driving down the highway, for the California Highway Patrol has no tolerance for stoned drivers or stalled drivers. It's the same thing if you're impaired, you should not be operating not only vehicles but any machinery at all.

The idea that are fifth district supervisor would allow this kind of a patent advertising to be placed on the page shows maybe he does need to be replaced with a stronger viewed individual who might recognize federal law first, and only putting things on a page that will recommend keeping within the laws of the federal mandates.

But everybody needs to realize federal law outweighs counties, cities, and even state regulations.

The next thing you know we will wake up the state of California will suddenly say it's legal to go hold up banks, on the second Tuesday of every month; you can take all the free money you want. It is just as ridiculous as the thought of allowing people legally to use marijuana in public or to sell the same thing. States rights don't extend to breaking federal law. No state has the right to go against any way shape or form any federal code. Check the preamble of statehood when the state of California was formed, from a territory to a state estate. It promised the federal government makes weaker than federal law and federal law always prevails over all states.

‘DESPERATION’ FOR WARRIORS After Collapse To Celtics Alters NBA Finals Equation

by Ann Killion

The Golden State Warriors are suddenly a desperate team.

Coming into this NBA Finals series, they were rested, experienced, savvy, healthy. Desperate wasn’t even remotely part of the equation.

But it is now. After a Game 1 fourth-quarter collapse and 120-108 loss, the Warriors have to defend their homecourt at Chase Center in order not to fall into an 0-2 hole.

“We’ll go into Game 2 with more of a sense of desperation,” Steve Kerr said. “If you win Game 1, there’s a comfort. This is a different feeling. … But we’ve been in this position before.”

Actually, not exactly. Not in the NBA Finals. In the Kerr era, the Warriors were 21-2 in Game 1s coming into Thursday’s game. The only Game 1 loss of a Finals was to Toronto in 2019, but that was not at home, rather across the border in Canada. The Warriors went on to lose that series, and though we know all the injury-related reasons why, the statistics said they probably would have lost it anyway.

The loser of Game 1 loses the series 70.7% of the time.

So, yeah, these are suddenly desperate times.

But also, extremely interesting.

“It’s fine,” said forward Draymond Green. “You get a chance to do something else, do it in a different way, embrace the challenge.

“We’ve always embraced the challenge.”

This Warriors journey has been different from the start. And so, it’s fitting that a path to a championship, if there is to be one, will be a different route.

“It’s the first to four, not the first to one,” said guard Klay Thompson. “We’ve all been through situations like this. We realize it will be very hard. The best part about it is we have another opportunity on Sunday.”

The only other time prior to Thursday the Warriors lost a Game 1 in a series under Kerr was against Oklahoma City at Oracle. The key to surviving that series was a historic performance by Thompson in Game 6.

What does Thompson remember about rebounding after a Game 1 loss?

“I remember putting it past us,” Thompson said. “There’s no reason to hold onto a loss when you have another game so soon. I remember watching film and applying the strategies.

“I’ll be better.”

For the majority of the game, the Warriors were comfortable. In control. Everything seemed to be going their way.

Stephen Curry was dominating, scoring 21 points in the first quarter. The Warriors were close to healthy, with both Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr. back on the floor and contributing big minutes. The Warriors were the team with all the championship experience, with all the rest.

And the series was opening at Chase, where the Warriors were 9-0 this season.

But it was clear early on that the Boston Celtics are a different, superior opponent to what has come before in this playoff run.

This was not a team intimidated by its first time on the NBA Finals stage. Not overwhelmed by going up against a team that had been a dynasty when many of them were in high school.

The Celtics took the Warriors’ best punch, the Curry uppercut, but stood strong and fought back. They won the second quarter and had a 56-54 lead at the half. But then the Warriors put together one of their trademark third quarters, opening up a 15-point lead, and you could tell fans were thinking that maybe their Game 5 tickets weren’t going to be needed.

However, once again the Celtics didn’t flinch. They roared back with a barrage of 3-pointers, making nine in the fourth quarter. The killers were not the Celtics primary stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but others: six 3s from Al Horford, five from Derrick White, four from Marcus Smart.

“They hit 21 threes and Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Derrick White combined for 15 of them,” Green said. “Fifteen-of-23 from those guys. Eh, you know, we’ll be fine.”

But it doesn’t matter who was firing them. The shots were dropping.

“It will be tough to beat Boston if they make 21 threes,” Kerr said.

It will be tough to beat Boston, period. This series feels like it can go the distance.

“When you get to this point, there’s no margin for error,” Green said. “They’re a great team and they made a run, and we didn’t stop the bleeding fast enough.”

Now the Celtics are even more confident than they were on Thursday morning.

“It’s a confidence builder,” said Boston coach Ime Udoka, “because we didn’t play our best at all. Getting those opening-night jitters out, I think that settled some as the game went on.”

The Warriors have two days to try to build back their own confidence, to try to figure out why they had the fourth-quarter jitters.

“The feeling sucks and you want to get back out there,” Curry said. “But you can definitely take advantage of two days of preparation.

“Nobody wants to sit on this for the next two days. But stay locked in, stay focused and stay confident in who we are and what we can do and the fact that this series is just getting started.”

Friday and Saturday will be devoted to dissecting the humbling loss.

“Just being honest about what went wrong and holding each other accountable,” Curry said. “And come out with another level of effort and the desperation that we need to protect our home court on Sunday.”

Desperation. It is now part of the equation.

(sfchronicle.com)