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Mendocino County Today: Friday, Sept. 16, 2022

Rain Ahead | Open House | Chowder House | Whispering Winds | Boont Fundraiser | KMUD Party | Abortion Access | Candidate Forum | Dogwood | Quality | Historians | Cookies Concern | Council Candidates | FB Platform | Pet Clinic | Finnish Mural | Pond Consultants | Will Bourns | County Notes | Lady Hoopsters | Ed Notes | Mind Absorbed | Samuel Cummings | Demonizing Homeless | Yesterday's Catch | Dem Postcards | Domesticated Bob | Dream Journal | Osaka Postcard | Spraying Poison | Rail Strike | Weird Hairdo | Shaping Debate | Bulwer-Lytton | Listening Louis | Vineyard Migrants | FDR News | Union Vote | Brewery Workers | Unauthorized Journalism | Pencil Store | Ukraine | Umbrella Woman

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RAIN COMING!

Mainly dry conditions and below normal temperatures will persist through today. Rain showers will then become likely across much of the region this weekend and into early next week. Warmer and drier weather is forecast to return late next week.

An early season mid to upper-level trough will move southward on Saturday. That trough will evolve into a cut-off low off the California coast this weekend. Precipitation chances and even cooler temperatures will spread across Northwest California in response. Inland high temperatures are expected to fall 15 to 25 degrees from today to Sunday. Precipitation will spread south/southeastward around midday on Saturday as the low continues to move southward.…current forecast from Saturday afternoon through early Monday morning has most of Lake and Mendocino receiving over an inch of rain. (NWS)

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OPEN HOUSE/GARDEN/ART STUDIOS

Sunday Sept 18th, 12-5pm 250 N Harrison, Fort Bragg

Stop by and say hello, check out our garden, get some plants or vegetables or ask us gardening questions.

You can also take a look at (& purchase if you'd like) Chris' pottery and my paintings, cards, etc. We'll have a few snacks and be ready just to socialize as well.

We are doing this instead of a Community Picnic this month. Hope to see lots of friends and neighbors!

Thanks,

Jacquelyn & Christopher Cisper, paintblues@gmail.com

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IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART and a lot of tears that we are announcing the closure of The Pier Chowder House & Tap Room. We want to thank our customers and staff over the past 13+years!

Monday, September 19th will be our last day. Come down this weekend and say goodbye and pick up some Merch for 50% off.

Also keep an eye out for new things to come for the space in the near future.

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AVA CERTIFIED

Today we took a trip to Whispering Winds Nursery to take in a heavy dose of the beauty of Ukiah. This locally-owned nursery is a wonderland of flowers, trees shrubs and more. 

The space is wide open with room to roam and take in all the delights. Maybe you’re looking for fruit trees? There’s a section for that. Or maybe you need some locally-made pots and decorations? Because Whispering Winds has that too. Make sure you check out the indoor featuring lush ferns, palms and houseplants. 

You can find Whispering Winds Nursery at 1575 South State Street where they’re open every Wednesday through Monday and closed Tuesdays. 🌱

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FUNDRAISER FOR BOONT TRIBE COMMUNITY SCHOOL, PHILO

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JOIN KMUD RADIO on September 23rd for the Membership Drive Yard Party! Live music begins at 3 pm with King Strange, Zera Starchild, The Colour Green, Hill Honey and the Wildcats, DJ's Wolfmandu, Verde, and Feral Selector, MC, L Dawg. Drinks, food by Two Sinks, and treats are available. Celebrate the end of our membership drive September 23rd and keep our culture alive! Thanks to our sponsors Vocality Community Credit Union and Gyppo Ale Mill.

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CANDIDATE FORUM IN UKIAH

Meet The Candidates September 26

6 p.m. at Ukiah City Council Chambers

A Candidate Forum in Ukiah on Monday, September 26th will present the candidates vying for the chance to be on the Ukiah City Council.

Also appearing at the September 26th Forum will be a representative from Measure O and a representative from Measure P.

This forum is co-sponsored by the Mendocino County Women's Political Coalition and the American Association of University Women, with Wendy DeWitt serving as moderator. The forum will be held in the Ukiah City Council Chambers, 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, starting at 6 p.m.

Contact: Val Muchowski, vjmuchowski@gmail.com, (707) 234-9000

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FROM LARRY WAGNER'S LATE SUMMER GARDEN

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QUALITY

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

I hope this message finds you well. I was reflecting back on the past week, and one of my favorite quotes is:  “Be a yardstick of quality. —Steve Jobs

I EXPECT QUALITY EVER DAY  from every kid and every staff member because that kid only has 180 days a year with me.  We need to show up and SHOW OUT every day. MY KIDS DESERVE THAT.

I will be the first to tell you, I have CRAZY HIGH EXPECTATIONS.  EXPECTATIONS FOR STAFF, EXPECTATIONS FOR KIDS, EXPECTATIONS FOR SUCCESS.  I came from a home of a zero base line of a plasterer dad and a teacher aide mom,  where the most important advice my mom could instill was “Do you best”.  That simple phrase is a motivator for life.   Anything less, is a failure.

Let me share some stories about excellence in this tiny little district:  Four sports being played in one season in a VERY tiny district with grade monitoring weekly to ensure our kids are SCHOLAR ATHLETES. Thank you John Toohey.   Staff are trying to make it work with transportation and opportunity to get these kids to events, even though we don’t have enough people.  The high school team works together to help shape behaviors of a challenging single grade class to give these kids the skill set to thrive.  Elementary teachers are there in the evening in partnership with families to talk about how to help kids learn and grow.  SO MANY GREAT THINGS.  SO PROUD OF THIS DISTRICT.

Do we have challenges?  YES! We have emergency repairs to the septic that are well underway and full replacement that will happen within the next 12 months.  Do we have a staff shortage? YES!  Do we need aide support and driver support, YES!  But do we still get it done, YES!

Small towns show a big heart. I also appreciate the love and compassion this town has shown me. I was out today, and a kind citizen (with the initials BD), who has big shoes to follow, dropped off a lovely lavender calming sache and a notebook that said, “Big Mistakes, GREAT STORIES” on the front.  The accompanying letter gave me permission to reflect, dream, think big and process all that Anderson Valley will become.  Even when we agree to disagree, no other town shows kindness like that… I am touched, supported, and truly thankful to have been welcomed to your community.

We are entering fair week. I remember last year as a newly landed newbie texting my siblings the pictures from the beautiful activities of the fair last year with the caption “Do you believe this?”...I have been with you a year. I BELIEVE THIS.  YOU ARE SPECIAL, BELOVED, UNIQUE, CARING, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, ALL ABOUT THE KIDS.

Sincerely yours,

Louise Simson, Superintendent

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Historians and Compilers of Voices of the Valley, 2003

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COOKIES: NAME OF NEW CANNABIS DISPENSARY IN UKIAH HAS MANY CONCERNED

by Justine Frederiksen

There’s a new building at the corner of Talmage Road and South State Street that many Ukiah residents feel is much more attractive than the structures it replaced. However, some also feel that the name of the new business, “Cookies,” and its signs are much too attractive to minors, given that it sells marijuana.

“I think that sign needs to be re-thought,” said James Whittaker, addressing the Ukiah City Council during its Sept. 7 meeting, describing the color, name and imagery used by the business as evoking the Sesame Street character “The Cookie Monster,” which he described as “straight marketing to kids. Somebody really needs to take that seriously.”

A representative of Cookies said the company “brand identity and artwork was designed to have an adult appreciation and appeal.” 

When asked this week if city planners were aware of the name of the dispensary and what exactly the signs would look like at the time the business permit was approved, Community Development Director Craig Schlatter explained in an email that: “No City Staff, Planning Commissioners, or Design Review Board members were aware of the proposed name or signage at the time of the dispensary’s use permit review and approval. Instead, generic/placeholder signage was presented by the applicant. Staff was not made aware of the Cookies name until a building and sign permit were submitted on May 26, 2022. The signage was ministerially approved by the department in June 2022.”

When asked if the sign could be changed now, and if so, what the process for that would be, Schlatter said that “at this stage, the signage conforms to the objective signage criteria in Ukiah City Code,” but that “all approved use permits for cannabis dispensaries are subject to a one-year renewal approved by the Zoning Administrator.”

During the review of the permit, Schlatter said he, in his capacity as Zoning Administrator for the city, “will evaluate the business for appropriateness and conformance with the required Use Permit Findings,” which include: (G) That…no significant nuisance issues or problems are anticipated or have resulted from dispensary operations; (N) That the applicant has not knowingly made a false statement of material fact or has knowingly omitted to state a material fact in the application for a permit; (P) That the applicant has not engaged in unlawful, fraudulent, unfair, or deceptive business acts or practices.”

Schlatter also pointed out that “the California Bureau of Cannabis Control is the regulator of adult-use cannabis and consequently regulates advertising/signage of cannabis businesses. Although BCC’s website notes that ‘All advertising and promoting of commercial cannabis must not use objects, such as toys, inflatables, movie display, depiction, or image designed in any manner likely to be appealing to minors or anyone under 21 years of age,’ enforcement of such requirements is ultimately the responsibility of the BCC.”

An inquiry was sent to the state Department of Cannabis Control regarding whether the Cookies sign and name would qualify as using “objects or image designed in any manner likely to be appealing to minors or anyone under 21 years of age,” but an official response was not received prior to press time.

Later Thursday afternoon, representatives from the Department of Cannabis Control sent this official response: “The department reviews complaints, including ones of this nature, on a case-by-case basis considering all facts and circumstances of the particular situation. Information related to concerns about noncompliance with regulatory requirements should be submitted through the department’s complaint system. The department does not comment on ongoing investigations.”

When asked to respond to concerns that their signage might be unduly targeting minors, Kim Barron, director of Marketing & PR for Cookies, said in an email that “the Cookies name originated from its namesake debut strain in 2008. At that time, the color palette was intentionally selected as a standout, approachable color… The same philosophy carries through the Cookies brand identity and artwork, which has been designed to have an adult appreciation and appeal, visually expressing the qualities of the plant and products for adult consumers to quickly understand when purchasing cannabis from a licensed dispensary. Cookies uses a shade of light blue in its graphics and signage because that color has the same calming effect on people as cannabis.”

Barron also noted that “Cookies takes regulatory requirements seriously and manages compliance standards across the entire operation from cultivation, manufacturing, packaging, marketing, sales, distribution and retail. In order to enter any of our stores in California, security guards are required to check customer’s identification to ensure they are of legal age, which we take very seriously.”

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

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TOWARD AN INFORMED FORT BRAGG ELECTION

Editor,

We are Downtown Fort Bragg residents, property owners/renovators, voters, and in general people who care about what shapes this great place to live and work. As nearly all the City Council seats will be contested in the November Election — we challenge the candidates to publicly embrace the following planks before the election, as ways to get our votes and possibly others. We believe this is the democratic way for candidates to avoid a popularity contest, in favor of an informed electorate:

1) Commit to a comprehensive study of the existing Fort Bragg Municipal Budget, and determine how to achieve a wide range of goals with what we have.

2) Better Code Enforcement, especially with regard to willful neglect of buildings and property within the Central Business District that results in blight, public nuisance, vandalism, neighborhood property value destruction, and public health hazards. Code Enforcement needs to be initiated and administered from inside City Hall, NOT thru the City’s present ‘snitch policy.’ The latter discourages the reporting of blatant code violators. It also ramps up general distrust of public officials.

3) Support downtown as our “Arts and Culture District.” This needs to include budget-conscious improvements aimed at enhancing existing downtown assets, events, and activities — in order to create a more desirable destination for local residents and visitors. We believe the resulting basic show of pride will lead to a renewed culture of excitement about our downtown.

4) City Council and Staff Temperament. Within existing ordinances and guidelines, we are seeking MORE of “what can we do to help you?” and LESS of “us against you” or “us against them” as a method of governing. Past differences should have nothing to do with present considerations.

5) Solicit Public Skills. Because of its former mill industry requirements for employment, Fort Bragg is now blessed with a skill pool unavailable to many communities. If City Hall would just ask for help regarding problem-solving ideas, ingenuity, and experience — we believe an outpouring of support would be there where it counts.

6) Announce the intention of cobbling a city-wide short, medium, and long-term Strategic Plan for Fort Bragg. Only this time instead of outsourcing the task to expensive consultants, let a sensibly chosen civic-minded committee roll up their sleeves.

Bill Mann & Sue Rogers, Fort Bragg, CA

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NEW FORT BRAGG MURAL - “FROM FINLAND TO FORT BRAGG”

by Lauren Sinnott

The mural is located on a south-facing wall in the alleyway off the 300 block of N Franklin Street. It will depict one strand of Fort Bragg’s interwoven history: Finnish immigration during the late 1800s and early 1900s. These immigrants brought a strong tradition of cooperation for the common good. Along with providing basic necessities for their families and community, they wove a social network with plays, presentations, music and dance, organizing for causes, and enjoying refreshments together after a cleansing sauna. The wall painting will depict important locations and practices:

The Fort Bragg Consumer Cooperative, founded in 1923 and by the early 1970s, apparently the longest functioning co-op in California. (It closed in 1974.) It exemplified farmer-nonfarmer cooperation within one association. Formed in 1923 by a group of Finnish sawmill workers and woodsmen, it was financially successful from the start. 

Kalevala Hall, originally the Finnish Temperance Hall, then home to the Kalevala Sisterhood established in 1896 and Brotherhood in 1897. It was a lively cultural center, with dances, musical programs, plays, lectures and mutual benefit organizing. Note the lone toddler in a white dress standing with all the adults in the photo of Kalevala Hall. I intend to include her! The much-changed building is still at 430 E. Redwood, now Lion’s Hall.

Toveri Tupa, or “Comrades’ Hall” which was built by volunteers at 210 Corry Street in 1914. It was intended as a venue for Finnish drama, music, talks, and parties such as the progressive New Years Eve Ball. During WWII, it became the International Workers Order, Redwood Lodge No. 3893, and in 1946, the Fort Bragg Labor Temple for trade unions. In 1960, the building became home to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, dedicated to the arts and ”the spirit of liberty, truth, justice, and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills, and by promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope.” Gloriana Opera performed for years in the hall, which sadly right now is for sale.

Sointula Commune, which means “Place of Harmony” and was a 636-acre piece of logged, extremely hilly land 8 miles SE of Fort Bragg, jointly purchased by four Finnish families, who each had their own home, but shared barns, buildings, livestock, saunas and celebration.

A sauna, with friends and families enjoying refreshments after their traditional steam bath.

These elements will be knit together with curving shapes and inscriptions. The mural needs to be fairly bold because it’s down an alleyway and must harmonize with Bojh Parker’s fabulous piece next to it!

The title of the new mural is lettered at the top: From Finland to Fort Bragg.

At the bottom will be an inscription: “Finnish immigrants valued cooperation, equality, organized labor and connection to nature”

The word Suomi in the upper left is the Finn’s own name for their country. It is the counterpart to California in the upper right.

The looped square in each upper corner is a symbolic shape found in a number of cultures, including that of Finland. Called hannunvaakuna, it represented good fortune, luck, and warding off evil. And yes, the looped square symbol was the origin of the Command key on Apple devices!

Beneath the looped square in the upper left will appear a stylized Finnish snow forest. This morphs into ice fog (yes, a thing - in arctic regions) and then into the shape of clouds and sky in the center.

Beneath the looped square in the upper right appears a redwood forest, next to/part of the depiction of the sloped hillsides of Sointula Commune. The redwoods have swirling fog beneath them and to the left, morphing into those clouds in the center. If you visit Fort Bragg, come see the progress! There are many murals going up under the auspices of the “Art for Alleyways” Program and supported by the Arts Council of Mendocino County. Unless you yourself live downtown, I’ll bet there will be some you haven’t seen before.

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FORT BRAGG’S REQUEST TO SECURE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS FOR THE MILL POND PROJECT APPROVED

by Megan Wutzke

During the city council meeting on September 12, the council approved a proposal request to secure environmental consultants for the Mill Pond remediation project’s CEQA. Hiring an environmental consultant is expected to take several months, and this approval will start the process. The Department of Toxic Substances Control has not approved the Mill Site remediation plan, and it won’t be reviewed until the City has approved an EIR for the Mill Site.

In 2006, the DTSC created a site remediation order for the Mill Site. This order required a Remediation Action Plan and named Georgia Pacific the responsible party for remediation. GP did a feasibility analysis to decide the alternatives and approaches they wanted to take and submitted the analysis to the DTSC. In June 2022, that order was amended to include Mendocino Railways, and the process will move forward with MR.

Mendocino Railways submitted a draft RAP to DTSC, which includes their plan to remediate the Mill Pond. This would consist of containment and stabilization, such as adding a weir, or a low dam designed to separate the bigger pond into two smaller ponds. The draft RAP also includes adding strength to the grid wall and armoring to the beach berm.

The Mill Site was divided into five sections, Operable Units A, B, C, D, and E. Most of the site has been remediated to the DTSC’s standards. For example, OU-A is the section for the Coastal Trail. However, the ponds in OU-E still show toxic levels of dioxins and arsenic.

Without remediation, those toxins prevent any development on that site. As the ponds are close to the ocean, rising sea levels could create problems with the Mill Pond toxins leaching into other areas. While the DTSC has previously said containment was an acceptable solution, many in the community have said containment is not enough.

In June, Mendocino Railway submitted a coastal development application for a dam stabilization improvement project to the City.

However, the City deemed the application incomplete at this time. MR’s agent Kennedy Jenks is getting the necessary documents to complete the coastal development permit. During this time, the City is requesting the proposal for environmental consultants.

Other projects, such as the Bainbridge soccer field, have struggled to get the right consultants on board. Most in the community consider this remediation a high priority, so finding the right consultant will take additional time.

However, Councilmember Albin-Smith was concerned that requesting proposals connected to this RAP would mean that alternative actions couldn’t occur. Albin-Smith is among many in the community who aren’t satisfied with the plan for containment. Instead, Albin-Smith wants to push for a complete clean-up of the site.

According to Assistant City Manager McCormick, DTSC has several criteria to approve a RAP. A few of those criteria include the City’s acceptance and community acceptance of the RAP. As such, the DTSC has said they want to wait to do a formal review of the RAP until the City’s formal review of the EIR comes out. The DTSC will not approve a RAP that doesn’t have a coastal development application and an EIR approved with it.

Because of this, all alternatives, such as a complete clean-up of the site, are still available, and the plan outlined in the draft RAP doesn’t necessarily have the City’s support. Before the process starts, a consultant needs to do an EIR and explain all the alternatives in the EIR for the City and the public.

Because of the litigation between the City and MR, Councilmember Peters clarified that the City is still the zoning authority for that area so no actions will take place without the City’s approval.

The Mill Pond will need an EIR regardless of the lawsuit’s outcomes. Vice Mayor Morsell-Hayes pointed out that the EIR is tied to the property and the DTSC site remediation order, not the applicant.

The approved proposal currently includes six public meetings. There will be a pre-proposal meeting in November and consultant interviews in December.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

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Mr. Will Bourns, Pharmacist, Point Arena

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COUNTY NOTES

by Mark Scaramella

NEXT TUESDAY’S BOARD AGENDA includes an obvious pile of wasteful eyewash prepared by an expensive out-of-county architectural consulting firm grandly entitled the “Mendocino County Space Needs Assessment.” The consultant, NM&R (Nichols, Melburg & Rossetto) with offices in Redding, Chico, Monterey and Santa Rosa, was hired by CEO Carmel Angelo a few months before her premature retirement last March because she was under some mild pressure from the Board to look at ways to save money on presumably under-utilized facilities in various departments. 

Back in the last decade (2012?) readers may remember when the County did a decent job of facilities consolidation under the leadership of then-Supervisors John Pinches and John McCowen with a good county building survey assembled at no outside consultant cost by the capable former General Services Director Kristin McMenomey, since retired. That was back when the County finally abandoned the Dominic Affinito Memorial Social Services building in Fort Bragg that they had been leasing for $28,000 a month (!) from said Mr. Affinito, the same Affinito who had previously slugged then City Councilman Dan Gjerde in the City’s town hall offices. The Coastal Social Services staff moved a few blocks over into the Avila Center which the County already owned. Prior to giving up the Affinito lease several Social Services staffers had reminded us that the janitorial crew that Affinito hired to clean up the building at night were so underpaid that they were clients of the same welfare offices during the daytime.

BUT THIS YEAR, Angelo decided that she had plenty of money to waste on consultants and hired this NM&R outfit to do a “Needs Assessment.” If they haven’t already paid these so-called “consultants,” they should withhold payment for non-performance. Although NM&R prepared a bunch of self-evident charts and graphs and text about county facilities utilization, their recommendations so pathetically simple-minded that in a sane world they would be an embarrassment to whoever picked them or paid them. 

Here are a few examples:

NM&R: “Cannabis Program – This rapidly expanding department has outgrown their existing space. Cannabis does not have the same clientele as any other departments and could fairly easily occupy another space off of the main County Admin site, since space is limited.” 

Are the consultants making disparaging remarks about the “not the same” pot grower “clientele” who have been trying so hard and paying so much to get permits for the last four years, mostly unsuccessfully? “Rapidly expanding”? Oh yeah! Apparently, they don’t know that the pot program has been shrinking for more than a year and pot revenues and pot tax revenues are way off. “Another space”? What other space? They’re the consultants; aren’t they supposed to know? “Space is limited”? Duh. They don’t even acknowledge that the program is contracting nowadays. 

Or take this one:

NM&R: “District Attorney – The DA currently occupies a portion of the courthouse. The space is very cramped and undersized. When the Courts move out of the existing courthouse, the DA will be the only occupant left in this building and the proximity of the existing space is not ideal in relation to the new courthouse site. The DA staff will need to cross two busy streets and walk several blocks to get to the new courthouse. Renovating or building a new DA’s office closer to the new courthouse site should be a priority for the County. One possible solution is to renovate and add on to the building currently occupied by Child Support Services.”

At least they acknowledge that the DA’s office will face some transpo challenges when the new courthouse is built more than two busy streets away. But what kind of idiot thinks that moving the DA’s offices across the street to the Deadbeat Dad building will do much about the problem of having “to cross two busy streets and walk several blocks to get to the new courthouse”?

Or this one:

“Sheriff–Coroner–The Ukiah Sheriff’s administration, Field Operations, Investigators and Jail Administration occupy a complex of buildings on Low Gap Road. The space is significantly too small for their needs and it is organized very poorly. The County should prioritize the development of a new or renovated facility for the sheriff’s staff as well as the spaces within this complex that are utilized by the jail for programming, kitchen, laundry and medical. A more efficiently designed sheriff’s office will allow the department to operate more efficiently.”

Actually, considering the space available, the Sheriff has been pretty efficient given the limitations of his Current offices. They even figured out a way to have an arraignment court at the jail to save on some prisoner transports. 

But the Sheriff is already keenly aware of the problems with his offices. So what does the “consultant” recommend? “A more efficiently designed sheriff’s office.” Oh, great. That’s a big help. 

The County could have pulled the old McMenomey study out of mothballs and simply updated it for the current situation for no cost. Even if it wasn’t updated it would have better than the useless pile of paper Carmel Angelo paid NM&R to assemble.

We haven’t been to find a copy of NM&R’s contract or the contract value on the County’s website. Whatever they paid it was near total waste. Maybe after next Tuesday’s meeting we’ll ask for it.

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Mendo Lady Hoopsters, 1912

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ED NOTES

SUPERVISOR WILLIAMS furiously texts his critics, informing one of his many targets that he's become “a captive of the AVA.” If you’ve been thus imprisoned, see me for the key to your cell.

IT'S OBVIOUS ENOUGH, one would think, that the national security apparatus has been unleashed on Orange Man, a deserving target, of course, but to maintain at least a fig leaf of plausible fairness, the contents of Hunter Biden's famous laptop also ought to be investigated. Two thirds of Americans believe that the information from Hunter Biden's laptop is “important,” while whistleblowers claim that FBI leadership tried to suppress the story and downplay its contents. Of course they did. They're Democrats. And all that top secret stuff allegedly spirited out of the White House by Orange Man? I betcha there's no credible reason any of it should be top secret. Embarrassing, probably, but ass coverers always try to hide their work lest the taxpayers get wise to them. Withholding information from democratic America? Why, I never…

THOSE PACKED RANKS of Brits with cell phones held up to the queen's passing hearse look like they're heiling Hitler.

TIRESOME LECTURES from the junior faculty on the evils of the Brit empire prompted by the death of dear ol' Liz manage to ignore the empire that tenures their radical chics.

BOB PADECKY of the Press Democrat thinks “baseball is suffocating under its outdated rules, traditions.”

I THINK baseball is suffocating under too many fans who don't know a baseball from a watermelon; cell phones in the ball park; corporations buying blocs of tickets; outfielders who can't go back on fly balls: hitters who take called third strikes on pitches a millimeter outside (cf Brandon Belt); $8 “garlic fries,” $12 beers; pitch-counting managers (cf Bochy et al); and too many ballplayers who would have been in Double A in 1950. Return the major leagues to 16 teams!

“CITY OF UKIAH hires firm to begin search for new police chief,” confesses the headline in the Ukiah Daily Journal. The City might also ask the same firm to locate a new City government, seeing as how the task of running the town seems beyond Seldom Seen Sangiacomo and the City Council.

IF YOU'RE TRYING to get a ten-year-old drunk, try this:

“Suddenly it’s everywhere: the popsicle-topped cocktail. A sunshine-yellow popsicle, infused with curry, chile and makrut lime, is lodged into a coupe glass at new Oakland bar Night Heron.” 

— Esther Mobley reporting in the Chronicle

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NOTA BENE!

Spiritual Message for the Age of Kali

No Yesterday, No Tomorrow, No Today

Following an absolutely splendid afternoon yesterday at The Pub (585 N. State Street, Ukiah, CA) quaffing three pints of Russian River’s Blind Pig plus a shot of Woodford Reserve, played every blues tune on the juke box and met many more local residents with generational intertwined regional histories.

Awoke early today, and following morning ablutions, bottom lined the trash & recycling chore at Building Bridges homeless shelter, and then hoofed it down to the Catholic Worker Plowshares Dining Room for another sumptuous meal. Today’s fare featured sliced pork, rice, steamed squash, salad, apple sauce, slices of pear, bread, a piece of cherry pie, and a beverage. As well, their prices are unbeatable, since it is all free! Nota bene: carried a trash bag and picked up litter on both sides of S. State Street.

Am right this moment at the Ukiah Public Library on a computer, about to read today’s New York Times to enjoy “all the news that’s fit to print”. And then, it’s off to Schat’s Bakery for a java jolt. And then, and then, and then…Mind Absorbed In The Absolute…No Place To Go!!!

Craig Louis Stehr, Email: craiglouisstehr@ajaltman

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Mr. Samuel Cummings, 1889

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ROOT CAUSES

Editor,

It would seem Press Democrat letter-writer Gayle Kozlowski doesn’t understand the complexity of homelessness. Her language suggests she considers them a bunch of lazy bums who just don’t want to work. Most homelessness results from untreated mental illness and drug addiction, both treatable if we had the desire and willingness to truly tackle this issue.

The pandemic escalated the problem as many people lost their jobs and homes. We have resources to at least temporarily address the concerns in this population. Many homeless work two or more jobs but still are stuck in the margins since minimum wages don’t keep up with rising costs of living here.

Do I have an answer to this complex problem? How I wish I did. It does seem clear to me, however, that the strategies employed so far are not working. Why do we keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result? Like most of my community, I am saddened and disappointed that there are parts of Santa Rosa I no longer go to, but demonizing the homeless only serves to escalate hatred and helps no one.

Joan McAuliffe

Santa Rosa

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CATCH OF THE DAY, September 15, 2022

Alatorre, Card, Cardoso

DIANA ALATORRE-NAVARETTE, Rohnert Park/Ukiah. DUI, pot for sale.

DEBRA BARLING, Ukiah. Camping in floodway, polluting state waters. (Booking photo not available.)

AUDREY CARD, Covelo. False personation of another, failure to appear.

ANTONIO CARDOSO-REYES, San Jose/Ukiah. DUI, child endangerment.

Golyer, Gower, Johnson, McElroy

DUSTIN GOLYER, Ukiah. Parole violation, failure to appear.

JASON GOWER, Eureka/Willits. Grand theft, paraphernalia.

SAMUEL JOHNSON, Carmel Valley/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

TONY MCELROY, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, evidence tampering, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

Riffle, Scroggins, Teague

ANDREW RIFFLE, Fort Bragg. Criminal threats, probation revocation.

MELODY SCROGGINS, Willits. Failure to appear.

HEATHER TEAGUE, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

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HOLD THE HOUSE WITH POSTCARDS TO VOTERS IN CA CD'S

Hold the House thru California

As Election Day gets closer, we need more volunteers writing postcards to voters who tend not to vote in midterm elections in CA Congressional Districts that have been identified as close

Currently we have addresses and a script supporting Adam Gray, Democrat running in a new CD 13 in the Central Valley that trends Democratic. This campaign needs our help

To participate: email Lee Finney at: leefinney43@gmail.com  - Indicate how many postcards you want to write  - Indicate whether you need stamps or not  - Indicate whether you live in the Fort Bragg area or  - The Mendocino/LIttle River/Albion area  - Lee will respond to you with options for getting your materials from  her  - Stamp and mail your postcards and you are done!

We sent 2,700 postcards over the summer - keep it going

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MY LATEST DREAM JOURNAL PROJECT.

Here's a link to my new dream journal project on Medium that I started at Xmastime of 2020. I just now posted a fresh week's worth of dreams. https://MarcoMcClean.Medium.com

If you keep a dream journal, or any kind of journal, I wish you'd send me some of it to read on KNYO Friday night. In another couple of months I'll have been doing Memo of the Air live on the radio all night every Friday night for 25 years. (Except for much of 2011, when that radio-station-flipper piece of shit bought KMFB, kicked out all the quirky little shows, fired everyone and destroyed it, breaking my heart, which in retrospect was getting off easy; it killed Ed Kowas.)

By the way, I recommend Medium.com for journaling, private or public. It's easy to get started and easy and fun to continue. Try it.

From the middle-late 1990s to November of 2011 (KMFB, R.I.P.) I used alt.dreams in Usenet for my dream journal. Later I managed to save maybe 50 or 70 percent of my posts from there (I'm guessing at that) before so much of Usenet unraveled, and I have that in a giant file of millions of words. It's neat to see how my dreams and writing style evolved, but Juanita's everywhere in there, throughout, and consistent. Also Hit & Run Theater people, the Community School and the Whale School, Brannon's Restaurant, bleed-through from my day-job where I've worked since 1989, and the three methods of dream flying: stepping and falling forward to glide up (or down, if from a height); jumping up and backward and taking long sweeping rowboat-oar-like strokes of air; and clenching the fists to power straight upward (or forward once you're already in the sky). And watch out for power lines.

Marco McClean

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Japanese Postcard Vintage

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HOW ROUNDUP, THE WEED KILLER LINKED TO CANCER, became one of California wine’s biggest controversies

by Esther Mobley

One of the most hotly debated issues in California wine these days involves a chemical that can be found in every Home Depot in America: Roundup.

Monsanto’s high-profile herbicide is the go-to method of weed control for many California vineyards. As with all crops, weeds are a nuisance among grapevines, competing for resources like water and potentially causing young vines to die.

But Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, is probably a carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization. Repeated exposure to glyphosate has been linked to cancers like non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Recently, new research has revealed just how pervasive glyphosate may be in our environment: In July, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study of 2,310 subjects that found glyphosate in the urine of 80% of adults and 87% of children. 

That revelation has spurred a new outcry in the California wine industry. Some winegrowers who farm according to organic, biodynamic or regenerative protocols — which prohibit the use of glyphosate and other synthetic chemicals — are speaking out against Roundup with renewed fervor, calling for an end to its use in vineyards.

“I’m incredibly frustrated that these chemicals continue to be used and that nobody calls it out,” said Beth Milliken, owner of Spottswoode Winery in St. Helena. She finds it “amazing” that in a place as image-conscious as Napa Valley, people are still “spraying poison.” …

(SF Chronicle)

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I’ll say this just once because this kind of comment is totally verboten—I shouldn’t even notice this. Very shallow of me. Still … I find Viviane’s weird hairdo quite distracting. There, I said it.

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IN GENERAL, THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ALL MAKE CERTAIN BASIC ASSUMPTIONS, like the necessity of maintaining a welfare state for the rich. Within that framework, there's some room for differences of opinion, and it's entirely possible that the major media are toward the liberal end of that range. In fact, in a well-designed propaganda system, that's exactly where they should be. The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum—even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate. 

—Noam Chomsky

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2022 GRAND PRIZE WINNER, The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

“I knew she was trouble the second she walked into my 24-hour deli, laundromat, and detective agency, and after dropping a load of unmentionables in one of the heavy-duty machines (a mistake that would soon turn deadly) she turned to me, asking for two things: find her missing husband and make her a salami on rye with spicy mustard, breaking into tears when I told her I couldn't help—I was fresh out of salami.”

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In the photo is a young Louis circa the mid 1920's when he worked as a caretaker for the Yoba Copper Mine near Prescott, AZ. When in town or around the campfire, he would listen to the stories told and memorize them for future reference in his writing.

LOUIS L’AMOUR WAS A GOOD LISTENER, as eager to learn from the spoken as from the printed word. In Education Of A Wandering Man, Louis L'Amour talks of his habit of . . . listening. 

“In every town there was at least one former outlaw or gunfighter, an old Indian scout or a wagon master, and each with many stories ready to tell. 

One story engendered another, and sitting on a bench in front of a store I'd tell of something I knew or had heard and would often get a story in return, sometimes a correction. The men and women who lived the pioneer life did not suddenly disappear; they drifted down the years, a rugged, proud people who had met adversity and survived. Once, many years later, I was asked in a television interview what was the one quality that distinguished them, and I did not come up with the answer I wanted. Later, when I was in the hotel alone, it came to me. 

Dignity.

They all had dignity, a certain serenity and pride that was theirs completely. They might be poor, they might be eking out at the last a precarious living, but they had dignity. 

They knew where they had been and what they had seen and done, and were content. Something was theirs, something within themselves that neither time passing nor man nor hard times could take from them. 

I have worked beside them, eaten at their tables, sat beside them in sunlight and moonlight and firelight. I never knew one of the old breed who did not have it.”

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FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS is taking credit for two planeloads of migrants arriving in Martha's Vineyard on Wednesday. 

Pictures published by the Martha's Vineyard Gazette and the Martha's Vineyard Times showed the migrants in the affluent community where prominent liberals such as the Obamas, Oprah Winfrey and Larry David all have homes. In a statement, DeSantis' office said: 'Yes, Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha's Vineyard today were part of the state's relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.' The remarks continued: 'States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country' by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as 'sanctuary states' and support for the Biden Administration's open border policies.' The press release went on: 'As you may know, in this past legislative session the Florida Legislature appropriated $12 million to implement a program to facilitate the transport of illegal immigrants from this state consistent with federal law.' The name of the charter that brought the migrants to the millionaires playground was Ultra Air Charters, reports the Martha's Vineyard Times. — Daily Mail

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photo by Stanley Kubrick

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VICTORY! MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS ARE FINALLY UNIONIZED

by Dave Zirin

It is a historic day in the annals of both sports and labor history. Minor League Baseball players, some of the most precariously positioned workers in this country, have voted to join the Major League Baseball Players Association. For the first time in the 120-year history of Minor League Baseball, the players are part of a union. This election is seismic for the lives of the players. Unions make working-class jobs better, and Minor League Baseball players could certainly use a dose of “better.” Their average salaries can run as low as $10,000 per year for the full season, and they are left with nothing if they are thrown on the scrap heap for a teenage prospect. These conditions in the minor leagues worsened as Major League Baseball secured record-breaking television contracts and profits galore.

This overwhelming union vote—which will not be challenged by the Major League Baseball owners nor brought to the NLRB—comes after several other victories in the past year that have increased the confidence of minor league players to push for representation. Only this year(!) did Major League Baseball agree to provide housing for these players, who had been left on their own trying to figure out how to live and find shelter. Also, the league was finally forced in August to settle an eight-year-old federal lawsuit brought by the minor leaguers that alleged widespread violations of minimum wage laws. The settlement of $185 million—after lawyer fees—will be dispersed among 23,000 players.

And now we have a union. To understand how this came to pass, one must first disregard the headline from the Associated Press, which reads, “Minor leaguers form union, 17 days after organizing began.” This fight has been going on a great deal longer than just 17 days, spurred by minor league players agitating and organizing against conditions that would be unacceptable in any other occupation. This has included posting pictures on social media of team meals that look like Oliver Twist meets the Fyre Festival.

Bill Fletcher Jr., a Nation editorial board member and the outgoing chairperson of the board of the Advocates for Minor Leaguers, told me, “This is the result of work going back years which changed the climate of the country when it came to its perceptions of Minor League baseball players.… Ultimately, the MLBPA stepped up to the plate—no pun intended—and undertook the organizing. But the prior work laid the foundations and systematically isolated the [minor leaguers], demonstrating time and again that owner greed undermines the sport of baseball. I am so very proud of those who have tirelessly worked on this project, people who join with others across the USA raising up the struggle around economic and social justice and, ultimately, unionization!”

Simon Rosenblum-Larson, a recently released minor leaguer and cofounder of More Than Baseball, agrees with Fletcher. He told me, for a piece in The Progressive, “When I was drafted in 2018, players rarely talked about the poor working conditions, much less a union. Since that time, players have organized. We have built on-the-ground networks of solidarity, and ballplayers have spoken out, saying enough is enough to the poverty-level wages, the exploitative contract structure, and the hundreds of hours of unpaid work they’re forced into.”

Even Tony Clark, executive director of the MLB Players Association, acknowledged that this was not a case of the MLBPA swooping down from on high to organize passive laborers but has been the result of grassroots organizing. Clark said, “This historic achievement required the right group of players at the right moment to succeed. Minor leaguers have courageously seized that moment, and we look forward to improving their terms and conditions of employment through the process of good faith collective bargaining.”

The unionization of minor leaguers hasn’t happened in a vacuum. Labor in this country is, to recall the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, sick and tired of being sick and tired. As economic and social inequality have worsened during the Biden administration, these players are a part of a broader restiveness.

I reached out to one of the great labor historians in the United States, Peter Rachleff, for some perspective about what we were seeing. He told me, “The seemingly sudden unionization of 5,000 minor league baseball players is best understood as part and parcel of the impressive upsurge of organizing by workers who are securing the pandemic’s place as a compelling chapter in American labor history. In the 1930s, African American migrants from the South joined with the children of southern and eastern European immigrants to create industrial unions across basic industry. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the civil rights and women’s movements led working women and men in the formerly non-union public sector to discover the power and pleasure of collective organization. And now, in the past two and a half years, movements for racial justice and the protection of workers’ safety have inspired a new generation of workers to undertake organization from Starbucks coffee shops, retail bookstores, and museums to Amazon warehouses, Silicon Valley, and congressional staffs. Minor league baseball players, long underpaid, abused, and disrespected, are making their path into the labor movement and into the history books—and into a more stable and secure livelihood.”

Rachleff nails it. We have seen Starbucks and Amazon, two of the most ubiquitous brands in this country, challenged by labor drives and the fight for union power. We just saw threats of a national rail workers strike, which led with bare-bones demands like “no disciplinary action for missing work because of medical emergencies.” Now we can add Minor League Baseball players to this revolt of mistreated, precarious laborers who have found success through solidarity and organizing. Being a minor league athlete is an exhausting existence of long bus rides and Styrofoam containers. It’s also a job where you can be dismissed at a moment’s notice and have to rebuild your life. Now, these unheard people will finally have a voice.

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Brewery Workers, England, 1918

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IN SCHOOL WE ARE TAUGHT that our society values truth, free speech, equality, accountability for the powerful, and adversarial journalism, then we grow up and we see everyone rending their garments because institutions like CBS News or Amnesty International let slip one small report which doesn't fully comply with the official line of our rulers. We see Russian media banned and censorship protocols expanded to the enthusiastic cheerleading of mainstream liberals. We see astroturf trolling operations used to mass report and shout down those who scrutinize the establishment line about Ukraine on social media. We see Julian Assange languishing in Belmarsh Prison for the crime of unauthorized journalism.

— Caitlin Johnstone

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Pencil Store, Tehran

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UKRAINE, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Sept 15 - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he understood that Xi Jinping had questions and concerns about the situation in Ukraine but praised China's leader for what he said was a "balanced" position on the conflict.

Russia's war has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the global economy into uncharted waters with soaring food and energy prices amid the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

At their first face-to-face meeting since the war, Xi said he was very happy to meet "my old friend" again after Putin said U.S. attempts to create a unipolar world would fail.

"We highly value the balanced position of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis," Putin told Xi, whom he addressed as "Dear Comrade Xi Jinping, dear friend".

"We understand your questions and concern about this. During today's meeting, we will of course explain our position, we will explain in detail our position on this issue, although we have talked about this before."

Putin's first remarks about Chinese concern over the war come just days after a lightning rout of his forces in north-eastern Ukraine. read more

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later told reporters that the talks behind closed doors had been excellent.

"Our assessments of the international situation coincide completely ... there are no discrepancies at all," he said. "We will continue to coordinate our actions including at the forthcoming U.N. General Assembly."

Xi did not mention Ukraine in his public remarks. read more

A Chinese readout of the meeting also did not mention Ukraine. It said China is willing to give strong support to Russia for matters related to its core interests, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China has refrained from condemning Russia's operation against Ukraine or calling it an "invasion" in line with the Kremlin, which casts the war as "a special military operation".

The last time Xi and Putin met in person, just weeks before the Feb 24 invasion, they declared a "no limits" partnership and inked a promise to collaborate more against the West.

(Reuters)

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Woman with Umbrella (1910) by Ichijô Narumi

27 Comments

  1. Kirk Vodopals September 16, 2022

    Cookies?!… seems like the adults are the ones who are most confused by the advertising of that facility.
    The more weed dispensaries I see the more I feel like we’re living in the movie “Idiocracy”. Pretty soon we’ll be irrigating crops with Gatorade cuz “it’s got Lectrolytes, man!”

    • George Hollister September 16, 2022

      As we drove by the place a few days ago, Cindy thought it was cookies as in Mrs. Fields. I would have thought the same, except for the timely heads up from the AVA. How about a bar called the Popsicle, or the Soda Fountain, or Sweet Drinks?

      • Stephen Rosenthal September 16, 2022

        If the wall was black and the C white (think Oreos), I could maybe (if I really cared, which I don’t) think it was sending a subliminal message to kids. But this? Much too much ado about nothing.

    • John Kriege September 16, 2022

      Reminds of walking down Main Street, Fort Bragg, two or so years ago. A brand new business, “The Bakery.” My dreams of sourdough baguettes and fresh bear claws dashed by the realization, just another dispensary! And once it opened, almost no edibles!

  2. peter boudoures September 16, 2022

    complaining about the Cookies store but not the bottle shop accross the street. You people are sooo out of touch.

  3. Kirk Vodopals September 16, 2022

    Trumpty Dumpty was supposed to drain the swamp in his four years. All his cohort who dominate the senate could investigate Hunters laptop. The special master will drag out this particular shitshow. How many pillows will be searched in Mr Lindells closet? All this is called the democratic circus (great song by the Talking Heads). This sideshow is purposefully orchestrated while inflation and fed rates rise and weapons keep getting shipped eastward.

    • Marmon September 16, 2022

      Everyone feels so much safer since the FBI seized Mr. Pillows phone.

      Marmon

      • Kirk Vodopals September 16, 2022

        My Pillow – Palin 2024!!

        • Chuck Dunbar September 16, 2022

          Yes, for sure. We desperately need her knowledge, expertise and wisdom. Only she can lead us out of our wilderness!

          • George Hollister September 16, 2022

            She would fit right in with the intellect of what we have had for the last, let’s see, Calvin Coolidge was president nearly 100 years ago.

  4. George Hollister September 16, 2022

    Putin to Xi, “We understand your questions and concern about this. During today’s meeting, we will of course explain our position, we will explain in detail our position on this issue, although we have talked about this before.” That is a very un-Putin-like public statement. It makes me wonder.

    • Kirk Vodopals September 16, 2022

      Translation: Putin is rocking the boat in regards to the Belt and Road plan. Xi not happy.

  5. Kirk Vodopals September 16, 2022

    Three cheers to Max Colfax for “This Day in History” on KZYX!

  6. Cornelia Reynolds September 16, 2022

    Eagles Hall is definitely in escrow according to an attempt to get info from the realtor representing the sellers but no information could be confirmed on the purchasers or their plans . Rumors on its fate vary from its being remodeled as a residence to being demolished and replaced by housing. It would be a tragedy to loose this historically significant building.

  7. Stacey Warde September 16, 2022

    Cookies Empire
    Here’s an interview with the father of the Cookies brand, also known in the hip-hop world as “Berner.” The man has a lot of respect: https://youtu.be/A0msbj994ss

  8. Stephen Rosenthal September 16, 2022

    Lookalikes: Heather Teague and Ivanka Trump.

  9. Eric Sunswheat September 16, 2022

    RE: Gluten free cookies

    ->. August 18, 2016
    Many companies have a sweet spot where revenues gush and profits pool. Pamela’s Products has multiple sweet spots: cookies, brownies, fig bars, cake mix, scones and new oat bars, all adding up to more than $30 million in revenue.

    The company, with headquarters and about six people in San Rafael, and manufacturing in Ukiah, attained widespread penetration with gluten-free baked goods in giant retail chains including Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway and Kroger.
    https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/industry-news/pamelas-products-bakes-in-gluten-free-success/

    -> January 21, 2020
    SAN FRANCISCO — Ancient Harvest, a brand under the management of Quinoa Corporation, has completed the acquisition of the Pamela’s brand, according to San Francisco-based Encore Consumer Capital, a private equity firm that has invested in Ancient Harvest…

    Pamela Giusto-Sorrells, president and founder of Pamela’s Products, Inc., Ukiah, Calif., is stepping away from day-to-day operations.
    https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/50161-ancient-harvest-acquires-pamelas-to-expand-gluten-free-portfolio

  10. Craig Stehr September 16, 2022

    Please correct my email address in the above posting to: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com. It presently reads: “craiglouisstehr@ajaltman”. And now for the good part…
    It is no secret that I am residing at the Building Bridges homeless shelter free of charge on South State Street near Talmage Road. Obviously, there is an array of colorful individuals housed there, who have unlimited information about everything. It was with the curiosity of a cat, that I dropped into Cookies, located one block away, because there has been no talk at all at Building Bridges about the new business. Nobody mentions it. At all.
    I was politely ID’d, and then given a tour of what is on the shelves and in the refrigerator. The beverages are guaranteed to give you a certain heightened feeling. The rest of the offerings are guaranteed to give you whatever you desire. The place is well lighted, staffed by friendly compassionate sales personnel, and if you purchase a Cookies gear item, you are ready for you Hollywood closeup. Lastly, the location on the corner of South State Street and Talmage Road is business smart. Every vehicle going back ‘n forth to Walmart, Friedman’s, Applebee’s, The Hangar Steak House, etcetera etcetera will go past Cookies.
    Now, given my displacement from my digs of 13 months in Redwood Valley by the trimmers who did not value my vision of a multi cultural-political-spiritual community environment, which resulted ultimately in my present homelessness, you might wonder why I just don’t condemn everything drug related. The truth is that I don’t feel that way. I don’t really care if others get high. I will skip the cookies, but don’t even think of denying me my chocolate milk shake. Peaceout.

  11. Marmon September 16, 2022

    Fauci must be held accountable for his role in the creation of covid that led to the deaths of millions.

    Marmon

  12. Marmon September 16, 2022

    RE: CLIMATE CHANGE

    Whenever they strip away a religion, they replace it with another one.

    Marmon

    • Chuck Dunbar September 16, 2022

      This one is just for you, James:

      “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” (Soren Kierkegaard)

  13. Marmon September 16, 2022

    The Martha’s Vineyard freak out is really a sight to see. So telling.

    Marmon

    • pca67 September 16, 2022

      Yes, it really is something to watch a craven politician like deSatan toy with peoples lives for some cheap, political stunt. Sieg heil, deSatan and the MAGAts!

      • Chuck Dunbar September 16, 2022

        Yes again, DeSantis is an evil man, engaging in political theater for his own benefit, the effects on hapless human actors in his play be damned. He is every bit as cruel and stupid as Trump.

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